Or something like that. I used to hear, growing up in El Paso, that the ROE were handcuffing "Our Boys" in VietNam. Same way the cops say that having to respect people's rights would tie their hands behind their backs. Like, how would they know? They've never actually tried respecting people or their rights. But we've seen the pictures, over and over, a weeping mother holding her slain child for the last time... the faces are different, but the soul of that mother multiplied over all the times the ROE were disregarded either for matters of convenience (although the cops or soldiers would never admit that) or for the "safety" of one or more of the Invaders or Police State Storm Troopers domestically, backfires against the trigger pullers. Or their comrades. Or the sons and grandsons of their comrades when they face the families of their fathers' and grandfathers' Victims. That "crazy" suicide bomber with the nine pounds of dynamite strapped to his chest in front of the BX or in a bar habituated by Americans is probably the son or brother of one of those slain infants, held in their mothers arms for the final time. The person who "signs" his speeding ticked with a "shotgun Ambush" might be the brother or sister or father or son of somebody like Alyanna Jones, the 7 year old kid murdered by the Detroit Po-Po or Etta Collins, the 87 year old grandmother MURDERED through her front door by the Dallas Police in South Oak Cliff more than two decades ago. The same with the victims of soldiers ignoring the ROE. The "safety" it might have bought them would be temporary. There are still people in the Arabian Peninsula celebrating long ago violations of the ROE (on all sides, too) such as Richard Couer de Leon almost a thousand years ago. And incidents farther back. The Rules of Engagement and other manifestations of civil behavior aren't there only and exclusively for the protection of the people who are on the receiving end of your gun-muzzles. They protect your comrades now, and comrades to come, in generations you'll never live to see anyway. Violating them will breed implacable enemies. Ones who will be loathe to surrender to the descendants of your Empire.
Tag: Geneva Conventions
More Torture victims in progress
"Saving his life" Yeah Right. They're taking him to to a Torture Center, keep him alive long enough to waterboard him and send the videos to Torture Freak Propagandists, like our Local "Gunny" Bob Newman and Michelle Malkin so they can use them as Pig Porn. How 'bout it, "Gunny"? Like seeing a REAL man in pain? Semper Fi, punk. And it makes the Murderers look like Compassionate Heroes instead of the Violent Perverts they really are.
Jesus Killed Mohammed, every last one
With attention now drawn on the evangelical skinheads running amok with the US military's Big Stick, reporter Jeff Sharlet relates a story in this month's Harpers, which showcases the fundamental irreligiosity of the capital "C" Crusaders. The episode Jesus Killed Mohammed takes place in Samarra, Iraq, in 2004, where rascally US Christ fans succeed in goading their crosstown rivals into taking a shot at them, the sooner to be dispatched to the Islamic hereafter by the Christ Gang's overwhelming firepower. The operation involved painting "Jesus Killed Mohammed" across the side of their Bradley Fighting Vehicle, and having their translator poke his megaphone out the top, giving Arabic voice to the insolent taunt, shouting it up and down the neighborhood until no one was left to speak up for Mohammed. ???? ??? ????? The affair reminded me of the Monty Phython skit about the world's deadliest joke being appropriated for military use across the WWI trenches, which was, if you remember, immediately fatal, combined with the sacrilegious 2005 GWOT strategy which drew so much flak to US special forces in Afghanistan when soldiers burned Taliban corpses to draw enemy ire. The Intelligence Service calls it "tickling:" provoking your opponent into an emotional response to reveal his position. In the Afghan case, the US team violated Geneva Conventions against mutilating the dead. In Sammara the only code protecting the sensitivities of the indignant Muslims was probably the boxing rule forbidding blows below the belt. Perhaps it was the very indecency of the concept which most elicited snickers from the American perps. In operation JESUS KILLED MOHAMMED, the 1/26 Infantry of the 1st Infantry Division led by Lieutenant John D. DeGiulio, under instructions from the 10th Special Forces Group who called themselves "the Faith element," drove their Bradleys along the streets drawing fire, one shot at a time, from virtually every door. After each shot rang out, the Bradley would summarily aerate each residence and its inhabitants until "Jesus Killed Mohammed" did not offend anymore. As Sharlet noted, every Iraqi home is permitted one AK-47 for self defense, so answering the US force's insolence did not reveal you to have been an insurgent. The infidels were biting their thumbs at the Iraqis from behind impregnable armor, to respond with small arms fire was entirely a matter of honor, and suicide.
Israeli air strikes represent massive violations of international law
"The Israeli air strikes on the Gaza Strip represent severe and massive violations of international humanitarian law as defined in the Geneva Convention, both in regard to the obligations of an occupying power and in the requirements of the laws of war." Written by Professor Richard Falk, United Nations Special Investigator for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories. The entire commentary by the UN Special Investigator for Human Rights can be read at 'Israeli air strikes represent massive violations of international law' Unfortunately the United Nations is well known for giving lip service to international law while helping super powers violate it. Such is the case now with Gaza, too.
The Dirty Half-Dozen Dozen Dozen
The US Department of Defense is recruiting felons to fill its ranks. The number of criminals enlisted in 2007 is double that in 2006. No news yet about whether the figure exponentiates in 2008.