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It begins slowly, almost inoffensively, in numbers so small that we tend to not pay much attention to them-except for the families associated with those numbers. On July 8, 1959 U.S. Army Master Sergeant Chester Ovnard and Major Dale Buis died in Vietnam , the first of 58,261 casualties to happen over the next three decades.
On March 21, 2003 Lieutenant Therrel Shane from Gulfport , Mississippi became the first casualty--of what was then referred to as "Shock and Awe"-in that far away land of Iraq . In Afghanistan on November 28, 2001 CIA Officer Johnny "Mike" Spann was killed during a prison riot in the province of Mazar-e-Sharif .
We reached a somber milestone recently; our military has suffered more than 5,000 combined deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan . Yes, you can start throwing the stones and curses nowthis is an anti-war column; it's no way, shape or form an anti-military column, it is anti-war. "War is not healthy"
The wars and death over in those two far-away countries are still a puzzle to me as well as many other people. Of course, it's not a puzzle to certain flag-waving, knee-jerk, jingoistic media commentators and their faithful followers; for them it's all about stopping the terrorists, or whatever reason it happens to be this week.
For those who make their blood profits on war and death there does not have to be a reason-or even a right or wrong side-just a market for the latest weapons of mass destruction. For the politicians who bluster and fear-monger-but who have never tasted the bitter brew of war-it's all about appeasing a very small constituency and also bringing home the bacon' to whatever war profiteers may be located in their respective districts. "War is not healthy" A country engaged in a "perpetual war" policy does so at great risk to its citizens and its economic well-being, as we are now seeing. The country that engages in unending war with all of the simplistic slogans: "War on Terror," "Operation Enduring Freedom," etc. also causes physical-and constitutional--damages to the freedoms and liberties of its own people by giving to itself special powers' such as eavesdropping and wiretapping without judicial order. "War is not healthy"
To date there has been over $900 billion allocated/spent on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan . And, that's just the money we know about. It requires no stretch of the imagination to say that this country-at the expense of its citizens-has squandered well over a trillion dollars on a war economy; couple that with the trillions of dollars given to the corporate bloodsuckers of the worldand it's no wonder we're in a fucking depression.
Between the wars and the financial hanky-panky, this country is casting millions of people into grinding povertyand as far as this writer is concerned poverty is terrorism; and those responsible for creating, aiding and abetting same are guilty of treason and should be taken out and shot. "War is not healthy"
"In war, truth is the first casualty." The Greek dramatist and playwright Aeschylus noted this in the 5th B.C.
Frank Pitz, aka "oneyedjack," "iconoclast," "It's the Pitz," et al. Writer, blogger, anarchist and tilter at political and social windmills. The revolution should never be timed.
Being a prior serviceman during the VN era, I appreciate this article to the highest. Many should read this article. If you do not mind, I will like to share this in our Bible study as an illustration. By the way, Aeschylus is correct. He is The "Father of Tragedy. Very nice article
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