Archive for iraq
How to Reduce Military Suicides
Posted by: |Since the invasion of Iraq in 2003, I have been quite vocal in my opposition to most of what is done by the U.S. military in the name of defending our freedoms and other nonsense. Because of this I have been accused over the years of not appreciating and not supporting the troops (I plead guilty) and indifference to and wishing harm to the troops (I plead not guilty).
However, on this latter point it needs to be said that it is only natural to expect that foreigners on the receiving end of U.S. military invasions, occupations, bombings, and killings would retaliate against U.S. troops. Just think of what Americans would do if these things were done to them.
So, on the one hand, as Herbert Spencer wrote over a hundred years ago in his essay on patriotism: "When men hire themselves out to shoot other men to order, asking nothing about the justice of their cause, I don’t care if they are shot themselves." But on the other hand, as an American, I don’t want to see any American soldiers harmed, and especially those that were duped into fighting some unnecessary and senseless foreign war.
The solution to the dilemma is to not send American soldiers overseas to fight foreign wars, which are inherently unjust. This keeps foreigners from having to shoot invading American soldiers and American soldiers from having to shoot resisting foreigners.
Tags: Afghanistan, foreign policy, iraq, militarism, politics, war, war on terror
Why They Hate Us
Posted by: |"Today, our fellow citizens, our way of life, our very freedom came under attack in a series of deliberate and deadly terrorist acts. . . . America was targeted for attack because we’re the brightest beacon for freedom and opportunity in the world." ~ George W. Bush, address to the nation, September 11, 2001
"They hate our freedoms: our freedom of religion, our freedom of speech, our freedom to vote and assemble and disagree with each other." ~ George W. Bush, address to Congress, September 20, 2001
Of all the lies of the Bush administration used to justify the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, this one has proven to be the most enduring – and the most wrong.
Tags: Afghanistan, bush, government, iran, iraq, middle east, militarism, Obama, statism, war, war on terror
Cursed Be Unconditional Obedience
Posted by: |"Like all members of the military profession I never had an original thought until I left the service. My mental faculties remained in suspended animation while I obeyed the orders of higher-ups. This is typical with everyone in the military service." ~ Major General Smedley Butler
"If soldiers were to begin to think, not one of them would remain in the army." ~ Frederick the Great
"I find in existence a . . . dangerous concept that the members of the armed forces owe their primary allegiance and loyalty to those who temporarily exercise the authority of the executive branch of the Government, rather than to the country and its Constitution they are sworn to defend. No proposition could be more dangerous." ~ General Douglas MacArthur
"There is one thing in the world more wicked than the desire to command, and that is the will to obey." ~ W. K. Clifford, mathematician and philosopher
After almost ten years of fighting in Afghanistan, the deadliest day for U.S. forces was just a few weeks ago on Saturday, August 6. On that day thirty U.S. military personnel were killed when their helicopter was shot down. The majority of those killed were said to be elite Navy Seals from the same unit that killed Osama bin Laden.
The question that was never asked about this event by any major news media outlet is a question that I (and a few others) have been asking since the war in Afghanistan began: What is the U.S. military doing in Afghanistan?
Tags: Afghanistan, bush, history, iraq, militarism, violence, war, war on terror
Christianity, War, and Ron Paul
Posted by: |This talk was given on August 20 at the Florida Liberty Summit 2011 in Orlando, Florida.
Thank you Campaign for Liberty for the opportunity to speak about a subject I feel so passionate about. I would like to speak to you today about Christianity and War. Although I am a Bible-believing Christian and a theological and cultural conservative, I write extensively about the biblical, economic, and political fallacies of religious people, and especially on the topic of Christianity and war. This is a subject where ignorance abounds in both pulpit and pew, and most of it willful ignorance. This is a subject that exposes Bible scholars as Bible illiterates. This is a subject that turns Christians into disgraceful apologists of the state, its leaders, its military, and its wars. This is a subject that reveals pro-life Christians to be two-faced supporters of wholesale murder.
If there is any group of people that should be opposed to war, torture, militarism, the warfare state, state worship, suppression of civil liberties, an imperial presidency, blind nationalism, government propaganda, and an aggressive foreign policy it is Christians, and especially conservative, evangelical, and fundamentalist Christians who claim to strictly follow the dictates of Scripture and worship the Prince of Peace. It is indeed strange that Christian people should be so accepting of war. War is the greatest suppressor of civil liberties. War is the greatest destroyer of religion, morality, and decency. War is the greatest creator of fertile ground for genocides and atrocities. War is the greatest destroyer of families and young lives. War is the greatest creator of famine, disease, and homelessness. War is the health of the state.
Tags: Afghanistan, christian libertarian, Christianity, ethics, iraq, war
Stay Home, Gabby, Stay Home
Posted by: |The vote in the U.S. House of Representatives on Monday night to raise the debt ceiling by $2.4 trillion was significant in more ways than one. S. 365, which passed by a vote of 269-161, including the support of 174 Republicans, featured the vote of a House member who has been absent all year – Arizona Democrat Gabrielle Giffords.
Giffords was shot on January 8 in Tucson, Arizona, along with eighteen other people, six of whom died. After her brief trip to Washington, Giffords returned to Houston to continue her therapy.
Giffords was elected to Congress the first time in 2006. She took office on January 3, 2007. She was reelected in 2008 and 2010. She is the only member of Congress whose spouse is an active duty member of the military.
Although I wish her well and hope she makes a full recovery from her horrific head injury, I equally wish that she would stay home and not cast any more votes in Congress.
The following is a list of all the congressional appropriations that include war-related funding from the time that Giffords took office until the time she was shot:
- FY2007 Continuing Resolution, H.J.RES.20, P.L. 110-5, 2/15/07, $1.8 billion
- FY2007 Supplemental, H.R.2206, P.L. 110-28, 5/25/07, $98.7 billion
- FY2008 Continuing Resolution, H.J.Res.52, P.L. 110-92 9/29/07, $5.2 billion
- FY2008 DOD Appropriations Act, H.R.3222, P.L. 110-116, 11/13/07, $11.6 billion
- FY2008 Consolidated Appropriations Act, H.R.2764, P.L. 110-161, 12/26/07, $73.2 billion
- FY2008 Supplemental Appropriations Act, H.R.2642, P.L. 110-252, 6/30/08, $163.2 billion
- FY2009 Continuing Appropriations Act, H.R.2638, P.L. 110-329, 9/30/08, $4.0 billion
- FY2009 Omnibus Appropriations Act, H.R.1105, P.L. 111-8, 3/11/09, $1.1 billion
- FY2009 Supplemental Appropriations Act, H.R.2346, P.L. 111-32, 6/24/09, $82.5 billion
- FY2010 Consolidated Appropriations Act, H.R.3288, P.L. 111-117, 12/16/09, $8.2 billion
- FY2010 DOD Appropriations Act, Title IX, H.R.3326, P.L. 111-118, 12/19/09, $127.3 billion
- FY2010 Supplemental, H.R.4899, P.L. 111-212, 7/27/10, $34.2 billion
With the exception of the smallest appropriation, $1.1 billion in the FY2009 Omnibus Appropriations Act, Rep. Giffords voted for all of these war-related appropriations. Judging from her voting record in Congress, I see no reason why she voted against this omnibus bill. It certainly wasn’t because she opposed the $1.1 billion in funding for war-related foreign operations of the State Department.
On the other hand, that champion of peace and nonintervention in the House, Rep. Ron Paul, voted against all of these war appropriations, with the exception of the first one, on which he didn’t vote.
I am often criticized for condemning U.S. soldiers for fighting unjust and immoral wars like the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. It is the politicians that send our troops to war, I am told, that I should be criticizing. Although I refuse to exclude the troops since, after all, they are the ones doing the actual fighting, I have nothing but contempt for the architects of these wars, the president who instigated these wars, the president who continued these wars, the neocons who welcomed these wars, the conservatives who defend these wars, the Christians who support these wars, and the Congressmen who continue to fund these wars.
Every member of Congress – Gabby Giffords and every Democrat and Republican – who voted for the above and any of the other war funding has blood on his (or her) hands – the blood of thousands of U.S. soldiers who lost their lives fighting senseless foreign wars. (Not to mention the hundreds of thousands of foreigners killed by U.S. bombs and bullets, but what war supporter cares a whit about them?)
Although not as important as lives lost and ruined, appropriating taxpayer money on senseless and unnecessary wars is the height of fiscal irresponsibility. Any talk of cutting spending to reduce the deficit that doesn’t include cutting off funding for foreign wars is ludicrous. But of course, we are dealing with the U.S. Congress – one of the largest collections of crooks and creeps on the planet.
Originally published on LewRockwell.com on August 4, 2011.
Tags: Afghanistan, iraq, politicians, politics, war, war on terror
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