Thomas Paine's version of "you didn't build that":
"Separate an individual from society,and give him an island or a continent to possess,and he cannot acquire personal property. He cannot be rich. So inseparably are the means connected with the end,in all cases,that where the former do not exist the latter cannot be obtained. All accumulation, therefore,of personal property,beyond what a man's own hands produce, is derived to him by living in society; and he owes on every principle of justice,of gratitude,and of civilization,a part of that accumulation back again to society from whence the whole came"
Submitted by Leah
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“Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night” by Dylan Thomas
The War Criminals
How many Iraqis have died as a result of the invasion 15 years ago? Some credible estimates put the number at more than one million. You can read that sentence again.
The invasion of Iraq is often spoken of in our country as a “blunder,” or even a “colossal mistake.” It was a crime.
Those who perpetrated it are still at large. Some of them have even been rehabilitated thanks to the horrors of a mostly amnesiac citizenry. (A year ago Mr. Bush was on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show,” dancing and talking about his paintings.)
The war criminals, Bush,Cheney,Rice,Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, and Powell who sold us the war still go on doing what they do.
We condemned children to death, some after many days of writhing in pain on bloodstained mats, without pain relievers. Some died quickly, wasted by missing arms and legs, crushed heads. As the fluids ran out of their bodies, they appeared like withered, spoiled fruits. They could have lived, certainly should have lived – and laughed and danced, and run and played- but instead they were brutally murdered. Yes, murdered!
The war ended for those children, but it has never ended for survivors who carry memories of them. Likewise, the effects of the U.S. bombings continue, immeasurably and indefensibly.
CAIRO — Yemen’s formal alliance with the UAE may be coming to an end after the latter deployed forces to a Yemeni island, without prior consultation with Yemen’s exiled government, a senior Yemeni official said Saturday.
Over the past few days, the UAE has deployed some 300 soldiers, along with tanks and artillery, to the island of Socotra, which is recognized by UNESCO as a world heritage site, heightening tensions between the two allies.
“The government had no idea whatsoever,” the official said.
The UAE is a major pillar in a Saudi-led coalition fighting Houthi rebels in northern Yemen, under the banner of restoring the authority of self-exiled Yemeni President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi.
The Emiratis, however, have carved out a zone of influence in southern Yemen over the past two years, setting up prisons and militias.
Emirati Minister for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash said that the UAE has historic and family ties to Socotra. He posted his remarks on his official Twitter account on Friday, adding that amid the war in Yemen, “We will support (Socorta’s residents), in stability, health care, education, and living (conditions).”
ANKARA (Reuters) – Turkey will retaliate if the United States halts weapons sales to the country, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Sunday.
In an interview with broadcaster CNN Turk, Cavusoglu said a proposal by lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives to temporarily halt weapons sales, including F-35 jets, to Turkey was wrong, illogical and not fitting of the alliance between the NATO allies.
U.S. lawmakers released details on Friday of a $717 billion annual defense policy bill, including efforts to compete with Russia and China and the measure on weapons sales to Turkey.
Syria has been at war for seven long, deadly years. President Bashar al-Assad’s government is fighting both rebel groups and the jihadists of Islamic State. The northern city of Raqqa has been a key battleground for many factions in the conflict. This is the story of how one peaceful protester there got sucked into the spiralling bloodshed, and became a killer.
Warning: This piece contains descriptions of torture which some readers may find upsetting. Some names have been changed or removed.
Khaled did not simply wake up in Raqqa to the smell of death and dust, and decide to become an assassin.
He was sent a special invitation.
Six men were ordered to report to an airfield in Aleppo, in north-western Syria, where a French trainer would teach them to kill with pistols, silenced weapons, and sniper rifles.
They learned to murder methodically, taking prisoners as their victims.
BAGHDAD (Reuters) – The Iraqi air force carried out a new strike on an Islamic State position inside Syria, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi’s office said in a statement on Sunday.
The strike targeted a position used by the commanders of the group, south of the town of Deshaisha, the statement said.
The Iraqi air force has already carried out several air strikes against the group in Syria since last year, with the approval of the Syrian government of President Bashar al-Assad and the U.S.-led coalition fighting Islamic State.
A group of volunteers collecting unclaimed bodies, most of them thought to be of ISIS fighters, from the ruins of Mosul’s Old City in February.Credit Ivor Prickett for The New York Times
Mosul, Iraq — The garbage men laid out and unzipped each body bag so their supervisor could photograph the remains inside, just in case someone came forward to ask about a missing person.
But it seemed unlikely that anyone would be able to identify their loved ones from those cellphone snapshots, given how decomposed the corpses were. And no DNA was collected for future identification before the bodies were buried in a pit on the edge of a city dump in the outskirts of Mosul.
In the end, it was another pile of unidentified bodies in a mass grave, like so many others in a country plagued by violence. This time, most of the dead were believed to be Islamic State fighters killed in the final stages of the battle for Mosul. City workers said that since August of last year, they had retrieved and buried an estimated 950 such bodies.
The municipality has struggled to keep pace with the return of residents after the expulsion of the Islamic State nearly a year ago, and Mosul does not have the personnel to focus on clearing bodies and unexploded ordnance.
So the city enlisted garbage men to help with these grim tasks, which they were never trained for.
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — A vehicle carrying shopkeepers on their way to a market has struck a roadside bomb in Afghanistan’s northern Faryab province, killing seven of them.
Police spokesman Karim Yuresh says another civilian was wounded in Sunday’s attack, in an area where the Taliban and an Islamic State affiliate are active.
In the eastern Paktia province, a car bomb killed two people and wounded another three. Abdullah Hsart, the provincial governor’s spokesman, says the attack late Saturday targeted Hazart Mohammad Rodwal, a district chief, who was among the wounded. The Taliban claimed the attack.
KABUL — Afghan forces backed by air strikes have retaken a district in the northern province of Badakhshan that was seized last week by Taliban insurgents, officials said, as fighting continued across Afghanistan.
Provincial police spokesman Sanaullah Rohani said Kohistan district, which fell to the insurgents on Thursday, was retaken by army and police forces backed by air support on Saturday. Taliban fighters were also pushed back in Teshkan district, where they had taken a number of checkpoints.
“The Taliban suffered heavy casualties, but there is no updated information on the exact number as the area is remote and the telecommunication system weak,” he said.
With the Taliban’s annual spring offensive well under way, there was violence in several parts of the country.
Late on Saturday, a district governor in Paktia province, on the border with Pakistan, was among five people wounded in a car bomb explosion, Abdullah Hasrat, spokesman for the Paktia provincial governor said.
KABUL — At least 31 Taliban militants were killed by Afghan security forces backed by U.S. air strikes in Afghanistan’s central Ghazni province, as the Afghan army battled to protect a key highway, officials said on Saturday.
Mohammad Arif Noori, the spokesman for the provincial governor, said the militants were planning to wrest control of an arterial road and had attacked many security check posts.
“With the help of U.S. air forces, the Taliban militants have been pushed back from the areas near Ghazni-Paktika highway, but the road is still closed due to serious damages caused by the Taliban,” said Noori.
During clashes on Friday, two civilians were killed and four were injured when a mortar shell hit a home in the Andar district. Andar is one of the unstable districts of Ghazni province, 95 miles (153 km) southwest of the capital, Kabul.
In a separate incident, two militants were killed when explosives went off on a highway in Ghazni.
The Afghan security forces have thwarted a plot by the anti-government armed militants to carry out a roadside bomb explosion in capital Kabul. The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) officials said Saturday that an improvised explosive device planted on a roadside was discovered and defused in the vicinity of Qarabagh district. The officials further added that .
The Afghan defense officials are saying that the Taliban militants have suffered heavy casualties during the operations in southeastern Ghazni province of Afghanistan. The deputy spokesman for the Ministry of Defense (MoD) Gen. Mohammad Radmanish told reporters a total of 60 militants were killed and 33 others sustained injuries in the past 24 hours. Gen. .
The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Freedom’s Sentinel.
Spc. Gabriel D. Conde, 22, of Loveland, Colorado, was killed in action April 30 as a result of enemy small arms fire in Tagab District, Afghanistan. The incident is under investign.
Conde was assigned to 3rd Battalion, 509th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division, U.S. Army Alaska, Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska.
The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Inherent Resolve.
Master Sgt. Jonathan J. Dunbar, 36, of Austin, Texas, died March 30 in Manbij, Syria as a result of injuries when an improvised explosive device (IED) detonated near his patrol. The incident is under investigation. Dunbar was assigned to Headquarters, U.S. Army Special Operations Command, Ft Bragg, North Carolina.
All VA Medical Centers provide PTSD care, as well as many VA clinics.Some VA’s have programs specializing in PTSD treatment. Use the VA PTSD ProgramLocator to find a PTSD program.If you are a war Veteran, find a Vet Center to help with the transition from military to civilian life.
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Thanks for sharing Dylan Thomas.