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
Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here:
Cookie Policy
The war criminals, Bush,Cheney,Rice,Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, and Powell who sold us the war still go on doing what they do.
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.)
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.
UN says fighting has driven 160,000 people towards borders with Jordan and Israeli-occupied Golan Heights
Syrians wait at the border areas near Jordan after they fled from the ongoing military operations Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
Several southern Syrian towns have surrendered to the forces of President Bashar al-Assad, after more than a week of fierce attacks forced tens of thousands of people to flee their homes.
The United Nations says fighting has driven 160,000 people from their homes, towards borders with Jordan and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. Both countries say they will not allow any Syrians to cross.
Rebel fighters are trying to negotiate with Assad’s backer, Russia, as the opposition-held enclave in southern Daraa province rapidly shrinks under airstrikes and ground attacks, but say conditions offered are “hard to accept”.
Daraa is seen as the cradle of the Syrian uprising against Assad, which led to the seven-year civil war, so recapturing it would be both a strategic and propaganda victory for the government.
Fighting, which began on 19 June, continued into Saturday, a second week of conflict that the UN’s Syria envoy has said could match the siege of Aleppo and last year’s assault on eastern Ghouta combined.
The fighting in effect rips up a ceasefire agreed last year between Russia, the US and Jordan. It designated the area around Daraa as a “de-escalation zone” and Washington promised a strong response to any campaign that violated the agreement.
However, US forces have not taken action to stop attacks, and opposition spokesman Ibrahim Jabawi accused them of having struck a “malicious deal” to stay silent.
AMMAN (Reuters) – The Jordanian army began delivering humanitarian aid to thousands of displaced Syrians who took shelter near its border when major fighting broke out in southern Syria this month, a government spokeswoman said on Saturday.
“This is in line with Jordan’s stance to help our Syrian brothers,” Jumana Ghunaimat told the state news agency.
Damning evidence in UK parliamentary report finds security services had ‘direct awareness’ of Saudi prisoner being waterboarded and suffering other ‘interrogation techniques’
Abu Zubaydah was the only CIA prisoner subjected to all 12 CIA ‘enhanced interrogation techniques’. Photograph: MCT/MCT via Getty Images
British intelligence officers put questions to a man despite knowing he had been subjected to appalling abuse, including being waterboarded 83 times, according to damning evidence contained in a UK parliamentary report published this week.
In the years after 9/11, Abu Zubaydah was the only CIA prisoner who went through all 12 of the agency’s “enhanced interrogation techniques”, including being beaten, deprived of sleep and locked in a small box.
After a four-year inquiry, the all-party intelligence and security committee (ISC) said in its report published on Thursday that MI6 had “direct awareness of extreme mistreatment and possibly torture” of Zubaydah.
Despite this knowledge, from 2002 to at least 2006, MI6 and MI5 sent questions to be put to Zubaydah, the ISC reported. This was during the period he was being waterboarded and suffering other tortures, the committee noted.
While MI6 may not have known the precise details of the abuse, which resulted in the loss of an eye while in custody, the committee found evidence that one of its senior officers, who had knowledge of the conditions, had noted that “98% of US special forces would have been broken” had they been subjected to the same mistreatment.
KIRKUK, Iraq (Reuters) – A car bomb blast in Iraq’s Kirkuk near a storage site housing ballot boxes from elections in May killed one person, police sources said on Sunday.
Police said it was not confirmed yet if the blast was carried out by a suicide attacker or a parked car bomb.
At least 20 people, mainly from police forces who were in charge of protecting the site were wounded, police said.
ISTANBUL — The Turkish military killed eight Kurdish militants in air strikes in northern Iraq and southeastern Turkey at the weekend, it said on Sunday.
The air strikes were carried out on northern Iraq’s Zap region and Turkey’s southeastern provinces of Sirnak and Van, the military tweeted.
Turkey has stepped up strikes on Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) bases in northern Iraq, especially its stronghold in the Qandil mountains. Ankara has said it may launch a ground offensive into Qandil, where it believes high-ranking PKK members are based.
BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Iraq will begin a manual recount of votes on Tuesday from a May parliamentary election clouded by allegations of fraud, a step towards the formation of a new parliament and government.
Only suspect ballots flagged in formal complaints or official reports on fraud will be recounted, a spokesman for the panel of judges conducting the recount said on Saturday.
“The manual recount will be conducted in the presence of representatives from the United Nations, foreign embassies and political parties; as well as local and international observers, members of the media, and the Ministries of Defense and the Interior,” Judge Laith Jabr Hamza said in a statement.
In seven provinces where many complaints of fraud were made — Kirkuk, Sulaimaniya, Erbil, Dohuk, Nineveh, Salahuddin and Anbar — the recount will be conducted by the local electoral offices, Hamza said.
Those ballot boxes which had already been transferred to Baghdad will be recounted in the capital.
LEWISTON, Idaho (AP) — A reunion years in the making was finally completed as U.S. Marine Nick Montez brought home Mally, a bomb-sniffing dog he served with while in Afghanistan.
Montez returned to Lewiston on June 26 with his companion in hand, ready to give his dog a loving family home where she can peacefully spend the rest of her life.
“She’s still just as sweet as she always was,” Montez said.
The duo served in Afghanistan and were responsible for finding improvised explosive devices. They were later separated after they returned to the United States. Montez was honorably discharged from the Marines in 2013, while Mally’s services were still needed.
She spent her time at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas, where she continued to work.
Montez finally got the go-ahead for her adoption in June.
As he stood outside of his home in Lewiston, Mally sniffed around the yard, becoming acquainted with her new surroundings. Under her ear is the tattooed number R798, her military identification number. It matches a tattoo Montez has on the backside of one of his calves — the same numbers, a dog paw and “Mally” across the top. He got the tattoo years before he ever knew Mally’s adoption would become a reality.
He’d lost hope multiple times, but never gave up. Through the years of trying to adopt Mally, the communications with the Air Force base ceased, but then Sen. Mike Crapo sent a letter.
The former Afghan President Hamid Karzai has urged the parties involved in the ongoing conflict to end the war as the Afghan government on Saturday said the ceasefire with the Taliban group has come to an end. In reaction to the declaration of an end to the ceasefire and resumption of the operations, Karzai said
At least five Taliban militants were killed or wounded in an explosion triggered by a roadside bomb in Maidan Wardak province of Afghanistan. The 203rd Thunder Corps of the Afghan Military said the incident took place in the vicinity of Jalrez district after an improvised explosive device planted on a roadside went off targeting a .
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.
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.
WAR DOCUMENTARY: IRAQ A DEADLY DECEPTION ALJAZEERA DOCUMENTARIES 2018 On the evening of 9/11, George W Bush made a vow to the American public – that he would defeat terrorism. Unknown to those listening in shock to the presidential address, the president and his advisers had already begun planning their trajectory into an invasion of Iraq. It was packaged as “holding responsible the states who support terrorism” by Richard Perle, a Pentagon adviser between 2001 and 2003. “I believe it represented a recognition that we would never succeed against the terrorists if we went after them one at a time and as long as governments were facilitating the organisation, training, equipping of, financing of terrorist organisations, we were never going to get it under control,” says Perle. After 100 days spent fighting those who had become publicly accepted as the culprits – Osama bin Laden, al-Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan – the US set the ball rolling for war against Iraq. On the evening of 9/11 the president is saying: well, maybe we’ll be going after Iraq now and somebody said, well, that would be against international law. The president responded: I don’t care, we’re going to kick some ass.
This entry was posted
on Sunday, July 1st, 2018 at 4:00 am and is filed under United States Wars.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
Both comments and pings are currently closed.
