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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The war criminals, Bush,Cheney,Rice,Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, Powell and Blair from England
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.
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.
The McGlynn
Iraq A Deadly Deception – War Documentary 2018
WAR DOCUMENTARY: IRAQ A DEADLY DECEPTION ALJAZEERA DOCUMENTARIES
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.
BEIRUT (Reuters) – The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Council (SDC) said on Saturday that it and the Syrian government had decided at a meeting to form committees to develop negotiations to end violence in Syria.
The committees would “chart a roadmap to a democratic, decentralized Syria”, said the SDC, the political wing of the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
The talks in Damascus this week pointed to moves by the Kurdish-led authorities in the quarter of Syria east of the Euphrates to seek a deal with President Bashar al-Assad to preserve their autonomy……………………However, negotiations with Damascus raise new questions for U.S. policy in Syria, where the U.S. military has deployed into SDF-held territory during the campaign against Islamic State insurgents.
The Syrian Kurds have grown wary of the United States, put on guard by conflicting statements over U.S. plans in Syria.
MIZANAZ, Syria (Reuters) – Fearing for his life, Daman Ayed registered to be evacuated from Syria along with hundreds of other members of the White Helmets rescue service, hoping for a new life in Canada.
People internally displaced from Deraa province walk near their belongings at a temporary camp at Aleppo countryside, Syria July 23, 2018. REUTERS/ Khalil Ashawi
But the 20-year-old was not among the several hundred people who were spirited out of the country last weekend over the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and into Jordan. When the list of names approved for evacuation arrived, his was not on it.
“They told us at midnight that the names had come. We were surprised how many names had not been approved,” said Ayed. Only two of the people working at his rescue center were on the list.
Instead, he joined thousands of other people boarding buses for opposition territory in northwest Syria under the terms of the rebels’ surrender to the government.
Many of the rescue workers and their families originally supposed to join the evacuation were not able to reach the frontier because of fighting, the White Helmets said.
Of about 800 people, including about 250 White Helmets, along with 550 family members, in the plans, only about 100 rescue workers and about 300 relatives were able to cross through the Golan Heights and Jordan.
However, other White Helmets, including Ayed, were never cleared for evacuation. “We sent these lists…and some names were refused and some names were accepted,” said Ammar al-Selmo, a White Helmet working at the group’s headquarters in Turkey.
Britain, Canada and Germany were among the countries that offered resettlement and helped to arrange the evacuation.
UNITED NATIONS — Russia and the West sparred over the reconstruction of Syria on Friday as its military forces continue to capture opposition-held territory and Syrians express hope that the country’s seven-year civil war is nearing an end.
France’s U.N. Ambassador Francois Delattre made clear at a Security Council meeting that the European Union will not participate in rebuilding Syria “unless a political transition is effectively carried out — with constitutional and electoral processes carried out in a sincere and meaningful way.”
Russia’s deputy U.N. ambassador Dmitry Polyansky, whose country is militarily backing Syrian President Bashar Assad, countered that reconstruction should not be linked to politics and the international community should join the country’s recovery effort now.
But Western nations are adamant about withholding reconstruction money to maximize pressure for a political transition.
BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Iraq’s top Shi’ite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani called for a government to be formed as soon as possible to tackle corruption and poor services as further protests took place in the south of the country on Friday.
In a sermon delivered by a representative, Sistani – who is revered by millions of Shi’ites in Iraq and elsewhere – told the incumbent caretaker administration of Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to respond to protesters’ complaints.
“The current government must work hard, urgently, to implement citizens’ demands to reduce their suffering and misery,” Sistani’s representative said in the Shi’ite holy city of Kerbala.
Shortly after the speech, thousands of people protested in cities in the long-neglected south, Iraq’s Shi’ite heartland, against the lack of proper government services and jobs.
In Basra, the main southern oil hub city at the edge of the Gulf, about 2,000 people gathered outside the headquarters of the provincial governorate.
“We need to launch a new war. But this time it should be against corrupted government and not terrorism,” said unemployed Wathiq Abdul Ameer, 32.
Protests were also held in the southern cities of Amara and Nasiriya.
Demonstrations over the same issues have occurred in the past but the recent unrest has been more widespread.
ISLAMABAD (AP) — The Taliban held their first direct contact with a U.S. official in a preliminary discussion about future peace talks on Afghanistan, a senior official with the insurgent group said Saturday. It marked one of the most significant developments amid efforts to find a negotiated end to the country’s protracted war.
The official described as “useful” a meeting with Alice Wells, the U.S.’s top diplomat for South Asia, earlier this week. He said the meeting was held in the small Middle Eastern country of Qatar, where the Taliban have maintained a political office since 2013.
“The environment was positive and the discussion was useful,” the Taliban official told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
U.S. officials neither confirmed nor denied a meeting took place. However, Wells was in Doha, the Qatar capital, this week. In a statement following her return, the State Department said only that Wells had been in Doha, had met with the ruling family and “the United States is exploring all avenues to advance a peace process in close consultation with the Afghan government.”
Any talks about a future political setup would be between the Taliban and the Afghan government, the statement said.
The Taliban have long demanded direct talks with Washington, saying they do not want to talk politics with the U.S. but instead meet face to face to discuss Washington’s concerns __ particularly its security concerns __ about the Taliban and Taliban involvement in Afghanistan’s future. They also say they want a time frame for the withdrawal of the roughly 15,000 U.S. and NATO troops still in Afghanistan.
It wasn’t clear when the next meeting would be held or with whom, but the Taliban official who spoke to The AP was certain one would be held.
A former Taliban minister and ex-head of their political committee, Aga Jan Mohtism, who has maintained close contacts with the insurgent group, also confirmed a meeting in Doha between U.S. officials and the Taliban took place earlier this week.
“The Taliban want to solve their problems with the Americans to end the invasion,” he said.
The Taliban have argued that the Afghan government cannot act independent of Washington. They also say that unless they can allay U.S. concerns about the group, an agreement with Kabul would be meaningless.
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghan officials say a bomb has exploded near a training center for midwives in the capital of eastern Nangarhar province.
Attahullah Khogyani, spokesman for the provincial governor, called the explosion a terrorist attack and said there was a “strong blast” near the Jalalabad city center.
Inamullah Miakhail, spokesman for the provincial health department In Nangarhar, confirmed Saturday’s attack.
Neither officials could say whether there were casualties.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but both Taliban insurgents and Islamic State fighters are active in eastern Afghanistan, especially in Nangarhar.
The Department of Defense announced today the death of an airman who was supporting Operation Inherent Resolve.
Staff Sgt. James T. Grotjan, 26, of Waterford, Connecticut, died July 12 at the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, Germany, from injuries sustained in a non-combat related incident July 8 at Al Dhafra Air Base, United Arab Emirates.
He was assigned to the 4th Civil Engineer Squadron at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, North Carolina.
The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Freedom’s Sentinel.
Sgt. 1st Class Christopher Andrew Celiz, 32, from Summerville, South Carolina, died, July 12, in Afghanistan, of wounds sustained as a result of enemy small arms fire while conducting operations in support of a medical evacuation landing zone in Zurmat district, Paktiya province. The incident is under investigation.
Celiz was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, Hunter Army Airfield, Georgia.
The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Freedom’s Sentinel.
Cpl. Joseph Maciel of South Gate, California, died July 7, 2018, in Tarin Kowt District, Uruzgan Province, Afghanistan from wounds sustained during an apparent insider attack. The incident is under investigation.
Maciel was assigned to 1st Battalion, 28th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Benning, Georgia. Task Force 1-28 Infantry is currently deployed in support of the 1st Security Force Assistance Brigade.
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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