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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=3>I worked with a Carpenter friend of mine today and
yesterday, who has a new son in law who is in the U.S. Army and has so far been
in Iraq and Afganistan and will be going back to Afganisatn within the next 6
months.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Anyway, the stories of his experiences he shared with my
friend are very intersting.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>When he was in Iraq three years ago ( 2006-2007 ) he said
that they trained a local Iraqi police force in a small city and the
U.S.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>military gave this Iraqi police force all sorts of
advanced weapons and vehicles.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>This guy's commanding officer found out that the Iraqi's
had sold the equipment on the black market and pocketed the money, so the
commander ordered his troops to " teach these Iraqis a lesson ".</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>So this guy and his unit ( following specific orders )
went to the Iraqi police station one night, broke-in, and killed every police
officer at the station. They then systematicly hunted down those out and about
in the town on duty patroling and killed them too. Then the remainder, they went
to their individual homes, kicked in their doors and pulled them out of bed in
front of their wives and children and murdered them as well.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>When he was in Afganistan, on three different occasions,
they had run off the Taliban in a certain area and had discovered poppy
fields.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>They contacted their commanding officer via radio to get
permision to burn the poppy fields and each time they were told ; " Do Not
destroy the poppy fields " ! "You are to guard them until the CIA arrives and
turn it over to them." ????</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Is this typical of American foreign policy in action
?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Back in the 1980's Jesse Jackson called American foreign
policy " gangster diplomacy ".</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Well that seems appropriate, because when I heard these
stories, my first thought was ; " Is this our government's deliberate policy or
an episode of Gangland " ?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>David Johnson</FONT></DIV>
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