[Peace-discuss] Tony's comments

Mon Oct 19 07:50:07 CDT 2009

Again the mis-statements and distortions:

Mr. Estabrook reduces Mr. Stewart's work to "walked across Afghanistan";  he ignores the far more important point:  "...interacting at length with thousands of people who live within the villages of Afghanistan..."  It is those countless hours of contact with actual Afghani villagers which permits Mr. Stewart a far better understanding of the situation there than anyone possesses here in central Illinois.

And Mr. Estabrook states that I support "...a continuation of the killing..."  No, the exact opposite is true-- I support the prevention of killing.  My entire life's work has been devoted to maintaining life and providing comfort to my fellow man. The work of Special Operations is far more diverse than described here by Mr. Estabrook.

I'll soon be leaving your listserv, Mr. Estabrook.  I would encourage you to stay closer to the truth in the future.  And to the other readers, whether Mr. Estabrook likes it or not, our current Congressman brought you the war in Iraq, and he quietly sat by for eight years while the war in Afghanistan was expanded-- "developing principle" only when a majority of the American public had finally seen the truth of the matter there.  When the next conflict begins, if 80% of voters in Illinois-15 support it, Career Politician Mr. Johnson will again be screaming "We have to kill them there before they kill us here."

David Gill

----- Original Message ----
From: C. G. Estabrook <galliher at illinois.edu>
To: David Gill <docgill37 at yahoo.com>
Cc: unionyes <unionyes at ameritech.net>; Peace-discuss List <peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net>
Sent: Sun, October 18, 2009 2:42:47 PM
Subject: Re: [Peace-discuss] Tony's comments

Rory Stewart is undoubtedly a Brit, and I'd suggest reading what he's written
and what's been written about him to see whether I'm justified in calling him
"peculiar."  (I'll append the URLs.)

It's more disturbing that David Gill prefers Stewart's views to those of "anyone
... on this listserv" because he (Stewart) walked across Afghanistan and wrote a
book about it.  Perhaps on the strength of that book, Stewart was recently
appointed head of the Carr Center, a think tank in the Kennedy School at Harvard
and a well-known locus for the support of liberal interventionism; its
best-known director wrote in favor of torture during the Iraq war.

What's being said is more important than who's saying it, and Stewart (and Gill)
say that they are in favor of the continuation of the killing by "a relatively
small number [namely, 10,000 to 20,000] of Special Operations Forces."  Special
operations are specifically assassination and the establishment of death squads,
and the director of these operations, Stanley McChrystal, was appointed by Obama
to be his overall commander in Afghanistan.

That's certainly a substantial involvement in Afghan "internal decisions."  I
(and apparently an increasing number of Americans) prefer a withdrawal of
American troops -- which (in contrast to Congressional candidate Gill) seems to
be supported by Representatives Ron Paul (R-TX), Jim McGovern (D-MA), Jerry
Costello (D-IL 12), and Tim Johnson (D-IL 15).  --CGE

By and about Rory Stewart:
<http://www.lrb.co.uk/v31/n13/stew01_.html>;
<http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/c7414148-7d60-11de-b8ee-00144feabdc0.html>; and
<http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2009/may/17/rory-stewart-afghanistan-traditional-skills>.

David Gill wrote:
> Estabrook needlessly editorializes when describing Stewart as a "peculiar Brit".  Once more, I repeat, when Estabrook or anyone else on this listserv has spent time interacting at length with thousands of people who live within
>  the villages of Afghanistan, perhaps then they might have a thorough understanding of how best to minimize hardship in the lives of the Afghani people.
> 
> As for the forgiving of Mr. Johnson: based on his history, I have little doubt, that when the next conflict is being debated, that if it is strongly supported by the American public, that Mr. Johnson will be fully behind it.
> 
> Regarding Iraq:  I was publicly against our involvement there from the time I
>  began my initial campaign in December, 2002, and I have always opposed our involvement there.t's certainly
> 
> Regarding Afghanistan, I oppose the concept of "nation-building" there through military action, and I view issues related to the Taliban as items that should be dealt with by the Afghani people themselves-- their opinions of the Taliban vary widely, and I don't think it is the business of America to be involved with their internal decisions.
> 
> I support drawing down American forces, leaving in place a relatively small number of Special Operations Forces, to prevent the re-establishment of Al-Qaida training camps.  I would encourage all to watch the interview with Rory Stewart on "Bill Moyers Journal" : http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/09252009/profile.html
> 
> David Gill
> 
> 
> ----- Original Message ---- From: C. G. Estabrook <galliher at illinois.edu> To:
>  unionyes <unionyes at ameritech.net> Cc: Peace-discuss List <peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net>; David Gill <docgill37 at yahoo.com> Sent: Sat, October 17, 2009 4:36:00 PM Subject: Re: [Peace-discuss] Tony's comments
> 
> 
> 
> No, he doesn't.
> 
> He supports some version of Obama's war -- by "10,000 to 20,000 special operations forces in [Afghanistan] to prevent any further expansion of al-Qaida."
> 
> He says he "respects the opinion on the subject [of] Mr. [Rory] Stewart." Stewart, a peculiar Brit, walked across Afghanistan and wrote a book about it: he has no principled objection to the occupation of Afghanistan, but he doesn't think the US (and the UK) are doing it very well.
> 
> Stewart now heads that propaganda mill, the Carr Center at Harvard, the ornament of which is the awful Samantha Power, apologist for Clinton's war on
>  Serbia. (The former director was the even worse Michael Ignatieff.) For more
>  on Stewart's views, see
> 
> <http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/c7414148-7d60-11de-b8ee-00144feabdc0.html>; and <http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2009/may/17/rory-stewart-afghanistan-traditional-skills>.
> 
> 
> 
> Gill is (perhaps unintentionally) misleading when he says that he is not "as forgiving toward Mr. Johnson as Mr. Estabrook seems to be."  He knows perfectly well that I condemned Johnson's views on Iraq when I ran against him and afterwards.  I haven't changed my views, but Johnson seems to have changed his, in that he now calls for withdrawal from Afghanistan -- which Gill opposes.
> 
> Like many people, Democrats and others, understandably embarrassed about their support for murder in Afghanistan now, Gill seems to prefer to talk about the actions of the previous administration.  --CGE
> 
> 
> unionyes wrote:
>> So what is your position on Afganistan ?
>> 
>> Maybe I was misinformed !
>> 
>> Do you support a TOTAL U.S. military ( including the U.S. government paid mercenaries, Blackwater et al. ) withdrawl from BOTH Afganistan and Iraq ?
>> 
>> David J.
>> 
>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "David Gill" <docgill37 at yahoo.com> To: "unionyes" <unionyes at ameritech.net> Sent: Friday, October 16, 2009 11:53 PM
>>  Subject: Re: [Peace-discuss] Tony's comments
>> 
>> 
>> David J.: Not at all clear how you've dragged me into being a supporter of the occupation of Iraq-- I've publicly viewed this as a farce since before its inception. And the consequences of that occupation are far too calamitous for me to be as forgiving toward Mr. Johnson as Mr. Estabrook seems to be.
>> 
>> To repeat: there is no "party line" into which I buy. When any of you walk from one end of Afghanistan to the other, by yourself, and spend the time first-hand with an extremely wide variety of Afghani people, in 500 villages, I'll likely accord the same respect to your opinion on the subject as I currently do Mr. Stewart's.
>> 
>> David Gill
>> 
>> ----- Original Message ---- From: unionyes <unionyes at ameritech.net> To: Peace-discuss List <peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net> Sent: Fri, October 16, 2009 6:14:02 PM Subject: Fw: [Peace-discuss] Tony's comments
>> 
>> 
>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "unionyes" <unionyes at ameritech.net> To: <illyes at illinois.edu> Sent: Friday, October 16, 2009 6:11 PM Subject: Re: [Peace-discuss] Tony's comments
>> 
>> 
>>> Bob,
>>> 
>>> Let's be objective about this !
>>> 
>>> WE ( The U.S. Government ) have NO right to have invaded Afganistan and WE certainly do NOT have ANY right to continue to occupy THEIR country !
>>> 
>>> Gill is excellent on the Health Care issue, BUT, he is buying into the " party line " about the continued corporate imperialistic occupation of BOTH Afganistan and Iraq !
>>> 
>>> The wars of terror ( NOT the war on terror ) is continueing and being EXPANDED under Obama, and you know Bob as well as I do, that the money, murder, and mayhem, that we perpetuate abroad, is that much less that is available to spend here at " home " ( in the U.S. ) for Health Care, Green Jobs, etc..
> 
> 
> 
> 