[Peace-discuss] un mec

Sun Aug 14 02:29:31 CDT 2011

In the US today there's quite a conscious campaign - of which we'll hear more in 
the coming month - to assimilate the dead marines to those who died in the 9/11 
attacks, as victims of terrorism and therefore reasons for continuing the 
imperial war.

McGovern's article is a necessary corrective. So are honest accounts of what the 
Obama administration is actually doing in the Greater Middle East, e.g.,

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/south_asia/mh10df01.html

- and of what the weasel-words "the work of securing our country" actually mean.

Too many Americans would agree with the fantastic statement that the marines 
died "to protect our freedom."

On 8/14/11 1:49 AM, E. Wayne Johnson wrote:
>
>
> ...et dabo prodigia in caelo et in terra sanguinem et ignem et vaporem fumi
>
> “We will draw inspiration from their lives,
> and continue the work of securing our country
> and standing up for the values they embodied.”
> - O'bot, commenting on the dead seals.
>
> *
>
> Through some dyslexical fault, every time I see "encomium" I have to pause and 
> differentiate "meconium".
>
> The Powers That Be have planned you a future with few choices.
>
> "The Roman Meal Bakeries just thought you like to know...(*-*)"
>
> *
> Ray McGovern makes some comments about the encomial meconium (or is the other 
> way around?) ---
>
>
> They Died in Vain; Deal With It
>
> Posted By Ray McGovern
>
> http://original.antiwar.com/mcgovern/2011/08/08/they-died-in-vain-deal-with-it/print/ 
>
>
> Many of those preaching at American church services Sunday extolled as 
> “heroes” the 30 American and 8 Afghan troops killed Saturday west of Kabul, 
> when a helicopter on a night mission crashed, apparently after taking fire 
> from Taliban forces. This week, the Fawning Corporate Media (FCM) can be 
> expected to beat a steady drumbeat of “they shall not have died in vain.”
>
> But they did. I know it is a hard truth, but they did die in vain.
>
> As in the past, churches across the country will keep praising the fallen 
> troops for protecting “our way of life,” and few can demur, given the tragic 
> circumstances.
>
> But, sadly, such accolades are, at best, misguided — at worst, dishonest. Most 
> preachers do not have a clue as to what U.S. forces are doing in Afghanistan 
> and why. Many prefer not to think about it. There are some who do know better, 
> but virtually all in that category eventually opt to punt.
>
> Should we fault the preachers as they reach for words designed to give comfort 
> to those in their congregations mourning the deaths of so many young troops? 
> As hard as it might seem, I believe we can do no other than fault — and 
> confront — them. However well-meaning their intentions, their negligence and 
> timidity in confronting basic war issues merely help to perpetuate unnecessary 
> killing. It is high time to hold preachers accountable.
>
> Many preachers are alert and open enough to see through the propaganda for 
> perpetual war. But most will not take the risk of offending their flock with 
> unpalatable truth. Better not to risk protests from the super-patriots — many 
> of them with deep pockets — in the pews. And better to avoid, at all costs, 
> offending the loved ones of those who have been killed — loved ones who can 
> hardly be faulted for trying desperately to find some meaning in the snuffing 
> out of young lives.
>
> Far better to pray for those already killed and those who in the future will 
> “give the last full measure of devotion to our country.” In sum, by and large, 
> American preachers are afraid to tell the truth. They lack the virtue that 
> Thomas Aquinas taught is the foundation of all virtue — courage. Aquinas wrote 
> (to translate into the vernacular) that all other virtue is specious if you 
> have no guts.
>
> Writer James Hollingsworth hit the nail on the head: “Courage is not the 
> absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important 
> than fear.” Like the truth.
>
> Those who often seem to ache the most in the face of unnecessary death are 
> mothers. Many mothers do summon the courage to say — and say loudly — ENOUGH. 
> Yes, my son (or daughter) died for no good purpose, they are strong enough to 
> acknowledge, painfully but honestly. He (she) did die in vain. Now we must all 
> deal with it. Stop the false patriotism. And, most important, stop the killing.
>
> Cindy Sheehan, whose 25-year-old son Casey was killed in Iraq in 2004, is one 
> such mother. She and others have tried to put a dent into the strange logic 
> that attempts to translate unnecessary death into justification for still more 
> unnecessary death. But they get little air or ink in the Fawning Corporate 
> Media. Rather, what you will hear in the days ahead from the FCM is well-honed 
> rhetoric not only about how our troops “cannot have died in vain,” but also 
> that Americans must now redouble our resolve to “honor their sacrifice.”
>
> President Barack Obama set the tone on Saturday:
>
> “We will draw inspiration from their lives, and continue the work of securing 
> our country and standing up for the values they embodied.”
>
> Gen. John R. Allen, the top U.S. general in Afghanistan, also primed the pump 
> for the FCM, saying Saturday, “All of those killed in this operation were true 
> heroes who had already given so much in the defense of freedom.”
>
> And the Joint Chiefs chairman went even further in professing to know “what 
> our fallen would have wanted” us to do — namely, “keep fighting.” Adm. Mike 
> Mullen added that “it is certainly what we are going to do.” All this was duly 
> reported in Sunday’s Washington Post and other leading U.S. newspapers 
> —without much comment.
>
> Over the next several days, TV viewers will get a steady diet of this kind of 
> disingenuous logic from talk show hosts feeding on the grist from Obama, 
> Mullen, Allen, and others. After all, many pundits work for news organizations 
> owned or allied with some of the same corporations profiteering from war.
>
> Too bad CBS’s legendary Edward R. Murrow is long since dead, and the widely 
> respected Walter Cronkite, as well. Taking the CBS baton from Murrow, who had 
> challenged the “red scare” witch hunt of Sen. Joe McCarthy, Cronkite gradually 
> saw through the dishonesty responsible for the killing of so many in Vietnam. 
> He finally spoke up, and said, in effect, any more who die will have died in 
> vain.
>
>
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