[Peace-discuss] David Swanson - "Do Mass Killings Bother You?"

Fri Dec 4 13:12:29 EST 2015

-------- Forwarded Message --------
Subject: 	[ufpj-activist] Do Mass Killings Bother You?
Date: 	Fri, 4 Dec 2015 09:41:44 -0500
From: 	David Swanson <davidcnswanson at gmail.com>
To: 	David Swanson <david at davidswanson.org>

    Do Mass Killings Bother You?
    <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__davidswanson.org_node_4996&d=BQMFaQ&c=8hUWFZcy2Z-Za5rBPlktOQ&r=_iuwmBDMEAIAz6k1h--JVoji6x5mlDiImSbbdIp2zWg&m=-Zv9qpQiGEWFyjbykekrEL8huK9uBFyFG7Iu2H8CXNo&s=OFDbMHDmM-oxqhngJRPhTV8r-yKTof1u45E02p9fZSw&e=>

By David Swanson

We now know this. A young man who had successfully killed on a large
scale went to his religious leader with doubts and was told that mass
killing was part of God's plan. The young man continued killing until he
had participated in killing sprees that took 1,626 lives -- men, women,
and children.

I repeat: his death count was not the 16 or 9 or 22 lives that make top
news stories, but 1,626 dead and mutilated bodies.

Do such things bother you?

What if you learned that this young man's name was Brandon Bryant
<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.democracynow.org_2013_10_25_a-5Fdrone-5Fwarriors-5Ftorment-5Fex-5Fair&d=BQMFaQ&c=8hUWFZcy2Z-Za5rBPlktOQ&r=_iuwmBDMEAIAz6k1h--JVoji6x5mlDiImSbbdIp2zWg&m=-Zv9qpQiGEWFyjbykekrEL8huK9uBFyFG7Iu2H8CXNo&s=g6jMFpTHrYQf4Ni9rRE-ffDZADKcGBdkl-H7ZFHGSDU&e=>,
and that he killed as a drone pilot for the U.S. Air Force, and that he
was presented with a certificate for his 1,626 kills and congratulated
on a job well done by the United States of America? What if you learned
that his religious leader was a Christian chaplain?

Do such things still bother you?

What if you learned that most of the people killed by U.S. drones are
civilians? That the pilots "double-tap," meaning that they send a
missile into a wedding party or a house and then wait for people to try
to help the injured and send a second missile into them? That as a
result one hears the injured screaming for hours until they die, as no
one comes to help? That a drone pilot sent a missile into a group of
children from which three children survived who recognized their dead
brothers but had no idea that various pieces of flesh were what was left
of their Mom and Dad and consequently cried out
<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.dronethedocumentary.com&d=BQMFaQ&c=8hUWFZcy2Z-Za5rBPlktOQ&r=_iuwmBDMEAIAz6k1h--JVoji6x5mlDiImSbbdIp2zWg&m=-Zv9qpQiGEWFyjbykekrEL8huK9uBFyFG7Iu2H8CXNo&s=NStK3U8rTvHTrsjpzWqTK61HzF2-vMM1tdaKsVtEp8k&e=>
for those now gone-forever individuals?

Is this troubling?

What if President Obama's claim of few or no civilian deaths was proven
false by well-documented reporting
<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.thebureauinvestigates.com_category_projects_drones_drones-2Dgraphs_&d=BQMFaQ&c=8hUWFZcy2Z-Za5rBPlktOQ&r=_iuwmBDMEAIAz6k1h--JVoji6x5mlDiImSbbdIp2zWg&m=-Zv9qpQiGEWFyjbykekrEL8huK9uBFyFG7Iu2H8CXNo&s=uCWo6Rr3w1hqxyOHIfvfo0q-qR50nUa0e-GolVuknlg&e=>?
And by the fact that most victims are targeted without even knowing
their names?

What if a leading candidate for president in the past week were to both
declare that the way to win a war is to start killing whole families
<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__nymag.com_daily_intelligencer_2015_12_trump-2Don-2Disis-2Dwe-2Dhave-2Dto-2Dkill-2Dtheir-2Dfamilies.html&d=BQMFaQ&c=8hUWFZcy2Z-Za5rBPlktOQ&r=_iuwmBDMEAIAz6k1h--JVoji6x5mlDiImSbbdIp2zWg&m=-Zv9qpQiGEWFyjbykekrEL8huK9uBFyFG7Iu2H8CXNo&s=dvSgja_zosBTefliVpJbTBZ_T_QVPmefO_6KB1w4HQQ&e=>,
and stage a public Christian prayer
<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.youtube.com_watch-3Fv-3DfAgLnnkFOcg&d=BQMFaQ&c=8hUWFZcy2Z-Za5rBPlktOQ&r=_iuwmBDMEAIAz6k1h--JVoji6x5mlDiImSbbdIp2zWg&m=-Zv9qpQiGEWFyjbykekrEL8huK9uBFyFG7Iu2H8CXNo&s=vh7TVtC-MY6vur_2W3cKHfjrPkoV7KLk4mtiRDqPw4I&e=>session
in order to win over a certain demographic of voters?

Is that bothering?

What if it became clear that police officers in the United States have
been murdering people at a higher rate
<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__killedbypolice.net_&d=BQMFaQ&c=8hUWFZcy2Z-Za5rBPlktOQ&r=_iuwmBDMEAIAz6k1h--JVoji6x5mlDiImSbbdIp2zWg&m=-Zv9qpQiGEWFyjbykekrEL8huK9uBFyFG7Iu2H8CXNo&s=ZJHQMZE4axapxOE6VxEEynQM5_f_Y4xsLgD6nMCC4IY&e=>
than drone pilots? Would you want to see police videos of their
killings? Would you want to see drone videos of their killings? We have
thus far gained limited access to the former and none to the latter.

What if it were discovered
<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__news.vice.com_article_san-2Dbernardino-2Dresidents-2Dthe-2Dcity-2Dhad-2Dpretty-2Dawful-2Dgun-2Dviolence-2Dbefore-2Dtoday&d=BQMFaQ&c=8hUWFZcy2Z-Za5rBPlktOQ&r=_iuwmBDMEAIAz6k1h--JVoji6x5mlDiImSbbdIp2zWg&m=-Zv9qpQiGEWFyjbykekrEL8huK9uBFyFG7Iu2H8CXNo&s=WgU4pwQ41bDb7zeorUAYs-liDYVsblt-QoaizkQ_0vc&e=>
that gun murders in San Bernardino are almost routine. Would they all be
equally tragic?

My point is not to cease caring about the tragedy that the television
stations tell you to care about. I wish everyone would care 1,000 times
more, and even better do something to take away the guns and the hatred
and the culture of violence and the economic injustice and the alienation.

My point is that there are other tragedies that go unmentioned,
including larger ones. And exploiting one tragedy to fuel hatred toward
a large segment of the human population of earth is madness.

-- 

*/War Is A Lie: Second Edition /will be published by Just World Books on
April 5, 2016. Please buy it online that day. I'll come anywhere in the
world to speak about it. Invite me!
*

*David Swanson *is an author, activist, journalist, and radio host. He
is director of WorldBeyondWar.org
<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__WorldBeyondWar.org&d=BQMFaQ&c=8hUWFZcy2Z-Za5rBPlktOQ&r=_iuwmBDMEAIAz6k1h--JVoji6x5mlDiImSbbdIp2zWg&m=-Zv9qpQiGEWFyjbykekrEL8huK9uBFyFG7Iu2H8CXNo&s=EtBVgSDFGb3ocn0Lv4qJFYawBHm54EzoX899b8_TAZA&e=>
and campaign coordinator for RootsAction.org
<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__RootsAction.org&d=BQMFaQ&c=8hUWFZcy2Z-Za5rBPlktOQ&r=_iuwmBDMEAIAz6k1h--JVoji6x5mlDiImSbbdIp2zWg&m=-Zv9qpQiGEWFyjbykekrEL8huK9uBFyFG7Iu2H8CXNo&s=Ff7wr0cDGq4O-AUJnju8zNv6dXaaGzYoYxjTC7ur1ro&e=>.
Swanson's books include /War Is A Lie
<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__warisalie.org_&d=BQMFaQ&c=8hUWFZcy2Z-Za5rBPlktOQ&r=_iuwmBDMEAIAz6k1h--JVoji6x5mlDiImSbbdIp2zWg&m=-Zv9qpQiGEWFyjbykekrEL8huK9uBFyFG7Iu2H8CXNo&s=iHevEBEXnBJPt6uxZasnYkvUUWA0sdXVFt3Jf0EFnEM&e=>/.
He blogs at DavidSwanson.org
<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__davidswanson.org_&d=BQMFaQ&c=8hUWFZcy2Z-Za5rBPlktOQ&r=_iuwmBDMEAIAz6k1h--JVoji6x5mlDiImSbbdIp2zWg&m=-Zv9qpQiGEWFyjbykekrEL8huK9uBFyFG7Iu2H8CXNo&s=uzUlZs8PHfPLcpZbvmKvEXK8uAi8mqsJNcUGMgDD7RU&e=>
and WarIsACrime.org
<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__warisacrime.org_&d=BQMFaQ&c=8hUWFZcy2Z-Za5rBPlktOQ&r=_iuwmBDMEAIAz6k1h--JVoji6x5mlDiImSbbdIp2zWg&m=-Zv9qpQiGEWFyjbykekrEL8huK9uBFyFG7Iu2H8CXNo&s=EOhQkwVPtjHequmc3B-FLDBZ2-XV0mEZ_sSFxgTFlTU&e=>.
He hosts Talk Nation Radio
<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__davidswanson.org_taxonomy_term_41&d=BQMFaQ&c=8hUWFZcy2Z-Za5rBPlktOQ&r=_iuwmBDMEAIAz6k1h--JVoji6x5mlDiImSbbdIp2zWg&m=-Zv9qpQiGEWFyjbykekrEL8huK9uBFyFG7Iu2H8CXNo&s=M2VXMVhU2uNUnhL-ZG2Xwatbc5Bu5EFLr7kI9zHXSpE&e=>.**He
is a 2015 Nobel Peace Prize Nominee
<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__davidswanson.org_node_4682&d=BQMFaQ&c=8hUWFZcy2Z-Za5rBPlktOQ&r=_iuwmBDMEAIAz6k1h--JVoji6x5mlDiImSbbdIp2zWg&m=-Zv9qpQiGEWFyjbykekrEL8huK9uBFyFG7Iu2H8CXNo&s=TuaFIAqJoxyrGkFol_vqCSBSAumHuYEeTirWv0pNb94&e=>.

Follow him on Twitter: @davidcnswanson
<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__twitter.com_davidcnswanson&d=BQMFaQ&c=8hUWFZcy2Z-Za5rBPlktOQ&r=_iuwmBDMEAIAz6k1h--JVoji6x5mlDiImSbbdIp2zWg&m=-Zv9qpQiGEWFyjbykekrEL8huK9uBFyFG7Iu2H8CXNo&s=MqkoA7to4vndg2Xuih703BfU2jija-6e2vZlG4Dx3x4&e=>
and FaceBook
<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.facebook.com_pages_David-2DSwanson_297768373319-23&d=BQMFaQ&c=8hUWFZcy2Z-Za5rBPlktOQ&r=_iuwmBDMEAIAz6k1h--JVoji6x5mlDiImSbbdIp2zWg&m=-Zv9qpQiGEWFyjbykekrEL8huK9uBFyFG7Iu2H8CXNo&s=lPTSpgUspONrWFIJoDDIi_KnmOYCkpfYNS59_WD7UcM&e=>.

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