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UglyGreed

(7,661 posts)
Mon Jun 25, 2012, 09:20 AM Jun 2012

Heroes

Do not call them “heroes”
if they have done your killing for you.
Say that they have done your bidding;
say they were your “soldiers.”

Say that you have trained them well:
They are the oiled machinations of war,
performing as expected.
Refrain from saying “professionals,”
and the usual nonsense about “surgical strikes.”
They were never doctors and nurses
in starched, white linens.

The best heroes are dead ones—
mortified and mortared.
They neither complain nor contradict.
They don’t re-live “friendly fire” incidents,
the sonofabitch sargeant-sadist,
nor the rapist in their midst.
They don’t see again
the faces of traumatized children.
Their bones stretch to attention under the sod.

The man and woman who will kill and injure
because some fool tells them to
are just little spin-off fools.
No act born of ignorance is heroic.
Heroes are sensible, not imbeciles.
Heroes dispel myths; they neither create
nor perpetuate them.

The fully manifested hero,
aware of his power and dignity,
is more than human, is humane.

Heroes don’t talk about heroes.
They need no confetti showered in their faces.
They question; they learn; they challenge; they act
according to their own honed principles:
What is truth? for example;
what is honor?

http://dissidentvoice.org/2012/01/heroes/#more-41025

37 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Heroes (Original Post) UglyGreed Jun 2012 OP
In The Middle UglyGreed Jun 2012 #1
Human Anatomy UglyGreed Jun 2012 #2
you're an idiot eom Nuclear Unicorn Jun 2012 #3
When the Soviet Union Occupied Afghanistan UglyGreed Jun 2012 #4
If you can't tell the difference between Obama and Brezhnev then you really are an idiot. Nuclear Unicorn Jun 2012 #6
Respectfully disagree. H2O Man Jun 2012 #7
Obama is not in Afghanistan on a mission of malicious empire building Nuclear Unicorn Jun 2012 #8
It must be H2O Man Jun 2012 #10
Isn't self-publishing great? MineralMan Jun 2012 #5
Most times I respect your words, MM.. 99Forever Jun 2012 #9
Well said. H2O Man Jun 2012 #11
Oddly enough, I'm a big fan of poetry, MineralMan Jun 2012 #14
MM, here's a war poem you might enjoy. coalition_unwilling Jun 2012 #19
Thanks. I remember that one. MineralMan Jun 2012 #20
+1 SixString Jun 2012 #12
I'll explain. MineralMan Jun 2012 #13
I really didn't need you to .. 99Forever Jun 2012 #15
Well, then, think less of me too. cliffordu Jun 2012 #16
Who exactly are you? 99Forever Jun 2012 #18
We could all ask the same question of each other. MineralMan Jun 2012 #21
That was not addressed to you MM. 99Forever Jun 2012 #22
Yes, I realize that. MineralMan Jun 2012 #23
Ahh... I see! 99Forever Jun 2012 #27
OK. You will judge my words as you judge them. MineralMan Jun 2012 #17
hero is a difficult concept imo- Bluerthanblue Jul 2012 #34
Sneak home and pray you'll never know The hell where youth and laughter go... LanternWaste Jun 2012 #25
Why not post the whole poem? MineralMan Jun 2012 #26
Precisely-- decrying them or cheering them-- not merely the one, are both unseemly. LanternWaste Jun 2012 #29
Albert Einstein agrees. Tierra_y_Libertad Jun 2012 #24
There's an awesome song by Avenged Sevenfold called Critical Acclaim soc7 Jun 2012 #28
Don't quit your day job. Marinedem Jun 2012 #30
Uh.... it may be an "angsty, mediocre lash out"... but it's exactly the opposite soc7 Jun 2012 #31
Crusades in The 21st Century UglyGreed Jul 2012 #32
Crusades UglyGreed Jul 2012 #33
Veterans Forced To Attend Anti-Union Meetings UglyGreed Jul 2012 #35
Support Our Oppressors UglyGreed Jul 2012 #36
How the American Military Machine Endangers the Whole World UglyGreed Jul 2012 #37

UglyGreed

(7,661 posts)
4. When the Soviet Union Occupied Afghanistan
Wed Jun 27, 2012, 10:19 AM
Jun 2012

I bet you thought they were the bad guys. Thanks for the reply

H2O Man

(73,224 posts)
7. Respectfully disagree.
Wed Jun 27, 2012, 10:36 AM
Jun 2012

I do not think that the Afghan people who do not want any foreign power to invade their land -- be it the USSR or USA -- are idiots. Nor do I think the innocent people who are injured or killed are idiots for not making such a distinction.

More, I think that it is important for US citizens to be vocal in pressuring their elected representatives to end the military occupation of Afghanistan. And it makes no difference if the name the elected representative is known by -- be it Obama, Brezhnev, or Bush.

Nuclear Unicorn

(19,497 posts)
8. Obama is not in Afghanistan on a mission of malicious empire building
Wed Jun 27, 2012, 10:39 AM
Jun 2012

Nor are the soldiers he commands rapists and sadists by trade. Breznhev wasn't pursuing al Qaeda and civilian deaths weren't even the subject of a debate, they were an object of policy.

H2O Man

(73,224 posts)
10. It must be
Wed Jun 27, 2012, 10:55 AM
Jun 2012

reassuring to be able to view some occupying forces as wearing black hats, and others as wearing white hats.

I am not going to venture a guess on if the topic of civilian deaths were a subject of debate in the Soviet Union, for anyone on this forum who does so is simply guessing. More, the fact that US citizens are able to openly debate this topic can only be viewed as making such a debate a greater responsibility ..... one the OP does, no matter if one agrees or disagrees with the opinion expressed. Calling someone an "idiot" for doing so adds little of substance to the debate.

The initial military response in Afghanistan was, I believe, aimed at al Qaeda. What has followed in the past eight years or so has not, as the estimated number of al Qaeda is about a dozen individuals. The continued military occupation of that land can only cause more and more people to hate the United States.

MineralMan

(146,116 posts)
5. Isn't self-publishing great?
Wed Jun 27, 2012, 10:19 AM
Jun 2012

No editors. Nobody deciding whether a poem is a good poem or not. The Internet! What a place!

99Forever

(14,524 posts)
9. Most times I respect your words, MM..
Wed Jun 27, 2012, 10:42 AM
Jun 2012

... this time however, I find them snarky and petty. They say much about you and little about the OP, who was doing precisely what this forum is all about, expressing an opinion about a public issue.

H2O Man

(73,224 posts)
11. Well said.
Wed Jun 27, 2012, 10:57 AM
Jun 2012

I don't think we've seen MM express the same contempt for someone posting their thoughts in paragraph form.

MineralMan

(146,116 posts)
14. Oddly enough, I'm a big fan of poetry,
Wed Jun 27, 2012, 11:18 AM
Jun 2012

and have had a number of my own poems appear in literary publications over the years. I'm not writing poetry these days, but I have a very strong appreciation for it. Here is one of my favorites, from WWI. Written by Henry Reed, it lays out the futility, absurdity, and waste of war. It is one of the most powerful anti-war poems I know:

LESSONS OF THE WAR

To Alan Michell
Vixi duellis nuper idoneus
Et militavi non sine gloria

I. NAMING OF PARTS

To-day we have naming of parts. Yesterday,
We had daily cleaning. And to-morrow morning,
We shall have what to do after firing. But to-day,
To-day we have naming of parts. Japonica
Glistens like coral in all of the neighboring gardens,
And to-day we have naming of parts.

This is the lower sling swivel. And this
Is the upper sling swivel, whose use you will see,
When you are given your slings. And this is the piling swivel,
Which in your case you have not got. The branches
Hold in the gardens their silent, eloquent gestures,
Which in our case we have not got.

This is the safety-catch, which is always released
With an easy flick of the thumb. And please do not let me
See anyone using his finger. You can do it quite easy
If you have any strength in your thumb. The blossoms
Are fragile and motionless, never letting anyone see
Any of them using their finger.

And this you can see is the bolt. The purpose of this
Is to open the breech, as you see. We can slide it
Rapidly backwards and forwards: we call this
Easing the spring. And rapidly backwards and forwards
The early bees are assaulting and fumbling the flowers:
They call it easing the Spring.

They call it easing the Spring: it is perfectly easy
If you have any strength in your thumb: like the bolt,
And the breech, and the cocking-piece, and the point of balance,
Which in our case we have not got; and the almond-blossom
Silent in all of the gardens and the bees going backwards and forwards,
For to-day we have naming of parts.


Here's another, from WWII, that is also a favorite of mine, and relates directly to my father's WWII service:

The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner

From my mother's sleep I fell into the State,
And I hunched in its belly till my wet fur froze.
Six miles from earth, loosed from its dream of life,
I woke to black flak and the nightmare fighters.
When I died they washed me out of the turret with a hose.
Randall Jarrell


No, anti-war poetry is something I'm very familiar with. Some poems are excellent. Others are not.
 

coalition_unwilling

(14,180 posts)
19. MM, here's a war poem you might enjoy.
Wed Jun 27, 2012, 01:20 PM
Jun 2012

my sweet old etcetera
e.e. cummings

my sweet old etcetera
aunt lucy during the recent

war could and what
is more did tell you just
what everybody was fighting

for,
my sister

Isabel created hundreds
(and
hundreds)of socks not to
mention fleaproof earwarmers
etcetera wristers etcetera, my
mother hoped that

i would die etcetera
bravely of course my father used
to become hoarse talking about how it was
a privilege and if only he
could meanwhile my

self etcetera lay quietly
in the deep mud et

cetera
(dreaming,
et
cetera, of
Your smile
eyes knees and of your Etcetera)

********************

cummings' stock has fallen among the literati, but I still like his work

MineralMan

(146,116 posts)
20. Thanks. I remember that one.
Wed Jun 27, 2012, 01:44 PM
Jun 2012

But I hadn't thought of it for some time, so thanks.

As far as e.e. cumming's stock among the literati is concerned, I don't really care. He was a clever fellow, and wrote a number of poems I've enjoyed.

MineralMan

(146,116 posts)
13. I'll explain.
Wed Jun 27, 2012, 11:11 AM
Jun 2012

For four generations, members of my family have served in the military during wartime. I take insults about people who do that very seriously. I will always take them seriously. My maternal grandfather was gassed during WWI, and suffered from lung disease the rest of his life. My father piloted B-17s during WWII, and was injured by flak. My paternal great-grandfather was a union soldier, but I know little of his service. I served in the USAF during the Vietnam era in a completely non-combat position.

Poems that diminish the service of all those who have served in wartime generate in me a certain disgust. They always will. I have no love for warfare. History demonstrates what warfare happens, though. When it does, ordinary people often do extraordinary things, based on whatever reasons they served in the military. They did not start the wars. They did not enjoy the wars. Were they just dupes? I think not.

I found this poem distasteful, at best. My response to it is in my post. You can agree or disagree with my opinion, but I was also doing just what this forum is all about, expressing an opinion about a public issue.

99Forever

(14,524 posts)
15. I really didn't need you to ..
Wed Jun 27, 2012, 12:52 PM
Jun 2012

... explain why you posted a denigrating, snarky reply to the person, it was quite evident in your condescending words. You buy the meme that those who dare ever speak ill of those in uniform or question the horrible things that armies do, and believe that "heros" are something besides those, that for good or bad, wage violence and destruction on their fellow human beings, must be painted as less than you. I GET IT. I simply thought more of you than I should have, it will color your posts for me, seeing this rather unexpected side of you.

cliffordu

(30,994 posts)
16. Well, then, think less of me too.
Wed Jun 27, 2012, 01:02 PM
Jun 2012

I stand with MM on this. Our families are almost identical in their service.

But unlike MM, who is reasonable and well spoken, after I thought about you and what you said for the last few minutes and then thinking about the men and women I served with,

The only thing I can come up with is that I don't give a rats ass what you think.

Sorry, I thought more of you than I should have.

MineralMan

(146,116 posts)
21. We could all ask the same question of each other.
Wed Jun 27, 2012, 01:47 PM
Jun 2012

The only thing we have in common is DU, and we're all more or less unknown to each other. I did not ask that question of you, although I didn't know the answer to it. It's irrelevant, really. Every post on DU can be answered by any DUer. That is the beauty of this website. Who each of us is, exactly, isn't really an issue.

99Forever

(14,524 posts)
22. That was not addressed to you MM.
Wed Jun 27, 2012, 02:01 PM
Jun 2012

I have on occasion, I think exchanged with you and always found you to be civil. I have no words of anger for you, just disappointment. However, I honestly have no idea who this Clifford person is, so I asked. I also have no idea of why that would be offensive to anyone.

MineralMan

(146,116 posts)
23. Yes, I realize that.
Wed Jun 27, 2012, 02:13 PM
Jun 2012

However, posts made in public threads are not private, and anyone can reply. Nobody is required to reveal any information about themselves on DU. Some do reveal some personal information, as I do. Others reveal no information. Truly, we don't know who almost anyone is on DU, really. It's an irrelevant question here, to tell the truth.

99Forever

(14,524 posts)
27. Ahh... I see!
Wed Jun 27, 2012, 03:02 PM
Jun 2012

You've been appointed Relevancy Czar.

Thanks for clearing that up. I'll send any further questions I might have of anyone to you for pre-screening.




MineralMan

(146,116 posts)
17. OK. You will judge my words as you judge them.
Wed Jun 27, 2012, 01:03 PM
Jun 2012

My personal definition of "hero" has nothing to do with the violence of war. It has to do with self-sacrificing acts done in aid of another person or persons.

I do not claim that those who fight in the military during wartime are heroes. Some turn out to be, but not for waging war.

You can color my posts any way you wish.

Bluerthanblue

(13,669 posts)
34. hero is a difficult concept imo-
Mon Jul 2, 2012, 09:58 AM
Jul 2012

the way the word is tossed around so freely diminishes its impact.

read this the yesterday and your exchange on here made me go back and find it:
"Heroes are not giant statues framed against a red sky. They are people who say: This is my community, and it is my responsibility to make it better. Interweave all these communities and you really have an America that is back on its feet again. I really think we are gonna have to reassess what constitutes a 'hero'."
-- Studs Terkel

take our the "America" and substitute World- and I think it works well as a beginning to define the concept of "hero"

 

LanternWaste

(37,748 posts)
25. Sneak home and pray you'll never know The hell where youth and laughter go...
Wed Jun 27, 2012, 02:28 PM
Jun 2012

In winter trenches, cowed and glum,
With crumps and lice and lack of rum,
He put a bullet through his brain.
No one spoke of him again.

You smug-faced crowds with kindling eye
Who cheer when soldier lads march by,
Sneak home and pray you'll never know
The hell where youth and laughter go.

(Suicide in the Trenches by Siegfried Sassoon)




British government, British population and British troops found Lt. Sassoon's poetry distasteful also.

MineralMan

(146,116 posts)
26. Why not post the whole poem?
Wed Jun 27, 2012, 02:37 PM
Jun 2012

You left off the first stanza. It's one I know.

SUICIDE IN THE TRENCHES

By Siegfried Sassoon

I knew a simple soldier boy
Who grinned at life in empty joy,
Slept soundly through the lonesome dark,
And whistled early with the lark.

In winter trenches, cowed and glum,
With crumps and lice and lack of rum,
He put a bullet through his brain.
No one spoke of him again.

You smug-faced crowds with kindling eye
Who cheer when soldier lads march by,
Sneak home and pray you'll never know
The hell where youth and laughter go.


The life of a soldier in wartime can be a hellish one. Today, we're seeing high suicide rates among military personnel, too. Nobody understands except those who actually serve in a war zone. The poem isn't about the soldier; it is about the civilian population, which rarely understands the reality of war. War is distasteful. War is ugly. When did I say differently?
 

LanternWaste

(37,748 posts)
29. Precisely-- decrying them or cheering them-- not merely the one, are both unseemly.
Wed Jun 27, 2012, 04:09 PM
Jun 2012


"it is about the civilian population, which rarely understands the reality of war..."

Precisely-- decrying them or cheering them-- not merely the one, are both unseemly. You indict a person for the one while doing the other.




"When did I say differently?"
You're simply inferring incorrectly at this point.
 

Tierra_y_Libertad

(50,414 posts)
24. Albert Einstein agrees.
Wed Jun 27, 2012, 02:22 PM
Jun 2012
"He who joyfully marches to music in rank and file has already earned my contempt. He has been given a large brain by mistake, since for him the spinal cord would fully suffice. This disgrace to civilization should be done away with at once. Heroism at command, senseless brutality, deplorable love-of-country stance, how violently I hate all this, how despicable and ignoble war is; I would rather be torn to shreds than be a part of so base an action! It is my conviction that killing under the cloak of war is nothing but an act of murder."

Albert Einstein
 

soc7

(53 posts)
28. There's an awesome song by Avenged Sevenfold called Critical Acclaim
Wed Jun 27, 2012, 04:04 PM
Jun 2012

There's a verse in the song that goes:

So how does it feel to know that someones kid in the heart of America
Has blood on their hands, fighting to defend your rights
So you can maintain the lifestyle that insults his family's existence
Well, where I'm from we have a special salute we aim high in the air
Towards all those pompous assholes who spend their days pointing fingers

Fuck you

....

All the way from the east to the west
We've got this high society looking down on this very foundation
Constantly reminding us that
our actions are the cause of all their problems
Pointing the fingers in every direction
Blaming their own nation for who wins elections
They've never contributed a fucking thing
to the country they love to criticize

....

You can hear the whole song here


 

Marinedem

(373 posts)
30. Don't quit your day job.
Wed Jun 27, 2012, 04:16 PM
Jun 2012

It is entirely possible to write good poetry opposed to war without vilifying the men and women involved.

This reads like an angsty, mediocre lash out. The kind of thing that makes right wing wackos look at us as unpatriotic wingnuts.

Attack the idea of war all you want. I'll help. Those involved on behalf of our country deserve better than to be called simpletons, criminals, and murderers, though.

 

soc7

(53 posts)
31. Uh.... it may be an "angsty, mediocre lash out"... but it's exactly the opposite
Wed Jun 27, 2012, 04:47 PM
Jun 2012

of the way that you characterized it....

They're asking people that sit around ripping on soldiers how it feels to know that those same kids are fighting and dying in order to defend their rights to do so. Those kids are risking their lives for the "pompous assholes" that are pointing their fingers and refusing to call them "heroes"....



UglyGreed

(7,661 posts)
32. Crusades in The 21st Century
Mon Jul 2, 2012, 09:47 AM
Jul 2012
http://www.alternet.org/belief/156039/is_the_bible_a_threat_to_national_security/?page=entire

For years, the government has employed the risk of "national security" excuse to infringe on a wide range of freedoms — like the right to pass through an airport security checkpoint unmolested, or read library books without Big Brother peeking over your shoulder.

Michael L. "Mikey" Weinstein is trying to prove that there is more than one way to put the country at risk, and he's found it in a heretofore unlikely place: the Bible.

Well, the Holman Bible. To be more exact, a version of the Bible that, for reasons still undetermined, was authorized with the trademarked official insignia of the U.S. Armed Forces emblazoned on the front cover. There is The Soldier's Bible with the Army's seal, The Marine's Bible with the Marine Corps seal, The Sailor's Bible and The Airman's Bible, both with their respective insignia. The books have been sold for nearly six years throughout Christian bookstores, commissaries and PXs on U.S. military installations — and are still available on Christianbook.com, Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble.



It's not the King James Version that the Gideons leave behind in hotel rooms drawers. The Holman Bible was commissioned and published by LifeWay Christian Resources, a subsidiary of the Southern Baptist Convention, the largest Baptist denomination in the world, in 2003.



In a 1999 press release announcing the edition's progress, Broadman & Holman Publishers called the new version "a fresh, precise translation of the Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek of the Old and New Testaments." LifeWay President James T. Draper Jr. weighed in, saying there was a "serious need for a 21st-century Bible translation in American English that combines accuracy and readability," adding, "the Holman Christian Standard Bible is an accurate, literal rendering with a smoothness and readability that invites memorization, reading aloud and dedicated study."

The Holman Bible, or HCSB, has been popular with evangelicals for its references and study tools. Someone convinced each branch of the service they'd be perfect for the military, too. So the HCSB became the "official" Bible of the Army, Air Force, Navy and Marines in 2004, complete with reader-friendly text and custom "designed to meet the specific needs of those who serve in the most difficult of situations," according to the publishers.

In other words, aside from the text, the books are filled with "devotionals" and "inspirational essays" tailored to each branch of service. I was unable to get my hands on a copy by press time, but Amazon's "peek" inside the book and several positive reader reviews confirm some of the contents, revealing what could only be described as a guileless conflation of both Christian and American military iconography. War and service as religious devotion.

In addition to the Pledge of Allegiance and the first and fourth verses of the Star Spangled Banner, there are excerpts from one of George W. Bush inaugural addresses and the Republican president's remarks at a National Prayer Breakfast. Gen. George S. Patton's famous Christmas prayer card from the field of battle 1944 is also included, as is "George Washington's Prayer," which has been widely circulated (and debunked) as proof of America's Christian paternity.

These Bibles also feature "testimonials and encouragement from the Officers' Christian Fellowship," which has approximately 15,000 members across the military and whose primary purpose is "to glorify God by uniting Christian officers for biblical fellowship and outreach, equipping and encouraging them to minister effectively in the military society." In other words they proselytize within the officer corps as part of an evangelical "parachurch" within the military.

UglyGreed

(7,661 posts)
35. Veterans Forced To Attend Anti-Union Meetings
Sun Jul 15, 2012, 07:30 AM
Jul 2012

Jason Croic is a Marine combat veteran who served 28 months in Iraq. When he came home, he found a job working for $18 an hour as a mechanic on Stryker vehicles for General Dynamics Land Systems in Fort Lewis, Washington. Croic now has a new combatant, as his employer is attempting to stop him and his fellow contractors from joining Local 286 of the International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE).

For the last six months, Croic and 120 of his co-workers, nearly half of whom are veterans, have been forced to attend anti-union meetings, in which General Dynamics managers make them watch films about why unions are bad. General Dynamics has routinely told workers that if they vote to join union that it will likely lead to General Dynamics losing their contract with the U.S. Army. On several occasions, General Dynamics has even flown some of their top corporate officials out on Lear jets from their corporate headquarters in Sterling Heights, Michigan, to explain to the workers why they shouldn’t join a union.



http://www.inthesetimes.com/working/entry/13426/veterans_forced_to_attend_anti-union_meetings_on_army_base/

UglyGreed

(7,661 posts)
36. Support Our Oppressors
Sun Jul 15, 2012, 07:35 AM
Jul 2012

The United States has experienced the biggest political upheaval in its recent history: the transformation of a burgeoning welfare state into a rapidly expanding, highly intrusive and deeply entrenched police state, linked to the most developed technological innovations.

The Great Transformation occurred exclusively from above, organized by the upper echelons of the civil and military bureaucracy under the direction of the Executive and his National Security Council. The Great Transformation was not a single event but a process of the accumulation of powers, via executive fiats, supported and approved by compliant Congressional leaders. At no time in the recent and distant past has this nation witnessed the growth of such repressive powers and the proliferation of so many policing agencies engaged in so many areas of life over such a prolonged period of time (a time of virtually no internal mass dissent). Never has the executive branch of government secured so many powers to detain, interrogate, kidnap and assassinate its own citizens without judicial restraint.

Police state dominance is evident in the enormous growth of the domestic security and military budget, the vast recruitment of security and military personnel, the accumulation of authoritarian powers curtailing individual and collective freedoms and the permeation of national cultural and civic life with the almost religious glorification of the agents and agencies of militarism and the police state as evidenced at mass sporting and entertainment events.



http://dissidentvoice.org/2012/07/the-great-transformation-from-the-welfare-state-to-the-imperial-police-state/#more-45170

UglyGreed

(7,661 posts)
37. How the American Military Machine Endangers the Whole World
Fri Jul 20, 2012, 08:05 AM
Jul 2012

In the post-9/11 era, the military-industrial complex has been thoroughly mobilized under the rubric of “privatization” and now goes to war with the Pentagon. With its $80 billion-plus budget, the intelligence bureaucracy has simply exploded. There are so many competing agencies and outfits, surrounded by a universe of private intelligence contractors, all enswathed in a penumbra of secrecy, and they have grown so large, mainly under the Pentagon’s aegis, that you could say intelligence is now a ruling way of life in Washington -- and it, too, is being thoroughly militarized. Even the once-civilian CIA has undergone a process of para-militarization and now runs its own “covert” drone wars in Pakistan and elsewhere. Its director, a widely hailed retired four-star general, was previously the U.S. war commander in Iraq and then Afghanistan, just as the National Intelligence Director who oversees the whole intelligence labyrinth is a retired Air Force lieutenant general.

In a sense, even the military has been “militarized.” In these last years, a secret army of special operations forces, 60,000 or more strong and still expanding, has grown like an incubus inside the regular armed forces. As the CIA’s drones have become the president’s private air force, so the special ops troops are his private army, and are now given free rein to go about the business of war in their own cocoon of secrecy in areas far removed from what are normally considered America’s war zones.

Diplomacy, too, has been militarized. Diplomats work ever more closely with the military, while the State Department is transforming itself into an unofficial arm of the Pentagon -- as the secretary of state is happy to admit -- as well as of the weapons industry.



http://www.alternet.org/world/156180/how_the_american_military_machine_endangers_the_whole_world_/?page=entire

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