The Propaganda

[muchacho]

CNN had a "human interest" story on a guy that's a part of special ops in te military and does urban development on the side.

He said e was "proud" to be a part of the attack on Afghanistan even though he caught some shrapnel in the eye. He starts to tear up when talking about it...

Where are the mothers and fathers who lost cildren during this imperialists farce? Where are the outraged soldiers wo see this as a waste of forces and lives?

Every day I'm floored how complacent and complicit the media is in this occupation.

[chelaque liberal]

1. There seems to be a consensus even among liberals

that attacking Afghanistan was justified.

I will never accept that, no matter how often I am called a "Pollyanna."

Killing thousands of innocent people, people who had no power over whether the Taliban were in their country, is no less terrorism than what happened here on 9/11.

I'm still not totally convinced that OBL was responsible. If I remember correctly, Afghanistan said, immediately after the attack, that they would turn him over if proof was provided. We never tried to deal with 9/11 in a "legal" way, ie: treating it as a crime.

I see it comparable to bombing the city where Timothy McVeigh lived.

[DuctapeFatwa]

4. Those who are "for" attacking Afghanistan

are probably unaware of the pre-911, non-Osama related history of US interactions with the Taliban.

The 9-11 events were upsetting to many people, and to this day there are many who find it impossible to view them with their customary levels of discernment and critical analysis.

Add a public disinformation campaign that would make Goebbels proud and you have otherwise rational and sensible people who firmly believe that a longtime CIA asset with the help of a handful of semi-literate warlords turned mullahs managed to fly US commercial airliners into buildings in large cities.

9-11 aside, few have questioned the demonizing of the Taliban pre-911 and post-Taliban refusal to accept US financial terms regarding some revenu-generation schemes, and even fewer are aware that Pashtun pre-Islamic tribal customs, as colorful and draconian as they may be, have not, for the past several thousand years, been unique either in their colofulness or draconianness, at least not on this planet.

[MrPrax]

6. Well...the Taliban were repugnant

"few have questioned the demonizing of the Taliban pre-911"--US global aspirations aside, their iconoclastic treatment of the Bhuddist mouments didn't endear them to many...

(or as a big time Green pal said once, "The taliban are so strict, they don't use recycled paper because the potential exists that the pieces of the Qoran could be involved")-- Boo on the Taliban and their lack of 'green' iniaitives

But your points are well taken and the public should really be dwelving into this more deeply if they really sincerely want a 'safer' America.

That part is the most galling thing...nothing the Admin has done would prevent any further attacks and if anything, increase the likelihood.

[DuctapeFatwa]

7. Repugnant, yes. Unique no.

The hue and cry over the plight of Afghan women was especially amusing to those who know that the same conditions have existed for millennia (and still do) in various places around the world, and even after the west developed written language and discontinued the practice of wearing raw animal skins, they did a superhuman job of suppressing their outrage until the Taliban said no to the US energy industry ;)

[mmonk]

2. I agree with the precept

of striking back where there exits people trying and succeeding in killing your people. Therefore I was for the Afghanistan operation, but against the Iraq invasion. If you're not going to defend your citizens, why on earth have a military?

[chelaque liberal]

3. Exactly how is killing children

in Afghanistan defending our citizens?

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=516&e=3&u=/ap/20031207/ap_on_re_as/afghan_attack

[pansypoo53219]

5. well, since we left a bare minimum in afganstan

they have to be a little less cautious.

everything and everybody had to go to iWaq. george's vanity, oedipal war.

[ComerPerro]

8. This fantasy sells better

It makes it so armchair warriors (like every FReeper you have ever seen) can fantasize about the "cool" parts of war, like being on a special ops team and getting wounded but being tough enough to suck it up...

Its hard to get people to enlist in the military if you tell them that everything they think they are fighting for is a lie, and that there is a good chance that they will be assigned to guard some building and die in an attack.