Veterans Day

The 1918 truce that halted fighting in World War I went into effect at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month. Today, that is commemorated in the U.S. as Veterans Day.

Let's REALLY honor Veterans.

Demand an end to perpetual war.

Veterans Day, 2015

Remembering World War II, by the numbers. An informative, fascinating, possibly even important video on the people killed in World War II.



Never forget.

Best Way to Celebrate Memorial Day

Memorial Day, 2015

America's "War on Terror"

"You cannot win a War on Terrorism. 

It’s like having a war on jealousy."

~David Cross

The Costs of our Wars

Another week and another two billion dollars spent in Afghanistan.

Total bill to US taxpayers:

$1,457,237,036,956

More importantly:

Number of "Enduring Freedom", "Operation Iraqi Freedom" and "Operation New Dawn" casualties as confirmed by US Central Command:

6,706

That's 6,706 soldiers--men and women from our nation.

And two more dead this week:

--Marine Lance Corporal Benjamin Tuttle, July 14, 2013--19 years old and from Gentry, Arkansas

and

--Army Staff Sergeant Sonny C. Zimmerman, July 16, 2013--25 years old of Waynesfield, Ohio.


All of which begs the question---at what point are we going to end this pointless, extremely costly and utterly unnecessary insanity?

The Cost of War

The cost of war -

Another week and another $2 Billion spent in Afghanistan. Total bill to U.S. Taxpayers = $1,444,224,447,359.

6680 - Number of Enduring Freedom, Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation New Dawn casualties as confirmed by U.S. Central Command.

1 more dead this week:

 - Army Spc. Christopher R. Drake, May 26, 2013 - 20, of Tickfaw, Louisiana

Quote of the day

"As soon as men know that they can kill without fear of punishment or blame, they kill; or at least they encourage killers with approving smiles."

--Simone Weil

Links:  Simone Weil

Simone Weil Quotes

Great question, down through the ages

American military casualties this past week

The Department of Defense released the names of seven service members who died this past week:

--US Army SFC Riley G Stephens, 39, Tolar, TX

--US Army SFC Aaron A Henderson, 33, Houlton, ME

--US Army SGT Thomas J Butler IV, 25, Wilmington, NC

--US Army SGT Jeremy F Hardison, 23, Maysville, NC

--US Army SGT Donna R Johnson, 29, Rasford, NC

--US Army SFC Daniel T Metcalfe, 29, Liverpool, NY

--US Marines Sgt Camella M Steedley, 31, San Diego, CA

According to iCasualties, the total number of allied service members killed in Afghanistan is now 3,199.

Links: http://crooksandliars.com/nicole-belle/week-memoriam-163

http://icasualties.org/

Quote of the day

“Statesmen will invent cheap lies, putting blame upon the nation that is attacked, and every man will be glad of those conscience-soothing falsities, and will diligently study them, and refuse to examine any refutations of them; and thus he will by and by convince himself that the war is just, and will thank God for the better sleep he enjoys after this process of grotesque self-deception.”

--Mark Twain

13 Soldiers killed last week in Afghanistan

6-02-2012 NATO NAME NOT RELEASED YET Not reported yet 0 Hostile - hostile fire Southern Afghanistan Southern Afghanistan ISAF Not reported yet Not reported yet Not reported yet Not reported yet

6-01-2012 UK Thacker, Michael John Corporal 27 Hostile - hostile fire - small arms fire Helmand Nahr-e Saraj District British Army Wales Swindon, Wiltshire 1st Battalion The Royal Welsh Not reported yet

5-31-2012 US Povilaitis, Alexander G. Staff Sergeant 47 Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack Kandahar Kandahar U.S. Army Georgia Dawsonville 14th Engineer Battalion, 555th Engineer Brigade Joint Base Lewis-McChord, WA

5-31-2012 US Witsman, Joshua Lance Corporal 23 Hostile - hostile fire Southern Afghanistan Southern Afghanistan U.S. Marine Indiana Not reported yet Not reported yet Not reported yet

5-30-2012 US Brazas, Sean E. Petty Officer 2nd Class 26 Hostile - hostile fire Kandahar Panjwa’i District U.S. Navy North Carolina Greensboro Naval Base Kitsap Security Detachment Bremerton, WA

5-30-2012 US Olivas, Nicholas H. Corporal 20 Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack Kandahar Zharay U.S. Army Ohio Fairfield 4th Squadron, 73rd Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division Fort Bragg, NC

5-28-2012 US Chase, Julian C. Sergeant 22 Hostile - hostile fire Helmand Helmand U.S. Marine Maryland Edgewater 5th Air Naval Gunfire Liaison Company, III Marine Expeditionary Force Okinawa, Japan

5-28-2012 US Pratt, John C. Chief Warrant Officer 51 Non-Hostile - Helicopter crash Kabul Kabul U.S. Army Virginia Springfield 12th Combat Aviation Brigade Ansbach, Germany

5-28-2012 US Brainard III, John "Jay" R. Captain 26 Non-Hostile - Helicopter crash Kabul Kabul U.S. Army Maine Dover-Foxcroft 12th Combat Aviation Brigade Ansbach, Germany

5-27-2012 US Deronde III, Leroy Private 1st Class 22 Hostile - hostile fire Wardak Chak-E Warkdak District U.S. Army New Jersey Jersey City 125th Brigade Support Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division Fort Bliss, TX

5-27-2012 US Jacobs, Kedith L. Specialist 21 Hostile - hostile fire Wardak Chak-E Warkdak District U.S. Army Colorado Denver 125th Brigade Support Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division Fort Bliss, TX

5-27-2012 US Sutton, Steven G. Lance Corporal 24 Hostile - hostile fire Helmand Helmand U.S. Marine Georgia Leesburg 1st Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force Camp Lejeune, NC

5-27-2012 us Tautolo, Tofiga J. Specialist 23 Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack Kandahar Bati Kot U.S. Army California Wilmington 3rd Squadron, 61st Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division

In all of May, 2012, 37 American Soldiers died: http://www.militarytimes.com/valor/search?year_month=2012-05

I think it important--very important--we always keep this in mind--daily, weekly, monthly.

"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." --Edmund Burke

Link: http://icasualties.org/OEF/Index.aspx

Quote of the day

"Senior ranking US military leaders have so distorted the truth when communicating with the US Congress and American people in regards to conditions on the ground in Afghanistan that the truth has become unrecognizable. This deception has damaged America’s credibility among both our allies and enemies, severely limiting our ability to reach a political solution to the war in Afghanistan. It has likely cost American taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars Congress might not otherwise have appropriated had it known the truth, and our senior leaders’ behavior has almost certainly extended the duration of this war. The single greatest penalty our Nation has suffered, however, has been that we have lost the blood, limbs and lives of tens of thousands of American Service Members with little to no gain to our country as a consequence of this deception." --Lt. Colonel Daniel Davis, a 17-year Army veteran recently returned from a second tour in Afghanistan. Link: http://www1.rollingstone.com/extras/RS_REPORT.pdf

Why no public or media outcry of Lt Colonel Davis' charges on the Afghan, Iraq wars and Defense Dept?

Earlier this month, unbeknownst to a lot of Americans, Lt. Colonel Daniel Davis wrote and distributed two reports on our Afghanistan war. One of these reports had classified material and he gave that information to members of Congress. The 2nd had only unclassified material and has been distributed by Rolling Stone Magazine and The New York Times. (see links below). In his unclassified report, he contends that, first, the Afghan war is going far worse than the American public is being told (I know, shocking, right?) and second, that we are wasting at least millions if not billions of dollars on weapons systems (Future Combat Systems or FCS) that are actually failing but they're being represented as successful. Lt. Col. Davis makes other important charges in his writing, too, but the point here and question is, why is not the government demanding an inquiry into his charges since by doing so we could, hopefully, of course, avoid more loss of American soldier's lives in Afghanistan, for one? Why are we not pursuing an inquiry so we would also, again, hopefully run a more successful campaign there--if we ought to stay at all--and finally, likely reduce our costs and expenditures in Afghanistan, too? I ask here, as Lt. Col. Davis must surely be asking--WHY IS THERE NO INQUIRY? Let's go further and ask-- WHY ISN'T THE MEDIA ASKING THESE QUESTIONS AND PUSHING FOR A REVIEW AND ASKING THESE QUESTIONS? For Americans who are aware---WHY ARE NO AMERICANS ASKING THESE QUESTIONS AND PUSHING FOR GOVERNMENT AND MILITARY REVIEWS? Links: http://www1.rollingstone.com/extras/RS_REPORT.pdf; http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/truthdigger_of_the_week_lt_col_daniel_l_davis_20120217/; http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/blogs/national-affairs/the-afghanistan-report-the-pentagon-doesnt-want-you-to-read-20120210#ixzz1m1zIKlqq; http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2097603/Army-Colonel-exposes-truth-lies-Afghanistan-claiming-military-leaders-let-down.html

We need to educate ourselves on war

An important movie for America, made by our military veterans

A movie made by American military soldiers and veterans for the American public. It's an important, vital film, I think. Please watch for it and when you can, see it. We owe to them. We owe it to ourselves. We owe it to the country. We owe it to humanity. Link: www.thisiswherewetakeourstand.com

Merry Christmas

(The Iraq war, anyway). Merry Christmas to all.

What is it good for?

Links: https://www.facebook.com/WarCosts#!/WarCosts; http://www.bravenewfoundation.org/2011/10/blog/the-myth-of-military-contracting/

A decade of war (guest post)

From the Iraq Veterans Against the War and their site: DECADE OF WAR AWARENESS MONTH published by Jose Vasquez on 09/09/11 11:52am This weekend, our nation will somberly mark 10 years since the September 11th attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. As we grieve for the victims and their families, another milestone looms: the October 7th anniversary of the invasion of Afghanistan and the beginning of the Global War on Terror. A decade in, the American public still knows very little about the Afghan people or the situation on the ground in Afghanistan. Meanwhile, Congress continues to increase military spending as we are faced with rising unemployment, a foreclosure crisis, and funding cuts for education, social security, and healthcare. In response, IVAW is working with a coalition of anti-war and social justice organizations to launch a Decade of War Awareness Month from September 7 to October 7. Throughout the month, we will be working with our partner organizations (including Military Families Speak Out, War Resisters League, Veterans for Peace, and Afghans for Peace) to promote relationship-building among people and communities affected by U.S. militarism and the war economy in both the U.S. and Afghanistan. At WarVoices.org, you'll find resources on the U.S. war economy and current on-the-ground realities in Afghanistan, including a full public education curriculum designed for your community. We encourage you to use this curriculum to orchestrate workshops and explore how U.S. militarism and military spending relate to your local campaigns for social and economic justice, both directly and indirectly, across a wide-range of issues. The month will culminate on October 7th in Washington D.C. with a unique forum, War Voices: Building Community After a Decade of Struggle at Home and Abroad. Through story-telling, workshops, discussions, and cultural performances, we will build our power as a movement by meeting one another, building relationships that will inspire us for the long haul, envisioning new directions for the future, and planting the seeds for structures of mutual support and solidarity that will allow us to create a demilitarized world. To register local events in your community to commemorate the 10th anniversary or for more information, please visit WarVoices.com. Link: http://ivaw.org/

War by the Numbers (from The New York Times)

Published: September 8, 2011 6,204 American military personnel killed in Iraq and Afghanistan operations. 141 Military women killed. 2,300 American contractors killed. 144,000 Service members in either country as of Aug. 25, 2011. 1,192 Foreign coalition forces killed. 18,678 Iraqi and Afghan security forces killed. 102,339 Minimum number of Iraqi civilians killed, including by other Iraqis, according to Iraq Body Count. 172 million Meals Ready to Eat (M.R.E.’s) sent to personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan. $1,645 Monthly pay for an Army private, with $225 additional for combat. 779 Detainees at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, since 2002. 14 Percentage of former Guantánamo detainees who returned to terrorist activity. 1 Former Guantánamo detainees who have been tried in the United States. My own addition: 3.7 trillion dollars Cost of Iraq and Afghanistan wars at least $3.7 trillion (and counting)* Links: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/08/us/sept-11-reckoning/index-war-abroad.html http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/06/29/us-usa-war-idUSTRE75S25320110629