Britain’s role in occupied Afghanistan is in the spotlight again today with the news that a top young officer, 29-year-old Capt. James Townley, shot himself on Friday, just one day before his 30th birthday.
Capt. Townley was an Oxford graduate with a degree in Engineering and Computer Science. He had served three tours in Afghanistan and was deployed at Camp Bastion, the massive US/UK base in Helmand Province.
The loss of yet another soldier, and a well-educated young man with his whole life ahead of him at that, is sure to add more pressure to speed up the withdrawal from Afghanistan, which officials already said could be done.
For the US the sheer enormity of the death toll means individual deaths don’t really ring true, but for other nations, particularly those already on the brink of leaving anyhow, yet more losses is just underscoring what a waste the 11 years of occupation has been.
FROM CAUSE TO EFFECT
Muslim violence is caused by vengeance,
which is caused by Christian-Judea violence,
which is caused by Christian-Judea greed.
So, the real issue here is who is doing the butchering,
specifically the most baby butchering?
"… individual deaths don’t really ring true…"
And therein is the crux of the biscuit… when you have but 1% of the population actively invested in waging these wars, individual deaths become meaningless to the majority of the remaining 99%. Perhaps meaningless is too strong of a term…perhaps impersonal is more appropriate. As in a recent survey at Foreign Policy (http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/09/25/torture_creep), nearly 1/4 of the US are OK with using nukes to kill "terrorists". It has become so easy to call for the use of "weapons of mass destruction" when you know you won't be touched personally.
As long as the citizen participation in these military actions remains relevant personally to only 1% of the population then attitudes about waging war and extrajudicial actions will remain in the TV series realm – and not real. For 99% of the citizens, if they don't want to be confronted with the wars and the results of those wars, they just turn the channel or the TV off – it's not their problem.
Be careful what you wish for which is I presume 1) a draft in the interest of fairness and 2) protests which will stop the war. Because oh dear, we just don't care enough about the deaths of the troops. Well that's nonsense. Every small town in America has parades for returning vets and great big funerals for those who come home in a casket. Just because you aren't there, doesn't mean it doesn't affect you. Unfortunately, it all seems to confer significance where I thing none is warranted. I consider the wars worse than meaningless, because they seem an odd source of entertainment and the way of being "somebody" in a society which is otherwise failing.
Even this guy's killing himself just before turning 30 – is it possible he was afraid there was no future for him, even with a degree from Oxford? If that is true, he'd be in a large crowd of company on both sides of the Atlantic.
It'll be interesting when the info comes out about the Brigadier General charged with forcible assault like the kind endured by Lawrence of Arabia at the hands of the Turks. Who wants to follow leaders like that?
no – I'm not interested in another draft – I was part of the last one the pols inflicted on the public not able to evade their grab. As for protests – which might stop the wars – it would indicate that more than the 1% I talk about above are engaged and are aware and disgusted with the state of things as they exist. As for every small town…I have to disagree…EVERY small town is not being forced to have parades for returning vets nor "great big funerals" for those returning in boxes. Most of the funerals I've seen in small towns are small, private affairs, except for the invading press and the wackos demonstrating across the street with their warped religious beliefs. If more people had to suffer loses like those who suffer now (in the US/Canada/UK and the rest of ISAF nations) then perhaps they would find a way to end the wars and deal with those responsible for starting and continuing them.
As for Capt. Townley, my read of him and his actions are opposite of yours – with his obvious intellect and a future wide open before him – in the military and out – perhaps the horrors and shame of what he (and his country and the other warring nations) was doing – the futility of senseless killing and destruction and the realization that there is no end in sight – perhaps his conscience led him to remove himself from the playing field.
TO: curmudgeonvt
Much to kind are you toward our voting majority bless their darling hearts, as they are the 51% most wealthy in thew most wealthy Empire the world has ever known.
And like you say, unless it effects them personally they won’t get involved, for the only thing they take personal is when you mess with their excessive wealth.
So, Obama will keep Wall Street bailout rich, keeping the investments looking healthy for our voters who all feel they deserve to be rich.
Then perhaps it's time to change the demographics of those who vote…if we can make it easier to vote, more will vote – those traditionally poor and minority in status (in theory, of course)…but then that's why those who would make it more difficult to access the ballots are being so successful lately. It used to be they would cloak their designs so few would discern what they were doing. Now, it's blatant and in your face as Republican legislatures across the country put into law devices to restrict the vote. They so hate the fact that the demographics of the US are quickly changing and they will soon be part of a minority class of voter…