As US troop levels are reduced and troops are actually now banned from at least one province, the occupation of Afghanistan is said to be “transitioning.” But to what, exactly?
The figures on 2012 attacks suggest that increasingly, Afghanistan is becoming a “drone war,” with a 72 percent increase in the number of drone strikes inside Afghanistan from 2011 to 2012, meaning drones now account for 12 percent of all air strikes in the occupied nation.
Officials attributed the growth in the number of drone strikes to an increase in the number of armed drones in Afghanistan, which suggests that so long as they have the weapons they’re going to find a way to use them. Though still a small number overall, drone strikes are killing several times more civilian bystanders than in recent years as well.
Which is probably to be expected. As US ground troops are engaged in less and less combat, and as night raids are gradually phased out, the US is going to rely more on its air power in regions it doesn’t directly control, and that is going to mean more and more drone strikes, with all of the same problems seen in Pakistan and Yemen.
Everything is modernized.., so why not a modernized version of us militarism regime.
This robotic warfare is ugly.
I can but only wonder as to what university has instructed our political and military leadership in the concept of "winning hearts and minds"? Whomever they may be, they have and continue to fail miserably both in instruction and application.
The Silver Drone with Coca-Cola Clusters
by michael hall
What audacity it must take to set yourself apart from those who serve in the trenches
for a kid gangsta of capitalism to sip a cold coke with one hand
while the other hand is stroking a joystick & with just a gentle press
8000 miles away human beings who have never done his or hers any harm are now droned into bugsplat
What exceptional bravery this act of aggressive violence must demand
for s/he might suffer from carpal tunnel syndrome or bear a blister on the finger
with nerves of steel ne'er to complain for lives are at stake so s/he carries on & pushes the button of terror
careful, what if the soda spilled thereby rendering the keyboard useless? Oh the horror!
To wreak out death upon terrorists disguised as sheep-herding children, ah the in discerning bravery
to slaughter dangerous pregnant women at a bridal shower, what pluck & heroism
to kill marauding medics & first-responders daring to help the wounded from your earlier kill, irreproachable daring
such gallantry and valor one must exhibit to slaughter mourners at a funeral procession
So to show recognition to the brave souls who kill at command at the press of a knob 1/2 a world way a distinguished 'warfare' medal of honor has been created to award those who have no honor
announced with grandiose fanfare & full flags a' flapping just the other day by war criminal DS Panetta
this will outrank the bronze star, the purple heart & what a triumph is that america?
Such a propaganda coup d'état by the bureaucrats in subterranean dusty think tanks
spun a wonderful way to legitimize a most immoral & illegal act that defines odium
as they flim-flammed & came up with this 'combat' decoration for a most nefarious deed
still i wonder what lucky american school kid will be the first to touch one or to toss it down a toilet
Back at home in the united states of mordor
a great cackle of cheering among thunderous applause droned at every school, church & walmart throughout the land
to praise & pay tribute to those daring war-idols who earned such a distinguished medal
the much coveted and respected; 'Silver Drone with Coca-Cola Clusters'
For who else could earn by total disregard to personal safety with such displays of video gallantry & virtual valor
who else should deserve such a high tribute & recognized award squealed Leon Panetta from atop a pile of splattered blood & bleached broken bones swept under the rug by the embedded media & acquiescent proletariat
these extraordinary actions by lightening slight of hand manipulation upon a joystick of discriminating death with unthinking process performed by our blue-blooded obedient youth
to illegally & immorally murder anyone anywhere anytime for any reason above the rule of law is now the definition of American Hero & the legalities of it are 'secret'
The White Letter from The White House Smells not like a White Rose & it Stinks to High Heaven
by michael hall
First obama murdered children inside of foreign nations
so the people shopped at walmart to show their displeasure
then obama assassinated children in countries we were not war with
so flags & troops were honored at every sports game around the land in gratitude
Some lawyers screamed foul as did the few with conscience like Chomsky, Hedges & Blum
but their voices were drowned out by the silence of the bored & apathetic, the meekly submissive
still the good loyal citizens did scream for more guns as their constitutional right
& american idol worship tonight is supposed to be a killer so guess which takes priority?
So obama & the exalted mighty military murdered an unarmed american across the pond
so what did WE THE PEOPLE then do you ask?
they swallowed a blue pill sunk their head deeper into the rabbit hole to breath patriotically
hush hush now little children its all a transparent secret nothing to see here just move along
While a depressed american teenager out looking for his murdered father with his cousin
stopped along a dirt road in the middle of a vast desert praying for his dad at dusk
in the middle of a cookout sitting around the fire, just these two american kids
without warning silence was broken by terrorism as they were subsequently droned to smithereens by the us military
Ah but some fires did light up more intensely this time
so obama & his bunch of hooligans had to reluctantly crawl out of their dark dungeon
they argued with legal thickets of sharpened stakes, moats, pickets, shielded by secrets & lies atop turrets no one could reach
through a tapestry of intricate semantics innuendos & bizarre definitions they declared they were upholding the constitution oxymoronically tagging this odium as wise and ethical
Claiming that the research was so sensitive & so secret that it could not be revealed
our divine heroes would then be exposed to violence & that would be quite unamerican
if that happened whistleblowers then would be scapegoated & we know what happens to them
do you really think that renditions & retaliatory vengeance are just deeds of the recent past?
Cattle mooed meekly as they contentedly chewed the crass cud of american idol worship
embedded sheep bleated reverently to the wolves in wool via indoctrination by years of cognitive brainwashing and dissonance bleaching
the superbowl was a commercial success & beyonce lip-synced flawlessly again
& the flags, ah, the flags flew so high & piously, almost above it all, but did i see, a bloodstain, a tear or was it smoke?