17 years ago, the United States began its invasion and occupation of Afghanistan, officially launched to pursue al-Qaeda in general and Osama bin Laden in particular. Bin Laden is long since dead, but the US still has a massive war raging in Afghanistan, one which is going extremely poorly and shows no signs of ending.
On the war’s anniversary, fighting raged particularly hard, with 14 different provinces across Afghanistan reporting Taliban attacks, and many of them leading to substantial battles. All told, over 110 people were reported killed in 24 hours, roughly half of them Taliban, and the rest included 19 civilians and 35 Afghan soldiers.
Taliban attacks looked to secure territory gains in several districts, including strategically important districts along the Kabul-Kandahar highway.The main highway in Afghanistan, and one of the few major paved roads in the nation, officials say it is closed to traffic until fighting is resolved.
In the capital city, coordinated explosions caused a number of casualties. Further west, Taliban attacks seemed to be more random, provoking airstrikes in the Farah Province, where Afghan officials claimed that they had destroyed Taliban weapons caches.
These casualties add to the mounting casualties suffered by all sides this year in Afghanistan, the worst in several years. The Taliban controls more land now than at any time since before the US invasion, and as the US steadily escalates, the casualties only grow.
Here is an interesting look at how the United States exports war:
https://viableopposition.blogspot.com/2018/10/how-united-states-exports-war.html
Washington is more than pleased to sell war to the rest of the world, even to governments with sketchy human rights records.
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/e696f81fcb751c4b60e0d7f9387e5db6092841e2136d631c25219287b90abe80.jpg
Isn’t there somewhere else to grow poppies for the CIA’s global heroin distribution network? This is an awful price to pay just for these criminals.
Courage
For those
who tramp along with the pack
to tear up some defenseless deer
What courage does it take for that?
To pick up a gun
as an amoral hired killer
to shoot/terrorize anyone
when ordered does that define a patriot?
To join a mob
of howling testosterone filled kids
to shred and tear from limb to limb
innocents far from your home
Is that what we support
amoral unthinking ‘team players’
who do whatever the coach commands?
Ah but a culture
trained since birth
to place nation above all
as it worships
faultless militarism like a steroid-induced Sparta
To obediently and submissively
do what is told
without question
or to think critically
is a ‘good citizen’?
To jump when called to kneel
when commanded to join
when peer pressured
without dissent is free-will?
Is one who is not free
nor independent
but a caged indentured servant
just another cog in the machine?
For who is the real traitor
One who stands up
for cherished principles
above the cackling mindless mob?
Or the patriotic coward
who bends to kneel
to mass-manipulation
does what is known to be revolting like goyim in a herd?
The true test of character and integrity
is the person who dares to stand up
for the creeds that are incorruptible
The real hero
is the person
who has the integrity and fortitude
to understand that fear
is not accepting
the majority but siding with the minority
when the majority is supporting iniquity
Are you one
who dreams
of standing and shouting
while those who sit meek and silent
when a flag is soared over odium?
While you seethe and simmer
in justified rage
because you know better
as you wither for safety reasons
But do you
wait for some champion
to lead a revolt
some Gandhi, Che or MLK
to lead the way and take the heat
Or could you would you
on your own
jump up
call this a charade a farce a lie
refuse evermore
to submit
breaking free
from your shackles of collaboration
Extract your soul
from the warm embrace
of war comradeship
Denounce the odious fairytale
that war is noble or necessary or can be a ‘good’ thing
It is the most base
of social iniquities
one must condemn this evil
This moral stance
that one must take
as a free person
is the highest form of patriotism
As you face down the community
your family, your peers, fellow workers
stand up to war and deny it
Exceptionally Psychopathic..
Why is
the greatest purveyor
of violence
the largest exporter
of terrorism in the world today
also wields the biggest military
the world has ever seen?
Calling itself
the indispensable nation
a city on a hill
above one and all
Who is this exceptional nation
that is no more
than a nefarious
all-consuming global empire
For the beginning was a genocide
an ethnic cleansing
of the originals
who were robbed of everything
Just follow the path
of a psychopath
and it is a bloody mess of terror and horror
yet today
it raises its bloody fist
to the heaven
and calls itself
the best that ever was or will be
So here we are all today
looking at what we do
what can you say?
Do we have peace
is their equanimity
from all of this exported violence
can you believe what they feed you
Whenever a crime is committed
An oops, sorry may be bequeathed..
we’re demanded of
to support the troops and pray
Yet what of those who’ve we wronged
do we care a whit or a sympathy card
Our military
is all over the world
treating humanity
and the globe
like this was a game of ‘Risk’
ofr just so much food
to consume at our leisure
as our right as americans
We are the neighborhood bully
the serial killer
the sick arrogant society
that has one great tool
and that is
an overabundance
of warm machines
without qualm nor moral
not to use them at will