Hard to say it better than this...
Pat Tillman gave up his NFL career to fight the so-called war on terror. He was killed in Afghanistan and was given hero status. The Bush administration lied about the nature of his death to his family and the public while they used him as a poster boy of courage, especially to recruit more young people to die in far away lands for ill defined and often factless purposes. However, Pat was killed by his own troops with "friendly fire." Would it be we all had such friends...and the lies and charades of our government and it's illegal war go on. In fact, there is some evidence of dissent in the ranks which cloud circumstances of Pat's death even more (especially since he grew to oppose the war!). The Tillman family has expressed their feelings of betrayal in public many times. Most in media have unfortunately yawned, as in virually all the cases of recent government scandal and deception.
Here is what Pat's brother, Kevin, who served with him, had to say about Pat on the occasion of his would-be upcoming birthday and on what is happening to the country they both served.
Hard to put it better than Kevin. Abroad we have endless wars against invisible enemies while mounting massive civillian casualties, and at home lies and deceit to justify the disintigration of our entire legal culture and tradition. As the Marine Major General Smedley Butler stated in the 1935 classic, War is a Racket. Just look at how much our country is sliding backwards...Kevin has noticed. Have we?
Historian Howard Zinn reminds us why war fails and states in "Just War,"
"Perhaps it will take a combination of factors to end war. It will become intolerable for the people and impractical for the Establishment. And the crucial factor making it impractical will be, as it was for the Soviet Union in Afghanistan and the United States in Vietnam, that the citizens of the war-making nations will no longer tolerate the deaths of their offspring and the theft of their national wealth. There is still time to make this twenty-first century different from the last century. But we must all play a part."
Let's get busy...
Here is what Pat's brother, Kevin, who served with him, had to say about Pat on the occasion of his would-be upcoming birthday and on what is happening to the country they both served.
Hard to put it better than Kevin. Abroad we have endless wars against invisible enemies while mounting massive civillian casualties, and at home lies and deceit to justify the disintigration of our entire legal culture and tradition. As the Marine Major General Smedley Butler stated in the 1935 classic, War is a Racket. Just look at how much our country is sliding backwards...Kevin has noticed. Have we?
Historian Howard Zinn reminds us why war fails and states in "Just War,"
"Perhaps it will take a combination of factors to end war. It will become intolerable for the people and impractical for the Establishment. And the crucial factor making it impractical will be, as it was for the Soviet Union in Afghanistan and the United States in Vietnam, that the citizens of the war-making nations will no longer tolerate the deaths of their offspring and the theft of their national wealth. There is still time to make this twenty-first century different from the last century. But we must all play a part."
Let's get busy...
posted by mythinfo at 10:57 PM
1 Comments:
That's cool that you include the piece by General Smedly Butler. But it leaves out my favorite quote by him, one you and your readers will love, I'm sure:
"I helped make Mexico, and especially Tampico, safe for American oil interests in 1914. I helped make Haiti and Cuba decent places for the National City Bank boys to collect revenues. I helped in the raping of half a dozen Central American republics for the benefit of Wall Street. The record of racketeering is long. I helped purify Nicaragua for the international banking house of Brown Brothers in 1909-12. I brought light to the Dominican Republic for American sugar interests in 1916. I helped make Honduras right for American fruit companies in 1903. In China in 1927, I helped see to it that Standard Oil went its way unmolested. Looking back on it, I might have given Al Capone a few hints. The best he could do was to operate his racket in 3 city districts. We marines operated on 3 continents."
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