Five More U.S. Troops Dead In Afghanistan—Our Feelings About The War Seem Depend On Our Personal Politics

Five more U.S. troops have died in Afghanistan.

The yellow ribbons here at home have for the most part long been off  the SUVS, giant pick-ups and cars.

Maybe many of these folks are now concerned that socialists have taken over our government. Maybe they think that the fad of supporting our troops is not as fun when it is a Democrat giving the orders from the White House.

Our friends on the left are quiet now that we have a Democratic President. Don’t you think the left would be all over George W. Bush or John McCain if one of these men were President as the fighting in Afghanistan goes on and on?

Remember when the liberal advocacy group Move On asked if General David Petraeus should be called “General Betray Us?”

Move On was asking, in essence, if General Petraeus was disloyal in some fashion. Yet today when you go to the Move On homepage there is no mention of our wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as issues the group is focusing on at the moment. There is no discussion of President Obama’s recent promotion of General Petraeus to lead both our ongoing wars.

Was Move On wrong about General Petraeus back then, or they holding back now because Barack Obama is President?

Maybe it was all an act to start with on all sides of the debate.

In any case, our troops are still fighting and dying in Afghanistan while we go about our daily affairs.

This war is also causing civilian deaths in Afghanistan.

All people matter.

We have no draft in this country. The wealthy don’t go and fight. Our concern for the troops seems based in some degree on our politics.

Americans need to recall each day that we have service men and women fighting our wars while we over eat, drive like crazy people, and don’t bother to vote in most elections.

We need to hold President Obama to the same standards in Iraq and Afghanistan that we insisted upon from President Bush.

We need either clear progress towards a successful conclusion or we need to get out.

Brazos Coalition Against War To Hold Protest At Texas A & M University On January 20

There will be a protest against President Obama’s policies in Afghanistan and Iraq next week in College Station, Texas.

The protest is called Where’s The Change. It will take place on Wednesday, January 20  from 5 PM until 8 PM at the intersection of Texas and University Avenues in College Station. This location is quite proximate to Texas A& M University.

( Above–The Ross Volunteers at Texas A & M University. Formed in 1887, this is the official honor guard for the Governor of Texas. This picture was taken by Melanie Sarzynski.)

It takes guts to have an anti-war protest in proximity to Texas A & M University. Those folks over there are often very conservative.

This rally is being staged by the Brazos Coalition Against War.

Here is what the Brazos Coalition says about the protest—

“The Brazos Coalition Against War is sponsoring a protest against the Obama Administration’s escalation of the War in Afghanistan and the continued War in Iraq. The Brazos Coalition Against War is sponsoring a major protest on January 20, 2010, which marks a year since Barack Obama’s inauguration as a President who campaigned on ending the foreign policy of President George W. Bush. However, the Obama Administration has continued the foreign policy of the Bush Administration, continuing the occupation of Iraq and escalating the war in Afghanistan. The purpose of the protest is and to demand that our leaders end the United States occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq, and that all military service members and civilian contractors are brought home. The protest will be held from 5:00pm to 7:00pm at the corner of University Drive and Texas Avenue in College Station, Texas. Members of both community chapter of Brazos Coalition Against War and the Texas A&M student chapter will be in. The Brazos Coalition Against War, active for over three years in the Bryan-College Station area, includes individuals, students, and community groups opposed to the War in Iraq. The Brazos Coalition Against War website can be found on Facebook.”

Taking a lead role in this demonstration is fellow blogger and good friend Teddy Wilson.

Teddy writes the blog Left of College Station-–A Liberal Voice in a Conservative Community.

Please visit Teddy’s blog.

Teddy also hosts the radio program Information Underground.  This program runs from 5 PM  to 6 PM each Sunday on 89.1  KEOS in College Station.

Please click here to listen to recent broadcasts of Information Underground.

Teddy Wilson is the real thing. He is a great champion of liberal causes.

If you live anywhere close to College Station, please consider attending the rally on January 20 at 5 PM at the intersection of Texas and University Avenues.

Military Option Must Exist For Iran Nuclear Program—Israel And Iraq War Are Separate Questions

A military option must be on the table as President Obama considers how to respond to Iran’s secret nuclear program. 

I say this as someone on the political left who opposed the Iraq War and who is always for diplomacy over war.  

When you have a country with a president who denies the Holocaust, fixes elections, represses his own people and conducts a secret nuclear program, that’s a problem.

It is even more of a problem when that country is run by religious crazies and is close enough to a nation full of Jewish people to launch missiles and bombs at them. 

Those of us on the left need to view Iran as a separate question from objections we have to various Israeli policies and our longstanding opposition to the War in Iraq.

President Obama will first use diplomacy to address this question. Diplomacy is always the best path and President Obama was elected with the hope that we would now begin to find a path other than war to solve our problems. 

If diplomacy does not prevail, I support in this case whatever actions must be taken to prevent Iran from obtaining and possibly using nuclear weapons. History tells us that when nations make threats about wiping out Jewish folks that these threats must be taken at face value.     

Here are some basic facts about Iran from the BBC.

Could President Bush Be Charged As A War Criminal?

The Economist magazine recently asked if President George W. Bush might face some type of international war crimes trial after he leaves office. A retired American general is quoted as saying that the Bush administration is likely guilty of war crimes for prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib in Iraq.

Human rights activists in France and Germany have begun to seek human rights charges against former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. The article I link to explains the specifics.

You might think that lying his way into a tragic war might have already merited President Bush a charge of treason.

Still, maybe an outside chance of justice exists with evolving standards of international law. If not the justice of Mr. Bush being apprehended while abroad and placed in a cell, at least the prospect of formal charges and a measure of circumspection by Mr. Bush as to where he travels after his Presidency.

Can a person in power get away with anything at all? One hopes that after such a brutal 20th-century, the 21st-century will bring new and better standards of global justice.

Please click here for a review of The Dark Side–The Inside Story Of How The War On Terror Turned Into A War On American Ideals by Jane Mayer. This book discusses the Bush response of torture and breaches of American civil liberties as part of the so-called “War on Terror.”

People Believe Wild Things Because Nothing’s So Horrible It Can’t Be True

Blogger’s Note—I’m on a Summer Solstice blogging holiday. I’m re-running some posts for the next few days. Thanks for reading Texas Liberal. I’ll be back to regular posting soon.)  

New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof recently wrote about conspiracy theories many people believe.  

For example, 30% of black people believe it’s possible AIDS was deliberately manufactured to kill black folks.

This is held out as a crazy thing to think.

I don’t believe it myself.

But if you asked me if many white people and white politicians don’t care if poor urban black people live or die, I would say that’s correct.   

And plenty of black politicians don’t care either.  

In my own experience as a city council aide in Cincinnati, Ohio, I read the files of black cancer patients who had intentionally been given extra doses of radiation to see how they would react.

Get this—They suffered.  

Poor black people in cities, blacks and whites in rural areas, our colonized undocumented labor force, and poor people of all kinds, get inferior hospitals and inferior care.

When you ask black folks if AIDS was the work of government, maybe what you’re really asking if the government would do things that would kill people who look like you do.

“Yes” seems to be a logical reply.  

Mr. Kristoff says it is crazy that 36% of Americans believe that government orchestrated 9/11 or knew about it advance.  

Well—I’ve always thought that was a mistaken belief .

George W. Bush was intent on going to war in Iraq before 9/11. He did not need any provocation. 

What people know is that we lied about why we went to war, we did not give our troops the right equipment to save their lives, we sometimes kill innocent civilians, and that the troops sometimes get terrible care upon arriving back home.   

Did the government or President Bush know about 9/11 in advance? No. Is the government as led by President Bush capable of terrible acts that cause people to die? Sure–All the damned time.  

Mr. Kristoff mentions two other conspiracy theories in his column. 

One is that the levees in New Orleans were opened on purpose in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

This is not so.

Yet it had been known for years that the levees might not hold during a bad hurricane and that much of New Orleans was vulnerable. Then, after it was clear the disaster response was poor, President Bush said his FEMA director was doing a “heckuva job.”    

So why not figure that levees were opened by design? Is that much worse than the truth of the matter? 

Another view held by many is that crack cocaine was deliberately introduced into poor neighborhoods.

Now that one is crazy. 

These communities were already so flooded with alcohol, cigarettes, overpriced grocery stores offering little or no produce, bad schools and a host of other urban afflictions, why would you have to introduce something new to harm people?  

The history books tell us that we won our land in good part by exterminating the native population, and that we built up the land with the frequent and longtime use of slave labor.  

Our own experiences in life show us that our cities are left to rot year after year. And the poor are getting more poor even as the rich get richer.

So when you ask if the people in charge of our country, or others in positions of power, are capable of barbaric or even genocidal acts, why would many give any other reply than “yes.”

Neither Party Asks Anything Of The American People

We’ve heard for a long time about the refusal of Republicans to ask Americans to sacrifice anything for the Iraq War.

It is clear that it only soldiers and their families—plus the contractors who die “off the books“— are being asked to offer anything to our “war effort.”

On the other side however, we could ask when will Democrats ask Americans to conserve energy and scale back in this time of rising fuel prices?

We are living unsustainable lifestyles. Other nations are having big problems with food prices because of our demand for ethanol.

The simple argument would be that the parties are afraid to risk votes by asking anything of the people.

I wonder if our leaders don’t care what people are doing because they don’t see any viable middle class future for our nation. Let the people do as they want as power and wealth gravitates to the few.

The refusal of either party to ask anything for any sacrifice is as large an insult as can be imagined. It conveys that the people have nothing of value to offer except reflexive patriotism and tax dollars.

Memorial Day History & Links

In 2011, Memorial Day is Monday, May 30.

Here is some history on the origins of Memorial Day and, also, links appropriate for Memorial Day

( We’ve been fighting wars for a long time. Above is an engraving by Amos Doolittle of  the Battle of Lexington and Concord in 1775.)

Here is a brief explanation of the origins of Memorial Day—

Memorial Day originated in 1868, when Union General John A. Logan designated a day in which the graves of Civil War soldiers would be decorated. Known as Decoration Day, the holiday was changed to Memorial Day within twenty years, becoming a holiday dedicated to the memory of all war dead. It became a federal holiday in 1971, and is now observed on the last Monday in May.

Here is a much more detailed explanation.

The American death toll in Afghanistan recently passed 1000. Here are pictures of each of the dead along with their ages and hometowns.

(This representation of a disagreement between Tecumseh and William Henry Harrison is a reminder that sometimes U.S. troops were called upon to do harm to the native population. Tecumseh died in the War of 1812.)

Here is a list of minor and major wars in American history.

Here are numbers of American dead and wounded in our wars.

Here is the article that broke the story of mistreatment of veterans at Walter Reed Hospital. We say we care about our veterans, but that does not always appear to be the case.

Here is the Veterans of Foreign Wars home page.

Here is Iraq Body Count. This organization counts the number of Iraqis killed in the Iraq War. All people have equal value.

( Both a strong military and a strong resistance against going to war are important aspects of democracy. )

Here is the activist group Peace Action.

Here is a list of Medal of Honor winners for great bravery in American wars.

Here is information on women in American wars.

Here is the National Association of Black Veterans.

(Henry Hulbert, below, was a winner of the Medal of Honor in WW I.)

Here is information on the Revolutionary War.

Here is information on the War of 1812.

Here is information about the Civil War. (Photo below is of dead Union soldier.)

Here is information on World War I.

Here is information on World War II.

Here is information about the Korean War.

Here is information on the Vietnam War.

Here is information about the War in Iraq.

Here in an article from Salon about possible American war crimes in Afghanistan and Iraq.

War crimes take place in all wars and are committed by all sides. It is not a contradiction to acknowledge this fact and still respect the great majority who served honorably. At the same time, it is disrespectful to the concepts of democracy and human rights to ignore these facts.

The National World War II Memorial in Washington is excellent to visit.

As is the Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington.

And the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

I called my father from the Korean War Memorial and asked him about the historical accuracy of how the troops were sculpted. He said based on my descriptions, it was an accurate portrayal. ( Photo below)

I’ve been able to visit Punchbowl Cemetery in Honolulu. Many of our dead from wars in the Pacific are buried here. This is one of the most important and impressive locations you can visit in Honolulu.

I’ve also visited Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery in San Diego.

I once toured the Normandy American Cemetery and Monument near Omaha Beach in France.

Below is Arlington National Cemetery. I was fortunate to once visit Arlington on Memorial Day weekend and see the American flags at each gravestone.

Without people willing to die to protect the freedom of others, I would not be able to express my views in this blog post.  Without such people, none of us would be able to enjoy the day-to-day freedoms we often take for granted.

Democratic National Committee Forgets That All People Have Equal Value

A new ad produced by the Democratic National Committee rightly criticizes Senator John McCain for his support of endless war.

You can see the ad by clicking here.

However, the commercial misses the mark in an important regard.

A graphic in the spot references “Over 4000 dead.”

Just over 4000 U.S. troops have died in the war.

What’s left out is the number of Iraqi civilians who have been killed. 

Iraq Body Count suggests that number is over 85,000.

Without forgetting that Saddam Hussein was a brutal dictator, it’s clear that the number of innocent Iraqis who have died is high.

Every life has equal value. One person does not have more value than another person because of where they were born or where they live. 

This is a value that should be reflected by our party of the left.

This unwillingness to give equal value to all persons is consistent with the lack of conversation by Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama about the ongoing world food crisis.    

Values Voters Prevail In Spanish Election

Voters holding strong moral values have prevailed in recent Spanish elections. 

Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero and his Socialist party will again lead Spain.

Prime Minister Zapatero ran on his first-term record.

This record included legalizing gay marriage, making it easier to get a divorce, pulling Spanish troops out of Iraq and allocating a larger share of the Spanish budget to the needs of the poor.

The Spanish public followed the right course and returned Mr. Zapatero to office. 

Here is a story about the election.

Here is a profile of Prime Minister Zapatero.

Here are some facts about Spain.

I Called My Veteran Father To Remind Him Old People & Veterans Are Despised In This Society

I called my father today for Veterans Day. My father, now 77, was a medic in the Korean War. He also saw combat.

Dad was not home so I left a message. I told him our society despised old people and veterans because they are often not economically self-sufficient. 

Dad called back to say that he saw most people as “simply indifferent.”

I suggested that if what he was saying was true, that apathy was a bigger insult than dislike and as such, as I said, he is despised. Dad said that view might have some merit.  

Veterans Day has brought my father and I toghether.

Here is the Washington Post report that broke the story of poor care at Walter Reed.

Here is an Anderson Cooper report on homeless Iraq War veterans.

Here is a USA Today story reporting that one in four homeless people are veterans. 

Here is a link to the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans.