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Ed, I too watched these programs today and shared your reaction to Myers' and McCain's responses to the questions asked. One thing really struck me though. There is endless talk about how embarrassing this situation is to the U.S. military and the very few people involved (this is yet to actually be determined) are making the vast majority of our military forces suspect in the eyes of Iraqis and other population centres in the Middle East etc. Neither McCain nor Myers said a word about the suffering the victims of this tortuous treatment endured. They made this seem like a horrible public relations failure rather than the human rights abuse it is. I personally believe the majority of our military personnel serve with honour. However, I am not at all convinced that these horrible actions involve merely the 6 or 7 service people revealed thus far. I would not be surprised if it is discovered that the minority of military personnel who engage in this behaviour is larger than anyone would care to imagine. One of the great psychological ploys used in any military is the dehumanization of the "enemy." When we allow ourselves to think of others as being something less than human, it is far easier for us to mistreat them. This is one of the dastardly ploys Hitler used in his murderous and heinous campaign against the Jews. We hear our military and political leaders talk about how our soldiers are taught to respect the civilians and even the prisoners of the opposing side as human beings entitled to humane treatment, when in actuality the opposite is very often the case. Best regards, Michael -----Original Message----- From: Defending the Truth discussion List [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Edward Kent Sent: Sunday, May 02, 2004 9:19 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [RHETORIC] Dodging, Weaving -- and Lying |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ANNOUNCEMENTS and ARTICLES: http://pnews.org/art/art.shtml |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| I have just watched our Chief of Staff, General Richard Myers, and Senator John McCain being interviewed on ABC and responding to questions about: 1) the now official report of wide spread abuses of Iraqis at the hands of our military under the direction of our army intelligence. 2) what we should be doing about Fallusha and in growing hostility towards us in Iraq generally. 3) the critical comments of National Guard Lieutenant Paul Rieckhoff, recently returned from Iraq, indicating the horrendous uses and abuses of our military forces there, which have promoted the messes mentioned above. Myers incredibly says that he has not even read the report on our military abuses of prisoners and is sure they were the acts only of a few. Both McCain and Myers mumbled on about getting the job done in Iraq. And both of these SOBs dismissed Rieckhoff's report as mere _politics_ not meriting a response!!! Ish! What obviously has not gotten through to Myers and McCain is 1) that the U.S. embarked on an illegal war on Iraq. 2) that the killing and maiming (and now we discover, torturing) being done there has been tainted by the illegality of our aggression against both international standards of conduct and the Iraqi people (17,000 killed now?). 3) that the cannon fodder being used to carry out their mission are Americans who in good faith signed up to defend the U.S. -- not to carry out neocon political schemes that have been proven both dishonestly based and and disastrous for America and Americans. I for one am disgusted with both Myers and McCain and proud that we have such as Lieutenant Rieckhoff ready and willing to tell the American people how it really is. When will the American public wake up! I hope it is before more lives have been needlessly lost. Vietnam stands there as our costly previous paradigm of how not to do it. We took far too many years to disengage from that horrendous mess. May we move more rapidly and effectively now? I doubt it with such types in charge who cannot admit that they have made horrendous mistakes. Watching Myers' and McCain's weaving and dodging and lying was incredible -- as are Bush's comparable well prepped exercises of the same character. We are in the hands of knaves and thieves. -- "A war is just if there is no alternative, and the resort to arms is legitimate if they represent your last hope." (Livy) -- Ed Kent 718-951-5324 (voice mail only) [blind copies] http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CollegeConversation http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PeaceEfforts http://groups.yahoo.com/group/EndingPoverty --- / o o \ PNEWS Topic Specific Portals (Vortals) ===OO=====OO================================================= http://pnews.org/vortal/ New World disOrder and Myth Busters http://g0lem.net/vortal/ Insane Planet and Wacko World http://g0lem.net/portal/ Bad-Ass Truth and TheGolemsPortal http://pnews.org/portal/ Naked Truth and PNEWS Portal ============================================================= \_/ \_/ [MF-RQFFBW2] --- / o o \ PNEWS Topic Specific Portals (Vortals) ===OO=====OO================================================= http://pnews.org/vortal/ New World disOrder and Myth Busters http://g0lem.net/vortal/ Insane Planet and Wacko World http://g0lem.net/portal/ Bad-Ass Truth and TheGolemsPortal http://pnews.org/portal/ Naked Truth and PNEWS Portal ============================================================= \_/ \_/
