This is an extremely important video.
http://www.chris-floyd.com/fallujah /
Streaming Macromedia Flash 8 video or download the WMV file.
http://www.chris-floyd.com/fallujah /
Here's what Jeff writes... (one of the US military lads in the video).
What I find to be commonplace is the people who label me a traitor, call me a coward, and then accuse me of sedition are always the misinformed, close minded, naïve and ignorant soldiers who have been deceived by their chain of command, from the President all the way down to the lowest level, into believing in a twisted cause to establish a world police force across the globe under the guise of a war against terrorism.
I have received cynical and even very hateful criticism for as long as I have written on this website. It has never deterred my train of thought nor has it frustrated me. By receiving hateful comments is how I know I am doing my part to bring some level of consciousness to the table.
While I was in the army I was labeled a problem simply because I did not believe in the war, and I was vocal about it. What I cannot fathom is the soldiers out there who not only cannot see the obvious truths of this war, but actually get angry when they know of one who disagrees with the military and government’s war-gospel. I never could understand how anyone involved with the Iraqi OCCUPATION could whole-heartedly support it. The foul machinations behind it should be crystal clear, but then again military brain washing is rampant and seems to affect everyone with a myopic scope of reality.
When I was finally caught for my writing in November of last year, the Command Sergeant Major wanted to court-marshal me under his firm belief that what I was writing was “aiding and embedding the enemy”. However, a court-marshal was not possible after our written material was sent through military intelligence and came back clean. You see, my intentions are not to help the Iraqi insurgency but only to raise the awareness of what I went through and what I saw during Operation Iraqi Freedom II.
I do not regret anything I have written, but I do wish to make one thing clear. CPL Mathew Shelberg made a very valid point when he asked, “In what areas of the country did you serve to have "never once saw a terrorist with extreme inclinations for senseless bloodshed"? Does targeting Shia civilians with car bombs count as "extreme" in your eyes? Are the "angry farmers and shop keepers" the people who manufacture the car bombs that have slain thousands of innocent Iraqis?”.
My year of combat from February 2004 through February 2005 was spent with 3rd Brigade, 1st Infantry Division in Baquba, Iraq--centralized in the Sunni Triangle--35 miles northeast of Baghdad. I specifically remember two weeks in the month of July where our sector had the most car bomb attacks in all of Iraq. So I do know the maniacal savagery that was wreaked because of the insurgency’s tactics.
I wish to correct myself by not recognizing car bomb attacks, or any attack that would kill or maim innocent civilians, as indeed an act of terrorism. It is very true that acts of terrorism are occurring in the war in Iraq. But what I would like to make clear is that our involvement in this war is like trying to extinguish a lit match with gasoline. I do not see how terrorism can be snubbed out using conventional warfare. Some of the insurgents’ attacks such as suicide bombers, car bombs, and arbitrary assassinations are unfortunately taking the lives of innocent civilians. This is always wrong. But what needs to be understood is the primary targets of these violent acts are either the Iraqi forces that we empowered or the US military presence exclusively. The Iraqi insurrection, in itself, is what I believe to be an honest rebellion. Because it is a guerrilla war against an illegal occupation enforced by our conventional military force, with far superior weapons and technology, it seems obvious that acts of terrorism are also acts of desperation. One would have to study terrorism for what it is: political violence or the threat of violence, especially bombing, kidnapping, and assassination, carried out for political purposes. One would have to wonder why international factions of terrorist cells, especially those located in the Middle East, would target the people of America. But what is commonly ignored is the role the United States government takes in aggravating terrorist acts through our hegemonic stranglehold on those regions of the world. With no other means to attract world attention for the economic desperation these third-world regions face, and no way to effectively counter a military superpower, it is no wonder these extremist factions choose terrorism to fight back. Is it right? Certainly not, but then again, neither are economic sanctions and the corporate subsidization of localized goods (oil) and services that our government is notorious for generating. Terrorism should never be accepted by any rational person or society and is certainly an immoral act, but to say that the US government is clean of all responsibility of terrorism is very naïve. Like Noam Chomsky says, “The best way to end terrorism is to stop participating in it.”
SNIP
http://www.ftssoldier.blogspot.com /
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