Ann,
Re: Simple answer: Kerry lied. American soldiers were not committing atrocities in large numbers in vietnam
Simplistic is what you should have said. I find it hard to believe you can be so naive about the true nature of war.
Last fall, the Toledo Blade ran an excellent series on the propensity of the American military to engage in atrocities:
toledoblade.com
In his interviews for the documentary, "The Fog of War", former Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara admitted that 3.4 Million Vietnamese were killed by American military forces during the period 1954-75. He admits to atrocities.
My Lai was no isolated incident. I'm shocked that you are so unwilling to look reality in the eye and face up to the fact that the U.S. military machine is evil. It is a force that is abused by corporate interests to further their ability to exploit markets and resources on a global basis.
The U.S. war machine is the ugly face of imperialism that most of the population on the planet rightly fears, because it is so heartless and so powerful. Here's a list of infamy. A long history of U.S. thuggery and interventions on behalf of privileged corporate interests:
neravt.com
*****
I know that it is most convenient for you to bury your head in the sand and say that the U.S. military intervenes when there is justice to be served. That is the lie that we get told by the government and the media constantly. But they are lying. The truth is, the military is terrorizing the native population in Iraq today. Same thing in Afghanistan on a smaller scale, and in Columbia, Ecuador, Peru, the Philippines and the 'Stans. The U.S. military is in the intimidation and terrorization business, and they are the best on the planet today.
This is a national malaise, as far as I and millions of others are concerned.
If you want to bury your head in the sand and believe the fairy tales that are told to you by the corporate media and the Administration, you are certainly taking a cop-out position on your responsibilities as a citizen. As citizens, it is mandatory that we actually learn the actual conditions of our democracy. And when we learn we must act. Today, sadly, too many people are simply willing to be part of the No-Nothing Party. A Party that endorses Bush and the status quo and doesn't want to know the ugly truth about the American Empire that is being created, rising like a phoenix from the ashes of America's dying democracy. |
