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A Soldier's View: Forgotton Sacrifice

U.S. Air Force Captain F. John Duresky | 06.07.2006 16:13 | Anti-militarism

This commentary on America today was written by U.S. Air Force Captain F. John Duresky, currently stationed in Iraq. It was published in The Washington Post on July 5, 2006.

A few days ago, as I do every day in Iraq, I listened to the commander's battle update. The briefer calmly and professionally described the day's events. Somewhere in Iraq, on some forgotten, dusty road, an insurgent fighting an occupying army detonated an improvised explosive device (IED) under a Humvee, killing an American soldier. The briefer fielded a question from the general and moved to the next item in the update.

The day before that, in America, a 15-year-old's incredibly rich parents planned the biggest sweet 16 party ever. They will spend more than $200,000 on an opulent event marking a single year in an otherwise unremarkable life. The soon-to-be-16 girl doesn't know where Iraq is and doesn't care. That same day an American soldier died in Iraq.

Two days earlier, a 35-year-old man went shopping for home entertainment equipment. He had the toughest time selecting the correct plasma screen; he could afford the biggest and best of everything. In the end, he had it installed by a specialty store. He spent about $50,000 on the whole system. He has never met anybody serving in the military nor served himself, but thinks we should "turn the whole place into a parking lot." That day, another American soldier died in Iraq.

Three days earlier, some college students had a great kegger. There were tons of babes at the party, the music was awesome. Everybody got totally blitzed, and many missed class the next day. The young men all registered for the draft when they were 18, but even though our nation is at war, they aren't the least bit worried about the draft. It is politically impossible to conscript young people today, we are told. That day, another American "volunteer" died in Iraq.

Four days earlier, a harried housewife looked all over town for the perfect accessory for her daughter's upcoming recital. Her numerous chores wore her out, but she still found herself preoccupied. Her oldest son is having trouble in his first year of college, and he has been talking of enlisting in the Army. She is terrified that her child will go off to that horrible war she sees on TV. She and her husband decide to give their son more money so he doesn't have to work part-time; maybe that will help with his studies. That day, another soldier died.

Yesterday millions of Americans celebrated Independence Day. They attended parties and barbecues. Families came together from all across the country to celebrate the big day. Millions of dollars were spent on fireworks. At public events, there were speeches honoring the people who served and those who made the ultimate sacrifice. These words mostly fell on bored ears. While the country celebrated its own greatness, other Americans were still fighting in Iraq.

Today Americans go back to their normal business. The politicians in Washington have made sure the sacrifices of the war are borne by the very smallest percentage of Americans. They won't even change the tax rates to prevent deficits from running out of control. Future generations will pay the cost of this war.

Many Americans feel strongly about the war one way or another, but they aren't signing up their children for service or taking the protest to the streets. What can they do? It is they whom we in the military trust to influence our leaders in Washington.

Today, as on every other day in Iraq, American servicemen are in very real danger. Our country is at war. Mothers, fathers, wives, husbands and children are worrying about their loved ones in a faraway land. They all hope he or she isn't the one whose luck runs out today.

U.S. Air Force Captain F. John Duresky

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Washington Times glorifies Aggressive War- the Supreme Crime

07.07.2006 02:46

There is no debate as to what constitutes the worst crime on this Earth. AGGRESSIVE WAR is the greatest evil any Human can be involved with.

Blair and Bush's war in Iraq is an aggressive war, waged against an helpless population that has no recourse to either justice, or a reasonable self-defence.

Aggressive war is not the evil of one person, or a small criminal gang. Aggressive war requires the willing participation of hundreds, or in the case of Iraq, of millions of Human criminals.

Human nature being what it is, the most depraved criminals (and they come no worse than racist mass murderer F. John Duresky) will always describe themselves as victims. It follows that when one has a criminal conspiracy that involves millions, each of this vast group will be happy to re-assure the others that it is not THEY who are the criminals.

Blair's invasion of Iraq has directly led to the deaths of 500,000+ Humans, but this is only the beginning of the list of suffering. The trauma, pain, and loss experienced by individuals in Iraq involves literally millions. A whole nation raped, tortured, plundered, and butchered by the very monsters this evil bastard F. John Duresky tells his readers to celebrate.

Aggressive war is like this. Read a little Human history, and very soon your mind will force itself to see our past as less real than the last blockbuster you watched at the cinema, for the sake of your sanity. Aggressive war is beyond imagination. AGGRESSIVE WAR IS ***YOU*** KIDNAPPED AND HELPLESS AND ABOUT TO DIE AT THE HANDS OF ONE OF THE WORST SADISTIC SERIAL KILLERS. Who the hell wants to torment themselves thinking about THAT possibility.

The Japanese waged aggressive war, and their newspapers carried articles like the one from the Washington Post every day during that period. The nazis waged aggressive war, and the German newspapers carried articles like the one from the Washington Post every day during that period. Guess what folks? When you have a leader that is mass murdering the citizens of another nation, your newspapers ALWAYS praise the so-called soldiers that function in the armies that aggressive war requires.

F. John Duresky is proud to be a racist killer. F. John Duresky is happy to be a racist killer beyond the law, for like all volunteer soldiers fighting such wars, he is way to gutless to rape and murder as a simple civilian, daily risking just punishment in a civilian court. Remember My Lai? What penalty did F. John Duresky's fellow warrior suffer for leading the atrocity that sexually tortured and murdered hundreds of women and children? Go find out, but be prepared to be sickened at the answer.

There is no doubt that the population splits at times like these, even when one excludes those happy to do the worst evils by serving in the armed forces of Blair and Bush. Part of the population stays true to Human moral values, and deplores all those that assist monsters like Blair in their war aims. Part of the population falls victim to fear, and aided by the constant brainwashing of the Blair friendly mass media, replaces morality with simple 'tribal' loyalty. The proportions determine our fate.

I do not know who posted the above article. Was the intent to expose the evil, or recruit more to its cause. Either way, the debate will continue until either Blair is defeated, or Blair defeats a sizeable chunk of humanity (and very probably most of us if he succeeds in his aim of triggering full scale nuclear and genetic wars). Of course, most of you will say that even if you hate Blair, you won't allow yourself to see him as anything other than a pathetic ex-public schoolboy. The racism of this position will neatly escape you, as you accept the greatest racist lie of all- the true villain is always a dirty foreigner. Every people that give passive support to a monster do so under this pretext.

The greatest evil leaves a slug-like trail through the period of its ascendancy. Future Humans despise the past Humans of that period for their refusal to act on the clear evidence of the trail. The history of bad times is the history of Humans doing nothing significant to fight evil. The history of good times is the history of Humans that did not forget to be active in defense of decency and justice. We live in the moment immediately before the very worst of times. It does not take a prophet to understand how any survivors of our race will judge us.

We are stripped of the cynical or practical understanding of the limits of individual influence that pertained to people that lived in most periods before the current form of our society. Unlike them, we were born into a world that stated loudly- racism is wrong, empire is wrong, slavery is wrong, aggressive war is utterly evil, all people are equal. We have no excuse based on the idea that the world has yet to learn to be a better place. Our time WAS the time of that 'better place' but we have allowed the monster Blair to move us back to a time of true depravity.

Now the moral cowards are thinking "at least ***I*** am on the winning side, a member of the dominant tribe". This thinking provides the bulk of support for aggressive war. A paradox, for it means the aggressive war must be started first, and only then gain sufficient support. However, the "if you can't beat them, join them" psychology is perfect, when those that lead have enough power to begin the 'bootstrapping' process.

When the moral cowards have spent some time, albeit reluctantly, on the side of the 'bad-guys', they quickly reach the point of needing greater self-justification, and this is where the 'patriotic' propaganda serves its purpose. Why did TEAM SPORTS come to replace combat training for the peasant classes? At some point, the ruling classes fear a well trained, well armed populace, but they always need a populace trained in the art of mindless and pointless loyalty. Supporting a team is no different to supporting a 'patriotic' cause in time of war. The great sports stadiums of the world are the conceptual descendants of compulsory archery practice and the like.

The Washington Post and F. John Duresky state SUPPORT OUR BOYS. No sense can be made of this demand if you believe in a world of justice, equality, and freedom from racism. However, if those that murder on behalf of monsters like Blair are successfully portrayed as just another national team to be cheered on, those whose morals are now nothing but a fading memory can happily join the swelling crowds who chant and applaud every victory marked by our boys still standing, and their 'opponents' villages, towns and cities successfully put to the sword.

The elite that own and publish the written forms of Human atrocity like the Washington Post and The Guardian believe only in power, and consider any Human that would submit to their propaganda as beneath contempt, and thus utterly disposable in the scheme of things. Their readers are just raw material to be forged into tools and weapons for the direct profit of the elite. Self defining masters and slaves.

Humans are born with all the faculties they need for moral survival- an instinct for good and evil. It does not matter what other say or write, or how many of your neighbours have seemingly gone astray. Human goodness is not a matter of popular opinion, whether that opinion comes from your neighbours or your media. Human goodness is an absolute understanding of the difference between right and wrong. In truth, no one needs my words to understand the evil that the Washington Post preaches. But Human frailty is such that many of us require constant persuasion in times like these that holding tight to goodness is our only valid option.

twilight


sounds like a gagged person shouting . . . .

10.07.2006 18:46

. . . . with a lot of clarity, given the circ's. . . . but amidst the infowar . . . . ( sunrise to "twilight" -wake-up - ) i hear ya - dont let all this dying in faraway countries get humdrum - get up - p r o t e s t - - - -

i hear ya