People ignore crimes for political reasons

     So I'm going go through this back story really quick so I can get straight to the point. ISIS murders one of Jordan's pilots, and Jordan retaliates, executing 2 of their prisoners and starting a bombing campaign against ISIS.
     http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/jordan-hits-islamic-state-with-airstrikes-as-king-visits-family-of-pilot-burned-alive/2015/02/05/22ea3af0-acad-11e4-8876-460b1144cbc1_story.html
     Many people around the world, including many Americans, applauded Jordan without any knowledge of its history, its political systems, its list of crimes that it has committed every since it came into existence, etc, etc, basically they are straight up ignorant people, commenting on things that they have no knowledge about.
     What else is new, right?
     The problem is that this support of Jordan is a truly offensive thing to do, reprehensible, disgusting, against American values, and is actually the same action that Americans get mad at citizens from other countries for doing.
     Wait, what am I saying? You ask? Don't worry, all will be explained. I know my statements seem "revolutionary, extreme, radical," etc, but only because our society and culture as a whole has been extremely radicalized and twisted for decades, leaving once rational, logical, and moderate statements seemingly way out there because it is so different from what we experience day to day. What we consider "normal" is actually extremely radical, leaving normal statements looking like they are radical.
      So to start off, let's go through some of the endorsements that Americans have been giving the government of Jordan, and specifically the dictator of Jordan, Abdullah, recently:

• "For anyone that doesn't know King Abdullah's story, you should definitely read about it. Truly awesome. They don't really make leaders like him anymore" -Scott Carlisle. 
• "King Jordan for our Defense Secretary!!!"-Dave Broadbent. 
• "at LAST!!! ... a real leader has emerged in the world!!!"-Jasper Stupart. 
• " Proud of King Abdullah II , well done Jordanian Air Force , God bless you"-Rabie Annab. 
• " Way to go Jordan....finally a country with backbone"-Lorraine White.  
• "Obama should look at Jordan to see how a REAL leader handles terrorism"-Sara Jean. 
• "NOW, here is a MAN that backs up his word, not a wimp like somebody else we are stuck with"-Gus Brown. 

     Etc, etc, etc, you get the point. These are not by far the only comments made on Facebook about Abdullah, I just picked the first 7 that I could find. The consensus is that Abdullah is a good leader, and that America would be great if we had a leader like him, and that Obama should be more like Abdullah. These people either 1. Have no idea how many innocent people Abdullah has killed, raped, tortured, kidnapped, and oppressed, or 2. They simply don't care because they want to make a jab at Obama. Either way, it is completely sickening that a man that has done all that gets PRAISE from the American people. 
     What crimes has Abdullah committed, you ask? You haven't heard the mainstream media, (MSM), say anything about it, you say? Well of course you haven't. The MSM would never report crimes done by our allies. That would make them look bad, and America NEVER makes friends with bad guys, right? The MSM is the mouthpiece of the state. The state wants Jordan to look good for political reasons, so that's what the MSM spews out. 
     Here are some human rights reports that you would NEVER see on the MSM about Jordan: 

•   http://www.hrw.org/world-report/2014/country-chapters/jordan "Jordanian law criminalizes speech deemed critical of the king, government officials, and institutions." Oh no freedom of speech for Jordanians.  "prosecutors continued to charge protesters with participating in “unlawful gatherings” under article 165 of the penal code." Oh no freedom of assembly for Jordanians.
• http://www.amnestyusa.org/our-work/countries/middle-east-and-north-africa/jordan "Amnesty International continues to be concerned about torture and ill-treatment in detention in Jordan, as well as the link between torture, unfair trials, and the death penalty."
• http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/220572.pdf "The most significant human rights problems were citizens' inability to change their government peacefully." "Oh so no freedom to free and fair elections for Jordanians. "Other human rights problems include denial of due process, prolonged detention, (no right to a fair and speedy trial for Jordanians). 

    Wow, that's a good chunk of the Bill of Rights that Jordanians flat out don't have, and that's only the first 3 sources I could find! Does this sound like the type of leader that you want to rule the U.S.? Does this sound like the type of country that you want to live in? Does this sounds like the leader that our president should take pointers from?
    FUCK NO!!!
    "King" Abdullah was not elected in free and fair elections by his people to rule the country, he simply got the throne through the chance of being the son of the previous king, "King" Hussein. Do you know what that makes him? A dictator? When his people call for free and fair elections, so that they can choose their own leaders, you know, the right that all Americans have, do you know what he does? Kidnaps them, tortures them, jails them, kills them. Oh what a good leader, right?!
      Okay, so he might be a bad leader, you say, but he is still striking against ISIS, a terrorist group, so we can praise him for this one deed, right? Okay, you can, because a bad man can do the right thing for the wrong reason, after all. But, in order to not have a double standard, that means you have to praise every bad guy who did something good. So, are you going to praise HAMAS for crushing an Al-Qaida uprising in 2009?
     http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3762017,00.html
     Remember, no double standards! If "King" Abdullah can be praised despite his tyranny for attacking ISIS, then HAMAS can be praised despite their crimes for attacking al-Qaida? C'mon, where's your praise for HAMAS, Americans? Huh? Are you going to praise Iran for helping the side that is fighting ISIS? Huh? Remember, no double standards!
     SEE HOW FUCKING STUPID YOU LOOK!!!! 

     The people above literally had no idea about the man they were praising. They are so fucking God damn ignorant that they are praising a tyrant, that, if he ruled them, they would hate and despise and take up arms against in a second. Oh, but if they see a chance for a political pandering, then let's throw logic out the window, they say, all hail dictator, oh, I mean, KING Abdullah!
     I did respond to several of the comments in the above bullets on Facebook, basically summarizing what I've written here in this post. Most of my comments got deleted, even though I used no curse words and did not insult anyone at all. It's pretty sad that the internet has come down to: Oh, he responded so well that I can't think how to counter him, so I'm going to flag his comment for abuse, even though he did no abuse, just so I don't look like a freaking idiot unable to respond. The few people who did not delete my comments and who did respond either insulted me without countering any of my points, they just called me stupid and told me to shut up, and deemed that a sufficient response. Or, they said some bullshit like "Your comment is so dumb I'm not even going to validate it with a response. But oh, if I ever did respond, you'd be sorry! You can't match wit with me!"
     No seriously, this was actually one of the comments:

     "Normally, I don't respond or try to match wits with defenseless people like you, because I'm twice your age and have been around lots longer than you and have seen more than you in my lifetime. You're young, idealistic, and think you know everything so I will just leave it at this. Don't you ever attempt to match wits with me because you'll lose. Have a good day and don't reply again because I won't look at it. Your comment is irrational and uninformed."

     Doesn't that sound like someone who knows they're wrong but is too much of a stubborn bitch to admit it?? 

    In conclusion, this support by Americans have real life consequences for the Jordanian people, and the Palestinians living in Jordan. Our political and military support for Jordan is a lifeline for the Jordanian regime. In short, we are financing the Jordanians' suffering. It's on our fucking heads. Praise isn't just harmless words. No, our support for Jordan is financing millions of peoples' oppression and denial of basic human rights that we take for granted.  The millions of dollars we give them allows them to have the police cars that they use to kidnap people in the dead of night. The millions of dollars we give them allows them to torture a woman for simply saying that she wants to vote for her leader.

       If you're going to comment on something, FUCKING KNOW WHAT YOU'RE FUCKING TALKING ABOUT. Ignorance kills people. Ignorance causes acute, mind numbing suffering.  

   

More evidence that the US has a terrorist government

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch recently released a publication that, in essence, shows that the US government is killing a lot more civilians in countries like Pakistan and Yemen that they freely admit.

http://www.amnestyusa.org/our-work/issues/security-and-human-rights/drones/will-i-be-next
video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7o5GOvAarMc
http://www.hrw.org/news/2013/10/21/us-reassess-targeted-killings-yemen

The numbers speak for themselves:

• In Yemen, Human Rights Watch investigated six selected airstrikes since 2009 and concluded that at least 57 of the 82 people killed were civilians, including a pregnant woman.
• Amnesty International said it found strong evidence that more than 30 civilians were killed in four of the attacks in Pakistan. 
• The groups’ findings coincide with a report released Friday by a U.N. human rights investigator, who estimated that 2,200 people have been killed in drone strikes over the past decade in Pakistan. Of those casualties, at least 400 were civilians and 200 others were “probable noncombatants,” according to the U.N. official, Ben Emmerson. He said the statistics were provided by Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry.
• Amnesty International highlighted a July 6, 2012, drone attack in the village of Zowi Sidgi, near the city of Miran Shah, in which it said 18 civilians — including a 14-year-old boy — were killed. 
• In December 2009, a US cruise missile strike on a Bedouin camp in the southern village of al-Majalah killed 14 alleged AQAP fighters and 41 civilians, two-thirds of them women and children. The attack involved cluster munitions – inherently indiscriminate weapons that pose unacceptable dangers to civilians.

The ages of the victims speak for themselves:

• By the end (of 2 particular drone strikes in Pakistan), 18 people were dead, including at 14-year-old boy, and 22 others were wounded, including an 8-year-old girl.
• It recounts another strike, in October 2012, in which a 68-year-old woman, Mamana Bibi, was blown apart by a drone as she picked vegetables in front of her grandchildren, several of whom were injured in the attack. 

Shakira, a Pakistani girl that was 1 year old when a US drone strike hit her and disfigured her. Was she a terrorist? Was she a future producer of terrorists???

The refusal of responsibility, the lack of transparency, and the arrogance of our government acting like a complete God damn dick speaks for itself:

•  With rare exceptions, the US government only acknowledges its role in targeted killings in general terms, refusing to take responsibility for individual strikes or provide casualty figures, including civilian deaths. The Yemeni authorities have been almost as silent. Both governments declined comment on the six strikes that Human Rights Watch investigated.   
• The six strikes also did not meet US policy guidelines for targeted killings that Obama disclosed in May 2013, Human Rights Watch said. 
•  The U.S. government almost never publicly acknowledges its role in individual drone strikes, and its legal justifications for targeting specific people are shrouded in secrecy. 
•  But in virtually all cases, the groups said, it was impossible to know whether the targets had met Obama’s threshold of posing an imminent threat to the United States, because U.S. officials have kept that information a secret.

The aftermath of a Pakistani wedding, bombed by an American drone. If this happened at your wedding, wouldn't you be PISSED OFF?!

What is the definition of terrorism? That's right, killing unarmed civilians. That's what the US is doing, and has been doing for centuries. It's time to get people out of their comfort zones. People feel uncomfortable talking about the crimes that their country's soldiers do, or admitting that they aren't 100% perfect little angels. Fuck your uncomfortableness. People are dying by the thousands because of the American peoples' lazy inaction. The American people could easily solve 90% of the nation's problems by simply voting third party, but no, they still vote for Republicans and Democrats, while both parties are working tirelessly day and night to ruin us.

Look at the facts, look at the stats, look at history, look at peoples' stories. The US HAS A TERRORIST GOVERNMENT. Our American values compel us to get rid of this fucking government as fast as possible, any way we can. Our government is an insult to it's people. It kills innocents on purpose to rile up the friends and families of those killed, so they can justify their one-sided war to get more power and resources.  People have the right to be mad at America. People have the right to fight against America, because America has killed their innocents. If someone killed your wife/husband/son/daughter, wouldn't you think it would be justified if you fought back and killed the murderer?

Afghani children, killed by an American airstrike. Why do we sit in silence when our soldiers kill innocents, yet we constantly demand that citizens of other countries condemn their terrorists? Do not ask someone to do something that you are unwilling to do yourself.

Simply saying basic sentences about the US government will make it easier and more comfortable for you to talk about these concepts. Stating "People have the right to take up arms against America" starts the conversation. We need to have these painful conversations. Yes, it's uncomfortable to talk about these concepts, but the government has pushed this on itself.  Only then can we work towards purging the terrorists out of our government.

Oh, America isn't the only one to blame for this. Drone strikes require the approval of the country it's happening in, otherwise, they would attack our drones with their Air Force or ground to air defenses. But they don't. They let America kill their citizens. The Pakistani and Yemeni are corrupt, self-centered oligarchies that do not care about the well-being of their citizens. They oppress them, denying them the most basic of human rights. Those governments need to be overthrown just as much as America's government needs to be. Without "foreign aid," aka, bribery, from the US, (paid by us, the taxpayers), these governments would not last a month. They're simply puppet governments that allow the US to do what it wants in their country.       

Israeli-Palestinian Talks Have Started, But I'm Not Holding My Breath

Palestinian-Israeli peace talks have started on Monday, July 29th, in Washington D.C. Government officials have expressed cautious optimism at this, but even that is folly. There is no evidence that anything will go right in these talks, and much evidence that shows that these talks will go nowhere and will be a waste of time. Here's a short list why:

1. Israel has already said in the past that they refuse to negotiate about the most important issues of the conflict.
They're not even pretending to care anymore. How are you supposed to reach a solution in the conflict if you can't talk about the most important issues? That's like having a parent-teacher conference about a child's bad grades, but they're not allowed to talk about how the teacher teaches, the kid's study habits, or how the parents can help. You absolutely cannot talk about those concepts at all. It just leaves me with my hands in the air, with a WTF look on my face, thinking "It's all bullshit. It's all complete fucking bullshit, and anyone who buys into it needs to be tested for drugs."

Israel has previously said that the issues of Jewish only settlements, Palestinian refugees, and the 1967 border are not up for discussion, (http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/2/8/4739/World/Region/Olmert-adviser-says-AlJazeera-leaks--correct.aspx,) (http://www.aljazeera.com/palestinepapers/2011/01/2011122112512844113.html), (http://www.nbcnews.com/id/43106082/ns/politics-white_house/t/we-cant-go-back-israeli-pm-rejects-border-proposal/).

So how is anyone going to get anything done?

2. Neither side has renounced terrorism.
I haven't heard Hamas say they're going to stop attacking Israeli civilians. I haven't heard Israel say they're going to stop attacking Palestinian civilians, or kidnapping and abusing Palestinian children, (http://www.greenleft.org.au/node/54616). Renouncing terrorism is a key first step in peace talks, because if your side is still a terrorist organization, then there's no incentive for the other side to negotiate with you. I'm sure you've heard America's position a million times before "We do not negotiate with terrorists." With both Israel and Hamas still terrorist organizations, how is anything going to get done?

3. Israel has demanded that a future "state" of Palestine be demilitarized.
http://www.jcpa.org/text/demilitarization.pdf
This is a fucking joke. You know as well as I do that any country that isn't allowed to have a military is not a country in any sense of the word. People keep talking about "Israel's security needs" over and over again, like it is the only country in the Middle East that deserves the right to security. What about Palestine's security needs? Why does no one in the Western media or government say that one particular phrase? Do they not deserve security from their neighbors because they're all just Muslim terrorists? If any, it's Palestine that needs more security than Israel. Israel is 100 times stronger than it, and has the capability to launch raids, both by land and air, on a moment's notice and cause massive damage. Palestine does not have that capability. Just look at the stats from the latest flare-up in violence that happened in November 2012.
http://www.pchrgaza.org/portal/en/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=9052:1&catid=145:in-focus
http://www.mfa.gov.il/mfa/foreignpolicy/terrorism/pages/israel_under_fire-november_2012.aspx
In a week's time, Palestine lost 105 civilians, and 55 combatants.
Israel lost 2 soldiers, 1 defense contractor, and 3 civilians.
The numbers speak for themselves. So no, any country that can't have a military is not a country. So Israel flat out does not want a true Palestinian state.

4. Palestine has no legitimate government, that is representative of the Palestinian people, to negotiate with.
Israel is negotiating the Palestinian Authority, and that's it. Well, they only govern the West Bank. But the PA is an illegitimate government. Mahmoud Abbas's term expired January 2009, but 4 years later he's still in power. Are you fucking kidding me? Why does no one in the Western media or government say this one simple sentence? Oh, because they don't want to bring up the fact that they are propping up an illegitimate despot who doesn't give a flaming fuck about his people. They are deliberately stifling Palestinian democracy because they want to deal with only Abbas, who they can control, because they are the majority of his financial support. If the Palestinians were allowed to vote, they would bring into power someone who truly cared about the Palestinian people, and who stand up for their rights. Well, the U.S. and Israel can't allow that to happen, how dare the Palestinian people stand up for their human rights?!?!
Then on the other side we have Hamas, (fascist jackasses), who came to power via elections but haven't held elections since 2007. So that makes them illegitimate as fuck as well. How are you supposed to make a lasting peace agreement if one side doesn't have a legitimate institution to voice for them?!

5. Israel won't stop committing acts of war against the PA.
The PA, who has renounced violence for several years now like the cowards they are, is under constant attack by Israel. How can you reach a lasting peace agreement if one side has completely renounced violence but the other side is still constantly attacking it? There's no justice in that. Israel constantly raids West Bank towns, kidnapping adults as well as children, holding them in undisclosed locations for hours or even days, they shoot unarmed civilians, they steal water and resources from Palestinian land, and above all, they constantly expand Jewish-only settlements on Palestinian land, which is stealing territory, which is an act of war. 
One of the first things you learn about in negotiations is that, in order for them to happen, the two sides have to stop fighting first. A cease-fire must be in place, and it must be honored by both sides. Well, Israel refuses to stop committing acts of war against the PA. Abbas has asked them repeatedly to stop, but every time they say no.

This, in essence, is why I believe this latest round of peace talks will not result in anything. But, I can't just criticize something and not offer what I think should be done, right? That's not helping anyone. Here's what I think the Palestinian people should do if they truly want freedom and independence, instead of wasting their time doing these "peace talks."

1. Overthrow their current governments.
Now there are many sub-steps involved in doing just this one step, because it is a monumental task. The current governments has repeatedly refused to have open and free elections, so that means the only way to get them out of power is through armed struggle. Peaceful protests have only been met with violent repression. Am I advocating for violence? Yep, but sometimes, violence is necessary because it is the only thing that will work. It should only be used as a last resort. In order to do this step, the Palestinian people must:

• Establish a process to get guns and ammo, everything from light arms to anti-vehicle weapons. This means going through black markets, raiding military warehouses or other installations for guns and ammo, and buying from groups/organizations from neighboring countries. One would have to establish smuggling routes, make contact with these other groups, etc, etc. Make it reliable as possible so that when the SHTF, you can have a dependable way of getting what you need in a tough situation.   
• Organize into brigades, establish routes for patrolling for defending neighborhoods, coordinate with community leaders, have a system in place for a counterattack when the inevitable government crackdown launches raids into villages and towns. Have safe houses where militia can hide and take shelter.
• Fight by attacking police, military, and government installations. Do not, under any circumstances, attack unarmed civilians. The enemy is the oppressive corrupt Palestinian governments, not the Palestinian people. Do a variety of attacks to make it hard for the government to defend and counter-attack. If you do the same thing over and over again, the government will know what you're gonna do, and be able to defend from it better. Some types of attacks may include ambushing convoys of soldiers, attacking police stations, car bombs at government centers or installations, mortar attacks, sniping, IEDs, sabotage equipment, poison food supply, etc, etc.  
• Let the world know why you're doing what you're doing. Talk to the media, explain why you are fighting, your principles, morals, values, the crimes that the governments are doing, have data, charts to back up your argument, explain the historical development of why fighting against a government that does these things is rational and logical. Use social media as well. Have people go in for talks on news stations. Secure support from sympathetic organizations and foreign governments. 

2. Once the government is overthrown, establish a temporary transition government that will hold power only until you can have free and fair elections, which on average can take from 9-12 months from the date of victory. This temporary government must uphold all Palestinians' human rights, regardless of religion or political ideology. It must not be corrupt, it must be efficient, and it must be serious about Palestinian independence.

3. Have a nation wide vote to see what type of government the Palestinian people want. Do they want a parliamentary system like Britain's or a religious orientated government like the Muslim Brotherhood or a presidential system like ours? Whatever they want, that's what they should get.   

4. Have free and fair elections to elect the type of government chosen in the step above.

5. Now that the Palestinian people have a legitimate government that truly represents them, they can take the fight to Israel. History has proven that peaceful negotiations with Israel have not worked, because Israel either still attacks them when they're negotiating, won't compromise on anything, or agree on an accord that only benefits them but hurts the Palestinians, (http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-oslo-illusion-the-historical-accords-between-palestine-and-israel/5337332). So, logic would tell us that armed struggle is the only option left. That, unless they want the current situation to keep going on forever.
The Palestinian people would need to fight in a way similar to the way I described in #1. It has to be of the utmost importance that the uprising target Israeli military, government, and police targets only. Under no circumstances should Israeli civilians be targeted. Any person found guilty of a terrorist attack on civilians should be given the sentence prescribed by Islam: death. Terrorist attacks only hurt the operations of the ones that do it, it never, ever helps them.  

Some people will criticize this approach, saying that "Of there's no way Palestine could beat Israel militarily. Israel is 100 times stronger than it." Obviously these people know nothing about the military, because there's two facts that would put that argument to rest:
1. Palestine doesn't have to beat Israel, they only have to hurt them enough that Israel will see they have no choice but to enter negotiations with good faith i.e. actually try to achieve peace, not put on this charade that they're currently going through. Palestine could still militarily lose the war but politically win in the end.
2. A guerrilla force can beat a conventional military that is much stronger than it, through effective use of guerrilla warfare. Numerous cases throughout history show this to be true: American Revolutionary War, Vietnamese-French War, Vietnam War, Afghan-Soviet Union War, etc. In the Vietnam War, the Viet-Cong lost considerably more soldiers than the U.S., but in the end, the Viet-Cong won the war.    

Lastly, some people would dismiss this argument, saying "Oh, you're a violent terrorist extremist for advocating war against Israel." Yet, if you look at cases of occupation throughout history, historical documents, political philosophies and ideologies, including the U.S.'s, you will see that is not extreme at all to advocate for self-defense. That's all I'm advocating for. The Palestinian people, just like any other people in the world, deserve the right to defend themselves against injury and death. It actually the accusers who are extreme. They are saying for the Palestinians to just sit there and get killed. They are saying the Palestinians are sub-human, and therefore, do not get to enjoy basic human rights like every human being should be able to enjoy. They are going against the human instinct to defend oneself and his/her family. Those are the true violent extremists, not me.              

 

 

"Defense" Contractors are Legitimate Targets of War

         The American government and military use “contractors” in many of their operations, from everything to intelligence gathering to weapons designing to direct combat. I put the word “contractors” in quotations because the American government and military like to call them that. It’s a nice, cute, sophisticated, professional term that doesn’t signify anything bad at all. Contractors can be hired to do anything from yard work to construction, so calling these people contractors doesn’t give away the fact that they are doing functions that had been reserved for either a government or a military for most of human history. They are civilians hired by the American government to do their dirty work: spy on other civilians around the world, “extract information” from them, (a.k.a. torture them, but Americans don’t torture, remember? They simply “extract”), and “enhance mission success”, (a.k.a. kill people).

          In recent times, the question have come up “If two countries are fighting each other, obviously each other militaries are legitimate targets for the other one to attack, but are their contractors, their spies, their weapon manufacturers, who are legally civilians by the way, are they legitimate targets of war?”

          If it’s a hypothetical situation, almost everyone, including Americans, will say “yeah, they’re legitimate targets. They’re helping the war effort. They’re enforcing state oppression, they’re engineering weapons that are killing people,” etc, etc, whatever the case may be. But when it’s Americans that we’re talking about, suddenly a lot of Americans jump on their big superiority complex, and start calling every attack against their spies, their torturers, their kidnappers, their weapon manufacturers, even their own soldiers, a terrorist attack. Americans, (and their Western allies), are just so fucking special that they honestly believe that ordinary rules and logic doesn’t apply to them.

          Let me give you scenarios in which this arrogance is displayed:

·         American soldiers kill a Taliban spy. Americans view that as a legitimate kill. After all, we’re at war. But as soon as the Taliban kill an American spy, they go crying, calling it a terrorist attack and how all Muslims are backward, barbaric terrorists.

·         American soldiers kill a Taliban soldier that was torturing an American for information. Americans view that as a legitimate kill. But as soon as the Taliban stage a night raid on an American base, and kill an American who was a torturer, they go crying, calling it a terrorist attack and how all Muslims are backward, barbaric terrorists.

·         American soldiers kill a Taliban insurgent in a combat operation, an ambush, whatever the case may be. Americans rightly view that as a legitimate kill. That is what war is supposed to be: soldiers killing soldiers, (not soldiers killing civilians, that’s fucking terrorism). But when a Taliban soldier kills an American soldier in a covert sneak attack, or as some people like to call it “blue on green” attacks, Americans go crying, calling it a terrorist attack and how all Muslims are backward, barbaric terrorists.

          You can’t agree with a statement when it doesn’t involve your countrymen, and then suddenly not agree with the exact same statement when it does involve your countrymen. Either you view that contractors are legitimate targets of war, or not. That’s it. What country they are from should not influence your decision at all, because if you do that, you create an alternative reality where Americans can do anything and do nothing wrong, and their enemies aren’t allowed to do the exact same things and everything they do is wrong.

          Furthermore, you can’t dish out pain and death, and then cry foul when someone fights back. You cannot be a contractor who is furthering the foreign occupation of Afghanistan, and then cry “terrorist attack!” when the Taliban attack you. It doesn’t work that way. If you’re designing a Predator drone to give to the Israelis to attack unarmed men, women and children in schools and mosques, you can’t say “Oh, those Palestinians just hate Americans because of who we are” when Palestinians and other peoples protest the sale of drones to Israel. It doesn’t work that way.

          In conclusion, even though contractors are still legally civilians, they perform many functions that make them legitimate targets of war. What implications does it have for us? Well, for people like in the New York City area, or Washington Metro area, or near Los Angeles, etc, there are a lot of contractor buildings near your homes, your businesses, your schools, etc. That means there are legitimate targets of war right next to where you live, go shopping, etc. Are you okay with that? Do you feel safe? After all, if someone wanted to attack the U.S. legitimately, that means there could possibly be attacks right next to you. Are you okay with the fact that the arrogant, selfish U.S. foreign policy is putting you and your family at risk? After all, if the defense contractors acted legitimately and in accordance with international law and the laws of war, they would be doing nothing wrong, so there would be no reason for anyone to attack them. Are you okay with your neighbors going to work to design weapons to give to dictators, or designing new torture methods to skirt around international laws, and then coming home and acting like a normal person around you and your family? After all, they’re legitimate targets of war. They’re pretty damn close to you. Do you feel safe?    

 (picture is of private security contractors in Afghanistan, and is from foreignpolicyblogs.com).                                             

Egyptians Want Dictator Supporters Out of Their Country

Egyptian protesters stormed the U.S. embassy in Cairo, and ripped down the American flag that was hanging there.

          http://www.cnn.com/2012/09/11/world/meast/egpyt-us-embassy-protests/index.html

 

          The Egyptians had a clear message: they don’t want American government personnel operating in their country anymore. The American media, and many other Americans for that matter, will spin this story, saying any number of things:

          1. All Muslims hate Americans, not because of the crimes we do, (America doesn’t do anything wrong, remember?), but because of who we are, for us just simply existing.

          2. Muslims hate America because they’re jealous of the wealth and freedoms that we have.

          3. Muslims are violent people so they just stormed the embassy just because an anti-Islamic video that may/may not have been showing at the embassy.  

         

          Etc etc the list goes on, but I digress. My point of this post is that the Egyptians had good reason to storm the embassy. Islam, Christianity, and American values would all support these protests and what they did. (This is a totally different story than the attack on the American embassy in Benghazi, Libya. I condemn that attack, as Islam does not support an attack based on the circumstances in Libya. But again, I digress). For a minute, forget the crap that the American media constantly spews out about Islam, Muslims and the Middle East. Forget all the xenophobic bigoted bullshit that many Americans say every day. Let’s look at this story with logic and context (*gasp* I know, what a dangerous innovation that is!).  

          American support for past Egyptian dictators is well known and well documented. Americans seem to act like this isn’t such a big deal, or that it never happened in the first place, and act all surprised when Egyptians protest against the U.S. government. American military support, (not counting any other type of support), for Hosni Mubarak’s repressive and torturous dictatorship was $1.3 billion a year alone, (http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Backchannels/2011/0127/Joe-Biden-says-Egypt-s-Mubarak-no-dictator-he-shouldn-t-step-down). The protesters in last year’s revolution were burning with anger when they saw that the rubber bullets and tear gas canisters being shot at them had “Made in the U.S.A.” on them. Their blood boiled when they saw the police’s vehicles and APCs were given to Mubarak’s thugs by the U.S.

          Not only did the U.S. finance Mubarak’s dictatorship, but we knew exactly what the fuck he had been doing for decades, and still financed it anyway. We can’t play the “we didn’t know” excuse for this one. Jane Myer, in her book The Dark Side: The Inside Story of How The War on Terror Turned into a War on American Ideals, says that the U.S. State Department reported that: “detainees were "stripped and blindfolded; suspended from a ceiling or doorframe with feet just touching the floor; beaten with fists, whips, metal rods, or other objects; subjected to electrical shocks; and doused with cold water [and] sexually assaulted," (p.112).

          On January 15, 2009, the U.S. Ambassador in Egypt wrote the following in a secret cable published by WikiLeaks:

"Police brutality in Egypt against common criminals is routine and pervasive. Contacts describe the police using force to extract confessions from criminals as a daily event, resulting from poor training and understaffing. Brutality against Islamist detainees has reportedly decreased overall, but security forces still resort to torturing Muslim Brotherhood activists who are deemed to pose a political threat. Over the past five years, the government has stopped denying that torture exists, and since late 2007 courts have sentenced approximately 15 police officers to prison terms for torture and killings...NGO contacts estimate there are literally hundreds of torture incidents every day in Cairo police stations alone." ("US embassy cables: Police brutality in Egypt," Guardian/UK, January 28, 2011.)  

          And we gave these guys weapons, food, vehicles, and surveillance equipment! Again, as I’ve asked in my past posts, what does that make us? But wait! It gets even better. Not only have we knowingly and voluntarily financed torture, kidnappings, rapes, oppression and denial of people’s basic human rights in Egypt, we’ve actually facilitated it! That’s right, according to the ACLU, a former CIA officer said "If you want a serious interrogation, you send a prisoner to Jordan. If you want them to be tortured, you send them to Syria. If you want someone to disappear—never to see them again—you send them to Egypt." ("Fact Sheet: Extraordinary Rendition," ACLU, December 6, 2005).”

          So now do you see why Egyptians are so pissed off at the U.S.? It’s not because they’re ignorant and violent, it’s not because they’re jealous of our “intelligence and power”, it’s not because Islam is commanding them to attack non-Muslims, no, it’s because WE FINANCED AND SUPPORTED kidnappings, torture, sexual assaults, murders, and assassinations in Egypt! And since the American embassy is the only piece of American territory in Egypt, that would make it the logical place to start. Since foreign aid to Egypt goes through the embassy and embassy diplomats are the ones that facilitate the money to Mubarak’s thugs, again, that would make it the logical place to attack.

          Imagine if it was the other way around, if you still can’t understand the legitimacy of this anger. Imagine if Egypt gave billions of dollars to an American politician or general that had his own army, and he took control of this country and made it a dictatorship. And, using this money that he got from Egypt, he took away our rights guaranteed by the Constitution. He used this money to pay thugs to kidnap American citizens that were brave enough to become politically involved against the dictatorship. These thugs would torture American citizens, sometimes killing them, and they would never be heard from again. American women who were kidnapped would be sexually assaulted and raped.

          Wouldn’t you be just a tad pissed off at Egypt for causing so much pain, destruction and agony against the American people? Wouldn’t you want the Egyptian embassy to get the fuck off of American territory? Yeah, you would be pissed off! Now you see my point.

          Some people would counter this, saying “This attack is not about any U.S. support for Mubarak, this about some dumb anti-Islamic film that was possibly being shown in the U.S. embassy.” I would answer “The film was simply the fuse that lit the powder keg. That was the thing that sent the Egyptians into the streets, but they do not have short term memory loss. They have not forgotten what the U.S. had been doing to them for decades. Was World War 1 all about the assassination of Arch-Duke Ferdinand? Of course not, but his assassination sparked the war. You cannot look at events without background history and context.”

          Lastly, some people will say “Oh well, Mubarak fell in 2011, so why are the Egyptians attacking us just now?” I would answer “Just because a crime happened last year, doesn’t mean it should count anymore? No, that’s not logical. That’s not how we think towards any other crime, so why should we think that way towards this one? Who cares when it happened, the fact is that we did these crimes towards the Egyptian people, and now, they are fighting back. They have every right to fight against torturers, rapists, and killers. Christianity supports this. Communism supports this. Islam supports this, etc. We have these rights as Americans, (right to attack people who are injuring/killing/raping other people), so American values supports fighting against criminals as well.”     

(Photo is from CNN. Some sources and quotes are from revcom/us).