American Death Squads

[Michael Tee]

http://www.counterpunch.org/shor04272010.html

Good article on Special Forces death squads tasked with the murders of Afghan resistance figures, including women and children, in their homes.  Not only on what damage these psychos are capable of doing once they return to the U.S., but just focusing on the simple moral wrongness of what they do every day in Afghanistan.  In some ways it's a cop-out to argue on how they impact on "innocent" American civilians after completion of their tour of duty, because that somehow implies that what they do is OK as long as it's not done on American soil.

The point is also made how "support the troops" propaganda at sporting events and MSM spectaculars, and the portrayal of these monsters as good, homespun, friendly, "all-American" kids that any parent would be proud of are all part of a sophisticated campaign to whitewash the litany of crimes going down daily in all conflict zones where Americans are active.  Of course the "support the troops" campaign goes on in tandem with the "demonize the Taliban" stuff.

This is why Wikileaks is so important.  Showing these ass-holes laughing and joking as they blow away totally innocent civilians in massacres later billed as "battles" by the lying whores of the Pentagon has an important counterbalancing function to all the Pentagon/MSM propaganda and basically tells any American who sees the stuff what a crock a shit they are being fed by their own government and military.  It's extremely important to keep these Wikileaks videos in the forefront of the public's consciousness at all times, because the barrage of propaganda from the Dark Side is non-stop.

[sirs]

Long live the 1st amendment, and the right to spew idiocy without the threat of government retaliation, incarceration, or worse

[Christians4LessGvt]

and SIRS even if this was going on....
who is the current Commander-in-Chief?

[BT]

And even so we have the Taliban and other insurgents killing more civilians that coalition forces since 2005. Perhaps counterpunch will show some balance in their reporting.

[sirs]

Are you kidding?

[Michael Tee]

<<And even so we have the Taliban and other insurgents killing more civilians that coalition forces since 2005. Perhaps counterpunch will show some balance in their reporting. >>

Classic on two fronts - classic shoot-the-messenger and classic moral relativism.

Still don't get it, eh BT?  The problem is not the alternate media reporting, the problem is what is being reported: assassinations by American death squads targeting civilian supporters of one side in the Afghan civil war.  And how the hell do Taliban atrocities balance U.S. crimes.  The moral compass of the U.S. military is being set now by the Taliban?  Shame on you.  I really thought you knew better.  "They did it too!"  Classic defence of the morally bankrupt.

[BT]

Moral relativism my ass.

As Patton said, the purpose of war is to kill more of their bastards than they kill of ours.

[Michael Tee]

<<As Patton said, the purpose of war is to kill more of their bastards than they kill of ours. >>

You're insulting Patton.  He never disgraced his uniform by assassinating civilians or authorizing death squads and you know it.  Patton  fought the enemy man-to-man on the battlefield, not by sneaking into their homes and assassinating their families.  Patton would have had nothing but contempt for those so-called "soldiers" and for anyone who defended them.

[Kramer]

cool!

[BT]

Patton  fought the enemy man-to-man on the battlefield, not by sneaking into their homes and assassinating their families.

Patton fought men who didn't hide amongst the civilians. Sad to think the the Germans were more courageous and honorable than the Taliban and other insurgents.

[Michael Tee]

<<Patton fought men who didn't hide amongst the civilians. Sad to think the the Germans were more courageous and honorable than the Taliban and other insurgents. >>

You're assuming that the targets of the Death Squads are the enemy's fighting men, who unlike the courageous and honourable Nazis, do not hide amongst civilians.

The impression that I got from the actual report was that the targets were civilian supporters of the fighting men, rather than the fighters themselves; as we know, the U.S. murderers seem to kill in environments where nobody is shooting at them, although they lie like troopers in fabricating great "battle stories" to cover their massacres.    Here, for example is what the actual Counterpunch report said:

<<Now, in Afghanistan, the promulgation of what’s called the Joint Prioritized Engagement List (JPEL) gives license to execute extra-judicially anyone whose name shows up on the list.  If bribing or coercing Afghan tribal leaders fails to convince them that they need to align with the occupiers against indigenous insurgents, they may then be consigned to the JPEL.>>

There is no indication that those on the JPEL are fighting men and in fact, that the assassinations take place in private homes seems to indicate that they are targeting individuals who are NOT part of a fighting unit in the field.

[BT]

You're assuming that the targets of the Death Squads are the enemy's fighting men, who unlike the courageous and honourable Nazis, do not hide amongst civilians.

Oh my mistake. I did not know the insurgents had encampments and forward operating bases. But if they do, as you say, i am surprised we aren't raining death from above upon them. Perhaps they are well camouflaged as civilian houses, and we are not seeing them from the drones and satellites.

[Michael Tee]

<<Oh my mistake. I did not know the insurgents had encampments and forward operating bases.>>

Well, I don't know what they call their encampments or bases but I would assume they operate in the hills, hiding out in caves or whatever natural shelter the rocky land affords.  I'm sure, like the more honourable and courageous Nazis, they sometimes go home to visit their families, but it's kind of hard to envisage them using the family home as a forward operating base and endangering their own wives and children and parents in the process.

<< But if they do, as you say, i am surprised we aren't raining death from above upon them. >>

You do that too, but most of the time your information is bad and you are raining death upon people who might as well have been picked at random.

<<Perhaps they are well camouflaged as civilian houses, and we are not seeing them from the drones and satellites. >>

Or perhaps they know the terrain a lot better than you do and you're just not as smart as you like to think you are.

[Michael Tee]

Here, for example, is a perfect example of what I am talking about:

<<Afghans Protest After NATO Kills Father of Five
<<US Troops Raided Family Home of Afghan MP in Nangarhar>>
http://news.antiwar.com/2010/04/29/afghan-mechanic-father-of-five-killed-in-latest-us-night-raid/

In the body of the article, it claims the U.S. troops were looking for a "Taliban facilitator" which  could mean anything or nothing.  They don't even pretend to be looking for fighting men in family compounds, because the claim itself would be seen as totally absurd by any Afghan local.  So they set up their bafflegab "facilitator" which simply obscures the real purpose - - terror - - of the raid.

The Taliban are not cowards and they don't hide amongst civilians.  Unable to meet them in man-to-man combat without suffering unacceptable losses, the cowardly U.S. forces instead attack and terrorize their families in their own homes, spreading death and terror among defenceless civilians in an attempt to demoralize their more courageous opponents. 

The good news is, it ain't working.

[BT]

The Taliban are not cowards and they don't hide amongst civilians. 

Um you just said they visit family and friends when they aren't hiding in caves or killing civilians.