To be fair, the Taliban was mostly a product of Pakistan's policies. They were trying to create a friendly government that they could control, much like we're trying to do in Iraq now.

I think you and I share the same level of pessimism of what's going on in Iraq but differ on the causes. I have a pretty mechanistic view of things: in America, big businesses control our politicians. Our politicians keep big businesses happy by creating economic opportunities for them. This war is one of those opportunities, and it didn't come about simply because of the desires of one or two politicans at the top. It's systemic. In fact, both of the current Democratic presidential candidates contributed to making it happen.

Lately I've been digging into Naomi Klein's The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism and it's really given a whole new dimension to my cynicism. Did you know that the new Iraqi constitution has all sorts of restrictions for farmers regarding seeds? It tells them that they can only purchase them from certain sources, forbids them to harvest seeds from their crops, etc., making sure that they buy genetically modified crops and supplies from companies like Monsanto or break the law.

Wonderful, isn't it?

I think we actually agree on the causes as well, its the motivations of the people doing this that we might disagree on.

I think these are evil greedy and in some cases incredibly stupid people who act solely for their own selfish goals and don't care one iota about our country.

The Democrats were swept into control of the legislative branch then imho completely betrayed the voters by failing to act decisively and continuing to enable the Chimp.

They think they are entitled to my vote simply because they aren't Republicans. Run Hillary and as much as the Republicans disgust me there's no option but to vote against her or not vote at all (since both candidates aren't worth shit).

A corporate shill in a pinstripe suit is no different than one in a pinstriped dress. The Democrats worked hard to earn my contempt after they gained control of Congress but they pulled it off.

I'm curious as to where u're coming from. You're straying my comments about the video and pivoting towards the middle east war which I did not once mention nor do I have any interest in. Does the term 'Peace Keeper' not mean "a member of a military force that is assigned to preserve peace in a trouble area" in general? Is it so hard to understand that the people in clip are screwed up and don't deserve to called marines let alone part of peace keeping activity? Neither ironic or sarcastic. Just a simple comment so do u need more justification?

Nope, thanks for clarifying.

On a related note, the NY Times magazine had an excellent article about the uphill battle that's being fought in the Korengal Valley in Afghanistan here.

I think it's just bad timing, but this line about the commander struck me:

"He wished he could buy 20 goats and let the boys beat and burn them and let loose their rage."

Ugh. I just watched this.

Unbearable.

Tragedy piled on tragedy piled on tragedy, ad infinitum...

I ain't watching this - shit, Homeward Bound put me on the bad buzz....

I hope they send him home to his mom wrapped in a flag.

soooo lame....!!!!

That is one scary looking dalmation.

http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj31 ... 082057.gif

(Too soon?)

Nah. Sometimes it's healthy to have a sense of humor about the worst things in life. This story is already an internet meme so the parodies were inevitable.