WWB: destruction of educational systems
WHAT WAR BRINGS: destruction of educational systems Like all other institutions in a country at war, education suffers greatly. This post is going to look at how much education has been impacted in...
View ArticleWWB: severe trauma to children
WHAT WAR BRINGS: severe trauma to childrenIn any war or occupation where there is a refugee crisis, children are deeply affected. They, like their parents, often flee their homes with nothing but the...
View ArticleWhat War Brings: orphans
What War Brings: orphansYes, every war and every occupation produces orphans. In more recent times, this is especially true because civilians are so impacted by the wars and the occupations. In...
View ArticleWhat War Brings: widows and abandoned elderly
WHAT WAR BRINGS: widows and abandoned elderlyThis post is probably just pointing out the obvious: men get killed the most when wars and occupations come to your hometown, thereby leaving widows...
View ArticleWWB: violence and oppression to minority religious groups
WHAT WAR BRINGS: violence and oppression to minority religious groupsIRAQViolence and terror against Iraq’s minority Christian population has been evident for years. Many have been targeted and...
View ArticleWWB: violence and oppression to gays
WHAT WAR BRINGS: violence and oppression to gays Yet another sad aspect of a war and occupation is the violence and suppression of minority groups, particularly religious and sexual minorities....
View ArticleWhat War Brings: death squads
WHAT WAR BRINGS: death squadsIn wars and occupations, lots of different people and lots of different groups take up killing other people – for a variety of reasons. One thing these wars and...
View ArticleWhat War Brings: drone bombings
WHAT WAR BRINGS: drone bombings that kill civiliansI was not going to include this in my series originally, because drone bombs have not been a part of most prior wars and occupations – they have only...
View ArticleWWB: deterioration of women's rights
WHAT WAR BRINGS: deterioration of women’s rightsOne of the many proposed reasons for going into Afghanistan was to restore women’s rights to the Afghan women, who were not allowed to attend school,...
View ArticleWhat War Brings: environmental destruction
WHAT WAR BRINGS: severe destruction of the environmentWe have here on Daily Kos a series of almost daily diaries on the environment, called Green Diary Rescue or DK GreenRoots. I have not heard them...
View ArticleWhat War Brings: unending imprisonment
WHAT WAR BRINGS: unending imprisonment and disregard for the rule of lawWell, technically, people who are thrown into prison are not there indefinitely. If nothing else, one day they will die. But I...
View ArticleWhat War Brings: internally displaced people
WHAT WAR BRINGS: internally displaced peopleEvery war and occupation brings about human catastrophes, such as lacking basic necessities, poverty, insecurity and massive violence. Often these problems...
View ArticleWhat War Brings: refugees to foreign countries
WHAT WAR BRINGS: refugees fleeing to foreign countriesYes, wars and violence and occupations always result in refugees running to a place that is safer, or at least, some place they think is safer....
View ArticleWhat War Brings: unending grief
WHAT WAR BRINGS: unending griefIt is really stating the obvious that wars and occupations bring unending grief to the people in the occupied countries. Yet, no matter how good my words are, no matter...
View ArticleWhat War Brings: lies, lies, lies and MORE LIES
What War Brings: lies, lies, lies, and more LIESThis is another topic that could fill many books, or possibly an entire library. We are all familiar with the lies about WMDs and ties to al Qaeda that...
View ArticleWhat War Brings: the series and the ending
What War Brings: the series and the ending Summary postIn this series, I have covered the nature of war and its effect on the civilians caught in the crossfire, and its effect on the human condition....
View ArticleWhat War Brings: birth defects and infant death
I thought I had finished up my series on WHAT WAR BRINGS to civilians, but I clearly missed at least one issue: birth defects. There has been stories about US troops coming home from combat and...
View ArticleA surge will only magnify the crime
from Wikipedia:Malalai Joya (born April 25, 1978) is an Afghan politician who has been called "the bravest woman in Afghanistan."[2] As an elected member of the Wolesi Jirga from Farah province, she...
View Article25th Anniversary of Bhopal disaster
Twenty five years ago today, the city of Bhopal, India was hit by a deadly chemical leak from Union Carbide. I remember being appalled at the time – that they would let such a horrific thing happen....
View ArticleRendition continues
We all, of course, know that rendition (kidnapping) continues under the Obama administration. He told us he would do so. But he also promised to be extra careful about the rendition prisoners and...
View ArticleSecret prisons continue
We are still running secret prisons, at least in Afghanistan. This news came out just last month. The prisoners are being held without access to the International Committee of the Red Cross. This...
View ArticleTorture continues
Bagram prison has long had a reputation for torture by US agents in the forms of sleep deprivation, beatings, and sexual humiliation. The movie "A Taxi to the Dark Side" covers how one innocent...
View ArticleWhat if all your friends died or moved away?
What if – every friend you had was either recently dead or had moved to another country? In an 800+ word blog post on the NYT website, this horrific reality is brutally explained. It is titled "I...
View ArticleIraqi Christians at Christmas time
In Amman, Iraqi Christians are continuing the traditional celebrations of Christmas – trees, nativity scenes, church services, and presents – but they are far from feeling festive. It is estimated...
View ArticleMy heart is with Gaza tonight
Gaza got bombed day and night, for 23 days. In the end, over 1400 people were killed, over 300 of them children. All the dead children were from Gaza.As always, it is the non-combatants who suffer...
View ArticleMore Afghan civilians killed under Obama in 09 than Bush in 08
The United Nations released figures this week showing that civilian deaths rose 10.8 percent in the first 10 months of 2009 to 2,038, up from 1,838 for the same period of 2008.The UN report says that...
View ArticleCancer rates exploding in Iraq
A very serious after-effect of the US/UK invasion and occupation of Iraq is the exploding rates of cancer. It is reported to be "spreading like wildfire" in places like Fallujah, Babil province, and...
View ArticleAfghan civilian deaths up 14% in 2009 (with poll)
The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan has reported that there were over 2,400 civilian deaths in 2009, with thousands more injured. This is an increase of 14% over prior years. The Taliban are...
View ArticleOur military has an honesty problem
This is a letter that I sent to Obama, Burr, Hagan and Rep. Shuler today:This week has really highlighted the very serious problems with the ongoing occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan. The US forces...
View ArticleUS soldier in WikiLeaks video apologizes to Iraqis
Two soldiers who are connected to the US Army company that shot and killed two Reuters employees and about a dozen other Iraqis in July 2007 have publicly apologized.The WikiLeaks video was released on...
View ArticleFurther information on the WikiLeaks video
In a post earlier this month, I talked about the WikiLeaks video from a US gunship in Iraq in July 2007. There are links to this video in the diary.And last week, I wrote about the apology letter...
View ArticleFurther fall out from the WikiLeaks video
Here is a link to a post that has the WikiLeaks video and background information.Some new reactions to the WikiLeaks video, where a US gunship is shooting at Iraqis in Baghdad in July 2007. Two...
View ArticleThe making of an Iraqi insurgent
I ran across this article about a week ago. It is titled:My Life As An Insurgent, And Why I QuitThis anonymous Iraqi man states that he did not originally think of fighting the US troops inside his...
View ArticleMemorial for 23 dead
It happens again and again and again in Afghanistan, just as it does in Pakistan, and has happened again and again in Iraq. A US drone sees something that the drone operator thinks is militants, and...
View ArticleLGEN Mattis is an evil piece of work
Lieutenant General James Mattis of the US Marines Corps has been picked to take over US Central Command.This is damn unfortunate, because he has a heart of darkness, and should not even be allowed in...
View Article“away goes the white dog and now comes the black dog”
The above is an old Iraqi saying. It means, according to this post, that the difference between two people is so small that expecting a difference in behavior or outcome between them is unrealistic....
View ArticleBreaking: List of names of alleged illegal immigrants mailed in Utah
Just wanted to get this out there in the public eye.List of alleged illegal immigrants mailed in UtahThe names and personal information for 1,300 residents of Utah - who may or may not be legal...
View ArticleIn Remembrance, Part One
In Remembrance: A Decorated Soldier from Moscow [Sometime in the future.... Where Russia is bringing freedom and democracy to the USA and Canada...]Last week, the leader of the Russian Military made...
View ArticleIn Remembrance, Part Two
In Remembrance: A Family Man[Sometime in the future.... Where Russia is bringing freedom and democracy to the USA and Canada...]A soldier and father of two dies in AmericaA veteran soldier and father...
View ArticleIn Remembrance, Part Three
In Remembrance: More grief from America[sometime in the future.... Where Russia is bringing freedom and democracy to the USA and Canada...]Sadly, two more Russian soldiers were killed in Kansas City,...
View ArticleIn Remembrance, Part Four
In Remembrance: He gave his allLieutenant Roman Unishchenko was 20 years old when he was killed by a sniper in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. He was protecting a local official who was meeting with his...
View ArticleVets for Peace Message
This is a special message, in honor of Veteran's Day. Vets for Peace addresses the issues around Veteran’s Day, and issue a plea for our nation to demand a cessation of war. I have permission to...
View ArticleBOMBS AWAY, AFGHAN VERSION
The USA is certainly doing a lot of bombing in various places around the world. This includes air bombing, ground bombing, and god-only-knows-what-else. Of course, the USA is not doing this totally...
View ArticleBOMBS AWAY, YEMEN VERSION
With no debate or vote in Congress, Obama has ordered Special Forces (they are so special that they get to hang around in 75+ different foreign countries!) and drone bombings into Yemen. He is going...
View ArticleBOMBS AWAY, AFGHAN GROUND VERSION
Targeted assassinations, death squads, tanks demolishing homes and entire neighborhoods, burning up fields or other wise destroying them – just some tactics in the BOMBS AWAY GAME now going on in...
View ArticleBOMBS AWAY, PAKISTAN VERSION
Yes, it’s BOMBS AWAY in Pakistan, especially in Northern Waziristan, part of the semiautonomous tribal region. According to the Associated Press, the Obama administration has carried out more than 100...
View ArticleUS troops kill another Iraqi civilian
I guess this should come as no surprise – the US troops are still running around Iraq and still killing civilians. This time it was an unlucky guy headed to work.And, as usual, the US troops blame the...
View Articlehuman rights and letter writing
There are human rights abuses all around the world, and the United States is one of many countries who violate human rights. I am busy this week with writing letters for Amnesty International. They...
View ArticleSeptember 2012
Early in the month of September, I felt that there was a LOT going on in the fields of foreign policy and human rights by the US government. So, I started a list. Here are the things that the Obama...
View ArticleOctober 2012
OCTOBER 2012Iraq – The Al Basrah Maternity Hospital reported 1.37 birth defects per 1,000 children born in the period of the year ending October 1995. In the full year of 2003, by contrast, that rate...
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