Completely Unnecessary

This milestone is underscored by the countless (or merely uncounted) dead and displaced Iraqis.

I was temped to add ‘of course’ to the sentence above, but the media rarely reports on those larger numbers, which number now in the millions.

I hope it is of some comfort to President George Bush that the four soldiers that pushed us to the 4000 mark died on Easter.

I doubt much that it’s of comfort to anyone else.

A.P.’s Death Toll for Iraq War Reaches 4,000 [NYT-AP]

Vaguely Related

• What a Difference… Less than a Month Makes
• Westboro Fined $11 Million

I generally prefer keeping bigots like Fred Phelps’ Westboro baptist church* off the radar. Any media presence, be it praise, derision, or just insanity, fuels the fire of these kinds of people.

It’s like the KKK - I respect their right to exist, but I’m down with their marginalization. Or like dog training; they’re not totally rational, so the best way to stop their bad behavior is through calm ignoring.

So view this post instead as a shout out to the American justice system, which today ordered Westboro to pay $11 million to the father of a dead soldier. Those familiar with the church will no doubt guess why - they protested the kid’s funeral because we’re all going to hell and Iraq is about gays. Or something.

Anyway, according to the judge, the award “far exceeds the net worth of the defendants,” which sounds like good news to me. Even posterboard and tempra paint can be pricey when you’ve got $11 mil to pay back.

* - I’m not using proper nouns for those two words because I think the church perverts the teachings of Baptists beyond recognition as part of the faith. That’s my own personal opinion, though - others would probably disagree.

Church ordered to pay $10.9 million for funeral protest [CNN]

Vaguely Related

• The Troops Use Nicknames, Too
• Oh, By the Way? We’re Desperate.

Never got around to that angry part yesterday. Spent most of the day attempting to procure potting soil with only a bike and flagging enthusiasm for my gardening project.

Onto the angry. Remember that blog I posted a little while back about the women being raped and otherwise sexually assaulted while being recruited for the Armed Forces? Turns out, it may have just been basic training. Helen Benedict, writing here for Salon, interviewed over 20 female veterans; they said:

…the danger of rape by other soldiers is so widely recognized in Iraq that their officers routinely told them not to go to the latrines or showers without another woman for protection.

I just want to go back and highlight the phrase “by other soldiers.” Yes, female American troops are being attacked by their fellow US soldiers. One woman Benedict interviewed carried a knife to protect herself from her own countrymen.

So much more after the jump…

(more…)

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• Well, that’s one way…
• Women and the World: It’s Not Going Well.

The Boston Globe reports that the Pentagon is considering installing video cameras in its recruiting stations to prevent “misconduct.” This misconduct includes, but is not limited to: sexually assaulting female recruits!

Both analysts and the Pentagon said sexual misconduct is among the most pressing issues of recruiter wrongdoing. An investigation by the Associated Press found that in 2005, at least 80 male recruiters were disciplined for abusing female potential recruits.

More than 100 young women who had expressed interest in joining the military reported that their recruiters had victimized them, the AP investigation found. The abuse included rape on couches in recruiting offices, assaults in government cars, and gropings en route to military entrance exams.

Now, granted, you have to make sure they’re not lesbians, but I’m not sure this is the best way to meet your quota for the month. Grope her after the exam.

The Pentagon also recently introduced “buddy system” for recruiters interacting with potential recruits of the opposite sex. They seriously have to put a third person in the room to prevent “irregularities.” Presumably, most military recruiters aren’t interested in a threesome if it’s boy-girl-boy. That’d be totally gay.

Also, happy fourth birthday to the Iraq War. If you were a child, we’d be sending you to preschool this year! Instead, we’ll just continue to watch in horror as you murder hundreds of thousands of people, empty our coffers, and make us the most hated people on the face of the earth. Man! The ‘terrible twos’ are lasting forever!

Vaguely Related

• Basic Training
• Women and the World: It’s Not Going Well.

Not to mention, a year and a half or, say, three.

On December 18th, the president attempted to assuage the American people, saying, “My fellow citizens, not only can we win the war in Iraq, we are winning the war in Iraq.”

Last night, having gauged that no one was buying that line anymore, he tried for mutual indignation. “The situation in Iraq is unacceptable to the American people; and it is unacceptable to me.”

I’d like to refer to the first clause in that sentence as “The ‘Duh’ Heard Around the World.” And by the way, I gave the president the benefit of the doubt on that semi-colon.

I will say that watching the speech on closed-captioning with a drink in my hand made it easier to watch.

Think Progress has a video up from MSNBC (Joe Scarborough of all people) of clips from various Bush addresses. No CC though, so you have to watch it with the sound on. Bummer.

Vaguely Related

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• 4000 Dead Americans in Iraq

John M. Shalikashvili, an ex-Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, recently wrote an op-ed for the NY Times affirming his new-found comfortability with gays in the military. He goes on to note that he’s met some actual gay people serving in the actual US military who haven’t completely fucked up. It’s amazing.

Oh, and this:

Our military has been stretched thin by our deployments in the Middle East, and we must welcome the service of any American who is willing and able to do the job.

Generous, generous. One of the reasons Shalikashvili is so sure that gays will no longer “undermine the efficacy of the armed forces,” is that he looked at “24 foreign nations, including Israel, Britain and other allies in the fight against terrorism, [which] let gays serve openly, with none reporting morale or recruitment problems.”

You know what else helps morale? Not having to ’surge.’ Or, say, not having more than 8,500 troops in Iraq (and by the way, those numbers drop off quick). I feel like most ardent homophobes would choose bunking with a homo over going to Baghdad.

So, in addition to the older, dumber, gang member and, in some cases, dead recruits, the US Military would like to encourage faggots and lezzies everywhere to come on down and sign your name on the dotted line. Your country loves you!

Second Thoughts on Gays in the Military [NY Times]

kudos to Wonkette.

Vaguely Related

• Westboro Fined $11 Million
• Women and the World: It’s Not Going Well.

Israel wants the US to sell it new rockets with cluster munitions that scatter over a wide area. And while they may be effective against Hezbollah targets, they have the potential to hurt/kill many civilians. Hmm, that sounds kind of risky…

“The request for M-26 artillery rockets, which are fired in barrages and carry hundreds of grenade-like bomblets that scatter and explode over a broad area, is likely to be approved shortly, along with other arms, a senior official said.

But some State Department officials have sought to delay the approval because of concerns over the likelihood of civilian casualties, and the diplomatic repercussions. The rockets, while they would be very effective against hidden missile launchers, officials say, are fired by the dozen and could be expected to cause civilian casualties if used against targets in populated areas…

The United States had approved the sale of M-26s to Israel some time ago, but the weapons had not yet been delivered when the crisis in Lebanon erupted. If the shipment is approved, Israel may be told that it must be especially careful about firing the rockets into populated areas, the senior official said.”

Oh, okay. Well if Israel may be told to be careful with them, then I guess go for it!

Vaguely Related

• Westboro Fined $11 Million
• Well, that’s one way…

The Stranger just posted of a guy who got “knocked on [his] ass” refer to all the dead Iraqis as “hodgies.”

I looked this term up, not knowing what it was. Turns out it’s a generalized reference to combatants against US soldiers in Iraq. The term is an Americanization of the word “hajjis,” people who have made the pilgrimage to Mecca.

Googling “hodgies” brings up this lovely comment on a myspace page…

what the fuck is up!?!! so what are you up to now??? i am an infantry soldier in the army now, b/c i am that hardcore! haha. who would have ever guessed i’d do something that required that i kill lots of people…those mother fuckin’ hodgies threw a party the day we rolled out of that sandbox! but as much as i fucking hate iraq, i cant wait to go back and shoot some more! (deployment date: august 2007) …

Proud moments. Since I’m not sure if I’m stealing his speech by posting it, here is his myspace page.

Interestingly, the term ‘hodgies’ is also occasionally used to describe Iraqis, in general. I find it interesting that a term to describe people making a peaceful pilgrimage is bastardized into a term for enemy combatants, and is then applied to the population as a whole.

Sheds a bit of light on the way our troops view the people they’re liberating, as well as the insecurity of not knowing who your enemy is, so everyone becomes your enemy.

Since the term is related to Islamic pilgrimage, that enemy appears to be Islam itself.

Vaguely Related

• What a Difference… Less than a Month Makes
• Westboro Fined $11 Million

I went to this acting workshop thing (which turned out to be more like a lecture thing, but no matter) and now I’m all excited about acting again. This, in turn, makes me think about going away this summer, but I reckon I should still go because the Audition Studio has been there for twenty-odd years, it’ll probably be there when I get back, whereas the greek olympics will only be there once (at least as far as I’m concerned; if I live another 2,000 years then there will be plenty of time for acting classes).

On my way home on the El platform there was a man in an Army uniform. I don’t know what his story was because I was only alerted to his presence when he began violently kicking one of the metal thingies on the platform and swearing. Being Chicagoans, we all gawked briefly and then treated him as if he didn’t exist and none of this had ever happened. All I could think was, “Right. Let’s give him a gun, then, and send him off to another country. Fine idea.” I said as much to the woman standing near me. She remarked that her brother was in the Navy, and they got in big trouble if they were late. This in no way changed my opinion about the gun thing.

I’m trying, in vain, once again to learn to love ‘The Three EPs’ by the Beta Band. Nope, sorry guys just hate it. I’ve decided that, with exceptions, I really dislike ambient, meandery popular music. Just give me a song with a couple verses, couple choruses, with bonus points for witty or insightful lyrics and complex harmonies. Oh, I also am generally against California punk after 1997. Fuck I have to turn this shit off.

Vaguely Related

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