Just days away from crucial midterm elections, WikiLeaks, the whistle-blower website, unveiled the largest classified military leak in history. Almost 400,000 secret Pentagon documents relating to the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq were made available online. The documents, in excruciating detail, portray the daily torrent of violence, murder, rape and torture to which Iraqis have been subjected since George W. Bush declared "Mission Accomplished." The WikiLeaks release, dubbed "The Iraq War Logs," has been topping the headlines in Europe. But in the U.S., it barely warranted a mention on the agenda-setting Sunday talk shows.
war casualties
The war condolences Obama hasn't sent
U.S. Army Reserve Spc. Chancellor Keesling died in Iraq on June 19, 2009, from "a non-combat related incident," according to the Pentagon. Keesling had killed himself. He was just one in what is turning out to be a record year for suicides in the U.S. military.
The next Vietnam
It is the evening of the day, I sit and watch the children play, Doin' things I used to do, they think they are new, I sit and watch as tears go by....
--"As Tears Go By," Jagger/Oldham/Richards
Often when I work late at night I listen to 1960s and '70s music on Internet radio. I came of age in the '60s and it brings back many memories of my youth and early adulthood. With a few exceptions they were good memories. In many ways it was a better world then. There were certainly more fish.
Opposition to war in Afghanistan grows
On Sept. 14, 2001, the U.S. House of Representatives considered House Joint Resolution 64, "To authorize the use of United States Armed Forces against those responsible for the recent attacks launched against the United States." The wounds of 9/11 were raw, and the lust for vengeance seemed universal. The House vote was remarkable, relative to the extreme partisanship now in evidence in Congress, since 420 House members voted in favour of the resolution. More remarkable, though, was the one lone vote in opposition, cast by Barbara Lee of San Francisco.