By George Ciccariello-Maher (March 30, 2017)
Two days after U.S. airstrikes incinerated an estimated 200 civilians in the Iraqi city of Mosul, I sent a personal tweet in reaction to what I considered a smug and self-congratulatory gesture by a first-class passenger toward a uniformed soldier. Maybe predictably, my tweet has since been fed into and misrepresented by the outrage machine that is right-wing media. Needless to say, my personal views expressed off-campus have absolutely nothing to do with those of my employer, Drexel University.
I respect anyone who makes difficult and dangerous decisions out of economic necessity — whether they are public school teachers, construction workers, economic migrants, or young soldiers. What I don’t respect is a brutal invasion and occupation of Iraq that has not made our world any safer — a war that has taken advantage of economically disadvantaged Americans, a war that has given the world ISIS, and a war that has wrought carnage like that seen in Mosul and elsewhere.
The best way to support troops is not with symbolic gestures and first-class seats, but by bringing them home safely, by ensuring that women in uniform are not subjected to what is an epidemic of sexual assault, and by providing dignified medical and psychological care. Those who today claim to demand respect for the troops show little in the way of respect for how they are treated in and out of the military.
Unless and until you have served in uniform you continue to make uneducated and misinformed statements which seems to be your theme.
You don’t have to be in a uniform to know that invading another mans land armed to the teeth, where you don’t belong or were not invited – amounts to war. When you kill others “in the name of peace” – then proceed to rape and pillage the land the people and the wealth, be prepared to have it returned on you and your people, in anyway shape or form. You people are always talking about serving your country. For what I ask, these people haven’t crossed oceans to harm you or your family – it’s because politicians and Generals have instructed you to go. They have brainwashed law abidding soliders before boarding your flights to another mans land – to say you are doing this for the preservation of your country your land and your people. Biggest load of bullshit…..Now look at what your governments have created, a terrorist hell bent on paying you back – From 9/11 US Soldiers have slaughtered there way across the Middle East and Afghanistan to hunt those responsible for the carnage in New York on that dreadful day. This was an inside job created to put fear in the Nation to justify war. To then have the money machines printing pallet loads of cash 24/7 – to fill the pockets of those at the top of the tree. Now if this dosen’t get the cat outta the bag then you should go stick you finger in a pencil sharpener. Ohhh FYI I am not American just a smart arse bystander, putting my 2 bobs worth of nothing in the mix…..have a nice day