Panetta: Apparent Marine desecration of Taliban corpses is ‘utterly deplorable’ - but killing them is OK?

"Top U.S. officials moved swiftly Thursday to try to prevent diplomatic damage and contain public disgust from the release of a video that appeared to show Marines urinating on three Afghan corpses — images that spread quickly around the globe.

Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta said he had viewed the video and considered it “utterly deplorable.” He telephoned Afghan President Hamid Karzai and pledged a full investigation." Read More HERE

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Note:  

These Marines were sent into a situation where it is "kill or be killed" - with full confidence that their "leaders" sent them there for good reason.  Hey it's war - it's gonna' get rough.  Maybe they lost some guys during the battle - I don't know.    

The disgusting part of all this is that our country's moral standards are so low that few in government can even recognize that the most disgusting aspect of this incident is that nobody seems to notice that lives were lost.  Ya' know - HUMAN LIVES - that old-fashioned concept where life is sacred.  Not any more.  WHAT DO WE FOCUS ON? - A COUPLA' GUYS TAKING A PISS AFTER FIGHTING IT OUT TO THE DEATH.   WHAT A JOKE!

Remember my fellow citizens - and everybody else - who is sending these Marines over there in the first place - what they are doing there - and where they intend to send them next. The next enemy will have to be dehumanized too - and similar incidents - documented or not - will probably also happen in that theater.  It's a war - ya' know - where people kill each other - More war like Hillary and the rest of them a screaming for more of.  But all of the sudden they've been shocked - shocked!  Suddenly their hair is on fire!  A picture got out showing our troops pissing on dead enemy fighters.  Like Hillary really gives a damn.  Theater.

I am not defending the actions of the marines- but I can see how things have got to this point.  The enemies of America - especially Muslims - are viewed as animals to be slaughtered by many involved in this conflict.  Perhaps that attitude has permeated our armed forces in many areas - where there really is no "discipline."  It's just "kill 'em all let God sort 'em out" and everybody keep your goddam mouths shut.

This picture escaped the censorship - and found its way back to America.  

Meanwhile the war drums beat for more war...

Meanwhile the attempts to usurp our Constitution continue with the aid of the McMedia...

Meanwhile elections are stolen...

Meanwhile more soldiers, "enemies", die - basically ...for ...nothing...

...but after the real sick deed has already been committed - Americans are up in arms about takin' a piss.

Victor Bout, arms dealer, about to be judged by bigger arms dealer

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Viktor_Bout_Extradited_to_US.jpg

Victor Bout is about to go to trial.  If you haven't heard of him - to be brief - he was a competitor in the global death industry.


""Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. The world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children… This is not a way of life at all, in any true sense. Under the cloud of threatening war, it is humanity hanging from a cross of iron.'
~ Dwight Eisenhower, U.S. President"  read more here

Arms Trade Stats

Global Distribution of Arms and Ammunition Exports

Source: International Trade Centre; http://www.intracen.org

---

Weapons Imports and Exports

Source: Control Arms Campaign; http://www.controlarms.org

"Bout denies any wrongdoing, portraying himself as a legitimate businessman who ran a cargo airline and did not participate in arms dealing. But experts say his trial will peel away the shadowy world of illicit arms trading that has fueled global conflicts in some of the most desperate and war-torn countries, from the Middle East to Africa."

Read more
I'm with Bout.  After all - if I am to point a finger at him - I've got to think of the four fingers pointing back at the very government I support with my tax dollars.  They are a big player in the arms industry.

"Wall Street Journal) - WASHINGTON -- Iraq has finalized a deal to buy advanced US fighter jets, the first step toward building a modern postwar air force, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday.

Iraq has yet to publicly announce completion of the deal to buy 18 F-16s, but officials in Washington said an initial payment of $1.5 billion has been received.

Read more here

Video below:  I suppose Saddam is reading the menu?  I wonder what's on the menu?  Maybe Aspartame?  Maybe .......

listen to the lyrics....is this supposed to be a bad guy the song is about?  Sounds like my government!


Let's be honest here folks - the secret is out - war is big business.  All Vic did was compete for business - and must have done a helluva' job since his competitors thought him a big enough threat to their profits to rein in.


But maybe there is more to it than that - speculating here...maybe he needs to keep quiet about previous dealings with his competition?  Maybe there were occasions for him to team up with a competitor on a business deal that later (now) might be viewed as an embarrassment.


One thing is for sure - I'll never know the truth.  If I were a former business associate of Victor's, and I were an American, I'd pay him the hush money, make a deal, and keep him out of the news for awhile.  

As the Fan gets hit...

The fan has, indeed, been hit. But fresh air is on the way.   


The business cliche:  "20% of the people do 80% of the work" rings in my ears - as the obvious parallels with American reformists doing the "lions share" of the heavy lifting while the mushroom-masses await the next rainfall (false-flag attack) grind on with their relentless patriotic duty.  What duty?


The duty of the CITIZEN.  In ancient Rome the duty of the citizen-soldier was clear:  repel the invaders coming to take your stuff.  


Just for fun let's talk for a bit about the qualifications to become a Roman soldier - as opposed to the tatted-up excuses for NAZIs that are welcome in Amerika's present armed-to-the-teeth Imperial stormtroopers...


I'm talking about the Roman REPUBLIC here - not dictatorial Rome - as happened after Julius got whacked by Republic-loving Brutus - the dictatorial Rome that ensued as nephew Augustus took over and began the downfall - no - I'm talking about Rome as a country where the landowners - the people - had the biggest stake in the greatest undertakings - and those undertakings would be WAR.  


Please don't think I'm some expert on Rome - and don't mistake my discussion as an endorsement of anything this bloodletting culture engaged in - I bring the Roman republic up only to remind those interested  - that our roots are in Rome - whether we like it or not.  To ignore what happened to Rome is to ignore reality - and to ignore history - is to doom ourselves to failure as thinkers - those who study history so we can learn from the mistakes of our predecessors.  That said - let's continue...


In THE ROMAN SOLDIER (G.R. WATSON, Cornell Univ. Press - 1969) on page 38 we read a letter of recommendation for a Roman solder:


"To Julius Domitius, legionary tribune, from Aurelius Archelaus, his beneficiarius, greetings.  I have even before recommended my friend Theon to you, and once again I beg you, Sir, to consider him in your eye as myself.  For he's just the sort of fellow you like. He's left his family, his property and his business and followed me, and in every way he's kept me free from worry.  And so I beg you to let him see you, and he can tell you everything about our business....Hold this letter before your eyes, Sir and imagine that Im talking with you. Goodbye."


Hmmmmmm.  I know that we are running a world-police organization of the highest standards - after all - watching Faux News - and saluting our troops - supporting our troops (despite illegal immoral wars) - I just KNOW that we are concerned about keeping the quality of OUR TROOPS HIGH!  What evidence do I have?

http://www.prisonplanet.com/military-accepting-neo-nazis-white-supremacists-probe-finds.html

"But the Army’s recruiting difficulties have opened the floodgates to those who’d otherwise be turned away: neo-Nazis, white supremacists and gang members."   LINK 


Go the the story linked under the pic above - is this a guy with a letter of recommendation?  


But - let's think about this for a min....


If we are asking men to engage in War - which is, essentially, killing people and blowing things up..... why in the world are we talking about so-called MORALS?


After all - if the role of our military is to kill anybody - anywhere - anytime - because some jackass loyal to Israel told them to - where do morals matter?  Where?  


Is it realistic, rational, logical - anything - to think that this  rogue government gives a crap about life of any sort?  Where is the evidence?????  Where is it????


Iraq has been invaded for ................zero.


Afghanistan has been invaded for..........zero.


Amerika endorses .........................torture.


To hold two opposing - contradicting positions simultaneously is ...........INSANE.....or the work of CRIMINAL PSYCHOPATHS.


Oh - perhaps we are getting to the core of this issue.  Our "leaders" DO NOT SHARE OUR VALUES!  


Is that a surprise?  Is it?  Are you above the age of FOUR?


We are in trouble my friends - and to get out of trouble - the first step is admission of our own faults - as Americans -  and then - to demonstrate via action - our contrition.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Roman_Millitary_banner.svg

Americans - please listen if you care about your way of life - and about bringing the rest of the world up to the Golden Standard America has demonstrated in the past decades that is being attacked.....


America is NOT a special place, America is not built of special people, America is not special for many stupid reasons propagated by the corporate-endorsed-mass-media....


America IS SPECIAL!  But NOT for positional reasons - ethnic or religious reasons - America is special because of the SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT - OUR REPUBLIC BASED UPON THE RIGHTS OF WE THE PEOPLE.


THAT IS WHAT MAKES US SPECIAL - AND CATHOLIC.  (MEANING ALL-WELCOMING)


FOLKS - WE ARE AT A DANGEROUS IMPASSE.  WE MUST ADHERE TO THE PRINCIPLES OF OUR CONSTITUTION - 


WE MUST FIGHT FOR OUR CONSTITUTION BECAUSE WE WILL KEEP IT.


THE GLOBALISTS CAN ALL GO TO HELL - AND THE MINUTE THEY ARE READY TO SURRENDER I'M HERE TO ACCEPT - OR TO HANg THE SCUMBAG-TRAITOR DICTATORS ON THE SPOT.


Sorry for the harsh words - but I drank the America-KoooolAid long ago - and I'm still under the trance.  


That trance WILL NEVER, EVER, EVER, EVER , EVER , EVER WEAR OFF!

Happy Memorial Day: Americans - Return to your Roots

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/07/Us_declaration_independence.jpg

Happy Memorial Day.


It is a good day to reflect upon what exactly it is that we Americans stand for.  After all - today is the day set aside for us to take pause and remember that many paid the ultimate sacrifice to preserve the American way.


But what is the "American way?"   Since our corporate-OWNED media pollutes our airwaves with an intentionally  confusing kaleidoscope of phantasmagoric fear-based-flag-wrapped fantasy - most Americans find themselves unable to come to grips with reality.  The saying "garbage in garbage out" not only applies to computers - it applies to the human psyche.  It is no secret that the "powers that be" use every trick in the the marketing book to steer the American herd in a direction they desire.  Take a look at the hours you are working - the price of food - the price of fuel - your own economic situation - do you really think for a minute these efforts have ever been directed toward improving the plight of the common man?  


As if the attack upon the economic "American Way" hasn't been nefarious enough - consider the attack upon the more important aspect of the "American Way" - our personal LIBERTIES.  Presently I can express my ideas via this blog - but I am convinced that if our federal government continues its present course unabated - this blog will, along with many others, be eliminated as yet another "enemy of the government."


Let's get back to defining the "American Way."  Never forget that this nation was founded by people who used force of arms to assert their independence.  I am not advocating violence - I am merely stating a fact.  That's why we have a second amendment.  And since we have been facing attacks on the first Amendment - the Federal government is following a path that can only end in violent overthrow of the government.  As John F. Kennedy said:  "Those who make peaceful change impossible make violent revolution inevitable."  I agree 100%.  So let's get back to our roots as we attempt to define the "American Way."


Considering the Declaration of Independence, shown above, :

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. "  read more HERE


Is our federal government "serving" the people?  Is our federal government protecting our rights?  Does our federal government even take the needs of the American people into consideration as they embark upon foreign wars without consulting Congress?  Why don't we declare war?  Why are Americans subject to illegal search and seizure at airports by TSA thugs? Why doesn't privacy matter for the common man but privacy matters to those in power - like Obama - who's kept records secret?


Why must we tolerate a Federal Reserve that is mismanaging our money supply?  Why are treaties being signed to merge the USA, Canada, and Mexico without public approval?  Why are our borders left unsecured during a period of fear-mongering where the very government that tells us to report every suspicious twitch of our fellow citizens' faces - leave the border unprotected if they are so worried about "terrorists" crossing into our nation?


My conclusion is that we are not living in a Republic or Democracy:  We are living in an Oligarchical dictatorship.  I base this conclusion on my own ability to reason.  I do NOT base it upon garbage fed to me by the boob-tube.  This dictatorship is run by the super-rich, corporations, and special interest groups like AIPAC who use their "power of the purse" to control our Congress - a Congress that is supposed to exercise THEIR "power of the purse" to constrain their co-equal branches of government.  Can you say "conflict of interest?"  If you think I'm kidding - how much did you and a hundred citizens you know contribute to your elected "representatives" lately?  Well AIPAC  and others contributed LOTS - so take a guess who gets their way with Congress?  Add to that - the problem of UNELECTED leeches attached to OUR government - who use the fear and panic they spread to the media to feather their nests while the rest of us lose our property to the bankers.

http://www.viewzone.com/dualcitizen.html

America is facing a war alright.  A war on our culture of individualism by collectivists.  A war on our food supply by megalomaniacs intent on feeding us garbage that makes us fat and causes disease.  Americans face psychopaths who've wormed their way into our military with world conquest in mind - not the Bill of Rights.  Americans are at war with a cabal of international bankers who charge insane usurous interest rates to the public - then forgive debts to corrupt dictators willing to toe the line.


Americans are at war with their own government - that's why they search your baby at the airport - grope your wife - shower your entire family with radiation - yet let the corrupt on-the-take Senators and Congressmen owned by AIPAC walk through the back gate.


Rich Americans who can afford to fly private planes - or charter private jets are not subject to the search and seizure as are you and me.  Why?  


If America is so broke - why are we embarking on more wars all over the planet - continuing wars based on torture based on lies - regardless of the political "party" occupying the White House.  


Why is it illegal to milk a cow and drink the milk?**  Why do the Feds have time to go after farmers but our troops are guarding poppy fields in Afghanistan?


What are your mothers, brother, sisters, husbands......all of them......WHAT ARE THEY FIGHTING FOR?  


Today is a great day to ask oneself that question - revisit your roots - use your own ability to reason - the very faculty that makes HOMO SAPIENS (THINKING MAN)  truly special.  


Serving one's country means more than carrying a rifle.  It also means carrying the burdon of self-examination, humility - and finally decision.  


Happy Memorial Day!

US army apologizes for Afghanistan abuse pictures

"Two photos, which Spiegel said US authorities had sought to keep secret, appear to show two members of a unit that allegedly killed Afghan civilians for sport.

In one, a purported soldier, cigarette in hand, holds up the head of a blood-spattered man who is apparently dead. In a second, another purported soldier is grinning widely while also holding up the same man.

A third photo shows two bodies propped up against a post. Again the people in the picture appear to be dead."

Read more here

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Note:  Apologies probably won't help.

How the '80s programmed us for war

"f course, the military had been working with Hollywood filmmakers since 1927, when it helped produce Wings, the winner of the very first Academy Award for Best Picture. Pentagon involvement varied through the first two-thirds of the twentieth century, but it always had kids in its sights. In the 1950s, for example, the military worked with Lassie on shows that highlighted new military technology and produced "Mouse Reels" for The Mickey Mouse Club, one of which showed kids touring the first nuclear submarine. As investigative journalist David Robb discovered, a Pentagon memo noted at the time that child-focused media "is an excellent opportunity to introduce a whole new generation to the nuclear Navy." "
Read more here

Taliban torch 16 NATO tankers in Pakistan

"Quetta (Pakistan), Jan 15 (AFP) Taliban militants in southwestern Pakistan set ablaze 16 vehicles carrying fuel supplies for NATO troops in Afghanistan today, officials said."
read more here

U.S. deploying heavily armored battle tanks for first time in Afghan war

Read entire here:

""We've taken the gloves off, and it has had huge impact," one of the senior officials said."
------
Note:  ...which raises the question:  "Why did it take this long and this many lives to quote takes the gloves off unquote?"  


Oh yeah - good thing these tanks are "heavily armored" armor.  That's a good thing for sure.


This shows me we are losing big time.  The other weapons systems are not working - now they are bringing in tanks for more protection - a defensive move in my opinion.

How Amerika really supports our troops: A Marine Infantry Officer explains: Video

"It was routine for me to spend $100,000 a day to kill people - and I get shot in the process - come back home - and my government tells me that it is fiscally irresponsible and inflationary to provide adequate medical care in the hospital?"



Watch entire "Heroes" John Pilger by clicking here

The information is out there - when will the public wake up and see the real culprits?

Is it any wonder we need so many mercenaries to continue this madness?

What are YOU getting out of all this?  I suppose it depends on who "you" are.

Fatal Crash Stokes Afghan-U.S. Tension in Kabul

Read entire article HERE.

"Four Afghans were killed in the accident on the main airport road, according to Kabul's criminal investigations chief, Abdul Ghaafar Sayedzada.

U.S. embassy spokesperson Caitlin Hayden confirmed to CBS News that the SUV involved was carrying four contractors from DynCorp, a private security firm affiliated with the embassy. Afghan police officials said the Americans were traveling in a two-vehicle convoy. "

Reference to missile-downed helicopter in leaked Afghanistan reports highlights a threat

Read entire article HERE.

" Because of the NATO force's heavy reliance on them, one of the most eye-catching revelations in a trove of classified documents posted on the Internet this week was that insurgents apparently used a portable heat-seeking surface-to-air missile to shoot down a twin-rotor CH-47 Chinook in Helmand province in May 2007, killing seven Western service members."
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Note: Rut-roh-rorge! This is THE END. No helicopter air superiority (and this is just me talking) means war lost. Done. It's over.

Congress gives Obama long-delayed Afghan war funds

Read entire article HERE.

" The $37 billion is in addition to about $130 billion Congress already approved for Afghanistan and Iraq for this year. Congress has appropriated more than $1 trillion for the two wars since 2001."
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Note: Keep pissing it all away you fools. Congress is out of touch with reality. 911 was a false-flag attack - if these clowns realized that they wouldn't give another nickel for this travesty. Iraq had no WMD - another debacle. Vote these idiots out of office before we all end up losing everything.

This war is lost, lost, lost. Notice with all the crap on TV and radio - with all the talk of budget deficits etc... - never is there any mention of the obscene cost of these unjust wars of aggression.

Congress has once again failed to use the "power of the purse" to stop the butchery - clinging to the myth of an undefinable "war on terror." While America crumbles, jobs are lost, and Americans lose their homes - Congress spends even more money we don't have.

Obama needs to take that Nobel Peace Prize and stick it where the sun doesn't shine.

At Military Contractor’s Trial, a $100,000 Buckle

Read entire article HERE.

" Also included were university textbooks for his daughter, pornographic videos for his son, plastic surgery for his wife, a burial plot for his mother, prostitutes for his employees, and, for him, a $100,000 American-flag belt buckle encrusted with rubies, sapphires and diamonds."
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Note: Remember this when you pay your taxes.

White House decries WikiLeaks' release of Afghan war documents

Read entire article HERE.

" The White House late Sunday condemned the leaking of what appear to be about 90,000 U.S. military records, as a handful of international media organizations that received access to the documents began to disclose their account of the war in Afghanistan.

In a statement, President Obama's national security advisor, Marine Gen. James L. Jones, deplored the "disclosure of classified information" that he said could put the lives of Americans and U.S. partners at risk and threaten the nation's security."
-------
Note: The only people putting lives of Americans and U.S. partners at risk are the lying scumbags that send them into combat for a bunch of greedy fascist scum in our government - and in the government of other nations who stand to benefit from our wars of aggression based on lies propagated by the Pentagon lie-factory known as the Ameriscum Corporate media.

The Wikileaks people cannot be faulted for bringing information provided by whisleblowers, bravehearts of the most noble character, who risk it all to get the truth to the civilians of our Republic - the civilians who are IN CHARGE OF THE MILITARY AND RESPONSIBLE FOR THE ACTIONS THE US MILITARY TAKES IN OUR NAME.

All the crybabies out there bitching about Wikileaks need to go change their diapers, get their rattle and wait for us patriots to sort all this out.

The WikiLeaks Afghanistan leak

Read entire article HERE.

" The Guardian describes the documents as "a devastating portrait of the failing war in Afghanistan, revealing how coalition forces have killed hundreds of civilians in unreported incidents, Taliban attacks have soared and Nato commanders fear neighbouring Pakistan and Iran are fueling the insurgency.""
-------
Note: What is important to understand - is that - since the war in Afpakistan is based on 911 - and the 911 attacks were a false-flag attack - that the Afpak adventure is just another war of aggression prosecuted by an imperial out-of-control government of fascists here in Amerika along with their accomplices in foreign governments.

First - defund. Second - start going over the records. Third - put the perps in jail. All the time make sure that the word gets out to the public. Result - better days ahead.

Pakistan Aids Insurgency in Afghanistan, Reports Assert

Read entire article HERE.

" The documents, made available by an organization called WikiLeaks, suggest that Pakistan, an ostensible ally of the United States, allows representatives of its spy service to meet directly with the Taliban in secret strategy sessions to organize networks of militant groups that fight against American soldiers in Afghanistan, and even hatch plots to assassinate Afghan leaders."
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Note: Our service personnel are being abused severely by a bunch of greedy scum. The whisteblowers must be supported as they "buck the system" and "fight city hall" - bringing the truth home where it counts - so an informed public can bind their government down with the "chains of the Constitution."

Nato probes reports raid killed 45 Afghan civilians

Read entire article HERE.

" "I heard the sound of the rocket land on our house. I rushed in screaming with my father and saw bodies lying in the dust… I found I was even standing on a dead body."

One of the bodies was his brother.

"He had been lying asleep in the afternoon when they were killed," Mohammed said."

Hypocrisy? Gen. Petraeus slams Taliban for 'indiscriminate' civilian kills in Afghanistan

hypocrisy |hiˈpäkrisē|

noun ( pl. -sies)

the practice of claiming to have moral standards or beliefs to which one's own behavior does not conform; pretense.*

--------------------

Perhaps you will find this article: Gen. Petraeus slams Taliban for 'indiscriminate' civilian kills in Afghanistan as hypocritical as did I. From the article:

"Gen. David Petraeus is turning the tables on the Taliban for "indiscriminate" civilian killings, which U.S. forces have taken heat over for years.

The latest in a flurry of statements by NATO's International Security Assistance Force in Kabul, Afghanistan, slammed insurgents for killing one and wounding eight innocents with gunfire, grenades and improvised bombs in Kandahar and Logar provinces.

According to confirmed reports, insurgents have killed 87 civilians and wounded 193 in the past three weeks," ISAF said"
----------

But if one were to take a step back and think critically - what do we have to compare the actions of our chosen enemies to so we can determine what can be considered "indiscriminate?"

How about our own actions? Let's see what some mainstream sources can tell us about the performance of the U.S. military when it comes to avoiding civilian casualties.

First please consider: THIS ARTICLE:

" Iraqi Civilians Killed, Estimated - A UN issued report dated Sept 20, 2006 stating that Iraqi civilian casualties have been significantly under-reported. Casualties are reported at 50,000 to over 100,000, but may be much higher. Some informed estimates place Iraqi civilian casualities at over 600,000."

The author of the above article provides THIS LINK to a Brookings Institution Document you may wish to examine for yourself.

Here's another: U.S. drone attacks in Pakistan get mixed response:

" The Khan family never heard it. They had been sleeping for an hour when a Hellfire missile pierced their mud hut on an August night in 2008. Black smoke and dust choked villagers as they dug through the rubble.

Four-year-old Zeerak's legs were severed. His sister Maria, 3, was badly scorched. Both were dead. When their cousin Irfan, 16, saw them, he gently curled them into his arms, squeezed the rumpled bodies to his chest, lightly kissed their faces, and slid into a stupor."

...another: 60 drone hits kill 14 al-Qaeda men, 687 civilians

" LAHORE: Of the 60 cross-border predator strikes carried out by the Afghanistan-based American drones in Pakistan between January 14, 2006 and April 8, 2009, only 10 were able to hit their actual targets, killing 14 wanted al-Qaeda leaders, besides perishing 687 innocent Pakistani civilians. The success percentage of the US predator strikes thus comes to not more than six per cent."

...another: The Year of the Drone (New America Foundation) The site has a clickable map you can use interactively:

" Our study shows that the 142 reported drone strikes in northwest Pakistan, including 46 in 2010, from 2004 to the present have killed approximately between 1,013 and 1,362 individuals, of whom around 702 to 1,013 were described as militants in reliable press accounts. Thus, the true non-militant fatality rate since 2004 according to our analysis is approximately 33 percent."

Interactive Drone Strike Map from New America Foundation

View U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan in a larger map

...another: New York Times: Operators of Drones Are Faulted in Afghan Deaths:

" KABUL, Afghanistan — The American military on Saturday released a scathing report on the deaths of 23 Afghan civilians, saying that “inaccurate and unprofessional” reporting by Predator drone operators helped lead to an airstrike in February on a group of innocent men, women and children.

...The Predator operators reported seeing only military-age men in the truck, the report said. The ground commander concurred, the report said, and the Special Operations team asked for an airstrike. An OH-58D Kiowa helicopter fired Hellfire missiles and rockets, destroying the vehicles and killing 23 civilians. Twelve others were wounded."

...another: Global Research: International Law: The First Casualty of America's Drone War
A comprehensive legal analysis of U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan:

" Case Study #1

The first case study selected is the September 8, 2008 missile attack on a North Waziristan village. The drones fired at least five missiles at a religious school founded by Jalaluddin Haqqani—a Taliban leader (who was formerly financed by the CIA) and the official target of the U.S. attack. At least 17 people were killed with some estimates reaching as high as 23.[30] Of those killed, at least eight were children. Haqqani's wife, sister, and sister-in-law were all killed as well. Roughly twenty were wounded, most of which were women and children according to doctors on the scene. Haqqani was not present at the time of the bombing.[31]

Case Study #2

Initially, U.S. and Pakistani officials declared that up to four members of al-Qaeda were killed in the bombings. ABC News could hardly contain its euphoria over the killings and declared the Muslim holiday gathering to be a "terror summit."[33] When the dust settled after the blasts, at least three houses were totally destroyed and at least 18 people were killed, with some reports putting the death toll as high as 22.[34] By all accounts, five children and five women were among the dead while 14 of the dead were likely from the same family.[35] Furthermore, it has since been confirmed that the "terror summit" was nothing of the sort, with U.S. and Pakistani officials later admitting that "none of those al-Qaeda leaders" previously alleged to have "perished in the strike" were in fact killed, noting that "only local villagers were killed."[36]"
---
The Global Research article above goes into much depth with more case studies and the legal ramifications. But we can't blame the military for all this mayhem- let's not forget the contractors. You may be familiar with the video below:



...By the way - if you think this is all in the past - think again. Here's one from today: July 24, 2010: 16 killed in US drone attack in Pakistan:

" At least 16 people have been killed during a US drone attack in Pakistan's northwestern

tribal belt, security officials say.
... Over the past few years, hundreds of people, mostly civilians, have been killed in similar US attacks in the region. "

-----
Conclusion: Those who live in glass houses should not throw stones. Practice what you preach. Lead by example.

-----

~picture borrowed from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Atomics_MQ-1_Predator
*Apple dictionary

Rogue Afghan soldier murdered senior army officer in his sleep

Read entire article HERE.

" A British general said the killer, a senior non-commissioned officer holding the rank of sergeant or higher, may have been “turned” by the Taliban."
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Note to British General: Why can't you see what the rest of us can? You know - the war is over. "We" "lost."

NATO: 6 US troops killed in Afghanistan (and at least a dozen civilians)

Read entire article HERE.

" Last month was the deadliest of the war for the multinational force, with 103 international troops killed, 60 of them Americans."
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Note: Like anybody cares here in the states. I never hear anybody bring up the war at all. Not for any reason - Americans DO NOT CARE ONE BIT. It is like we are not at war. Situation eerily numb.