Mental health problems among thousands of US Iraq vets ignored by Bush admin November 8, 2007
Posted by dave128 in Bush Administration, Human Rights, Invasion of Afghanistan, Invasion of Iraq, Politics.add a comment
Here is the video I promised yesterday. It’s very informative and emotional, it left me with tears in my eyes. Kudos to the great Dateline team, who always do great stuff.
Tens of thousands of US soldiers are returning home from Iraq and Afghanistan, suffering from post traumatic stress disorder.
They say they’ve been abandoned by the Bush Administration and the Department of Veterans Affairs, claiming that government officials are actively trying to cover up the extent of America’s traumatised soldiers.
For many vets, this means not enough help is being offered and their lives are plagued by anxiety and mental health issues. But for some, the results are even more tragic.
Dateline video journalist Nick Lazaredes meets the widow of an Afghanistan veteran who was severely depressed by his recall to fight in Iraq.
He was killed in a police shootout on Christmas Day, his death dubbed ‘police-assisted suicide’.
As Dateline reveals, his story is not an isolated one.
Reporter/Camera.
NICK LAZAREDESAdditional Filming.
STEVE HARPERResearchers.
YAARA BOU-MELHEM
TARA LIBERTEditors.
WAYNE LOVE
NICK O’BRIENProducer.
AARON THOMAS
2007: More US troops killed in Iraq than any other year November 6, 2007
Posted by dave128 in Bush Administration, Human Rights, Invasion of Iraq.add a comment
At least 852 American military personnel have died in Iraq so far this year – the highest annual toll since the war began in March 2003, according to AP figures. Some 850 troops died in 2004.
Well, well, well. So all we hear from the Bush crime gang’s mouth is that all is going swimmingly in Iraq (oh, they say there’s still “hard work” in front of them, but their asinine assessments attempt to paint a deluded view of the hell hole the US has made Iraq).
Pertinent to this issue is tonight’s episode of Australian current affairs programme Dateline. They will be airing a piece about post truamatic stress disorder plaguing US soldiers returning from Iraq, and the total nonchalance the Bush Admin. greets this. I’ll upload the video if I can.
Props to the protester October 25, 2007
Posted by dave128 in Bush Administration.add a comment
Just saw the great footage of the woman who yelled “war criminal” at Condi on News Hour with Jim Lehrer.
Really hate it when the security people swarm her. Arrest Dr. Rice, you idiots. The blood of hundreds of thousands of dead are on her hands, and they swarm the protester. Typical.
Time Travel: Patience & Patients August 25, 2007
Posted by dave128 in Bush Administration, Invasion of Iraq.add a comment
Bush pleads for more patience for Iraq war efforts
Sat Aug 25, 2007 12:43PM EDT
By Jeremy Pelofsky
CRAWFORD, Texas (Reuters) – U.S. President George W. Bush, faced with growing calls to start withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq, pleaded with Americans on Saturday for patience and cited progress in the past two months.
~~~ Time travel doodad initiation sequence start ~~~
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Weapons inspectors need more time: Blix
Chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix says his teams should be given “a few more months” to work in Iraq, in an interview to be published in Germany.
“Even if Iraq immediately, actively and unconditionally cooperates with us, we would still need a few more months,” Dr Blix told the German weekly Die Zeit.
Sydney high school attacked for anti-Iraq war performance August 16, 2007
Posted by dave128 in Australian Politics, Bush Administration, Invasion of Iraq.add a comment
Rock Eisteddfod’s Iraq entry draws criticisms
The Federal Government has accused a Sydney school of hijacking the annual Rock Eisteddfod challenge by involving students in a controversial and political performance.
The piece, called ‘Bad Knight 2′, is critical of US President George W Bush and the war in Iraq.
There are calls for it to be banned because its performance will coincide with a visit by Mr Bush to Australia.
And we certainly wouldn’t want to hurt poor Bush’s feelings! Anyway, he lives in a bubble, he’ll have no idea it’s even happening.
The New South Wales Opposition’s education spokesman Andrew Stoner think it is completely inappropriate.
“To be sending this overtly left-wing political message during the APEC meeting is not only unwise, frankly it can be embarrassing for us as Australians,” he said.
Thank you for speaking on behalf of all Australians, Mr. Stoner. Speaking on my behalf, what I can say embarrasses me is that our Prime Minster is a lapdog of the Bush Administration, and this gleefully sent our country into an immoral invasion. And then there’s the treatment of indigenous Australians, the shameful treatment of refugees, a careless disregard for the environment, and the deeming of gay and lesbian Australians as second class citizens, to name but a few issues. Yes, frankly we have a lot to be embarrassed about, but it has nothing to do with high school performance pieces.
Current federal Education Minister Julie Bishop has now attacked the new performance, claiming it does not represent the “healthy living” theme of the eisteddfod.
Oh, you know what, Julie? I agree with you! There’s scant signs of healthy living in Iraq:
According to U.N. figures, barely one in three Iraqis have access to clean drinking water.
Waterborne diseases like diarrhea — the most prolific killer of children under 5 — are on the increase. In some areas, it’s up as much as 70 percent over last year.
As far as any action against the piece goes, the eisteddfod says it does not censor any performances and the NSW Education Department’s Trevor Fletcher has supported the school and says it will not be stopped.
That’s good news. You know, I really, really, REALLY don’t get people who have no qualms about the mass slaughter of humans, yet a high school dance routine keeps them up at night. I mean come on. Seriously people, come on!
Oh, and the good news just keeps coming:
US Army suicides hit 26-year high
Twenty-eight of the soldiers who took their own life last year did so while serving in Iraq or Afghanistan.
[snip]
So far this year, 44 soldiers have taken their own lives, 17 of them while deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan.
I guess that’s called supporting your troops.
The psychopath speaks (again) May 2, 2007
Posted by dave128 in Bush Administration, Human Rights, Invasion of Iraq.add a comment
The US president has vetoed a bill that would have set a timetable for US troops to pull out of Iraq, saying a hasty exit would turn Iraq into “a cauldron of chaos”.
And what is it now? A pot of peace? A bowl of beauty? A cup of calm?
“Setting a deadline for withdrawal is setting a deadline for failure, and that would be irresponsible,” Bush said in a nationally televised speech on Tuesday…
Thank goodness Bush doesn’t want to do anything irresponsible. We wouldn’t want him to do anything FUCKING IRRESPONSIBLE. What…. what a total fuck. I can’t be articulate with my criticism when I’m this angry. Irresponsible!! No, Gerorge, don’t do anything that’s irresponsible, you good, good man. Oh fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK you, you fucking fuck,.
I said I couldn’t be articulate. It just boggles my mind. This man, this human being, who has wrought so much death and suffering and destruction and chaos upon Iraq doesn’t want to do anything “irresponsible.” It would be laughable if it wasn’t so fucking depressing.
And he actually thinks the US can still win? He is still thinking with a win/lose mentality!
The US and other foreign occupiers cannot ‘win’.
Even if stability is brought about, if ordinary Iraqis can walk down to the local bakery and not get blown to pieces, how is that a victory if you bring Iraq back to how it was prior to March 2003?
Bush sounds like a cowboy in the old wild west, yee haa, we’re gunna win! We will beat those bad guys! Yaa hoo! Iraq is a humanitarian catastrophe that cannot be ‘won’ or ‘lost’.
The US is in desperate need for new leadership, sane leadership. This president still believes Iraq is “winnable”. This is dangerous thinking that will only impede the healing of Iraq. I can only conclude that his mind is a cauldron of chaos.
Australian soldiers killing themselves April 30, 2007
Posted by dave128 in Bush Administration, Human Rights, Invasion of Afghanistan, Invasion of Iraq.1 comment so far
The Federal Government acknowledges two soldiers took their own lives after returning from the Middle East, but veteran activists say there could have been as many as five suicides – and they fear more will come.
To date 121 soldiers returned from the Middle East have been discharged for mental illness. About two dozen have serious psychological problems, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Families say the soldiers who commit suicide on their return are the hidden casualties of war.
Read the whole article: Our suicide soldiers: the hidden casualties
While Iraqis have suffered the most from Bush’s invasion, the tragic repercussions are spread considerably far across the world, and will most likely continue for at least decades to come.
Daily Update – Wednesday April 25 April 24, 2007
Posted by dave128 in Bush Administration, Human Rights, Invasion of Afghanistan, Media, Oil, Politics.add a comment
I’m finding it hard to write longish posts, the main reason being it’s too depressing. So, in order to keep what’s left of my sanity I’ll be trying “daily updates”. I won’t be updating everyday, but rather they will be a collection of news worthy/interesting things I’ve come across over a particular day. So, on with it…
The US Government has been positively pwned* over the Pat Tillman cover-up: Ranger alleges cover-up in Tillman case
Via Boing Boing: Fascist America, in 10 easy steps
The independence of Afghanistan’s media could be eroded if a new law is passed: Media at risk under new Afghan law
Indiginous American women are “2.5 times more likely to be raped or sexually assaulted than women in the United States in general” says Amnesty International: Native American women suffering shocking rates of rape: Amnesty
Another racism controversy from US radio DJs: US radio DJs in fresh racism row
In the six-minute prank broadcast, the caller says he wants to see one of the female employees of the restaurant naked and calls a part of her body “hot, Asian, spicy”.
[snip]
The two suspended DJs had been vocal supporters on air of Don Imus.
What a huge surprise.
I thought I’d end on something positive, Dave Raggett’s Introduction to HTML. A really handy guide, if like me, HTML scares the bejesus out of you.
Another positive, I watched the excellent documentary Crude Impact last night. It examines that huge issue oil, from its damage to indigenous communities and the environment, to the extent certain countries will go to in order to satiate their lust for oil (*cough* invasion of Iraq *cough*). And on this subject, I wonder just how much oil China and Russia get from Iran? Like this post, the film was mostly depressing, but ended with hope (okay, so HTML for beginners isn’t as snazzy as saving the planet, but meh!). I haven’t felt this energised by a documentary since The Corporation. Please visit their website, and try to view the doco if you can.
U.S. forces kill almost 20 civilians in two days in Afghanistan March 6, 2007
Posted by dave128 in Bush Administration, Human Rights, Invasion of Afghanistan.add a comment
Disturbing news from Afghanistan, with two reports of civilian deaths in as many days.
The first batch of killings happened in Nangarhar province. A suicide bomber attacked a military convoy, then shooting broke out. The marines fired indiscriminately, killing ten people, according to witnesses.
The following day U.S. forces bombed a house in Kapisa province. A cleric who buried the dead said there were nine bodies, five adults (including four women) and four children. U.S. forces alleged two men who had attacked a NATO base were seen entering the housing-area.
President Karzai implored foreign forces to use restraint, fearing a backlash against U.S. troops would give support to the resurgent Taliban. This is just another example of the U.S. exacerbating the threat from fundamentalists, and not”making the world safer” as they are fond of proclaiming.
In a disturbing development, the U.S. military erased photos and videos that journalists took of the aftermath of the shooting.
That makes my blood boil. They are always touting themselves as freedom-loving, democracy-spreading angels. These actions are the total opposite of that. The U.S. said “it was concerned the pictures would not accurately represent the scene.” Which, in a way, is true, because the U.S. has no view of reality.
This reminds me of a discussion (that’s a nice word for it) I had with a Republican over the invasion of Iraq. I mentioned how the photos coming out of the country (specifically the graphic image of a child with his arms blown off) were distressing me terribly and how angry they made me. He replied that he could show me photos of car accidents and it would be the same thing. He alleged the photos and video, yes all of it, coming from Iraq was being taken out of context (of course by the elitist liberal media).
Link:
Stale of the Union January 25, 2007
Posted by dave128 in Bush Administration.2 comments
Why is it that every Bush speech sounds the same? Freedom this, Terror that, 9/11, 9/11, 9/11, Terror, Freedom, blah, blah, blah. How can anyone take this creep seriously? His words are empty, devoid of any life. He is a robot, spewing forth meaningless ones and zeros.
Last night, on CNNI, they showed the reactions of three Republicans to the speech. Their total lack of empathy for other human beings was shocking, the utter depth of their ignorance stupefying. One said Bush was sincere and doing the best job he could. One said Bush had made things good in Iraq. These sickening comments made my skin crawl.
The Age newspaper sums up the speech well: (excerpt of editorial, and news report.)
President Bush pleaded with the Democrat-controlled Congress. Since he provided no new reasons to strengthen his argument in favour of a strategy he admits is based on failure previously to stabilise Iraq, the President’s chances are slim.
It was a fumbled 60 minutes, (his words) rang hollow, sending gloomy echoes across a country and out over a world largely opposed to American involvement in Iraq. … his familiar refrain with the usual lyrics (“protect”, “freedom”, “danger”, “security”). To (Bush), Iraq is a war in which America can be victorious; to much of the wider world, it is a diabolical mess largely of America’s making that has to be cleaned up, not won. The President is marooned; America is isolated.
