How shall we remember Capt. Humayun Khan, his fallen comrades and their families?
If you want to see the best of America, you need look no further than the example set by Army Captain Humayun Khan.https://t.co/aEhY06r7St — Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) July 30, 2016
Humayun Khan died in an ill-considered, politically motivated war begun under false pretenses.
We cannot sufficiently remember Capt. Khan, his comrades, and their families by presenting them with convention speaking slots alone. It is right that they have an opportunity to call Trump to task. He maligns their faith and demeans their son’s sacrifice and theirs. He seeks to undermine the values their son fought and died for. Trump is a man who, took every opportunity to avoid going to war.
That we hear them out is the very least we can do. There is more to be done.
Hillary Clinton voted for that war. That war which cost us “the best of America”. She did not acknowledge the mistake for 13 years.
Perhaps you think it is politically inconvenient to say that at this juncture. But it should be said because there is more to be done.
We cannot honor Capt. Khan’s sacrifice, that of his comrades and their families by defeating Trump alone. We cannot be true to the values and ideals they held dear simply by making the right choice in the election booth. We must do more.
Hillary Clinton can honor their sacrifice by treating war and violence as a last resort and avoiding mistakes.
For our part, we can honor their sacrifice by reaffirming we will hold politicians who send young men and women off to war accountable. To ensure they never, ever give in to political convenience in matters of war.
That we never again allow “the best of America” to bleed away in an ill-considered, politically motivated war, begun under false pretenses.
Comments
Hillary Clinton can honor their sacrifice
The only way "Hillary Clinton can honor their sacrifice" is to take herself, and her whole fam damily, out of public life, once and for all, now.
Hillary Clinton and politicians like her caused their sacrifice -- for nothing.
Interventionist foreign policy, i.e., imperialism, needs to be purged from American statecraft forthwith, immediately, yesterday.
"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar
"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides
So true.
While Trump was running casinos, Hillary Clinton was voting for war in Iraq and overseeing war in Libya and fomenting for war against Syria and Iran. While Trump talks nonsense and trash about Muslims, Hillary has been responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of them.
Good to see you subir. #JillNotHill #NeverHillary #NeverTrump
"Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." - JFK | "The more I see of the moneyed peoples, the more I understand the guillotine." - G. B. Shaw Bernie/Tulsi 2020
Thanx
@subirgrewal
Tell the Truth, Damn them all!
and Hold Them All Accountable!
"All Life is Problem Solving" - Karl Popper
Bet you get on the rec list
over at TOP! You have really redeemed yourself for your earlier Bernie trespasses.
Man, subir, you are on fire! Great topic for discussion!
I can't wait to vote for Stein, a true pacifist!
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
Trump avoided going to war. Why didn't Khan?
"The justness of individual land right is not justifiable to those to whom the land by right of first claim collectively belonged"
Trump had the $$$$$ to avoid it.
"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar
"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides
He did play dress-up soldier for years, in the
"NY Military Academy", then got four deferments, was given a clean bill of health in his first physical and then when his deferments were done, he suddenly discovered bone spurs.
@subirgrewal
That was quite a 'reach around' there. You could have just said
VOTE FOR HILLARY and not insulted our intelligence.
I'm tired of this back-slapping "Isn't humanity neat?" bullshit. We're a virus with shoes, okay? That's all we are. - Bill Hicks
Politics is the entertainment branch of industry. - Frank Zappa
Remember it well. Alas, she
Remember it well. Alas, she was my senator along with Chuck Schumer.
Uh ok. Whatever you say.
@subirgrewal
Vote Green and turn your back on our war for profit machine.
“What the herd hates most is the one who thinks differently; it is not so much the opinion itself, but the audacity of wanting to think for themselves, something that they do not know how to do.”
-Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860)
No, she can honor our sacrifices by...
NOT cutting the VA, and punishing the troops by cutting the military budget which is always taken from the soldiers FIRST, not the lovely little contractors she and her friends are so fond of funding.
You honor the troops by treating them with dignity and respect for the job they do. You don't do it by crying crocodile tears over a soldier who matches the ethnicity you wanna pander to.
FUCK YOU, Hillary. Fuck you and your cronies who think that soldiers are animals to be sacrificed for your profits.
I do not pretend I know what I do not know.
Honor Capt. Khan
by not using his grieving parents as shills for a corrupt politician.
"Please clap." -- Jeb Bush
I am somewhat conflicted on that score
I'm glad they found someone articulate and in such an unassailable position to hit back at Trump's hateful rhetoric against Muslim Americans. At the same time, I don't like the way they're used for political ends.
All that said, the Khan's have their own agency. As I see their statements, they were up there, speaking, to defend the values their son died fighting for. Whatever you may think about Democrats or Hillary or us as a nation living up to those values, they have a right to do that.
It's also good to be reminded publicly of how the vile rubbish coming out of Trump's mouth makes many people feel.
@subirgrewal
Honor Captain Khan
By abandoning the Empire he was sent halfway around the world to maintain. By cutting the Pentagon budget in half, then in half again, and throwing war profiteers in jail. By naming and shaming the politicians who voted to send him to his death, and who consort with the bloodthirsty warmongers always urging us to kill other people in their homes. By grounding the flying death robots we use to kill so many innocents, and thereby make far more enemies than we can kill.
Honor Captain Khan with peace, and by not putting his father on a stage with a bloodthirsty general and presidential candidate.
Thanks for posting, Subir. You're welcome here.
Please help support caucus99percent!
I have often wondered if I would have gone
I have often wondered if I had still been on active duty with the U.S Army in 2003, would I have refused to participate in the illegal invasion of Iraq? Luckily it's a "what if" for me, but CPT Khan and plenty of other soldiers had to make that choice. You could follow the illegal orders, or go to prison and watch them send someone else to do your job. Everyone who has served in uniform knows that (1) you pretty much have to go because you have a duty to the other guys in your unit, and (2) you will always bear your share of moral responsibility for participating in Bush’s war crime instead of trying to stop it.
The only way to avoid the trap is not joining the military, and doing your due diligence as a citizen to prevent the USA from engaging in wars of aggression. Which isn't easy these days -- both major political parties have lost their collective minds.
"We've done the impossible, and that makes us mighty."
Well said. I especially appreciate this part:
And I understand how difficult it is. I think the most important factor is to always assume that the government is lying, from Tonkin Gulf to Yellow-Cake, from the domino theory to mobile anthrax labs - they lie all the time, and we must never forget to be on the lookout for it.
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
I've often wondered about
How is this any different from your local Crips/Bloods "gotta watch my homie's back/avenge him"?
I've seen this type of comment many times and have always had the same response. I'm fairly sure that if my draft number came up (luckily I was in the last batch and had a high number, a friend's brother who was a year older ended up enlisting in the USAF to avoid being drafted) I would want the guy next to me to watch my back whilst I watched his, but it just seems wrong to me.
Thankfully, I did NOT have to make that choice, and I am sorrowful that others did. Would Leavenworth as a conscientious objecter/refusenik have been a willing choice vs going to Nam and hoping I didn't have to kill/get killed in an immoral war? I don't know and I'm very glad that I didn't have to make that decision.
I don't hold it against the people who did, no matter what their choice, because it seems like a good example of Hobson's choice.
Many people say that the leaders of the terrorists groups
should be the ones that strap on the suicide vests.
That should also be said of the leaders in our government and the other countries that vote to send the soldiers to fight in countries that haven't threatened us.
If they are too old to go, then their family members need to have skins in the wars . Period.
Smedley Butler told us that war is a racket and that he had spent 33 years being muscle for hire.
Which means he fought and killed people so that the corporations could steal those country's resources.
That's why Assad must go. Russia has had a natural gas pipeline in Syria for decades and Assad won't let US interests build their pipelines.
That's why the president of Ukraine was also overthrown.
Now that he is out of power there, Ukraine is open for business for the corporations.
And Hillary is on record staring that Iraq is also open for business.
Plus, the defense companies are making a lot of money, while we are being told that there isn't enough money for universal health care or our social programs.
Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.
Voting is like driving with a toy steering wheel.
Having lived through our last draft
fueled war I was skeptical when the suggestion came up to reinstate an active draft. Thinking through it I'm in favor provided nobody is exempt from service. Working out a selection system that can't be corrupted by influence, politics, or money may be next to impossible though. The solution to politicians being quick to use military power on every problem is in widening the base of people with skin in the game. People today don't know the near universal voluntary participation of the sons of celebrities, elected leaders, captains of industry, and old money families in WW2. Not volunteering or otherwise participating in the national effort was not viewed favorably.
The boomer generation offspring of those same groups had no such pressure. Using influence and money to escape a war that had obviously nothing to do with national security was nearly universal. When the sons of the rich and powerful escape the draft it doesn't take long for everyone else, regardless of status like WJC, to understand and follow suit. The great American chicken hawk was born.
I wanted to fly fighters from the time I was five years old. I was born to a socio-economic group that was populated by kids who were lucky to graduate high school. Neither of my parents did. The right qualities, doing my part, and more than my share of help along the way saw me receive USAF pilot wings on 1 April 1975. I was not to fly fighters due to my extremely bad timing of the huge post Vietnam draw down with few pilot slots and fewer fighter cockpit openings. My draft number had been sufficiently high to eliminate any chance of being drafted but I didn't care. I'd signed a contract for five years of service after UPT two years before Hillary's mentor stopped playing games while people died and finally allowed the war to end. I didn't care I was living the dream.
I offer that piece of information to lead into a personal story of how corrupting privilege has become. I had a squadron and flight mate who became a close friend. He was two years junior when I joined his flight but we did nearly everything together during my three years at that assignment, not quitey three years at the next, and his influence is the reason I followed him to to an airline job six months after he got out. He was a brother and one the people I've known the longest. A third friend came from that relationship. B had been a classmate to D in UPT. They'd been sent to the same assignment at different bases following graduation. All three of us were in the same squadron when we went to the same airline. I've known these guys since 1979. They are my brothers.
Were brothers. D, to whom I owe so much, has barely spoken to me since about 2008 or so. The incident causing that is my fault as well as mine to try to fix but I haven't for a variety of reasons. The beginning of the split came as a result of disagreement over invading Iraq.
B and I talked frequently about 9/11 and the military situation in the Middle East. We disagreed but could exchange information and opinions with respect. I grudgingly accepted the Afghanistan invasion although I thought the military invasion was not a valid solution and would lead to exactly what happened. Neither of my friends could see much less get to my position. When the run up to Iraq began the disagreements got very intense. D stepped away from the discussion saying he would not listen to such shit. B wavered and over time started sending me counter arguments for the invasion of Iraq.
One day I got something that he said made sense to him that was a carbon copy of the things I'd been saying for a year. Then he said he still couldn't oppose the invasion because Sadam was an existential threat to the US who could not be ignored. The stuff he'd just sent ,and agreed to, directly contradicted the WMD argument. Exasperated I asked him to clarify his position. I went further and said that I wanted to know when he was going to talk his son into joining the fight in Iraq. How could he, a former military officer, not be willing to send his son or return to active duty in his stead? I never got an answer.
What I received was an email from D. He and B had been trading emails from me. D took great exception. He demanded to know how I could be so cruel as to suggest that one of us should sacrifice a child in the Middle East. My reply was the same question to D. Which of his three sons would he be sending to save our country. His reply was straight out of Dick Cheney's mind. All three of his sons were extremely smart and talented. They were more valuable finishing school and having a profession. I didn't hear from him for some time after I asked him whose sons would he send in their place.
A draft might make it more difficult to find fodder for future wars of choice. My idea would never go anywhere. Every elected leader who votes to authorize military force, the president, every cabinet member, and every member of the JCS, service chiefs, and sevice chief of staff must first supply a family member to serve in that adventure. The practice of sending other people to fight wars of choice has to end or it will end our country if it hasn't already effectively done so.
"Ah, but I was so much older then, I'm younger than that now..."
Good story
When it comes to waging war arguments it's easy to shut the warmongers up by asking, "when are you signing up/or your kids?" And speaking of the draft. How about we flip the Vietnam era draft upside down and draft the wealthy first. After all, isn't our military main purpose is to protect us citizens? And those who have the most to lose should be drafted first...
If only they would shut up.
They are often speechless then the rationalizations begin. Howard Zinn's several essays and lectures on war are educational. His argument s are sound and moral but I can't quite get to his all war, including his - WW2, is immoral and pointless argument despite trying for a long time. I get closer with every foolish US adventure which probably demonstrates just exactly how right he is.
Edit to add: A good historical measure of decay in a society is the level to which the ones with the most to lose will go to avoid risking what they have to avoid losing it. Relying on others to risk all to save ones ass eventually results in being assless. Is assless even a word?
"Ah, but I was so much older then, I'm younger than that now..."
Is now.
I long for the days when the kings/leaders would be the at the front of a battle. When did that all change?
That Kissinger quote has no good source
AFAIK.
@subirgrewal
Sadly, the anti-war movement, like many other movements died
with the birth of Generation Reagan. Though a great many do support war and imperialism, most of the rest of people are numb to war, it is simply business as usual, unnoticeable in the way that the mailman is invisible. Should there be a noticeable uptick in concern about war and imperialism, the oligarchs have everybody's number:
1) Send some advisors out of humanitarian concern
2) Wait until they are threatened and send some troops to protect them
3) Send more troops to protect those troops
4) We simply cannot pull out now, not after ...
It's a shuck. It's nice of you to make a plea for peace and accountability, and I wish you all the luck in the world, but you're not being "pragmatic", ya know.
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
Civilian control of the millitary
is a bedrock principle dating from the founding of our country. Standing armies were seen by our Enlightenment era founders as as great a threat to government and the people as were lawyers, corporations, and religion. State controlled and maintained militias and semi-permanent military organizations were the source of federal forces through the Civil War. The federal government had to convince states to supply the majority of troops for federal use. The professional federal army and navy was very small in comparison. The lead up to the Mexican-American War of 1946 is an interesting study that demonstrates the ugly political wrangling between the states and the feds. While the standing army and navy of the post Civil War times was somewhat larger than before it really wasn't until the 20th century but really it was for WW1 that a professional standing military became the norm. And it wasn't until after WW2 that the modern system grew out of control.
The check on federal power through the limiting of a standing army and professional officer corps served us well for a very long time. The always present threat from modern weapons has made a standing military necessary for survival but the previous checks of civil control, limited professional officer corps, and limited standing armies have been reduced to one. The safety of our democracy has become solely dependent on politicians exercising restraint on the military and it's use. I don't think it's too much of a stretch to say there is no safety due to the simple fact our elected civilian leaders exercise no restraint on themselves while in full control of the MIC.
The great threat I see to the people of the US is the control of the civilian leadership, military, corporations, and religion has concentrated into the same small group of people. People who are becoming less and less responsive to what most of us want. The most frightening part of this is that maybe most of us don't want to stop the concentration of power. They're too afraid of real and imagined threats and have been convinced that the interests of our leaders are in concert with their own. It's scary shit to me. America will cease to exist as we've known it when these entities are no longer under the control of the people.
Looking at HRC and Trump I see distinctly different threats. HRC is one who will without any doubt further concentrate and use power in ways we can no longer influence much less control. Trump is a loose cannon and a complete unknown. There is a possibility he'll make it easier to slow or at least temporarily disrupt the concentration of power. I don't know which one presents the greatest threat but I would find it almost unimaginable that the seemingly barking crazy fucker could be the lesser danger to our democracy unless I couldn't see it.
"Ah, but I was so much older then, I'm younger than that now..."
We should remember him with sorrow and regret.....
He died for oil and profit. I don't thank military people for their service, I apologize.
Remember what Hillary says, war is a business opportunity.
"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon
Link
http://www.ibtimes.com/campaign-2016-hillary-clinton-pitched-iraq-busine...
@subirgrewal
This essay is full of sickness.
____________________
The political system is what it is because the People are who they are. — Plato