In Other Stories to Inspire Middle East Fury
Given the kerfuffle over the Florida preacher with the Yosemite Sam mustache who even Fred Phelps thinks is koo-koo pants, you may have missed this latest story guaranteed to inspire more fury directed at the US and its troops:
US soldiers ‘killed Afghan civilians for sport and collected fingers as trophies’
Five Army soldiers have been charged with the murder of three Afghan civilians, and seven more have been charged with covering up the murders and assaulting another soldier who attempted to report the murders to superior officers.
According to the allegations, after murdering the civilians, the soldiers cut off the fingers of the corpses as souvenirs, at least one of them allegedly kept a skull of one of the corpses, in shades of Abu Gharib they posed for pictures with the dead bodies, and then they stole and smoke the hashish that at least one civilian had with him.
The soldiers were part of a brigade stationed in Kandahar in 2009 through the spring of 2010.
But there’s more to the story.
The father of one of the five soldiers charged with murder has told the Associated Press that his son was not involved in the murders and in fact tried repeatedly to report the murders, but superiors refused to take the tip. The father alleges that his son is in fact being railroaded by the Army to cover up the mistakes in not investigating the allegations sooner.
Keep an eye on this story, folks. The charging documents have only just now been released and more shit is going to hit the fan.
Ugly story but not shocking or unusual. Teach kids to kill, send them off to kill, don’t be surprised they go off the rails. Desensitized, traumatized, its what happens when the dogs of war are unleashed. This is why starting a war should be the absolute last resort , always, ever.
Does anyone think this is not happening several times an hour everywhere in the world where US military are stationed? Rape, murder and dismemberment are full-time hobbies for US military if not all military.
Just fucking perfect.
One of the ringleaders is from Wasilla, Alaska. Is everyone there a psychopath?
Watchthis,rockedmyworld: http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=125058502931
@Mistress Cynica: I saw that detail but decided not to highlight it. He was probably in Bristol’s class. I’m now wondering where TrackSuit was deployed b/c a lot of them are Fort Lewis based…
@Promnight: Yeah, shocking, a leopard displays more humanity than any human being.
@Promnight: @FlyingChainSaw: Cats are infinitely superior to humans.
@Mistress Cynica: They tell me that all the time. Then they tell me to go to me to the store for a newspaper and 5 pounds of bacon. And I don’t even have a cat.
@Mistress Cynica: no they’re not, all creatures combine all of good and bad, that video showed both, and the shocking instantaneous switch from one to the other. Domesticated cats evolved to take advantage of that same maternal instinct in us, dogs too. They’re no better or worse than we are, we are just like them, with all the same good and bad.
@Promnight: I disagree. Only humans are intentionally cruel, with malice aforethought. As is demonstrated in the main topic of this post.
@Mistress Cynica: Other primates kill and maim for no competitive advantage. Seems to be an emergent property.
@FlyingChainSaw: OK, I’m willing to amend that to “Only primates.” Thanks for the info.
@Promnight: I don’t know, I think I have slightly higher standards than either a cat or a dog. I neither lick my ass nor enjoy cat shit canapes.
BREAKING NEWS UPDATE!
“A federal judge in Riverside declared the U.S. military’s ban on openly gay service members unconstitutional Thursday, saying the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy violates the 1st Amendment rights of lesbians and gay men.”
@FlyingChainSaw: Are they possibly teaching their young to kill, as cats notoriously do when they torture a mouse, its teaching their young howto hunt.
@karen marie: 9th Circuit is gonna be hella busy this Christmas season what with all the appeals coming up from the district courts re: teh gheyz.
Sadly, I suspect this story will be swept away and forgotten with twenty-four hours, much like the massacre at Haditha and countless other atrocities. It simply doesn’t fit the media’s narrative.
/tj/ Mirando nueve a cinco con subtitulos en español ahora.
“Varias personas han perdido el oido en este lugar.”
y
“¡Y se despiró desde al dentro de mi bolso!”
@karen marie: Judge is a Clinton appointee, went to law school at U.C. Berserkeley.
@Dodgerblue: So he’s gay and a communist. Or she. Isn’t the judge a lesbian? So the Agenda marches on!
With all the attention being given to the Prop 8 challenge it was interesting that this case, which would seem to be at least as important, was ignored. And once again, progress is made when Republicans get in on the act.
@Mistress Cynica: @FlyingChainSaw: @Promnight:
let me clarify what cyn said, if i may. yes, cats, dogs, dolphins! yes they teach their young to hunt, but i think we’re talking about killing/maiming as Sport. primates share 98% of human DNA, so yes, they kill for sport just like their close relatives the human. the only other species that will kill strictly for sport are a certain kind of RAT.
the ME from men in black “god, i hate the living”
@Tony Blair Witch Project:
what are you doing awake at this hour? did you just wake up, or haven’t you gone to bed yet? i need to know. for months i’ve been waking up at 3, makes it a loooong day.
my theory: the closer we get to death, the less we sleep as to have more time. or we’re vampires.
@baked: I woke up for biological reasons and came downstairs to my study to make some notes before heading back to bed. Since you’re here, your mother wants to tell you to see a movie called My Dog. And Happy New Year, darling. You know I never interfere in your life (we all have to make our own mistakes) but there’s a lot to be said for gay husbands. You don’t have to worry about sabra whores.
@baked: All creatures appear to “enjoy” doing that which they evolved to do. Come on, you must grant that cats and dogs are capable of “enjoyment,” of playing and enjoying? And they enjoy doing what they are good at most of all. Greyhounds enjoy running.
Cats enjoy stalking and killing, and do it for fun.
@Mistress Cynica: I will grant you that an act cannot be morally condemnable, unless the act is committed with a morally culpable mens rea, a malicious mental state. OK, all true, at least in one sense of any discussion of morality.
But it raises some questions, does it not? For example, if cute little kitty cat is somehow inherently incapable of a malicious mental state, would cute little kitty cat also be incapable of a virtuous, kind, or loving mental state? Or are the mental and cognitive limitations of animals somehow magically a one way thing, so that they are incapable of hate, yet still capable of love, incapable of malice, but capable of charity?
Isn’t a “good” action just as devoid of moral virtue, when it is done unconsciously, and without a conscious choice to do good, as a “bad” act is devoid of immorality, when it is done unconsciously, without a malicious intent?
And then there is the moral conundrum, what about malicious mental states unaccompanied by actions?
For example, what of someone who desires, fantasizes about, killing all the stupid people on earth? Are they still a good person, as long as they don’t act on their desire to commit mass murder of those they deem unworthy of life?
@baked: Well, baked, I’d like to introduce you to Our Gracie. She is indeed a sport hunter.
In fact, just the other night she brought a fucking mouse in the house to sport with. Unfortunately, it got away from her. It is now loose somewhere in our 1500 square foot manse and she can’t find it.
But when she does, you can be sure she is going to sport with it until it no longer moves, leaving it for me to kill and dispose of.
I cannot tell you how many birds I have had to drown because of Mr. Mittens’ and Our Gracie’s love of sport hunting.
As for malicious intent, it seems that some in the non-human animal world may have that capacity.
@Prom: I’m still laughing at Km’s ass-licking and shit-canapé comment, but am also firmly on the side of cats-hunt-but-aren’t-mean-spirited. I mean, even my Jose only sinks teeth into my flesh out of love.
@karen marie: Ahh, your kitty is motivated by an instinct to bring prey home to her kittens in order to teach them how to kill; I think when an animal enters into the “pet” relationship, it is generally transferring some instinctive behaviors to the “pet”-human relationship. In short, I think most dogs and cats think their owners are their children, and your kitty is probably trying to teach you to hunt. She is probably sad that you are so slow to catch on.
My agumentationment is directed against any black and white division of the world into evil humans and romantically fetishized angelic animals. I am convinced animals are capable of more self-awareness than they are generally given credit for, and also more capable of good and evil, and I also believe humans are less free actors than they think they are, and that our behaviors are more directed by “instinct” than we like to admit to ourselves.
Like, as in, its kinda ironic that our pets agree to enter into the pet-owner relationship with us, because they are transferring instinctive behaviours related to rearing their young onto us, and wow, we keep pets, because we are transferring our instinctive child-rearing behaviors onto our pets. And as with most parents, many pet owners are convinced their little furry darlings are perfect.
@Prommie: Ahhhhhh — that explains it! She’s not trying to teach me how to hunt, I think it’s Lucy!
Crabby as Gracie continues to be toward Lucy, her hard heart has shown signs of softening. She no longer runs away the minute Lucy heaves into view. We are in the early days of a long and beautiful relationship between them, methinks.
My brother and I were discussing specialty items we could have in our pet catalog: a variety of cat shit flavored treats for the canine crowd. Give a dog a choice between equivalent size pieces of dried cat shit and freeze-dried liver, he will go for the cat shit every time.
@karen marie: True, true, when I first took up housekeeping with she-who-may-never-be-named, she had an old dog, and an old cat, and there was a litter box, but it was some kind of miraculous litter box, the litter box equivalent of the legendary “bottomless” cup of coffee, for this litter box never needed emptying. Then I realized that the dog was emptying it.
The problem is all you sillies have carnivore pets! My two little nose-twitchy prey animals never, ever bring me a smaller creature in the midst of being tortured and in need of being put out of its misery, I assure you.
@Prommie: Why do you think she had the dog?
@karen marie: That’s because likely there is a lot more meat in the cat turd than in the doggie treat.
@flippin eck: I was thinking about the implications of this proposition that the cat’s killing is not immoral because the cat is incapable of malice (one big implication is that the baboon mother is still just as dead, whether the Cat killed it regretfully or gleefully) and I got to thinking “well, if Cats are angelic moral paragons, what does that make rabbits?” Like, even assuming that a cat is not malicious (which I reject, at least as a blanket, black and white proposition) isn’t a rabbit neveretheless “better” than even a completely morally blameless cat? I would think that all the animals the cat has killed would say “yes, the rabbit is “better” than the cat, even though the cat is blameless for killing me.”
Neither has Thor, but I think it has more to do with the fact that he’s never really caught anything. He almost got a squirrel once, and he’s snapped up one or two flies, but that doesn’t really count, I guess.
@flippin eck: If you loved me, you’d love this dead bird I dropped on your porch.
@Prommie: Usually the argument runs the other way — that we’ve effectively infantilized our pets, by making them dependent on us.
@nojo: We like to think we are superior, yes. Works out pretty well for the cats and dogs, though, as species; the most numerous canids and felines on earth, and we feed them.
@Prommie: It’s not just domestic animals. Botany of Desire makes a pretty good case for how corn, apples, tulips, and pot have all flourished by using human preference to gain an evolutionary advantage.
@Tommmcatt Cannot Be Arsed To Think About Sharon Angle: @nojo: I shouldn’t get all superior just because my bunnies don’t bring me dead things or near-dead things. There are downsides to having prey animals as pets too: They hate being picked up (being plucked from the ground = death) and they’re really good at hiding illness, so by the time you notice they’re “off” it’s already pretty serious.
And then (the key part) come over and lick your face. :)
More on topic, this bit from SomethingAwful pretty much sums the present situation up nicely.
Hey, I see its 9-11 eve. I better get to the store and stock up on falafel and tahini and cous-cous for my traditional 9-11 meal.
@Prommie:
Or, if you are a right-wing fucktard, you need to stock up on Vaseline and tube socks.
Fox & Friends are some sick motherfuckers.
It is taking every fiber of my being not to make tasteless jokes about that map. It is killing me, but I think I’ll be able to make it through the day without one.
@Prommie: I haven’t shaved in four days to cultivate my annual Swarthy Look. Plus, it’s Eid night, so l’chaim or whatevs!
@Prommie:
Just in time for 9/11 eve, it’s the Tea Party H8r’s new replacement for “It’s A Wonderful Life”!
Apparently these fucks are 100% committed to re-enacting the rise of the Nazis.
24 hours later, i get to respond because i’m up to my neck with a mastiff puppy and 5 cats..2 inside, 3 outside.
i still maintain cats and dogs and dolphins! are NOT doing it for “fun” sure, it may be fun to stalk and catch prey, but it is their sustenance. and how they train the morans they love. their young, or if they are lucky…us..
you’ll notice the things they bring you are still alive. they want US to kill them, as if we were kittens. how can you quantify whether they are having “fun” or behaving in a perfectly natural way as nature intended.
i conclude they do not see hunting as sport, but as a biological imperative for survival. and now, i will go collect whatever varmints were left for this big hopeless kitten to dispose of…
on topic: happy 9/11 !!!!
as noje said, of course we infantalize them, but it doesn’t stop what’s coded in their dna whether we feed them or not.
the mouse and roaches are waiting for me downstairs…..alive. for me to finish them, then eat.
we don’t kill to eat our kills. i think that makes my point.
(they sure do look like their having fun when they bring you a flapping hysterical bird, but i just don’t believe fun is the impetus)
@Tommmcatt Cannot Be Arsed To Think About Sharon Angle:
i think of a comment you made EVERY DAY. you said Thor pulls you like a hamburger wrapper. how i walk Bella: sneakers are a must, first of all–i need traction! i wrap the leash around my wrist 4 or 5 times..i open the door. bat out of hell leaps out and drags me along…like a..like a..hamburger wrapper! i should try it one day with roller blades. and she’s not even 5 months yet! she’s over 50 pounds now. oy vey what have i done……
@Tony Blair Witch Project:
thank you darling…a very healthy and sweet new year to you and the OH too!
speaking of malicious creatures, the rat is calling me 5 times a day. sometimes i don’t answer, like a jr high manipulation. he’s doing up the whole jew thing over there. he said the entire congregation left the building yesterday to go to the stream where Mary supposedly stopped at on her way from bethlehem to nazareth or the other way around whatev. it had to do with water, not mary. full of religious kooks over there i tell ya. he’s enjoying himself, good for him. no sense of the sabra whore lurking. as he said, “i finally got THAT can o worms shut…believe me, i ain’t opening it.”
remember 2 years ago i said first order of business was to get rid of her, then i would see what i wanted to do with that scoundrel? well, the time is now, and i still don’t know what to do with him. mum?? what say you?
@Tony Blair Witch Project:
i adored my gay husbands! you’re right about not having to worry about sabra whores, but you should see the men in israel—STUNNING!
(OUT mag just named tel aviv as the gayest friendly city in the world–the city closes down for the annual parade)
my rat is as straight as they get, but he’s developed a fascination with RML that i can’t explain. he admires him, his life style, his ponytail.
rat has quite the tail growing. next he’ll be be going back to law school.
yes, i talk about you guys, he no longer refers to you as my “invisible friends.” i’m going to see JNOV in the flesh in about 5 weeks!!!
any chance you can come to philly mid /late october???
@baked: That other place to reply.
As for the Israeli men – having a taste for mad jew flesh myself – unfortunately they often come equipped with a mother. And not the fun kind, as I know to my cost. In our tribe, we wives invariably find a time when the menfolk are off davening or kvelling over the number of servants in the ancestral manse or some damn thing, we get together to swap stories of how we cope with their various psychoses and/or fantasies. Our tribe goes in for Extreme Moral Rectitude which often involves sharing with outsiders the Moral Way to Behave. This is not popular among the rest of the world. We also laugh at the fact that, no matter how much mileage is under the hood, we can never be truly members of the sacred tribe and tend to be put at the lower tables with the children. I also (mostly) adore them.
We all look up to RML. If I can ever get my ass out his way I’m still hoping we can complete the adoption papers. But we are blessed among us with some obviously very good fathers.
I would say you’ve been through the worst and RB most likely has a greater appreciation of you now plus a greater fear of losing his balls. We all make mistakes. Well, I don’t but I hear that other people do. If the situation was reversed and you felt you had done all you could to atone – including allowing the adoption of a giant dog – wouldn’t you feel you had earned the right to a second chance? I think too much is made of sexual fidelity anyhow. So he schtupped a sabra whore. In my line of work they call that a showmance: it lasts the run of the show. Others say that being on tour is a different moral universe. Same thing with RB. Because he made a mistake doesn’t mean you should throw him to the wolves aka sabra whores. From what you report he would seem to be trying to tell you it’s behind him. Good. And even if – and I say if so sit down, darling, and do you really need to be eating that cake? – he was schtupping sabra whores every time he left the house so long as he showed you the proper respect by covering his tracks properly so you didn’t find out and he didn’t put you in the position of having to meet any of them or involve your friends, what difference does it make? And though I might be your mother I am still the most puritanically uptight person you know and even so that’s what I think. If it’s a mostly good marriage count your blessings, dollink, and enjoy beach time with the Monstre sacrée.
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