just another vet

Warcrimes

War:

1. A state of open, armed, often prolonged conflict carried on between nations, states, or parties.
2. The period of such conflict.
3. The techniques and procedures of war; military science.

War crime:

An act committed usually during an international war for which individual criminal liability will be imposed by a domestic or international tribunal; specifically : a violation of the laws or customs of war as embodied or recognized by international treaty, court decisions, or established practice.

All's fair in love and war.

Let's get real. All acts of war are crimes. We can argue semantics all we want. Crimes against humanity, against nature, against common sense and logic. Through war we destroy our past, ravage our present and cripple our future. We pollute our environment and ourselves. And most of all we throw out what small strides we have made as conscience beings in becoming a matured and enlightened species.

War brings out the absolute worst in us. We quickly rationalize horrific acts against each other through dehumanization. We waste untold resources in a world where those resources are growing more scarce by the day. Our environment, that thing that makes our whole existance possible in the first place, becomes filled with the toxic leftovers of our weapons and destruction.

Yet onward into battle we march. Because we never learn. We glorify war, we rally around symbols of division, we deify those who wage war.

But why do we fight wars in the first place? What do we wish to achieve through their execution? And please don't tell me it's to create peace.

Humanity seems to have this default, this impulse that always leads every society to the same action of war. Us against them. This same attitude exists throughout our institutions, be they government, religion, national identity, sports and all the other ways we divide ourselves. In our need to identify who we are, what we each stand for, we generate the seeds of conflict.

I have said this a thousand times and I will continue to say it until my last breathe: We are all in this together.

80 More Lives

To the 80 soldiers lost in the month of May:

here's 80 more lives gone away
who will never again see
the light of day
80 more souls torn away

that's 80 more lives gone away
drifting out into the sea
in the month of May
80 more souls torn away

what's 80 more lives gone away?
just a number the cold
and callous would say
80 more souls torn away

those 80 more lives gone away
are debt we can never
begin to repay
80 more lives torn away

for the 80 more lives gone away
let us all pray that peace
will find it's way
to the 80 more lives torn away

Thoughts On Military Service

I have wrestled with how to view my service since the first day of boot camp. I have to admit, I didn't join out of some sense of patriotism. I didn't join because I felt I should give something back to my country or because I come from a long line of people who have served. I joined because I was desperate, because I needed an out from a life I was sure was going down the toilet quickly.

But in the end I'm glad I did. I learned a great deal about life in the military, though I didn't realize any of that while I was in. And most of the guys I served with were in the same boat. Young men from the ghettos, country boys wanting to get off the farm; these are the people I met. Sure, there were some hard-core folks, but not many. They usually go infantry, where the glory is.

No, I joined like so many others because I had nothing else. No college, no experience to get a good paying job. Just young men who needed something to kick start their lives, or at least pay some bills. It was not glamorous, and it wasn't fun. It was a job, three square meals and a roof over my head.

It wasn't until years later that I started to really understand the transformation that occurred in my life during my service. Like when I found I was able to keep a job when most of my friends back home couldn't. Or how I had the dedication needed to get through a very tough education.

And I can honestly say that a big part of that is because I never saw combat. I knew of the ugly side of the military; many of the guys I was in with had seen combat in Desert Storm. But I think that because I didn't have to actually experience that I was able to get out with relatively few scares.

I do miss parts of the military. Like the brotherhood, the respect I got from some folks back home, and the chance to see the other side of the world. But I do not regret for one second never having to kill anyone. Because that is one thing I never want to do. Sure, I would if I had to, but I will never see it as glamorous or honorable even if it is necessitated.

But there is the side of me that sees war as the biggest waste of resources ever concocted by humans. And the money we waste on the military would go a long way towards fixing much that is wrong with this country. Not to mention that I am finding it harder and harder every day to buy into nationalism, patriotism and the rest of our control mechanisms; no, in the end as much as the military changed me it also opened my eyes to the bullshit spewed out of our history books about the glory of war.

There is nothing glamorous about killing people. There is nothing profound about reducing cities to rubble. Too much of our past has been erased forever by war; too many ancient ruins destroyed, too many cultures deleted from existence because some got power hungry and convinced the masses it would be a good idea to go slaughter each other.

I feel conflicted because on the one hand I would have died with my brothers in arms if needed, but find the whole exercise disturbing. I can look back now and see how we were fed war from the beginning. "Blood makes the grass grow drill sergeant, bright red blood." And I can see how so many of those now serving were swept up in the aftermath of 9/11. But I can also see how they and the terrorists they went off to fight were all led like sheep to the slaughter. How a few powerful people, using the right words, twisting the truth, turned people into blood thirsty savages, convincing folks on both sides to kill each other for some "glorious" cause like patriotism or religion.

And in the end I find myself defending my brothers and sisters in the military while decrying the horrors of war. I never liked the hero wannabe's when I was in. Even then they freaked me out with their talk of killing the enemy as if it was porn for their souls. I did what I had to, and got out. Looking back I see the ugly moments in myself, when violence seemed so sweet.

There are still a lot of folks there who joined like me. But there is also a lot who joined because they were rallied around the flag, told their freedom was at stake and that it was their patriotic duty to defend this country. What is sad about it is that it has all been for the few at the expense of the many. But then most wars are. And sometimes I think they are fools, but most of the time I just want them to come home safely, to stop participating in this dark stain on humanity that is war, and wake up and see they are being used.

And this goes for both sides. Whether its patriotism or fundamentalism, its still bullshit. We are all brothers and sisters on this planet, we are all alone in an infinite universe, and we are all in this together. Fighting for made up causes, killing each other so some can get richer, gain more power, is wasteful and foolish.

We act like spoiled children, claiming this land is mine, my god is better than yours. What good comes from all this in the end? Just another story in the history books, another tale of lives lost, dreams shattered, power and money transferred. And down the road it's all forgotten when the next war comes about, a new cause, a new day. Only each time the stakes grow, the weapons worse, the damage greater.

And as long as we are fed the glories of war, as long as the young keep being told by the old how necessary and honorable it is, we will continue to piss away our limited resources and our lives for fleeting victories. Because we never learn until it is too late.

So, yes I am conflicted. I have a flag outside and an Army sticker on my car. I also have a peace sign hanging from the rear view mirror and an aching in my heart. I guess I defend my brothers and sisters because I was there once, because I know how it feels to be a soldier. The best I can do for them and for humanity in general is keep trying to get people to see the errors of their ways, to understand that we allow ourselves to be pawns in a game that never ends in real victory but instead breeds more of the same.

Having Thought About It

Go read a history book. Soldiers are not heroes.

Is there really a difference between a terrorist and a soldier? Each accepts the weapon freely. Each kills for money, patriotism, faith, or some other ideal. The atrocious behavior they exhibit on the battlefield is no different. The names themselves are interchangeable depending on which side of the war you stand.

Wars are waged by the powerful at the expense of the masses. But it is the masses that agree to fight said wars for the powerful. I don't see Bush raising a finger in combat. Why should he feel bad for Cindy Sheehan or the others mothers who have lost sons in this war, or any war for that matter. In the minds of the powerful, we are all pawns on a chest board. And we put ourselves there. Why should the powerful feel bad for us when we voluntarily rush into battle for them? We don't have to fight. We don't have to do a goddamn thing. But because we have all bought into this man made system that is civilization, we join the military and go murder other members of the masses at the whim of the elite.

We put ourselves in the line of fire. Whether it's a bomb tied around the waste or an M-16, no one forced these things upon us. At some point each individual person made a series of decisions that led to them standing there with a weapon. And the real irony, at least for us in the West, is that we finance these ventures in population control with our tax dollars.

This war in Iraq is a perfect example. The elite wanted a war in Iraq, so they lied their collective asses off and got one rolling. The public, despite the tireless work of hundreds of thousands of people around the globe, never bothered to find out for themselves what the truth was. They just plugged in. Took it hook line and sinker. It's like those folks who watch wrestling. They know it's not real but they choose to overlook this fact. They get emotionally wrapped up in it. They scream and yell, supporting their favorite wrestler while booing the evil one. The general masses are no different. We get all worked up over shit like religion, nationalism, and wealth and who benefits in the end? Its like that wrestling match, we show up, pay money to get in, invest our emotions in the event, but leave with nothing real, nothing attained. Those running the show leave wealthier of course, and they move on to find the next group of suckers.

Is it because we are so bored that we buy into these scams in the first place? Are the masses just too sedated to accept responsibility for their own actions, thoughts and deeds? Why do we keep fighting their wars for them? What pity do we deserve for propping up the system that enables this to happen?

Iraq is no different than any other war. Someone somewhere with a lot of power (or some other made up statute used to subjugate humankind) decided they wanted something someone else had. This first person convinced a bunch of other people to go get it from the second person even if it meant the other people might die. Which they did, in large numbers. Then the first person got what the second person had. All of which was financed by the other people. The end.

I love it when people tell me that's just the way it is. What defeatism. Things are only this way because we make it so. We make ourselves miserable. We made up civilization, we made up religion, and we all buy into the idea of wealth regardless of how miserable it all makes us. The earth we live on is the Garden of Eden. It is a perfect paradise, and the only such place we know of. We have all we need, and yet all we do is fight over it. Age after age, one generation into the slaughter after the next we dance into wars fought for reasons soon forgotten by time. We rape the earth, poison our environment and claim to be enlightened beings, children of a divine being. What horseshit.

It all keeps building up. More people, faster consumption, bigger wars, all growing exponentially. At some point it tilts against us. But who cares, what's the point. War is good for business. And even if some people do care, fuck 'em. Just paint them as traitors and the masses will ignore them.

Apparently life is too easy on this rock we call home. We humans have too much time on our hands. We are so successful that a couple million of us get slaughtered in a war and we move right on to the next war without missing a step. More bodies on the pile with each passing battle, while the corporate fat cats smile. It's not their kids dying after all.

So we the masses march on into oblivion, fighting each other so a few can have more. Brilliant really, when you stop and think about it. The masses deserve no sympathy, and we get none. On to the next war!

And the soldiers, children of the masses, will continue to murder each other for their masters. Because that is what soldiers do. Heroes? I think not.

Life Part 1

I feel the need to write about a couple of events that have transpired in my life.

I served in the Army from 1993 to 1997 in field artillery. Luckily I never saw combat. But that didn't shield me from seeing people die. In May of 1995, while on training maneuvers in Fort Bliss, El Paso, a plane crashed right in front of me. Literally. Its been ten years since the incident.

We had just finished an ammo upload and were taking a break, waiting for our next fire mission. I was sitting next to my vehicle, reading a book and enjoying a smoke. The sun was shining brightly, the air was still and we only had a few days of the month long training exercise left.

It's like a dream now. I hear someone yell something and look up. To my amazement, I see an A-10 Warthog right in front of me. And when I say right in front, I mean I could read the painting on the bottom of the plane. Then it hit the ground not more than 100 yards away.

The aircraft had experienced a malfunction, and the pilot has trying to bring it down somewhere flat. That is my guess. All I know for sure is that it came screeching 20 feet over one of the artillery pieces and my vehicle. Then its tail dropped into a sand dune. The aircraft flipped, hit the ground and exploded.

I remember it so vividly. A fire ball shot into the air, and the engines could be seen spinning off into the desert. The medic was at our vehicle, and as soon as the plane hit, he grabbed his gear, threw me a fire extinguisher and ran toward the burning wreck.

I jumped up, still not believing what I had witnessed, and followed him. Several other soldiers were running toward the wreck. It was insane. The smoke was black and thick. It burned my lungs. Then I heard the shells from the A-10's massive gun start burning off. I dove to the ground, terrified of being ripped in half by one of the tank killer bullets. Some of the bombs the aircraft was carrying exploded. I got up and continued. The medic had fearlessly ran into the mess and had disappeared in the smoke. Voices could be heard, people trying to figure out if anyone from our unit was hurt. We searched for the pilot, and found his remains to the left of the wreck, crammed under a cactus.

I am haunted by that image to this day. His burned and mangled corpse wrapped in the cactus.

Eventually order was restored. We spread out and spent several hours trying to put out the fire. Helicopters from the base came racing to the site. My unit was eventually ordered to move several miles down the road. After we parked, a chaplain from the post came and spoke with us. Many soldiers were praying, some were crying. I sat on top of my vehicle and chain smoked a pack of cigs.

I have long wondered who that pilot was. Had he not pulled up when he did, my unit would have been whipped out. We were fully uploaded with ammo. He sacrificed himself for us. Well, thanks to the internet, I believe I have found him.

BATTLE CREEK ANGB, Michigan (Air Force News Service) -- A pilot assigned to this base was killed in the crash of an A-10 jet fighter in New Mexico, north of Fort Bliss, Texas, May 19, 1995.

The pilot, Major Clarence T. Marsh III, 41, of Park City, Utah, was an Air National Guard member of the 172nd Fighter Squadron, the base's flying unit.

Marsh, a 1977 graduate of the United States Air Force Academy, was a command pilot assigned as an assistant flight commander for the squadron. He was employed full-time by Delta Airlines.

He is survived by his wife and three children at home, and parents in Hampton, Virginia.

The accident is under investigation by a board of Air Force officers.

Major Marsh was buried with full military honors in Arlington National Cemetery on 25 May 1995 after having been provided with a waiver for such burial.

The waiver was supported and proposed by Rep. Randy Cunningham (R-Calif.) and Sens. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), John McCain (R-Ariz.), Dan Coats (R-Ind.) and Robert Bennett (R-Utah): Deceased was Clarence Marsh, active duty 1978-87, killed while training with Air National Guard. Major Clarence T. Marsh, U.S. Air National Guard, was flying as part of an Army exercise over White Sands Missile Range when his plane crashed. According to reports of the incident, he remained with the plane as it crashed to prevent it from crashing into the approximately 100 soldiers on the ground, thus saving their lives at the expense of his own.
NOTE: His father, Clarence T. Marsh, Jr., Colonel, United States Army, died in May 2001 and was also laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery.

My heart goes out to his family. He death saved my unit.

veterans day

happy veterans day to all of my veteran friends. this is the day to remember that we are the ones with the courage to fight for, and die for, our country. many of our brothers and sisters have given their lives while wearing the uniform. goddess bless them all. and to those of you out there who may have forgotten, remember that we are the ones that protect your asses.

Veterans Day Message from
The Honorable Anthony J. Principi
Secretary of Veterans Affairs
November 11, 2004

On this Veterans Day, we thank them all.

for more veterans day stuff, go here.

not cool at all part II

why is it important to know about these weapons? because they may one day be used against you when you legally try to protest your government. imagine standing there chanting "no more war" and suddenly your skin starts to burn, or you get dizzy and fall to the ground helpless. non lethal means it can get around treaties and existing laws.

our government isn't the only one pushing this. most of europe is on board too.

Non-Lethal Capabilities Facing Emerging Threats

Several countries are currently developing and implementing new non-lethal capabilities. They do so in the belief that this will enable many emerging and non-traditional threats (which may appear in low intensity, asymmetric conflicts and non-combatant operations) to be countered with a progressive response. Non-lethal weapons are of interest to the military and to law enforcement agencies as, in many cases, the character of the scenarios is similar. Non-lethal weapons can be seen as having dual-use application and they provide armed forces and law enforcement agencies with additional options to respond in a tailored and graduated manner.

but it is far bigger than just crowd control. here is a freaky navy power point presentation that sums up what they want from the weapons. go read for yourself what is being developed.

Department of Defense Non-Lethal Core Capabilities:

Barricade
Hostage
Domestic Violence
Potential Suicide
Fleeing Felon
Crowd Control

remember that originally our government said agent orange wouldn't harm our troops. lie. they have also said that depleted uranium wouldn't hurt anyone after its initial use either. lie. i do not trust them. god only knows what new evil they are preparing to share with the world.

after reading about how our government rationalized torture, i am fearful of how they will rationalize the use of their new box of toys on people who disagree with them. this is what our government does while we argue about abortions, gay rights and military records.

not cool at all

if ever any company was evil incarnate, Dyncorp (now owned by CSC) is that company. this jewel of the devil has brought humankind such wonderful gifts as agent orange and whatever the hell they are really killing the rainforests with. i had read about them a while back, but this news tidbit popped something in my head.

i have been wanting to post this for some time but have been missing one critical piece. but i found it! as mentioned in the last post, go read this. the point is that Dyncorp makes chemical weapons.

Still, who knows if Fort Worth is far enough? It has been in the past, for those seeking asylum from the military and paramilitary groups that have been fighting a civil war in Colombia for decades. But these new refugees cannot be so sure. After all, only a few minutes as the crow flies from Rondon's office, the name of one of their attackers is emblazoned high above a busy Fort Worth freeway -- DynCorp, the company whose planes have rained down poison on their animals and fields and homes. And DynCorp's partner and employer in such attacks is the same entity whom these refugees must now ask for asylum -- the United States government. More than that, Texas is home to many of those who have lobbied for these onslaughts, the companies that would like to develop the rich fields that lie below now-poisoned farms.

and that is not all. no, the company also protects people. and by protect i mean sell as sex slaves.

According to the Racketeer Influenced Corrupt Organization Act (RICO) lawsuit filed in Texas on behalf of the former DynCorp aircraft mechanic, "in the latter part of 1999 Johnston learned that employees and supervisors from DynCorp were engaging in perverse, illegal and inhumane behavior [and] were purchasing illegal weapons, women, forged passports and [participating in] other immoral acts. Johnston witnessed coworkers and supervisors literally buying and selling women for their own personal enjoyment, and employees would brag about the various ages and talents of the individual slaves they had purchased."

Rather than acknowledge and reward Johnston's effort to get this behavior stopped, DynCorp fired him, forcing him into protective custody by the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Division (CID) until the investigators could get him safely out of Kosovo and returned to the United States. That departure from the war-torn country was a far cry from what Johnston imagined a year earlier when he arrived in Bosnia to begin a three-year U.S. Air Force contract with DynCorp as an aircraft-maintenance technician for Apache and Blackhawk helicopters.

but they are just one of countless companies involved deeply with our government.

THE use of military contractors raises other troubling questions as well. In peace, they can act as a secret army outside of public view. In war, while providing functions crucial to the combat effort, they are not soldiers. Private contractors are not obligated to take orders or to follow military codes of conduct. Their legal obligation is solely to an employment contract, not to their country.

its all just scandalous. on a lighter note, our government has been working on an even more wonderful surprise for, well, everyone. named the Joint Non-Lethal Weapons Program, this exercise in population control is an attempt to make weapons that are "a little less deadly." you know, so we can us them and still feel good inside.

first, i found was this paper from R. STEELE General, U.S. Marine Corps. basically a here is what we want kinda thing.

then, there are the brainy guys who get together and make it happen.

FENTON IS TALKING ABOUT �ACTIVE DENIAL TECHNOLOGY�, WHICH INVOLVES TRANSMITTING MICROWAVE ENERGY TO RAPIDLY HEAT WATER MOLECULES ON THE SURFACE OF HUMAN SKIN. IT CREATES A BURNING SENSATION SIMILAR TO THAT CAUSED BY TOUCHING A HOT LIGHT BULB. HOWEVER, THE SKIN IS NOT BURNED, AND THE SENSATION ENDS AS SOON AS THE TRANSMITTER IS TURNED OFF� OR THE RECIPIENT MOVES AWAY FROM THE BEAM. THE MILITARY HAS TESTED THE SYSTEM ON PEOPLE, BUT IT IS YET TO BE DEPLOYED.
THE TECHNOLOGY BEING DEVELOPED AT U-N-H IS MORE STRAIGHTFORWARD AND LESS EXCITING.
U-N-H�S �NON-LETHAL TECHNOLOGY INNOVATION CENTER� WAS FOUNDED LAST YEAR WITH A DEFENSE DEPARTMENT GRANT SECURED BY U-S SENATOR BOB SMITH. GLENN SHWAERY DIRECTS THE CENTER, BETTER KNOWN AS IN-TECH.

and there are other surprises in store. how about sorta deadly chemical weapons? they are being considered too, if not being made and deployed right now. the arguement against them (as if one is needed).

Arguing that technological advances have outpaced treaties, some analysts believe that the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) should reverse tack and be amended to allow the use of riot control agents (RCAs) in a theater of war. With some caveats, like banning the use of RCAs in a warlike manner, registering them by state parties, and using them domestically, adherents to this school of thought feel that RCAs could bring a lot to ensuring civil order in a dicey war situation. They also think that this amendment would not irrevocably harm the CWC. They are wrong.

..................................................................................................

More recently, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld called the CWC a �straitjacket� while explaining to the House Armed Services Committee on Feb. 5, 2003, that he and Joint Chief of Staff Chairman Richard Myers were attempting to write rules of engagement which would allow U.S. troops to use non-lethal tear gas as RCAs. He gave two examples of circumstances which may force American soldiers to use RCAs in Iraq: if human shields were used by Iraqi troops or if women and children were trapped in caves with Iraqi soldiers. By the beginning of March 2003, the U.S. Marine Corps had admitted that pepper spray and tear gas had been shipped to troops in the Iraqi theater and that combat field commanders would be allowed to decide whether or not to use them. This put coalition partner United Kingdom in an awkward position as its policy was that its troops could not be involved in operations where RCAs were used.

you know, the same fucker who was shaking Saddam's hand while chemical weapons were being used against the iranians.

Five years before Saddam Hussein�s now infamous 1988 gassing of the Kurds, a key meeting took place in Baghdad that would play a significant role in forging close ties between Saddam Hussein and Washington. It happened at a time when Saddam was first alleged to have used chemical weapons. The meeting in late December 1983 paved the way for an official restoration of relations between Iraq and the US, which had been severed since the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.

That envoy was Donald Rumsfeld.

too much to think about. more later.

In memory of Walter Erik Volkenannt

I just learned today that a friend of mine, Walter Erik Volkenannt, died a couple of years ago of a heroin overdose. We were in basic training together. His parents have since set up an addiction recovery center in his memory. I really don't feel like typing right now, so I am just going to reproduce the post I left on his memorial page sign in book.

My heart goes out to Walter Erik's family. I was in basic training with him. I recently found our basic traing year book and was reading things people had written in it when I came across a message he had left with his home address and number. I googled his name just to see if anything came up. We became friends after having ammo dump guard duty together. We used to sit around and tell wild stories about our lives before the military. Neither of us was very happy to be there. But we got through, and moved on. I hadn't thought about him or basic training in years. Today is the 4th of July, and I just wanted to remember my buddies from the military. I used to have a picture he drew me. I wish I still had it. He helped me make it through basic training. He was funny, a little reckless, and a good friend. It tears my heart out to read about what path his life took after basic training. I have been reading lists of soldiers killed in Iraq for months, looking for friends names. He wrote that I should look him up some day. I never dreamed I'd find this instead.
We were so young and crazy in those days. I went into the Army to escape the drugs and violence back home. He was the only person I could talk to about my past. We joked about the things we had done and told over exagerrated stories of our explotes. But mostly we just talked. I remember how we smuggled a Heavy Metal Magazine from the PX once and it was a treasure to have in basic. I still have it.
I wish I had found that yearbook years ago. I wish I had had the chance to tell him thank you for being my friend.

Drug Buddy #1,

Legalize Mother Nature! (pot leaf drawing)
Dude it's been cool chillin' with you in Basic. (all o's with peace signs in them)
Keep in touch.
Maybe someday we can trip together.
PEACE
Volkenannt
Drug Buddy

the irr, or "that was in my contract?"

so i've been reading some newsites and blogs talking about the individual ready reserve. for those of you that don't know how this works i am going to share a story with you.

i joined the army in the early spring of 1993. like most young folks i knew then, i needed college money in a bad way. so i joined for four years. when i got to my unit i learned something that really pissed me off. you actually are obligated to 8 years of service even if you only sign up for two years, which is the minimum enlistment. i learned this while talking to a friend one day. he had joined up in the 80's, served his time, and was out when desert storm started. he got called back. back from his life, his wife, everything.
you see, they kinda gloss over that when you sign up. i have dug through my records and cannot find anything that stated this when i signed up. i am sure it was part of the endless paperwork i signed those first few days, but i guess it is lost to time. not that they gave me time to read anything. it was an assembly line: sign here and here, don't take time to read it, just keep signing. regardless, i was pissed to learn this after the fact. i am serious. no one ever told me or any of my friends that we were obligated to the military for eight years. we had to find out from others in our units. you would think this would be important enough to mention at the beginning. but they just want you in, cause then they have you, and well then, what the fuck can you do.
thank the goddess my eight years ended in 2001. i got my dd214 and now they can go fuck themselves.
but it still disturbs me that this happens. i would bet money that the same thing happened to those folks that are being called back. when you are on irr status, you are supposed to keep in shape and keep some uniforms at the ready. yeah right. most people i know got out, sold all their military shit to the surplus story and got fat. we served our time. i think this is bullshit.
i feel for my brothers and sisters who are being called back. i could not leave my wife and the life we have built to go fight for oil profits. some folks got out and joined the reserves. fine, they commited themselves. the rest are just getting fucked. and since now that enlistment is down, more will get fucked by this.

flashback

i took a week off from the news last week and spent some time digging through old journals. over the next couple of days i will post some old but hopefully still relevent entries i found. for today i want to share with you a song i wrote at the the beginning of the first gulf war. i was 16. its to the tune of Fish Cheer / I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixing-To-Die-Rag by Country Joe McDonald.

well, come on all you big strong men
uncle sam needs your help again
got himself in a terrible jam
now he wants you to go kill sadam
so put down your books
and pick up a gun
cause we're gonna have a whole lot of fun

chorus:
and its 1 2 3 what are we fighting for?
don't ask me i don't give a damn
i going off to fight sadam
and its 5 6 7 open up them pearly gates
well there ain't no time to wonder why
whoopie we're all gonna die

Come on generals better move fast
your big chance is here at last
lets go shoot him in the head
cause the only good iraqi is one thats dead
and you know that peace
can only be won
when we blow 'em all to kingdom come

chorus

well i'm going off to fight in a desert land
i'm going to go kill a crazy man
i'm going to die for black gold
man this shit is really old
i think bush is a fucking quack
cause now my ass is sweating in iraq

chorus

got on the plane and it started to fly
all i could think of was you
and it made me cry
when we got there i lit up a joint
and got high
please god don't let me die!

chorus

seemed relevent.