Winning the hearts and minds: Afghanistan, vol. XII

Ned's friends will no doubt be aware of the US mercenaries' latest attempt at 'winning the hearts and minds' of those yokels in Afghanistan: a sergeant, 'acting alone,'apparently murdered at least 16 Afghans, most of them children, in a rampage one of their generals called, characteristically, "an isolated event." Except, as Ned's friends know, it was anything but isolated, as it follows on the heels of atrocity after atrocity, with women and children murdered, in Pakistan and Afghanistan. And we can't blame this one on that war criminal George Bush, can we?
'The fault, Horatio, lies not in our stars, but in ourselves,' in that we as a nation are so soul-less that we would permit such outrages without the faintest whimper of complaint.

Winning the Hearts and Minds: Afghanistan

In the latest attempt on the part of "NATO" to win the hearts and minds of the Afghan peasantry, "NATO" (read: American) mercenaries "mistakenly" murdered at least 8, and probably more, Afghan children in an incident this week. This is of course only the latest in a seemingly unending series of such brutal murders, oops, "accidents", and will no doubt not be the last.
In a completely unrelated incident, an enraged Afghan shot dead 4 French soldiers and an American.
The mercenary high command says it is "investigating" the first incident, and, if it turns out to be true, is sorry.
How's that hearts and minds campaign coming along so far?

UPDATE: Wednesday "NATO" (read, the US military) announced that, yes, they were responsible for the deaths of these kids, it was an accident, they are sorry, here's ten bucks each, and can we please now get back to the "war on terror?"

UPDATE 2: On the 22nd we learned that American mercenaries had burned copies of the Koran in Afghanistan, precipitating the obligatory riots and leading eventually to the murder of two mercenaries by an unnamed Afghani. All in the name of 'winning the hearts and minds' so we can 'win the war on terror.'

The Hubris of Power

Ned has been musing of late on what it is that endows American presidents with the certainty that they alone are competent to address all the conflicts between citizens of any particular country in the world outside of Europe, Oceania, China and India. First we have that Village Idiot George Bush sending the country to war in Iraq, spending a trillion dollars and killing hundreds of thousands, because 'Saddam tried to kill my dad.' Then he sent mercenaries and 'volunteers' into Afghanistan, that graveyard of empires for more than two thousand years, to address tribal squabbles that have been festering since Alexander the Great's time. Now, Barack Obama has gone the Village Idiot one better. He has refused to commit to removing American occupying forces from Iraq, while increasing troop presence in Afghanistan, all using money borrowed from the Chinese. Further illustrating this monumental and infuriating hubris is Obama's reliance on 'Predator drones' to kill anyone he likes, anyone who is 'suspected' of being a 'terrorist' or just anyone who happens to be at the wrong place at the wrong time, including scores of children. At the same time, he prattles on about 'bullying in American schools' a concern that should sicken any sensitive person while he is raining death on anyone he chooses around the world.
And now, we have the spectacle of this country's involvement in yet another tribal dispute--this time in Libya, starring that former bosom buddy of John McCain, Muammar Qaddafi. You just can't make this stuff up.
Finally, comes word in today's NYT that this same Obama is considering 'sanctions' on the regime in Syria, which is trying to squelch a revolt from another tribe to its grip on power.
And so it goes. Dropping bombs on civilians in Japan (atomic, killing hundreds of thousands), Vietnam, Central America and God-knows-where. Killing members of wedding parties using the method of craven cowards in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq and God-knows-where.
And the greatest champions of this brutality are obese, uneducated morons, sitting on their couches safely at home, many of them on 'disability' and railing about 'welfare cheats.' Or better yet, on their way to or from their latest church (read, cult) attendance, where they pray to Jesus and say the Lord's Prayer.
Ned fears that when one constantly sows the wind, one will inevitably reap the whirlwind.
And all this is done in our name.

The Fight For Freedom Continues!

Ned can report that the proud fight for freedom for the Afghan people continued overnight when "NATO" (read, American mercenary) warplanes murdered seven civilians including at least two children in what some socialist commie America-haters might call a cowardly air strike on a "suspected" Taliban "militant." At this rate, the Fight For Freedom could be frustrated as there may be few Afghans left to free.

Obama Crisis du Jour: Bullying

While the president fiddles with a "crisis" of bullying in our schools and over the internets, people are dying, fighting for freedom in Libya with little or no aid from America, the EU, or NATO. However, during the past few days in Afghanistan, nine children were murdered by "NATO" troops in Afghanistan, for which the American Command issued an "apology." The latest outrage has been the murder of a cousin of Hamid Karzai, the American-installed "leader" of that country, during a night raid by "NATO" troops, although in truth Karzai is little more than the Mayor of Kabul. [Ned apologizes for the complexity of the last sentence.] The Americans issued an apology for that, too.
Ned's point is this: he is rapidly losing faith in, and becoming enraged at, the Obama administration. We are spending $800 billion a year on war and death, while the Speaker of the House, Halfbright Fellow Boehner, insults our intelligence by claiming we are "broke." Our infrastructure is decaying with the odd gas pipeline exploding from time to time to break the monotony of a day without football.
Ned is taking the opportunity to announce that he is keeping his options open for 2012, and expresses again his disappointment with, and chagrin at, the behavior of the Obama crowd. He expects nothing from the knuckledragging Republicans, but hopes someone will come out of hiding to either slap some sense into Obama, or challenge him in 2012.

Another NATO apology

According to today's NYT, an elderly cousin of American Stooge Afghan "President" Hamid Karzai was shot in the head and killed in a night raid by "NATO" [read American] forces. Here's a tidbit from the article, “The prime target was not actually him,” [a spokesman] said, “It was somebody else. But mistakenly he was killed, and ISAF apologized for that.”
Ned was going to make a comment but feels anything he could say would be simply anticlimactic.
Ned's friends may be surprised to learn that so far Karzai has refused to accept the "apology".

Another victory for freedom!

From today's NYT: "Nine young boys collecting firewood to heat their homes in the mountains of eastern Afghanistan were killed by gunners in NATO helicopters who mistook them for insurgents, according to a statement issued Wednesday by NATO, which apologized for the mistake."

First, Ned appreciates the nicety of the apology. He is sure the parents and relatives will be sufficiently solaced, but has heard that "NATO" which is a code for US troops, will offer them a few packets of cigarettes and chocolate bars if the apology doesn't suffice.

Second, he understands that when we are fighting for freedom, a lot of children will have to die, and, being a right-thinking American, he figures that as long as it's somebody else's children, we can be courageous enough to bear it.

The worst thing is that the article kept referring to "NATO" troops when as far as Ned could determine the troops were all Americans. Is it a way to avoid responsibility, and is the NYT complicit in this? Stay tuned.