15.5.07
Falwell dead
False TV evangelist Jerry Falwell has died at the age of 73.
Normally, I try not to rejoice when people - even evil ones like Falwell - die. But in Falwell's case, I'll say this: good riddance.
Falwell was a liar, deceiver, and human scum, a condition seen most clearly when he blamed "pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People For the American Way - all of them who have tried to secularize America" in part for 9/11.
Falwell didn't give a shit about Jesus or his message. His main motivation in life was to force or dupe others to adhere to his antediluvian ideology of control and persecution, targeting everyone who did not share his views. Indeed, anyone who actually tried to live the ideals of Jesus, as presented in the Bible, would have been a prime target for Falwell and his cohort of true-believing allies and minions.
So, so long, Falwell. It's a new dawn in America.
False TV evangelist Jerry Falwell has died at the age of 73.
Normally, I try not to rejoice when people - even evil ones like Falwell - die. But in Falwell's case, I'll say this: good riddance.
Falwell was a liar, deceiver, and human scum, a condition seen most clearly when he blamed "pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People For the American Way - all of them who have tried to secularize America" in part for 9/11.
Falwell didn't give a shit about Jesus or his message. His main motivation in life was to force or dupe others to adhere to his antediluvian ideology of control and persecution, targeting everyone who did not share his views. Indeed, anyone who actually tried to live the ideals of Jesus, as presented in the Bible, would have been a prime target for Falwell and his cohort of true-believing allies and minions.
So, so long, Falwell. It's a new dawn in America.
14.5.07
Marine officers: No need to investigate civilian deaths
Several Marines on trial for the killings of two dozen Iraqi civilians in Haditha in 2005 have claimed that there is no need to investigate civilian deaths in combat situations:
Civilian deaths that occur during combat do not need to be investigated, a Marine lawyer testified Saturday at a hearing for an officer charged in the killings of 24 Iraqis in the town of Haditha.
"There isn't an automatic law-of-war violation if you have collateral damage," said Lt. Col. Kent Keith, a judge advocate for the 2nd Marine Division.
...
Over the past four days, Marines have testified in court that they saw no need to investigate the killings.
One more step towards the "kill-'em-all," no-one-is-innocent, "collateral damage" mentality among the soldiers on the ground, a mentality which already surfaces from time to time among various American leaders.
Of course, the only way to determine whether soldiers have broken any laws of war is to... conduct an investigation. So what these defendants are arguing is that their word is simply enough. We say we didn't act illegally or immorally - therefore, we didn't.
And if other people - for example, the victims' families - say otherwise, it's all lies:
Capt. Jeffrey Dinsmore testified Friday that the Haditha town council had circulated a flier demanding an investigation into the deaths and outlining allegations that Marines deliberately targeted civilians, but he dismissed the flier as propaganda.
Remember: when victims try to get their side of the story heard, it's just "propaganda."
Several Marines on trial for the killings of two dozen Iraqi civilians in Haditha in 2005 have claimed that there is no need to investigate civilian deaths in combat situations:
Civilian deaths that occur during combat do not need to be investigated, a Marine lawyer testified Saturday at a hearing for an officer charged in the killings of 24 Iraqis in the town of Haditha.
"There isn't an automatic law-of-war violation if you have collateral damage," said Lt. Col. Kent Keith, a judge advocate for the 2nd Marine Division.
...
Over the past four days, Marines have testified in court that they saw no need to investigate the killings.
One more step towards the "kill-'em-all," no-one-is-innocent, "collateral damage" mentality among the soldiers on the ground, a mentality which already surfaces from time to time among various American leaders.
Of course, the only way to determine whether soldiers have broken any laws of war is to... conduct an investigation. So what these defendants are arguing is that their word is simply enough. We say we didn't act illegally or immorally - therefore, we didn't.
And if other people - for example, the victims' families - say otherwise, it's all lies:
Capt. Jeffrey Dinsmore testified Friday that the Haditha town council had circulated a flier demanding an investigation into the deaths and outlining allegations that Marines deliberately targeted civilians, but he dismissed the flier as propaganda.
Remember: when victims try to get their side of the story heard, it's just "propaganda."
