Screw
Iraq, Afghanistan & Gaza: Let's invade Detroit!
05 July 2010By Jane Stillwater
Returning from the 2010 Social Forum in Detroit, I saw
several soldiers at the DTW airport, waiting for their
flights. And once again I was struck by the thought
that every American soldier seems to be a whole
autonomous unit unto himself or herself. Every
American soldier truly IS an "Army of One". Highly
trained, efficient, skilled, confident and respectful
-- these men and women in uniform are just the kind of
people that Detroit really needs to get itself out of
its slump. And every other city in America needs this
caliber of person too.
So please tell me why, exactly, are these walking
human resources being wasted way over on the other
side of the world when their dedication and skill sets
and -- let's face it -- salaries and healthcare
benefits are so desperately needed here at home?
No, we don't need our soldiers' weapons skills in
places like the Gulf Coast states or the Rust Belt.
But we do need their dedication and heart.
We need the Marine Corps' skill sets. "The few, the
proud." We really do. And we need that kind of bravery
and willingness to get the job done here rather than
there.
Second Marine Regiment in Al Anbar. Tarawa. "Keep
Moving." I was there. I saw for myself what our
Marines can do to help re-build a country.
We need our soldiers' ingenuity, dignity and courage
here at home, helping to put America back on track --
not over in Afghanistan, not over in Iraq and not even
over in Gaza -- where the corporatists who run America
pay the cream of Israeli youth to do their dirty work
for them, wasting their young lives being thugs to the
brutal Occupation instead of being honorable men who
refuse to shoot babies at point-blank range.
When I see a soldier at an airport, I just want to go
up and hug him. Or her. You think that our boys aren't
doing a good job? Then go see Sebastian Junger's new
documentary movie "Restrepo" (http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/independent/restrepo/)
That's the kind of ability and dedication I saw
demonstrated again and again and again when I was in
Iraq.
These guys are good.
But we need these men and women's dedication and
skills here at home, not over on the other side of the
world.
And we need to be paying these men and women to be
using their skill sets here, in America, in civilian
life -- in a job corps as well as a Marine Corps.
Screw bailouts for bankers, oil executives, Wall
Street schemers and global corporations with no ties
or loyalties to our country. They have done nothing
with the money that Reagan, Bush, Clinton and Obama
gave them except to use it to rip us off even more.
Let's take back all that money -- and give it to our
returning soldiers instead. Let's fill up ALL of our
airports with returning soldiers. We truly need this
lost generation's abilities here at home. Now.
PS: While I was at the Social Forum representing the
Free Palestine Movement, my booth was next to a booth
manned by Peggy Logue and her husband. Logue is
another dedicated Marine Mom. And she was selling her
new book, "Skin in the Game," all about her Marine
son's experiences in Haditha and her conflict between
wanting to support her son's efforts and her moral
obligation to try to stop the needless bloodshed
caused by global corporate wars. "Intense, raw, and
profoundly honest, 'Skin in the Game' illustrates the
human side of war and the daily struggle for peace."
http://www.amazon.com/Skin-Game-Journey-Mother-Marine/dp/142692433X
At the Social Forum, I also talked with Kyle Kajihiro,
a representative of the American Friends Service
Committee (http://afschawaii.org) in Hawaii, and he
told me how the entire Pacific Rim area has become
just another highly-militarized "American Lake" -- to
the benefit of global corporatists, not us.
Screw that.
We need skilled men and women here at home, not
hunkering off somewhere in faraway places like Guam or
Okinawa, defending rich people's interests -- not ours
-- because that's the only job that our young men and
women can get.
PPS: The Detroit airport is the only airport I have
ever seen besides, of course, the Norita airport near
Tokyo, where all signs are printed in both English and
Japanese.
****
RESTREPO is a feature-length documentary that
chronicles the deployment of a platoon of U.S.
soldiers in Afghanistan's Korengal Valley. The movie
focuses on a remote 15-man outpost, “Restrepo,” named
after a platoon medic who was killed in action. It was
considered one of the most dangerous postings in the
U.S. military.
This is an entirely experiential film: the cameras
never leave the valley; there are no interviews with
generals or diplomats. The only goal is to make
viewers feel as if they have just been through a
90-minute deployment. This is war, full stop. The
conclusions are up to you.
http://www.sebastianjunger.com/page/restrepo-1
Here's the trailer: http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/independent/restrepo/
****
Skin in the Game, by Peggy Logue: It's an age-old
axiom: if you don't support the war, you don't support
the troops. And Peggy Logue couldn't disagree more.
When Peggy's nineteen-year-old son, U.S. Marine
Michael Logue, is deployed to a volatile area of Iraq,
Peggy suddenly faces an alarming challenge to her
anti-war sensibilities. Should she remain silent or
give voice to her feelings? Despite being called a
"coward" by other members of the Marine Family
Residence group, Peggy takes to the streets for her
anti-war protests in a determined attempt to
understand the reasons for her son's duty to his
country and the politics of war.
Peggy's protests, her stress over Mike's deployment,
and her fierce pride in her son hurtle her along an
emotional roller coaster for the entire year of Mike's
tour. Yet not once does she compromise her beliefs,
but instead asks the tough questions and demands
answers. What she discovers, however, is human
nature's predilection for violence. Only by becoming
warriors for peace will war cease to exist.
http://www.amazon.com/Skin-Game-Journey-Mother-Marine/dp/142692433X
****
Want something good to read? Buy my book! "Bring Your
Own Flak Jacket: Helpful Tips for Touring Today's
Middle East," available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
http://www.amazon.com/Bring-Your-Own-Flak-Jacket/dp/0978615719/ref=cm_pdp_rev_itm_title_1
****
Please sign my petition to create a Constitutional
amendment to stop lobbyists from buying our country:
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/2/constitutional-amendment-to-stop-lobbyists
****
"Imagine a world where EVERY child is wanted,
nurtured, protected and loved: World peace in one
generation!"
****
Life is a competition. The winners are the ones who do
the most good deeds.
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