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Collateral Damage: Hey, This Means YOU
Collateral Damage means "unintended damage." As in: "We were bombing an ammo dump, and one bomb went astray and hit a hospital. A hundred people died--collateral damage."
It occurs to me that, from our government's point of view, we are all collateral damage. The War of Terror is the main event, and everything must be sacrificed to it--starting with our nation's prosperity, moving on to issues of 'truth' and 'freedom' and 'constitutional rights,' and ending up in a horrific botch.
The number of people who remember voting for George Bush keeps on shrinking. Soon it will be down to the 25% of true believers who can be counted on to swallow anything a strong-jawed elected official tells them. They fall into two camps: the poorly educated and the tax exempt.
These people actually believe that Bush got a bump for the pre-holiday speeches in which he admitted to strategies that were less than perfect. People go for that human touch. Always have, always will. It helps them forget they are no more valuable to this government than the lives of Iraqi civilians.
Speaking of which: Collateral damage in Iraq, as reported by
The Washington Post:
Well, okay, they died because "the insurgents" don't like the results of the "democratic" election and so we had to bomb them. Ooops. The election, though seriously flawed, elected a government dominated by Shi'ites. For those who had too much eggnog to recall the politics of the players, these Shi'ites are theocrats, close to Iran, totally unsympathetic to the rights of women--from the American viewpoint, the election could not have produced a worse result.
Naturally, the government mentions none of this. In our bread-and-circuses culture, it gives American citizens what they want--troop reductions. This, too, is wrong-headed. One of the reasons almost 2,200 soldiers are dead is because there are not enough of them to preserve civic order. Now, to appease a public that's sick of this mismanaged war, the White House has callously decided to pull some troops out, leaving behind a reduced force that is almost certain to sustain a higher percentage of casualties than our current deployment. Know any soldiers likely to be in Iraq after, say, April? Better get down on your knees and pray.
Perfectly timed to get lost in the Christmas bustle was the news that the government has been illegally tapping our phones. Why illegal? Because, under existing law, the government could tap a phone and then apply for a warrant. That was inconvenient. And this government's record with warrants is not stellar. So the White House just pretended this was within the Executive's rights--notice how they seem to be limitless--and plunged ahead.
The conservative blogger at Beliefnet no doubt sees nothing wrong with phones being tapped, but at The Washington Times--the Moonie-owned paper that she once wrote for--Bruce Fein weighs in on this domestic spying:
Here, I gather, is a true conservative--someone who, like a true liberal, remembers that the President's oath is not to protect the country but to protect the Constitution. There's a big difference. A thief and a liar may do all manner of things in a misguided effort to protect the country. But only a patriot cares about the Constitution.
Slowly, slowly, Americans are noticing that not all fascists wear high leather boots. Some wear expensive suits and have impressive credentials. Some wear the collars of the holy. And some are typists, who faithfully share the gospel of self-help for the poor and welfare for the rich. What they have in common is an intolerance for diversity and freedom and all the other values that turn you--indeed, everyone not in their coven--into collateral damage.
It occurs to me that, from our government's point of view, we are all collateral damage. The War of Terror is the main event, and everything must be sacrificed to it--starting with our nation's prosperity, moving on to issues of 'truth' and 'freedom' and 'constitutional rights,' and ending up in a horrific botch.
The number of people who remember voting for George Bush keeps on shrinking. Soon it will be down to the 25% of true believers who can be counted on to swallow anything a strong-jawed elected official tells them. They fall into two camps: the poorly educated and the tax exempt.
These people actually believe that Bush got a bump for the pre-holiday speeches in which he admitted to strategies that were less than perfect. People go for that human touch. Always have, always will. It helps them forget they are no more valuable to this government than the lives of Iraqi civilians.
Speaking of which: Collateral damage in Iraq, as reported by
The Washington Post:
RAMADI, Iraq -- U.S. Marine airstrikes targeting insurgents sheltering in Iraqi residential neighborhoods are killing civilians as well as guerrillas along the Euphrates River in far western Iraq, according to Iraqi townspeople and officials and the U.S. military.
Just how many civilians have been killed is strongly disputed by the Marines and, some critics say, too little investigated. But townspeople, tribal leaders, medical workers and accounts from witnesses at the sites of clashes, at hospitals and at graveyards indicated that scores of noncombatants were killed last month in fighting, including airstrikes, in the opening stages of a 17-day U.S.-Iraqi offensive in Anbar province.
The number of airstrikes carried out each month by U.S. aircraft rose almost fivefold this year, from roughly 25 in January to 120 in November, according to a tally provided by the military. Accounts by residents, officials and witnesses in Anbar and the Marines themselves make clear that Iraqi civilians are frequently caught in the attacks.
"These people died silently, complaining to God of a guilt they did not commit," Zahid Mohammed Rawi, a physician, said in the town of Husaybah. Rawi said that roughly one week into Operation Steel Curtain, which began on Nov. 5, medical workers had recorded 97 civilians killed. At least 38 insurgents were also killed in the offensive's early days, Rawi said.
Well, okay, they died because "the insurgents" don't like the results of the "democratic" election and so we had to bomb them. Ooops. The election, though seriously flawed, elected a government dominated by Shi'ites. For those who had too much eggnog to recall the politics of the players, these Shi'ites are theocrats, close to Iran, totally unsympathetic to the rights of women--from the American viewpoint, the election could not have produced a worse result.
Naturally, the government mentions none of this. In our bread-and-circuses culture, it gives American citizens what they want--troop reductions. This, too, is wrong-headed. One of the reasons almost 2,200 soldiers are dead is because there are not enough of them to preserve civic order. Now, to appease a public that's sick of this mismanaged war, the White House has callously decided to pull some troops out, leaving behind a reduced force that is almost certain to sustain a higher percentage of casualties than our current deployment. Know any soldiers likely to be in Iraq after, say, April? Better get down on your knees and pray.
Perfectly timed to get lost in the Christmas bustle was the news that the government has been illegally tapping our phones. Why illegal? Because, under existing law, the government could tap a phone and then apply for a warrant. That was inconvenient. And this government's record with warrants is not stellar. So the White House just pretended this was within the Executive's rights--notice how they seem to be limitless--and plunged ahead.
The conservative blogger at Beliefnet no doubt sees nothing wrong with phones being tapped, but at The Washington Times--the Moonie-owned paper that she once wrote for--Bruce Fein weighs in on this domestic spying:
President Bush presents a clear and present danger to the rule of law. He cannot be trusted to conduct the war against global terrorism with a decent respect for civil liberties and checks against executive abuses. Congress should swiftly enact a code that would require Mr. Bush to obtain legislative consent for every counterterrorism measure that would materially impair individual freedoms.
Here, I gather, is a true conservative--someone who, like a true liberal, remembers that the President's oath is not to protect the country but to protect the Constitution. There's a big difference. A thief and a liar may do all manner of things in a misguided effort to protect the country. But only a patriot cares about the Constitution.
Slowly, slowly, Americans are noticing that not all fascists wear high leather boots. Some wear expensive suits and have impressive credentials. Some wear the collars of the holy. And some are typists, who faithfully share the gospel of self-help for the poor and welfare for the rich. What they have in common is an intolerance for diversity and freedom and all the other values that turn you--indeed, everyone not in their coven--into collateral damage.
