The Costs of War, the Price of Peace

Bowe Bergdahl is not a member in good standing of the Ruling Class.
If his name were George Bush, either one, he would not be charged with
any crime at all. He would be off at some gathering of admirers,
smiling his big smile and feeling free and contented. It is important
that we understand the two Americas. There is the America most of us
live in, the one that consists of multiple strange laws and rules
governing our lives. Then there is the America, the Free America,
that is the Land of the Ruling Class. There, in that America, laws do
not apply, so long as you are carrying out the will of the Empire.
Bowe Bergdahl did the unforgivable, he failed to defend the interests
of the Empire. But even then, had he been a member in good standing,
his actions would have been overlooked. Sure, he might have been
chewed out behind closed doors, although I can't imagine George I
reading the riot act to George II. I mean, it is difficult for a big
pot to call a big kettle black. Their combined war crimes, the ones
that cost so many lives, go unnoticed while Bowe Bergdahl will pay the
price. All because he is not one of the Ruling Class, the Real
Americans.

Carl Jarvis

On 3/26/15, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@optonline.net> wrote:
> The Costs of War, the Price of Peace
> Published on
> Thursday, March 26, 2015
> by
> TruthDig
> The Costs of War, the Price of Peace
> by
> Amy Goodman
>
> What price would you pay not to kill another human being? (Photo: The
> National Guard/flickr/cc)
> What price would you pay not to kill another human being? At what point
> would you commit the offenses allegedly perpetrated by Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl,
> who was charged Wednesday with desertion and "misbehavior before an enemy?"
> Bowe Bergdahl was a private when he left his post in Afghanistan, under
> circumstances that are still unknown to the public, and was captured by the
> Taliban. They imprisoned him for five years, until he was released in a
> controversial prisoner swap negotiated by the Obama administration. Five
> Taliban members who were held for years at Guantanamo Bay were released to
> house arrest in Qatar in exchange for Bergdahl. He now faces a
> court-martial
> and potentially life in prison. Meanwhile, the architects of the disastrous
> wars in Iraq and Afghanistan remain untried, while a new report asserts
> that
> up to 1.3 million people have been killed in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan
> in the first 10 years of the so-called war on terror.
> The report is called "Body Count" and is published in the U.S. by
> Physicians
> for Social Responsibility. "It has been politically important to downplay
> Allied forces' responsibility for the massive carnage and destruction in
> the
> region," writes San Francisco doctor Robert M. Gould in the report's
> foreword. He told me: "We need to take full responsibility for the true
> cost
> of war as we are preparing to continue our involvement in Afghanistan and
> deepen our involvement in Syria and Iraq. There's great anger throughout
> the
> region about our involvement and the underplaying here of what the true
> costs are in terms of death and destruction."
> This report was released just as Afghanistan's new president, Ashraf Ghani,
> was welcomed at the White House by President Barack Obama. Obama announced
> that he is slowing the planned departure of U.S. troops from Afghanistan,
> leaving 9,800 soldiers at least through the end of 2015. "It is my
> judgment,
> it's the judgment of General [John] Campbell and others who are on the
> ground, that providing this additional time frame during this fighting
> season for us to be able to help the Afghan security forces succeed is well
> worth it," Obama said. America's longest war continues, with no end in
> sight. Ghani visited the Pentagon during his time in Washington, as well as
> Arlington National Cemetery, where he laid a wreath of flowers to honor the
> fallen U.S. soldiers.
> "Body Count" provides a startling update to the previously widely accepted
> estimate of casualties from the war on terror in Iraq, Afghanistan and
> Pakistan. "The figure is approximately 10 times greater than that which the
> public, experts and decision makers are aware. ... And this is only a
> conservative estimate," the report stated. "The total number of deaths in
> the three countries ... could also be in excess of two million, whereas a
> figure below one million is extremely unlikely." The report, writes former
> U.N. Deputy Secretary-General Hans von Sponeck in its introduction, "must
> be
> seen as a significant contribution to narrowing the gap between reliable
> estimates of victims of war, especially civilians in Iraq, Afghanistan and
> Pakistan and tendentious, manipulated or even fraudulent accounts. These
> have in the past blurred the picture of the magnitude of death and
> destitution in these three countries." Von Sponeck-who, in 1957, was one of
> West Germany's first conscientious objectors-also served as the U.N.'s
> Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq at the time when crushing sanctions were
> killing thousands of people in that country. He resigned in protest of the
> sanctions.
> We have not heard former POW Bowe Bergdahl explain, in his own words, how
> or
> why he left his post that June night in 2009. If he is subjected to the
> same
> military "justice" that Chelsea Manning received, we may be denied access
> to
> Bergdahl's voice completely through the trial. In Manning's court-martial,
> his voice was only heard because of a leaked, clandestinely made recording.
> The late Rolling Stone journalist Michael Hastings reported on Bergdahl,
> quoting emails from Bowe to his parents, before he was captured, that were
> harshly critical of the U.S. occupation. Bowe wrote, "I am sorry for
> everything here."
> Afghan President Ghani honored thousands of U.S. military dead at Arlington
> National Cemetery. Will his gesture inspire President Obama, or his
> successor, to travel to the many cemeteries swollen with war dead in Iraq,
> Afghanistan and Pakistan?
> Denis Moynihan contributed research to this column.
> C 2015 Amy Goodman
> The Costs of War, the Price of Peace
> Published on
> Thursday, March 26, 2015
> by
> TruthDig
> The Costs of War, the Price of Peace
> by
> Amy Goodman
> . javascript:void(0);
> . javascript:void(0);
> . javascript:void(0);
> . javascript:void(0);
> . javascript:void(0);
> . javascript:void(0);
> . javascript:void(0);
> . javascript:void(0);
> 3 Comments
>
> What price would you pay not to kill another human being? (Photo: The
> National Guard/flickr/cc)
> What price would you pay not to kill another human being? At what point
> would you commit the offenses allegedly perpetrated by Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl,
> who was charged Wednesday with desertion and "misbehavior before an enemy?"
> Bowe Bergdahl was a private when he left his post in Afghanistan, under
> circumstances that are still unknown to the public, and was captured by the
> Taliban. They imprisoned him for five years, until he was released in a
> controversial prisoner swap negotiated by the Obama administration. Five
> Taliban members who were held for years at Guantanamo Bay were released to
> house arrest in Qatar in exchange for Bergdahl. He now faces a
> court-martial
> and potentially life in prison. Meanwhile, the architects of the disastrous
> wars in Iraq and Afghanistan remain untried, while a new report asserts
> that
> up to 1.3 million people have been killed in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan
> in the first 10 years of the so-called war on terror.
> The report is called "Body Count" and is published in the U.S. by
> Physicians
> for Social Responsibility. "It has been politically important to downplay
> Allied forces' responsibility for the massive carnage and destruction in
> the
> region," writes San Francisco doctor Robert M. Gould in the report's
> foreword. He told me: "We need to take full responsibility for the true
> cost
> of war as we are preparing to continue our involvement in Afghanistan and
> deepen our involvement in Syria and Iraq. There's great anger throughout
> the
> region about our involvement and the underplaying here of what the true
> costs are in terms of death and destruction."
> This report was released just as Afghanistan's new president, Ashraf Ghani,
> was welcomed at the White House by President Barack Obama. Obama announced
> that he is slowing the planned departure of U.S. troops from Afghanistan,
> leaving 9,800 soldiers at least through the end of 2015. "It is my
> judgment,
> it's the judgment of General [John] Campbell and others who are on the
> ground, that providing this additional time frame during this fighting
> season for us to be able to help the Afghan security forces succeed is well
> worth it," Obama said. America's longest war continues, with no end in
> sight. Ghani visited the Pentagon during his time in Washington, as well as
> Arlington National Cemetery, where he laid a wreath of flowers to honor the
> fallen U.S. soldiers.
> "Body Count" provides a startling update to the previously widely accepted
> estimate of casualties from the war on terror in Iraq, Afghanistan and
> Pakistan. "The figure is approximately 10 times greater than that which the
> public, experts and decision makers are aware. ... And this is only a
> conservative estimate," the report stated. "The total number of deaths in
> the three countries ... could also be in excess of two million, whereas a
> figure below one million is extremely unlikely." The report, writes former
> U.N. Deputy Secretary-General Hans von Sponeck in its introduction, "must
> be
> seen as a significant contribution to narrowing the gap between reliable
> estimates of victims of war, especially civilians in Iraq, Afghanistan and
> Pakistan and tendentious, manipulated or even fraudulent accounts. These
> have in the past blurred the picture of the magnitude of death and
> destitution in these three countries." Von Sponeck-who, in 1957, was one of
> West Germany's first conscientious objectors-also served as the U.N.'s
> Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq at the time when crushing sanctions were
> killing thousands of people in that country. He resigned in protest of the
> sanctions.
> We have not heard former POW Bowe Bergdahl explain, in his own words, how
> or
> why he left his post that June night in 2009. If he is subjected to the
> same
> military "justice" that Chelsea Manning received, we may be denied access
> to
> Bergdahl's voice completely through the trial. In Manning's court-martial,
> his voice was only heard because of a leaked, clandestinely made recording.
> The late Rolling Stone journalist Michael Hastings reported on Bergdahl,
> quoting emails from Bowe to his parents, before he was captured, that were
> harshly critical of the U.S. occupation. Bowe wrote, "I am sorry for
> everything here."
> Afghan President Ghani honored thousands of U.S. military dead at Arlington
> National Cemetery. Will his gesture inspire President Obama, or his
> successor, to travel to the many cemeteries swollen with war dead in Iraq,
> Afghanistan and Pakistan?
> Denis Moynihan contributed research to this column.
> C 2015 Amy Goodman
>
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