CODDLING THE TROOPS or CATERING TO TERRORISTS
WAR IN THE INFORMATION AGE
By Gordon Duff, Staff Writer
If this doesn’t seem crazy to you, it should. We are told that our military in Iraq now lives in barracks with airconditioning, high speed internet and every recreation known to man. We are also told they ride to battle in air conditioned comfort and perfect safety to administer their delicate tasks of "nation building" in a relaxed and almost serenic mode.
It must be the shock of no longer having the benefits of our "Club Med" military that has caused tens of thousands of suicides, PTSD diagnoses and record joblessness and homelessness among vets. Stories of the horrors of Walter Reed, canvas doored Humvee’s, defective body armor and hopelessly inept military planning were a fabrication of traitorous liberals.
Even the enemy in Iraq rides to battle in new Land Rovers, keeping in touch with Bin Laden and his underlings with new G3 Ipods and Palm Pilots. Every incident uploads onto the internet in HD video with carefully written narratives. Command and control and secure communications for our enemies is made possible by the same technology that delivers kiddie porn, internet gambling and "male enhancement" to the world.
How did our enemy gain this capability? We built it for them. Nothing like a day plotting the overthrow of the decadent west after a visit to an exotic Asian "companion" thanks to that fat "student grant" from a generous Saudi Royal with strong ties to Crawford Texas…..
Too bad more Americans don’t read. Its time to dig out Joseph Heller’s best selling war novel, CATCH 22. The human disaster resulting from year after year of "Roadrunner/Wiley Coyote" warfare peddled to the troops thru photo-ops, Fox News and "attaboys" while fighting an illusive enemy paid by our friends and hiding behind Bush Administration political correctness and absurd inconsistencies would have historical context.
On one hand, we run concentration camps, torture prisoners, arrange mock trials and kidnap badguys around the world. However, when a Marine tries to defend himself in combat, he is likely to end up arrested and facing a lifetime of incarceration. Satellite TV and Playstations are poor replacements for realistic rules of war and a government with a will to stand up for troops in the field.
With an administration made up, almost entirely, of oil industry hacks with lifelong ties to the those who are financing our enemies, inconsistency and craziness begins to make sense. Archie Bunker had the answer years ago. His idea to fight highjacking was to give every passenger a gun. When a highjacker made himself known, he would be blown to smithereens. What was a joke 30 years ago is beginning to make more and more sense as our endless wars drag on.
What if, forinstance, we placed a rather large seismically triggered explosive near, lets say, a mosque or marketplace. Do you think there is a remote possibility that any IED explosives planted nearby to kill Americans might end up being quietly removed? This sounds like a better plan to me than 6 months of "waterboarding" a illiterate teenager at a cost of a $100,000 per day. Real "conservative values" are taught thru individual responsibilty and consequences. If we are going to play "bombs" then everyone should be able to play. That’s what I call teaching "democracy!"
If a group in Iraq insists on returning to the Middle Ages, who are we to stand in their way? Instead of looking for weapons, we should simply pick up the cars, airconditioners, satellite dishes, kill cell phone service, and running water. After a few months of shitting in a bucket and living with camels, the "great satan" of western culture might not seem so bad. A couple of months with no TV commercials and the idea of suicide might not seem as attractive.
Islamic women who hide bombs under their $2000 dollar silk burkas and, of late, have been blowing up everything in sight, all for the right to be kept virtual prisoner in a fundimentalist Islamic state should be able to live and receive what they want immediately. They can blow themselves up in the privacy, safety and convenience of their own homes, while protecing their modesty without spreading their entrails over the countryside. They could bask in their right to stay home and read the Koran all day. Oops, sorry. I keep forgetting, they wouldn’t be allowed to learn how to read.
Iraq is a cell phone driven war. We have long had the technology to require biometric (thumbprint from a "living" thumb) activation to turn on a phone or put a computer on the net. If every IED had a phone attached to it that was tied to a registered user, or every uploaded "beheading video" had a name tied to it, the unpleasant consequences of these acts might be felt and fewer innocent civilians, civil servants or our own sons and daughters would be likely to suffer. After years of listening to George Carlin tell jokes about the "phone police", his dream could finally come true, though too late for him to appreciate it.
With trillions of dollars spent building millions of hospitals, mosques, schools, orphanages, "Baby Milk Factories", shopping centers, bowling alleys and golf courses across the landscape of Irak, a couple of million dollars might be spent, perhaps even with American companies, to put an end to the "gadget war" being waged by medieval kooks and their billionaire "playboy" supporters. Only America would fight a war using less drastic means than a parent "grounding" a child for cutting class. Time to send terrorists to their rooms, no internet, no text messaging and no excuses.
Gordon Duff is a Marine Vietnam veteran and regular contributor on social and political issues.
Gordon Duff posted articles on VT from 2008 to 2022. He is a Marine combat veteran of the Vietnam War. A disabled veteran, he worked on veterans and POW issues for decades.
Gordon is an accredited diplomat and is generally accepted as one of the top global intelligence specialists. He manages the world’s largest private intelligence organization and regularly consults with governments challenged by security issues.
Duff has traveled extensively, is published around the world, and is a regular guest on TV and radio in more than “several” countries. He is also a trained chef, wine enthusiast, avid motorcyclist, and gunsmith specializing in historical weapons and restoration. Business experience and interests are in energy and defense technology.
ATTENTION READERS
We See The World From All Sides and Want YOU To Be Fully InformedIn fact, intentional disinformation is a disgraceful scourge in media today. So to assuage any possible errant incorrect information posted herein, we strongly encourage you to seek corroboration from other non-VT sources before forming an educated opinion.
About VT - Policies & Disclosures - Comment Policy
