Check out www.jakeneck.coma nice site from a NYC surrealist blogging upstart. - h.
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mobiustrip44 writes ..... need a good reason to reject the war in iraq? couldn't give two fucks about iraqi civillians or the general corruption of our own administration? well in that case, how 'bout thinking about our boys overseas?



check your headlines: 16 soldiers died today when a ch-46 helicopter crashed in kuwait. incidentally, the ch-46 is the brother of boeing's ch-47, a chopper known for its "substandard and dangerous" construction, that at one point led to a $54 million lawsuit filed by the department of defense against the manufacturer. sure, boeing was found guilty and lost the suit. they're still the number two defense contractor in the nation. but, that's ok... they've paid their debt to society in campaign contributions.


a tragedy, yes. but it seems such chopper crashes are becoming the norm. four soldiers died in a black hawk that crashed in afghanistan earlier this year. another four soldiers died in a black hawk in kuwait late last month. 3 more soldiers died in a black hawk crash in the phillipines three days before that. 11 soldiers died during an exercise in upstate new york two weeks back. two more choppers had to make crash landings in the last three days alone. and now this.



apparently the black hawk has a history of "substandard" construction as well. in august 2001, the fleet was grounded due to a faulty blade pin. in may 2002, the fleet was again grounded due to a defective part in the main rotor "that, if not corrected, could potentially cause 'catastrophic' failure during operation." you'd think that'd be enough for them to take the black hawk out of commission. i mean, consider the cost of life alone, which you can't even stick a price tag on, and then throw an extra $5.9 million of american tax dollars on top for each downed ship. that's $24 million tax dollars down the shitter in just the last month! that coulda rebuilt a couple school districts, or at least hired competent staff at our international airports. hell, that coulda prolly fed all the starving people in our own streets for a few months. but nope... in the last five years, the department of defense bought 108 hawk choppers.



and as if the crashes themselves weren't enough, friendly fire is also of great concern to our troops overseas. yesterday two american pilots were essentially acquitted of having dropped a bomb that killed four canadian soldiers in afghanistan. the soldiers claim that the amphetamines their superiors force them to take impaired their judgement which led to their deadly accident. makes you wonder if our chopper pilots are on 'em too. hell, also makes you wonder what the military is doing giving a schedule one controlled substance to twenty year-old pilots, especially with things like the methamphetamine anti-proliferation act and the rave act (which has a special section singling out amphetamines) floating around the house.



but that's just the tip of the iceberg. according to pbs frontline, "In the Gulf War, 24 percent of the Americans killed in action (35 of 146) and 15 percent of those wounded (72 of 467) fell victim to their own comrades in arms." some consider this to be a gross underestimate. in his book friendly fire , scott snook investigates "the accidental shootdown of u.s. black hawks over northern iraq" which led to 26 deaths alone. can you say hamburger hill ?



gulf war casualty statistics (c/o dept. of veterans affaris) reveal the following:



Total Servicemembers (Worldwide) -- 2,322,332

Deployed to Gulf -- 1,136,658

Battle Deaths -- 148

Other Deaths (In Theater) -- 235

Other Deaths in Service (Non-Theater) -- 914

Non-mortal Woundings -- 467

Living Veterans -- 1,753,530



914 non-theater? you know what that means right? those people did not die in combat. they died in training, or enigmatically "otherwise."



but wait... let's keep stacking that body count: how many GIs died from depleted uranium exposure? and how many more from gulf war syndrome? and what about the coverup... don't even get me started!



worse yet, the christian science monitor reports that the number of incidents of fratricide is rapidly growing. (here's an air force position paper and an army position paper on the subject.) and so far, in the war on terror, more soldiers have died in faulty aircraft and as a result of friendly fire, than from enemy combat. apparently the first man killed in action in afghanistan himself died as a result of friendly fire.



what's the army's solution? reflective tape on soldiers' helmets! like some asshole literally flying on speed isn't gonna bug the fuck out on that, shit streaking across the windshield, frosting perma-trails?

HELEN THOMAS: Have they laid the glove on you or on the United States, the Iraqis, in 11 years?

ARI FLEISCHER: I guess you have forgotten about the Americans who were killed in the first Gulf War as a result of Saddam Hussein's aggression then.

—01/06 press briefing

actually ari, you smug fuck, it would appear that more u.s. soldiers have died at the hands of the u.s. itself in the last twenty years, than died in actual combat.



folks, if that doesn't startle the shit out of you and get you thinking twice about war, i don't know what will."