RANT OR RAVE? Julian Assange Granted Asylum

I should have been happy, overjoyed in fact (!!!), about the news yesterday that Julian Assange had been granted political asylum by Ecuador. So this should be a rave. Yet even with that news I am niggled by fear and apprehension - apprehension borne of how ugly this entire affair got this week and how it could yet get a lot uglier. Hence my need to also rant about this.



So, let me deconstruct the affair as I see it as succinctly as possible:

The Victim: Julian Assange. There are two camps in the world today - those who believe Julian Assange is being persecuted on the one side, and those who believe he is a 'terrorist' and a 'threat' to American hegemony (read: imperialism) on the other side. There is no room for grey - it's that black and white.

The Heroes: Ecuador. I admittedly had my doubts that the Ecuadorian government would capitulate to Western (read: American) pressure. Many had those doubts and fears. Even his mother must have had her fears an doubts. But they came through for Julian, in unapologetic, crystal clear and frankly stunning terms. This small South American country did what very few countries would dare to do. All power to Ecuador for what they have done this week. Simon Bolivar would be proud.

The Enemy/ Bitch Whore of the Arch Enemy: The United Kingdom. When it's foreign affairs crowd even dares to suggest that the UK would see fit to rip right through centuries of diplomacy and international customary law and storm the Ecuadorian embassy to seize Assange, then it is a country that has lost all sense of the rule of law and its own sense of self. It's democracy and legal system is a sham. All so it can do the bidding of its Imperial Master. The UK should be ashamed of itself.

The Passive-Aggressive Bitch Whore: Sweden. This Scandinavian country, always so smug in its own sense of level-minded, content democracy, is at the very epicentre of this entire crisis. All it had to do was reassure Ecuador that Assange would not be extradited to the United States once handed over to Sweden by the UK. This Sweden refused to do, which spoke volumes - and the Ecuadoreans rightly saw this as overwhelming evidence of the political persecution of Assange. Game over. Sweden is a sham democracy doing the shabby bidding of the biggest bully of them all. It too should be thoroughly ashamed of itself.

The Arch Enemy: The United States. Need one say more?

And that's what this entire debacle boils down to: a man who did nothing more than publish the truth about the shocking shenanigans of world powers is being persecuted by three of what were once the most respected democracies on Earth.

And that is why, whilst I can rave about Julian Assange being granted his asylum, I can only rant at all the other malevolent ingredients in this putrid mix.

And I am sincerely, genuinely, horribly worried at how the entire Julian Assange affair may yet unravel. And expose the true, sickening nature of the world in which we live.

Do you get my point?

WHAT NEXT? Julian's Refuge - Ten Days and Counting

Julian Assange did the absolutely right thing on June 19th.

He entered the Embassy of the Republic of Ecuador in London and claimed asylum, on the grounds that he was being persecuted by the UK, Swedish and (potentially especially) United States governments. He requested political asylum as per under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Ecuador granted temporary protection during and told the world that they are considering the request.



He had no other choice. And it was something that I had been hoping he would have the courage (and good advice by others) to do. Because if there is one man in the public spotlight who is being hounded and having his rights raped and usurped like no other on this planet, it is Julian Assange.

And we all know that the Americans are just itching to get their grubby, fat hands on him so that they can charge him with spurious charges of 'high treason,' or some other legal claptrap that only a militarized state could conjure up, potentially consigning him to life imprisonment, or, worse, the death penalty.

His very life depended on him walking into that Embassy, and never being extradicted to Sweden (known lapdogs to the Yanks) if he can help it. You can count on that. 

Ten days have passed. It seems an awful long time for the Ecuadorian government to be considering his application. We all know that Ecuador, and especially their incredibly smart and charismatic president, Rafael Correa, would love to grant asylum to this most whistleblower of note.



But the political and economic ramifications for a still-developing and small South American country like Ecuador must be crushing. Much as they may hate the strong-arm tactics and imperialist protestations of the United States, Ecuador must remain ever mindful of the sheer power of the world's biggest bully, never mind its biggest hypocrite.

Why not Venezuela? Surely a man like Hugo Chavez would do his nut to further grind American faces into his socialist groin by welcoming a man like Assange to Caracas with open arms? What a glorious middle finger that would be to los gringos up north. One would think so. Perhaps that is exactly what Correa is trying to achieve in these days that seem to drag on and on - a handover somehow to Venezuela, which doesn't even have an extradiction treaty with the US. One can continue to hope so, certainly.

Where is a healthy, cigar-smoking Fidel Castro when you need him?

And so Day Ten of his asylum in that London embassy almost comes to a close. And those os us who respect and honour and need this man wait with baited breath.

We wait for the very best outcome for him...and for us.

RANT: Four-Letter Assaults on Free Speech

SOPA
PIPA
ACTA

These are the four letter words of our time. Okay, they're acronyms - but still akin to four letter words; of the very worst kind.

SOPA = Stop Online Piracy Act
PIPA = Protect Intellectual Property Act (much longer, pedantic title, but who cares)
ACTA = Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement

Three pieces of legislation or agreements that are a total assault on Internet freedom, privacy and right to free speech as we know it.







Legislators and political leaders bray on and on about how the laws and agreements would be there to protect artists and writers (and billion-dollar corporations, of course) from intellectual property assaults and 'misuse' by websites and bloggers and individual users online. Supporters of ACTA stated how the agreement was tabled "as a response to "the increase in global trade of counterfeit goods and pirated copyright protected works," whilst Wikipedia reported how PIPA would have "the stated goal of giving the US government and copyright holders additional tools to curb access to "rogue websites dedicated to infringing or counterfeit goods", especially those registered outside the U.S."

SOPA and PIPA are American(-corporatist) products, whilst ACTA is an agreement  between Australia, Canada, Japan, Morocco, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea and the United States, whilst the European Union and 22 of its member states signed up to it in January of this year as well.

All to 'protect' intellectual property, of course.

The online community saw it all for what it was and thought differently. Rather strongly.

On January 18th Wikipedia shut down for a day, as did many other sites on the Web in protest against what they see as government and corporatist infringements on free exchange of ideas and creativity on the Internet. As reported by that stalwart of establishment so-called journalism, The Washington Post:

"Around the country, Americans woke up without some of the oddball essentials of online life. No Wikipedia. No Reddit, a compendium of links to stories and funny pictures that draws millions a day. And no I Can Has Cheezburger?, the world’s best-known collection of funny cat pictures."

No Wired and a host of other popular sites either, and Firefox and Google both blacked out certain parts of their landing pages to protest what they also saw as online censorship.

I have no doubt that the vociferous backlash from the online community against these travesties of 'intellectual property protection' caught legislators and their corporate pimps by surprise. Both U.S. bills have been shelved (for now, only for now), whilst ACTA has come under big opposition, most especially from a surprising quarter in the EU (see my next post).

Shutting down websites (including blogs just like mine, by the way) for 'illegal' posts, uploads and even links in the name of protecting IP is nothing more than government and corporatist censorship masquerading as 'protection.'

How will sites be monitored for these alleged IP infringements?

Where will the line be drawn on what constitutes 'intellectual property' and the sanctity of copyright (at all costs)?

Why should corporations like those in the movie, recording and porn industries have copyrights that can be endlessly renewed, going well beyond the 50 years limit that used to be normative in copyright law?

What is this really all about?

This is an assault and a colonization by governments and corporations of that last bastion of true democracy and capitalism on Earth - the Internet.

We're all a threat to them - and they know it. That is why we must fight, fight, fight these bastards, so that they leave us the hell alone in the only place where we have some semblance of freedom.

As far as the Internet is concerned, a luta continua!

Do you get my point?

RANT: Julian On The Precipice

This telling Time magazine cover from December 2010 has never been more apropos.

Julian Assange is fighting his extradition to Sweden in the Supreme Court in London as I write this - being already at the appeal phase, we all know that his chances of winning on appeal are about as good as George W. Bush suddenly becoming a pacifist and intelligent.

It just isn't going to happen. That is, Assange winning his appeal. He will be extradited to Sweden, where the Swedish authorities have already stated that they will immediately send him off to the United States to stand trial for treason.

And if he loses his treason trial in the United (Corporo-Fascist) States of America then he will be sentenced to death.

That is what fighting for the truth and seeking to unravel corruption and deception in the highest places will get a man like Assange.

That is what you get for trying to reveal the dark secrets of the super-elite and the rancid corruption of our so-called leaders.

That is what you get for living in a world run by Visa and MasterCard and Facebook and Shell and BP and the Pentagon.

My heart is very heavy at the moment. I cannot believe that I am living in a world where a man this brave and this committed to the truth is being frogmarched towards his (possible...probable?) obscene death.

I can only hope, hope, hope that Julian Assange will win his appeal and be able to fight the true fight another day.

Hope can be a very cruel jester.

Do you get my point?

RAVE: Rise, Internet, O' Powerful One

This was a week when, perhaps more than ever before, it really became crystal clear to me JUST how powerful the Internet has become in the world.



The 'power of the Internet' is stating the obvious, of course. It's a cliche. And I've known it for a long time too, no doubt. But I refer not to the 'power' that is social networking horrors like Facebook (blecchh) or the 'power' that is being inundated with endless, often mindless e-mails on a daily basis. Not even to the more benevolent power that is being able to do research and learn new things on the Internet like never before. No, not at all.

Rather, I refer to the power of an Internet that allows real change, on the global, the national and the personal levels - and more so than ever before:

* Wikileaks: Global repercussions, no doubt about it. Whistleblowing is as old as politics, and it was what made newspapers once exciting, but nothing on the scale that Wikileaks was able to unleash in 2010. And continues to do so in 2011. Hurrah!

* Tunisia: National repercussions, possibly even regional. Tunisia has been oppressed for over twenty years. And it all exploded in a matter of weeks, even days - the old dictator fled to that oasis for all despots, Saudi Arabia, a national government of unity had to be convened, free elections will be held in less than two months - and the old party has literally been disbanded. All due to people power - with online networking as the catalyst. And the rest of the Maghreb and Middle East elites looks on nervously - very nervously.

* A Brooklyn baby: A woman has her baby girl stolen from a Brooklyn hospital in 1987. A full twenty-three years later, the stolen baby girl, now a grown woman, searches online for clues as to why her 'mother' cannot provide her with a birth certificate. The woman is suspicious and turns to the place where she feels she might get answers - the Internet. She searches and comes across a website with a picture of a baby girl missing since 1987 - a baby girl that looks exactly like her when she was a baby. She contacts the authorities, gets a blood test and, like that, is identified as the stolen baby and finally reunited with her real mother.

For all its faults, for all its inevitable abilities to be a platform for the bad, the ugly and the downright horrible, the Internet is still a life-changing, unbelievably powerful tool that, when used right, is simply exceptional.

It is the technological advance of our time, the great leap forward. Akin in the modern era to electricity and the telephone and television.

May it continue to be a conduit for positive, life-altering change - at every level, great and small.

Do you get my point?

2011: Looking Forward

Here is a mix of things that I look forward to in 2011 (in no particular order):

* More of Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert weaving their magic against the financial terrorists on the Keiser Report and all over the alternative media

* Wikileaks going from strength to strength

* Julian Assange left in peace to do what we all need him to do

* The alternative media going from strength to strength

* A 'two-tier', more corporatist Internet being stopped in its tracks

* The Euro possibly collapsing - or at least countries like Greece, Portugal, Ireland and Belgium going back to their former currencies - hurrah to the drachma, escudo, punt and Belgian franc!

* The slowdown or even demise of the too-powerful and destructive Germany-France axis in the EU (Merkel and Sarkozy should get a room and leave Europe in peace)

* The cringe-worthy 'Tea Party' crowd in Washington D. C. being shown up for the showboating, embarrassing rightwing nut jobs that we all know they are

* Sarah Palin having less power and shutting that big, worthless poodle mouth of hers

* Michael Schumacher winning races again in Formula 1 and proving why he's the best ever - go Michael!

* Less environmental disasters, wherever and however possible

* More medical breakthroughs, especially in stem cell research

* Less conspicuous consumption, less greed - the planet can't take it (I can't take it)

* More sanity in business, finance and the global financial markets

* Less religious fanaticism of all stripes - religious lunacy remains one of the biggest cancers in the world

* More social and political unrest and upheaval in China - it needs it, we need it

* Less stupidity, bad grammar and bad manners, thank you very much!

Top 10 Events of 2010

 There can never be a definitive list of the ten biggest events of a year, especially one as mad(dening) and as filled with newsmaking events as this year. Nor is this list meant to in any way diminish any of the other big events of the year that are not mentioned. Below are ten of those events that I believed shaped 2010, some of which will resonate for years to come:

1.  Wikileaks cables: Because they scared the hell out of those that have too much sinister power behind the scenes and too much leverage over our lives. Because we all have a right to know what is going on. Because state secrecy is not absolute, nor should it ever be. Because the too-powerful Establishment needs to be jolted sometimes
2. Global warming/ climate change/ deforestation/ biodiversity loss, etc: Because these issues will not go away, nor should they as long as the eco-carnage continues. Because many love to speak 'sustainability' in breathless tones, but don't have a blinking clue of what it actually means. Because we're humans and remain lousy stewards of this planet 
3. Chilean miners: Because all 33 Chilean miners stuck underground made it up alive after more than 60 days. Because this event made me wish with all my heart that total strangers would be alive and well. Because amongst all the doom and gloom in these scary and sinister times, wonderful miracles still do happen.
4. International financial terrorism: Because it showed, time and time again, what blood-sucking scheisters international finance and banking can be. Because it proved just how speculative the world capital economy has become, and how speculators are at war against savers and governments. Because it showed that most top bankers and banks are not geniuses but a bunch of lying, conniving vampires who are sucking nations (and us) dry  
5. Eurozone crisis, Greece & Ireland: Because it showed us just how dangerous this little thing called 'soverign debt' can actually be when hijacked by international banking terrorism. Because it shows what big bullies the likes of Germany, France and the IMF actually are. Because it shows how uncompromising, unfair (to poorer EU countries) and doomed the Euro project actually is. Because the citizens of Greece and Ireland deserved better 
6. Iceland - the financial meltdown and volcano: Because Iceland and its citizens had the bravery to be bankrupt rather than be indentured slaves to international financial terrorists. Because Icelandic citizens voted against being hostage to the monstrous risk-taking of a few bankers. Because the Icelandic volcanic ash was the sweetest and most ironic gift that Iceland could send to disrupt one of its chief hostage-takers, the UK   
7. Ascendancy of China: Because the decline of the American Empire is happening faster than we thought. Because China is definitely on the ascendancy on the world stage, and that's not a good thing either. Because the West has only itself to blame for destroying its own industries and selling itself out like a whore to the cheap labour, cheap (and badly made) products and human rights abuses of China
8. Haiti earthquake: Because this was the one nation on Earth that did not deserve, nor cope with, such a devastating natural disaster. Because it showed (along with many other events this year) that Mother Nature can be one blindly vindictive, nasty lady. Because subsequent events proved that Haiti really needs to get its act together, once and for all. 
9. Gulf of Mexico oil spill: Because this proved, yet again and for the umpteenth time, that our addiction to oil is not sustainable. Because this proved, yet again and for the umpteenth time, that offshore oil drilling is ludicrous in its environmental and social risks. Because this proved, yet again and for the umpteenth time, that multinational oil companies are amongst the biggest lying, greenwashing environmental pillagers on the planet. 
10. Ascendancy of alternative media: Because most traditional media has been asleep at the wheel (or worse) for far too long. Because the 'news' is more subjective than ever (wasn't it always?), and the alternative media is doing it so much better. Because the Internet, for all its pitfalls and inherent dangers, remains a powerful tool for necessary change

2010 Man of the Year: JULIAN ASSANGE

It was such an easy choice, it didn't even bear thinking: Julian Assange was without a doubt one of the most influential and one of the most important people on the international scene in 2010. He was also the one that I, like millions of others worldwide, most identified with.

For what he is all about, as detailed below, he is unreservedly my Man of the Year for 2010:

• Because the man is brave, whatever anyone might say about him
• Because he heads up an organization that is about truth and exposing corruption
• Because his organization has exposed the excesses of power worldwide
• Because he believes in the truth as a means to guarding democracy
• Because he does not believe that governments have the right to so much secrecy
• Because he is the epitome of what journalism should and could be in this Internet era
• Because he has the powers that be in the West, and especially the United States, running scared - very scared
• Because he has helped expose governments, corporations and, those chief bastards of 2010, banks
• Because he has helped show up, yet again, why the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are a disgusting sham
• Because he has inadvertently showed up the likes of PayPal, Mastercard, Visa, Amazon, a Swiss bank, a Dutch Internet service provider and a host of others for being the hypocritical corporate swine that they are
• Because his jailing and the farce surrounding his bail in the UK has shown up just how desperate - and very dangerous - those in power and under threat can be 
• Because he showed up Sweden for being decidedly undemocratic and a lackey of international interests 
• Because he has proven just how tenuous democracy actually is
• Because he has proven that having a voice that threatens the establishment can be very, very dangerous
• Because he has proven why the establishment must be rigorously monitored at all times
• Because he runs the threat of being extradited to the United States under trumped up treason charges that expose even more how perverse American/ governmental power can be
• Because humanists of impeccable integrity like John Pilger and Ken Loach didn't hesitate to support him without reservation
• Because he has shown tremendous grace under pressure - at all times
• Because he is always eloquent, well-spoken and soft-spoken, always to his credit
• Because Steve Zuckerberg may be Time's Man of the Year, but Facebook beating out Wikileaks says it all
• Because he is a(n) (anti-)hero for our times 
• Because he is a man of real conviction and he commands my utmost respect

Julian Assange is the embodiment of what our times came to signify during 2010 - the growing struggle between those that have excess wealth and power and all the rest of us.

He is whistleblower for all of us, nothing less than an important light in a time that seems to be getting darker and darker, not to mention increasingly sinister.

2010 Organization of the Year: WIKILEAKS

In a year as tumultuous as this one, it was still an easy pick for me: Wikileaks is my organization for 2010. Below are just a few of the reasons why they were the organization that defined a year:

• Because they seek to expose the truth, ugly as it often is
• Because they are a bulwark for democracy, not those who vilify them
• Because they showed up the established p(r)op media for the weak corporate hacks they are
• Because they leaked that which is in the interest of all citizens everywhere
• Because they proved, yet again, how very wrong the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are
• Because they made us think about the power that governments have...and shouldn't have
• Because they re-iterated how dangerous excessive power can be
• Because they re-iterated how power does indeed corrupt 
• Because they go after large corporations and banks as well
• Because they inadvertently showed up the likes of PayPal, Visa and Mastercard for the hypocritical corporate swine they are
• Because they gave a middle finger to the American political-corporate-military complex
• Because, contrary to American propaganda, they go after everyone anywhere
• Because they chose to be brave in this increasingly Brave New World

George Orwell once said, "To see what is in front of one's nose requires a constant struggle." Wikileaks has taken up that struggle on all our behalf.

Wikileaks, may you go from strength to strength in 2011 and well beyond. Thank you so much.

SITE OF THE DAY: WikiLeaks

It was inevitable for to me to make Wikileaks the site for today. My last post on this blog was on a huge scandal that erupted yesterday regarding American soldiers firing on to Iraqi civilians from their Apache helicopter back in July 2007 . The massive news story was broken due to the sheer tenacity and bravado of just one site:

WikiLeaks.

I've often heard of this site, but for whatever (stupid) reason have never really taken the time to have a look at what WikiLeaks had to offer (at http://www.wikileaks.com/). That is to my discredit. After hearing about the breaking news on the 2007 massacre of Iraqi civilians by airborne American soldiers, I just had to take a look at the site that had been so instrumental in breaking the story.

Their lead expose on the 2007 Iraq massacre from the air is brilliantly entitled "Collateral Murder".

It's quite a site. It is just one leak after another on some of the biggest news stories and scandals of the last few months. They include leaked documents regarding different aspects of the recent Icelandic financial and banking crisis, as well as a stunning expose by a well-known anti-secrecy online site that was forcibly shut down after exposing a secret manual being used by police and intelligence services regarding user online activities (read: snooping of what people do online), a manual put together by none other than the corporate giant...Microsoft. I'd never even heard of this until I took the time to look at this site today.

There's even an investigation as to what lengths the US Intelligence Service had tried hard to shut down WikiLeaks itself. And that's just on their home page!

Talk about indefatigable journalism - you know, the kind that was once the mainstay of the serious printed media, but which is now long dead due to the corporate takeover of world-renowned newspapers over the past 20 years.

But it's quite shocking to me to read that this invaluable site nearly shut down entirely towards the end of last year owing to a lack of funds. You can see it on the site - it looks so pared down, owing to the site's inability last year to save all its articles and links. The site looks clearly very scaled down - but, thankfully, not out.

And there are quite a few mirror sites that allow one to access some of the older articles and leaks that are currently not available on the official site. One such mirror site is mirror.wikileaks.info - thank goodness for the ongoing spirit of open source and keeping dissent and the truth alive at all costs in the online community.

The good news is that they have raised over 300 000 US dollars to date, which is keeping them afloat - at least for now. They still need to raise more funds. Which is why I too must try to ensure that this site gets as much financial support as possible, even if I do so primarily by spreading the word about what this site does (and means) to other people and potential financial supporters I might know.

It is the least one can do to ensure that a group of people who are trying so hard and so valiantly to do the type of investigative, expose journalism  that is so desperately needed in the world today. As we are fed more and more disgusting corporate hogwash masquerading as news by much of the world's media, so the importance of fact-finding online sites like WikiLeaks, warts and all, must keep growing. Otherwize we will be all the poorer for it.

If knowledge is power, then a site like WikiLeaks is our means to ensure and to harness that power.

Ignorance is not always bliss.

RANT: The Fog of War - Wikileakin' in Iraq

My second rant for today is to do with war again - this time it's Iraq.


And it's sickening.

Thanks to the website WikiLeaks, a video has been leaked to the world media that shows US troops in a helicopter firing indiscriminately onto a group of people, mostly men, walking on a Baghdad street. The 2007 footage, as filmed from the helicopter itself, clearly shows the men being fired upon by the Americans, even after some of them have fallen to the ground in a hail of bullets and are clearly in pain or dying.

The video, courtesy of Wikileaks and as relayed on youtube.com by various posters, says it all. Please take the time to see the footage, courtesy of WikiLeaks, on their website at http://www.wikileaks.com/. Or check out one of the many uploads thereof on Youtube.

It is the modern theatre of war as murder, as seen from a bird's eye view. And the bird is a heinous bird of prey in the shape of an American Apache helicopter.

About a dozen people died in this attack.

Two children were also seriously wounded in the attack, as visible in the footage. Further controversy has been fuelled by the fact that two Reuters reporters were amongst those who came under attack in this footage. Their cameras were mistaken for AK-47s. Both of these journalists died. And Reuters has been looking for answers as to what happened to their two employees for over two years. Now they (and we) know.

The rat-a-tat-tat of the firing on this video clip is a rat-a-tat-tat on our collective conscience.

Julian Assange, editor of WikiLeaks, asks the pointed question as to what constitutes an 'insurgent' in a modern war such as this. He further makes the brilliant assessment that the soldiers in this combat footage speak and behave as if they were playing some war video game. Except the body count in this particular 'game' is very real.

The gung-ho, super-cool American accents, the whirring of the helicopter blades, the aerial footage in staccato grayish black and white - it's like some surreal video playback from a day's shoot on the set of a Hollywood war film like "Black Hawk Down". Except this is all so real, so real, surreal.

The US Army has declared that the soldiers were within their 'Rules of Engagement' and, therefore, cannot be found guilty of any offences or atrocities.

The bastards.

This is sadly just one more example of what has been referred to as 'the fog of war'. This can be paraphrased as meaning "the level of ambiguity in situational awareness as experienced by combatants during a military operation..." That is, in a nutshell, war is crazy and creates so much uncertainty (i.e. the ambiguity referred to here) that heinous and unjust things can easily happen in that uncertainty (i.e. the 'fog') during a war.

War creates terrible uncertainty and in that 'twilight' of reason (as described by the Prussian military analyst, Carl von Clausewitz) decisions have to be made. War being what it is, these are decisions of life and death.

The fog of war, a fog prevalent in just about every military action, is reason enough to doubt the sanity and the validity of war itself. As if reason were needed in the first place?

This does not excuse the actions of these American soldiers. They are not victims. They are the ready and willing henchman of a war that was immoral, amoral and unjustified. Like most wars tend to be, let's face it.

I am sick and tired of soldiers in this modern era, whatever their nationality, being described as 'hero victims' when they are nothing more than paid, professional hitmen. Long gone is the era of mandatory conscription as occurred in the First and Second World Wars and the Vietnam War, not to mention countless wars before that. At least many of those soldiers could claim that they were forced into combat by their governments. This does not wash in this modern era of professional soldiers.

And even then there were those who refused to fight.

Now in most modern democracies like the US and UK most young men (and women) can just sit back and let others of their generation do the killing. And those who do the fighting are hailed as 'heroes' when they go off to war and as 'hero victims' when they come back in wooden boxes, all because many in these societies are so caught up in their collective guilt at not putting their own lives at risk, amped up by the endless chest-thumping nationalistic nonsense of their media.

But why this guilt? Let the professional soldiers go off and fight these unjust and cynical wars. Let them give up their lives when they get well educated and paid to do so by their military. Let them self-delude themselves into believing that they are 'fighting for their countries', when there is so much information all around them telling them just how stupid and cynical these wars really are. This is not the 'information age' for nothing. They want to be human fodder to justify their lives and possibly even live out their hero complex hang-ups, that's also their problem. I don't do knee-jerk uber-nationalistic emotionalism very well.

Sorry, the only war worth fighting is the just war, the war of (real, tangible) self-defence at the very least. The peacekeeping efforts of a UN force, even if that too at times comes with its own agendas. Fighting the type of mega-cynical, neo-imperial war that has taken place in Iraq since 2003 is simply not worth fighting. You cannot justify that which is indefensible, never mind unjustifiable.

This is not about being anti-American. It's about being pro the living and pro the true meaning of justice and democracy and being accountable for one's actions.

What is the excuse of these modern soldiers, these grunts that have at their disposal weapons of mass destruction of unthinkable destruction and barbarity? Are these the modern warriors so many in warring countries swoon over? Soldiers who see fit to fight in cynical wars, many of them acting out the fantasies and virtual realities of the sickening war video games that they grew up on. It makes my stomach turn that this is where we are as a human species in the second decade of the 21st century.

The soldiers in this disgusting and heart-wrenching video are assuredly not the exceptions in this war. Their actions speak (no, scream) of normative behaviour that is not only blessed by their superiors, but wholly embraced by many of their peers in combat.

The fog of war, in all its sub-human and alienating guise, was clearly alive and well in Iraq.

Do you get my point?