Tuesday, October 31, 2006

Iraqi police slay a U.S. soldier - and it's covered up?

An article in today's Washington Post reveals that an American soldier was ambushed and killed this month in Baghdad by our alleged allies, the local police. What it doesn't say is that the official reports on his death by the U.S. military were complete distortions.

In an Editor & Publisher article,
Greg Mitchell says that his"additional digging now shows that the military willfuly covered up this significant detail in releasing the news of his death to his family and to the press."

Here’s how the Press-Enterprise in Riverside described it : “Pfc. Kenny Francis Stanton Jr., 20, of Hemet, died Oct. 13 in Baghdad from injuries he suffered after a bomb detonated near his armored Humvee, U.S. Army spokesman Sheldon Smith said Monday.

Now here's Gen. Salah al-Ani, chief of Iraqi police for the western half of Baghdad, quoted in today's Washington Post: "None of the Iraqi police are working to make their country better. They're working for the militias or to put money in their pocket."

And Lt. Cmdr. Charlie Brown, s Navy public affairs officer, wonders why I don't believe him....

Bush says people join military because they are patriots. Right.

While campaigning this week, John Kerry made a statement regarding education: "You know, education, if you make the most of it, you study hard, you do your homework and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. If you don't, you get stuck in Iraq," Kerry said.

Bush responded to Kerry in a statement released by the White House: "The men and women who serve in our all-volunteer armed forces are plenty smart and are serving because they are patriots."

Patriots? I think the reason people join the military might have something to do with money, right? I highly doubt the majority of the people who join the crusade of armed forces join out of pure patriotism or any patriotism for that matter.

And it's not "all-volunteer armed forces" - stop saying that, it's a lie. The people the military preys on are people who really don't have any other choice and need money to support their families. It's like I told Lt. Cmdr. Charlie Brown, "the jobs and postitions that we hold are rarely personal, with the exception of monetary gain. I am sure what you said to the reporters was not your personal ideas, but what you were told to report by your superiors."

In a never ending "quest for higher education" (hahaha), kids join the armed forces for the scholarship money, not because they really want or because they are patriots. It's called a catch 22. And they're stuck, and I almost got sucked in too. Some are not so lucky.

Bush also called Kerry's comments "insulting and shameful," and said that the Senator owed the troops an apology.

The only person who owes an apology is Bush, to the armed forces men and women who he conned into going to Iraq/Afghanistan, on his administration's twisted agenda.