Text Fwd: THE IMAGES TELL THE STORY

Bruce Gagnon blog, July 14, 2009

THE IMAGES TELL THE STORY




I am very aware that some might not like all the videos I've been putting on my blog in recent months. I've not really had any complaints, one person though did tell me that they miss me not writing as much. So I'm trying to strike a balance. But some of these videos, in their images, can tell more than I ever could with words.

Take for example the one here today from Afghanistan. It's a story about the US bombing one of their own bases rather than losing it to the Taliban who had driven them from the outpost. There is remarkable imagery in the short video, the mountains, the river, the people forlornly watching as US military choppers zoom by one after the other. The man sitting on the ground serving tea to the US soldier.

One thing that grabbed me was the US Lieutenant pointing to the nearby mountains and saying, "This is Indian country." It's a revealing statement. The US cavalry's job was to exterminate the Indians. Their slogan was "A good Indian is a dead Indian." A Native American would likely warn the people of Afghanistan, "Watch out, they are coming to steal your land."

We don't know enough about the war in Afghanistan, and know very little about the people. These folks have experienced endless war for the last 30-some years and some day the US will be forced to leave the same way the former Soviet Union's huge military was - with their tail between their legs. But how many will die in the meantime? How much more national debt will be piled up here in the US paying for this bad war?

In Maine the peace movement is trying to get meetings with our two Democratic Congress persons and our two Republican Senators to talk about Afghanistan. So far they are all stone-walling. There will be a statewide meeting here at the Addams-Melman House on August 1 to deepen our organizing on Afghanistan. The meeting will follow a protest at the next "Christening" of another Navy Aegis destroyer at Bath Iron Works.