In a lucidly argued paper, legal scholar Roberta Harding offers several examples from the deep South during Jim Crow where judge, jury, and prosecutor well knew that the accused black man was innocent of the charge of raping a white woman. However, because the white supremacist social order was threatened by consensual interracial intercourse, they executed the accused anyway; if they failed to do so promptly he was lynched. Partly this was to set an example and terrify the black population, but partly it was because something had to be done.
By the same token, it mattered little that Afghan villagers or Iraqi politicians had no culpability for 9/11; nor did it matter that bombing them would have no practical effect on future terrorism (except to further inflame it). Obviously, the United States was using 9/11 as a pretext to accomplish larger geopolitical aims. Yet it worked as a pretext only because of broad public agreement that “something must be done.” And, enacting the age-old pattern, we knew what to do: find some target of unifying violence that cannot effectively retaliate. I was dismayed in 2001 when, at Quaker Meeting of all places, one of the Quakers said, “Of course, a forceful response of some kind is necessary.” What, I wondered, does “forceful” mean? It means bombing someone. In other words, we must find someone upon whom to visit violence. He may also have mentioned addressing the imperialist causes of terrorism, but those were not the subject of “of course.” Nearly everyone instinctively took for granted the necessity of finding sacrificial victims. We were definitely going to bomb someone – the only question was whom.
I have my doubts that this latest attack was the work of ISIS. A disgruntled Afghan warlord or even a false flag event seems just as likely. In any case, the War Machine and its MSM vassals are eager to promote the ISIS angle in an effort to trigger the American public’s pathologic fear of terrorists and rekindle its waning support for the War On Terror.
The best way to avoid American casualties is to remove all U.S. personnel from conflict areas, which also happens to be the best way to stop producing more terrorists who want to kill Americans. As for ISIS in Afghanistan, I say let them duke it out with the Taliban. My money is on the latter.
Since the US is working with ISIS to destabilize Syria it's no great stretch to see them pulling the same strings here. American/Israeli war ghouls have every reason to stage just such an event.
Rob, I agree, this attack could be CIA/NSA/17 Intel Agency/Allies (helping) sponsored false flag, to keep the 'chaos' going for both 'sides' masking so many other 'goings on' (Pedo's, Vote Recount, the Unelected Fake Government Agencies (here to help and all blue at the top), to name a few. Much like the Red/Blue endless war of Socialists vs. Social Marxists on our own soil. The Constitution now reduced to just the magic paper. The one thing Caitlin did leave out was the 9/11 attack that started a lot of this 20-year forever war. Was it a false flag is still debated. That was an attack on our own soil. So, how do we get the real bad guys is what I want to know? It's not the grunts or SF. The Taliban and the ISIS operating aren't real nice people. But Caitlin is correct, do we get to choose the citizen's poison? Let them rise up against their own if they want to? America has to get over being hero's it looks like to me, as no one wants hero's anymore and when hero's do arise they are defamed/suicided/kicked-to-the-curb and called racist. These forever wars are just another symptom of US NOT being in control as the Sovereign's of our Nation. However, looks like the 'Vietnam' rant against the 'troops' is planned also, even here with Caitlin, and those in control are loving that...in the matrix. She is correct however, as to the strategy at the end of her piece. Yep.
Frankly, I don't see how wars get fought without troops. I have more sympathy for the Vietnam-era troops as there was a draft; no such situation holds true today. I also reject this false black/white dichotomy we're being offered for discussion, like we need to either condemn the troops or their faceless leaders. I see responsibility resting with both, as well as with me: I pay my damn taxes which in some manner funds it all. But choosing to join an institution that you know commits well-documented abuses as a matter of course must certainly involve some degree to responsibility, no?
War, removed and profitable, has allure. War, close to home, is abominable. That's about as succinct as I can make it.
Just as our politics has drifted completely away from the real needs of the governed, our infliction of pain, suffering, and death for political ends has been successfully removed from policy-makers and media darlings, who only engage with it in a performative way.
The reporter Robert Fisk wrote in the smoldering aftermath of 9/11 that we were never allowed to ask the question, "Why?" We were told instead it was because they hate our freedom, which we lavishly dispense in 500 pound containers.
We, but most directly the world, still pay the price for the inability to get honest answers to simple questions.
Really? What BS, save that going nowhere argument. Anyone can look around them and know there is something that made all this and how people choose to 'figure it out', is a big part of real freedom. Science is worse..., they will kill your ass with it big time and provide all kinds of good 'rationale' as to why it needs to be done.
Think about the language: Islamic fundamentalists are killed with “hellfire” missiles fired from predator drones, how very biblical! Rich technologically advanced Judeo Christian societies are so very certain of their moral superiority that they grant themselves permission to rain hellfire upon impoverished Islamic true believers - that for me is religious belief in action - bald faced, we assume the role of god and bring death from above.
RJF. Your observation goes right along with the naming of our helicopters of war after vanquished Native American tribes. George W. Bush, a self-described Christian, casually caused the death of hundreds of thousand civilians for no justifiable reason. I can't say his Christian beliefs caused such casual carnage, but they certainly didn't do anything to stop it.
When in a grumpy mood sometimes I think God is our greatest creation, religion is our greatest motivator and they combine in our greatest endeavour - war - humanities magnum opus.
Science is merely the best means we have of determining reality. Like all tools, it can be made poorly, politicized, abused, or ignored, but if you tell me such and such is the case, others can test it and get the same results.
Religion has no such means of agreement. It relies on culture, belief, supposedly inspired scribblings, and in far too many cases, guilt and dogma.
Your last paragraph, where you attempt to condemn science, applies perfectly to religion, which will "kill your ass" and claim someone's God "wills it."
Religious faith is vastly overrated as a sign of strong character. The opposite is true: It is a sign of weak character that cannot accept the unavoidable reality that we are all going to die and life may be meaningless. At the same time, faith appears to give many people a reason to live and, in many cases, to do good works. I only worry about those who use faith for evil purposes.
First off, Jackie, I have a problem with the use of your word "know" in this context, and that perfectly demonstrates one of the main problems with the religious; confusing belief with knowledge.
Secondly, I would totally defend anyone's right to come to whatever conclusions they wish to arrive at when determining the big mysteries before us, but history sadly demonstrates that the religious have a lousy track record when it comes to keeping such conclusions to themselves. Right now, today, the religious feel entitled to tell me who I can marry, what sexual positions are allowed, what actions they believe constitute sin, what parts of the human body need disfiguring, what foods I should and should not eat, and why I should support genocide and apartheid in Palestine.
Religion is indeed the ultimate go nowhere argument, based as it is on unprovable subjective assertions and beliefs; I only wish more of the religious would start acting like it.
The Christian Terrorists who man the thousands of US military bases worldwide and man US weapons of mass destruction and their leaders , we need to be concerned about ...
Sad response, I don't think you understand Christian Religion at a deeper level, it ended blood sacrifice of humans and animals on the alter. What humans do otherwise, especially as led by our current and previous Socialist's/Social Marxist's in control is another thing entirely. To blame Christians or our Soldier's is what they want you to do. While they hide in plain site here and the world, making more money and preparing a 'rational' reason for your demise eventually too.
Not to mention female infanticide. Incidentally, something similar could be said about the tribes of the Arabian Peninsula before Islam; whatever else it did, it ended that.
Maybe it ended blood sacrifice but enshrined the idea that blood sacrifice should indeed be a thing that the Author of the Universe requires. Such a grisly petty conditional love is unworthy of anything I could recognize as God and therefore I condemn Christianity as a wicked thing quite unworthy of us.
I'm sure you feel that way Riff. I never said the 'author' of the universe requires blood sacrifice, you did. I agree we do seem to be reverting back to Paganism in all it's forms. I believe in the end Religion and real Science will be one. I hope you saw the video of the terrorists shooting their own countrymen in Afghanistan in the back of the head while they were kneeling and hands tied behind their backs...so very real and it is.
From reading your posts, you sounded like a fan of that particular religion. Apologies if I got that wrong. The entire basis of Christianity as I understand it is the blood sacrifice of Jesus, i.e., there is no atonement without the innocent dying "for our sins," as the saying goes. How this is morally any different from throwing virgins into volcanoes to appease an angry God someone will have to explain to me.
And I trust you read Caitlin's report today of other terrorists (American troops, in this case) shooting people immediately after the explosion. Terrorizing a foreign population for 20 years and lying to us about it the entire time is quite enough.
Funny, is it not, that for 20 long years, we got nary a peep out of Afghanistan, no video, no post-drone strike cleanup, no wailing families, no heart-rending stories at all; but now, we get a flood. Easy to see manipulation when it's done so poorly.
While we're at it, the US and Israel should stop terrorizing Syria as well, where we're actually arming the very same "terrorists" we claim to be after in Afghanistan. It's madness, apparently designed to drain the American taxpayer as Julian Assange told us. Whatever the hell we've been doing there, it sure hasn't been eliminating terrorists or building a democracy, stories they tell our children.
You have no idea of what you speak and the 'madness' you speak of is real. Our entire country was founded upon Judeo-Christian religion and the philosophy of Individual Freedom, the Individual as Sovereign. If you think this is false let me know. The Old and New Testaments are testimony of history and how people came to understand the worth. I'm not sure you have read the the scriptures very carefully, several times I might add, a big undertaking, then well, you would get an understanding, you don't have to believe in God...is about all I can say to you. But America's main premise of individual freedom was based upon the Law and the Prophets, and US as sovereigns, it was a Great Leap Forward, although you may disagree. To destroy that is to destroy America. The Social Marxist ideology has always been a removal of religion of any kind, and replacing it with the scientific Administrative State as sovereign. We now have the 4th Branch of Government from that lack of reasoning...there is no more Separation of Powers Doctrine and the mess in Afghanistan comes from that thinking, not our founding principles. Our troops are not the problem, they are the bravest and most valiant amongst US, and they have been put in an untenable position. It's all BS, and it's all because we didn't keep to our principles that were based upon Judeo-Christian law and common sense. The 10 Commandments were based upon principles that should be aspired to, but they have been removed from our culture in favor of the current chaos.
OK, so I was right about you after all. You are completely wrong about our founding principles. And now too narrow to even converse with. Ha ha. See what I did there?
We need to be concerned more about US , mostly Christian Leaders and Soldiers perpetuating their own brand of terrorism worldwide.
Sorry, but it's not our soldiers, it's at the top and the top isn't who you think they are...
You are right to be concerned about Christian warriors, but even they are merely cogs in the giant War Machine that is a profit-making enterprise.
I would like to draw your attention to a piece that addresses the inane response to COVID-19, because it applies to the rhetoric used by Mitch McConnel. See: Mob Morality and the Unvaxxed - https://charleseisenstein.substack.com/p/mob-morality-and-the-unvaxxed.
"Something Must be Done
In a lucidly argued paper, legal scholar Roberta Harding offers several examples from the deep South during Jim Crow where judge, jury, and prosecutor well knew that the accused black man was innocent of the charge of raping a white woman. However, because the white supremacist social order was threatened by consensual interracial intercourse, they executed the accused anyway; if they failed to do so promptly he was lynched. Partly this was to set an example and terrify the black population, but partly it was because something had to be done.
By the same token, it mattered little that Afghan villagers or Iraqi politicians had no culpability for 9/11; nor did it matter that bombing them would have no practical effect on future terrorism (except to further inflame it). Obviously, the United States was using 9/11 as a pretext to accomplish larger geopolitical aims. Yet it worked as a pretext only because of broad public agreement that “something must be done.” And, enacting the age-old pattern, we knew what to do: find some target of unifying violence that cannot effectively retaliate. I was dismayed in 2001 when, at Quaker Meeting of all places, one of the Quakers said, “Of course, a forceful response of some kind is necessary.” What, I wondered, does “forceful” mean? It means bombing someone. In other words, we must find someone upon whom to visit violence. He may also have mentioned addressing the imperialist causes of terrorism, but those were not the subject of “of course.” Nearly everyone instinctively took for granted the necessity of finding sacrificial victims. We were definitely going to bomb someone – the only question was whom.
I have my doubts that this latest attack was the work of ISIS. A disgruntled Afghan warlord or even a false flag event seems just as likely. In any case, the War Machine and its MSM vassals are eager to promote the ISIS angle in an effort to trigger the American public’s pathologic fear of terrorists and rekindle its waning support for the War On Terror.
The best way to avoid American casualties is to remove all U.S. personnel from conflict areas, which also happens to be the best way to stop producing more terrorists who want to kill Americans. As for ISIS in Afghanistan, I say let them duke it out with the Taliban. My money is on the latter.
Since the US is working with ISIS to destabilize Syria it's no great stretch to see them pulling the same strings here. American/Israeli war ghouls have every reason to stage just such an event.
Rob, I agree, this attack could be CIA/NSA/17 Intel Agency/Allies (helping) sponsored false flag, to keep the 'chaos' going for both 'sides' masking so many other 'goings on' (Pedo's, Vote Recount, the Unelected Fake Government Agencies (here to help and all blue at the top), to name a few. Much like the Red/Blue endless war of Socialists vs. Social Marxists on our own soil. The Constitution now reduced to just the magic paper. The one thing Caitlin did leave out was the 9/11 attack that started a lot of this 20-year forever war. Was it a false flag is still debated. That was an attack on our own soil. So, how do we get the real bad guys is what I want to know? It's not the grunts or SF. The Taliban and the ISIS operating aren't real nice people. But Caitlin is correct, do we get to choose the citizen's poison? Let them rise up against their own if they want to? America has to get over being hero's it looks like to me, as no one wants hero's anymore and when hero's do arise they are defamed/suicided/kicked-to-the-curb and called racist. These forever wars are just another symptom of US NOT being in control as the Sovereign's of our Nation. However, looks like the 'Vietnam' rant against the 'troops' is planned also, even here with Caitlin, and those in control are loving that...in the matrix. She is correct however, as to the strategy at the end of her piece. Yep.
Frankly, I don't see how wars get fought without troops. I have more sympathy for the Vietnam-era troops as there was a draft; no such situation holds true today. I also reject this false black/white dichotomy we're being offered for discussion, like we need to either condemn the troops or their faceless leaders. I see responsibility resting with both, as well as with me: I pay my damn taxes which in some manner funds it all. But choosing to join an institution that you know commits well-documented abuses as a matter of course must certainly involve some degree to responsibility, no?
Caitlin, how do we get the real bad guys??? That's the big one, any strategy there?
Cannon fodder of imperialist war.
War, removed and profitable, has allure. War, close to home, is abominable. That's about as succinct as I can make it.
Just as our politics has drifted completely away from the real needs of the governed, our infliction of pain, suffering, and death for political ends has been successfully removed from policy-makers and media darlings, who only engage with it in a performative way.
The reporter Robert Fisk wrote in the smoldering aftermath of 9/11 that we were never allowed to ask the question, "Why?" We were told instead it was because they hate our freedom, which we lavishly dispense in 500 pound containers.
We, but most directly the world, still pay the price for the inability to get honest answers to simple questions.
Religion is a bigger scam but good article.
Really? What BS, save that going nowhere argument. Anyone can look around them and know there is something that made all this and how people choose to 'figure it out', is a big part of real freedom. Science is worse..., they will kill your ass with it big time and provide all kinds of good 'rationale' as to why it needs to be done.
Think about the language: Islamic fundamentalists are killed with “hellfire” missiles fired from predator drones, how very biblical! Rich technologically advanced Judeo Christian societies are so very certain of their moral superiority that they grant themselves permission to rain hellfire upon impoverished Islamic true believers - that for me is religious belief in action - bald faced, we assume the role of god and bring death from above.
RJF. Your observation goes right along with the naming of our helicopters of war after vanquished Native American tribes. George W. Bush, a self-described Christian, casually caused the death of hundreds of thousand civilians for no justifiable reason. I can't say his Christian beliefs caused such casual carnage, but they certainly didn't do anything to stop it.
When in a grumpy mood sometimes I think God is our greatest creation, religion is our greatest motivator and they combine in our greatest endeavour - war - humanities magnum opus.
Science is merely the best means we have of determining reality. Like all tools, it can be made poorly, politicized, abused, or ignored, but if you tell me such and such is the case, others can test it and get the same results.
Religion has no such means of agreement. It relies on culture, belief, supposedly inspired scribblings, and in far too many cases, guilt and dogma.
Your last paragraph, where you attempt to condemn science, applies perfectly to religion, which will "kill your ass" and claim someone's God "wills it."
Religious faith is vastly overrated as a sign of strong character. The opposite is true: It is a sign of weak character that cannot accept the unavoidable reality that we are all going to die and life may be meaningless. At the same time, faith appears to give many people a reason to live and, in many cases, to do good works. I only worry about those who use faith for evil purposes.
Rob gives good advice.
First off, Jackie, I have a problem with the use of your word "know" in this context, and that perfectly demonstrates one of the main problems with the religious; confusing belief with knowledge.
Secondly, I would totally defend anyone's right to come to whatever conclusions they wish to arrive at when determining the big mysteries before us, but history sadly demonstrates that the religious have a lousy track record when it comes to keeping such conclusions to themselves. Right now, today, the religious feel entitled to tell me who I can marry, what sexual positions are allowed, what actions they believe constitute sin, what parts of the human body need disfiguring, what foods I should and should not eat, and why I should support genocide and apartheid in Palestine.
Religion is indeed the ultimate go nowhere argument, based as it is on unprovable subjective assertions and beliefs; I only wish more of the religious would start acting like it.
The Christian Terrorists who man the thousands of US military bases worldwide and man US weapons of mass destruction and their leaders , we need to be concerned about ...
Sad response, I don't think you understand Christian Religion at a deeper level, it ended blood sacrifice of humans and animals on the alter. What humans do otherwise, especially as led by our current and previous Socialist's/Social Marxist's in control is another thing entirely. To blame Christians or our Soldier's is what they want you to do. While they hide in plain site here and the world, making more money and preparing a 'rational' reason for your demise eventually too.
Not to mention female infanticide. Incidentally, something similar could be said about the tribes of the Arabian Peninsula before Islam; whatever else it did, it ended that.
Maybe it ended blood sacrifice but enshrined the idea that blood sacrifice should indeed be a thing that the Author of the Universe requires. Such a grisly petty conditional love is unworthy of anything I could recognize as God and therefore I condemn Christianity as a wicked thing quite unworthy of us.
I'm sure you feel that way Riff. I never said the 'author' of the universe requires blood sacrifice, you did. I agree we do seem to be reverting back to Paganism in all it's forms. I believe in the end Religion and real Science will be one. I hope you saw the video of the terrorists shooting their own countrymen in Afghanistan in the back of the head while they were kneeling and hands tied behind their backs...so very real and it is.
From reading your posts, you sounded like a fan of that particular religion. Apologies if I got that wrong. The entire basis of Christianity as I understand it is the blood sacrifice of Jesus, i.e., there is no atonement without the innocent dying "for our sins," as the saying goes. How this is morally any different from throwing virgins into volcanoes to appease an angry God someone will have to explain to me.
And I trust you read Caitlin's report today of other terrorists (American troops, in this case) shooting people immediately after the explosion. Terrorizing a foreign population for 20 years and lying to us about it the entire time is quite enough.
Funny, is it not, that for 20 long years, we got nary a peep out of Afghanistan, no video, no post-drone strike cleanup, no wailing families, no heart-rending stories at all; but now, we get a flood. Easy to see manipulation when it's done so poorly.
While we're at it, the US and Israel should stop terrorizing Syria as well, where we're actually arming the very same "terrorists" we claim to be after in Afghanistan. It's madness, apparently designed to drain the American taxpayer as Julian Assange told us. Whatever the hell we've been doing there, it sure hasn't been eliminating terrorists or building a democracy, stories they tell our children.
You have no idea of what you speak and the 'madness' you speak of is real. Our entire country was founded upon Judeo-Christian religion and the philosophy of Individual Freedom, the Individual as Sovereign. If you think this is false let me know. The Old and New Testaments are testimony of history and how people came to understand the worth. I'm not sure you have read the the scriptures very carefully, several times I might add, a big undertaking, then well, you would get an understanding, you don't have to believe in God...is about all I can say to you. But America's main premise of individual freedom was based upon the Law and the Prophets, and US as sovereigns, it was a Great Leap Forward, although you may disagree. To destroy that is to destroy America. The Social Marxist ideology has always been a removal of religion of any kind, and replacing it with the scientific Administrative State as sovereign. We now have the 4th Branch of Government from that lack of reasoning...there is no more Separation of Powers Doctrine and the mess in Afghanistan comes from that thinking, not our founding principles. Our troops are not the problem, they are the bravest and most valiant amongst US, and they have been put in an untenable position. It's all BS, and it's all because we didn't keep to our principles that were based upon Judeo-Christian law and common sense. The 10 Commandments were based upon principles that should be aspired to, but they have been removed from our culture in favor of the current chaos.
OK, so I was right about you after all. You are completely wrong about our founding principles. And now too narrow to even converse with. Ha ha. See what I did there?
Let me know when you are offered up.
You quite possibly missed my point.
The War on Terror is actually the second greatest scam ever invented. First prize has to go to the Scamdemic!
I dunno, I sort of buy the official story, simply because it didn't provide a good opportunity reflexively blame Iran and/or Syria.
Wait.