Day: November 26, 2018

Still Dying After All These Years

Closing Thought–26Nov18

Just a reminder for those that did not fight or have forgotten an armed conflict….we fought a war in Southeast Asia until recently it was America’s longest war….this war consisted of 4 of the nation’s of the region…..Cambodia, Laos, North and South Vietnam…..there were land battles as well as an air war of which over 2 million tons of ordinances were dropped on the region……

That is where we pick up the story of that war……some 40+ years after the end of that war and people are still dying of it……

This year’s Thanksgiving celebration marks 50 years since the American military embarked on the biggest bombing campaign in history, decimating the small Southeast Asian country of Laos by dropping more than two million tonnes of bombs on it at the height of the Vietnam War. 

Half a century on, innocent lives are still being lost as the country struggles with the leftovers of the conflict.

On Thanksgiving Day in November 1968, the United States escalated its war against North Vietnam in Laos.

https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/laotians-killed-50-years-bombing-campaign-181121000620903.html

Sadly people are still dying thanx to the bombs that we and our allies dropped 43 years ago……

I sincerely hope that everyone is enjoying the “holiday” season…..and everyone has had something to be thankful for in the last year…..it is time to run down the year for the new year approaches with a bang.

“Making American Great Again”–Part 22

Maj. Sjursen has taken the readers through the pages of American history…history that is not widely taught by our public schools and definitely not by the private schools that teach the history that fits a narrative…..

We have gone from the early days to the Revolution to the founding of the republic through the trials and tribulations of being a young country on the world stage….and now Sjursen takes us to World War One and the peace that followed……

Part 22 of “American History for Truthdiggers.”

“Over there, over there, /  Send the word, send the word over there. /  That the Yanks are coming, /  the Yanks are coming … /  We’ll be over, we’re coming over, /  And we won’t come back till it’s over, over there.” —An excerpt from George M. Cohan’s song “Over There”

America wasn’t supposed to get in the war. When the country finally did, it was to be a war “to end all wars,” to “make the world safe for democracy,” one in which, for once, the Allies would seek “peace without victory.” How powerful was the romantic and idealistic rhetoric of Woodrow Wilson, America’s historian and political scientist turned president. None of that came to pass, of course. No, just less than three years after the outbreak of the Great War in August 1914, the working classes of the United States would join those of Europe in a grinding, gruesome, attritional fight to the finish. In the end, some 116,000 Americans would die alongside about 9 million soldiers from the other belligerent nations.

https://www.truthdig.com/articles/american-history-for-truthdiggers-a-savage-war-to-end-all-wars-and-its-failed-peace/

This is the latest episode in Sjursen American history series…..I will no longer be posting daily but rather as the newest part is available….and if you have been slow on the uptick on this series then this will help the reader get caught up……

See: Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6; Part 7; Part 8; Part 9; Part 10; Part 11; Part 12; Part 13; Part 14; Part 15; Part 16; Part 17; Part 18; Part 19; Part 20; Part 21.

Learn Stuff!

Class Dismissed!

Death Does Not Take A Holiday!

Last week we celebrated a holiday….but for some the days were not all that for giving thanks……

Once again I have the same duty to announce yet another death of an American soldier in Afghanistan……

The U.S. service member killed in Afghanistan on Saturday has been identified as a 25-year-old U.S. Army Ranger from Washington state. Military officials confirmed in a statement Sunday that Sgt. Leandro Jasso, a member of the elite 75th Ranger Regiment, was killed by gunfire in southwest Afghanistan. The exact circumstances surrounding his death remain unclear. Jasso was said to be “mortally wounded by gunfire” during an operation against al-Qaeda in a remote area where U.S. forces are not known to carry out many operations. “The loss of Sgt. Jasso is felt by his family and loved ones, by all who served with him and by all on this mission to protect our country and our allies,” said General Austin Miller, the highest-ranking U.S. officer in Afghanistan. Jasso’s death, six years after he joined the Army in 2012, marks the 10th U.S. combat fatality in the war-torn nation in 2018 alone. The commander for Jasso’s battalion gave his condolences in a statement: “Sgt. Jasso was a humble professional who placed the mission first, lived the Ranger Creed and will be deeply missed.”

(Daily Beast)

SGT Leandro Jasso – Ranger KIA in Afghanistan

I wish there was no need for someone like me to report on every death but as long as we continue to fight endless wars in numerous nations there is a need for someone to report on the evdednts that most Americans are trying to forget.

Sgt. Leandro Jasso R.I.P.

Will Calmer Heads Prevail?

If Americans cannot be bothered to remember that our troops are fighting and dying in Afghanistan then anything happening in the Black Sea means nothing to them.

Image result for Ukraine images

But while we were choking down turkey day left-overs the region of Southern Europe moved a little closer to all out war…..

Tensions between Russia and Ukraine are once again soaring this weekend, with reports that Russia has seized three Ukrainian navy vessels off the coast of the Crimean Peninsula. Crimea is de facto under Russian control, but Ukraine considers it part of their territory.

Earlier in the day, Ukraine accused Russian ships of ramming their tugboat in the Sea of Azov and opened fire on the gunships, injuring two. Russia claims that the Ukrainian ships were illegally in Russian waters at the time, and that the Sea was closed for security reasons.

Ukraine, which has been talking up war with Russia for years, is quickly escalating, with the National Security and Defense Council planning a midnight session at which they intend to declare war on Russia, and will urge parliament to impose martial law across Ukraine, a vote which will happen Monday.

(antiwar.com)

Since we are moving closer to a bigger involvement amybe knowing a little more would be a help….

Like I said in the title…..will calmer heads prevail?

The interesting part will be how Our Dead Supreme Leader approaches the Supreme Leader of Russia at the G-20……any guesses which side he will choose?

We can hope they will but these days I am not so confident they will.

You?

American Policies In The Middle East

I have been following the policies of the US in the Middle East for decades…..and nothing has really changed in all that time….plus in the last two years these policies have become less visible than in the past…..

The policies after the end of the Cold War have changed little over the years…..

In the absence of strong American leadership, now spanning two administrations, the future of the region hinges on what local powers define as priorities, and how they go about trying to achieve them. Even if Washington decides to wake up, it will now find it far more difficult than in the past to assert itself.

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2018/11/where-us-middle-east/574747/

There are many actors in the Middle East but the US is only a minor player…

The Middle East’s geographical and strategic uniqueness has made every great power in history to seek to advance its interests in the region. Yet, the region constitutes the greatest single reserve of oil in the world, which has made it a regular source of foreign interference in the post-World War II era. In addition to its geographical and strategic uniqueness, the Middle East is the birthplace and spiritual center of the world’s three most important monotheistic religions. Due to its geopolitical importance, any inter- and intra-state conflict in the Middle East has the potential not only for destabilizing the region as a whole or upsetting the regional balance of power but also affecting global stability. After employing the Regional Security Complex Theory (RSCT) in order to define and delimit the region of the Middle East, the chapters of this book address the question of regional order, examine how regionalism and globalism feature in Middle Eastern integration processes, explore regional bids for hegemony, and investigate the approaches and policies of major international actors.

https://www.e-ir.info/publication/conflict-and-diplomacy-in-the-middle-east-external-actors-and-regional-rivalries/