The horror is that the US soldiers were playing video games with live people. You can tell from their commentary that they were having fun by killing these unsuspecting people walking along the street. They enjoyed killing the father who stopped to help and shooting up his vehicle with the two small children inside.What Roberts is referring to is the "Collateral Murder" video released by WikiLeaks. In said video -- which is very disturbing -- two photographers with their cameras swung over their shoulders were mistakenly identified as men toting guns. In all, 12 - 15 INNOCENT people were gunned down.
~ from The Outlook for the New Year by Dr. Paul Craig Roberts ~
As you listen to the soldiers discussing the "situation," it doesn't sound all that different from teenaged boys playing a video game! It's all about wracking up points with little regard for the lives being snuffed out.
If this video was of foreign soldiers killing unarmed Americans -- say "insurgents" from Iraq, Afghanistan or Pakistan -- the US leadership would be incredulous. We would demand swift and brutal justice. Our president would go on TV to announce a new offensive aimed at smashing the resistance and Congress would immediately give the president whatever he asked for.
But since this case involved US military personnel killing innocent people, nothing was or has been done. No charges have been brought. We're told that the dead -- including the children -- were terrorists or that, in a war zone, unfortunate "mistakes" will happen. Most Americans simply shrug their shoulders and get back to focusing on the latest celebrity gossip!
Before the invasion of Iraq, I told a friend who is a heavy gamer that I was opposed to the war in part because a lot of people would get killed.
ReplyDeleteHe told me not to worry since "we" were unlikely to suffer many casualties. I clarified that I was referring to the Iraqi civilians who would die. He looked at me like I was an idiot and said, "They don't count. They're just civilians".
Later on, as events unfolded, I got the impression that for him, the whole war was like a video game he got to watch on Fox News.
I was going to point our that it is "racking" up points, which it is, but "wracking" is a nice double entendre (as in, wrack and ruin) that you may or may not have intended.
ReplyDelete...point "out"..I made that typo and take full responsibility, blaming neither my sticky keyboard or my ragged fingernail.
ReplyDelete