Jesus , Bombs and Ice Cream

SKATEISTAN - To live and skate in Kabul

Wow...such a powerful short film. "The Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them. And they went on to another village." -Luke 9:56

Casualties of War

Army Men...the other side of the story.

The hell of war comes home. In July 2009 Colorado Springs Gazettea published a two-part series entitled “Casualties of War”. The articles focused on a single battalion based at Fort Carson in Colorado Springs, who since returning from duty in Iraq had been involved in brawls, beatings, rapes, drunk driving, drug deals, domestic violence, shootings, stabbings, kidnapping and suicides. Returning soldiers were committing murder at a rate 20 times greater than other young American males. A seperate investiagtion into the high suicide rate among veterans published in the New York Times in October 2010 revealed that three times as many California veterans and active service members were dying soon after returning home than those being killed in Iraq and Afghanistan combined. We hear little about the personal hell soldiers live through after returning home.

War on All

“Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country.”
— Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring, to interviewer Gustave Gilbert during the Easter recess of the Nürnberg trials, 18 April 1946.

“I’m fed up to the ears with old men dreaming up wars for young men to die in.”
-George McGovern

Article link

"The fire you kindle for your enemy often burns yourself more than them."
— Chinese proverb

There can never be peace between nations until there is first known that true peace which is within the souls of men.
-Black Elk

Bill Maher on Christians who celebrate the killing of Osama Bin Laden

New rule: if you’re a Christian who supports killing your enemies and torture, you have to come up with a new name for yourself.

Last week, as I was explaining why I didn’t feel at all guilty about Osama’s targeted assassination, I made some jokes about Christian hypocrisy and since then strangers have been coming up to me and forcing me to have the same conversation.

So let me explain two things. One, I’m not Matthew McConaughey. He surfs a long board.
And two, capping thine enemy is not exactly what Jesus would do. It’s what Suge Knight would do.

For almost 2,000 years, Christians have been lawyering the Bible to try and figure out how “love thy neighbor” can mean “hate thy neighbor” and how “turn the other cheek” can mean “screw you I’m buying space lasers.”

Martin Luther King gets to call himself a Christian because he actually practiced loving his enemies. And Ghandi was so f-----g Christian he was Hindu.

But if you rejoice in revenge, torture and war – hey, that’s why they call it the weekend – you cannot say you’re a follower of the guy who explicitly said, “love your enemies” and “do good to those who hate you.” The next line isn’t “and if that doesn’t work, send a titanium fanged dog to rip his nuts off.” Jesus lays on that hippie stuff pretty thick. He has lines like, “do not repay evil with evil,” and “do not take revenge on someone who wrongs you.” Really. It’s in that book you hold up when you scream at gay people.

And not to put too fine a point on it, but nonviolence was kind of Jesus’ trademark. Kind of his big thing. To not follow that part of it is like joining Greenpeace and hating whales.

There’s interpreting, and then there’s just ignoring.



It’s just ignoring if you’re for torture – as are more evangelical Christians than any other religion. You’re supposed to look at that figure of Christ on the cross and think, “how could a man suffer like that and forgive?” Not, “Romans are p-----s, he still has his eyes.”

If you go to a baptism and hold the baby under until he starts talking, you’re missing the message.

Like, apparently, our president, who says he gets scripture on his Blackberry first thing every morning, but who said on 60 Minutes that anyone who would question that Bin Laden didn’t deserve an assassination should, “have their head examined.” Hey Fox News! You missed a big headline; Obama thinks Jesus is nuts! To which I say, “hallelujah,” because my favorite new government program is surprising violent religious zealots in the middle of the night and shooting them in the face. Sorry Head Start, you’re number 2 now.

But I can say that because I’m a non-Christian.

Just like most Christians.


Christians, I know, I’m sorry, I know you hate this and you want to square this circle, but you can’t. I’m not even judging you, I’m just saying logically if you ignore every single thing Jesus commanded you to do, you’re not a Christian – you’re just auditing.

You’re not Christ’s followers, you’re just fans.

And if you believe the Earth was given to you to kick ass on while gloating, you’re not really a Christian – you’re a Texan.

Ron Paul at the South Carolina Republican Debate

"[Bin Laden] wasn't caught in Afghanistan. Nation-building in Afghanistan and telling those people how to live and getting involved in running their country hardly had anything to do with finding the information where he was being held in a country that we give billions of dollars of foreign aid to, at the same time we are bombing that country.
So it's the policy that is at fault. Not having the troops in Afghanistan wouldn't have hurt. We went to Afghanistan to get him, and he hasn't been there. Now that he's killed, boy, it is a wonderful time for this country now to reassess it, get the troops out of Afghanistan and end that war that hasn't helped us and hasn't helped anybody in the Middle East." -Ron Paul

The price tag on the first eleven days of the Pentagon’s military assault in Libya adds up to a staggering $550 million.

We are not youth any longer. We don’t want to take the world by storm. We are fleeing. We fly from ourselves. From our life. We were eighteen and had begun to love life and the world; and we had to shoot it to pieces. The first bomb, the first explosion, burst in our hearts. We are cut off from activity, from striving, from progress. We believe in such things no longer, we believe in war.
-All Quiet on the Western Front, Erich Maria Remarque

"A man who doesn’t know about war is likely the one who rushes into it"
-Somali Proverb

Just War...

"Churches must not defer to the president the decision on what constitutes a just war and what does not. If the church decides that a war is unjust, Christians should refuse to fight it. I think this is the most crucial issue facing the church in America today. If the just war theory is to mean anything at all, the church must not abdicate its just war decisions to the state."
-William Cavanaugh

Early Church writers on Christians being in the Military...

I post this, in response to someone asking me about what I think about Christians serving in the military. I submit material on this site to challenge us to think through our manner of living, look at the gospels, study Jesus and hopefully bring our lives into alignment with the truth and way of Jesus. Each of us as to figure out that path for ourselves. I am trying to do that...and I don't have all the answers...but I am searching. In that search, I need to be willing to read and study historical positions, contrary opinions and the testimonies of those who are in the military, have served or have chosen not to join. It's not an easy endeavor...avoiding it would save me a lot of trouble. But I feel a particular purpose in it all that I cannot escape...so I continue to press on and attempt to live into the message of peace. I know posts like this will either help or hurt...I only hope that the Spirit will guide that process for His own purposes and glory.


-ARNOBIUS (300 A.D.)
"Addressing himself to the pagans, he says: "Since We...(christians) have received (it) from his (Christ’s) teachings and laws, that evil ought not to be repaid with evil, that it is better to endure a wrong than to inflict (it), to shed one’s own (blood) rather than to stain one’s hands and conscience with the blood of another, the ungrateful world has long been receiving a benefit from Christ...But if absolutely all...were willing to lend an ear for a little while to his healthful and peaceful decrees, and would not, swollen with pride and arrogance, trust to their own senses rather than to his admonitions, the whole world would long ago have turned the uses of iron to milder works and be living in the softest tranquillity, and would have come together in healthy concord...’

CYPRIANUS (250 A.D.):
"Homicide is a crime when individuals commit it, (but) it is called a virtue, when it is carried on publicly.

IRENAEUS (180 A.D.)
"For the Christians have changed their swords and their lances into instruments of peace, and they know not how to fight

JUSTINUS (150 A.D.)
"Justinus told the Emperors that the Christians were the best allies and helpers they had in promoting peace, on the ground that their belief in future punishment and in the omniscience of God provided a stronger deterrent from wrongdoing than any laws could do." "We who hated and slew one another, and because of (differences in) customs would not share a common hearth with those who were not of our tribe, now, after the appearance of Christ, have become sociable, and pray for our enemies, and try to persuade those who hate (us) unjustly, in order that they, living according to the good suggestions of Christ, may share our hope of obtaining the same (reward) from God who is Master of all." "And we who formerly slew one another not only do not make war against our enemies, but, for the sake of not telling lies or deceiving those who examine us, we gladly die confessing Christ."

JUSTIN MARTYR (150 A.D.)
"That the prophecy is fulfilled, you have good reason to believe, for we, who in times past killed one another, do not now fight with our enemies."26 "We, who had been filled with war and mutual slaughter and every wickedness, have each one-all the world over-changed the instruments of war, the swords into plows and the spears into farming implements, and we cultivate piety, righteousness, love for men, faith, (and) the hope which is from Father Himself through the Crucified One."

LACTANTIUS (300 A.D.)
"Lactantius also, in his Divine Institutes, again and again alludes to the prevalence of war as one of the greatest blots on the history and morals of humanity. Speaking of the Romans, he says: ‘Truly, the more men they have afflicted, despoiled, (and) slain, the more noble and renowned do they think themselves; and, captured by the appearance of empty glory, they give the name of excellence of their crimes...If any one has slain a single man, he is regarded as contaminated and wicked, nor do they think I right that he should be admitted to this earthly dwelling of the gods. But he who has slaughtered endless thousands of men, deluged the fields with blood, (and) infected rivers (with it), is admitted not only to a temple, but even to heaven.’ "In criticizing the definition of virtue as that which puts first the advantages of one’s own country, (he says): ‘All which things are certainly not virtues, but the overthrowing of virtues. For, in the first place, the connection of human society is taken away; for justice cannot bear the cutting asunder of the human race, and wherever arms glitter, she must be put to flight and banished...For how can he be just, who injures, hates, despoils, kills? And those who strive to be of advantage to their country (in this way) do all these things.’ "If God alone were worshipped, there would not be dissentions and wars; for men would know that they are sons of the one God, and so joined together by the sacred and inviolable bond of divine kinship; there would be no plots, for they would know what sort of punishments God has prepared for those who kill living beings."28 "And so it will not be lawful for a just man to serve as a soldier-for justice itself is his military service-... And so, in this it is always wrong to kill a man whom God has wished to be a sacrosanct creature."29 "There cannot be a thousand exceptions to God’s commandments: Thou shalt not kill. No arm save truth should be carried by Christians."

ORIGENES (240 A.D.)
This great Alexandrian scholar took occasion to defend early Christian pacifism in his rebuttal to "A True Discourse," which was a attack on he Christian community by the heathen philosopher Celsus, written in 178 A.D. Arguments of Celsus: "Towards the close of his treatise, Celsus dealt with the customary refusal of the Christians to serve in the Imperial legions and to hold public office. He was concerned for the safety of the Empire in the face of the attacks of the barbarian tribes of central Europe. And, indignant though he was at what he regarded as the selfish lack of patriotism on the part of the Christians, he mingled appeals with his reproaches, and begged them to abandon their fanaticism and take their share in the common task of defending the civilization of the Empire from destruction."32 "(Celsus) not only exhorts the Christians to take part in civil government, but ‘urges us to help the Emperor with all (our) strength, and to labor with him (in maintaining) justice, and to fight for him and serve as soldiers with him, if he requires (it), and to share military command (with him).’" Reply to Celsus by Origenes. First, in replying to the objection that, if all did the same as the Christians, the Emperor would be deserted, and the Empire would fall a prey to the barbarians, Origenes says: "On this supposition" (that all did the same as himself and took no part in war...) "the Emperor would not be left alone or deserted, nor would the world’s affairs fall into the hands of the most lawless and savage barbarians. For if, as Celsus says, a; ; were to do the same as I do, clearly the barbarians also, coming to the Word of God, would be most law-abiding and mild; and every religious worship would be abolished, and that alone of the Christians would hold sway, the Word ever taking possession of more (and more) souls." "How much more (reasonable it is that), when others are serving in the army, these (Christians) should do their military service as priests and servants of God...And we, (in) putting down by our prayers all demons-those who stir up warlike feelings...and disturb the peace-help the Emperors more than those, who, to all appearance, serve as soldiers. We labor with (him) in the public affairs-(we) who offer up prayers with righteousness...And we fight for the Emperor more (than others do:) we do serve as soldiers on his behalf, training a private army of piety by means of intercessions to the Deity."33 "It is noteworthy that both Celsus and Origenes write here as if the refusal to serve in the army was not the universal attitude of the Christians. We know that this was not quite the case...(after 170 A.D.). Still the language of these two writers is significant as showing what, at both their dates (178 and 248 A.D.) was understood by well-informed persons to be the normal Christian view and practice."34 "Origenes happily lays great stress on the positive service which he claims is diviner, more needful, and more effective than that of the soldier or magistrate...Of this service, he specifies two forms: (a) Intercessory prayer, which he rightly regards as exceedingly effective when coming from Christians: this prayer is that the Emperor and those associated with him may be successful in their efforts , in so far as their purposes are righteous. (b) Influence for good over other by the activities of the Church and the power of Christian life, ‘educating the citizens and teaching them to be devout towards...God’... and working effectually for their moral and spiritual salvation."35 "To those who ask us whence we have come or whom we have (for) a leader, we say that we have come in accordance with the counsels of Jesus to cut down our warlike and arrogant swords of argument into plowshares, and we convert into sickles the spears we formerly used in fighting. For we no longer take ‘sword against a nation,’ nor do we learn any more to make war, having become sons of peace for the sake of Jesus, who is our leader, instead of (following) the ancestral (customs)." "He points out that God united he warring nations of the earth under the rule of Augustus, in order that by he suppression of war the spread of the gospel might be facilitated: for ‘how’ he asks, ‘would it have been possible for this peaceful teaching, which does not allow (its adherents) even to defend themselves against (their) enemies, to prevail, unless at the coming of Jesus the (affairs) of the world had everywhere changed into a milder (state)?’ Later he says: ‘If a revolt had been the cause of the Christians’ combining, and if they had derived their origin from the Jews, to whom it was allowed to take arms on behalf of their families and to destroy their enemies, the Lawgiver of (the) Christians would not have altogether forbidden (the) destruction of man, teaching that the deed of daring (on the part) of his own disciples against a man, however unrighteous he be, is never right-for he did not deem it becoming to his own divine legislation to allow the destruction of any man whatever.’"36 "And the reason why Christians avoid the public services of earthly life is not because they want to evade them, but because they are reserving themselves for the more Divine ad more needful service of the Church of God, taking the lead-at once needfully and righteously-in the salvation of men, and being concerned for all men..."37

TERTULLIANUS (210 A.D.)
"You must confess that the prophecy has been accomplished, as far as the practice of every individual is concerned, to whom I is applicable."38 "...the new law pointed to clemency, and changed the former savagery of swords and lances into tranquillity, and refashioned the former infliction of war upon rivals and foes of the law into the peaceful acts of plow and cultivating the earth. And so...the new law...has shown forth in acts of peaceful obedience." Dealing specifically with the question of military service, Tertullianus writes (in his Apology:) "(The question) also concerning military service, which is concerned both with rank and power, might seem (to have been) definitely settled in that (last) chapter. But now the question is asked on what (very point), whether a believer may turn to military service, and whether the military-at least the rank and file, or (say) all the inferior (grades), who are under no necessity of (offering) sacrifices or (padding) capital sentences-may be admitted to the faith. There is no congruity between the divine and human ‘sacramentum,’ the sign of Christ and the sign of the devil, the camp of light and the camp of darkness: one soul cannot be owed to two, God and Caesar. And (yet, some Christians say), Moses carried a rod, and Aaron (wore) a buckle, and John was girt with a leather belt (the allusions are to various items in the Roman soldier’s equipment), and Joshua...led a line of march, and the people waged war-if it is your pleasure to sport (with the subject). But how will (a Christian) make war-nay, how will he serve as a soldier in peace (time) -without the sword which the Lord has taken away? For, although soldiers had come to John and received the form of a rule, although also a centurion had believed, (yet) the Lord afterwards, in disarming Peter, ungirded every soldier. No dress is lawful among us which is assigned to an unlawful action." (The military oath asks too much of a man who owes his allegiance to Christ.)39 In other work, (De Corona Militis) , written in 211 A.D., Tertullianus writes: "Do we believe that...(a Christian) may (give a promise in) answer to another master after Christ...? Will it be lawful for him to occupy himself with the sword, when the Lord declares that he who uses the sword will perish by the sword? And shall the son of peace, for whom it will be unfitting even to go to law, be engaged in a battle? and shall he, who is not the avenger even of his own wrongs, administer chains and imprisonment and tortures and executions? Shall he now go on guard for another more than for Christ, or (shall he do it) on the Lord’s Day, when (he does) not (do it even) for Christ? And shall he keep watch before temples, which he has renounced? And shall he carry a flag, too, that is a rival to Christ? And shall he ask for a watchword from his chief, when he has already received one from God? And (when he is) dead, shall he be disturbed by the bugler’s trumpet-he who expects to be roused by the trumpet of the Angel?...(and) how many other sins can be seen (to belong) to the functions of camp (life) -(sins) which must be explained as transgressions (of God’s law)...If the faith comes subsequently to any (who are) already occupied in military service...when faith has been accepted and signed, either the service must be left at once, as has been done by many, or else to resolve to endure death for God...Faith knows not the meaning of the word ‘compulsion.’"40 Commenting on these forceful views of Tertullianus, Cadoux says: "It is a mistake to regard Tertullianus as an individual dissenter from the Church as a whole on this question of whether Christians ought to serve in the army or not...When we consider these views...agree with the testimony of Origenes and the oldest Church-Orders as to the normal Christian practice in the earliest part of the third century, and were apparently endorsed by so representative a churchman as his own fellow countrymen and admirer Cyprianus, we shall hardly be inclined to believe that at this time he was voicing the opinion of a minority of Christians, still less that he represented the views of a mere handful of fanatical extremists."

"There were certain features of military life which could not have failed to thrust themselves on a Christian’s notice as presenting, to say the least, great ethical difficulty. The shedding of blood on the battlefield, the passing of death sentences by officers and the execution of them by common soldiers, the judicial infliction of scourging, torture, and crucifixion, the unconditional military oath...the average behavior of soldiers in peacetime, and other idolatrous and offensive customs-all of these would constitute in combination an exceedingly powerful deterrent against any Christian joining the army on his own initiative."43

$6 billion a month...

What will it take to get policy-makers' attention to the fact that the war isn't making us safer and isn't worth the cost?

The worst year for U.S. troop deaths ever so far in the war? Check.
The worst year for civilian casualties? Check.
The highest annual cost of the war so far? Check.

We could throw in 9 percent unemployment at home, an economic crisis, and deficit hysteria at home as well. There's simply no justification for continuing to spend almost $6 billion a month on a futile, brutal war while cutting programs that keep people from freezing in the winter. (read the article here)

Violence ends by defeating itself

“Violence as a way of achieving racial justice is both impractical and immoral. It is impractical because it is a descending spiral ending in destruction for all. The old law of an eye for an eye leaves everybody blind. It is immoral because it seeks to humiliate the opponent rather than win his understanding; it seeks to annihilate rather than to convert. Violence is immoral because it thrives on hatred rather than love. It destroys a community and makes brotherhood impossible. It leaves society in monologue rather than dialogue. Violence ends by defeating itself. It creates bitterness in the survivors and brutality in the destroyers”
- Dr. Martin Luther King

Military Spending increases to all new highs....

Will the spending ever end?

Confusing numbers....

The war in Afghanistan, with civilian and military casualties at record highs, has become the longest war in the US history.

Military operations have inflicted over USD 100 million in damages on public property in southern Afghanistan.

The majority of voters believed the US should not be involved in Afghanistan.
The support level in the survey has dropped to 41 percent, which is well below the peak of 59 percent a year ago. (link)

Why does this not seem true in day to day life in America? This reinforces my post on MLK Jr Day. If we even have the numbers behind the message...why no MESSAGE????

Unbelievable...

Pentagon: Martin Luther King Jr. Would've Supported Our Wars (article)

Should Christians swear an 'Oath of Allegiance'...?

The "Oath of Allegiance"that must be taken by all immigrants who wish to become United States citizens:

"I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen; that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I will bear arms on behalf of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform noncombatant service in the Armed Forces of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform work of national importance under civilian direction when required by the law; and that I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; so help me God."

In the fall of 2003 the United States Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services planned to change the oath of citizenship to:

'Solemnly, freely, and without mental reservation, I hereby renounce under oath all allegiance to any foreign state. My fidelity and allegiance from this day forward is to the United States of America. I pledge to support, honor, and be loyal to the United States, its Constitution, and its laws. Where and if lawfully required, I further commit myself to defend the Constitution and laws of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic, either by military, noncombatant, or civilian service. This I do solemnly swear, so help me God.'

But that change didn't end up happening. I read this yesterday during our planning of a potential 'citizenship class' in the Spring for refugees planning to take the test for citizenship. I am not sure how the refugees from Burma will think about such language, especially since many are here with an underlying hope to return and very deep seated nationalistic convictions regarding their homeland, Burma and the traditions and culture of the KaRen people.

But, then I too felt weird listening to the language in this 'oath' and thought about Jesus's words in Matthew 5:33-37:

“Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not break your oath, but fulfill to the Lord the vows you have made.’ But I tell you, do not swear an oath at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. All you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.

There are many aspects to being an earthly citizen that seem to me to contradict one's citizenship in Heaven. Figuring out how to live as you should with such pressures is a difficult part of following the Jesus of the gospels. I know that most of all this kind of stuff is ignored or minimized in most Christian circles but there are moments when I truly wonder if we are calling people to the true gospel or have simply passed on an Americanized version of a civic faith that is rooted more in the values and traditions of American culture than the way of Jesus.

U.S. keeps funneling money to troubled Afghan projects

"The job we gave USAID was ridiculous: Build the nation," said T.X. Hammes, a retired Marine Corps officer and senior research fellow at the Center for Strategic Research, National Defense University. "The U.S. has made a huge assumption that counterinsurgency and nation building are applicable for Afghanistan. More and more evidence shows that it's not true." (full article)

Wresting With Demons...

He was in the army. Then he realized that, as a Christian, he couldn't kill. An Iraq vet grapples with conscience and war.
By Logan Mehl-Laituri

"In January 2010, the number of soldiers who committed suicide exceeded the number of soldiers killed by enemy fire in Iraq and Afghanistan combined....Moral Injury...is the "lasting psychological, biological, spiritual, behavioral, and social impact of perpetrating, failing to prevent, or bearing witness to acts that transgress deeply held moral beliefs and expectations." Read the whole article: here

A moral conscience...

This picture shows a young German soldier walking to his own death. A death by execution conducted by his own brothers in arms

Jospeh Schultz was a German soldier on the Eastern Front. On the 20th of July 1941, he along with seven of his brothers in arms were sent out on what they thought to be a routine mission. After a short march they soon understood that they were on a quite different mission than what they were used to: Ahead of them, they saw fourteen captured local civilians who were blindfolded , positioned up against a wall. The 8 soldiers in Schultz platoon were halted 10-15 meters away, and an NCO ordered them to execute every one of the civilian. Seven of the soldiers took aim, and in the silence that followed you could only hear the sound of a rifle beeing dropped. Jospeh Schultz disobeyed a direct order, dropped his rifle and walked slowly towards the 14 civilians which only heard cautious footsteps in the grass infront of them. The young Schultz positioned himself together with the soon-to-be executed civilians, and choosed death instead of killing hopeless civilians. A few seconds later 14 civilians and 1 German soldier laid dead in the grass. He was executed by his own brothers in arms by order of the NCO.

This action shows that its actually possible to do evil things. Its possible to be a free-thinking morally human-being no matter what is happening around you. But, no other of his 7 brothers in arms followed his example. It was no revolt. No large-scale deserting. This is no hero-story. Neither a story about a victim. No-one was saved by Joseph Schultz action. Everyone were shot. Everyone plus one more. But he was a moral example. He refused to fire because its wrong to fire. It was no different on how many that were shot. But it was a difference to him. And to us.

Afghan girls and education...

Afghan girls attend school on February 16, 2009 in the village of Sandarwa in eastern Afghanistan. Women's education has been severely compromised in Afghanistan as a resurgent Taliban has practiced a policy of intimidation of female students. Women, who make up a significant proportion of Afghanistan's population, have been killed, burned and threatened for attending school

Heroin & Heroes....

Afghanistan accounts for more than 90 per cent of the world's heroin supply. Its annual opium harvest is worth up to $3 billion, or almost half the country's official gross domestic product. Profits from heroin fund the Taliban, along with corrupt Afghan officials who profit from it.

Our selfishness will save soldiers lives...

"We must...stop wasting American blood and treasure on misguided military interventions designed to drag Muslim Arabs and Afghans through the Renaissance, the Reformation, the Enlightenment, the French Revolution and the Industrial Revolution in the space of a few years, at gunpoint."
-Short article, kick in the gut analysis.

My response to Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers

Here is my congresswoman's letter in response to me writing her about cutting out of control Military spending:

Dear Eric,

Thank you for contacting me regarding the defense budget. It is an honor to represent the people of Eastern Washington and I appreciate you taking the time to share your thoughts with me.

First and foremost, I want to thank the brave members of our Armed Services and their families who sacrifice so much on a daily basis to protect the freedoms we enjoy everyday. Like you, I believe we need to spend our tax dollars wisely. Keeping our nation safe is one of my top priorities. To that end, I believe we need to give our military the resources they need to maintain a superior defense program. Be assured that should this issue come before me in Congress, I will keep your thoughts in mind as they are debated on the House floor.

Thanks again for contacting me on this important issue. As your Representative in Congress, I am committed to putting the best interests of Eastern Washington first. I invite you to visit my website at www.mcmorrisrodgers.house.gov for additional information or to sign up to be kept up to date on these issues. Please do not hesitate to contact my office if I can be of further assistance.


Best Wishes,
Cathy McMorris Rodgers
Member of Congress


And here is my response to her letter:


Mrs. Cathy McMorris Rodgers,

First and foremost, I too support our soldiers and I believe that writing members of congress, challenging the issues of policy and exercising free speech are not anti-troop actions but are historical and foundational principles of a healthy democracy. The act of challenging the bankrupting of our country through unparalleled military spending and an ever increasing build up of arms, does support our troops and it saves their lives in the long run.

Upon receiving yet another ‘form letter’ from one of your tax funded administrators, I find myself stewing in the disillusionment that is fermenting among those who feel that we have lost the true heart of representative government. The general malaise of political disinterest in our day to day life is often the result of seeing the pointlessness of trying to engage a system that nods it’s head to the voter and taxpayer but in reality is motivated by other bigger, stronger and wealthier voices.

You stated in your letter that the freedoms I enjoy today are the result of the lives and deaths of American soldiers fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq. Could you please document the facts behind that statement? It sounds more like a political quip that is meant to derail thoughtful debate before anyone can even begin to lay out the argument.

In my understanding, its the Constitution and Bill of Rights that entitle me to the freedoms we hold in this country...not the killing of other people.

The U.S. will spend more on the war in Afghanistan this year, adjusting for inflation, than we spent on the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, the Mexican-American War, the Civil War and the Spanish-American War combined. The United States also spends nearly as much on military power as every other country in the world combined, plus we maintain troops at more than 800 bases around the world! How you can justify that kind of draining economic behemoth under the guise of running as a ‘fiscal conservative’ escapes me.

You are the only Republican that I didn’t vote for in the last election and one of the reasons is your apparent disconnect on this issue. Military spending and policy affects far more areas of national life than it used too. The people of Eastern Washington are looking to our elected members of Congress for true leadership to move out of the problems that we are suffering from as a nation. Maintaining the party line, enabling out of control deficit spending to take place, playing the bait and switch game with military spending cuts and then hiding behind a series of military supporting platitudes doesn’t convince me of the legitimacy of your statement that you are “looking out for the interests of the people of this district.”

These failed policies have led to the death of many service men and women in this state, for which I hold your voting record culpable, there is no other way around that fact. Ending the needless deaths of our fellow Americans is the kind of leadership that I desire to see you exercise.

As my representative in congress, I implore you as a member of the House Armed Services Committee to leverage your position to save the lives of soldiers from Eastern Washington, put an end to unrestrained military spending and truly reflect the will of 63% of American people who do not support the war in Afghanistan.

Sincerely,

Eric Blauer
Spokane, WA.

How the Military cuts spending...what a joke.

This is a prime example of how Washington cuts spending...below is the punchline, but the article has to be read to fully feel the impact of the bait and switch that all of this is. I just can't understand why we can't operate with the same type of economic slipperiness as our Government does?

"The $78 billion in defense cuts are separate from $100 billion in "efficiencies" identified by the Pentagon. The $100 billion will be reinvested into other Pentagon programs and will not result in spending cuts; the $78 billion will be cut from the Pentagon's budget over a five-year period beginning in the 2012 fiscal year. Because the Pentagon originally projected budget increases for these years, the cuts won't mean that the Pentagon's budget will shrink in total dollar terms -- only that the rate of growth will slow. The fiscal year beginning this year will see a base Pentagon budget of $553 billion, up from $549 billion last year." -article

63% oppose the War in Afghanistan...

Sixty-three percent of people questioned in the poll say they oppose the war, with 35 percent saying they support the U.S. mission in Afghanistan. (link)

Reflecting on Restrepo....

I've thought a lot about the documentary "Restrepo" that I watched on New Years Eve. You can search and read a lot of great reviews out there that explain and expound on why this is a war film that is worth watching, so I won't link to them. But as I reflect on the movie a few things stand out.

One was how I have been conditioned for violence, particularly viewing it. I found myself a bit frustrated that the film wasn't showing the horror and gore of battle. Something that we are often shown in most war movies. On one hand I think this is good, after watching "The Pacific" those that served in that theater of conflict gained my highest respect. The pure hell of it was captured in that series that left me wondering how anyone could see such a depiction of war and ever sign up for the possibility of being in such a conflict. So the horror sometimes awakens us to the pain and suffering of others and could influence us in our choices.

But the other thing was that I think there is a odd glamorizing of it all that conditions us to kinda 'thirst' for it. Maybe the whole 'colosseum' thing...a blood lust that cultivates a hunger to see more and more extreme examples of killing or desperation. It was something that was strange for me...feeling a bit 'bored' by the lack of 'action' or at least the one-sided view of it...bullets being fired...but not seeing whom they are hitting. Even one of the soldiers in the film complained about not being able to 'see the faces' of those he was killing.

The film relied upon the faces and voices of the soldiers stories more than visual carnage and even though I shared the thoughts above, don't think that it doesn't work, because it does. There are moments where you see that war...shapes a soul like nothing else. There are stares and pauses in the interviews that feel like eternity. The emotion captured in brief moments was petrifying.

The scene where the Sargent is killed during 'Rock Avalanche' and the film captures the shock and grief of a few of the soldiers is forever imprinted on my psyche. That moment was brutal, heart-wrentching and one of the most raw moments captured of human pain.

One other part that has left me mulling over the film, was watching the attempts to woo Afghan hill folk with 'getting rich, projects and progress'...by the soldiers attempting to gain security and information. The whole perception of 'Nation Building' and 'Helping' felt exposed in the jockeying for terrorists. Those boys were there to kill bad guys not educate the dirty, toothless herdsmen that were cutting off heads of their fellow soldiers in videos. Seeing the meetings where they were attempting to build a sense of solidarity through bribery and bullying was pathetic. Not that the soldiers were pathetic...but the point of it all seemed so utterly foolish. Making some grunt have to feign compassion or humanitarian aspirations in order to flush out some enemy combatants was a really hard part of the film for me to process. The thinness of it all was exposed through those moments of the film.

But one of things that has stuck with me the most, and was the same with the Pacific, was at the very end when the small print comes across the screen that tell us that: fifty soldiers lost their lives fighting in the Korengal Valley, yet the US military withdrew from it in April 2010.

After all of that courage, suffering and loss...we withdrew.

The futility of it all was so hard to process...and I still don't quite know how someone can deal with that. How does a mother or a wife or a sister process that her loved one was killed trying to 'take' a pieces of a hillside and then the whole thing is abandoned.

After watching the film my respect for our soldiers was yet again raised and yet, my resolve to see such nobel actions wasted on foreign policies that do not warrant such heroic loss was reinforced.

The Sal Giunta Story...

The Sal Giunta Story from SebastianJunger/TimHetherington on Vimeo.

This is one of the soldiers in the Restrepo movie who received a medal of honor for his part in operation Avalanche. This is what true manhood is all about..courage and humility.

RESTREPO is a feature-length documentary that chronicles the deployment of a platoon of U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan's Korengal Valley. The movie focuses on a remote 15-man outpost, "Restrepo," named after a platoon medic who was killed in action. It was considered one of the most dangerous postings in the U.S. military. This is an entirely experiential film: the cameras never leave the valley; there are no interviews with generals or diplomats. The only goal is to make viewers feel as if they have just been through a 90-minute deployment. This is war, full stop. The conclusions are up to you.

Unhappy the land where heroes are needed.
-Galileo, in Brecht's Life of Galileo (1943)

General, your tank is a powerful vehicle.
It smashes down forests and crushes a hundred men.
But it has one defect: it needs a driver."-Bertolt Brecht

A letter from Ron Kovic to young veterans and GIs...

"Those of us lucky enough to have survived combat yearn for life now, for beauty, for all that is decent and good, for in war we saw the worst in the human being. We saw poverty and death, killing and savagery, the darkest sides of the human soul, the most hated parts of our humanity." -Ron Kovic, author of 'Born on the 4th of July", read the article: here