As the preeminent international service organization of the United States, the Peace Corps sends Americans abroad to tackle the most pressing needs of people around the world. Peace Corps Volunteers work at the grassroots level toward sustainable change that lives on long after their service—at the same time becoming global citizens and serving their country. When they return home, Volunteers bring their knowledge and experiences—and a global outlook—that enriches the lives of those around them.

 black321 wrote: 

There are times that arise though seldom where military action is not only necessary, but the right thing to do in a humanitarian context.  I believe this to be one of those times.

Interesting themes on the authorized Iraq strikes in the "comment" sections of the two financial news sites.  WSJ: "Obama, worst president ever, and a Muslim lover willing to sacrifice Jews and Christians."  Financial Times, a bit more rational discussion, but central theme - "We are only interested now because of the threat to oil fields."

The Enduring Myth of Hiroshima | John LaForge
On Aug. 6, 1945, the United States dropped the first atomic bomb on a populated area, the Japanese city of Hiroshima,  followed by a second on Nagasaki three days later. There then ensued a U.S. propaganda campaign to claim the slaughter of more than 200,000 people saved lives.

Vonnegut on Nagasaki | John LaForge

 
Nuclear weapons lab employee fired after publishing scathing critique of the arms race
Los Alamos lets a 17-year employee go after retroactively classifying his published article

Iraq: The War Card

As part of its investigation into the false statements made by top Bush administration officials leading up to the Iraq war, the Center for Public Integrity has just released an interactive database where you can search who said what, when.

Iraq: The War Card (Photo: Center for Public Integrity)

The Center examined every public pronouncement by President Bush and seven top officials on the existence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and on the links between Iraq and Al Qaeda. They concluded that eight individuals — President George W. Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, Secretary of State Colin Powell, National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz and White House Press Secretaries Ari Fleischer and Scott McClellan — made 935 false statements from September 11, 2001 to September 11, 2003.

Who had the biggest problem with the truth? That honor goes to President Bush, who made 232 false statements about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and 28 false statements about Iraq’s connections with Al Qaeda. The runner-up, Colin Powell, made 244 false statements about weapons of mass destruction and 10 about Al Qaeda links.

Search the interactive 935 Iraq War false statements database by clicking on an individual’s photo to see a timeline, as well as the statements in full.

 kurtster wrote: 
I'm pretty sure some (small) gaps can be found...

 RichardPrins wrote: 
Pray tell, exactly when the endless war stopped in the first place ?

Slippery slope ?    Shit howdy, you are really naive to think that the slippery slope is still in play.
(no offense meant ... just sayin')

We already are at the bottom.  We have been off of it for some time now. 

Military Experts: Killer Drones Will Trigger 'Slippery Slope' into Endless War | Common Dreams

The embrace of killer drones by the United States government is likely to increase anti-U.S. sentiment, erode national sovereignty and trigger a "slippery slope" into endless war, a prominent military and intelligence panel warned in a new report published Thursday.

(...) The seemingly low-risk and low-cost missions enabled by UAV technologies may encourage the United States to fly such missions more often, pursuing targets with UAVs that would be deemed not worth pursuing if manned aircraft or special operation forces had to be put at risk.

UAVs also create an escalation risk insofar as they may lower the bar to enter a conflict, without increasing the likelihood of a satisfactory outcome. (...)

Citing the failure on the part of the American government to carry out a thorough analysis weighing the costs and benefits of continuing their drone war, the report concedes: “There is no indication that a U.S. strategy to destroy Al Qaeda has curbed the rise of Sunni Islamic extremism, deterred the establishment of Shia Islamic extremist groups or advanced long-term U.S. security interests." (...)

From Valor to Squalor
When Johnny Comes Marching Home
by Rev. WILLIAM E. ALBERTS

I was raised in a family with a proud military history going back to the Civil War. My father carried on that proud tradition by joining the Army in World War I and serving in France—and afterwards he became a lifelong member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars. My three older brothers followed in his footsteps in World War II, also in the Army, and Air Force, serving in war zones. And right out of high school, I followed them, joining the Navy and becoming a signalman on a destroyer escort, accompanying a baby aircraft carrier patrolling for German submarines in the North Atlantic. Our parents proudly displayed a banner in their window, with four stars on it representing four sons serving their country, overseas. Upon our discharge, we, like millions of other veterans, took advantage of certain benefits, which was how my college tuition, and that of countless other GIs, was paid. There is a radically different reality today.

When Johnny comes marching home now, his reality changes from valor to squalor. Johnny’s soldier descendants are lauded for dutifully and bravely fighting to spread democracy and protect our freedom, when, in reality, they are serving the political and corporate ruling elites’ imperialistic goals of conquest and plunder. Once they have given their all and served their purpose, they are discarded—like empty shell casings.

Their reality is seen in bipartisan politicians creating a deficit of trillions of dollars to fund the unlawful wars of choice against Afghanistan and Iraq, and then failing to anticipate and provide adequate care for the large number of wounded veterans returning home.  The long delays and cover-ups in treating veterans at the Phoenix VA medical center and elsewhere indicate that no soldiers are left behind—until they come home.  Never mind that there would be no need for such extensive medical care for “wounded warriors” if former President George W. Bush and his vice president Dick Cheney– and their neocon advisors—had not launched these unnecessary, illegal pre-emptive wars.

Criminal wars take a lot of “valor.”  A patriotic pedestal is created to seduce fighting age Americans—with their parents’ blessings—to sacrifice themselves on the altar of American imperialism.  Tragically, many are led to believe, “My country, right and wronged.”  Thus former president Bush could turn the meaning of the horrible 9/11 attacks inside out in repeatedly saying of the attackers, “They are evildoers who hate our freedoms.”  In reality, many people in the world hate our government precisely because of US policies that interfere with their freedom, which finally led to the 9/11 attacks. (...)

Good God y'all...What is it good for?

'Friendly fire' kills five American service members in Afghanistan

Conscientious objectors: men who fought a different kind of battle | Life | The Guardian
As the centenary of the first world war approaches, men who chose not to fight because of their pacifist principles will also be remembered by their families. Joanna Moorhead meets the descendants of three 'conchies'

More details have come to light showing how the U.S. military infiltrated and spied on a community of antiwar activists in the state of Washington. Democracy Now! first broke this story in 2009 when it was revealed that an active member of Students for a Democratic Society and Port Militarization Resistance was actually an informant for the U.S. military. The man everyone knew as "John Jacob" was in fact John Towery, a member of the Force Protection Service at Fort Lewis. He also spied on the Industrial Workers of the World and Iraq Veterans Against the War. A newly made public email written by Towery reveals the Army informant was building a multi-agency spying apparatus. The email was sent from Towery using his military account to the FBI, as well as the police departments in Los Angeles, Portland, Eugene, Everett and Spokane. He wrote, "I thought it would be a good idea to develop a leftist/anarchist mini-group for intel sharing and distro." Meanwhile, evidence has also emerged that the Army informant attempted to entrap at least one peace activist, Glenn Crespo, by attempting to persuade him to purchase guns and learn to shoot. We speak to Crespo and his attorney Larry Hildes, who represents all the activists in the case.

This is the first paragraph from Roger Ebert's review of the film "Mother Night"

When Kurt Vonnegut, then in the U.S. Army, was being held in a German prison camp, he was asked by his guards why he was not fighting for the Germans—since he had a German name. Vonnegut later confessed in his introduction to his novel, Mother Night, “If I'd been born in Germany, I suppose I would have been a Nazi.” It is easy to lose sight of the fact that almost all of us take the side of that country where we are born or that tribe we are born into; for every person who takes sides for ethical reasons, a thousand or more take sides because of accidents of geography or birth.

bolded text is mine.

war is insanity. period. 

Australian Troops Kill Six-Year-Old Boy, Father in Afghan Night Raid — News from Antiwar.com

Australian troops have been implicated in the killing of a six-year-old Afghan boy and his father during a night raid in the Uruzgan Province three weeks ago. The two were in the house next door to the raided house.

The two were found under a bullet-ridden blanket, shot in the head, and the child had a syringe stuck in his chest during an abortive attempt to revive him. Locals say the troops were on their roof during the next-door raid, and shot down into the home through the roof as well.

The Australian Defense Department confirmed the incident, saying it had informed the Afghan government and NATO, but declined to offer further details, saying there is a pending investigation.

The Australian military reportedly paid “compensation” to some locals over the raid, but relatives of the slain civilians are still furious about the incident, just the latest in a long line of night raids gone wrong, a major source of tensions between the Karzai government and NATO.

 buzz wrote: 
Those two traits are inter-related in a lot of aspects.  I'm not sure if I'd really want to eliminate any traits from that list - they're all necessary or useful in their own ways.  The "apathy" mention from the last post was more of a joke (albeit, a corny one).