The Common Ills: I Hate The War

Saturday, November 07, 2015

I Hate The War

The US Defense Dept announced today:

Strikes in Iraq

Bomber, fighter, and attack aircraft conducted 15 strikes in Iraq, coordinated with and in support of Iraq’s government:

-- Near Fallujah, one strike destroyed an ISIL fighting position.

-- Near Kisik, one strike destroyed an ISIL fighting position.

-- Near Mosul, one strike suppressed an ISIL rocket position.

-- Near Ramadi, four strikes struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL rocket-propelled grenade position, an ISIL weapons cache, four ISIL vehicle-borne bombs, six ISIL heavy machine guns, 11 ISIL fighting positions, an ISIL tunnel, an ISIL tactical vehicle, an ISIL anti-tank weapon, two ISIL buildings, damaged one ISIL building, and denied ISIL access to terrain.

-- Near Sinjar, six strikes struck two separate ISIL tactical units and destroyed six ISIL fighting positions, an ISIL heavy machine gun, an ISIL light machine gun, an ISIL weapons cache and suppressed two ISIL mortar positions.

-- Near Sultan Abdallah, one strike struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL heavy machine gun and an ISIL fighting position.

-- Near Tal Afar, one strike suppressed an ISIL mortar position.

Operation Inherent Failure is a long standing failure.

The refusal of the peace or antiwar movement to acknowledge that reality and to call it out is going to lead to further war.

Doubt it?

Jordan Fabian (The Hill) reports:

The United States needs “much more” than airstrikes to defeat the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter said Saturday.

“If you say, is it enough? I don’t think it’s enough. I think we’re looking to do more,” Carter said of the U.S. campaign against ISIS during a defense forum at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in California.

By refusing to address the reality, suddenly Operation Inherent Failure is a failure because the US military is not doing enough.

By refusing to call out the operation itself, the so-called peace movement ensures that the debate will instead be over whether there needs to be even more US military involvement in Iraq.

That's what happens with silence.

The public debate moves further towards war when voices won't speak up against it.

Then the discussion is not over whether or not the war should continue but how many troops are necessary for it to continue.

It's over, I'm done writing songs about love
There's a war going on
So I'm holding my gun with a strap and a glove
And I'm writing a song about war
And it goes
Na na na na na na na
I hate the war
Na na na na na na na
I hate the war
Na na na na na na na
I hate the war
Oh oh oh oh
-- "I Hate The War" (written by Greg Goldberg, on The Ballet's Mattachine!)

The number of US service members the Dept of Defense states died in the Iraq War is [PDF format warning] 4497 (plus 10 in Operation Inherent Resolve which includes at least 1 Iraq War fatality).

The following community sites -- plus Jody Watley -- updated: