Cowardice and Courage

I must say I admire and support the incredible courage of the Iraqi people in their fight against a cowardly enemy. I especially admire their use of the guerilla tactics the American revolutionaries used more than two centuries ago to defeat the Redcoats. The fake surrender and hit and run attacks are right out of the American Revolution playbook.

The pathetic cowardly whining of US officials who are upset with the guerilla tactics reminds me of the same whining of the Redcoats. What? You expect your targets to obediently line up, stand still and wait to be killed?! Is that the scenario these dumbshit cowards "war gamed" against? What can be said about the sad sacks of hypocritical excrement who are complaining about the tactics the Iraqis are using (tactics they have every right to use) to defend their land from invaders? To borrow the politically-incorrect words of George Carlin to describe the US military, the US media, its assorted whiny-assed sniveling cowards and pathetic sycophants: "What a bunch of fucking pussies!"

The US military is engaged in a brutal gang rape (again) and I refuse to be one of those vile contemptible idiots who "support the troops." What utter nonsense. We're supposed to rally around and support our troops now that they are actively engaged in the gang rape and mass murder of a sovereign country? No way! This is about as absurd as family members, after being unable to persuade the rape of their daughter from happening, turn around and dutifully "support the rapists" after the gang rape has commenced. Such idiotic behavior is cowardly and contemptible, not to mention absolutely disgusting.

I should also add that they are not my troops and the US military establishment has never done anything to protect freedom, liberty, democracy and human rights here or abroad. Some of us actually have a functioning bullshit detector and don't reflexively believe all the Orwellian lies and propaganda crap vomited by the self-serving, self-aggrandizing and sanctimonious establishment mouthpieces. So spare me the bullshit soliloquy about the US military protecting our democracy and our freedom.

Every fight for labor rights, human rights, women's rights, civil rights, indigenous rights, immigrant rights, disability rights, etc., was fought by popular resistance, popular struggle, protest, dissent, and direct action by regular everyday workers, families, neighbors and communities. Every inch of gains, every positive development in the quest for liberty, dignity and freedom, were made by struggle and resistance.

The history of the US is a history of genocide, naked aggression and oppression against many of these struggles; not liberation, freedom, democracy or any such nonsense. US history is littered with millions upon millions of innocent victims at home and abroad from US terrorism, tyranny, and aggression.

The history of the US military and its increasingly militarized domestic police forces in their service to power is a history of brutality, savagery and viciousness in their efforts to crush and kill nearly every struggle by people around the world and at home to fight for the basic values of liberty, freedom and dignity in their own lives. I have absolutely no respect for such dishonorable and contemptible institutions. I spit on them and I proudly burn the vile American flag precisely for what it represents: tyranny and oppression.

These odious opportunists flapping their jaws in the media and proclaiming their support for our troops and their families mysteriously disappear when it comes time to support them when they return home injured, disabled, with deep psychological scars and mysterious ailments. George Bush and his cronies are demanding large cuts in the Veterans Administration budget and they continue this country's mean-spirited slash and burn tactics of what is left of the very limited social programs that benefit veterans and their families. Once the cannon fodder has served the purposes of Empire, they are discarded and thrown away. They are disposable people.

Strip away the self-serving bullshit rhetoric of "support the troops" and what do I see? I see the political and business elites enriching their pockets and making their lives very comfortable on the backs of the cannon fodder. The thanks the surviving (and often damaged) veterans get for the cynical exploitation of their service? Humiliation, exploitation, and an extended middle finger as they are usually told to shut up, stop complaining, go away and fuck off.

Support our troops by bringing them home NOW. Support our troops by funding medical and social programs for the military veterans that have been slashed and eliminated over the years. Support the forgotten and discarded troops who end up homeless, depressed, disabled, hungry, angry, disappointed, and broken. Support our troops when they have the courage to refuse orders. Support our troops when they rebel and mutiny against the US terrorist war machine. Support our troops when they desert the blood-stained and cowardly US military. Support our troops when they frag high ranking war criminals coldly prosecuting this gang rape, illegal occupation, and mass murder.

Allow me a moment of hope for our future. Most importantly, support our troops if they ever decide to raise their weapons and point them at the real enemy: the entire US political, military and business establishment. Fire away.

Tom Trouble is a pissed off citizen who comes from a military family and is a contributor to Alternative Press Review (www.altpr.org).