Nightmare Mid-East Theatre, Empire of Chaos edition

[kladner]

This thread has long since gone beyond the Middle East, and it is somewhat later than 2014.

I would like a more informative title, but would like to solicit suggestions. I know that, in the end, some kind moderator will make a wise decision, regardless.

Meanwhile:

Doctors Without Borders airstrike: US alters story for fourth time in four days

The airstrike on the hospital is among the worst and most visible cases of civilian deaths caused by US forces during the 14-year Afghanistan war that Barack Obama has declared all but over. It killed 12 MSF staff and 10 patients, who had sought medical treatment after the Taliban overran Kunduz last weekend. Three children died in the airstrike that came in multiple waves and burned patients alive in their beds.

On Tuesday, MSF denounced Campbell’s press conference as an attempt to shift blame to the Afghans.
“The US military remains responsible for the targets it hits, even though it is part of a coalition,” said its director general, Christopher Stokes.

[General John] Campbell did not explain whether the procedures to launch the airstrike took into account the GPS coordinates of the MSF field hospital, which its president, Joanne Liu, said were “regularly shared” with US, coalition and Afghan military officers and civilian officials, “as recently as Tuesday 29 September”.

AC-130 gunships, which fly low, typically rely on a pilot visually identifying a target.

It is also unclear where the US special operations forces were relative to the fighting, but Campbell has said that US units were “not directly engaged in the fighting”.
Campbell instead said the hospital was “mistakenly struck” by US forces.

[ewmayer]

Originally Posted by kladner

This thread has long since gone beyond the Middle East, and it is somewhat later than 2014.

The US 'empire of chaos' activities in Afghanistan - now in their 14th year! - are a direct outgrowth of perma-meddling in the ME, but I agree the year-dating needed to go.

More on the 'they keep trotting out different lies' aspect of the hospital atrocity:

The Radically Changing Story of the U.S. Airstrike on Afghan Hospital: From Mistake to Justification | The Intercept

The article provides an eminently plausible rationale for what is now clearly established to have been deliberate targeting:

Even cynical critics of the U.S. have a hard time believing that the U.S. military would deliberately target a hospital with an airstrike (despite how many times the U.S. has destroyed hospitals with airstrikes). But in this case, there is long-standing tension between the Afghan military and this specific MSF hospital, grounded in the fact that the MSF – true to its name – treats all wounded human beings without first determining on which side they fight. That they provide medical treatment to wounded civilians and Taliban fighters alike has made them a target before.

[kladner]

That they provide medical treatment to wounded civilians and Taliban fighters alike has made them a target before.

Yup! And 'we' are more than happy to oblige.

[Xyzzy]

http://www.cnn.com/2015/10/06/middle...ory/index.html

The term, which arose in the 1960s and has been widely used by the U.S. military since, has been criticized as "Orwellian" and in 1999 was dubbed by a German publication the "un-word of the year" for trivializing civilian deaths.

[ewmayer]

Originally Posted by Xyzzy

http://www.cnn.com/2015/10/06/middle...ory/index.html

Not to mention that even that whitewashing term is a lie in this context, because the hospital was deliberately targeted.

Apparently the usual BigMil strategy - which the MSM invariably swallow wholesale - of dismissing local reports as 'unreliable' or 'politically motivated' is failing in this case because MSF is a western aid agency and is very media-savvy in its own right. If the cavalcade of lies fails to get the story of the proverbial front pages, I predict the ensuing damage-control strategy will follow that of the mega-crooked banks when caught out red-handed - blame a designated lower-level 'rogue operator', who we hope will at least be well-compensated-in-secret for falling on his sword.

[ewmayer]

US Caught Faking it in Syria | Counterpunch

Apparently now even the Iraqi government is deepening cooperation with the Russkies because they are - shockingly - actually helping the Iraqis go after the extremists, rather than just fomenting perma-chaos, which has been the US strategy, as dictated to it by its AIPAC handlers, as detailed in the Counterpunch piece.

[ewmayer]

Tom Engelhardt: The Fog of Intelligence, or How to Be Eternally ‘Caught Off Guard’ in the Greater Middle East | naked capitalism

Several commenters make the same point I would, namely the massive expense and dismal results are a feature, not a bug, for the folks profiting from the largesse here. As long as no one (except the occasional scapegoat 'low-level analyst'-patsy or 'traitorous whistleblower') is held to account for failure, everyone is incentivized to keep the state of perma-war going. Still no net progress in Afghanistan after 14 years of pouring money, men and materiel into that sinkhole? Obviously we need to ramp things up again!

[chalsall]

Originally Posted by ewmayer

Several commenters make the same point I would, namely the massive expense and dismal results are a feature, not a bug, for the folks profiting from the largesse here!

Generally agree.

Tom Hanks' et al "Charlie Wilson's War" might give some context. I don't generally give much cred to movie stars, but my understanding this is relatively accurate.

Originally Posted by ewmayer

As long as no one (except the occasional scapegoat 'low-level analyst'-patsy or 'traitorous whistleblower') is held to account for failure, everyone is incentivized to keep the state of perma-war going. Still no net progress in Afghanistan after 14 years of pouring money, men and materiel into that sinkhole? Obviously we need to ramp things up again!

Well, hey... Who can disagree it creates profit, and jobs? Deaths are just incidental....

[kladner]

Link to source. And a valuable source it is, too.

[kladner]

"Rather than encourage a healthy, wide-ranging debate on world affairs, the mainstream U.S. news media prevents any serious deviation from Official Washington’s war-loving “group thinks,” a task undertaken by CBS’ Steve Kroft in a hostile interview with President Obama, reports Robert Parry."

As demonstrated by Steve Kroft of CBS’ “60 Minutes” in his contentious interview with President Barack Obama, a key role for the mainstream news media is to enforce whatever warmongering “group think” dominates Official Washington, such as today’s perceived need to escalate U.S. military involvement in Syria and hit back against Russian President Vladimir Putin.


Not to excuse Obama or any other politician for caving into this kind of pressure, but it is daunting to confront a solid wall of “conventional wisdom” – posed as hostile questions – that almost always favors militaristic solutions to international problems. On the other hand, a politician can almost never go wrong by adopting the most belligerent positions, by posing as the “tough guy” or “tough gal,” by making sure not to get labeled “weak.”

[tha]

Originally Posted by chalsall

Generally agree.

Tom Hanks' et al "Charlie Wilson's War" might give some context. I don't generally give much cred to movie stars, but my understanding this is relatively accurate.

If you enjoyed the movie, do read the book by George Crile, same title, on which the movie is based. The book has two orders of magnitude more details and is at least one order of magnitude more crazier, funnier and accurate than the movie which still is very good. Gust Avrokotos and Charlie Wilson were real heroes.