Its become cliche to contrast warm American rhetoric with their cold technological destruction, but this picture speaks volumes.
http://www.wired.com/images_blogs/dangerroom/2011/01/tarok-kolache.png
Some wonderful quotes in the articleabout the military propagandists assessment of unreasonable civilian attitudes regarding such destruction.
Re: Hearts and minds
Interesting...the US military is usually hush-hush on this kind of distruction...we're meant to think it's all about rebuilding schools for girls, and such nonsense.
The article, I think, subtly points out the worth of professional journalism that's guided by an inquiring mind, rather than ramblings on some blog, or a twtitter blurb, that too many people use as a source of "information".
Re: Hearts and minds
wellll... i didn come by the article on twitter :D.
about the rebuilding.. this is a nice quote telling of their mentality:
[quote]
Flynn has held “reconstruction shuras” with the villagers and begun compensating villagers for their property losses, but so far the reconstruction has barely begun, three months after the destruction.
“Sure they are pissed about the loss of their mud huts,” Broadwell wrote on Facebook, “but that is why the BUILD story is important here.”
[/quote]
Reminds me of a conversation on a radio show:
Karl: “It’s not good, is it?” And it’s because he’s got a big house and loads of cars. If you live, you know, on a council estate it’s like, “Well… if it gets bombed, probably doing us all a favour. We’ll get nice, new blocks of flats to live in an’ that.” It happened with Manchester! With the, with the bomb that happened and they bombed the Arndale Centre. Did us a favour. Got a nice, new Marks & Spencers an’ that.
Ricky: So this- hold on. This puts a whole new twist on the argument when people say bombing the world’s poorest countries is wrong. Cause I remember when the Afghan problem was on, people were saying, “Bombing the world’s poorest country’s wrong,” but-but it’s like home improvement, according to you then.
Steve: Yeah. Cause they’ve got a brand new B & Q, have they, over now?
Re: Hearts and minds
Tell me that village had been abondoned beforhand please...
If that was a current settlement then we have a case for war crimes here... ther is no way every house could have had a terrorist and even then destruction on that size goes against international conventions.
I see it's one rule for Americans and another for other states. Hypocracy!
Re: Hearts and minds
anybody who still believes that those retarded warmongers contribute anything good to the world then he needs a reality check, if not a brain check.
edit: probably a bit off-topic but ravage, you should read the book "Propaganda" by Edward Bernays!
Re: Hearts and minds
i saw a documentary on Bernays.. century of the self. very interesting stuff.
Re: Hearts and minds
This is probably why the us is failing in Afghanistan. Pity Afghanistan for such protectors...