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KOK Edit: your favorite copyeditor since 1984(SM) KOK Edit: your favorite copyeditor since 1984(SM) Katharine O'Moore Klopf
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Thursday, October 20, 2005

Leading by Despoilment and Desecration

We are the shining city on the hill, the leaders of the free world who would show the ignorant how they should live: We rape the land and profane the dead bodies of our enemies so that we can maintain the American way of life. Why do the unenlighted object to our methods? Have they not yet realized the sacredness of consumerism?

Our revered senators know what is best for us. They have voted to allow the oil barons to destroy the 1.5 million–acre Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in northeast Alaska in search of the billions of barrels of oil that they believe are there. The drilling provision is now to be tucked into budget legislation so that it can't be filibustered, under Senate rules. And when the proposed $2.6 trillion budget, loaded with pork and chopping needed funds from social programs, is approved within the next couple of weeks, the drilling provision will become law. Whatever the amount of recoverable oil in Alaska, the presence of humans and pipelines will disturb the habitats of caribou, polar bears, and migratory birds. But why worry about the ecosystem? We must feed our oil habit.

Elsewhere in the world, we are apparently busy burning the bodies of Taliban fighters, trying to incite hatred:


Australia’s SBS television network broadcast video that purportedly showed U.S. soldiers burning the bodies of the suspected Taliban fighters in the hills outside the southern village of Gonbaz, near the former Taliban stronghold of Kandahar.

The network said the video was taken by a freelance journalist, Stephen Dupont, who told the Associated Press he was embedded with the Army’s 173rd Airborne Brigade earlier this month. Dupont said the burnings happened Oct. 1. ...

In the video, which was seen by the AP, two soldiers who spoke with American accents later broadcast taunting messages that the SBS said targeted the village, which was believed to be harboring Taliban soldiers.

“Taliban, you are all cowardly dogs. You allowed your fighters to be laid down facing west and burned. You are too scared to come down and retrieve their bodies,” said one message read in the local dialect by a soldier, according to a transcript.

Dupont said the soldiers responsible for the loudspeaker broadcasts were part of a U.S. Army psychological operations unit. ...

“This is against Islam. Afghans will be shocked by this news. It is so humiliating,” said Faiz Mohammed, a Muslim leader. “There are very, very dangerous consequences from this. People will be very angry.”

What did our illustrious president learn at Yale when he was earning his degree in history? It must have been that in war, enemies eventually submit to and refrain from attacking those who are harsh and abusive, who lie and torture. But U.S. Army officials investigating the reported burning and taunting say that if the event did occur, it "would be in violation of U.S. Army procedures and an apparent violation of military law." One official said, "This doesn't look good."

It doesn't, eh? When your mission from God is to democratize the world, what's wrong with making up reasons to start a war with a country that didn't choreograph a terrorist attack on your financial center, so that you can pillage and plunder your way to more oil and lucrative contracts for your oil-company cronies—er, um ... colleagues? After all, we're protecting the American way of life.


6 comments:

Anonymous said...

What did our illustrious president learn at Yale when he was earning his degree in history?

Earning? Don't you mean "sitting through the occasional history class waiting to be handed a diploma"? He's just further proof that with enough time, money, and influence, anyone can get any degree. As if Dan Quayle wasn't proof enough.

And as for the Senate... nothing they do could surprise me anymore, unless it was actually GOOD for the country, or the U.S. citizenry, or the environment.

Grr. Arrgh.

Katharine O'Moore-Klopf said...

Me, too, P-OP. It's been so bad since Bush first stole office that it's hard not to be perpetually depressed. Waking up each day to find myself still living under this ignorant, insane regime is like getting up to be beaten up by 1,000 linebackers.

Katharine O'Moore-Klopf said...

... would be nice.

Would be nice? Nice? PapaCool, you're way too low-key. Where's your outrage, guy?

Sorry ... must go lower my blood pressure.

markfromireland said...

Hi Katharine (may I call you that?)

Here's a little something for you and your readers. As you know I used to be a peace keeper in the Lebanon so of course I learnt Arabic.

That's a long winded way of saying "I'm sorry I can't resist"

- I got this in my email ages ago. it's the text of a hand written letter from Osama "I murdered thousands of people and all I got was away with it" Bin Laden to George W "Me an' poodle-boy have murdered thousands of people and we've gotten away with it so far" Bush.

370HSSV-0773H

To decipher the letter you need to know two things:

1) Bush was holding the letter upside down.

2) Arabic reads from right-to-left.


Enjoy!*


*Disclaimer - If you have tea coffee or any other liquid in your mouth after solving the puzzle and you ruin your keyboard it's your fault not mine! :-)

PS: I've been asked to return to my regiment for a while and have agreed to do so and NO I'm NOT taking part in Dubya and Tony's illegal and racist war. I joined to serve as a peacekeeper with honour and to leave the world in a better state than I found it.

PPS: Apropros of what yousaid about the image Muslims haveof Christians and that wonderful link towho Bush listens to in reality. Remind me when I get back to tell you why I chose "Mark from Ireland" as my blogger display name. It's a contraction of "Mark from Ireland - the follower of the prophet Jesus"

It's too long a story to type out tonight but not all Muslims think all Christians are evil.

As they'd say:

Allahu Akhbar - God is greatest, we Christians would do well to remember that. So would those who call themselves "CHRISTIANS"

Oops now I'm sounding like an infuriated bogtrotter :-) Oh well I am an infuriated bogtrotter better log off to cool down for a while.'

You keep well.

Katharine O'Moore-Klopf said...

Hey, Mark, thanks for the Osama note. :-) Stay safe while you're serving; please come back alive! If you don't mind, you'll be in my prayers.

Katharine O'Moore-Klopf said...

Here is a series of comments by Mark from Ireland's son, and my responses (originally placed at the end of another post):

At 12:37 PM on October 27, 2005, Dubhaltach said:

I thought you would like to know that my father whom you know as "mark from ireland" has written to us. He is NOT in a good mood - I thought my computer would melt reading his email to us describing what he sees.

I will ask you to keep praying for him please.

Dubhaltach
Mark from ireland's son)

PS: I found you using his "favourites" :-)))))))



At 12:52 PM, Katharine said:

Dubhaltach, I'm so glad to hear from you and to hear that your dad's still alive. I will keep praying for him.

Please ask him if I can have his permission to post his messages describing what he's seeing. If he agrees, please e-mail them to me at editor@kokedit.com.



At 1:00 PM, dubhaltach said:

I will ask but I know he won't agree - very many details - also he is writing it in a way that puts what he see personal to us? I mean he names our street and things.

Also of course I would have to translate them into English

Dubhaltach



At 1:25 PM, dubhaltach said:

Oh I nearly forgot I have extra "homework" from him him. I am finishing marking up the code to his site. It is very big and his css is compleks.

He writes about Islam I will tell you when I have finished and have ftped it up to his server.

Dubhaltach

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