Joint Chiefs chairman praises 10 years of war as America’s ‘vengeance’

[Amerigo Vespucci]

Source: The Raw Story

WASHINGTON — US military and political leaders on Sunday paid solemn tribute to the victims of the 9/11 attack on the Pentagon and to troops who have waged a war of "vengeance" in the decade since.

"Lives ended in this place. Dreams were shattered. Futures were instantly altered. Hopes were tragically dashed," Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said at a ceremony marking the day a hijacked airliner slammed into the Pentagon ten years ago.

Mullen, joined by Vice President Joe Biden and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, said the attack inspired a new generation to join the armed forces as the country sought retribution against Al-Qaeda militants.

"From this place of wrath and tears, America's military ventured forth as the long arm and clenched fist of an angry nation at war.

Read more: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/09/11/joint-chiefs-chairman-praises-10-years-of-war-as-americas-vengeance/

---

[grasswire]

1. I spose he's a good Christian, eh?

"Vengeance is mine" saith the Lord.

[El Supremo]

2. These fuckers are running this country.

No wonder we're on the canvas.

[24601]

16. Obama is running the Executive Branch. The Commander, in this

case the Commander in Chief, is responsible for all it does and all it fails to do. Along with killing Bin Laden and every predator strike goes every bonehead statement from the military he commands. He gets ownership of every tax break extended on his watch, every bankrupt solar company headed by major contributors and every Canadian vehicle purchased by the United States Department of Commerce. You can delegate authority but not responsibility. The command responsibility covering every Department and Independent Agency goes with the job.

[defendandprotect]

36. Does anyone think IKE was fantascizing about some non-existing MIC conspiracy????

Corporate control over our military is no healthier than private interest over

our natural resources -- both have led to disaster -- not only for our people's government --

but for humanity and the planet!!


Evidently, Saddam/Iraq government were ready to give US/CIA anything they wanted to avoid war --

would have been a huge boost for our own economy -- every kind of capitalist adventure --

from 1 million American cars every year -- to all kinds of other benefits in drugs, communications,

etal --

PLUS TOTAL COOPERATION ON INSPECTIONS -- everythign that US/CIA wanted --

BUT THE BIG LOSER WAS THE MIC -- Removing the sanctiosn would have mean losing the opportunity

for an attack on Iraq!


See Susan Lindauer comments re Iraq -- and TEXT RECAP --

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=125x321024#321175



CIA was also "furious" because many nations were ignoring the sanctions on Iraq in joint

efforts to bring food and aid to Iraq -- for HUMANITARIAN REASONS!!

CIA was anxious to regain control ove Iraq!!

[SoapBox]

3. Oh how they LOVE to Hate and Kill!

"Lives ended in this place. Dreams were shattered. Futures were instantly altered. Hopes were tragically dashed," Admiral Mike Mullen..."

SO, you think that WE have not ended lives, where people had "dreams shattered and futures instantly altered"?????

You think that our drone attacks or random bombings or crap that we don't even know happened, didn't wipe out
lives of innocent people that are now absent a "future"????

What a pompous jackass...sorry, but I think these types are sicko-perverts.

Defending America is one thing...but hating and can't wait to kill shit is just bizarre.

[russspeakeasy]

8. Are our kids less dead because they died in the desert?

:evilfrown: The only and I mean ONLY thing these assholes understand is budget cuts.
We have spent 3 Trillion dollars...and we claim we are winning....What absolute bullshit.

[defendandprotect]

37. And given the "false flag" 9/11 and the total concessions Iraq was making ....

the only reason the sanctions weren't settled was because ...

"the MIC was the only loser" -- !!



Would have also been a tremendous boost to our economy !!



See CIA/asset Susan Lindauger/whistle blower on that ...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=125x321024#321175

[russspeakeasy]

39. Thanks for the link....Imagine if we had spent the 3 trillion here.

:toast:

[indepat]

21. Thanks for beating me to the punch in stating what needs to be said: it's almost as if no other

person/country is immune from being dispensed this nation's wrath wherever, whenever, and for whatever reason it decides, no matter how many lives are ended or broken, no matter how many dreams are shattered, no matter how many futures are instantly altered. These are mere piffles for it is almost as if it is our divine right to do so and we answer to no one. And don't bother us with silly niceties such as international law and conventions. :patriot:

[SoapBox]

30. Excellant.

:-)

[ixion]

4. solemn and vengeful? Or just bat sh*t crazy?

I'll go with the latter.

[saras]

6. There's no difference. Really. Solemn and vengeful IS batshit crazy.

[ixion]

7. agreed.

[Arctic Dave]

5. What a douche bag.

[tpsbmam]

9. How mature. Yeah, that's what I want the young learning -- vengeance is patriotic & honorable....

What a total asshole. Sadly, he represents much of the (lack of) thinking in this country these days.

:puke: :banghead: :argh:

[0rganism]

10. more like a decade-long national temper-tantrum

I didn't know it was possible.

[Ishoutandscream2]

11. Yeah, that will bring back those who have died

What a sad, pathetic thing to say.

[Turbineguy]

12. That must be some

new definition of vengeance that I was not previously aware of.

[hlthe2b]

13. Now THAT is disgusting...

and the Freepers/teabaggers will eat it up... Almost as good an applause line as Perry's execution record for them. :eyes:

[chill_wind]

14. I wish a "long arm and clenched fist" of an angry nation's justice department

would restore a little justice for all the lies, deception and brutal war crimes committed along the way, as well.

As for a little economic justice for the squandered trillions we could have used in so many better ways for human kind here and around the world these last 10 years, well we know we'll never see that either, but here's just a little of what the bastards stole from all of us, for simple starters:

http://costofwar.com/en/tradeoffs/state/US/program/1/tradeoff/0

[zeemike]

15. Our country is in the hands of Mad Men.

And we have no choice but to ride this country until it falls because of these pricks....I am afraid Fascism has come to America wrapped in the flag and caring a cross.

[chill_wind]

17. Ugh. It's like he's reciting a soothing bed-time story with a happy ending..

"And we have remained at war ever since, visiting upon our enemies the vengeance they were due and providing for the American people the common defense they demand," Mullen said.

Or an old-testament bible story and all he left out was the "smite".

[bemildred]

18. Oh good, infantile power fantasies at the top.

[Vattel]

19. Oh fo fuck yourself Mullen

And the same for all the idiots who think that our killing thousands of innocents as "collateral damage" in response to 911 is somehow morally pure.

[Kolesar]

20. Every ten years or so, the United States needs to pick up some small crappy little country &throw it

Jonah Goldberg, Ledeen's colleague at National Review, coined the term "Ledeen Doctrine" in a 2002 column. This tongue-in-cheek "doctrine" is usually summarized as "Every ten years or so, the United States needs to pick up some small crappy little country and throw it against the wall, just to show the world we mean business," which Goldberg remembered Ledeen saying in an early 1990s speech.<27>

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Ledeen

http://www.nationalreview.com/goldberg/goldberg042302.asp

[tularetom]

26. I think that's an accurate description of what we tried to do in Iraq

Unfortunately all it did was show our limitations. Yeah, we threw Iraq against the wall but somehow the world wasn't impressed that we meant business.

Perhaps it was the fact that we lied to start the war and everybody could see it. Perhaps it was the fact that we started bragging about "winning" before a war had barely started.

Whatever, the only fear we inspire among other nations is similar to the fear we used to have about the USSR - namely that some loony is going to get ahold of our nuclear arsenal and use it to start WWIII.

Unfortunately the fact that this asshole is able to give a speech like that is evidence that those fears may be well founded.

[Blue_Tires]

46. Actually, like Vietnam it was a roaring success for profiteers and the MIC

Vietnam and Iraq have been huge, indispensible real-world test beds for weapons, tactics, psych and covert warfare, interrogation and other "toys", etc. etc.

[Angry Dragon]

22. I am going to start selling hate

there seems to be a big market for it

[Gregorian]

23. And just look at what that mentality did to America. Ruination.

If it weren't for what amounted to a puny bit of aggression (by American standards), our military wouldn't be able to be as righteous about this as Mullen proclaims.

Live by the sword, die by the sword. Right now, we're dying.

[Jefferson23]

24. Why would they be honest now? Fuck them. n/t

[tularetom]

25. That's unfortunate

The fact that his civilian bosses would let this cretin make a speech like that shows that we've indeed learned very little from our military failures in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Afghanistan played a big part in the downfall of the Soviet Union, I hope it doesn't prove to be ours as well.

[JJW]

27. The Clowns

invaded the wrong nation, killing hundreds of thousand who had nothing to do with 911. And they destroyed our economy that is actually killing us now because we can't afford decent bridges, levees, and clean air.

[dflprincess]

28. No mention that we invaded a country that had nothing to do with the attacks?

Typical.

[No Elephants]

32. Over one million people displaced, some selling their kids so their other kids could survive.

But, they're not "purely" white people. They don't count. And collateral damage doesn't count.

[defendandprotect]

42. +1000% --- I'm a firm believer that what we do to others will happen to us eventually -- !!

[gtar100]

29. The Joint Chiefs of Staff are the greatest parasites on earth today.

They have lost any sense of vision of what "Defense of America" really means. May they rot in the hell they created.

[Bigmack]

31. We can't afford any more vengeance... it nearly broke us! nt

[No Elephants]

33. Eleven year old mentaltiy.

[alp227]

34. how have the middle class, manufacturing sector, and public education fared off these 10 years?

WORSE.

[defendandprotect]

35. Disgusting -- from our sanctions on Iraq alone ... 1 million to 2.2 million Iraqis dead ....

and from these wars a minimum of another 1 million dead --

Who the hell are we pretending to be in this nation?

Is there any sign yet that we've figured out that we CANNOT TRUST OUR ELECTED OFFICIALS

OR MILITARY LEADERS VS THE HUGE AMOUNTS OF MONEY THAT CORPORATIONS HAVE DANGLED IN FRONT

OF THEM?

Have we yet figured out that our government has been taken over by oil/coal industries --

corporate/fascism?


I don't think the rest of the country is this much asleep -- ???

[Scruffy1]

40. That's not the party line.

I've never heard a prominent Democrat mention Iraqi deaths, only American ones. I can't say they haven't, but I haven't heard it. Instead we get a steady stream of US soldiers killed. I really don't think the average American has a clue of the death and destruction we caused in Iraq.

[defendandprotect]

41. And ... must make a correction there ---

I combined the sanction and war deaths --

but you probably recognized that --

But too little discussion of the toll this "revenge" war has taken --

as so many think of it!


:hi:

[Supersedeas]

38. and there will be collateral damage when an angry nations extends

the long arm of war over villages, town squares, and wedding ceremonies.

Revengence and the bitter sweet reality of collateral damage, WHEN ALL THAT MATTERS ARE THE COMBATANTS.

[marasinghe]

43. and when vengeance comes round for the dead ....

Native Americans, Africans, Hawaiians, Pacific Islanders, Filipinos, Chinese, Koreans, Vietnamese, South East Asians, South Americans, Iraqis, Afghanis, Pakistanis, Middle Easterners, and so on, what are assholes like mullen gonna babble?

[provis99]

44. I'm tired of people who say generals hate war.

They love it; everyone of them wants to be a bloodthirsty George S. Patton or Curtis LeMay. It's the soldiers who actually do the fighting in the combat zone who don't like war.

After World War One, the Allies actually required the Germans to break up their General Staff, because of their lust for war; we need to do the same with the Joint Chiefs.

[daleo]

45. A long arm, a cleched fist

And three trillion dollars.

[Solly Mack]

47. Gross