Remember, Kill Chain
By Andrew Cockburn, at Counterpunch
The detailed, time-sequenced quotes from the US military persons as they pursued the mission are incredibly blood thirsty. The pilot, especially, is lusting for killing.
The gamification of war should be deeply unsettling to all in the US with even the rudiments of moral conscience, military and civilian.
These actions (and so many others) are war crimes, without a shadow of a doubt But I guess they just get added to the towering stack…is it tall enough yet to tip over?

Posted by: Benu | Mar 6 2015 20:55 utc | 4

Willy2 @ 5
I had to strap on my skeptical hat to visit the moonieTimes…but that is an interesting article. Absolutely a hit piece with lots of anonymous attributions (I admit that I did not listen to the supposed actual recordings), but I’m apt to believe it. To my mind Hillary and Petraeus own the Libya fiasco. She rolled the dice with people’s lives, with an entire country, and lost. Looks to me like he was running guns to Syria, and selecting and outfitting the core group of his Einsatzgruppen — the Libyan and Tunisian “thugs and terrorists” who would later brand themselves IS and ISIL and then, to emphasize the hated Syria that-we-must-invade-ASAP, changed by the NYT to ISIS.
Hubris and arrogance mixed with unbridled ambition and psychopathy. To my mind, Libya is the flaming tire that disqualifies both from higher office.
And where do these people get off with the idea that you can just go in and topple another country…?
“U.S. policy during the revolution supported regime change through peaceful means, in line with UNSCR 1973 policy and NATO mission goals,” the State Department said. “We consistently emphasized at the time that Moammar Gadhafi had to step down and leave Libya as an essential component of the transition.”
Clinton/Rice/Power. Those three put me in mind of a coven of more famous, if less well-groomed, witches:
from Macbeth
A dark Cave. In the middle, a Caldron boiling. Thunder.
Fillet of a fenny snake,
In the caldron boil and bake;
Eye of newt, and toe of frog,
Wool of bat, and tongue of dog,
Adder’s fork, and blind-worm’s sting,
Lizard’s leg, and owlet’s wing,—
For a charm of powerful trouble,
Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.

Posted by: Benu | Mar 6 2015 21:47 utc | 6

you can’t get better than God’s wrath
http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/mers-kills-10-saudi-government-broadens-health-campaign

Posted by: Mina | Mar 6 2015 22:26 utc | 8

A really original article by Dmitry Orlov, when the number of originals is so desperately few:
http://russia-insider.com/en/2015/03/04/4094

Posted by: Lochearn | Mar 6 2015 23:26 utc | 10

Muslim man shot dead in Dallas while taking pictures of snow

Another Muslim man has been shot dead in the United States while he was taking pictures of the snow with his family in Dallas, Texas.
Ahmed al-Jumaili, 36, who came to the US from Iraq about one month ago, was killed in a shooting incident on Thursday.
The victim died from his injuries after he was transported to Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital, Dallas Police Department Spokeswoman Monica Cordova said.
Witnesses said the Iraqi man was killed when he was with his wife, Zahara, who wears an Islamic head scarf. The couple got married 16 months ago.
A group of men started firing a gun and some nearby cars were also hit in the incident.

Too many Americans love to hate … and of those, too many love to kill those whom they love to hate. Probably Xtians.
That piece from Cockburn’s book is Chelsea Manning’s Iraq video all over again. New! Improved! Now with no humans onscene! As though that even made a difference. The original published by Julian Assange. Manning, Assange. No body remembers their names. No Oscars for them. No press agents. No ice cream and cake. No problem. Nothing will happen. Nothing will be done. The Wehrmacht has been, is now, and will be (?) safe from those of us who claim to be revolted and repulsed by its kill chain. Except Kathy Kelly. (Who?)
The Nihilist Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and his Wehrmacht will grow larger, spend more on diabolical machines, kill more babies, get richer?
Hey! Hey! Obama-fay! How many kids dja kill today?

Posted by: jfl | Mar 7 2015 0:32 utc | 12

Reposting three open threadish comments here
chuckvw @4: The following was deleted after I posted it under that Guardian pro-Nazi puff piece:

About that symbol on the van of the Dirlewanger Brigade:

Historian Martin Windrow wrote that in summer of 1944 Dirlewanger led his “butchers, rapists and looters into action against the Warsaw Uprising, and quickly committed … unspeakable crimes.” In Warsaw, Dirlewanger participated in the Wola massacre, together with police units rounding up and shooting some 40,000 civilians, most of them in just two days. In the same Wola district, Dirlewanger burned three hospitals with patients inside, while the nurses were “whipped, gang-raped and finally hanged naked, together with the doctors” to the accompaniment of music. Later, “they drank, raped and murdered their way through the Old Town, slaughtering civilians and fighters alike without distinction of age or sex.”

…
OffGuardian entertainingly rips the Guardian for its neo-Nazi Ukraine grrls puff piece. Conclusion of the piece:

It’d be nice if this article and the policy behind it were a one-off. We all know it isn’t. The “normalising of the unthinkable” is the prevailing campaign in western media. Nazis are being divested of their untouchable status and repackaged as freedom fighters. Our governments are sending US and UK troops to train these Hitler-worshippers to kill their fellow Ukrainians.
And the Guardian, flagship of the liberal left, has nothing to say about that at all.

Posted by: fairleft | Mar 7 2015 2:05 utc | 14

@6 In the piece about a month ago, there were quite a few names from then active and retired officers involved with the run up to Libya.

Posted by: NotTimothyGeithner | Mar 7 2015 2:52 utc | 16

@13-Wearing an Islamic head scarf in Texas? Not a good idea. Same as Charlie Hebdo continually publishing provocative cartoons mocking the Prophet was not a good idea.
It’s hardly the same, but thanks for being an ignoramus and picking up the loaded mention of a head scarf and running with it.

Posted by: Nana2007 | Mar 7 2015 4:42 utc | 18

03/06/2015-13:22
Russian Spring
“The real time information by our intelligence from near-front zone on Ukrainian side does not allow us feel optimistic that this point of Minsk agreements (withdrawal of artillery) would be accomplished by Kiyev any time soon”, said Eduard Basurin, the deputy of Commander in Chief of Donetsk Republic Defense.
Basurin added that, that for the past day the Ukrainian forces launched intensive activities of fortifying positions and rotating storm units. Specifically, en route to Dzerzhinsk, active traffic of delivering artillery ammo trucks was noted. A group of haulers left Dzerzhinsk towing cannons “Ruta”.
“These examples support our apprehensions that, under disguise of pulling off heavy weapons, the Ukrainian side fulfils clandestine rotation”.
According to Basurin, Kiyev is also breaching ceasefire in Donetsk airport. In particular, Friday, a new shootout took place leaving one combatant wounded.
Similar, the head of Lugansk Republic, Igor` Plotnitskiy, declared that the Ukrainian forces have not so far withdrawn even half of artillery units. “We are informed of 29 dismantled division, and that they announced of dismantling other 35 today”, said Plotnitskiy.

Posted by: Fete | Mar 7 2015 5:28 utc | 20

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/07/us/menendez-expected-to-face-federal-corruption-charges.html
By KATE ZERNIKE and MATT APUZZO 8:57 PM ET
The Justice Department is expected to file charges against Senator Robert Menendez, a New Jersey Democrat, in an investigation that has focused on his ties to a Florida eye doctor, an official said.

Posted by: okie farmer | Mar 7 2015 6:03 utc | 22

@fairleft Thanks. Dirlewanger wasn’t just your average Nazi butcher… But I guess he is a role model for some.

Posted by: chuckvw | Mar 7 2015 6:31 utc | 24

@6: The Washington Times is indeed a very suspicious source for news. They brought the story to (rightfully) damage Hillary. In that regard it perfectly fits the Republican agenda to destroy Hillary Clinton.
Whether or not Hillary becomes president, it’s good to dig up Hillary’s skeletons. Hillary’s (recent) past simply should undergo more scrutiny.

Posted by: Willy2 | Mar 7 2015 8:20 utc | 26

Is Saudi Arabia starting to reconcile with a new version of the Moslem Brotherhood promoted by Turkey and Qatar?
Will Qatar and Turkey succeed in enrolling the Al Nusra fighters as the Moslem Brotherhood II army to fight the Syrian army?
Do they expect this new force that they will arm able to neutralize ISIS?
If they succeed will Al Sissi and Bashar Al Assad be obliged to include elements of the Moslem Brotherhood II in their government?
As Iran is more sympathetic to the MB than it is to Al Sissi, will it condone and promote that collaboration in Egypt, Yemen and Syria or in the contrary it will oppose the evolution of a Sunni block ( Turkey, Qatar, Saudi Arabia) that ultimately will confront it? Will it start a war with Israel to disrupt this block and oblige it to intervene?
How will Bashar al Assad react to such a change that may not in his favor?
Lots of issues in 2015…

Posted by: Virgile | Mar 7 2015 11:42 utc | 28

Okie
That’s only a speculation, but some elements are already appearing pointing in that direction
Moslem Brotherhood II would be a new version of the MB revamped by Turkey and Qatar where they will drop many of their threats, such as toppling the GCC kings and emirs and insisting on an strictly Islamic government. They will have to commit to share power with religious and ethnical minorities. A semi-democracy.
Turkey wants to mould the Moslem Brotherhood ideology on its own so it becomes the norm in the region. It will be supported financially by all the GCC + Turkey. The West and Iran may not object as they would prefer that to a military or extremist regime.
Militarily Turkey is already training Syrian rebels and Qatar is luring with its money the disenchanted Al Nusra fighters.
The purpose is to build a fighting forces with the same ideology as the Moslem Brotherhood II to force the Syria government to share power with it.
It would be interesting to see if this plan would succeed and how Iran, Egypt, Syria and Yemen will react to that.

Posted by: Virgile | Mar 7 2015 13:25 utc | 30

@Benu #4
Indeed, Alexander Cockburn is just about the only reason to ever look at Counterpunch these days.
The article is great, as usual, and highlights how the US military has succumbed to Kafka-esque bureaucracy – only instead of forms and pens, it is missiles and satellites.

Posted by: ǝn⇂ɔ | Mar 7 2015 14:51 utc | 32

now that nefarious putin has gone too far
weaselpecker

Posted by: dan of steele | Mar 7 2015 19:27 utc | 34

Latest from the saker:

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iraqi Special Forces said they have arrested several ISIL’s foreign military advisors, including American, Israeli and Arab nationals in an operation in Mosul in the Northern parts of the country.
The Iraqi forces said they have retrieved four foreign passports, including those that belonged to American and Israeli nationals and one that belonged to the national of a Persian Gulf Cooperation Council (PGCC) member-state, from ISIL’s military advisors.
The foreign advisors were arrested in a military operation in Tal Abta desert near Mosul city.
Last year, a senior aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin accused Mossad of training ISIL terrorists operating in Iraq and Syria.
Alexander Prokhanov said that Mossad is also likely to have transferred some of its spying experiences to the ISIL leadership, adding that Israel’s military advisors could be assisting the Takfiri terrorists.
Prokhanov said ISIL is a byproduct of US policies in the Middle East.
ISIL is a tool at the hands of the United States. They tell the Europeans that if we (the Americans) do not intervene, ISIL will cause you harm,” he said, adding that Iran and Russia are the prime targets of the ISIL.
“They launched their first terror attack against us just a few days back in Chechnya,” he said, stressing that the ISIL ideology has got nothing to do with the Islam practiced in Iran and some other Muslim countries in the Middle East region.
Prokhanov said the United States and Israel are one and the same when it comes to supporting a terror organization like the ISIL.

Posted by: Nana2007 | Mar 7 2015 20:16 utc | 36

Interesting developments with the OSCE from Christoff Lehmann:

The Defense Ministry of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic informed the press that representatives of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) came under artillery fire on Friday, stating that OSCE officials had confirmed the incident.
The region around Donetsk Airport has been one of the hot-spots of the military confrontations in Ukraine since Kiev began launching its punitive anti-terrorism operation against the regions which rejected the 2014 coup d’etat in Kiev.
The OSCE staff were carrying out work at the Donetsk Airport when the mission was targeted by artillery fire that originated from a region that is being controlled by military forces loyal to the Ukrainian government in Kiev.
The spokesman for the Donetsk People’s Republic’s (DPR) Defense Ministry, Eduard Basurin noted that this was no isolated incident. He called on the government in Kiev to adhere to the Minsk agreement, including the withdrawal of heavy weaponry.

Posted by: Nana2007 | Mar 7 2015 21:02 utc | 38

The US State Department’s special envoy for Syria, Daniel Rubinstein, is moving on to become US Ambassador to Tunisia – the number 1 country of origin of foreign jihadists in Syria.
I will leave it to you to decide what he will be getting up to in his new role..

Posted by: Pat Bateman | Mar 8 2015 1:09 utc | 40

ISIS Bulldozes Ancient Assyrian City: Iraqi Gov’t

“Islamic State members came to the Nimrud archaeological city and looted the valuables in it and then they proceeded to level the site to the ground,” a tribal source from near Mosul, where ancient Nimrud is located, told Reuters.

Who kows if it is true, but the barbarity of the ISIS is portrayed as approaching that of the English, Spanish, and Portugese religious fundamentalist conquerers in the Americas.
Doesn’t get any worse than that.

Posted by: jfl | Mar 8 2015 2:02 utc | 42

“Iraq: 30,000 Sunnis flee as Shiite Militias, Army, approach Tikrit”
http://www.juancole.com/2015/03/shiite-militias-approach.html

Posted by: Willy2 | Mar 8 2015 3:50 utc | 44

@45
You might look at the Islamic State’s actions in a more ME context than a Western viewpoint.
Hatra was a Parthian/Persian controlled city originally so its destruction may be aimed at Iran and the destruction of the Assyrian city of Nimrud may be aimed at the growing Assyrian Christian militias in Iraq.
This would make these actions more political and psychological than religious or imperialists like the West.

Posted by: Wayoutwest | Mar 8 2015 5:37 utc | 46

Looks like the whodunit is being solved. This from fortruss:
All four appear to be natives of Ingushetia. They were arrested in the Republic of Ingushetia by FSB Special Operations troops. Dadayev served with the rank of Sergeant (though some reports claim he was the deputy commander) in the Sever [North] battalion of the Republic of Chechnya Interior Troops. Yusupov served in the same unit. Anzur Gubashev worked in a private security firm providing protection for supermarkets…
If they were acting on their own this could be a rogue operation of pro-Russian soldiers associated with Chechnya. If so then it looks like an open and independent investigation in finding out who killed Nemtsov.

Posted by: ToivoS | Mar 8 2015 9:44 utc | 48

Problems with motive ..
Right from the start it was fanciful (imho) to suppose that any of the usual suspects would assassinate Nemtstov. He was on their side, after all, against for ex. ‘Russian agression in Ukraine.’ As for Putin, Nemtstov murdered does him more damage than N alive, the idea seems nuts. Even N’s party and mates have expressed doubt / strongly questioned or denied that the Russian Gvmt, or Putin, had anything to do with it.
The argument that the N murder was carried out to ‘destabilise Russia’, – i.e. done by Russophobes – makes little sense, result Russia destabilised? Not. It becomes hard to spin, the only weak bleating talking point is Russia is a lawless, violent country, ppl can get murdered on a bridge next to the Kremlin, so Russia eevill …
Why would Chechens (or Inguishians – whatever they are called in English) target Nemstov? A nobody figure? Or as anti-Putin..?
Radio Free Europe – Radio Liberty (no less !! )
But the possibility of a Chechen connection should not be dismissed out of hand, given Nemtsov’s repeated criticism of Chechen Republic head Ramzan Kadyrov, and the fact that since 2011, security personnel loyal to Kadyrov have reportedly engaged with total impunity in abductions and killings in Moscow. Alternatively, Kadyrov’s men may have killed Nemtsov at Russian President Vladimir Putin’s behest.
The last sentence is obviously a sop to its mandate.
Snippet:
The website Caucasus Knot recalls that four years ago Kadyrov publicly called for Nemtsov to be imprisoned in light of his role in the mass protests in Moscow in December 2010. Nemtsov responded by branding Kadyrov “a psychologically very sick man” in need of urgent medical care.
http://www.rferl.org/content/caucasus-report-did-kadyrov-kill-nemtsov/26875744.html

Posted by: Noirette | Mar 8 2015 16:05 utc | 50

@51 wow.. keep the conspiracy theories going… It has been obvious the usa foreign policy is quite insane for years and this may be their latest episode of mania to think it will improve there standing with the elites in Moscow.

Posted by: james | Mar 8 2015 16:57 utc | 52

BTW no need for non-cretinous non-retarded MOAers to be offended
It’s just the cretinous utterly retarded ones I’m talkin about

Posted by: FP | Mar 8 2015 17:53 utc | 54

The source? lol
well here’s the NYT
clearly they must lying about who and what the arrestees are, cos they’re saying the same thing
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/09/world/europe/suspect-in-russian-politicians-killing-blows-himself-up-report-says.html?_r=0

All the men detained so far were Chechens, the reports said. . . . .
Mr. Barakhoev revealed some new information about the suspects, including the fact that Mr. Dadayev had worked as a law enforcement officer, serving as deputy commander of a battalion of Interior Ministry troops assigned to fight Islamist insurgents. It was unclear whether he was still with the unit.
The other main suspect, Mr. Kubashev, had worked for a private security company in Moscow as a guard in a hypermarket, according to Mr. Barakhoev. Both are between 30 and 35 years old, he said.

so, the source is obviously Mr Albert Barakhoev, the acting head of the Security Council in Ingushetia, a region that borders Chechnya, was quoted by the state-run news agencies, Tass and RIA Novosti, as saying the arrests took place there.
So sources =

Posted by: FP | Mar 8 2015 20:06 utc | 56

Special Battalions Vostok and Zapad
From Wikipedia
Special Battalions Vostok and Zapad (Russian: Специальные батальоны “Восток” и “Запад”, lit. “East” and “West”) were two Spetznaz units of Russian military intelligence (GRU) based in Chechnya. The overwhelming majority of personnel were ethnic Chechens, while the command personnel were mixed Russian and Chechens.

Posted by: FP | Mar 8 2015 20:31 utc | 58

Saker UPDATE: Russian source now have indicated that the security services are looking another 4 men suspected of having provided the weapon used in the crime.
So 11 “suspects so far
Judging on official Russian statements none of these 11 seem to include whoever it was organised the obtaining of the Moscow Municipal Street Cleaning Truck (+ Driver?) nor has there been any mention of arresting any of those involved in hacking/spying/observing/controlling the traffic cameras

Posted by: FP | Mar 8 2015 20:51 utc | 60

Balmy is back, more ranting, shorter handle. We now see what MiniTrue has for talking points. Apparently they are the right guys. It’s… exactly who do you think is responsible? You seem to imply but never say.
Someone bought themselves some Chechens, we’ll have to see who. They do not seem to have gotten their money’s worth.
Bridge with multiple surveillance cameras turned out to be a pretty bad choice. Seems like former gangster and police official Aleksey Sherstobitov was right after all — not totally professional, Caucasus angle.

Posted by: rufus magister | Mar 8 2015 21:06 utc | 62

Roofies — who’s projecting Balmy? I’m not surprised you would need to resort to such methods, you seem a thoroughly detestable sort.
You’re denying they caught the right folks? On what evidence? You’re willing to taunt us all with it, why fucking bother if its false?
Totally Balmy. Incoherent, yet insulting. Again, keep working on Artist/Title, ok?

Posted by: rufus magister | Mar 8 2015 21:26 utc | 64

Scott at 70 — you’re right, I’m too often Spock when Worf is called for. It’s a failing I can live with though. I mean, look, it can’t even keep it’s handle straight. Can we get a diagnostic on that unit? One last try.
Sorry if I over-estimated your intelligence and was unclear, you never stated who you thought ultimately responsible, i.e., who told the accused to do it? You have made implications, not clear statements on this topic.
You have cited Russian authorities (once or twice, perhaps), but I do not think you drew the correct conclusions. I doubt your powers of reason and observation, though not your talent for instant, colorful abuse. Go with your strengths, right?

Posted by: rufus magister | Mar 8 2015 23:24 utc | 66

@ 75 @ Clownboy LOL I’m well aware of the difference. It kept you silent and busy for over three hours. Mission accomplished. Good grief how many screen names do you use? And since I’m being a grammar Nazi…are you sure I “filed”? What a sad, pathetic, lonely life you must lead. I feel so sorry for you. What kind of human gets jollies by doing what you do? So sad. Another wasted life. And you feel clever doing what you do? Look in a mirror…self-examine. Seek help. I know it’s pointless talking to you. You’re a poorly pain clown. Must be paid…to do it for free is even more pathetic. Now, back on point. Fort Russ has a few nice posts to read and think about.
@ 76 @ rufus
Who cares? It does. No one else.

Posted by: Scott | Mar 9 2015 2:18 utc | 68

I mean @35, Noirette. @32, and Israel Shamir, ex-Jew.

Posted by: ruralito | Mar 9 2015 2:52 utc | 70

Balmy — whatever trivial, overstated points you raised got lost in your torrents of abuse. Were they relevant and well-founded, you’d be talking them about them, and how bloody clever you were, and not how you cited sources in order to hallucinate them.
I ask some clear, direct questions, I get the run-around. You’re a bully who substitutes abusive hectoring for analysis. You call people out, and whine when they give you what for.
You’re a useless waste of time, with no educational or comedic value. ‘Nuff said.

Posted by: rufus magister | Mar 9 2015 3:43 utc | 72

@82, it’s a conundrum. Is jewdihood inheritable? Hitler thought so. And most Jews. Of course we inherit our parents genes. But is there a genetic marker that points all the way back to the ancient Hebrew prophets? I don’t even think it matters.
I sent an email to info@israelshamir.net for his opinion; maybe the great man will reply.

Posted by: ruralito | Mar 9 2015 4:50 utc | 74

only another 10 posts and you two can turn the page on this conversation, lol..

Posted by: james | Mar 9 2015 6:05 utc | 76

OKie
I agree.
It is certain that the Syria government as well a Egypt will not trust the Moslem Brotherhood’s transformation into a moderate islamic force. If the Moslem Brotherhood was corruptible, it may bow to Qatar’s promises of money and denounce their ideology. But I doubt that. They may play the game of renouncing just to survive but they will change back at the first opportunity. Egypt and Syria know that too well.
As of Iran, it had hopes in Morsi, but the way it went I don’t think it will fall so easily again to a revamped Moslem Brotherhood especially if Saudi Arabia is behind it
So while in theory Saudi Arabia and Qatar plan looks like a possibility, practically there are huge obstacles to surmount and as the previous strategy, the chance that it fails again is high.

Posted by: Virgile | Mar 9 2015 8:56 utc | 78

What kind of fool, after being banned a handful of times, comes back again and again under an ever-changing array of nicknames to insult leading posters with empty ad hominems while never offering anything substantial.

Posted by: Bob M. | Mar 9 2015 14:10 utc | 80

P@102
This has to be the most convoluted, rambling explanation of world events I have encountered in quite some time. Is this the best possible thoughts from the Tweaker’s School of Analysis that you can babble.

Posted by: Wayoutwest | Mar 9 2015 17:23 utc | 82

The Firebombing of Tokyo

Seventy years ago today, the United States needlessly killed almost 100,000 people in a single air raid over Tokyo.
Operation Meetinghouse saw more than three hundred B-29 bombers flying at ten thousand (as opposed to their usual thirty thousand feet) to avoid the effects of a 100 to 200 MPH jet stream, and setting Tokyo ablaze in the late hours of March 9. The American planes dropped five hundred thousand M-69 bombs (nicknamed “Tokyo Calling Card”), which were designed specially to consume the largely wooden residential structures of Tokyo.
Clustered in groups of thirty-eight, each M-69 weighed six pounds. The five hundred–pound clusters would disperse at two thousand feet. A white phosphorus fuse that looked like a gym sock ignited flaming jellied gasoline that spurted one hundred feet in the air on impact.
Like a sticky fiery plague, the globs of napalm clung to everything it touched. The M-69s were so effective at starting fires in Tokyo that night that gale force winds turned thousands of individual fires into one massive firestorm. Temperatures around the city raged between 600 and 1800 degrees Fahrenheit. In some areas, the fires melted asphalt.
LeMay planned the attack to coincide with 30 MPH winds in order to intensify the effect of the bombs. Ultimately, sixteen square miles of Tokyo were reduced to ash.
LeMay claimed that the Japanese government relied on residential “cottage” war production, thus making the civilians living in Tokyo a legitimate military target. However, by 1944 the Japanese had essentially terminated its home war production. A full 97 percent of the country’s military supplies were protected underground in facilities not vulnerable to air attack the day of the bombing. The Americans knew this.

Burning Victims to Death: Still a Common Practice

[B]ecause the Hellfire missiles fired from drones often incinerate the victims’ bodies, and leave them in pieces and unidentifiable, traditional burial processes are rendered impossible. As Firoz Ali Khan, a shopkeeper whose father-in-law’s home was struck, graphically described,

“These missiles are very powerful. They destroy human beings . . .There is nobody left and small pieces left behind. Pieces. Whatever is left is just little pieces of bodies and cloth.”

A doctor who has treated drone victims described how “[s]kin is burned so that you can’t tell cattle from human.” When another interviewee came upon the site of the strike that killed his father,

“[t]he entire place looked as if it was burned completely, so much so that even [the victims’] own clothes had burnt. All the stones in the vicinity had become black.”

Ahmed Jan, who lost his foot in the March 17 jirga strike, discussed the challenges rescuers face in identifying bodies:

“People were trying to find the body parts. We find the body parts of some people, but sometimes we do not find anything.”

The Nobel Peace Prize Laureate carries on the glorious tradition of American War Crime. Unreported, of course.

Posted by: jfl | Mar 9 2015 20:06 utc | 84

SO now Venezuela is a threat? Just when I think I’ve seen everything. So let me get this straight. You violate international law by attempting to overthrowing a democratically elected government. They foil your plot. So you declare THEM a threat to YOU? And then you demand they release your plotters? And then YOU, the government that practices kidnapping, illegal detention and torture yammer about “violations” of human rights? So…the country that is actively killing people all over the world. A country that is attempting to provoke a confrontation with a major nuclear power. The country that poses the biggest threat to life on this planet…considers VENEZUELA a threat? Someone is completely divorced from reality. I thought we had hit the bottom of the rabbit hole. I was wrong.

Posted by: Scott | Mar 9 2015 21:11 utc | 86

Balmy —
I disagree. Smug, sarcastic know-it-all, not a narcissist like yourself (you’re all over every thread, it seems). We clowns have no egos, it’s all about the jokes.
And about your 100 —
I just flew in from the Ukraine, and boy are my arms tired!
Well, I wasn’t going to say anything, ‘cuz I thought my fellow Barflies might be jealous after my weekend joyride. So I modestly was not going to bring it up.
But since you did, thanks! — In your face! Check the ride, suckas, we be stylin’! Only Ukrainian folk on the Sirius though.
What can I say? I was a little tired after the red-eye to Kiev, and cheap Polish vodka is not my brand. Stoli is too Moskal, they said, and their Georgian allies were tight with the brandy.
But they insisted on a proper salute “To safe driving,” and so, on “To Beauty,” “To War,” “To the Skill of the Armorers,” “To that muzhik over there’s mother-in-law” and well, whaddaya know?
I’m used to walking home from the local, Mrs. M. has the drunk driving. I quit it quick, when they told me I couldn’t run over any officers, just enlisted and NCO’s. I got no beef w/ the grunts or even line officers, but the brass….
Oh, and no rounds from either the machine guns or main armament, total bummer. Something about Nuland hadn’t sent Kerry with any cookies yet. And the gunner had a staff car in his sights!
Don’t even ask the kind of pull I had to use with my peeps in DC, Novorossiya, Moscow and Kiev. But the panache of my LNR diplomatic passport really did help. Signed by Mozgovoy himself, ya know? I had quick side trip to the Kremlin and got my new marching orders and valyuta, so I didn’t waste the trip.
Our Fearless Leader of the Peoples Party of Illumination and Humor, aka the Party of Clowns (Groucho-Marxist-Lennonist), Commandante Zed, says, “If you can’t say something nice, say something surrealistic.”
Jas. at 111, this strikes me as the appropriate response.
Somewhere in downtown Moscow, a troll is eating a bowl of borscht.
Fellow Ill-Humorati — the checks are in the mail. Activate Plan “Red Nose.” Hic!

Posted by: rufus magister | Mar 10 2015 2:04 utc | 88

Balmy at 113 — Yow! What are you, some sort of Calvinist?! You are a total buzzkill.

Posted by: rufus magister | Mar 10 2015 3:03 utc | 90

um, i don’t use them, but don’t you give the roofie to the object of your desire?
let’s get

small

Posted by: rufus magister | Mar 10 2015 3:21 utc | 92

Venezuela votes for Chavez, elects Maduro as president
in particular, moonbats will know NED, (National Endowment for Democracy) The Dirty Hand of the National Endowment for Democracy
Obama failed his coup in Venezuela, The United States, Germany, Canada, Israel and the United Kingdom launched “Operation Jericho” →IT’S ALL THERE CHECK THE FIRST LINK OUT…

Posted by: Uncle $cam | Mar 10 2015 4:05 utc | 94

Nice interview with Volodymyr Ischenko in Socialist Review via New Cold War. He makes A socialist case for Ukraine.

The patriotic hysteria will not last for ever…. Support for the war is related to the chances of victory. The longer and more exhaustive it becomes the less people will support it or be ready to sacrifice themselves…. Will it be the far-right and the populists who will exploit nationalism and social discontent or will some left wing alternative emerge? At the moment the left is weak.

The last sentences pose the problem facing us all. “Socialism or barbarism,” Luxemburg argued. Particularly tough roe to hoe in Kiev.
Ishchenko also discusses not only the international politics, the outsized influence of the far-right, and the perceptions and hopes of the Ukrainian masses.

Posted by: rufus magister | Mar 10 2015 15:28 utc | 96

@jfl – those are horrific tales from the usa past.. thanks for sharing them, as disturbing as they are..

Posted by: james | Mar 10 2015 16:01 utc | 98

RM@123
This Socialist tendency especially as expressed in the People’s Republics frightens the Russian Ruling Class as much as the Fascists do. Fascism can be opposed on many levels but real Socialism can undermine the Capitalists in Ukraine and Russia.

Posted by: Wayoutwest | Mar 10 2015 17:04 utc | 100