tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2304235862479840318.post8357084443514374457..comments2024-01-08T04:16:25.601-08:00Comments on Ché (What You Call Your) Pasa: The WTF? DepartmentChé Pasahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01926630891287949373noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2304235862479840318.post-55220526726596693072011-08-06T23:28:56.335-07:002011-08-06T23:28:56.335-07:00I remember that the Brits had some luck in their r...I remember that the Brits had some luck in their recent Imperial Administration of Basra in Iraq. <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/3755940.stm" rel="nofollow">Mainly by showing more physical courage than the Americans in similar situations.</a> Incidentally, I don't think it was that the American troops were cowardly, but force protection is a very high level institutional bias in the US armed forces to the point it trumps other war aims.<br /><br />Currently, I suspect that the American troops in various foreign adventures are along the lines of Edmund Blackadder in "Blackadder Goes Forth" prior to the start of the First World War. In other words, they are just there to collect a paycheck, learn to say "voulez vous couche avec moi" to the local girls in the local language, and not caring one whit about the war aims. It's not that they are bad people, although they may be, it's just that that was the only way out of whatever stateside future-less Hell-hole they were in, whether Detroit or West Virginia. <a href="http://www.talkleft.com/story/2004/11/17/251/17229" rel="nofollow">Heck, judges have been known to offer the choice of Army or prison to young offenders.</a><br /><br />Seriously, if my choice was killing random foreigners or being a wage slave for Wal*Mart.... well I'd hope I'd have the strength of will to kill myself, but otherwise murder for hire doesn't sound that bad.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/the-kill-team-20110327" rel="nofollow">That's excluding the true psychos, who make their own entertainment while they are there.</a>vampyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14660319794133128873noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2304235862479840318.post-64756477056955576362011-08-06T18:34:20.148-07:002011-08-06T18:34:20.148-07:00"But it is difficult not to do what you don&#...<i>"But it is difficult not to do what you don't want to do in Afghanistan." -- Adam Curtis</i><br /><br />What a total cockup. But then, it's been that way from the beginning, how long ago now?<br /><br />Almost from day one, informed observers were pointing out that the Natives were using the foreign troops to settle scores with their rivals, and it was an endlessly spiraling game of revenge.<br /><br />And for whatever reason (their own fantasy game playing is my bet) the foreign troops never, ever comprehend what's happening. <br /><br />But then, they don't know where they are, they know nothing about the people and the history -- ancient or modern -- nothing at all except what they are told by their officer corps who also know nothing and want to know less than they do.<br /><br />I've heard that the British advice to the American Imperialists overseas is, "You're doing it wrong." But it sounds like the Brits have forgotten how to do it themselves.<br /><br />Or maybe they never knew and just got lucky.<br /><br />Sickening.<br /><br />ChéChé Pasahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01926630891287949373noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2304235862479840318.post-60601875720978818442011-08-06T14:51:09.750-07:002011-08-06T14:51:09.750-07:00Actually, this version from Adam Curtis' BBC b...Actually, this version from Adam Curtis' BBC blog is more informative:<br /><br /><a href="http://audiokitty.posterous.com/bbc-blog-adam-curtis-mr-pink-mr-white-and-bot" rel="nofollow">BBC Blog - Adam Curtis: 'MR PINK, MR WHITE AND BOTTOM.'</a>vampyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14660319794133128873noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2304235862479840318.post-30537357920529725252011-08-06T14:45:26.190-07:002011-08-06T14:45:26.190-07:00I'm reminded of this article:
MR. PINK AND MR...I'm reminded of this article:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/closeread/2010/10/mr-pink-and-mr-white-in-afghanistan.html" rel="nofollow">MR. PINK AND MR. WHITE IN AFGHANISTAN</a><br /><br /><i>At one large American airbase in western Afghanistan, military personnel did not even know the names of the leaders of the Afghan groups providing base security.</i><br /><br />Instead, the American troops called the warlords being paid to guard them Mr. Pink and Mr. White, which is what the British contractor that technically employed them called them.vampyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14660319794133128873noreply@blogger.com