The American Military as Hostages

As I was listening to Senator Carl Levin attempt to justify the inclusion of the hate crimes legislation in the defense bill, the thought occurred to me they were using our troops and the defense funding that supports them in Iraq and Afghanistan as hostages to ensure passage of what is clearly un-American legislation.  There is no need for hate crimes legislation.  It creates preferred classes of people - and by the same token, it creates lesser classes of people whose lives are not considered as important as others under the law.   That's about as un-American as it gets.  But the subject of this commentary is really about military hostages.

My thoughts on the use of our military men and women as hostages to further the agenda of those in power is not a new one.  When I listened to the first debate on funding for the Iraq war, there was clearly blackmail involved - all or nothing - the legislation or the lives of our soldiers.  But it wasn't the main legislation that was the issue - it was the inclusion of some other very un-American legislation.  I don't remember exactly what it was - maybe the Patriot Act but whatever it was, I remember that it would never pass on it's own merit.  It could only be passed by using our soldiers as hostages. 

Why did we go to war against Afghanistan and then quickly shift to Iraq?   Neither Afghanistan nor Iraq had anything to do with 9/11.  According to Donald Rumsfeld, there weren't enough good targets left in Afghanistan.  Supposedly we were going after Osama Bin Laden - but he quickly become unimportant as we moved to Iraq.  Early in the Iraq war, our soldiers didn't have the supplies they needed - water, food, bullets, armor.   Rumsfeld said, "you go to war with army you have".  We spend hundreds of billions of dollars every year on the defense department but the soldiers don't have the basics?  Ok. 

Going back to Viet Nam.  Why were we there?  I've never seen a satisfactory answer.  I do know that Lyndon Johnson began seeking passage of the 'Great Society' programs at about the same time that they stepped up the war in Viet Nam.  I do know that our troops in Viet Nam were prevented from actually fighting the war in the all out way one would expect if one is actually fighting to win.  The net effect was that our guys were stationed in the jungle as sitting ducks.   Were our soldiers used as hostages to ensure passage of the Great Society programs? 

Why were we in Bosnia?   That area of the world was and is Europe's problem - not ours.  Were our soldiers used as hostages for some legislation here?   Perhaps the "reinvention of government"?   Perhaps the harmonizing legislation for the North American Union? 

When Obama was campaigning, he said he would bring our troops home.  Once in office, "well... maybe someday".  And since he has been in office, there has been more un-American legislation passed and more un-American actions by government than at any time in my memory. 

One thing that is clear and undeniable.  Not since the Civil War have American soldiers fought to defend America.  And today, when they are needed to defend American territory from unlawful invasion by 10's of millions of foreign nationals, they aren't here to do it - and the National Guard which traditionally defended states interests have been taken over by the Feds leaving the states with no protection except domestic police. 

The idea that the only purpose for our men and women in the military is to serve as hostages to further the current agenda is very troubling to say the least but there does seem to be a pattern.   If anybody sees a problem my thinking besides "our government wouldn't do that", I would truly appreciate hearing it.  At this point, I don't think there is a single thing that we can say our government is incapable of in the way of betrayal and criminality.       

Vicky Davis
July 15, 2009

P.S. You might want to call your Senator to tell them to vote No on the hate crimes legislation even though it is buried in the Defense Bill.   One way to prove or disprove my theory on the soldiers as hostages is to stand up and say no more blackmail. 

P.P.S.   I just heard Alan Watt talking about the Soviet Union.  Afghanistan was their Viet Nam.  According to what Watt said, it sounded as if that was used against the Soviet people in the same way that I theorized the Viet Nam war was used against us.