Pentagon Destroys Thousands of Copies of Army Officer's Memoir

[emceeemcee]

Quick! Some truth is getting out!


Burn it!

 

[YMIHERE]

The only authoritarianism in the US is driven purely by the left.

In America Fascism will come wrapped in a flag and carrying a Bible.

 

[Trident1]

In America Fascism will come wrapped in a flag and carrying a Bible.

Don't hold your breath. We've had a tendency for over 200 years to keep state and church separate. A theocracy will never happen.

The fact that so many have protested against Obama and the Dem Congress is testimony that their domestic policies pushed the country too far to the left.

 

[maildude]

The only authoritarianism in the US is driven purely by the left.

C'mon, Tri...the corporations have had our balls in a sling for hundreds of years. And the media just reinforces their walls. No? How much does Proctor And Gamble spend annually on advertisement? And how about their lobbying protecting their logging interests?

 

[Darmund]

And the sheeple like to say there is no fascism in the U.S.

Christ, you're a fucking moron, in fact you give morons a horrible name with the vast depth of your moronitude.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with what the military has done, in fact this is routine procedure. Every high ranking military officier in the US military knows damn well that if they plan to write their "memoirs" of life in the service that said memoirs can and will be vetted by the militray and anything deemed classified/top secret/ of national security will be taken out.

I suppose you think that the US newspapers who knew all about the planned invasion on D-Day should have gone ahead and published all of the details, thus ensuring a Nazi victory in WWII, right?

Moron.

 

[Vlad The Impaler]

I was injured in the military which makes me a disabled vet. My MOS came with a secret security clearance therefore I am unable to obtain any of my DOD files in my quest for SSI. And there's nothing anyone can do about it.

 

[emceeemcee]

This book has it all. And to think that all this nearly perished in the flames [Blacked-out passages are represented below as BLEEEEEEP]:

Models of heroism instilling confidence in our leaders: "On Friday afternoons, three of my friends and I would hop in a car and drive the 100 miles to Tucson, drinking a fifth -- or two -- of vodka along the way. Soon, I was working counterterrorism missions in the United States and Europe while still in the army reserves and having the time of my life. . . . I started having blackouts: I would start drinking in one place, wake up in another place, and not know how I got there. . . . ome of my bosses drank as much as I did."

Deep insights into human motivation: "We'd come halfway around the world to deal with an enemy that cared about nothing but their narrow interpretation of God. They wanted to kill us simply because we did not think like they did."

Dramatic tension and vegetable references: "My team was gonna take to it like an eight-year-old to asparagus. We'd BLEEEEEEEP recruited a scout to help smooth our way with the villagers, but the CIA had maneuvered him out of the picture. Now we were going to be on our own without a native guide. Freakin' CIA."

Exemplary and tragic stands taken on principle: "The CIA, it turned out, was running its own game, a game they didn't bother to coordinate with anyone on the Defense side of the house. At one point, I was to learn later, we had an ugly experience with a warlord who was on their payroll. It was not that they played against both sides. It was the fact that they did it so obviously and poorly that pissed us off."

The worst cliff-hanging ending to a chapter ever: "Shortly after that meeting with Dave, our informants told us of a chilling development. Bearded men, riding on Honda motorcycles, carrying Kalashnikov rifles and satellite telephones, were driving along the trails of the deep, treeless valleys in Zabul province about 100 miles southwest of Bagram. They were on their way."

The worst beginning to the next chapter that could have been conceived of, with or without depicting people as insects or rodents: "The Taliban were reinfesting southeast Afghanistan."

Measured use of violence: "'What is your consideration of collateral damage?' he asked. 'None,' I replied. 'According to our information, there appears to be only true believers present with the target.'"

A keen eye for detail: "For a moment, it was interesting to contemplate the Taliban as a bunch of Fred Flintstones. Nah. I couldn't recall ever seeing a fat Taliban."

Subtle foreshadowing: "The same circumstances would reoccur: coalition and Afghan forces fighting to take ground in hundreds of villages like Deh Chopan throughout the region, holding it long enough to push out the Taliban, and then leaving, only to see the Taliban reemerge in the district unopposed."

Passionate romance: "I had been told by several friends about finding troops 'doing it' in cramped spaces like the small bomb shelters around our tent living area and Porta-Johns. Yeah, Porta-Johns."

Clever imperialist banter: "'Wow,' I said. 'But that's Indian territory.' I gave them the street location. 'It's the heart of where the bad guys are hanging out these days.'"

Realistic unflinching looks at the front lines of the battlefield: "We had to get back to Bagram before dark. Besides, the mess hall served Alaskan king crab on Friday nights, and you had to get there early before it got too rubbery."

Even subtler foreshadowing: "The graveyard sat on a high plain that overlooked Kabul against a backdrop of brown and gray rock mountains. Faded green Soviet vehicles -- T-64 and T-72 tanks, BMP armored personnel carriers, BRDM armored cars, and more -- were stretched out on a tan flat plain as far as the eye could see. Row after row of them."

Inverted literary allusions based on movies: "I thought about Willard's journey up the river and into the 'heart of darkness.' Maybe we were going to have to do something to get at these guys where they lived; the remote area where Kurtz called his home was as remote as Wana to us."

Insights into local customs: "Dave and I put on our 'Hajji hats' -- flat-topped Afghan hats worn by the local men."

Massage cream sources that threaten national security: "I'd never given a massage in a combat zone before, but I dug out some hand cream with lotus flowers that I'd picked up at the BLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP and figured it would do in place of massage oil."

Hints of a sequel: "We have to become involved in helping to shape and improve the message of the true Muslim faith

http://www.counterpunch.org/swanson10012010.html

:1orglaugh

 

[ChefChiTown]

The problem with this is that it seems half the time when they want to restrict something like this in the name of "national security" what they are really doing is getting rid of things that are embarrassing, make the government look bad, or because the government and people in it did something that was wrong or they weren't allowed to do and they want to cover it up, and not because it's an actual legitimate serious national security threat.

That's true, but we can only assume that in each case. It's just something we'll never know.

I just think most people dig too far into these stories in order to find something to bitch about though. I mean, what if this guy's book DID have information that jeopardized our national security? Would the people who are upset that the big bad government denied this man his opportunity to share his story still be pissed at Uncle Sam for putting a hand over this guy's mouth? In all honesty...they probably would be. But, that's only because they've already chosen their target (the government) and have their radar sent to "destroy"...even though, if this guy's book contained information that threatened our national security, the real bad guy would be the author - not the government.

It's just a lose-lose situation in cases like this. No matter what happens, the government is the bad guy, you know?