think tank forum

http://wikileaks.cx/wiki/Wikileaks:Cover_Names

http://wikileaks.org/wiki/Whistleblower_exposes_insider_trading_program_at_JP_Morgan

http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB279/index.htm

this is so fucked.
it's fucked that soldiers do this, it's fucked that they're trained to do it, it's fucked that they get solely blamed for it and that in the end it's profiteers and paper pushers making these decisions- not the specific "engagement" (amazing euphemism for "murder," eh?) just the decision to colonize entire countries/whatever natural resources are under them but also to sacrifice as many residents as they see fit ,as well as soldiers. that video makes me want to hate the people behind the guns, but i've had enough super-intense conversations with vets to realize that it's not like the point of war is for the US to "win." That is if you're defining a country as it's citizens- that kind of brainwashing and what people are trained to do as a result either gets you killed or PTSD, guaranteed, which just strengthens cycles of mental illness, abuse, and violence within everyone that war touches-mostly civilians.
I also think it's odd that whoever said that it's fucked that people join the army was called "childish." Is war not childish? I mean, I think it's oversimiplification to say "if you join the army you're an asshole," and though everyone is responsible for their actions for the most part, it is people who are actually profiting off of war who are the ultimate shitbags. Yeah each individual cog can be a monkeywrench, too, but they're not the one's engineering the whole machine.