Blaming Soldiers For Bad Policy From Elites
September 26, 2012 by Sam Rolley
The government elites in the United States have perpetuated failed foreign policy initiatives in the Mideast at behest of the military-industrial complex while simultaneously attempting to make the U.S. occupation of certain countries in the region appear to be purposed for training the citizenry to provide safety for themselves. For American soldiers, the sham has had fatal consequences.
In Afghanistan, the number of “green on blue” attacks — strikes by Afghan soldiers being trained by Americans (whom they often shoot in the back) — has been increasing over the past year. But rather than admit that the war in Afghanistan (Iraq, Libya, technically Syria and soon Iran) is a failed undertaking perpetuated only to continue the flow of profits to monied elites connected to the military industrial complex, the Pentagon has taken to faulting the American troops.
Over the past three years, 97 U.S. and NATO troops have been murdered by uniformed Afghan “allies.” And currently, the entire Arab world is rife with hatred for America and her foreign policy — though, for political reasons, the anger has been blamed on a ridiculous and terrible YouTube video.
Unwilling to admit the folly that is American foreign policy in the Mideast, the Pentagon has decided that American soldiers in the region need to undergo more rigorous “Islamic sensitivity training.”
“There’s a percentage [of attacks] which are cultural affronts,” Joint Chiefs Chairman General Martin Dempsey explained in a recent interview.
According to the New York Post, American soldiers in the Mideast should observe the following rules in order to avoid becoming the victims of fratricide:
* Wear surgical gloves whenever handling a copy of the Koran.
* Never walk in front of a praying Muslim.
* Never show the bottom of boots while sitting or lying across from a Muslim, which in Islam is considered an insult.
* Never share photos of wives or daughters.
* Never smoke or eat in front of Muslims during the monthlong Ramadan fasting.
* Avoid winking, cursing or nose-blowing in the presence of Muslims — all viewed as insults in Islam.
* Avoid exiting the shower without a towel.
* Avoid offering and accepting things with the left hand, which in Islam is reserved for bodily hygiene and considered unclean.
For more than a decade, the United States has fought wars of futility in the Mideast. And support for American policy in the region is no greater than before. Despite the efforts to blame all of the unrest on Islamic hatred for Americans’ way of life, one would be ignorant to believe that drone strikes in Pakistan that routinely kill civilians, support for the Muslim Brotherhood that angered many in Egyptians and America’s myriad other past transgressions in the Mideast have nothing to do with what is happening to American troops in Afghanistan at present.
The Nation’s ruling elite will never admit that Mideast peace and democracy is an unattainable option as long as the United States is involved. U.S. soldiers are agents of an occupying foreign military in the eyes of people of Mideast nations. And if their behavior is any indication, they don’t like it.
Instead of blaming Islam (or, worse, the behavior of American heroes overseas), perhaps it is time for America’s military-industrial complex to admit to the public that there is little left that can be done in the Arab world, withdraw from the region and stop allowing American soldiers to be sitting ducks for profit.
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