US military: the insane killing machine

from CNN.com comes this breathless news flash:

"The German news outlet Der Spiegel has published photographs of what appear to be two U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan posing over the bodies of dead Afghans -- images which threaten to further complicate the American military effort there."

the accompanying photo shows some camo-clad goon with a sadistic grin kneeling over the mostly hidden body of an afghan "saved" by the US military.

we get the obligatory apologies from the military, sprinkled liberally with cries of "a few bad apples" -- the all-purpose excuse for unleashing the brutality of savage US imperialism on tribal people:

"We apologize for the distress these photos cause," the statement said.
Army officials asserted in the statement that ongoing court-martial proceedings related to the alleged atrocities "speak for themselves. The photos appear in stark contrast to the discipline, professionalism and respect that have characterized our soldiers' performance during nearly 10 years of sustained operations."
They also stressed that the "United States Army is committed to adherence to the Law of War and the humane and respectful treatment of combatants, noncombatants, and the dead. ... Soldiers who commit offenses will be held accountable as appropriate."

when it comes to the US military, discipline and professionalism are measured in cities destroyed and native populations decimated -- think falluja in iraq, where every man of "fighting age" was given a death sentence when the military unleashed its barrage of firebombs and DU munitions on the city that rose up in anger in response to imperial hubris.

we will see this same scenario played out in libya, if troops are deployed -- as they probably will. US ideals are at some removes from our actions, as events have proved again and again over the past 60 years. afghanistan was not the first, nor will be the last, and atrocities are part and parcel of the american style of freedom and democracy from the barrel of a gun.

no wonder they hate us. if you wish to say it's for our freedom, as a former president explained it, then its our freedom to ride roughshod over others in pursuit of our own interests, while disregarding the interests of others in wishing to achieve a peaceful existence without the US barging in and telling the locals how to run things.