Support our troops? How about listening to them?
Chris Hedges today in Asia Times Online (Singapore):
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/JF07Ak01.html
The folks praying for the success and safety of "their" troops - will they listen to the truth told by these and be taught by it?
The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy, says the Revelation. Jesus said to Pilate, when asked if he is a king, "You say that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice."
That's what Jesus has us asking for when he tells us to pray, "Your kingdom come!" That's a demand for the truth that overthrows our own kingdoms, constructed of the lies we love best. In the churches you know of today, who wants God to do that? That is to say, who actually prays the Lord's Prayer? Who can prophesy who hates truth, except falsely?
Here's some truth from Specialist Philip Crystal, raiding homes in Kirkuk:
"I mean, if someone has a fan, they're a white-collar family. So we get started on this day, this one, in particular. And it starts with the psy-ops [psychological operations] vehicles out there, you know, with the big speakers playing a message in Arabic or Farsi or Kurdish or whatever they happen to be saying, basically, saying put your weapons, if you have them, next to the front door in your house. Please come outside, blah, blah, blah, blah. And we had Apaches flying over for security, if they're needed, and it's also a good show of force. And we were running around, and we'd done a few houses by this point, and I was with my platoon leader, my squad leader, and maybe a couple other people, but I don't really remember.
"And we were approaching this one house, and this farming area; they're, like, built up into little courtyards. So they have like the main house, common area. They have like a kitchen and then they have like a storage-shed-type deal. And we were approaching, and they had a family dog. And it was barking ferociously, because it was doing its job. And my squad leader, just out of nowhere, just shoots it. ... the motherf---er ... he shot it, and it went in the jaw and exited out.
"So I see this dog - and I'm a huge animal lover. I love animals - and this dog has like these eyes on it, and he's running around spraying blood all over the place. And the family is sitting right there, with three little children and a mom and a dad horrified. And I'm at a loss for words. And so I yell at him. I'm like, 'What the f--- are you doing?' And so the dog's yelping. It's crying out without a jaw. And I'm looking at the family, and they're just scared. And so I told them, I was like, 'F---ing shoot it,' you know. 'At least kill it, because that can't be fixed. It's suffering.' And I actually get tears from just saying this right now, but - and I had tears then, too - and I'm looking at the kids and they are so scared. So I got the interpreter over with me and I get my wallet out and I gave them 20 bucks, because that's what I had. And, you know, I had him give it to them and told them that I'm so sorry that asshole did that. Which was very common.
"Was a report ever filed about it? Was anything ever done? Any punishment ever dished out? No, absolutely not."
Christian! How would you like somebody to be praying for the success and safety of people doing your neighborhood this way, somebody who doesn't want even to hear what they're doing to you - the way you pray?
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/JF07Ak01.html
The folks praying for the success and safety of "their" troops - will they listen to the truth told by these and be taught by it?
The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy, says the Revelation. Jesus said to Pilate, when asked if he is a king, "You say that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice."
That's what Jesus has us asking for when he tells us to pray, "Your kingdom come!" That's a demand for the truth that overthrows our own kingdoms, constructed of the lies we love best. In the churches you know of today, who wants God to do that? That is to say, who actually prays the Lord's Prayer? Who can prophesy who hates truth, except falsely?
Here's some truth from Specialist Philip Crystal, raiding homes in Kirkuk:
"I mean, if someone has a fan, they're a white-collar family. So we get started on this day, this one, in particular. And it starts with the psy-ops [psychological operations] vehicles out there, you know, with the big speakers playing a message in Arabic or Farsi or Kurdish or whatever they happen to be saying, basically, saying put your weapons, if you have them, next to the front door in your house. Please come outside, blah, blah, blah, blah. And we had Apaches flying over for security, if they're needed, and it's also a good show of force. And we were running around, and we'd done a few houses by this point, and I was with my platoon leader, my squad leader, and maybe a couple other people, but I don't really remember.
"And we were approaching this one house, and this farming area; they're, like, built up into little courtyards. So they have like the main house, common area. They have like a kitchen and then they have like a storage-shed-type deal. And we were approaching, and they had a family dog. And it was barking ferociously, because it was doing its job. And my squad leader, just out of nowhere, just shoots it. ... the motherf---er ... he shot it, and it went in the jaw and exited out.
"So I see this dog - and I'm a huge animal lover. I love animals - and this dog has like these eyes on it, and he's running around spraying blood all over the place. And the family is sitting right there, with three little children and a mom and a dad horrified. And I'm at a loss for words. And so I yell at him. I'm like, 'What the f--- are you doing?' And so the dog's yelping. It's crying out without a jaw. And I'm looking at the family, and they're just scared. And so I told them, I was like, 'F---ing shoot it,' you know. 'At least kill it, because that can't be fixed. It's suffering.' And I actually get tears from just saying this right now, but - and I had tears then, too - and I'm looking at the kids and they are so scared. So I got the interpreter over with me and I get my wallet out and I gave them 20 bucks, because that's what I had. And, you know, I had him give it to them and told them that I'm so sorry that asshole did that. Which was very common.
"Was a report ever filed about it? Was anything ever done? Any punishment ever dished out? No, absolutely not."
Christian! How would you like somebody to be praying for the success and safety of people doing your neighborhood this way, somebody who doesn't want even to hear what they're doing to you - the way you pray?
posted by Peter Attwood at 6/06/2008 09:09:00 AM
1 Comments:
So here is my question. How do you know that these accounts are truthful? How do I know that the soldiers reporting these accounts don't just have an ax to grind with the US? Im not at all being incredulous. I would like to know you can tell if a media outlet has a slanted biases either to the right or left. I would like to know how you pick a news organization that is worth the investment of reading time, and trust that Im getting reporting with some integrity. I like the wide range of topic coverage Asia times offers, since Ive been referred to it by you on more than one occassion. Im sometimes reffered to places like fox news for the "real" story. And you know they have thier own slant on things, or ad least thats the perception. And Ive brought up article like this one in the AT, only to be told that Im a self loathing american. So as you can see this childish name calling can get old. I dont care who has a reputation for what. I just want to know how you discern when someone is just flattering one's political tendencies, feeding you lies and half truths , and when someone is actually telling the truth. I want to say kinda of like Tim Russert, or ad least the perception of his impartiality when covering the news.
By the way if this news story has an ounce of veracity, I am completely sickened. I feel shame as an American to think that we can let this happen in the name of our freedom. What good is so called freedom if we have lost our humanity in the process of not acknowledging someone elses.
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