Just one more horrific way the US government spends our hard-earned cash. This assault on innocent sleeping civilians echos deeds of the past.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/1 ... d%3D142557

I was looking at that- this morning.It is uncalled for.They said the soldier went crazy.Yeah,sure. What if his family was having a get together and someone blew them away for no reason.In my eyes this is the same thing.Keeps the war going don't it? Jennifer

Like so many incidents we will probably never know the truth behind this. I feel strongly that there is no valid reason for US troops to be over there and the longer we remain the worse it will become. It just goes on and on and on. If not Iraq or Afghanistan it will be somewhere else draining the blood out of us all. War is big business and unfortunately feeds off us all.

I saw that a 2 year old child got killed during this Afghanistan massacre.His mother said "Have you ever seen a 2 year old Taliban?" Jennifer

I wonder what lame words Obama will use to "apologize" for this. What words could possibly bring any comfort to the family of the two year old child (and to the families of the others)?

I have to say that this soldier did go crazy. Why would a sane person do this? Our minds were not designed for war-I'm sure many will disagree. We are not designed to be killing machines. This soldier,who on many occasions has killed I'm sure, as this was his 3rd tour of duty, mind could no longer be a rational mind and the result was this massacre. Take a look at the killing of Trayvon Martin. Zimmerman , the shooter, full of stereotypical ideals and images, decided to formulate a reason that seemed right to him and commit murder. The problem is nothing was going to be done about it until the peoples' voices rose and demanded justice. People often say words are powerless but I disagree because words which are thoughts become actions. Because we have free will and can make our own choices, some people will agree to be killers.
Here's a link of interest: http://www.politicususa.com/native-american-crisis/

Hi! Ellen,How are you?I realize now the man acted on his own in Afghanistan.There is so much going on these days you don't know what to believe anymore.My family were some of the people who went through "The Trail of Tears", but I haven't lived through the atrocities of what the Indians have been going through in today times.Unknowingly I had my culture taken from me and I am learning about it.It breaks my heart what happened to them. This is not to feel sorry them because I know they are extremely strong people and they are survivors.They wouldn't be existing today just like I wouldn't be here today.I see that same strength in my family and in myself.Thanks for the article. Jennifer

Hau,Ellen and welcome to the forums.
At least the message is starting to get through about the realities and distortions of history.But it is an 'ugly' story and it may be hard for a lot of people to hear.The article was very informative.
Thanks for the link.

Yes, it seems as if the man did act on his own however he is over there as a representative of the US government; his actions certainly influence the way the people of that country think of the people over here. They trained him to kill and to look at these people as less than human. What I wonder is how they came up with the figure to determine the amount of cash to give to victim's families. Do they have a formula of some sort, lets see; factor in race ($) +culture ($)+religious beliefs ($) +country=nx5.09789! If a solider stationed in England did this I would bet my last dollar the families would have received big big bucks.

The Afghanistan atrocity was a horrible,horrible act no matter who did what and it is truly uncalled for.Mass killings of people or killing of one person should be condemned throughout the world.No amount of money could ever make up for it but the US gov't thinks what they gave will appease them.Jennifer

Lilac,I read more articles on the Afghanistan atrocity, updated ones and some of them say there are more Afghanistan people are coming forward and are saying that the US soldier didn't act alone as the initial report says and that they are saying other incidents like this has happened in other areas.Jennifer

This kind of thing probably happens more times than the public knows; always has since the beginning of wars. In modern times our technology allows these incidents to be reported more often therefore when something like this does "leak out" they say the guy went beserk and acted on his own. Like I said, this is what he is trained to do. I bet there are many people across this land who secretly (and maybe not so secretly) think what he did was justifiable; "them baby terroists will never grow up to strap on a bomb" sort of mentality.

I am upset as heck today about the Roswell Georgia "chicken man" that blew himself up in his home today.I have been watching the news about him for 4 years as he has fought to have his chickens.He said that he has had chickens for 30 years and the county was fighting him against having them.Someone poisoned 50 of his chickens and the police stayed on his case.He was in and out of jail about this. He spent lots of money in court about this to the point of foreclosure on his home and he was going to be evicted today.I also found out that it amounted to the county wanting his land.So they harassed him.This wasn't about chickens. It was about a man standing up for his rights. What a tragic story!Jennifer

Craig ,Lilac and Thermlin, do you ever wonder if people will ever get a clue about why we are really here? I discovered the 'why' many years ago when I was questioning the existence of God. The answer was very simple and straightforward; we are here to take care of each other and the earth and its inhabitants. Now, this has been known from the beginning. Why is it so hard to do? Throughout the millenia, wars have been waged and blood has been spilled and nothing is changing. People are commiting murders and other crimes against others at an ever alarming rate.
I just wish people would get a clue. I wish people would rise from this lower spiritual level and rise to the next. It is time. There are other worlds in the universe and until we rise out of this chaotic existence and realize the bigger picture, most of us will never know about them.

I do agree, Ellen, but as for the other worlds, well you're probably right considering the imcomprehensible vastness of the universe, but speaking for myself, focusing on this planet's woes and wonders is quite enough.

Yes you are quite right Lilac and it is a daunting task I 'm sure you'll agree. Along the vein of the subject of the post, "After NATO detained a U.S. soldier Sunday for allegedly killing sleeping Afghan villagers, Republicans and Democrats alike pointed to the stress on troops after years of fighting and reiterated calls to leave by the end of 2014 as promised, if not sooner."(http://en.terra.com/latin-in-america/ne ... otingspree)
I felt we should've never been over there(Iraq,Afghanistan) from the beginning. What happened with 911 should've been dealt with by tracking down the brains behind this tragedy ; they knew who was responsible and who the players were: not just using the scattered tactics that have been used throughout this war. The enemy is an idealism, which is stronger than any physical enemy. What this soldier has done is just a microcosm of what the US is doing, in my opinion. The only difference is this soldier was now damaged goods and his actions were that of a mind subjected to the stressors of being a soildier deployed too many times. There is some speculation his actions were caused by a malarial vaccine he received. That is highly possible. Who knows, I've often wondered if soldiers were given drugs to make them not be affected by what their tasks entailed. War is not necessary except for the squashing of true evil .
War is for most purposes the result of greed for money, resouces(human or otherwise) power or land. This is documented throughout history. As long as humankind remains unenlighted, this will always be. We were endowed with 'free will' which means we can change the course of this.

Hi Ellen I can't imagine the stress the men and women over there (especially the ones who have served more than once) must deal with. Unfortuately it manifests itself in so many sad ways when they come home and apparently when they are still over there as it seems with this particular soldier. I think back now to 9/11 and I remember so much of the country was "gung ho" on going over there and "beating the crap out of them." I think it gave Bush an bona fide excuse to send troops over there to continue what papa Bush had started in the 90's (actually I don't think George Jr. had too much to do with the decision but rather those who "advised" him).

I'm not trying to sound all "women's lib" and stuff, but I think throughout history war has alot to do with testosterone. If women had been involved in politics from the get go maybe this world would be a much better place. http://russellmeans.blogspot.com/

The news keeps glossing over the fact that this soldier had already sustained a brain injury from being bombed, lost part of a limb and had still been sent back to an active zone. Yes, he snapped.

I have a brother that served in the first wave in Iraq and he has not been sane since his return, My father served in Vietnam and has never been right again. The military will continue to send soldiers back into active zones like this until they are forced to stop and hopefully this will bring light to the subject. Hell, Ft Carson Co. has seen a huge rise in homicides since a large group of soldiers returned from Iraq and Afghanistan because they returned with severe problems that were not addressed. It happens far more than people realize because it's not prominant in the news until it's useful as shock appeal to be honest.

The thing that gets me though is that people keep blaming Obama Obama Obama and conveniently get this huge case of amnesia on exactly who put us in this huge mess.... I keep wondering why?

Our economy took the length of Bush's reign to be destroyed people, and it's going to take twice as long to recover, so why it's really convenient, popular and fun to blame Obama, it makes a whole lot more sense to blame the one that actually destroyed the economy and robbed every Man, Woman and Child in this country to fund his personal war in the first place..... Bush.

And before anyone jumps on me and accuses me of being some dyed in the wool Democrat I should set the record straight and point out that I have never voted Democrat a day in my life, but I'm not blind to the fact that our government officials hid the fact that we were in the middle of a full blown depression a full year before the Presidential election was even held.

So my question is... why do people keep blaming Obama for the destruction of our economy when it's perfectly clear to anyone with a clue that our economy was in the crapper LONG before he even took office? I really don't get it at all.

Sadly, I can't even vote for Ron Paul this year since he's running as a blasted Republican. Ugh!

A lot of people do blame Obama but it has been the governments of all countries and the elite that has started all this mess since time.They use wars to make their money and to gain control of land,resources and people.Our soldiers are nothing but pawns in all this atrocities "all in the name of freedom." Jennifer