Organizing Notes

Bruce Gagnon is coordinator of the Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space. He offers his own reflections on organizing and the state of America's declining empire....

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Location: Brunswick, ME, United States

The collapsing US military & economic empire is making Washington & NATO even more dangerous. US could not beat the Taliban but thinks it can take on China-Russia-Iran...a sign of psychopathology for sure. We must all do more to help stop this western corporate arrogance that puts the future generations lives in despair. @BruceKGagnon

Monday, June 06, 2016

Winning Hearts and Minds?


RT reports:

Three separate scandals involving American servicemen and contractors in a highly-controversial Navy base in Japan's Okinawa have finally resulted in an all-out alcohol ban on all the 18,600 sailors. The measure is the latest and comes after a Marine's drunk-driving stunt. 

Adding to the two cases involving murder and rape of two young Japanese women, a third incident saw a US sailor with six times the legal alcohol limit go on a joyride, hitting two cars in the wrong lane. The officer, Aimee Mejia, who was assigned to Kadena Air base, is now being held by Japanese police.

This is all in the midst of now nationwide anger over the antics in Okinawa, not to mention earlier opposition to such a prominent American presence on the island.

The latest incident took place as US forces were observing a 30-day period of mourning for the earlier murder victim. Part of the gesture by the American military included imposing strict measures on its servicemen and women, such as curfews and a partial alcohol ban when off base.

Starting Monday, all American sailors in Japan are banned from consuming alcohol on and off the premises. More severe movement restrictions were also imposed – the soldiers can now only go to the store, the gym and the gas station.

According to Washington Post, a US congressional delegation was due to visit Okinawa last week, but had its meetings cancelled, as local politicians didn’t wish to be seen dealing with Americans.

Yeah, the US 'democracy machine' is slipping some gears and not winning any hearts and minds. These are signs of a crumbling military empire. People are fed up with the arrogant and abusive American occupation treating the local people and their environment like shit.

Back here at home these stories are not in our papers.  Thanks to Russia Today (RT) for news that we'd not otherwise get.

Yeah Russia has their own agenda - they want the Pentagon's endless war project off their borders.  And Moscow is right to demand that - the hypocritical Washington crowd would be screaming bloody murder if Russia was doing military operations in Mexico or Canada.

My mother used to say - what's good for the goose, is good for the gander.  Right......

Please do what you can to help accelerate the pace of the US imperial decline......future life on Earth depends on a quick and relatively quiet collapse. 

2 Comments:

Anonymous Brother Jonah said...

- the hypocritical Washington crowd would be screaming bloody murder if Russia was doing military operations in Mexico or Canada.. or Cuba. There were five different shows on cable TV this past week, and all of them repeated at least once, about the Missile Crisis of Kennedy fame.

Then there's the title, some of my older friends who went to Nam had this saying "We are here to win your hearts and minds, or maybe just burn down your G--Damn huts"

Our site did a harsh account of Obama visiting Hiroshima and Nagasaki, one of our detractors came straight up with the statistic, provided by Pentagon information specialists (notice I didn't call them lying propagandists-- I am proud) "The bombings shortened the war and Japan would never have surrendered yada yada yada." Ah, the slogans and sound burps.

6/10/16, 11:29 AM  
Anonymous Brother Jonah said...

"if you got your hand on their nuts, their hearts and minds will follow"


Of course such sayings can be used by all sides of the debate.

6/10/16, 11:32 AM  

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