Is it possible to be a deserter when you're not even in the army? If so, then count me in. With its "war on terror" the US military industrial complex seems to be steadily taking over the last vestiges of civilian life.
Just recently, the US Navy was granted approval to deploy ships using low-frequency sonar, despite knowledge the system injures whales and other mammals.
Then Air Force General Ralph E Eberhart started pushing for changes to laws restricting the military's ability to participate in domestic law enforcement.
And this week we've been treated to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee's hearings on attacking Iraq. Rather than inviting voices of experience and reason (such as Denis Halliday, the former UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq or Scott Ritter, the former Chief Inspector of the United Nations Special Commission to Disarm Iraq) to testify, the hearings have become a forum for hawks pushing for all-out war. While the focus is reportedly eliminating Iraq's weapons of mass destruction, curiously no mention has been made that the five permanent members of the UN Security Council also happen to be among the world's biggest arms dealers. Unmentioned too has been US complicity in the sanctions-related deaths of over one million Iraqis. Perhaps we'll get to that next week.
Just recently, the US Navy was granted approval to deploy ships using low-frequency sonar, despite knowledge the system injures whales and other mammals.
Then Air Force General Ralph E Eberhart started pushing for changes to laws restricting the military's ability to participate in domestic law enforcement.
And this week we've been treated to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee's hearings on attacking Iraq. Rather than inviting voices of experience and reason (such as Denis Halliday, the former UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq or Scott Ritter, the former Chief Inspector of the United Nations Special Commission to Disarm Iraq) to testify, the hearings have become a forum for hawks pushing for all-out war. While the focus is reportedly eliminating Iraq's weapons of mass destruction, curiously no mention has been made that the five permanent members of the UN Security Council also happen to be among the world's biggest arms dealers. Unmentioned too has been US complicity in the sanctions-related deaths of over one million Iraqis. Perhaps we'll get to that next week.