I am appalled at all the unjustifiable costs of war, which I believe, as the Dalai Lama says, is obsolete. I denounce our many war crimes, like mass punishment, displacement, torture and rendition and all the stinking careerists who spin false and scientized pretenses of nobility over them. And I don't ask, I DEMAND the humanitarian mission be finally put ahead of the destruction and death mission, as it should have been long ago. But, of all the waste and falsehood and pain and venality I despise, I think I choke most of all on these American warrior suicides.
SEAL commander dead of apparent suicide in Afghanistan
Cmdr. Job W. Price, 42, of Pottstown, Pa., died Saturday in an apparent suicide.
Now, I have zero actual knowledge of this guy. But my thought is that nobody gets into a position like this guy did without a laser like sense of purpose, and a deep commitment, however misused or misdirected we may think it is, to do something that serves the greater good. And, again, however misdirected and misused we may think it is, that dedication and purpose has its root in the great immortal urge to give protection, to which we should all give the greatest honor. No craven careerist takes these jobs. They don't leave enough time for lucrative speaking engagements and trading salacious emails with your groupies.
So, to all the plutocrats and their toadies who give these good men and women, over and over again, dishonorable missions, feckless missions, and showboat missions, and over and over again tar them with their own shitty messes of scientized, puffed up sadism, venality and thirst for undeserved fame, I say DAMN YOU. And don't you dare feel one iota of joviality and cheer this season. You should think about this man and the smell of your own shit.
I assert no right of privacy over this statement. You can quote me, and I hope you do, preferably to those who most deserve to hear it.
Katie Bretsch, 23 December 2012