Therein Big Trouble

Gosh, whoever thought pissing on bodies would piss everybody off?

I’ve got plenty to say about this but can’t at the moment, so while I’m waiting for everyone else to leave the room, I’ll pass to Jon Soltz:

There are no words to express my disgust at the video making the rounds today, of U.S. Marines apparently urinating on the dead bodies of the Taliban. As an Iraq War veteran who works with Iraq and Afghanistan veterans every day, I can truthfully say that the Marines in the video have undermined everything that I and those who served with me tried to do.

Steady stream of invective after the jump.

That’s why I’m just as disgusted by right wingers like Pamela Gellar[sic], who said, “I love these Marines” and joked, “Perhaps this is the infidel interpretation of the Islamic ritual of washing and preparing the body for burial.”

To be fair, I think this might deviate from Geller’s usual MO. She’s the kind of person who’ll use any excuse to express her xenophobia; this time I suspect she’s using her xenophobia as an excuse to express herself as a sensual being. Hey, we’ve all got our kinks, some of us are just a little more circumspect about announcing them to the world. Still, she should’ve just held it in.

I’m sure she doesn’t have any backup, though. Right-wingers are always talking up their understanding of, and deference to, the military; they must know better than to give this behavior the thumbs-up, tactical whizzes that they are.

Oops, making that claim so authoritatively was a mistake, now I’m all wet. Back to you, Soltz.

We, as a nation, have to be 100 percent behind the Pentagon on this, and seek justice in this case. Those who would cheer on the disgusting actions of these Marines, only serve to compound the damage already done by them.

BURN. Click over and read the whole post, there’s lots more in that vein.

Listen, Jon, you wouldn’t necessarily know this since you were off risking your life overseas in service to your country while I was reading what these people write (I’ll give you the edge for bravery but we’re probably running about even in the 1000 yard stare event), but trust me on this: They. Don’t. Care. About our goals, about our soldiers, about you. As far as they’re concerned, you and your attempts at nation-building are merely a piddling obstacle to their fantasy of nuking the entire Middle East. I don’t pretend to understand their motivation, but if I had to hazard a guess I’d refer you back to what I said before about how we’ve all got our kinks. Or maybe they’re just a wee bit psychotic, but make no mistake: they’d be perfectly happy to waste the whole continent.

‘Scuse me while I whip this out, and by this I mean disclosure: I supported the initial invasion. With utterly uncharacteristic timeliness, I’d been following the writing of a woman who escaped the Taliban’s clutches pre-9/11, so you could say I was primed for it, to the point where I was—to my discredit and shame, let’s be clear—relieved* when Mullah Omar refused to surrender bin Laden. The little voice in my head saying “are you sure this went down just like the administration says it did?” was summarily ignored, partly because I really wanted those motherfuckers to get what they had coming to ‘em, mostly because I’m just so used to ignoring the little pissant.

But I gave up anything that could be described as “rooting” years ago, and stuff like this just makes me say the hell with it, let chaos reign, anything’s better than this. I recognize the moral imperative to stay in-country and work to give Afghanistan a fighting chance—sorry, that should read “the moral imperative for other people, none of whom I’m particularly close to to stay in-country etc.”—but when ya gotta go, ya gotta go.

I get the impression that, thanks to the steady erosion of whatever high ground we once might’ve had, this isn’t quite the unmitigatable disaster it could be, but at the very least it’s… what’s the phrase I’m looking for… say, why don’t you sum things up, Captain Hork from Pirates of the Fuzzykitten.

This is terrible pee! Arrr.

*sole unintended pun

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 01/12/12 at 08:48 PM • Permalink

Categories: Politics • Bedwetters • Editorials • Nutters • War In Error •

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What’s the bet that everyone who thinks this is a good thing never served in the military?

Comment by Rebecca on 01/13/12 at 01:13 AM

This nonsense is frustrating and disappointing. It’s a foolish, cruel thing that US servicemembers thought to do something so disgusting, and it’s another thing that we have pundits here in the US who would actually consider it a good thing. What if they saw a Taliban Soldier pissing on one of ours? How then would they feel? So?

Some blog or other linked to someone who had an e-mail exchange with Robert Spence, who suggested Pam Gellar’s whole deal was biting satire.

It’s only satire if someone doesn’t mean it, bozo. And it’s really amazing how the family members of someone whose actual corpse was desecrated won’t get the damn joke. And how their community might seek retaliation—

I guess shorter Vixen is: Pointless Cruelty is Pointless, and probably deadly. I’ve been horrified since I learned that something short of ten years out, there was a survey and some unbelievable number of Afghanis never even knew about 9/11. What—they don’t get cable! It isn’t their deal! We should just get our asymmetrical asses out of there and learn not to do this kind of collective punishment for being poor, backwards and incomprehensible to us ever again.

Comment by Vixen Strangely on 01/13/12 at 01:29 AM

I’ve been horrified since I learned that something short of ten years out, there was a survey and some unbelievable number of Afghanis never even knew about 9/11

That didn’t surprise me. Of course the 9/11 truthers say that Bin Laden didn’t know either because he too lived in a cave. See they think everyone in Afghanistan lives in a cave.

Mind you, I thought cable was an underground type media so even those in caves could get it. Which means they all should know.

Mind you, again, when Bin Laden was killed (but not really ‘cos he died in 2001/2) there was no WAY he’d have DVD’s, video and a telly because you can’t operate those without the internets! Which means the truthers are right (or something).

Comment by Rebecca on 01/13/12 at 01:53 AM

Unfortunately, doesn’t surprise me, especially if these were younger soldiers. The attitude among most of the youth I’ve come into contact with as a substitute teacher these days is appalling. There’s no respect for anything here at home, so how on earth can we expect them to respect anything elsewhere? Just won’t happen.

Comment by domynoe on 01/13/12 at 02:16 AM

I can forgive the soldiers. From what I’ve heard, they are deliberately pumped full of rage against the enemy in order to overcome their natural instincts to stay the hell away from people who might shoot at them. That rage produces acts like this.

But some keyboard princess (male or female) has no such excuse. People who cheer such actions from the sidelines are psychotic.

Comment by Glix on 01/13/12 at 02:49 AM

“What’s the bet that everyone who thinks this is a good thing never served in the military?”

Except, of course, for the fuckwads who did it!

Comment by Bette Noir on 01/13/12 at 08:04 AM

I can forgive the soldiers.

As disgusting as the act is, I’m with you on this one. This kind of shit - and worse, like torture - is what happens in war, which is why it’s such a good idea to avoid war.

Comment by Xecky Gilchrist on 01/13/12 at 11:45 AM

Maybe one way to look at the human personality is that each is basically defined by a single dominant emotion. Some people are defined by what they love, or by what they fear, or by what they hope.

La Geller is defined by what she hates. She’s fulfilled by her hatred. Her hate makes her happy, or at least “happy.” Her hate enables her to feel wise, sophisticated, pragmatic, vigilant, noble, brave, and morally superior. Yes, it also makes her a monster, but monsters think they’re doing the right thing, too.

Comment by Mr.Wonderful on 01/13/12 at 01:11 PM

Who video taped this? You’d think they’d not do that.

Comment by Maude on 01/13/12 at 05:18 PM

Let me get this straight. Urinating on a dead body is desecration? No. Urinating on it is merely pissing on a bag of dead meat. Yes, it’s disrespectful, but those bags of dead meat were probably contemplating desecrating those marines. Why should you respect your attempted assassin? You commit the ultimate desecration of a human body by killing/murdering it, by putting bullets, swords, and shrapnel in it til it dies. Nothing can desecrate a body more. And I’m not talking about abortion. When some pious right-to-lifer shows me how a newly fertilized egg can survive outside the womb, I’ll concede that it is alive and a “person.” Otherwise, spare me the righteous indignation.

Comment by kre8tr on 01/14/12 at 04:51 PM

It didn’t piss everybody. Golden Showers aficionado Dana Loesch declared, “I want a million cool points” guys” and “I’d drop trou and do it too…”

Of course, Loesch works for Andrew Breitbart and is a St. Louis Teabagged leader

Comment by Grung_e_Gene on 01/15/12 at 09:44 AM

Urinating on it is merely pissing on a bag of dead meat.

Sorta feel ya—I checked off the box on my driver’s license that donates my body to pranksterism. That said, it’s not the corpses’ perspectives that matter here. To paraphrase John McCain, it’s not about who they are, it’s about how we wee.

I mean, a book’s just a block of wood pulp, but I dare you to burn one in front of me.