David Hackworth, Warrior: 1930-2005

On May 5, 2005, Colonel David Hackworth died from the lingering effect of exposure to the many horrible chemicals we unleashed against our soldiers and the people of Vietnam. In Colonel Hackworth's case, death came from the lingering effects of "Agent Blue", named after the blue band on the 55-gallon barrels, which contained the deadly substance.

While "Agent Orange", marked with orange bands was used for the destruction of all foilage, including forests, grasses, bamboo and rice crops, Agent Blue, containing the arsenical herbicide cacodylic acid, was engineered to destroy rice plants by starving them of moisture. To paraphrase Tacitus: "We made a desert, and called it peace".

Did these deadly chemicals help our soldiers to survive the war in Vietnam? I led a lot of patrols at the southern edge of the "Iron Triangle", and can testify that they did not! After the trees were poisoned, the many grasses and vines which replaced them provided much better concealment for the many tunnel entrances of our elusive enemy.

Who gained? Check the income statement of the manufacturers of these deadly chemicals during the War in Vietnam.

Belgian Doctors Bill U.S. for Treating Iraqi Girl

Reuters, April 28, 2005: Belgian doctors sent a bill for the treatment of 15 year-old Hiba Kassim to the U.S. embassy because international law dictates that an occupying force is responsible for the well-being of that country's people.

Hiba Kassim was brought to Belgium last year to save her left ankle, which was seriously injured by a cluster bomb that also killed her brother in Baghdad in 2003. After five years and weeks of physiotherapy, Kassim is able to walk again, but with a slight limp.

Bert De Belder, coordinator of the humanitarian agency "Medical Aid for Third World" reported "We haven't heard from them yet".

Does boiling a suspect's body parts qualify as torture?

Just as we have outsourced much of our manufacturing to mainland China, our Central Intelligence Agency is utilizing the considerable talents of our friends in Uzbekistan in the art of torture. In a May 1 New York Times article titled :"U.S. Recruits a Rough Ally to Be a Jailer", Don Van Natta Jr. reports that international human rights groups have documented the monstrous torture methods, which are routinely used in Uzbeki jails. They include boiling of body parts, using electroshock on genitals and plucking fingernails and toenails with pliers. Two prisoners were boiled to death.

Uzbekistan has granted the United States the use of a military base. President Bush has welcomed Islam Karimov to the White House to thank him personally for the services he provides: Under our "rendition" program, also called "prisoner transfer program", our CIA sends terrorism suspects to Uzbekistan for special treatment. Other nations which perform similar services for us, and in our name, include Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan.

With those friends, do we really need enemies to besmirch the good name of our great nation?