A Pause in the Show

Since major-party politicians in the United States increasingly find it convenient to evoke the word "war" to describe their corporate supremacist take-overs and occupations as well as their domestic and foreign policies generally, it is good to remind oneself from time to time what exactly war entails, on a human level; that is, outside the pathologically technophilic dressing up of war that corporate news networks specialize in and profit from spectacularly. So, in your moment of leisure, forget for a time the "smart bombs" and "precision-guided weapons;" the "collateral damage;" the reverential recourse to retired generals; the smartly dressed news anchors; the "fireworks" footage of bombing in Baghdad, Fallujah, and elsewhere; the apocalyptical speechifying of the political conventions; and the tax-devouring non-security-related military budget, and read, if you will, this testimony of a soldier, who calls his piece "Hold on to Your Humanity: An Open Letter to GIs in Iraq." Enjoy, my fellow Americans. Enjoy, everyone. Life is good in the Empire today, and autumn's glow reposes upon those within it.

To resume show, view this short video, from the cockpit of a U.S. bomber, which gives a glimpse of life today within an expanding zone of the liberating Empire.

In a related site, the group Operation Truth features soldiers' testimonies and video ads.