tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8299268267657172129.post2840105709729757748..comments2023-10-31T05:19:13.500-07:00Comments on The Black Sea: A Dying Way of WarBlack Seahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347464061061628147noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8299268267657172129.post-36877188012266593332007-06-25T06:10:00.000-07:002007-06-25T06:10:00.000-07:00BS,I read Kevin Tillman's letter and -at the risk ...BS,<BR/>I read Kevin Tillman's letter and -at the risk of hi-jacking his anger or, perhaps, turning an American nightmare into something more parochial, should say that these are feelings strongly shared by many Brits. Even though I am not an American citizen, I understand Tillman's sense of anger at having been the victim of lying and cheating politicians who cynically manipulated young people just like the Tillmans into believing that they were - somehow - fighting for their country, for democracy; for a principle. <BR/>What disheartens me about the Tilman link is that, in reading the letters in support of Kevin's stance, one rapidly becomes aware that many 'supporters' are still using the language that they have been brainwashed into considering appropriate. One sympathetic respondent for example writes of, "Your...sacrifice for Our Country.", thus demonstrating a fine misunderstanding of Kevin's basic complaint that, although they were TOLD that they would be fighting for their country, they soon discovered how far this was from the reality. <BR/>Another blames all the problems created by the White House on, "...the other half of this country that isn't American anymore." While a third, clearly representing a deeper, more intellectual school of thought,states, "...I TWO WONDER HOW MUCH YOU WERE PAID TO WRITETHIS AT ELECTION TIME." Ostensibly, even this cretin is offering some kind of support for Kevin.<BR/>So far as both the US and Britain are concerned, the hatred and mistrust which their governments' actions have engendered have become seen as characteristic of the people themselves. The greater sadness is in the fact that Pat Tillman and hundreds of Young American and British soldiers - prepared, if necessary, to lay down their lives in defence of their countries - should have been cheated into sacrificing themselves for nothing.<BR/>9/11 was a traumatic time for the USA, to have seen it used as justification for a wholly illegal, bloody and unnecessary invasion of a sovereign state is shameful. To have seen the principles on which the American Constitution is based subverted by self-serving politicians (of all nations) is a disgrace. To see that subversion resulting in the deaths of thousands of innocents (in the widest sense) is both shameful and disgraceful.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com