OBama, The Irish Connection

It appears that Obama has the luck of the Irish behind him. Not that he needs lucky charm, but it’s always good to have a four leaf clover, a leprechaun and the tiny town of Moneygall Ireland rooting for you.

The town rector has confirmed that Obama is a descendant of their village through his mother.  And the residents of Moneygall are proud to claim him as their won.

“Sure, it’s great!” said Henry Healy, 22, a villager who said family records indicate he is distantly related to Obama. Like many Moneygall residents, he is suddenly following the U.S. presidential race more closely and rooting for his kinsman. “It would be brilliant if he won because for one thing, he is related to me, and also it would be good for the village.”

The Terror Within Their Heads – Mental Health Policies

The NY Times article, Fighting the Terror of Battles That Rage in Soldiers’ Heads by By DAN FROSCH

The nightmares that tormented Sgt. Walter Padilla after returning home from Iraq in 2004 prompted extensive treatment by Army doctors, an honorable discharge from the military and a cocktail of medication to dull his suffering.

So, because 28 Year Old Sgt. Padilla could not ward off memories of the people he had killed with a machine gun perched on his Bradley fighting vehicle … he pressed the muzzle of his Glock pistol to his temple and squeezed the trigger.

Post-traumatic stress disorder is not a predictable condition, we all have degrees of this condition and most learn to compartmentalize the trauma. But, the returning soldiers have a high pitched emotional reaction to death, destruction and activities that contradict the moral foundation they rely on. They see the contradiction between words and action mixed with their gory experiences. Their minds are rent, they are compelled to deny their inner conflict to satisfy their social standing within their family and fighting comrades. The results of this head in the sand approach is, that the problem is not buried far enough below the surface of behavior and insignificant events can resurrect the trauma. Our most sensitive warriors cannot live with the contradiction. They learn to put on a normal face for a while, but the terror will take over causing more pain than they can bear. Suicide becomes their only option because the help they receive is too superficial.

The GAO is documenting the inadequate treatment and so far no solutions have emerged.

America’s warriors are among the collateral damage and this grows exponentially when they return home. The damaging impact on their family and communities becomes viral.

Religious Groups Reap Federal Aid for Pet Projects

Thank you NY Times for another insight, By DIANA B. HENRIQUES and ANDREW W. LEHREN.

So, I am a religion, I hire lobbyists, I sneak Perks to Pricks, I am now ‘earmarked’ for a load of taxpayer money. Not a bad arrangement!

We Are Paying $2,000 a Head For Our Collateral Boo Boos, Get Your Checkbook!

Thank you NY Times correspondents: By CARLOTTA GALL and DAVID E. SANGER
I am selecting excerpts from this article Civilian Deaths Undermine The War …
to comment on.

Afghan, American and other foreign officials say they worry about the political toll the civilian deaths are exacting.

What else should they be worried about? Killing hearts and minds?

What angers Afghans are not just the bombings, but also the raids of homes, the shootings of civilians in the streets and at checkpoints, and the failure to address those issues over the five years of war. Afghan patience is wearing dangerously thin, officials warn.

You say the Afghans still have patience?

The civilian deaths are also exposing tensions between American commanders and commanders from other NATO countries, who have never fully agreed on the strategy to fight the war here, in a country where there are no clear battle lines between civilians and Taliban insurgents.

There are ‘battle lines’, where? How do you determine a good Afghan from a bad Afghan? Oh, and if they happen to be neighbors, why don’t you just bomb the whole village! Isn’t that what succeeds in Iraq?

Recent hits were:

… a farming village …. where American airstrikes left 57 villagers dead, nearly half of them women and children –

… at least 21 civilians killed in an airstrike … though residents reached by phone said the toll could be as high as 80.

… airstrikes damaged about 100 homes and a new school built by Italian troops.

Many of the most serious episodes of civilian deaths have involved United States counterterrorism and Special Operations forces that operate separately from the NATO command. (And, most likely some ‘Overpaid’ mercenaries).

The reliance on air power has led to a string of prominent episodes recently involving the deaths of large numbers of civilians, who often cannot escape, caught between NATO forces and the Taliban and its sympathizers.

“civilians have been caught in the middle more than before, and at a time when Afghans have grown weary of the fighting, said Dr. Sima Samar, director of the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission.”

An unnamed “Senior Bush Administration Official” says, “We know that the Taliban hide in villages. The job that we have not done as well is making it clear to European publics that it’s the Taliban who are exploiting the civilians.”

Oh, OK, that explains it all ….. it’s a “Complicated Environment” after all.