Key West The Newspaper

Prelude: Pentagon Now Admits the Drone Strike Ordered By Commander-In-Chief…In Retaliation for the Afghan Killing of 11 Marines, 1 Navy Corpsman and 1 Soldier…Did Not Kill Any Terrorists…That Ordered Drone Strike Killed 10 Innocent Civilians, Including 7 Children… 

A Soldier’s Journey

by John Donnelly

Sixteen years after my being wounded on a battlefield in Vietnam, I marched in a New York City parade tolled as an event to honor the Veterans of that war. This staged event ran shallow and flat.

After America’s tragic loss and bloodletting in Vietnam, details came to light regarding the questionable management of that war. Myself and the Marines I marched with had first-hand experiences with the ineffective policies proffered by our government in the prosecution of  that war.

Of particular note was the “body count strategy”, which kept baseball type scoreboards posted up in “Command Posts” tallying the numbers of Vietnamese killed each day, as opposed to our Soldiers  “Killed in Action” on that same day. A running tally was kept and displayed. This count would determine which side was winning the war.

This poorly thought out strategy for the “guerilla war” type of action we encountered in Vietnam, was authored by desperately incompetent leaders, corrupted by their many years of ineffectiveness. It was rift with abuse and misapplication. It incentivized the killing of  Vietnamese civilians.

After the parade I searched the crowd for a familiar face. None were there. They had been left behind in the jungles of Southeast Asia.

I embraced my fellow Marines and again we went our separate ways. It was a bewildering scene; a disturbing and “disagreeable end” to a    barbaric and unnecessary war lasting  16 years.

During the subsequent years we waved American flags, had more patriotic events and parades, while enlisting   politicians to positively spin and sugar coat the failed leadership and strategies that had brought defeat and suffering into our lives.

The firmly entrenched “military industrial complex” via its wealthy lobbyists, has never stopped pumping enormous sums of money into the hands of our politicians and their “deep state allies”. No matter what the casualties of war may be, victory or defeat, outrageous profits are guaranteed to the backers of this murderous enterprise.

Taxpayers fund this “destructive complex”. And voters elect the politicians that carry out their wishes.

Yearly payments by the “military industrial complex” to our politicians totals about  $153 million per year. These elected officials and their bureaucratic  appointees are given this money to maintain the viability and aggressive nature of our “war machine”, as it seeks fulfillment in  targeted locations throughout the world. This “quid pro quo”  arrangement has provided trillions of dollars of profit for the “industries of war”, while keeping the political class plush with cash. All these activities are funded by the American taxpayer. We’ve created this merciless and powerful  “corporate/political alliance”.  Innocent children and families round the world have endured insurmountable  suffering and death at their hands.

Classified documents now detail the lies and misinformation  given to the American people (Gulf of Tonkin Incident),  justifying our involvement in the Vietnam War. Remember the Weapons of Mass Destruction lies. Untruths manipulated by our politicians to warrant an invasion and occupation of Iraq for 8 years.

After 20 years of slaughter, we’re now required to bear another  debacle and defeat in Afghanistan. Americans were abandoned and left behind enemy lines, as our military hastily retreated, leaving those stranded to be captured and imprisoned as hostages. Reprisals against them have been initiated. Door to door searches are being conducted to located these forsaken Americans and their allies. Reports document  that the killings and murders of those forsaken have already begun.

The residue of another dark humiliation and uneasiness are upon us and the rest of the world, at the hands of our illustrious leadership in Washington. Remember the mission creep justifications given to extend the bloodletting in that nation? America was going to maintain a presence there to: “democratize the Afghan tribes and people”.

My experience, analysis and assessment have brought me to a point where I can no longer perpetuate the myth that our government leaders, military elites, politicians and deep state operatives; authentically value and care about the well-being of the men and women they send off to be slaughtered, fighting in these worthless wars.

Waving flags, saying nice things and paying one’s respect to the fallen and wounded members of our Armed Forces are the right things to do. However, it doesn’t heal nor bring back to life those barbarically killed in battle. It doesn’t put back together the torn bodies and minds of those seriously wounded in combat.

Déjà vu and common sense lent clarity to the impending  disaster that awaited us, if we invaded Iraq. Seeking some relief from my internal discomfort, I stood on US 1 for 30 days with my Purple Heart and United States Marine regalia, protesting against the anticipated invasion of that nation.

Reckless, incompetent and ignorant leadership from America’s top executives, eventually swayed the American public to believe their WMD lies and misinformation. These corrupt and feckless amateurs  posing as responsible members of society pulled the trigger; initiating a devastatingly destructive invasion of Iraq. This bloodbath has seriously destabilized the entire region up to and including today.

During my lifetime the ruling class has been paid handsomely via their “war mongering”. Not so much for those considered the “disposable others”.

Items of war will continue to be massively produced, purchased and profited from, as our lap dog government leaders lick the boots and grovel for the crumbs beneath the tables of their “money masters”. These “engineers of war” will collaborate  together and target their next strategic location to launch another police action/conflict/war; as instruments of death are purchased and logistically dispatched for the killing, murder and prerequisite torture that awaits those forced to endure our next ill-conceived military assault and occupation.

These dastardly deeds are compliments of an “American Citizenry” that accepts and tolerates murderous decisions, lies and barbarous conduct from their leaders. The politicians our electorate continues to vote back into office, are in many instances, the same flawed lackeys deficient in  integrity and ethics, who continue to perpetuate these endless cycles of war and unrest.

These politicians do exactly what they’re paid and told to do. They’ll continue to receive money, backing and support  from  their “industry bosses”; if they strictly adhere to their “war time plans and posture”. These charlatans are in fact, only cheap two bit frauds serving as hired hands on the payroll of their corporate masters “spinning the engines of war”.

A Godless and inhumane nation will rot from within. The societal structures enabling this malfeasance will crumble under the weight of its perversion and decadence. A culture that sanctions policies, which “Sets Its Soldiers Up” for failure or, as we have seen, to be killed and wounded;  while causing death to innocent children and civilians, is not fit to maintain its viability as a nation.

Not allowing for a robust debate, concerning these issues of life and death, has allowed government leaders to set the narrative and act barbarically. They’re not asked hard penetrating questions, nor are their statements authentically evaluated and challenged.

Repression of “free speech”, along with censoring and punishing an individual’s right to express their independently arrived at ideas, while causing them to live in the fear of being harmed and injured for their beliefs, delegitimizes the legal authority of a civilized nation to govern them.

Our rapid decline and descent into servitude is not an exaggeration, nor a secret. Unfortunately, many citizens of a once noble and self-determined nation have become willing accomplices for their government and corporate overlords.

The departure from a nation that once prioritized and codified  our individual rights and liberties as citizens, along with the malevolent  policies and decisions generated by, what appears to be, a tyrannous leaning central government; have all culminated in a “strategic plan division” that has divided and pitted Americans against one another; while the real threats to our peace, tranquility and freedom remain hidden in plain view.

In honoring the Soldiers killed during the Battle of Gettysburg, Abraham Lincoln identified their sacrifice as having been made so: “That a government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth”.

Reconciling myself with President Lincoln’s words, while processing my experiences as a member of a family that was awarded 5 Purple Hearts over 3 successive generations, I’m forced to deal with another double-dealing betrayal in the form of our defeat in Afghanistan. The “Trauma and Stress” triggered within every Veteran I’ve spoken to, across the board, via a series of long-standing betrayals, treachery and disloyal conduct, have cut to and ripped out the souls of the men, women and families I’ve spoken with.

Simultaneously, our government leaders and media pundits are relentlessly focusing in on ginning-up their divisive rhetoric and fear based narrative, while ridiculing the ideas and lives of many millions of Americans with whom they disagree. An objective and analytical analysis of the facts, exhibits the many twisted ideas and distortions these malcontents proffer as truths. As a point of reference, a section of the testing on the “college boards” when I took them was identified as “analytical reasoning”. I secured a perfect score.

Our insane obsession with war, coupled with the shear madness of a “new normal” mandating immediate obedience to an overreaching   government, has brought us to the “tipping point”. Left unchecked these fatal de-evolutions will turn our country into a “iron-fisted ruled” wasteland. Abandoning what is right for convenience sake, or just to get along,  will be the cause of a gradual and painful death for the “liberty” we once enjoyed. .

We’ve got a blueprint and design for living that can restore our nation’s honor and integrity. This outline is set forth in detail via the “law of our land”, enumerated with much specificity within our “Constitution and Bill of Rights”.

The disturbing realignment of America has caused me to shift my priorities. I’m  wearing  the garments of this material world lightly, while riding loosely in the saddle of life. I’m discarding the delusive nature of what some term “reality”, while uplifting and expanded my “Consciousness and Spirituality” via the assistance of my God. Seeking to broaden my understanding and deepen my relationship with the Creator has been reassuring and  rewarding.

On one level, I’m grateful for all the betrayal, treachery, lies and political underhandedness that our government and media are responsible for. It has helped me to get “my mind right”. In a way, it has been the blessing I’ve been seeking. I’ve been forced to seek peace and comfort from its only true and original Source. Looking outward for something that can only be found within is a fool’s errand. Pursuing, getting glimpses and wanting to “Love God”, is a good thing.