After the massacre of 16 civilians in Afghanistan, the US Army has released a new video to restore the true image of US marines as dedicated servants of humanity opposing tyranny and injustice.
By Robin Beste
Stop the War Coalition
March
20, 2012
Within
days of a US marine massacring 16 civilians in Afghanistan, the United States
Marine Corps released this sensitive 60-second video, titled Toward the
Sound of Chaos, to help remove any misunderstanding about the mission of US
marines in Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere.
In the words of the film's commentary:
"Where chaos looms, the Few emerge. Marines move toward the sounds of tyranny, injustice and despair ~ with the courage and resolve to silence them. By ending conflict, instilling order and helping those who can't help themselves, Marines face down the threats of our time."
To which Marine Staff Sgt. Kody Lindsey
adds:
"When you show this video in towns where marines aren't stationed, it puts a positive image of the Marine Corps. Not only do we protect and defend the nation, we also protect and defend those who can't defend themselves."
Of course, the dead Afghans who were
filmed in January 2012 urinating on the bodies of Afghans they had just killed,
aren't around to appreciate the humanitarian principles of the US Marines.
But the video will help the Afghan
people avoid getting the wrong impression from the pictures in February 2012 of
US marines posing in front of a flag displaying the logo of the
notorious Nazi SS.
And seeing the video will correct any
negative views there are of the night raids, often carried out by marines, that
terrorise on average 40 families each night
~ countering, it is hoped, a NATO report which concluded, “The escalation in
raids has taken the battlefield more directly into Afghan homes, sparking
tremendous backlash among the Afghan population.”
The video won't only be welcome in
Afghanistan, but also by the people of Iraq, many of whom may have a completely
false image of the US Marines and their mission "to help those who can't
help themselves".
Like the people of Fallujah, where in
April 2004 US marines ~ no doubt implementing their commitment to "ending
conflict, instilling order" ~ participated in the slaughter
of 2000 Iraqis, including hundreds of women and children, the
injuring of thousands more and the driving of hundreds of thousands from their
homes.
Or like the survivors of the 24 civilians slaughtered in Haditha in November 2005
~ once again many of them women and children. The video will help clear up the
reasons why only one of the marines responsible for this atrocity was ever
brought to trial and he was only found guilty of "negligent dereliction of
duty", receiving a rank reduction and pay cut but avoiding jail time.
Toward the Sound of Chaos is a welcome
antidote to the rash of articles and comments suggesting that US soldiers are systematically savage who
bring nothing but mass murder and destruction everywhere they are deployed
across the globe.
It will restore the true image of US
marines as dedicated servants of humanity "moving toward the sounds of
tyranny, injustice and despair ~ with the courage and resolve to silence
them".
However, if you're an Iraqi, Afghan,
Yemeni, Somali, or Pakistani civilian who is not convinced by this message,
your answer to the question which ends the film, "Which way would you run?”
will be ~ the other way, and quickly.
Stop the War www.stopwar.org.uk/
Public domain: Subversion
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