OMG. Still not cynical enough to just get over it.

by Laura Flanders | April 7, 2010 - 11:48am

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"Well, it's their fault bringing their kids to a battle."

Those words, spoken by a faceless soldier, echo from a classified US military video released by the site Wikileaks.org. The release comes on the heels of the revelation of a cover-up in Afghanistan--and the anniversary of the death of Dr. Martin Luther King, as well as the anniversary of his "Beyond Vietnam" speech.

King spoke to the Clergy and Laity Concerned about Vietnam, saying "It should be incandescently clear that no one who has any concern for the integrity and life of America today can ignore the present war. If America's soul becomes totally poisoned, part of the autopsy must read Vietnam."

Hearing allegations that special forces troops in Afghanistan may have dug the bullets out of their pregnant victims bodies to hide evidence, hearing airmen on the Wikileaks tape begging "Come on, let us shoot!" and hearing the editor of Wikileaks say that the shooters talked in the way that people do when they're playing video games--it reminded me of King's words.


He told the truth about war: that it is horrible, that it does poison your soul. Dr. King also said, in a different speech, that there is such a thing as being too late when it comes to speaking up against your goverment doing wrong.

The F Word is a regular commentary by Laura Flanders, the host of GRITtv which broadcasts weekdays on satellite TV (Dish Network Ch. 9415 Free Speech TV) on cable, and online at GRITtv.org and TheNation.com. Support us by signing up for our podcast, and follow GRITtv or GRITlaura on Twitter.com.
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About author Laura Flanders is the host of "GRIT TV" the new, news and culture discussion program aired daily on Free Speech TV (Dish Network ch. 9415) and online at the popular blog site Firedoglake.com. Flanders also hosts RadioNation, on Air America Radio, the weekly radio program of the Nation Magazine. She is the author of Blue Grit: True Democrats Take Back Politics Back from the Politiicans (The Penguin Press, 2007) and the New York Times bestseller BUSHWOMEN: Tales of a Cynical Species (Verso, 2004), an expose of women in George W. Bush's Cabinet. Flanders was founding director of the Women's Desk at the media watch group, FAIR and for more than ten years she produced and hosted CounterSpin, Fair's radio program. For more information and to contribute video to GRIT TV go to www.grittv.org.

There is nothing civil about civil wars!