An American soldier opened fire on civilians in Kandahar Sunday, killing 16 Afghans including 9 children and 3 women. While most reports say a single soldier is accountable for the massacre, some eyewitness accounts maintain it was a group of American soldiers "who were laughing and appeared drunk."
Osama bin Laden was killed by a team of Navy SEALS on May 2, 2011. About a month later, Relativity Media purchased the rights to the fictional Navy SEAL-centric action movie "Act of Valor," for a sum that was "arguably the biggest money paid for a finished film with an unknown cast." That unknown cast is made up partly of active duty Navy SEALs. The movie's trailer was "shown on the official website of the video game Battlefield 3." The movie will be released on President's Day.
A tipster forwards us this "Black History Heritage Meal" menu from the US Army base in Ft. Bragg, NC: fried chicken, pig feet, ham hocks, collard greens... all the stereotypical foods are represented. The ol' "comedically stereotypical Black History Month menu" is a pretty damn familiar trope of its own, at this point. I'm more impressed by the US Army's open-minded photo montage.
The release of images of U.S. Marines with a Nazi SS flag has forced the U.S. Marine Corps to announce two things: First, that it does not condone the use of Nazi iconography. Second, that it is possible to have "no malicious intent" when displaying the SS symbol because some Marines have reinterpreted it to symbolize "Scout Sniper."
Earlier today, Anonymous announced what sounded like an awesome caper: The group had compromised the email of a law firm that represented Staff Sergeant Frank Wuterich, the Marine squad leader who got a slap on the wrist for his role in the Haditha massacre. Trouble is, the hack had a lot of collateral victims, including people that Anonymous might normally be aligned with. Like a lawyer for Guantanamo detainees.
Here is a video of some Chinese soldiers tossing around a live hand grenade, dumping it into a hole, and then acrobatically leaping away from the blast in unison like some weird Busby Berkeley number from Hell. When did it happen? Is it real? Why are the doing this? Who knows. The Atlantic Wire has some ideas. Go China!
Denis D. Gray at the AP has a rundown on a new book out about the fascinating exploits of alleged spy Jim Thompson in Southeast Asia. A well known titan of the silk industry, Thompson disappeared in 1967 after going for a walk in the Malaysian highlands. Rumors abound about his death, including that he was eaten by a tiger or killed by the CIA. If those are the rumors surrounding your death, there's a good chance your life was pretty eventful.
A video emerges showing US Marines pissing on three Taliban corpses in Afghanistan. The outrage machine grinds into motion. The media bestirs itself from its slumber. Americans momentarily pay attention to the war in Afghanistan again. Politicians rush to add their names to the chorus of identical statements. All inflamed over the least bad thing that soldiers do in war.
Col. Mikolaj Przybyl was defending the country's team of military prosecutors against leaks that suggested it mishandled investigations to protect a deeply corrupt military. The government has been considering merging the civilian and military prosecutors as a result. (You hear the gunshot and a thud in this clip but don't see him shooting himself.)
Congratulations, America: you've gotten what you wished for. You elected Barack "Hussein" Obama as commander in chief. He quickly allowed homosexuals to serve as proud members of the US Armed Forces, standing buttock-to-buttock in foxholes next to normal young American boys. (After the war is over, they can marry, now.) It was only a matter of time before our fighting men were encouraged to start fucking dogs.
Marine Sgt. Dakota Meyer is perhaps this country's best-recognized war hero, a man who risked his life over and over again to save his buddies from a Taliban ambush. That's why he's the only living Marine to be awarded the Medal of Honor - the nation's highest award for valor - for his actions in Afghanistan or Iraq. It's undoubtedly one reason why the defense giant BAE Systems hired Meyer after he left the Corps.
Two people were killed in Cairo and Alexandria this weekend as Egyptian activists took the streets to protest the military's attempts to maintain its grip on power. And guess how the state is justifying its deadly crackdown.
Not only did Justin Timberlake keep his promise to attend Saturday night's Marine Corps Ball in Richmond, Va., but he also wrote a lovely recap of his evening in which he shows humility and respect for his soldier-hosts. It might even make you teary-eyed.
Under the guise of a program called "Books for the Troops," Bill O'Reilly strong-arms viewers into buying his latest bestseller by promising to send a copy of each one sold to American soldiers serving overseas. Of course, that doesn't mean the troops actually want the books, as we learned Wednesday when one serviceman in Afghanistan posted a photo online of scores of O'Reilly's Pinheads & Patriots burning in a trash bin. How rude! Thankfully, Stephen Colbert was at attention on tonight's Report to set the pinheaded troops straight.
Top Republicans are starting to weigh in on Muammar Qaddafi's death and one consistent theme is quickly emerging: Barack who?
