US marine against Afghan war

This video from the USA is called Former Marine Corporal Jake Diliberto of Veterans for Rethinking Afghanistan on Larry King Live.

From British daily The Morning Star:

Beyond the clamour for violence

Friday 09 April 2010

John Rummel

“The Few, the Proud,” is the motto that US people hear in the adverts for the Marine Corps.

Jake Diliberto was a marine corporal who served first in Afghanistan in 2001 and two years later in Iraq. But it’s what he’s done since being discharged that makes him among “the few and the proud.”

Diliberto has co-founded Veterans for Rethinking Afghanistan, a group of activists and war veterans pushing to reduce troop numbers in Afghanistan and lobbying for the use of alternative peace-making strategies.

Over lunch with a number of peace activists in Detroit, Diliberto recalls that following his return from war he had initially been confused about the whole experience.

“We wage a war, knock out their capital and then we can go home. But then we started building these massive bases at the end of the invasion,” he says.

“My issue with Afghanistan is that Afghanistan doesn’t need force. Having massive military bases, occupying their country, killing innocent civilians, is running away from our ability to have any real solutions. We need to learn to relate to the world in a positive way. If all we rely on is military force, that will always be our first response.”

Asked if the US use of remote-controlled drones to mount airstrikes is ethical, he replies: “I think they are counterproductive. I don’t think drones are any more different than bombing raids in World War II. They have the same effect of innocent civilians suffering.”

He adds that the impact of killing innocent civilians is underestimated.

US Military Still Trying to Figure Out How Not to Kill Afghan Civilians: here.

How Americans Are Propagandized About Afghanistan: here.

Britain: Soldier Joe Glenton, who was court martialled on 5 March and jailed for nine months for refusing to fight in Afghanistan, and for speaking out at anti-war demonstrations, is being subjected to cruel treatment by army prison staff: here.

Afghan farmers reap cannabis harvest worth £61m: here.