- CounterPunch.org - https://www.counterpunch.org -

Moronic Marine Killers

The Pentagon has quietly shifted combat troops and warships to the Middle East after the top American commander in the region warned that he needed additional forces to deal with Iran and other potential threats, U.S. officials said.  Marine Corps Gen. James Mattis, who heads U.S. Central Command, won White House approval for the deployments late last year after talks with the government in Baghdad broke down over keeping U.S. troops in Iraq, but the extent of the Pentagon moves is only now becoming clear.

Media reports January 13, 2012 

Actually it’s quite fun to fight them, you know. It’s a hell of a hoot. It’s fun to shoot some people. I’ll be right up there with you. I like brawling . . . You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap women around for five years because they didn’t wear a veil. You know, guys like that ain’t got no manhood left anyway. So it’s a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them.

General James Mattis, February 3, 2005 

The Marine commandant, Gen. Michael Hagee, defended Mattis, calling him “one of this country’s bravest and most experienced military leaders.”

CNN February 4, 2005 

The Marine Corps said the actions portrayed in the clip, which was posted online but has not yet been verified, were not consistent with its values. The footage shows four men in military fatigues appearing to urinate on three apparently lifeless men.  A man’s voice is heard saying: “Have a great day, buddy.”

BBC January 12, 2012  

The fact that a psychotic moron like James Mattis is now chief of the US military’s Central Command is a depressing indication that Washington prefers smart-ass murderous dum-dums to intelligent life. Someone who finds it fun to kill people because they “ain’t got no manhood” is seriously disturbed and should not be in command of a pretzel stand.  The appalling Mattis, that piece of perambulating filth — whose official photograph bears an uncanny, terrible and probably intentional resemblance to that of the disloyal, dishonorable and disastrous General Douglas MacArthur — is, quite simply, brainless beyond belief.

As I wrote two years ago in CounterPunch,  this is the man ‘who in 2001 boasted that  “The Marines have landed, and we now own a piece of Afghanistan,” which is one of the most stupid comments made by any general in recent years. If Mattis, the supposed “strategic thinker”, believed his words about “owning” a part of the country would be a positive contribution to US policy as regards Afghanistan, then he is a fool. If he spoke without thinking, then he is a fool. But being a fool doesn’t affect promotion, so long as you go the Pentagon way ; and Mattis went onwards and upwards.’

On January 18 he was in Bahrain at the invitation of that country’s dictator,  His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, the despot who last year crushed protests against his totalitarian regime with murderous energy.  Like meets like.  And the crown prince of Bahrain, His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, who is deputy commander of the country’s inefficient but savage armed forces, according to an official announcement, “reviewed with General James Mattis the latest developments in the kingdom, asserting that the implementation of the National Consensus Dialogue, which engaged all social spectra, ushered a new phase in the kingdom’s history, under the wise leadership of HM King Hamad, and will ensure it a brighter future.”  But of course that future doesn’t include voting rights for the majority of Bahrain’s population.  If it did, King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa would be out on his ear, and a democracy would appear. Which would not suit Washington.

Moronic Mattis, who appears to be the US State Department spokesman on policy in the Persian Gulf, “lauded the steps taken by the kingdom to implement the National Consensus Dialogue visions for the sake of enhancing democracy in the kingdom through promoting social partnership in the decision-making process. He also commended the crucial role played by the Kingdom in the Middle East peace process.”  No doubt he also discussed the satisfactory basing of the US Fifth Fleet in Bahrain, which is on instant standby to attack Iran and whose ships and aircraft trail their coats along the Iranian coastline, hoping that an Iranian riposte to their goading might provide an excuse for a whoopee shoot in retaliation.

The Mattis Mission is given as “With national and international partners, U.S. Central Command promotes cooperation among nations, responds to crises, and deters or defeats state and nonstate aggression, and supports development and, when necessary, reconstruction in order to establish the conditions for regional security, stability, and prosperity.”  Which no doubt is based on  his pronouncement that  “I like brawling . . . You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap women around for five years because they didn’t wear a veil. You know, guys like that ain’t got no manhood left anyway. So it’s a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them.”

It’s straight out of Hitler’s declaration (from Moltke) that “in time of war the essential thing is to get a decision as quickly as possible and that the most ruthless methods of fighting are at the same time the most humane.”  Just like being “a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them” and having fun pissing on the dead bodies of people you’ve killed.

On January 13 “Reserve Marine Lt Col Paul Hackett, who teaches the law of war to Marines before they are sent off to Afghanistan, made it clear he was not condoning the Marines’ actions. But he warned against judging them too harshly, saying: “When you ask young men to go kill people for a living, it takes a whole lot of effort to rein that in.”

This is utter nonsense. And such a statement denigrates the Profession of Arms, which I was honored to belong to for over thirty years.  Commanders of soldiers — real leaders of men — good officers — have no difficulty in maintaining discipline and decency in their troops.  It is when the rot comes from the top that vicious filth appears at the bottom.

In his book about serving in the Pacific in World War II (‘With the Old Breed’) Eugene Sledge wrote that a fellow Marine officer in Okinawa “would locate a Japanese corpse, stand over it, and urinate in its mouth. It was the most repulsive thing I ever saw an American do in the war. I was ashamed that he was a Marine officer.”    And so say all of us.  (And I have two friends who were US Marines :  Semper Fi, Guys.)  But tradition dies hard “From the Halls of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli [as the Marine Anthem goes], We fight our country’s battles, in the air, on land, and sea.”

But is it by pissing on dead bodies, they “keep our honor clean”?  Is this why they “are proud to claim the title of United States Marine”?

Brian Cloughley’s website is www.beecluff.com

 

Moronic Marine Mattis is the typical US General of our times. He is brash, arrogant, conceited, over-promoted and incompetent. He loves killing people. His troops and aircraft killed 24 soldiers of the Pakistan army on November 26 last year in a cross-border attack, and, like his Washington admirers, he offered no apology for the catastrophe.  And he rages on, in martial apoplexy, achieving nothing but advantage for America’s enemies (which, now, number a majority of the countries in the world).

 

In July 2010 I wrote in Counterpunch about Mattis that

 

This stupid man has been placed in command of all troops in Afghanistan. His troops know he believes it is “fun to shoot some people” and who could blame them for acting accordingly, given such guidance? The stage is set for more of a “hell of a fun to shoot them”.

The insurgents’ propagandists know about Mattis, too. And they will spread the word that the new foreign occupation general thinks they have “no manhood”, which is the ultimate insult to a tribesman of any persuasion.

Although the consequences of the words of General Mattis can never be measured, it is obvious they are unbalanced to the point of being psychopathic. The man’s crass and barbaric tirade is not only alarming from the aspect of animal rabble-rousing, it demonstrates that the Pentagon appoints some extremely peculiar people to senior rank and command.

A person who believes that it is “a hell of a hoot” to kill people is seriously demented. The fact that such a person has been appointed to a major US military command is alarming, to put it mildly. But a country gets the military leaders it deserves. It’s a pity that some are psychotic morons.

 

And US Marines pissing on dead Afghans sums it up. America isn’t in Afghanistan to make the world a better place. It’s there because it can’t get out.  And with Mattis in command of the entire region (forget national governments having any say in their affairs), there will continue to be a military and societal shambles in Afghanistan.

 

Remember that

 

In May 2004 Major General Taguba produced his findings on the Abu Ghraib outrages, writing that “sadistic, blatant, and wanton criminal abuses were inflicted on several detainees.” He apportioned blame. So he was immediately posted to the Office of Reserve Affairs, which in any army is a professional graveyard.

He was then insulted face-to-face by Defense Secretary Rumsfeld and humiliated by senior officers who jumped on the official bandwagon of Taguba-denigration, and told that he and his Report would be “investigated.” His treatment was proclamation to the entire military system that any officer who wants to rise to senior rank in the Profession of Arms should not upset the cradle of promotion by revealing uncomfortable truth. The cradle might rock (who remembers that great Broadway Show?), and truth can be manipulated.

In 2006 General Taguba was ordered to retire, and the army lost a loyal, decent, honorable and truthful officer. But the Pentagon doesn’t seem to want too many truthful officers who are loyal to the Constitution. It favors officers who are loyal to the Pentagon. Which brings us to General James Mattis, a Marine described by Defense Secretary Gates as “one of our military’s outstanding combat leaders and strategic thinkers.”

 

And dead-body pissers. Not much manhood, there, General Mattis. And no leadership, either, you poor booby.