Saturday, October 16, 2010

When did pointless dying become a good thing?

Cannon fodder posing.


A Swedish soldier was killed in Afghanistan on Saturday, he wasn’t the first, and he won’t be the last.

To me a dead soldier isn’t really the worst thing. His grieving family may make me sad, and since he died for useless cause in a country we have no business being in, I do get a tad upset. However neither of those things are what I feel is the worst about this fiasco.

The worst thing is that so many within the general public feel it is a good thing for Swedish soldiers to fight and die in a war across the globe in a country and against a people that has done absolutely nothing to us. No Taliban has ever attacked Sweden, or hardly anyone else for that matter. Yes, sure they are a horrible women hating bunch, but the puppets now ruling the country isn’t much better. And as mentioned many times before, if all we need is a women hating regime with another religion in a far away country for us to send soldiers to, our supplies of manpower would dwindle very fast. If that’s the criteria there are more countries on the planet to send soldiers to than the opposite.

IF we’d been attacked, if we really were in a defensive war I would get behind the Swedish military 100%, hell I would probably apply to join and put myself in danger to protect my family and friends. This isn’t the case here; we are involved in a conflict we have absolutely nothing to do with. There’s no reason for us to be there, no argument valid and no enemy to fight.

These soldiers coming home in coffins are not dying honorable deaths or getting blown up for good cause, they are not defending Sweden or their own families. They are meaninglessly dying for absolutely no reason at all, in a conflict we have absolutely nothing to do with, in a country far, far away that has done nothing against us.

And seemingly many Swedes think this is great. Looking at polls in papers and looking at how absent reactions are, a majority or close to it think we should stay in Afghanistan and that we are doing a great job. Why? Why the hell do they think that? What can possibly be gain from this?

Sweden has been involved in many wars before in history, but most of those I sort of get. We wanted to expand our empire, gain a foothold across the Baltic or stop Russia, Poland or Denmark from gaining influence and threaten our shores. Our kings wanted glory, and our generals wanted to get rich. Those reasons are shady and very questionable, but I still sort of get it, and it was another time when that way of life was acceptable.

But this? In Afghanistan? Why? We’re not getting anything out of this except gaining enemies. There are no riches, glory or land to gain. They say we are there to help people. How? By handing Afghans candy and coke cans while British and American warplanes destroy their cities? They say we are there to protect women. How? By supporting the current puppet regime that is corrupt beyond compare and wants it to be legal to rape women? And, again, if those are the reasons there are a hundred more countries to send soldiers to.

The entire thing is absurd, despicable and totally unnecessary.

Is this what the Swedish people want?

I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised. People think that restrictive drug policies that murders thousands each year is a good thing, people believe that sky-high taxation and fascist regulations are great, so why wouldn’t they applaud when young men are pointlessly dying? Seem to fit the profile. Murder is good, black is white, and war is peace.

4 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. "When did pointless dying become a good thing?"

    Umm... at the dawn of civilization? From the spartan's credo "with this, or upon this" (there was nothing more despicable then a spartan soldier returning from combat without his shield, since that indicates that ha might have thrown it away in order to flee faster, so it was preferrable to die in combat and be carried home on it rather than to return without it) to the medieval notion of "chivalry", young men have always been expected to give up their lives for pride and honour.

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  3. @Peter Pan

    true, maybe a bad choice of headline.

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  4. Well spoken. I really don't have anything to add, just wanted to tell you that I agree. I could of course add a quote from Bernard Shawn;

    "Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups" ...

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