This was written on the sixtieth anniversary of D-Day
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A thousand ships put to sea, a vast unseen armada
Intent on smashing their way through the armored gates
Named Sword, Juno, Gold, Omaha and Utah,
Of Hitler’s vaunted Festung Europa.

High winds, pounding seas and driving rain.
A bad day to invade, the Wehrmacht thought.
Thousands of seasick GI’s agreed,
Waiting to embark in the predawn murk.

The air was filled with the howl of shells
Pounding the beaches and cliffs,
Punctuated with the rasp of 88’s and thud of mortars
Returned fire, blasting landing craft to drown off the beach.

Finally, the shore was reached, hemstitched with fire and shell
And ten thousand young men raced into Hell.
The first wave was ashore, grimly hanging on,
With ninety percent casualties, walking wounded still fighting.

Festung Europa was beginning to crack
As more poured ashore with no turning back.
Pinned down on the beaches, no Dunquerque this time,
They fought their way up the bluffs.

By the end of the day, that beachhead had spread
Miles into the French countryside.
The sound of village church bells rang the knell
Of Hitler’s “Thousand Year Reich.”

And mourned the death of so many thousands,
British, American, Canadian, Frenchmen, Poles and Dutch
Who waded into that bloody shore
And quickly found an end to their war.

Now, old men roam amongst the headstones,
Seeking the names and resting places
Of the lost friends of their youth.
While in the background, the bands and politicians play.

They shake their heads and wipe away a tear
Finding those who died to bring about peace
For the children and grandchildren they never knew,
Who now are immersed in wars of their own.

The memory of man must be short.
As long as there are politicians and zealots
Who dream of Empire and conquest,
Control of oil, or grain, or water or wealth,

There is an inexhaustible reservoir of
Youth, and blood, and dreams
That can be ordered forth
To be poured upon the soil.

And only a few old men left at graveside
To bow their grizzled heads and pray,
“Oh, Lord, let our sacrifice be enough.
Let our children live in peace.”

Steve Osborn
6 June 2004
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It would appear that we haven’t learned a thing, have we.

Obama’s Cairo speech was profoundly disingenuous, much like others past and more recently. He decried the “killing of innocent men, women, and children,” yet US forces slaughter them daily in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, and supply Israel with billions of dollars and the latest weapons and technology to commit slow-motion genocide against millions of Palestinians, deny their legitimate self-determination, and right of their refugees to return home as international law demands.  FULL ARTICLE

On May 22, President Barack Obama addressed the graduating class of United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland. He drew cheers when he proclaimed, ” As long as I am your commander-in-chief, I will only send you into harm’s way when it is absolutely necessary, and with the strategy and the well defined goals, the equipment and the support that you need to get the job done.”

Bravo. But I wish he had applied those sentiments to the United States invasion of Afghanistan. Continue reading →

Featured Post for 05/29 – 06-04: I was notified recently by the Internal Revenue Service that I have been fined $5,000 for “frivolous filing” of a tax document.

The story, quickly:

In the spring of 2007 and the spring of 2008 I took a book tour around the country. In 2007 I went east and in 2008 I went west.

Each time before I left home I sent a letter and a tax form to the IRS.

The forms each had a black Magic Marker “X” through them.

The letters indicated why I did not wish to cooperate with the United States of America.

It was symbolic. They had already received my money through paycheck withholding tax. Continue reading →

Now the war is flaring up in Pakistan. Hundreds of thousands of Pakistani families have fled the area, and the main town of Migora has been virtually emptied of its inhabitants. Reuters reported that, “Pakistani forces attacked Taliban fighters in the Swat Valley with artillery and helicopters after the United States called on the government to show its commitment to fighting militancy.” One has to wonder who is giving the orders in this foolish war, anyway? Moreover, does Obama genuinely think that the Pakistani “Taliban” can be defeated using the exact approach that failed against the Taliban of Afghanistan? FULL ARTICLE

Featured Post for 05/08-05/14 I wrote this to Mr. Obama after reading the following article. I guess we’ve got to keep trying.

Red Cross Confirms Dozens Dead in Afghan Air Strikes

Mr. Obama,

I do not understand what is going on. When you inherited the White House, did you also inherit the bubble that your predecessor lived in?

You campaigned for change. We the People, after eight years of Cheney/Bush flouting the Constitution, causing a million or more deaths in their endless search for oil, thought we might have a new broom in Washington that would sweep these people into the dustbin of history and reverse the draconian laws that were put in effect. Continue reading →

My letter to the New York Review of Books:

Dear Editor,

As a subscriber and avid fan of The New York Review of Books, I was both dismayed and disappointed by Michael Massing’s review of Thomas Ricks’ new book The Gamble.

I have read many articles by Michael Massing in the past, and I think he is ‘right on’ almost each time. This review, however, caused me much consternation. Continue reading →

After four plus years of doing virtually the same thing, with little result, one may ask oneself ”Why?’

You see, each Tuesday, for one hour during rush hour, I go, with but a handful of others, and I stand on a busy street corner in my town.  We stand to publicize our dissent of many things, primarily the US invasion and occupation of Iraq. Continue reading →

As you mailed out that tax return again this year, it’s time to remember once again how much of your hard-earned bucks are being devoted to destruction, imperialist domination, slaughter and war, to funding ridiculous programs like the failed anti-missile system, and also to supporting a massively bureaucratic and overstaffed military. FULL ARTICLE

It is difficult, even impossible, to accept President Obama’s “New strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan” as described by him in a formal speech on March 27. It fails by imperial and non-imperial standards. Continue reading →