Every morning I receive a rundown of news that will never make the mainstream media.
Here's a headline worth noting from this week: "Video Leak: U.S. Attack Helicopter Kills Farmers While Pilot Sings."
Under the headline is an apology to singer-songwriter Don McLean who wrote these words:
"So, bye bye Miss American PieDrove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dryThem good ol' boys were drinking whiskey and rye, singing... This'll be the day that I dieThis'll be the day that I die"
In the video you are about to view, the psychological disconnect of these American soldiers is stunning. The irony cuts deep because "American Pie" is a song about lost innocence. Here is the video.
The snow has melted in Afghanistan. The harvests are almost ready. This is when the fighting gets more intense.
Harvest time is when the "War on Terrorism" becomes just another front in the Drug War. Why? According to a report published by the Open Society Institute, the massive drug trafficking of hashish and heroin funds not only Afghan insurgents but it also "...funds international terrorism," as well.
Again, apologies to Don McLean:
"Bad news on the doorstep -- I couldn't take one more stepI can't remember if I cried when I read about his widowed brideSomething touched me deep inside the day the music died."
The "widowed bride" is widely believed to be a reference to Jackie Kennedy following her husband's assassination. At the time he was killed, Mr. Kennedy was trying to get American soldiers out of Vietnam. After his death that war escalated.
Final note: More Vietnam veterans committed suicide after coming home than were killed in the war.
The same is now true of Iraq, and the numbers are climbing in Afghanistan. The rules of engagement are now so broad -- a soldier can kill two farmers to the tune of a song and the touch of a button. Just like playing video games at home as a kid.
The remorse usually comes later when that soldier realizes his/her innocence is gone forever and all too often puts a bullet through his/her own head.
"Bye, bye Miss American Pie."
Indeed.