Doonesbury by Garry Trudeau for December 23, 2011

The war is listed on the NYSE.

That’s some “liberation” BD took part in. Serves him right, really. Him and the others. They weren’t conscripts and they have no defence of being compelled to participate in an illegal and criminal war of aggression.

Note how cleverly Trudeau works facts out of the mouth of BD, who, if anything, probably AGREES that starting the “shock’n’awe” war was good national policy. A stupid interpretation would conflate Trudeau’s own personal convictions in this matter with those of BD.

Welcome to Doonesbury comments.

“… “Merc” (pronounced “murk”) was short for “Mercury”, the mid-line car from Ford. I’m sure that here it means “mercenary” but I’m wondering how it’s pronounced. “Murk”.

That’s what all soldiers should be paid!

Stimulating the private army economy.

“A mind, a thought, a personal interest…. Carry On…." An FBI, an NSA, a CSS informant? . . . Carry off . . . .

“… Ray has brain damage … most of the [GOPpers] running have some form of mental aberration…” Even with his brain damage, Ray’s nowhere near THAT stupid.

Armed security guards are hardly mercenaries. Who will protect them when things go awry? And they will.The Iraqcourt system?

People are going to be talking about George Bush’s war for generations. What a complete and wasted **** up! It’s his real legacy.

And the plural, murses, would rhyme with purses or, worse, burses, which are money-vacuums. Yur munny, taxpayer!

Hey guys, look at this week’s Tom the Dancing Bug strip. Now THAT’S something to comment about, too.

Machiavelli had some good comments about ‘mercs’. Still true.Some good words about forts versus colonizers, too. Lots of stupidity in our culture’s attitude toward other countries.

Historically we ran out of people to fight on this land mass, and the only thing you can do with soldiers is export them.

Maybe some day we’ll have people who know how to governagain and we’ll really get some CCC work done.

Meanwhile…you know that expression… that what we read brings our minds together? to all who share Trudeau…may your Holidaze for you and yours be merry and bright!

May the finest and holiest guide our actions. And thanks, GBT.

What’s the symbol for war? GOP? I’d like to pick up a few shares.

Wake up People! There’s not much time left, and all you can do is bicker.

Go out and make some kid’s holiday … while supplies last.

Assertion: Preachers ought to mind their own business. Answer: Preachers are as much a part of the economy as anybody else. Thus, from an economist’s point of view, it would seem, they ARE minding their own business — by filling a demand (people wanting to purchase, via tithes and offerings, the services of pastors, a part of whose duties include preaching.

“Corporate Warriors” by P.W. Singer is a worthwhile read on the topic. I was offered a job in ’69, but respectfully declined, even though the money offered was outstanding!

I enlisted at a time of war (volunteer army?) and noted the French Foreign Legion, as in the folks who REALLY fought for the French in Vietnam, and north Africa, were NOT French, except for the officers, by French law. They were “mercs”, and likewise most African “revolutionaries” were, and are, also “mercs”. So, now at least American (and more foreign registered) war corporations WILL hire Americans, and share the wealth. It’s also about the history of war, and “mercs” are indeed an ancient “tradition”. In the old days, brain damage wouldn’t have restricted Ray from signing up.

@Bill the Butchersome of us signed up because it was the right thing to do, no complaint, but I have a request – lighten up!

…and no other politician in the history of the world wasn’t?

let us remember that some of the American “mercs” in Rhodesia were actually CIA operatives who had taken a leave of absence from the American military. You can chalk that up as another war the US lost.

“is that why the English have always had to rely on United States troops to pull their chestnuts out of the fire, from World War One on?”

I’m not sure what your point is, as a response to Bill’s comment, but it’s kind of inane. We came late to the dance in both World Wars, and the biggest advantage we offered was fresh meat. The landing at Normandy succeeded by simply throwing bodies on the beach until the Germans ran out of bullets, and after four years of war (including aerial combat over their own population center) the British simply didn’t have the expendables we did. The fortitude the British displayed, as an Army and a nation, during the years we sat on the sidelines cannot be overstated. When we showed up to “pull their chestnuts out of the fire”, the appropriate response from them would have been “Thanks ever so much, but it’s bloody well about time, innit?”

And Japan, and Australia, and lots of places in the Middle East. Um…there seems to be a pattern emerging here…

The military of the United States is deployed in more than 1501 countries around the world, with more than 369,000 of its 1,580,2552 active-duty personnel serving outside the United States and its territories. Most of these overseas personnel are deployed in combat zones in the Middle east, as part of the “War on Terror”. Many of the remainder are located at installations activated during the Cold War, by which the US government sought to counter the Soviet Union in the aftermath of World War II. Source: Wikipedia

Same pronunciation.

Why can’t I access Doonesbury in the usual GoComics fashion? I get a notice to try again later, but that’s been going on for weeks now. I have to go to Comics Home and cursor down to the Doonesbury listing there in order to see it. This site is too buggy!

News just in:http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-12-24/trump-changes-voter-registration-to-independent/3746384

A war is a terrible thing to waste

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 Exclusive: President Obama Requested the Removal of Indefinite Military Detention Exemptions for US Citizens Read entire article at: http://us.mg3.mail.yahoo.com/neo/launch?.rand=441815779&clmigstart=20110628

Why not? The Romans did and look … no, wait … oh, never mind!

Do mercs have unions? Or is that so “20th Century”?