Say "No!" to Helicopters

(Not a good look.)

In the last few weeks I have fallen ridiculously behind in the ongoings of the world, so in my process of binging on old headlines I came across several stories about the good news in Iraq and the Middle East that the Bush administration accuses the mainstream media of not reporting. Not to mention there have been a shitload of helicopter crashes. (Add Lebanon and Russia to the list copter crash stories below.)

- The first story involves Iraqi citizens in an assumed friendly part of Iraq, that cheered, threw stones, Molotovs and whatever else they could find at British soldiers who rushed to check on a British helicopter was shot out of the sky.
Damn.
I'm not adept at military campaigns, battling insurgencies and such but I'm pretty sure that's an indication that you're not welcome and that things aren't going too well.

- The second story is another tale of a crashed helicopter although this time it is American soldiers who were shot down in Afghanistan. The military denies it was shot down but they also did that last time a helicopter was shot down in Afghanistan.
It's good to know that after running the Taliban out we have diverted that initial mission so far off-course that the Taliban are now taking Afghanistan back.

- The third story offers a glimpse into the level of disenfranchisement and alienation that was needed in order to cause Egyptians to launch terrorist attacks on their own country.
I wrote about something similar to this before but it seems people would still rather chase terrorists after they blow some tourists up, than to improve the hopeless social situations (like saltwater coming out of their taps) these kids fester in until they feel they'd rather die and take out a few people with them.

Peep the quote from the article,

"The animosity in El Arish is so deep that some people here say they admire the bombers. Some say they are resisting the government, others see them as bringing the misery of Bedouin lives home to foreigners who come on carefree vacations."

- The fourth story is one of those "What if it was me?" stories that makes me glad that the only war going on where I live is between the crazy old Jamaican lady and the loud school children.

This Iraqi government worker was warned to quit his job and when he didn't he was kidnapped, beaten and kept in captivity for days as dozens of people were constantly brought in and killed around him. They called and asked his family for a $50K ransom which was talked down to $20K. (Is talking down a ransom similar to talking your way out of a parking ticket?)

When people only make $1,000 a year a $30,000 ransom is like asking a $30K earning American for a million.
Anyway, they were about to kill him when they realized he was the wrong guy and they brought in another person in his place and shot him in the head.

Do I even have to mention how pointless it is to replace a government with one where people get killed for going to work?
Or how stupid replacing one famous despot for thousands of faceless and even more dangerous insurgents is?

Saddam is the only one who understands how to hold those fools together.


- I will throw in a bonus story and you can decide for yourself whether this is good or bad.
There is now an Afghani rapper.



Given that Busta Rhymes' security guard was recently killed, Proof from D-12 got shot in the head, T.I.'s personal assistant got killed, Snoop Dogg was arrested in London for fighting police and Gravy (a rapper trying to play Biggie in a movie) was shot outside of Hot 97, Mystikal was sentenced for rape, Game and 50's crew got into a shoot-out, does Afghanistan really fucking need rap music?

They shoot down helicopters in Afghanistan. How much more fucking hood can you get?
Women get killed for stepping out of line in Afghanistan? Can they learn anything from the misogyny of rap?

If anything rap needs to take notes from Afghanistan.

From the article,

• "His outsized jewellery, sculpted facial hair and gigantic camouflage pattern jumpsuits are clearly tastes culled from America's all-conquering rap music scene.
  
  Besho, whose real name is Bejan Zafarmal, is frank in admitting his considerable debt to controversial stars such as Tupac Shakur and 50 Cent; while his fluent English is littered with US street slang."
  
  "I want to write about my country and I want to write about love. I don't use swear words and I have even used texts from the Koran in my music."
  
  Besho admits wistfully that one day he hopes to include some of what is called "shaking the booty" into his videos. It is this sort of erotic dance that has the religious establishment up in arms.
  

And this is in a country where they banned Charlton Heston's "The Ten Commandments" for showing Moses in shorts and with girls.

When the Taliban regain full control of Iraq, please believe the first thing they do will be to murk this kid.