On Fighting In A War That Has No Clear End (Diane Rehm, On My Mind)

Elliot Ackerman served five tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. His new memoir is a reflection on his experiences, the region and a war that refuses to end.
Interview:
https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/national-public-radio/wamufm-wamu-the-diane-rehm-show-podcast/e/61847546

U.S. Military May Be Targeted by Its Own Missiles in Middle East - Newsweek

The U.S.-built BGM-71 TOW saw more action in Syria than any other anti-tank guided missile. Now these weapons could be turned on their country of origin. ....
https://www.newsweek.com/us-military-targeted-own-missiles-middle-eeast-1277293

George H.W. Bush, American War Criminal - YouTube

The national religion of the United States is American exceptionalism. And we are now in the midst of a grotesque canonization of one of its imperial saints, George Herbert Walker Bush. Every media outlet in this country, every politician, Democrat and Republican, engaged in collective eulogy based on lies — lies about who Bush was, lies about his policies, lies about the mass-killing he oversaw during his life at the highest levels of power in the United States government.

George H.W. Bush was an unrepentant war criminal who spent the overwhelming majority of his life making the world a worse place — a more dangerous place — and he leaves behind a global trail of tears, of bloodshed, of death and destruction.

This is the eulogy that George H.W. Bush should be receiving. But instead, the U.S. and international news media are engaging in sick propaganda. Leave the stories about how classy he supposedly was, how cool his marriage was, how he built a father-son relationship with Bill Clinton, how much he liked Barack Obama, how he always wore those funny socks — leave all of that to the family in their private memorials.

But for the rest of us, for the rest of the world, we must remember that his incalculable crimes were committed in public, from the highest chambers of power in the most dominant nation in the world. The accounting for his crimes should also be done in public.

If you speak honestly about who George H.W. Bush really was, then you, by necessity, will be indicting the history, the politics, the legacy of the United States. If you speak honestly about Bush, then the myth of American exceptionalism is laid bare.
Interview:
https://youtu.be/k02EYvX0_jU

War Machine: let battle commence in Netflix assault on cinema

Netflix’s new feature film is a big deal in many ways. Called War Machine, it combines the star power of Brad Pitt and the indie credibility of David Michôd, the director of Animal Kingdom. It boasts big themes: the absurdity of war and the ambition of men.

Based on The Operators, a book about controversial US army general Stanley McChrystal, the film takes place on a big scale, across Afghanistan and along the corridors of power in DC. An investment in the range of $60m also makes it Netflix’s biggest-budget feature to date. Most of all, though, War Machine is big on expectation: this is the film that could change the industry for ever....
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/may/21/war-machine-netflix-home-movie-invasion-brad-pitt-david-michod