2,305 killed by Obama in drone strikes in Pakistan by my count

[Bonobo]

68. I remember when they first launched the phrase "embeds" for reporters...

I knew in the pit of my stomach how bad it was --and so did others. There was a window when the media could have (actually some of them did) stand up and say "Fuck no! We will NOT sacrifice our safety for our responsibilities of staying independent to tell the truth"

But the moment passed. "Embed" became a part of our lexicon, a part of what we considered normal. Yes, there were independent journalists all over Vietnam telling the hard truth, interviewing low-ranking soldiers to get to the heart of what it was like... but that was then and this was now.

Yes, there was a moment when we teetered on the edge of saying hell no to the war machine, hell no we will be witnesses to the horror and tell the world. But then, poof.

The Iraq War and the Afghan War have been quiet, private affairs with little truth leaking out and drones are a part of that approach --and so are the tiny percentage of people serving over and over and over --and so are the wartime tax cuts. The idea is to make was seem like nothing special, business as usual --no real cost to worry about.

It. sucks.

It will come back to haunt the US. It should.