Crossing Zero
Monday, 3. May 2010
The region today delineated as both Afghanistan and Pakistan has known many borders over the millennia, yet none have been more artificial or contentious than the one today separating Pakistan from Afghanistan known as the Durand line but referred to by the military and intelligence community as Zero line. A funny thing happened to the United States when the Obama administration decided to cross Zero line and bring the Afghan war into Pakistan. Instead of resolution, after nearly two years into the administration’s AfPak strategy, it would seem the gap between reality and the Washington beltway has only widened.
Instead of moving into a new future that defused India and Pakistan’s nuclear rivalry and promised “a more capable, accountable, and effective government in Afghanistan that serves the Afghan people,” the U.S. is falling back on its old cold war relationships that created the problem in the first place. But as the costs of maintaining an archaic cold war posture mount, the world’s economy crumbles and the contradictions tear the war’s flimsy logic to shreds, it’s clear that, the U.S. is facing a bigger enemy than it ever imagined.
Before the Obama administration even set foot in office it promised to shift its attention, time, money and energy away from Iraq towards Afghanistan. The president’s AfPak policy was intended to correct the mistakes of the past while addressing the war in a more realistic fashion that focused as much on the actions of Pakistan’s military as it did the actions of the Afghan government.
The Obama administration’s decision to actively address Pakistan’s behavior emerged only after Washington’s military/intelligence community reluctantly accepted proof that Pakistan’s ISI was aiding Taliban actors such as Malawi Jalaluddin Haqqani. It also emerged after solid evidence suggested that Pakistan itself was on the verge of caving in to their own Taliban extremists, known as the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan or TTP .
Despite being the single largest focus of the American military, much of what the United States does in Afghanistan and Pakistan remains a military secret. A report issued by the Center For Strategic and International Studies by Anthony H. Cordesman in September 2008, declared alarmingly. “No country or international organization provides useful unclassified overview data on the developments in the fighting [in Afghanistan] in anything like the depth that the US Department of Defense provides in its quarterly reports on the Iraq war. The [limited] reporting that is available also decouples the fighting in Afghanistan from that in Pakistan. Accordingly, public official reporting on the growing intensity of the war since 2006 ignores one of the most critical aspects of the conflict.”
Evidence of the strain facing America’s cold war-trained bureaucrats now appears regularly as the contradictions deepen. Defense Secretary Robert Gates crossed his own personal zero line in an address to the National Defense University in February when he criticized Europe’s growing anti-war sentiment as a dangerous threat to peace. The Obama administration rails at the Karzai government’s corruption but denies it the guidance and expertise necessary to make it effective at governance. The U.S. then diverts power and money to regional tribal leaders whom many fear (including U.S. Ambassador Karl Eikenberry) will simply become a new class of warlord, once the U.S. departs.
Since January 2009, U.S. Predator Drone strikes are reported to have killed at least 529 people in the tribal areas of Pakistan of whom 20 percent may have been civilians. Considered to be a clear violation of international law by American legal scholars, the cross border strikes inflame Pakistani opinion against the U.S. Yet, the Pentagon praises their new anti-terror weapon while at the same time continuing to deny that the program even exists.
As the Obama administration struggles to reconcile Washington’s special interests with those posed by Iran, Pakistan, India, China and Russia, it should be remembered that the Soviet Union faced a similar challenge in Afghanistan. But in the end the biggest enemy the Soviets faced was not the Stinger missiles or the disunited Mujahideen Jihadis. The Soviet Union’s biggest enemy was the archaic cold war structure of the Soviet system itself, and that is a lesson that Washington refuses to accept.
The United States has fought on both the Pakistani and Afghan sides of the Durand line. In the 1980s it fought on the side of extremist-political Islam. Since September 11, 2001 it has fought against it. But the border separating the two seemingly incompatible behaviors remains largely a dark mystery. It is therefore appropriate to think of Zero line as the vanishing point for the American empire, the point beyond which its power and influence disappears; the line where 60 year’s worth of American policy in Eurasia confronts itself and ceases to exist. The Durand line separating the two countries is visible on a map. Zero line is not.
Paul Fitzgerald and Elizabeth Gould, a husband and wife team, began their experience in Afghanistan when they were the first American journalists to acquire permission to enter behind Soviet lines in 1981 for CBS News and produced a documentary, Afghanistan Between Three Worlds, for PBS. In 1983 they returned to Kabul with Harvard Negotiation project director Roger Fisher for ABC Nightline and contributed to the MacNeil/Lehrer News Hour. They continued to research, write and lecture about the long-term run-up that led to the US invasion of Afghanistan. They are featured in an award winning documentary by Samira Goetschel. Titled, Our own Private Bin Laden which traces the creation of the Osama bin Laden mythology in Afghanistan and how that mythology has been used to maintain the “war on terror” approach of the Bush administration. Invisible History: Afghanistan’s Untold Story published by City Lights, January 2009 chronicles their three-decade-focus on Afghanistan and the media. Their next book Crossing ZeroThe AfPak War at the Turning Point of American Empire will be published February, 2011.
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camusrebel Says:
Not long ago the subject of civilians killed in drone strikes was debated. Sibel had the percentage around 85%. A commenter used semantics to try and prove it was closer to 60%. I’m going from memory so the #’s are just ballpark and I believe were for the entire AfPak region, not Pak alone, therefore I am very curious where PF&EG get the 20% figure.
One human being murdered in this robotic distanced method is abhorrent even if they were an “insurgent”, “guerrilla”, freedom fighter, Taliban, warlord, terrorist, Al-CIA-duh, enemy combatant(lawful or unlawful) or whatever feeble attempt at justification is used, if they are suspected of a crime, go arrest them. No need to splatter the brains of 3 year old girls all over grandma. “Collateral Damage” indeed. I want to puke. Evil done with our money, in our name. It is repulsive what we have become. Only one shot at redemption: 9/11 Truth, Now!
True Oil Says:
I am so Proud to be a member of the Irate Minority.
camusrebel, I share your revulsion.
Kingfisher Says:
The new missiles being used weigh only 35 pounds and are 21 inches long. They are very precise and greatly minimize collateral damage. These things are awesome. Robots are the future.
There also has been much more positive cooperation with the Pakistani government and the people in the Tribal Areas. A significant effort has been made to reduce civilian casualties, and it has shown considerable results; as a result of this outrage has died down.
KF
Kingfisher Says:
“Despite being the single largest focus of the American military, much of what the United States does in Afghanistan and Pakistan remains a military secret. A report issued by the Center For Strategic and International Studies by Anthony H. Cordesman in September 2008, declared alarmingly. “No country or international organization provides useful unclassified overview data on the developments in the fighting [in Afghanistan] in anything like the depth that the US Department of Defense provides in its quarterly reports on the Iraq war.”
Yes, because our commitment to Afghanistan was small and insignificant from 2001 to late 2008, whereas our commitment in Iraq was greater from 2003 to 2008. There were no data on developments because there was no development!
“The Obama administration rails at the Karzai government’s corruption but denies it the guidance and expertise necessary to make it effective at governance.”
Ok, I’ll bite. What guidance and expertise that will make the Karzai govt effective at governance, is that?
“The U.S. then diverts power and money to regional tribal leaders whom many fear (including U.S. Ambassador Karl Eikenberry) will simply become a new class of warlord, once the U.S. departs.”
Because God forbid we actually do something that works! You manage the risk of a “new class of warlord” by working through a council of tribal elders instead of concentrating power with one guy – this is a pillar of the recent Special Forces program to empower the tribes.
Mike Says:
I agree with camusrebel but kingfisher, what you say about effective strategies may be correct, but I wonder why are we in Afghanistan at all? Because of 9/11? I believe that the house resolution that came three days after 9/11 for use of force in response became the civilian side of the start of the Afghanistan war a month later. Well, none of the alleged 9/11 hijackers were Afghanis, I only found one reference to one of the 19 named 9/11 hijackers (al-midhar) training in Afghanistan in 1996, and that was to fight in Cechnya. And now we’re fighting the Taliban? What did they have to do with 9/11? The Taliban offered several times to extradite bin laden with evidence that he was responsible for 9/11. The taliban didn’t get this evidence and frankly neither did I.
Kingfisher Says:
@Mike,
Several reasons why we attacked the Taliban. I think the least appreciated factors are the domestic politics ones, as always.
The hijackers trained at several camps in Afghanistan. For a concise analysis supporting our continued presence in Afghanistan check out:
http://www.nationalinterest.org/Article.aspx?id=22224
Sorry I am on the run and must keep this brief.
KF
ZicaTanka Says:
@KF, I took a look at the article you referenced. I’m not sure I believe the story as told by the author. Wasn’t KSM waterboarded an outrageous number of times? How many recent US terror plot prosecutions have been dropped after it turned out it was just an FBI paid informant trying to rile up some desparate wanna be’s and no real al-qaeda connection? How much of this story line is backed up by tortured confessions?
I find it difficult to believe in the threat of al-qaeda in general, since it seems to me that the FBI and the US govt has been covering up a great deal having to do with the 9/11 attacks and, as mentioned in the last podcast with Boyle, the anthrax attacks. This may be my folly, but I fail to trust this line. Probably also because of its over-use and my revulsion of all the fear-mongering for dollars of which we seem to be victims.
barbara Says:
I am so sick of hearing the media demonize the entire country of Pakistan. I have dear friends there who are the most peaceful lovely people I have ever been lucky enough to know. And now, the sheep are jumping on the bandwagon. My apology to sheep.
And isn’t it convenient to have this guy from Pakistan supposedly being the new terror poster boy. I noticed Holder announced that the guy wasn’t mirandized, since he’s in a special category, even though he’s an American citizen. Lets throw some red meat to the bigots.
I don’t believe a word of it. I am a boiling mad irate minority today. Thanks for being here for me.
remo Says:
For anyone actively involved in the intelligence/Military world to continually defend the 911 Commission report, is disingenuous at best.
I bet there isn’t one intelligence service in the world that DOSNT know 911 was explosive demolition. If they don’t, they should.
The continued defense of the Al Qaeda hijacker Conspiracy theory is part of the struggle to ‘hold the ground’ created by the false flag event, long enough to get done whatever was originally intended by it; ground being progressively contested notwithstanding the ‘advantages’ of killing by drone warfare. Please read Daniel Hopsicker:’Welcome to Terrorland’ for further discussion re hijackers and where ‘they were training’. It was closer to home than Afganhistan.
As also discussed, the 911 commission report has been widely exposed as a Politicized construct theory itself, and a poor one. A badly written story based in major part on Torture [KSM:113 or 130 times],relying on populist outrage to gloss factual omission [David Ray Griffin:911Commission Report:Omissions and Distortions],a theory which has recently lost another of its main pillars since the Justice Department quietly recanted nearly every major claim the Bush Admin. made about Abu Zubaydah, the alleged al-Qaeda leader who was the first suspected terrorist subjected to the torture of waterboarding.
Mike Says:
KF– Well thanks for the article from a journal founded by Mr. Irving Kristol and guided by Henry Kissinger, Daniel Pipes, and Andrew Bacevich. Where have I heard those guys’ names before? But anyway, I think this author is riding the party line on rails. The article talks about the “four men who attempted to attack two Bronx synagogues last May” as a pattern of terrorism that Mr. Zazi is a part of. Well, I think that plot was really more like total entrapment by the FBI. The four were apparently ex-cons, recovering addicts, “some” recently became Islamic, and despite the author’s and others’ vague spin on it, not al-quaeda: “Michael Bloomberg: “While the bombs these terrorists attempted to plant tonight were – unbeknownst to them – fake, this latest attempt to attack our freedoms shows that the homeland security threats against New York City are sadly all too real and underscores why we must remain vigilant in our efforts to prevent terrorism.” ”
“The only one of the four suspects who appears to have aroused any suspicion was Payen, a Haitian native who attended the Newburgh mosque…When Payen appeared in court, defense attorney Marilyn Reader described him as “intellectually challenged” and on medication for schizophrenia. The Associated Press said that when he was asked if he understood the proceedings, Payen replied: “Sort of.”"
http://articles.latimes.com/2009/may/22/nation/na-temple-plot22/2
So according to the article more than one alleged 9/11 hijacker apparently trained in Afghanistan in the 90s but it was to fight in Chechnya. And the article claims that “according to the authoritative 9/11 Commission Report, among other sources, the location and strategic genesis of the operation was indisputably in Afghanistan.” As ZicaTanca pointed out, this is I believe from the one quarter or so of all the footnotes of the 9/11 commission that came from torture, specifically the part that relates bin Laden to the attacks and the planning. And the torture methods probably used that were “reverse engineered” from the SERE training were “based on coercive methods used by the Chinese Communist dictatorship to elicit false confessions from U.S. POWs during the Korean War.”
http://levin.senate.gov/newsroom/supporting/2008/Detainees.121108.pdf
The other source for an Afghanistan connection to 9/11 in the article was the interview with KSM conducted by an Al Jazeera journalist Yosri Fouda in 2002. But according to the Financial Times in 2001: “Analysts cited the crude editing of [Fouda’s interview] tapes and the timing of the broadcasts as reasons to be suspicious about their authenticity. Dia Rashwan, an expert on Islamist movements at the Al-Ahram Centre for Strategic Studies in Cairo, said: ‘I have very serious doubts [about the authenticity of this tape]. It could have been a script written by the FBI.’” And then later the same journalist is apparently given a tape of a speech by bin laden from al quaeda, but the BBC reports ” A team from the Lausanne-based Dalle Molle Institute for Perceptual Artificial Intelligence, Idiap, said it was 95% certain the tape does not feature the voice of the al-Qaeda leader.” If this is true, is it so far fetched to also doubt the grainy “Kandahar Tape?”
http://www.historycommons.org/context.jsp?item=a0402foudainterview#a0402foudainterview
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2526309.stm
I didn’t see any elaboration on the claim that every major terrorist plot since 2004 originated from AF/Pak except MI-5′s word. And the “2004 plots to attack multiple business targets in New York, Newark, Washington, DC and London” was apparently also a totally amazing set-up of a man with “no actual evidence of means and capability to put into action any of the ‘movie plots’, which he appears to have been researching.” And: “Deputy Attorney General James Comey said (of the case), “…we have not alleged a connection to al Qaeda in this indictment.”
http://p10.hostingprod.com/@spyblog.org.uk/blog/2006/11/dhiren_barot_life_sentence_for_impractical_movie_plot_terrorist_plans.html
Kingfisher Says:
@ZT,
“@KF, I took a look at the article you referenced. I’m not sure I believe the story as told by the author. Wasn’t KSM waterboarded an outrageous number of times?”
Possible confessions induced by torture are not the only way of learning how and why something happened!
“How many recent US terror plot prosecutions have been dropped after it turned out it was just an FBI paid informant trying to rile up some desparate wanna be’s and no real al-qaeda connection?”
Several cases I believe, or something along those lines. Prevention and preemption are the primary goals in counterterrorism, sometimes at the expense securing a conviction later.
“How much of this story line is backed up by tortured confessions?”
In the cases of ‘torture’, information was sought, not a confession. That information would then be cross-checked and verified. The torture thing is a red herring, imho.
“I find it difficult to believe in the threat of al-qaeda in general, since it seems to me that the FBI and the US govt has been covering up a great deal having to do with the 9/11 attacks and, as mentioned in the last podcast with Boyle, the anthrax attacks.”
Fair enough, but that is also 8-9 years ago. The world is a different place now.
KF
Mike Says:
@KF, “In the cases of ‘torture’, information was sought, not a confession.”
IF you want to call then “enhanced interrogations” instead, the methods probably used that were “reverse engineered” from the SERE training were “based on coercive methods used by the Chinese Communist dictatorship to elicit false confessions from U.S. POWs during the Korean War.”
http://levin.senate.gov/newsroom/supporting/2008/Detainees.121108.pdf
remo Says:
I beg your pardon, but the world is the same place it ever was. It is falsification of the public record to suggest we in this era are anything different in human expression from our common ancestral past. A different set of men vying for top dog with a new set of wartoys, but same old game. Bending the rules to suit. Same ego. same violence/hate. same tricks and triple standards. same use of lies and power projection. same self justification/denial. same wealth. same game. [you are either with us;or you are with the terrorist.bush03] The basis for rendition and sidelining of habeas corpus/geneva conventions, placement of patriot act state secrets privilege COG etc etc etc -everything we talk about- and allowance of torture were all justified by ‘a new war’. A different place’. Beginning square at ground zero. [you are either with the commission:or you are with the terrorist]
Its part of the game.
Kingfisher Says:
@Mike,
FWIW, I consider water-boarding torture.
I purposely used ‘torture’ because I knew it would piss someone off, evoke an emotional response, and become a red-herring. Which illustrates my opinion that the torture issue is a red herring.
You see the attention is focused on how information was obtained from questioning KSM, and not what was – or more importantly was-not pursued in the questioning of KSM.
KF
Kingfisher Says:
@remo,
“I beg your pardon, but the world is the same place it ever was.”
The point being is that the dynamics of terrorist groups and/or political movements, and as such any threat-assessment is likely to change over 8-9 years.
remo Says:
The jury is still well out on WHAT KSM produced as a result.Did he just ‘fill in the gaps’ as cheney required. That has been reported. torture is not the red herring. Talking about it as morally justified is. Talking about the 911 commission report as if it were the gods own truth is the real red herring.
Mike Says:
As far as what was and was not pursued in KSM’s questioning, the co-chairs of the 9/11 commission Kean and Hamilton wrote in their book that they were not allowed to see KSM, talk to his interrogators or watch interrogations and “had no way of evaluating the credibility of detainee information.”
ZicaTanka Says:
@KF:
Thanks for the response. To continue:
“Possible confessions induced by torture are not the only way of learning how and why something happened!”
True, but I mentioned it because of the apparent lack of reliability of information gathered using torture. You address that later in your comments.
“Several cases I believe, or something along those lines. Prevention and preemption are the primary goals in counterterrorism, sometimes at the expense securing a conviction later.”
I agree with your statement, but, I’m not sure that’s what was happening.
“I the cases of ‘torture’, information was sought, not a confession. That information would then be cross-checked and verified. The torture thing is a red herring, imho.”
Could it be that some of the verification has been done using similarly gained second sources of information?
“Fair enough, but that is also 8-9 years ago. The world is a different place now.”
Thanks for validating my distrust.
I’d like to follow up briefly on your comment about how my distrust of the official storyline might be based on outdated details. While I can appreciate that repercussions of repercussions of what has happened in the last 9 years create an ever changing present, I want to point to something that has remained constant and might serve to bolster my opinion that our fear of the officially advertised enemies may be a distraction from the enemies, who not only pose the biggest threat to our future well being, but might be responsible for the same atrocities they are warning us about. Identification of these “domestic” enemies remains my biggest hope for the BFP.
Your feedback is always appreciated.
ZicaTanka Says:
I didn’t write my second to the last paragraph very well. That ‘something’ is the profiteering/greed/domination that seems to be a constant over the last 9 years and has been the subject of plenty of W=O type articles here.
thymesup Says:
@remo:” I bet there isn’t one intelligence service in the world that DOESN’T know 911 was explosive demolition. If they don’t, they should.”
You don’t have to just bet. According to a Dec 4, ’07 post by Paul Joseph Watson at Prison Planet.com, ex-Italian President Francesco Cossiga told “Italy’s most respected newspaper that the attacks were were run by the CIA and Mossad and that this was common knowledge amongst global intelligence agencies.
“Cossiga was elected President of the Italian Senate in July 1983 before winning a landslide 1985 election to become President of the country in 1985.
“Cossiga gained respect from opposition parties as one of a rare breed -an honest politician-and led the country for seven years until April 1992.
“Cossiga’s tendency to be outspoken upset the Italian political estblishment and he was forced to resign after revealing the existence of, and his part in setting up, Operation Gladio-a rogue intelligence network under NATO auspices that carried out bombings across Europe in the 60′s, 70′s, and 80′s
He reveals that it’s common knowledge CIA, Mossad were behind terror attacks”
The American Free Press elaborated two weeks later (perhaps from same prison planet article):
“Former Italian President Francesco Cossiga, who revealed the existence of Operation Gladio, has told Italy’s oldest and most widely read newspaper that the 9-11 terrorist attacks were run by the CIA and Mossad, and that this was common knowledge among global intelligence agencies. In what translates awkwardly into English, Cossiga told the newspaper Corriere della Sera:
“All the [intelligence services] of America and Europe…know well that the disastrous attack has been planned and realized from the Mossad, with the aid of the Zionist world in order to put under accusation the Arabic countries and in order to induce the western powers to take part … in Iraq [and] Afghanistan.”
Cossiga was elected president of the Italian Senate in July 1983 before winning a landslide election to become president of the country in 1985, and he remained until 1992.
Cossiga’s tendency to be outspoken upset the Italian political establishment, and he was forced to resign after revealing the existence of, and his part in setting up, Operation Gladio. This was a rogue intelligence network under NATO auspices that carried out bombings across Europe in the 1960s, 1970s and ’80s. Gladio’s specialty was to carry out what they termed “false flag” operations – terror attacks that were blamed on their domestic and geopolitical opposition.
In March 2001, Gladio agent Vincenzo Vinciguerra stated, in sworn testimony, “You had to attack civilians, the people, women, children, innocent people, unknown people far removed from any political game. The reason was quite simple: to force … the public to turn to the state to ask for greater security.”
Cossiga first expressed his doubts about 9-11 in 2001, and is quoted by 9-11 researcher Webster Tarpley saying “The mastermind of the attack must have been a sophisticated mind, provided with ample means not only to recruit fanatic kamikazes, but also highly specialized personnel. I add one thing: it could not be accomplished without infiltrations in the radar and flight security personnel.”
Coming from a widely respected former head of state, Cossiga’s assertion that the 9-11 attacks were an inside job and that this is common knowledge among global intelligence agencies is illuminating. It is one more eye-opening confirmation that has not been mentioned by America’s propaganda machine in print or on TV. Nevertheless, because of his experience and status in the world, Cossiga cannot be discounted as a crackpot. (American Free Press Comment).
I realize this goes beyond remo’s comment re controlled demolitions, but it sure seems relevant and supportive of his statement. thymesup
True Oil Says:
thymesup, I agree.
I did not however know this about the Italian President. Thanks.
ZicaTanka Says:
@thymesup:
Italian newspaper La Stampa article where Cossiga denies this.
“I refuse the conspiracy theory, which is a smart and sometimes sincere contrafaction of reality caused by the fear of that (reality)”.
“Rembering how “open” american society is, I think it’s very unlikely, I may say impossible, that 9/11 was an inside job”.
Jones isn’t the best source for facts because he’s such a salesman.
Ishmael Says:
I read an interesting article by Brian Downing over at Asia Times here last month:
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/LD20Df01.html
It was about the US withdrawal from the Korengal Valley, comparing it with the results of a similar withdrawal by the Soviets in the late 1980′s. It certainly makes a cogent argument for withdrawal from Afghanistan in toto before the US joins the other empires in the Graveyard of Empires Cemetary known as Afghanistan.
ZicaTanka Says:
Side note:
(Sorry for the irrelevance to this post. I thought this was worth mentioning, since PBC is so involved with BFP.)
I see Peter B. Collins participating in a couple presentations by Architects, Engineers, and Firefighters for 9/11 Truth, who are all about controlled demolition. Today and tomorrow in CA. Live feed starts at 7:30 Pacific at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/firefighters-architechts-engineers-expose-9-11-myths
Good news to me. I hope he can influence Sibel into taking a serious look at it. I think it’d be worth commissioning one of her trusted investigative journalists to look into the matter and present to this community.
Simon Says:
In all this discussion about 9-11 and Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (KSM), I find the obvious overlooked. Failed Times Square Attack Could Kill Plans to Try Sheikh Mohammed in NYC. It’s a false flag operation or an incident of convenience, because trial of KSM will bring to light failure of the 9-11 commission, involvement of Patrick Fitzgerald in the cover-up, and duplicity of the World Bank through Jamie Gorelick and Robert Zoellick.
kermit Says:
“It is therefore appropriate to think of Zero line as the vanishing point for the American empire, the point beyond which its power and influence disappears; the line where 60 year’s worth of American policy in Eurasia confronts itself and ceases to exist.”
The “American empire” is largely a global elitist empire. Without the great assistance of those willing participants concerned more about their couture and status than their fellow humans all having a reasonable living wage the “American Empire” would cease to exist. It is an interlocking consumerist empire in which the desire for material wealth is flamed by myths and Madison Avenue. In allowing for vast concentrations of personal wealth, while most struggle to get by, it is an empire held together by PR firms producing commercialized news to make all the truths less relevant than the style one can take on with a pair of expensive shoes while children die from dysentary (Shigellosis) and refugees sleep in fear. Or if stylin’ shoes won’t impress your clique, there are literally millions of other consumer fetishes to appeal to every personality type… so don’t worry; go shopping.
Please read this excerpt from Nick Turse’s The Complex: How the Military Invades Our Everyday Lives :
http://zeroanthropology.net/2010/04/04/100-percent-militarized-american/