Welcome to Sanctimonious Sunday, a new series that will be published by members of the following groups: The Amateur Left, Team DFH and Frustrati, as a collaboration of sorts. Feel free to get your sanctimonious on. It's welcome here.
What are we fighting for?
"Curveball" just admitted that the information he gave to our intelligence personnel, the information used to justify invading Iraq, was a pack of lies.
We went into Afghanistan to get the terrorists who were responsible for 9/11. But back in June, the director of the CIA, Leon Panetta, told ABC that there were "50 to 100, maybe less" Al Qaeda in Afghanistan.
I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-To-Die Rag
by Country Joe & the Fish
Yeah, come on all of you, big strong men,
Uncle Sam needs your help again.
He's got himself in a terrible jam
Way down yonder in Vietnam
So put down your books and pick up a gun,
We're gonna have a whole lotta fun.
And it's one, two, three,
What are we fighting for ?
Don't ask me, I don't give a damn,
Next stop is Vietnam;
And it's five, six, seven,
Open up the pearly gates,
Well there ain't no time to wonder why,
Whoopee! we're all gonna die.
Well, come on generals, let's move fast;
Your big chance has come at last.
Gotta go out and get those reds —
The only good commie is the one who's dead
And you know that peace can only be won
When we've blown 'em all to kingdom come.
[ Chorus ]
Well, come on Wall Street, don't move slow,
Why man, this is war au-go-go.
There's plenty good money to be made
By supplying the Army with the tools of the trade,
Just hope and pray that if they drop the bomb,
They drop it on the Viet Cong.
[ Chorus ]
Well, come on mothers throughout the land,
Pack your boys off to Vietnam.
Come on fathers, don't hesitate,
Send 'em off before it's too late.
Be the first one on your block
To have your boy come home in a box.
[ Chorus ]
http://www.countryjoe.com/...
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When you read those lyrics, how hard is it to adapt the song to fit our war in Afganistan? There are a number of adaptations of the song on YouTube for both Iraq and Afghanistan. I'll show you a couple adapted for Afghanistan and I'll highlight the significant differences in the lyrics.
This guy essentially only changed a few words:
Fixin'-To-Die Rag, Afghanistan Version 1
Yeah, come on all of you, big strong men,
Uncle Sam needs your help again.
He's got himself in a terrible jam
Way down yonder in Aghanistan
So put down your books and pick up a gun,
We're gonna have a whole lotta fun.
And it's one, two, three,
What are we fighting for ?
Don't ask me, I don't give a damn,
Next stop Aghanistan;
And it's five, six, seven,
Open up the pearly gates,
Well there ain't no time to wonder why,
Whoopee! we're all gonna die.
Well, come on generals, let's move fast;
Your big chance has come at last.
Gotta get ??? ??? blood red
The only good Muslim is the one who's dead
And you know that peace can only be won
When we've blown 'em all to kingdom come.
[ Chorus ]
Well, come on Wall Street, don't move slow,
Why man, this is war au-go-go.
There's plenty good money to be made
By supplying the Army with the tools of the trade,
Just hope and pray that if they drop the bomb,
They drop it on the Taliban.
[ Chorus ]
Well, come on mothers throughout the land,
Pack your boys off to Aghanistan.
Come on fathers, don't hesitate,
Send 'em off before it's too late.
Be the first one on your block
To have your boy come home in a box.
[ Chorus ]
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Another guy uses some different lyrics and creates this video "in protest of the Obama speech to escalate in Afghanistan recorded Dec 2 09" and he condenses the song a bit when he performs it. He's wearing a beret. I don't know if he's a veteran or not.
He introduces the song by saying:
"Dedicated to all the casualties to come in Afghanistan."
Fixin'-To-Die Rag, Afghanistan Version 2
Yeah, come on all of you, big strong men,
Obama needs your help again.
He's got himself in a terrible jam
Way out over in Aghanistan
So put down your books and pick up a gun,
We're gonna have a whole lotta fun.
Come on generals, don't ask when;
Your big chance has come at last.
Gotta go out and kill towelheads —
The only good Muslim is the one who's dead
And you know that peace can only be won
When we've blown 'em all to kingdom come.
And it's one, two, three,
What are we fighting for ?
Don't ask me, I don't give a damn,
Next stop Aghanistan;
And it's five, six, seven,
Open up the pearly gates,
Well there ain't no time to wonder why,
Whoopee! we're all gonna die.
[ Chorus ]
Well, come on Wall Street, saddle up,
Here's your chance to make big bucks
Lots of good money to take home
Guns and bombs and predator drones
Just hope and pray that if they drop the bomb,
They drop it on the Arab town.
[ Chorus ]
Well, come on mothers throughout the land,
Pack your boys off to Aghanistan.
Come on fathers, don't hesitate,
Send your girls before it gets too late.
Be the first one on your block
To have your kid come home in a box.
[ Chorus ]
He ends the video by saying: "Mr. Obama, bring our troops home and bring them home now."
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You can consider "Sanctimonious Sunday" to be like an open thread with a theme. This week the theme is anti-war artistry in various forms, or perhaps a discussion of the narrower theme: "What are we fighting for?"
I invite you to post your favorite anti-war songs, verses or graphics, or frankly, whatever else you'd like to post that is relevant to the theme.
And you can be as sanctimonious as you like. Preach it!
(But whatever you do, don't talk about eliminating the Pentagon or bringing Canadian-style health care to America!)