Blog For Arizona

Guest Posting: The Need For Speed

Rev. Straatemeier writes:

In tears, I just watched the most upsetting program on World Link TV (On both Dish and Direct TV, I don't know about cable).  It was called "The Need for Speed," on the program Spotlight.  You can go to Link TV for a summary and schedule - if you have DSL, you can
stream it.

In this documentary program, undoubtedly not to be found on corporate media, US military personnel describe (and top US Air Force officials defend) the required use of dexadrine for pilots to be allowed to fly, and then of course, the downers that are given them to sleep.

The brass claim there are no side effects, this is absolutely safe, and needed to get the job done. (Why is it when truck drivers believe the same thing, they are arrested and lose their license at the very least?)

They talk about friendly fire and other times when Americans have killed either allies or civilians, believing, in their drug-induced paranoia, that they were under attack.

This is not a case of the military looking the other way when people abuse drugs - this is a case of the government as drug pusher, refusing pilots the privilege to fly without "go pills." They are not told that these go pills are dexadrine.  

Of course, now I begin to understand how it is that American soldiers can become so aggressive and inhumane, and this is heartbreaking.

This is not a only Bushfeld phenomonon, BTW, but certainly a major reason why things are going so badly for our men and women in uniform and those they encounter.  

In peace,
Gerry

posted by Michael Bryan @ 8/16/2004 11:29:00 PM