ISIS Burns a Jordanian Pilot Alive, So Naturally Greenwald Condemned The U.S. For Being Worse

Posted by | February 5, 2015 08:00 | Filed under: Bob Cesca Contributors Opinion Politics Top Stories War & Peace

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You can almost set your watch to it. Within 24 hours following nearly every recent terrorist attack or horrifying ISIS video, The Intercept‘s Glenn Greenwald exploits the tragedies as a platform for his ongoing finger-wagging and tsk-tsk scolding of the U.S. and other western nations (but mainly the U.S.). Earlier this week, ISIS burned alive a Jordanian pilot and released the video into the world and, right on schedule, Greenwald posted another article condemning the U.S. for collateral damage in the war on terrorism.

It’s the usual Greenwald game. First of all, warning, the article is preceded by a file photo of a badly burned Vietnamese child. We’ll continue the debate another day about the efficacy of flogging readers over the head with graphic imagery. But since Greenwald didn’t warn anyone, I suppose I will. Anyway, following his own condemnation of the pilot’s immolation, Greenwald immediately segued into how America is worse than ISIS because of our use of drones and much more, illustrated with the usual Glennzilla crutch: blockquote, blockquote, blockquote, blockquote until our eyes bleed. To be fair, his blockquotes weren’t strictly about drones, but delved back to the Vietnam era and napalm, so at least there was some variety.

After his stack of blockquotes about America’s history of being Worse Than ISIS, Greenwald wrote the following about the U.S. condemnation of the terror group:

That’s exactly what makes the intensity of these repeated denunciation rituals somewhat confounding.

Confounding? Are Americans (and Jordanians for that matter) not allowed to condemn ISIS because of alleged past guilt? He appears to conclude that we have no right to condemn our enemies when they summarily execute journalists and prisoners-of-war. If so, how exactly are we supposed to respond?… CONTINUE READING

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Copyright 2015 Liberaland
By: Bob Cesca

Bob Cesca is the managing editor at The Daily Banter (www.thedailybanter.com) and a Huffington Post contributor since 2005. He's worked in journalism since 1988 as a print writer/editor, a radio news anchor, a digital media columnist/editor, a book author and blogger. He's the co-host of the Bubble Genius Bob & Chez Show podcast and a Thursday regular on the syndicated Stephanie Miller Show. He's appeared on numerous other radio shows including the John Phillips Show and Geraldo Rivera Show in Los Angeles. Bob has been a commentator/analyst on the BBC (TV and radio), MSNBC, Current TV, CNN and Sky News. Following him on Twitter: @bobcesca_go

82 responses to ISIS Burns a Jordanian Pilot Alive, So Naturally Greenwald Condemned The U.S. For Being Worse

  1. edmeyer_able February 5th, 2015 at 08:06

    I wonder what Greenwald thinks of Fox news linking of the video of the pilots death on their web page thereby aiding the recruitment of fighters for daesh.

  2. edmeyer_able February 5th, 2015 at 09:06

    I wonder what Greenwald thinks of Fox news linking of the video of the pilots death on their web page thereby aiding the recruitment of fighters for daesh.

  3. Carla Akins February 5th, 2015 at 09:30

    Our local ABC affiliate ran a piece on Fox news offering the video online and asking for opinions. It was ugly.

    • Anomaly 100 February 5th, 2015 at 09:32

      I listened to Shepard Smith give a detailed account. He was too classy to air that propaganda. I wish I cold say that for the rest of the media.

      • edmeyer_able February 5th, 2015 at 09:36

        Shep is a class act, instead of stating an opinion like the rest of the asses there he will pose a question and ask the viewer to decide what is right and what is wrong.

        • Anomaly 100 February 5th, 2015 at 09:48

          I love that guy. He’s an actual journalist.

          • edmeyer_able February 5th, 2015 at 09:49

            The only two news broadcasts I’ll dvr Rachael Maddow and Shep.

      • Carla Akins February 5th, 2015 at 09:39

        Not a snowballs chance in hell would I watch that. Just hearing the words “burned alive” did it for me. I didn’t need proof, and I don’t need to watch in order “wake up” as so many of my neighbors seemed to think.

      • StoneyCurtisll February 5th, 2015 at 16:52

        I agree~!!

    • StoneyCurtisll February 5th, 2015 at 16:51

      I think anyone that wants to, or would watch the video has issues..
      There is enough horrible shit in the world without having to see that..

  4. Carla Akins February 5th, 2015 at 10:30

    Our local ABC affiliate ran a piece on Fox news offering the video online and asking for opinions. It was ugly.

    • Anomaly 100 February 5th, 2015 at 10:32

      I listened to Shepard Smith give a detailed account. He was too classy to air that propaganda. I wish I cold say that for the rest of the media.

      • edmeyer_able February 5th, 2015 at 10:36

        Shep is a class act, instead of stating an opinion like the rest of the asses there he will pose a question and ask the viewer to decide what is right and what is wrong.

        • Anomaly 100 February 5th, 2015 at 10:48

          I love that guy. He’s an actual journalist.

          • edmeyer_able February 5th, 2015 at 10:49

            The only two news broadcasts I’ll dvr Rachael Maddow and Shep.

      • Carla Akins February 5th, 2015 at 10:39

        Not a snowballs chance in hell would I watch that. Just hearing the words “burned alive” did it for me. I didn’t need proof, and I don’t need to watch in order “wake up” as so many of my neighbors seemed to think.

      • StoneyCurtisll February 5th, 2015 at 17:52

        I agree~!!

    • StoneyCurtisll February 5th, 2015 at 17:51

      I think anyone that wants to, or would watch the video has issues..
      There is enough horrible shit in the world without having to see that..

  5. BillTheCat45 February 5th, 2015 at 10:47

    It’s refreshing to see not everyone bows down to the Great Greenwald. The man’s ego is bigger than Russia. Over on DU he’s the Holy Father – *puke*.

  6. BillTheCat45 February 5th, 2015 at 11:47

    It’s refreshing to see not everyone bows down to the Great Greenwald. The man’s ego is bigger than Russia. Over on DU he’s the Holy Father – *puke*.

  7. Bunya February 5th, 2015 at 13:53

    To be fair, the US DID torture detainees. We can condemn the actions of ISIS, but keep in mind, our hands aren’t exactly spot free.

  8. Bunya February 5th, 2015 at 14:53

    To be fair, the US DID torture detainees. We can condemn the actions of ISIS, but keep in mind, our hands aren’t exactly spot free.

  9. fahvel February 5th, 2015 at 13:58

    my team crossed an area after a day of rolling thunder – we were supposed to be the elite of the elite and some of us vomited. When the usa or any western monster is clean and honest, then is the time to condemn others.

  10. fahvel February 5th, 2015 at 14:58

    my team crossed an area after a day of rolling thunder – we were supposed to be the elite of the elite and some of us vomited. When the usa or any western monster is clean and honest, then is the time to condemn others.

  11. Apocalypse February 5th, 2015 at 16:12

    We drone a wedding party and other innocent civilians, they immolate a pilot that was bombing them. I can see how one could question the comparative guilt. I know it’s in the past…but we dropped two atom bombs on civilian populations. People at war do extreme things. I hate ISIS for its brutality against everyone who is not ISIS…but I don’t think the west has a record of moral superiority.

    • edmeyer_able February 5th, 2015 at 16:49

      Personally I hate the comparison of the use of atomic weapons as brutality w/o mentioning the other options that we had at our disposal. Which btw could have resulted in 10 X the deaths and injuries……….jmo

      • Apocalypse February 5th, 2015 at 17:06

        From what I’v read…the war was pretty much won already.

        “In a cable intercepted on July 12, 1945, Hirohito revealed that he was ready to end the war on the condition that the monarchy be granted immunity from war crimes — conditions which the U.S. only accepted after dropping two atomic bombs on the country.

        In Truman’s own journal he called the message a “telegram from Jap Emperor asking for peace.” And years later, in his book Secret Surrender, Secretary of State John Foster Dulles said he had relayed a similar message.

        “On July 20, 1945, under instructions from Washington, I went to the Potsdam Conference and reported there to Secretary [of War] Stimson on what I had learned from Tokyo – they desired to surrender if they could retain the Emperor and their constitution as a basis for maintaining discipline and order in Japan after the devastating news of surrender became known to the Japanese people.’”

        Admiral William D. Leahy, who served as Chief of Staff for both FDR and Truman, was even more blunt:

        “It is my opinion that the use of this barbarous weapon at Hiroshima and Nagasaki was of no material assistance in our war against Japan. The Japanese were already defeated and ready to surrender because of the effective sea blockade and the successful bombing with conventional weapons. ”

        http://www.takepart.com/article/2011/08/05/was-bombing-hiroshima-necessary-three-myths-debunked

        The military wanted to see the effects of the bomb on a city and establish military superiority to the rest of the world.

        • edmeyer_able February 5th, 2015 at 18:48

          We can post opposing pages for awhile but what we would be doing imo is revisionist history.One of the last major battles was Okinawa where 107K Japanese soldiers died. They convinced the civilian population to believe that the US would torture and rape because that’s what Japan did to Nan King and so many other civilians and thousands committed suicide as a result.

          I hate that the war took place and every participant that killed an “innocent person”. No doubt savagery took place on both sides and I want to believe we held the moral high ground

          The treatment of our prisoners was abhorrent yet the US is vilified for the Japanese internment camps., were we wrong no doubt but let’s put all the cards on the table when we start pointing fingers.

          • Apocalypse February 5th, 2015 at 19:43

            “We can post opposing pages for awhile”

            Yes, we have different views on this. I won’t likely be convinced that fire bombing civilian cities or nuking them was *moral*. We try to avoid civilian casualties now…a little progress.

  12. Apocalypse February 5th, 2015 at 17:12

    We drone a wedding party and other innocent civilians, they immolate a pilot that was bombing them. I can see how one could question the comparative guilt. I know it’s in the past…but we dropped two atom bombs on civilian populations. People at war do extreme things. I hate ISIS for its brutality against everyone who is not ISIS…but I don’t think the west has a record of moral superiority.

    • edmeyer_able February 5th, 2015 at 17:49

      Personally I hate the comparison of the use of atomic weapons as brutality w/o mentioning the other options that we had at our disposal. Which btw could have resulted in 10 X the deaths and injuries……….jmo

      • Apocalypse February 5th, 2015 at 18:06

        From what I’v read…the war was pretty much won already.

        “In a cable intercepted on July 12, 1945, Hirohito revealed that he was ready to end the war on the condition that the monarchy be granted immunity from war crimes — conditions which the U.S. only accepted after dropping two atomic bombs on the country.

        In Truman’s own journal he called the message a “telegram from Jap Emperor asking for peace.” And years later, in his book Secret Surrender, Secretary of State John Foster Dulles said he had relayed a similar message.

        “On July 20, 1945, under instructions from Washington, I went to the Potsdam Conference and reported there to Secretary [of War] Stimson on what I had learned from Tokyo – they desired to surrender if they could retain the Emperor and their constitution as a basis for maintaining discipline and order in Japan after the devastating news of surrender became known to the Japanese people.’”

        Admiral William D. Leahy, who served as Chief of Staff for both FDR and Truman, was even more blunt:

        “It is my opinion that the use of this barbarous weapon at Hiroshima and Nagasaki was of no material assistance in our war against Japan. The Japanese were already defeated and ready to surrender because of the effective sea blockade and the successful bombing with conventional weapons. ”

        http://www.takepart.com/article/2011/08/05/was-bombing-hiroshima-necessary-three-myths-debunked

        The military wanted to see the effects of the bomb on a city and establish military superiority to the rest of the world.

        • edmeyer_able February 5th, 2015 at 19:48

          We can post opposing pages for awhile but what we would be doing imo is revisionist history.One of the last major battles was Okinawa where 107K Japanese soldiers died. They convinced the civilian population to believe that the US would torture and rape because that’s what Japan did to Nan King and so many other civilians and thousands committed suicide as a result.

          I hate that the war took place and every participant that killed an “innocent person”. No doubt savagery took place on both sides and I want to believe we held the moral high ground

          The treatment of our prisoners was abhorrent yet the US is vilified for the Japanese internment camps., were we wrong no doubt but let’s put all the cards on the table when we start pointing fingers.

          • Apocalypse February 5th, 2015 at 20:43

            “We can post opposing pages for awhile”

            Yes, we have different views on this. I won’t likely be convinced that fire bombing civilian cities or nuking them was *moral*. We try to avoid civilian casualties now…a little progress.

  13. StoneyCurtisll February 5th, 2015 at 17:07

    I have a serious question…
    What is the better option..
    A brutal repressive regime that has been in control of Syria for many decades?
    Or ISIS/ISIL?…
    There seems to be no good answer..
    I dont see any viable in between right now.

    I know i will take a lot of flack for this but, The Assad/Syrian regime seems a lot better than the ISIS’ISIL crazy fuggin caliphate sociopaths…
    Just my opinion.

    • Apocalypse February 5th, 2015 at 17:16

      I remember…not too long ago…we were friends with Assad. We were once friends with Saddam Hussien. As bad as they may be…the results of sudden violent change seems to destroy countries, leave them unstable, and ripe for extremist.

      • StoneyCurtisll February 5th, 2015 at 17:18

        Exactly..
        Assad was “our guy” when it came to “enhanced interrogation” when we needed a country to do it fr us.

        • Apocalypse February 5th, 2015 at 17:27

          His wife was also a media darling.

          • StoneyCurtisll February 5th, 2015 at 19:05

            You might be thinking of The Queen Consort of Jordan..

            Queen Rania..
            http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e0/Queen_Rania_of_Jordan_at_Le_Web_09_%284174494458%29.jpg
            No relation to Assad of Syria.

            • Apocalypse February 5th, 2015 at 19:58

              I’m thinking of his wife…this one

              • Apocalypse February 5th, 2015 at 20:34

                ….

              • StoneyCurtisll February 6th, 2015 at 18:27

                That’s Rania..
                Isn’t it?

                • Apocalypse February 6th, 2015 at 18:40

                  It’s Asma al-Assad.

                  “Asma Akhras met Bashar al-Assad, the future president of Syria, while he was studying ophthalmology in London.[10] After Syrian President Hafez al-Assad’s death in June 2000, Bashar took over the presidency. Asthma moved to Syria in November 2000 and married Bashar in December of that year.”

                  • StoneyCurtisll February 6th, 2015 at 19:17

                    Hold on a minute..
                    I was speaking of Jordan..
                    Not Syria..
                    We must have mistaken/misread each others comments..
                    My apologies for the confusion.

  14. StoneyCurtisll February 5th, 2015 at 18:07

    I have a serious question…
    What is the better option..
    A brutal repressive regime that has been in control of Syria for many decades?
    Or ISIS/ISIL?…
    There seems to be no good answer..
    I dont see any viable in between right now.

    I know i will take a lot of flack for this but, The Assad/Syrian regime seems a lot better than the ISIS’ISIL crazy fuggin caliphate sociopaths…
    Just my opinion.

    • Apocalypse February 5th, 2015 at 18:16

      I remember…not too long ago…we were friends with Assad. We were once friends with Saddam Hussien. As bad as they may be…the results of sudden violent change seems to destroy countries, leave them unstable, and ripe for extremist.

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