US soldier dies after self-immolation

[DecisionFatigue]

I don’t know if there has already been a thread about this but I’ve just seen his last message/video and his cries and I just feel so exasperated that it’s come to this. Sources say he was a very proud airman and noted as being “top of the class” but he could no longer be complicit.

The Burning Monk obviously comes to mind, who changed the course of history forever. I hope this man’s actions and subsequent death won’t be in vain.

RIP Aaron Bushnell

Thanks - I found them eventually! Apparently the first one is fake/photoshopped, not sure if true or not but there’s not much mention of it online and you would think this one would get the most publicity.

The second post raises some valid points that some would rather bury their heads in the sand about.

The second post raises some valid points that some would rather bury their heads in the sand about.

and what ‘valid points’ would those be? Please provide links to the the first one being fake?

I think it’s clear he was struggling with mental health and also an extremist, I don’t think there’s anything heroic about this at all but I am very sorry for his family.

The second post raises some valid points that some would rather bury their heads in the sand about.

Come on OP, have the courage of your convictions. Are Israeli (and other) kids legitimate targets at a music festival? Did they deserve to be raped, mutilated and killed for being ‘settler colonialists’?

One less racist extremist to worry about, I suppose. His death will achieve nothing, but at least he didn't kill anyone else in the attempt.

No they were not legitimate targets, but I don’t think that is what he is implying. He is comparing what happened to the Indians to what is happening to the Palestinians. There are of course many parallels. History is now very sympathetic to the plight of the Native American people at the time. Geronimo behaved similar to Hamas terrorists in the way he murdered and raped settler colonisers. He is seen quite sympathetically though the lens of time now, even admired.

You can tie yourself in linguistic knots all you like. As this monster said, ‘are we clutching at pearls’ because we condemn teenagers being raped and murdered? Is your morality so warped that you agree with his statement? If this is truly what you believe (like that guy) then at least have the courage to say so. Stop using behind weasel words.

Do you have any evidence that Geronimo was a rapist?

The idea that the Hamas attackers will be vindicated by history is quite sick.

I assume that you’re ok with this one of his? Or is that too hard for you to twist to make him sound like a concerned humanitarian rather than a radicalised and racist terrorist?

I’m not ok with that cats, but the consensus is that it’s faked.

Consensus by who?

And there we are, at last. Advocating the destruction of the Israeli state; Jews can ‘fuck off back to where they came from’.
Fucking racism naked in tooth and claw.

"A uniformed airman who burned himself to death in protest over the US’s role in Israel’s military strikes in Gaza was an anarchist who grew up in a strict religious sect with links to a school in Canada that “controlled, intimidated and humiliated” students, it was reported on Tuesday."

Taken from the Guardian. I suspect this plays a part in his actions. It's not incredible or brave, his background sounds extremely traumatic.

If you google ‘Aaron Bushnell “Palestine will be free when all the Jews are dead”’ there are two results. Both tweets. Both tweets have comments linked to them claiming the tweet is not real. Articles criticising his Reddit posts do not include this comment.

I tried altering my google search wording to see if any more results came up, but they always came back to those two tweets.

Ouch yes it really does. What an awful way to grow up.

You’re a racist, it’s as simple as that. You’ve had at least one post deleted for that racism, and yet you double down 🤷‍♀️

i wish this man had received the mental health intervention he so desperately needed. Trying to turn his death into the act of a hero will only serve to encourage other ill people to copy his actions. He didn’t help a cause though, he made supporters of that cause look unstable and potentially dangerous.

I don't think that that is fair? Would you say that the man in the US who shot the 3 Palestinian students makes all Israel supporters look dangerous and racist? Surely most people have more nuance in their thinking than that?

There’s no suggestion he went to that school. He was a member of the group for a period of time in his childhood, but in Oregon, not Canada.

I didn't say he did. Being involved with the sect in any way as a child sounds bad enough all by itself.