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AFGHANISTAN WAR REPORTS
“Pentagon Spending More Than Three-Quarters Of A Billion Dollars To Buy Russian-Made Helicopters And Other Aircraft For An Afghan Aviation Unit That Lacks The Troops And Expertise To Operate And Maintain The Equipment” The Helicopters And Fixed-Wing Aircraft “Could Be Left Sitting On Runways In Afghanistan, Rather Than Supporting Critical Missions”
An Mi-17 helicopter used by the Afghan Air Force sits May 13 on Bagram Air Field in Afghanistan. The Pentagon is spending more than three-quarters of a billion dollars to buy Russian-made helicopters and other aircraft for an Afghan aviation unit that lacks the troops and expertise to operate and maintain the equipment, a government watchdog warned in a report June 28. (Kristin M. Hall / AP)
Filling out the wing’s ranks won’t be easy, the report said, due to challenges of finding Afghan recruits who are literate in their own language, competent in English and can pass the strict, 18- to 20-month U.S. vetting process that includes eliminating candidates who have ties to criminal or insurgent activities.
Jun. 28, 2013 By Richard Lardner, The Associated Press [Excerpts]
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon is spending more than three-quarters of a billion dollars to buy Russian-made helicopters and other aircraft for an Afghan aviation unit that lacks the troops and expertise to operate and maintain the equipment, a government watchdog warned.
The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction said in a report Friday these shortcomings mean the helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft destined for the Afghan Special Mission Wing “could be left sitting on runways in Afghanistan, rather than supporting critical missions, resulting in waste of U.S. funds.” The report recommended putting the purchases on hold until the Afghans develop the capacity to support the aircraft.
The findings are sure to reverberate on Capitol Hill, where there is stiff opposition to the purchase of the Mi-17 helicopters from Rosoboronexport, the state-run Russian arms exporter that is a top weapons supplier to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
The Pentagon announced June 17 that Rosoboronexport had been awarded a $554 million contract for 30 Mi-17s to be used by the Special Mission Wing, a move that came just days after the House approved a 2014 defense policy bill that included a prohibition on contracts with the Russian agency. The Senate Armed Services Committee included a similar ban in its version of the bill.
The defense policy bill for 2013 also barred the Pentagon from using funds from that fiscal year for contracts with Rosoboronexport.
But the Pentagon said money from the 2012 fiscal year was being used for the Mi- 17 acquisition, so the restriction does not apply.
The special inspector general is recommending the purchase be suspended until the wing’s staffing, recruiting and training problems are resolved.
The wing was to have 806 personnel by mid-2015, but as of late January had just 180, according to the report.
Filling out the wing’s ranks won’t be easy, the report said, due to challenges of finding Afghan recruits who are literate in their own language, competent in English and can pass the strict, 18- to 20-month U.S. vetting process that includes eliminating candidates who have ties to criminal or insurgent activities.
The flow of Afghan trainees from helicopter flight training at Fort Rucker, Ala., to more intense training in the Czech Republic “has been slow and uneven, ranging from a low of two up to eight trainees at a time,” according to the special inspector general.
The report blamed a lack of steady funding for the training from the Defense Department, failed background checks for prospective pilots and flight engineers, and the Czech government’s requirement that each Afghan trainee have a certificate signed by Afghan authorities.
Compensation, especially for mechanics, is another barrier to recruitment because Afghans with a basic command of English are in high demand and can get higher pay elsewhere, the report said.
Another key shortcoming is the dearth of pilots capable of flying at night, when most counterterrorism missions are conducted. As of late January, only seven of the 47 pilots assigned to the wing were fully mission qualified to fly with night vision goggles, the report said.
MILITARY NEWS
More Than 50,000 Troops Cheated By Auto Loan Financers Will Get Refunds: “U.S. Bank And DFS Must End Deceptive Marketing And Lending Practices,The Auto Loans” “U.S. Bank Was Named As One Of 15 Employer Recipients Of The 2013 Secretary Of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award”
Jun. 27, 2013 By Karen Jowers, Staff writer, Army Times [Excerpts]
More than 50,000 service members with loans under the Military Installment Loans and Educational Services auto loans program will receive refunds totaling about $6.5 million as part of an enforcement action by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
The refunds will be paid by U.S. Bank and the nonbank company Dealers’ Financial Services.
CFPB enforcers allege the two auto loan companies failed to disclose all the fees they charge and misrepresented the cost and coverage of add-on products that were financed along with the auto loans. Dealers near many military bases around the country participate in the MILES program, CFPB director Richard Cordray said.
The size of the refunds service members will receive varies depending on the loan, but will average just under $100 per person, said Kent Markus, assistant director of enforcement for the CFPB.
Troops do not have to take any action to receive the payments.
Service members who had outstanding MILES loans between Jan. 1, 2010, and June 27, 2013, may receive restitution. U.S. Bank financed the majority of the MILES loans. According to CFPB, U.S. Bank allegedly violated the Truth in Lending Act and the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act by:
■ Failing to inform troops about fees associated with the loans. Troops were charged a $3 monthly processing fee for their automatic allotments, which was not properly disclosed. Over the life of a 5-year MILES loan, a borrower would pay about $180 in fees.
■ Failing to properly disclose the schedule of payments. The lag between the time the payment was deducted and when it was credited cost troops extra interest — an extra $75 over the life of a typical MILES loan.
CFPB alleges DFS misrepresented the costs and coverage of add-on products, among other deceptive practices:
■ Understating the costs of the vehicle service contract by claiming that it would add a few dollars a month to the payment, when it added an average of over $43 per month.
■ Understating the costs of GAP insurance by saying the policy would cost a few cents a day, when the cost averaged 42 cents a day, a total of more than $100 a year. GAP insurance pays off a car — the difference in what is owed and what it’s worth — if the car is stolen or totaled.
■ Misleading consumers about products, suggesting that the vehicle service contract would protect troops from more repairs than it actually covered.
In addition to paying restitution, U.S. Bank and DFS must end deceptive marketing and lending practices, stop requiring the use of allotments, improve disclosures and submit a plan to address these issues to CFPB.
Two days before the CFPB announcement, U.S. Bank was named as one of 15 employer recipients of the 2013 Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award.
CFPB director Richard Cordray said one of the ways CFPB learned about the companies’ practices was through a letter from a father in Massachusetts who wrote to express his concerns that his 21-year-old son, an infantry soldier with good credit, was paying more than 70 percent of his take-home pay for a five-year loan on a used $20,000 Dodge Ram under the MILES program, at an interest rate of 18 percent.
He had also been sold a number of add-on products, including a warranty, that added thousands of dollars.
Military Resistance In PDF Format? If you prefer PDF to Word format, email: [email protected] FORWARD OBSERVATIONS
“At a time like this, scorching irony, not convincing argument, is needed. Oh had I the ability, and could reach the nation’s ear, I would, pour out a fiery stream of biting ridicule, blasting reproach, withering sarcasm, and stern rebuke.
“For it is not light that is needed, but fire; it is not the gentle shower, but thunder.
“We need the storm, the whirlwind, and the earthquake.”
“The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppose.”
Frederick Douglass, 1852
The Nixon administration claimed and received great credit for withdrawing the Army from Vietnam, but it was the rebellion of low-ranking GIs that forced the government to abandon a hopeless suicidal policy. -- David Cortright; Soldiers In Revolt The Pusher
Photo by Mike Hastie. Portland, Oregon June 26, 2013
From: Mike Hastie To: Military Resistance Newsleter Sent: June 27, 2013 Subject: The Pusher
The truth was obscure, too profound and too pure. To live it you have to explode. Bob Dylan
Photo and caption from the portfolio of Mike Hastie, US Army Medic, Vietnam 1970-71. (For more of his outstanding work, contact at: ([email protected]) T)
One day while I was in a bunker in Vietnam, a sniper round went over my head. The person who fired that weapon was not a terrorist, a rebel, an extremist, or a so-called insurgent. The Vietnamese individual who tried to kill me was a citizen of Vietnam, who did not want me in his country. This truth escapes millions.
Mike Hastie U.S. Army Medic Vietnam 1970-71 December 13, 2004 1915: World War I “The Struggle Against The Government That Conducts The Imperialist War Must Not Halt In Any Country Before The Possibility Of That Country’s Defeat”
March 29, 1915, V.I. Ulyanov, Sostial Demokrat [The writer used the pen name “Lenin” to keep the government from terrorizing his family. Excerpts]
Some of the means employed to fool the working class are pacifism and the abstract preachment of peace.
A propaganda of peace at the present time, if not accompanied by a call to revolutionary mass actions, is only capable of spreading illusions, of demoralizing the proletariat by imbuing it with confidence in the humanitarianism of the bourgeoisie, and of making it a plaything in the hands of the secret diplomacy of the belligerent countries.
In particular, the idea of the possibility of a so-called democratic peace without a series of revolutions is deeply erroneous.
The struggle against the government that conducts the imperialist war must not halt in any country before the possibility of that country’s defeat in consequence of revolutionary propaganda.
The defeat of the governmental army weakens the government, aids the liberation of the nationalities oppressed by it, and makes civil war against the ruling classes easier.
TROOPS INVITED Comments, arguments, articles, and letters from service men and women, and veterans, are especially welcome. Write to Box 126, 2576 Broadway, New York, N.Y. 10025-5657 or email [email protected]: Name, I.D., withheld unless you request publication. Same address to unsubscribe. ‘Real Housewives Of CENTCOM’ To Debut On Bravo This Fall
26 June 2013 by Dick Scuttlebutt, The Duffel Blog
TAMPA, FL — Sources have learned that Bravo has begun filming a new reality series which is tentatively titled “The Real Housewives of CENTCOM.”
The show will follow the wives of high-ranking military and civilian officials working at the military’s Central Command, which has responsibility for the Middle East and is headquartered in Tampa, Fla.
Similar to “The Hills” or “Here Comes Honey Boo-Boo,” the show will be “semi-scripted,” which in the reality TV world is generally understood to mean that events are not scripted ahead of time, but will sometimes be reshot or stage-managed in order to provide viewers a more concise and comprehensive viewing experience.
Primary cast members include: Bethanee “Bitsy” Perkins, the wife of 3-star Navy Admiral Fitzwilliam “Porky” Perkins; Patricia “Trish” Lorenzetti, the wife of Marine Lt. Gen. Lorenzo Lorenzetti; Elizabeth “Lovey” Higenbotham and Chastity Sidnow, wife and mistress, respectively, of 4-star Army Gen. Adolphus Higenbotham, III; Jillian Yancy, wife of the civilian CENTCOM Assistant Chief of Staff Mr. James Yancy; Jaedyn “JJ” Joyce, wife of 3-star Air Force General Kevin Joyce; and Vanessa Hardcastle and Mae Lin Soon, wife and mistress, respectively, of Marine Gen. (Ret.) Emerson Hardcastle.
Creator and Executive Producer is Clarence Somers, the creator of former wildly successful hits such as “Secret Service Bordello Confessionals” and “My Sweet Government Accountability Office Vegas Party.” Showrunner Cathy Whitehall is coming off three seasons with “Justice Department Follies,” a little-known late-night show on HBO which followed hapless Justice employees as they tried unsuccessfully to investigate and prosecute cases deemed politically sensitive.
“The Real Housewives of CENTCOM” is still a closely-guarded property — the network has not even released a trailer or photographs — but the Duffel Blog was able to obtain several pages of episode transcripts, detailed below.
Page Fifteen, Episode Four
GENERAL LORENZETTI is in his private SCIF on the second floor of CENTCOM HQ, authorizing a JDAM strike to assist a 4-man SEAL team who have come under fire in an undisclosed location.
His wife, TRISH LORENZETTI, enters carrying a letter. Gen. Lorenzetti’s aide, MAJOR SAM HUGHES, attempts to stop Trish in the outer office.
HUGHES: Ma’am, this is a secure location. We’ve got troops in contact.
TRISH: Don’t give me that crap. This is important. She brushes past Hughes.
LORENZETTI: Oh, that feels—Trish! What are you—how nice to see you, babycakes! What can I do for you? Smiling broadly.
TRISH: Hey sweetheart, you’re not busy, are you?
LORENZETTI: Over the sound of gunfire and screams over the radio. Not at all! What can I do for you?
TRISH: Well, you know, Danielle is having this awful custody battle with Mark.
LORENZETTI: Your sister?
TRISH: Yes, my sister. What other Danielle do you know?
LORENZETTI: Uh…
TRISH: Anyway, you know, the breakup with Mark, and they have this custody thing over who’s going to keep Jason—
LORENZETTI: The Pomeranian?
TRISH: Of course. So anyway, the judge is leaning towards Mark because of that whole misunderstanding when Danielle was in that home…
LORENZETTI: You mean the asylum.
TRISH: That’s insensitive, babe. Come on. LORENZETTI: She did commit arson and incite a riot inside a federal building, hon. There’s a reason she has a record.
TRISH: You’re starting to sound just like Mark. Men are all alike.
LORENZETTI: Sorry, honey. You’re right. How can I help?
TRISH: If you can just sign this letter saying she’s upstanding and that you trust her completely around our kids and stuff …
LORENZETTI: Babe, you don’t trust her around our kids. You told Consuela to not even let her in the house if we’re not home.
TRISH: Well, the judge doesn’t need to know that.
On the radio, the SEAL team leader starts screaming for help again.
LORENZETTI: Look, hon, I have a thing here. I gotta—here, just give me the letter. He signs it and hands it back across the desk.
TRISH: Thanks, sweetheart. Will I see you at the Sinclair’s dinner party tonight, or will I have to take Lance again?
LORENZETTI: I’ll try to make it, hon. You know, if I wasn’t so sure Lance is gay, I’d be jealous.
TRISH: Yes. Gay. Yes.
LORENZETTI: Well, I’ll see you later. Love you.
TRISH: Kisses. She leaves.
LORENZETTI: Okay.
ELIZABETH “LOVEY” HIGENBOTHAM: Climbing up from under the desk, wiping her mouth and straightening her hair. That was close.
Page Five, Episode Two
BITSY PERKINS, VANESSA HARDCASTLE, and JJ JOYCE are sitting in silk robes sipping mimosas in a spa’s waiting room, where they will receive their weekly pedicure/manicure/facial/dermabrasion/Brazilian waxing/anal bleaching. This week, Bitsy is treating the other girls as a thank-you for driving her out of state on short notice. The spa attendant brings back Bitsy’s husband’s Government Travel Card and a tray of fresh drinks.
VANESSA: Thanks again for paying for this, Bitsy.
JJ: Yeah, girlfriend, you’re the best. BITSY: No problem, ladies. You did me a favor, after all.
VANESSA: Hardly a favor. It was a nice little mini-vay-cay. Even if you did have to have that…you know, discreet procedure done.
BITSY: Ugh. Don’t tell me about it. I was sore for like two days. Couldn’t even dance much at the wine mixer that night.
VANESSA: I remember you cutting a rug pretty good.
JJ: Yeah, and didn’t I see you sneaking out with Colonel Westerweldt?
BITSY: Well, it was the wine mixer. It would have been impolite to our hosts to not drink the wine.
The ladies giggle.
VANESSA: So did Porky ever find out? Are you going to tell him?
BITSY: Pfft. What for. He’s more concerned with calling Tommy’s teachers at the Point and yelling at them for giving him tours. Porky’s not worried about my health.
JJ: Is Tommy having trouble?
BITSY: Eh. Nothing a good talking-to from a superior—rank and social—won’t fix. These stupid instructors think that just because they won some shiny medals because they did something stupid in the desert, they have the right to tell a general’s son he’s out of line. Half of them don’t even belong to Who’s Who, and you know you’ve never seen them on Page Six.
VANESSA: I hate them. Em has to deal with them all the time. You just can’t teach breeding and class. I used to want to believe differently, but after being around them so much, I know it now.
JJ: Hey, not to change the subject, but do you think I should get a tattoo?
BITSY: Oooh, I do! I love mine! She pulls open her robe, exposing her left buttock, where she has a pink dolphin tattooed. Colonel Westerweldt likes it too.
VANESSA: Yeah, he liked it so much we had to drive you to that clinic.
The ladies all giggle again.
“The Real Housewives of CENTCOM” does not yet have a firm premier date but Bravo executives speaking under the condition of anonymity have confirmed that the date will fall somewhere in early Fall of 2013. CLASS WAR REPORTS
Portugal: “The Largest General Strike To Date, With 80%-100% Support From Public Sector Workers And A Clear Rise In Support From Private Sector Workers” “Despite Greater Employer Intimidation And Rising Unemployment, The Higher Participation In Private Industry Showed In Stopped Production” June 30, 2013 By Dick Nichols, Green Left Weekly
The June 27 general strike in Portugal, the fourth since the country became an economic protectorate of the European Commission, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund “troika” in 2011, was marked by several important firsts.
It was the largest general strike to date, with 80%-100% support from public sector workers and a clear rise in support from private sector workers.
Government spokespeople rushed to claim that “Portugal did not stop”, but the deserted airports, railway, bus and ferry terminals and the city centres near empty except for the 50 protest marches told a different story.
It was the first general strike where the two main trade union confederations, the General Confederation of Portuguese Workers (CGTP) and the General Union of Workers (UGT), called their members out on the same day.
Traditionally aligned to the Portuguese Communist Party and Socialist Party (PS) respectively, their history had previously been one of total non-cooperation. But the pressure for united action against the government and troika finally forced a minimum of collaboration.
It was also the first preceded by a call from the main Portuguese business organisations for the right-wing coalition government of Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho to reverse its economic policy.
In the public sector, the strike featured: 100% stoppage in public transport and of ports; 80% to 100% absenteeism in public education; near complete closure of the postal service and public administration; and only emergency services working in the hospital system, with increased participation by health workers in the strike (typically between 80% and 100%).
Despite greater employer intimidation and rising unemployment, the higher participation in private industry showed in stopped production in areas such as paper production, food and drink processing, plastics, ceramics, printing, electronics assembly, furniture manufacture and waste recycling.
Major supermarkets in many centres had to close for lack of staff.
CGTP general secretary Arménio Carlos and UGT general secretary Carlos Silva both said that the strike had enjoyed greater support than its three predecessors.
Silva put total adherence at 50% of the workforce.
Silva described it as “a cry against the enforced impoverishment of the Portuguese”.
Since the troika’s inspection teams took over in Portugal, real wages have fallen by 9.2%, household spending by 10% and Gross Domestic Product by 5.5%. As a result, 430,000 have joined the ranks of the unemployed (taking the official rate to 17.7%), public sector debt has exploded from 94% to 123.6% of GDP, and 250,000 people, mainly the young, have emigrated.
Carlos told the CGTP mass rally in Lisbon — in which the sentiment of solidarity with the Brazilian revolt was also strong — that “nothing will be the same as before” because “the workers are more united” and conscious of their goals.
The CGTP resolution for the day demanded that President Carvaco Silva dismiss Passos Coelho and call fresh elections.
The UGT did not demand the dismissal of the government but an end to austerity. However, that looks like being the last option in Passos Coelho’s mind.
Certain of being thrashed in any the new poll, the ruling coalition of the Social- Democratic Party (PSD) and Democratic and Social Centre (CDS) has decided it has nothing to lose by driving austerity even harder.
The government has drawn up a new plan of attack after important elements of this year’s budget were found to be unconstitutional. In the firing line are public sector jobs, remaining worker and union rights, spending on health, education, public housing and welfare, as well as tax rises that will hit workers hardest.
The government also has the undisguised support of the president, who is essentially acting as a member of cabinet and against the constitution he is meant to safeguard.
But Passos Coelho is losing other powerful friends. On June 24, the country’s four main business umbrella groups launched their “compromise for economic growth”.
They said: “The crisis is getting worse, purchasing power is falling, as is the quality of life of the vast majority of the population … It is time, once and for all, to recognise that fact and to dare to abandon a recipe that is not the solution for Portugal, and the continuance of which could lead into a blind alley.”
Which poses the question: how long can a ruling-class government last when it starts losing favour with key sections of the ruling class?
Greek Journalists Defy Regime Attempt To Close Down Public Broadcasting Station: “Since Greece’s Government Abruptly Pulled The Plug On State Broadcaster ERT, The Sprawling TV Complex Has Turned Into A Unique Experiment In Self-Rule” The Government Attack “Is Working Wonders For The Broadcaster’s Popularity With ERT’s Internet Feed Attracting Around Four Million Viewers A Day In Greece Only” “There Has Been An Outpouring Of Public Support” “We’ve Had People Helping Us Cover Events With Their Own Cameras... (Others) Sent Us Boxes Of Snacks, People We Don’t Even Know”
30 June, 2013 Sapa-AFP
Since Greece’s government abruptly pulled the plug on state broadcaster ERT, the sprawling TV complex has turned into a unique experiment in self-rule where staff are working for free but with more passion than ever.
Under pressure from its international creditors to cut costs and reform the public sector, Greece’s fragile government shut down ERT and made its 2,700 employees redundant overnight.
Many will not return when a slimmed-down version of the broadcaster, which the government agreed to following a public outcry, eventually goes back on air.
But in the meantime, employees are going it alone and revelling in the spirit of independence and solidarity filling the studios and busy corridors of ERT’s headquarters in suburban Athens.
“There is continuous flow from the entire team here, and an emotional contribution from all,” Fanis Papathanassiou, an ERT foreign affairs journalist and anchorman said. “Not just journalists but producers, editors, assistants, technicians, makeup staff: everyone is here, helping to put this product on the air,” he told AFP.
News bulletins are on at an unchanged pace of five times daily and the intervening hours are filled with guest interviews, documentaries and support concerts by a variety of artists.
The building is clean -- cleaner than before, staff note -- the control room is bustling and staff take turns at the entrance to guard what the government calls an unlawful “occupation” of public property.
“We call this operational self-management,” Papathanassiou countered.
A committee of journalists oversees day-to-day business, from assigning shifts, to preparing newscasts and inviting talk show guests.
Rogue ERT broadcasts have continued with support from the European Broadcasting Union despite a digital blackout on ERT’s frequencies by the government.
“For the past 18 days, we have shown what public radio and television is all about,” said Chryssa Roumeliotis, a political journalist and news presenter.
On June 11, police were dispatched to Mount Hymettus above Athens to silence ERT’s signal after the government enacted an emergency law to shut down the company.
The conservative-led government of Prime Minister Antonis Samaras said it was the only way to reform ERT after successive efforts had been thwarted by the company’s powerful union.
“We could not even relocate a technician between ERT buildings,” said government spokesman Simos Kedikoglou, himself a former ERT staffer.
The government said ERT had been wastefully run and filled with political appointees for far too long, costing the cash-strapped state 300 million euros a year for paltry viewer ratings.
ERT staff retort that Samaras’ own party had managed the latest wave of wasteful spending, including a planned lifestyle show with a celebrity chef on a 5,000-euro salary.
“ERT is not comparable to a private station,” said Vasilis Alexopoulos, the custodian of ERT’s cavernous archives vault, which houses film, news footage and photographs dating to 1908.
“The purpose of private stations is to turn a profit. ERT’s purpose is... to offer something different. Which private station can afford to play classical music on a 24-hour basis?” he argued.
Ironically, the shutdown is working wonders for the broadcaster’s popularity with ERT’s Internet feed attracting around four million viewers a day in Greece only. “A friend in the US told me, ERT had to shut down for us to appreciate what it did,” Alexopoulos said.
Roumeliotis said there has been an outpouring of public support since the broadcaster’s demise was announced.
“We’ve had people helping us cover events with their own cameras... (others) sent us boxes of snacks, people we don’t even know,” she said.
The ERT crisis nearly toppled Samaras’ government. The PM’s smallest coalition partner bolted and the government was left with a three-seat majority in parliament.
It has now appointed a minister with a special mandate to end the deadlock and restore public broadcasts, following an order from Greece’s top administrative court.
ERT has been called a ‘sacred cow’ and ‘sinful’ but it can still inspire intense loyalty among staff.
“We are running this department as if nothing has changed, and with even more fervour,” makeup artist Nikomache Vafiadi said after preparing two news presenters to go on air.
“ERT is perennially the best medium. The most free. The most objective, if there is objectivity in journalism,” added news editor Angelike Angelopoulou, a 15-year veteran at the company.
Asked whether she wanted to return under new management, Angelopoulou smiled sadly.
“I want to die here. This is where I want to die.”
MORE: “This Unprecedented Decision-- No Civilian Government Has Ever Shut Down The State TV Station--Was The Result Of Overconfidence” “This Mixture Of Arrogance And Outside Pressure Led To The Move That Would Turn The Whole Situation Upside Down In Greece” “The Powerful Popular Response To The Shutdown Of ERT Quickly Became A Symbol Of Resistance” “Media Workers Were On An Indefinite Strike For Days, Allowing Only The Broadcasting Of The ERT Program”
Protesters with their mouths taped take part in a protest in solidarity to the employees of Greek state broadcaster ERT, in Thessaloniki, Greece, on June 21, 2013. (AP Photo/Nikolas Giakoumidis)
There is a massive physical presence to defend the strikers and the occupied building against the police, co-existing with outdoor assemblies, large discussions, collective kitchens and so on.
Dozens of bands and artists have volunteered to play in solidarity concerts in the yard of the ERT building, along with the ERT orchestras that perform concerts for the people gathered around the building. June 24, 2013 by Panos Petrou, Socialist Worker [Excerpts]
Panos Petrou is a member of the Greek socialist organization Internationalist Workers Left (DEA).
The ERT occupation and the solidarity movement defending it represents the strongest challenge yet to the government of Prime Minister Antonis Samaras of the center-right New Democracy party.
New Democracy won a very narrow victory in two national elections a year ago over the Coalition of the Radical Left, or SYRIZA.
It leads a coalition government that has included PASOK, the main center-left party in Greece, and the smaller center-left Democratic Left. Samaras and his regime have continued to push through austerity measures demanded by the “troika”--the European Union, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund--in return for a “rescue” of Greece’s financial system.
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Last November, a 48-hour general strike and mass demonstrations outside the parliament in Athens failed to prevent the signing of yet another round of austerity measures. Since then, the leaderships of the main union federations practically withdrew from organizing any struggle.
Many activists were demoralized at some level. They had used strikes and demonstrations over a period of three years, they used the ballot box in May and June 2012 to give the Coalition of the Radical Left, or SYRIZA, more than a quarter of the vote, they returned to the streets in November, and yet waves of austerity policies continue to crash down on their lives.
Of course, there were important struggles during the months that followed last November. Workers in many sectors tried to organize militant and ongoing strikes-- transport workers, shipworkers, government workers, teachers--but they all faced an escalating authoritarianism.
In a matter of just a few months, Samaras used a government back-to-work order--an extreme measure used just three times since the fall of the military junta in 1974--in all four cases to break these strikes.
In the last case, when the teachers union announced its decision to go on strike during national exams, Samaras took an unprecedented step for authoritarianism: He ordered union members back to work pre-emptively, leading the union to call off the strike.
These successful uses of government power against strikes has created the image that Samaras is a strong leader who is moving forward.
Meanwhile, a barrage of media propaganda about the supposed accomplishments of the government added to the picture. The prime minister and his allies are claiming that they are presiding over a “success story.” It was against this backdrop that Samaras decided to shut down ERT, the state- run television and radio broadcast.
This unprecedented decision--no civilian government has ever shut down the state TV station--was the result of overconfidence.
Samaras believed his own myth that he could crush the working-class movement and apply any policy he wanted without fear of serious resistance.
The closure was also the result of constant pressure from the troika. The government had pledged to fire 2.000 public-sector employees in a month, and since it had failed to meet this pledge, it thought the easy way to do so was to shut down ERT, firing 2.600 workers in a single move.
Since ERT has been constantly targeted by the private media barons as a place of wastefulness and corruption, the government apparently thought the shutdown would be a popular decision.
“This Mixture Of Arrogance And Outside Pressure Led To The Move That Would Turn The Whole Situation Upside Down In Greece”
This mixture of arrogance and outside pressure led to the move that would turn the whole situation upside down in Greece.
On Tuesday, June 11, the government announced that ERT would stop broadcasting at 11 p.m. And so it happened--anyone watching ERT that night saw their screen go blank, and anyone listening to an ERT radio station suddenly heard silence.
The sudden shutdown of the state TV station was a shock to large numbers of people.
Anger against authoritarianism had been building some time now, expressed by a popular slogan: “Bread, education, freedom (the slogan of the 1973 uprising against the military dictatorship)--the junta didn’t end in 1973.”
At the same time, the Greek people enduring austerity have been looking for a chance to fight back during this whole time--for a “spark” that could start the fire.
Those two factors came together in the powerful popular response to the shutdown of ERT, which quickly became a symbol of resistance.
Workers at ERT decided to occupy the ERT building and continue broadcasting their own program, while demanding the immediate withdrawal of the law that shuts down the station and laid off thousands of employees.
They organized marshals to defend the occupation and cleaning groups, and they used the signal of ERT to send a message of resistance to all the people.
The riot police were sent to other buildings, where the transmitters are located, and shut down the signal from ERT. But dozens of websites started broadcasting the strikers’ program.
With the occupied ERT broadcasting “illegally,” the parallel with the 1973 uprising against the junta--which started when students barricaded themselves in the Polytechnic and started broadcasting from a pirate radio station--was complete.
Starting around midnight on June 11, thousands of people flooded into the grounds of the occupied building in Athens in order to prevent an invasion of the riot police. Since then, every day, all day and night, people have been demonstrating outside ERT.
Anti-government slogans are raised.
The speakers of the occupied building play popular left-wing songs from the 1970s, anthems from the anti-Nazi resistance of the 1940s and the Italian partisan song “Bella Ciao.”
Dozens of bands and artists have volunteered to play in solidarity concerts in the yard of the ERT building, along with the ERT orchestras that perform concerts for the people gathered around the building.
On the grounds, it looks like the bitter lessons were learned from the struggle against the government strike-break this year, when there was a lack of organized solidarity--plus there is the expertise learned from the “squares movement” in spring 2011.
There is a massive physical presence to defend the strikers and the occupied building against the police, co-existing with outdoor assemblies, large discussions, collective kitchens and so on.
Of course, the center of the struggle is Athens, but the picture is the same in Thessaloniki, in the occupied building of the local ET3, which broadcasts programs about social struggles, or in any town there is an occupied ERT radio station that tries to continue broadcasting.
The issue of ERT had become a focal point of the struggle.
Dozens and dozens of solidarity statements have been issued by unions and are read out at the occupied building.
The shutdown was so provocative that even mainstream international media declared their solidarity with ERT--some French newspapers, for example, published with black front pages.
Support demonstrations have been organized in London, Paris and other European cities.
There have also been solidarity strike actions.
Under enormous pressure, leaders of the two major union confederations were forced to declare a 24-hour general strike on Thursday, June 13. The strike demonstration was called for outside ERT, instead of the traditional route to Syntagma Square in front of parliament, so tens of thousands of people were gathered outside the occupation.
Media workers were on an indefinite strike for days, allowing only the broadcasting of the ERT program.
Many media barons organized scab operations and managed to publish their newspapers. As a response, striking journalists published the union’s strike issue--a tactic used for the first time during a strike in 1975.
The most spectacular aspect, outside of the occupation in Athens, has been the unity in action among all the left-wing forces. There were thousands of demonstrators in the yard, but the heart of the mobilization was left-wing activists.
For the first time in years, you could see the party flags of SYRIZA and ANTARSYA, of the Communist Party-affiliated unions and of the anarcho- syndicalists and anti-authoritarians, waving side by side.
Members of SYRIZA, ANTARSYA, the Communist Party and the anarchist movement were standing shoulder to shoulder to protect the occupation.
“The Occupation And Protests Have Caused A Huge Crisis For The Government”
The occupation and protests have caused a huge crisis for the government.
In fact, the Ministry of Finance has announced that the “new ERT” is about to start operating, and workers will receive compensations soon--meaning that the layoffs are a reality.
What is more worrying in the ministry’s announcement is a call for “ERT workers to evacuate the building in order for the new orders to be applied.”
This implies the threat of an attack by riot police. The union representing ERT workers responded that everyone would stay inside the building, and has called for solidarity demonstrations.
But no matter what the party leaderships decide, it’s obvious that the government is now in a deep crisis, after just one year in office.
The battle of ERT is not yet finished.
We can’t predict the final outcome, but it was definitely a devastating blow to Samaras.
The image of the all-powerful prime minister and his “success story” was overcome by the government’s crisis, the demonstrations outside ERT and the international outrage about the shutdown. But it must be clear that we should not place our hopes in parliamentary maneuvering between party leaderships. The battle of ERT had opened a new opportunity for the left to organize a social and political movement against the government. All forces and activists must be engaged in this goal.
This means campaigning in workplaces and neighborhoods, building support for the ERT and agitating for the need to generalize the struggle, organizing solidarity actions, calling for general assemblies, pressing the union federations for new general strikes, etc. Some forces are trying to organize in this direction--this must become the norm for left-wing activity.
No matter what the outcome of the battle of ERT, there are some conclusions we should keep in mind the coming weeks and months.
First, the fragility of the government will remain an issue, even if it survives this round. One reason is the economic reality. Behind the myth of its “success story” lies the true impact. The crisis is deeper than all predictions--the economy shrank by 5.6 percent in the first quarter, compared to the year before--and Greek economy had been downgraded from “developed” to “developing.”
Second is the example set by the battle of ERT. Any school or hospital about to be closed, any public enterprise about to be privatized, any public service facing “reform”-- all now have a “model” of resistance to follow.
Samaras is prepared to rule “with an iron fist” in order to implement the ruling class agenda, and we must show a similar determination and dedication to militant tactics in order to bring him down, instead of hoping for a parliamentary solution some day in the future. The social forces to accomplish this goal are present.
ERT dispelled the myth that “people are tired of struggling.” The “subterranean fire” of the struggle has continued burning, and it is up to the union militants and the political left to organize it into action.
In the strikes since last November, what went wrong was the lack of such organized initiatives, not a general unwillingness to fight among the working class. The left must focus all its energy and efforts on social mobilization. Strikes, occupations, demonstrations, solidarity--this is where our strength lies.
The ruling class will try its best to overcome the current political crisis. It will do so on both the parliamentary level, with efforts to reshape the party system, and the extra- parliamentary level, with a counter-offensive that has ideological, political and repressive dimensions.
Our response must be just as determined. The ruling class parties aren’t leaving on their own. We must force them to go--by any means necessary. Protesters Opposing Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi During A Demonstration In Tahrir Square
Protesters opposing Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi during a demonstration in Tahrir square in Cairo June 30, 2013. Mohamed Abd El Ghany / Reuters
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Turkey: “Thousands Of Protesters Gathered At Taksim Square On June 29 To Denounce The Government’s Response To The Gezi Park Protests” Peace and Democracy deputies joined the workers’ march. DHA photo
30 June, 2013 By Countercurrents.org [Excerpts]
As part of continuing protest against the Islamist Erdogan government thousands of protesters gathered at Taksim Square on June 29 to denounce the government’s response to the Gezi Park protests, a week after another demonstration was quelled with water cannons and tear gas.
Police assaulted a protest near Ankara University. In an area in Ankara , police- protesters clashes are breaking out almost every night. In Istanbul, workers and political activists marched protesting the clashes and killing of a protester in Lice.
The demonstration at Taksim Square was carried out peacefully and most of the protesters dispersed after a couple of hours following the police’s warning.
Riot police pushed the remaining protesters away from the square with shields and slow moving water cannon trucks but no water was fired. Announcements were made for protesters to return to their homes.
As some of the protesters remained in the surroundings of the Taksim area police entered the side streets in pursuit of them. Over 10 protestors were detained.
Security forces also cordoned off the entrances to the Istiklal Avenue, where intense clashes took place in previous weeks. Witnesses said police also used rubber bullets.
Many protesters had also gathered to protest the killing of a demonstrator by security forces in the southeastern province of Diyarbakir ‘s Lice district. Many protesters chanted slogans in support for Lice.
Police used tear gas and water cannons to quell a group of 250 protesters gathered at Kurtulus Park, near Ankara University. Police chased the group inside the park and many bystanders were affected by the gas. The group had denounced the killing of Ethem Sarisülük, a demonstrator in Ankara who was shot by police during the Gezi protests.
The Gezi Park protests in Ankara over the last month were among those most brutally repressed by the police. Tension also escalated in the Dikmen neighborhood, where clashes between police and protesters break out almost every night.
Public sector workers joined members of the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) in a peaceful march through Istanbul’s Istiklal Avenue to protest the killing of a demonstrator by the security forces in the southeastern Diyarbakir province on June 28, 2013. Clashes broke out in Diyarbakir’s Lice district between soldiers and demonstrating villagers who were denouncing the construction of a gendarmerie outpost.
The group held banners reading, “We don’t want outposts but peace” and “Resist Lice, resist Gezi Park.”
Protestors also held posters of Medeni Yildirim, the 18-year-old victim of the Lice clashes.
Turkish security forces had opened fire killing 18-year-old Medeni Yildirim and wounding ten others during a demonstration against the construction of a new gendarmerie outpost in the Kayacik village in Lice.
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