How Many More for Bush S Wars?
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GI Special: [email protected] 8.24.07 Print it out: color best. Pass it on. GI SPECIAL 5H20:
HOW MANY MORE FOR BUSH’S WARS?
A seriously injured U.S. soldier is brought to the emergency room of the 28th Combat Support hospital in the Green Zone in Baghdad August 18, 2007 after an IED exploded under his vehicle. REUTERS/Damir Sagolj 15 Months Limit? Don’t Hold Your Breath: Extending Troops Beyond 15- Month Deployments: “Military Officials Acknowledge Privately That Option Is On The Table” “It May Not Be Wise To Pack Their Bags To Come Home When Their 15-Month Tour Is Up”
[Thanks to Elaine Brower, The Military Project, who sent this in.]
August 19, 2007 The Associated Press
“The demand for our forces exceeds the sustainable supply,” the Army chief of staff, Gen. George Casey, said last week.
“Right now we have in place deployment and mobilization policies that allow us to meet the current demands. If the demands don't go down over time, it will become increasingly difficult for us to provide the trained and ready forces” for other missions.
Casey said he would not be comfortable extending troops beyond their 15-month deployments.
But other military officials acknowledge privately that option is on the table.
“The longer that you keep American forces there, the longer you give this process to solidify and to make sure that it's not going to slide back,” said Frederick Kagan, an American Enterprise Institute analyst who recently returned from an eight-day visit to Iraq. “The sooner you take them out, the more you run the risk that enemies will come in and try to disrupt.”
Kagan, a leading supporter of the current buildup strategy, said any decision to maintain force levels would have to take into account the effects on the Army.
That would include, he said, the strains of sending Guard units back to Iraq more rapidly than Pentagon policy allows or keeping active duty units there longer than 15 months.
According to military officials, some soldiers in Iraq are hearing that it may not be wise to pack their bags to come home when their 15-month tour is up.
National Guard officials are bracing for a new round of Guard deployments and a move to decrease their time at home between tours — despite announced plans to give the citizen soldiers five years off for every one year served.
One Guard official said this past week that the Army is pushing to give Guard units four years or less at home in order to get access to those combat brigades sooner.
MORE: “It Would Still Take One To Two Years Just To Get To A 1-To-1 Rotation — 15 Months At Home For 15 Months’ Service In Theater”
[Thanks to Elaine Brower, The Military Project, who sent this in.]
August 13, 2007 By William H. McMichael, Army Times [Excerpts]
If a post-surge troop presence of 15 combat brigades is kept in Iraq beyond next spring, U.S. forces will need at least three to four years to get to the Pentagon’s goal of two years at home for every year deployed to the war zone, the nominee for the nation’s top military job told the Senate on July 31.
[JCS Chair Navy Adm. Mike] Mullen said his goal is to get to a 2-to-1 deployment-to- dwell time rotation “as soon as possible.” He said building Army and Marine end strength would speed that process.
But even if the surge of troops ends next spring and the presurge total of 15 combat brigades stays in Iraq, Mullen said, he thought it would still take one to two years just to get to a 1-to-1 rotation — 15 months at home for 15 months’ service in theater.
MORE: “In Past Wars, The Normal Tour For Being In A War Zone Was 6 Months” “In Iraq And Afghanistan, That Was First Increased To 12 Months And Is Now At 15 Months”
[Thanks to Phil G, who sent this in]
August 19, 2007 Gary Ater, American Chronicle [Excerpt]
In past wars, the normal tour for being in a war zone was 6 months and then a month off before moving on to another assignment.
In Iraq and Afghanistan, that was first increased to 12 months and is now at 15 months.
Even when these tours are over, they can be sent back again and again. Some soldiers today are on their 4th tour of duty in the Middle East.
MORE: Wow! Big Surprise! “Nation's Top Spy Analysts Warn Against Scaling Back The Mission Of U.S. Forces”
Aug 23 By KATHERINE SHRADER, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Iraqi government is strained by rampant violence, deep sectarian differences among its political parties and stymied leadership, the nation's top spy analysts concluded in a sobering assessment [The National Intelligence Estimate] released Thursday. [Top paid by Bush spy analysts, that is.]
“To date, Iraqi political leaders remain unable to govern effectively,” it said.
The intelligence report warns against scaling back the mission of U.S. forces.
Troops Invited: What do you think? Comments from service men and women, and veterans, are especially welcome. Write to Box 126, 2576 Broadway, New York, N.Y. 10025-5657 or send email [email protected]:. Name, I.D., withheld unless you request publication. Replies confidential. Same address to unsubscribe.
IRAQ WAR REPORTS
U.S. Soldier Killed, Four Wounded In Salah Ad Din
August 24, 2007 Public Affairs Office, Camp Victory RELEASE No. 20070824-04
TIKRIT, Iraq – One Task Force Lightning Soldier died Aug. 24 as a result of injuries sustained from an explosion earlier in the day while conducting operations in Salah ad Din Province. Four Soldiers were also wounded and transported to a Coalition medical facility for treatment.
Arkansas Soldier Killed “Near” Baghdad
U.S. Army Spc. Donovan D. Witham, 20, of Malvern, Ark., an 82nd Airborne Division Paratrooper died Aug. 21, 2007, from injuries sustained when an IED detonated near the vehicle he was traveling in near Baghdad. (AP Photo/U.S. Army)
Ohio Soldier Killed In Iraq
Army Medic Josh Harmon, 20, of Mentor-on-the-Lake, Ohio, was killed Wednesday when a Black Hawk helicopter crashed during a nighttime mission in northern Iraq. AP Photo/U.S. Army via Willoughby Hills Fire Department) Florida Staff Sgt. Killed “Near” Baghdad
U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Sandy R. Britt, 30, of Apopka, Fla., a paratrooper with the 82nd Airborne Division, died from injuries sustained in an Aug. 21, 2007, explosion near Baghdad, Iraq. (AP Photo/U.S. Army)
Missouri Soldier Killed In Iraq
Spc. Ricky Bell, 21, of Caruthersville, Mo.. was one of 14 soldiers killed in a helicopter crash Aug. 22, 2007 in Iraq. (AP Photo/KAIT-TV via The Honolulu Advertiser) Pennsylvania Soldier Killed In Iraq
Michael Hook was one of 14 soldiers killed Aug. 21, 2007, in the crash of a Black Hawk helicopter in northern Iraq. (AP Photo/Altoona Area High School yearbook via The Honolulu Advertiser)
Missouri Soldier Killed In Iraq
Army Spc. Jessy Pollard, of Springfield, Mo., was one of 14 soldiers killed Aug. 22, 2007, in the crash of a Black Hawk helicopter in northern Iraq. (AP Photo/The Honolulu Advertiser) Massachusetts Soldier Killed In Iraq
Jeremy Paul Bouffard, a soldier from Middlefield, Mass., died Aug. 22, 2007 when a Black Hawk helicopter crashed shortly after picking up a group of troopers who had just completed a night operation near Kirkuk. (AP Photo/Family handout photo)
Soldier With Relatives Here Killed In Iraq
Spec. Justin R. Blackwell
August 8, 2007 Rick Stillion, The Daily Jeffersonian
A Tennessee soldier killed in a mortar attack while serving in Iraq had ties to the local area, as both of his parents graduated from the former Madison High School and relatives still live in the Antrim area. U.S. Army Spec. Justin R. Blackwell, 27, of Paris, Tenn., died Sunday after being wounded in a mortar attack near Baghdad. He is the son of Steve and Hazel (King) Blackwell, also of Paris, Tenn.
Both soldiers were assigned to the 59th Military Police Co., 759th Military Police Battalion, 89th Military Police Brigade at Fort Carson, Colo.
The Department of Defense confirmed the deaths Tuesday, bringing the number of U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq to more than 3,680.
According to reports, Bohannon was driving a vehicle and Blackwell was serving as the gunner when their vehicle was struck during the mortar attack. They were transported to a local hospital, where they later died.
The soldiers were serving at a forward operating base in Baghdad.
Blackwell grew up in a military family and had served in the U.S. Army since 2000.
In addition to his parents, he is survived by his son, Joshua, born March 13, and his girlfriend, Allyson Riggen of Craig, Colo.; two daughters, Abby and Mackenzie, ages 8 and 2, from a previous marriage; and three brothers.
Blackwell's brother Nathan is currently serving with the U.S. Army and is also stationed at Fort Carson. Riggen was quoted by the Associated Press as saying Blackwell “believed very much in what he was doing and he couldn't wait to go over there (Iraq), because he though he was helping people.”
She described him as a jokester who loved country music and pro wrestling.
Blackwell was the third soldier from Henry County in western Tennessee to be killed in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Condolences can be sent to his parents at 1065 Flatwood Lane, Paris, TN 38242.
Shirley Soldier Dies Doing His Duty, Family Say
August 17, 2007 BY SUZANNE LABARRE, Newsday
Paulo Marko Pacificador joined the military to carry on the legacy of his father and grandfather, both former soldiers in the Philippines.
It was in pursuit of family tradition that Pacificador, 24, of Shirley, lost his life Monday in Iraq.
The Army private first class was one of three soldiers killed when their vehicle was struck by a roadside bomb in Qayyarah, according to the Department of Defense. Pacificador's passing brings to 27 the number of Long Island soldiers who have died in the Iraq War.
Last night his family recalled a vivacious young man, who felt compelled to serve in the military.
“It was something he had to do traditionwise, because my dad and my dad's dad and my dad's grandfather were all in the military,” said his youngest brother, Rey Patrick Pacificador, 21, a college student studying accountancy. “Since I knew I wasn't going and my other brother wasn't going, he decided to keep up the tradition.”
Paulo Marko Pacificador was born in 1982 in Buguey, Cagayan, in the Philippines. His family moved to the United States in 1988 and lived in Virginia before moving to Jamaica, Queens, a few years later. They moved to Shirley about six years ago.
Pacificador attended Hillcrest High School in Queens and graduated from William Floyd High School, where he spent one year, his family said.
An automobile enthusiast, Pacificador spent umpteen hours working in the garage on his 2003 Toyota Celica, his brother said. “He did it 24-7,” he said. “He modded it out.”
Pacificador attended Suffolk Community College, where he studied computer engineering, his family said. He also took online classes while stationed in Iraq.
He left for basic training in Oklahoma in January 2006, said his mother, Elsie Pacificador, 50. He was sent to Iraq less than a year later, on Oct. 30.
“There were balloons all over the place at home, and he says, 'I'm going,' and I said 'I'll miss you,'“ she said. “It was my 50th birthday, and my son was being deployed in Iraq.”
Pacificador had hopes of becoming an officer, his father said.
“My son is full of life. He has lots of ambition,” said his father, Jose Pacificador, a former soldier in the Philippines Air Force. “He has a dream to be somebody to someone.”
A member of the 5th Battalion, 82nd Field Artillery Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, Pacificador returned from Iraq for two weeks in February.
“He was enjoying himself, eating, drinking with his friends,” his mother said, adding that he helped out around the house, fixing a faucet and a shower nozzle.
Her son was starting to grow up, she said. Now, she said, she feels only pain.
“Oh my Lord, I cannot describe it,” she said. “It hurts so much.”
FUTILE EXERCISE: ONLY 5 MILLION MORE TO GO: COME ON HOME NOW! U.S. Army soldiers from Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division with a prisoner in the Amariyah neighborhood of west Baghdad, Aug. 2, 2007. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
AFGHANISTAN WAR REPORTS
U.S. Air Force Kills 3 British Soldiers In Kajaki
Aug 24, 2007 KABUL (Reuters)
Three British soldiers were killed by a bomb dropped by U.S. aircraft supporting them in a battle against Taliban insurgents in southern Afghanistan, the British military said on Friday.
The incident on Thursday takes the number of British deaths in Afghanistan since the Taliban was toppled in 2001 to 73.
Two other soldiers were wounded in the incident which took place after the troops were attacked during a patrol northwest of Kajaki where U.S. contractors are reconstructing a large dam meant to bring electricity to southern Afghanistan. “The guys were out on a routine patrol last night northwest of Kajaki,” said a British military spokesman in Helmand. “They came into quite an intensive fight and during that fight they called in close air support which was provided by two U.S. F-15 aircraft.”
A single bomb was dropped by the aircraft.
“We called in fire onto what in this case were the Taliban ... either the position was inaccurate or there was a problem with the bomb,” the spokesman said.
Afghan officials have criticized foreign forces for killing dozens of civilians in the last two year with inaccurate air strikes.
Texas City Solider Killed In Afghanistan
Sgt. 1st Class Jeff Kettle: Courtesy
August 15, 2007 By Mark Colette, Galveston County Daily News
TEXAS CITY — The official Army report says he was from Oklahoma, but Sgt. 1st Class Jeffrey Kettle’s father begs to differ.
“They have him listed as Madill, Okla., which is only where he enlisted and lived for a short while,” Ronnie Kettle said in an e-mail Tuesday while traveling overseas. “He is a product of Texas City ... and hundreds of people know and love him there, so I wanted to set the record straight.”
Jeffrey Kettle, two weeks from his 31st birthday, died Sunday after the vehicle he was in struck an improvised bomb in Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province.
Jeffrey Kettle was born and raised here and attended Texas City schools for all but his senior year of high school, Ronnie Kettle said. He was a construction and demolition engineer assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 7th Special Forces Group, based in Fort Bragg, N.C.
In 2003, Kettle received a Bronze Star during his first tour of duty in Afghanistan after uncovering a major weapons cache, Ronnie Kettle said. Jeffrey Kettle began playing soccer at age 5 and continued playing through high school and during his military career in Saudi Arabia, Italy, Germany, Hawaii and Japan. He also played baseball in Texas City.
“He wore his uniform proud and did his job beyond well.” Ronnie Kettle said.
He will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery next week, his father said.
Among his immediate family, Jeffrey Kettle is survived by his mother, Cindy Kettle; wife, Brandi; sons Donovan, 12, and Logan, 1; brother Clayton Kettle, now in his 14th year of military service and deployed in Iraq; and brother Ryan Kettle of Fort Worth.
TROOP NEWS
THIS IS HOW BUSH BRINGS THE TROOPS HOME: BRING THEM ALL HOME NOW, ALIVE
The coffin of Army Spc. Christopher Todd Neiberger, 22, of Gainesville, Fla., at Arlington National Cemetery. Neiberger died Aug. 6 from wounds caused by a roadside bomb in Iraq. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 18th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, Schweinfurt, Germany. (AP Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari) 2,400 From Oklahoma National Guard Off To Bush’s Imperial Slaughterhouse
Sgt. Cody Caywood, pictured here sorting uniforms for new soldiers in Oklahoma City, Aug. 22, 2007, is one of the more than 2,400 Oklahoma Army National Guard troops who have received mobilization orders calling for them to go on active duty in October for deployment to Iraq early next year. (AP Photo)
Troops Will Die To Save Pentagon Some Money: Only Half Of MRAPs To Reach Iraq By Years End: Pentagon Traitors Shipping Instead of Flying Them; It’s “Less Expensive”
[Here it is again. Same old story. To repeat for the 3,510th time, there is no enemy in Iraq. Iraqis and U.S. troops have a common enemy. That common enemy owns and operates the Imperial government in Washington DC for their own profit. That common enemy started this war of conquest on a platform of lies, because they couldn’t tell the truth: this war was about making money for them, and nothing else. Payback is overdue. T] Aug 22 By LOLITA C. BALDOR, Associated Press Writer [Excerpts]
WASHINGTON - The Pentagon will fall far short of its goal of sending 3,500 lifesaving armored vehicles to Iraq by the end of the year. Instead, officials expect to send about 1,500.
Currently many of the MRAPs are being flown to the Middle East, in an effort to get them into Iraq more quickly. But as production rates increase, the Pentagon is likely to send them by ship — which takes longer but is less expensive…..
National Guard And Reserve Troops Fucked Over, As Usual: Army Scum Refusing To Tell Them They Have 30 Days To Report; Soldier With Knee Surgery Given Three Weeks To Report For Duty; “Pyle Said She Wasn't Told That She Could Have Taken 30 Days Before Reporting”
August 19, 2007 By Christian Davenport, Washington Post Staff Writer
The house was in complete disarray, with dirty dishes in the sink, clothes on the floor and the trash bin overflowing. Even the TV was left on.
Stephanie Pyle felt awful that she had left such a mess for her vacationing housemate to clean up, but there wasn't much she could do. The Army had told her that she was deploying for war.
Pyle, a sergeant in the Virginia Army National Guard, had good reason to be taken by surprise when she got word in June. Just two weeks earlier, she had been told that she was not mobilizing with her unit.
Then the situation changed, and Pyle, 40, of Richmond, was given a week to report for duty.
There was not enough time to straighten up the house before she left. “It was crazy,” she said. “It was like a bomb went off.” As the war in Iraq stretches into its fifth year, the military continues to rely heavily on the Army National Guard and Reserve, whose soldiers have been called up again and again in numbers not seen since World War II.
Some reserve units had been mobilized for 18 months or more.
The war in Iraq is the first major conflict since the draft ended in 1973. And unlike Vietnam, where the reserves were for the most part left at home, citizen-soldiers today are deploying to war again and again, at one time making up more than 50 percent of the Army's combat force in Iraq.
Sometimes, units have to scramble at the last minute to fill the ranks.
Still, the Army's policy is that soldiers get at least 30 days' notice that they're going to be deployed, he said.
Those who are called on short notice are usually filling in for soldiers who dropped out at the last minute because of illness, injury or family problems, he said.
Even if called on short notice, soldiers can insist on being allowed 30 days before reporting.
When Maryland Air National Guard Staff Sgt. Olen Smith of Bel Air got the call for Iraq last year, his commander said bluntly, “I hope you've got your stuff ready to go.” Smith had less than four days to show. He had to “tear through my house to find all my equipment,” he said.
Staff Sgt. Douglas McManama, who received a Purple Heart after he was wounded in Iraq during his first tour, knew he would deploy again before the war was over.
“But I didn't think it would be so soon,” he said. Or on such short notice. Some soldiers had dropped out, he said he was told last month, and the Army wanted him to report in a week.
But with three kids and a wife who is about to have knee surgery, “I needed more time,” the Virginia Guardsman said. So instead of one week, he got three.
Pyle said she wasn't told that she could have taken 30 days before reporting.
“Are We About To Replace The M16 And M4 With A Rifle That May Be Only Slightly Better In Some Respects, And The Same Or Worse In Others?” August 20, 2007 Letter To The Editor Army Times
Are we about to replace the M16 and M4 with a rifle that may be only slightly better in some respects, and the same or worse in others? (“M4 to face new rifles in ‘dust chamber’ test,” July 23)
A U.S. senator wants the Army to test our current service rifle against other currently available rifles.
There may be several reasons to hesitate before replacing the M16 and M4.
First, while M16/M4 malfunctions are often blamed on the rifle’s lack of a gas piston, most malfunctions (especially those in Iraq) are probably due to insufficient lubrication of the rifle’s bolt carrier assembly.
Regrettably, some troops in Iraq have been ordered to keep their rifles virtually dry, out of concern that a wet (lubricated) surface collects dirt. However, tests in Iraq-like conditions, belatedly conducted at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., last year, found that heavy lubrication reduces malfunctions in M4s by 93 percent and in M16s by 76 percent.
Second, fragile magazine feed lips, inadequate (early-version) magazine followers and possibly the rifle’s multilug rotating bolt have contributed to M16/M4 reliability problems over the years.
While adopting a piston-operated rifle might improve reliability somewhat, a piston is not necessarily the only solution.
Third, reliability problems, especially since most of them can be prevented by proper lubrication (and cleaning), are not the M16/M4’s only shortcoming.
Another is the awkward manner in which white and IR flashlights and lasers are attached. Currently, these gadgets are mounted on a rail system that surrounds the rifle’s barrel, an arrangement that places the additional weight of the rail and gadgets sufficiently forward to unbalance the otherwise superbly balanced rifle.
Also, any replacement for the M16/M4 should house all electrical devices and a common electrical system for devices mounted on rifles within the stock or hand guard, sufficiently rearward to properly balance the rifle and keep it to a manageable weight.
Additionally, our use of thick, ceramic plate body armor makes it difficult for some troops, depending on their body shapes, to place the rifle’s butt plate in a conventional position and readily acquire their sights. Any replacement for the M16/M4 should perhaps incorporate a stock and sighting systems (optical and iron) that are adjustable for height. The M4 already incorporates a stock that is adjustable for length.
The primary reason to carry a rifle in combat is to be able to aim and fire it quickly and accurately. But a hard look at some of the M16/M4 competitors suggests that the primary goal of riflery may have been forgotten by their manufacturers.
If that is the case, and/or if current and future high-tech gadgetry cannot be incorporated into those rifles in a suitable manner, they may be inadequate for our long-term needs.
Petty Officer 1st Class Mark H. Overstreet Chantilly, Va.
IRAQ RESISTANCE ROUNDUP
Assorted Resistance Action
U.S. soldiers stand outside a destroyed police station after a bomb attack by insurgents in Baiji, 112 miles north of Baghdad, August 22, 2007. (Sabah al-Bazee/Reuters)
24 August 2007 BBC NEWS & Reuters
In Samarra, a large number of what the police are officially calling unknown gunmen attacked police checkpoints and a headquarters building at sunset on Thursday.
One report said a policeman and two civilians were among those killed in the four hours of fighting.
A booby-trapped parked car containing two dead bodies exploded in central Mosul on Thursday, police said. Two people including a policeman were killed in the blast and 12 were wounded. Guerrillas killed a policeman in Numaniya 120 km (72 miles) south of Baghdad, police said. IF YOU DON’T LIKE THE RESISTANCE END THE OCCUPATION
Get The Message?
Thousands of Iraqis take to the streets in Baghdad August 20, 2007 demonstrating against the U.S. occupation of Iraq and recent raids, arrests and killings of Iraqi citizens by occupation troops of Iraqi citizens. REUTERS/Kareem Raheem
FORWARD OBSERVATIONS
“What country can preserve its liberties if its rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms.” Thomas Jefferson to William Stephens Smith, 1787.
“The mighty are only mighty because we are on our knees. Let us rise!” --Camille Desmoulins
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. Frederick Douglas, 1852
Noble Anniversary: August 25, 1969 The Rebellion Of Company A; “One Of Hundreds Of Mutinies Among Troops During The War”
[Thanks to Mark Shapiro, who sent this in.]
Carl Bunin, Peace History Aug 20-26
Company A of the 3rd Battalion the 196th Light Brigade refused to advance further into the Songchang Valley of Vietnam after five days of heavy casualties; their number had been reduced from 150 to 60.
This was one of hundreds of mutinies among troops during the war.
“He (President Nixon) is also carrying on the battle in the belief, or pretense, that the South Vietnamese will really be able to defend their country and our democratic objectives (sic) when we withdraw, and even his own generals don't believe the South Vietnamese will do it.”
James Reston in the New York Times “I Believe That The War Is Being Deliberately Prolonged By Those Who Have The Power To End It”
From: Felicity Arbuthnot To: GI Special Sent: August 21, 2007 Subject: Thoughts from another war
I thought IVAW and those who read GI Special might find the following strikes a chord.
It is from a letter by Siegfried Sassoon, the 1914-1918 war poet, whose family were, ironically, Jewish merchants from Basra.
'I am making this statement as a wilful defiance of military authority, because I believe that the War is being deliberately prolonged by those who have the power to end it'.
History sure repeats.
Sassoon of course, also wrote: 'When the war is over and youth stone dead and old men toddle home - and die in bed'.
One could simply replace 'old men' with 'politicians', who have never seen 'what just one bullet can do', yet commit young lives (on all sides) to graves decades before their 'three score years and ten' have been lived, loved and celebrated.
Do you have a friend or relative in the service? Forward GI Special along, or send us the address if you wish and we’ll send it regularly. Whether in Iraq or stuck on a base in the USA, this is extra important for your service friend, too often cut off from access to encouraging news of growing resistance to the war, inside the armed services and at home. Send email requests to address up top or write to: The Military Project, Box 126, 2576 Broadway, New York, N.Y. 10025-5657
OCCUPATION REPORT
U.S. OCCUPATION RECRUITING DRIVE IN HIGH GEAR; RECRUITING FOR THE ARMED RESISTANCE THAT IS
A girl looks through the destroyed door of her house after an armed home invasion by foreign occupation soldiers from the USA in Baghdad's Sadr City August 12, 2007. REUTERS/Kareem Raheem
An Iraqi family is interrogated by foreign occupation soldiers from the USA who broke into their home at night in Baghdad August 11, 2007. REUTERS/Damir Sagolj Iraqi citizens have no right to resist home invasions by occupation soldiers from the USA. If they do, they may be arrested, wounded, or killed.
[Fair is fair. Let’s bring 150,000 Iraqi troops over here to the USA. They can kill people at checkpoints, bust into their houses with force and violence, butcher their families, overthrow the government, put a new one in office they like better and call it “sovereign,” and “detain” anybody who doesn’t like it in some prison without any charges being filed against them, or any trial.]
[Those Iraqis are sure a bunch of backward primitives. They actually resent this help, have the absurd notion that it’s bad their country is occupied by a foreign military dictatorship, and consider it their patriotic duty to fight and kill the soldiers sent to grab their country. What a bunch of silly people. How fortunate they are to live under a military dictatorship run by George Bush. Why, how could anybody not love that? You’d want that in your home town, right?]
The women and children were moved into a room, where they huddled together in silence. The men had been forced down onto their knees wherever they were apprehended, their hands secured behind their backs with plastic handcuffs and their eyes covered by makeshift blindfolds. YOCHI J. DREAZEN, Wall St. Journal, 3.12.07
OCCUPATION ISN’T LIBERATION BRING ALL THE TROOPS HOME NOW!
“Number Of Iraqi Refugees Has More Than Doubled, From 499,000 To 1.1 Million, Since The Start Of The Troop Surge”
August 23, 2007 By James Glanz and Stephen Farrell Published, The New York Times [Excerpts]
BAGHDAD: The number of Iraqis who have fled their homes and become refugees within their own country has soared since the American troop increase began in February, according to new data collected in Iraq by two major humanitarian groups.
The rapidly accelerating dislocation of Iraqi citizens has taken place despite the troop increase, and in some cases as a direct result of it, surveys with thousands of the Iraqis have shown. Statistics collected by one of the two groups, the Iraqi Red Crescent Organization, indicate that the number of internally displaced Iraqis has more than doubled, from 499,000 to 1.1 million, since the start of the troop “surge.”
Those figures are broadly consistent with data compiled independently by an office within the United Nations that specializes in tracking wide-scale dislocations.
Dr. Said Hakki, director of the Iraqi Red Crescent Organization, said that he had been surprised when his figures revealed that about 100,000 a month were fleeing their homes during the surge. Hakki said that he did not know why the rates were so high, but added that some factors were obvious.
“It's fear. Lack of services,” Hakki said. “You see, if you have a security problem, you don't need a lot to frighten people.”
It is clear that military operations, both by American troops and the Iraqi forces that are working with them as part of the surge, have something to do with the rise in displacement, said Dana Graber Ladek, displacement specialist for the migration group's Iraq office.
“If a surge means that soldiers are on the streets patrolling to make sure there is no violence, that is one thing,” Ladek said. “If a surge means military operations where there are attacks and bombings, then obviously that is going to create displacement.”
DANGER: POLITICIANS AT WORK
Bush Says He Plans To Crush Freedom
Aug 23, 2007 (Reuters)
“The terrorists who wage war in Iraq and Afghanistan and other places seek to spread a political vision of their own: a harsh plan for life that crushes freedom, tolerance and dissent,” Bush said. LIAR TRAITOR TROOP-KILLER DOMESTIC ENEMY UNFIT FOR COMMAND UNWORTHY OF OBEDIENCE
REUTERS/Larry Downing “These Democrats Are Promoting Plans That Would Keep The U.S. Military On The Ground In Iraq For The Foreseeable Future”
August 17, 2007 Editorial, Socialist Worker [Excerpts]
GEORGE W. Bush’s strategy in Iraq is to keep the U.S. occupation going indefinitely-- these days, we’re told, to prevent Iraq from becoming a base for al-Qaeda in the “war on terror.”
So it’s little wonder that so many people have looked to the field of Democratic presidential candidates to provide a plan to bring the troops home.
But these Democrats are promoting plans that would keep the U.S. military on the ground in Iraq for the foreseeable future.
“Even as they call for an end to the war and pledge to bring the troops home, the Democratic presidential candidates are setting out positions that could leave the United States engaged in Iraq for years,” the New York Times observed.
Democrats--especially those in Congress -- are paying the price for promising to end the war while allowing its escalation. According to a Gallup poll, just 14 percent of Americans express confidence in Congress--the lowest number since the organization began tracking government institutions 34 years ago.
WHAT’S BEHIND the Democrats’ failure to stand up to Bush?
The fundamental issue is the Democrats’ historic role as a party of U.S. imperialism--one just as committed as the Republicans to maintaining Washington’s world dominance.
It’s true that Democrats have occasionally swung to the left to capture antiwar sentiment--as, for example, in the 1972 presidential campaign of George McGovern, which tapped into the movement against the Vietnam War.
But it was Democratic President Lyndon Johnson who dramatically escalated that war. More recently, Bill Clinton presided over the expansion of NATO and a series of “humanitarian” military interventions, including the invasion of Haiti and the war over Kosovo in the Balkans.
Today, Democrats are as committed to the project of dominating the Middle East and the world’s oil supply as the Republicans -- and they are promoting policies with these priorities, even as they mouth antiwar rhetoric to appeal for votes. As the 2008 campaign wears on and the Iraq occupation lurches into new crises, the Democrats may again tack left.
But it’s clear that any real shift in U.S. politics around the war will come from pressure of grassroots antiwar activists.
Deeply Distressed Democratic Mob Censures Effigy Of Bush; “Several Minutes Of Silent Pointing And Glaring Before The Crowd Slowly Dispersed”
Unruly pro-censure radicals in Washington. One observer described the atmosphere as “rife with umbrage.”
August 24, 2007 The Onion
WASHINGTON, DC — In an emblematic move intended to stand in for the official symbolic reprimand of the president, a vehemently well-mannered mob of demonstrators censured an effigy of George W. Bush Tuesday, making known its displeasure over such actions as illegal wiretapping and the politically motivated firing of federal lawyers.
Armed with neatly lettered signs, and umbrellas in the event of rain, the group milled about the Capitol for several hours, chanting the anti-Bush slogans “Bush Must Go Through The Same Channels As Any Other President to Take Military Action—That Actually Falls Under Congress' Purview” and “Down With The Idea Of Executive Privilege, Both In General And As It Relates To Bush” before performing the mock censure.
Although some members of the crowd initially incited a metaphorical impeachment of the president, a majority felt that would be far too harsh a symbolic action to take. After agreeing on the censure, the decorous riffraff whipped themselves into a relative frenzy and clamored single file to the National Mall with the meticulously crafted Bush effigy.
“Things really got out of hand after we drafted and considered the resolution and then presented it to the mock House Judiciary Committee,” participant Patrick Firth said about the mob's public representation of a procedure that neither directly affects the presidency nor carries any particular legal consequences.
“After we finally adopted the motion to proceed, there was no turning back. I felt like I was watching someone else edit and redraft the approved measure.”
The Bush effigy, a surprisingly accurate likeness outfitted in a blue suit and red power tie, was originally to be taken to the steps of the Capitol Building for the censure proceedings. The mob turned back, however, when one among the rabble called a point of order and explained that the president would not be present if Congress were actually to pass censure.
The crowd then unanimously moved to postpone its mock Senate vote until a detailed facsimile of the Oval Office could be constructed on the lawn of the Mall and the effigy placed inside it.
Censure then appeared inevitable, until a faction of the horde brandished effigies of Republican senators and mounted a filibuster.
“It was a scary couple hours,” said demonstrator Harold Lemarche, who helped beat back the stonewalling tactic after a long but orderly debate. “There was even some talk of abandoning Robert's Rules of Order. It's a good thing the mock senators were able to muster the three-fifths majority vote required to defeat the filibuster, or this thing could have gotten real ugly, real fast.”
When the measure finally passed, the news was officially delivered to the effigy and a large banner reading “CENSURED!” was hung above it.
This was followed by several minutes of silent pointing and glaring before the crowd slowly dispersed.
Democratic leaders were quick to distance themselves from the subdued riot out of fear that condoning even a meta-symbolic political rebuke would alienate some of their more mild-mannered constituents.
“We understand that many Americans are frustrated with the current administration, but that doesn't mean they should be staging a constitutionally mandated political procedure on the streets of our nation's capital,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said.
“We urge you, please do not take the letter of the law into your own hands. Instead, write firm but polite correspondence to your congressional representatives.”
Top Republicans loudly denounced the censure. “This is exactly the kind of vicious, unbridled, restrained indignation we can expect if Democrats stay in power,” Senate Minority Whip Trent Lott said. “Where will this behavior end — a mock no-confidence vote against the surgeon general?”
According to witnesses, police were present at the scene of the figurative censure but were powerless to stop the mob, as all of the paperwork required to stage the demonstration had been filed weeks earlier.
An activist holds aloft the censure motion so that all in the crowd can read it carefully and make up their minds.
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