GI Special: Thomasfbarton Earthlink s2

GI Special: [email protected] 12.07.03 Print it out (color best). Pass it on. GI SPECIAL #149

THIS IS HOW BUSH BRINGS THE TROOPS HOME Oliva Smith and son Nathan during services for Chief Warrant Officer Bruce A. Smith, Nov. 11, 2003, in West Liberty, Iowa. Smith, 41, was killed near Fallujah, Iraq. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergal Rochester Resistance Gets Results Deployed Troops “Unvolunteer;” Get To Stay Home And Live

Troops told at airport they can skip rotation; 7 opt for home.

By Corydon Ireland, Rochester Democrat And Chronicle, Staff writer

(December 4, 2003) In a dramatic turn of events, seven local Army reservists tapped to go to Afghanistan will not be going after all.

The soldiers, from the Webster-based 401st Civil Affairs Battalion, benefit from a clarification of Army policy released late Tuesday that requires 12 months of “dwell time” at home between deployments overseas.

Spc. Talise Moore, 22, had already checked her bags at the Rochester International Airport on Wednesday when she was told she could back out. She did. “It still doesn’t feel real,” said Moore, who was ready to fly to Fort Bragg, N.C., for some pre-Afghanistan training. “I came with my mind set on going.”

Six other 401st reservists also had the opportunity to remove their names from the battle roster, but they elected to go to Afghanistan anyway. The unit had redeployed 13 reservists who have been home for less than a year since their last tour overseas.

“We've had a handful of people who have elected to remove themselves ‘unvolunteer is a way to say it,’” said Ben Abel, spokesman for the Army Civil Affairs and Psychological Operations Command at Fort Bragg, which oversees civil affairs units. “They’ve declined to go on this rotation.”

Speaking to The Associated Press on Wednesday, he declined to give an exact number, calling it a “handful” nationwide. (If it’s just “a handful” why decline to give the number? Unless “handful” is a flat out lie?)

According to USA Today this week, 160 civil affairs reservists were to be redeployed only 10 months after the end of their first tours overseas. How many elected to back out was not disclosed.

Abel did say that Capt. Steve McAlpin of the 401st influenced the Army’s decision to clarify its deployment policy. His concerns about the legality of deploying soldiers before their dwell time was up caused a national media stir, which “had something to do with” the Army’s clarification. (“Something?” McAlpin won!)

Spc. Danielle Colbert, 22, of Rochester showed up at the airport Wednesday morning with about 30 other 401st reservists ready for the flight to Fort Bragg.

An hour before takeoff, she was told she could “unvolunteer,” and she did.

“I don’t want to go” this time, said Colbert, who spent most of 2002 in Uzbekistan, north of Afghanistan. But she has no regrets about the former deployment.

Colbert will return to her job in the accounting department at Wegmans Food Markets. She was 20 and scared in January 2002 when she first deployed, she said. “I’ve grown up a lot since then.”

Moore will return to work at Kay Jewelers at The Mall at the Greece Ridge Center. Others who declined will go back to their jobs, too.

At the airport Wednesday, more than 100 people said goodbye to friends, husbands, wives, sons and daughters.

Among them was Marti Mueller of Irondequoit, who was seeing off her husband, Tim, a warrant officer with the 401st.

This deployment is a third foray into hazardous places for the 49-year-old Mueller. After spending 19 of the last 23 months overseas, Mueller said it’s getting to be time to leave adventure behind. ”The living room,” he said, “is starting to look pretty good.”

More About Resistance In Rochester; Cop In Colonels Uniform Charged Capt. McAlpin

Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, By Corydon Ireland, Staff Writer, (November 28, 2003)

A Rochester-area reservist faces being drummed out of the service after charges of insubordination were filed this week by the commanding officer of the 401st Civil Affairs Battalion in Webster.

Capt. Steve McAlpin of Victor says the reprimand is related to his comments that the battalion may be violating federal law by not allowing troops who have served in a combat zone a required 12-month “stabilization period” at home.

Lt. Col. Phillip A. Carey, commander of the 401st and a Philadelphia police officer, wrote the document, which was presented to McAlpin in person. It charges McAlpin with having a “negative attitude” toward the 401st and with being “insubordinate towards the leadership” of the unit.

The document, which McAlpin refused to sign, also commands him to clear up his affairs at the unit by Dec. 1. It bans him after that date from the battalion grounds at 515 Old Ridge Road. It also notified him that he was being transferred to the Individual Ready Reserves, effectively ending his military career.

Soldiers in IRR are not required to drill monthly or attend summer training sessions. They can be called up in the event of a national emergency.

“I was shaking, standing there” in Carey’s office, said the 44-year-old McAlpin, a 25-year military veteran who was to be deployed next month. Instead of signing the document, McAlpin attached a handwritten note, protesting that his performance evaluations have been excellent and that his record shows “no pattern of incompetence or inappropriate behavior.”

His note also complained that he was given no access to legal counsel. He said he will speak with a military lawyer today.

McAlpin said he is being singled out for punishment because of his comments regarding the law covering reservist leave.

About two weeks ago, he said, soldiers being redeployed at the 401st were asked to sign a waiver of Title X rights, a provision of the U.S. Code since 1953. Most of the officers refused to sign and all but four of the enlisted personnel called to redeploy agreed to sign, said McAlpin.

“If an officer said to sign something, you signed it — that’s what I did as a kid,” said McAlpin of his own 12 years as an enlisted man. “Now I’m a little older, a little wiser and my mouth is a lot bigger.”

The waiver — “totally inappropriate,” said McAlpin — was created by Col. Guy Sands, commander of the 401st’s parent unit, the 360th Civil Affairs Brigade based in Fort Jackson, S.C. Both units fall under the command of the 352nd Civil Affairs Command at Fort Bragg, N.C.

McAlpin said he wants to go back to combat zone duty himself “for my guys,” meaning the soldiers in his command. “And they know I’m not afraid to speak up on their behalf.”

He expressed doubts and questions about the Title X waiver during a Saturday teleconference call with Col. Sands, in which officers were invited to speak freely. “I wanted the brigade commander to answer to these soldiers (about Title X), basically voice to voice,” he said.

Two days later, said McAlpin, he was upbraided by Carey for his remarks. Two days after that, he was presented with the memorandum, “a total surprise to me,” he wrote in an e-mail to friends.

“This is my life and career here,” said McAlpin, a Bosnia veteran who realizes that his dissent could cost him rank, a court martial or other career-ending outcomes.

At least 13 officers and noncommissioned officers — all of the Afghanistan veterans — have transferred out of the unit, deferring immediate deployment.

They used a routine Department of the Army form called a 4651-R, which is typically employed to acquire new skills or advance careers. McAlpin filled out a transfer request, too, though later than the others. Carey refused to sign it, he said.

One of the 13 who transferred out of the 401st is Maj. Dave Young, a Brockport accountant who served with the unit in Afghanistan last year. He is now assigned to the Army’s North Central Information Operations.

Young wouldn’t comment on the legal issues McAlpin’s case brings up. But he vouched for his character.

“I have served in peacetime and in wartime with Captain McAlpin and he always looked after the welfare of his troops,” Young said. “I’ve been proud to serve with him.”

MORE: Officer Who Defied Illegal Orders To Deploy Stays Home As Case Simmers

By Corydon Ireland, Staff writer, Rochester Democrat And Chronicle

December 3, 2003) — Capt. Steve McAlpin, the Rochester-area Army reserve officer accused last week of insubordination, was back on the Afghanistan battle roster for his unit Tuesday — but only briefly.

The 44-year-old officer, whose case caused an international media stir, questioned the legality of orders to remobilize reservists who had been back from overseas for less than a year.

U.S. Army policy stipulates that activated military units will have a minimum of 12 months “dwell time” between deployments.

McAlpin would have left today for 25 days of pre-war training at Fort Bragg, N.C. Instead, he’ll be at Greater Rochester International Airport as an interested bystander.

McAlpin said a last-minute deal with the 401st Civil Affairs Battalion in Webster fell through after “verbal counseling” Tuesday with his commanding officer, Lt. Col. Phillip A. Carey.

McAlpin’s status now: He can stay with the 401st, or he has permission to transfer to another unit, he said.

He was briefly represented by military counsel, but he now says the legal case is over and he won’t pursue it further.

Carey, reached at his office Tuesday through a spokesman, declined to comment on McAlpin’s status.

The controversy was touched off Nov. 26 at 401st headquarters when McAlpin was presented with a memorandum that removed him from the battle roster and leveled charges of poor leadership and insubordination. He refused to sign it and also wrote friends an angry e-mail.

Four days earlier, McAlpin took part in a Nov. 22 teleconference with Col. Guy Sands, commander of the 360th Civil Affairs Brigade in Fort Jackson, S.C., the 401st’s parent unit.

Encouraged by Sands to speak his mind, McAlpin had expressed his concerns about a Brigade-created waiver that asked soldiers to sign off on their right to a 12-month “dwell time” after their last mobilization.

Until now, Army reservists remobilized for a second tour of duty overseas had at least 12 months off between tours, except for those who volunteer to return. The accusatory memorandum, McAlpin said last week, was “retribution” for his frankness. Personnel at the 401st were pressured into “volunteering” to go overseas again before the 12-month rest period was up, he said.

His doubts also included Title 10, a section of the Federal Code in effect since 1953. It stipulates that reserve deployments be not for more than 24 consecutive months. It also requires a “sharing of exposure to hazards” among reservists. At the 401st, some reservists have not been deployed at all. Others are going to Afghanistan for a second time.

Among other steps last week, McAlpin contacted the office of Rep. Louise M. Slaughter, D-Fairport. Earlier this week, she was still bristling that the twice-deployed McAlpin (Bosnia, Afghanistan) was removed from the battle roster for speaking up.

“I’m going all the way to (Defense Secretary) Rumsfeld on this,” she said Monday. Slaughter said that soldiers who had signed the waiver had been “intimidated” into doing so.

In a statement released Tuesday, Slaughter said: “Captain McAlpin has served his nation bravely and does not deserve to be treated this way.”

Thompson said the Pentagon will also look into McAlpin’s allegation that 159 Civil Affairs soldiers nationwide also face signing the waiver and that all of them have been back from the war zone for less than the required 12 months.

Slaughter saw even bigger implications in the McAlpin story.

“I’m persuaded that the treatment of the Reserves and the Guard is very different than (for) other soldiers, and I’m very troubled by that,” she said.

Last month, Slaughter leveled charges against the Department of Defense that activated Guard and Reserve troops are not getting the supplies they need, including body armor, ammunition, water and even boots. About 165,000 such troops are on active duty in the United States and overseas.

Officers who serve with McAlpin in the 401st have refused to comment publicly on his situation, which McAlpin says he understands.

Private expressions of support are enough, he said.

On Monday, said McAlpin, a reservist he served with in Afghanistan drew him aside, said, “Thank you, sir,” and hugged him. “That paid the bill,” said McAlpin, who is stung by the first mark on his military record in 25 years. “That hug around my neck meant more than a medal around my neck.”

IRAQ WAR REPORTS: "Saddam Hussein Is Finished, We Are Protecting Our Honor And Our Land!" Troops Startled By Resistance Fighters' “Unprecedented Coordination and Tactics”

By Anthony Shadid, Washington Post Foreign Service, December 2, 2003

SAMARRA, Iraq, Dec. 1 For the military, the fight [in Samara] revealed a startling new reality about the fighters themselves -- unprecedented coordination and tactics and numbers yet unseen. Hollis says he saw a determination he did not expect from guerrillas best known for hitting, then running.

"I'm telling you these guys taking some of the shots knew they were going to die," said Hollis, a 17-year veteran and native of Pensacola, Fla. "But they still, under that fire, squeezed the trigger, even though they knew that was the last thing they were going to do. They were standing the ground and fighting, and our guys were standing the ground and fighting."

"Both sides are sending a message," he added.

Standing on a dirt berm inside his base near Samarra, about 60 miles north of Baghdad, he reflected on the fight. "A long one," he said. “It was a long one."

Down the street, Bassem Feisal was too late. The Iraqi, who is mentally disabled, stayed in the street outside a cafe, even after the shooting started, according to his brother Saad. Bassem was shot twice in the left arm, but survived a fusillade of gunfire that riddled a seven-story building near the bank with dozens of holes.

Saad stood Monday near a sedan crushed under a tank's treads. "This is the gift of Mr. Bush?" he asked, his shirt smeared with his brother's blood.

"They're going to hit you, and before you hit them, they're going to disappear. That's their MO," said Hollis, whose tank barrel is emblazoned with the word "Comanche." "In this case they hit us, and instead of disappearing, they stayed. Did you see those tanks? Do you know the amount of firepower on those tanks? Why would you even think of attacking something like that?"

The charred shells of four cars, their paint seared off, sat in the hospital parking lot. Nearby was the wreckage of a minibus that had carried Iranian pilgrims. Someone had scrawled on it in English, "No USA, Down USA." Doctors said one of the pilgrims, an elderly Iranian man, was killed after being shot in the head and chest.

Abid Toufiq, the director of the 150-bed hospital, said the wounded kept arriving in batches every 15 minutes or half-hour. The deluge was so severe inside the hospital that doctors inserted intravenous needles into patients as they lay on the floor. "If you had seen the situation, you would have said, 'God help us, how can you work here?' " said Amar Jabbar, a doctor at the hospital.

An American soldier was killed Monday in Habaniya, a town to the southwest of Samarra. Near the Samarra police station, a slogan reads, "We will blow up the house of anyone who works with the Americans." On the hospital, graffiti warned that there was no escape for those cooperating with U.S. forces.

There was a drawing of a hand grenade near words of caution: "This is your destiny."

In the climate of resentment and frustration felt here, many Iraqis insisted they supported the guerrillas.

"Everyone is with the resistance," said Safa Hamad Hassan, 22, whose cousin lay in a hospital bed with wounds to his abdomen from a tank round that landed near his house.

"Saddam Hussein is finished. We are protecting our honor and our land."

Throughout the battle, Hassan said, as many as 40 armed guerrillas, all dressed in head scarves, ran openly through the streets of his neighborhood. They shouted at people to go indoors. It was their most public showing since the occupation began, and Hassan was one of the few in the town to admit even seeing them. He and others said civilians took up arms -- nearly every Iraqi man has a weapon – and joined the fight as the battle dragged on during the day.

A leaflet, signed by the guerrillas, was reportedly hung recently on the city's shrine, listing those who had collaborated with U.S. forces and would be killed. More common were the sentiments at the Imam Shafai Mosque, near the hospital. Residents said the mosque was struck by a tank round at 5 p.m., killing a man and his son, whose blood still mixed with mud outside the mosque Monday.

"Even in worship, we're not safe from the Americans," said Abdel-Rahman Abdel-Qadir, an assistant at the mosque. OCCUPATION ISN’T LIBERATION BRING ALL THE TROOPS HOME NOW!

TROOP NEWS

Military Families and Veterans Delegation REPORT BACK FROM IRAQ Thurs., Dec. 11, 7PM, Washington Square United Methodist Church, 135 W 4th St., btwn. 6th Ave and Wash. Sq. Park. $5 suggested donation, no one turned away.

As President Bush was completing his two-hour visit to Iraq, a delegation of 10 military family members and veterans were about to embark on a one-week trip to Iraq to express their concern about the occupation and see first-hand the reality being faced by Iraqis and U.S. troops. Just days after their return, they will report back about what’s really going on in Iraq and present their ideas for alternatives to the occupation.

Featured speakers:

Fernando Suarez del Solar of Military Families Speak Out, whose son Jesus was killed during the invasion of Iraq

Medea Benjamin, co-founder of Global Exchange and the Iraq Occupation Watch Center Several other military family members and veterans who participated in the recent delegation to Iraq.

Local activists to talk about on-going organizing in NYC.

Also featuring: Exhibit of photographs from Iraq. Sponsored by United for Peace and Justice New York and Global Exchange. For more information, contact 212 868-5545.

A delegation of U.S. military family members and veterans will report back on their trip to Iraq from November 29 to December 8 to express their concern about the occupation and see first-hand the reality being faced by U.S. troops and Iraqis.

Before they left, Anabelle Valencia, a military mother traveling with the delegation said "I know it is very risky to go to Iraq right now, but I feel compelled to go there. I want to see my son and daughter and talk to the other troops. I want to talk to the Iraqi people, especially the women," "And I want to talk to the US authorities there and ask them when they are going to send our troops home and allow the Iraqis to run their own country."

Soldiers Going Without Body Armor; Families Have To Buy It For Them; It’s For Sale In Stores, So Why Isn’t Pentagon Supplying It?; Because A Soldier’s Life Isn’t Worth $1500?? Vernon Loeb and Theola Labbé, Washington Post, 12/3/2003

BAGHDAD -- Pfc. Gregory Stovall felt the explosion on his face. He was standing in the turret of a Humvee, manning a machine gun, when the roadside bomb went off. At the time, he was guarding a convoy of trucks making a mail run.

In an instant, Stovall's face was perforated by shrapnel, the index finger on his right hand was gone, and the middle finger was hanging by a tendon. But the 22-year-old from Brooklyn remembers instinctively reaching for his chest and stomach -- "to make sure everything was there," he said.

It was, encased in a Kevlar vest reinforced by boron carbide ceramic plates that are so hard they can stop AK-47 rounds traveling 2,750 feet per second.

Thus, on the morning of Nov. 4, Stovall became the latest in a long line of soldiers serving in Iraq to be saved by the U.S. military's new Interceptor body armor.

Soldiers will not patrol without the armor -- if they can get it. But as of now, there is not enough to go around. Going into the war in Iraq, the Army decided to outfit only dismounted combat soldiers with the plated vests, which cost about $1,500 each.

Last month, Rep. Ted Strickland (D-Ohio) and 102 other House members wrote to Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.), chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, to demand hearings on why the Pentagon had been unable to provide all U.S. service members in Iraq with the latest body armor. In the letter, the lawmakers cited reports that soldiers' parents had been purchasing body armor with ceramic plates and sending it to their children in Iraq.

The demand came after Gen. John Abizaid, head of the U.S. Central Command and commander of all military forces in Iraq, told a House Appropriations subcommittee in September that he could not "answer for the record why we started this war with protective vests that were in short supply." (What exactly does that mean? That he knows the answer “off the record?” That he could tell the truth, but it might piss off some politician? That he’d rather see dead troops than blow the whistle on somebody powerful? Three guesses. A despicable careerist like Abizaid isn’t going to risk his neck just to save soldiers’ lives.)

Jonathan Turley, a law professor at George Washington University, began investigating the Army's decision not to equip all troops deploying to Iraq with Interceptor body armor after learning that one of his students, reservist Richard Murphy, was in the country with a Vietnam-era flak jacket.

Since he began publicizing the lack of body armor, Turley said, he has been deluged with e-mails from people offering to donate body armor to U.S. troops. (Again, if the brass isn’t lying in their teeth, how can civilians go out and find this big supply of body armor to donate? What the fuck is going on here?)

Joe Werfelman, the father of Turley's student, said he was dismayed to learn that his son had been sent to Iraq in May without ceramic plates. "He called us frantically three or four times on this," Werfelman said in an interview. "We said, 'If the Army is not going to protect him, we've got to do it.' "

So Werfelman, of Scotia, Pa., found a New Jersey company that had the ceramic plates in stock, plunked down $660 for two plates and a carrying case, and sent them to his son. "As far as I know, he's still using the ones that we got him," he said. "Some units have the new plates and some units don't."

(There it is again, they just went out and bought it! Every soldier who dies in Iraq or anyplace else because of not being issued body armor has been murdered by Bush, Rumsfeld and Abiziad, who have to pay the price. Their criminal negligence has killed more soldiers than the Iraqi resistance.)

Do you have a friend or relative in the service? Forward this E-MAIL 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, at home and in Iraq, and information about other social protest movements here in the USA. Send requests to address up top. For copies on web site see:http://www.notinourname.net/gi-special/

How Many More For Bush’s War?

Spec. Ronald Dekker leans in close to encourage fellow platoon member Pfc. Matthew VanBuren the day after VanBuren was wounded and another soldier killed by a bomb in Baghdad's Sadr City. (Lucian Perkins, The Washington Post)

Maj. Fred Brennan, left, Lt. Hope Simmons, left center, and Maj. Jason Boardman, far right, examine a soldier hurt by a roadside bomb. Boardman tells patients, "Just sit back and relax. We're going to do all the work." (Lucian Perkins, The Washington Post) A doctor holds a patient's hand during surgery at the 28th Combat Support Hospital. (Lucian Perkins, The Washington Post)

Wounded soldier who was brought to the emergency room after his Humvee hit a roadside bomb on Nov. 8. (Lucian Perkins, The Washington Post) Bring All The Troops Home Now!

Danger Pay Good News, Bad News; Bush Regime Strikes Again

Army Times 12.8.03

The Good News: The current $225 per month rate of danger pay, which the Bush administration wanted to cut back to $150 a month, is temporarily extended.

The Bad News: The extension expires Dec. 31. Raped Stryker Soldier Assaulted Again--- By Command

Associated Press December 03, 2003

TACOMA, Wash. — A Stryker brigade soldier who was raped in Kuwait told her mother she has been isolated from her unit and denied counseling and other support, including a visit from a chaplain.

Barbara Wharton of Lancaster County, Pa., told The News Tribune of Tacoma her daughter said she was “having a difficult time right now” in a telephone call that lasted about 15 minutes Tuesday before it was cut off.

“She’s traumatized,” Wharton said.

The newspaper did not name the soldier or indicate how or why her phone conversation with her mother was cut off.

“She’s not good, but at least I got to hear her voice,” Wharton told the newspaper by telephone. “She’s not eating. She’s not sleeping. She has no contact, really, with anybody.”

A Pennsylvania native, the woman is a sergeant in the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, who married another soldier Nov. 1 while both were stationed at Fort Lewis near Tacoma.

She was sent to Camp Udairi in Kuwait with the Stryker brigade last month to prepare for assignment in Iraq.

Wharton said her daughter, a four-year veteran who joined the Army at 19, told her she was near the camp showers late Friday or early Saturday when a masked man with “an American voice” hit her in the back of the head.

When she regained consciousness, she said, she was gagged and bound with cord, then was hit in the head and face again and blacked out a second time, her mother said.

After she awakened a second time, she’d realized she’d been raped, Wharton said.

She said she was still was hemorrhaging from the attack Tuesday, her mother said.

The soldier’s husband, who is still at Fort Lewis and asked that his name not be used, told The News Tribune his wife gave him the same account when he spoke to her briefly over the weekend. He would not comment further.

The brigade’s public affairs officer, Lt. Col. Joseph Piek, said the woman was transported to Camp Doha, the main camp for U.S. troops in Kuwait. Brigade officials will not release further information until the Army’s Criminal Investigation Command completes an investigation and makes a report to the unit commander, probably in several days, Piek said.

Addressing the troops Sunday, the brigade commander, Col. Michael E. Rounds, said the reported rape was “a terrible, incomprehensible thing” and asked that any soldier with information about it make a report to investigators.

He said he had “dedicated the resources needed to solve this as quickly as possible.”

Promises and Lies; Despite Congress Acting, Bush & Rumsfeld Still Forcing Troops To Pay For Their Own Leave Travel Home

By PAULINE JELINEK, The Associated Press, December 2, 2003; 8:42 PM

WASHINGTON - The largest R&R program since the Vietnam War has flown soldiers only to three cities in the United States and two in Germany, leaving them to pay airfare for connecting flights if they want to go farther.

Officials said Tuesday they were working up a plan for the Defense Department to begin reimbursing troops for the connecting flights with the $55 million authorized recently by Congress for the coming year.

"If it comes to pass as envisioned by members of Congress, this would be the most generous gesture on behalf of the American people," said Maj. Pete Mitchell of U.S. Central Command. (IF???????)

So far more than 27,000 troops have taken the leaves, Mitchell said.

The Army said Tuesday it had set no firm date for the start of the reimbursement program, which requires changes in federal travel regulations. Officials were working on details such as how much would be paid to each soldier, and whether it would be retroactive to cover those who have already taken leave, they said.

"The devil is in the details," Mitchell said.

Officials estimated that troops have been paying an average of $300 to $500 out of their own pockets to get the rest of the way home from three drop-off points in the states -Baltimore, Dallas and Atlanta - and two in Germany.

Work on the reimbursement plan was first reported Tuesday by the Army Times publication. Morale has been a concern, since troops and families in the summer began complaining about extended tours of duty and repeated deployments.

Army Times December 08, 2003, By Vince Crawley, staff writer

However, an official said no firm date has been set for when reimbursement begins, in part because the new program requires changes to the Joint Federal Travel Regulation.

A defense official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the Pentagon intends to implement the request but still is working out the details. A plan would be developed “during the forthcoming weeks,” the official said shortly before Thanksgiving.

(So, despite Congress providing the money, after soldiers and their families raised hell and exposed this scandal, the Pentagon is going to take as long as possible to get the program going, “if” it happens at all, and then they haven’t decided whether to cover the travel costs for soldiers who make the trip before they get the program going.

What despicable, odious bullshit.

The entire military leadership of the United States, and the civilians in charge of it, from Bush down, have only two priorities: 1. Providing bodies, including dead bodies, to carry out their criminal invasion and plundering of Iraq and 2. Chiseling every penny out of the hides of the soldiers they send to do their dirty work.

What a perfect example of why soldiers and working class Americans have a common enemy: not the Iraqis, it’s the people who own and operate the U.S. government to defend and increase their own personal wealth and power at the top of society.)

"They Think The War Is Over, And It's Not. It's Getting Worse And Worse” Soldier Says

By Erin Emery and John Aloysius Farrell, Denver Post Staff Writers, 11.23.03

There are no public ceremonies for the dead coming back through the military receiving center in Dover, Del. The flights of wounded personnel heading for Walter Reed often arrive at night at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland.

"The wounded are brought back after midnight, making sure the press does not see the planes coming in," U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., said recently on the Senate floor. "These are not a broken wrist or scratched leg. These are terrible wounds: lost limbs, lost eyesight, lifetime disabilities."

It is "something the administration prefers not to talk about," Leahy said. Some of those wounded share the feeling that the price they're paying is not fully recognized by the public, the government or the media.

"They seem to underplay it a lot," said Pfc. Tristan Wyatt, of Franktown, who is being treated at Walter Reed after losing his right leg in an August ambush. "They think the war is over, and it's not. It's getting worse and worse with everybody coming here wounded.

"They say 'wounded' like they have a cast, or a splinter. There are people who lost both legs, in wheelchairs, here. That's not wounded: that's fucked up. They're giving everything they have for this cause," Wyatt said.

Only Those Who Disagree With Government Accused Of “Wading Into Politics;” Officers Who Kiss Ass Unchallenged

December 3, 2003, The Guardian/UK, by Chris McGreal in Tel Aviv

For two months, a rebel group of Israeli Black Hawk helicopter and-16 fighter pilots has been denounced as traitors for saying they will no longer bomb Palestinian cities.

Many who poured scorn on the pilots accused them of wading into politics for going beyond questions about the legality of their orders and challenging the occupation. "We cannot separate the two," Capt Jonathon S said. "We are not pacifists. We don't think we should sit back and let suicide bombers attack us. But all this is a direct result of our being in the [occupied] territories.

"Our fight to keep the settlements and suppress the Palestinian people is killing us. It is killing our right to live safely in the country of Israel. A very small group of radical Israelis is leading the sane majority to catastrophe."

Col Raanan scoffs at the accusation that the pilots have denigrated their uniforms by wading into political issues.

"The air force commander spoke in favor of the [Jewish] settlements while sitting in uniform next to Sharon at a Likud party convention," he said. "That is political. This country has a defense minister who, as army chief of staff, was the most political ever. It is hypocritical to say lower ranking officers cannot express an opinion. What they mean is, we can be political so long as we agree with the government. Well that's not democracy." (Of course that only happens in Israel, right?)

What do you think? Comments from service men and women, and veterans, are especially welcome. Send to the E-mail address up top. Name, I.D., withheld on request. Replies confidential.

Anti-War Military Families In Baghdad

The Associated Press, December 2, 2003

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Relatives of U.S. troops visiting Iraq pressed their agenda to meet with leaders of the occupation authority, hoping to voice their opposition to the U.S.-led occupation.

One mother held back tears while looking at U.S. soldiers guarding the entrance of the Habbaniyah military base in Baghdad.

"They are so young. This is not for them. ... They look just like my boy," said Annabelle Valencia, whose daughter, 24, and son, 22, are both based in Iraq.

"We Are Left Blind" Spanish Colonel Says About Iraq Military Ops

By JULIANE VON REPPERT-BISMARCK, The Associated Press, December 2, 2003;

MADRID, Spain - Spain held a nationally televised funeral Tuesday for seven intelligence agents slain in Iraq. Lt. Col. Jose Luis Gutierrez, the head of Spanish military operations in the Iraqi province of Najaf, told El Pais that the loss dealt a severe blow to Spain's intelligence service in Iraq and left Spanish troops there vulnerable.

"Without them, we are left blind," he said.

FORWARD OBSERVATIONS

“I Love My Country, Not Necessarily The Government” Pro-War Vet Tears Bush Regime New Asshole

David Corn, served thirteen years in the Army Special Forces. From The Nation

If the military--particularly Special Forces--has the experience to do nation- building in conjunction with counterinsurgency, why haven't things gone better?

We put civilians in charge--the CAP--and that was because the Pentagon and White House wanted to control the war without having to go through the military. Now that we are in the phase when large amounts of money are being let out in contracts and private industry has to be brought in, that all has to be controlled by the White House. Is it a coincidence that one of the largest companies that was awarded a contract in Iraq is aligned with Dick Cheney?

I recently spent a month in Iraq, and I did a lot of listening and not much talking, which is not characteristic for me. The way the Iraqis see it--and they call it very accurately-- is that there is a lot of corruption in how the CPA has been handling contracts with Halliburton, Bechtel, and the subcontractors. It upsets Iraqis to see subcontractors brought in from South Africa, Germany, England, India and elsewhere to do simple contracts that are not high-tech. They feel those opportunities for work should go to the Iraqi people.

As you know, there's been some debate here about the media coverage of security in Iraq, with the White House and its supporters claiming that the media has played up stories about the security problems in Iraq. What did you see there?

The security situation as a whole is nonexistent. In certain areas and sectors, it is pretty good. But the first day I got there in October somebody parked a car bomb outside the gates of the compound where our offices are in Baghdad. That first night, mortar attacks were fired from the area I lived in, which is only a kilometer or so from where the 82nd Airborne is based. If they could get that close to the Americans and fire mortars, I don't know how anyone can argue that security is good.

The enemy has the ability to fire when and where they like. That's because the civilian population is allowing them to do that. And that's because we have not embraced that civilian population. We have isolated ourselves in Saddam castle behind concrete barriers. Think of the irony of this. We put ourselves in the castles from where he dominated and repressed that country. Who do we look like? The members of the interim council had to be searched before they would be allowed to enter their offices. It was a slap in the face, and they could see foreign subcontractors coming and going into the CAP offices just by flashing an ID card. This is totally unacceptable.

Three days before I left, an explosive charge was placed underneath the generator for our office. The blast took out the generator and blew out a portion of the glass in the office. We feel we were attacked because we were advertising what we were trying to do--that is, use Iraqis to develop information and intelligence that can be used to provide security. None of our guys were hurt. But when the attack came, the security guards we had at our offices disappeared right before the explosion. And the Iraqi who was providing us these security guards--a prominent sheik from Mosul--is working for the U.S. military, too.

Does the Bush administration have a good bead on who--and what--it is fighting in Iraq?

I've seen lists of insurgent forces they have developed, and they're missing one category: disenfranchised and disillusioned Iraqis. They don't recognize that as a potential group these people can create havoc.

How angry should the American public be, if at all?

The public deserves to know the truth. There is so much cheerleading on TV. They're not getting the truth. Most pundits care about getting Bush in or out of office. Its politics at its worst. The White House is doing what all White Houses do--spinning. They give their take, which most of the time I find to be inaccurate. I'm an advocate for the soldier. I love my country, not necessarily the government.

A lot of the Democratic presidential candidates talk about turning over the occupation to the U.N. and bringing in troops from other nations. Do you think that's a feasible military option? It looks as if few other countries are eager to dispatch their troops into a counterinsurgency situation, which, as you know, is much different than a peacekeeping mission.

The Iraqis don't want to see anyone else send in troops.

I spoke to a German who got the contract to restring power lines from Baghdad to Jordan. He said he was going to use Indians, not Iraqis, to restring the lines. He was then told by a prominent Iraqi that the Iraqi people would not stand for this, that Iraqis would be shooting the Indians down from the towers. He had to reconsider. Why don't they share your view at the White House and the Pentagon?

Ignorance--they just don't know how unconventional war is fought. And arrogance--an inability to listen to the suggestions from others.

I thought going to war in Iraq was a good thing. But we are screwing it up.

Our ability to screw things up is immense.

An Army At The Breaking Point; “We Can’t Do A Third Rotation”

“The U.S. Army is stretched to the breaking point.” “Many of us are concerned that we won’t be able to carry out the strategy we’ve embarked on in Iraq because we won’t be able to sustain it.

“Next summer, we could be saying that we’re breaking the U.S. Army, and that we can’t do a third rotation.

“Thousands of reservists have been called up. The coming months will see a continued rapid drawdown of deployed U.S. military combat power in Iraq (160,000 to 103,000) and an increasing reliance on 43,000 deploying reserve forces. This is driven not by military logic but by the realities of military end strength.” (Barry R. McCaffrey, Wall St. Journal 11.28.03)

COMPLETE WASTE OF EFFORT: A U.S. soldier uses his gun to pull barbed wire in the Baghdad suburb of Al Sadr city (Goran Tomasevic/Reuters) BRING HIM HOME NOW DANGER: POLITICIANS AT WORK

FOUND AT LAST! BUSH: GIGANTIC BRONZE BUSTS OF SADDAM WERE WMD Planned To Drop Them From Great Heights, Squish Foes

December 4, 2003, The Borowitz Report

President Bush revealed today that the four gigantic bronze busts of Saddam Hussein demolished by the U.S. this week were not merely huge monuments of the former dictator as originally suspected, but were actually the weapons of mass destruction that motivated the U.S. to invade Iraq earlier this year.

"Now that we have secured these gigantic and deadly heads, the search for weapons of mass destruction is officially over," Mr. Bush said. Mission accomplished -- again."

Citing "new intelligence reports," Mr. Bush told reporters that Saddam had planned to use military aircraft to dangle the fearsome, helmeted heads high above the ground, letting them drop at an opportune time to squish his foes below.

In addition, Mr. Bush said, there is "new evidence" that Saddam intended to mass- produce the enormous bronze busts of himself for export to Syria, North Korea and other rogue states.

"Thanks to the good work of our coalition, free people everywhere must no longer live in fear of being squished to death by one of Saddam Hussein's gigantic bronze heads," Mr. Bush said.

While the President would not detail what plans the U.S. had for the enormous, lethal heads, one Pentagon proposal under consideration would involve melting them down and fashioning them into one gigantic bust of Vice President Dick Cheney.

In a plan tentatively named Operation Mammoth Bronze Cheney, the bust would then be dropped on Saddam Hussein the moment he comes out of hiding. Elsewhere, in a sign that the President is serious about sending Americans to the moon, Mr. Bush today added the moon to the Axis of Evil.

GET SOME TRUTH: CHECK OUT TRAVELING SOLDIER Telling the truth - about the occupation, the cuts to veterans benefits, or the dangers of depleted uranium - is the first reason Traveling Soldier is necessary. But we want to do more than tell the truth; we want to report on the resistance - whether it's in the streets of Baghdad, New York, or inside the armed forces. Our goal is for Traveling Soldier to become the thread that ties working-class people inside the armed services together. We want this newsletter to be a weapon to help you organize resistance within the armed forces. If you like what you've read, we hope that you'll join with us in building a network of active duty organizers. http://www.traveling-soldier.org/

Received:

To: GI Special December 04, 2003 Subject: Soldiers

You seem to have some knowledge and feelings for the deployed military personnel.

I have a good reason for asking-do you know personally of any dependants of deployed military personnel who are needy because of the deployment?

We’d like to identify several families in the north-central Texas area who could use a little help. There are folks who want to assist them. Thanks

Ron Hart, vice president Training U N L I M I T E D 4101 West Green Oaks Blvd. Suite 305, PMB 581, Arlington, TX 76016 Ofc: (469) 621-2670 Cell: (214) 415-7956 Fax 1: (469) 621-2672 www.trainingunlimited.biz

D writes:

With a U.S. debt now at $500 billion and rising, he'll soon need a 3 billion inflow of foreign investment just to pay off interest and China commands a big chunk of $1.8 trillion of that foreign inflow; so Bush is caught between the mercy of voters and that of lenders.

From August to Sept., inflows plunged from $50 billion to $4 billion. The Financial Times said Bush is "stress-testing the market's resilience to destruction." Gold is at $400 per ounce -- in depreciated U.S. dollars that is. It's a lot cheaper in Eurodollars.

From: "j” December 01, 2003 3:48 PM

BTW I think that GI special is a bitching project.

If printed out, this newsletter is your personal property and cannot legally be confiscated from you. “Possession of unauthorized material may not be prohibited.” DoD Directive 1325.6 Section 3.5.1.2.