Military Resistance 10J6

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“The Taliban IED War Was The Central Element Of Its Counter- Strategy Against The U.S. Escalation Of The War” “The Taliban Success In Targeting Troops On Foot Was The Main Reason U.S. Casualties From IEDs Increased From 1,211 Wounded And 159 Dead In 2009 To 3,366 Wounded And 259 Dead In 2010” “It Also Provided Constant Evidence To The Afghan Population That Taliban Had A Continued Presence Even Where U.S. Troops Had Occupied Former Taliban Districts” “The U.S. Troop Surge Could Not Reverse The Very Steep Increase In IED Attacks And Attendant Casualties”

JIEDDO spent more than 18 billion dollars on high-tech solutions aimed at detecting IEDs before they went off, including robots, and blimps with spy cameras.

But as the technology helped the U.S.-NATO command discover more IEDs, the Taliban simply produced and planted even larger numbers of bombs to continue to increase the pressure of the IED war.

October 9, 2012 by Gareth Porter, IPS-Inter Press Service

Although the surge of “insider attacks” on U.S.-NATO forces has dominated coverage of the war in Afghanistan in 2012, an even more important story has been quietly unfolding: the U.S. loss of the pivotal war of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) to the Taliban.

Some news outlets have published stories this year suggesting that the U.S. military was making “progress” against the Taliban IED war, but those stories failed to provide the broader context for seasonal trends or had a narrow focus on U.S. fatalities.

The bigger reality is that the U.S. troop surge could not reverse the very steep increase in IED attacks and attendant casualties that the Taliban began in 2009 and which continued through 2011.

Over the 2009-11 period, the U.S. military suffered a total of 14,627 casualties, according to the Pentagon’s Defense Casualty Analysis System and iCasualties, a non- governmental organisation tracking Iraq and Afghanistan war casualties from published sources.

Of that total, 8,680, or 59 percent, were from IED explosions, based on data provided by the Pentagon’s Joint IED Defeat Organisation (JIEDDO).

And the proportion of all U.S. casualties caused by IEDs continued to increase from 56 percent in 2009 to 63 percent in 2011. The Taliban IED war was the central element of its counter-strategy against the U.S. escalation of the war.

It absorbed an enormous amount of the time and energy of U.S. troops, and demonstrated that the counterinsurgency campaign was not effective in reducing the size or power of the insurgency.

It also provided constant evidence to the Afghan population that Taliban had a continued presence even where U.S. troops had occupied former Taliban districts.

U.S. Pentagon and military leaders sought to gain control over the Taliban’s IED campaign with two contradictory approaches, both of which failed because they did not reflect the social and political realities in Afghanistan.

JIEDDO spent more than 18 billion dollars on high-tech solutions aimed at detecting IEDs before they went off, including robots, and blimps with spy cameras.

But as the technology helped the U.S.-NATO command discover more IEDs, the Taliban simply produced and planted even larger numbers of bombs to continue to increase the pressure of the IED war.

The counterinsurgency strategy devised by Gen. David Petraeus and implemented by Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, on the other hand, held that the IED networks could be destroyed once the people turned away from the Taliban.

They pushed thousands of U.S. troops out of their armoured vehicles into patrols on foot in order to establish relationships with the local population.

The main effect of the strategy, however, was a major jump in the number of “catastrophic” injuries to U.S. troops from IEDs.

In his Aug. 30, 2009 “initial assessment”, McChrystal said the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) “cannot succeed if it is unwilling to share risk at least equally with the people.”

In an interview with USA Today in July 2009, he argued that “the best way to defeat IEDs will be to defeat the Taliban’s hold on the people.”

Once the people’s trust had been gained, he suggested, they would inform ISAF of the location of IEDs.

McChrystal argued that the Taliban were using “the psychological effects of IEDs and the coalition force’s preoccupation with force protection” to get the U.S.-NATO command to reinforce a “garrison posture and mentality”.

McChrystal ordered much more emphasis on more dismounted patrols by U.S. forces in fall 2009.

The Taliban responded by increasing the number of IEDs targeting dismounted patrols from 71 in September 2009 to 228 by January 2010, according data compiled by JIEDDO. That meant that the population had more knowledge of the location of IEDs, which should have resulted in a major increase in IEDs turned in by the population, according to the Petraeus counterinsurgency theory.

But the data on IEDs shows that the opposite happened. In the first eight months of 2009, the average rate of turn-ins had been three percent, but from September 2009 to June 2010, the rate averaged 2.7 percent.

After Petraeus replaced McChrystal as ISAF commander in June 2010, he issued a directive calling for more dismounted patrols, especially in Helmand and Kandahar, where U.S. troops were trying to hold territory that the Taliban had controlled in previous years.

In the next five months, the turn-in rate fell to less than one percent.

Meanwhile, the number of IED attacks on foot patrols causing casualties increased from 21 in October 2009 to an average of 40 in the March-December 2010 period, according to JIEDDO records.

U.S. troops wounded by IEDs spiked to an average of 316 per month during that period, 2.5 times more than the average for the previous 10-month period.

The Taliban success in targeting troops on foot was the main reason U.S. casualties from IEDs increased from 1,211 wounded and 159 dead in 2009 to 3,366 wounded and 259 dead in 2010.

The damage from IEDs was far more serious, however, than even those figures suggest, because the injuries to dismounted patrols included far more “traumatic amputation” of limbs – arms and legs blown off by bombs – and other more severe wounds than had been seen in attacks on armoured vehicles.

A June 2011 Army task force report described a new type of battle injury – “Dismount Complex Blast Injury”– defined as a combination of “traumatic amputation of at least one leg, a minimum of severe injury to another extremity, and pelvic, abdominal, or urogenital wounding.”

The report confirmed that the number of triple limb amputations in 2010 alone had been twice the total in the previous eight years of war.

A study of 194 amputations in 2010 and the first three months of 2011 showed that most were suffered by Marine Corps troops, who were concentrated in Helmand province, and that 88 percent were the result of IED attacks on dismounted patrols, according to the report.

In January 2011, the director of JIEDDO, Gen. John L. Oates, acknowledged that U.S. troops in Helmand and Kandahar had seen “an alarming increase in the number of troops losing one or two legs to IEDs.”

Much larger numbers of U.S. troops have suffered moderate to severe traumatic brain injuries from IED blasts – mostly against armoured vehicles. Statistics on the total number of limb amputations and traumatic brain injuries in Afghanistan were excised from the task force report.

In 2011, U.S. fatalities from IEDs fell to 204 from 259 in 2010, and overall fatalities fell from 499 to 418.

But the number of IED injuries actually increased by 10 percent from 3,339 to 3,530, and the overall total of wounded in action was almost the same as in 2010, according to data from iCasualties.

The total for wounded in the first eight months of 2012 are 10 percent less than the same period in 2011, whereas the number of dead is 29 percent below the previous year’s pace.

The reduction in wounded appears to reflect in part the transfer of thousands of U.S. troops from Kandahar and Helmand provinces, where a large proportion of the casualties have occurred, to eastern Afghanistan. The number of IED attacks on dismounted patrols in the mid-July 2011 to mid-July 2012 period was 25 percent less than the number in the same period a year earlier, according to JIEDDO.

The Pentagon was well aware by early 2011 that it wasn’t going to be able to accomplish what it had planned before and during the troop surge.

In a telling comment to the Washington Post in January 2011, JIEDDO head Gen. Oates insisted that the idea that “we’re losing the IED fight in Afghanistan” was “not accurate”, because, “The whole idea isn’t to destroy the network. That’s maybe impossible.”

The aim, he explained, was now to “disrupt them” – a move of the goalposts that avoided having to admit defeat in the IED war.

And in an implicit admission that Petraeus’s push for even more dismounted patrols is no longer treated with reverence in the ISAF command, the August 2010 directive has been taken down from its website.

MORE: “We’re Both Out There Doing Foot Patrol. We Don’t Have The Safety Of An Armored Vehicle” “‘They Told Me His Legs Got Blown Off,’ Davis Said” Zephyrhills Soldier Injured In IED Blast In Afghanistan

Army infantryman Tyler “TJ” Jeffries, a 2007 Zephyrhills High grad, was on patrol in Afghanistan when he stepped on an IED on Saturday.

October 12, 2012 By Lisa Buie, Times Staff Writer, Tampa Bay Times

ZEPHYRHILLS — Mike Davis was home on leave Saturday when the text message came.

It was about his friend and former Zephyrhills High School classmate Tyler “TJ” Jeffries. The two had played baseball for the Bulldogs. After graduating in 2007, both ended up in the Army.

Jeffries, 23, an infantryman who had been serving in Afghanistan, had stepped on an improvised explosive device, known as an IED. “They told me his legs got blown off,” Davis said.

Just a couple of months ago, his unit was in the same area doing the same thing.

“His unit replaced my unit,” said Davis, a private first class and a member of the 82nd Airborne at Fort Bragg, N.C.

“We’re both out there doing foot patrol. We don’t have the safety of an armored vehicle.”

Davis said he feared for his friend, a member of the 2-1 Attack Company and stationed out of Fort Lewis, Wash. The two had recently connected on Facebook and talked about visiting. “I knew the area,” he said. “I knew how bad it was out there.”

Jeffries’ father, Ted, said his son was clearing an area before the squad moved forward when the IED exploded.

“It was a command detonated device,” he said. “Somebody had to watch him go on top of it or close enough to it.”

Two sergeants stanched the blood with tourniquets and got him to a more secure area so a helicopter could rush him to a field hospital.

“Those two sergeants literally saved his life,” Ted Jeffries said. “Everybody in his unit, they were Johnny on the spot. It’s a credit to them and their training.”

TJ Jeffries was taken to Germany, where doctors performed surgery on Sunday. He had to be stabilized several times before reaching Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md, on Tuesday night.

“He was in really bad shape,” his father said.

On Wednesday, he had more surgery at Walter Reed.

His family rushed to Maryland to be at his side.

“Just let him live,” Ted Jeffries prayed on the plane trip. “Just let him be okay. Just let me see him one more time.”

When he arrived, Ted Jeffries and the rest of the family huddled together in a hotel room and prayed some more. TJ’s mother, Pamela Britt of North Carolina, had arrived a day earlier and had been able to be with their son as he was taken off the flight and into the hospital.

Word spread quickly through the small town of Zephyrhills, where TJ Jeffries had played first base and baffled batters with his nasty curve ball and 87 mph fastball.

“Thank you for your service Tyler Jeffries” read the message on the Zephyrhills High marquee.

Principal Steve Van Gorden said students were sending cards, and the school planned to send a care package of Bulldog shirts, caps and other items.

“This is still a small community,” said Bruce Cimorelli, the school’s athletic director, who coached Jeffries while in high school. “A lot of people still remember him.”

He described the Jeffries family as “good people” and said TJ Jeffries was always smiling.

“All the kids really liked him a lot,” he said. Ted Jeffries said his son has talked “a little bit” about his injuries but has remained mostly upbeat.

“The loss of any limb would be traumatic,” he said. “He’s had little up and down moments, but he’s got a smile on his face and he’s glad to have family here.”

A Facebook page, Supporting Tyler Jeffries, listed 2,942 “likes” by Thursday afternoon.

Posts said his wounds were such that they needed to be cleaned only every other day as opposed to daily.

For dinner Wednesday, he ate a grilled ham and cheese sandwich, fries and ranch dressing.

For breakfast, he ate hash browns and a cinnamon roll. He also drank three Mountain Dews.

“He hasn’t had them in a long time and he knows he likes them, but he’s been in the desert so long that water’s tasting real good to him right now,” his father said.

By Thursday afternoon, he had improved enough to move out of the intensive care unit. His recovery could take up to a year.

Jeffries’ former classmate, Davis, said he’s still shaken by his friend’s injuries but he’s trying to see things positively. He said he’s proud of Jeffries, who made a “huge sacrifice” to protect America’s freedoms.

“He’s still with us. He’s still alive, and he’s still able to enjoy a Mountain Dew.”

But Davis, who returns to duty on Saturday, also realizes it just as easily could happen to him.

“It’s a crazy feeling,” Davis said. “Every single day you go out on patrol and you don’t know if you are coming back or not. It really does put you on another level. You appreciate things you’ve got, who’s in your life.”

MORE: Deadly IED Fraud: “The Taliban Have Often Used Drainage Channels To Hide Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs)” Afghan Contractors Paid To Seal Drainage Channels “Had Failed To Do So In More Than 100 Cases”

11 October 2012 BBC.UK & October 12 Kazaaz Web Services [Excerpts]

Nato forces in Afghanistan have been exposed to greater risk of Taliban attacks because of fraud, a US government agency has alleged.

A report said Afghan contractors paid to seal drainage channels - often used to hide explosives under roads - had failed to do so in more than 100 cases.

According to their preliminary investigation, the unnamed contractor was paid $361,680 to install gratings on culverts along Afghan highways to prevent insurgents from installing IEDs underneath the highways.

In many cases, the gratings were never installed in the first place. When they were, many were just defective and easy to circumvent. The gratings, called “culvert denial systems,” don’t deny anyone.

John Sopko issued the safety alert to U.S. commanders warning that the agency had identified potentially “significant contract fraud” from a contractor that was supposed to protect against roadside bomb attacks.

Sopko said that it was a particular issue in one specific location in Afghanistan, but he said the agency is “concerned that this problem may be more widely spread throughout Afghanistan.”

A criminal investigation is under way, senior generals have been told.

The BBC’s Andrew North in Kabul says if proven, the case is likely to deepen mistrust between Nato and Afghans.

The Taliban have often used drainage channels to hide improvised explosive devices (IEDs).

To reduce the risk, the US military has paid contractors to install metal grates over the channels to prevent anyone getting inside.

But investigators said there was evidence of fraud in the work and in many cases no metal grate was installed at all.

Philip J LaVelle, a spokesman for the inspector general’s office, declined to comment on whether any troops had been killed by the problem with the drainage channels. POLITICIANS REFUSE TO HALT THE BLOODSHED THE TROOPS HAVE THE POWER TO STOP THE WAR

AFGHANISTAN WAR REPORTS

17 Afghan Soldiers Killed Or Injured In Militants Attacks

Oct 09 Khaama Press

Afghan defense ministry officials on Tuesday announced at least 17 Afghan national army soldiers were killed or injured in various incidents across the country.

According to a statement released by Afghan defense ministry, at least 2 Afghan national army soldiers were killed and 9 others were injured following roadside bomb explosion and militants attacks in Bala Bolok district of western Farah province.

The source further added at least one Afghan soldier was killed in eastern Khost province of Afghanistan while five others were injured following separate incidents in Paktiya, Ghazni, Zabul, Nimroz and Kunar provinces of Afghanistan.

In Nad-e-Ali district of southern Helmand province, Provincial governor spokesman Ahmad Zerak said an incident took place while Afghan police forces were looking to defuse a roadside bomb. He said at least one Afghan police officer was killed and two others were injured after explosive device went off.

Police Commander Killed In Nad-E-Ali

10 October 2012 TOLOnews.com

Seven Afghan Local Police (ALP) officers including a commander were killed by a roadside bomb blast in southern Helmand province on Wednesday morning, local officials said.

Today’s blast happened about 07:00 AM in the Nad-e-Ali district after the police vehicle struck an improvised explosive device (IED) in the road, the district governor Mohammad Ibrahim said.

One of the officer’s survived but has sustained injuries.

“A local police commander, Mohammad Agha, is also among the dead,” Ibrahim added.

No group including the Taliban has claimed responsibility for the blast.

District Security Chief Killed By Blast In Balkh Province

Oct 11 Khaama Press

According to local authorities in northern Balkh province of Afghanistan, district security chief for Shor-Tapa was killed along with his bodyguard following a roadside bomb explosion.

The incident took place early Thursday morning at Shor-Tapa district after a roadside bomb went off.

Provincial security chief spokesman Sher Khan Durani confirming the report said at least 5 security guards of Shor-Tapa district security chief were also injured following the blast.

He said no suspect has been arrested in connection to the incident so far and Afghan security forces have launched investigations to probe the incident.

IF YOU DON’T LIKE THE RESISTANCE END THE OCCUPATION

SOMALIA WAR REPORTS

“A Huge Roadside Bomb Explosion Inn Somalia’s Southern Port City Of Kismayo”

October 9, 2012 Sh.M.Network KISMAYO— At least two people were killed and five others injured in a huge roadside bomb explosion inn Somalia’s southern port city of Kismayo, the latest in series of attacks against Somali and Kenyan forces, reports said.

Tuesday’s attack took place at Alanley village, targeting Somali government forces as they were carrying out massive operations aimed to secure the city, after the Al Qaeda- linked Al shabab insurgents vacated.

“The explosion was a remote controlled land-mine that hit on a vehicle carrying soldiers from Somali government and their Raskomboni militia fighters.

At least two soldiers dead following the blast,” a resident who asked not to be named, told Shabelle Media Network by phone.

A Somali military officer says a nigh-time curfew was imposed and came into effect over night in Somalia’s southern port city of Kismayo, a move that intended to stop sting of bombings and insecurity acts since Al shabab’s withdrawal early this month.

Col. Mohamed Farah, the military officer told Shabelle Media Network that government forces along with Raskamboni militia have arrested dozens of people who showed defiant over the curfew imposed the city.

“One Combatant Dead And Many More Others Injured” As Government Troops Fight Each Other

October 8, 2012 Sh.M.Network

BALADWEYNE (

Pro-government soldiers in Somalia’s central town of Beledweyne exchanged heavy gunfire on Monday, leaving one combatant dead and many more others injured, reports said.

Eyewitnesses said At least one soldier was confirmed killed during the clashes that raged on for several hours on Monday morning.

The violence broke out after soldiers guarding the regional administration building office in the town have opened fire on troops in suspicion of as attacking enemy. The situation has returned to normal, when another government forces intervened in the warring sides.

MILITARY NEWS 3000 From 1st Cavalry Division & 1st Armored Division Combat Aviation Brigade Off To Obama’s Imperial Slaughterhouse

October 15, 2012 Army Times [Excerpts]

Two major units — more than 3,000 soldiers — will deploy to Afghanistan later this year and early next year, the Defense Department said Oct. 2.

About 68,000 U.S. troops, about 40,000 of them soldiers, remain in Afghanistan.

The deploying units are: 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, Texas.

About 1,390 soldiers from the brigade will deploy as a Security Force Assistance Brigade. They will be tasked primarily with advising and partnering with Afghan National Security Forces.

The soldiers are scheduled to deploy in November for a nine-month tour in Regional Command-East.

1st Armored Division Combat Aviation Brigade, Fort Bliss, Texas.

About 1,700 soldiers will deploy with the brigade. The unit is scheduled to backfill the 12th CAB, which deployed from U.S. Army Europe and is serving in Regional Command-North.

The 1st Armored Division CAB is scheduled to deploy in February for a ninemonth tour.

Thieving VA Scum Stole Money From VA Medical Accounts To Treat Themselves To Goodies: “Including Pedometers, Water Bottles And Duffel Bags; And In Excess Costs For Food, Beverages, Catering” “11 Others Face Potential Disciplinary Action For Accepting Gifts From Vendors — Such As Massages, Fruit Baskets, Tickets To See The Rockettes And A Helicopter Ride”

October 15, 2012 By Rick Maze, Army Times [Excerpts]

A big chunk of the $6.1 million that paid for two weeklong Veterans Affairs Department conferences at a Florida resort came from funds appropriated by Congress for veterans health care, a new report has found.

The controversy has led to the resignation of one senior VA official, while 11 others face potential disciplinary action for accepting gifts from vendors — such as massages, fruit baskets, tickets to see the Rockettes and a helicopter ride.

But the fact that VA paid for the events by diverting money from other programs is what’s grabbing attention in Congress.

“This sort of funny-money accounting must stop, and will no longer be tolerated, especially in today’s tight fiscal climate,” said Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla., House Veterans’ Affairs Committee chairman.

“Funding allocated for these conferences was drawn from VA medical accounts, which could have been used toward providing hundreds of veterans with VA health care.”

An Oct. 1 VA inspector general report, which found that more than $762,000 of the $6.1 million spent on the conferences could be excessive or wasteful, describes the complicated funding sources for the events.

Some expenses were covered by diverting money from other veterans programs, and some may have come from the Department of Health and Human Services.

The conferences at the Orlando Marriott World Center Golf and Spa Resort in July and August 2011 ran up “unauthorized,” “unnecessary” or “wasteful” expenses, and there was a lack of proper control over the money, the report found.

Problems included employees committing to contracts or paying with government purchase cards without authorization. Excessive costs included almost $50,000 for videos and a personal appearance from an actor portraying the late Army Gen. George Patton, which the IG said did nothing to improve the conferences; $97,000 for promotional items given to attendees, including pedometers, water bottles and duffel bags; and $280,000 in excess costs for food, beverages, catering and other miscellaneous expenses.

VA’s top human resources official, John Sepulveda, resigned the day before the report was released, and other VA workers are under investigation.

At least 11 were found to have improperly taken gifts from vendors seeking government business, including one who requested and received special accommodations to bring family to Orlando.

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

Vice Presidential Candidates Talk Tough On Afghan War, Military: “Both Candidates Then Argued For A Full Two Minutes Using Only ‘Uh Huh’ And ‘Nuh Huh’ Before Moving On To Other Topics”

October 12, 2012 by Paul, The Duffle Blog

DANVILLE, KENTUCKY – In a ninety minute debate last night, Vice Presidential candidates Joe Biden and Paul Ryan engaged in a verbal war in their effort to win votes on November 6. Unlike the previous week’s Presidential debate, a large focus was on foreign policy, the war in Afghanistan, and military members. After an initial question and answer on domestic issues, the moderator turned the attention to military service — asking specifically about the war in Afghanistan.

“We are leaving in 2014, no doubt about that,” said Vice President Joe Biden on the drawdown of troops. “I’ve been to Afghanistan over 20 times. I know what it’s like. I’ve been into the Korengal Valley, mostly in a helicopter, sometimes in a vehicle.”

Paul Ryan responded, challenging Biden and the President on the use of a timetable for the withdrawal of troops.

“We should not give our enemies a timeframe so they can just wait us out,” Ryan said.

“Listen, this is malarkey. Let me tell you something, sonny,” said Biden, throwing his arms up in disgust. “Quick story. So there I was, balls deep in a hooker’s… wait. Wrong story.”

He continued: “So there I was, no shit, flying over Afghanistan.” An audible gasp erupted in the room at Biden’s use of profanity.

“Hey cut that shit out, listen up,” Biden continued with a grin.

“So we started taking fire and we had to do an emergency landing in a field. The soldiers secured the perimeter and we got into a firefight. Across the way, we see some Afghan army troops on an adjacent road — it looks like they were digging a foxhole over there or something — they came over to help and the Taliban left.”

“That incident showed me, and I can say to you now — the Afghan forces are leading and they can take over their own security.”

After Biden’s vivid recollection of his daring under fire, Ryan also tried to boast of his experience in the region.

“I’ve also been to Afghanistan and spoken with our troops. I remember talking with Specialist Frank Alvarado of the 82nd Airborne. I asked him, ‘What do you think we should be doing in Afghanistan?’”

“The soldier was hesitant at first. His First Sergeant looked over at him, did a slicing motion across his neck as if to say ‘Cut it out with the scared routine, go ahead and say what you want to say’.

Then he looked at me and said, ‘Mr. Ryan, we need to stay here indefinitely, help the Afghan people, and ensure this country never again becomes a safe haven for terrorists.’”

After this exchange, the discussion moved to debt and deficits. Biden was quick to point out that the U.S. ending the Afghan war would “basically save us like a million gazillion dollars.”

“Gazillion isn’t even a real number,” responded Ryan, who heads the House Budget Committee. Both candidates then argued for a full two minutes using only “Uh huh” and “Nuh huh” before moving on to other topics.

ANNIVERSARIES

October 11, 2002: Infamous Anniversary

Carl Bunin Peace History October 8-14

The House voted 296-133 to pass the “Joint Resolution to Authorize the Use of United States Armed Forces Against Iraq,” giving President George W. Bush broad authority to use military force against Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, with or without U.N. support.

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.

OCCUPATION PALESTINE [To check out what life is like under a murderous military occupation commanded by foreign terrorists, go to: www.rafahtoday.org The occupied nation is Palestine. The foreign terrorists call themselves “Israeli.”]

CLASS WAR REPORTS

South African Truck Drivers Win Strike: “Wage Increases Of 10% From March 2013, 8% The Following Year And 9%For 2015”

Strikebrekers trucks have been set on fire and drivers attacked with petrol bombs and rocks, with at least one fatality [EPA]

[Thanks to Alan Stolzer, Military Resistance Organization, who sent this in.]

12 Oct 2012 Al Jazeera

Unions and employers in South Africa have sealed a deal to end a three-week-long truck drivers’ strike.

“We are very very pleased to announce that a settlement has been reached,” Dave Behrens, the truckers’ representative, said on Friday afternoon.

“This three-year agreement secures stability in the industry for a long time to come.”

The deal has ended weeks of road freight paralysis enforced by some 20,000 truckers. The strike had reportedly threatened the supply both of consumer goods and gas in Africa’s largest economy.

Some trucks were set on fire during the strike.

As details of the agreement emerged, the Road Freight Employers Association announced a return to work. “The agreement has been signed by everyone. The strike is off immediately,” said the union’s Penwell Lunga.

All four of the country’s transport unions were part of the deal.

Workers agreed to accept wage increases of ten per cent from March 2013, eight per cent the following year and nine per cent for 2015. They had been demanding a 12 per cent pay raise.

“This will bring great relief for many people in South Africa,” said Al Jazeera’s Tania Page, reporting from Johannesburg.

“Food prices had been pushed up due to the strike. This period - in the build up to Christmas - should be an important time of the year for business.”

News of Friday’s wage deal has also eased pressure on the South African Rand. The currency, which tumbled to a three-year low on Monday, rallied to its highest in a week following the announcement.

The country has been gripped by labour unrest since August, when platinum miners in Marikana staged a series of strikes demanding higher pay.

Finance agency Moody’s cut South Africa’s credit rating in September, citing the government’s failure to tackle the industrial unrest that shook investor confidence amid sluggish economic growth.

60,000 March In Madrid As Spain Hit By New Wave Of Street Protests: “Pensions, Salaries, Public Healthcare And Education. They’re Taking Everything” “How Can There Be Peace Without Bread?” “Their Plunder, My Crisis” “77% Of Spaniards Support The Protesters, While More Than 90% Think Protests Will Become More Frequent”

07 Oct 2012 AlJazeera

Thousands of protesters have marched across Spanish cities to decry tough austerity measures as the protest movement gains momentum, with signs it could culminate in a general strike in November.

Sunday’s march is the latest in a series of protests staged by hundreds of thousands of Spaniards almost on a daily basis over the past few months.

The protests have presented the centre-right government with a headache as it is due to hold regional elections.

Spanish labour unions said they would call a general strike if the government did not hold a referendum on unpopular spending cuts.

Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy unveiled $16.9bn in additional savings in a tough budget last month.

“It’s up to the government whether there’s a general strike or not. If they were going to hold a referendum things would be completely different,” said Ignacio Fernandez Toxo, leader of Spain’s biggest union, Comisiones Obreras.

“It’s shameful - we’re losing everything,” said Carmen Lopez, a department store worker at Sunday’s protest in the capital Madrid. “Pensions, salaries, public healthcare and education. They’re taking everything.”

Some 60,000 people attended the union-organised march in the centre of Madrid.

“How can there be peace without bread?” and “Their plunder, my crisis”, placards read.

“I’m a teacher and they’ve really cut back in education - there are fewer resources, fewer teachers and more students,” said Agustin Moreno, who teaches in the Madrid neighbourhood of Vallecas.

“We will do everything we can. We will keep protesting,” he added.

Protesters wore colours of various unions, and many were clad in T-shirts saying “I used to have social and labour rights”.

“They’re taking away help for people who are unemployed, just at the time when people most need the help,” said primary school teacher Francisca Valverde. Protests were taking place in dozens of cities on Sunday, but there were no reports of any violence.

In the wake of violence during a protest in Madrid on September 25, Rajoy urged a business audience in New York last week to focus on the “silent majority” of Spaniards who do not protest.

But a survey in El Pais newspaper on Sunday showed 77 per cent of Spaniards support the protesters, while more than 90 per cent think protests will become more frequent.

The government is increasingly unpopular at home and must convince uneasy investors that it can keep a lid on social unrest and carry out its austerity policies.

The right to protest has become a topic of fierce debate in Spain since the Sept. 25 demonstration ended in 35 arrests and left 64 people injured.

Last week politicians from the ruling PP said laws surrounding protests should be tightened up, with Madrid’s local government chief Ignacio Gonzalez saying the capital was in “a constant state of collapse” because of demonstrations.

But a Spanish court on Thursday threw out a police case against the organisers of the protest, saying people had a right to express their opinion.

The court will also investigate police brutality at Madrid’s Atocha station during the demonstration.

Tens Of Thousands Of Greeks March Against New Cuts To Further Reduce Pensions And Salaries And Increase The Retirement Age By Two Years, To Age 67: “Demonstrators Marched On Syntagma Square In Spite Of A Ban On Gathering There And Tried To Push Through Barricades To Voice Anger” Pensioners against the government during a march in central Athens October 8, 2012. REUTERS/Yannis Behrakis

Protesters push a police barricade outside the parliament during a violent protest against the visit of Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel, in Athens October 9, 2012. REUTERS/John Kolesidis October 9. 2012 Nikolia Apostolou and Louise Osborne, Special for USA TODAY [Excerpts]

ATHENS -- Tens of thousands of protesters greeted German Chancellor Angela Merkel here Tuesday when she arrived for a meeting with Greece’s prime minister.

Demonstrators expressed anger that the Greek government must cut spending further to qualify for European aid and avoid national bankruptcy. But Merkel said after her meeting that Greece will rise from its current debt crisis with the help of Germany.

Demonstrators marched on Syntagma square in spite of a ban on gathering there and tried to push through barricades to voice anger at Merkel, whom they accuse of unfairly forcing Greece to slash jobs and benefits to keep the European Union intact.

Some demonstrators threw stones and bottles. Police fired tear gas to hold them back, but violent flare-ups were isolated.

More than 7,000 police patrolled the streets of the capital; large areas of the city were shut off to the public and gatherings were banned outside the German Embassy.

Greek hospital workers at the Henry Dunant Hospital were reported to have thrown objects at Merkel’s motorcade as it passed.

Police officers responded with tear gas, according to Athens radio station reports.

“She knows she’s not welcome here,” said protester Leta Karayanni, 28. “I think Merkel came here (for the typical diplomatic visit) but also to show her power. We have nothing against the Germans (but) she’s just another unethical politician like the Greek politicians.”

Meanwhile, newspapers played on Germany’s Nazi World War II history. Proto Thema newspaper ran the headline, “Heil, Merkel!” and the publication Dimokratia said Merkel wants to “build a fourth reich.”

New cuts are set to further reduce pensions and salaries and increase the retirement age by two years, to age 67.

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