October Marks Deadliest Month Yet in Afghan War on Page 4 by Hal Bernton & Nancy A
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QUICK LINKS: NEWS > 2 OPINION > 5 FEATURES > 9 SPORTS > 12 In the OCTOBER 28, 2009 VOLUME 7 • ISSUE 7 Voice: VALENCIAVOICE.COM Official Student Media of Valencia Community College Talent Tuesday returns October marks deadliest month yet in Afghan war on page 4 By Hal Bernton & Nancy A. Youssef Valley, which has sustained the heaviest McClatchy Newspapers losses of any Stryker battalion from roadside Nikki Namdar / bombs, bombs that detonate on foot patrols Valencia Voice KABUL — Eight American service mem- and small-arms fire in an area of open desert bers were killed Tuesday in insurgent at- and dense foliage in irrigated farm fields. East Campus tacks in southern Afghanistan, a focal point Southern Afghanistan is a vast landscape plays host of the U.S. military campaign to combat the of mountains, deserts and irrigated fields to annual resurgent Taliban. that’s home to many conservative Pashtuns, Fall Festival The latest incidents, which came after 14 who live in urban centers such as Kandahar on page 4 Americans were killed Monday when three and numerous towns and smaller villages. helicopters crashed, brought the number Also on Tuesday, NATO officials in Af- Roxy Smith / Valencia Voice of U.S. personnel killed in Afghanistan in ghanistan announced the recovery of the October so far to 55, making it the deadliest bodies of three civilian crew members who month for American service members in the were killed when a U.S. Army C-12 Huron “This Is It” eight-year-old war, and proportionately one twin-engine turboprop plane crashed Oct. Can the of the worst months for U.S. forces in either 13 in Nuristan province. king of pop Iraq or Afghanistan. The losses starkly reflect the risks in fight- become the Seven service members and an Afghan ci- ing this ninth year of war of Afghanistan, as king of film vilian died when their vehicle was attacked insurgents have stepped up roadside bomb on page 9 with a bomb and enemy fire, said Lt. Col. Nikki Kahn, Washington Post / LATWP attacks. The expansion of U.S. troops here U.S. Army 1st Lt. Dan Berschinski, 25, of Peach Tree City, Ga., is fitted with a prosthetic by Michael Kevin Mazur, AEG Todd Vician, a NATO spokesman for the Corcoran, of Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington. has increased the strains on helicopters used / MCT Campus International Security Assistance Force in to ferry troops and supplies and attack the Kabul. An eighth U.S. service member was ity because he isn’t authorized to talk pub- summer by the Fort Lewis, Wash.-based 5th enemy. The Tuskers killed in a separate roadside bombing. licly about the incident, told McClatchy Brigade of the Army’s 2nd Infantry Divi- The 55 service members killed so far this are the best U.S. military officials in Kabul wouldn’t Newspapers that one of the vehicles hit was sion. month were among the 66,000 American team in UFL immediately release the names of the dead, a Stryker troop transport in the Arghandab The 5th Brigade of more than 3,800 sol- forces stationed here. The worst month for history their units or the locations of the attacks, Valley of Kandahar province. Strykers are diers has been patrolling in the Arghandab U.S. forces in Iraq was April 2004, when on page 13 pending notification of the next of kin. eight-wheeled armored vehicles that have Valley and other areas of southern Afghani- 135 were killed out of a total deployment A senior military official in Washington, been used extensively in Iraq and were de- stan. The brigade’s 1st Battalion, 17th Infan- of 128,000. Collin Dever / speaking only on the condition of anonym- ployed to Afghanistan for the first time this try Regiment, is assigned to the Arghandab — MCT Campus Valencia Voice VALENCIA VOICE NEWS NOVEMBER 4, 2009 2 Car bomb rocks Pakistan hours into Clinton’s visit By Saeed Shah tened rows of shops and ig- provincial Minister Bashir McClatchy Newspapers nited a fire that engulfed the Bilour, who visited the scene. area inside the congested old “Even if we have to die, we’ll ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — city. Bewildered wounded keep fighting these terrorists A devastating bomb ripped people were seen stumbling till our last breath.” through a busy market out of the dust and thick Clinton began a three-day Wednesday in the northwest- smoke in the narrow street. visit to Pakistan amid ex- ern Pakistani city of Pesha- Locals were trying to dig traordinary security mea- war just hours after Secre- people out of the debris. The sures. She’s seeking to repair tary of State Hillary Clinton explosion came from a pow- the American image in the arrived in the country. erful car bomb, officials said. country, which was badly Officials put the death toll The local head of the bomb damaged by a recent row at more than 80, with more disposal squad, Shafqat Ma- over a U.S. aid bill. Many than 200 wounded. Many of lik, said at the site of the blast Pakistanis blame the U.S. the victims were thought to that more than 330 pounds presence in the region for the be women and children who of high explosives had been instability that’s struck their were shopping in the ba- used. country and Afghanistan. zaar. Dozens of people were The buildings, which in- Parallel to the bombing feared to be buried under the cluded a mosque, were old in Peshawar, assailants pre- rubble. and collapsed easily. The sumed to be Afghan Taliban The country is reeling from Peepal Mandi market was militants attacked a U.N. a wave of terrorism that’s known for selling makeup guesthouse in Kabul, Af- accompanied the army’s of- and wedding-related goods, ghanistan, killing at least six fensive in South Waziristan, making it a popular destina- U.N. employees. the region on the Afghan tion for women. Shopkeep- “I want you to know that border that’s the center for ers previously had received this fight is not Pakistan’s Pakistan’s extremist groups. threats from Islamic extrem- alone,” Clinton told a news Bombings and gun attacks ists who objected to women conference Wednesday in Is- have hit cities across the going out shopping. lamabad. “This is our strug- country since the beginning “The terrorists are trying gle as well.” of this month. to demoralize the people and The blast in Peshawar flat- the government,” said senior — MCT Campus VALENCIA VOICE NEWS NOVEMBER 4, 2009 3 Obama signs 1st major federal gay-rights law By Margaret Talev man dragged to his death in a racially She also called on Americans to look McClatchy Newspapers motivated killing the same year. beyond legislation and work in their The measure also extends protec- own lives to advance acceptance of WASHINGTON — President Barack tions to those attacked because of their gays. Obama on Wednesday signed the gender or disability. Critics of the legislation, includ- first major piece of federal gay rights Federal hate crimes law already cov- ing several Republican congressional legislation, a milestone that activists ers race, religion and national origin. leaders, argued that an attack against compared to the passage of 1960s civil The new law strengthened it substan- another person is an attack, regard- rights legislation empowering blacks. tially, however, by removing a require- less of motivation, and that no special The new law adds acts of violence ment that a victim must have been par- categories are appropriate. against gay, lesbian, bisexual and ticipating at the time of the assault in Many also voiced concerns about transgender people to the list of fed- some federally protected activity, such “thought police” and fears that the eral hate crimes. Gay rights activists as voting, for it to apply. new legal protections could curb free voiced hope that the Obama admin- Matthew Shepard’s parents joined speech if those who oppose gay rights istration would advance more issues, Obama for the ceremony, as did the fear they could somehow be prosecut- including legislation to bar workplace family of the late Sen. Edward Ken- ed for publicly voicing their thoughts. discrimination, allow military service nedy of Massachusetts, who until his But the law punishes acts — not and recognize same-sex marriages. death in August was deeply involved thoughts. Congress passed the hate crimes pro- in pushing the legislation. Gay rights advocates said that the tections as an unlikely amendment to The Shepards’ fight took a decade. legislation will enable the Justice De- this year’s Defense Authorization Act. With recent elections adding more partment to step in when states can’t Obama, speaking at an emotional eve- Olivier Douliery, Abaca Press / MCT Campus lawmakers who are supportive of gay or won’t, and will make extra federal ning reception with supporters of the President Barack Obama signs into law into law the National Defense Authorization Act for rights, by 2007 the Congress had suf- money and resources available to lo- FY2010 at the White House, in the East Room, Oct. 28 in Washington. legislation, said that more than 12,000 ficient votes to pass the legislation, but cal law enforcement officials who need hate crimes had been reported the past orientation could win passage in the peal next year of the 1996 Defense of then-President George W. Bush indi- help preventing or prosecuting such decade based on sexual orientation. House of Representatives by year’s Marriage Act, which would give fed- cated that he’d veto it. attacks. He spoke of President Lyndon John- end, gay rights advocates said.