On this 'Unhappy Anniversary' weekend join hundreds of Websites hosting the 'Iraq Veterans Memorial', many posting them last night as I did, than continue to keep it posted as it will be updated with testimonials from the Loved Ones and Friends of The Fallen! And for those who lost a Loved One or Friend to this Debacle of Failed Policy Contribute to the Memorial
This memorial was conceived as a place to honor the servicemembers who lost their lives over the past four years during the Iraq War. By watching the videos, you will have the opportunity to learn about these heroes from those who knew them best -- their family, friends, and fellow servicemembers. Each man and woman represented in the memorial had attributes and qualities that made them unique, but they all have one thing in common - they were truly loved and are deeply missed.
The Iraq Veterans Memorial is an online war memorial to honor the members of the U.S. armed forces who have lost their lives serving in the Iraq War. It is a collection of video memories from family, friends, military colleagues, and co-workers of those that have fallen. The memorial will be an online destination for people to honor and remember those we have lost. We need your help to make this complete. If you knew a soldier who died, please contribute your own video memorial to them. There is no deadline. You can contribute your video by either uploading a 60-second memorial to YouTube and sending the link to Iraq Memorial or by sending us the footage and we’ll upload it for you. If you’d like to mail us your tape or DVD, we need both a photo of the soldier, and your 60 second video testimonial. The videotape can be any format, but we prefer miniDV. Be sure to write the name and rank of the soldier on the videotape case, as well as your contact information. You will also need to fill out the photo release for the photo of the honored soldier and the video release for your video.
Please mail all this material to: Iraq Veterans Memorial c/o Brave New Foundation 10510 Culver Blvd. Culver City, CA 90232
You can also email the photo to Iraq Memorial. We cannot return your videotape or photo, so if you can't replace the photo, you can just shoot video of it and include it on your video tape.
There is some more information, about partcipation, at above link.
You can help share the Iraq Veterans Memorial by hosting it on your website, blog, or MySpace page. It is easy to embed our Google video onto your page.
Follow link above for some more information and the link to embed in your site.
The Pentagon has banned the media from taking pictures of military caskets returning from war since 1991, citing concern for the privacy of grieving families and friends of the dead soldiers. So it's rare that an average citizen would catch a glimpse of a military casket these days. John McSheffrey was on board a Delta Airlines flight 1220 coming from Atlanta to Boston when he noticed that the plane contained the coffin of a dead soldier making his last journey home from Iraq. John took photos of the casket with his cell phone and wrote an essay. Guests: John McSheffrey
Using his cellphone John J. McSheffrey shot these photos of a soldier's coffin arriving at Logan Airport. The pilot had earlier told passengers the body of a soldier killed in Iraq was on the plane. Here an honor guard awaits the plane. (Photo: John J. McSheffrey Jr.)
Morning Edition, March 16, 2007 · Veterans' advocates and some members of Congress say the federal government has systematically underfunded health-care budgets for military veterans for years. Some point to political maneuvering during Republicans' time in control of Congress.
Volume 5C Volume: 5C Issue: 16 "He Wasn't In Favor Of The War" WordPDF
"C" Company The Goat?
Because when you come right down to it, the wrong people are on trial for atrocities.
Nixon, Westmoreland, Abrams and Mendal Rivers, the very bullshitters who are most eager to see Charlie Co. brought to justice, are finally the men most responsible for My Lai. They were the ones telling us that Ky and Thieu’s corrupt government is worth dying for. They are the ones who taught us to kill, who put us over here in this mind-fucking shit hole and told us to go to it. In short, they started the war and they know you never have a war without atrocities.
Visit the 'Sir No Sir' Library for link to some information on the underground GI Press, and use the other links to the left.
Vietnam GI, June 1970 Laughin’, Cryin’, Livin’, Dyin’ Hee Haw Who’s the jackass now?
Charlie Co. is the jackass. From Nixon and Abrams on down to all sorts of deluded fat ass lifers and selfrighteous civi-pigs there is a feeling that Charlie Co. really blew it. They didn’t give candy bars to the kids of My Lai. They didn’t pass out soap to the women. Instead they blew off the village. So the men of Charlie Co. fucked up. They didn’t act like your friendly neighborhood Peace Corpsman. They acted instead like the ordinary sons of ordinary people. They acted like an outfit of short-timers and Purple Heart winners who’d been in the shit, who’d lived it and breathed it for a long time. They acted like men who were taught to believe in and respect officers like Lt. Calley, who awarded himself an extra 7 days leave while his platoon was being chopped to shit in a minefield. They acted like men who were given the bullshit line about getting their GED’s and going to an Army school and then were dumped into the infantry. The men of Charlie Co. conducted themselves like men whose personal knowledge of the Vietnamese people came from encounters with whores, pimps, begging kids, black market operators, thieves, and of course the VC. They acted like men, a tight group of men, who for two months had seen their brothers getting mangled in mine fields and ripped off by snipers and who’d rarely seen anybody to shoot back at. Sound familiar so far? Then pay attention. Charlie Co. is ordered by Lt. Col. Barker to hit My Lai 4. He tells Medina there’s a crack VC battalion in the village. They are supposed to destroy it, then burn out the village. Next day they move in. No VC. But a few of the villagers panic and run. The men, fucked over, psyched up, looking for revenge, open fire. A lot of people fall. The rest of them are too scared to move. Next we see Snot Calley ordering his men to herd the people into ditches and to start cutting them down. Some do and dig it. Some get pissed off and sickened by the whole thing. Calley and Medina make a bullshit body count, find a few imaginary weapons, and pull out. A few days later Westmoreland commends Medina for doing a good job. The real story gets hushed up for the obvious reasons that nobody in the Army wanted the publicity But after 20 months word does get out. And as the story gets pieced together by the CID, the press takes it up. The Establishment is surprised, shocked and outraged... both because there was a massacre {“How could our boys have done such a thing?”}, and because the Army covered it up. After showing that their hearts were in the right place, they gave up the stage to the Brass with parting remarks to the effect of “well, if you are just men, you will not sweep this under the rug... you will see to it that the guilty are punished.” Enter the Brass, anxious to prove that they are indeed, just men. How do they do it? They tell the ex-GIs of Charlie Co. that they want them to come to Washington, all expenses paid, to tell their version of the massacre so they can get the goods on Calley. Half of the company gets sucked in. Now that the Brass has the whole story of My Lai, what do they do? The two-faced bastards turn around and announce their intention to prosecute the whole company. But you say most of the guys are civilians now, so they are out of the reach of military “justice”? Well, not exactly... the latest is that the JAG is trying to find a way to extradite them to SVN for trial. The Brass is really pissed at Charlie Co. But it’s not because they give a fuck about the killing of innocent people. If that were true they’d be a little more careful where they ordered air and artillery strikes. They’d also find it a little harder to just shrug when they hit our own men and say, “Well, accidents happen you know.” What they are pissed about is that news of the massacre has made them and their war look worse than they ever have before. So they know what they have to do. Put the screws to Charlie Co., to make it look to people back home and around the world that they believe in-fighting a good clean war. A t the same time they are making the GI’s of Charlie look like bloodthirsty freaks. While everyone is talking about what a terrible thing it is they completely forget who is really responsible. Because when you come right down to it, the wrong people are on trial for atrocities. Nixon, Westmoreland, Abrams and Mendal Rivers, the very bullshitters who are most eager to see Charlie Co. brought to justice, are finally the men most responsible for My Lai. They were the ones telling us that Ky and Thieu’s corrupt government is worth dying for. They are the ones who taught us to kill, who put us over here in this mind-fucking shit hole and told us to go to it. In short, they started the war and they know you never have a war without atrocities. If you put men in the shit long enough, you’re going to have My Lai’s. It’s as simple as that. If they were really concerned about putting a stop to massacres like My Lai they’d stop the war. But right now their concerns are very clear; easy promotions, soft civilian jobs for retired Brass, and money for the owners of the arms industry. If by making the men of Charlie Co. into the scapegoat they can keep the ball rolling a bit longer you can bet your ass they’ll do it.
Comment: From Thomas at GI Special
If you’re looking for people to blame for the endless evil shit that happens in Iraq in this dishonorable Imperial war, blame the politicians that put the troops downrange, in an impossible situation. Everything flows from the act of invasion and conquest ordered up by the greedy Imperial liars and traitors in Washington DC. They are the enemy.
Ishikawa and Kuroshima would understand: insert troops into a hell on earth and there's no way to prevent atrocities. Yet the real fiends in their capital suites are never spattered with a single drop of blood. Solidarity, Z
Rachel....Will not be forgotten, especially by those of us who had met her parents in the buildup to the current debacle Iraq, when this Tragic Murder occurred, as they were working to Stop the War Drums from beating louder and louder by the Administration, Congress, the MSM, and the Majority of this country!
And most certainly by the Palestinians who she, and those with her, were trying to help!!!
An interview from two days before Rachel was killed:
Talk of the Nation, March 15, 2007 · Two years ago in August, residents of the small town of Brook Park, Ohio received news that 20 marines based in the area were killed in Iraq. In a special broadcast from Cleveland, Ohio, we mark the fourth anniversary of the war in Iraq and talk about its effects on cities, towns, companies and families.
Guests:
Paul Montgomery, father of one the Ohio servicemen killed in Iraq
Rick Turner, Marine Lance Cpl. from the 3rd Battlion, 25th Marine Regiment in Brook Park, Ohio; survived suicide bomber attack on August 1, 2005 in Iraq, the same day six members of his unit were killed near Haditha, Iraq
Ryan Fioritto, employs a number of troops in Ohio who serve in Iraq
Saleem Amer, NPR Iraqi staff member in Baghdad
The interview with Saleem tells it exactly like it is, what we have given to his Country and what the Future looks like!
Navy veteran Johnny Waltz has Post Traumatic Stress Disorder that causes seizures. Unable to drive, he has no transportation to the nearest VA clinic for PTSD, about 20 miles from his home in Hebron, Ky.
All Things Considered, March 14, 2007 · About one-third of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans have sought medical care from the Department of Veterans Affairs, but bureaucratic hassles still prevent many of them from getting the help they need.
Navy veteran Johnny Waltz can get treatment for his Post Traumatic Stress Disorder at the nearest VA PTSD clinic, about 20 miles from his home in Hebron, Ky.
The problem? He has no transportation.
Waltz's Navy service ended two years ago. He quit driving because of seizures that come without warning; he has had one big seizure almost every day since September.
His wife, Janie, used to drive him to the therapy sessions but she went back to work after Waltz had to quit his job. Now Waltz spends his days at home looking after three young daughters.
The VA has its own van system, but it doesn't cover him.
Volunteer and local groups try to fill in the gaps, and there's a good system for getting a ride if you live in Ohio. But Waltz lives just across the river in Kentucky, and there are no such services there.
Veterans groups say these sort of bureaucratic hassles are common. They question whether the VA has enough therapists and other staff to handle all the Iraq veterans seeking mental-health care.
The problem isn't overcrowding, says Kate Chard, director of the PTSD program at the Cincinnati VA.
Some veterans have misconceptions about the VA that keep them from coming to it in the first place, Chard says.
Service members who leave the military after coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan can get two years of free health care at the VA if they sign up for it.
Johnny Waltz almost missed that free care because he didn't realize it was available. So far, he has not had to pay for any medical care, including his medications. But he has other worries: Some of the drugs from the VA's mail-order pharmacy are days late, Waltz says.
Janie and Johnny Waltz married in October. They had to cancel the wedding a few times over several months because of Waltz's health problems.
"I haven't been the dad and the family man that I really once was," says Waltz.
"I used to be fun and outgoing and loving and everything else," he says. "And now they're all worried if we go somewhere something will happen to me, which is understandable because I worry, too."
While Max put truth to the reality in what he would say to cheney and bush, most of this interview was about the main reason he was there, what War do to some of those who serve, PTSD!
That reality, and the lack of care and concern from a Society, is Lasting Tragic Reality, and doesn't only effect Military personal but also the Citizens of the Countries Invaded and Occupied!
BRIAN TURNER: A Soldier's Arabic: The word for love, Habib, is written from right to left, starting where we would end it and ending where we might begin.
My name is Brian Turner. I am a poet and a teacher. I come from California. I'm 39 years old. I live in the Central Valley, which is where I was born and raised.
Where we would end a war another might take as a beginning, or as an echo of history, recited again.
Speak the word for death, Maut, and you will hear the cursives of the wind driven into the veil of the unknown.
I joined the Army in 1998, and we deployed with the 10th Mountain Division out of Fort Drum New York to Bosnia Herzegovina and we were there in '99 to 2000.
This is a language made of blood. It is made of sand, and time. To be spoken, it must be earned.
'An embedded poet' When I was in Iraq, it was mostly when I would come back from the mission, we'd get a little down time and I'd pull out a notebook and sketch out a few lines or write a journal entry or maybe a full poem.
And at the time I felt I just wanted to capture events that were happening around me and to let people, once they came back home, to let people make of that what they would. I didn't try to superimpose a lot of political beliefs. I didn't try to make my poems a pulpit. I really wanted to just share the events themselves as much as possible, like an embedded poet.
My first job of course was to the soldier to the left and right of me, but when I had that down time, I felt like my job was to try -- because I had been trained as a poet at the University of Oregon -- but when I had that time, my job was to bring back that witnessing.
I'm here today at the Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, Virginia to share those poems.
After being in the military, I feel more comfortable in the classroom and I feel more prepared as a human being to be in the classroom, to share ideas being talked about.
I do some construction work on the side; it's low voltage electricity. And I like that job because it sort of plays a good counterpoint to my job teaching English at the local city college, because it makes me feel a bit grounded in the real world.
VMI STUDENT: At what point did you write this poem 'Here, Bullet?'
BRIAN TURNER: About this time in February of 2004
VMI STUDENT: I thought it was very interesting because I had that thought that maybe there was a bullet with my name on it.
BRIAN TURNER: Maybe that next time that one bullet that you say was manufactured for you is, maybe the guy was aiming a you, but then he waits a minute and decides not this time.
Here, Bullet BRIAN TURNER: "Here, Bullet" is the signature poem and the title poem for my book. That poem for me is the sort of a taunt towards death and at the same time a recognition of the fear of death.
That poem came out in an outburst. What I did was I wrote it and I don't know what this means, but I folded it up and I put it in a ziplock bag and I put it in my left breast pocket, and I kept it with me for the remainder of my time there in my uniform.
If a body is what you want, then here is bone and gristle and flesh. Here is the clavicle-snapped wish, the aorta’s opened valves, the leap thought makes at the synaptic gap. Here is the adrenaline rush you crave, that inexorable flight, that insane puncture into heat and blood. And I dare you to finish what you've started. Because here, Bullet, here is where I complete the word you bring hissing through the air, here is where I moan the barrel’s cold esophagus, triggering my tongue’s explosives for the rifling I have inside of me, each twist of the round spun deeper, because here, Bullet, here is where the world ends, every time.
"No End in Sight," an independent film about the Iraq war, isn't for the dentally challenged: You'll watch with your teeth clenched.
"You're not going to enjoy it," director Charles Ferguson said to a small crowd at a private screening last week in downtown Washington. "It's not a light comedy."
He's right -- which doesn't mean you shouldn't see it.
The film contrasts what was said and what was done leading up to, and during, the invasion and occupation of Iraq, pitting the Bush administration against those "commanders on the ground" and painting the first war of the 21st century as a comedy of errors.
Is it boring? No. Maddening? Yes.
One of the first voices heard in the film is that of former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, who tells President Bush in 2006 that "the contributions you've made will be recorded by history." Little did they know.
And that's only the first of a series of come-back-to-bite-you comments highlighted during the two-hour film. A parade of recognizable images crosses the screen: an Iraqi woman holding a sign that says "Thank You USA," large groups of Islamic men answering the call to prayer in poetic unison and, of course, plenty of guns.
But the real strength of "No End in Sight" lies in its cast of characters, which reads like a diplomatic and military fantasy football team. There's Col. Lawrence Wilkerson, former chief of staff to then-Secretary of State Colin Powell; diplomat and occupation authority appointee Barbara Bodine; former coalition adviser Walter Slocombe; Gen. Jay Garner, the first director of the post-invasion Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance for Iraq; and former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage.
The failures they outline in the film are frustrating to the point of being comical. Particularly absurd is that the Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance had no phone lists (which didn't matter, since there were no phones) and had to approach people in the street, asking if they knew where Iraqi government officials lived.
"Not the best way to start an occupation," says Bodine, who was ORHA's coordinator for central Iraq until shortly after the invasion.
The audience learns from Bodine and her colleagues that the Bush administration thought post-war Iraq would be "pro-America" and "easily stabilized"; that the original plan was to leave Iraq by August 2003, just five months after the invasion; and that most U.S. assumptions were based on the views of Ahmed Chalabi, the country's former deputy prime minister, described by one journalist in the film as "a superb con artist."
The movie does have some holes, however.
Ferguson said he set out to "make a film about politics and policy but not a political film." Yet he concedes that there were "large things missing from the film" -- such as how the administration viewed its decisions leading up to the war (an oversight he regrets) and whether it was a good idea to invade Iraq in the first place (an omission he doesn't).
The documentary won the special jury prize at the Sundance Film Festival in January "in recognition of the film as timely work that clearly illuminates the misguided policy decisions that have led to the catastrophic quagmire of the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq," according to the Sundance Web site.
But viewers will have to decide whether what Ferguson left out justifies dismissal of the film as an anti-war screed -- or whether it stands up as something akin to Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11."
The film covers the span of time between the joyful cries of Iraqi children chanting "Yes, Yes, Bush!" and the dissolution of nearly 100,000 Iraqi army troops left with no place to go and no plan.
"This doesn't look good," Wilkerson says in the film, referring to the occupation.
Watching "No End in Sight" just one seat away from this reporter recently, the colonel remained stone-faced throughout while the screen's images were reflected in his glasses.
Written and directed by Charles Ferguson, "No End in Sight" will be released in theaters in the summer of 2007.
In the face of severe contempt and intimidation, a sizable number of Americans saw the charade for what it was and rued the oncoming disaster of war.
As we mark the fourth anniversary of Bush's catastrophic war in Iraq, a round of blaming is sure to ensue along with counts of U.S. soldiers killed and wounded, money spent, dreams dashed, and the like.
What we should also do is celebrate the people who opposed the war from the beginning. In the face of severe opprobrium and intimidation, a sizable number of Americans saw the charade for what it was and rued the oncoming disaster. They should be cheered, time and again.
It is easy to forget how brutally coercive the conventional wisdom was in the autumn of 2002 and winter of 2003. Even today, the supporters of the war, especially liberal hawks, insist that "no one" doubted that Saddam had nuclear or biological weapons, or that "no one" could have anticipated the chaos and mayhem to come. This is dead wrong. Many people warned of exactly such consequences. The predictions came from a broad spectrum of Americans, no less, from the old-fashioned conservatives of Papa Bush's circle to New Left veterans.
They were, of course, marginalized and in many cases accused of treason. Nowadays, those who were cheerleaders for the war want to join the ranks of the resisters, saying they were against this debacle all along.
Fortunately for us, there were many who genuinely opposed the war before it began, seeing clearly that war has unintended consequences, that it would involve enormous casualties, and that America would be widely loathed as a result. They took risks to do say these things, to organize protests and write Congress and attempt to get their voices heard. And they were absolutely correct in their vision. The invasion and occupation of Iraq may be the most colossal foreign policy disaster in American history.
There were too many, really, to fit into one article. Here are the ones I believe deserving. Readers should offer up their nominees, too.
1. The members of Congress who voted against the war resolution included 31 senators and 133 representatives. Six of those senators no longer serve, including the late Paul Wellstone. Among the notable Senate leaders who did cast a "nay" were Richard Durbin, Ted Kennedy, Patrick Leahy, and Carl Levin. In the House, only six Republicans voted with the wise. Among the notables in opposition were Nancy Pelosi, Sherrod Brown (now a senator from Ohio), and Bernie Sanders (now a senator from Vermont).
2. The public intellectuals and activists who took a strong stand: Medea Benjamin, Howard Zinn, Tom Hayden, Jesse Jackson, Noam Chomsky, Leslie Cagan, John Cavannagh, Michael Klare, Scott Ritter, Ben Cohen, Jessica T. Mathews, Tom Andrews, James Carroll, and Jonathan Schell, just to start the list of honorees. Throw in the U.S. Catholic Bishops Conference and nearly every major religious organization to the left of the Christian Right.
3. Journalists who stood up: Molly Ivins, Katrina vanden Huevel, Don Hazen, Eric Alterman, Mark Danner, Paul Krugman, Katha Pollitt, Robert Scheer, and Colman McCarthy.
4. Academics: many in our universities spoke out, but, notably, the "neorealist" school of international relations scholars -- Steve Walt, Barry Posen, John Mersheimer, Steve Van Evera, and several others -- were prominent early in the debate. The highest accolades should go to Juan Cole, professor of history at Michigan, not only for his insightful opposition but the amazing blog he has kept up throughout -- as informative as anything we have.
5. Other prominent politicians and political advisers: Howard Dean, Al Gore, Brent Scowcroft, James Webb, Ralph Nader, Barack Obama, and Wesley Clark. This should be a litmus test for '08.
I know I'm leaving many deserving names out of this roster, but this brief reckoning is meant to begin a tribute of good judgment and values that were attuned to the enormous challenges of that long winter of deception.
This is not just idle self-congratulation. We need to understand why this fiasco occurred, and listening to the voices of those who opposed it for ethical and strategic reasons from the outset helps to unravel this puzzle. It is not that the war was prosecuted incompetently. The intelligent and courageous opposition to the war prior to its many misdeeds saw that the Iraq invasion would be wrong no matter how it proceeded.
So join in this little celebration. Maybe by doing so, these voices and others will be heard more clearly the next time around.
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Those who take some sort of relief in the "We are fighting them over there so we won't be fighting them here!", Better Rethink their Future, or rather their Childrens Future!!
The Failed Policies will Haunt Us and the World for Decades!!
• Study examines vets who received VA care beween 2001-2005 • Study says youngest Iraq, Afghanistan veterans have most issues • Data from 103,788 veterans analyzed in study • Post-traumatic stress disorder diagnosed in 13 percent of those studied
SAN FRANCISCO, California (CNN) -- Nearly a third of veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan who received care from Veterans Affairs between 2001 and 2005 were diagnosed with mental health or psychosocial ills, a study published Monday has concluded. The study was published in the March 12 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine and carried out by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco and the San Francisco VA Medical Center. They looked at data from 103,788 veterans; about 13 percent of them women, 54 percent under age 30, nearly a third minorities and nearly half veterans of the National Guard or Reserves.
None of this is News to us 'Nam Vets nor Korean Vets or any of the other conflicts/actions after WWII.
There were a series of reports today on NPR, All are eyeopeners and some of the facts known, but Listen to the first half hour of the 'Fresh Air' show and visit the link to the reports by these two Real Journalists.
They Deserve the Award they are going to receive, it's talked about in the interview.
This Is What Reporting Is ALL About, and it seems to be Finally Breaking Out ALL OVER!!
{And here I was, an old fart, thinking that Investigative Reporting was a dying art, and wondering what they were teaching aspiring Journalists in Colleges! Still wondering what The Hell They Are Teaching About Business!}
by Fred Thys Morning Edition, March 12, 2007 · Army Sgt. Chase Gean spent months at a Boston Veterans Administration hospital after he was shot and paralyzed during fighting in Afghanistan. But he hasn't had a therapy session since Thanksgiving. That's because Gean hasn't been officially discharged from the Army. The holdup is at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. Fred Thys of member station WBUR in Boston reports.
by John McChesney Morning Edition, March 12, 2007 · Many veterans are turning to county agencies to help them navigate the often-dense government bureaucracy that stands between them and their benefits.
Courant.com - Mentally Unfit Soldiers Fresh Air from WHYY, March 12, 2007 · Journalists Lisa Chedekel and Matthew Kauffman of The Hartford Courant have been awarded the George Polk Award for their series from May on flaws in the military's mental health system: Mentally Unfit, Forced to Fight. Their reporting found that troops sent on deployment are, for the most part, not getting mental health evaluations, even though they are mandated by Congress. Chedekel and Kauffman reported that the military is relying on psychotropic medications to keep service members in combat, and that soldiers with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) are being sent back into battle for multiple tours of duty.
The online magazine Salon is reporting that several soldiers at Fort Benning have been sent back to Iraq even though they were previously classified as "medically unfit" to fight. We speak to Salon's national correspondent Mark Benjamin who wrote the piece for the magazine. Guests: Mark Benjamin, national correspondent for Salon.com
All Things Considered, March 12, 2007 · The scandal over the Army's failure to properly look after wounded soldiers at Walter Reed Medical Center has claimed the job of another senior officer. Lt. Gen. Kevin Kiley, the Army's top medical officer, is taking early retirement. But Kiley's exit seems to have been forced; Pentagon officials tell NPR that he was fired. SNIP: Rest at Link
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Those who take some sort of relief in the "We are fighting them over there so we won't be fighting them here!", Better Rethink their Future, or rather their Childrens Future!!
The Failed Policies will Haunt Us and the World for Decades!!
At Fort Benning, soldiers who were classified as medically unfit to fight are now being sent to war. Is this an isolated incident or a trend?
March 11, 2007 | FORT BENNING, Ga. -- "This is not right," said Master Sgt. Ronald Jenkins, who has been ordered to Iraq even though he has a spine problem that doctors say would be damaged further by heavy Army protective gear. "This whole thing is about taking care of soldiers," he said angrily. "If you are fit to fight you are fit to fight. If you are not fit to fight, then you are not fit to fight."
A panel of experts convened by Rolling Stone agree that the war in Iraq is lost. The only question now is: How bad will the coming explosion be?
The war in Iraq isn't over yet, but -- surge or no surge -- the United States has already lost. That's the grim consensus of a panel of experts assembled by Rolling Stone to assess the future of Iraq. "Even if we had a million men to go in, it's too late now," says retired four-star Gen. Tony McPeak, who served on the Joint Chiefs of Staff during the Gulf War. "Humpty Dumpty can't be put back together again."
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Those who take some sort of relief in the "We are fighting them over there so we won't be fighting them here!", Better Rethink their Future, or rather their Childrens Future!!
The Failed Policies will Haunt Us and the World for Decades!!
“Republican Congress worst thing that’s happened to US Army and Marine Corps”
Friday night on Real Time, Bill Maher interviewed retired Army Major General Paul D. Eaton who was the original Commander in charge of training Iraqi troops. Maher tries to get a laugh out of him but as you'll see, Eaton is a straightforward man who doesn't mince words — if he says it, he means it. He blames Donald Rumsfeld for the majority of the failures in Iraq (including the current problems at Walter Reed), thanks God for the new Democratic majority and lays down some truth:
MAR 11 2007 @ 09:00 PM MAR 12 2007 @ 01:00 AM {Check your local listings}
Many think the war on terror will end with a withdrawal from Iraq or a stable government in Afghanistan. While the world focuses on those two conflicts, the U.S. military is preparing to fight a war that may last for generations, a war that may never end.
“War On Terror” is a mislabel, for you cannot have a War on a Criminal Act, when it is looked at in this way it causes the number of those who will resort to these Criminal Devestating Actions to increase. For in Wars the numbers of Innocent Victims becomes Overwelming, leading to much more Hatreds on the part of those who survive, especially for those who would never have thought of committing to any Criminal Activity., they than become more willing to do anything they feel is needed in Retaliation and to Vent the Anger and Hatreds that grow within.
TERROR TIMELINE: When did the War on Terror really start? And when will it end?
1960s and 1970s: Disenfranchised Groups Lash Out
Tools of the modern terror trade take shape as poor, stateless and disenfranchised peoples begin to use hijackings, assassinations and kidnappings to achieve goals. The first hijacking of a U.S. aircraft occurs in 1961, when a Puerto Rican-born gunman forces a National Airlines plane to fly to Havana, Cuba, where he is given asylum. Several U.S. diplomats are assassinated or kidnapped abroad during this period, beginning with the U.S. ambassador to Guatemala, who is murdered by a rebel faction in 1968. Other notable events include the 1969 kidnapping of the U.S. ambassador to Brazil by a Marxist revolutionary group; the 1969 attack on the U.S. ambassador to Japan by a knife-wielding Japanese citizen; the 1973 kidnapping of the U.S. consul general in Mexico by members of the People's Revolutionary Armed Forces; and the 1973 assassination of the U.S. ambassador to Sudan and other diplomats at the Saudi Arabian Embassy in Khartoum by members of the "Black September" organization.
Widely known as the "War on Terror," the outgoing commander of the U.S. military's Central Command, Gen. John Abizaid, refers to it as "The Long War." Ted Koppel presents an in-depth special report on a war that may last longer than any in which the U.S. has been involved before.
In Ted's Words
The third chapter in this trilogy is something that the Pentagon calls "The Long War." And what they're really referring to is the battle against terrorism, which many of the leaders in the Pentagon now perceive as being an endless battle — one that may go on for 20 years, 30 years or more.
Koppel and his team of producers take viewers to Afghanistan, where the American military is fighting an increasingly powerful Taliban; to Djibouti, where the U.S. is building schools and digging wells; to Ethiopia, where the U.S. is training commandos while the war in next-door Somalia rages; and to North Carolina, where private military firm Blackwater USA is training military and civilian personnel for life on the front lines.
We use the term “Terrorist” in such a way that it has lost a single meaning and becomes a label for any who don’t except our Imperialist Wants. Calling those who fight our occupations as ‘Terrorists’ in their own countries, as we wrought extreme ‘Terror’ on the citizens of those countries we force our way into and than occupy. We aren’t the only ones, everyone now describes those they would label as enemies as ‘Terrorists’. Which by using that term strikes ‘Terror’ and ‘Fear’ in their own peoples thoughts.
As we dismantle Military bases, Veterans Hospitals and Clinics, within our own country, we are building huge bases in places all over this planet, including a country we had no right to invade and bring ‘Terror’ on it’s citizens, Iraq!
Why even in that country, who’s once head of state, installed into power with our help, and supported for many years, looking the other way as he ordered Atrosities on his people, took his countries riches and built Palaces, we are occupying his Palaces and building a Huge and Expensive Foreign Embassey, and for what purpose, better control over the puppet leadership and it’s countries wealth, Oil!
Any good, done In Our Names, is quickly wiped out by the bad policies and the killings, in Tens Of Thousands, that We Cause, In Our Names!
The ‘Criminal Terrorism’ has been going on for a loooong time, as Koppel will point out. And because it was happening “Over There”, which meant anywhere but here, even though we had these criminal acts occuring within and to our countrypersons and business interests in other area’s of this planet, our Apathedic Arrogant Society paid little heed. And now, even though we have our Military Personal killing and being killed in places like Iraq and Afganistan this Country within pays Very Little Attention as to the Majority, for that Majority isn’t touched in anyway by what is going on, Yet! For the bar, in numbers, has now been raised as to the disenfranchised of this world that we want to control, and the generations to come will be paying the cost, in lives and wealth, for the actions of the generations now waging our Destructive Policies!
Koppels show, on The Discovery Channel, should be as compelling and informative as his other works. I suggest to tune in and watch it!
"Child of War"
Those who take some sort of relief in the "We are fighting them over there so we won't be fighting them here!", Better Rethink their Future, or rather their Childrens Future!!
The Failed Policies will Haunt Us and the World for Decades!!
Accountibility and Firings are but a slap on the wrist for this Destructive Incompitant Administration, Indicts and Convictions will be the only things for this Country to make the turn to what it should be! And not only on the concern of Military Care, but Across the board on All their Failed Policies
Kevin Lamarque / Reuters The Pragmatist: Gates told Bush he wanted to hold top officials accountable for failing veterans
By John Barry, Richard Wolffe and Evan Thomas Newsweek March 19, 2007 issue - The old, macho Bush administration took a certain delight in telling its enemies, at home and abroad, to go to hell. The president seemed to enjoy watching Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld swagger and put reporters down at press conferences in the post-9/11 buildup to the invasion of Iraq. (George W. Bush teasingly called Rumsfeld "Matinee Idol.") Advice from moderates, especially if they had worked in the administration of Bush's father, was generally scorned. And any suggestion from the chattering classes, from the media elites, was likely to push the president in the opposite direction.
But that was then, before Iraq turned into a quagmire, the Democrats won control of Congress, Rumsfeld was eased out and Bush began worrying more about his legacy. When The Washington Post exposed wretched conditions at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, the Bush team responded as if Texas had been invaded. The behind-the-scenes scramble to rectify the mess at the facility and to take better care of veterans is revealing of a new way of doing things in the Bush administration.
GREENBELT, Md. - A man has pleaded guilty in federal court to participating in a kickback scheme involving contracts at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Leon Krachyna Jr., 39, pleaded guilty Friday to conspiracy to bribe a public official and defraud the Army, U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein said. According to the plea agreement, from June 1999 to March 2002, Krachyna and an unnamed accomplice conspired to give kickbacks to a civilian contract specialist employed by the Army Medical Command. The unnamed official was responsible for procurement for the medical center.
By Kelly Kennedy - Staff writer Posted : Saturday Mar 10, 2007 12:06:53 EST
The Army and Marine Corps, which are bearing the brunt of the burden in Iraq and Afghanistan, tend to give their wounded troops lower disability ratings than the Navy and Air Force, according to Defense Department data. The result: soldiers and Marines receive an average of several hundred dollars per month less in disability retired pay than sailors and airmen. Break those numbers down a different way, and the system shows another inequity: All services tend to grant officers disability ratings of 50 percent or higher at a significantly greater rate than enlisted members. Critics say those figures support their contention that the Army, in particular, purposely tries to hold down costs by giving low ratings to enlisted soldiers who far outnumber officers going through the lengthy, convoluted system. See related story.
James Webb waited 11 months for benefits and began living on the streets. Now he lives at his parents’ house with his son, Christian.
By IAN URBINA and RON NIXON WASHINGTON, March 8 — Staff Sgt. Gregory L. Wilson, from the Texas National Guard, waited nearly two years for his veterans’ disability check after he was injured in Iraq. If he had been an active-duty soldier, he would have gotten more help in cutting through the red tape. Allen Curry of Chicago has fallen behind on his mortgage while waiting nearly two years for his disability check. If he had filed his claim in a state deploying fewer troops than Illinois, Mr. Curry, who was injured by a bomb blast when he was a staff sergeant in the Army Reserve in Iraq, would most likely have been paid sooner and gotten more in benefits. Veterans face serious inequities in compensation for disabilities depending on where they live and whether they were on active duty or were members of the National Guard or the Reserve, an analysis by The New York Times has found. Those factors determine whether some soldiers wait nearly twice as long to get benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs as others, and collect less money, according to agency figures. “The V.A. is supposed to provide uniform and fair treatment to all,” said Steve Robinson, the director of veteran affairs for Veterans for America. “Instead, the places and services giving the most are getting the least.”
you will have the opportunity to learn about these heroes from those who knew them best -- their family, friends, and fellow servicemembers. Each man and woman represented in the memorial had attributes and qualities that made them unique, but they all have one thing in common - they were truly loved and are deeply missed.
