Marines from Iraq to Afghanistan

U.S. Marines Take On the Taliban in Afghanistan
After two Iraq deployments, members of the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit face a different sort of war

GARMSIR, AFGHANISTAN—At this spartan combat outpost in the heart of Helmand province, U.S. marines are preparing for what may be their toughest fight yet. Under the cover of darkness, they will push out to take up positions for a battle that they hope will break up a key Taliban stronghold in what is currently one of the most dangerous regions in the country.

Staff Sgt. Jimenez comes home for funeral

(NECN: Lawrence, Mass.) 7-25-08 - Groups of people lined the roads of Lawrence, Massachusetts Friday morning in a solemn tribute to a serviceman from the city as he came home for the final time.

The body of Staff Sgt. Alex Jimenez was brought to Lawrence by a motorcade to St. Mary's of the Assumption Parish, where friends, strangers and neighbors looked on as an honor guard carried Jimenez's flag-draped coffin into the church.

Some onlookers waved American flags as the coffin was carried into the church, followed by a large group of family and friends. Large crowds are expected for Jimenez's public wake from 4pm to 8pm at St. Mary's of the Assumption. A funeral mass will be held at the church Saturday morning at 11am.

Jimenez will be buried on Long Island after a service there next weekend.

LAWRENCE, Mass. (AP) — A procession of veterans on motorcycles and state police in their cruisers blocked parts of two interstates Friday as it finally brought home the body of an Army staff sergeant who was missing for months after being seized by insurgents in Iraq.

A hearse bearing the remains of 25-year-old Alex Jimenez came to a halt in front of his father's house in Lawrence, the scene of a 14-month vigil as the family awaited word of his fate. A memorial shrine with floral arrangements and half-burned votive candles was on the sidewalk.

The 'surge' Working?? Take 1,2,3...........

All that's needed is for something to happen to rile the 'mahdi' army and the ceasefire will end, as well as some Iraqi leader to demand "America tear down these Walls!" and the Real Purposes for the 'surge', i.e. Escalation, will be no more!


Political: The 'surge' Working?? Take 1

Iraqi army prepares assault in Diyala as election law vetoed

Some members of the Sunni Awakening, tribesmen paid by the United States to fight al Qaida Iraq, are fleeing. "They think the security plan will target them after the insurgents," Mulla Sh'hab Alsafi, leader of one local Awakening group, told McClatchy.

Iraqi Military: The 'surge Working?? Take 2

Iraqi forces aren't quite ready to take charge

There's a Video report at the top of this one.

And if this wasn't such a tragic mistake, the invasion and occupation, you might find this report amusing. It reads like a 'Keystone Cop' movie, great descriptive honest take after 6plus years and still going.



Security: The 'surge' Working?? Take 3

Ex-insurgents Want More Money, or Else

The Iraqi officer leading a U.S.-financed anti-jihadist group is in no mood for small talk -- either the military gives him more money or he will pack his bags and rejoin the ranks of al-Qaeda

4,000 U.S. Combat Deaths, and Just a Handful of Images

BAGHDAD — The case of a freelance photographer in Iraq who was barred from covering the Marines after he posted photos on the Internet of several of them dead has underscored what some journalists say is a growing effort by the American military to control graphic images from the war.

Photo Slide Show

Iraq events moving out of US control



One wonders the why of the presidential candidate claiming so much success about the 'surge', i.e. escalation, isn't talking more about what he would do to finally bring bin Laden to justice!

Seems he to, like the present administration, doesn't think about binny much, is the al Qaeda leader contributing to the campaigns of his once buddies, or working with the rovian crowd on some smear campaigns against the opponent.

"Bring Them Home NOW, and Take Care Of Them When They Return"
***************************************************************************

"Executive Power and Its Constitutional Limitations"

The House Judiciary Committee today, Friday, July 25th, will put Impeachment squarely back "on the table" and restored to its prominent place in our Constitution.


Wednesday 07/25/2008 - 10:00 AM
2141 Rayburn House Office Building
Full Committee
By Direction of the Chairman


The first panel Friday morning will include Congressman Dennis Kucinich making a case for impeachment based on the articles of impeachment he has drafted against Cheney and Bush.


The Cheney/Bush links takes you to the pages over at After Downing Street.org where Diavid Swanson has the pertinant links to much more information.


The rest of that first panel will include: Hon. Maurice Hinchey U.S. House of Representatives 22nd District, NY, Hon. Walter Jones U.S. House of Representatives 3rd District, NC, And Hon. Brad Miller U.S. House of Representatives 13th District, NC.


Then the second panel convenes and will include: Hon. Elizabeth Holtzman Former U.S. House of Representatives 16th District, NY Department of Justice, Hon. Bob Barr Former U.S. House of Representatives U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement 7th District, GA, Hon. Ross C. "Rocky" Anderson Founder and President High Roads for Human Rights, Stephen Presser Raoul Berer Professor of Legal History Northwestern University School of Law, Bruce Fein Associate Deputy Attorney General, 1981-82 Chairman, American Freedom Agenda, Vincent Bugliosi Author and Former Los Angeles County Prosecutor, Jeremy A. Rabkin Professor of Law George Mason University School of Law, Elliott Adams President of the Board Veterans for Peace, Frederick A. O. Schwarz, Jr. Senior Counsel Brennan Center for Jutice at NYU School of Law.


The links above will give you each persons testimony, in PDF, after the hearings are over and they are posted to the House Judiciary Committee site.


Elliott Adams, President of Veterans for Peace, and a descendant of American revolutionary Sam Adams, will deliver this prepared testimony, in it he will tell America:

Upon leaving the Constitutional Convention of 1787 –
Ben Franklin was asked: “Well, Doctor, what have we got—a Republic or a Monarchy?”
Dr. Franklin replied: “A Republic, if you can keep it.”

He will tell them who Veterans For Peace are:

Veterans For Peace has members from every war our country has fought back to and including World War II. VFP is 23 years old, has over 120 chapters spread around the country, has an NGO seat in the UN, and a small share in the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize. Our members help 85,000 Iraqis get safe drinking water, gave 54,000 free phone cards to patients in 148 VA hospitals, help Agent Orange victims both US soldiers and Vietnamese civilians, aided Hurricane Katrina victims, supports schools and orphanages in Afghanistan & Vietnam, have worked extensively in Central American for freedom and fair elections, and bought appropriate body armor for soldiers in Iraq when the government could not supply it.

But many of our members have set aside all these other important works to defend our democracy by calling for impeachment.

He will also let America know:

"For us veterans, when our time came, we volunteered our very lives for this republic; for the principle of freedom for all, for equal opportunity for all, to defend the Constitution and the principles embodied in the Declaration of Independence, and to guarantee the opportunity for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Now, Congressmen, it is your time, and I hear there is not enough time! Now is your time, and I hear it will not be good for one party or the other party! Now is your time, and I hear there is not enough political will around you! When our founding fathers signed the Declaration of Independence they were not worried about political will, or how much time there was, or about any parties' political future, they were just worried they were going to be hanged by the neck. But they did what was right. Now it is your time to standup. Einstein said – 'The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing.'"

Upon joining the United States Military Branches we take an Oath, and in that oath we say these words: "to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.", as veterans we still take oath very seriously!


Unless you came here as an immigrant from another country, the greater majority of the citizens of this country aren't required to take an oath, most will say the Pledge of Alligence to the flag, but even that is not a required oath. Your oath is the written Bill of Rights and the Constitution and in those it lays out the what this country was founded on and what it must do when these are violated.


We are supposed to be a Land of Law and when our Laws are Violated and Broken we must take the nessary actions to uphold the Constitution and the Qualities this Nation strives for and lead by the example we set for ourselves!


Bruce Fein, Associate Deputy Attorney General, 1981-82, in his testimony will than tell the American people:

"If President George W. Bush had knocked to enter the constitutional convention in Philadelphia in 1787, presiding convention president George Washington would have denied him admission. Thereby hangs an alarming tale. The executive branch has vandalized the Constitution every bit as much [sic] the barbarians vandalized Rome in 410 AD. The executive branch has destroyed the Constitution's time-honored checks and balances and raced the nation perilously close to executive despotism. The executive branch rejects the basic philosophical tenets of the United States. It does not accept that America was conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that sovereignty in a republican form of government lies with the people; that there are no vassals or serfs in the Constitution's landscape; that every man or woman is a king or queen but no one wears a crown; and, that the rule of law is the nation's civic religion. The Founding Fathers fashioned impeachment as a remedy for attacks against the constitutional order."

Many of you have been right along side those who threw Impeachment, that should have occurred long ago, off "the table", and the only reason is your fear that the political party letter you follow will not gain the control of power, for your hired representatives, you crave.


We Veterans have served this Country in times of relative Peace but especially in those times of War and Occupation, right or wrong, that you have sent us into.


Reason; We Took An Oath to Defend and Protect the Constitution of this Country and to serve Honorably, and we have, and once that Oath was taken it was never forgotten, like our experiances in service to.



It's long past time for the Citizens to stand up and Defend their Constitution and Country, it's time You Did Your Service and hold those destroying the Constitution and Country, from within, Accountable for the Laws Covered, and Broken, by that Extremely Important Document, the document we live by and leads us above others as to the example we should be setting for all to see!

The day before the hearing, some of those impeachment advocates gathered at the National Press Club, David Swanson, Ray McGovern, Bruce Fein, Cindy Sheehan, Cynthia Papermaster, and Crystal Kim. Videos of what they had to say, and their questions and answers with the media, are posted at YouTube

Over at After Downing Street

David has a post up now for Live Blogging from the Hearing on Impeachment!

You can go over and leave any comments, and he'll probably be giving updates from the hearing chamber when it begins!

Lets Look At The 'surge'

I wasn't planning on posting anything today, have to much to do and other thoughts on my mind.

But yesterday I watched, as many have seen by now, someone who should have a much better understanding, above that of it's citizens, what this countries policies are and their implementation.

McClatchy has a couple of reports that hit on a couple of the Points of the 'surge':

Political: The 'surge' Working, Take 1

Iraqi army prepares assault in Diyala as election law vetoed

Some members of the Sunni Awakening, tribesmen paid by the United States to fight al Qaida Iraq, are fleeing. "They think the security plan will target them after the insurgents," Mulla Sh'hab Alsafi, leader of one local Awakening group, told McClatchy.

Kurds on the streets of Kirkuk were adamant in their opposition to the election law. "Without the Kurdish people, we can't talk about any shiny future for Iraq," said 32-year old Fa'iq Mohammed Qadir. "What happened in the parliament is like a coup against Kurds," said Aso Raheem Sarawi. "It is not constitutional and illegal."

Iraqi Military: The 'surge Working, Take 2

Iraqi forces aren't quite ready to take charge

There's a Video report at the top of this one.

And if this wasn't such a tragic mistake, the invasion and occupation, you might find this report amusing. It reads like a 'Keystone Cop' movie, great descriptive honest take after 6plus years and still going.

Now I would add a quote or two from the above, but there's just too many that could be highlighted, and I did in sending it out, you really have to read the whole thing, and the Video touches on much of it also.

Earlier today I posted up a reply over at VetVoice to a thread about the McCain outlook on the 'surge' and 'counter insurgency', how he figured that combination was going to work still has me baffled.

I'm bringing that here and expanding abit:

CounterIsurgency = surge??

Watching last night's show I sat there scratching my head, than it dawned on me why the head scratching and the reason it seemed the present day Military Leadership, forget the idiots on the civilian side, didn't understand what they were going into in invading a country, what would quickly follow, and Especially CounterInsurgency, if McCain is even partially right in his confusing statement.

I hate to keep putting wartime pilots down, but except for Chopper Pilots, they haven't a clue as to the how to fight wars, nor the policies that are established to supposedly win them, such as CounterInsurgency, they aren't on the ground implimenting the policies, and they rarely see, up close and personal, the damage done by their required actions, bombing etc., except in pictures.

When I went through CI and SERE before 'Nam, CI was sold as the complete Opposite of this new McCain Doctrine, Nixon was Pulling Troops Out Of Country, we were turning over the fleets of River Boats to the S.Vietnamesse and placing one American onboard as an Adviser. We were told we would have a Counter Part when arriving In-Country, never met mine nor got one as others with me had same.

One of the main parts of CounterInsurgency was working with Less Soldiers and working not only with the countries military forces but the civilians, Winning Hearts and Minds, setting up programs to help them, rebuilding or overseeing that by giving security etc..

And we were all labeled as 'Advisers'.

CounterInsurgency had Absolutely Nothing to do with any Escalation In Forces and Heavy Engagements!!

And by the way:

In turning over the River Boats they were quickly breaking down, which they weren't prior to, my brothers on the rivers found out Nobody were PMing the boats, just running them, so the U.S. was stuck with fixing them or scrapping them.

I'm sure this wasn't a lone occurrence, and the other service branches were finding similar.

There were good military forces as well as lax forces in the S.Vietnamesse military, that we were training, that's life.

Let me expand abit on the above.

The United States Population seems to have this thing about Country and Patriotism that more than borders on the total arrogance and apathy that we live in. We somehow think that because we happened to be born here we are Superior beings as to those who were born elsewhere, Yet our forefathers and mothers came here from all over those other places and many still do. And our history shows our brutal treatment of those, we almost eliminated, who actually are native to this big patch of earth.

When one Invades and Occupies another's land and they fight back they are called Enemies, and in todays language they're known as Terrorists, forgetting the Fact they were born there, live there, raise families there, and are even more Patriotic towards their countries as their families heritage is well endowed in those lands, much longer than our own.

Some will take up arms and anything they can find or develope and fight the invaders/occupiers, and the more that is destroyed and their countries citizens killed the more they will fight and others will join them. They also get support from those not willing yet to fight.

Some will start working with the invaders/occupiers as their way of hoping by doing so they will leave quickly.

Than you have some who will either work both sides or use the invaders/occupiers to their advantage, like the politicians, business persons, etc..

Surge: Now most know how this 'surge' in Iraq was sold, and except for those who keep trying to change, revisionist history, that meaning and it's goals, most still know and understand. The two reports at the top show quite clearly it isn't working on more two a couple of it's stated goals.

Escalation An escalation of forces into an occupation is just what it says, bringing more forces into the theater of occupation for a long period of time for added security, and in a Guerilla/Insurgent conflict the only thing it does is put the people fighting the occupation into hiding or laying low, in clear view, untill. And that 'untill' is a weapon of an insurgent, Time.

Counter Insurgency How someone could tie those two words to 'surge' just baffles, especially anyone who was a part of any Counter Insurgency, It is what it says, and I explained in short above. It's a Counter to those who live in the country occupied saying to the people, look we want to help to reestablish what we destroyed and get the Hell Out. Looking to win the Hearts and Minds of the majority by helping them reestablish a government we toppled, their infrastructure we blew up, their homes and businesses we destroyed, their lives we put into total disarray, and more, and once again Get The Hell Out. It is working with as many people as possible not increasing the numbers of fighting forces.

Oh and now they also keep saying the 'surge' is over, sorry it ain't, the escalation is still in effect reportedly with some 15,000 military troops now there over what was before the 'surge'.

Surge and Counter Insurgency are Opposites of a conflict, not working together Policies!

The bush Tours { wanna good laugh }

Bush Tours America To Survey Damage Caused By His Disastrous Presidency



A good laugh never hurt too much in the disaster of a total failure, and waiting for the rest of the Blowback from!!

From Bad, to Worse

Following what has been going on in Iraq and trying to follow Afghanistan, with the little, until recently, we get about that theater, I've had a growing uneasy feeling.

We all know that the bush doctrine has been a total failure and I need not go into the whole extreme mess these power hungry idiots have made. There is one thing I do see they succeeded in, creating an enemy and building that into a fear for Perpetual Conflict, replacing the Cold War Mentality to justify Huge Defense Contracts, Huge Profits, and the needed fear factor in the populace of not only the U.S. but the western world, the rest already have their problems from the wests continuing failed policies towards them, of which helped create this enemy.

It's has been rather hard to follow the news on Afghanistan, but it can be done if following overseas reporting.

Than this tragedy happened:

Sgt. Jacob Walker and Spc. Tyler Stafford talk about the attack

Soldiers recount deadly attack on Afghanistan outpost


The insurgents found a weakness, not at the base as much as in backup for or distance to nearest backup, soldiers, air by U.S. or NATO or Afghan forces.

Lately, along with the Obama visit, the above and more is now being focused on what should have been over with long ago, with the ouster of the Taliban and we already should have accomplished the search for al Qaeda there as well as being deep into rebuilding and helping the Afghans use their natural resources to build their long lost economy.

The growing uneasiness is the expansion of both conflicts, laying low in Iraq, for the present, and recruiting around the region and possibly the world for a buildup by the insurgents as to Afghanistan with the unstable government there as well as in Pakistan.

Everyones been worried about an attack on Iran and that fear has been placed front and center for a long time by those controlling the talk, while virtually silent on Afghanistan and Pakistan, either not caring about the tensions there or just plain ignoring it. I choose the latter what with their track record to date.

I caught this the other day.

Along with the Taliban's ongoing progress in Afghanistan, al-Qaeda has strengthened its position in Pakistan's tribal areas, reinforced by a steady stream of new recruits from other countries and an expansion of its networks among local tribes.

The situation reached a point where the Pakistani security agencies, in connivance with the Saudi establishment, felt they had to act. They hatched a plot to establish a proxy network in a newly formed Taliban group that rivals the anti-state al-Qaeda franchise of Baitullah Mehsud's Pakistan Tehrik-i-Taliban.

It didn't work, as the report will tell you, but notice this in the above: "reinforced by a steady stream of new recruits from other countries", wasn't the intelligence watching this, if so why doesn't it seem that actions were taken especially as to beefing up firebases like the one that was attacked!

Today I find this:

al Qaeda calls for a new Afghan 'Jihad'

Afghanistan, and not Iraq -- is the main front of struggle

In the video Escobar states this: "If they win this battle with the infidals than they can go to the land of the two rivers, that's Iraq."

Al Qaeda is back with a vengeance. Mustafa Abu al-Yazeed, interviewed by Pakistan’s Geo TV says “there is no difference between the American people and their government”. He goes on to attack the Pakistan government for suppressing the Islamist movement. He calls for Jihad in Afghanistan, on both sides of the Pakistan/Afghan border. As far as future US policy goes, Obama is on a learning curve while McCain seems geographically challenged.

Pepe Escobar has written this up as well over at the Asia Times not completely following what the video gives, but real close.

"At this stage this is our understanding - that there is no difference between the American people and the American government itself. If we see this through sharia [Islamic] law, American people and the government itself are infidels and are fighting against Islam. We have to rely on suicide attacks which are absolutely correct according to Islamic law. We have adopted this way of war because there is a huge difference between our material resources and our enemy's, and this is the only option to attack our enemy."

This isn't a religious confrontation, it is made so by the leading players on both sides and their supporters, which suites them fine, for the purposes of the fear factor they want to instill.

Al-Qaeda's strategy is to suck in the US military - this is classic Osama bin Laden ideology, according to which the US should be dragged to fight in Muslim lands. Al-Qaeda is reasoning that an attack on the tribal areas, in fact a real third front in the "war on terror" (so dreaded by chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Michael Mullen) will have Pakistani public opinion so outraged that the Pakistani army would be powerless to follow the US track. And al-Qaeda, in the end, would be left with an even freer hand.

As to the use of this so called 'surge' that supposedly worked so well, if you listen to the rovian 'revisionist history' being spoken by McCain and those who support the bush doctrine, whatever the hell that is, one just needs to go back to the selling of this 'surge' by bush and those involved, these 'revisionist history' creaters get away with it because the ones that listen to them don't remember nor do they want to, as they debate themselves from both sides of their own argument.

The 'surge' worked great, security is tight, attacks are down, but as for any pulldown of troops, some 15,000 more still in theater than before the 'surge', well that depends on conditions on the ground.

If their 'surge' worked, as they are now defining it, than conditions on the ground are great, so thus troops not needed!

But lets see how well this 'surge' is working, as to the new definition:

Fallujah braces for another assault

In the face of US military claims of improved security, violence has been rising by the day this month. The city has now been placed under tight curfew while US and Iraqi military forces prepare for a new offensive,according to the local Azzaman daily.
Iraqi security forces have established new checkpoints around the city and are forbidding movement of people and traffic. Pick-up trucks are roaming the city warning residents that al-Qaeda has once again infiltrated Fallujah.

Seems the insurgents and whatever the U.S. wants to label al Qaeda of Iraq are still playing 'whack a mole' in country and laying low when they need to, hmmm sounds abit like 'Nam over those long years, or just like any guerilla war fought in an occupied country.


Than we have a few, there have been recent ones as well, reports about another part of the 'surge' the supporters don't discuss, the Government of Iraq, along with other reason for:


Kurds Object to Iraqi Provincial Election Law

“This vote has ruined the atmosphere of harmony which dominated Iraq in the recent period,” he said. “It paralyzed the elections. The chance of having an election during this year has been lost.”

Iraqis Take Flawed Step On Electoral Legislation

Losing political power in Kirkuk is likely to hinder the Kurds' long-standing goal of annexing the city into the Kurdistan Regional Government. Keegan said it's too early to tell how Kurds in Kirkuk will react to parliament's vote.

"The likelihood of a violent uprising is unlikely," he said. "A U.S. combat brigade sits up here."

"A U.S. combat brigade sits up here.", right like that's stopped anybody, like the Shiite's and the Sunni's, untill before the 'surge', these last 6 plus years!

It seems that a new 'mujahadeen' is forming or growing from an already established insurgent force along with al Qaeda and the Taliban, with the problems plaguing the Pakistan and Afghan governments, and they are now using the whole region in this game of 'whack a mole', and this spells deep trouble for the region as well as the forces of the U.S. and NATO!

Senator Obama, Fort Hood Waits

MEDIA ADVISORY

Military and veteran advocates Invite senators McCain and Obama to Fort Hood Texas

Presidential Town Hall to Focus on Military and Veterans

11 July 2008

For Immediate Release:

Contact: Carissa Picard, Managing Director, 2008 Fort Hood Presidential Town Hall Consortium, 254.554.1513, hoodtownhall@gmail.com.


2008 Fort Hood Presidential Town Hall

Monday August 11, 2008, 9:00 pm (EST)

Bell County Expo Center

301 West Loop 121

Belton, Texas 76513


Hosted by the 2008 Fort Hood Presidential Town Hall Consortium

To be carried live on the CBS Television Network.



A diverse group of non-profit organizations dedicated to serving active military, veterans, their families and their survivors has come together to invite the Republican and Democratic presidential candidates to Fort Hood, Texas, for an in-depth discussion of the increasingly complex issues facing America's military and veteran community. The CBS television network has agreed to produce and broadcast the town hall meeting in prime time that evening.



Fort Hood is the largest U.S. military installation in the world and deploys the most soldiers to Iraq and Afghanistan as part of our continuing Global War on Terror. Consequently, the Consortium cannot imagine a more appropriate audience—or a more compelling location—for this event.



This Consortium represents organizations that provide services and support to our service members, veterans, wounded warriors, and their families. "We believe if there is one more debate or town hall before the general election, it should be before an audience comprised of the men and women whose service and sacrifice ensure that these events continue through their defense of our country and of our Constitution," said Carissa Picard, lead organizer and military spouse whose husband is currently deployed.

"This forum is NOT about being for the war in Iraq or against the war in Iraq. This is about the fact that there is a war in Iraq, as well as Afghanistan, and there are consequences to that war—consequences for our service members, for their families, for our country. These candidates are asking to be elected the next Commander-in-Chief and we believe that our audience, as well as the American public, will be extremely interested in knowing what they have to say about these issues."

In November 2004, the President was elected by a majority of 126 million votes. Today, approximately 27 million American adults are veterans. If we assume half are married, then there are approximately 40 million voters intimately aware of the issues affecting veterans and their families. Meanwhile, there are approximately 2.6 million Americans currently serving in our Armed Forces, either full or part-time. If you include their spouses, then we will have an additional 4 million voters sensitive to the needs of our veterans, wounded warriors, and military families.

In all, the veteran and military communities total approximately 44 million Americans—almost a quarter of the overall voting population and more than one- third of the total voting participation in 2004.

"The sacrifices these families endure are not abstract; they are borne out in illness, injury, post traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury, economic hardship, the daily agony of separation from family and friends; and finally, the ultimate sacrifice of our Gold Star families. Furthermore, those citizens who are not themselves members of the military and veteran community are eager to see that those who shoulder the enormous strain of wartime service are afforded the meaningful thanks of a grateful nation." adds Amy Fairweather, director of the Coalition for Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans, a group of organizations dedicated to improving services for military, veterans, families and survivors, many of whom have joined to invite the candidates to this historic forum.

The Consortium includes a diverse group of veteran and military service organizations including Disabled Veterans of America, the Brain Injury Association of America, and Sentinels of Freedom. These groups are working in partnership with the military, the Department of Veterans Affairs, state and local governments, and faith and community based organizations to deliver services and support to our military, veterans and families.

Picard adds that, "We sincerely hope the candidates will accept our invitation. We hope this event will remind American voters in November that his or her choice will have a significant impact on the lives and well-being of millions of service members, veterans, wounded warriors, and military families—including children."

Consortium Members

American Veterans (AMVETS)

Jim King, Executive Director

Brain Injury Association of America

Laura A. Schiebelhut, Director of Government Affairs

Disabled American Veterans (DAV)

David W. Gorman, Executive Director

Enlisted Association of the National Guard of the United States

MSG (Ret.) Michael P. Cline

Executive Director

Fleet Reserve Association

Joseph L. Barnes, CAE, ABC

National Executive Director

Military Officers Assn. of America

VADM Norb Ryan, Jr. (USN-Ret.), President

Military Order of the Purple Heart

Hershel Gober, National Legislative Director

Military Spouse Corporate Career Network

Deborah Kloeppel, CEO

National Spinal Cord Injury Assn (NSCIA)

Marcie Roth, President/CEO

The Sanctuary International

Jon Norsworthy, Director

Veterans for Common Sense

Paul Sullivan, Executive Director

Veterans United for Truth

Bob Handy, HMC USN Ret, Chair

Vietnam Veterans of America

Texas State Council

Luther "Buster" Newberry, President

Veterans Village

Nadia McCaffrey, President/Founder

WELLsville Veterans Project

Kristin Van Huysen, President/Founder

Members of the Coalition for Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans

Air Compassion for Veterans

Richard Love, Chairman

American Pain Foundation

Tamara Sloan Anderson, Program Development Director

Armed Services YMCA

S. Frank Gallo, National Executive Director

Brave New Foundation

Jim Miller, Executive Director

CA National Guard

Jon Wilson, Financial Assistance Programs Manager

Cause

Barbara Lau, Executive Director

Coming Home Project

Dr. Joe Bobrow, Executive Director

Dallas Foundation

Laura Smith, Director, Community Philanthropy

Homes for Our Troops

John Gonsalves, President

New Directions

Toni Reinis, Executive Director

One Freedom

Elizabeth Hawkins, Executive Director

Pathway Home

Fred Gusman, Executive Director

Project: Return 2 Work

Rob Brazell, President

Salvation Army Liberty Program

David K. Leonard, Coordinator

Sentinels of Freedom Scholarship Foundation

Mike Conklin, President

Swords to Plowshare

Michael Blecker, Executive Director

TAPS

Bonnie Carroll, Founder

TIRR Foundation Project Victory

Cynthia Atkins, Executive Director

Vets 4 Vets

Jim Driscoll, Coordinator

"My Name Is Lisa" -- A Powerful Short Film About Alzheimer's Disease

_____

"You want to have some idea what it is like to be a care-provider for someone with Alzheimer’s or other age-related dementia? Watch it."

-- Jim Downey
_____

Before reading the rest of this essay, watch the following piece.

My Name Is Lisa




The Rest Of Greyhawks piece can be read here.

Blackwater Dropping Security

Well, well, Blackwater, after ripping off the United States people with their extremely high priced Mercenary Forces, and getting U.S. troops killed from the blowback of their actions are now dropping their security details, apparently because it's bad for their business bottom line!!

Blackwater Plans Shift From Security Business
AP Interview: Blackwater plans shift from security contracting, blaming its notoriety in Iraq

Blackwater Worldwide said Monday that it planned a shift away from the security contracting business that earned it millions of dollars and made it a flash point in the debate over the use of security contractors in war zones.

"The experience we've had would certainly be a disincentive to any other companies that want to step in and put their entire business at risk," company founder and CEO Erik Prince told The Associated Press during a daylong visit to the company's North Carolina compound.

They're Mercs, and now Prince is Whining, poor baby!!

Nothing worse than a whiny mercenary, hired gun!

The company has made hundreds of millions of dollars defending U.S. diplomats in Iraq, one of several government contracts that earned Blackwater more than $1 billion since 2001.

Overpriced hired guns on No-Bid contracts and more than shady business practices, Prince walks away, still in business, but wealthier by far on our money!

"Our focus is away from security work. We're just not bidding on it," Jackson said.

Watch a fast getaway of some of the questionable mercs, and a cover try by the administration and friends when Iraq starts trying to bring charges on some of these renegades!

One Soldiers Suicide

A Veterans Affairs emailed leaked to the public reported that an estimated 1,000 suicides attempts per month were being reported at VA medical facilities by Veterans. After tours of duty in Iraq and earning countless awards, life went terribly wrong for Marine Corporal James Jenkins. In the aftermath of his suicide, Cynthia Fleming, his mother gives us a portrait of her oldest son.

Watch the video and see more videos from the American News Project

July 21 in History

Brought to you as This week in History by Peace Buttons.



July 21, 1954

Major world powers, meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, reached agreement on the terms of a ceasefire for Indochina, ending nearly eight years of war. The war began in 1946 between nationalist forces of the Communist Viet Minh, under leader Ho Chi Minh, and France, the occupying colonial power following Japanese control during World War II.
The Geneva conference included France, the United Kingdom, the U.S., the U.S.S.R., People’s Republic of China, Cambodia, Laos, and both Vietnamese governments.

It ended with a peace treaty that called for independence for Vietnam and a 1956 election to unify the country. However, only France and Ho Chi Minh's DRV (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) signed the document.
The United States did not approve of the agreement. Instead, they backed Emperor Boa Dai and Prime Minister Ngo Dinh Diem’s government in South Vietnam and refused to allow the elections, knowing, in Pres. Eisenhower’s words, that “Ho Chi Minh will win.” The result was the Second Indochina War, more commonly known as the Vietnam War.

Though we were reported as helping transport French troops to Vietnam our real history, in Indo-China, starts shortly after the above.

Read about the signing of the treaty with the French

The fall of Dien Bien Phu signalled defeat for France in Indo-China

President Dwight D Eisenhower said in a statement from Washington the agreement contained elements which he did not like - such as the division of Vietnam between north and south - and a great deal depended on how they worked in practice.

Senate leaders from both parties went one step further and expressed their alarm at what is widely regarded as a victory for Communism.

What followed the treaty and our start of destructive Indo-China History


July 21, 1878

The eight-hour was an established concept before the song. Shown is an 1856 banner from Melbourne, Australia.

Publication of "Eight Hours," written by Rev. Jesse H. Jones (music) and I.G. Blanchard (lyrics), the most popular labor song until "Solidarity Forever" was published by the IWW (Industrial Workers of the World) in 1915.

Eight-Hours
Rev. Jesse H. Jones (music)
I.G. Blanchard (lyrics)

We mean to make things over,
We are tired of toil for naught
With but bare enough to live upon
And ne'er an hour for thought.
We want to feel the sunshine
And we want to smell the flow'rs
We are sure that God has willed it
And we mean to have eight hours;
We're summoning our forces
From the shipyard, shop and mill

Eight hours for work, eight hours for rest
Eight hours for what we will;
Eight hours for work, eight hours for rest
Eight hours for what we will.

The beasts that graze the hillside,
And the birds that wander free,
In the life that God has meted,
Have a better life than we.
Oh, hands and hearts are weary,
And homes are heavy with dole;
If our life's to be filled with drudg'ry,
What need of a human soul.
Shout, shout the lusty rally,
From shipyard, shop, and mill.

Eight hours for work, eight hours for rest
Eight hours for what we will;
Eight hours for work, eight hours for rest
Eight hours for what we will.

The voice of God within us
Is calling us to stand
Erect as is becoming
To the work of His right hand.
Should he, to whom the Maker
His glorious image gave,
The meanest of His creatures crouch,
A bread-and-butter slave?
Let the shout ring down the valleys
And echo from every hill.

Ye deem they're feeble voices
That are raised in labor's cause,
But bethink ye of the torrent,
And the wild tornado's laws.
We say not toil's uprising
In terror's shape will come,
Yet the world were wise to listen
To the monetary hum.
Soon, soon the deep toned rally
Shall all the nations thrill.

Eight hours for work, eight hours for rest
Eight hours for what we will;
Eight hours for work, eight hours for rest
Eight hours for what we will.

From factories and workshops
In long and weary lines,
From all the sweltering forges,
And from out the sunless mines,
Wherever toil is wasting
The force of life to live
There the bent and battered armies
Come to claim what God doth give
And the blazon on the banner
Doth with hope the nation fill:

Eight hours for work, eight hours for rest
Eight hours for what we will;
Eight hours for work, eight hours for rest
Eight hours for what we will.

Hurrah, hurrah for labor,
For it shall arise in might
It has filled the world with plenty,
It shall fill the world with light
Hurrah, hurrah for labor,
It is mustering all its powers
And shall march along to victory
With the banner of Eight Hours.
Shout, shout the echoing rally
Till all the welkin thrill.

Eight hours for work, eight hours for rest
Eight hours for what we will;
Eight hours for work, eight hours for rest
Eight hours for what we will.

Visit their site and sign up for their newsletter, and celebrate the 50th year of the Peace Symbol.

The Pentagonization of US life

Nick Turse and Tom Engelhardt of Tomdispatch.com, in the second part of their interview to Pepe Escobar, talk about the ramifications of militarism in American life - how over 100 contractors are now in the Pentagon's payroll. This is closely connected to the way the Bush administration expanded militarization abroad through the worldwide US "empire of bases." The backlash was inevitable. Engelhardt says the Bush administration "may have single-handedly given birth to a multipolar world."

The Complex: How the Military Invades Our Everyday Lives

Another Reason for Presidential Military Townhall

Witnesses to War



When the separation ends! CNN Video

CNN's Rick Sanchez talks with Dr. Paul Ragan about the effects of war on soldiers and the high price they pay for it.

After the centuries and than finally after 'Nam and still way too many just don't get it, as to combat soldiers and those living in combat theaters!