"The Old Man and the Storm"

Last night, 1-02-009, on the PBS News Hour they held a discussion with "Frontline" correspondent and filmmaker June Cross who describes her documentary "The Old Man and the Storm" which will air on PBS's "Frontline" on Jan. 6th, New Orleans: Three Years After Katrina.

This is a timely documentary more than three years after Katrina and especially as to the way the Government has been handling that compared to the extremely quick bailouts of the financial institutions in the present economic collapse and at other times when the corporate elite demanded their political friends come to their aid. There are three short video's at the 'Frontline' site that I'm embedding below, the third one touches on just that, especially as to the promises made by the President bush and other Government Officials and to the rapidly failing 'free market' 'trickle down' economic policy of the GOP.

It is also timely in these times that are rapidly coming down to hopefully not total destruction. The subject of the documentary, 82 year old Mr Herbert Gettridge, belongs to the generation of skilled tradespeople, extremely skilled, that built the economy we once had, where through hard work, knowledge, skills, an always thirst to improve, pride and much more, not only the businessmen benefited but so did the worker and their families. He's of a skilled trade, an artist, of many trades that are now dead or dying because few are left who used to work in them and the young haven't developed the knowledge to even attempt them. Trades in the construction of the country, trades in the manufacturing of our own needs especially with being able to quickly transform those skills if needed for our National Security, not having others build what we need. A whole host of trades or other descriptive jobs that no longer exist or only exist in small pockets sans the numbers if needed quickly.

You can listen to the discussion in mp3 with this link, the transcript hasn't been posted as yet at the News Hour site.

This is a cut of her documentary that they showed on the PBS News Hour show last night:



Slide Show: View images of New Orleans three years after Hurricane Katrina.

Six months after Hurricane Katrina slammed into New Orleans, producer June Cross came across 82-year-old Herbert Gettridge working alone on his home in the lower Ninth Ward, a neighborhood devastated when the levees broke in August 2005. Over the next two years, Cross would document the story of the extended Gettridge clan--an African-American family with deep roots in New Orleans--as they struggled to rebuild their homes and their lives. Their efforts would be deeply impacted by larger decisions about urban planning, public health, and the insurance industry, by the decisions of policymakers about federal funding for rebuilding the Gulf, and state and city plans for dispersing those monies. The moving personal story of Mr. Gettridge and his family reveals the human cost of this tragedy, the continued inadequacies of government’s response in the aftermath of Katrina, and how race, class, and politics have affected the attempts to rebuild this American city.

Below is the opening video at the Frontline site



The third video, at the PBS Frontline site, is the one I mentioned above that touches on the who gets what, rapidly or even at all, and the failure of the bush administration to not only keep the promises made, in front of the camera's, in photo ops and when needed to propagandize politically, but the total lack of feeling any need to come to the aid of the citizen of the country but quickly aid the corporate elite, the politically elite's base as bush called them.



You can find some Related Features at this News Hour link about Katrina and the rebuilding.

Tune into PBS Frontline, or watch it online after, for "The Old Man and the Storm" on Tuesday, January 6th '09 at 9PM ET to watch this documentary.

The book Breach of Faith: Hurricane Katrina and the Near Death of a Great American City, shown when the author talks about Katrina in the Documentary

The Invisible Injuries of the Invisible Ranks: A Military Spouse

Earlier today I received an e-mail from an on line friend, she is the wife of a military serviceman now serving in Iraq, she is also very active in support of her fellow spouses and the families as well as returning OIF and OEF military personal seeking needed help but finding the going sometimes extremely troubling, confusing or denied.

Many of us Veterans have found her and she us and have gotten to know her through our own advocacy of our brothers and sisters. Some are working directly with her and she with them.

She has written a very personal letter, part of the title I used above is the one from her letter to us, of her experiences and feelings, as a military spouse, and while posting it on a few sites it has now found it's way to a number of other sites.

This is what I received earlier, I've added the links.

Military spouses are often called the silent ranks, but sometimes it seems as though we are invisible too. On top of that, when our service members go to war and we hold down the home front, many of us carry our own burdens, make our own sacrifices, and sometimes, have own invisible wounds.

Michelle Obama has said that she is going to focus on the needs of military families. Given that focus, I thought my latest blog was particularly timely: Military Spouse Press

This blog was also posted on Military.com, but I wanted to draw your attention to our blogging site, Military Spouse Press. Anyone can register and post their own thoughts and experiences and comment on the blogs of others. In 2009, let us continue to encourage and inspire one another to be strong for the service members we love, the families we love, and the country we love.

Carissa Picard, Esq.
President
Military Spouses for Change
P.O. Box 216
Copperas Cove, TX 76522
Military Spouses for Change

Those of you reading who might be spouses of or even family members might want to bookmark not only Carissa's group site but also their interactive blog Military Spouse Press, you can also join that site and interact with posts and comments with the other spouses using it now. It's not an extremely active site but there are some great posts and information to be found there, and the more joining in the more support that will generate for everyone.

I won't add much to what Carissa wrote, just give you some cuts from, and encourage you to visit the link above or this Truthout Link where it is also now posted to read what she wrote in it's entirety.

Carissa S. Picard stands at the entrance to Fort Hood, Texas. Picard is the founder and president of Military Spouses for Change. (Photo: Erich Schlegel / Dallas Morning News)

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."
~Margaret Mead

"A 2008 RAND study reports that at least one in five soldiers are returning from war with PTSD. When are they going to do a study on the spouses and children left behind in these wars? The ones who self-medicate or are prescribed anti-depressants {parent and child alike}, who can never look at the world or the Army or themselves the same way again? What have we lost in service to this country?

We are only a third of the way through my husband's deployment and I can already identify our wounded. Am I the only one paying attention?"

Expectations

I don't know what military life was like before 9/11, but I can tell you what it is like now: and it isn't quirky and wacky and "just like civilian life but different." There is a reason Sarah Smiley {a female Dave Barry} is a Navy wife and Jenny {the cartoon} is an airman's wife: Army and Marine wives have less to laugh about.

In March 2008, The Associated Press reported that 72 percent of Iraq deaths were Army, 24 percent were Marine, two percent were Navy and one percent was Air Force. These percentages obviously reflect who is being deployed the most; i.e., who is being exposed to combat and who isn't.

Casualties of War

My ex-husband called me the other day and asked me what a "Blue Star wife" was. I explained that it was a wife whose husband was serving in combat.

Then I asked him if he knew what a Gold Star wife was. Of course he didn't.

"That's a wife whose husband has died in combat."

"Wow," he replied, "that's, uh, kind of sick, isn't it?"

I laughed. I knew what he meant. The "Gold Star" comes across as a quasi-cultural "WAY TO GO!" for the surviving family member (as the term technically applies to the entire family). And let us not forget the "Silver Star" for the family of a service member wounded in a war!

A Call to Arms

Nothing prepares you for war. There is no training center for spouses. You are either going to make it or you won't.

They're Not Waving, They're Drowning

In June, the parade of terribles begins. News from the front: soldiers being electrocuted in the showers, self-inflicted gunshot wounds, 10-year-old suicide bombers, sexual assaults on female soldiers.

I am learning not to worry about that which I cannot control {i.e., the life or death of the father of my children}, although much of your time will be spent listening and validating the feelings and experiences of others: your soldier-spouse, your warrior-children.

For example, when a soldier deploys to combat, those of us at home eventually get "the call."

The call comes when his {or her} veneer of strength has cracked. When something really bad has happened; when he {or she} has witnessed {or done} something that he/she was not prepared for or expecting to be upset by; when the surreal becomes real and that reality comes crashing down upon them with crushing force.

Nothing prepares you for this call, and you will usually hang up hurting and feeling totally useless.

Like I said you should read this whole Letter to Us from One who is Sacrificing. And if you can visit the Military Spouses for Change site and offer any help you might be able to, as they are not only spouses of and family of they also Sacrifice their time and energy for those others who are serving!

As Carissa signs off her e-mails:

"Patriotism is proud of a country's virtues and eager to correct its deficiencies; it also acknowledges the legitimate patriotism of other countries, with their own specific virtues. The pride of nationalism, however, trumpets its country's virtues and denies its deficiencies, while it is contemptuous toward the virtues of other countries. It wants to be, and proclaims itself to be, 'the greatest,' but greatness is not required of a country; only goodness is."
Sydney J. Harris

Farewell Tom Bernard‏

I just received this a short while ago:

Dear friends of Sir! No Sir!

It is with deep, deep sadness that I am writing to tell you of the death of Tom Barnard. Tom suffered a massive heart attack on Sunday, December 27. He was 60 years old.

I met Tom while filming Sir! No Sir! in what I later learned was a typical “Tom” way. I’ll never forget the email I got out of the blue from this guy I had never heard of, telling me simply that he had been part of an extremely significant group that had to be part of this film. They had never told their story publicly, and in fact had been threatened with prosecution for treason if they ever did. I was certainly intrigued, and soon Tom and I were friends.

Several months and a couple of failed attempts later, I found myself in a house with Tom and three other courageous, exemplary members of the WORMS–We Openly Resist Military Stupidity.

One of the most thrilling aspects of the GI Movement during the Vietnam War was its ubiquitous nature. In every corner of the military, everywhere on the planet, GIs found creative, stunning ways to rebel. Even if no one outside their individual unit knew they existed, they became part of an elegant tapestry of chaos and resistance.

And none were more elegant than the WORMS. Trained in Vietnamese, they were part of an ultra-secret unit that flew over North Vietnam intercepting communications from the “enemy,” and translating them for the Pentagon to use in planning military strategy. As Tom described it to me, they began developing an almost personal relationship with the voices they were hearing, and soon knew that the real “enemy” was not the people they were listening to, but their own bosses. Knowing firsthand how civilian centers were targeted and hospitals were being bombed, they decided to dedicate their lives toward ending that criminal war.

As they told me their story, the depth of their humanity and courage shown through–and I knew Tom had not exaggerated their significance. Finding themselves in a critical position for the war effort, they developed creative, challenging, fun(that was a requirement!), and profoundly effective ways of resisting. Their impact was far greater than they or anyone else knew.

I don’t know much about Tom’s life after Vietnam, but I do know that–as is true for thousands–those years as a GI resister informed all of it. I know that he never gave up his determination to change the world and his sense of purpose that was born with the WORMS.

My heart goes out to his wonderful wife, Helen, and their family. I will never forget Tom, and am very grateful to have known him the brief time I did.


David Zeiger
Sir! No Sir!

Rest In Peace 'Nam Brother Tom, Rest In Peace!!

Song Around the World "Stand By Me"

Playing For Change



Join with the Playing For Change Foundation

Two Poems.....

The following two poems were sent to a friend, a 'Nam brother, who has a now long running newsletter similar to the G.I. Anti-War movement newsletters of the 'Nam era found on bases, and In-Country ,around the world back than.

Gaza Has Become A Warsaw Ghetto

Palestinian child demonstrates against
the slaughter of her people.
Generation after generation after generation.
Like the Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto,
three generations ago.
If the Jews who were murdered in the Holocaust
could see what is now happening in Palestine,
they would stand in front of the Palestinians.
Why?
Because there is solidarity in the persecuted.
Gaza has become a Warsaw Ghetto.

Mike Hastie
Vietnam Veteran
December 31, 2008

This one comes from JM and She writes:

Something very different: a poem.
Have you heard of Erich Fried who is often referred to as the greatest modern, Jewish, poet?
He was born in Vienna in 1921 and escaped to England, with his mother, after his father was tortured to death by the Gestapo, in 1938.
Because of his experiences with racism and Fascism he became involved in the Palestinian cause.
He was a leader in the fight against both Fascism and Zionism.
I’m sending a copy of his best poem, in my opinion. It was first published in 1988 just before he died.
Please take the time to read it. I think it’s wonderful.

A Jew to Zionist Fighters, 1988

What do you actually want?
Do you really want to outdo
those who trod you down
a generation ago
into your own blood
and into your own excrement
Do you want to pass on the old torture
to others now
in all its bloody and dirty detail
with all the brutal delight of torturers
as suffered by your fathers?
Do you really want to be the new Gestapo
the new Wehrmacht
the new SA and SS
and turn the Palestinians
into the new Jews?
Well then I too want,
having fifty years ago
myself been tormented for being a Jewboy
by your tormentors,
to be a new Jew with these new Jews
you are making of the Palestinians
And I want to help lead them as a free people
into their own land of Palestine
from whence you have driven them or in which you plague them
you apprentices of the Swastika
you fools and changelings of history
whose Star of David on your flags
turns ever quicker
into that damned symbol with its four feet
that you just do not want to see
but whose path you are following today

Nine Steps to Peace - Deepak Chopra to President Barack Obama

Nine Steps to Peace for Obama in the New Year

Thursday 01 January 2009

by: Deepak Chopra

The face of peace.


Steps the incoming president can take to build a peace-based economy.

The following is a memo to Barack Obama from Deepak Chopra.

You have been elected by the first anti-war constituency since 1952, when Dwight D. Eisenhower was elected after promising to end the Korean War. But ending a war isn't the same as bringing peace. America has been on a war footing since the day after Pearl Harbor, 67 years ago. We spend more on our military than the next 16 countries combined. If you have a vision of change that goes to the heart of this country's deep problems, ending our dependence on war is far more important than ending our dependency on foreign oil.

The most immediate changes are economic. Unless it can make as much money as war, peace doesn't stand a chance. Since aerospace and military technologies remain the United States' most destructive export, fostering wars around the world, what steps can we take to reverse that trend and build a peace-based economy?

1. Scale out arms dealing and make it illegal by the year 2020.

2. Write into every defense contract a requirement for a peacetime project.

3. Subsidize conversion of military companies to peaceful uses with tax incentives and direct funding.

4. Convert military bases to housing for the poor.

5. Phase out all foreign military bases.

6. Require military personnel to devote part of their time to rebuilding infrastructure.

7. Call a moratorium on future weapons technologies.

8. Reduce armaments like destroyers and submarines that have no use against terrorism and were intended to defend against a superpower enemy that no longer exists.

9. Fully fund social services and take the balance out of the defense and homeland security budgets.

These are just the beginning. We don't lack creativity in coping with change. Without a conversion of our present war economy to a peace economy, the high profits of the military-industrial complex ensures that it will never end.

Do these nine steps seem unrealistic or fanciful? In various ways, other countries have adopted similar measures. The former Soviet army is occupied with farming and other peaceful work, for example. But comparisons are rather pointless, since only the United States is burdened with such a massive reliance on defense spending. Ultimately, empire follows the dollar. As a society, we want peace, and we want to be seen as a nation that promotes peace. For either ideal to come true, you as president must back up your vision of change with economic reality. So far, that hasn't happened under any of your predecessors. All hopes are pinned on you.

------------

Deepak Chopra is acknowledged as one of the world's greatest leaders in the field of mind-body medicine. He is the author of over 50 books, including "Buddha: A Story of Enlightenment" and "Ageless Body, Timeless Mind: The Quantum Alternative to Growing Old"

------------

'If You Go After the Wrong People, You Convert Moderates into Extremists'

The Entry of the Sunni Mujahideen

Michael Scheuer has an interesting series of articles at the Asian Times from the The Jamestown Foundation. A window in the coming Blowback, that has already reared it's ugly head in many places and is stoked by throwing intense flames onto the already started fire?

The latest report is called MUJAHIDEEN BLEED-THROUGH, Part 4 with a subtitle "Palestine and Israel: The ring of terror tightens"

Seems al Qaeda is not only growing but thriving and expanding rapidly with more fringe groups, which is what al Qaeda is, forming under that umbrella of Criminal Terrorism and according to Scheuer targeting Israel and U.S. Interests

As discussed earlier in this series of articles, the entry of Sunni mujahideen from Iraq into Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon has been a fairly visible process and tracking it - at least in outline form - is an achievable task.

This group falls under the name "Salafi" or "Salafism" which is the correct descriptive name of the often used term "Wahhabi", at least according to this site:

What is a Salafi and What is Salafism?

The reader will notice that the word "Wahhabi" is always indented with quotation marks here at TheWahhabiMyth.com. Those who are labeled with this word do not themselves use this term, as it is used as a means of belittlement. The reasons for the rejection of this term are clearly outlined throughout this book. The correct way of referring to them is by terming them Salafis, as they are those who adhere to the way of the Salaf - the Prophet Muhammad (may Allah raise his rank and grant him peace) and his companions.

Following the way of the Salaf is the way which has been legislated in the Quran and Sunnah, the very sources of Islam. The Prophet (may Allah raise his rank and grant him peace) said to his daughter Fatimah: "Indeed, I am for you a blessed Salaf."

When asked about which was the correct and acceptable way of understanding Islam, the Prophet (may Allah raise his rank and grant him peace) replied by saying: "That which I and my companions are upon."

Scheuer describes the movements of the Salafi and it's goals.

the goal of the mujahideen from Iraq has been clear: (a) to spread Salafi beliefs in the Levant countries and (b) to place fighters as close to Israel as possible. These Salafi Islamists are, in essence, trying to create a space where they can begin to operate inside Israel. Whether they succeed in that goal is an open question, but their intent is clear.

There have been a few, very few, reports about so called in-fighting in Gaza long before the recent Carnage going on today. Here it seems it's reported as fighting between factions within Hamas, apparently that may not be the case.

Al-Qaeda and its Salafi allies have long viewed Palestine as "an Islamic endowment", a place to which "every Muslim has the right to set out for jihad in its land". Osama bin Laden, moreover, has long railed against the governments of Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon for preventing non-Palestinian mujahideen from basing themselves in their countries. Bin Laden's gripe has now been satisfied to an extent, not by his own hand, but by courtesy of the regional destabilization caused by the United States-led war in Iraq. Salafi fighters of various nationalities are now flowing into the Levant from Iraq.

In Palestine, there seems to be a minor Salafi presence in the West Bank but a steadily growing military and proselytizing presence in Gaza. The above noted "Army of Islam" and several other Salafi organizations have created training facilities in Gaza and have displayed them to the international media, defiantly proclaiming, "We are coming Jews!" They have, to date, conducted some attacks on the Israeli army when its units were engaged in raids in Gaza, and have attacked Christian and American targets in Gaza.

The bleed-through from Iraq also is having some impact in the Palestinian territories - especially Gaza - and in Israel.

The Salafi have apparently taken some actions against the Israeli's but on a minor scale so far.

and the Salafis appear to spend just as much time fighting with their erstwhile Islamist colleagues in Hamas.

As the Salafists in Gaza began to preach and attract followers there appears to have been an implicit understanding reached between the Salafist leaders and Hamas. The deal allowed the Salafists to train fighters, attack Israeli targets, and preach in Gaza as long as they did not engage in Gaza's internal political system and did not try to impose their ideology by force on Palestinians.

This has been an unstable deal at best; even as the Salafists acquiesced to Hamas' terms, they declared their belief that "Hamas does not implement the rule of God on earth, and does not enforce any ruling of the Islamic Sharia". There have been fire-fights between Salafists and Hamas security forces during the latter's raids of Salafi mosques and other sites. On one occasion this fall, Hamas policeman killed nine members of the Army of Islam, earning a promise of revenge from the group's leaders.

While the recent actions of the Israeli's, as many are now saying, have enhanced the Palestinian Elected Hamas, which had been losing stature, it may actually be emboldening, and making it easier, for the Salafi Mujahideen to recruit not only Hamas fighters but other Palestinians and not only in Gaza but on the West Bank as well.

As the cut above says "but by courtesy of the regional destabilization caused by the United States-led war in Iraq. Salafi fighters of various nationalities are now flowing into the Levant from Iraq", the legacy being left, and forcast by many, has been rapidly taking place. Not only as to the instability of the region because of Iraq but this administration's ignoring the Israeli and Palestinian issue for eight years, with their partners the Likud government in Israel, and our present Secretary of State Condi Rice total lack of concern and action as to the recent past leading to the Israeli Destruction now taking place in Gaza, while earlier her and bush pledging more involvement and a Peace Deal before they Slither Away!!

Once again the link to this recent write: MUJAHIDEEN BLEED-THROUGH, Part 4

And the previous three:

PART 1: Syria: Terror's made-to-order milieu

PART 2: Lebanon: Last stop on a jihad highway

PART 3: Jordan: Al-Qaeda clouds a precarious future

Something you may also want to view:

The Power of Nightmares

A 3-Part BBC Video Series
This 3-part BBC video series documents the history of Islamic fundamentalism and neo-conservatism. Although it runs several hours long, it is well worth the time to view it.

The Power of Nightmares Part 1: “Baby it's Cold Outside“

The Power of Nightmares Part 2: The Phantom Victory - by Adam Curtis

The Power of Nightmares Part 3: The Shadows in the Cave

And what will happen within Iraq especially adding the actions taking place in Gaza?

‘Sons of Iraq’ role causes some worry

By Thursday, when the security agreement between Iraq and the United States takes effect, about 75 percent of the "Sons of Iraq" groups in the country will be under Iraqi responsibility, U.S. officials said this week.

The transition of the armed groups from U.S. control began last year and has been one of the key worries in cementing the security gains seen in the country in recent months. More than 100,000 "Sons of Iraq" members had been recruited in Iraq over the past two years — some of them former insurgents, most of them young men without jobs.

Michael Scheuer served in the CIA for 22 years before resigning in 2004. He served as the chief of the Bin Laden Unit at the Counterterrorist Center from 1996 to 1999. He is the once anonymous author of Imperial Hubris: Why the West is Losing the War on Terror; his most recent book is Marching Toward Hell: America and Islam After Iraq. Dr Scheuer is a Senior Fellow with The Jamestown Foundation.

Heartbreaking Tragedy

The news about the attacks in Gaza is beyond words. "Appalling" doesn't even come close.

U.S.-supplied Israeli F-16 warplanes and Apache helicopters have fired missiles and dropped over 100 tons of bombs on dozens of locations in the Israeli-occupied Gaza Strip. Over 300 people are dead and at least 1,400 more are injured. Many if not most of them are civilians. Food and medicine were already in short supply in Gaza and all medical facilities have been completely overwhelmed by this onslaught. Access to Gaza has been cut off by Israel.

This is the most violent and heartbreaking situation that has happened to the Palestinians in recent history, and it must stop. In addition to calling for protests at Israeli consulates and federal buildings, as well as letters to the U.S. and Israeli governments, Jewish Voice for Peace staff and members are already putting together an aggressive campaign focused on Gaza. And, without a moment to waste, we call for an immediate end to attacks on all civilians.

I am Stephanie Roth and I've been an activist with Jewish Voice for Peace for many years, including serving on the board of directors. I've been involved with social justice issues my entire adult life - both in my professional life as an editor and fundraiser, and as a volunteer and activist. There is no issue I find more important or compelling than my work to end the Israeli Occupation. I am particularly saddened by this weekend's tragedy, occurring just a week after the uplifting days when the Shministim - the young Israeli conscientious objectors - caught the world's attention with their courage to say no to violence on December 18. I know that people in Gaza will stop dying when Israeli soldiers, like the Shministim, have the courage to say NO. NO, we will not target civilians; NO, we will not follow immoral orders; NO, we will not contribute to the destruction of Palestinian society.

Together with the Shministim, and with the 1,000 Israelis in Tel Aviv and thousands of others around the world who have already come out to protest the Gaza onslaught, we say YES. YES, stepping up to speak for justice and peace makes a difference; YES, we stand with the people of Gaza, of the West Bank, of Sderot in Israel and the innocent civilians everywhere whose lives are destroyed by cynical politicians and warmakers; YES, our voices together are stronger than the voice of any one of us alone; and YES, we are committed to the longterm goal of ending the Occupation and working for justice, peace and life.

Jewish Voice for Peace's goal - MY goal - of ending the Occupation is a long-term one. Today, I will be giving the biggest gift I can to insure that they have the resources for a swift and sustained response to this most recent atrocity.

We are in this struggle for as long as it takes, and we need your help. Please make the largest gift you can, today. Every gift is put right to work, and every gift makes a difference.

"If not us, who? If not now, when?"

Stephanie Roth

P.S. I know that Jewish Voice for Peace will be asking for help in a variety of ways over the next few days, weeks, months. Please, if you believe in peace, if you believe in the Shministim, stay tuned and help when you can. Thank you.

A Rising Death Toll - From the Jewish Voice for Peace

Please allow me to share with you our statement below about the headlines seen in papers across the world yesterday and today.

In sadness on this terrible day,
Cecilie Surasky
Jewish Voice for Peace

December 28, 2008

Jewish Voice for Peace joins millions around the world, including the 1,000 Israelis who protested in the streets of Tel Aviv this weekend, in condemning ongoing Israeli attacks on Gaza. We call for an immediate end to attacks on all civilians, whether Palestinian or Israeli.

Israel's slow strangulation of Gaza through blockade has caused widespread suffering to the 1.5 million people of Gaza due to lack of food, electricity, water treatment supplies and medical equipment. It is a violation of humanitarian law and has been widely condemned around the world.

In resisting this strangulation, Hamas resumed launching rockets and mortars from Gaza into southern Israel, directly targeting civilians, which is also a war crime. Over the years, these poorly made rockets have been responsible for the deaths of 15 Israelis since 2004.

Every country, Israel included, has the right and obligation to protect its citizens. The recent ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza shows that diplomatic agreements are the best protection for civilian life.

Moreover, massive Israeli air strikes have proven an indiscriminate and brutal weapon. In just two days, the known death toll is close to 300, and the attacks are continuing. By targeting the infrastructure of a poor and densely populated area, Israel has ensured widespread civilian casualties among this already suffering and vulnerable population.

This massive destruction of Palestinian life will not protect the citizens of Israel. It is illegal and immoral and should be condemned in the strongest possible terms. And it threatens to ignite the West Bank and add flames to the other fires burning in the Middle East and beyond for years to come.

The timing of this attack, during the waning days of a US administration that has undertaken a catastrophic policy toward the Middle East and during the run-up to an Israeli election, suggests an opportunistic agenda for short-term political gain at an immense cost in Palestinian lives. In the long run this policy will benefit no-one except those who always profit from war and exploitation. Only a just and lasting peace, achieved through a negotiated agreement, can provide both Palestinians and Israelis the security they want and deserve.

Washington Times-PTSD-Treatments

While we'll take Any In Depth Reports about what already should have been common knowledge on Post Traumatic Stress I do have just a couple of minor irritations with an otherwise Stellar Report on the Treatments for PTSD in the Washington Times edition today. let me get them out of the way.

The report, called VA grapples with veterans' mental traumas, is a six page writeup of which one Audrey Hudson deserves alot of credit for reporting and apparently has done a few others this year as the previous link would show.

It starts out with the following:

Service members returning from Afghanistan and Iraq increasingly are suffering from mental trauma that dampens their homecomings, hobbles their re-entry into civilian life and imperils their continued military service - a situation the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has sought to address with treatment, counseling and even drug experimentation.

But even as the VA has worked to provide quality health care for millions of veterans at its facilities across the country, it has endured a series of failures - from not notifying test subjects about new drug warnings to ignoring safeguards during experiments. Those failures have damaged the reputation of the agency charged with supporting vulnerable veterans.

But it also has compromised the speedy recovery of those vets.

President-elect Barack Obama, who has named retired Gen. Eric K. Shinseki as incoming VA secretary, will have to deal with those long-standing discrepancies in the agency, as well as seek out new solutions to remedy the mental health problems plaguing an ever-growing population of veterans.

What I would ask is why the pointing at the incoming President Obama and his named Appointment of Gen. Shinseki to head the VA? Where is a start to this report of the total incompetence of the present administration and the republican controlled congress, who you were beating the War Drums with in the lead up to both occupations?

We know what you, and others wrote, about us Veterans, 300 to 400 strong at American University on the weekend of "Shock and Awe" for "Operation Dire Distress", where much of what the New Generation of Veterans were going to face, not only as to the occupations but Long After, was discussed, it was even televised live, all day, on C-Span.

We also know where you, the rest of the media, and the american public have been for thirty plus years on the subject of Post Traumatic Stress, Combat PTSD, you've been absent from the discussion and condemning those who either suffered from or are advocates for those suffering, as lier's, as we've tried to raise the knowledge of Post Traumatic Stress and that it isn't only some sort of Combat Theater Mental Disorder Alone, but can be brought on by any traumatic experience any individual lives through, but only in the 'Hell On Earth' of Mans Wars can it become such a debilitating result and can we learn more about and how to help.

It isn't only the media and civilian population,

"Wars are supposed to end when the last shots are fired, but some of our new veterans will unfortunately have to cope with internal demons that may last their lifetime," said Joe Davis, spokesman for the Veterans of Foreign Wars.

Mr Davis, brother vet, you're right and that score, but if you look most of us 'Nam Vets didn't join your ranks in the VFW nor the American Legion, you folks not only thought our War and Occupation wasn't a War you All have been more than a Day and a Whole Bunch of Dollars Short as to PTSD, TBI, and in recent history 'Gulf War Syndrom'! Where were your supposed strong advocacy for the Veterans as us Veterans were Fighting to be Heard!!

And great job there Washington Times:

The Washington Times has focused throughout the year on the VA and scrutinized the agency's handling of human subject drug tests using veterans, its treatment of veterans and the impact it has on service members and their families.

Five and Six years into these occupations and this sixth and seventh year You Noticed what Citizen Journalists, NPR, the Washington Post, CBS, and ABC, along with McClatchy and a few other media outfits have been Finally Reporting these last three or so years.

But at least You are now following everyones leads, why not inform FOX and Rush to take this meaningful National Subject into their folds as well!

It is a great report you have here, hitting on very important issues and care as to the Veterans of these two occupations which in their care will only help their communities and the nation, but also help the civilians who experience traumatic events in their lives and develop their own Post Traumatic Stress, and we as a Nation have the responsibility to help those citizens of the Countries we occupied and destroyed come to terms and re-build, their countries and their own Trauma's we've waged on them.

It also will increase pressure on the federal government to conduct even more questionable clinical trials on this vulnerable population to find a cure for the elusive psychological trauma.

"Despite heightened risks in trying to study drugs in a vulnerable population like recently returned vets with PTSD, the currently available treatments are not especially useful or efficacious," said Arthur Caplan, medical ethicist and director of the Center for Bioethics at the University of Pennsylvania.

"So more studies will surely be undertaken," he said. "This means those charged with human subjects protection will have to be especially vigilant."

In our already drug filled society if threating PTSD or any other development of war with more, and especially experimental, there must be a strong will as to control, oversight and warning to the patients who must know the potential possible long term dangers, we as a Nation have used Military Personal as Guinea Pigs to many times before than walked away from our National Responsibility of caring for them!

The trend likely will continue. Soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan are increasingly being recruited for new experiments.

"Medical research is vital to understanding and treating such maladies, but equally important is that research subjects know what they're getting into," Mr. Davis said.

"Military veterans have already voluntarily done more for their country than virtually everyone else. They must not be used unwittingly for the sake of science," Mr. Davis said.

Drug testing on vulnerable veterans, failures by the VA to notify study participants when new drug warnings were issued and high suicide numbers among the retirees dominated the agenda of veteran support groups and Democrats on Capitol Hill this year.

Gen. Shinseki will be responsible for shaping the future of medical research conducted on veterans with PTSD and to develop new and innovative treatments including stricter ethical standards.

Once again my hats off to Audrey Hudson for a fine piece of reporting and hitting on a number of important issues. These should have been in the National Language for over thirty years, not only as to the Washington Times but all the Media and the Population, they should have been One of Many issues Discussed in Congress and the Administration in their Rush To War, With No Exit Plan For Neither Theater!

So you don't have to scroll back up to get the link I give it to you once again, a report you should read, along with all the others you might see on these subjects!

But as back in our day, Lets look at the Real Cause and the Incompetence and Neglect from those Responsible, not just pushing off the search for solutions on to someone else.

We didn't look at our years of 'Nam and what the country put the returning troops through, and we're repeating those mistakes, as to care, as to occupations, as to this false sense of being superior beings in a world of human beings!

We have a responsibility to care for those we send to invade others and that responsibility extends to the countries we invade and their innocent populations!!