Saturday, January 17, 2009

It Was Just Like Ike.........

Over at AfterDowningStreet you will find a post of Dwight D. Eisenhower with his Farewell Address to the Nation, 17 January 1961.

Many have read or heard this Address many times, especially these past eight years, but with this post comes another many have not read or heard.

Eight years earlier Eisenhower had said much the same in his "Chance for Peace Speech" to the American Society of Newspaper Editors on April 16,1953. Who has heard of that speech?

You should listen to it.



“Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children. The cost of one modern heavy bomber is this: a modern brick school in more than 30 cities. It is two electric power plants, each serving a town of 60,000 population. It is two fine, fully equipped hospitals. It is some fifty miles of concrete pavement. We pay for a single fighter plane with a half million bushels of wheat. We pay for a single destroyer with new homes that could have housed more than 8,000 people. This is, I repeat, the best way of life to be found on the road the world has been taking. This is not a way of life at all, in any true sense. Under the cloud of threatening war, it is humanity hanging from a cross of iron. ... Is there no other way the world may live? - Dwight D. Eisenhower, Speech to the American Society of Newspaper Editors, "The Chance for Peace", 16 April 1953


This is a part of what Ike says in the post and more as to his Farewell Address and what he warned about only 8 years prior to!

Guantánamo Reports: Research Of

Those spreading or falling for the cheney/bush administration spin on the Released Guantanamo Prisoners going directly back into the Guerilla/Insurgent conflict and or Criminal Terrorism might want to educate themselves on the studies exposing that the government numbers just don't Tell The Truth, not surprising!!

On the Rachel Maddow show last night, 1-16-09. she had a discussion with Professor Mark P. Denbeaux, Director of Seton Hall Law Center for Policy and Research, who supervises a group of talented Seton Hall students in preparing a series of Reports concerning the United States Navy Station at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.

Latest Press Release January 15, 2009
Seton Hall Law: Department of Defense Wrong Again on GTMO “Recidivism”

The Seton Hall Center for Policy and Research has issued a report which rebuts and debunks the most recent claim by the Department of Defense (DOD) that “61, in all, former Guantánamo detainees are confirmed or suspected of returning to the fight.”

Professor Denbeaux of the Center for Policy & Research has said that the Center has determined that “DOD has issued 'recidivism' numbers 43 times, and each time they have been wrong—this last time the most egregiously so.”

Denbeaux stated: “Once again, they’ve failed to identify names, numbers, dates, times, places, or acts upon which their report relies. Every time they have been required to identify the parties, the DOD has been forced to retract their false IDs and their numbers. They have included people who have never even set foot in Guantánamo—much less were they released from there. They have counted people as 'returning to the fight' for their having written an Op-ed piece in the New York Times and for their having appeared in a documentary exhibited at the Cannes Film Festival. The DOD has revised and retracted their internally conflicting definitions, criteria, and their numbers so often that they have ceased to have any meaning—except as an effort to sway public opinion by painting a false portrait of the supposed dangers of these men.

"Forty-three times they have given numbers—which conflict with each other—all of which are seriously undercut by the DOD statement that 'they do not track' former detainees. Rather than making up numbers “willy-nilly” about post release conduct, America might be better served if our government actually kept track of them.”


The MSNBC Rachel Maddow Video on Torture and than the discussion with Professor Denbeaux:



Following is a part of the 19 page PDF report from their studies of the administrations up and down confusing figures, with nothing to back them up, that was just released. I find it Very Interesting that the administration's DoD has issued 'recidivism' reports 43 times, sounds much like rovian 'revisionist history' keeping that 43 number in their herded bases tiny minds, very poor propaganda tactic, very poor.

Latest Report (01/15/09)
RELEASED GUANTÁNAMO DETAINEES AND THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE:
Propaganda by the Numbers?



PROPAGANDA AS TERRORISM: RECIDIVISM BY THE NUMBERS
Time and time again, the Department of Defense, the Executive Branch, and other
government officials have claimed publicly that Guantánamo Bay detainees who have been
released have “returned to the battlefield” where they have then been re-captured or killed. On
January 13, 2009, during a press conference the Department of Defense provided its 43rd attempt
to report on the number of detainees released from Guantanamo who returned to the battlefield.
This latest report alleges that 61 detainees have returned to the battlefield. This report seeks to
examine the last numbers.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
1. The 43rd attempt to enumerate the number of detainees who have returned to the
battlefield is false by the Department of Defense’s own data and prior reports.
2. In each of its forty-three attempts to provide the numbers of the recidivist detainees,
the Department of Defense has given different sets of numbers that are contradictory
and internally inconsistent with the Department’s own data.
3. The Department of Defense does not keep track of released detainees nor does it
follow their post release conduct.
4. The Department of Defense’s previous statements about the post release conduct of
former Guantanamo detainees were produced in writing in July 2007 and May 2008.
5. The January 13, 2009 press statement identifies no names, dates, places nor any
conduct by released detainees. The raw numbers that are cited are unsupported,
inconsistent with all other statements and appear to be presented to support the
internal Department of Defense purposes.

POINT I: The Department of Defense’s First 42 Reports of Released Guantanamo
Detainees: Recidivism


1. Among the previous numbers of recidivist detainees, the Department of Defense has
alleged variously: one, several, some, a couple, a few, 5, 7, 10, 12, 15, 12-24, 25, 29,
and 30. (See Appendix 1).

2. Eighty-two percent (82%) of the publicly made claims catalogued in Appendix 1 of
this report contain qualifying language, including terms such as: “at least”;1
“somewhere on the order of”;2 “approximately”;3 “around”;4 “just short of”;5 “we
believe”;6 “estimated”;7 “roughly”;8 “more than”;9 “a couple”;10 “a few”;11 “some”;12
“several”;13 and “about.”14

3. One would suppose that the number of “recidivists” would increase over time.
However, while the timeline does reveal a trend in a general upward direction over
time, there are notable deviations. For instance, in the months leading up to the midterm
election—from May 2006 until September 2006—the numbers proffered range
from “a couple”15 to “twenty-five (25)”16 During this same period, however, the
Department of Defense number remains constant at twelve (12). (See Appendix 1).


As is the case there are other links to previous reports and statements at the site. These are but a few:

# Profile of Released Guantánamo Detaines: The Government's Story Then and Now

Cover Statement by Professor Mark Denbeaux (08/04/08)

# Justice Scalia, the Department of Defense, and The Perpetuation of an Urban Legend: The Truth about Recidivism of Released Guantánamo Detainees (06/16/08)

# Captured on Tape: Interrogation and Videotaping of Detainees in Guantánamo (02/07/08)

# The Meaning of "Battlefield": An Analysis of the Government’s Representations of ‘Battlefield Capture’ and ‘Recidivism’ of the Guantánamo Detainees (12/10/07)

Professor Denbeaux's Testimony before the Judiciary Committee on C-SPAN

# The Empty Battlefield and the Thirteenth Criterion (11/08/07)

# The 14 Myths of Guantánamo: Senate Armed Services Committee Statement of Mark P. Denbeaux.
Professor Mark P. Denbeaux testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee on 4/26/07

More can be found at the Center for Policy & Research - Guantánamo Reports at Seton Hall University School of Law

As to those held captive in Guantanamo, and any other country under the cheney/bush administrations request and demands, I certainly wouldn't blame them if they reverted to a combative retaliatory existence.

After being scooped up, taken to different countries or gitmo, held and tortured for now years, unable to contact family thousands of miles away, given no trials or even the government evidence of why they are being held or the charges, than after years released. I know what I would do, especially if I wasn't a Guerilla Fighter to begin with, I'd Instantly Become One, my first reaction.

But hopefully I'd contain my Rage and Channel it into letting the World Know how I was Treated and help any others still held, as well as helping the innocent survivors of the occupied countries!!

Friday, January 16, 2009

Agent Orange devastates generations of Vietnamese

During the Vietnam War, the U.S. dropped millions of gallons of Agent Orange, a toxic defoliant, on Vietnam in an attempt to remove the jungle used for cover by communist forces.

Decades later, civilians still suffer the consequences. Dioxin still lurks in Vietnam’s soil, causing deformities which are passed on from generation to generation.

Worldfocus correspondent Mark Litke and producer Ara Ayer travel to Vietnam and witness the devastating effects the toxin has left behind.

For more information on efforts to aid the victims of Agent Orange, visit the Vietnam Friendship Village.




World Focus

Ashford and Simpson: "Solid As Barack"

I took the recently released 'Ashford and Simpson' song, dedicated to President Barack Obama, and put some photo's to it, enjoy.



Ashford And Simpson: Six months ago during a concert in LA we turned the mike over to the audience and "Solid as Barack" was born! At Feinstein's in New York Stephen Holden reviewed us for the New York Times mentioning it. Saturday Night Live then aired a fun version and we figured it was time to embrace the idea with a real tribute with lyrics for Barack.


Ashford And Simpson 'MySpace Site'

National Conference on Reintegration

Of Service Members and Veterans


Community Reintegration Summit on Service Members and Veterans Returning to Civilian Life
Washington, D.C.
Carnegie Institution
January 26-27, 2009


Survivor Corps, Booz Allen Hamilton, and The Veterans' Coalition are co-hosting a Summit to convene a community of leaders from the public, private, and civil sectors. Together we can collaboratively address the reintegration of service members and veterans as they return home to their families, communities, schools, and jobs.

The Challenge

Over one and a half million service members have deployed in military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2001. Over thirty thousand have been physically wounded, with many more experiencing less visible, psychological wounds. Many returning veterans are facing family, employment, and other community reintegration issues. Recent reports suggest an increase in rates of suicide [1], alcohol and drug abuse [2], homelessness [3], and domestic violence [4]. These traumatic effects of war, left unaddressed, could have far-reaching negative consequences for the individuals affected, their families, and our nation.

Leaders of the public, private, and civil sectors have been doing substantial work to address the issues around reintegration-individually and through partnerships or coalitions. Clearly, the hard work of these organizations has improved the lives of returning service members and veterans, yet many challenges remain. Reintegration issues are complex, and the responsibility for dealing with them is shared among many organizations. Successful solutions to the issues may require a shift in leadership approach and a significant increase in collaborative action.


The Reintegration Summit

To continue the work accomplished at the Initiators Conference, Survivor Corps, Booz Allen Hamilton, and The Veterans' Coalition will host the Community Reintegration Summit on January 26-27, 2009, at the Carnegie Institution in Washington, DC. The goal is to convene a broader community of leaders from the public, private, and civil sectors to collaboratively address the issues of reintegration that affect how service members return to family, work, school, and community following their war time service.
There are four key objectives for the Summit:

* Review themes, issues, and challenges faced by service members and veterans returning to civilian life
* Develop a definition of successful community reintegration
* Develop action plans to address specific issues of community reintegration that reach across sectors
* Launch megacommunity workgroups to address specific issues of community reintegration

At the Summit, attendees will confront the toughest issues of community reintegration by participating in a dynamic simulation. Participants will be divided into various teams, whose assumptions, actions, and agreements will drive the simulation. Teams will work together, share information, and develop coordinated decisions and actions. As the simulation advances in time, participants will see the consequences and long-term impacts of their decisions on service members and veterans.

The issues of community reintegration are complex and will likely take years to solve. Participants will leave the Summit with a greater understanding of these issues as informed by the perspectives of leaders from all sectors. They will also have the opportunity to engage in action-oriented workgroups to facilitate leader-to-leader collaboration between organizations moving beyond the Summit. We believe that by gaining commitments to action, developing measurable goals, and routinely checking our progress against them, together we can sustain progress toward helping service members make a healthy return to their families and communities.

The Gulf War Syndrom

Gulf War Veteran Testimony‏

Key testimony by Julie Mock of Woodinville, national president of Veterans of Modern Warfare, was edited for space from Thursday's story about the Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans hearing in Seattle.
But in this military blog, what gets edited to fit in the paper can be restored. Mock14.PDF

Still, the right people paid attention to what Mock said at yesterday's hearing at Seattle's VA medical center, the latest stop by a 14-member panel visiting city's nationwide as it seeks to help veterans of the 1991 Gulf War. On Thursday, Mock heard from the Obama Administration transition team, which is interested in what she said about rectifying 18-year-old injustices done to those veterans of Desert Storm.
Mock, who has service-connected multiple sclerosis, and her fellow veterans of the 1991 Gulf War continue to suffer disproportionately from chronic multi-symptom illnesses that include extreme fatigue, widespread pain, respiratory problems, severe headaches � to name a few.

"Now is the time to provide relief to Gulf War veterans who are essentially suffering from the neurotoxic effects of the human experiment of pyridostigmine bromide," Mock said.


Again the PDF

Thursday, January 15, 2009

The Day After Presidential Inauguration Day



Click The Pic For More

"A Journal for Jordan"

Slain 1st sgt. gives fatherly advice in book

Jordan Canedy is a lucky boy, if you can call a boy without a father lucky. But most children aren’t left a 200-page journal written by their dad. A man-to-man talk of sorts.

Not only that, Jordan’s mother is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who knows a good story when she sees one.

So she builds a book around the journal, giving her son an even richer portrait of a man who died when Jordan was only 7 months old.

"A Journal for Jordan: A Story of Love and Honor" is a brutally honest look at Dana Canedy’s life with 1st Sgt. Charles Monroe King, who was killed in Iraq in October 2006.

King began writing his journal the year before, just in case he didn’t come home.

The book is part news story, part confessional.

Read Rest Here


A Few Reviews
"This tragic story of love and war reminds all Americans that we are fortunate to have people like Sgt. Charles King, willing to die for our country. Dana Canedy bears witness to the enduring power of love, to Sgt. King's heroism and his unfailing devotion to his family and his men."
—Caroline Kennedy

"This book is a living, breathing legacy. It's full of wonderful treasures offered by a unique and spirited father, whose loving words of wisdom to his infant son are a rite of passage that will transform us all. It is written with serene grace: part memoir, part love story, all heart."
—James McBride, author of The Color of Water

“Dana Canedy's moving memoir has captured my heart and won't let it go. Courageous in its honesty and at times unsettling, it draws us deep into the soul of a woman in love, the pain of her loss and the unpardonable theft of hopes and dreams, lives and futures stolen by war. With an exquisite voice, Canedy recounts moments of intense emotion that haunt us long after savoring the last lines. I didn't want it to end.”
—Susan L. Taylor, Editor-in-Chief Emeritus, Essence, and founder of the National CARES Mentoring Movement

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Court Grants National Security Archive Motion - WH E-Mails {UpDated 2}

The following was in the e-notice sent out by The George Washington University - The National Security Archive which is what can be found also on the page link to the announcement.

For Immediate Release:
January 14, 2009

To Search White House Computers and Preserve E-mails



On the eve of transition, federal judge orders outgoing White House staff
to surrender electronic media containing e-mails.

Washington, D.C., January 14, 2009 – The United States District Court for the District of Columbia today granted the National Security Archive’s emergency motion for an extended preservation order to protect missing White House e-mails. With the transition from the Bush Administration to the Obama Administration taking place in six days, and all the records of the Bush White House scheduled for a physical transfer to the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) on that same day, the Court has directed the Executive Office of the President (EOP) to search all its computer work stations and has ordered EOP employees to surrender any media in their possession that may contain e-mails from March 2003 to October 2005.

“There is nothing like a deadline to clarify the issues,” said Archive Director Tom Blanton. “In six days the Bush Executive Office of the President will be gone and without this order, their records may disappear with them. The White House will complain about the last minute challenge, but this is a records crisis of the White House's own making.”

Counsel for the Archive, Sheila Shadmand from Jones Day made clear: “The White House has been on notice since we filed our lawsuit a year and a half ago that they would have to retrieve and preserve their e-mail. Instead of coming clean and telling the public what they have been doing to solve the crisis, they refused to say anything. At this point, it is critical to preserve evidence that can help get to the bottom of the problem and prevent it from happening again.”

Magistrate Judge John M. Facciola has scheduled an emergency status conference today at 2 p.m. to consider additional measures that may be necessary to protect the records during the transition. (Courtroom 6 of the E. Barrett Prettyman Federal Courthouse)

The Archive filed its emergency motion for an extended preservation order on March 11, 2008. After considering the objections of the White House, Magistrate Judge Facciola issued two reports, on April 24 and July 29, 2008, recommending that District Judge Henry H. Kennedy issue an order requiring search, surrender and preservation of the computer workstations and external media devices, such as CDs, DVDs, memory sticks, and external hard drives. Today’s order adopts those reports and recommendations, granting in part the Archive’s emergency motion.

The National Security Archive filed its lawsuit on September 5, 2007 against the Executive Office of the President and NARA, seeking to preserve and restore missing White House e-mails. A virtually identical lawsuit filed subsequently by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) has been consolidated with the Archive's lawsuit. A chronology of the litigation is available here.


If you visit this link The George Washington University - The National Security Archive, which is the same link as the second one at the top, they have a number of back links along the left hand side of the page to review.

UpDate:

White House admits it has not recovered files from computer workstations or collected external computer storage media that may contain missing e-mails

Scope of missing e-mails acknowledged in court today, although Department of Justice claims they are working on a solution

UpDate 2:

White House e-mail in "true emergency conditions"

Magistrate judge orders search of all White House computers, grants plaintiffs' request for inventories and preservation of evidence

Former POW Philip Butler: Prosecute Bush

Phillip Butler: Congress must prosecute Bush

01/14/2009

I , Phillip Neal Butler, having been appointed a midshipman in the United States Navy, do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign or domestic, and to bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion, and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office upon which I am about to enter, so help me God.

I first took this oath in 1957. Upon graduation from the Naval Academy in 1961, I had the honor of repeating the oath as I was commissioned as an ensign. I served 20 years as an active duty commissioned officer. During that time, I became a naval aviator, flew combat in Vietnam, was shot down over North Vietnam on April 20, 1965, and became a prisoner of war.

I was repatriated Feb. 12, 1973, having served 2,855 days and nights as a POW — just short of 8 years.

The Vietnamese were not signatory to international treaties on treatment of prisoners. They pronounced us "criminals" and freely used torture, harassment, malnutrition, isolation, lack of medical care, and other degradations during our captivity. I was tortured dozens of times. But I often thought of our Constitution and the higher purpose we served—a purpose that helped me resist beyond what I thought I'd ever be capable of. We POWs often reminded each other that our country would never stoop to torture and the low level of treatment we were experiencing at the hands of our captors.

This oath, the same one sworn to by all officers, government officials, presidential cabinet members, senators and representatives of our nation, has had a powerful affect on me. It has given me an over-arching purpose in life — to serve the greatest and most influential legal document ever written. The only different oath is specified for the president. Constitutional Article II, Section 1 (8.) mandates that he or she will "... preserve, protect and defend the Constitution."

So what in the world happened during the eight years of the Bush administration? He and his subordinates trampled our precious Constitution and the rule of law into the ground while our elected members of Congress have stood idly and complicitly by. Our highest elected officials have utterly failed in their duty of greatest responsibility.

During these years, we have seen gross attempts to institutionalize torture. Our Article VI (2), commonly known as the "supremacy" clause, clearly states that treaties made shall become "the supreme law of the land," thus elevating them to the level of Constitutional law.

The Geneva Convention relative to the treatment of prisoners, ratified in 1949, says, "No physical or mental torture, nor any other form of coercion may be inflicted on prisoners of war to secure from them information of any kind whatever. Prisoners of war who refuse to answer may not be threatened, insulted, or exposed to any unpleasant or disadvantageous treatment of any kind." This and numerous other ratified treaties clearly stipulate that "prisoners" is an inclusive term that is not limited to any nation's uniformed combatants.

Gross Bush administration crimes, in addition to authorizing torture, include: 1) the use of "signing statements" to illegally refrain from complying with laws; 2) authorization of the illegal suspension of habeas corpus; 3) authorization of wire-tapping and other intrusive methods to illegally spy on American citizens; 4) unilateral declaration and pre-emptive conduct of war in violation of U.S. Constitution Article I, Section 8 (11).

The violations have reduced our nation to the level of international pariah. We no longer set the example for other nations. We no longer stand on a firm foundation.

I despair when I think of the personal sacrifices made by so many in U.S. wars and conflicts since 1776. Our forefathers would surely be angry and disappointed. I think they would call for redress by punishing those who are guilty.

The only way our nation can right itself is for Congress to prosecute the perpetrators of these crimes.

I therefore call on my elected representatives in the Senate and House to bring criminal charges against President George Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, legal counsel William J. Haynes and David Addington, former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, and potentially other high officials and uniformed officers. There is no other option if they are to carry out your responsibilities.


This was adapted from a statement Butler recently provided to Congress. He was a light-attack carrier pilot in 1965 when he was shot down over North Vietnam, where he spent eight years as a prisoner of war. He was awarded two Silver Stars, two Legions of Merit, two Bronze Stars and two Purple Heart medals. He later earned a doctorate in sociology from UC-San Diego and completed his Navy career in 1981. He founded and owned a management consulting and professional speaking business. He lives in Monterey.

Neil Young - Fork In The Road

This song popped up at the end of a session in NYC last month. We recorded it that night before we went home. Hope you enjoy this little Shakey Pix video we did last week. I'll be with you on the 20th.



Lyrics to "Fork in the Road"


Got a pot belly. 
It's not too big. 
Gets in my way 
when I'm driving my rig.
 Driving this country
 in a big old rig, 
things I see
 mean a lot.



My friend has a pickup.
 Drives his kid to school.
 Then he takes his wife
to beauty school.

 Now she's doin' nails.
 Gonna get a job.
 Got a good teacher.


There's a fork in the road ahead.
 I don't which way I'm gonna turn.
 There's a fork in the road ahead.

Forgot this year, 
to salute the troops. 
They're all still there
 in a fucking war. It's no good.
 Whose idea was that?



I've got hope,
 but you can't eat hope. 
I'm not done. 
Not giving up. 
Not cashing in.
 Too late.

There's a bailout coming but it's not for me. 
It's for all those creeps watching tickers on TV. 
There's a bailout coming but it's not for me.

I'm a big rock star.
 My sales have tanked,
 but I still got you.
 Thanks!
 Download this.
 Sounds like shit.



Keep on bloggin' 'til the power goes out,
 and your battery's dead.

Twist and Shout. 
On the radio.
 Those were the days.
 Bring 'em back.

There's a bailout coming but it's not for you.
 It's for all those creeps hiding what they do.
 There's a bailout coming but it's not for you.
 Bailout coming but it's not for you.

Got my flat new flat-screen.
 Got it repo'd now. 
They picked it up.
 Left a hole in the wall.
 Last Saturday.
 Missed the Raiders game.

There's a bailout coming but it's not for you.
 There's a bailout coming but it's not for you.
 It's for all those creeps hiding what they do.

Joe the rock star

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Victims of bush's "War on Terror": Children

On January 12th 2009 President bush gave his final Press Conference to the Nation.

In it he made a number of statements that have been analyzed by many, my take on his answers and spin was his showing how little a man, who is in total denial and lacking any compassion or moral feelings, of how big a failure as a person, and especially as the President, he has been!

In one of his answers he said this:

"The most urgent threat that he'll have to deal with and other presidents after him will have to deal with is an attack on our homeland," Bush said. "You know, I wish I could report that's not the case, but there's still an enemy out there that would like to inflict damage on America."


And for once I agree with this incompetent,immoral, unrepentant little man?, he's created tens of thousands, that didn't exist before, who now wish this Country and It's Citizens Harm, "Mission Accomplished", for the coming decades!!

We can all see, daily, those who are retaliating for the policies he set forth, in Iraq and Afghanistan, from the death and destruction that is ongoing, with our soldiers still dying and being maimed as well as the innocent citizens of both countries, the word is "Blowback"! These policies have also brought about a rise of Criminal Terrorism, around the World, over these last 7 years.

What does the future hold and for how long?

I've done a few posts, this is but one, about that probable future and the possibility of reaching into the coming generations, how many, who knows right now. But it only takes a few who carry the hatreds that they have grown up with to create destructive blowback, and that builds towards more of the same.

Michael Haas has a recent write on just this probable future, more geared in the present of who should be brought to accountability, but there are certainly more who actually created the failed policies we've been party to. The name of Michael article is: Children As Unlamented Victims of Bush's 'War On Terror'.

He starts it out with:

Torture has received the most attention among the many war crimes of the Bush administration. But those who support Bush’s pursuit of the “war on terror” have not been impressed by recriminations over torture.


Some will try and argue that certain forms of torture really aren't, or that it's needed to get information, it isn't for it only gives weak or false information, yet we as a Nation have not only participated but helped write the laws on torture and ratified these laws making them our own. The link only gives one of the World Wide conventions held for the purpose of writing these laws that aim to end the use of inhumane treatment of torture, and more, that doesn't return what is sought, reliable intelligence. We were also the major contributor to the Geneva Conventions and major condemner of countries who don't follow what was done in Geneva. We are now publicly one of the participants, we can condemn no more.

We've all watched, most in total disbelief and rage, what has happened under this president and his administrations policies along with his political parties affiliation rubber stamping their wants, and we've done virtually nothing but allow it to continue.

Haas goes further into what most haven't paid attention to:

The best kept secret of the Bush’s war crimes is that thousands of children have been imprisoned, tortured, and otherwise denied rights under the Geneva Conventions and related international agreements. Yet both Congress and the media have strangely failed to identify the very existence of child prisoners as a war crime. In the Islamic world, however, there is no such silence. Indeed, the prophet Mohammed was the first to counsel warriors not to harm innocent children.

The first example of war crimes against children, which are well documented, occurred during the invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, when the children’s hospital in Kabul was bombed, its patients thereby murdered, contrary to the Red Cross Convention of 1864. Other children were killed as “collateral damage” during the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, contrary to the Geneva Convention ban on indiscriminate killing in wartime, though numbers of dead are unknown. During spring 2004, during the assault on Falluja, Iraq, some 300 children, including peaceful demonstrators, were killed. Their dead bodies were filmed live on al-Jazeera Television throughout the Arabic-speaking world.

In 2008, the Bush administration reported to the UN-assisted Committee on the Rights of the Child that the United States from 2002 had detained 2,400 children in Iraq and 100 in Afghanistan, though another source claims that the figure for Afghanistan is at least 800 boys, aged 10 to 15, from whom as many as 64 were sent to Guantánamo, of which there were 21 as of May 2008. That month, the Committee upbraided the United States for charging minors with war crimes instead of treating underage persons as victims of war. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed’s two children, aged 7 and 9, were separately detained to intimidate him to confess.


Think about the above, as parents what would You do if your country was and is being destroyed and the children of were being treated as enemies or used for other purposes and excused as being in War! But there's more:

While detained, several children have been brutalized and tortured. At Abu Ghraib, American guards videotaped Iraqi male prisoners raping young boys but took no action to stop the offenses. Perhaps the worst incident at Abu Ghraib involved a girl aged 12 or 13 who screamed for help to her brother in an upper cell while stripped naked and beaten. Iraqi journalist Suhaib Badr-Addin al-Baz, who heard the girl’s screams, also witnessed an ill 15-year-old who was forced to run up and down Abu Ghraib with two heavy cans of water and beaten whenever he stopped. When he finally collapsed, guards stripped and poured cold water on him. Finally, a hooded man was brought in. When unhooded, the boy realized that the man was his father, who doubtless was being intimidated into confessing something upon sight of his brutalized son.


Those that want to denie, for argumentative our some twisted form of political ideology, what torture or inhumane treatment of others actually is or isn't, look at your's or other little kids, young teens, and ask if you would want them treated like animals, and if so to what purpose!

Michael Haas has a book out George W. Bush, War Criminal?: The Bush Administration's Liability for 269 War Crimes I haven't read as yet, as I just ordered it, but it will be read and added to the others and all that is now being written and discussed as to what this Nation must do, not only for our own survival of what we are, but the World view of us as a Leader of Nations and an Example to Emulate and Strive towards.

We must find the ways to bring Accountability for the Crimes against our Laws as well as the Laws we've helped form towards World stability and make our Constitution strong again, or we will collapse as a society and be scorned by the World!

And we must find a way, amongst All People, to stem the possibility of many of the children of today, growing up under occupation, death and destruction, don't become even more violent and destructive towards others than that we've already created through our failed policies of the past and the near past!

Guantanamo "Abandoned Our Values and Defiled Our Constitution!"


The video is a combination of three BBC News reports on Guantanamo from Dec. '08 to Jan '09, it's about 141/2 minutes long, the links to each individual video at their site found below.

Guantanamo 'a stain on US military' Dec 3rd '08

Guantanamo closure plan ordered Dec 19th '08

Former guard on Guantanamo 'torture' Jan 9th '09

The Special Prosecutor Petition





Hug Your Kid, if you've got one,

And think of the Children and what they are now, and have been, living in and with, in Afghanistan, Iraq, Gaza, Westbank, Israel, way too many places in Africa the forgotten continent and peoples, and other area's around the world, would You Want Your Kid Growing Up As They Are!!

Monday, January 12, 2009

Guantanamo

The video is a combination of three BBC News reports on Guantanamo from Dec. '08 to Jan '09, it's about 141/2 minutes long, the links to each individual video at their site found below.



Guantanamo "Abandoned Our Values and Defiled Our Constitution!"


Guantanamo 'a stain on US military' Dec 3rd '08

Guantanamo closure plan ordered Dec 19th '08

Former guard on Guantanamo 'torture' Jan 9th '09

The Special Prosecutor Petition




In the bush Exit Speech 1-12-09

"The most urgent threat that he'll have to deal with and other presidents after him will have to deal with is an attack on our homeland," Bush said. "You know, I wish I could report that's not the case, but there's still an enemy out there that would like to inflict damage on America."

For once I agree with this incompetent,immoral, unrepentant little man, he's created tens of thousands that didn't exist before, who now wish this Country and It's Citizens Harm, "Mission Accomplished"!!

VVA, et al vs CIA, et al - Edgewood Testvets

Morrison & Foerster Files Suit Against CIA, DoD, and U.S. Army on Behalf of Troops Exposed to Testing of Chemical and Biological Weapons at Edgewood Arsenal and Other Top Secret Sites

Press Release: 01/07/2009

What: Complaint Filed—Vietnam Veterans of America, et al. v. CIA, et al.

Where: United States District Court, Northern District of California

SAN FRANCISCO (January 7, 2009) – Attorneys at Morrison & Foerster LLP have filed an unprecedented action against the Defense Department, the CIA, and other government institutions based upon failures to care for those veterans who “volunteered” in thousands of secret experiments to test toxic chemical and biological substances under code names such as MKULTRA. The new case comes on the heels of an earlier case the firm filed on behalf of veterans afflicted with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (“PTSD”), which is now pending in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The firm is handling both cases on a pro bono basis.

The current action was brought in U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, on behalf of the Vietnam Veterans of America and six aging veterans with multiple diseases and ailments tied to a diabolical and secret testing program, whereby U.S. military personnel were deliberately exposed, by government and military agencies, to chemical and biological weapons and other toxins without informed consent. This multifaceted research program, which was launched in the early 1950s and continued through at least 1976, was conducted not only at the Edgewood Arsenal and Fort Detrick, Maryland, but also across America by universities and hospitals under contract to Defendants.

Defendants include the CIA, the Department of the Army, the Department of Defense (“DoD”), and various government officials responsible for these agencies. The CIA secretly provided financing, personnel, and direction for the experiments, which were mainly conducted or contracted by the Army.

Read Rest Here as Well as Contact Information


The complaint can be viewed at Vietnam Veterans of America, et al. v. Central Intelligence Agency, et al..

January 12, 2002: Israel's "Courage to Refuse"

The "Refusenik" movement began when 53 Israeli soldiers signed an ad refusing to serve in the West Bank or Gaza Strip.
Their letter concluded:
We shall not continue to fight beyond the 1967 borders in order to dominate, expel, starve and humiliate an entire people.
We hereby declare that we shall continue serving in the Israel Defense Forces in any mission that serves Israel’s defense.
The missions of occupation and oppression do not serve this purpose – and we shall take no part in them.
{The term originally referred to Jews in the Soviet Union who had applied to emigrate but were delayed or refused by the Communist government, in one case for more than 22 years.}

Full text of the letter with name and rank of the signatories


Video interview with Yonatan Shapira, refusenik and former captain in the Israeli Air Force


Courage To Refuse

You may also want to visit the Israelli-Palestinian: "Combatants For Peace"!

As well as The Shministim – Israel's Young Conscientious Objectors

Sunday, January 11, 2009

I/P Conflict: Voices from Within

Combatants for Peace

Former Iraeli Pilots Share Peace Vision with Palestinian Counterparts

With the recent rapid development of air strike and now full land based incursion of the Israeli military forces into the Gaza Strip, the need for the international community to intervene and impose a just peace for all parties concerned is more urgent than ever. A long haul stretching into months and perhaps years, the civilian casualty of thousands of innocent civilians including dozens from the Israeli side, along with a few billion dollars of financial burdens on both sides, is inevitable. Here it is yet another opportunity for the U.S. administration albeit the Obama administration to set a new bold "objective" leadership to effectuate the amicable resolution of this conflict, thereby regaining the respectful stature of the Americans they once enjoyed.

On a recent Thursday evening, Pace University hosted two former ranking officers from the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF). They presented their perspectives, as shaped through on-going dialogues with their former Palestinian counterparts and adversaries. After over sixty years of bloodshed inflicted on both sides, they emphasized the fact that the asymmetric war of "occupation" is lop-sided in favor of Israel, because it benefits so heavily from American aid. The aid is given annually in the form of substantial military hardware, intelligence, training and economic subsidies. The speakers cited the lobbying activities of AIPAC, the American Israeli Political Action Committee, in the United States as counterproductive to peace and the genuine interests of Israel. AIPAC ensures that the United States will continue to provide Israel all the military hardware and money it needs to pursue the path of occupation not the path of peace and thus does a disservice to Israel, they opined.


Read Rest Here


Combatants for Peace


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How Many Divisions?

NEARLY SEVENTY YEARS ago, in the course of World War II, a heinous crime was committed in the city of Leningrad. For more than a thousand days, a gang of extremists called “the Red Army” held the millions of the town’s inhabitants hostage and provoked retaliation from the German Wehrmacht from inside the population centers. The Germans had no alternative but to bomb and shell the population and to impose a total blockade, which caused the death of hundreds of thousands.

Some time before that, a similar crime was committed in England. The Churchill gang hid among the population of London, misusing the millions of citizens as a human shield. The Germans were compelled to send their Luftwaffe and reluctantly reduce the city to ruins. They called it the Blitz.

This is the description that would now appear in the history books – if the Germans had won the war.

Absurd? No more than the daily descriptions in our media, which are being repeated ad nauseam: the Hamas terrorists use the inhabitants of Gaza as “hostages” and exploit the women and children as “human shields”, they leave us no alternative but to carry out massive bombardments, in which, to our deep sorrow, thousands of women, children and unarmed men are killed and injured.

Read Rest Here

Gush-Shalom


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And Outside Of

Humanitarian Crisis Unfolding in Gaza

We the undersigned are all of Jewish origin. When we see the dead and bloodied bodies of young children, the cutting off of water, electricity and food, we are reminded of the siege of the Warsaw Ghetto. When Dov Weisglass, an adviser to the Israeli prime minister, Ehud Olmert, talked of putting Gazans "on a diet" and the deputy defence minister, Matan Vilnai, talked about the Palestinians experiencing "a bigger shoah" (holocaust), this reminds us of Governor General Hans Frank in Nazi-occupied Poland, who spoke of "death by hunger".

Read Rest Here