Reflections on the War

CBS News reports on the troops to give clarity to the war - but it's dangerous work. Various CBS correspondents offer battlefield accounts that are both moving and chilling.

In Their Boots: Second Battle/ Segunda Batalla

The Fifth Episode of "In Their Boots": 'Second Battle'

“Second Battle” is the wives of two U.S. service members who cannot stay in the country their husbands proudly served — and in one case died for.

“Segunda Batalla,” es la historia de las esposas de dos miembros del ejército estadunidense luchando por quedarse en este país.

Empty Combat Boots

Empty Combat Boots Stand at Attention in D.C.

Oct 3rd and 4th

As politicians debate troop levels in Afghanistan, many visited a weekend memorial of more than 800 combat boots outside the White House.

Joint MFSO/AFSC Press Release on Afghanistan

10.07.09 Eight Years In: Chances Lost in Afghanistan

Afghanistan stopped being anything about 9/11 when the talk and the beating of the war drums started and got louder for invading an absolutely innocent people and country, a country led by our once good friend, and brutal dictator, that some wanted silenced.

Now we enter the ninth year of occupying a country that if we had really kept our promises, as we didn't once before, and helped them might look and be a completely different country, for the innocent Afghans.

Osama bin Laden remains at large with a $50 million bounty on his head. Tora Bora was a missed opportunity for the U.S. to capture him, but it wasn't the last. Lara Logan reports.

The fall of Kabul in 2001 was greeted with jubilation, the momentum then with the U.S.

But reluctant to commit its own troops, the U.S. allowed Osama bin Laden to escape from the Tora Bora mountains, reports CBS News chief foreign affairs correspondent Lara Logan......>>>>>Rest Found Here

Who Are the Taliban?

As U.S. military forces continue to fight in Afghanistan, CBS News takes an in-depth look at the covert operations of the Taliban, one of America's greatest enemies. Lara Logan reports from Kabul.

Obama's War

Coming on air and online October 13th at 9PM

Warning: This video contains graphic language and imagery

As President Obama approaches a decision point on Afghanistan strategy and whether to increase troop levels, a 24-minute rough cut of the first act of Obama's War.

Preview


Sixty-one people were arrested Monday at the White House during an anti-war protest.



Afghanistan patrol shows limits of U.S. equipment, supplies

As the sky hinted at dawn, U.S. soldiers went hunting for Taliban in the Arghandab Valley. They had satellite-linked monocles to display the locations of platoons. They could summon an aerial drone to buzz overhead with a surveillance camera. They could call on Kiowa helicopters for search-and-destroy missions.

On this mission, however, one of their most valuable assets was an informant: a farmer with a taste for opium.

"It all came down to one guy who said, 'The Taliban stole my motorcycle.' He was high, and he was pissed, and he give us the tip on where to find them," said Sgt. Kenneth Rickman, 34, of Vandalia, Ill......>>>>>

On The Eighth Anniversary

Afghan War Anniversary Marked by Debate Over More Troops

Retired Military Leaders Debate Necessity of Increased Troops in War-Torn Afghanistan

Chris Cuomo talks to those on the frontlines about the debate on strategy.

On the eighth anniversary of the Afghan war, the once-defeated Taliban are surging across the battered country while the Obama administration is hunkered down in Washington debating what strategy to deploy....>>>>>

Bodies of soldiers killed in Afghanistan back in U.S.

October 6, 2009

The bodies of U.S. soldiers arrive to a somber homecoming at Dover Air Force Base in Dover, Delaware.

The flag-draped coffins of five U.S. soldiers killed during a weekend onslaught against a U.S. military outpost in Afghanistan arrived Tuesday at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, the military said.

The bodies include Sgt. Joshua J. Kirk of South Portland, Maine; Spc. Michael P. Scusa of Villas, New Jersey; Spc. Stephen L. Mace of Lovettsville, Virginia; Spc. Christopher T. Griffin of Kincheloe, Michigan; and Pfc. Kevin C. Thomson of Reno, Nevada, according to the Air Force mortuary affairs office.

Coverage of the troops' return is allowed with the permission of their families under a policy the Obama administration instituted this year....>>>>>

Dover: Soldiers' Bodies Returned

Bodies of soldiers killed in Afghanistan back in U.S.

October 6, 2009

The bodies of U.S. soldiers arrive to a somber homecoming at Dover Air Force Base in Dover, Delaware.

The flag-draped coffins of five U.S. soldiers killed during a weekend onslaught against a U.S. military outpost in Afghanistan arrived Tuesday at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, the military said.

The bodies include Sgt. Joshua J. Kirk of South Portland, Maine; Spc. Michael P. Scusa of Villas, New Jersey; Spc. Stephen L. Mace of Lovettsville, Virginia; Spc. Christopher T. Griffin of Kincheloe, Michigan; and Pfc. Kevin C. Thomson of Reno, Nevada, according to the Air Force mortuary affairs office.

Coverage of the troops' return is allowed with the permission of their families under a policy the Obama administration instituted this year....>>>>>

Posada Carriles: "Terrorist Bomber"

Our very own known and well protected for years, "Terrorist Bomber", friend of the bushies and company, Carriles!!

POSADA CARRILES BUILT BOMBS FOR, AND INFORMED ON, JORGE MAS CANOSA, CIA RECORDS REVEAL

CIA misjudged Posada as "not a typical boom and bang type" militant

Proposed Posada for "responsible civil position" in post-Castro government

Declassified Documents identify Posada's Agency Handlers

National Security Archive Electronic Briefing Book No. 288

Posted - October 6, 2009

On the 33rd anniversary of the bombing of Cubana flight 455, the National Security Archive today posted recently obtained CIA records on Luis Posada Carriles, his ties to "the Company" and role as an informant on other violent exile groups. The documents provide extensive details on a collaboration between Cuban-American militant Jorge Mas Canosa, who rose to become the most powerful leader of the hardline exile community in Miami, and Posada—codenamed AMCLEVE 15—who volunteered to spy on violent exile operations for the CIA.

The documents include a July 1966 memo from Posada, using the name "Pete" to his CIA handler Grover Lythcott requesting permission to join the coordinating junta for four violent exile groups, including RECE run by Mas Canosa. "I will give the Company all the intelligence that I can collect," Posada wrote. "I will gain a more solid position between the exiles and, because of that, I will be in a better position in the future to perform a good job for the company." .....>>>>>Rest Found Here

VA Video: VA Edu. Benefit Adv. Payments

Information on VA Education Benefit Advance Payments

VA Assistant Secretary Tammy Duckworth explains the process for obtaining VA education benefit advance payments. For more information, visit the Advance Pay Website. See This Link for the Section 508 compliant version of this video.

Helping Soldiers Heal {UpDated w/2 Audio Interview's and Excerpt of Book plus}

Yesterday, the fifth of October, I posted up a Parade Magazine article I found on Max Cleland and his new book. This morning I heard a short, but real good, interview on NPR's Morning Edition {below with links}, that should be added to the Parade article. This, while short, was a pretty good interview as Max hit's on a number of issues but unable to delve deeper. Here's hoping as he has started to promote the book that we get to hear and see longer more in depth interviews, I for one hope so, not only because of the brotherhood of us 'Nam Vets and the whole Veterans community, but because Max doesn't hold back, never did, and speaks with feeling and conviction.

Former Sen. Max Cleland (D., Ga.) lost his legs and one arm in the Vietnam War. More than 30 years later, he returned to Walter Reed to be treated for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). His new book, "Heart of a Patriot:" begins with an open letter to America’s soldiers, urging them to seek help when they need it.

What are the chief obstacles for a soldier seeking treatment for PTSD?..>>>>>The Rest Found Here

Max's Book: "Heart of a Patriot: How I Found the Courage to Survive Vietnam, Walter Reed and Karl Rove"

October 6, 2009

Courtesy of The Max Cleland Collection, duPont-Ball Library, Stetson University

Max Cleland reads Arthur Schlesinger's biography of John F. Kennedy, A Thousand Days, while recuperating at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in 1968.

As a boy growing up in a small town in Georgia, Max Cleland, a former Democratic senator from Georgia, was inspired by the adventures of the Lone Ranger on his TV screen.

Just as the Lone Ranger was motivated by a sense of duty, so was Cleland. As he tells NPR's Renee Montagne, Cleland's parents raised him "to be an eagle, not a sparrow." When he was in college, he joined the ROTC and volunteered to go to war in Vietnam. There, he was brutally maimed by a grenade that a fellow soldier dropped accidentally. The explosion took away both of his legs and his right arm.

In his new memoir, "Heart of a Patriot", Cleland recalls that moment, and how he overcame the trauma it caused. The book is subtitled "How I Found The Courage To Survive Vietnam, Walter Reed and Karl Rove."...>>>>>Read the Rest Here

Scrolling down the page, in reading the above as I listened once again to the interview, this one not that long, you find an excerpt from his book which, as mentioned in the Parade article, he opens it up with, "An Open Letter to America's Veterans". As a brother 'Nam Vet to Max I feel it would be a great letter for todays returning veterans, of these two long running occupations, to read, as we go into the ninth year in Afghanistan and the eighth in Iraq.

Excerpt: 'Heart Of A Patriot'

by Max Cleland

Foreword

An Open Letter to America's Veterans

America sends the flower of its youth abroad to fight its wars. Because of that, America's military is always staffed with the stoutest, finest, most courageous people in the country. If as soldiers we are not that way when we enter the military, the military makes us that way by the time we get out. In the end, the military is still made up of everyday people like you and me. As such, most of us have no special skills to cope with the challenges wartime military service presents. Regular life simply cannot prepare a person for the brutish sensory overload of combat.

Coming back from military service in a time of war, we may be wounded in ways that don't show to the world at large. Some of the deepest wounds we suffer may be inflicted without leaving so much as a scratch. No matter what you are feeling when you come home, no matter how crazy you feel inside, know that you are not mentally ill. As combat veterans, we have been through some of the most traumatic life experiences possible. War is as close to hell on earth as anything ever could be. That does make us different from our loved ones back home. War marks us all, some more deeply than others.....>>>>>Read the Rest Here

Veteran or not, Military or not, everyone will get a bit of better understanding when reading Max's Letter! Well maybe not everyone, the denier's will still denie, the apathedic will shrug and move on, and the arrogant will just continue to be!

UpDate with second interview, NPR Freshair 10.06.09

Max Cleland, Mapping The 'Heart of a Patriot'

Israeli Teenagers Take a Stand Against Military Service

Sometimes revolution ignites when individuals ask themselves one simple question: "Why?" These two Israeli teens, Maya Wind and Netta Mishly, asked themselves "Why terrorism?" "Why hostility?" "Why crisis?". When they discovered the answers, they decided not to perform their mandatory military service. These adloescents are known as the Shministim and are currently on a U.S. tour with the group Jewish Voices for Peace and CodePink and here today, sharing with us why they chose the bold path of defiance through nonviolent activism for justice and peace in Israel and Palestine. For more info, go to: Why we Refuse.

The Soldier's Experience: Iraq vs. Afghanistan

Soldiers who have served in both Afghanistan and Iraq compare the two countries. They say there is one key difference

Today I heard one MSM talking head say that we're starting over, in Afghanistan. You don't restart a War and a long Occupation, the damage has been done, too many innocents have been killed and the meme of 'winning hearts and minds' has been lost! It's a quagmire where the insurgent fighter dictates, it's their country and region!

The Virtual Museum of Iraq

This is the Intro


The actual National Museum of Iraq reopened this year with virtually half its contents still missing.

Visit and Explore The Site of the Virtual Museum Here, for much more information and artifacts of our ancient planet and it's history of man.

If In DC This Weekend - Oct. 3rd and 4th

Joint MFSO/AFSC Press Release on Afghanistan

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 28, 2009

Military Families, Veterans and Quaker Group Host Memorial on Eighth
Anniversary of the Invasion of Afghanistan

WASHINGTON D.C.- Military Families Speak Out (MFSO), a military family
organization opposed to war and The American Friends Service Committee
(AFSC), a Quaker organization dedicated to peace and non-violence, will host the
first ever memorial to the U.S. soldiers and Afghan civilians killed since the U.S.
invasion of Afghanistan on October 7, 2001. The exhibit will be October 3 & 4
on the south-east quadrant of The Ellipse, located in front of The White House in
Washington D.C.

Since the start of the war, 850 U.S. Soldiers have died and credible estimates put
the civilian casualties in the tens of thousands. The National Priorities Project says
that taxpayers in the U.S. will have paid $228 billion for total Afghanistan war
spending since 2001. According to a recent CNN Poll, 57 percent of Americans
who responded say they oppose the U.S. war and occupation in Afghanistan, the
highest percentage ever since the invasion in 2001.

Larry Syverson of Richmond, VA serves on the Board of Directors of MFSO and
is the father of three sons who have served in Iraq -- one of whom is currently
serving in Afghanistan. Syverson said:

“I feel that the war in Afghanistan was wrong to begin with, and Obama taking
it over does not make it right. Obama is out of touch with the American people.
Americans are turning against the war. Instead of increasing the troops, the
President should be bringing the troops home now.”

Maggie Pondolfino of Portland, Oregon is the mother of a soldier deployed to
Afghanistan after serving one deployment in Iraq; Pondolfino who serves of the
Board of Directors of MFSO says:

“The administration that briefly gave me new hope has sent my son to another
war with no clear mission and no exit strategy. I know that no good will come
from continuing the occupations of Afghanistan and Iraq, just more heartbreak,
sorrow, and tragedy.”

Peter Lems, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is an analyst for the American Friends
Service Committee; Lems recently visited Afghanistan on a fact finding mission
and says:

“AFSC believes that conflicts can never be solved by military means, in fact true
security cannot be gained through arms. In order to move forward, the
aspirations and well-being of the Afghan people must be at the center of
rebuilding Afghanistan. The International community must respect this principle
if there is to be a secure, peaceful and stable future for the Afghan people.”

Members of Military Families Speak Out and Gold Star Families Speak Out are
available for interview including those whose loved ones are now serving in Iraq
and Afghanistan or will soon be sent there, those whose loved ones suffered
physical and psychological injuries in Iraq, and those whose loved ones died as a
result of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The American Friends Service Committee is a Quaker organization that
includes people of various faiths who are committed to social justice, peace
and humanitarian service. Its work is based on the belief in the worth of
every person and faith in the power of love to overcome violence and
injustice.

Military Families Speak Out (www.mfso.org) is an Organization of people
opposed the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan who have loved ones or relatives
in the Military. MFSO was formed in 2002 by two military families and has
grown to over 4,000 members speaking out to end the wars in Iraq and
Afghanistan. New families are joining daily.

###

The True Cost of the War in Afghanistan



Invasion of Afghanistan on October 7, 2001 8 years of war and occupation!
On the weekend of October 3rd and 4th, Military Families Speak Out and American Friends Service Committee will be undertaking the first Eyes Wide Open Exhibit showing the Cost of War in Afghanistan!

Afghanistan 8yrs. Of War

cheney/bush Criminality and War Profitteering

Report: Official Impeded Blackwater {Xe} Probe

The Congressional report details allegations prior to the bloody Nisoor Square shootings that killed Kinani (right) and at least 13 other civilians on a street outside Baghdad in September 2007. Blackwater guards face federal charges.
The report alleges that former State Department Inspector General Howard Krongard impeded a Justice Department investigation into whether "a large private security contractor was smuggling weapons into Iraq." It was reported at the time that the contractor was Blackwater.
Click here to read the full report - PDF.
Krongard's brother, Alvin "Buzzy" Krongard, served on Blackwater's advisory board, and the report also concluded that Krongard had a conflict of interest in the matter...

The suit, filed in Wake County, buffers arguments that Blackwater guards acted recklessly by referencing the former employees' statements.

They include these allegations:

"I was asked to assist with unloading bags of dog food into the Armory. As I unloaded the bags of dog food, another Blackwater employee opened the bags and pulled out weapons from the dog food. Blackwater was smuggling weapons into Iraq." - John Doe #1 - PDF

"Mr. Prince made available to his employees in Iraq various weapons not authorized by the United States contracting authorities, such as hand grenades and hand grenade launchers." - John Doe #2 - PDF.

PTSD: New War on An Old Foe

Big changes underway at the VA could mean better treatment for thousands of vets. A bureaucracy in transition.

They are the invisible wounds of war, the battered minds and bruised spirits we have come to recognize as posttraumatic stress disorder, or PTSD. By one estimate, more than 300,000 of the nearly 2 million U.S. servicemen and -women deployed since 9/11 suffer from the often-debilitating condition, with symptoms that include flashbacks and nightmares, emotional numbness, relationship problems, trouble sleeping, sudden anger, and drug and alcohol abuse. The number of cases is expected to climb as the war in Afghanistan continues, and could ultimately exceed 500,000, according to a new study by researchers at Stanford University. Mental-health experts say PTSD is the primary reason suicides in the military are at an all-time high; 256 soldiers took their own lives in 2008, the highest number since that data was first tracked, in 1980.

As NEWSWEEK and others have reported, the Department of Veterans Affairs has struggled to address this mental-health crisis, and thousands of veterans have suffered as a result. Now, thanks to new leadership and a new openness to collaboration, things appear to be changing at the VA, if slowly. Veterans still often face insufferably long waits for treatment and steep bureaucratic hurdles when filing disability claims. But there is a new sense of urgency under Eric Shinseki, the retired four-star Army general appointed to head the agency by President Obama, to change the culture within the 77-year-old VA. Shinseki has made PTSD a priority, with efforts underway to address concerns from the way claims are processed to the development of new, more effective treatments. "Brain injuries and the psychological consequences of battle are not new to combat," Shinseki tells NEWSWEEK. "We know from past wars that with early diagnosis and treatment, people can get better."...>>>>Rest Found Here

Be There 1st

Doctors Without Borders: Be There 1st

You have the opportunity to be there first with Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) and help people caught in crises all over the world.

Join our team in an exciting, interactive, online fundraising event.

Sign-up now to be a part of the campaign. Its easy to make a difference. Join the growing community of supporters who make it possible for MSF to be there first when an emergency strikes.

Doctors Without Borders: Be There 1st

Afghanistan: The Big Picture

Afghanistan, September, 2009

Today's entry is the first of a new regular feature on the Big Picture: a monthly focus on Afghanistan. From now on, I will post such an entry at least once every month as long as necessary. Violence in Afghanistan has reached its most intense of the eight-year-old war despite record levels of U.S. and NATO troops being sent to fight the Taliban. July and August were the two deadliest months to date for coalition forces, and September is already the 3rd-deadliest, with 38 U.S. deaths - 68 total including all coalition members. With an apparently resurgent Taliban and over 120,000 foreign troops on the ground, and a recent push for the U.S. to consider sending 40,000 more {beyond the additional 21,000 troops still committed but yet undeployed}, the situation in Afghanistan could possibly become even more intense in the near future. Collected here is a one-month collection of photos related to Afghanistan for September, 2009. {Past entries in category Afghanistan} {43 photos total}

These are some Outstanding Photo's, but must warn those with dialup or slow connections, they are not small photo's each is rather large on a long scroll page, so it might take time to download so you can view.

Playing for Change Foundation

The Playing For Change Foundation

The Playing For Change Foundation (PFCF) is thrilled to announce the opening of their first music school, the Ntonga Music School, in Gugulethu, South Africa! Located just 30 minutes outside of Cape Town, the school will provide the children with valuable skills development and mentorship designed to instill self-esteem and confidence.

From basic music reading and writing to performance and production; the Ntonga Music School will provide a safe, creative outlet for the children while connecting them to other students around the world through music. It is the first school of its kind in the area and will be a source of great pride and inspiration for years to come.

A Marine Dies Needlessly

Autopsy report released in Round Rock Marine's death

Chad Oligschlaeger is found to have died from multiple drug toxicity.

The U.S. Marine Corps has released the autopsy report for Cpl. Chad Oligschlaeger of Round Rock, who was found dead in his room at the Twentynine Palms Marine base in California on May 20, 2008.

Snip

The report shows that methamphetamine and the antidepressants sertraline and benzodiazepine were found in Oligschlaeger's system. Propranolol, a hypertension drug used to treat post-traumatic stress disorder, and Quetiapine, an antipsychotic medication, were also found.

"There were no surprises there," Eric Oligschlaeger, Chad Oligschlaeger's father, said of the autopsy results. "The prescription drugs killed him."

Chad Oligschlaeger had returned from Iraq in early 2006, unsettled by flashbacks and nightmares.

How many others are OD'ing on the drugs the military are giving the soldiers who develop PTSD or even from their physical injuries of War! According to this short report they don't think it was a suicide.