Nukes and Iran {Added Part 4}

There's a reason I'm posting these backwards, how any view is up to them.

No matter what is thought about the leadership of Iran, by the World, especially as to it's treatment of it's citizens, the fact remains, as pointed out in part three, they are surrounded by Nuclear Powers and Weapons. So if really seeking their own they do so as to defense of their threatened country and it's citizens, and talks had ceased to disarm or rid the world of. New cold war mentality, yep!!

Israel's nukes and Iran
Beneath the hype Pt.3: McGovern & Thielmann on consequences of US silence on Israel's nuclear weapons

Intelligence experts Ray McGovern and Greg Thielmann respond to a question from the floor on the significance of Israel's nuclear weapons arsenal in the discussion of Iran. McGovern notes that "an unpardonable mistake in US politics is to mention the Israeli arsenal as a motivation for Iran." Adding that, "by acknowledging the Israeli nukes, one realizes that Iran is surrounded on all sides by nuclear powers. Russia to the North, Pakistan to the East, Israel to the West, and US ships in the Persian Gulf to the South.

Thielmann cautions US figures on the danger of ignoring the fact that, "between Iran and Israel, only one of these two states is currently under existential threat, and that is Iran."

Beneath the hype: Is Iran close to nukes? Pt.2
Iraq whistle-blower Greg Thielmann: Military threats may push Iran to restart suspended weapons program

In part two of the presentation delivered to congressional aides and press members separating fact from fiction in the Iran nuclear debate, key Iraq weapons program whistle-blower Greg Thielmann weighs-in. Thielmann, now a senior fellow at the Arms Control Association, gives a primer on the elements needed to build a successful nuclear weaponry program. He then explains how the intelligence consensus over recent years is actually prolonging the time horizon for Iran to develop a useful bomb. Thielmann details that while the intelligence community is of the belief that the Iranian regime is ultimately interested in developing such a weapon, they are not making considerable strides toward such ends. He points out that recent news of Iran's identification of another enrichment site, while possibly a little late, demonstrates compliance with the Non-Proliferation Treaty, and should be viewed as evidence that the regime is not moving any closer to a developed bomb.

Beneath the hype: Is Iran close to nukes?
Retired CIA analyst Ray McGovern speaks on disinformation, Iran, and "faith-based intelligence"



Part 4

Iran: What's intelligence got to do with it?
Ray McGovern and Greg Thielmann discuss disconnect between intel community, government and public, Pt.4

Intelligence work is a "fool's errand" says former CIA senior analyst, Ray McGovern, referring to the tendency of politicians and the press to neglect or manipulate one's work. Greg Thielmann notes that it isn't only US intelligence officers that are neglected, adding that the threat assessments of intelligence services around the world indicate their belief that developing a nuclear weapon is one of the best ways to avoid being attacked by the United States.

Health "Industry" Lobby

October 9, 2009

A Bill Moyers essay on the health industry lobby.




"Industry??" that's a big part of the problem!!

The Nobel Prize & Obama Derangement Syndrome

Rachel Maddow: The Nobel Prize & President Obama Derangement Syndrome - 10/09/09

Can The US Rethink Afghanistan?

Robert Greenwald: Can The US Rethink Afghanistan?

The spotlight's on Afghanistan but are we asking the right questions? Even though the declining popularity of the war has been widely cited, very few are talking about withdrawal or seriously rethinking the US role in the region. That is unless you turn to the independent press. Robert Greenwald of Brave New Films has released several installments of his series, Rethink Afghanistan, over the last several months calling for a different kind of dialogue. The film opens as a full-length feature in NY and Washington, D.C. this week.

'Witch's Brew of Toxic Chemicals' {UpDated}

For those that seem to have a problem with the facts of how we humans live and readily do damage to our environment, and really seem not to care, that around us as well as adding to what everyone else has done making it a global problem, this post, and the links etc. that it contains, may educate you some, and this is only about what our military does, knowingly or not, and corrects or not.

Yesterday, October 8 2009, the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs held a hearing, VA/DOD Response to Certain Military Exposures. You can click on the link to get the backlinks to each of the two panels that participated and what they said. You will also find the link to watch the hearing, now archived, parts of which will be found below. I would suggest that the hearing be watched.

This is only about our recent history, some going back to the sixties to eighties as to water contamination at Camp Lejeune, most about burn pits and other contaminants in Iraq and Afghanistan and other bases, and not covering that which goes back decades, like Agent Orange Defoliants etc.. And while those testifying are from this Country where much of the testimony talks about are incidents in others Countries, no testimonies from those who live there yet will be suffering the long term effects of our actions.

Debate Over U.S. Soldiers Deaths, Senate panel hears about chemicals dumped by American Forces in Iraq

Enduring War and 'Witch's Brew of Toxic Chemicals'
Veterans to Congress: Investigate, Ensure Medical Care for Chemical Exposure



When Laurie Paganelli and her son Jordan, 5, moved to the U.S. Naval Air facility at Atsugi, Japan, in 1997, they felt safe -- free from the dangers of the front lines of war.

Little did they know, Paganelli says, a silent killer was lurking above the base, putting the health and safety of her family at risk: A giant plume of toxic smoke, drifting from a nearby Japanese incinerator, floated through the homes where U.S. military families lived and the schoolyards where children, including Jordan, played, experts say.

In 1990, a U.S. Department of the Navy document reportedly called the cloud a "witch's brew of toxic chemicals."...>>>>>Rest can be found here

‘Burn pits’ in Afghanistan caused illness, says Enterprise man

Richard Guilmette was once a physically fit personal trainer at Gold’s Gym, active in taekwondo and kickboxing.

But just a month after a National Guard deployment in 2004 to Kandahar, Afghanistan, Guilmette says he began to experience breathing difficulties, stomach problems, headaches and dizziness, even extreme fatigue during normal exertion.

“It started happening pretty quickly after we got over there,” said Guilmette, who lives in Enterprise. “A lot of the people in the tent (where we lived) were coughing a lot.”

Snip

Guilmette has filed one of at least 17 lawsuits against KBR Inc., claiming KBR “knew or should have known” that operating the open-air pits put soldiers and contractors in danger. The suits represent 21 current and former military personnel, private contractors, and the families of men who allegedly died as a result of exposure to toxic emission from the burn pits.

Guilmette said he kept a journal while he was deployed in Afghanistan from March 31, 2004 until March 31, 2005, which shows a health condition that gradually worsened.....>>>>Rest found here

Man with breast cancer testifies that he blames Marine base

A man who was raised at Camp Lejeune told lawmakers Thursday that he blames contaminated water at the U.S. Marines training base for his breast cancer.

Michael Partain, who was diagnosed two years ago at the age of 39, told the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs that his parents were stationed at the base in North Carolina when he was born.

At least 40 former U.S. Marines or sons of Marines who lived at Camp Lejeune have been diagnosed with the cancer that strikes fewer than 2,000 men a year, compared with about 200,000 women....>>>>Rest found here

Camp Lejeune Families Speak to Senate
Committee hears from those sickened by water



Military families who were exposed to contaminated water while living at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina had the chance to tell their stories on Capitol Hill on Thursday.

A Senate committee heard testimony from those families affected. The Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs heard from military officials and families about what's been done in the last eight years to make sure what happened to these families never happens again.

Stacy Pennington's brother, Staff Sergeant Steven Ox was just 32 years old when he returned from serving his third tour of duty in Iraq.

"Then just 10 months later, he's in ICU and dies in this condition," said Pennington as she showed FOX 5 a picture of her brother in the hospital....>>>>Rest found here

UpDate

A great post Senate Hears Testimony on DoD Toxic Soup can be found following that link.

It starts out with:

The Defense Department is the biggest owner of EPA Superfund sites. Over 130 military bases are on the National Priority List (EPA Superfund)...>>>>

And ends with the list of the Military Bases on the EPA SuperFund sites.

Michelle Obama's Slave Ancestry

The first lady's family tree traces connections to slaves and a white forebear.

Good Morning America


More In depth ABC News Report


In First Lady’s Roots, a Complex Path From Slavery

In 1850, the elderly master of a South Carolina estate took pen in hand and painstakingly divided up his possessions. Among the spinning wheels, scythes, tablecloths and cattle that he bequeathed to his far-flung heirs was a 6-year-old slave girl valued soon afterward at $475...>>>>>Rest Found Here

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.