I'm rolling through Indiana on my way to Indianapolis as part of Operation FREE's "Veterans for American Power" tour. This is a tour intended to let people know that our dependence on fossil fuels is, in many ways, a clear and persistent threat to our national security...>>>Read Rest of Post Here
October 16, 2009
Reporting from the world's most troubled hotspots, Mark Danner has seen countless deaths over ethnic and political divides, and witnessed firsthand how U.S. attempts to exploit those conflicts have resulted in disastrous unforeseen consequences. Danner speaks with Bill Moyers about Obama’s challenges in resetting the mindset of America from war to peace, and redefining the US as a nation...>>>Read the Transcript and Watch the Discussion
Bill Moyers: Welcome to the Journal.
President Obama has been holding one meeting after another trying to decide whether to escalate the war in Afghanistan. He would do well to hold off another discussion until he has sent everyone home for the weekend to read this new book with the provocative title, "Stripping Bare the Body", and a cover that holds the eye like a magnet.The subject is politics, violence, and war, and running through it is an old truth often forgot: you start a war knowing what you are fighting, but in the end you find yourself fighting for things you had never thought of.
In the meantime, you make decisions that inflict on people in far-off places suffering you never imagined.
That's but one stark truth you will find in these pages. The wars we fight, and the violence that feeds them, reveal like nothing else the hidden structures of power in Washington: the personal rivalries, the in-fighting and deal-making, the ambitions that decide our policies and often our fate. "Stripping Bare the Body: Politics, Violence, War", you will discover, is a moral history of American power over the past quarter century.
Its author is Mark Danner, who throughout those 25 years reported from more mean places in the world than any journalist I know -- Iraq, the Balkans, Haiti, and Washington, among them. Despite more than one close brush with death, he keeps going back. He writes for some of our leading magazines and has produced a series of acclaimed books, winning awards left and right as well as receiving the MacArthur Fellowship. All the while Mark Danner has been teaching journalism and foreign affairs at both the University of California, Berkeley, and Bard College in upstate New York. He's been at this table before, and it's good to welcome you back.
BILL MOYERS: You say that the decisions being discussed, and about to be made in Afghanistan right now have very little to do with the war in Afghanistan and more to do with the politics in America. Explain that.
MARK DANNER: I think the political background here is extremely important. We have a new president, who made his case on foreign policy during the campaign on his opposition to the war in Iraq. And that opposition, to quote his speech in Springfield in 2002, was built on the perception that he is not against all wars, just dumb wars. So in this construction, the smart-- the dumb war was Iraq. The smart war, the right war was Afghanistan. Afghanistan allowed his dovishness on Iraq. So he has come into office having vowed to prosecute that war and fight it, because it was in American interest.
And now he has found, especially in the wake of the failed elections in Afghanistan, that he is getting into he's taking on a hornet's nest, putting his hand into a hornet's nest in a way I think he didn't anticipate.
BILL MOYERS: You make the point that we're more likely to be the target of attack because Obama is trying to win over the hearts and minds of the Muslim world.
MARK DANNER: I think that's true. I think that he is a political threat. And I think you have to look at the character of this war. You know, we're accustomed to calling it the "war on terror," even though Obama's no longer using the word. But it isn't a war where you try to seize territory. It's not a war where you're going to kill every jihadist. It's a war about politics. Think of a target. What you want to do in this war is prevent people from moving toward the center. That is, you want the people getting the money to not become more active supports. You want the more active supporters to not become active jihadists, to actually go into the fight. So, you're trying to do something political. You want to stop young Muslims from supporting this movement and taking part of it. That's the only way that this war will eventually be "won," quote unquote. And for the-- you know, when you look at it in these terms, George W. Bush was an enormous gift to the jihadists. An enormous gift.
BILL MOYERS: Why?
MARK DANNER: Because he embodied the caricature of the United States that Osama Bin Laden had put forth. An imperial power using its power blunderingly around the world, suppressing Muslims, repressing Muslim countries, occupying Saudi Arabia. You know, think of that image of Lindy England the young military woman standing in her fatigues, smiling at the camera, holding a leash. A leash that goes down to the neck of a naked Muslim man lying on the ground, grimacing in pain.
Osama Bin Laden, if he had hired the most expensive advertising agency on Madison Avenue, could not have embodied more brilliantly his ideology, which is that the United States is suppressing, humiliating, shaming, undermining the Muslim world, and especially Muslim men.
Obama, on the other hand, stands for-- you know, he has an African name, he's black, he has a Muslim middle name, he speaks about inclusion. I mean, look at his Cairo speech. Ideologically, he's an enormous threat to Osama Bin Laden. Because he does the opposite of what Americans are supposed to do.
Mark Danner:
You know, the Iraq war, in the first couple of weeks-- the so-called combat stage, as the George W. Bush administration called it-- the best estimate made by the Associated Press of civilian casualties, civilian deaths, which is certainly an understatement, It's a hospital count so it's only people who were brought to hospital morgues, was 3400 people. Now this is in two weeks.
This is more than the number in the United States who died in 9/11. And of course, Iraq is a tenth or an eleventh the size of the United States. So the equivalent, on the US side, would be 35,000 people died, civilians, in that war. They were never on camera. You never saw those bodies. You saw very few bodies. It was as if the American army simply marched up the road to Baghdad. And in fact-- you know, the military before the war, estimated collateral damage at 10,000, 15,000, something like that.
And you know, when you make a decision like that and say 10,000 to 15,000, or 7000, or whatever the number was, will probably be killed as a result of this intervention, people who have no-- you know, are not military and so on-- that it strikes me as an extremely serious thing. It's not like trying to kill civilians in a terrorist attack, needless to say. It's not, because that's your intention....>>>Read and Watch Rest Here
It would be irresponsible of President Barack Obama to commit to sending more U.S. troops to Afghanistan when the outcome of that country's election is undecided, U.S. Senator John Kerry said on Saturday.
In an interview with CNN's "State of the Union," Kerry, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said the United States should not proceed with a new Afghan strategy involving more troops without a clear partner in Kabul...>>>
Before President Obama makes a decision about sending any additional troops to Afghanistan, there must be a careful assessment of the strength and viability of the Afghan government, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel said Sunday...>>>
Isn't the new global threat we face even more dangerous?
What is the greatest threat facing us now? People will say it's terrorism. But are there any terrorists in the world who can change the American way of life or our political system? No. Can they knock down a building? Yes. Can they kill somebody? Yes. But can they change us? No. Only we can change ourselves. So what is the great threat we are facing?
Snip
So you think we are getting too hunkered down and scared?
Yes! We are taking too much counsel of our fears.
Snip
These are dangerous criminals, and we must deal with them. But come on, this is not a threat to our survival! The only thing that can really destroy us is us. We shouldn't do it to ourselves, and we shouldn't use fear for political purposes—scaring people to death so they will vote for you, or scaring people to death so that we create a terror-industrial complex...>>>Rest Found Here
Thai Thi Nga, 16, 2nd-generation viction of US Agent Orange use in the Vietnam War
On Oct. 13, the New York Times ran a news story headlined, “Door Opens to Health Claims Tied to Agent Orange,” which was sure to be good news to many American veterans of the Indochina War. It reported that 38 years after the Pentagon ceased spreading the deadly dioxin-laced herbicide/defoliant over much of South Vietnam, it was acknowledging what veterans have long claimed: in addition to 13 ailments already traced to exposure to the chemical, it was also responsible for three more dread diseases—Parkinson’s, ischemic hedart disease and hairy-cell leukemia...>>>Rest Found Here
The widow of Marine Sgt. Michael Ferschke Jr. paid a visit to Camp Pendleton last month to show her young son to the Marines who served with his father before his death in Iraq.
Now those same Marines are supporting an effort to let Hotaru Nakama Ferschke stay in America with her 8-month-old son, Michael "Mikey" Ferschke III.
Snip
A bill in the House introduced by a Tennessee Rep. John J. Duncan Jr. would allow Ferschke's widow and son to remain in the U.S. This week, Sen. James Webb of Virginia introduced a similar bill in the upper house...>>>
“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.
WASHINGTON, Oct. 14 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Today, Secretary of Veterans
Affairs Eric K. Shinseki delivered his "State of VA" testimony to Congress.
Here is Secretary Shinseki's written statement.
THE HONORABLE ERIC K. SHINSEKI,
SECRETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS
WRITTEN STATEMENT BEFORE
THE HOUSE COMMITTEE ON VETERANS AFFAIRS
OCTOBER 14, 2009
Chairman Filner, Ranking Member Buyer, Distinguished Members of the Committee:>>>>The Rest Can Be Found Here
You Can View This Hearing and Statement Here {brings up the House VA Committee's player}
The VA has implemented an electronic records system, but faces a flood of medical claims each month. In July alone, the VA processed 92,000 claims, but another 91,200 came in. The department has 400,000 claims in the works, with more than a quarter of them left unprocessed for more than 125 days.
"Regardless of how we parse the numbers, there is a backlog. It is too big and veterans are waiting too long for decisions," said Eric Shinseki, secretary of veterans affairs, in his opening statement to the House Veterans Affairs Committee hearing Wednesday.
Snip
"What I mean by advocacy is that when Shinseki walks in and says 'I want to put a claim in,' my intent is to put together the very best claim the first time with a very high probability of success," Shinseki responded. "Whatever is there right now is what we are addressing. It is a change in culture. It is a change in attitude."...>>>Rest Here
WASHINGTON, Oct. 13 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Veterans Day originated as
"Armistice Day" on Nov. 11, 1919, the first anniversary of the end of World
War I. Congress passed a resolution in 1926 for an annual observance, and Nov.
11 became a national holiday beginning in 1938. President Dwight D. Eisenhower
signed legislation in 1954 to change the name to Veterans Day as a way to
honor those who served in all American wars. The day honors living military
veterans with parades and speeches across the nation. A national ceremony
takes place at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery in
Virginia...>>>Rest Found Here {this was given a 'page not found' on some clicks earlier, if again just copy and paste subject title in search engine and you'll go to the press release, same url.}
In an interview, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel discusses the Senate Finance Committee's passage of a health reform bill, the future for the public option and more.
It was late, and the delivery doctor, whose salary Howrigon had worked to undercut in negotiations for his insurance company employer, finally performed a Caesarean section birth. As Howrigon thanked him, the doctor shrugged and said it was his job.
"And then, as he walked out of the operating room, he turned and said, 'The next time you negotiate money away from a doctor, remember tonight. I was the one who was here,'" Howrigon recalls...>>>
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Professional sports has always served to unite Americans across class, creed and race. Now Rush Limbaugh, whose career is driven by dividing Americans precisely along those lines, wants to buy an NFL football team.
Limbaugh is a racist and a chauvinist. His values are diametrically opposed to the traditions the NFL stands for. Limbaugh will poison professional football as he has poisoned the culture of American political discourse.
We stand with former and current NFL players in urging the league to reject Limbaughs ownership bid. Sports fans deserve better.
Sign the petition
The Labor Department has released a list of the top 50 in-demand occupations, and it's no surprise that several IT-specific fields made the list. The list includes the projected need for employees in each of the 50 categories from 2006 to 2016.
The most in-demand IT jobs included: computer software engineers, computer systems analyst, network systems and data communications analysts, computer support specialists and network and computer systems administrators. IT-specific jobs also held some of the highest projected growth, with most fields forecasted to grow more than 27 percent.
Fifteen states. Thousands of spots. We’re launching the biggest radio ad blitz in our history, and wanted you to know. Our new radio ads focus on the need for Clean Energy legislation, and feature veterans from those states.
The ads will air in Arkansas, Montana, North Dakota, Missouri, South Dakota, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Pennsylvania, Florida, and Maine. Each of those states will be a stop on a bus tour of veterans, being organized by the national security coalition, Operation Free, of which we’re a part...>>>Visit Site For Rest and Leave a Few Duckets To Support
A California company wants to convert an empty facility formerly used as nursing home into a trauma assistance center for as many as 88 female veterans, including those who have been sexually assaulted by fellow soldiers.
But some Taylor residents say they don't want the facility in their town.
"It would put veterans in a situation where they are going to a town that doesn't want them," said Cherri Wolbrueck, co-owner of a Taylor bookstore.
Snip
"We have a moral obligation to help veterans," said Paul Sullivan, executive director of Veterans for Common Sense, an advocacy group based in Washington. "Veterans are the kind of neighbors we want, and it's safe to be around them."...>>>>Read Rest Here
An Afghan boy washes among the ruins of a Kandahar building supplies store destroyed by a rocket attack in August. Recent reports assessing Afghanistan’s progress show government institutions are deteriorating as much as the country’s security.
Administration officials say the U.S. is falling far short of Obama's goals to fight Afghanistan's deep corruption, create a functioning government and legal system and train a police force. Full story here.
NBC News Chief Foreign Correspondent Richard Engel goes on patrol with the U.S. soldiers of Viper Company in Afghanistan's Korengal Valley, nicknamed the "Valley of Death." Get a taste of the harsh, unforgiving fight against the Taliban at an American outpost in this one-hour documentary.
Greg Mortenson's Books:
