Congratulations Ilona and the VA: "Moving a Nation to Care"

Ilona Meager met many of us, especially us veterans, through using this technology, especially in research and posting on interactive community boards, and her awaking interest in a subject she had never thought much about until reading reports about suicides by returned veterans of the Afghan and Iraq occupations well into the start of both conflicts. Her interest caused her to start researching the why these were happening, joining her were other online researchers, many like her who might have heard about but never really thought about an extremely important issue, we veteran advocates have been fighting to get much more recognition for from the masses since especially our occupation Vietnam. That issue is Combat PTSD.

Using the communities found online, like Daily KOS and others, she and her online friends, started posting up what they were finding, then started their own site ePluribus Media as well, and she moved to starting her own site PTSD Combat: Winning the War Within

Taking the research they were finding Ilona moved on further to write a book on the subject, "Moving a Nation to Care: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and America's Returning Troops", more like a great little reference guide on the issue of Combat PTSD for those seeking information and understanding, just as she has posted with her online site.

From not thinking much about she has become one of the many dedicated advocates on the subject with a wealth of understanding and caring, along with her work, those of her online friends, as well as those civilians over these years who joined us veterans, it has helped do what many of us 'Nam Veterans have been trying to do for close to four decades, joined by Veterans of WWII and forward. Bringing the subject of our occupations of others and war as to what that causes to many in the form of Post Traumatic Stress from the trauma's of War into the minds of the country and beyond as well as into the main stream media, investigative journalism, and touching subject lines of the drama's and movies made. And not only as to Combat PTSD but also the understanding that many who never face combat but do live through extreme traumatic events in their lives can and do suffer from same, Silently, up until now.

"Moving A Nation To Care" Subject of Extensive Book Review Essay in VA's Premiere "Veterans Law Review" Journal

A book review any author would be bowled over by {this one being no exception} appears in the premiere issue of the VA's Veterans Law Review journal.

It's much more than a mere review, however.

Written by Holly Seesel, Mary Sorisio, and Paul Sorisio -- Associate Counsel with the Board of Veterans’ Appeals at the Department of Veterans Affairs -- the 24-page (!) 'book review essay' provides an in-depth look at my book (Moving a Nation to Care) and another by Stanley Krippner, Ph.D., and Daryl S. Paulson (Haunted by Combat)."Consequences of Combat" {pdf} begins:...>>>Rest Found Here

Visit Ilona's post, at her site, on this well deserved recognition, at the links above, and visit the premier issue of the

Veterans Law Review Vol. 1 – 2009

Secretary’s Forum {pdf}

I am pleased to introduce the seminal issue of THE
VETERANS LAW REVIEW. As part of the Department’s (VA)
outreach to all veterans and their families, this volume highlights
legal issues and legal-policy concerns that are currently faced by the
Office of General Counsel, the Veterans Benefits Administration,
the Board of Veterans’ Appeals and the Court of Appeals for
Veterans Claims (Court) in their service to our men and women
who have served this nation in uniform. Topics addressed in this
issue include VA’s duty to provide medical examinations, our duty to
assist under the Veterans Claims Assistance Act of 2000, the effects
of representation by attorneys in cases before VA, and the causes
and effects of remands emanating from the Court. As additional
foci, the REVIEW examines both the role of the new media in the
delivery of veterans’ benefits and how the Department is addressing
undiagnosed illnesses from the first Gulf War with Iraq...>>>Rest Found Here {pdf} also top link at site.

Once again the two books, and authors, recognized and referenced:

"Moving a Nation to Care: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and America's Returning Troops"

"Haunted by Combat: Understanding Ptsd in War Veterans Including Women, Reservists, and Those Coming Back from Iraq"

Matthew Hoh: "I wish people would refute what I'm saying."

On October 29th 2009 the PBS News Hour had a discussion with Matthew Hoh the State Department Official who resigned over the Afghan War.

Ex-State Department Official Explains Exit Over Afghan War Strategy

A few of Matthews points made during their discussion and the video of same:

Matthew Hoh Former State Department Official
I believe it's only going to fuel the insurgency. It's only going to reinforce claims by our enemies that we are an occupying power, because we are an occupying power.

JUDY WOODRUFF: After five months serving with the State Department in Afghanistan, Matthew Hoh became the first U.S. official known to resign in protest against American policies there.

In his September 10 letter of resignation, revealed this week in "The Washington Post," the former Marine captain said: "I fail to see the value or worth in continued U.S. casualties or expenditure of resources in support of the Afghan government in what is, truly, a 35-year-old civil war."

Hoh's resignation was greeted more in sorrow than in anger by the State Department. Special Envoy Richard Holbrooke said -- quote -- "We took his letter very seriously because he was a good officer."

Mr. Hoh joins us now:

MATTHEW HOH: I don't believe al-Qaida will come back.

I believe that, since 2001, al-Qaida has evolved. They have turned into, as I like to say, an ideological cloud that exists on the Internet and recruits worldwide. They -- if you look at the attacks al-Qaida has been successful with over the last seven, eight years, including attacks on 9/11, they weren't conducted by Afghans or Pakistanis.

And a lot of the preparation and training, it took place in Western Europe or even here in the United States. So, I don't think al-Qaida has any interest in ever tying itself again to a geographical or political boundary. I think they're content to exist as they have evolved. And they are a threat, and they should be our priority. We need to defeat them.

But, again, 60,000 troops in Afghanistan does not defeat al-Qaida.

"The idea that we're losing somebody's son or somebody's husband is dying to support a regime that's profiting off of our aid money is criminal. It's wrong."

MATTHEW HOH: Sure. And I wish people would refute what I'm saying. I have seen that criticism, but I have not seen anyone tell me why it's not a civil war.

I have not seen anyone tell me how stabilizing the Afghan government will defeat al-Qaida. I have not heard anyone tell me how keeping 60,000 troops, or 80,000, or 100,000 troops in Afghanistan will stabilize Pakistan. So, I haven't heard the answers to those questions.

As for the criticisms about my age or that I was only there for five months, I was there for five months. I was in two parts of the country. I worked with as many local people as I could. And I listened as much as possible.

At that point, what I wrote -- first off, what I wrote in my resignation letter, there's not a novel or unique thought in that. Those are thoughts shared by military officers and State Department officers as well. My concern is not how are we fighting this war, but why are we fighting this war...>>>Rest of Transcript {and audio & video links} found here

Matthew Hoh's Resignation Letter to the State Department

The Thin Gray Line: Afghanistan



The Thin Gray Line: The Education of Lt. Jake Kerr a U.S. Military outpost in Afganistan on the border with Pakistan.

October 29th 2009 0n NPR's All Things Considered they also have a discussion with Matthew Hoh:

A Sudden Exit Driven By An 'Irrational' War

A former Marine captain who became the first foreign service official to publicly resign in protest over the war in Afghanistan says staying in the country is not in America's interest.

"The losses of our soldiers do not merit anything that comes in line with our strategic interests or values," Matthew Hoh, who signed on as a foreign service official in Afghanistan after fighting in Iraq, tells NPR's Melissa Block.

Hoh resigned last month after spending five working months in Afghanistan. In his resignation letter, he said he had "lost understanding of and confidence in the strategic purpose of the United States' presence in Afghanistan."...>>>Rest found here

You can listen with this link which brings up the NPR player.

Toll of War

At Dover, Obama feels toll of war

Hours after a personal encounter with the grim cost of war, President Barack Obama said Thursday the sight of 18 flag-covered cases holding the remains of Americans killed this week in Afghanistan can't help but influence his thinking about sending more troops overseas.

"It was a sobering reminder of the extraordinary sacrifices that our young men and women in uniform are engaging in every single day, not only our troops but their families as well," Obama said from the White House, reflecting briefly on his surprise middle-of-the-night trip to Dover Air Force Base to observe the return of the fallen Americans to the United States.

Speaking softly and somewhat haltingly, Obama said losses such as these are "something that I think about each and every day."..>>>

President Honors Fallen at Dover Arrival

Earlier this morning:

Obama visits Dover AFB to honor fallen soldiers

President Barack Obama, right, salutes as an Army carry team carries the transfer case containing the remains of Sgt. Dale R. Griffin of Terre Haute, Ind., during a dignified transfer at Dover Air Force Base, Del., Thursday, Oct. 29, 2009.
(AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

President Barack Obama made a midnight dash to this air base Wednesday to honor the return of fallen soldiers, absorbing the ultimate cost of war as the United States endures its deadliest month of the Afghanistan campaign.

On a clear fall night, Obama flew by Marine One helicopter to Dover Air Force Base to greet the flag-draped cases of 18 Americans killed in action this week...>>>Rest Found Here

Honor to Fallen on Arrival Home

Malalai Joya: “A Woman Among Warlords”

The Extraordinary Story of an Afghan Who Dared to Raise Her Voice!

On October 27th a forum was held at the CUNY's Center for Place, Culture and Politics. After the forum Grit TV's Laura Flanders held a discussion with some of the women at the forum and with Malalai Joya who wrote "A Woman Among Warlords: The Extraordinary Story of an Afghan Woman Who Dared to Speak Out"

Is a Benevolent Occupation Possible? Discussing Afghanistan

The war in Afghanistan will soon surpass Vietnam as the U.S.’s longest conflict, and yet for much of the past eight years it was overshadowed by the war in Iraq. It was considered both “the Good War” and the “Forgotten War,” but lately has taken center stage in the news once again, as public support has dropped and Tuesday morning Matthew Hoh, a Foreign Service officer and former Marine, became the first U.S. official to resign in protest over the conduct of the war.

Just what is the purpose of the U.S. presence in Afghanistan? Are we really there to protect people from the Taliban and to fight Al-Qaeda? Joining us to discuss are Kristen L. Rouse, founder of Veterans for Afghanistan, Nasrine Gross, President of Roqia Center for Rights, Studies and Education, Yifat Susskind, communications director for MADRE, and Jodie Evans of CodePink, who just returned from Afghanistan.

Laura Flanders with Malalai Joya, Awista Ayub, Nasrine Gross {first 23:30min is the discussion with the other guests then with Malalai leading into the rest of the show}


You can view the Video Here

The next day, the 28th of October, Malalai Joya visited Democracy Now and spoke with Amy Goodman about her book and life in Afghanistan, especially her recent past, as well.

Afghan Democracy Activist Malalai Joya Defies Threats to Challenge US Occupation, Local Warlords

To talk more about Afghanistan, we are joined by Malalai Joya, one of Afghanistan’s leading democracy activists. In 2005, she became the youngest person ever elected to the Afghan parliament. She was suspended in 2007 for her denunciation of warlords and their cronies in government. She has just written her memoir, "A Woman Among Warlords: The Extraordinary Story of an Afghan Woman Who Dared to Speak Out". { includes transcript ]

Malalai Joya's Book:

Publisher Comments:

Malalai Joya has been called the bravest woman in Afghanistan. At a constitutional assembly in Kabul in 2003, she stood up and denounced her country's powerful NATO-backed warlords. She was twenty-five years old. Two years later, she became the youngest person elected to Afghanistan's new Parliament. In 2007, she was suspended from Parliament for her persistent criticism of the warlords and drug barons and their cronies. She has survived four assassination attempts to date, is accompanied at all times by armed guards, and sleeps only in safe houses.

Often compared to democratic leaders such as Burma's Aung San Suu Kyi, this extraordinary young woman was raised in the refugee camps of Iran and Pakistan. Inspired in part by her father's activism, Malalai became a teacher in secret girls' schools, holding classes in a series of basements. She hid her books under her burqa so the Taliban couldn't find them. She also helped establish a free medical clinic and orphanage in her impoverished home province of Farah. The endless wars of Afghanistan have created a generation of children without parents. Like so many others who have lost people they care about, Malalai lost one of her orphans when the girl's family members sold her into marriage.

While many have talked about the serious plight of women in Afghanistan, Malalai Joya takes us inside the country and shows us the desperate dayto-day situations these remarkable people face at every turn. She recounts some of the many acts of rebellion that are helping to change the country — the women who bravely take to the streets in peaceful protest against their oppression; the men who step forward and claim I am her mahram, so the fundamentalists won't punish a woman for walking alone; and the families that give their basements as classrooms for female students.

A controversial political figure in one of the most dangerous places on earth, Malalai Joya is a hero for our times, a young woman who refused to be silent, a young woman committed to making a difference in the world, no matter the cost.

"A Woman Among Warlords: The Extraordinary Story of an Afghan Woman Who Dared to Speak Out"

"War Song"

Rock Band OAR Asks America to Open Up Your Arms -- and Focus on What Matters



Check out the exclusive music video by O.A.R. and then show your support for our newest generation of heroes at Open Up Your Arms.

The writeup about the video and it's meaning as to the reality from Paul Rieckhoff of IAVA who teamed up with O.A.R. to produce the Video and the site Open Up Your Arms

With the noise clogging the media landscape, it's hard to get the public to pay attention to anything important. Fortunately, some extremely talented musicians are working to change that.

These are Dangerous Times to be an American Veteran!

ROGUE PROSECUTOR DECLARES WAR ON VETS

By Robert L. Rosebrock, Staff Writer

Sharon McCaslin, prosecuting attorney for the United States Department of Justice, officially declared war on America’s Veterans when she defiantly pronounced in federal court that it is “desecration” and a “crime” for a Veteran to hang the American Flag in the “Distress” mode alongside the POW / MIA Flag.

She declared her act of warring defiance even when Veterans are in full compliance with the VA’s approval and the U.S Flag Code, and while lawfully protesting against the U.S. Government for abusing and misusing their sacred and sovereign land for the benefit of commercial and non-Veteran special interest groups, which is a flagrant violation of the Congressional Act of 1887 and the Land Grant Deed of 1888.

U.S. deputy attorney Sharon McCaslin officially declared this to be “desecration” and a “crime” as these noble and patriotic Flags are apparently nothing more than “placards and material” to her. The billion-dollar parcel of Veterans’ land behind these locked gates was recently given away rent-free by the U.S. Government to a wealthy homeowner group for a public community park. Now that that’s desecration and a crime in the most disgraceful sense!

On October 21st, I appeared before the Honorable Judge Frederick F. Mumm in the United States District Court in Los Angeles for the hearing and arraignment of a criminal citation issued to me via U.S. mail by the Los Angeles VA police...>>>Rest Found Here

Rescue a Child:

Sign the Petition

Labor's 'Bulldog' Trumka

Last night on the PBS News Hour they had a discussion with the new AFL-CIO leader Richard Trumka

On a separate page from the transcript and video/audio links of the discussion they have a short video of a round-table meeting of the lobbyist of the AFL-CIO with Trumka talkin 'bluedogs' and 'public option'.

Inside the AFL-CIO's Health Care Lobbying Efforts



The discussion, about ten and a half minutes long, can be found here Labor's 'Bulldog' Trumka Challenged by Dwindling Ranks, Public Perception

As AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka works to protect organized labor from the excesses of big business, he faces dwindling ranks, splits among union groups, and diminished public support. Paul Solman reports.

Where you can read the transcript, .listen to an audio feed or watch on a video feed, the video I'm placing below.

RICHARD TRUMKA, president, AFL-CIO: The American labor movement is right here with you today. We will stand shoulder to shoulder with you for as long as it takes and with whatever it takes.

PAUL SOLMAN: New AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka at a recent protest of teacher layoffs in Washington, D.C.

RICHARD TRUMKA: And it is time that we win together!

PAUL SOLMAN: As the new head of the labor movement, Trumka needs to move workers old and new, and reverse a decades-long thinning of the ranks. Compounding the problem, divisions within the movement itself.

Service Employees International Union head Andy Stern, seen here in his trademark purple shirt, formed a rival federation just four years ago. In the late '60s, age 19, Trumka followed his father, who died of black lung disease, and grandfather down into the coal mines of Pennsylvania.

But college and law degrees took him to the United Mine Workers. In 1982, he became its aggressive president...>>>Rest Found Here

With what was forecast by many occurring, the collapse of the economics we've allowed ourselves to be pushed into and follow these last couple of decades, it's past time that workers, who actually do the work and keep the economy running, once again build the organizations needed to keep fighting those who place their own personal wealth and power over country and our required economy of growth and job creation, real capitalism.

The best, and what brought worker advancement in middle class wages, benefits, safety, workplace respect, quality products, growth in industries, and much more are by organizing in workers unions. We've already lost much of what was fought for by our Gran Parents and Parents, we've allowed ourselves to be controlled by the corporations and those that get into bed with them, our politicians.

Instead of advancing a workers needs, they spend their wages for their comfort and better life, those who control have continually added corporate perks to their executives portfolio, written off in corporate tax fillings, are reaping huge amounts of compensation they neither earn nor have a need for and benefits of kings, everything is taken care of for them, they care more for investors, who do nothing within the company or corporation, then they do for those who actually do the work needed.

One group I would like to see lead in this organizing, as they to search for jobs scarce for everyone now, are the returning soldiers of our failed policies of occupying others. They have what can't be taught in our higher education industry, they know how important it is to work together in units, in organization with each other to not only try and accomplish huge tasks but save each others lives. They understand a chain of command mentality, instilled to help keep everyone in that working together mode taking care of problems that might occur and getting the same information at the same time to accomplish the goals set forth.

This country and it's economy needs the level playing field of those who perform the work and those who just oversea the organization within a company or a corporation, each sharing in the prosperity they create together.

'My Daddy's Not Dead Yet':

A Big Hat Tip and Understanding Nod to Representative Walter Jones, first time I've heard any Representative mention the word 'sin', or anyone saying their Christian!

Congressman Pens Book About Iraq War Regrets

North Carolina Republican Walter Jones' conscience is really bothering him! Back in 2002, he enthusiastically voted for and supported Bush's call to invade Iraq. Not only that, he also ridiculed France for not supporting the U.S. effort. Remember "Freedom Fries?" Jones and fellow Republican Bob Ney waged a successful campaign to have "French Fries" renamed "Freedom Fries" on all the House cafeteria menus. But that all changed when he attended a funeral for a young sergeant killed in Iraq and listened to the fallen soldier's last letter to his family which was read at the service. Jones began to write his own letters to the families of those killed in Iraq and came to strongly regret his 2002 vote.

Now Jones is writing a book called "My Daddy's Not Dead Yet" as he ponders yet another vote on another war, he will soon have to cast. Jones talked to George C. Wilson who wrote a very moving article for Congressdaily.com called "Atonement." In his article Wilson explains how Jones chose the title for his book...>>>Rest Found Here

The Congressional Daily

Atonement

Monday, Oct. 26, 2009

A conscience-stricken member of the House Armed Services Committee is writing a book called "My Daddy's Not Dead Yet" in hopes it will atone for what he now considers his sinful vote to empower former President George W. Bush to invade Iraq in 2003.

Rep. Walter Jones, R-N.C., whose district includes the sprawling Marine base of Camp Lejeune, told me the title was inspired by a little boy who feared his Marine father would be killed in Iraq.

The setting for Jones' searing moment in 2007 was a classroom in the Johnson Elementary School at Camp Lejeune. He had been invited to read Dr. Seuss to the kids. Jones did that; then asked for questions.

"My daddy's not dead yet," said a little boy. "My daddy's not dead yet," the boy repeated. Jones said he reeled as if punched in the gut, a wave of guilt washing over him. The remark devastated him because he knew deep down that he had played go-along-politics with the life of the little boy's father instead of "listening to God" and voting against the House resolution in 2002 that authorized Bush to go to war in Iraq. "I profess to be a man of faith," Jones said, "but I didn't vote my conscience."..>>>

Kerry on Afghanistan

I'll start this out with a short clip of a speech Senator, and brother 'Nam Veteran, Kerry gave on his return from a fact finding and diplomacy trip to Afghanistan. In this clip, in just a couple of sentences, he lays out the reality as to what one leading 'chickenhawk', and to many war criminal, has been blathering lately. Though Kerry doesn't mention it also speaks as to what that chief 'chickenhawk's' spokesperson, his daughter, fast becoming the leading 'chickenhawkette', has also been spreading around, allowed to and rarely, if ever, challenged.



Kerry, like many especially us who served in Vietnam, have had some four decades to better understand how extremely wrong government policies, especially as to invasions leading to occupation, can go wrong and in the video cut above states how the recent past was built on failed policy after failed policy after failed policy........... as well as ignoring the original intent policy of why we sent our military into that region of the world. It all stopped having anything to do with the criminal terrorist attacks on this country as the civilian and military leadership set their sites on Iraq, many feel was their main purpose to begin with, and they were given a reason to engage.

After Senator Kerry's speech he had a sit down discussion that aired on the PBS News Hour last night giving more insight to his fact finding visit to Afghanistan.

Sen. John Kerry
"If are you going to ask some kid to put his life on the line...I think we all have an obligation to make certain we have maximized the ability to be successful."

Kerry: Afghan Troop Push Goes 'Too Far, Too Fast'

Margaret Warner speaks with Sen. John Kerry about his recent trip to Afghanistan to persuade President Hamid Karzai to accept a runoff election.

Snip

MARGARET WARNER: You said in your speech today that General McChrystal's plan goes too far too fast.

Are you talking about the troop levels or his basic overall strategy of counterinsurgency?

SEN. JOHN KERRY, D-Mass.: The breadth of the reach of the counterinsurgency that he wants to start with and the number of troops to do it immediately. That doesn't mean you might not get there, ultimately, Margaret.

But I think you have got to show people like me and others that we have the civilian capacity to come in under underneath those troops, and the governance that's going to allow us to hold on, and the Afghan army members who will be in there with you, so it's not an American face; it's an Afghan movement immediately.

I think those three ingredients are critical. And we just don't have that sufficiently there to say, oh, boy, let's just go deploy this number of troops now.

MARGARET WARNER: So, are you suggesting to the president that he simply defer a decision on additional troops? Are you...

SEN. JOHN KERRY: No, I think the president could conceivably make the decision with -- and in many ways. He could put in some troops. He could put in a lot of troops. He could do, you know, any number of options.

But I'm trying to suggest that the standard that you use before you put them out into combat and clear an area and start to hold an area and actually implement the counterinsurgency component itself, I think you need those ingredients, or you are going to fail.

MARGARET WARNER: But the ingredients you lay out, some kind of effective local and national governance, Afghan security forces, a much better coordinated U.S. civilian effort, I mean, those are big projects, aren't they?...>>>You can watch or listen to and read the rest of the transcript at this link

Or watch the discussion in this player {it's just shy of eleven minutes}:



There's a meme used far to often to justify the wants of the few who seek to enhance their power, wealth or extremist views or whatever goes on in their heads by using military's, ours especially, to force those views on others, even including those they supposedly represent. That meme is "Freedom isn't free!", frankly it is,freedom is found within each of us supposedly intelligent human beings, freedom doesn't come by extreme force and terrorizing others, invading and occupying, dictating policies they must follow, creating more hatreds thus enemies seeking retaliations, especially from the young who grow up during the destructive occupations.

This morning we get this report:

U.S. official resigns over Afghan war

Foreign Service officer and former Marine captain says he no longer knows why his nation is fighting

Snip

"I have lost understanding of and confidence in the strategic purposes of the United States' presence in Afghanistan," he wrote Sept. 10 in a four-page letter to the department's head of personnel. "I have doubts and reservations about our current strategy and planned future strategy, but my resignation is based not upon how we are pursuing this war, but why and to what end."

The reaction to Hoh's letter was immediate. Senior U.S. officials, concerned that they would lose an outstanding officer and perhaps gain a prominent critic, appealed to him to stay.

U.S. Ambassador Karl W. Eikenberry brought him to Kabul and offered him a job on his senior embassy staff. Hoh declined. From there, he was flown home for a face-to-face meeting with Richard C. Holbrooke, the administration's special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan.

"We took his letter very seriously, because he was a good officer," Holbrooke said in an interview. "We all thought that given how serious his letter was, how much commitment there was, and his prior track record, we should pay close attention to him."...>>>Rest Found Here

Matthew Hoh is seeing what many of us saw during our years of Vietnam and many have started to see over these past years as to Afghanistan and Iraq, especially in Afghanistan after we left to invade Iraq. What purpose is there still occupying that country, there's only one purpose that can be sought, giving security to the people, who don't want us there, and try to give security to NGO's coming in to help rebuild though under a corrupt government and lax Afghan security, lax mainly because it's their own countrymen they will be forced to fight.

The Taliban are growing, or those we label Taliban, in numbers because of the rise in hatreds towards us especially due to our now nine year destructive occupation of Afghanistan, our bombing in Pakistan by robot planes killing and maiming more civilians then so called high value targets, our creation of hatreds from invading and occupying Iraq causing the hatreds to grow towards us in the whole region, we are no longer seeking out nor fighting the ghost enemy al Qaeda, or those we label as belonging to, though their numbers are also growing and probably seeking what the Taliban aren't outside the region terror attacks!

This Country was left with a huge host of problems and failed policies by the previous administration, very difficult problems that really can't be corrected but can be minimized, Hopefully. Even as CiC these extreme failed policies in Afghanistan and Iraq are not only up to President Obama these were laid at our feet qwith the blood on all our hands, we are the ones the hatreds are being lashed out at not just our government nor it's leaders, it is what the next generations will be left to deal with, these are the legacy and world we are leaving them!!

If interested Laura Flanders will be airing a discussion tonight at Eight PM on her Grit TV stream which then will be archived:

GRITtv with Laura Flanders » EVENT: WOMEN AMONG WARLORDS: Rebuilding Afghanistan

We hear a lot about women in Afghanistan, but their voices too often are silenced. On Tuesday, October 27, join GRITtv host Laura Flanders at CUNY’s Center for Place, Culture and Politics with Afghan activists Malalai Joya, the first female Afghan parliamentarian, Awista Ayub and Nasrine Gross to discuss their work rebuilding their country.

Tuesday, October 27, 2009 at 3:00 PM
Skylight Room (9th floor)

If you can’t make the event, don’t miss our Tuesday show on Afghanistan, featuring Malalai Joya and Nasrine Gross, right here at 8 PM.

Sen John Kerry Slams Dick Cheney

For Obama/Afghanistan Criticisms



Kerry's supposed to be on the PBS News Hour tonight, 10.26.09, to talk about Afghanistan!

You'll be able to view the video, or listen in audio and read the transcript after the show or tomorrow.

Women Among Warlords

GRITtv with Laura Flanders » EVENT: WOMEN AMONG WARLORDS: Rebuilding Afghanistan

We hear a lot about women in Afghanistan, but their voices too often are silenced. On Tuesday, October 27, join GRITtv host Laura Flanders at CUNY’s Center for Place, Culture and Politics with Afghan activists Malalai Joya, the first female Afghan parliamentarian, Awista Ayub and Nasrine Gross to discuss their work rebuilding their country.

Tuesday, October 27, 2009 at 3:00 PM
Skylight Room (9th floor)

If you can’t make the event, don’t miss our Tuesday show on Afghanistan, featuring Malalai Joya and Nasrine Gross, right here at 8 PM.

Serving The Country That Won't Allow Your Wife To Live In

Struggling Iraq vet may lose his anchor

His wife, brought here illegally at age 6, is about to be deported. 'She's my everything,' her husband says.

The nightmares still plague him. The terrifying mortar attacks. The loss of an Albanian soldier and ally, mutilated by shrapnel. The Iraqi children, bloodied and battered, lined up for medical care at the U.S. base at Mosul.

Two years after returning from his service in Iraq, U.S. Army Spc. Jack Barrios, 26, is fighting sleeplessness, sudden angry outbursts, aversion to emotional intimacy and other fallout from his post-traumatic stress disorder.

But as he undergoes counseling and swallows anti-depressants, the soldier is fighting an even bigger battle: to keep his family from collapsing as his wife, an undocumented immigrant from Guatemala, faces deportation...>>>Rest Found Here

Their story and the story of another Soldiers Wife and Son, this Soldier Died while serving his Country!!

Don't Ask, Don't Tell

Secretary of the Army Says Military Ready to Lift Gay Ban

Release Date:
October 26, 2009

Press Contact:
Indra Lusero, Assistant Director, Palm Center, 303-902-9402, info@palmcenter.ucsb.edu

Release Body:

For a pdf version of this release, click here.

SANTA BARBARA, CA, October 26, 2009 - The Secretary of the Army, John McHugh, indicated this weekend that the Army is prepared to lift the ban on openly gay service if the Commander-in-Chief and the Congress decide to end the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, a prospect that has gathered steam in recent weeks. McHugh, formerly a Republican congressman from the conservative 23rd district of New York, is the highest official inside the Pentagon to express such support. He told the Army Times on Sunday that there was no reason to fear that major difficulties would result from lifting the ban, and that he would help implement the policy change when the time comes. “The Army has a big history of taking on similar issues,” he said, with “predictions of doom and gloom that did not play out.” He also suggested that repeal may come in phases, with early action involving, for example, allowing open gays to serve in some occupations and not others.

“What we’re seeing is a tipping point in the opinions of both military and civilian leaders on this issue,” said Dr. Nathaniel Frank, senior research fellow at the Palm Center. “The Army is the largest of the services and the most heavily involved in our wars abroad, and for Secretary McHugh to state clearly that it can handle repeal sends a strong signal to the other service secretaries that they can do the same.”

Dr. Aaron Belkin, director of the Palm Center, said Secretary McHugh’s comments were enormously significant. But he pointed out that there is no research to support the idea of letting gay soldiers serve in some units but not others. “The rationale for the ban applies equally across all job categories,” he said. “So if it’s okay to be an openly gay Arabic interpreter, it’s also okay to be openly gay in the infantry or on a submarine. Since conduct rules apply across the board, there’s just no basis for applying different standards to different specialties.”

Shinseki, Gates Address Unprecedented Forum

VA, DoD Host National Mental Health Summit

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the Department of Defense (DoD) are hosting a first-of-its-kind national summit to address the mental health care needs of America’s military personnel, families and Veterans, harnessing the programs, resources and expertise of both departments to deal with the aftermath of the battlefield.

“This is about doing what is best for those who serve this country and using every federal, state and community asset to do it,” said Secretary Shinseki. “We’re proud of the people and the organizations who have stepped up today to make sure everyone who fought for this country gets a fighting chance for a sound mind and an independent life.”

The summit, which opened today at the Capital Hilton in Washington, D.C., invited mental health experts from both departments, Congress, the president’s cabinet and more than 57 non-government organizations to discuss an innovative, wide-ranging public health model for enhancing mental health for returning service members, Veterans, and their families.

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VA operates the largest mental health program in the nation. VA has bolstered its mental health capacity to serve combat Veterans by adding thousands of new professionals to its rolls in the last four years. The department also has established a suicide prevention hotline (1-800-273-TALK) and Web site available for online chat at Suicide Prevention Lifeline-Veterans....>>>

Gates: Injured troops face too much red tape

Calls their paperwork 'frustrating, adversarial, and unnecessarily complex

Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Monday that troops injured in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan continue to face too many bureaucratic hurdles.

Paperwork alone for them can be "frustrating, adversarial, and unnecessarily complex," Gates said.

Gates spoke at a mental health summit with Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki. By appearing publicly together, they sought to reinforce their commitment to tackling veterans' health issues and the stigma associated with seeking mental health care.

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Shinseki said veterans from the recent wars are coming homes with "invisible wounds" that are just as debilitating as physical traumas sustained on the battlefield.

"Who's vulnerable? Everyone," Shinseki said. "Warriors suffer emotional injuries as much as they do physical ones."...>>>

Ellsberg: From Vietnam to Afghanistan

Ellsberg: As President Obama decides what to do in Afghanistan he must learn the lessons of Vietnam