Remorse for wartime massacre

Remorse for wartime massacre is bringing US, Vietnam closer

Lieutenant William Calley, the only US military officer prosecuted in the infamous massacre at My Lai in Vietnam in 1968, is coming back.

Snip

He will follow in the tracks of Kenneth Schiel, another US veteran who had a hand in the slaughter of 504 peaceful villagers and who returned last year for the massacre’s 40th anniversary.

Throughout the three hours he spent with the surviving villagers, Schiel did nothing but cry. Any questions or attempts at explanation would have been superfluous and pointless.

A survivor’s big hug out of the blue only served to worsen the American’s torment...>>>>>

Vietnam, US make headway at fourth AO meeting

The fourth annual meeting of the Vietnam-US joint advisory committee (JAC) on Agent Orange/dioxin closed Thursday with both sides saying they’d forged closer ties on the issue.

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The scientists will examine health issues related to Agent Orange/dioxin and aid the disabled in identified hotspots.

Since 2006, the US Congress has allocated about $6 million to address the lasting effects of Agent Orange, an amount many experts and those in the international community criticize as being too little compared to what’s actually needed.

Snip

At least 1 million to 4 million of Vietnam’s citizens are believed to have suffered health consequences after being exposed to dioxin but according to Dr. Son, the exact figure is still undetermined....>>>>>>

Artists and Writers Against Torture

World Can't Wait: Call for Entries

In the months following 9/11, the government of the United States began unjust and immoral occupations of Afghanistan and Iraq leading to the deaths of countless civilians. It began warrantless wiretapping and suspended habeas corpus. And it began openly torturing people and justifying it with questionable legalese.

In the hyper-sensitive environment that surrounded 9/11 and the military action that followed it, we lost sight of the most important commodity to which we can lay claim:

the Truth.

And the Truth is: torture is a crime.

Snip

Submission Deadline

The deadline for submissions of artwork or written work is November 1, 2009. If your piece/s is/are accepted for inclusion in Artists and Writers Against Torture, you will be notified by email by the end of November 2009........Rest Found Here

Now at the end of the page they give this: Remember to attach all submission files to your email! We look forward to seeing your submissions. Good luck! with the type files and other information you can send them in boxes provided.

Christian "Blackwater" values...

Selling children into prostitution

The latest horror show from the Blackwater saga illustrates how absolutely dangerous white supremacy is when empowered with federal dollars and the power to kill.

Instead of being run out of all civilized society, Erik Prince's huge donations to the GOP earned him massive federal contracts and the backing of the US government as his employees raped children under the banner of an American flag.

White power politics is not a matter of free speech when used by the state as a tool of war. It is a war crime. Erik Prince is a war criminal..............Rest Here

KO Visits the eric prince, blackwater,Xe, War Crimes Charges of it's 'christian values' merc company, again with more!!

Where is HE Now?

Does Obama have a back room deal in place to protect George W. Bush from criminal prosecution? If not, why is Bush flaunting his escape from justice so brazenly? This shocking montage contrasts gushing footage from CNN about the life of luxury Bush has mapped out for himself, with the trail of bodies he leaves in his wake.

POV: "The Reckoning."

Please take a minute to mark your calendar for this coming Tuesday, July 14th, so you can watch PBS's new documentary on the International Criminal Court, "The Reckoning." The documentary should air at 10 pm in most areas, but check here to see your local listing.

Synopsis: "Over 120 countries have united to form the International Criminal Court (ICC) - the first permanent court created to prosecute perpetrators, no matter how powerful, of crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide. The Reckoning follows dynamic ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo and his team for three years across four continents as he issues arrest warrants for Lord's Resistance Army leaders in Uganda, puts Congolese warlords on trial, shakes up the Colombian justice system, and charges Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir with genocide in Darfur. Like a deft thriller, The Reckoning keeps you on the edge of your seat. Will the prosecutor succeed? Will the world ensure that justice prevails? An Official Selection of the 2009 Sundance Film Festival." Read the full Description here

Use this link for more information "THE RECKONING": The Battle for the International Criminal Court.

Watch the trailer {warning - it is graphic}


So spread the word, invite your friends over, and spend this Tuesday night learning more about "the Battle for the International Criminal Court!"

I checked my local listings, here in North Carolina, and it isn't scheduled for the local PBS channel in the next two weeks. The other PBS channel we can receive, out of the University of North Carolina, has it scheduled for two nights, not the 14th, at 2AM. Typical of these PBS stations here, I've noticed, on important and possible controversial subject matter, especially not following a right wing agenda, so much for Public Broadcasting!!

Yet most places one goes, especially certain area's of these states motels, FOX is either on or exclusive to the cable hookups of these motels.

Another Doc to watch online.

"HE KEPT US SAFE"

THE DECLINE OF AMERICAN CHARACTER

THE "CRINGING WIMP" GENERATION

For years we hear little else, "But he kept us safe." The "but" refers to bankrupting the country, stealing elections, suspending Constitutional Rights, poisoning the air and water and turning the country over to racketeers from oil, drug, insurance and crooked financial services..........

Gee, now who could Gordon be talkin about?

Our crimes are so heinous that our new government is fearful of allowing trials for the criminals, believing the entire world would rise against us if they knew what we had done. The process of declassification intended to bring the truth to the world has stopped as we are faced with unimaginable acts of cowardice, brutality and greed, all hidden behind the words, "But he kept us safe." ...........>>>>>Rest Here

Still wondering, well read the rest of what he writes. As I add my meager two cents, and that's not even worth what it used to be, below.

Oh and on this: "believing the entire world would rise against us if they knew what we had done", they already know, a few have participated, but more important in the two theaters of occupations they knew long before us here on the "homeland?", and not just in the occupation zones but the whole region. They had already started growing their ranks, taking to retaliation and the knowing blowback, these acts only adding to those committed against them in the invasions and now long running occupations. Killing and maiming the U.S. and other nations soldiers, anyone working with the occupation, and the citizens, women and children included, who we also killed, not joining them in their brutal attempts to rid their countries of the occupiers and puppet regimes!

These last years only enhanced, greatly, the already growing hatreds from our past failed foreign policies in meddling in their countries, resources, and politics. They have greatly increased the numbers of those we label as al Qaeda or Taliban and especially the new 21st century label, for all who oppose us and our actions, similar to theirs, "Terrorist", as we wage our Terror! Only ours is High Tech terror,, with greater destruction and death, theirs low tech, so ours is righteous, it cost more, and well we're the supreme power and leader of freedom? and democracy?!! "God Bless America"?!!

Gordon just lays out what many others have in a justifiable rant, he does that often, of a society of "cringing wimps" that still exists, as it fears holding those Responsible to the Accountability for their crimes committed, In Our Names!

The REALITY: Will We Get It Now!!

We already know that those that Ordered what went on don't and won't Get It, nor care, just as they've accused others for same!!

Ex-inmate recalls days of abuse at Abu Ghraib

"But, at the end, the American people are responsible for everything that happened," Abu Ahmed said, referring to the war that he believes turned his life upside down.

Abu Ahmed spent a total of 20 months in U.S. custody, between Abu Ghraib and Camp Bucca, outside Basra in southern Iraq.

He then returned home, where he spent less than five months with his family before being arrested again, this time by the Iraqi army in yet another sweep through his neighborhood.

He says his treatment inside Iraqi facilities was even worse than what he faced at the hands of the U.S. military. His Iraqi captors, Abu Ahmed says, beat him with cables and pipes; he even had a cement block hung from his genitals.

Abeer Qassim Hamza al-Janabi


RIP Abeer and your family, saying Sorry is not enough for what you were put through that ended your precious life, RIP!!

Iraqis unhappy about life for U.S. rape soldier

"What the American soldier did is a terrorist act and he deserves execution," said Ahmed Samir Jaber, 27, a mechanic, from underneath the bonnet of an old car he was fixing in Mahmudiya, a dusty trading town on the edge of the desert.

"The court has not delivered justice. If I killed an American girl, the American court would have executed me."..........

Will we as a Country Now Finally Get It, I Doubt It, but remember this word "Blowback!"!!!

We Are All To Blame

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

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

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

In one of his answers he said this:

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

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

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

What does the future hold and for how long?

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

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

He starts it out with:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Guantanamo "Abandoned Our Values and Defiled Our Constitution!"


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

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

Guantanamo closure plan ordered Dec 19th '08

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

The Special Prosecutor Petition

Hug Your Kid, if you've got one,

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

Philippe Sands Considers A Legacy Of 'Torture'

Fresh Air from WHYY, January 7, 2009 · Although the Bush administration has stated that the interrogations techniques used at Guantanamo Bay came from the bottom up, British lawyer Philippe Sands disagrees.

In his 2008 book, Torture Team: Rumsfeld's Memo and the Betrayal of American Values, Sands argues that the harsh interrogation policy that emerged after Sept. 11 came from high-ranking government officials and top military figures.
Sands warned in a June 2008 Fresh Air interview that the impact of the Bush administration's conduct would be felt internationally:

Read Rest Here

Listen To Todays Show With This Link

The June 2008 Discussion

You Can Listen To That One With This Link

Book reveals secret Iraq mission and more

Suskind unravels what he calls "America's diminished moral authority"

In Ron Suskind’s bold new book, “The Way of the World: A Story of Truth and Hope in an Age of Extremism,” the Pulitzer prize-winning journalist critically examines the Bush presidency and addresses what he calls “America’s diminished moral authority.” To coincide with the book’s Tuesday release date, Suskind appears live on TODAY on Tuesday and Wednesday to discuss the revelations contained within the book. Tune in at 7:10 a.m. both days to catch Meredith Vieira’s interviews with Suskind.

SNIP

The Way of the World: A Story of Truth and Hope in an Age of Extremism

War on Terror? Criminal Terrorism!! The Rand Report

On the 29th of July an extremely important think tank report, paid for by the government, came forth from the Rand Corporation, a favorite of the Pentagon on National Security matters.

I heard the report early that morning on a news blip on NPR and went over to the Rand Site and found the report. I than posted about it on a number of sites as well as sent it out, all with back links.
There was also a link for a Congressional Briefing to be held on that day on the report.

At first I was shocked that very few picked up on the importance of this report, that day and the next, as well as the hearing. Than thinking about it later maybe I shouldn't have been surprised that few political boards saw the need to report and most certainly fewer MSM outlets as well. There's an Awful Lot of sheepish guilty consciouses that supported this criminal administration, and criminal it is, in the direction it started selling this 'War on Terrorism', and the MSM, purely for commercial profit, would love to see what their advertisers were paying for ads than, happily went along, War Sells Big Time! Hell these political people, the boards, the MSM, the majority of the voters even fear bringing charges and accountability, fear of what that may mean on the political front, to hell with the Constitution the Politics are more important!

There were a few people who like me tried to rattle the cages of these boards to pay attention, sadly they to were ignored. This morning truong son traveler had another great report posted on a couple of boards, after the MSM finally started to Get It, such as Keith Olbermann, after two days:

{ had to edit the end, didn't need the two reports prior and uploading, even with those cut off his last words, so I edited and put them in as closing text plus }

War on Terror? Criminal Terrorism!! The Rand Report

Other News outlets have also started grasping the importance of the Conservative Rand Corporations report and it's real meaning and have written it up, like these:

U.S. News and World Report

Since 2001, al Qaeda has conducted a greater number of attacks across a larger geographic area than at any time in its history. "We find it hard to agree that al Qaeda has been significantly weakened since Sept. 11, 2001," says Seth Jones, coauthor with Martin Libicki of the report titled "How Terrorist Groups End: Lessons for Countering al Qaeda."

The authors evaluate al Qaeda since 2001 as being both "strong" and "competent."

What's needed, the report suggests, is a "fundamental rethinking of U.S. strategy" to focus on minimizing overt military action and increasing intelligence collection and partnerships with law enforcement agencies around the world.

The report couldn't have been clearer in its refutation of one of the central tenants of the Bush administration's strategy against al Qaeda: the characterization of the conflict as a "global war." The administration has frequently attacked critics—especially Democrats—who say that counterterrorism should be built around law enforcement strategies.

As well as this:

Countering al Qaeda, a must-read for Pakistan from Reuters.

It’s probably unusual to link to a report by the RAND Corporation and an op-ed on Foxnews.com in the same blog, but since both address the same subject – tackling al Qaeda in the Pakistan-Afghanistan border region – here goes.

The first is a detailed report by RAND called “How Terrorist Groups End”.

Its analysis of 648 groups that existed between 1968 and 2006 concludes that ”military force has rarely been the primary reason for the end of terrorist groups, and few groups within this time frame have achieved victory.” Calling for a rethink of U.S. strategy, it argues that policing and intelligence, rather than military force, should form the backbone of U.S. efforts against al Qaeda.”

And this:

Kerry Was Right from the Atlantic

As you may recall, back during the 2004 campaign John Kerry said something about counterterrorism being primarily a question to be dealt with through law enforcement and intelligence rather than something that should be understood as primarily a kind of war. George W. Bush was eager to pounce:

Some are skeptical that the war on terror is really a war at all. My opponent said, and I quote, "The war on terror is less of a military operation, and far more of an intelligence-gathering law enforcement operation." I disagree—strongly disagree.

After 9/11 many were saying exactly what this Rand Report is now saying, seven years into this so called 'War on Terror', as well as our allies and even countries considered our foes or rather not friendly towards us, in going after al Qaeda and international criminal terrorism. We, the United States, had universal support from all corners of this planet after the devastating attacks on our country, that support would have brought the intelligence, the law enforcement agencies, and the militaries, if needed, to our aid in tracking down these criminal terrorists. This administration saw it differently and much more dangerously, wage a War on unknown factions, label them all terrorists, kill and destroy, thus creating the hatreds needed to enhance the threat leading to a replacement for the phony 'Cold War' by a 'War on Terrorism' for the wealth and power of the few and a long lasting destructive endeavor for the World to handle, and soon they will walk away with their profits and we as a Nation will hold no one Accountable!

Let me tell a little story here. After we invaded Afghanistan and ousted the Taliban, still not catching the leaders of al Qaeda, Veterans started planning an action of a Teach In to take place in Washington and called Operation Dire Distress, we saw the writing on the wall, what we 'Nam Vets especially had promised we would never allow to happen again was about to do just that. The talk changed from Afghanistan to Iraq and invading that country and toppling that leader, though the Iraqi people had nothing to do with 9/11. As the drums of war with Iraq were beating louder the planning went on. The Teach In took place, at American University in DC, on Saturday March 22nd 2003, some two days after 'Shock and Awe' started destroying the country of Iraq and it's people, there were some 300 to 400 Veterans, from World War II to the 1st Gulf War, as well as family and friends of some, from around the country.

This link is a PDF of the VFP Newsletter from that time, after that weekend Veterans For Peace Newsletter

THE TEACH-IN - Saturday, March 22
The Kay Chapel at the American University, Washington, D.C.,
teach-in was packed all afternoon as speaker after speaker, with
solid knowledge and passionate eloquence, expertly laid out the fallacies
and falsehoods driving the war in Iraq, the ways it could have
been averted, with honor, and the need to end it quickly.
I was impressed by the sanity with which people who have
earned the right to speak as soldiers and citizens and patriots of the
highest order confronted the insanity of the actions of the Bush
administration. It was a long and illustrious list of combat nurses,
intelligence experts, academics, clerics, citizens of all stripes - people
like Bobby Muller, Daniel Ellsberg, Ray McGivern, Charles
Sheehan-Miles, Jamie Vasquez, Jonathan Schell, Charley
Richardson and Nancy Lessing of Military Families Speak Out, our
president, David Cline. C-Span saw fit to broadcast it for four solid
hours.

A number of the speakers listed above, and there were more, were saying almost the exact same thing this Rand Report is now saying and much more, and we along with a growing voice of millions, in this country and around the world, have said since!

The next day a wreath laying was planned for all the monuments to those lost in our previous conflicts in Honor to their Service as our Brothers and Sisters in uniform, at the time the World War II monument had just started to be constructed

Two things happened that next day that I'll never forget, one really moved me and others, the other showed us 'Nam Vets how far this country hadn't come and hos sheepish it's citizens truly are, first a cut from the newsletter:

THE PROCESSION - Sunday,
March 23
The day of the march was brisk and
sunny. Veterans and Military Families
from all over the country collected on a
knoll near the Vietnam Memorial. We listened
to a few, short speeches. Most of us
had our messages firmly placed in our
hearts and minds. In solemn procession
we made our way from one war memorial
to another.
At each, a small delegation of veterans
walked in and placed a wreath in
memory of those we knew and didn’t
know that were lost to their families.
Peter Shaw played his bagpipes on
each occasion but one; when he joined the
delegation to the Korean War memorial.
There we laid our arms on each others’ shoulders and kept a short
silence.
We visited the Office of Veterans Affairs. The Gulf War I vets,
of a war not yet memorialized, laid their wreath at the doorstep. In a
short speech, Erik Gustafson of EPIC and a member of VFP, noted
how the Congress voted out a resolution supporting the troops, yet,
at three the next morning, voted to cut billions from the budget of
the Office of Veterans Affairs over the next ten years.
The final official delegation delivered the VAIW statement of
purpose, signed by over 3000 veterans, ranking from Admirals and
Generals to PFCs, Airmen and Seamen, to the Whitehouse.
The President’s people refused to accept it.

The first, never to be lost memory, the one that moved me.

I had gotten to the Mall early in order to take some pictures of the War Memorials before the crowds started and the rest of the Veterans and friends showed up. There was a stage setup at the Lincoln Memorial didn't go over there and didn't know what it was for but was soon to find out. While there taking a few shots and waiting for the Vets I noticed people started showing up and heading down towards the stage area, none would look at me or if they did and I caught their eyes they would quickly look away. I asked a DC cop that was near by what the stage was for, it was a planned Clear Channel 'support The Troops' rally, now I understood why the no looks, I had my Veterans For Peace T-Shirt and Ballcap on, I'll explain in a moment.

The vets started coming to the mall, as we were talking DC park personal started showing up with crowd control tube barriers, they look like bicycle racks without the center bars, They set them up in a line along the hill between us and the Vietnam Memorial, i.e. the Lincoln Memorial. While this was taking place we were joined by some other Vets, from around the area, that hadn't been at the Teach In the day before. While talking I noticed one guy running towards us from the corner of the Mall. When he got up to us, out of breath, he asked who he should talk to to join VFP. Come to find out he had watched the Saturday Teach In on C-Span, jumped on a Red Eye out of Chicago and flew down to join us for Sunday's Wreath laying, he was a 'Nam Vet who hadn't been active prior to the debacle that had started a few days before.

Now to the second occurrence, the state of this Nations Citizens, and the Treatment of Veterans, though us 'Nam Vets had already lived with it for years.

See the picture above, see the horses, well about 8to10 of DC's finest showed up riding them and took a line along the barriers. They were extremely nice to us but told us we couldn't pass over, especially in masse to lay one of the Wreath's at the Vietnam Memorial as we planned, only a small group of 3 to 4 would be allowed to do that Honor. Now as there were Veterans from WWII, through Korea, to 'Nam and up to Gulf War I the majority were Korea to 'Nam and we weren't allowed to honor our Fallen Brothers of 'Nam because the police thought there might be trouble if we Veterans got to close to the Rally 'Supporting The Troops', it was at the rally organizers request to keep us Veterans Away! No one was approached by any attending this rally, some 200 or so, so not one Vet was asked if they wanted to attend a rally in Support Of Our New Generation Of Coming Conflict Veterans! They were waving American Flags, playing Patriotic Music, singing along with the Patriotic songs and making speeches of 'Supporting The Troops' while Spitting Once Again On The Veterans Who Had Served Them In Protection Of Their Freedom, supposedly, and Democracy, supposedly!

A problem arose, if we couldn't walk near this Patriotic Rally for our Service Members how does one get from the Vietnam Memorial and the others on that side of the reflecting pool to the Korean Memorial on the otherside, there was a fence up at the opposite end from the Lincoln Memorial for the WWII Construction, why one allows the DC Police to lead, enmasse, a walk through the reflecting pool which just happened to be empty for a well needed cleaning, like a miracle only the water didn't need to part!!

Think about the above and if you've ever been to DC you can get a picture of how we were treated and the Honor Wreath laying, about 400 Veterans Shunned by the Patriotic Americans they served and our brothers and sisters died for!!

You know, those Clear Channel Rallies were never attended by huge crowds nor did they last long, they sort of went quietly away as the cheap magnetic ribbons took over, they too have pretty much disappeared.

We were saying, and have since, Exactly what this Rand Corporation report is saying now, and Think how many have died, been maimed physically and mentally, not just soldiers but civilians of another small country and how much damage has been done and the hatreds now that have been created!!


you can get the press release here, you can get the full document here or a summary of the research brief here.

"How Terrorist Groups End"

The title above comes from a new Rand Corporation Report

After 7 years of conflict and occupations, with 893 coalition deaths -- 556 Americans, in Afghanistan and increasing, and 4,438 coalition deaths -- 4,124 Americans in Iraq and increasing, with tens of thousands of injured and maimed, physically and mentally, and millions of innocents in both countries killed, maimed, living as refugee's, fighting each other in sectarian civil wars, living in ethnically cleansed neighborhoods and area's in Iraq behind huge concrete blast walls, this "Think Tank?" comes out and says:

U.S. Should Rethink "War On Terrorism" Strategy to Deal with Resurgent Al Qaida

Current U.S. strategy against terrorist organization al Qaida has not been successful at limiting the group's capabilities. Since Sept. 11, 2001, al Qaida has been involved in more terrorist attacks than ever before and over an increasingly broader range of targets.

No F'in Shit!!!!!

Millions of us, here and around the world, before the invasions and occupations, were saying exactly the same and more, and we weren't called a "Think Tank" we were labeled as "Focus Groups" not to be listened to, those here were labeled as "Unpatriotic", "Traitors", "Enemy Sympathizers", you name it "We Were In The Wrong" and the lying bastards of power Were Right, over seventy percent of this countries people Said So, and now hide from that support and tune out what the reality is!

And what does this "Think Tank" think we should do, not only this country but the world, well according to their press release:

Current U.S. strategy against the terrorist group al Qaida has not been successful in significantly undermining the group's capabilities, according to a new RAND Corporation study issued today.

Oh if you click the link directly above they'll sell you the study in paperback. But you can download the Full Document (File size 3.1 MB, 13 minutes modem, 2 minutes broadband) in PDF or download the Summary Only (File size 0.1 MB, 1 minute modem, 1 minute broadband) also in PDF.

From the site page linked above, a short description:

All terrorist groups eventually end. But how do they end? The evidence since 1968 indicates that most groups have ended because (1) they joined the political process (43 percent) or (2) local police and intelligence agencies arrested or killed key members (40 percent). Military force has rarely been the primary reason for the end of terrorist groups, and few groups within this time frame have achieved victory. This has significant implications for dealing with al Qa'ida and suggests fundamentally rethinking post-9/11 U.S. counterterrorism strategy: Policymakers need to understand where to prioritize their efforts with limited resources and attention. The authors report that religious terrorist groups take longer to eliminate than other groups and rarely achieve their objectives. The largest groups achieve their goals more often and last longer than the smallest ones do. Finally, groups from upper-income countries are more likely to be left-wing or nationalist and less likely to have religion as their motivation. The authors conclude that policing and intelligence, rather than military force, should form the backbone of U.S. efforts against al Qa'ida. And U.S. policymakers should end the use of the phrase “war on terrorism” since there is no battlefield solution to defeating al Qa'ida.

If you noticed in the above the terms "leftwing" and "nationalists" are used. While both so called ideologies, across many spectrum's not only political have their extremists I would argue that we recently became witness to a terrorists attack, on innocents, in a church, that from the reporting of it coming out hardly shows this terrorists was of a "leftwing" ideology, a "nationalists" maybe, but I doubt he even knows what that is.

And those we presently label as "Terrorist", any we wish as those naming wage terror, are hardly "leftwing", more of the extreme "rightside" of political, religious, and corporate entities.

If you also noticed, near the end of the above, it says, "U.S. policymakers should end the use of the phrase "war on terrorism" since there is no battlefield solution to defeating al Qa'ida."!

Now where have I heard that before, oh ya, from the Millions of us in the "Focus Groups" for over seven years! And what do they suggest we call it exactly, why "CounterTerrorism" instead, and why, because Terror is a Criminal Act and can only be gone after as a Crime finding and arresting, and if a fight ensues possibly killing, those carrying out these crimes, breaking up the organizations big and small, and I'll add change the policies the powerful practice to suppress any need for the disenfranchised to rebel against that power and those failed policies!

From the Press Release:

Among the other findings, the study notes:

* Religious terrorist groups take longer to eliminate than other groups. Since 1968, approximately 62 percent of all terrorist groups have ended, while only 32 percent of religious terrorist groups have done so.

* No religious terrorist group has achieved victory since 1968.

* Size is an important predictor of a groups' fate. Large groups of more than 10,000 members have been victorious more than 25 percent of the time, while victory is rare when groups are smaller than 1,000 members.

* There is no statistical correlation between the duration of a terrorist group and ideological motivation, economic conditions, regime type or the breadth of terrorist goals.

* Terrorist groups that become involved in an insurgency do not end easily. Nearly 50 percent of the time they end with a negotiated settlement with the government, 25 percent of the time they achieved victory and 19 percent of the time, military groups defeated them.

* Terrorist groups from upper-income countries are much more likely to be left-wing or nationalistic, and much less likely to be motivated by religion.

"The United States has the necessary instruments to defeat al Qaida, it just needs to shift its strategy and keep in mind that terrorist groups are not eradicated overnight," Jones said.

It took over seven years for this thinktank to come up with the obvious.

We waged War, mostly on Innocent Human Beings, using such catch phrases as "They hate our Freedom and Democracy", "They want to convert all to Islam", the so called leader? of the pack even used a term describing it was another "Religious War" and called himself a "War President" and "The Decider".

What we have done is create not only new generations of Hatred, we have made New Enemies of us and the World, tens of thousands if not millions, by the Failed Policies, the Death and Destruction, the Want To Control Them. And the generations behind us will be left dealing with the New World We Have Given Them!!

Once again, you can get the press release here, you can get the full document here or a summary of the research brief here. There is also a link for a Congressional Briefing to be held today:

Speakers: Seth Jones Date: Tuesday, July 29, 2008 Time: 2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. Location: 210 Cannon House Office Building Washington, D.C.

If televised I'm wondering if I should watch it, I'm afraid I might either start pulling out my hair or throw something into the tv screen, as I think of All that has been Done these past seven years and none can be taken back!!!!!!!

It Was Top Down, Stupid (And I Shall Add 'Criminal Terrorism'!)

The Bush administration's "bad apples" theory goes sour.

When the Abu Ghraib scandal hit in the summer of 2004, two of the administration's most senior lawyers—White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales and the Defense Department's General Counsel Jim Haynes—stood before the world's media and laid out the official explanation for newly aggressive interrogation within the U.S. military: It was the result of a bottom-up request from an aggressive combatant commander at Guantanamo; it was implemented within the law and on the basis of careful legal advice; and it produced useful and important results. These new techniques had been essential in getting vital security information from men they labeled "the worst of the worst."

Read the rest Here


Newt the Impaler

"Vlad" Gingrich is molesting the Constitution in the name of national security again. This time he's on a tirade about the recent Supreme Court decision that grants prisoners held at young Mr. Bush's pleasure in Guantanamo the right to a habeas corpus hearing.

Commander Jeff Huber, U.S. Navy (Retired) writes at Pen and Sword, Jeff's novel Bathtub Admirals

Read the rest Here


Clear Evidence of War Crimes: Stern Letters to Come?

After years of disclosures by government investigations, media accounts, and reports from human rights organizations, there is no longer any doubt as to whether the current administration has committed war crimes. The only question that remains to be answered is whether those who ordered the use of torture will be held to account.

Maj. General Antonio Taguba (Ret.), who led the Army’s 2004 investigation into the prison abuse scandal at Abu Ghraib. (From the foreword of Broken Laws, Broken Lives).US Army Report of Abuse of Prisoners In Iraq

Read the rest Here


WaPo: General Accuses WH of War Crimes (Update x2)

The story is blowing up, since AP published its story at midnight Eastern last night, and our own MeteorBlades became the first blogger to cover the breaking news. PHR's report was briefly featured as the top story on CNN's homepage this morning. CNN's "Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer" aired additional coverage from Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr tonight during the 5:00 p.m. Eastern time slot.

Read the rest Here


CIA Gave Torture Tips to Pentagon

Senior spook: "If the detainee dies, you're doing it wrong."

Read the rest Here


Blackwater is Still in Charge, Deadly, Above the Law and Out of Control

Think Blackwater's days are numbered? Think again. Jeremy Scahill explains why its slaughter of Iraqis has not stopped the notorious mercenary firm.

Jeremy Scahill's bestselling book: Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army

Read the rest Here


We are a nation that likes to pride itself on truth, justice, freedom and humanity. {NO MORE!}

Tell the world: My America Doesn't Torture!

Actions by Mercs - Blowback To Military Troops and Countries National Security!!

Iraqi alleges Abu Ghraib torture, sues US contractors

By GREG RISLING
Associated Press Writer

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- An Iraqi man sued two U.S. military contractors Monday, claiming he was repeatedly tortured while being held at the notorious Abu Ghraib prison for more than 10 months.

Emad al-Janabi's federal lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles, claims that employees of CACI International Inc. and L-3 Communications punched him, slammed him into walls, hung from a bed frame and kept him naked and handcuffed in his cell beginning in September 2003.

Also named as a defendant is CACI interrogator Steven Stefanowicz, known as "Big Steve." The suit claims he directed some of the torture tactics.

Phone messages left for Arlington, Va.-based CACI and New York City-based L-3 Communications, formerly Titan Corp., were not immediately returned Monday. Stefanowicz could not immediately be reached for comment at a Los Angeles address.

The lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles because Stefanowicz lives there, seeks unspecified monetary damages.

The firms provided interrogators or interpreters to assist U.S. military guards at Abu Ghraib, which became notorious when photos made public in early 2004 showing U.S. soldiers abusing and humiliating detainees. Military investigators later concluded that much of the abuse happened in late 2003 - when CACI and Titan's interrogators were at the prison.

CACI and L-3 were accused of abusing Abu Ghraib prisoners in earlier lawsuits. In November a federal judge in the District of Columbia dismissed the suit against L-3 but allowed the one against CACI to proceed.

In an interview with The Associated Press on Monday in Istanbul, Turkey, al-Janabi said he hopes the lawsuit sheds light on what happened to him and other detainees.

"God willing the righteousness will emerge and God willing the criminal will receive his punishment," al-Janabi said.

Al-Janabi, 43, said he was detained by U.S. troops during a late-night raid in which he and his family were beaten by their captors. He said he was taken to a military base where he was stripped naked, a hood was placed on his head and his hands and legs were chained.

"They (U.S. troops) did not tell me what was the reason behind my arrest ... during the interrogation, the American soldier told me I was a terrorist ... and I was preparing for an attack against the U.S. forces," said al-Janabi, who denied the accusation and claims he was forced to give confessions under "savage" intimidation.

The lawsuit also claims the contractors conspired in a cover-up by destroying documents and other information, hid prisoners during periodic checks by the International Red Cross and misled military and government officials about what was happening at Abu Ghraib.

The Abu Ghraib photos drew international criticism about the way detainees were treated and damaged the U.S. military's image in Arab countries. Eleven U.S. soldiers were convicted of crimes at the prison, which was closed and transferred to Iraqi control.

Condi Must Go

LOCK THEM UP!

I haven't put together a video to song in awhile, than I came across "Lock Them Up"

The song in video is by 'Nam Veteran Pat Scanlon brother member of Vietnam Veterans Against The War and Veterans For Peace.

LOCK THEM UP!

After viewing you might want to hear another of Pat's songs Blue State Liberal, the link will bring up the mp3 in your player.

Awhile back I put together another video presentation of another of Pat's songs with photo's of our Memorial 'Arlington South' on Memorial Day in Statesville NC

"Where Is The Rage"

with discription at the google video site

Visit Pat's site for more info on him as well as some other songs.

Arrest Warrant for Bush/Cheney

What do ya Say Folks, Defend The Constitution, Or Stay In The Gutter, Heading Down The Storm Drain, They Placed Our Country and Citizens!!

The following link on Amazon.com will allow readers to
pre-order copies of the Winter Soldier book coming
this fall.
Winter Soldier: Iraq and Afghanistan: Eyewitness Accounts of the Occupations

"Victory means exit strategy, and it's important for the president to explain to us what the exit strategy is," - George W. Bush, Texas Gov., 1999

WaterBoarding........

Anyone who has gone through S.E.R.E. training, either before 'Nam service or probably since, as it concerned training in Counter Insurgency, understands 'Waterboarding', they experianced it, myself included.

When I went through the training in '70, in Coronado Calif., I already was having trouble breathing due to sinus actup, than the water soaked cloth followed by the slowly pouring water, during the survival part before the escape than the resistance.

When done you had two trainers, acting as the enemy, strapping you to the board, than one pouring the water over the cloth, the other, though you're only thinking of trying to breath, checking your pulse.

Bush Admin. Blocked Waterboarding Critic


Though it would last only seconds it felt like very long minutes.

Levin states what I thought:

After the experience, Levin told White House officials that even though he knew he wouldn't die, he found the experience terrifying and thought that it clearly simulated drowning.

Former DOJ Official Tested the Method Himself, in Effort to Form Torture Policy

At least one hoped these guys knew what they were doing and would stop before a dangerous situation developed, like heart stoppage from the trauma.

In training precautions are taking place, in reality those precautions are non existant!

And than this is offered:

According to retired Rear Adm. John Hutson, "There is no question this is torture -- this is a technique by which an individual is strapped to a board, elevated by his feet and either dunked into water or water poured over his face over a towel or a blanket."

In the video Brian Ross states what the CIA has reported "That this has only been done on three individuals in their custody".

That's bullshit, if it's in their bag of interrogation methods it's being done on many more than just three people, and probably more than once to each!

He also states, again what the CIA is saying, "That it isn't being done now, so where's the fuss", not in those exact words but you get the jist.

Again, that's probably bullshit, those idiots who think it really works are still doing it, and especially those being sent to countries we once condemned for practicing torture and human rights violations, and Actually still do Condemn!

It is also mentioned that because of it's use the government has been able to Stop further 'Criminal Terrorist' actions, funny how none of these have been reported, can't be because of it compromising our intelligence gathering they've already stated it was from 'Torturing'!

We no longer can Condemn others for 'Human Rights' Violations!

We Have Become The Leaders In These Violations, and These Techniques Don't Work!

When 'We' practice Torture 'We' put our Military and Society in Danger of like Retribution!

So please, when Americans are killed by others, don't Think or Say "Why do they hate us so!"

We have the answer of the present and what our government has done in our names, to others by our failed foreign policies, give us the answer for the past!

KL war crime commission hears nine charges against Bush, Blair, Howard

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 8 (NNN-BERNAMA) --

The Kuala Lumpur War Crime Commission chaired by former Malaysian Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad heard nine charges against US President George W. Bush, British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Australian Prime Minister John Howard for the sufferings of the people in Iraq, Lebanon and Palestine.

The charges against the US and its allies were presented by the legal counsel on behalf of the war crime victims, Matthias Chang, before Dr Mahathir and the other five commission members at the final day of the three-day war crimes conference organised by the Perdana Global Peace Conference.

Chang said Bush, Blair and Howard, through a deliberate plan of deception, falsehood, forgery and outright lies, misled their respective Congress and Parliament to wage war against Iraq which was a "crime against peace."

The trio were also being charged for embarking on a systematic campaign to destroy Iraq, Lebanon and Palestine economically and militarily, he said.

He said the third charge against them was for ordering the destruction of vital facilities essential to civilian lives in Iraq, Lebanon and Palestine while the fourth was for the bombing of schools, hospitals, mosques, churches, residential areas and historical sites and conveniently labelling the destruction as "collateral damage".

The three leaders were also charged with allowing the use of weapons of mass destruction that inflicted indiscriminate death and suffering against civilian targets such as the cluster bomb, napalm bomb, phosporous bomb and depleted uranium ammunition, said Chang.

The sixth charge said that Bush, Blair and Howard have fraudulently manipulated the United Nations and the Security Council as well as corrupting its members to commit crimes against peace and war times, he said.

Through the aforesaid conduct, Chang said the three had destroyed the environment of Iraq, Lebanon and Palestine.

The eighth charge was that Bush, Blair and Howard ordered and condoned the violation of human rights, specifically the civilians in the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, Guantanamo Bay in Cuba as well as other prisons known and unknown in Iraq, Lebanon, Palestine and anywhere else in the world.

The last charge spelled out that Bush, Blair and Howard systematically controlled and manipulated, directed and misinformed the mass media so as to incite war to achieve their military objectives in Iraq, Lebanon and Palestine.

Apart from hearing the charges against the three leaders, the commission also heard the presentation from several war crime victims including Najwa J.A. Jalamna, 16, from Jenin, Palestine, Abbas Abid, a survivor of the Fallujah Massacre in Iraq, editor-in-chief of the Al-Intiqad & Al-Manar TV (Lebanon) Ibrahim Mousawi as well as Palestinian Peace Activity's Dr Walid Salah Al-Khatib.

Dr Mahathir said the commission was to respond to several petitions of war crime victims and investigate into their complaints.

"We appreciate there are other tribunals but there are so many complaints, the other tribunals perhaps are not being able to hear the complaint. We feel there is a need for the setting up of this tribunal and give an opportunity for those war crime victims to voice out their complaints and to seek redress," he said.

The commission would investigate complaints of war crimes and thereafter to submit and report to the tribunal that would be set up, which are still at the pro tem stage.