TROOPS ON TV:

IS FOX NEWS WORKING FOR ISRAEL AGAINST AMERICA?

FOX/MURDOCH/ISRAELI POLICY TO KEEP US IN AFGHANISTAN NOT VERY "PRO AMERICAN"

Fox News is using retired military officers surrounded by uniformed active duty troops in an attempt to derail debate on disengagement in Afghanistan. After 8 years, the US is heading the same way Russia did, the more troops we send, the more die. Absolutely nothing has been accomplished in 8 years in Afghanistan other than to start a major war in Pakistan too. I understand Fox News. They are controlled by the powerful Israeli spokeman, Rupert Murdoch. Israel wants this war to go on forever. Though Murdoch now is an American citizen, it doesn't seem to have "taken."

What is good for Israel isn't always good for the US. Active duty military who try to make their own foreign policy are not just total morons but are in violation of a number of laws. They are technically at war with the United States of America. If it is necessary for veterans to take up weapons to fight against members of our military who are part of an insurrection run by a foreign power, tell me where to sign up.

To the former officers, always quick to take a payoff from a defense contractor or the Bush Pentagon as a "pundit," reading from whatever script Karl Rove has written for the day, you dishonor yourselves, your oath and the United States. The oath I remember was:..>>>Rest Found Here

Krakauer Explores Pat Tillman's Death And Cover-Up

I did a post the other day about Jon Krakauer and his new book: "Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman" with a video report from ABC's Good Morning America and from the ABC World News Tonight.

He's since been on at least two NPR shows one being All Things Considered which is about a seven minute discussion of the book and the Pat Tillman military service story that was propagandized by both the cheney/bush administration, the pentagon and the military!

Krakauer talks to NPR's Melissa Block about his investigation into Tillman's death by friendly fire — and the Army's subsequent effort to cover up the circumstances of that death.

A Spray Of Bullets

At least half the members of a platoon traveling through Afghanistan on April 22, 2004, had never been in a firefight before. But on this day, the enemy attacked. In response, the American soldiers sprayed thousands of rounds from their machine guns, M4s and grenade launchers..........Read Rest Here

The second show was the Diane Rehm show, with a much more indepth discussion and some call in's, on Sept. 16th, he was the second half hour.

Jon Krakauer: "Where Men Win Glory" (Doubleday)

Pat Tillman walked away from a multi-million dollar N-F-L contract to fight with U-S special forces. He was killed in Afghanistan two years later. How the Army tried to keep his family and the public from learning the truth about his death.

Guests
Jon Krakauer, author of "Into the Wild", "Into Thin Air", and "Under the Banner of Heaven," "Eiger Dreams," and editor of Modern Library Exploration series.

You can listen in with Your Real Player or with the Windows Media Player

Jon Krakauer's book: "Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman"

Pat Tillman "Where Men Win Glory"

This was just reported on ABC World News and apparently ABC Good Morning America also had a report this morning, video from that below.

EXCERPT: Jon Krakauer's 'Where Men Win Glory'
Krakauer Investigates the Life and Death of American Football Hero Pat Tillman

Patrick Tillman, former NFL player, made national headlines when he gave up his lucrative sports career to join the U.S. Army Rangers.

Tillman, one of the most potent symbols of post-9/11 patriotism in America, was gunned down by friendly fire in 2004.

Revelations abound in Krakauer's new book, coming from interviews with friends and relatives, and Tillman's personal journals.

Read an excerpt of the book below:

Excerpt From the Prologue

Ever since Homo sapiens first coalesced into tribes, war has been part of the human condition. Inevitably, warring societies portray their campaigns as virtuous struggles, and present their fallen warriors as heroes who made the ultimate sacrifice for a noble cause. But death by so- called friendly fire, which is an inescapable aspect of armed conflict in the modern era, doesn't conform to this mythic narrative. It strips away war's heroic veneer to reveal what lies beneath. It's an unsettling reminder that barbarism, senseless violence, and random death are commonplace even in the most "just" and "honorable" of wars. Consequently, and unsurprisingly, when soldiers accidentally kill one of their own, there is tremendous reluctance to confront the truth within the ranks of the military. There is an overwhelming inclination to keep the unsavory particulars hidden from public view, to pretend the calamity never occurred. Thus it has always been, and probably always will be. As Aeschylus, the exalted Greek tragedian, noted in the fifth century b.c., "In war, truth is the first casualty."

Jon Krakauer's book: "Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman"

Although it wasn't Tillman's intention, when he left the Cardinals to join the Army he was transformed overnight into an icon of post-9/11 patriotism. Seizing the opportunity to capitalize on his celebrity, the Bush administration endeavored to use his name and image to promote what it had christened the Global War on Terror. Tillman abhorred this role. As soon as he decided to enlist, he stopped talking to the press altogether, although his silence did nothing to squelch America's fascination with the football star who traded the bright lights and riches of the NFL for boot camp and a bad haircut. Following his death on the battlefield, the public's interest in Tillman shot through the roof. The posthumous media frenzy shed little light on who he really was, however. The intricate mosaic of personal history that defined his existence was obscured by the blizzard of hype.

In the interview video above, from ABC's "Good Morning America" we find out he was also in Iraq, but not only that he was involved in the operation to rescue Jessica Lynch. Even this author didn't know about that untill he was going through the papers and reports preparing the book. Tillman apparently knew it was a bogus operation and that he might be used in similar manner if something happened, He Was Right!!

He also could have gotten out of the Army and never have gone to Afghanistan, but choose to stay and finish his commitment!!

Read the Rest Here

Veterans "Death Book"? Not!! {UpDated}

As brought to you by their "Dear Leader" of their Political Cult:

Today Rush Limbaugh used Ted Kennedy’s death to keep pushing the “death book” tale, that claim being spread on the right that Obama’s veteran’s agency is distributing manuals urging veterans to hurry up and die.

And the followers of, strong on "National Defense" meme's, "Support the Troops" symbols and the cheerleaders of "Wars of Choice" as they show that support for those of us who actually serve:



And what do us brothers of 'Nam think:

Veterans Group Blasts Right Wingers Pushing “Death Book” Claim As “Cruel” To Veterans

That’s unsightly enough on its own. But it turns out Rush’s broadside comes a day after the Vietnam Veterans of America, a national advocacy group, defended the manual and strongly denounced “death book” claims as “hysteria” and as “cruel” to veterans themselves.

“This booklet was developed with guidance from clerics, and it addresses options most of us and our loved ones will have to sort through as we live our final years,” the group said in a little-noticed statement that was sent my way. “To play politics with veterans’ end-of-life choices is not only irresponsible politically, but it is cruel.”...........

Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA)

IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Press Release

August 25, 2009

No. 09-027

Contact:
Mokie Porter
301-585-4000, Ext. 146

Health Care Reform Hysteria:
‘Death Book’ Scare Tactics Inexcusable

(Washington, D.C.) – “Health care reform is a legitimate topic for discussion and debate,” said John Rowan, National President of Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA), “but it is outrageous for some partisans to politicize the debate by targeting veterans with blatant scare tactics.

“The issue du jour is the so-called Death Book for veterans,” Rowan said. In an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, the person who headed the office of faith-based initiatives for the Bush White House attacked ‘Your Life, Your Choices,’ a 52-page booklet of end-of-life options to be considered by veterans and their families that has been given out by the VA as per federal law. This booklet, developed in 1997 when Bill Clinton was President, was given to veterans and their families, if requested, under a directive in 2007 from President Bush. It was updated last month, under President Obama.

“This booklet was developed with guidance from clerics,” Rowan said, “and it addresses options most of us and our loved ones will have to sort through as we live our final years. To play politics with veterans’ end-of-life choices is not only irresponsible politically, but it is cruel. We agree with Congressman Joe Sestak, a retired Navy Admiral, who is outraged at the ‘Death Book’ charges and has called them ‘inexcusable.’

“It is our hope that sane minds reject fear-mongering, and that veterans recognize these scare tactics for what they are,” Rowan said.
-- 30 --

Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA) is the nation's only congressionally chartered veterans service organization dedicated to the needs of Vietnam-era veterans and their families. VVA's founding principle is “Never again will one generation of veterans abandon another.”

Controversy prompts Sestak to criticize Specter

That would seem to bolster Sestak’s assertion today that Specter has over-reacted to Towey’s assertions.

“As a Veteran, I read with deep concern an editorial entitled ‘The Death Book for Veterans,’ which accuses the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) of deliberately sending Veterans a ‘hurry-up-and-die message’ with a pamphlet on living wills and end-of-life care,” Sestak said.

“Anyone may criticize — and, indeed, suggest improvements to the pamphlet — but to seriously allege that an honest effort by the VA that sincerely helps families plan for the most difficult emotional experience of their lives is a ‘death book’ is counter to the public’s and Veterans’ interest,” Sestak said.............

UpDate:

Veterans DEMAND Apology!!!

Veterans Demand Apology from GOP and FOX for Lies About VA

August 27, 2009 - The claim that the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has a manual encouraging veterans to "commit suicide," made by Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele, is an asinine assertion with no basis in fact.

Steele made the charge two days ago (August 25th) on FOX News. Steele's egregious comments are an outrageous slander against VA designed to create an atmosphere of mistrust and fear among the millions of our veterans who rely on the VA for medical care. Veterans demand an apology from Steele and FOX News.

"Let me be absolutely clear, Steele lied. There is no VA manual encouraging veterans to commit suicide," said Paul Sullivan, the executive director of VCS, a non-profit based in Washington, DC providing advocacy for veterans, especially veterans with mental health conditions.

Here is the full text of Steele's comments:..........

The "Death Book" For Veterans {UpDated 2}

How Conservatives Got The Facts Wrong On Their Latest Obsession

The latest conservative obsession - dutifully spread via Sarah Palin's Facebook page - is marked by the same alarmism and factual inaccuracy as the hysteria over "death panels."

According to this tale, America's veterans are being steered into ending their lives via a "death book" distributed by the government.

Snip

They failed to mention that the so-called "death book" contains the same advance-care planning required of all health care organizations under federal law, has been in use since 1997 and was developed with the input of interfaith ministers.

And over at VetVoice:

Former Bush Faith Based Advisor: Veterans Should Kill Themselves Using My Easy 5 Point Checklist!

I feel like I've been brainwashed into pulling the plug already. Really, if the document was really trying to get veterans to pull the plug on themselves, then first suggesting to them that their life should be prolonged at all costs is a pretty stupid way to do it........

This new spin, propaganda, started making the rounds a few days ago, once again those who didn't demand increases in military and veterans care funds, while beating the drums of wars of choice louder and louder, as their talking heads and little 'purple heart bandage' lovers did as well { not to mention the 75% of the public support for}, are reverting to spin scare tactics 'swiftboating' veterans, i.e. using vets as their fodder of false propaganda!!

UpDate:

Looney Tunes Coming to Congress

Specter Calls for Hearings on End-of-Life Care Guide for Veterans

The guide, called 'Your Life, Your Choices,' was suspended under the Bush administration but has been revived under the current Department of Veterans Affairs.

Sen. Arlen Specter on Sunday called for hearings to scrutinize a guide for veterans' end-of-life care which one former Bush official says sends a "hurry-up-and-die" message to injured troops.

The guide, called "Your Life, Your Choices," was suspended under the Bush administration but has been revived under the current Department of Veterans Affairs.

Jim Towey, former director of the White House Office of Faith-Based Initiatives, told "FOX News Sunday" that the pamphlet makes injured veterans feel like a burden, encourages the severely injured to die and should be tossed out.................

Talk about Wasting the Taxpayers Money, now this ex-rushlican wants to hold hearings on the Spin Propaganda!! What Doesn't He Get!!

UpDate 2

"Death Book For Veterans"

FOX News Chis Wallace Interviews Veterans Administration's Tammy Duckworth About "Death Book For Veterans" - 08/23/09

And in typical FOX (not the) News fashion Wallace refuses not only to Not Understand what is being said but Refuses to Listen to what is said, more then once! Wallace, that's called crap or scum journalism, i.e. propagandizing!!

Heads in the Sand

The so-called Sunni Awakening, in which American forces formed tactical alliances with local sheikhs, has been credited with dampening the insurgency in much of Iraq. But new evidence suggests that the Sunnis were offering the same deal as early as 2004—one that was eagerly embraced by commanders on the ground, but rejected out of hand at the highest levels of the Bush administration...................

Leading up to the Hype of the 'surge' {i.e. escalation} while our Soldiers, and Iraqi's, were being Killed and Maimed! The 'politics' of War 'propaganda' from the civilian leadership, as well as some in the military leadership, who's main job is Protecting Their Troops!!

This is a Must Read!!

The Sunni Awakening, when it did finally come, provided welcome relief, says Jerry Jones. But the cost of delay is quantifiable. “From July ’04 to mid-’07,” he points out, “you can directly attribute almost all those K.I.A. [killed in action] in the Sunni regions of Iraq to this fatal error, and if we hadn’t been fighting the Sunni, we’d have had a lot more resources for dealing with Shia militia leaders like Moqtada al-Sadr in places such as Baghdad. It didn’t have to happen. Those lives did not have to be lost.”

And many in this country didn't want nor still don't want Accountability???

The Crusade for a Christian Military

Much has been stated, angrily, since a Homeland Security Department Intelligence Assessment {pdf} report was released the other day on Rightwing Extremism. The report gives a window into the "Possibilities" in one segment the Military Veterans, especially, who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan, "May Be" Recruited by extremist groups, known to already exist and growing.

This report Does Not Label Military Veterans as Radical Rightwing Fanatics, as a security report it just points out the possibilities this country may be facing, and not only by the recruiting of a few of the tens os thousands who have served Honorably under orders of the CiC in these two occupations, Right or Wrong in policy they may be.

But that seems to be how the so called "Strong on National Security" political party wants to spin it, it is a security report, which was headed by a bush appointee, pointing out that there may be a few who, without the proper help they may need from their experiences in these Wars/Occupations may be easy prey to the fanatical side of this society, and having the training most of those that belong to these groups don't!

Republicans on Wednesday said a Homeland Security Department intelligence assessment unfairly characterizes military veterans as right-wing extremists.

House Republican leader John Boehner described the report as offensive and called on the agency to apologize to veterans.

The agency's intelligence assessment, sent to law enforcement officials last week, warns that right-wing extremists could use the bad state of the U.S. economy and the election of the country's first black president to recruit members.

The assessment also said that returning military veterans who have difficulties assimilating back into their home communities could be susceptible to extremist recruiters or might engage in lone acts of violence.

"To characterize men and women returning home after defending our country as potential terrorists is offensive and unacceptable," said Boehner, R-Ohio.

There's a report coming out in the May Issue of the Harpers Magazine which tells of what has already been well known and lobbied to stop, Religious Fanaticism, the extreme fringe of the evangelical christian movement here.

This is just a few cuts to point you to the announcement about this issue

Harper’s Magazine Cover Story: Evangelical Proselytization Still Rampant in U.S. Military

The May issue of Harper’s Magazine reveals the continued practice of Christian evangelical proselytization in the American military and a lack of recourse within the Obama administration, according to a leading civil rights watchdog group prominently featured in the magazine’s cover story.

The Military Religious Freedom Foundation MRFF and its founder and president Mikey Weinstein were profiled by Jeff Sharlet in his piece for Harper’s Magazine, “Jesus Killed Mohammed: The Crusade for a Christian Military.” Mr. Weinstein is the nation's leading advocate for the protection of individual soldiers’ constitutional rights to religious freedom and a frequent critic of the U.S. military hierarchy’s blind eye to efforts to evolve the nation’s military into a modern day band of Christian crusaders. >>>>>Rest Here

We've already had an awful lot, finally coming out, about what the possibilities may be, from what's already going on within the military, and the possibilities of what the multiple tours and two theaters may do do to some.

Once again those especially who don't receive the proper care for what they've experienced. Add in a collapsed economy, a divided country that's lost it's moral compass and refuses to hold those that led it down that path to be accountable.

We already experienced what just a couple of fanatics can do in Oklahoma City Bombing long before what other fanatic's did on 9/11, the first from the inside the second from outside of the country.

The follow is another Intelligence Assessment this one from 12 January 2007:

Gang-Related Activity in the US Armed Forces Increasing - PDF UNCLASSIFIED//LAW ENFORCEMENT SENSITIVE, the link is from the Military Times.

(U) Scope Note
(U) This intelligence assessment addresses standing FBI gang intelligence requirements set Part I.B.1.2. The assessment also addresses the Military and Civilian Infrastructure (INFR) requirements of the National Intelligence Priorities Framework.
(U) This assessment explores the prevalence of US-based street gang members serving in the US military. Data for the report was obtained from FBI information, open-source documents, and the following law enforcement sources:

This report came out on June 30th 2008:

Gangs Increasing in Military, FBI Says

A group of nine gathered, ready for an initiation.

Juwan Johnson of Baltimore, Md., willingly took a savage beating to join the Chicago-based gang Gangster Disciples. He was punched, kicked and stomped until he was barely conscious. After the beating, his new brothers put Johnson back in bed where he later died from his injuries.

This did not happen in a back alley of a gang-infested urban city. It took place at Kaiserslautern Army Base in Germany.

In 2005, the decorated 25-year old Army sergeant was killed after completing a tour of Iraq because he wanted to join a gang -- one he found while in the military.

You can do searches yourself and research, what started slowly, on the reports of what war and occupation can do for some, even highly trained and disiplined military personal.

This Country cheered on these occupations with high percentages, than sat back as soldiers were sent for extended multiple tours in either just one or both theaters, than sits on it's collective hands, once again, not wanting to pony up the costs of what's needed to care for the results of these now long running occupations!

I'll leave you to actually think of what the Possibilities are now forth coming, and not only from within but the huge numbers of possible others, from outside our borders, seeking retaliation and retribution for what we've done and created!!

'Surging' McCain - Parts 1&2

McCain campaign hides secret of Iraq surge "success" (Pt 1)



Part 1 of this report examines McCain's position in relation to the Iraq war, his decision to hedge his bets regarding the success of the surge and his interpretation of the surge's "success." Analyst for The Real News, Pepe Escobar compares McCain's interpretation to the many overlapping political and military facts on the ground in Iraq before and during the surge.

"There will be other wars" Part 2

How the surge has energized McCain



Senator John McCain's presidential campaign runs on a single theme: the US surge in Iraq has succeeded. Part 2 of this report examines how the alleged success of the surge energized not only McCain but all proponents of the Iraq war, and asks whether McCain really understands the complex situation in Iraq.

Lets Look At The 'surge'

I wasn't planning on posting anything today, have to much to do and other thoughts on my mind.

But yesterday I watched, as many have seen by now, someone who should have a much better understanding, above that of it's citizens, what this countries policies are and their implementation.

McClatchy has a couple of reports that hit on a couple of the Points of the 'surge':

Political: The 'surge' Working, Take 1

Iraqi army prepares assault in Diyala as election law vetoed

Some members of the Sunni Awakening, tribesmen paid by the United States to fight al Qaida Iraq, are fleeing. "They think the security plan will target them after the insurgents," Mulla Sh'hab Alsafi, leader of one local Awakening group, told McClatchy.

Kurds on the streets of Kirkuk were adamant in their opposition to the election law. "Without the Kurdish people, we can't talk about any shiny future for Iraq," said 32-year old Fa'iq Mohammed Qadir. "What happened in the parliament is like a coup against Kurds," said Aso Raheem Sarawi. "It is not constitutional and illegal."

Iraqi Military: The 'surge Working, Take 2

Iraqi forces aren't quite ready to take charge

There's a Video report at the top of this one.

And if this wasn't such a tragic mistake, the invasion and occupation, you might find this report amusing. It reads like a 'Keystone Cop' movie, great descriptive honest take after 6plus years and still going.

Now I would add a quote or two from the above, but there's just too many that could be highlighted, and I did in sending it out, you really have to read the whole thing, and the Video touches on much of it also.

Earlier today I posted up a reply over at VetVoice to a thread about the McCain outlook on the 'surge' and 'counter insurgency', how he figured that combination was going to work still has me baffled.

I'm bringing that here and expanding abit:

CounterIsurgency = surge??

Watching last night's show I sat there scratching my head, than it dawned on me why the head scratching and the reason it seemed the present day Military Leadership, forget the idiots on the civilian side, didn't understand what they were going into in invading a country, what would quickly follow, and Especially CounterInsurgency, if McCain is even partially right in his confusing statement.

I hate to keep putting wartime pilots down, but except for Chopper Pilots, they haven't a clue as to the how to fight wars, nor the policies that are established to supposedly win them, such as CounterInsurgency, they aren't on the ground implimenting the policies, and they rarely see, up close and personal, the damage done by their required actions, bombing etc., except in pictures.

When I went through CI and SERE before 'Nam, CI was sold as the complete Opposite of this new McCain Doctrine, Nixon was Pulling Troops Out Of Country, we were turning over the fleets of River Boats to the S.Vietnamesse and placing one American onboard as an Adviser. We were told we would have a Counter Part when arriving In-Country, never met mine nor got one as others with me had same.

One of the main parts of CounterInsurgency was working with Less Soldiers and working not only with the countries military forces but the civilians, Winning Hearts and Minds, setting up programs to help them, rebuilding or overseeing that by giving security etc..

And we were all labeled as 'Advisers'.

CounterInsurgency had Absolutely Nothing to do with any Escalation In Forces and Heavy Engagements!!

And by the way:

In turning over the River Boats they were quickly breaking down, which they weren't prior to, my brothers on the rivers found out Nobody were PMing the boats, just running them, so the U.S. was stuck with fixing them or scrapping them.

I'm sure this wasn't a lone occurrence, and the other service branches were finding similar.

There were good military forces as well as lax forces in the S.Vietnamesse military, that we were training, that's life.

Let me expand abit on the above.

The United States Population seems to have this thing about Country and Patriotism that more than borders on the total arrogance and apathy that we live in. We somehow think that because we happened to be born here we are Superior beings as to those who were born elsewhere, Yet our forefathers and mothers came here from all over those other places and many still do. And our history shows our brutal treatment of those, we almost eliminated, who actually are native to this big patch of earth.

When one Invades and Occupies another's land and they fight back they are called Enemies, and in todays language they're known as Terrorists, forgetting the Fact they were born there, live there, raise families there, and are even more Patriotic towards their countries as their families heritage is well endowed in those lands, much longer than our own.

Some will take up arms and anything they can find or develope and fight the invaders/occupiers, and the more that is destroyed and their countries citizens killed the more they will fight and others will join them. They also get support from those not willing yet to fight.

Some will start working with the invaders/occupiers as their way of hoping by doing so they will leave quickly.

Than you have some who will either work both sides or use the invaders/occupiers to their advantage, like the politicians, business persons, etc..

Surge: Now most know how this 'surge' in Iraq was sold, and except for those who keep trying to change, revisionist history, that meaning and it's goals, most still know and understand. The two reports at the top show quite clearly it isn't working on more two a couple of it's stated goals.

Escalation An escalation of forces into an occupation is just what it says, bringing more forces into the theater of occupation for a long period of time for added security, and in a Guerilla/Insurgent conflict the only thing it does is put the people fighting the occupation into hiding or laying low, in clear view, untill. And that 'untill' is a weapon of an insurgent, Time.

Counter Insurgency How someone could tie those two words to 'surge' just baffles, especially anyone who was a part of any Counter Insurgency, It is what it says, and I explained in short above. It's a Counter to those who live in the country occupied saying to the people, look we want to help to reestablish what we destroyed and get the Hell Out. Looking to win the Hearts and Minds of the majority by helping them reestablish a government we toppled, their infrastructure we blew up, their homes and businesses we destroyed, their lives we put into total disarray, and more, and once again Get The Hell Out. It is working with as many people as possible not increasing the numbers of fighting forces.

Oh and now they also keep saying the 'surge' is over, sorry it ain't, the escalation is still in effect reportedly with some 15,000 military troops now there over what was before the 'surge'.

Surge and Counter Insurgency are Opposites of a conflict, not working together Policies!

Pentagon's Propaganda Documents Go Online

These documents were released to the New York Times regarding the Pentagon's Military Analyst program.

Much more in Backtrack can be found at this link at PR Watch.org!

News of the Pentagon's online posting of the documents came from Joe Trento of the National Security News Service, who notes that NSNS provided the New York Times "limited information about a military office early in the reporting process."

The Pew Excellence in Journalism project has a chart showing that " there was virtually no mainstream media follow up to The Times’ expose" with the only national TV coverage being the introduction segment and live debate featuring CMD's John Stauber on the PBS NewsHour.

PBS Newshour Report:

Government Curries Favor With Military News Analysts

The Pentagon may influence the analysis of some retired military personnel who appear on television news programs, the New York Times recently reported. Media insiders discuss the details of this murky world of defense companies, the current administration and the war in Iraq.

Transcript at above Link

Real Media Newshour Player to Listen

Streaming PBS Video Player to Watch

Also Add This:

White House Backups are Incomplete
May Not Contain Some Missing E-mails;
Court Filing Says White House Cannot Identify Hard Drives in Use When E-mails Were Lost

The White House yesterday admitted to a federal magistrate judge that it has no computer back-up tapes with data written before May 23, 2003, and that it cannot track the history of individual hard drives within the White House system that may contain missing e-mails.

And This:

The Pentagon vs. the U.S.:
How Americans Have Become Targets of Their Own Military

By Scott Ritter,

America is a country at war with itself.

The Truth About War {UpDated}

What's the truth about War, the Real Truth, it's the prolific growth of the needed propaganda.

The propaganda that solidifies the needed support and fear instilled to continue.

Especially for the Wars of Choice, for they would quickly fall apart, or not fought at all, if the propaganda wasn't set forward and grown to justify.

Tonight on 60min they visited once again with a 'Gold Star Mother' who, along with her family, didn't buy the story of her sons death in Afganistan, a son who was a High Profile Figure for the powers that were that needed the growth of their Propaganda to Justify their wanted Wars of Choice!

A 'Gold Star Mother' who has been extremely tenacious in her search of the truth, not for her or her family but for the country of her son, Pat Tillmans, death!

What Really Happened To Pat Tillman?
His Mother Tells 60 Minutes The Govt. Still Hasn't Told The Whole Truth About Her Son's Death

Pat Tillman was a heroic face of the war on terror - an NFL star who left behind a $3.6 million contract and his new wife to fight for his country after the attacks of Sept. 11. When he died in Afghanistan on April 22, 2004, the Army told his family he'd been killed by enemy fire after courageously charging up a hill to protect his fellow Army Rangers.

But as Katie Couric reports, that story didn't hold up. He had really been killed by friendly fire, shot accidentally by his fellow soldiers.

For the past four years, his family, led by his mother Mary, has been searching for answers about what really happened, beginning the day she heard the news from Pat Tillman's wife Marie.

Too many questions linger about 9/11 and this War on Terror.

And there are questions as to how it somehow morphed into an invasion of an innocent country based on lies built upon propaganda, propaganda put together with bits and pieces of cherry picked intelligence and proven to be false, yet we're still there and thousands are dying and being maimed!

Those that made the choice of sending others, into invasion and occupation, to enrich themselves with power and wealth through death and destruction, are still saber rattling, growing the already overwelming hatreds of those invaded towards us and others in this world, Perpetual War!

We know the propaganda machine is well oiled as the lies continue. Including high ranking retired military officers used to put positive spin on the progress of the conflicts. Retired military officers on Defense Contractors payrolls and collecting monies from media outlets to report as Experts on what is going on in the theaters of operations, now known they were fed the information to say from the administration and pentagon.

As it continues unabated, The Country Does Nothing!!

UpDate:

Another 'Gold Star Mom' wants answers:

This Gold Star Mom A "Black Sheep"

Soldiers Deaths Clouded By Lie
Mary Tillman and Peggy Buryj believe the Army is withholding the truth about their sons' deaths by friendly fire. Maggie Rodriguez reports.

Peggy Buryj Wants Truth About Friendly Fire Death Of Her Son In Iraq; He Was Shot In Back

Just two weeks after Pat Tillman lost his life, Army Specialist Jesse Buryj was killed in Iraq.

His mother, Peggy Buryj, was told he died in a humvee accident, protecting his unit as it came under attack.

But months later, Peggy learned her son had been shot in the back.

And the story kept changing.

The Myth

Remember this:

President Bush laid down the standard of success when he announced the surge more than a year ago: "If we increase our support at this crucial moment, and help the Iraqis break the current cycle of violence, we can hasten the day our troops begin coming home."

Than yesterday we get this:

The Pentagon is projecting that when the U.S. troop buildup in Iraq ends in July there will be about 8,000 more troops on the ground than when it began in January 2007, a senior general said Monday.

Rolling Stone has a great report, From Iraq, that's online now and out in next months mag.

The Myth of the Surge

Hoping to turn enemies into allies, U.S. forces are arming Iraqis who fought with the insurgents. But it's already starting to backfire. A report from the front lines of the new Iraq
NIR ROSEN Posted Mar 06, 2008

It's abit of a long read, but a truth to word and opening ones mind to imagine the reality as if there, opening:

It's a cold, gray day in December, and I'm walking down Sixtieth Street in the Dora district of Baghdad, one of the most violent and fearsome of the city's no-go zones. Devastated by five years of clashes between American forces, Shiite militias, Sunni resistance groups and Al Qaeda, much of Dora is now a ghost town. This is what "victory" looks like in a once upscale neighborhood of Iraq: Lakes of mud and sewage fill the streets. Mountains of trash stagnate in the pungent liquid. Most of the windows in the sand-colored homes are broken, and the wind blows through them, whistling eerily. House after house is deserted, bullet holes pockmarking their walls, their doors open and unguarded, many emptied of furniture. What few furnishings remain are covered by a thick layer of the fine dust that invades every space in Iraq. Looming over the homes are twelve-foot-high security walls built by the Americans to separate warring factions and confine people to their own neighborhood. Emptied and destroyed by civil war, walled off by President Bush's much-heralded "surge," Dora feels more like a desolate, post-apocalyptic maze of concrete tunnels than a living, inhabited neighborhood. Apart from our footsteps, there is complete silence.

We have created a Huge Refugee Crisis that may be ready to explode, creating more danger to them and the already unstable conditions of Iraq and the region.

A top U.N. refugee official warned on Tuesday of the possibility that Iraqi refugees might be expelled from their sanctuaries unless the United States, Iraq and other countries act quickly to help them.

One of the reasons for the curb in violence, besides the ceasefire by Sadr and paying former insurgent personal to not fight U.S. troops but the so called al Qaeda of Iraq, are the Blast Walls seperating the now mostly ethnically cleansed neighborhoods of Baghdad.

Baghdad security walls curb violence, at a cost
To some Iraqis they are the reason it is safe to shop. To others they are like big jails.

Not winning Hearts and Minds!!

And any Iraq refugees, returning, voluntarily or forced because of lack of money or forced out of safer neighboring countries, return to the ethnically cleansed neighborhoods, most with others now living in their homes, and all living behind Walls of Concrete seperating neighborhood from neighborhood!

The three trillion dollar war
The cost of the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts have grown to staggering proportions

Most Americans have yet to feel these costs. The price in blood has been paid by our voluntary military and by hired contractors. The price in treasure has, in a sense, been financed entirely by borrowing. Taxes have not been raised to pay for it - in fact, taxes on the rich have actually fallen. Deficit spending gives the illusion that the laws of economics can be repealed, that we can have both guns and butter. But of course the laws are not repealed. The costs of the war are real even if they have been deferred, possibly to another generation.

So far this Month some 29 U.S. Military Personal have been killed in Iraq, by Iraq Casulties.org.

“ Every war, when viewed from the undistorted perspective of life's sanctity, is a "civil war" waged by humanity against itself."
- Daisaku Ikeda

Ft. Benning Troops Headed For Iraq Refuse To Cheer For Bush:

Maj. Gen. Refuses To Allow Them To Talk With Reporters;
"If Any Of Them Harbored Doubts About Heading Back To Iraq, Many For The Third Time, They Were Kept Silent"

Bush gets cool response from troops set for Iraq
By Joseph Curl
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
January 12, 2007




FORT BENNING, Ga. -- President Bush sought a friendly audience and a patriotic backdrop yesterday to continue to make his case for sending 21,000 more troops to Iraq, but he received only tepid applause at this Army base, where the commanding general forbade soldiers from talking to reporters.
The president's speech was similar to the national address he delivered Wednesday night, but he used firm language when speaking about what is coming for insurgents in Iraq. He also hailed efforts by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki against militias responsible for continual waves of sectarian killings in Iraq.
"Yesterday, the resolve was seen when Prime Minister Maliki made it clear that illegal militias, including the Mahdi Army, have a choice to make: either lay down your arms or face justice," Mr. Bush said. "That's the kind of leadership that the Iraqi people expect, and that's the kind of leadership I expect, and the American people expect."
He added, "Our support is not open-ended. If the Iraqis demonstrate a willingness to fight for a better future, we'll help them. It's in our interests that we do so. Not only do we expect to see action militarily, as I mentioned, we expect to see them fulfill the benchmarks that they laid out for their people."
Mr. Bush visited Fort Benning because the base will send a combat brigade to Iraq earlier than planned, by March instead of late May or early June. The brigade has done two tours in Iraq, and on its last yearlong deployment, in 2005, 34 soldiers from the 4,000-member unit were killed.
In his speech, Mr. Bush also reiterated the warning he gave in his prime-time address: His planned troop surge would not be a quick fix.
"The new strategy is not going to yield immediate results. It's going to take awhile," he said. "The American people have got to understand that suicide bombings won't stop immediately."
Before meeting with families, Mr. Bush watched as five members of a parachute team floated to the ground in a demonstration of base training.
"We're proud of you," he told the men.
Earlier in the day, the president awarded the Medal of Honor to the late Marine Cpl. Jason Dunham of Scio, N.Y., who covered a hand grenade in Iraq two years ago, saving the lives of his comrades. He is the second Iraq war soldier to receive the prestigious award.
"I've lost my son, but he became a part of history," Cpl. Dunham's mother, Deb, said after the ceremony, which drew tears from Mr. Bush. "It still hurts as a parent, but the pride that you have from knowing he did the right thing makes it easier."
The 300 soldiers who, with their families, heard the afternoon speech were banned by Maj. Gen. Walter Wojdakowski, commandant of the 32,000-soldier base, from talking to reporters. Journalists were barred from re-entering Freedom Hall, where Mr. Bush delivered the speech, or from approaching soldiers outside the hall.
While the president met with family members of 25 soldiers from the base who were killed in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, several reporters waited for word from the base on whether the ban would be lifted. A senior administration official said, "We have no control over that."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


The Failed Policies will Haunt Us and the World for Decades!

$3 Billion Propaganda Organ

Robert Parry

The GOP's $3 Billion Propaganda Organ

or at original site HERE

Robert Parry writes: "The American Right achieved its political dominance in Washington over the past quarter century with the help of more than $3 billion spent by Korean cult leader Sun Myung Moon on a daily propaganda organ, the Washington Times, according to a 21-year veteran of the newspaper."

A long report but interesting read, especially for those who don't know about Moon and his use of a twisted religious ideology and politics, nor the depths of corruption and propaganda that certain power hungry individuals will embrace!