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11.9.12

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I Have Lost All Respect For The Senior Officers

I Firmly Believe We Are Promoting Politicians Instead Of Real Leaders
The Senior Officers Are Willing To Lower The Standards To Ensure Their Buddies Are Not Accountable For Their Actions
Letters To The Editor Army Times November 12,2012

Once again, it appears the senior leaders in the Army are looking out for their buddies. I agree with Ashamed of officer corps (Oct. 22). The senior officers are willing to lower the standards to ensure their buddies are not accountable for their actions. I have lost all respect for the senior officers, after watching many of them conduct themselves in an unprofessional manner on multiple occasions over the past 10 years. General officers and colonels are into the mode of I am something special and, therefore, I can do whatever I want because my buddies will take care of me. Junior officers watch this behavior and follow the direction of their leaders. I firmly believe we are promoting politicians instead of real leaders. A leader stands up for what is right, not what is convenient. General officers and colonels who act in an illegal and/or unethical manner should be reduced to E-1 and given a dishonorable discharge. I have been on court-martial boards that have done the same to sergeants for much less. Eventually, the senior personnel (I have a difficult time thinking of them as leaders) will need to start enforcing the standards on their buddies that they require from the junior officers and enlisted. Lt. Col. Richard Smith (ret.) Elizabeth, Colo.

MORE:

Lower-Ranking Solders Are Routinely Court-Martialed, Fined And Often Jailed For Lesser Offenses
Letters To The Editor Army Times November 12,2012 It appears the values and principles found in todays modern Army have become all too apparent. A four-star officer repeatedly misappropriates hundreds of thousands of dollars; misuses military equipment to personally benefit himself and his family; violates the trust of his office and his oath not to lie, cheat or steal; and his supervisors excuse his behavior with

such phrases as Ive never heard of a private getting fined a million dollars (Gen. Ray Odierno, Association of the United States Army conference). Thats perhaps the lamest excuse Ive ever heard from a soldier of any grade and office. The general was placed in that highly responsible, highly accountable position because he was believed to be trustworthy more so than an Army private. Lower-ranking solders are routinely court-martialed, fined and often jailed for lesser offenses. Lt. Col. Joseph M. Gravish (ret.) St. Louis

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Marine Corps Base Hawaii Commander Relieved Of Duty Due To A Lack Of Confidence

Oct 19, 2011 By Associated Press The commander of Marine Corps Base Hawaii has been relieved. Marine Corps Installations Pacific commander Maj. Gen. Peter Talleri relieved Col. Jeffrey R. Woods today due to a lack of confidence. Marine Corps Forces Pacific spokesman Lt. Col. Curtis Hill said in an emailed statement that the specific circumstances of the relief are a private matter protected by the Privacy Act and arent releasable to the public. Woods is being replaced by interim commanding officer Lt. Col. Michael P. Antonio, who has served as the bases director of operations and training.

Marine Corps Base Hawaii includes installations at Kaneohe Bay and Camp H.M. Smith, where the U.S. Pacific Command is located.

MORE:

Submarine Commander Faked Own Death to Escape Lover:

As Punishment, Ward Received The Punitive Letter Of Reprimand And Has Been Relegated To Administrative Duties

Cmdr. Michael P. Ward II salutes at an Aug. 3 ceremony before taking command of the U.S.S. Pittsburgh. Photo: Navy September 20, 2012 By Robert Beckhusen, Wired.com [Excerpts] Ending a romantic affair by faking your own death is usually a bad idea for I dont know everyone. Whats an even worse idea?

Faking your own death weeks before taking command of the Navys nuclear submarine U.S.S. Pittsburgh. Now you can read the Navys internal report that tells the sordid story. On Sept. 5, Navy Cmdr. Michael P. Ward II was found guilty of conduct unbecoming of an officer and a gentleman, dereliction of duty and adultery (an offense in the uniformed services) after staging his death to deceive a younger lover with whom he was having an affair, according to a Navy investigative report obtained by Danger Room through a Freedom of Information Act request. As punishment, Ward received the punitive letter of reprimand and has been relegated to administrative duties at Naval Submarine Base New London, the home port of the Pittsburgh. The Navy wouldnt comment on whether or not Ward will be kicked out of the service. But the 43-year-old former submarine commanders naval career is now more or less over. Commander Wards dishonesty and deception in developing, maintaining, and attempting to end his inappropriate relationship were egregious and are not consistent with our Navys expectations of a commissioned officer, Capt. Vernon Parks, the head of Submarine Development Squadron 12, wrote in the report. The story, first reported by the Connecticut newspaper The Day, began last October, when Ward met a 23-year-old woman from Virginia whose name was redacted from the report on a dating website. They began to have an affair. Ward was married and had children, but didnt reveal that to his mistress. At the time, Ward worked for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the two saw each other when he came down for classes at the Joint Forces Staff College. He also communicated with her over e-mail using the phony name Tony Moore, and falsely told her he was a special forces operator. In June, Ward apparently wanted out of the affair. So he in a striking further display of bad judgement concocted another false identity, this time a supposed friend named Bob, and sent an e-mail telling his mistress that he had died, according to the report. He asked me to contact you if this ever happened, the e-mail said, according to The Day. I am extremely sorry to tell you that he is gone. We tried everything we could to save him. I cannot say more. I am sorry it has to be this way. Three days later, the woman drove from her home in Chesapeake to Wards house in Burke, Virginia to pay her respects.

Instead, she was greeted by a new owner who told the family that Ward had not actually died, but rather had moved to Connecticut to take command of a U.S. Navy submarine, the report said. Then, Ward learned his former lover was pregnant. He resumed contact after he faked his death. In late July, Ward traveled to Washington D.C. for a medical appointment and met with her to discuss how to handle the pregnancy. She then lost the baby due to complications and the illicit relationship came to an end. But the ex-couple kept up contact which the Navy believes impaired his ability to take full responsibility for the sailors under his command. The Navy didnt find out, though, until a relative of Wards ex-mistress got in touch with the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS). Ward was then booted from his post one week after taking command of the Pittsburgh. Cmdr. Wards actions directly contradict Navy standards, especially the high standards of conduct expected of our commanding officers, says Lt. Cmdr. Jennifer Cragg, a spokeswoman for the submarine group. Leaders who fail to meet these standards, like Cmdr. Ward, are removed from leadership positions and referred for appropriate disciplinary or administrative action. Its an exceptionally awful story, and frankly bizarre. Ward appears to be the seventeenth Navy commander relieved of duty in 2012, according to the Navy. Its more than the 13 commanders cashiered in all of 2010, but short of the 23 commanders fired last year and still down from a record high of 26 sacked officers in 2003. Among 2012s cashiered commanders include officers fired for falsifying administrative records (Cmdr. Corrine Parker, April 16); inappropriate personal behavior (Capt. Jeffrey Riedel, program manager of the Littoral Combat ship program, January 27); and creating a poor command climate (Cmdr. Dennis Klein, May 1). In June, the Navy sacked Capt. Chuck Litchfield of the U.S.S. Essex amphibious assault ship after the ship collided with an oiler off the California coast. Most of the firings, though, involved personal misconduct, with the true nature of the offenses left undefined. But Wards misconduct, we now know, was one of the more extreme cases one that involved manipulating loved ones for the sake of a career now in tatters. It was also one of the most idiotic.

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Commander Relieved For Violating Entire UCMJ:

If Dismissed, Grant Will Most Likely Move On To Accept One Of Dozens Of Job Offers Already Extended To Him By Private Companies, Think Tanks, And Foreign Governments
Grants Enlisted Driver, Sergeant Adrian Green, Has Been Charged As An Accessory
Green Faces Reduction In Rank To Private, The Loss Of All Benefits To His Family, And Could Be Executed As Early As Next Month If Grant Is Convicted

Colonel Grants Most Recent Command Photograph

November 8, 2012 by Dark Laughter, The Duffle Blog. CAMP LEJEUNE, NC The Department of Defense has been rocked by the firing and court-martial of a high-ranking Marine officer for allegedly violating every single article of the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ). Colonel Mitch Grant, once a promising VMI graduate and the commanding officer of the Eighth Marine Regiment, is now charged with adultery, forgery, arson, improper use of a countersign, espionage, stalking, burglary, making a check with insufficient funds, murder, depositing obscene matters in the mail, and conduct unbecoming an officer and gentleman, among other charges. Grant is only the latest in a string of commanders fired over the past few years for alleged violations of the UCMJ, or civil and criminal laws, including sexual harassment, falsifying records, misusing official funds, bigamy, making sexually explicit videos and showing them to troops, initiating an adulterous relationship and then terminating it by faking their death, negligent handling of nuclear weapons and launch codes, and shoplifting. These are in addition to numerous other firings motivated by loss of confidence that did not necessarily result in charges, but which were sufficiently embarrassing that the Pentagon and armed services wanted to keep their specifics quiet. Colonel Grant laughed throughout the reading of the charges, from chuckling at minor offences to shaking with uproarious laughter during the reading of more outrageous charges, restrained only by his straitjacket and the wire caged mask over his mouth to prevent him from biting those present in the courtroom. Officials have declined to disclose the specifics of how the investigation was initiated, but multiple sources have confirmed that it began when Grant was observed with his hands in his pockets before a staff meeting at Camp Leatherneck by General Andrew Blake, who instructed his chief of staff, Colonel Patton Callahan, to have Colonel Grant report to his office to privately receive a verbal warning. Lets just say it was dumb luck that we uncovered any of his crimes at all, and leave it at that, said Colonel Callahan. The command initially intended to quietly NJP (non-judicial punishment) Grant so as not to cause any embarrassment, but Grant refused it, insisting on a court-martial instead. Refusing NJP was (Grants) last ditch effort to keep his record clean by staring down the command over the difficulties of convening a court-martial for an O-6, says military legal analyst Joseph Baines. Ill be blunt with you. It almost worked. I suspect there were probably many other NJPs Grant avoided in this exact same way. But once the decision was made to go to trial no matter what, and follow the investigation wherever it went, thats when it really exploded.

Though the specifics of the charges have been kept as quiet as possible, so many base residents have been interviewed that some of the incidents have been leaked. Each one seems to involve multiple violations, such as one in which Grant was talking on a cellphone while driving drunk on base, then maimed a pedestrian and fled the scene of the accident. In another, Grant allegedly exposed himself in public while making disloyal statements. After only a few days of charges piling up, the local NCIS office requested augmentation by additional personnel to help catalog them all. I think once he knew it was going to trial, at some point it just became a game about trying to violate more of the punitive articles, says Grants guard Sgt Ethan Maynard. And I think some of us might have unwittingly played along. For instance, when the true extent of his crimes was being realized, the bosses elected to transport him back by ship to buy some time to prepare for the trial. That was how he managed to get charged with violating Article 134-10 for escaping custody, not to mention 134-30 for jumping from a military vessel into the water. Oh, and also those two extra murder charges for killing his guards. Eventually, seeing all those charges stack up in one case became kind of a running gag, says Daniel Sauls of NCIS. I dont remember who it was that suggested, as a joke, that we compare his fingerprints with prints on the washers we kept getting reports of in base vending machines. But wow, after that actually panned out, the pieces just started coming together. The next day we used voice recognition technology to prove that he was responsible for an epidemic of obscene, racist, and threatening phone calls throughout the area. It was while we were trying to see if he might be involved with the disappearances of some dogs and cats in a neighborhood just off base that we found the cockfighting ring, which was being run by Grants second wife, a minor he illegally brought into the country as a sex slave and then used to claim fraudulent dependent benefits. But the charges that really took us by surprise came when a procedural error during the vending machine investigation caused Col Grants fingerprints to be checked against Central Commands biometric database. Thats how we discovered 5% of the improvised explosive devices in Afghanistan displayed partial or complete prints. As we reexamined some of the reports related to those IEDs, we noticed they all involved substantial numbers of destroyed weapons. When those weapon serial numbers started showing up in caches of insurgent weapons, the case took on a whole new dimension. Perhaps the most shocking aspect of the case is not the magnitude of Grants crimes, but the absence of any documented misbehavior prior to the case.

Not only does Grants service record demonstrate an unbroken chain of outstanding fitness reports, but his trial has already been briefly interrupted by notification of Grants selection to the rank of brigadier general. This soon resulted in additional charges of bribery and extortion, as Grant first offered to use general officer rank to benefit his prosecutor if he engineered an acquittal, then attempted to blackmail the court, then the Marine Corps, and finally the Department of Defense, by claiming he would leak the story of his selection to the media if they did not drop all charges. Plans detailing a similar attempt to secure a presidential pardon from Barack Obama were discovered in Grants cell, along with several vials of heroin Grant was apparently dealing to other prisoners, and a toothbrush sharpened into a stabbing weapon and hidden in a hollowed out copy of Joseph Conrads Heart of Darkness. Well, selection isnt exactly the same thing as promotion, strictly speaking, said a visibly shaken Secretary Leon Panetta during the media firestorm after the story first broke. Several additional charges of bribery and extortion were originally entered against Col Grant following revelations of similar appeals and threats Grant made to his former coconspirators in numerous foreign governments, criminal groups, and terrorist organizations, but Grants defense attorney successfully argued to have these instances treated solely as charges of espionage and aiding the enemy. While the DoD has attempted to paint Grants apprehension and trial in a positive light, indicating a professionalizing drawdown period after the chaotic expansion necessary for the surges in Iraq and Afghanistan, Baines isnt so positive. I think we need to accept the possibility that Grant is only the tip of the iceberg. All the services adopted a zero defects mentality long ago. At first that seems like a great way to ensure the best get promoted. The truth has been very different. But while weve talked for years about the dangers of this producing a culture of mediocre careerists you know, Captain Queeg types we never realized it could also produce something like Mitch Grant. Say what you want about Grant, but he was a decisive risk-taker who mastered the careerists system, and this made him much more likely to progress up the ranks than a timid mediocrity. You know, when you catch a fish this big, part of you has to wonder what else is swimming around down there, he added. Death is only the beginning!, roars Grant, frothing at the mouth as he is wheeled out of the courtroom after challenging various officers of the court to duel him, resulting in six more charges of attempts to violate Article 114, which prohibits dueling, and three more violations of articles 88 and 89.

As a commissioned officer, Grant cannot be given a bad conduct or dishonorable discharge if convicted. However, he faces the most serious sentence available to commissioned officers: dismissal. If dismissed, Grant will most likely move on to accept one of dozens of job offers already extended to him by private companies, think tanks, and foreign governments. In related news, Grants enlisted driver, Sergeant Adrian Green, has been charged as an accessory following the courts rejection of pleas that he was ignorant of his commanders crimes. Green faces reduction in rank to private, the loss of all benefits to his family, and could be executed as early as next month if Grant is convicted.

DO YOU HAVE A FRIEND OR RELATIVE IN THE MILITARY?

U.S. soldier in Beijia village Iraq, Feb. 4, 2008. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)

Forward Military Resistance along, or send us the email address if you wish and well send it regularly with your best wishes. Whether in Afghanistan or at a base in the USA, this is extra important for your service friend, too often cut off from access to encouraging news of growing resistance to the war, inside the armed services and at home. Send email requests to address up top or write to: Military Resistance, Box 126, 2576 Broadway, New York, N.Y. 10025-5657.

AFGHANISTAN WAR REPORTS

Houston GI Killed In Possible Afghan Insider Attack

Staff Sgt.Mashif M. Memon, 31, was gned to Company A, 96th Civil Affairs Battalion, 95th Civil Affairs Brigade (Airborne). The Department of Defense said he was killed Thursday in Afghanistan. (photo: Department of Defense) / HC October 27, 2012 By Carol Christian, Houston Chronicle A soldier with Houston ties has died in the war in Afghanistan in what may have been another insider attack by Afghan police or military against coalition forces. U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Kashif M. Memon, 31, was one of two soldiers who died Thursday when their unit was attacked by small arms fire in the Khas Uruzgan District of the Oruzgan Province, Army officials said Saturday. A casualty report issued by the Afghanistan International Security Assistance Force indicated that the two men died after someone in an Afghan National Police uniform turned his weapon against them. Maj. Lori Hodge, spokeswoman for U.S. forces in Afghanistan, told the Associated Press that authorities were trying to determine whether the attacker was an Afghan security forces member or an insurgent disguised in a government uniform. Taliban leaders have claimed responsibility for the shooting, saying in an emailed statement that a member of the Afghan security forces shot the two men and then escaped to join the insurgents, the AP reported. It was the second suspected insider attack in two days, the AP reported. On Wednesday, two British service members and an Afghan policeman were shot to death in Helmand province.

Memon, who also had ties to St. Paul, Minn., is survived by his wife and two sons. The family was expecting a third child, the Army said. Relatives could not be reached for comment on Saturday. He was assigned to the 96th Civil Affairs Battalion (Airborne), 95th Civil Affairs Brigade (Airborne), from Fort Bragg, N.C. Memon was on his first combat deployment to Afghanistan as a civil affairs soldier, in the role of a liaison between his military unit and the war zones civilian residents. In 2010 he volunteered for and completed civil affairs training at Fort Bragg and was assigned the next year to the 96th Civil Affairs Battalion as a civil affairs engineer, the Army said. Memon served two previous combat deployments as an infantryman, first with the Marine Corps as a squad leader in Afghanistan, and later while serving with the Army in Iraq. He enlisted in the Marine Corps in 2001 in Houston, and was stationed at Kaneohe Bay in Oahu, Hawaii, while deploying to Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Singapore and Afghanistan. In 2007, he enlisted in the Army as an infantryman and was stationed at Fort Hood and, more recently, at Fort Bragg. Among Memons numerous awards were the Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster, Marine Corps Combat Action Ribbon, three Good Conduct Medals, and the Army Parachutist Badge. Posthumously, he was awarded the Bronze Star, Purple Heart and Combat Action Badge. The other soldier killed Thursday was identified as Sgt. Clinton K. Ruiz, 22, of Murrieta, Calif. He was assigned to the 9th Military Information Support Battalion (Airborne), 8th Military Information Support Group (Airborne), Fort Bragg, N.C.

POLITICIANS REFUSE TO HALT THE BLOODSHED THE TROOPS HAVE THE POWER TO STOP THE WAR

Resistance Action
2012-11-08 ASSOCIATED PRESS

A bomber on a motorcycle blew himself up amid a police patrol in the southern city of Kandahar, killing the three policemen and wounding two, said Ahmad Jawed Faisal, a provincial governor spokesman. And five troops died when their convoy hit a land mine in eastern Laghman province, according to Sarhadi Zewak, also a governor spokesman.

IF YOU DONT LIKE THE RESISTANCE END THE OCCUPATION

MILITARY NEWS

Veterans Of The War Against Gaddafi Last Year Demonstrated In Front Of The Zawiya Oil Refining Company
Protesters Were Claiming That They Have Not Received Adequate Compensation And Feel The Government Hasnt Given Them Their Full Rights
The Demonstration Shut Down Operations And Caused Long Queues At Petrol Stations
11/06/2012 The Tripoli Post The Libyans who were never allowed to raise their voice in protest against anything during the four decades of rule under former dictator Muammar Gaddafi, seem to have

found their voices and protests and demonstrations from different sections of society have become the order of the day. In the latest protest, for the second day on Monday, a crowd described as being made up of veterans of the war against Gaddafi last year demonstrated in front of the Zawiya Oil Refining Company. The action by the protesters is another reminder of volatile security conditions in Libya where the government is trying very hard to control militias or meet its peoples needs. The demonstration at the refinery, about 50 km west of Tripoli, shut down operations and caused long queues at petrol stations in the capital Tripoli. A refinery spokesman, Essam al-Muntasir said that the crowd included many veterans who fought to oust the former dictator. They did not allow employees to enter, or tankers to leave the refinery Essam al-Muntasir from the refinery has been quoted saying that the protesters were claiming that they have not received adequate compensation and feel the government hasnt given them their full rights. They disrupted traffic as dozens of cars lined up outside petrol stations patiently waiting to fill their tanks. The Zawiya refinery, has a capacity of 120,000 barrels per day and provides 40 per cent of western Libyas oil needs. Government, refinery officials and elders from Zawiya were said to be trying to to resolve the dispute without resorting to heavy-handed action.

FORWARD OBSERVATIONS

At a time like this, scorching irony, not convincing argument, is needed. Oh had I the ability, and could reach the nations ear, I would, pour out a fiery stream of biting ridicule, blasting reproach, withering sarcasm, and stern rebuke. For it is not light that is needed, but fire; it is not the gentle shower, but thunder. We need the storm, the whirlwind, and the earthquake. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppose. Frederick Douglass, 1852

Hope for change doesnt cut it when youre still losing buddies. -- J.D. Englehart, Iraq Veterans Against The War

I Voted
[Thanks to Felicity Arbuthnot, who sent this in.] November 5th, 2012 by Gary Corseri, Dissident Voice I voted today. I voted for peace and justice and sanity In an insane world of violence and injustice. I voted. I voted for clear streams, rivers, and seas; Bright stars in a cedar-scented night-sky; Whale-songs heard in unpolluted oceans. Not for the lesser of two evils, But for the greatest good for the greatest number For nothing less, I voted. I voted for climate-change victims; And for those torn apart by war; Against the Empire, and for the planet; For the hungry and forgotten, For the terrified and abused I voted. Against the military-industrial-media complex And for the dream of MLK I voted. I voted for Iraqi mothers and Afghani;

In Pakistan and around the world Because each of them is my mother, also, Weeping like Rachel for her lost children. For Kathy Kelly and Rachel Corrie, For Cindy Sheehan and Cynthia McKinney, Jill Stein, Helen Caldicott and Medea B. For standing against madness and lies, Opportunism and exploitation For all of them, I voted. For brothers in exile I voted; For the martyred, the betrayed, the abandoned Ishmael, Aguinaldo, Sandino and Guevara; Tashtunka Witco, Tecumseh, Bradley Manning For this council of leaders, I voted. Against slavery and wage-slavery; Sexploitation, television and bad food; The corruption of Art; mis-education; The torture of humans and animals; Our prison-work-complex and sham democracy; Citizens United; the Electoral College; And every meme kicked down the road By glutinous politicians and their corporate masters Against all of this, I voted. To pass from these Dark Ages To a Renaissance of Reason, To a New Age of Enlightenment I voted. That truths may be reclaimed; For the wisdom to discern; That children may be honored With cleanliness and virtue, With books and venerable teachers; That all may be protected From the ravenous and greedy I voted. To see the planet whole; To know our place upon it; To nurture and restore it; To abide in moderation, With compassionate humility; That the arts might consecrate us I voted. For the best that lies within us; For the fortitude to harness;

For the healing grace thats needed. For the courage to continue I voted.

The Price of Admission

Marc Levy flying MIG 21 at the Hanoi Air Force Museum, 1995. By Marc Levy, The Veteran, Fall 2012, Vietnam Veterans Against the War Marc Levy was a medic in Delta 1/7 First Cav in 69-70. He lives in Salem, MA. You can reach him at MedicintheGreenTime.com. ******************************************************************** A converted airplane hanger, admission fifty cents, outside the Hanoi Air Force Museum thick vines creep up the skeletal remains of deactivated SAM missiles forever frozen in the act of launch. Inside, directly past the entrance, a jet fighter canopy, the name PARKER stenciled in red paint, lies mute on the smooth cement floor. The walls are dotted with framed black and white war photos. M16s are shackled to the walls by thick iron nails. Large wood exhibit cabinets hold typed documents and war regalia. Not far from the fighter canopy lay rows of upright vacant ejection seats, as if the pilots had just bailed out. A half dozen green flight helmets, visors up, sit like impatient skulls waiting to tell their stories. A half dozen silk parachutes splay across the floor like giant squid risen from the deep. Im sitting in the cockpit of a MIG 21. After Seth snaps the photo [above] a young American enters the museum.

While the two of them talk I wander away. In a dark corner on the far side of the museum I spot a stack of M16s. Kneeling, I pick one up, wipe away years of dust, sit down cross-legged, cradle the weapon, go back in time. How long before Seth arrives I dont recall. He listens patiently while I jabber: You see this button? Y ou push it to split the rifle in half. Push here to release the ammo clip. This thing is the retractor rod. Pull it backward, let it fly, youre locked and loaded. I turned the rifle sideways, exposing the belly of the barrel. Here, right here, the grill, you keep a tooth brush to clean the breach. Only problem, they melt in fire fights. Now watch this. I push open the stock latch. Out slides a metal cleaning rod, a plastic bottle of lubricant. Thats LSA. You put it on cotton patches to clean the bore. You do that once a week. I keep chattering. The words rocketing inside my head. Twice, three times someone calls my name. Put the gun down. You need to put it down. Childlike, I look at Seth, set the abandoned weapon on the cold floor, sob for quite some time.

STUCK ON STUPID

Occupy The Prison-Industrial Complex

Comment: T

This really is the title of an article postsed on Truthout, Op-Ed; 08 November 2012. Thanks, but no thanks. There are already over 2 million Americans occupying prisons at all levels of government. Wonder how they feel about already occupying the prison industrial complex? The hopelessly stale habit of sticking the word Occupy on anything that moves had to eventually cross the boundary line into the stupid ridiculous. It was almost there with Occupy Food and Occupy Rosh Hashanah, but has now really and truly arrived.

OCCUPATION PALESTINE

Bilin Father Prevented From Visiting 5-Year-Old Son In Israeli Hospital Because Of Activism Against Settlements:
The State Of Israel, The IDF, And Their Supporters Use This Activism As Blackmail -- If You Participate There Is Less Chance You Will Receive A Permit
Those Seeking Permits In And Out Of Gaza Are Asked To Become Informants On Top Of Paying For Their Way Into Israel And Treatment

Carmi al Khatib (left) and Haithan al Khatib (inset). (Photo: Facebook) November 5, 2012 by Hamde Abu Rahme, Mondoweiss [Excerpts] Carmi al Khatib is a 5 year old boy from the Palestinian village of Bilin. Soon after his birth it was discovered he had Leukemia and began treatment in Israel and fortunately, after years of illness, managed to overcome the cancer and survived. However, very recently, Carmi was hospitalised again suffering from a rare disease known to his family from birth which is now causing further difficulties and complications. His mother, Khawal is with him at the hospital and, up until recently, so was his father Haitham al Khatib. The Civil Administration (CA) is Israels military arm of the government in the West Bank that deals with civilian issues such as issuing permits. Haithams most recent permit, issued for a month to visit his son expired about two weeks ago. Since expiring he has tried and failed to get another permit to see his son in hospital. The CA stated that the General Security Services (GSS) declared him a threat to the state and refused to renew his permit. Carmi will be in hospital until the end of November. What has changed in that month and a half that now prevents him from visiting his son in hospital? Haitham received a permit 5 years ago for about 6 months when his son was first in hospital, during that period of time and since, the IDF has held excursions and exercises in Bilin.

Haitham would document these raids in the village which sometimes ended in random arrests and mostly always ending with something destroyed. For 4 years after this the CA refused Haitham a permit on the grounds that he is a threat to the state of Israel. All the while his son is in and out of hospital for long periods of time. His most recent permit expired over a week ago and Haitham has been trying and failing to get another permit since. Lest it not be clear; when permits are issued for hospitals Palestinians from the West Bank can only be in the hospital grounds. They are not allowed outside the gate of the hospital. This can be from one day to a few months depending of the nature of the situation. Haitham is involved in the popular struggle in the village of Bilin. For years the village has struggled against the Israeli occupation, building of settlements and the Separation Wall all of which resulted in Israel annexing land from Bilin. From tying themselves to trees to taking their case to the Supreme Court they were able to shift the route. Continuing till today and until the wall comes down and the settlements stop developing Haitham and others find innovative way to ensure people do not forget the consistent violation of human rights in the occupied territories. The state of Israel, the IDF, and their supporters use this activism as blackmail -- if you participate there is less chance you will receive a permit. Haithams story is, unfortunately, not unique. Those seeking permits in and out of Gaza are asked to become informants on top of paying for their way into Israel and treatment. When one village began struggling against the slow encroachment of a settlement on their land (and the military presence that comes with it) workers in the nearby Israeli-run industrial estate were told to stop participating the protests or they would lose their jobs. Needless to say the struggle and protests ended in that village on a popular level. This is to say nothing of the lack of union or union support for Palestinian workers in Israeli business in the occupied territories.

[To check out what life is like under a murderous military occupation commanded by foreign terrorists, go to: www.rafahtoday.org The occupied nation is Palestine. The foreign terrorists call themselves Israeli.]

DANGER: POLITICIANS AT WORK

The Nation Had Spent $2.5 Billion With Absolutely Nothing To Show For It
If We Took All The Money We Spend On Political Ads And Used It To Educate Our Children And Feed The Poor, We Wouldnt Be America
November 7, 2012 by Andy Borowitz, The Borowtiz Report

One day after the costliest Presidential election in U.S. history, Americans awoke to the ugly realization that the nation had spent $2.5 billion with absolutely nothing to show for it. Four years ago, Barack Obama was elected President of the United States, and that is still the case, says Professor Davis Logsdon of the University of Minnesota. The only difference is that we as a nation are out $2.5 billion. Mr. Logsdon claims that Americas system of egregious political spending has made us the laughingstock of the world, arguing, Even Greece would know better than to blow through money like that. But not so fast, says Tracy Klugian, President of the Negative Advertising Association of America, which represents the nations leading producers of political attack ads. When people complain about how expensive these political campaigns are, theyre forgetting about the millions of Americans who are employed making negative ads, he says. Say what you will about lies, vitriol and character assassination, theyre job creators. In fact, Mr. Klugian says, Americas costly and interminable campaigns are the nations most reliable source of employment: They gave a completely unskilled person like Mitt Romney a steady job for eight years. Acknowledging that the $2.5 billion spent this year was a tidy sum, Mr. Klugian says, If we took all the money we spend on political ads and used it to educate our children and feed the poor, we wouldnt be America.

CLASS WAR REPORTS

Firebombs, Teargas Fly As Greek Workers Rally Against Government Attack On Their Incomes:
Its Them Or Us! End This Disaster!

Fight! Theyre Drinking Our Blood

They Are Rich, They Have Everything And We Have Nothing And Are Fighting For Crumbs, For Survival.

A riot police officer is engulfed by petrol bomb flames thrown by protesters in front of the parliament during clashes in Athens, Nov. 7, 2012. Dimitri Messinis / AP [Thanks to Alan Stolzer, Military Resistance Organization, who sent this in.] Earlier, chaos reigned inside the assembly, where the session was briefly interrupted when parliamentary workers went on strike to protest a clause that would have cut their salaries. In a humiliating about-face, the government was forced to cancel the measure to allow the session to resume. 11.7.12 NBC News World ATHENS Greek police fired teargas and water cannons at protesters hurling firebombs outside parliament on Wednesday in one of the biggest rallies in months against the in working class incomes and services. A majority of lawmakers passed the unpopular austerity and labor bill, even as the rally attended by about 100,000 disintegrated into violence, with protesters and riot police fighting running battles in Syntagma Square.

Earlier, chaos reigned inside the assembly, where the session was briefly interrupted when parliamentary workers went on strike to protest a clause that would have cut their salaries. In a humiliating about-face, the government was forced to cancel the measure to allow the session to resume. Outside, loud booms rang out as protesters hurled firebombs and rocks at police, who responded with teargas, stun grenades and water cannons the first time they had been used in an anti-austerity protest. Billowing smoke and small fires could be seen on a street next to parliament. The violence erupted as a handful of protesters tried to break through a barricade to enter parliament, where Prime Minister Antonis Samaras is expected to scrape a win for the belt-tightening measures despite opposition from within his coalition. Earlier in the evening, Greeks outside the parliament in a downpour held flags and banners saying, Its them or us! and End this disaster! Protesters some chanting Fight! Theyre drinking our blood packed the square and side streets in one of the largest rallies seen in months. Some held aloft huge Italian, Portuguese and Spanish flags in solidarity with other nations enduring austerity. These measures are killing us little by little and lawmakers in there dont give a damn, said Maria Aliferopoulou, a 52-year-old mother of two living on 1,000 euros a month. They are rich, they have everything and we have nothing and are fighting for crumbs, for survival. Public transport was halted, schools, banks and government offices were shut and garbage piled up on streets on the second day of a two-day national strike against the cuts. Backed by the leftist opposition, unions say the measures will hit the poor and spare the wealthy, while deepening a five-year recession that has wiped out a fifth of the countrys output and driven unemployment to a record 25 percent. The cuts and tax hikes expected to be worth 13.5 billion euros are required to unlock a loan tranche of more than 31 billion euros ($40 billion) from the European Union and International Monetary Fund bailout. The vote is the biggest test for Samarass government since it came to power in June. A yes will give Athens cash to shore up its ailing banks and pay off debt due later this month.

EU Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn called on the Greek parliament to do its part in securing its next tranche of bailout aid by passing the measures. But protesters outside said they were on the brink. You live in constant fear and uncertainty. You never know whats waiting for you around the corner, said Panos Goutsis, 58, who works in a small corner shop in Athens. How many times will they tell us these are the last measures? Were sick of hearing it. Greeks have been angered by the relaxed approach consecutive governments have taken towards catching tax cheats, with many saying officials have dragged their feet on investigations to protect a wealthy elite. Following the publication last month of a list of more than 2,000 wealthy Greeks with Swiss bank accounts, the Swiss government said on Wednesday it was hoping to clinch a swift deal with Athens on taxing secret holdings. The austerity measures being debated in parliament are accompanied by steps to make it easier for businesses to hire and fire workers.

The single largest failure of the anti-war movement at this point is the lack of outreach to the troops. Tim Goodrich, Iraq Veterans Against The War

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