Military Resistance:

thomasfbarton@earthlink.net

3.29.13

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Military Resistance 11C16

[Thanks to SSG N (retd) and Frank Millspaugh, who sent this in.]

The Taliban Are Ousted From Areas Only To Have The Vacuum Filled By Criminal Gangs With Ties To The CIA
The Fear And Violence They Generate Are Fueling AntiAmericanism And Aiding Taliban Recruitment

Those Abuses Continue Due To The Cowardice And Apathy Of A Lackluster And Dishonorable Corps Of Senior Officers, Civilian Officials And Members Of Congress
Over The Long Term, Security Has Worsened In Every Area That These Private Militias Have Operated
The ghost army program is but one facet of a dysfunctional U.S. Country Team strategy in which no one is in overall charge of American efforts in a conflict country. Each of the team members, (military, diplomatic, intelligence, foreign aid, public information) has its own agenda and programs. There is no overall strategy, but simply conflicting tactics. 25 March 2013 by Matthew J. Nasuti, Kabul Press [Excerpts] Scattered throughout Afghanistan are secret CIA militias that may be functioning as death squads. Reports of their activities have surfaced for years in eastern Afghanistan, especially in Khost Province, but they have also been reported in Spin Boldak, Kandahar and the latest in Maidan Wardak Province, where residents are rising up in protest. For the past month newspapers around the world have been filled with headlines about villagers and students disappearing and being killed in Maidan Wardak by CIA and Special Forces personnel and their allies. The reports have blackened Americas image. The stories are disturbingly similar. Villagers are seized in their homes at night and are never heard from again. Bodies are dumped in the countryside with signs of torture. The Taliban are ousted from areas only to have the vacuum filled by criminal gangs with ties to the CIA. The idea seems to replace one terror group with another, as long as the second group pledges loyalty to the United States. This is what U.S. security agencies call counter-terrorism. The flaws in the program are:

1. These local warlords are committing war crimes; 2. Support for such terrorists conflicts with fundamental American values; and 3. The fear and violence they generate are fueling anti-Americanism and aiding Taliban recruitment. Over the long term, security has worsened in every area that these private militias have operated. There is nothing positive that can be said of these militias. The ghost army program is but one facet of a dysfunctional U.S. Country Team strategy in which no one is in overall charge of American efforts in a conflict country. Each of the team members, (military, diplomatic, intelligence, foreign aid, public information) has its own agenda and programs. There is no overall strategy, but simply conflicting tactics. The primary tactic seems to be the same one which failed in Iraq. The idea is to use special units to kill as many people (guilty and innocent) as possible, arrest as many people as possible and make life so miserable for the balance of the population that it will (out of exhaustion) choose peace. That tactic had a short life in Iraq. It was just long enough for the U.S. to retreat in peace. That same tactic is not even achieving a short life in Afghanistan. In the United States there is a growing revisionist history being preached about the Afghan War. Foreign Policy Magazine blames Barack Obama for ignoring Hillary Clinton, even though she never articulated a credible plan for Afghanistan. The Wall Street Journal blames the looming failure in Afghanistan on a lack of resources. The premise being that more money and more troops would have resulted in victory in Afghanistan. That is also absurd. More resources would have only caused more killing, more arbitrary arrests, more corruption and more warlords. For the American side, perhaps 99% of those who served did so with honor and courage; but their efforts are being steadily eroded by the abuses of a few. Those abuses continue due to the cowardice and apathy of a lackluster and dishonorable corps of senior officers, civilian officials and members of Congress. The tragedy is that the history of the Afghanistan war is being framed by photos and tales of secret arrests, black prison, torture and needless killings, all carried out by a tiny fraction of in-country Americans. Unless this changes, the American withdrawal from Afghanistan may be greeted with the same response as Iraqis had, which is, good riddance.

The epitaph for the American effort in Afghanistan may wind up being: Never have so few, by their dishonorable and mindless conduct, tarnished the bravery and sacrifice of so many. An alternative epitaph (that Americans do not want to hear) may be: While the U.S. may believe that its war in Afghanistan will be over in 2014, the Afghan war against America may be just beginning. The CIA will be leaving behind millions of new adversaries it helped to create.

MORE:

Response Of The Islamic Emirate And Complete Report Of The Returned Delegation About The Felonies, Carried Out In The Musa Qala District Of Helmond Province:
The Massacre In Kunjak Village
[Taliban Statement]

23 March 2013 by Super User, The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan On 19th March, 2013 (7/5/1434 A.H), the police force, related to the Kabul admin, committed a barbaric and inexcusable felony in the Kunjak village of Musa Qala district in Helmond province. The Islamic Emirate, due to its religious and national obligation, sent a fact-finding mission to the region to assess the events, take necessary measures and collect verified and all-inclusive information about this horrible incident. On the basis of the report of the assigned delegation, the details of the incident are as follow:

On 19th March, 2013 (7/5/1434 A.H), the police force of the security headquarters of the district raided the mosque of Moulvi Sharafuddin under the headship of Khaksar and Ehsanullah, while he (the Imam) was delivering a religious speech in his mosque in Kunjak village. They started beating Moulvi Sharafuddin, without any reason, in the midst of his religious oration. At the same time, they urinated inside the mosque, tore apart the copies of the Holy Quran, threw them on the ground and desecrated them (God forsake). In retaliation, the common Muslims and vigilant people of the district arranged a demonstration due to their convictional obligation and reached the police station. The people went back to their homes as they were assured, on first day, by the district officials that the perpetrators will be brought in public and will be penalized. On the following day more than 2000 people from Kunjak, Nabwaka, Cheena, Sra-Pan, Takhta-Pul and some other areas, including the people from some villages of Baghni district, demonstrated in the form of a procession to the district office. They demanded from the officials the earliest possible punishment of the perpetrator policemen, but the officials told them that those policemen are summoned to Kabul and are no more there. Concurrently, those two police officials, named Khaksar and Ehsanullah, who were the real felons of the incident, came out from police headquarters in their armored vehicles, followed by several armed personnel. They asked the caretaker or the compassionate ones of the Holy Quran to get aside. When the people saw these criminals, they accelerated their protest and chanted slogans against the Kabul admin. In retaliation, these criminal policemen lowered the barrels of their guns and opened fire on the masses following the direction of their commanders, in which more than 40 countrymen, mostly the inhabitants of the above mentioned villages, were martyred and nearly 70 more demonstrators were wounded. It is remorseful that the home-based media, while most of them consider themselves sympathetic for their fellow countrymen, did not pay any attention and published the facts and figures of the incident overturned and less significant. The Islamic Emirate condemns this gratuitous and inexcusable act of the Kabul administration in the strongest words and invites all the indigenous media to perform their national obligation and expose and announce their impartial information based on ground realities so that these kinds of grave tragedies of the masses are not obscured for the vested interests of a few individuals. Similarly, we call upon all the humanist and independent organizations to perform their responsibility in this grave incident of civilian casualties and human disaster. They should fully evaluate the incident and condemn the perpetrators.

On the other side, the Islamic Emirate calls upon its own Mujahidin to identify and penalize, with their full strength, the perpetrators of the aforementioned felony. Our aggravated nation should be more vigilant about this sad tragedy and should not spare their power and possibilities from their Mujahidin brothers in penalizing the felons.

AFGHANISTAN WAR REPORTS

Indiana Sgt. Killed In Qarah Bagh

March 24, 2013 No. 180-13, U.S. Department of Defense News Release Sgt. Tristan M. Wade, 23, of Indianapolis, Ind., died March 22 in Qarah Bagh District, Ghazni Province, Afghanistan, when enemy forces attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device. He was assigned to the 573rd Clearance Company, 2nd Engineer Battalion, White Sands Missile Range, N.M

Soldier From 1st Battalion The Mercian Regiment Killed In Nad-e Ali
March 27, 2013 This Is Staffordshire.co.uk/ A soldier from the Cheshire Regiment has died after being injured during an insurgent attack in Afghanistan, the Ministry of Defence announced last night. The soldier, from 1st Battalion The Mercian Regiment (Cheshire), was injured in the Nad-e Ali district of Helmand Province on Monday.

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

Resistance Action
27 Mar 2013 By Sadaf Shinwari, Khaama Press

Najeebullah commander of the Afghan local police forces was assassinated by Taliban militants at Darzab district in northern Jowzjan province of Afghanistan on Tuesday. A spokesman for the provincial security commandment Abdul Hai Marzi said the incident took place the commander of the local police forces was on his way towards his home and was shot dead.

Great Moments In U.S. Military History:

Special Forces Raid Kills Four Kids:
The Defense Ministry Said There Had Been No Civilian Deaths
Reuters Television Footage Taken In The Village, Sejewand, Showed The Bodies Of At Least Three Children

An Afghan boy cries during a funeral of members of his family in Logar province, March 27, 2013. REUTERS/Stringer Mar 27, 2013 Reuters

KABUL - Afghan and U.S. special forces staged a night raid in the country's east, with police on Wednesday saying five civilians died in the operation, four of them children. While the defense ministry said there had been no civilian deaths in the overnight operation in Logar province, Reuters television footage taken in the village, Sejewand, showed the bodies of at least three children. Logar police official Rais Khan Seddiq said the operation was undertaken by Afghan commandos, assisted byU.S. special forces, in order to rescue two Afghan soldiers captured the previous day by the Taliban. Two civilians were killed and three were wounded, Seddiq said, adding that those wounded had later died. Four of the dead were children, he said.

Afghan Villagers Flee Their Homes,Terrified By U.S. Drones

These Foreigners Started The Problem They Have Their Own Country. They Should Leave
March 28, 2013 by The Associated Press [Excerpts] KHALIS FAMILY VILLAGE, Afghanistan Barely able to walk even with a cane, Ghulam Rasool says he padlocked his front door, handed over the keys and his three cows to a neighbor and fled his mountain home in the middle of the night to escape relentless airstrikes from U.S. drones targeting militants in this remote corner of Afghanistan. Rasool and other Afghan villagers have their own name for Predator drones. They call them benghai, which in the Pashto language means the buzzing of flies. When they explain the noise, they scrunch their faces and try to make a sound that resembles an army of flies. They are evil things that fly so high you don't see them but all the time you hear them, said Rasool, whose body is stooped and shrunken with age and his voice barely louder than a whisper. Night and day we hear this sound and then the bombardment starts.

The Associated Press in a rare on-the-ground look unaccompanied by military or security visited two Afghan villages in Nangarhar province near the border with Pakistan to talk to residents who reported that they had been affected by drone strikes. In one village, Afghans disputed NATO's contention that five men killed in a particular drone strike were militants. In the other, a school that was leveled in a nighttime airstrike targeting Taliban fighters hiding inside has yet to be rebuilt. These foreigners started the problem, Rasool said of international troops. They have their own country. They should leave. Rasool said his decision to leave his home in Hisarak district came nearly a month ago after a particularly blistering air assault killed five people in the neighboring village of Meya Saheeb. The U.S.-led International Security Assistance Force, or ISAF, confirmed an airstrike on Feb. 24 at Meya Saheeb, but as a matter of policy would neither confirm nor deny that drones were used. Rasool said that he, his son, half a dozen grandchildren, and two other families crammed into the back of a cart pulled by a tractor. They drove throughout the day until they found a house in Khalis Family Village, named after anti-communist rebel leader Maulvi Yunus Khalis. Nobody ever comes here. It's a little dangerous sometimes because of the Taliban, said Zarullah Khan, a neighbor of Rasool's. But the historic significance of his newfound refuge was lost on Rasool. Who's Khalis? We stopped when we found a house for rent, he said, grumbling at the monthly $200 bill shared among the three families packed into the high-walled compound where he spoke with the AP. Standing nearby, Rasool's 12-year-old grandson, Ahmed Shah, recalled the attack in Meya Saheeb. The earth shook for what seemed like hours and the next morning his friends told him there were bodies in the nearby village. A little afraid, but more curious, he walked the short distance to Meya Saheed. I wanted to see the dead bodies, he said. And he did three bodies, all middle-aged men. ISAF reported five militants were killed, but Rasool said they were businessmen. One of the dead had a carpet shop in the village, he said. At the other end of the province from Meya Saheeb and Khalis Family Village lies the village of Budyali. To get there, one must drive along a long, two-lane highway often booby-trapped by militants, before turning turning off onto a narrow, dusty track and finally cross a rock-strewn riverbed.

A Budyali resident, Hayat Gul, says the sound of benghai is commonplace in the village. He says he was wounded nearly two years ago in a Taliban firefight with Afghan security forces at a nearby school that led to an airstrike. Tucked in the shadow of a hulking mountain crisscrossed with dozens of footpaths, the school now is in ruins. The early morning strike on the school took place on July 17, 2011, hours after the Taliban attacked the district headquarters and the Afghan National Army appealed to their coalition partners for help. Gul said he and a second guard, 63-year-old Ghulam Ahad, were asleep in the small cement guard house at one end of the school. They awoke to the sound of gunfire as more than a dozen Taliban militants scaled the school walls around midnight, chased by Afghan soldiers. A bullet struck Gul in the shoulder. Frightened and unsure of what to do, Ahad stepped outside the guard house and was killed. Bullet holes still riddle the badly damaged building. Village elders and the school's principal, Sayed Habib, said coalition forces responded to the army's request for help with drones, fighter jets and rockets. The air assault, which residents say began about 3 a.m. and likely included drone strikes, flattened everything across a vast compound that includes the school. Habib said 13 insurgents were killed. Habib and a local malik or elder, Shah Mohammed Khan, said that in the days leading up to the airstrikes the sound of drones could be heard overhead. Everyone knows the sound of the unpiloted planes. Even our children know, Habib said. Habib and the village elders recalled the attack while sitting in the middle of the devastated school, where debris was still scattered across a vast yard. They pointed toward a blackboard, pockmarked with gaping holes. Shamefully they destroyed our school, our books, our library, said Malik Gul Nawaz, an elder with a gray beard and a pot belly. Habib said that in an attempt to rebuild the school, a contractor constructed a boundary wall before another Taliban attack. He fled with nearly $400,000 in foreign funds. The roughly 1,300 students now take classes at a makeshift school made up of tents provided by UNICEF. Gul, who was taken to a U.S. military hospital at Bagram Air Base after the attack and treated for the bullet wound to his left shoulder, is now a watchman at the new school. He held a small photograph of his dead colleague, Ahad, in his trembling left hand.

We want to end this war, Gul said. Enough people have been killed now. We have to find unity.

SOMALIA WAR REPORTS

Remote Controlled Land Mines Today Rocked Kismayu City

The Occupants Of Area Affected Were Members And Top Officials Of The Raskamboni Brigade
Telephone Communication Has Been Shut Off
25 March 2013 Shabelle Media Network Explosions believed to be made of remote controlled land mines today rocked Kismayu city which is located in the lower region of Juba. This explosions occurred at the presidential palace early Morning. During the incident the occupants of area affected were members and top officials of the Raskamboni brigade led by ( Ahmed Mohamed Islam ) Ahmed Madobe Witness who were at area informed Shabele that two large explosions were hard. They informed us that the explosions were land mines controlled by remotes and had caused damages.the explosions happened at a base owned by the brigade. A witness who declined to be named told the Shabele that the first explosion occurred at the base before a large crowd gathered which then resulted in the second explosion. The second explosion went off just as members of the brigade gathered at the place and may have caused severe damages. Members of the brigade dispersed the members of the public who formed a crowd at the scene and communication is said to be out of order. We tried to reach the officials from both the Raskamboni brigade and the Military from the federal government but that was not possible as telephone communication has been shut off.

Security in the area has been beefed up by the Federal army and Amisom Army from Kenya. This happened as a delegate consisting of internal security minister, minister of defense, minister of justice, members of parliament , and workers from the prime minister. The delegation from consisting of the prime minister is expected tomorrow

MILITARY NEWS

Syrian Revolutionaries Launch One Of The Heaviest Mortar Volleys Yet Into The Heart Of Damascus
Mortar Barrage Strikes Umayyad Square, Near The Government TV Headquarters And Less Than A Kilometer From Assads Residence
Strikes On Damascus Have Grown More Common In Recent Weeks
U.N. Evacuating Some DamascusBased Staff To Beirut And Cairo
March 25 By Associated Press A dual picture of Syrias rebellion is emerging:

Fighters on the ground make advances, seizing territory in the south and even firing one of the heaviest mortar volleys yet into the heart of Damascus on Monday. But at the same time, the would-be opposition leadership is falling deeper into disarray. Still, rebels have recently been running up successes on the ground. Fighters have been steadily gaining more ground near Syrias southern border with Jordan and Israel. In the north, they have been expanding the territory they hold, recently capturing the city of Raqqa, a series of military bases and the countrys largest dam. Rebels have also seized footholds on the edge of the heavily guarded capital and, while they have been unable to break into the city, they have used their positions for mortar barrages, trying to shake the governments grip. On Monday, they fired off a volley of mortar shells that crashed near a landmark downtown traffic circle in the capital, killing two people and wounding several others, state TV said. It was some of the worst shelling in the heart of the city since the rebellion against Assad began in March 2011. Such sporadic strikes on Damascus have grown more common in recent weeks and often appear to target government buildings. Most cause only material damage, but spread fear in Damascus that the capital, which has so far managed to avoid the widespread clashes that have destroyed other cities, could soon face the same fate. Damascus residents reported hearing intensive shelling on Monday, though it was hard to tell where it was coming from. We have gotten used to the sounds, but it saddens me to see the streets of Damascus empty after 6 p.m., said Youssef al-Ashhab, a 47-year-old civil servant. The mortar barrage struck Damascus Umayyad Square, at the center of a large intersection west of downtown near the government TV headquarters and less than a kilometer (mile) from Assads formal residence. The office of Syrias general military command is also nearby. It is also near the famous Opera House, often frequented by Assad and his Britishborn wife, Asma, before the uprising, and the Sheraton hotel, used by U.N. workers in Syria. U.N. spokesman Martin Nesirky said Monday that the U.N. is temporarily relocating some Damascus-based staff of the office of joint U.N.-Arab League envoy Lakhdar Brahimi to Beirut and to the offices main office in Cairo following mortar fire that damaged the hotel and a U.N. vehicle. He said all national staff from Brahimis office have been asked to work from home until further notice.

Today, hundreds of independent rebel groups are fighting a civil war against Assads forces across the country, and many activists no longer bother to stage unarmed protests.

Army Filth In Command Violating Federal Law By Harassing Breastfeeding Mothers:

Federal Law Holds That A Woman May Breastfeed Her Child At Any Location In A Federal Building Or On Federal Property, If The Woman And Her Child Are Otherwise Authorized To Be Present At The Location
A Hawaii Airman Was Threatened With Disciplinary Action After Breast-Feeding Her Child Uncovered While She Waited To Sign Discharge Paperwork
Mar 18, 2013 By Meghann Myers - Staff writer, Army Times [Excerpts] When an employee approached Tamara Algots in front of the cheese display at the Schofield Barracks commissary in Hawaii and told her, You cant do that here, Algots assumed the woman wanted to verify her military dependent ID card. Algots, 22, reached into her purse, but then the employee motioned to Algots 4month-old son, quietly nursing in his baby carrier. The employee explained that another shopper had complained about Algots uncovered breast-feeding in the store and that she would either have to stop or leave. Flustered and on the verge of tears, Algots abandoned her shopping cart full of groceries and hustled her infant and 2-year-old son into the parking lot.

I couldnt believe it, she told Army Times. Ive nursed him in public hundreds of times including at the commissary and Ive never, ever had anyone approach me about it. The incident came just weeks after a Hawaii airman was threatened with disciplinary action after breast-feeding her child uncovered while she waited to sign discharge paperwork at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam. Algots decided to approach garrison command during a Feb. 27 U.S. Army GarrisonHawaii Facebook town hall event, two days after the incident. She recounted her story, cited the federal laws that protect her right to nurse her baby in public and included an up-close photo of herself nursing her son in his carrier for visual reference. Federal law holds that a woman may breastfeed her child at any location in a Federal building or on Federal property, if the woman and her child are otherwise authorized to be present at the location. According to Army personnel and human resources spokesman Lt. Col. S. Justin Platt, the Army itself does not have a breast-feeding policy. Installations follow federal laws, but garrison commanders are able to impose more restrictive policies. When there is no existing policy, the commanders function would be to determine the good order and discipline standards, Platt said. At Schofield, some town hall participants cheered Algots on, but others suggested she go to the commissarys breast-feeding room or use a cover if she wanted to nurse in public. That breast-feeding room is more like a closet, Algots said. There are no signs for it. Its a hot, windowless room. You have to ask an employee for the keys. Im pretty sure they only made it because theres a law that says they need a place for their employees to pump (breast milk). Algots explained that her son became distressed when she tried to use a cover in the past. He also refuses to nurse from a bottle, so pumping breast milk and bringing a supply with her arent an option, either. He was premature, so he needs to eat whenever hes hungry so he doesnt lose weight, Algots told Army Times. She said nothing inappropriate was showing. Im not going to just let him cry, and Im not going to drag my other child into a breastfeeding closet because it might make someone uncomfortable. In a Facebook statement Feb. 28, USAG-Hawaii addressed the town hall and the breastfeeding issue, in a post that garnered some 500 comments.

I do not believe women should walk around a commissary filled with young men fresh out of basic training and living in the barracks, young boys who are just hitting puberty, etc., nursing her child without a cover, Jessica Shelton wrote. While many tended to agree with Shelton, far more expressed support for Algots. I would try to cover, for my own comfort, but my son consistently pulled the blanket off. That was 15 years ago, Michele Dutton wrote. I would think by now people would understand that feeding a baby isnt something to hide. Algots said she was surprised by some of the responses, particularly the positive feedback from men. Isnt it sad that we have laws that we dont enforce due to a few immature individuals? Mark Metzker wrote. Grow up, people. Some of the most vicious comments, Algots said, came from fellow mothers. And others were threatening. I had a person message me saying they would smash their car into mine if they ever saw me at the commissary, she said. In a statement provided to Army Times, garrison command explained that they are reviewing installation policies, hoping to strike a balance between mothers rights and a reasonable standard that is in keeping with Army values and community expectations. We want our employees and community to understand the right of nursing mothers to do so in public, and for everyone to know our expectations for the manner in which nursing occurs in public, the statement said. Algots said the wording of the statement concerns her. Shes worried that because she brought the issue up, garrison command might adopt a more restrictive policy. I was confident before because I knew the law was on my side, she said. Now Im scared that theyre going to tell me that I have to use a cover. That means I wont be able to breast-feed at the commissary, when I take my older son to the park, maybe even in front of my house. She said she would have to start grocery-shopping off post, where prices can be nearly double those at the commissary. Despite the inconvenience, she stressed that shes not prepared to become an activist for the cause. The Army is my husbands career, she said. I dont want to do anything that will affect him because this is the rest of our life. Until she hears differently, Algots plans to continue nursing her son while she groceryshops.

I was at the commissary the other day and there were five of us breast-feeding. Three with covers, two including me uncovered, Algots said. Besides, I see more boob from regular people at the commissary than I do from nursing moms.

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

A revolution is always distinguished by impoliteness, probably because the ruling classes did not take the trouble in good season to teach the people fine manners. -- Leon Trotsky, History Of The Russian Revolution

Air Force Grounds $345 Billion Experimental Uniform Program

Lt. Gen. Christopher Bogdan jokes about how sequestration is screwing over the other services but not his. 25 March 2013 by Paul, The Duffel Blog ARLINGTON, VA Air Force officials confirmed Monday that they would be grounding the entire Experimental Uniform fleet after problems were discovered on one of the zippers, the latest setback amid a string of recent disasters. Test wearers first noticed the problem during a routine maintenance wear, while attempting to use the bathroom. When airmen noticed their futuristic pants zippers sometimes caught on their lower fuselage, sometimes pushing them to the point of asphyxiation. This is certainly not a problem that we could have seen in the planning stages, said Lt. Gen. Christopher Bogdan, the program manager. The $345 billion program is the services attempt to implement a fifth-generation uniform to serve in peacetime until they need to inevitably update to the sixth generation to justify an increased budget. The Experimental Uniform, if completed, would have a number of enhanced features, including pants zippers, increased back support for chairborne operations, and built-in Doritos holsters for drone pilots. Many have decried the experimental uniform as no better than legacy woodlands.

The fact were spending $345 billion on this program is absolutely preposterous, said Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee. This program should cost no more than $340 billion. Tops. Its certainly not the first problem to hit the uniform. During initial testing, uniform wearers reported that the fabric would not allow them to turn their head to see whats behind them. Pentagon insiders also found major software problems in January, although the reason an airmans uniform would have any type of computing power remains classified. Were confident that despite this hiccup, well get through this, said Bogdan. Weve already conducted 20,000 tests of the uniforms capabilities and only have about 40,000 more to go. The Air Force estimates the program to remain on schedule, with development and fielding set to take no longer than 30 years at a total cost anywhere between $600 billion and $1.2 trillion, or maybe $2.9 trillion, or even possibly $3.7 gazillion or so, give or take a couple zillion, Bogdan said. We are absolutely precise when it comes to getting a bomb inside a chimney, Bogdan told The Duffel Blog, but you cant ask us to tell you exactly how much this could cost. Its very hard to predict contractor kickbacks.

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OCCUPATION PALESTINE

The Mob Of Jeering Settlers, Shouting Racist Chants, Dragged The Two Boys And Their Mother Outside And Beat Them Up Severely
The Settlers Smashed All The Windows Of The Khan, Broke Down The Front

Door, Destroyed A Section Of One Of The Walls, And Poisoned The Irrigation System That Feeds His Crops

Imitation -- The Sincerest Form Of Flattery Forced expulsion from a village in the Zamo region of western Poland, where over 110,000 people from about 300 villages were expelled to make room for German settlers. March 25. 2013 By: Linah Alsaafin for Al-Monitor; Palestine Pulse Khaled Daraghmeh always insists that the youth and visitors who volunteer to work on his property every week fill their bags with the herbs and fruit grown on his land. The almonds at this time of year are very good, Khaled says, also known as Abu Jamal. He calls his son Momen to show the guests the best almond tree. The lemon trees are never bare see the yellow lemons? In the summer, they change color to green but in both cases they are still delicious. Abu Jamal is from the village Deir il-Lubban that lies just off the main road between Ramallah and Nablus. His family has owned an ancient stone building, referred to as the khan, for many generations. The family also owns the land that the khan resides on, more than 22 square kilometers (8.5 square miles) of it.

It is this land, and the khan itself, which have proved to be the thorn stuck in the throats of Jewish settlers. Lubban al-Sharqiyyeh is surrounded by six illegal settlements, and Abu Jamals parcel of land lies between one settlement established on the villages land called Maale Labuneh, preventing it from being linked to the other settlements such as Eli and Shilo, which extend from the Jordan Valley to the Green Line. This particular cluster of settlements, explained by Stop the Walls coordinator Jamal Juma, was built for expansion in order to create a horizontal wall of settlements in the West Bank. They want to sever the north and middle West Bank by forming a conglomerate of settlements, like a block, Juma said. And so in this way, there will be only one access route from Ramallah to the north, and that is through the Zatara checkpoint. A 2012 report by the Palestine Center, titled When Settlers Attack documented that between the years 2007 to 2011, settler attacks on Palestinians and their lands increased by 315%. Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said in 2012 that number escalated by 150%, mostly carried out under the settler-dubbed slogan of price tag, which includes vandalizing mosques, churches, villages, olive groves, and houses. Last year also marked a 4.7% increase in settler population in the West Bank, excluding East Jerusalem. All settlements are classified as illegal under international law, yet under Benjamin Netanyahu's tenure, settlement growth rose rapidly, now numbering over 200, which have redefined the landscape of the West Bank and effectively killed off the possibility of a two-state solution. The settlers from Maale Lubuneh first attacked Abu Jamal's khan in 2003, yet it wasnt before 2007 that they managed to temporarily occupy the building for three months, which prompted Abu Jamal to appeal to the Palestinian Authority. When that proved to be futile, Abu Jamal moved his family from their home in the village to the khan, where he hoped that Palestinian presence would be enough to deter the settlers from coming. For a brief while, that worked. Abu Jamal hoped that presenting the Israeli civil administration court with papers and documents that show his ownership over the land would stop the settlers from coming to the land. Instead, Israeli intelligence officers arrived at Abu Jamals front door and repeatedly attempted to bribe him with huge monetary incentives to leave the land. When Abu Jamal refused all offers, the settler attacks restarted.

In May 2012, the Israeli soldiers that arrived, after a group of heckling settlers made their way onto the land, arrested Abu Jamal with his oldest son, Jamal, who was pepper-sprayed in the face. They were both beaten up before being taken away. Abu Jamal was fined 20,000 shekels (more than $6,000), and spent three months in jail under the charge of attacking settlers. During that time, the settlers smashed all the windows of the khan, broke down the front door, destroyed a section of one of the walls, and poisoned the irrigation system that feeds his crops. The International Solidarity Movement (ISM) filmed Abu Jamals arrest and tasked themselves with maintaining an international presence with the family, to document the crimes of the settlers as well as to protect the family. A few months later, in August, settlers once again surrounded the khan and began throwing rocks at the new windows fitted by Abu Jamal, who was outside working on his land. Abu Jamals wife ran to the bedroom with her two youngest sons, Momen and Noor, and panicked as the settlers shattered the windows. The mob of jeering settlers, shouting racist chants, dragged the two boys and their mother outside and beat them up severely. Abu Jamal was also beaten and detained briefly. His sons and wife required hospitalization after the attack. In addition to enduring the vicious attacks by settlers, the Daraghmehs financial situation worsened. Abu Jamal works as a farmer and is dependent on the produce on his land for his livelihood. He could no longer afford to repair the damage inflicted by the settlers on his land and khan. As Abu Jamal told the ISM, (The settlers) feel that I am weak now, as I do not have the money to continue replacing everything they destroy. So they came every day, watching me die slowly with no one to help. Abu Jamal tried to appeal to the village council for help, but lost his temper and ended up being jailed for a few days by the Palestinian Authority. I told them that my dog was more loyal and offered me more protection than them, he recounts, shrugging his shoulders. But what made me especially angry was that the council members have lands stolen from them for the construction of the Maale Labuneh settlement and are not engaging in ways to fight for it back. They wont defend their lands. Since the late summer, different groups of youth volunteers spend their Saturdays or Sundays at Abu Jamals land, planting seed, cultivating crops, and generally helping out.

Someone from Jordan recently donated a cow to Abu Jamal, and the settlers in a typical fashion, poisoned it and the familys dog. Luckily, a vet was able to save the two animals just in time. Abu Jamal now has a lawyer working on his case: Jihad Abu Raya, from the 1948 Palestinian town of Sakhnin, visits him a couple of times every month to update him on the situation. There are actually two cases were working on, Abu Raya told Al-Monitor. One is to fight off the claims that Abu Jamals land is a historical Jewish one, thus stopping Israeli authorities from transforming the land into a Jewish-only resort. The settlers filed the second case against the Daraghmeh family, who want them to remove the windows, door, and fence around the pool since these are recent additions. The pool, now an empty concrete basin, is believed by the settlers to be where Moses bathed himself. The settlers believe that by bathing in the pool naked, they will be absolved of all their sins. As long as theres a court case and this one will last for months and months everything will be frozen for now, Abu Raya said. Of course, theres no stopping the settlers in carrying out their hate crimes, but their attacks have significantly decreased from before.

Zionists Attack Palestinian Children With Pepper Spray And Broken Glass
26 March 2013 Middle East Monitor The Wadi Halwa Information Centre has given details about illegal Jewish settlers who attacked Palestinian residents of Silwan and the Old City in Jerusalem during the week March 16th-25th. The settlers, it is reported, used pepper spray against Palestinians, including children. On Monday morning, in Silwan, four Jewish settlers attacked 16-year old Mansour Nasser Abu-Madi as he was on his way to school. They swore at him and aimed pepper spray at his face. When the boy tried to defend himself, he was arrested by Israeli police who, however, did not intervene when he was attacked by the four Jews. Abu-Madi was interrogated by police for 3 hours at the police station on Salaheddine Street without the presence of his parents. He was eventually released on condition of a 10-day house arrest which sees him only being allowed to go to school with the consent of his father. The investigator told me he would contact me again after the Jewish holiday, the boy said.

In the Old City, two other Jewish settlers attacked Ibrahim Ramzi Al-Rajabi, aged 9, on March 20th while he was on the roof of his own house. They threw glass at him at close range, causing deep cuts on his face. On March 18th, a settler youth aged just 16 attacked Dina Murad Juwailis, 14, and her brother, aged 12, in the Wadi Halwa neighbourhood of Silwan while they were on their way to school. They were both assaulted with pepper spray by their Jewish attacker. [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

CLASS WAR REPORTS

Unemployed Protests Hit Libyan Oil Production

25 March 2013 Libya Herald Zueitina residents took part in a sit-in today, Monday, outside the gates of the oil terminal near Ajdabiya operated by Zueitina Oil Company. According to the Libyan news agency LANA, they want the Oil Ministry to ensure more local people are employed at the site. The oil company is the main employer in the town. Meanwhile, the protests at Waha Oils Gialo 59 field over the use of local labour continued today, the 11th in succession, with still no sign of a resolution to the dispute in sight. A source there claims that because of the blockade, the price of fuel there has soared to LD 15 a litre for gasoline and LD 8 a litre for diesel. A week ago, the oil minister Abdulbari Al-Arusi was quoted as saying that with the protestors blockading the oilfield, the dispute had resulted in national output being cut by 120,000 barrels a day.

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WHEN TROOPS STOPPED AN IMPERIAL WAR

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