GI SPECIAL 3D48:
"I Did Not Volunteer To Be Lied To, To Fight An
Illegal War And Protect Multinational Corporations"
12.13.05 Kevin Zeese, democracyrising.us [Excerpts]
THE INTERNATIONAL
PEACE CONFERENCE
London 10th
December 2005
A panel on military families and Iraq war veterans featured
many prominent peace advocates from those communities.
The British peace mother, Rose Gentle, described the
death of her son, Gordon, as "a murder by my government." She says
her "sons life is worth more than oil."
Another British mother, Ann Lawrence said her son Mark had a
duty to serve his country but "their country and government had a duty to
them and it brings us no comfort that Mark died for a lie in an illegal
war."
John Stockton's son Simon told him before going to Iraq
"Dad, there is a madman over there and he can deploy weapons of mass
destruction in 45 minutes." But, Mr. Stockton said: "The madman
turned out to be the man in charge of our country."
Reg Keys, whose son Tom died in Iraq, ran against Tony
Blair in the last election said: "This country spends 700 hours debating
the killing of foxes and seven hours debating the killing of people - we have
our priorities wrong."
He has come to conclude his son did indeed die for a
noble cause that being "we will not tolerate wars based on false
pretenses."
Among the soldiers that spoke were Ben Griffin who served
8 years in the Army but became a conscientious objector after seeing what was
really happening in Iraq. He described Iraq as "like a gold rush,
indigenous people having our way of life forced on them brutally while
multinational corporations plunder their resources."
He was particularly critical of "production sharing
agreements that pass Iraqi oil onto multinational oil companies." He said
"Blair promised an ethical foreign policy and now we've become the lap dog
of American imperialism."
He said "I volunteered for the Army and went to Iraq
of my own free will but I did not volunteer to be lied to, to fight an illegal
war and protect the interests of multinational corporations."
Related to this were comments by Chris Nineham of the Stop
the War Coalition who described how British and U.S. troops are losing faith,
how they have low morale and their primary goal is to get out of Iraq alive and
in one piece.
He discussed the history
of the Vietnam War and how when soldiers in Vietnam turned against their
officers the war was impossible to continue. He pointed to several U.S. and
British military reports that indicated that this is beginning to occur in
Iraq.
Kelly Dougherty of the U.S. group Iraq Veterans Against
the War served in the Army National Guard for eight years in the Balkans and
one year in Iraq. She helped form Iraq Vets Against the War because she
believes the voices of Veterans need to be heard.
She described how when she was in Iraq she spent a lot of
her time protecting Halliburton convoys, including protecting broken down
Halliburton vehicles, waiting for them to return to get them and then when they
didn't return burning them.
She described how soldiers wanted to help Iraqis but
"we could not help but see how our bombs hurt." She described how
military convoys are ordered to never stop and how this results in Iraqi
civilians being killed by convoys driving over them.
She says her friends coming back from Iraq are missing
limbs, can't sleep, abuse alcohol and drugs, commit suicide "because they
cannot reconcile what they did in Iraq." She concluded: "Occupation
does not make us safer. Our humanity is on the line. Freedom in Iraq cannot
really start until the U.S. forces leave."
The panel concluded with Cindy Sheehan who said "ending
the Iraq war is so important, so urgent. There is no more important job than
peace and bringing the war criminals at Ten Downing Street and the White House
to justice."
She described how the media often ask "stupid
questions" like "Your son volunteered?" Her response "Are
you saying he got what he deserved?" Or, "Do you want Iraq to
descend into chaos?" She responds "What is your definition of
chaos? Look at Iraq today."
And, "Do you think you're being used?" Her
response, "Do you think you are being used!?"
She urges people to get active, take action and not to
stand for the abuses of government saying "They will only take away our
freedoms if we let them do it."
Hassan Juma, President of the Southern Iraqi Oil Workers'
Union, described how union workers have continued to fight for their rights
despite abuse and incarceration; how they see the war is really about the
United States and Great Britain taking Iraq's oil saying "the U.S. has
evil intentions and is willing to kill for its own benefit." Juma
described Iraq oil as "a national treasure for Iraqis."
He said "We will die for our objectives" and
listed as their first objective "all occupation forces leave immediately
and unconditionally leaving Iraqi people to decide their own fate, their own
future."
www.ivaw.net
Do you have a friend or relative in the service? Forward this E-MAIL
along, or send us the address if you wish and we'll send it regularly. Whether
in Iraq or stuck on 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, at home and inside the armed services. Send requests to address up
top.
IRAQ WAR REPORTS
Suburban Soldier Dies
Dec 5, 2005 Pamela Jones Reporting, CBS 2
SCHILLER PARK: The Army says a Fort Campbell soldier from
suburban Chicago died last week from non-combat injuries in Iraq.
Base officials say 25-year-old Sgt. Grzegorz Jakoniuk of
Schiller Park died in Taji on November 30. The Army did not disclose the cause
of his death, but the incident is under investigation.
Jakoniuk was a Blackhawk helicopter crewman with the 101st
Airborne Division. A Fort Campbell spokeswoman says he was a specialist at the
time of his death and was posthumously promoted to sergeant.
CBS 2's Pamela Jones reports his family says he was just a
local guy with big dreams of helping his family.
Neighbors say Jakoniuk came here from Poland as an adult and
joined the Army, in part, to get an education he otherwise couldn't afford. He
was a technician skilled in electronics.
His next door neighbors in Schiller Park can't believe he is
gone.
"It's shock because he was like a brother to us. And I
couldn't believe," said Eva Gronkiewicz.
A yellow ribbon draped with a black one hangs at her house,
as well as a Polish flag and an American one for the country he served.
"It's not fair. This young man had plans for a future, a
very smart future, and now everything is gone," Gronkiewicz said.
Jakoniuk was based out of a unit in Ft. Campbell, Ky.
Neighbors say this was his second tour of duty in Iraq
and he was scheduled to come home in February.
Neighbors say Jakoniuk's mother died in May, and his father
is critically ill.
Centralia Marine Killed
December 9, 2005 By GORDY HOLT, SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER
REPORTER
Joseph P. Bier, a 22-year-old Marine corporal from
Centralia, was killed in Iraq Wednesday. A Marine Corps news release said
today that he died from wounds suffered in an explosion of a homemade bomb.
A Centralia School District counselor said today that Bier
had been home-schooled and was not known widely at Centralia High School. His
family did not want to talk to reporters today.
In an Oct. 21 story published on a Marine Corps' web site
and datelined Ar Ramadi, Iraq, Bier told an interviewer how happy he was to
find himself ordered to Iraq after two years at Bangor.
"I thought, 'Finally, I get to do what Marines do,' " Bier
said.
Later in the interview, however, Bier indicated he was
disappointed he hadn't found more action.
"I expected this place to be a little more hectic, to
have more enemy contact," he said. "I'm a little disappointed, I think it's a
little quiet. I expected more to happen here. It's not like what is shown in
TV."
Maconite Among 48th Dead
Dec. 06, 2005 By Wayne Crenshaw, TELEGRAPH STAFF WRITER
A Macon soldier was among the three members of the 48th
Brigade Combat Team killed in Iraq on Friday, but authorities have not released
the name or details about the accident.
Another member of the 48th Brigade, Philip Allan Dodson Jr.
of Forsyth, also was killed in the Humvee accident. The third soldier killed
was from the Atlanta area, said Col. Larry McLendon, the 48th's rear detachment
commander.
The deaths of the three soldiers bring to 25 the number
of 48th Brigade soldiers killed since the unit's call-up, and they make it one
of the hardest-hit National Guard outfits serving in Iraq.
A total of 14 deaths resulted from combat action, and the
rest were accidents. The tally also includes one soldier who died in a
training accident at Fort Stewart.
Jim Driscoll, director of communications for the Georgia
National Guard, said the only information he had on the Humvee crash was that
it happened southeast of Ali Air Base. He also said the accident was not caused
by hostile action. Funeral arrangements for Dodson, 42, are incomplete. Monroe
County Memorial Chapel is handling arrangements.
THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO COMPREHENSIBLE REASON TO BE IN THIS
EXTREMELY HIGH RISK LOCATION AT THIS TIME, EXCEPT THAT A CROOKED POLITICIAN WHO
LIVES IN THE WHITE HOUSE WANTS YOU THERE, SO HE WILL LOOK GOOD.
That is not a good enough reason.
11.12.05 US Marines from Echo Company 2nd Battalion 7th
Marine Regiment, search a building during a foot patrol through the city of
Fallujah. (AFP/David Furst)
AFGHANISTAN WAR REPORTS
As G.I. Killed, Another Wounded:
Ass-Kissing General Says Drugs Are The Threat
12.16.05 New York Times & Los Angeles Times
An American serviceman was killed and another wounded in
a firefight with insurgents in Afghanistan's southern Kandahar Province, the
U.S. military reported. An Afghan soldier was also wounded and an
insurgent killed.
Drugs are a greater security threat in Afghanistan than a
Taliban resurgence, NATO commander Gen. James Jones said. [OK. So from now on, he's required
to spend 5 days per week sitting in a Humvee on patrol in southern Kandahar Province,
or face charges of cowardice in the face of the enemy? In your dreams. It's
safer spewing his lame bullshit at reporters, and ass-kissing his way up the
chain of command to his next promotion.]
Coalition Of The Thieving:
"Allies" Want Pentagon To Hike Rent On Their Base "100
Times" To Allow Continued Use For Afghan Occupation
12.15.05 London Financial Times
Kyrgyzstan has dramatically raised the stakes in its
dispute with the United States over payments for use of a key military base by
demanding that Washington pay 100 times the current rent. The Kyrgyz
government has been embroiled in a dispute with the Pentagon over payment for
past and future use of Manas air base, which has become an important refueling
port for U.S. aircraft flying in Afghanistan.
TROOP NEWS
Endless Tours Downrange Destroying Life On Home Front
& Trashing Morale
12.16.05 Wall Street Journal
Like all wars, Iraq and Afghanistan have strained Army
families. But today's strains are different.
In Vietnam, most soldiers did a required one-year tour
and never went back.
Today, because the Army is significantly smaller, most
troops come home from a year in combat knowing that they will have to return to
the fight 12 months later.
Returning soldiers often spend the first months home
mourning losses, working through nightmares, and struggling to find their place
in families that have grown accustomed to living without them.
All while the specter of a return to the war zone hangs
over their heads.
Fake "Apology" From AF Academy Racists Won't Cut It
Letter To The Editor
12.19.05
Army Times
I read and reread "Air Force Academy coach in hot water
again" (Nov. 7) with great care. I read (Fisher) DeBerry's racist comments.
I also carefully studied his words of apology, delivered at a press conference
the following day.
I looked in vain for some understanding of, and
repentance for, the underlying racism his words seemed to reveal. There was
none. DeBerry's only concern seemed to be, "I shouldn't have said what I
said."
And what about (Athletic Director Hans) Mueh? is only
concern seemed to be, "The comments ... were inappropriate." And then, DeBerry
wins lots of football games. We're going to keep him.
And in the minds of both men, this seems to end the story.
Well, not quite. In the minds and hearts of people of
color and their allies, this is just one more example of white men in positions
of power just not getting it.
These kinds of incidents, repeated in this country a million
times, are why many people of color feel a sense of despair and abandonment in
their own country.
To bring proper closure to this incident, both gentlemen
concerned need to step forward, forthrightly admit the racism seemingly
existent in their own character, and determine to take whatever action
necessary to rid themselves of whatever racist attitudes, concepts and beliefs
they may have.
Sgt. 1st Class Earle L. Harvey (ret.)
Terre Haute, Ind.
Military Censoring Reporter For Showing Damages After
Being Given Official Permission To Show Damages
[Thanks to T. Palmubo, who sent this in.]
Dec 16 The Virginian-Pilot
NORFOLK, Va. (AP) -- The military this week revoked the
press credentials of a Norfolk newspaper writer and photographer who were
reporting from Kuwait, saying they had violated ground rules by photographing
battle-damaged military vehicles.
Denis Finley, editor of The Virginian-Pilot, wrote a
letter Friday protesting the Army's confiscation of the badges that allowed the
pair to interview and photograph service members. The letter seeks a written
explanation of Army policy and a guarantee that journalists representing the
paper be fully eligible for future "embed" privileges.
"Yes, we were at an Army base. And yes, we signed an
agreement," Finley wrote to Lt. Col. David C. Farlow, deputy director of
public affairs for U.S. Central Command.
"But we were officially escorted and were under the
immediate authority of the Navy, which was fully aware of our activities,"
Finley wrote.
Reporter Lou Hansen and photographer Hyunsoo Leo Kim spent
more than two weeks with the Navy in the Persian Gulf region, chronicling Navy
and coalition units.
During the next two days, the pair visited Camp Arifjan in
Kuwait with Navy public affairs officials.
They were assigned military escorts who gave them a tour
of several lots where battle-damaged vehicles were stored and showed them an
area where vehicles from Iraq were cleaned, the newspaper said in a story
published Friday.
The pair asked the escorts if they could take photos
and were told yes, according to Hansen and Kim.
The newspaper published the story and photos Dec. 10, under
the headline "Scouring the skeletons of war."
Army Lt. Col. Debbie Haston-Hilger wrote an e-mail Monday
to Hansen's editor from Camp Arifjan, saying a photo was "in violation of
operational security and puts future troops in harm's way by showing the
vulnerabilities of vehicles which the insurgents can use against them."
Col. Barrett King, chief public affairs officer at Coalition
Forces Land Component Command's headquarters in Atlanta, acknowledged the
command's policy is inconsistent with wider military regulations. He said he
would revisit the policy.
NEED SOME TRUTH? CHECK OUT TRAVELING SOLDIER
Telling the truth - about
the occupation or the criminals running the government in Washington - is the
first reason for Traveling Soldier. But we want to do more than tell the
truth; we want to report on the resistance - whether it's in the streets of
Baghdad, New York, or inside the armed forces. Our goal is for Traveling
Soldier to become the thread that ties working-class people inside the armed
services together. We want this newsletter to be a weapon to help you organize
resistance within the armed forces. If you like what you've read, we hope that
you'll join with us in building a network of active duty organizers. http://www.traveling-soldier.org/ And join with Iraq War vets in the call to
end the occupation and bring our troops home now! (www.ivaw.net)
Vicious Shit-Brains At St. Paul Pioneer Press Suspend
Editor, A Vietnam Vet, For Trip To D.C. Anti- War Rally On His Own Time
St. Joan of Arc
Catholic Church graphic
Many of the old tapes in
Tim's head began to play and he thought back as he said to the times in Vietnam
when he wished the peace protests would get bigger so the nightmare would end
sooner.
He repeats his mantra
that it was the peace marchers of the 60's and 70's who brought pressure to
lower the troop numbers and scale down the war. He says that he always
believed that some peace marcher had saved his life.
December 16 Via Ward Reilly, Vietnam Veterans Against The
War
By Chuck MacDonald, Stjoan.com [Excerpts] Chuck MacDonald
is a parish member and Project Co-Coordinator for the South African Hospice
program.
In the parking lot of St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church in
South Minneapolis last September, a man got on a bus that would take him and
many others, to Washington, D.C. to protest the war in Iraq.
This man did not ride into history; he came back to his
job at the St. Paul Pioneer Press and got a three-day work suspension.
He had not been expected to be at work that weekend and
was taking the bus ride on his personal time.
Hurricane Katrina caused the Pioneer Press to seek
additional help that weekend. When the newspaper called the man's home, his
wife told them he was in Washington at the peace march. One man's weekend
choice became a public display of values and the workplace. The Twin City's
City Pages (October 26, 2005, page 12) carried the story, as did several
national newspaper guild publications.
The man was told that any
further display of personal conviction would lead to work termination.
The plot thickens and to get a better perspective on this
one small act of tyranny, one needs to learn a bit about this would-be Midwest
insurgent.
First of all, Tim Mahoney is not from the Midwest. He is
from New Jersey, born and raised in the section of New Jersey that is used for
the opening shots of The Sopranos. He says he is Irish and Yankee and the
oldest of nine children. He grew up in the 50's.
His parents' limited income helped determine who went to
Catholic schools and who went to public. The smart ones went to the Catholic
schools. So Tim Mahoney did 13 years of 1950 style Catholic education. He describes
his academic feats by saying he graduated near the bottom of the class and
spent most of his high school years in the back of the classrooms.
To those of us who taught high school, it was known that
hidden talent and rebellion frequently was found amongst those seated in the
back seats of the classroom.
With no further academic goals in mind, Tim got a job in
equipment sales, and five years later in 1970 his draft number came up.
As for so many of those young men drafted, it was a brief
training period and a flight to Vietnam for a 360-day tour of duty, if you
lasted.
Tim was trained to fire mortars, and at times, sweep
villages. Two wrenching encounters changed Tim Mahoney. During a hidden bomb
shelter search he drew his gun on a pair of eyes, but for some reason he did
not pull the trigger. A second later he discovered the eyes belonged to a
seven year old Vietnam girl. That day Tim lost what little interest was left
of soldiering. A walk through a hospital ward filled with child victims of the
war solidified his hatred of it all.
We seem to have a history in this country of naively
thinking that our military men come home and start a Mayberry life again where
they left off. The veteran's hospitals, our homeless shelters, our city streets
say otherwise.
Tim, like other veterans, attests to the reality that is
sometimes takes years to right-side, or to find some life balance. Changed by
the experience, Tim decided to try college. Two years at a community college
got his academic grades up, and then he went off to the islands of Hawaii to
finish college.
The boy, who sat in the back of the classroom and at the
academic bottom of his class at the age of 34, won a scholarship to none other
than the prestigious Iowa Writer's Workshop. Life became better, and Tim wrote
two books about the war that he had no trouble publishing and found employment
at the San Francisco Chronicle as a copy editor. He fell in love and
married at 40. His wife wanted to get her doctorate in botany, so they moved
to Madison and eventually both landed jobs in Minnesota.
Now to the part about stepping over that unseen line in the
sand.
All of us have had times when we find ourselves doing
something we didn't think we would do. This year, Tim as copy editor was
checking out a story about St. Joan of Arc and decided to look at the St. Joan
Community website. As a long ago East coast Catholic, he was intrigued by what
he saw on the website and decided to check it out. Tim Mahoney at 58 one day
walked through the gym doors of St. Joan of Arc and stepped over a personal
line because he came back the next Sunday, and the Sundays that followed.
Five months later and still going to St, Joan's, the subject
of buses going to Washington to protest this war in Iraq got Tim's attention.
Many of the old tapes in Tim's head began to play and he
thought back as he said to the times in Vietnam when he wished the peace
protests would get bigger so the nightmare would end sooner.
He repeats his mantra that it was the peace marchers of
the 60's and 70's who brought pressure to lower the troop numbers and scale
down the war. He says that he always believed that some peace marcher had
saved his life. In September of 2005, Tim Maloney, writer, copy editor, and
Vietnam vet stepped on a peace bus because he wanted to be one more number to
count against this Iraqi bloodbath.
Shakespeare said "Nothing is so common as the wish to be
remarkable." In the end only Tim Mahoney knows why he stepped on that bus or
walked into St. Joan of Arc because it is his journey.
Tim Mahoney's life has been rich and wide with
experience. He gives the appearance of a quiet man, but in conversation one
senses the boy who chose at first the back of the class room but then later
became a published author writing about the horrors of war.
When Tim Mahoney signed up to participate in a peace
rally, did he know he was stepping over that line?
But like a Colleen Rowley, or a Dorothy Irvin, or a Kathy
Itzin and so many more at St. Joan of Arc and in other churches and
communities, there comes a time when you know you must step over that unseen
line. If you do not, you will have no peace.
"Modern wars do terrible things to innocent people,
children included. Sometimes in this world of fog and ambiguity, there is a
clear right and wrong. I can't think of anything more clearly wrong than to
inflict suffering on the innocent in an 'optional.' Tim Mahoney November 2005
Beware of Slanted Apostrophes
By Laura Merlo, a former co-worker of Tim Mahoney's on
the copy desk of the San Francisco Chronicle
It's very distressing to learn that copy editor
Tim Mahoney was suspended without pay for taking part in a peaceful antiwar
protest, and that the newspaper might terminate his employment if he
participated in similar events in the future.
Having to relinquish one's right to participate fully as
a citizen in our democracy is just too high a price to pay for being a copy
editor. There has never been an ethics-based requirement that journalists give
up their freedom, and such a rule should not be imposed now.
Mahoney is a Vietnam War veteran and author of two
wonderful novels, We're Not Here and Hallaran's World War. He has learned
about war from the inside and has risked his life defending his country. Clearly,
he has earned the right to exercise his conscience, to protest peacefully on
his own time.
An experienced journalist knows how to keep his personal
beliefs out of his work. As long as Mahoney doesn't twist the facts or write
slanted headlines, what the newspaper has done is wrong. It should stop its
heavy-handed treatment of its workers.
[Refuse to buy St. Paul Pioneer Press publications. If
you have any, use them to wipe your ass. Then send to the Editor. T]
IRAQ RESISTANCE ROUNDUP
Imprisoned And Tortured Under Saddam's Regime, He
Pointed Out:
"Occupation Is The Worst Act Of Terrorism"
"The Resistance Is Legitimate"
12.13.05 Kevin Zeese, democracyrising.us [Excerpts]
THE INTERNATIONAL
PEACE CONFERENCE
London 10th
December 2005
Ayatollah Jawad al-Khalisi President of the Iraq National
Foundation Conference said he came to "help heal the wounds the war has
opened."
He urged more demonstrations by the anti-war movement as
they have a big, positive impact in Iraq.
The Ayatollah, who had
been imprisoned and tortured under Saddam's regime, pointed out how the
occupation forces are "imprisoning people where Saddam's secret police
imprisoned people and are doing the same things that Saddam did."
Today, people in Iraq are afraid to go out as they do not
know what will happen to them.
When he is asked about Iraq elections he describes them
and the constitution as "a 'big lie' sold by the Western media: fake
elections and a fake constitution."
Echoing Sami Ramadani he said Iraqis can live together.
"These differences have existed for a long time but we have lived together
for long time. The occupation has escalated problems, increased divisions in
an attempt to divide the Iraqi people and redraw the map of the Middle East in
favor of their interests."
He said "the war is illegitimate and illegal: no
subsequent UN resolutions change that reality. And, the resistance is
legitimate."
He concluded: "Occupation is the worst act of
terrorism as it strips people of their dignity. Human rights have no value
under occupation as soldiers and mercenaries can kill anyone at any time."
OCCUPATION ISN'T LIBERATION
BRING ALL THE TROOPS HOME NOW!
"There Is No Iraqi Muslim Who Wants A Foreigner To
Occupy This Country"
15 December 2005 Aljazeera
"I'm not voting because I have nothing to do with
politics. Even if they pick Saddam Hussein, I don't care because Iraq will
never be back on its feet. Iraq was usurped by the Americans who are there to
stay" Ali, 39, construction worker, Amman, Jordan
"I came to vote because I want the Americans to
leave Iraq. Things will be much better after they leave. There is no Iraqi
Muslim who wants a foreigner to occupy this country."
Ahmed Jassim, 52, Mosul
FORWARD OBSERVATIONS
Heavy Medal
Alan Patten (C) and his fiancee Diane Kerr pick up the
remains of Alan's nineteen-year-old son US Marine Lt. Cpl Andrew Patten, who
was killed in Fallujah, at O'Hare airport. (AFP/Getty Images/Scott Olson)
From: Mike Hastie
To: GI Special
Sent: December 17, 2005
Subject: Heavy Medal
The picture of the casket on the fork lift [above] is
probably the heaviest picture to come out of this insane war.
The warehouse, the fork lift, the father, the Marine in
the picture: it has all the elements of a picture that can change people's
lives.
This picture should be shown frequently.
It says it all.
I could write a thousand page book, and not say what this
single photograph says.
This picture gives me chills. Denial, anger, grief,
betrayal, it's all there.
It's heavy, because the fork lift is heavy.
The emptiness of the warehouse.
The silent madness of the Iraq War.
The mental illness of a war economy.
The shame is all there.
Mike Hastie
Vietnam Veteran
"The most revolutionary act is to name reality." Paulo Freire
GEORGE JACKSON/TOOKIE WILLIAMS
A song by Bob Dylan from 1971.
I woke up this mornin',
There were tears in my bed.
They killed a man I really loved
Shot him through the head.
Lord, Lord,
They cut George Jackson down.
Lord, Lord,
They laid him in the ground.
Sent him off to prison
For a seventy dollar robbery.
Closed the door behind him
And they threw away the key.
Lord, Lord, They cut George Jackson down.
Lord, Lord,
They laid him in the ground.
He wouldn't take shit from no one
He wouldn't bow down or kneel.
Authorities, they hated him
Because he was just too real.
Lord, Lord,
They cut George Jackson down.
Lord, Lord,
They laid him in the ground.
Prison guards, they cursed him
As they watched him from above
But they were frightened of his power
They were scared of his love.
Lord, Lord,
So they cut George Jackson down.
Lord, Lord,
They laid him in the ground.
Sometimes I think this whole world
Is one big prison yard.
Some of us are prisoners
The rest of us are guards.
Lord, Lord,
They cut George Jackson down.
Lord, Lord,
They laid him in the ground.
Copyright ) 1971 Ram's Horn Music
"All Empires And Tyrants Torture"
If there's any available
space on planet earth, or in the heavens, or underwater, or underground, or
even inside your head, the logic of empire dictates that the corporate-state
will want to be there, too.
12-15-05 By Seth Sandronsky, Politicalaffairs.net [Excerpts]
It's widely known that the US locks up people at a much
higher rate than any country in Europe. It is less known that it locks up
people at a higher rate than China, which most would call a repressive society.
Yes, it's we, not the Chinese, who lead the world in
imprisonment. And the crimes that people are locked up for are increasingly
non-violent crimes. More and more it is for such things as petty drug
possession offenses. And the brunt of those policies fall on blacks and browns:
specifically African Americans and Hispanics. More specifically on young
African American males.
If you compare South Africa under apartheid with the US
today, we lock up African Americans at much higher rates.
Consider also the high
rates of recidivism among prisoners, their political disenfranchisement, the
horrendous rates of sexual assault including male rape in prisons, the explosion
of prison building, the privatization of many aspects of incarceration and the
growth of what some have called the prison-industrial complex: place these
developments over the last 10-15 years against what we observe in the current
prison torture scandal, and things become quite clear.
We have the same explosion of prison building, this time
abroad, this time covert, the same tales of sexual abuse and assault, the same
tales of torturous or abusive treatment, the same privatization, the same creation
of a "grey zone" in which prisoners no longer have a clear legal
status to protect them. The vote deprivation on the domestic front is matched
by the rights deprivation in the war on terror.
All empires and tyrants torture.
It grows out of their huge size, their ambition, and their
desire to dominate. Because they need to know more and more about their
enemies, their friends, the country next door or on the opposite side of the
globe.
That's what full-spectrum dominance, the stated goal of
American empire, is about.
If there's any available space on planet earth, or in the
heavens, or underwater, or underground, or even inside your head, the logic of
empire dictates that the corporate-state will want to be there, too.
We are seeing the first, the very first, early signs of a
police state in this country. It does not have to go that way if people stand
up to it.
But the torture scandal cannot be dealt with separately
from the impending emergence of a police state.
The distortions of the corporate-media cannot be analyzed
separately from that emergence.
Vietnam GI, May 1968
The above picture shows exactly what the brass want you
to do in the Nam. The reason for printing this picture is not to put down
G.I.'s but rather to illustrate the fact that the Army can really fuck over
your mind if you let it.
It's up to you, you can put in your time just trying to
make it back in one piece or you can become a psycho like the Lifer (E-6) in
the picture who really digs this kind of shit. It's your choice.
"The Best Thing About The Left-Behind Books Is The Way
The Non-Christians Get Their Guts Pulled Out By God"
If a Muslim were to write
an Islamic version of last book in the Left Behind series, Glorious Appearing,
and publish it across the Middle East, Americans would go berserk. Yet tens of
millions of Christians eagerly await and celebrate an End Time when everyone
who disagrees with them will be murdered in ways that make Islamic beheading
look like a bridal shower.
December 17, 2005 by Joe Bageant, Dissidentvoice.org
[Excerpts]
"Jesus merely raised one hand a few inches and a yawning
chasm opened in the earth, stretching far and wide enough to swallow all of
them. They tumbled in, howling and screeching, but their wailing was soon
quashed and all was silent when the earth closed itself again." From Glorious
Appearing by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins
"The best thing about the Left Behind books is the way
the non-Christians get their guts pulled out by God." 15-year old
fundamentalist fan of the Left Behind series
That is the sophisticated language and appeal of
America's all-time best selling adult novels celebrating the ethnic cleansing
of non-Christians at the hands of Christ.
If a Muslim were to write an Islamic version of last book
in the Left Behind series, Glorious Appearing, and publish it across the Middle
East, Americans would go berserk. Yet tens of millions of Christians eagerly
await and celebrate an End Time when everyone who disagrees with them will be
murdered in ways that make Islamic beheading look like a bridal shower.
Jesus, who apparently has a much nastier streak than we
have been led to believe, merely speaks and "the bodies of the enemy are ripped
wide open down the middle."
In the book Christians have to drive carefully to avoid
"hitting splayed and filleted corpses of men and women and horses," even as the
riders' tongues are melting in their mouths and they are being wide-open gutted
by God's own hand, the poor damned horses are getting the same treatment.
Sort of a divinely inspired version of "Fuck you and the
horse you rode in on."
So far the Democratic political elite, who only take
their thumb out of their ass to change thumbs, has not been able to stop the
religious right's relentless push.
And I think it is because, at least from where I sit
right now, the democratic establishment has not offered, much less delivered,
and is incapable of delivering what my people really need: decent educations so
they will not be prey to three thousand year old superstitions.
The Left has yet to demand for all Americans a genuine
absolutely free education, an opportunity to enjoy a life of the mind, or to
even know such a thing exists.
Hell, you got yours and I got mine, right?
So screw 'em.
"The West won the world not by the superiority of its ideas or values
or religion but rather by its superiority in applying organized violence.
Westerners often forget this fact, non-Westerners never do." Samuel P. Huntington
What do you think? Comments from service men and women, and veterans,
are especially welcome. Send to contact@militaryproject.org. Name, I.D.,
withheld on request. Replies confidential.
OCCUPATION REPORT
Election Spin Vs. Reality
December 15, 2005 By Chris Tomlinson, Associated Press &
16 December 2005 By Ellen Knickmeyer and Jonathan Finer, The Washington
Post
MOSUL, Iraq
U.S. troops weren't at the polling stations for
Thursday's national elections.
But they were close by, ready to back up Iraqi security
forces if called upon.
In Fallujah, many of those who cast ballots in the city of
about 250,000, west of Baghdad in Anbar province, said they considered voting
an act of resistance against the continued presence of U.S.
On Thursday, polling sites were protected by Iraqi police,
while Marines withdrew to a perimeter no closer than 100 yards away.
How It Is
December 16, 2005 Michael Schwartz [Excerpt]
Don't expect the new government to accomplish anything
beyond taking positions.
It has no power: the power rests with the U.S. and with
the resistance, and with the local leaders in the Shia areas.
The government has no army (the Iraqi police and military
are trained, commanded and supervised by the U.S.); it has no administration
(all local administration, such as there is, in locally controlled by local
leaders, militias, and/or the resistance, even in Shia areas); and it has no
resources (the oil revenues are so small and so mortgaged that they borrow from
the U.S. to run their meager administration).
U.S. OCCUPATION RECRUITING DRIVE IN HIGH GEAR;
RECRUITING FOR THE ARMED RESISTANCE THAT IS
Foreign fighters from Charlie Company 2nd battalion 22nd
Infantry regiment search Iraqi citizens in eastern Baghdad December 7, 2005. (Laszlo
Balogh/Reuters)
[Fair is fair. Let's bring 150,000 Iraqis over here to
the USA. They can treat the citizens on the street like POWs, kill people at
checkpoints, bust into their houses with force and violence, overthrow the
government, put a new one