Truth in Recruiting | TPF counter-recruitment - Tulsa Peace Fellowship
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"Ghouls troll school halls" (protest poem) | TPF counter-recruitment digest/update for Dec 2011
tag:tulsapeacefellowship.ning.com,2011-12-21:2567841:Topic:19870
2011-12-21T02:58:03.629Z
Tony Nuspl
http://tulsapeacefellowship.ning.com/profile/TonyNuspl
<p><b><font face="Andalus"><big><i>Truth in Recruiting</i> - "Don't Believe the Hype!"</big><br></br> <big><big>The Tulsa Peace Fellowship's Counter-Recruitment Update/Digest, for Dec 2011</big></big></font></b><br></br></p>
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<p><b><font face="Andalus"><big><i>Truth in Recruiting</i> - "Don't Believe the Hype!"</big><br/> <big><big>The Tulsa Peace Fellowship's Counter-Recruitment Update/Digest, for Dec 2011</big></big></font></b><br/></p>
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<p>(scroll down for details about any story, including links to original stories)<br/> <br/> <strong>protest poem, by Tom Greening:</strong><br/> <br/> MILITARY RECRUITERS<br/> <br/> Ghouls troll school halls<br/> preying on the young<br/> who have no better options.<br/> A protester asks a teacher,<br/> "Aren't you afraid they'll get killed?"<br/> and is answered,<br/> "Better a short life with meaning<br/> than a long one without."<br/> That's it? Meaning is in short supply<br/> and worn out like the textbooks.<br/> There are recruiting quotas to be met,<br/> so standards are lowered,<br/> bonuses paid, hopes inflated,<br/> felonies forgiven,<br/> and patriotic delusions fueled.<br/> This is the greatest military machine in history.<br/> It grinds slowly, but it grinds exceedingly fine.<br/> <br/> <em>This work by</em> Tom Greening <em>is licensed under a <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/us/">Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 United States License</a>.</em><br/> <br/> related story: <br/> <br/> file under 'military ghouls'<br/> <b>Air Force dumped ashes of U.S. troops’ remains in Va. landfill</b><br/> --The incinerated partial remains of at least 274 American troops were dumped in a Virginia landfill, in secret</p>
<blockquote>quote:<br/> “They knew that they were doing something disgusting, and they were doing everything they could to keep it from us.”<br/> ~Gari-Lynn Smith, the widow of an Army sergeant killed in Iraq, after receiving notice from the mortuary director saying that incinerated remains of soldiers had been taken to landfills</blockquote>
<p><br/> <br/> page 1<br/> <br/> Lead Story from the past month's news:<br/> <br/> <b>US soldier jailed over Afghan killings <br/></b> --ringleader sentenced to life in prison, but he will be eligible for parole after 8.5 years behind bars<b><br/></b></p>
<p style="margin-left: 0.49in; margin-bottom: 0.2in;">facts & figures: <br/> In all, 12 soldiers were charged. All but two have been convicted.</p>
<p>related story:<br/> <b>Sergeant found guilty; he's 11th conviction in JBLM probe</b><br/> --Army prosecutors won their 11th conviction in its investigation of war crimes involving Joint Base Lewis-McChord soldiers, securing a guilty verdict against a sergeant who could have halted the wrongdoing that unfolded but instead tried to cover it up.</p>
<blockquote>quote:<br/> “After seeing my children ripped away from me for the sins of their father, I truly do understand the weight of what I’ve done,” said Staff Sgt. David Bram, 27, was sentenced to 5 years in prison.</blockquote>
<p><br/> file under: the cycle of violence<br/> <b>Amid Piles of Innocent Corpses, NATO Orders Retraining Effort on How Not to Murder</b><br/> ~how to avoid civilian casualties after a succession of civilian casualties<br/> <br/> file under: the militarization of civilian life<br/> <b>Militarized police forces in the U.S. have a history of failure</b><br/> --article by University of Tulsa history professor, Jeremy Kuzmarov<br/> <br/> sidebar:<br/> <b>Army Veteran Tazed By Arizona Police, Now on Life Support</b><br/> <br/> featured editorial<br/> <b>The Passing of the Postwar Era</b><br/> opinion column by Tom Engelhardt on the demise of "Camp Victory" in Iraq</p>
<blockquote>quote:<br/> "When our trophy for the eight-year debacle is a commode, you know that we’re in a new era."</blockquote>
<p><br/> page 2<br/> <br/> <b>US Refuses to End Afghan Night Raids</b><br/> --Thousands killed in middle of the night</p>
<blockquote>quote:<br/> <br/> “[Americans] claim to be against terrorists, but what they are doing is terrorism. It spreads terror. It creates more violence.”<br/> ~one man from Nangarhar, Afghanistan, interviewed in the report <br/> <br/> facts & figures:<br/> <br/> U.S. nightly raids in Afghanistan get the wrong person 50 percent of the time. <br/> <br/> Some 92% of the war-torn population in Afghanistan have never even heard of 9/11.<br/> <br/> The US military occupation is now a decade old, with no end in sight.</blockquote>
<p>file under: trigger-happy Marines<br/> <b>Court martial set for remaining Marine charged for killings in Haditha, Iraq</b></p>
<blockquote>facts & figures:<br/> A total of 8 Marines were charged in the 2005 killing of 24 Iraqis in Haditha</blockquote>
<p>sidebar:<br/> <b>Mother: Veteran charged in AL postal shooting had PTSD</b><br/> <br/> file under: after the party, the hangover<br/> <b>Location of Nuke Weapons, Nuke Plants in the American Midwest</b><br/> --Mother Jones provides a national map of just where they are located, two decades after the end of the Cold War</p>
<blockquote>facts & figures:<br/> <br/> Kansas City Plant, Kansas City, Missouri<br/> Facility: Nuclear weapons plants and labs<br/> What's Here: Nuclear weapons lab overseen by National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)<br/> <br/> Pantex plant, Amarillo, Texas<br/> Facility: Locations of nuclear weapons<br/> What's Here: More than 3,000 warheads awaiting dismantlement<br/> <br/> Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana<br/> Facility: Locations of nuclear weapons<br/> What's Here: B-52H bomber base<br/> <br/> Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri<br/> Facility: Locations of nuclear weapons<br/> What's Here: B-2 bomber base<br/> <br/> Minot Air Force Base, North Dakota<br/> Facility: Locations of nuclear weapons<br/> What's Here: Minuteman ICMB silos, B-52H bomber base<br/> <br/> Warren Air Force Base, Colorado<br/> Facility: Locations of nuclear weapons<br/> What's Here: Minuteman ICMB silos<br/> <br/> source: <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://batchgeo.com/map/a87855317fdfab0922206bca2dbd19b9">http://batchgeo.com/map/a87855317fdfab0922206bca2dbd19b9</a><br/> <br/> The United States currently has 5,113 atomic warheads deployed in silos, bombers, and submarines across the country and the world, ready for use at a moment's notice. <br/> <br/> quote: <br/> "The Soviets are long gone, yet the stockpiles remain."<br/> ~Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) in a recent letter (PDF) to Congress' budget supercommittee, urging it to slash an "outdated radioactive relic" whose billions could be better spent</blockquote>
<p><br/> <br/> backpage<br/> <br/> <b>Russia Urges Probe of Libya Civilians Killed by NATO</b><br/> --human rights groups estimated over 50 civilians were killed by the air strikes<br/> <br/> sidebar:<br/> <b>Lebanon army: We dismantled rockets aimed at Israel</b><br/> --The Lebanese army dismantled on Monday four rockets in southern Lebanon, a Lebanese security official said.<br/> <br/> featured op/ed piece<br/> <b>Andrew Bacevich. Gold Star Father, Say Iraq War Definitely Was Not Worth the Cost</b><br/> -- Bacevich is Professor of International Relations and History at Boston University<br/> <br/> <b>US and Pakistan enter the danger zone</b><br/> --In what looks like a massive screw up, an air strike by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) hit the Pakistani military post at Salala on the Afghan-Pakistan border<br/> <br/> <b>Bradley Manning treatment in custody concerns MEPs</b><br/> -- More than 50 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) have signed an open letter to the US government raising concerns about the treatment of Bradley Manning, the US soldier in military detention for allegedly leaking classified US documents to the whistleblowing site WikiLeaks.<br/> <br/> <br/> related event:</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><font color="#000000"><font face="Andalus"><font size="7"><b>Tulsa Peace Fellowship</b></font></font></font></p>
<p align="center"><small><small><font style="font-size: 28pt;" size="6"><small><small>monthly peace vigil, occupying the corner of 41st & Yale<br/></small></small></font></small></small></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><small><small><font color="#000000"><font style="font-size: 48pt;" size="7"><small><small><b>U.S. OUT OF AFGHANISTAN NOW!<br/></b></small></small></font></font></small></small></p>
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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><small><small><font color="#000000"><font face="Copperplate Gothic Bold, Segoe Script, sans-serif"><font style="font-size: 20pt;" size="5"><small><small><b>always on the first Saturday of the month</b></small></small></font></font></font></small></small></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><small><small><font color="#000000"><font face="Copperplate Gothic Bold, Segoe Script, sans-serif"><font style="font-size: 20pt;" size="5"><small><small><b>January 7th, 2012</b></small></small></font></font></font></small></small></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><small><small><font color="#000000"><font face="Copperplate Gothic Bold, Segoe Script, sans-serif"><font style="font-size: 20pt;" size="5"><small><small><b>12:00 noon to 2:00 pm</b></small></small></font></font></font></small></small></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><small><small><font color="#000000"><font face="Copperplate Gothic Bold, Segoe Script, sans-serif"><font style="font-size: 20pt;" size="5"><small><small><b>bring your own protest sign, or brandish one of ours<br/></b></small></small></font></font></font></small></small></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><font color="#000000"><font size="4"><b>Passers-by are encouraged to 'honk for peace', or flash us a peace sign.</b></font></font></p>
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<p><b><br/></b> <br/> epitaph for this edition of "Truth in Recruiting"<br/> <b>Leave War for the Ants</b><br/> --quote from B. Ehrenreich<br/></p>
<hr size="2" width="100%"/><p>The Tulsa Peace Fellowship's Counter-Recruitment Update/Digest, for Dec 2011<br/> <i>lead story</i><br/> <br/> from the foreign press:<br/> <br/> <big><big><big><b>US soldier jailed over Afghan killings</b></big></big></big><br/> AP<br/> 11 November 2011<br/> published online by <i>The Independent</i> (UK)<br/> <br/> A US soldier accused of exhorting his bored underlings to kill three Afghan civilians for sport has been convicted of murder, conspiracy and other charges in one of the most gruesome cases to emerge from the war.<br/> <br/> The military jury sentenced Army Staff Sergeant Calvin Gibbs to life in prison, but he will be eligible for parole in less than nine years.<br/> <br/> Gibbs was the highest ranking of five soldiers charged over the deaths of the unarmed men during patrols in Kandahar province early last year.<br/> <br/> At his court martial, the 26-year-old acknowledged cutting fingers off corpses and yanking out a victim's tooth to keep as war trophies, "like keeping the antlers off a deer you'd shoot".<br/> <br/> He had insisted he wasn't involved in the first or third killings, and in the second he merely returned fire.<br/> <br/> Prosecutors said Gibbs and his co-defendants knew the victims posed no danger but dropped weapons by their bodies to make them appear to have been combatants.<br/> <br/> Three co-defendants pleaded guilty, and two of them testified against Gibbs, portraying him as an imposing, bloodthirsty leader who in one instance played with a victim's corpse and moved the mouth like a puppet.<br/> <br/> Gibbs's lawyer insisted they conspired to blame him for what they had done and told the five jurors the case represented "the ultimate betrayal of an infantryman".<br/> <br/> The jury deliberated for about four hours before convicting him on all charges.<br/> <br/> The sentencing hearing began immediately after the verdict was announced, with prosecutor Major Andre LeBlanc asking for the maximum, life without parole. He told jurors that Gibbs was supposed to protect the Afghan people but instead caused many to lose trust in Americans. Mr LeBlanc noted that Gibbs repeatedly called the Afghans "savages".<br/> <br/> "Ladies and gentlemen, there is the savage - Staff Sergeant Gibbs is the savage," he said.<br/> <br/> Gibbs's lawyer, Phil Stackhouse, asked for leniency - life with parole - and noted that Gibbs could be eligible for parole after 10 years if they allowed it.<br/> <br/> "He'd like you to know he has had failures in his life and he's had a lot of time to think about them," Mr Stackhouse said. "He wants you to know he's not the same person he was in Afghanistan. He doesn't want his wife to have to raise their son on her own."<br/> <br/> The investigation into the 5th Stryker Brigade unit exposed widespread misconduct - a platoon that was "out of control", in the words of prosecutor Major Robert Stelle.<br/> <br/> The wrongdoing included hash-smoking, the collection of illicit weapons, the mutilation and photography of Afghan remains and the gang-beating of a soldier who reported the drug use.<br/> <br/> In all, 12 soldiers were charged. All but two have been convicted.<br/> <br/> The probe also raised questions about the brigade's permissive leadership culture and the Army's mechanisms for reporting misconduct.<br/> <br/> After the first killing, one soldier, Specialist Adam Winfield, alerted his parents and told them more killings were planned, but his father's call to a sergeant at Lewis-McChord relaying the warning went unheeded.<br/> <br/> Winfield later pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter in the last killing, saying he took part because he believed Gibbs would kill him if he did not.<br/> <br/> The case against Gibbs relied heavily on testimony from former Specialist Jeremy Morlock, who is serving 24 years after admitting his involvement in all three killings.<br/> <br/> According to Morlock, Gibbs gave him an "off-the-books" grenade that Morlock and Private Andrew Holmes used in the first killing - an Afghan teenager in a field - in January 2010.<br/> <br/> The next month, Morlock said, Gibbs killed the second victim with Specialist Michael Wagnon and tossed an AK-47 at the man's feet to make him appear to have been an enemy fighter. Morlock and Winfield said that during the third killing, in May, Gibbs threw a grenade at the victim as he ordered them to shoot.<br/> <br/> Morlock and others told investigators that soon after Gibbs joined the unit in 2010, he began talking about how easy it would be to kill civilians, and discussed scenarios where they might carry out such murders.<br/> <br/> Asked why soldiers might have agreed to go along with it, Morlock testified that the brigade had trained for deployment to Iraq before having their orders shifted at the last minute to Afghanistan.<br/> <br/> The infantrymen wanted action, he testified, but instead found themselves carrying out a more humanitarian counter-insurgency strategy that involved meetings and handshaking.<br/> <br/> Another soldier, Staff Sergeant Robert Stevens, who at the time was a close friend of Gibbs, told investigators that in March 2010, he and others followed orders from Gibbs to fire on two unarmed farmers in a field; no one was injured. Gibbs claimed one was carrying a rocket-propelled grenade launcher, but that was obviously false, Stevens said.<br/> <br/> Stevens also testified that Gibbs bragged to him about the second killing, admitting he planted an AK-47 on the victim's body because he suspected the man of involvement with the Taliban, according to a report.<br/> <br/> But during the trial, Gibbs insisted he came under fire.<br/> <br/> "I was engaged by an enemy combatant. Luckily his weapon appeared to malfunction and I didn't die."<br/> <br/> Gibbs testified that he wasn't proud about having removed fingers from the bodies of the victims, but said he tried to disassociate the corpses from the humans they had been as a means of coming to terms with the things soldiers are asked to do in battle.<br/> <br/> He testified that he did it because other soldiers wanted the trophies, and he agreed in part because he did not want his subordinates to think he was weak.<br/> <br/> Gibbs initially faced 16 charges, but one was dropped during the trial.<br/> <br/> <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-soldier-jailed-over-afghan-killings-6260604.html">http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-soldier-jailed-over-afghan-killings-6260604.html</a><br/> <br/> <br/> <big><big><big><b>Sergeant found guilty; he's 11th conviction in JBLM probe</b></big></big></big><br/> reporting by Adam Ashton, The News Tribune<br/> 11/19/11<br/> <br/> The Army on Friday won its 11th conviction in its investigation of war crimes involving Joint Base Lewis-McChord soldiers, securing a guilty verdict against a sergeant who could have halted the wrongdoing that unfolded but instead tried to cover it up.<br/> <br/> The Army on Friday won its 11th conviction in its investigation of war crimes involving Joint Base Lewis-McChord soldiers, securing a guilty verdict against a sergeant who could have halted the wrongdoing that unfolded but instead tried to cover it up.<br/> <br/> Staff Sgt. David Bram, 27, was sentenced to five years in prison. He was found guilty of assaulting the private who blew the whistle on drug use in their platoon, soliciting another junior soldier to join him in a scheme to murder Afghan civilians, impeding an Army investigation and disobeying a general order by possessing photos of casualties.<br/> <br/> Bram appeared resigned to his sentence. He cried during a statement to the jury after his verdict was read, imploring for mercy so he could reunite with his two children.<br/> <br/> “After seeing my children ripped away from me for the sins of their father, I truly do understand the weight of what I’ve done,” he said.<br/> <br/> Bram’s conviction means there is only one soldier from the platoon left to face a jury. Spc. Michael Wagnon, one of five defendants charged with murder, is expected to have his court-martial in January. <br/> <br/> Bram did not kill anyone, and he might have come home with a clean record if not for his decision to lead a seven-man beatdown on Pfc. Justin Stoner after the soldier complained about drug use in the platoon to a noncommissioned officer outside their unit in May 2010.<br/> <br/> The Army argued Bram joined that assault to intimidate Stoner because Bram knew that scrutiny on his platoon could lead officers to his own crimes.<br/> <br/> Scholtes mocked Bram’s commitment to the Army in closing arguments, “This backbone of the Army, this standard-bearer, he gets together with his posse of thugs and goes over to Pfc. Stoner’s (living quarters)” to pummel the private.<br/> <br/> “This is not my brother that I know. It’s a little shocking,” said Matthew Bram.<br/> <br/> Staff Sgt. Bram said he understood his misconduct tarnished the legacy of his brigade and enabled the wrongdoing that resulted in 11 of his platoonmates facing criminal charges.<br/> <br/> He knew he had the rank and the bearing to halt the war crimes, but instead he became a participant.<br/> <br/> <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.thenewstribune.com/2011/11/18/1912065/sergeant-found-guilty-hes-11th.html#storylink=omni_popular">http://www.thenewstribune.com/2011/11/18/1912065/sergeant-found-guilty-hes-11th.html#storylink=omni_popular</a><br/> <br/> <br/> <big><big><big><b>Amid Piles of Innocent Corpses, NATO Orders Retraining Effort on How Not to Murder</b></big></big></big><br/> Six days of retraining was ordered for NATO soldiers on how to avoid civilian casualties after succession of civilian casualties<br/> by John Glaser<br/> November 29, 2011<br/> <br/> NATO’s top commander in Afghanistan has ordered tens of thousands of troops to be retrained in how to avoid civilian casualties, while innocent corpses continue to pile up in the decade-long war.<br/> <br/> General Allen said NATO forces – over 70 percent of which are U.S. troops – will pursue retraining in methods of how to employ force against insurgents while protecting Afghan civilians. <br/> <br/> On the very day General Allen made this announcement, three Afghan women were killed and two men injured when NATO forces fired rockets into civilian houses in Kandahar province.<br/> <br/> This latest tragedy comes days after NATO warplanes killed at least nine civilians, at least six of them small children, in the very same Zhari province of Kandahar.<br/> <br/> In fact, civilian casualties have seen a sharp rise in 2011, raising the estimated number of civilian casualties to up to 14,700. Children, in particular, have suffered immensely and lost their lives in large numbers. <br/> <br/> <a href="http://news.antiwar.com/2011/11/29/amid-piles-of-innocent-corpses-nato-orders-retraining-effort-on-how-not-to-murder/">http://news.antiwar.com/2011/11/29/amid-piles-of-innocent-corpses-nato-orders-retraining-effort-on-how-not-to-murder/</a><br/> <br/></p>
<hr size="2" width="100%"/><p>The Tulsa Peace Fellowship's Counter-Recruitment Update/Digest, for Dec 2011<br/> <i>other page 1 stories</i><br/> <br/> <big><big><big><b>Air Force dumped ashes of more troops’ remains in Va. landfill than acknowledged</b></big></big></big><br/> By Craig Whitlock and Mary Pat Flaherty,<br/> <br/> The Air Force dumped the incinerated partial remains of at least 274 American troops in a Virginia landfill, far more than the military had acknowledged, before halting the secretive practice three years ago, records show.<br/> <br/> The landfill dumping was concealed from families who had authorized the military to dispose of the remains in a dignified and respectful manner, Air Force officials said. There are no plans, they said, to alert those families now.<br/> <br/> The new data, for the first time, show the scope of what has become an embarrassing episode for vaunted Dover Air Base, the main port of entry for America’s war dead.<br/> <br/> The landfill disposals were never formally authorized under military policies or regulations. They also were not disclosed to senior Pentagon officials who conducted a high-level review of cremation policies at the Dover mortuary in 2008, records show.<br/> <br/> Air Force and Pentagon officials said last month that determining how many remains went to the landfill would require searching through the records of more than 6,300 troops whose remains have passed through the mortuary since 2001.<br/> <br/> This week, after The Post pressed for information contained in the Dover mortuary’s electronic database, the Air Force produced a tally based on those records. It showed that 976 fragments from 274 military personnel were cremated, incinerated and taken to the landfill between 2004 and 2008.<br/> <br/> An additional group of 1,762 unidentified remains were collected from the battlefield and disposed of in the same manner, the Air Force said. Those fragments could not undergo DNA testing because they had been badly burned or damaged in explosions. The total number of incinerated fragments dumped in the landfill exceeded 2,700.<br/> <br/> A separate federal investigation of the mortuary last month, prompted by whistleblower complaints, uncovered “gross mismanagement” and documented how body parts recovered from bomb blasts stacked up in the morgue’s coolers for months or years before they were identified and disposed of.<br/> <br/> <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/air-force-dumped-ashes-of-more-troops-in-va-landfill-than-acknowledged/2011/12/07/gIQAT8ybdO_print.html">http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/air-force-dumped-ashes-of-more-troops-in-va-landfill-than-acknowledged/2011/12/07/gIQAT8ybdO_print.html</a><br/> <br/> <br/> featured editorial<br/> <big><big><big><b>The Passing of the Postwar Era</b></big></big></big><br/> by Tom Engelhardt<br/> November 14, 2011<br/> <br/> Sometimes, just when you least expect it, symbolism steps right up and coldcocks you. So how about this headline for — in the spirit of our last president — ushering America’s withdrawal from Iraq right over the nearest symbolic cliff: “U.S. empties biggest Iraq base, takes Saddam’s toilet.” They’re talking about Victory Base, formerly — again in the spirit of thoroughly malevolent symbolism — Camp Victory, the enormous American military base that sits at the edge of Baghdad International Airport and that we were never going to leave.<br/> <br/> If you want to measure the size of American pretensions in Iraq once upon a time, just consider this: that base, once meant — as its name implied — to be Washington’s triumphalist and eternal military command post in the oil heartlands of the planet, is encircled by 27 miles of blast walls and razor wire. (By comparison, the island I live on, Manhattan Island to be exact, is just 13.4 miles long.) So that’s big. It was, in fact, the biggest of the 505 bases the U.S. built in Iraq.<br/> <br/> By the way, it does seem just a tad ironic that only at the moment of departure are Americans given an accurate count of just how many bases “we” built in that country to the tune of billions of dollars. Previous published figures were in the “more than 300” range. In recent months, Victory Base has been stripped of much and locked down. You can almost hear taps playing for the closing of its Burger King, Subway, Taco Bell, and Cinnabon franchises, its bottled-water plant, its electric grid (which delivered power with an effectiveness the occupation was otherwise incapable of providing for the people of Baghdad), its “mother of all PXs,” its hospital, and so many of the other “improvements” now valued at $100 million or more.<br/> <br/> Anyway, I was talking about toilets, wasn’t I? Not to belabor the point, but back in 2003 George W. Bush was given Saddam Hussein’s pistol as a trophy after the Iraqi dictator was captured by U.S. forces in his “spider hole.” Now, it seems, Americans get the ultimate trophy: the stainless steel toilet Saddam used during his imprisonment in one of his old palaces at Camp Victory for the three years before he was hanged. On the theory that we installed it, so it’s ours to keep, it was removed in August and shipped back to the United States, destined for the Military Police Museum at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. So, close enough to a trillion dollars later (with so much more to come in, among other things, bills for the care of the American war-wounded and traumatized), don’t let anyone say that the United States got nothing out of the invasion and occupation of Iraq.<br/> <br/> When our trophy for the eight-year debacle is a commode, you know that we’re in a new era, even if that’s news in Washington.<br/> <br/> <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://original.antiwar.com/engelhardt/2011/11/13/the-passing-of-the-postwar-era/">http://original.antiwar.com/engelhardt/2011/11/13/the-passing-of-the-postwar-era/</a><br/> <br/> <br/> file under: the militarization of civilian life<br/> <big><big><big><b>Militarized police forces in the U.S. have a history of failure</b></big></big></big><br/> <br/> By Jeremy Kuzmarov<br/> <br/> 11-28-11<br/> <br/> History News Network (HNN)<br/> <br/> The images of militarized police units organized in platoon formation pepper spraying and beating peaceful demonstrators at UC Davis and at the Occupy encampments across the country have been disturbing to witness, though they provide a potent symbol of the times. While staffed with people from working-class backgrounds, the police in American society have long served as “protectors of privilege,” as Frank Donner put it in a 1990 book, upholding the power of the wealthy 1% by frequently crushing labor protest, spying on and harassing civil rights and antiwar activists, and enforcing the War on Drugs primarily in ghetto communities.<br/> <br/> As much as racial profiling and brutality have been deeply rooted in the history of American police institutions, so has their militarization.<br/> <br/> August Vollmer, the “father of modern law enforcement” who pioneered innovations such as fingerprinting, lie detector tests, and patrol cars as head of the Berkeley police force from 1905-1931, was himself a veteran of the Spanish-American/Philippines War. <br/> <br/> The 1924 appointment of General Smedley Butler as chief of police in Philadelphia epitomized the militarization of American police institutions during the Progressive era. Known for turning the Haitian Gendarmerie into a powerful colonial instrument, Butler cracked down on corruption, promoted use of high-speed cars and new radio technology, set up an iron ring of semi-military posts around the city, and followed what he called a “pound policy”–ordering his men, armed with sawed-off shotguns, to raid speakeasies and suspected bootlegging institutions suddenly and repeatedly if necessary. During his tenure, police closed 2,566 speakeasies compared with only 220 in the preceding year. Claiming the best way to stop crime was to shoot criminals and make jails unbearable, Butler was replaced after he stormed the Ritz-Carleton, shutting down a debutante ball. One angry citizen compared him to a military dictator while another wrote that “military tactics which might do in Mexico and other places has no place in the administration of civil affairs.”<br/> <br/> In August 1969, after demonstrators for People’s Park in Berkeley, California were subjected to beatings and torture, the Sheriff in Alameda County tellingly stated: “We have a bunch of young deputies back from Vietnam who tend to treat prisoners like Vietcong.” The continuity in pattern is evident today, with many police officers still coming from military backgrounds, being trained along paramilitary lines.<br/> <br/> <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://hnn.us/articles/militarization-american-police-has-long-historical-roots">http://hnn.us/articles/militarization-american-police-has-long-historical-roots</a><br/> <br/> <big><big><big><b>Army Veteran Detained By Arizona Sheriff’s Deputies Now on Life Support, Body Bears Signs of Tasing</b></big></big></big><br/> <br/> A Latino Army veteran arrested by sheriff’s deputies in Maricopa County, Arizona, is on life support after being found unresponsive in his cell. The family of 44-year-old Ernest Atencio told advocates they were deciding when to take their son off life support after he was found in his jail cell with Taser marks on his body. The news comes as Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio is facing scrutiny after a U.S. Department of Justice probe found the department unfairly targeted Latinos.<br/> <br/> source: <a href="http://www.democracynow.org/2011/12/20/headlines#17">http://www.democracynow.org/2011/12/20/headlines#17</a><br/> <br/> <br/></p>
<hr size="2" width="100%"/><p>The Tulsa Peace Fellowship's Counter-Recruitment Update/Digest, for Dec 2011<br/> <i>page 2</i><br/> <br/> <br/> <big><big><big><b>US Refuses to End Afghan Night Raids</b></big></big></big><br/> <br/> Thousands killed in middle of the night<br/> <br/> by John Glaser<br/> December 19, 2011 <br/> <br/> Afghan President Karzai’s Latest Plea to End Deadly Night Raids Falls on Deaf Ears<br/> <br/> The U.S. and NATO have refused to put an end to night raids on Afghan homes, despite repeated objections and pleas from Afghan President Hamid Karzai.<br/> <br/> Night raids have become the top issue among many Afghans, exemplifying for them the grievances they have living under military occupation. Karzai has repeatedly asked they be put to an end, only to be met with staunch refusals by the U.S. and NATO.<br/> <br/> Obama has more than tripled the incidence of night raids, which very often kill civilians, and which a study from back in September found fuel resentment and undermine the mission in Afghanistan.<br/> <br/> “An estimated 12 to 20 night raids now occur per night,” according to the report, “resulting in thousands of detentions per year, many of whom are non-combatants.” And many of the associated tactics, like “mass detention operations, holding entire villages for questioning on site for prolonged periods of time,” may violate international law, the report found.<br/> <br/> Civilians bear the brunt of these hardline tactics. As one man from Nangarhar, interviewed in the report said, “They claim to be against terrorists, but what they are doing is terrorism. It spreads terror. It creates more violence.”<br/> <br/> According to senior commanders in the Joint Special Operations Command, these various nightly raids get the wrong person 50 percent of the time. For a war-torn population living through a decade of US military occupation, ninety-two percent of whom have never even heard of 9/11, these are counterproductive indeed.<br/> <br/> According to official statistics later released by the U.S. and NATO, well over 1,500 civilians were killed in night raids in less than 10 months in 2010 and early 2011. That would make night raids among the most deadly of all military operations in Afghanistan.<br/> <br/> <a href="http://news.antiwar.com/2011/12/19/us-refuses-karzais-latest-plea-to-end-deadly-night-raids/">http://news.antiwar.com/2011/12/19/us-refuses-karzais-latest-plea-to-end-deadly-night-raids/</a><br/> <br/> <big><big><big><b>Court martial set for remaining Marine charged for killings in Haditha, Iraq</b></big></big></big><br/> December 18, 2011 <br/> <br/> American troops have left Iraq but there is a chapter yet to be written at Camp Pendleton from that long and destructive war: the trial of the last of eight Marines charged in the 2005 killing of 24 Iraqis in Haditha.<br/> <br/> The court martial of Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich is set to begin Jan. 4 on charges of manslaughter and assault.<br/> <br/> Marines killed five young men standing next to a car and then swept through three houses killing 19 more people, including three women, seven children, and a 76-year-old man in a wheelchair.<br/> <br/> Of the other seven Marines charged in the case, one was found not guilty and six had the charges against them dropped. Three senior officers, although not criminally charged, were censured by Marine brass for not investigating the killings more thoroughly until the incident was reported by Time magazine.<br/> <br/> Recent news stories have suggested that continuing Iraqi anger over the Haditha killings made it impossible for the Iraqi government to allow U.S. troops to remain.<br/> <br/> <a href="http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/12/marine-iraq-haditha-court-martial.html">http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/12/marine-iraq-haditha-court-martial.html</a><br/> <br/> sidebar:<br/> <big><big><big><b>Mother: Veteran charged in AL postal shooting had PTSD</b></big></big></big><br/> AP<br/> Dec 7, 2011<br/> <br/> MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The mother of a postal employee accused of firing gunshots inside the main post office in Alabama's capital city says her son belongs in a psychiatric facility and not in the county jail.<br/> <br/> In an interview with The Montgomery Advertiser (<a href="http://on.mgmadv.com/va5KV7">http://on.mgmadv.com/va5KV7</a>), Willa Darby said her 29-year-old son Arthur Lee Darby Jr. spent a year serving in Iraq.<br/> <br/> She told the newspaper he has received regular treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder. She said he was diagnosed with the condition shortly after returning from a tour of duty in Iraq in 2005.<br/> <br/> He was charged with two counts of attempted murder after police said he used two guns to fire shots inside a mail sorting area at the facility in Montgomery on Dec. 1. No one was injured.<br/> <br/> Information from: Montgomery Advertiser, <a href="http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com">http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com</a><br/> <br/></p>
<div class="yom-mod yom-art-hd"><div class="bd"><h1 class="headline">Where the nukes are:</h1>
<h1 class="headline">Map shows nuclear weapons spread across United States</h1>
<div id="yui_3_3_0_5_1321208023406221" class="yom-art-author"><div class="bd"><div id="yui_3_3_0_5_1321208023406225" style="opacity: 1;" class="profile"><div class="info clearfix"><p class="title">By <span class="fn"><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/author/zachary-roth/">Zachary Roth,</a></span> Senior National Affairs Reporter</p>
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<span class="provider org"><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/">The Lookout</a></span>, <abbr title="2011-11-11T17:15:36Z">Nov 11, 2011<br/> <br/></abbr></div>
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<div class="yom-figure yom-fig-right" style="width: 310px;"><a target="_blank" href="http://us.lrd.yahoo.com/SIG=12rpfb9d4/EXP=1322417619/**http%3A//motherjones.com/politics/2011/11/map-nuclear-bombs-power-weapons"><img class="align-left" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2310615864?profile=original" width="657"/></a><p class="legend">(Mother Jones)</p>
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<p>The Cold War ended more than two decades ago. But the United States still has more than 5,000 atomic warheads scattered around the country or on submarines around the world. And President Obama's push for a nuclear-weapons-free world is moving at a frustrating, glacial pace.</p>
<p>More than likely, there's highly radioactive nuclear material not too far from you right now. The hair-raising map above, compiled by <i>Mother Jones magazine</i> using data from the Defense Department and nuclear watchdog groups, lets you see just where those warheads are--while also showing civilian nuclear facilities, as well as the far-flung labs and factories that make up the American weapons complex. Our scattered system for making and storing weapons is needlessly expensive and dangerous, watchdog groups have said.</p>
<div id="content-header"><h1 class="title">Map: The Nuclear Bombs in Your Backyard</h1>
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<h3 class="dek">Look up where in the United States the Pentagon keeps its atomic weaponry.</h3>
<p>You can <a href="http://batchgeo.com/map/a87855317fdfab0922206bca2dbd19b9">view a full screen version of the map here</a>.</p>
<p>And you can check out Mother Jones's recent related story on <a href="http://motherjones.com/politics/2011/11/nuclear-weapons-complex-budget-disarmament">how we're spending even more on our weapons complex than we did during the Cold War</a></p>
<p><a href="http://motherjones.com/politics/2011/11/map-nuclear-bombs-power-weapons">http://motherjones.com/politics/2011/11/map-nuclear-bombs-power-weapons</a><br/> <br/></p>
<hr size="2" width="100%"/><p>The Tulsa Peace Fellowship's Counter-Recruitment Update/Digest, for Dec 2011<br/> <i>backpage</i><br/> <br/> <big><big><big><b>Russia Urges Probe of Libya Civilians Killed by NATO</b></big></big></big><br/> Louis Charbonneau, Reuters <br/> December 20, 2011<br/> <br/> UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Russia's U.N. envoy on Monday demanded there be a thorough investigation of civilians killed in NATO air strikes during its military operations in Libya, which led to the ouster and death of former leader Muammar Gaddafi.<br/> <br/> Ambassador Vitaly Churkin was reacting to news reports about civilian deaths caused by NATO. Reuters reported on Friday that human rights groups estimated over 50 civilians were killed by the air strikes, while the New York Times published on Sunday an estimate of 40 to over 70.<br/> <br/> Churkin told reporters the NATO alliance has so far failed to provide the U.N. Security Council with details about civilian casualties.<br/> <br/> "Unfortunately NATO adopted a pure propaganda stand, claiming zero civilian casualties in Libya, which was completely implausible, first of all, and, secondly, not true," he said.<br/> <br/> Churkin said he would raise the issue in the 15-nation Security Council on Thursday.<br/> <br/> "We hope that NATO is going to revisit this entire problem, is going to investigate this matter," he said, adding that the United Nations could help with the investigation.<br/> <br/> After abstaining from a March 17 vote on U.N. Security Council resolution 1973, which authorized U.N. member states to enforce a no-fly zone and use "all necessary measures" to protect Libyan civilians, Russia and China repeatedly accused NATO of overstepping its mandate by seeking to oust Gaddafi.<br/> <br/> <a href="http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/world/12412300/russia-urges-probe-of-libya-civilians-killed-by-nato/">http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/world/12412300/russia-urges-probe-of-libya-civilians-killed-by-nato/</a><br/> <br/> <br/> <big><big><big><b>Lebanon army: We dismantled rockets aimed at Israel</b></big></big></big><br/> IDF says presence of weapons in southern Lebanon is 'a concern' and a violation of UN Resolution 1701, which ended the Second Lebanon War in 2006.<br/> By DPA <br/> Dec 19th 2011<br/> <br/> The Lebanese army dismantled on Monday four rockets in southern Lebanon that were set to be fired into Israel, a Lebanese security official said.<br/> <br/> An Israeli military spokesperson said that the presence of weapons in southern Lebanon was "a concern" and a clear violation of UN Resolution 1701, which ended the 2006 war between Israel and the Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah. <br/> <br/> A rocket fired from Lebanon toward Israel last week exploded in Lebanese territory, wounding one woman.<br/> <br/> Rockets fired from Lebanon exploded in Israel three weeks ago, causing no damage or injuries. It was the first such cross-border attack in two years. <br/> <br/> <a href="http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/lebanon-army-we-dismantled-rockets-aimed-at-israel-1.402371">http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/lebanon-army-we-dismantled-rockets-aimed-at-israel-1.402371</a><br/> <br/> <br/> featured op/ed</p>
<h1 class="cnnBlogContentTitle"><a href="http://globalpublicsquare.blogs.cnn.com/2011/12/16/bacevich-after-iraq-war-is-u-s/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link:Bacevich: After Iraq, War is U.S.">Bacevich: After Iraq, War is US</a></h1>
<p class="cnn_first"><em><strong>Editor's Note: </strong><a href="http://www.bu.edu/ir/faculty/alphabetical/bacevich/" target="_blank">Andrew J. Bacevich</a> is Professor of International Relations and History at Boston University. This post is one of four from the Council on Foreign Relations in response to the question, <a href="http://www.cfr.org/iraq/iraq-war-worth-/p26820">Was the Iraq War worth it?</a></em></p>
<p>Recalling that Saddam's weapons of mass destruction and alleged ties to al-Qaeda both turned out to be all but non-existent, a Churchillian verdict on the war might read thusly: Seldom in the course of human history have so many sacrificed so dearly to achieve so little.<br/> <br/> Yet in inviting a narrow cost-benefit analysis, the question-as-posed serves to understate the scope of the debacle engineered by the war's architects. The disastrous legacy of the Iraq War extends beyond treasure squandered and lives lost or shattered. Central to that legacy has been Washington's decisive and seemingly irrevocable abandonment of any semblance of self-restraint regarding the use of violence as an instrument of statecraft. With all remaining prudential, normative, and <br/> constitutional barriers to the use of force having now been set aside, war has become a normal condition...<br/> <br/> One senses that this was what the likes of [Vice President Dick] Cheney, [Secretary of Defense Donald] Rumsfeld, and [Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul] Wolfowitz (urged on by militarists cheering from the sidelines and with George W. Bush serving as their enabler) intended all along. By leaving intact and even enlarging the policies that his predecessor had inaugurated, President Barack Obama has handed these militarists an unearned victory. As they drag themselves from one "overseas contingency operation" to the next, American soldiers must reckon with the consequences. <br/> <br/> <a href="http://globalpublicsquare.blogs.cnn.com/2011/12/16/bacevich-after-iraq-war-is-u-s/">http://globalpublicsquare.blogs.cnn.com/2011/12/16/bacevich-after-iraq-war-is-u-s/</a><br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <big><big><big><b>US and Pakistan enter the danger zone</b></big></big></big><br/> By M K Bhadrakumar<br/> Nov 29, 2011<br/> <br/> The air strike by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) at the Pakistani military post at Salala in the Mohmand Agency on the Afghan-Pakistan border Friday night is destined to become a milestone in the chronicle of the Afghan war.<br/> <br/> Within hours of the incident, Pakistan's relations with the US began nose-diving and it continues to plunge. NATO breached the ''red line''.<br/> <br/> Exactly what happened in the fateful night of Friday - whether the NATO blundered into a mindless retaliatory (or pre-emptive) act or ventured into a calculated act of high provocation - will remain a mystery. Maybe it is no more important to know, since blood has been drawn and innocence lost, which now becomes the central point.<br/> <br/> At any rate, the DDC simply proceeded on the basis that this was a calculated air strike - and by no means an accidental occurrence. Again, the DDC statement implies that in the Pakistan military's estimation, the NATO attack emanated from a US decision. <br/> <br/> The GHQ in Rawalpindi would have made the assessment within hours of the Salala incident that the US is directly culpable.<br/> <br/> The DDC took the following decisions: a) to close NATO's transit routes through Pakistani territory with immediate effect; b) to ask the US to vacate Shamsi airbase within 15 days; c) to "revisit and undertake a complete review" of all "programs, activities and cooperative arrangements" with US, NATO and the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), including in "diplomatic, political and intelligence" areas; d) to announce shortly a whole range of further measures apropos Pakistan's future cooperation with US, NATO and ISAF.<br/> <br/> No more doublespeak?<br/> <br/> The response stops short of declaring the termination of Pakistan's participation in the US-led war in Afghanistan. By demanding that the US vacate Shamsi, Pakistan is possibly shifting its stance on the drone attacks; its doublespeak may be ending. <br/> <br/> <a href="http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/MK29Df02.html">http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/MK29Df02.html</a><br/> <br/></p>
<div id="main-article-info"><h1>Bradley Manning treatment in custody concerns MEPs</h1>
<p id="stand-first" class="stand-first-alone">Open letter to US authorities raises human rights fears and urges access for UN special rapporteur on torture to whistleblower<br/><br/><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/nov/29/bradley-manning-mep-open-letter" title="">• The open letter by the 54 MEPs</a></p>
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<p>reporting by James Ball, guardian.co.uk<br/> 29 November 2011<br/> <br/> More than 50 members of the European parliament have signed an open letter to the US government raising concerns about the treatment of <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/bradley-manning" title="More from guardian.co.uk on Bradley Manning">Bradley Manning</a>, the US soldier in military detention for allegedly leaking classified US documents to the whistleblowing site <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/wikileaks" title="More from guardian.co.uk on WikiLeaks">WikiLeaks</a>.<br/> <br/> The MEPs said internal investigations into Manning's treatment in custody, which included solitary confinement for up to 23 hours a day, inspections by officers every five minutes from 5am onwards and removal of his clothes, had been marred by "clear conflicts of interest".<br/> <br/> They call for US authorities to grant Juan Méndez, the UN special rapporteur on torture, access to Manning.<br/> <br/> Mendez has made repeated requests for access to the military base where Manning is held.<br/> <br/> The open letter from European parliamentarians, which follows another signed by several hundred US legal scholars, questioned the charges against Manning and warned that his pre-trial treatment may harm the UN's work elsewhere, "particularly its mandate to investigate allegations of torture and human rights abuses".<br/> <br/> "In order to uphold the rights guaranteed to Bradley Manning under international human rights law and the US constitution, it is imperative that the United Nations special rapporteur be allowed to properly investigate evidence of rights abuses. PFC Manning has a right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment. People accused of crimes must not be subjected to any form of punishment before being brought to trial," they wrote.<br/> <br/> "We certainly do not understand why an alleged whistleblower is being threatened with the death penalty, or the possibility of life in prison. We also question whether Bradley Manning's right to due process has been upheld, as he has now spent over 17 months in pre-trial confinement."<br/> <br/> Five MEPs from the UK signed the open letter in support of Manning, who holds dual US and UK citizenships. They were Labour MEPs Richard Howitt and Derek Vaughan, Green MEPs Jean Lambert and Keith Taylor, and Plaid Cymru MEP Jill Evans.<br/> <br/> <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/nov/29/bradley-manning-concerns-mep-letter">http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/nov/29/bradley-manning-concerns-mep-letter</a><br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> epitaph, for this edition of "Truth in Recruiting"<br/></p>
<blockquote>Will Unmanned War Help People Drop Myths About War's Nobility and Heroism?<b><br/> <br/> <big>"With the decline of mass militaries and their possible replacement by machines, we may finally see that war is not just an extension of our needs and passions, however base or noble. Nor is it likely to be even a useful test of our courage, fitness, or national unity. War has its own dynamic or -- in case that sounds too anthropomorphic -- its own grim algorithms to work out. As it comes to need us less, maybe we will finally see that we don’t need it either. We can leave it to the ants."</big></b> <br/> <br/> ~Barbara Ehrenreich, from the updated afterword to the British edition of her book, <i>Blood Rites: Origins and History of the Passions of War</i>.</blockquote>
<p><br/> <br/> related upcoming event, in Tulsa:<br/></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><font color="#000000"><font face="Andalus"><font size="7"><b>Annual MLK Parade<br/> Greenwood, Tulsa<br/></b> <small><font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">through OSU-Tulsa campus & former Black Wall Street</font></small><b><br/></b></font></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><font color="#000000"><font face="Andalus"><font size="7"><b>Monday, Jan 16 2012, from 11 am</b></font></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><font color="#000000"><font face="Andalus"><font size="7"><small><font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">simulcast on KTUL TV Channel 8</font></small> <b><br/> Join the Tulsa Peace Fellowship <br/> & march for peace !<br/></b> <small><font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">contact tpf.918@gmail.com</font></small></font></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><font color="#000000"><font face="Andalus"><font size="7"><small><font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">full schedule: <a href="http://tulsamlksociety.org/CalendarofEvents.aspx">http://tulsamlksociety.org/CalendarofEvents.aspx</a> <br/> map of parade route: <a href="http://tulsamlksociety.org/2011MLKParadeRoute.aspx">http://tulsamlksociety.org/2011MLKParadeRoute.aspx</a><br/></font></small></font></font></font></p>
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<hr size="2" width="100%"/><p>The Tulsa Peace Fellowship's Counter-Recruitment Update/Digest, for Dec 2011<br/> <i>masthead</i><br/></p>
<p align="left">who we are:<br/> <br/> <i><font color="#009900"><b>The Tulsa Peace Fellowship</b></font> is the activist wing of the peace movement in Eastern Oklahoma. TPF offers citizens and community groups tools and resources to participate personally in our democracy, to help shape federal budget and policy priorities, and to promote peace, social and economic justice, and human rights. TPF is a registered non-profit organization and a non-partisan civic-sector organization, loosely affiliated with the Unitarian Universalist Church of the Restoration, north side of Tulsa.</i></p>
<p align="left"><font color="#009900"><b>"Waging Peace One Person at a Time".</b></font></p>
<p align="left"><font class="titlebar_black">Through its counter-recruitment task force, TPF is a member of the</font> <font color="#009900"><b><font class="titlebar_black">National Network in Opposition to the Militarization of Youth (NNOMY)</font></b></font> representing some 188 counter-recruitment groups in cities and towns across the country. <font class="titlebar_black">On the web: <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.nnomy.org/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=216&Itemid=91">http://www.nnomy.org/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=216&Itemid=91</a></font><big><font size="2"><big> </big></font></big></p>
<p>Tulsa Peace Fellowship is open to members of third parties, progressives, Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians, Green Party members, etc. If you have not already done so, please join the <font color="#009900"><b>new social networking tool for TPF on Ning.</b></font> You can check out our new tool here: <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="../../">http://tulsapeacefellowship.ning.com</a> (new for 2011)<br/> <br/> Also still going strong: our announcement list on yahoo! <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:tulsapeace@yahoogroups.com">tulsapeace@yahoogroups.com</a> (since 2002) Go to: <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://groups.yahoo.com/">http://groups.yahoo.com/</a> and search for "tulsapeace"</p>
<p align="left"><font color="#009900"><b>TPF needs your support.</b></font></p>
<p align="left">You can donate online via PINC (pull down menu for US$ donations)<br/> <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.pincgiving.com/donate/organization/1202854">http://www.pincgiving.com/donate/organization/1202854</a></p>
<p align="left">Or, please mail a check or money order made out to the"Tulsa Peace Fellowship" to :</p>
<p align="left">The Tulsa Peace Fellowship<br/> c/o UU Church of the Restoration, <br/> 1314 N. Greenwood Ave, Tulsa Oklahoma. 74106-4854<br/> Find on a map: <a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&q=peace+fellowship&sll=36.173998,-95.986798&sspn=0.010168,0.022552&ie=UTF8&radius=0.75&split=1&filter=0&rq=1&ev=zi&hq=peace+fellowship&hnear=&z=16&iwloc=E">Google Maps link</a></p>
<p align="left">Contributions to TPF are not tax deductible at the present time. <font color="#000000">Details on tax status available.</font></p>
<p><big><font face="Times New Roman, Times, serif" color="#000000"><span class="484465117-08032008"><font size="2"><big><font color="#009900"><b>The next</b> <b>monthly anti-war demo in Tulsa</b></font> is scheduled for<br/> <b>Saturday <font color="#000000">Jan 7th</font>, 2011, 12noon to 2pm, with the theme: "U.S. Out of Afghanistan Now!"</b><br/> Details online: <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="../../events/out-of-afghanistan-1">http://tulsapeacefellowship.ning.com/events/out-of-afghanistan-1</a><br/></big></font></span></font></big> <br/> <font color="#000000"><font color="#000000">The next regularly scheduled business meeting of</font> <font color="#000000">the Fellowship will be held</font><b><br/> on</b></font> <font color="#000000"><b>Thursday, <font color="#FF0000"><font color="#000000">Jan 12th</font></font> 2011, 6:15 PM – 8:00 PM @ the UU Church of the Restoration</b>, 1314 N. Greenwood Ave., in Tulsa, just north of downtown</font><br/> <font color="#000000">--including members from other local non-partisan groups such as the Tulsa University chapter of Amnesty International, Veterans for Peace, the Center for Racial Justice in Tulsa, the</font> Tulsa Interfaith Allliance, Pax Christi, and the Quakers<font color="#000000"><br/> <br/> Come join us! Especially parents, guardians, and students in the Tulsa Public Schools system who are interested in countering the presence of military recruiters on school grounds.</font><br/> <br/> <font color="#000000">An archive of TPF counter-recruitment updates and other related TPF material is available to members online:</font><br/> <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/tulsapeace/?v=1&t=search&ch=web&pub=groups&sec=group&slk=1"><font color="#000000">http://groups.yahoo.com/group/tulsapeace/</font></a><br/> <font color="#000000">You must sign in to yahoo! groups to see the archived "message history"</font><br/> <font color="#000000">TPF messages have been archived online since 2002</font><br/> <font color="#000000">TPF was founded some 30 years ago.</font><br/> <font color="#000000">Current membership online:</font> 692 subscribers<br/> <br/> <font color="#000000">The information provided in this digest/update herein is for non-profit use only, according to "fair use" doctrine. Copyright and all commercial exploitation rights remain with the various authors/publishers cited above. The</font> Tulsa Peace Fellowship does not necessarily endorse the views expressed in the articles appearing herein.<br/> <font color="#000000"><br/></font> <i>further information<br/></i></p>
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<p><font face="arial,helvetica" color="#006600"><b><font style="background-color: #ffffff;" face="Univers" lang="0" size="2" xml:lang="0">Strength Through Peace: Out of Iraq & Afghanistan</font></b></font><font color="#006600"><br/></font> <font face="arial,helvetica" color="#006600"><b><font style="background-color: #ffffff;" face="Univers" lang="0" size="2" xml:lang="0">Accountability: Indict & Imprison Bush & Cheney for War Crimes</font></b></font><font color="#006600"><br/></font> <font face="arial,helvetica" color="#006600"><b><font style="background-color: #ffffff;" face="Univers" lang="0" size="2" xml:lang="0">JROTC: Out of Our Schools</font></b></font><font color="#006600"><br/></font> <font face="arial,helvetica" color="#006600"><b><font style="background-color: #ffffff;" face="Univers" lang="0" size="2" xml:lang="0">Schools as Military-Free Zones</font></b></font><font color="#006600"><br/></font> <font face="arial,helvetica" color="#006600"><b><font style="background-color: #ffffff;" face="Univers" lang="0" size="2" xml:lang="0">Alternatives to War: Department of Peace & cabinet-level Secretary of Peace</font></b></font><br/> <br/> <big><big><big><b>THE 10 REASONS</b></big></big></big> <br/> <br/> Ten excellent reasons not to join the military:<br/> a.. You May Be Killed, Even By Mistake<br/> b.. You May Kill Others Who Do Not Deserve to Die <br/> c.. You May Be Injured <br/> d.. You May Not Receive Proper Medical Care <br/> e.. You May Suffer Long-term Health Problems <br/> f.. You May Be Lied To <br/> g.. You May Face Discrimination <br/> h.. You May Be Asked to Do Things Against Your Beliefs <br/> i.. You May Find It Difficult to Leave the Military<br/> j.. You Have Other Choices, including the Choice to Learn a Marketable Skill<br/> <br/> for more info:<br/> <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.10reasonsbook.com/medcare.htm">http://www.10reasonsbook.com/medcare.htm</a><br/> <br/></p>
<p><br/> <br/> <br/></p>
City in Oregon Allows Anti-War Groups Equal Access to Schools | The Tulsa Peace Fellowship's Counter-Recruitment Update/Digest, for Nov 2011
tag:tulsapeacefellowship.ning.com,2011-11-10:2567841:Topic:18266
2011-11-10T14:58:13.323Z
Tony Nuspl
http://tulsapeacefellowship.ning.com/profile/TonyNuspl
<p style="margin-bottom: 0.2in;"><font face="Andalus"><font size="6"><i><b>Truth in Recruiting</b></i></font></font> <font face="Andalus"><font size="6"><b>- "Don't Believe the Hype!"</b></font></font><font face="Andalus"><b><br></br></b></font><font face="Andalus"><font size="4"><b> </b></font></font></p>
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<p style="margin-bottom: 0.2in;"><font face="Andalus"><font size="6"><i><b>Truth in Recruiting</b></i></font></font> <font face="Andalus"><font size="6"><b>- "Don't Believe the Hype!"</b></font></font><font face="Andalus"><b><br/></b></font><font face="Andalus"><font size="4"><b> </b></font></font></p>
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<p style="margin-bottom: 0.2in;"><br/><br/>Lead Story from the past month's news:<br/><br/><b>Oregon city’s schools to allow anti-war groups</b><br/>— Portland school board adopted a policy that gives anti-war “counter-recruiters” the same access to high school students that the military gets.</p>
<blockquote>quote:<br/>“What we want is a balanced account of military service,” said school board member Matt Morton, one of at least four board members supporting the policy. The policy is like those already in place in Seattle, San Francisco and some other cities, the Oregonian newspaper reported.</blockquote>
<p>related, college-campus editorial:<br/><b>ROTC recruiters and ROTC students at any Christian school mock the God of Peace</b></p>
<blockquote>quote:<br/>"The whole point of St. Ignatius’ life was his <font color="#00AE00"><b>renunciation of militarism</b></font>."<br/>~Fr. John Dear</blockquote>
<p><br/>page 1<br/><br/>featured op/ed<br/><b>Honor, Sacrifice, and Other Civilian Delusions</b></p>
<blockquote style="margin-left: 0.79in; margin-right: 0.79in; margin-bottom: 0in;">quote:<br/>"Honor? A soldier is just a nationally certified hit man, perfectly amoral."</blockquote>
<blockquote style="margin-left: 0.79in; margin-right: 0.79in;">~Fred Reed</blockquote>
<p>file under: sadists in charge<br/><b>Aristine Maharry, 29 years old, went AWOL and now lives in Freedom Plaza</b><br/>--heartbreaking story of "basic training" including physical assault and rape by drill sergeants</p>
<p><br/><br/></p>
<p>file under: the growing gangster nation inside the U.S. military<br/><b>The FBI Announces Gangs Have Infiltrated Every Branch Of The Military</b></p>
<blockquote>facts & figures:<br/>The FBI has released a new gang assessment announcing that there are 1.4 million gang members in the US, a 40 percent increase since 2009, and that many of these members are getting inside the military.</blockquote>
<p><br/><br/></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">from the archives:<br/><b>Post-World War II Servicemen’s Strike Wave (1945)</b><br/>--America has its own domestic examples of military resistance, perhaps most notably the strike wave against redeployment following World War II. <br/><br/><br/>page 2<br/><br/><b>War criminals at Hancock Airbase in upstate New York on trial</b><br/>--38 <i>pro se</i> activists and former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark argue "military drones" (unarmed aerial vehicles, or UAVs) contravene Nuremberg principles of international law.<br/><br/>related story:<br/>How do you console the kid at the computer console who killed U.S. soldiers playing with his joystick?<br/><b>Multiple missteps led to drone killing U.S. troops in Afghanistan</b><br/>file under: unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAVs</p>
<p>file under: “friendly fire”<br/><br/>from the archives: featured song<br/><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8j8BmgeYLA&NR=1"><b>The Draft Dodger Rag, on YouTube</b></a></p>
<blockquote>Dave Rovics performs "Draft Dodger Rag," by Phil Ochs, an antiwar standard from the 60's</blockquote>
<p>backpage<br/><br/><a href="http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/10/b53-dismantled/"><b>Last Nuclear ‘Monster Weapon’ Gets Dismantled</b></a><br/>--B-53 nuke bomb, a relic of the Cold War, gets decommissioned<br/><br/><a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/story/2011/11/05/veteran-hunger-strike-depleted-uranium-contamination-cp.html"><b>Quebec Bosnia veteran launches hunger strike</b></a><br/>--Former soldier Pascal Lacoste : test shows a high level of depleted uranium in his system <br/><br/><a href="http://news.antiwar.com/2011/11/04/israeli-warships-intercept-gaza-bound-aid-boats/"><b>Israeli Warships Intercept Gaza-Bound Aid Boats</b></a><br/>--No deaths or injuries were reported and the boats and the activists aboard them were rerouted to an Israeli port<br/><br/>file under: no statute of limitations for war crimes<br/><a href="http://www.startribune.com/world/132641473.html"><b>Argentine court sentences 'Angel of Death,' 11 other ex-officers to life for junta crimes</b></a></p>
<blockquote>quote:<br/>"Ole, ole, they will meet the fate of the Nazis. Wherever they go, we will find them," family members chanted.</blockquote>
<p>file under: preventing blowback<br/><a href="http://news.antiwar.com/2011/11/01/new-kyrgyzstan-president-wants-us-military-base-closed/"><b>New Kyrgyzstan President Wants US Military Base Closed</b></a><br/>--The president-elect promised to let the lease on the base, which provides a supply route to troops in Afghanistan, expire in 2014<br/><br/><br/><br/></p>
<p><br/>related event:</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><font color="#000000"><font face="Andalus"><font size="6"><b>Tulsa Peace Fellowship</b></font></font></font></p>
<p align="center"><font size="4">monthly roundable discussion, for grassroots members & steering committee</font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><font color="#000000"><font face="Copperplate Gothic Bold, Segoe Script, sans-serif"><font size="3"><b>6:15 pm to 8:00 pm, THURSDAY evening, Nov 10<sup>th</sup> 2011</b></font></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><font color="#000000"><font face="Copperplate Gothic Bold, Segoe Script, sans-serif"><font size="3"><b>1314 N. Greenwood Ave., in Tulsa<br/> at UU Church of the Restoration / Peace House Tulsa</b></font></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><font color="#000000"><font size="4"><b>Located just north of downtown -- Come join like-minded Tulsans, including members from other local non-partisan groups such as the Tulsa University chapter of Amnesty International, Veterans for Peace, the Center for Racial Justice in Tulsa, the Tulsa Interfaith Allliance, Pax Christi, and the Quakers.</b></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><font color="#000000"> <font size="4"><b>Contact the TPF Steering Cttee beforehand to get on the "stack"</b></font></font></p>
<p> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><font color="#000000"><font size="4"><b>We're also on facebook:</b></font></font> <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/407574853451/">https://www.facebook.com/groups/407574853451/</a></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"> </p>
<p><b><br/></b><br/>epitaph for this edition of "Truth in Recruiting"</p>
<blockquote><font size="5"><b>Soldiers! Don't give yourselves to brutes, men who despise you, enslave you; who regiment your lives, tell you what to do, what to think and what to feel! Who drill you, diet you, treat you like cattle, use you as cannon fodder. Don't give yourselves to these unnatural men - machine men with machine minds and machine hearts! You are not machines, you are not cattle, you are men! You have the love of humanity in your hearts! You don't hate! Only the unloved hate; the unloved and the unnatural.</b></font> <i><br/></i>~Charlie Chaplin, at the end of the 1940 film "The Great Dictator"<br/>See on YouTube: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcvjoWOwnn4">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcvjoWOwnn4</a></blockquote>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"> </p>
<hr size="1"/><p>The Tulsa Peace Fellowship's Counter-Recruitment Update/Digest, for Nov 2011<br/><i>lead story</i><br/><br/><font size="6"><b>Ore. city’s schools to allow anti-war groups</b></font><br/><br/>The Associated Press, Monday Oct 24, 2011<br/><br/>PORTLAND, Ore. — The Portland school board on Monday was set to adopt a policy that gives anti-war “counter-recruiters” the same access to high school students that the military gets.<br/><br/>The policy is like those already in place in Seattle, San Francisco and some other cities, the Oregonian newspaper reported.<br/><br/>“What we want is a balanced account of military service,” said school board member Matt Morton, one of at least four board members supporting the policy.<br/><br/>Beginning in 1995, the Portland school board banned military recruitment in schools, primarily because of the military’s discrimination against gays. But in 2001, the federal No Child Left Behind law required that military recruiters get the same access to public high school campuses and to students’ addresses and home phone numbers that college recruiters do.<br/><br/>“We have difficulty making inroads to even get into those Portland schools,” said Lt. Col. Cary Miller, chief operations officer for Oregon Army National Guard recruiting. “My recruiting force is a professional force. They’re not going to step out of line or lie to kids.”<br/><br/>He said his recruiters try to reach Portland teens less directly, through sponsoring basketball tournaments, staffing booths at festivals and putting a float in the city’s Rose Parade.<br/><br/>The War Resisters League, Veterans for Peace and other groups hold regular sidewalk protests outside Portland high schools, said John Grueschow, coordinator of the Resisters League’s military and draft counseling programs.<br/><br/>“We feel that, since the military is required to be let in there, there should be some response,” Grueschow said. “We should have the same opportunity they do to present students information.”<br/><br/>The board planned to ask district staffers to prepare an information packet for distribution at every high school to tell students about military recruiting tactics, their right to have their contact information withheld from the military and other post-high school options for students to serve their country, including AmeriCorps.<br/><br/><a href="http://www.armytimes.com/news/2011/10/ap-oregon-city-schools-to-allow-antiwar-groups-102411w/">http://www.armytimes.com/news/2011/10/ap-oregon-city-schools-to-allow-antiwar-groups-102411w/</a><br/><br/>related op/ed from Father John Dear<br/><br/><font size="6"><b>ROTC recruiters and students at any Christian school mock the God of Peace</b></font><br/>by John Dear<br/>National Catholic Reporter<br/>Oct-Nov 2011<br/><br/>I came across the latest issue of the alumni magazine of Loyola University in Baltimore, Maryland. On the cover we see the back of a young ROTC student cadet wearing her military fatigues, and the title, “‘Til the Battle’s Over.” The lead article features some of the many young Catholics that this Jesuit school trains for war. This issue of the magazine is a disgrace. But so is the presence of the U.S. military at any so-called Christian institution.<br/><br/>What else is new? Most Catholic, Jesuit, Christian universities in the U.S. take millions of dollars from the Pentagon to train students for war -- and then call ROTC a “student” organization. In doing so, they serve the U.S. war machine and betray the Gospel of peace. They present fine rationale about having intellectual soldiers who will wage “better” wars -- but they can never quite claim that they are doing God’s will, obeying the Gospel, or following the nonviolent Jesus.<br/><br/>What caught my particular attention this time was the news that each May at Loyola, the ROTC cadets profess their oath to uphold the U.S. Constitution (if necessary by killing all our enemies), not in an auditorium, but in the university’s Alumni Memorial Chapel in front of the Blessed Sacrament. I consider this plain, old fashioned blasphemy. Here’s an excerpt:</p>
<blockquote>"It’s the day before commencement. Thirteen ROTC cadets march into Alumni Memorial Chapel as 'The Battle Hymn of the Republic' plays. Flanked by family and friends, each member of the ROTC reflects a deep pride. Standing on the altar, the newly commissioned officers take an oath to the Constitution of the United States. “This oath is an ideal and unlike any others,” Lieutenant Colonel Steven Carroll, chair of Loyola’s military science department, tells them.</blockquote>
<blockquote>With more than 90 cadets, ROTC is one of the largest student organizations on campus. On Tuesdays and Thursdays the students wear their uniforms as they go to classes and participate in daily student life. In recent years, at Commencement, the longest applause has been given when the newly commissioned ROTC cadets are introduced."</blockquote>
<blockquote>“St. Ignatius was a soldier,” one student, Christel Sacco, says, explaining why she joined ROTC at a Jesuit university. “A lot of people don’t put two and two together.” I thought the whole point of St. Ignatius’ life was his renunciation of militarism. He stayed up in prayer all night in a church, and placed his sword below a statue of Mary to begin his new life of Gospel nonviolence. It was precisely his conversion away from militarism that led to the Society of Jesus, his life of mystical prayer, and his call to service.</blockquote>
<blockquote>“If you think about it, the goal of war is peace,” Sacco continues. “I joined the military to bring peace to the nations we’re at war with, to bring justice and legitimacy to the people who are there now.” “It’s the soldier who above all desires peace,” Carroll explains. I disagree. As Gandhi taught the means are the ends; the only way to peace is through peaceful means, not warfare.</blockquote>
<p><em>A lot of people don’t put two and two together.</em> Despite the rhetoric, it appears to me that these students are not critical thinkers, that they’re very naïve, and that they have not been taught the Gospel.</p>
<p>Many people have written elsewhere far better than me about why ROTC does not belong on a Christian campus. I simply submit that Fr. Linnane and his military friends are misguided. The church, for example, was at one time all about unqualified pacifism -- in the first three centuries. Then Constantine and later Augustine led the formal rejection of the Sermon on the Mount and turned to the pagan Cicero to justify mass murder for one’s empire.</p>
<p>Gospel peacemaking, also, is not about passivity, but about actively confronting injustice everywhere through nonviolent means, and digging out the root causes of war. The tired argument of educating elite officers in the Jesuit tradition has been used for more than 60 years, and does not hold up. With the hundreds of thousands of Jesuit educated officers, we still wage war, kill people, and lead the world to the brink. We are not making the world better; we’re making it worse.</p>
<p>And if supporting “the right of Catholics to hold our beliefs dear” is the goal -- what about the Catholics of Iraq, Palestine, Afghanistan, and Libya? When we train our young for war, we send them off to kill our brother and sister Catholics. I remember when I met the Cardinal of Baghdad in 1999, how he broke down sobbing over how U.S. Catholics kill Iraqi Catholics. The universality of the church, the global Body of Christ, is reason enough to outlaw ROTC and the U.S. military from any Catholic campus. We do not want one of our students hurting any other Catholic or Christian (or anyone!) anywhere.</p>
<p>Millions of Christians reject the lies of war. They know that war and preparing for war do not make us safer or sow the seeds of peace. It can’t end terrorism because it is terrorism. War certainly, hasn’t helped our economy or the environment or our health. As the world is learning, there are many creative nonviolent ways to solve international conflict.</p>
<p>But I am scandalized that a supposedly Christian institution so blatantly rejects the teachings of the nonviolent Jesus -- “Love one another. Blessed are the peacemakers. Offer no violent resistance to one who does evil. Put down the sword. Love your enemies.” Loyola and other Christian universities can no longer claim to be teaching the Gospel of Jesus.</p>
<p>I consider the ROTC commissioning service held every year in the Alumni Memorial Chapel in front of the Blessed Sacrament to be blasphemous.</p>
<p>In particular, the oath which the cadets take is in direct violation of the Sermon on the Mount. It pledges that if necessary, they will kill any enemies of our nation.</p>
<p>The early church did not allow the profession of any such idolatrous oaths, especially to the Roman military. It taught that one’s baptism meant your faith and allegiance belonged solely to the nonviolent Jesus.</p>
<p>The ROTC oath is a pledge to kill the enemies of the United States; Jesus, on the other hand, commands us to love them. Only then, he announces, will we be “sons and daughters of our heavenly God who makes the sun shine on the good and the bad and the rain to fall on the just and the unjust.” The ROTC oath, professed in the Loyola chapel, mocks the God of peace.</p>
<p>I urge Loyola University to cancel those ceremonies, close its ROTC program, teach nonviolent conflict resolution and the nonviolence of Jesus, and “study war no more.” In the name of the nonviolent Jesus, I invite every Loyola student in ROTC, and every student in any U.S. ROTC program, to quit immediately and follow the nonviolent Jesus on the road to peace.</p>
<p>And I invite people from around the world to write nonviolent letters to Fr. Linnane, Loyola University and their Alumni magazine, to share thoughts about the way of peace and Loyola’s commissioning ceremony in the university chapel (Office of the President, Loyola University, 4501 North Charles St., Baltimore, MD 21212). If plans continue for the commissioning service to be held May 2012, in the chapel, I invite everyone to join me in a peaceful protest. Perhaps we can profess the Pax Christi vow of nonviolence as a witness. Or nonviolently disrupt their unholy ceremony.</p>
<p>Many have told me that the disarmament of our universities is no longer possible, that the culture of war has infiltrated every aspect of civil society, that it’s not possible to have a Catholic campus for peace.</p>
<p>But I remember my experience in El Salvador in the 1980s at the Jesuit-run University of Central America. The Jesuits turned that campus into a training camp for justice and peace. Every class, every lecture, every program was aimed at ending the war and transforming El Salvador. The steadfast determination of the Jesuits made that university an unparalleled anti-war center. The entire university became such a threat to the culture of war that inevitably, U.S.-backed government death squads killed the president and five other Jesuits.</p>
<p>That university approached the Christian ideal. That’s what every Catholic and Christian university should become -- a school for peace, a training camp for Gospel nonviolence, where young people are taught how to love enemies, not how to kill them.</p>
<p><a href="http://ncronline.org/blogs/road-peace/rotc-loyola-university">http://ncronline.org/blogs/road-peace/rotc-loyola-university</a></p>
<p>byline: John Dear is a Jesuit priest, peace activist and author of the recent book <i>Lazarus Come Forth!: How Jesus Confronts the Culture of Death & Invites Us Into the New Life of Peace</i>.<br/><br/><br/></p>
<hr size="1"/><p>The Tulsa Peace Fellowship's Counter-Recruitment Update/Digest, for Nov 2011<br/><i>page 1</i><br/><br/>featured op/ed<br/><font size="6"><b>Honor, Sacrifice, and Other Civilian Delusions</b></font><br/>by Fred Reed<br/>November 02, 2011 <br/><br/>I read frequently among the less neuronal of the supposed honor of soldiers, of the military virtues of courage, loyalty, and uprightness — that in an age of moral decomposition only the military adheres to principles, and that our troops in places like Afghanistan nobly make sacrifices to preserve our freedoms and democracy. Is not all of this nonsense?<br/><br/>Honor? A soldier is just a nationally certified hit man, perfectly amoral. When he joins the military, he agrees to kill anyone he is told to kill, regardless of whether he has previously heard of the country in which he will kill them or whether the residents pose any threat to him or his. How is this honorable? It is cause for lifelong shame.<br/><br/>It is curious that so many soldiers think that they are Christians. Christianity is incompatible with military service, if any Christianity is meant that Christ would have regarded with other than repugnance.<br/><br/>The explanation of course lies in the soldier’s moral compartmentalization. <br/><br/>In conflict with foreigners, he will burn, bomb, rape, and torture indiscriminately. His is the behavior of feral dogs, which humans closely resemble.<br/><br/>Sacrifice? GIs do not make sacrifices. They are sacrificed: sacrificed for big egos, big contracts, for the shareholders of military industries, for pasty patriots in salons who never wore boots. They fight not for love of country but to stay alive and from fear of the punishments meted out to deserters. If you doubt this, tell the men in Afghanistan that they may come home on the next plane without penalty, and see how many stay. Troops are as manipulated as roosters in a cockfight, forced to choose between combat and the pot.<br/><br/>Always, to understand the bloody absurdity of the military, bear in mind the primitive, overriding instinct of mankind to form packs and fight other packs. It is the only drive that can at times take precedence over sex. Thus we have tribes, football teams, Crips and Bloods, religious wars, rabid political parties, and patriotism, this latter being by far the worst.<br/><br/>Nowadays a high moral pretext for war will be contrived, embodying saccharine goodness and nauseous piety. We kill them to make them free, butcher their families because they must be democratic. The race has accumulated just enough fragile decency to want a noble pretext before burning children. Yet the pack’s hostility to outsiders remains the primary drive behind wars, with reasons hung on later like Christmas ornaments.<br/><br/>While soldiers quickly come to hate their assigned enemies, as do fighting cocks, they also know that what they are doing will not play well back home. The entrails-dripping gut shot, a woman leaning over a mound of red mush that is no longer precisely her child — these could interfere with the flow of contracts. Consequently, militaries try furiously to suppress photographs of those they torture and mutilate, to package routine atrocities as “isolated incidents,” to keep pictures of garishly altered soldiers off the pages of newspapers. The extreme sensitivity suggests moral uneasiness, oo-rah or not. During Vietnam, the damning photos poured out. The controlled press of today poses no similar problem.<br/><br/>If this is honor, I’ll pass. Oo-rah.<br/><br/>read the whole article: <a href="http://original.antiwar.com/reed/2011/11/01/honor-sacrifice-and-other-civilian-delusions/">http://original.antiwar.com/reed/2011/11/01/honor-sacrifice-and-other-civilian-delusions/</a><br/><br/><font size="6"><b>U.S. Army Assaults One of Its Own</b></font><br/>by David Swanson<br/>Oct 2011<br/><br/>Aristine Maharry is 29 years old and now lives in Freedom Plaza.<br/><br/>Maharry's family did not encourage her to aspire to a military career.<br/><br/>She graduated from high school at 18 in the year 2000. ...<br/><br/>She arranged to train at Fort Leonardwood in Missouri. She headed there in December 2004, leaving behind a husband and two little boys for the holidays. Aristine says it was a very sad time for her, very difficult, and also very cold in Missouri. She signed up to become a combat medic, hoping to care for injured soldiers.<br/><br/>Aristine was doing pushups along with the other privates. It was dark. Fontana, one of her drill sergeants, came up behind her and kicked her hard repeatedly in the pelvis. The next morning, with her 50-pound rucksack, Aristine was not able to keep up on the run in her usual way. One of the drill sergeants, Harris, told her she would have to report to "sick call."<br/><br/>That night, Private Barr came and got Maharry. The two of them went to the military police (MP) and told their stories of abuse. The MPs sent them right back without indicating that they would not do anything at all. The reports that the MPs took down may or may not still exist among their records.<br/><br/>The next morning Aristine reported to sick call. An X-ray showed a fractured pelvis. Aristine was put in the Army hospital on the base from January 8, 2005 to February 1st or 2nd, immobilized in bed with a morphine drug for pain. She was then sent on 30-day convalescent leave with heavy pain killers. If she did not return after the 30 days, she was told, the Army would come and find her. Through the course of her initial processing and training, she had already been advised repeatedly that going AWOL (absent without official leave) was punishable by anything up to death.<br/><br/>Aristine says she was "terrified" and "scared to death." She didn't tell her husband what had happened, as she was afraid that if he raised the issue she would be punished when she returned to the Army. When she did return, she pleaded with a physical therapist not to send her back to the same unit. It turned out that it was standard practice not to do that. Aristine worked hard, she says, to recover fast in the Physical Therapy Rehabilitation Program (PTRP) because those who did not, the "hold-overs," would be kept in separate rooms in barracks with their units' drill sergeants and would often be raped. Aristine did not use the word "rape" but indicated sex that was unwanted. "Rape" or "command rape" is an accurate term.<br/><br/>Unfortunately, the First Sergeant for the same Company she had been in before came and requested that Aristine return to the same unit. She passed a test and was returned. Once back, she was kept in a separate room, but resisted the drill sergeants' attempts at sex, she says. A couple of female holdovers, she says, were also kept in private rooms. They would be taken out at night, and would cry endlessly when they were returned.<br/><br/>Aristine was now in the fourth week of training, with the same company, platoon, and drill sergeants. Aristine was miserable, terrified, and "crying, crying, crying." "How," she asked herself, "could they send me back here?" The First Sergeant told her: "You'd better not open your mouth about what happened last time." Maharry was still on lots of pain medicine and suffering mental pain as well.<br/><br/>Drill Sergeant Davis said to whole platoon, as Aristine recalls: "It does not matter what happens in a room as long as two or more of you have the same story. That's the party line."<br/><br/>Aristine, like every private, slept with her weapon, knew its parts and how to assemble it, and gave it a name. Her gun was called "Blue."<br/><br/>Aristine was treated to particular abuse through these weeks. She was frequently awakened during the night and deprived of sleep. For weeks, she resisted the advances of the First Sergeant, Drill Sergeant Davis, and Drill Sergeant Kitchen. Aristine learned to sleep sitting straight up in the daytime.<br/><br/>During the final week, the First Sergeant called for her at night and said "We know what you did with your battle buddy" and "We know you're selling pain killers." She had no use for money in basic training, she desperately needed the pain killers, and the accusation named no party she'd sold to or any other details. There were no witnesses, and the accusation was false. There was never any trial or finding, just an accusation. The Army threatened to bring Aristine up on charges under Article 15 of the Universal Code of Military Justice. She refused to sign their forms, and they dropped the matter.<br/><br/>Aristine says that frequently she would cry as her Army superiors threatened her, repeatedly, for weeks. They would point out that she never received any letters in the mail. They claimed that nobody would know if they "took care of her." Remarks included "We know how to make people shut up" and "We can make you be quiet forever." Aristine says she took these as clear threats to kill her or imprison her, and that these threats were offered on multiple occasions.<br/><br/>Aristine injured her arm, and a doctor agreed not to treat her so that she could ship out, which was what she wanted: to escape Missouri.<br/><br/>When I spoke with Aristine this week she said that she was still scared to be speaking about it. This is even more understandable considering the rest of the story.<br/><br/>After graduating, and being denied permission to walk in the graduation ceremony as punishment for the baseless accusation of selling drugs, Aristine shipped out to Fort Sam Houston near San Antonio, Texas. She was treated for her arm injury. She could not be sent on convalescent leave again so soon. Instead, she was sent to wait for a review by a medical board. <br/><br/>She tried to quit the Army with no benefits. Aristine went to a psychiatric clinic and said she was considering suicide. She really was. The clinic made her sign a statement that she would not kill herself. Then they sent her right back to hurry up and wait for the medical board.<br/><br/>Aristine left most of her possessions behind and went AWOL.<br/><br/>Before joining up, Aristine had contacted both of her parents. Her father had never spoken about Vietnam. He now said "I saw things in the Army that no one should ever be exposed to." He told her not to do it. She took that as fatherly protection and thought to herself "I'm stronger than he thinks." He had received medals in Vietnam, she points out, but he'd also returned with "shell shock" or PTSD. Loud sounds would cause him to throw something or hit someone. He suffered tunnel vision in crowded places, and Aristine says she had the same symptom for a while.<br/><br/>Aristine went AWOL on July 5th ("my independence day"). She went to Florida and picked up three jobs, and then a job in New York. But in New York in November 2006, she had a checkbook stolen and reported it to the police. She did not face prosecution for going AWOL. But she was required to report to Fort Knox in Kentucky and sign out, along with many others in her same position -- many women and men too, all suffering injuries, many from training and some from combat. They were made to put on Army uniforms and ordered about. She had to write out her story for a judge. She was told she could not speak with a judge. She was not told she could hire a lawyer. The Army may still have the report she wrote out. She was given a less than honorable discharge.<br/><br/>Aristine tried to reconcile with her husband. They tried counseling. She did not believe she could become pregnant anymore. But she did, and the pregnancy was very hard on her, her third son being born a month early. Doctors told her insurance would not cover problems related to military injuries. So Aristine went to the Dept. of Veterans Affairs (VA) and asked to change her discharge to honorable and to obtain health coverage. She again had to write down her whole story, and this time she left a copy with her birth mother. She was now advised that she could have had a lawyer at Fort Knox.<br/><br/>Aristine is now on her own, but has joined together with a growing crowd of activists opposing the entire direction in which our war economy is dragging our nation and the world. Many people are finding the strength to tell their stories, and finding power in joining them together with others'.<br/><br/><a href="http://warisacrime.org/content/us-army-assaults-its-biggest-fan">http://warisacrime.org/content/us-army-assaults-its-biggest-fan</a><br/><br/><br/><br/><font size="6"><b>The FBI Announces Gangs Have Infiltrated Every Branch Of The Military</b></font><br/>Robert Johnson | Oct. 22, 2011<br/>[Business Insider]<br/><br/>The FBI has released a new gang assessment announcing that there are 1.4 million gang members in the US, a 40 percent increase since 2009, and that many of these members are getting inside the military (via Stars and Stripes).<br/><br/>The report says the military has seen members from 53 gangs and 100 regions in the U.S. enlist in every branch of the armed forces. Members of every major street gang, some prison gangs, and outlaw motorcycle gangs (OMGs) have been reported on both U.S. and international military installations.<br/><br/>>From the report:</p>
<blockquote>Through transfers and deployments, military-affiliated gang members expand their culture and operations to new regions nationwide and worldwide, undermining security and law enforcement efforts to combat crime. Gang members with military training pose a unique threat to law enforcement personnel because of their distinctive weapons and combat training skills and their ability to transfer these skills to fellow gang members.</blockquote>
<p><br/>The report notes that while gang members have been reported in every branch of service, they are concentrated in the U.S. Army, Army Reserves, and the Army National Guard.</p>
<blockquote>Many street gang members join the military to escape the gang lifestyle or as an alternative to incarceration, but often revert back to their gang associations once they encounter other gang members in the military. Other gangs target the U.S. military and defense systems to expand their territory, facilitate criminal activity such as weapons and drug trafficking, or to receive weapons and combat training that they may transfer back to their gang. Incidents of weapons theft and trafficking may have a negative impact on public safety or pose a threat to law enforcement officials.</blockquote>
<p><br/>The FBI points out that many gangs, especially the bikers, actively recruit members with military training and advise young members with no criminal record to join the service for weapon access and combat experience.<br/><br/><a href="http://alturl.com/5rjgo">http://alturl.com/5rjgo</a> <br/><br/>sidebar:<br/><font size="6"><b>Post-World War II Servicemen’s Strike Wave (1945)</b></font><br/><br/>When thinking of uprisings, rarely do military men come to mind. Internationally, rebel servicemen have been indispensible to any successful revolution. America has its own domestic examples of military resistance, perhaps most notably the strike wave against redeployment following World War II.<br/><br/>While primarily centered around the British Empire’s servicemen, American servicemen also demonstrated and struck in favor of repatriation and against redeployment to fight Chinese Communist forces at the end of World War II. In occupied Germany and the Philippines, American soldiers, sailors and marines went on strike and held mass parades asserting that their fight was over and demanding repatriation.<br/><br/>The strikes show the power of the military for progressive social change. This lesson would prove incredibly powerful for the next generation of American servicemen.<br/><br/><b>Serviceman Resistance to the Vietnam War</b><br/><br/>While American popular memory enshrines the student protestors as the cause of the Vietnam War’s end, the movement really played a tertiary role in ending the war. Far more important was the defeat of the American military on the battlefield. This would have been impossible without a massive assist from American servicemen. <br/><br/>According to military figures, over half a million soldiers deserted or defected during the Vietnam War. Protest newspapers sprung up like mushrooms after rain and “FTA” (fuck the army) became an unofficial slogan. Short stints in military prison became a badge of honor. The military definitely noticed the movement. Editors and organizers or protest newspapers received stiff prison sentences. The movement’s crowning moment was arguably the 1968 Long Bihn Jail (“LBJ Ranch”). The number of refused orders, either because soldiers felt imperiled or because the orders given were illegal, would be impossible to count. By the Nixon era, company after company refused to fight. The aircraft carrier <i>Constellation</i> cast a ballot refusing deployment to Vietnam. <br/><br/>The movement made continued involvement in the Vietnam War literally impossible. The resistance movement further acted as an inspiration to current-day servicemen organizations like Iraq Veterans Against the War.<br/><br/><a href="http://www.alternet.org/vision/152824/beyond_occupy_wall_street%3A_11_american_uprisings_you%27ve_never_heard_of_that_changed_the_world/?page=4">http://www.alternet.org/vision/152824/beyond_occupy_wall_street%3A_11_american_uprisings_you%27ve_never_heard_of_that_changed_the_world/?page=4</a></p>
<hr size="1"/><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br clear="left"/>The Tulsa Peace Fellowship's Counter-Recruitment Update/Digest, for Nov 2011<br/><i>page 2</i><br/><br/></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><strong><a href="http://www.democracynow.org/2011/11/4/drones_on_trial_38_protesters_face" target="_blank"><font size="5">Drones on Trial: 38 Protesters Face Charges For Disrupting Syracuse Base Used in Overseas Attacks</font></a></strong></p>
<p><br/><br/>War criminals at Hancock Airbase in upstate New York on trial, as pro se activists and former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark argue "military drones" (unarmed aerial vehicles, or UAVs) contravene Nuremberg principles of international law.<br/><br/>The Wall Street Journal is reporting the CIA has made a series of secret concessions in its drone campaign after military and diplomatic officials complained large strikes were damaging the fragile U.S. relationship with Pakistan. Meanwhile, a trial is underway in Syracuse, New York, of 38 protesters arrested in April at the New York Air National Guard base at Hancock Field. The defendants were protesting the MQ-9 Reaper drones, which the 174th Fighter Wing of the Guard has remotely flown over Afghanistan from Syracuse since late 2009. "Citizens have a responsibility to take action when they see crimes being committed," said retired Col. Ann Wright, one of the 38 on trial. "And this goes back to World War II, when German government officials knew what other parts of the German government were doing in executing six million Jews in Germany and other places. That they took no action, and yet they were held responsible later through the Nuremberg trials. And that is the theory on which we are acting: That we see that our government is committing crimes by the use of these drones and that we, as citizens, have the responsibility to act."</p>
<p>Guests:</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><a href="http://www.democracynow.org/appearances/col_ann_wright_ret"><b>Col. Ann Wright (Ret.)</b></a>, one of the "Hancock 38 Drone Resisters" who protested the use of MQ-9 Reaper drones at the Air National Guard base at Hancock Field in Syracuse, New York, last April. Wright is a retired U.S. Army colonel and former U.S. diplomat who spent 29 years in the military and later served as a high-ranking diplomat in the State Department. In 2001, she helped oversee the reopening of the U.S. mission in Afghanistan. In 2003, she resigned her State Department post to protest the war in Iraq.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><a href="http://www.democracynow.org/appearances/ed_kinane"><b>Ed Kinane</b></a>, one of the "Hancock 38 Drone Resisters" who protested the use of MQ-9 Reaper drones at the Air National Guard base at Hancock Field in Syracuse, New York, last April. He is a member of the Syracuse Peace Council.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br/>To watch the interview online or for a trancript, go to:<br/><a href="http://www.democracynow.org/2011/11/4/drones_on_trial_38_protesters_face" target="_blank">http://www.democracynow.org/2011/11/4/drones_on_trial_38_protesters_face</a></p>
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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br/>file under : <font color="#FF0000">"friendly fire"</font><br/><font size="6"><b>Multiple missteps led to drone killing U.S. troops in Afghanistan</b></font><br/><br/>6 Nov 2011<br/><br/>Thirty-one seconds after the pilot reported muzzle flashes, the Marines at Alcatraz ordered that the Predator be prepared to strike if the shooters could be confirmed as hostile. At 8:49 a.m., 29 minutes after the ambush began, they authorized the pilot to fire.<br/><br/>In minutes, two Americans would be dead.<br/><br/>The decision to fire a missile from one of the growing fleet of U.S. unmanned aircraft is the result of work by ground commanders, pilots and analysts at far-flung military installations.<br/><br/>The video feed used can also prompt commanders to make decisions before they fully understand what they're seeing.<br/><br/>In February 2009, a crew operating a drone over Afghanistan misidentified a civilian convoy as an enemy force. The Predator pilot and the Army captain who called in the airstrike disregarded warnings from Air Force analysts who had observed children in the convoy. At least 15 people were killed.<br/><br/>The Pentagon investigation into the deaths of Smith and Rast, the first friendly-fire deaths known to have been caused by a drone attack, was led by Marine Col. Randy Newman, a former regimental commander in Afghanistan.<br/><br/>The commander of the 2nd Reconnaissance Battalion, Lt. Col. L.K. Hussey, declined to be interviewed.<br/><br/>Newman's report said the analysts should have been more aggressive in raising their concerns in the minutes before the missile attack. But the analysts said they were trained not to intercede when U.S. troops were in danger unless they saw women and children present, or evidence of a possible war crime.<br/><br/>At the Pentagon, a senior Marine officer described the decision to launch the missile as "a rush to judgment."<br/><br/>After the Predator pilot learned of the fatal mistake, he asked to be relieved at the controls. "The gravity of the matter overcame my ability to continue focusing on the task at hand," he explained.<br/><br/>Replaying the video and voice communications, he was stunned to see that the muzzle flashes were aimed away from the road. He was "completely confused as to how I saw exactly the opposite sitting in the seat."<br/><br/>He asked for the video to be stopped and left the building. An Air Force chaplain was waiting outside.<br/><br/><a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-drone-attack-20">http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-drone-attack-20</a>...</p>
<p><br/><br/><br/><br/></p>
<hr size="1"/><p>The Tulsa Peace Fellowship's Counter-Recruitment Update/Digest, for Nov 2011<br/><i>masthead</i></p>
<p align="left">who we are:<br/><br/><font color="#009900"><i><b>The Tulsa Peace Fellowship</b></i></font> <i>is the activist wing of the peace movement in Eastern Oklahoma. TPF offers citizens and community groups tools and resources to participate personally in our democracy, to help shape federal budget and policy priorities, and to promote peace, social and economic justice, and human rights. TPF is a registered non-profit organization and a non-partisan civic-sector organization, loosely affiliated with the Unitarian Universalist Church of the Restoration, north side of Tulsa.</i></p>
<p align="left"><font color="#009900"><b>"Waging Peace One Person at a Time (& Leaving War to the Ants)".</b></font></p>
<p align="left">Through its counter-recruitment task force, TPF is a member of the <font color="#009900"><b>National Network in Opposition to the Militarization of Youth (NNOMY)</b></font> representing some 188 counter-recruitment groups in cities and towns across the country. <a href="http://www.nnomy.org/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=216&Itemid=91">On the web</a></p>
<p>You can check out our main social media tool here: <a href="../../">http://tulsapeacefellowship.ning.com</a> (since 2009) </p>
<p>Also still going strong: our announcement list on yahoo! <a href="mailto:tulsapeace@yahoogroups.com">tulsapeace@yahoogroups.com</a> (since 2002) Go to: <a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/">http://groups.yahoo.com/</a> and search for "tulsapeace"</p>
<p align="left"><font color="#009900"><b>TPF needs your support.</b></font></p>
<p align="left">You can donate online via PINC (pull down menu for US$ donations)<br/><a href="http://www.pincgiving.com/donate/organization/1202854">http://www.pincgiving.com/donate/organization/1202854</a></p>
<p align="left">Or, please mail a check or money order made out to the"Tulsa Peace Fellowship" to :</p>
<p align="left">The Tulsa Peace Fellowship<br/>c/o UU Church of the Restoration, <br/>1314 N. Greenwood Ave, Tulsa Oklahoma. 74106-4854<br/>Find on a map: <a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&q=peace+fellowship&sll=36.173998,-95.986798&sspn=0.010168,0.022552&ie=UTF8&radius=0.75&split=1&filter=0&rq=1&ev=zi&hq=peace+fellowship&hnear=&z=16&iwloc=E">Google Maps link</a></p>
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<p><font color="#009900"><font face="Times New Roman, Times, serif"><font size="3"><b>The next monthly anti-war demo in Tulsa</b></font></font></font> <font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman, Times, serif"><font size="3"><br/>is scheduled for<br/></font></font></font><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman, Times, serif"><font size="3"><b>Saturday Dec 3rd, 2011, 12noon to 2pm, with the theme: "U.S. Out of Afghanistan Now!"</b></font></font></font><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman, Times, serif"><font size="3"><br/>Details online:</font></font></font> <a href="../../events/out-of-afghanistan-1">http://tulsapeacefellowship.ning.com</a><font color="#000000"><br/><br/>Come join us! </font> <br/><br/><font color="#000000">The information provided in this digest/update herein is for non-profit use only, according to "fair use" doctrine. Copyright and all commercial exploitation rights remain with the various authors/publishers cited above. The</font> Tulsa Peace Fellowship does not necessarily endorse the views expressed in the articles appearing herein.<br/><font color="#000000"><br/></font><i>further information</i></p>
<div id="legaltext" dir="ltr"><p>IN ACCORDANCE WITH TITLE 17 U.S.C. SECTION 107, THIS MATERIAL IS DISTRIBUTED WITHOUT PROFIT TO THOSE WHO HAVE EXPRESSED A PRIOR INTEREST IN RECEIVING THE INCLUDED INFORMATION FOR RESEARCH AND EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES. Tulsa Peace Fellowship HAS NO AFFILIATION WHATSOEVER WITH THE ORIGINATOR OF THESE ARTICLES NOR IS Tulsa Peace Fellowship ENDORSED OR SPONSORED BY THE ORIGINATORS.<br/><br/><font size="6"><b>THE 10 REASONS</b></font> <br/><br/>Ten excellent reasons not to join the military:<br/>a. You May Be Killed, Even By Mistake<br/>b. You May Kill Others Who Do Not Deserve to Die <br/>c. You May Be Injured <br/>d. You May Not Receive Proper Medical Care <br/>e. You May Suffer Long-term Health Problems <br/>f. You May Be Lied To <br/>g. You May Face Discrimination <br/>h. You May Be Asked to Do Things Against Your Beliefs <br/>i. You May Find It Difficult to Leave the Military<br/>j. You Have Other Choices, including the Choice to Learn a Marketable Skill<br/><br/>for more info:<br/><a href="http://www.10reasonsbook.com/medcare.htm">http://www.10reasonsbook.com/medcare.htm</a></p>
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Okla VFW commander says "Bring the troops home" | TPF counter-recruitment digest/update for Oct 2011
tag:tulsapeacefellowship.ning.com,2011-10-20:2567841:Topic:16884
2011-10-20T15:17:41.123Z
Tony Nuspl
http://tulsapeacefellowship.ning.com/profile/TonyNuspl
<div class="moz-text-html" lang="x-western" xml:lang="x-western"><b><font face="Andalus"><big><i>Truth in Recruiting</i> - "Don't Believe the Hype!"</big><br></br> <big><big>The Tulsa Peace Fellowship's Counter-Recruitment Update/Digest, for Oct 2011</big></big></font></b><br></br> (scroll down for details about any story)<br></br>
<br></br>
Lead stories since the last edition of TPF's <i>Truth in Recruiting</i>:<br></br>
<br></br>
file under: worth repeating<br></br>
<b>Okla VFW commander says "Bring the troops…</b></div>
<div class="moz-text-html" xml:lang="x-western" lang="x-western"><b><font face="Andalus"><big><i>Truth in Recruiting</i> - "Don't Believe the Hype!"</big><br/> <big><big>The Tulsa Peace Fellowship's Counter-Recruitment Update/Digest, for Oct 2011</big></big></font></b><br/>
(scroll down for details about any story)<br/>
<br/>
Lead stories since the last edition of TPF's <i>Truth in Recruiting</i>:<br/>
<br/>
file under: worth repeating<br/>
<b>Okla VFW commander says "Bring the troops home"<br/>
--</b>The list of Oklahomans killed overseas continues to get longer. Emmitt Humphrey, the state commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, says enough is enough.<br/>
<b><br/>
</b> related:<b><br/>
Veterans for Peace passes Resolution in favor of Impeachment of Obama for Unauthorized Use of Force<br/>
</b> <br/>
page 1<br/>
<br/>
featured book review:<br/>
<b><i>We Meant Well: How I Helped Lose the Battle for the Hearts and Minds of the Iraqi People</i> by Peter Van Buren</b><br/>
Review author: Realist — Published: Sep 15, 2011 <br/>
<blockquote>quote:<br/> "If Joseph Heller's war began in 2004 instead of 1944, this would be the book entitled <i>Catch-22</i>. Once I picked up <i>We Meant Well: How I Helped Lose the Battle for the Hearts and Minds of the Iraqi People</i> (available September 27), I could not put the book down. I could not believe so much that appears to be fictional satire could instead relate actual events. Author Peter Van Buren, a career State Department Foreign Service Officer (FSO), could have been Heller's Yossarian, a traveler adrift in a sea of official insanity, whose survival depends on pretending it is all as it should be until he can escape." <br/>
</blockquote>
file under: modern warfare and the end of heroism<br/>
<a href="http://news.antiwar.com/2011/10/19/pentagon-ied-use-soaring-worldwide/"><b>Pentagon: IED Use Soaring Worldwide</b></a><br/>
IED Defeat chief says no way to defeat IEDs<br/>
<blockquote>related:<br/> <br/>
<a href="http://antiwar.com/radio/2011/10/19/andrew-cockburn-3/">Zillion Dollar War Against IEDs: Fail</a><br/>
<br/>
Unless you are a war investor, says Andrew Cockburn<br/>
<br/>
</blockquote>
file under: the militarization of civilian life<br/>
<b>5 Household Brands Making a Killing on America’s Wars</b><br/>
Learn which so-called "civilian" companies are making big bucks on today's wars.<br/>
<p style="margin-left: 0.49in; margin-bottom: 0.2in;">facts & figures: <br/> Chances are, if you’ve ever sent a package overnight, bought a PC or a can of soda, you’ve paid your hard-earned money to a major Pentagon contractor.</p>
file under: the militarization of civilian life<br/>
<b>Super Committee Senator Rules Out Military Spending Cuts</b><br/>
Sec'y Panetta seeks to reassure arms makers that, despite civilian budget crunch, the U.S. is still the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today<br/>
<blockquote>facts & figures:<br/> According to the terms of the deal struck between Republicans and Democrats this summer, defense-related cuts of up to $600 billon are to kick in if Congress fails by the end of the year to find at least $1.2 trillion more in deficit reduction over the same period. The 12 congressional Democrats and Republicans serving on the super committee have until November 23 to forge a deficit-reduction deal that a majority can support.<br/>
<br/>
If they fail, about $1.2 trillion in spending cuts over 10 years, divided equally between domestic and defense programs, would automatically begin in 2013.<br/>
<font color="#009900"><br/>
Proponents of lower spending on the U.S. military --already 10 times greater than any other industrialized nation in the world-- are now in the position of hoping the Super Committee fails to do its job, so that the defense cuts actually happen as they should.</font><br/>
</blockquote>
related story: <br/>
<a href="http://www.stripes.com/news/senators-want-commission-to-consider-overseas-base-closings-1.158192"><b>Senators want commission to consider overseas base closings</b></a><br/>
--call for the closing of dozens of overseas military bases, could save billions in wasteful spending<br/>
<br/>
related Letter to the Editor<br/>
<b>Bruce Fein on Defense Spending</b><br/>
<blockquote>quote:<br/> "If the nation embraced the founding fathers’ creed of 'Millions for defense, but <font color="#FF0000">not one cent for empire</font>,' the national security budget could be slashed by 75% to $300 billion annually without impairing the safety of the United States from foreign attack. It would still leave America with the largest defense budget in the world while diminishing its foreign enemies — precisely because the vast majority of our enemies become such because they resent the U.S. for doing things like propping up foreign despots and using predator drones to indiscriminately kill people."<br/>
~Bruce Fein, noted conservative and constitutional expert<br/>
</blockquote>
page 2<br/>
<br/>
featured op/ed from North Texas:<br/>
<b><a href="http://www.examiner.com/libertarian-news-in-national/false-patriotism-why-americans-should-boycott-military-service">False patriotism: Why Americans should boycott military service</a></b><br/>
-- Libertarians reject coercion, intimidation and fraud. There is no patriotism in wars of aggression.<br/>
<blockquote><p>quote:<br/> "There is no patriotism in being used as a pawn in a politician's game of self-important strutting on a world stage."</p>
</blockquote>
<br/>
featured radio program: Talk of the Nation <img alt="NPR" title="NPR" height="18" width="53"/><br/>
<b>Soldiers Say It's Hard To Return To Civilian Life</b><br/>
<blockquote><div class="postbar" style="height: 45px ! important;">quote:<br/> "I went out into the job market and I'm trying to convey to them that I'm the tip of the spear in medical care, but to be a medic in the Army doesn't transfer out. They were telling me that they were not hiring me because of the lack of [civilian] certification. You don't realize that what the civilian world doesn't care what you learn in the military."<br/>
<br/>
</div>
</blockquote>
<br/>
<b><br/>
Veterans’ unemployment outpaces civilian rate</b><br/>
--Since leaving the Army in 2008, Joseph has found that the rigorous training he gained during 18 years of military service means little to civilian employers.<br/>
<br/>
<a href="http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/europe/news/article_1667229.php/Dozens-of-US-parachutists-injured-in-German-exercise"><b>Dozens of US parachutists injured in German exercise</b></a><br/>
--Forty-seven US soldiers were injured during a parachuting exercise at a US military base in southern Germany.<br/>
<br/>
file under: SNAFU<br/>
<b>Jet with Uranium Ammunition On Board Crashes in Germany</b><br/>
<br/>
file under: SNAFU 2<br/>
<b>Helicopter Crashes in Hawaii , Kills 1 marine and Released Radioactive Material</b><br/>
<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
backpage<br/>
<br/>
<b>US Spy Plane Downed by North Korean ‘Jamming’</b> <br/>
South Korea Report Says Plane Had to Make Emergency Landing<br/>
<br/>
<b>Red Crescent workers shot in Syria: three volunteers wounded</b><br/>
Motives for the shootings were unclear<br/>
<br/>
<b>UN Secretary General: Palestinian statehood is 'long overdue'</b><br/>
Ban Ki-moon says supports two-state solution for Middle East peace, adding that it was up to UN members whether or not to recognize an independent Palestinian state.<br/>
<br/>
file under: Israel's crimes on the Mediterranean high seas<br/>
<b>Turkish premier slams Obama for silence on Israel's Gaza flotilla raid</b><br/>
--Erdogan reiterates Ankara's intent to refer legality of Israel's blockade on Gaza (part of Palestine) to The Hague, saying the world will see 'who is standing alongside the victims'.<br/>
<br/>
related:<br/>
<b>Turkish Paper Lists Israelis It Says Were in Flotilla Raid</b><br/>
— A Turkish newspaper published the names and photographs of more than 140 Israeli soldiers who the paper said took part in the raid on a Turkish flotilla to Gaza last year that ended with the death of nine passengers, including one Turkish-American<br/>
<blockquote>facts & figures:<br/> Turkey, which holds the Israeli government responsible for the nine deaths, has downgraded diplomatic ties with Israel and expelled the Israeli ambassador in Ankara, the Turkish capital. It says it is prepared to seek legal action against the Gaza blockade in the International Court of Justice.<br/>
</blockquote>
<br/>
related event:<br/>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><small><small><font color="#000000"><font face="Andalus"><font size="7"><small><small><b>Tulsa Peace Fellowship</b></small></small></font></font></font></small></small></p>
<p align="center"><small><small><font style="font-size: 28pt;" size="6"><small><small>monthly peace vigil, occupying the corner of 41st & Yale<br/></small></small></font></small></small></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><small><small><font color="#000000"><font style="font-size: 48pt;" size="7"><small><small><b>U.S. OUT OF AFGHANISTAN NOW!<br/></b></small></small></font></font></small></small></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><small><small><font color="#000000"><font face="Copperplate Gothic Bold, Segoe Script, sans-serif"><font style="font-size: 20pt;" size="5"><small><small><b>Saturday, NOVEMBER 5th, 2011</b></small></small></font></font></font></small></small></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><small><small><font color="#000000"><font face="Copperplate Gothic Bold, Segoe Script, sans-serif"><font style="font-size: 20pt;" size="5"><small><small><b>Remember, remember, the 5th of November!<br/></b></small></small></font></font></font></small></small></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><small><small><font color="#000000"><font face="Copperplate Gothic Bold, Segoe Script, sans-serif"><font style="font-size: 20pt;" size="5"><small><small><b>12:00 noon to 2:00 pm</b></small></small></font></font></font></small></small></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><small><small><font color="#000000"><font face="Copperplate Gothic Bold, Segoe Script, sans-serif"><font style="font-size: 20pt;" size="5"><small><small><b>bring your own protest sign, or brandish one of ours<br/></b></small></small></font></font></font></small></small></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><font color="#000000"><font size="4"><b>Passers-by are encouraged to 'honk for peace', or flash us a peace sign.</b></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"> </p>
<b><br/>
</b> <br/>
epitaph for this edition of "Truth in Recruiting"<br/>
<br/>
<blockquote><b>War is the most comprehensive social experiment people are capable of engaging in, when the circumstances to which they must conform change. It doesn't even take an order or the special command structure of an army for people to be able to shoot at anything that moves. All it takes is for the benchmarks of what is considered appropriate and correct to change.<br/> <br/>
Not everything can be blamed on the circumstances. Even under conditions of extreme violence, there are always individuals who defy the prevailing morality of the group. In most cases, and for good reason, it is outsiders who display the kind of behavior one would expect from people with a normal upbringing.<br/>
<br/>
In one of the best-documented cases of a war crime, the massacre in the Vietnamese village of My Lai by American GIs in March 1968, it was a helicopter pilot who kept his fellow soldiers from committing even more murders. It was only when Warrant Officer Hugh Thompson threatened to have his men shoot at their fellow GIs that they stopped their killing spree.</b> <i><br/>
<br/>
</i> ~Jan Fleischhauer, on rape, murder and genocide in times of war<br/>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,755385-6,00.html">http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,755385-6,00.html</a><br/>
</blockquote>
<b><br/>
</b><br/>
<hr size="2" width="100%"/>The Tulsa Peace Fellowship's Counter-Recruitment Update/Digest, for Oct 2011<br/>
<i>lead story</i><br/>
<br/>
<p><br/> <br/>
<big><big><big><b>State VFW commander calls for our troops to come home</b></big></big></big></p>
<p>Aug. 17, 2011</p>
<p>Emmitt Humphrey, the state commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, says enough is enough. Humphrey talked to KRMG just before Monday’s funeral for Staff Sgt. Kirk Owen in Sapulpa. He told us it is time to bring our boys home.</p>
<p>“This has gone on for ten years and we’ve lost way too many individuals. I may be criticized for saying that, but I don’t really care.”</p>
<p>Humphrey is no stranger to war. He served in Vietnam in 1969. </p>
<p>“We spent way too many years over there but not ten like our young men and women have been today. It’s gone on for too long.”</p>
<p><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.krmg.com/news/news/local/state-vfw-commander-calls-our-troops-come-home/nDKXd/">http://www.krmg.com/news/news/local/state-vfw-commander-calls-our-troops-come-home/nDKXd/</a></p>
<blockquote><p>select comments, from facebook users:</p>
<div class="commentContent UIImageBlock_Content UIImageBlock_SMALL_Content"><span class="actorName">Randy Smith</span> : <span class="commentBody">The VFW said that? Wow, that's really big. </span></div>
<span class="actorName">Rodney Boegel</span> <span class="commentBody">: Its PAST TIME to bring them home. Bravo for the VFW!</span><br/>
</blockquote>
<abbr title="Friday, August 19, 2011 at 12:09pm"><br/>
<br/>
</abbr> <big><big><big><b>Veterans for Peace passes Resolution for the Impeachment of President Barack H. Obama For War Crimes</b></big></big></big><br/>
Resolution passed at their August plenary meeting:<br/>
<br/>
Whereas, President Obama, on 19 March 2011, committed a criminal act by ordering the U.S. military to war in Libya without first obtaining the consent of the U.S. Congress in a direct violation of the U.S. Constitution, and<br/>
<br/>
Whereas, the illegal U.S. invasion, bombing and occupation of Iraq initiated by the Bush administration continues under the Obama administration; and<br/>
<br/>
Whereas, the U.S. government is currently engaged in illegal wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, and Libya, and President Obama pledged to increase the number of military personnel and tax dollars spent on the these wars, and<br/>
<br/>
Whereas, the U.S. military used and continues to use depleted uranium munitions, cluster bombs and white phosphorous in densely populated areas in violation of U.S. laws and international laws and treaties prohibiting the indiscriminate killing of civilians; and,<br/>
<br/>
Whereas, the Geneva Conventions specifically prohibit the use of especially injurious weapons and materials causing unnecessary harm that remain active and lethal after battle, and over large areas of land, and<br/>
<br/>
Whereas, large numbers of babies born in Iraq and Afghanistan suffer life-long illness and deformity like severe disfigurements and brain damage, Down’s syndrome, and weak hearts doctors state are caused by the U.S. military’s massive and widespread use of toxic and radioactive materials, and<br/>
<br/>
Whereas, millions upon millions of Iraqi, Afghani, Pakistani, Yemeni, Somali, and Libyan civilians have been maimed, poisoned, displaced from their homes, and killed in a direct result of ongoing, illegal acts of war by the United States, and<br/>
<br/>
Whereas, illegal, immoral and counterproductive detainee torture and brutalization at the hands of the U.S. military’s Immediate Reaction Force continue at Guantanamo under the Obama administration and in particular, the torture of Pfc. Bradley Manning at Quantico, Virginia, and<br/>
<br/>
Whereas, President Obama is an accessory after the fact in obstructing justice by failing to order the Department of Justice to initiate investigations into numerous and blatant U.S. war crimes committed by the Bush administration, [etcetera]<br/>
<br/>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://veteransforpeace.org/convention_resolutions_2011a.vp.html">http://veteransforpeace.org/convention_resolutions_2011a.vp.html</a><br/>
<br/>
<hr size="2" width="100%"/>The Tulsa Peace Fellowship's Counter-Recruitment Update/Digest, for Oct 2011<br/>
<i>page 1</i><br/>
<br/>
<big><big><big><b>Book Review: <i>We Meant Well: How I Helped Lose the Battle for the Hearts and Minds of the Iraqi People</i></b> by Peter Van Buren</big></big></big><br/>
Author: Realist — Published: Sep 15, 2011<br/>
<br/>
If Joseph Heller's war began in 2004 instead of 1944, this would be the book entitled Catch-22. Once I picked up We Meant Well: How I Helped Lose the Battle for the Hearts and Minds of the Iraqi People (available September 27), I could not put the book down. I could not believe so much that appears to be fictional satire could instead relate actual events.<br/>
<br/>
Author Peter Van Buren, a career State Department Foreign Service Officer (FSO), could have been Heller's Yossarian, a traveler adrift in a sea of official insanity, whose survival depends on pretending it is all as it should be until he can escape. He relates tales of incredible hubris, inedible military rations, of status-seeking superiors and shady local grifters, corrupt "businessmen" both native and contracted, of brass-polishing officers and resigned enlisted personnel. All of these people are assigned to distribute massive mounds of Your Money in a poorly-researched and badly-managed effort to convert Iraq from an ancient tribal culture into a clone of suburban America while mired in a war with cultural and religious overtones. Yet the most basic needs of the local people are completely ignored in the incompetent planning of some incredibly expensive community development projects intended to nation-build Iraq.<br/>
<br/>
Read full review online: <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://blogcritics.org/books/article/book-review-we-meant-well-how/">http://blogcritics.org/books/article/book-review-we-meant-well-how/</a><br/>
<br/>
<br/>
<big><big><big><b>Pentagon: IED Use Soaring Worldwide</b></big></big></big><br/>
<br/>
IED Defeat chief says no way to defeat IEDs<br/>
<br/>
by Jason Ditz, October 19, 2011<br/>
<br/>
In comments which likely don’t augur well for his organization’s future, Lt. Gen. Michael Barbero, the head of the Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization, suggested there was no real way to defeat improvised explosive devices.<br/>
<br/>
“If we think its going away after Iraq and Afghanistan, we’re dreaming,” Barbero said, noting that Pentagon stats show the weapons’ use soaring across the world, more than doubling in the past three years.<br/>
<br/>
“It’s going to confront us operationally for decades,” Barbero added, terming the use of IEDs an “enduring threat.” The cheap, virtually impossible to detect explosives have become a major thorn in the side of the US military.<br/>
<br/>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://news.antiwar.com/2011/10/19/pentagon-ied-use-soaring-worldwide/">http://news.antiwar.com/2011/10/19/pentagon-ied-use-soaring-worldwide/</a><br/>
<br/>
related story:<br/>
<br/>
<big><big><big><b>Zillion Dollar War Against IEDs: Fail</b></big></big></big><br/>
<br/>
Unless you are a war investor, says Andrew Cockburn<br/>
<br/>
<div class="details3">Cockburn interviewed by Scott Horton, antiwar.com<br/> October 19, 2011<br/>
<br/>
</div>
Andrew Cockburn, author of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Rumsfeld-Rise-Fall-Catastrophic-Legacy/dp/1416535764/antiwarbookstore"><em>Rumsfeld: His Rise, Fall and Catastrophic Legacy</em></a>, discusses his article “<a href="http://harpers.org/archive/2011/11/0083691">Search and destroy: The Pentagon’s losing battle against IEDs</a>;” the $70 billion “Manhattan Project” to combat $20 homemade landmines – that remain as effective as ever; how the military rejects cheap low-tech solutions and keeps the cash flowing to defense contractors<br/>
<br/>
Interview available on demand as MP3 file<br/>
<p><a href="http://dissentradio.com/radio/11_10_18_cockburn.mp3"><strong>MP3 here</strong></a>. (19:31)</p>
<br/>
<br/>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://antiwar.com/radio/2011/10/19/andrew-cockburn-3/">http://antiwar.com/radio/2011/10/19/andrew-cockburn-3/</a><br/>
<br/>
FedEx and Pepsi Are Top Defense Contractors? <br/>
<b><big><big><big>5 Corporate Brands Making a Killing on America’s Wars</big></big></big></b><br/>
Learn which "civilian" companies are making big bucks on today's wars.<br/>
September 3, 2011 <br/>
By Nick Turse<br/>
<br/>
Chances are, if you’ve ever sent a package overnight, bought a PC or a can of soda, you’ve paid your hard-earned money to a major Pentagon contractor.<br/>
<br/>
Tens of thousands of “civilian” companies, from multi-national corporations hawking toothpaste and shampoo to big oil behemoths and even local restaurants scattered across the United States, all supply the Pentagon with the necessities used to carry on day-to-day operations and wage America’s wars. And they’ve made a killing doing it since 9/11. <br/>
<br/>
Chris Hellman of the National Priorities Project, writing recently at TomDispatch.com, noted that since the 9/11 attacks, the United States has spent about $8 trillion on national security. Even accounting for all the funds paid out for troop salaries, overseas base construction and the training and equipping indigenous allies in Iraq and Afghanistan, among many other costs, it’s clear that vast sums of Pentagon money are flowing somewhere other than to the top weapons-makers. Unknown to most U.S. taxpayers and even many Pentagon-watchers, some of the largest and most recognizable corporations in the world have also been getting rich on America’s wars. Below are five examples of “civilian” companies that have reaped major rewards from the Pentagon during its last decade at war: <br/>
<br/>
1. BP: The oil giant, perhaps most famous for dumping 206 million gallons of crude into the Gulf of Mexico last year, is also a perennial power when it comes to Pentagon contracts. Back in 2001, BP nabbed a cool $357 million in contracts from the Department of Defense. Last year, the number hit $1 billion and it’s no secret why. As defense-tech writer Noah Shachtman noted at Foreign Policy last year, the U.S. military burns “22 gallons of diesel [fuel] per soldier per day in Afghanistan, at a cost of more than $100,000 a person annually.” <br/>
<br/>
2. FedEx: The overnight shipping giant is a long-time defense-contracting powerhouse that has also seen an exponential increase in contract dollars since September 10, 2001, when its stock was trading at just under $40 per share. By the end of that year, FedEx had been awarded about $211 million in contracts from the Pentagon. In 2010, the company received $1.4 billion from the Department of Defense and this year, with its stock closing in on $80 per share, has already passed the $1 billion mark, again. This includes a $182 million deal, inked in August, to pack and ship fresh fruit and vegetables to U.S. military bases overseas and a joint agreement, which also includes United Parcel Service (UPS) and Polar Air Cargo, which could last up to five years and potentially net the companies a combined $853 million.<br/>
<br/>
3. Dell: If you’re in the military and you want to pilot a drone, transfer supplies or write a memo, you need a computer. That’s just what Dell provides. The desktop- and laptop-maker has been plying the Pentagon with computers for many years and, just like Lockheed, Boeing and Northrop Grumman, has done especially well by the Department of Defense since 2001. That year, Dell was awarded $65 million in Pentagon contracts. By 2009, that number had jumped to $731 million and, over the course of the decade, has added up to a total of $4.3 billion in contracts for the PC manufacturer. <br/>
<br/>
4. Kraft – From A-1 steak sauce, their signature mayonnaise and Oreo cookies to Oscar Meyer hot dogs, Planters peanuts and Wheat Thins crackers, this company ranks as one of the largest and best known food concerns in the world. Not surprisingly, it also does a brisk business with the Pentagon which has grown ever larger during the last decade. Back in 2001, Kraft inked $148 million in deals with the Department of Defense, by 2010, its yearly take had risen to $373 million.<br/>
<br/>
5. Pepsi – Once upon a time it was the “choice of a new generation.” These days, it’s the choice of the Pentagon. In 2010, PepsiCo washed down $217 million in Defense Department contract dollars, compared to the mere $61 million in deals it inked back in 2001. Earlier this year, the company continued the trend by signing a multi-million dollar deal to provide the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps with “bag-in-box beverages.” (That very same day, Coca-Cola also received a slightly larger contract to provide drinks for the military.)<br/>
<br/>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.alternet.org/story/152295/fedex_and_pepsi_are_top_defense_contractors_5_corporate_brands_making_a_killing_on_america%E2%80%99s_wars?page=entire">http://www.alternet.org/story/152295/fedex_and_pepsi_are_top_defense_contractors_5_corporate_brands_making_a_killing_on_america%E2%80%99s_wars?page=entire</a><br/>
<br/>
<br/>
<big><big><big><b>Super Committee Senator Rules Out Military Spending Cuts</b></big></big></big><br/>
Panetta Seeks to Reassure Arms Makers of Budget<br/>
by Jason Ditz, September 09, 2011<br/>
<br/>
Various arms makers meeting with Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, have been reassured that he is firmly against the cuts, which he termed a “doomsday mechanism.” (sic)<br/>
<br/>
The US military’s budget, as it stands, is the largest in the history of mankind. That each year going forward will be an even bigger budget is taken as a matter of course by the committee, and Sen. Kyl’s anger stems primarily from concerns that those future record budgets won’t be big enough increases over the previous year.<br/>
<br/>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://news.antiwar.com/2011/09/09/super-committee-senator-rules-out-military-spending-cuts/">http://news.antiwar.com/2011/09/09/super-committee-senator-rules-out-military-spending-cuts/</a><br/>
<br/>
<font color="#009900">TPF: Of course U.S. senators in heavily militarized districts are going to stomp and scream if military budgets are cut; they are in office only because of defense industry campaign funders. This is what Eisenhower warned us about: the military-industrial-congressional complex. </font> <br/>
<br/>
<blockquote>more facts & figures:<br/> <br/>
President Obama’s 2012 official budget request:<br/>
<br/>
The baseline request for the Department of Defense (DOD) is $558 billion. The supplemental request to fight the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq is $118 billion. The request for the Department of Energy’s development and housing of nuclear weapons is $19.3 billion. DOD has $7.8 billion requested for “Miscellaneous.” The State Department requests $8.7 billion for counterterrorism programs. An additional $71.6 billion is requested for homeland security counterterrorism, including $18.1 billion for DOD and $53.5 billion for the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Justice and the Department of Health and Human Services. National Intelligence Programs are budgeted for $53.1 billion. The Department of Veterans Affairs requests $129.3 billion to treat wounded veterans, a figure that is climbing exponentially as soldiers return from Iraq and Afghanistan with mental and emotional traumas.<br/>
<br/>
The foreign affairs budget, including both its military and counterterrorism components, is $18 billion. Payments to military and DOD civilian retirees are budgeted at $68.5 billion. Interest on the national debt attributed to past borrowing to fund the Pentagon is $185 billion.<br/>
<br/>
This brings the national security budget of the United States for FY 2012 to a <font color="#FF0000">staggering total exceeding $1.2 trillion</font>, or approximately one-third of the entire budget and almost 100 percent of the projected budget deficit.<br/>
</blockquote>
related story:<br/>
<big><big><big><b>Senators want commission to consider overseas base closings</b></big></big></big><br/>
by Leo Shane III, for <i>Stars and Stripes</i><br/>
October 19, 2011<br/>
<br/>
WASHINGTON — A pair of U.S. senators are calling for full review of the costs of overseas military bases, saying that closing dozens of the foreign facilities could save billions in wasteful spending.<br/>
<br/>
Sens. Jon Tester, D-Mont., and Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, on Wednesday introduced legislation to create a new commission to “scrutinize the necessity of the United States’ current overseas basing structure” and do a cost-benefit analysis of closing multiple overseas bases.<br/>
<br/>
Earlier in the week, the pair sent a letter to the congressional supercommittee charged with trimming $1.2 trillion in government spending, urging them to make significant cuts in future overseas military construction projects.<br/>
<br/>
In particular, the letter called into question U.S. military projects in Europe and on Guam, saying the Defense Department has not justified the need for billions more in base spending there.<br/>
<br/>
The National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform earlier this year estimated that “responsible” overseas base closings could save taxpayers $8.5 billion in the next four years. The president’s own Commission on Debt Reduction put that figure closer to $9 billion.<br/>
<br/>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.stripes.com/news/senators-want-commission-to-consider-overseas-base-closings-1.158192">http://www.stripes.com/news/senators-want-commission-to-consider-overseas-base-closings-1.158192</a><br/>
<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
<hr size="2" width="100%"/>The Tulsa Peace Fellowship's Counter-Recruitment Update/Digest, for Oct 2011<br/>
<i>page 2</i><br/>
<br/>
<br/>
featured op/ed from North Texas:<br/>
<big><big><big><b>False patriotism: Why Americans should boycott military service</b></big></big></big><br/>
<br/>
Garry Reed, <i>Libertarian News Examiner</i><br/>
October 16, 2011<br/>
<br/>
Libertarians reject coercion, intimidation and fraud, whether from government or individuals. Government, after all, is ultimately just a collection of individuals.<br/>
<br/>
America's politicians - those individuals of government - fight wars of aggression, wars of empire, wars of personal ego, and give us fraudulent reasons for doing so.<br/>
<p>There is no longer any shred of justification for the traditional mindless authority-idolizing government-worshipping knee-jerk patriotism paraded by the political right and opportunistically mimicked by the political left.</p>
<p>Soldiers today are not serving their country; they are simply serving their corrupt politicians.</p>
<p>The American military is supposed to be our protection against invasion from foreign aggressors. Instead, it has become nothing more than a plaything of the political classes.</p>
<p>While you're taking shrapnel in foreign lands your politician is eating caviar in the backseat of his limo on his way to his vacation condo that your stolen tax dollars bought for him.</p>
<p>While you're learning to walk on a prosthetic leg your politician is sending his son to Harvard with the tax money he stole from your parents.</p>
<p>While you're burying your buddies with flags and bugles and 21-gun salutes the politician who sent them to their deaths is having afternoon sex with his mistress.</p>
<p>And while your dead young body is rotting in its grave your politician is writing his self-serving ego-preening memoirs.</p>
<p>The only true patriotism a soldier can claim is fighting against foreign invaders who would enslave or kill his family and friends.</p>
<p>There is no patriotism in wars of aggression.</p>
<p>There is no patriotism in being used as a pawn in a politician's game of self-important strutting on a world stage.</p>
<p>The only way to make the politicians stop using military personnel as their own private battlefield fodder is for young people to boycott the military until the politicians have no choice but to stop their empire building and return to defending America.</p>
<p>This is why truly patriotic Americans who believe in freedom and decency and justice are saying, "<a href="http://www.worldcantwait.net/" rel="nofollow">The World Can't Wait</a>," "<a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/We-Are-Not-Your-Soldiers/118731384383" rel="nofollow">We Are Not Your Soldiers</a>!" and "<a href="http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=343211832086" rel="nofollow">Do Not Join The Military</a>."</p>
<p><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.examiner.com/libertarian-news-in-national/false-patriotism-why-americans-should-boycott-military-service">http://www.examiner.com/libertarian-news-in-national/false-patriotism-why-americans-should-boycott-military-service</a></p>
<img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2310615617?profile=original" width="300"/><br/>
<br/>
<div class="ar aprog">Talk of the Nation</div>
<strong><br />
<big>Soldiers Say It's Hard To Return To Civilian Life</big></strong><br/>
<div class="postbar" style="height: 45px ! important;">October 10, 2011</div>
<div class="ar alisten"><a href="http://www.wbur.org/media-player?url=http://www.wbur.org/npr/141213271/soldiers-say-its-hard-to-return-to-civilian-life&title=Soldiers%20Say%20It%27s%20Hard%20To%20Return%20To%20Civilian%20Life" rel="pop-up-mediaplayer">LISTEN NOW</a></div>
<p>It's a rare time in U.S. military history: During the longest period of sustained warfare, members of the military make up just one-half of 1 percent of the U.S. population. With fewer people sharing the burden, many veterans are having a difficult time adjusting to civilian life.</p>
<div class="nprcontainer"><div class="nprcontainertitle">Guests</div>
<div class="nprcontainerbody"><p><strong>Spc. Nick Colgin,</strong> out-of-work veteran<br/> <strong>Paul Taylor,</strong> executive vice president, Pew Research Center<br/>
<strong>Gen. Mike Davidson,</strong> retired Army major general</p>
<p><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.wbur.org/npr/141213271/soldiers-say-its-hard-to-return-to-civilian-life">http://www.wbur.org/npr/141213271/soldiers-say-its-hard-to-return-to-civilian-life</a></p>
<p> </p>
<p><big><big><big><b><br/></b></big></big></big></p>
<p><big><big><big><b>Veterans’ unemployment outpaces civilian rate</b></big></big></big><br/> by Michael A. Fletcher<br/>
<br/>
CLEVELAND — Despite the marketing pitch from the armed forces, which promises to prepare soldiers for the working world, recent veterans are more likely to be unemployed than their civilian counterparts.<br/>
<br/>
Veterans who left military service in the past decade have an unemployment rate of 11.7 percent, well above the overall jobless rate of 9.1 percent, according to fresh data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.<br/>
<br/>
The elevated unemployment rate for new veterans has persisted despite repeated efforts to reduce it.<br/>
<br/>
A Pew Research Center survey released this month found that 44 percent of veterans who served in the past decade called the transition back to civilian life difficult — nearly double the rate of veterans who served before them.<br/>
<br/>
Veterans receive preference when applying for federal and a wide range of other government jobs. They qualify for government-funded education and job training. Industry groups such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce host job fairs aimed at veterans. And a host of firms target veterans for jobs they consider hard to fill.<br/>
<br/>
But such programs have not significantly reduced the jobless rate among veterans.<br/>
<br/>
“There are not that many people who have a military background, and they need to go about the process of learning how military skills relate to other jobs,” said Bill Scott, a vice president at Bradley-Morris, a career placement firm that focuses on veterans.<br/>
<br/>
Trenton Marshall, 25, shipped out for the Navy in 2005. He was in Jacksonville, Fla., for most of that time, training and working as an aviation machinist’s mate. Now he is out of work, waiting to start school at Cleveland State University, where he plans to use his veteran’s benefits to train as a physician’s assistant.<br/>
<br/>
“I hit the revolving door,” he said. “In interviews, people are all smiles. ‘Thank you for your service. You did a great deed.’ All of that. But then you’d get a letter saying you are unqualified, and you sit there like ‘say what?’ ”<br/>
<br/>
© The Washington Post Company</p>
<p><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/veterans-unemployment-outpaces-civilian-rate/2011/10/04/gIQAlqLepL_print.html">http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/veterans-unemployment-outpaces-civilian-rate/2011/10/04/gIQAlqLepL_print.html</a></p>
</div>
</div>
<big><big><big><b>Dozens of US parachutists injured in German exercise</b></big></big></big><br/>
<br/>
Oct 6, 2011, <i>Deutsche Press-Agentur</i><br/>
<br/>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/europe/news/article_1667229.php/Dozens-of-US-parachutists-injured-in-German-exercise">http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/europe/news/article_1667229.php/Dozens-of-US-parachutists-injured-in-German-exercise</a><br/>
<br/>
<br/>
<big><big><big><b>Jet with Uranium Ammunition on board crashed, in Germany</b></big></big></big><br/>
A-10 Thunderbolt II crashes near Spangdahlem Air Base<br/>
By Kevin Dougherty and Marcus Klöckner<br/>
for <i>Stars and Stripes</i><br/>
April 1, 2011<br/>
<br/>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.stripes.com/news/europe/germany/a-10-thunderbolt-ii-crashes-near-spangdahlem-air-base-1.139749">http://www.stripes.com/news/europe/germany/a-10-thunderbolt-ii-crashes-near-spangdahlem-air-base-1.139749</a><br/>
<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
file under: SNAFU 2<br/>
<big><big><big><b>Helicopter Crashes in Hawaii , Kills 1 marine and Released Radioactive Material</b></big></big></big><br/>
<br/>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://hisz.rsoe.hu/alertmap/index2.php">http://hisz.rsoe.hu/alertmap/index2.php</a><br/>
<br/>
More coverage:<br/>
<b><big><big>Kaneohe sandbar deemed safe after radiological testing</big></big></b><br/>
Reported by: Andrew Pereira<br/>
Published: 2nd Sept 2011<br/>
<br/>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.khon2.com/news/local/story/Kaneohe-sandbar-deemed-safe-after-radiological/hWB71NHZkkqBJgVGe5ZI3w.cspx?rss=1803">http://www.khon2.com/news/local/story/Kaneohe-sandbar-deemed-safe-after-radiological/hWB71NHZkkqBJgVGe5ZI3w.cspx?rss=1803</a><br/>
<br/>
more coverage still:<br/>
<br/>
<p><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.disappearednews.com/2011/09/kaneohe-sandbar-helicopter-crash-site.html">http://www.disappearednews.com/2011/09/kaneohe-sandbar-helicopter-crash-site.html</a></p>
<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
<hr size="2" width="100%"/>The Tulsa Peace Fellowship's Counter-Recruitment Update/Digest, for Oct 2011<br/>
<i>backpage</i><br/>
<br/>
<big><big><big><b>US Spy Plane Downed by North Korean ‘Jamming’ During March Drill</b></big></big></big><br/>
South Korea Report Says Plane Had to Make Emergency Landing<br/>
by Jason Ditz, September 09, 2011<br/>
<br/>
According to officials, the plane’s GPS system failed because of jamming signals broadcast in North Korea’s cities of Haeju and Kaesong. It was forced to land just 45 minutes after it took off.<br/>
<br/>
Tensions between North and South Korea had been rising during the period, and South Korean officials repeatedly announced new military drills along the tense naval border for several months leading up to the incident.<br/>
<br/>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://news.antiwar.com/2011/09/09/us-spy-plane-downed-by-north-korean-jamming-during-march-drill/">http://news.antiwar.com/2011/09/09/us-spy-plane-downed-by-north-korean-jamming-during-march-drill/</a><br/>
<br/>
<br/>
<big><big><big><b>Red Crescent workers shot in Syria</b></big></big></big><br/>
Published: Sept. 9, 2011<br/>
<br/>
HOMS, Syria, Sept. 9 (UPI) -- Three volunteers with the Syrian Red Crescent Society were wounded when their ambulance was fired upon in Homs, the Red Cross said.<br/>
<br/>
The International Committee of the Red Cross said three volunteers with the Syrian Arab Red Crescent were wounded, one seriously, when their ambulance was fired upon after it ran over downed power lines.<br/>
<br/>
"The Syrian Arab Red Crescent, the International Committee of the Red Cross and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies join in calling on all those involved in the violence to do their utmost to facilitate Red Crescent efforts to come to the aid, in a fully impartial manner, of those in need," the ICRC said in a statement.<br/>
<br/>
The ICRC said circumstances surrounding the shootings were unclear.<br/>
<br/>
Damascus has faced increasing international isolation for its violent crackdown on anti-regime demonstrators. More than 2,000 people have been killed, allegedly by Syrian forces, since the uprising against Syrian President Bashar Assad began early this year.<br/>
<br/>
ICRC President Jakob Kellenberger met with Assad this week following a visit to the central prison in Damascus.<br/>
<br/>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Special/2011/09/09/Red-Crescent-workers-shot-in-Syria/UPI-23271315584656/">http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Special/2011/09/09/Red-Crescent-workers-shot-in-Syria/UPI-23271315584656/</a><br/>
<br/>
<big><big><big><b>UN Secretary General: Palestinian statehood is 'long overdue'</b></big></big></big><br/>
Ban Ki-moon says supports two-state solution for Middle East peace, adding that it was up to UN members whether or not to recognize an independent Palestinian state.<br/>
By Haaretz <br/>
Sept 9th, 2011<br/>
<br/>
The Palestinian people are "long overdue" in their quest for an independent state, United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said on Friday, ahead of a Palestinian push for statehood in the UN planned for later this month.<br/>
<br/>
Ban's comments came a day after Palestinian activists launched a campaign for the recognition of a Palestinian state in the United Nations. <br/>
<br/>
In a letter addressed to Ban's Ramallah office, Palestinian activists urged the leader of the international community to "exert all possible efforts toward the achievement of the Palestinian people's just demands."<br/>
<br/>
Speaking on Friday, the UN chief was quoted by the French news agency AFP as saying he fully supported Palestinian statehood: "The two state vision where Israel and Palestinians can live... side by side in peace and security -- that is a still a valid vision and I fully support it."<br/>
<br/>
"And I support also the statehood of Palestinians; an independent, sovereign state of Palestine. It has been long overdue," Ban told reporters in Canberra, adding that a "recognition of a state is something to be determined by the member states."<br/>
<br/>
Ban stressed the point further, saying, according to AFP, that it was not a decision to be made "by the Secretary General so I leave it to the member states to decide to recognize or not to recognize." <br/>
<br/>
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said the Palestinian request for recognition of statehood within the 1967 borders had reached a point of no return and he could not retract it.<br/>
<br/>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/un-secretary-general-palestinian-statehood-is-long-overdue-1.383504">http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/un-secretary-general-palestinian-statehood-is-long-overdue-1.383504</a><br/>
<br/>
<br/>
<big><big><big><b>Erdogan slams Obama for silence on Israel's Gaza flotilla raid</b></big></big></big><br/>
Turkish premier reiterates Ankara's intent to refer legality of Israel's blockade on Gaza to The Hague, saying the world will see 'who is standing alongside the victims'.<br/>
By DPA and Haaretz <br/>
10th Sept 2011<br/>
<br/>
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan reiterated on Saturday his country's intent to refer the legality of Israel's Gaza blockade to The Hague, adding a criticism of U.S. President Barack Obama's position regarding Israel's 2010 of a Turkish Gaza-bound flotilla.<br/>
<br/>
Speaking a convention of businessmen in the central Turkish city of Kayseri broadcast live on Turkey's state news channel TRT Erdogan vowed to continue the legal struggle for justice for the nine people killed in the raid [including one American killed]. <br/>
<br/>
Erdogan was also deeply critical of the United States position on the Mavi Marmara incident, pointing out that he had to point out to Obama how the attack had left nine Turks dead from wounds inflicted by 35 bullets mostly fired from close range, one of them an American passport holder.<br/>
<br/>
"I asked President Obama whether the reason he showed no interest in one of his nationals being killed was because [the victim] was [ethnically] Turkish - he didn't reply," said Erdogan.<br/>
<br/>
Edogan's comments came a week Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu first indicated that Turkey was to appeal the International Court of Justice in The Hague as soon as next week in order to probe the legality of Israel's naval blockade on the Gaza Strip, saying that Turkey could not "accept the blockade on Gaza."<br/>
<br/>
"We cannot say that the blockade aligns with international law," he said, adding that the stance taken by the Palmer Commission Report was the author's "personal opinion, one which does not correspond with Turkey's position." <br/>
<br/>
He added: "We are bound by the International Court of Justice. We say that the ICJ decides." <br/>
<br/>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/erdogan-slams-obama-for-silence-on-israel-s-gaza-flotilla-raid-1.383618">http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/erdogan-slams-obama-for-silence-on-israel-s-gaza-flotilla-raid-1.383618</a><br/>
<br/>
<br/>
<big><big><big><b>Turkish Paper Lists Israeli Soldiers It Says Were in Flotilla Raid <br/>
--Israeli Soldiers Complicit in Crime on High Seas</b></big></big></big><br/>
By Sebnem Arsu<br/>
September 26, 2011<br/>
New York Times<br/>
<br/>
ISTANBUL — A Turkish newspaper published the names and photographs on Monday of more than 140 Israeli soldiers who the paper said took part in the raid on a Turkish flotilla to Gaza last year that ended with the death of nine passengers and created a diplomatic standoff between Turkey and Israel.<br/>
<br/>
The newspaper, Sabah, said the Turkish government began searching for the soldiers’ identities after the Israeli authorities failed to cooperate in an investigation that prosecutors in Turkey said could lead to legal action.<br/>
<br/>
The newspaper report received scant attention in Israel, where officials declined to comment. Others there described it as a recycled conglomeration of similar lists that have been circulating on the Internet.<br/>
<br/>
Television analysts in Israel noted that the list included some well-known Israeli figures who had long since left the military, which they said gave some indication of its accuracy. There is, however, real concern in Israel about Turkey’s threats of legal action over the raid.<br/>
<br/>
The newspaper, a pro-government daily, reported that a senior Turkish prosecutor had authorized the investigation, which filtered all available film and other visuals from the flotilla raid for facial images that could be matched to photographs on social networks like Facebook and Twitter.<br/>
<br/>
Some of the names, Sabah said, were provided by flotilla passengers who were interrogated by the Israelis after the lead ship was towed in May 2010 to the port of Ashdod, in Israel. Others were gleaned from public postings and the Web links they contained.<br/>
<br/>
Sabah said the list would be forwarded to the Israeli military for confirmation before any legal action was taken in Turkey or abroad.<br/>
<br/>
The Turkish government holds Israel responsible for the deaths of the nine passengers. The Israeli government has refused to officially apologize for the raid on the flotilla, which was trying to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza. Turkey has said an apology is a condition for the normalization of relations, and it is demanding that Israel provide compensation for relatives of the dead and that it lift the Gaza embargo.<br/>
<br/>
Turkey, which has downgraded diplomatic ties with Israel and expelled the Israeli ambassador in Ankara, the capital, says it is prepared to seek legal action against the Gaza blockade in the International Court of Justice.<br/>
<br/>
Isabel Kershner contributed reporting from Jerusalem.<br/>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/27/world/europe/turkish-paper-names-israelis-it-says-were-in-flotilla-raid.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss">http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/27/world/europe/turkish-paper-names-israelis-it-says-were-in-flotilla-raid.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss</a><br/>
<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
<hr size="2" width="100%"/>The Tulsa Peace Fellowship's Counter-Recruitment Update/Digest, for Oct 2011<br/>
<i>masthead</i><br/>
<br/>
<p align="left">who we are:<br/> <br/>
<i><font color="#009900"><b>The Tulsa Peace Fellowship</b></font> is the activist wing of the peace movement in Eastern Oklahoma, building the left-right antiwar alliance. TPF offers citizens and community groups tools and resources to participate personally in our democracy, to help shape federal budget and policy priorities, and to promote peace, social and economic justice, and human rights. TPF is a registered non-profit organization and a non-partisan civic-sector organization, loosely affiliated with the Unitarian Universalist Church of the Restoration, north side of Tulsa.</i></p>
<p align="left"><font color="#009900"><b>"Waging Peace One Person at a Time".</b></font></p>
<p align="left"><font class="titlebar_black">Through its counter-recruitment task force, TPF is a member of the</font> <font color="#009900"><b><font class="titlebar_black">National Network in Opposition to the Militarization of Youth (NNOMY)</font></b></font> representing some 188 counter-recruitment groups in cities and towns across the country. <font class="titlebar_black">On the web: <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.nnomy.org/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=216&Itemid=91">http://www.nnomy.org/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=216&Itemid=91</a></font><big><font size="2"><big> </big></font></big></p>
Tulsa Peace Fellowship is open to members of third parties, independents, progressives, Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians, Green Party members, etc. If you have not already done so, please join the <font color="#009900"><b>new social networking tool for TPF on Ning,</b></font> <i>in lieu</i> of TPFtalks on yahoogroups, which has fallen into disuse Thank you! You can check out our new tool here: <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="../../">http://tulsapeacefellowship.ning.com</a> (new for 2011) Also still going strong: our announcement list on yahoo! <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:tulsapeace@yahoogroups.com">tulsapeace@yahoogroups.com</a> (since 2002) Go to: <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://groups.yahoo.com/">http://groups.yahoo.com/</a> and search for "tulsapeace"<br/>
<font color="#000000"><br/>
If you enjoyed this news digest and/or found this update useful, please consider making a donation of time, money, or effort to the Tulsa Peace Fellowship. </font> <br/>
<p align="left"><font color="#009900"><b>TPF needs your support.</b></font></p>
<p align="left">You can donate online via PINC (pull down menu for US$ donations)<br/> <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.pincgiving.com/donate/organization/1202854">http://www.pincgiving.com/donate/organization/1202854</a></p>
<p align="left">Or, please mail a check or money order made out to the"Tulsa Peace Fellowship" to :</p>
<p align="left">The Tulsa Peace Fellowship<br/> c/o UU Church of the Restoration, <br/>
1314 N. Greenwood Ave, Tulsa Oklahoma. 74106-4854<br/>
Find on a map: <a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&q=peace+fellowship&sll=36.173998,-95.986798&sspn=0.010168,0.022552&ie=UTF8&radius=0.75&split=1&filter=0&rq=1&ev=zi&hq=peace+fellowship&hnear=&z=16&iwloc=E">Google Maps link</a></p>
<p align="left">Contributions to TPF are not tax deductible at the present time. <font color="#000000">Details on tax status available.</font></p>
<big><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman, Times, serif"><span class="484465117-08032008"><font size="2"><big><br/>
<font color="#009900"><font color="#000000">The next</font> <font color="#000000">monthly</font> <b>anti-war demo in Tulsa</b></font> is <br/>
<b>Saturday <font color="#000000">Nov 5th</font>, 2011, 12noon to 2pm, with the theme: "U.S. Out of Afghanistan Now!"</b><br/>
</big></font></span></font></big> <br/>
<font color="#000000"><font color="#000000">The next regularly scheduled business meeting of</font> <font color="#000000">the Fellowship will be held 5 days later</font><b><br/>
on</b></font> <font color="#000000"><b>Thursday, <font color="#000000">Nov 10th</font> 2011, 6:15 PM – 7:30 PM @ the UU Church of the Restoration</b>, in Tulsa, just north of downtown</font><br/>
<font color="#000000">--including members from other local non-partisan groups such as Veterans for Peace</font>, Pax Christi, and the Quakers<font color="#000000"><br/>
<br/>
Come join us! Especially parents, guardians, and students in the Tulsa Public Schools system who are interested in countering the presence of military recruiters on school grounds.</font><br/>
<br/>
<font color="#000000">An archive of TPF counter-recruitment updates and other related TPF material is available to members online:</font><br/>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/tulsapeace/?v=1&t=search&ch=web&pub=groups&sec=group&slk=1"><font color="#000000">http://groups.yahoo.com/group/tulsapeace/</font></a><br/>
<font color="#000000">You must sign in to yahoo! groups to see the archived "message history"</font><br/>
<font color="#000000">TPF messages have been archived online since 2002</font><br/>
<font color="#000000">TPF was founded some 30 years ago.</font><br/>
<font color="#000000">Current membership online:</font> 692 subscribers<br/>
<br/>
<font color="#000000">The information provided in this digest/update herein is for non-profit use only, according to "fair use" doctrine. Copyright and all commercial exploitation rights remain with the various authors/publishers cited above. The</font> Tulsa Peace Fellowship does not necessarily endorse the views expressed in the articles appearing herein.<br/>
<font color="#000000"><br/>
</font> <i>further information<br/>
</i><br/>
<div id="legaltext"><p>IN ACCORDANCE WITH TITLE 17 U.S.C. SECTION 107, THIS MATERIAL IS DISTRIBUTED WITHOUT PROFIT TO THOSE WHO HAVE EXPRESSED A PRIOR INTEREST IN RECEIVING THE INCLUDED INFORMATION FOR RESEARCH AND EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES. Tulsa Peace Fellowship HAS NO AFFILIATION WHATSOEVER WITH THE ORIGINATOR OF THESE ARTICLES NOR IS Tulsa Peace Fellowship ENDORSED OR SPONSORED BY THE ORIGINATORS.</p>
<p>SOURCE ARTICLE LINKS ARE PROVIDED AS A CONVENIENCE TO OUR READERS AND ALLOW FOR VERIFICATION OF AUTHENTICITY. HOWEVER, AS ORIGINATING PAGES ARE OFTEN UPDATED BY THEIR ORIGINATING HOST SITES, THE VERSIONS POSTED MAY NOT MATCH THE VERSIONS OUR READERS VIEW WHEN CLICKING THE SOURCE ARTICLE LINKS, OR INDEED, THE WEBPAGES MAY NO LONGER EVEN EXIST.</p>
</div>
<br/>
<font face="arial,helvetica"><b><font style="background-color: #ffffff;" xml:lang="0" color="#400040" face="Univers" lang="0" size="2">Strength Through Peace: Out of Iraq & Afghanistan</font></b></font><br/>
<font face="arial,helvetica"><b><font style="background-color: #ffffff;" xml:lang="0" color="#400040" face="Univers" lang="0" size="2">Accountability: Indict & Imprison Bush & Cheney for War Crimes</font></b></font><br/>
<font face="arial,helvetica"><b><font style="background-color: #ffffff;" xml:lang="0" color="#400040" face="Univers" lang="0" size="2">JROTC: Out of Our Schools</font></b></font><br/>
<font face="arial,helvetica"><b><font style="background-color: #ffffff;" xml:lang="0" color="#400040" face="Univers" lang="0" size="2">Schools as Military-Free Zones</font></b></font><br/>
<font face="arial,helvetica"><b><font style="background-color: #ffffff;" xml:lang="0" color="#400040" face="Univers" lang="0" size="2">Alternatives to War: Department of Peace & cabinet-level Secretary of Peace</font></b></font><br/>
<br/>
<big><big><big><b>THE 10 REASONS</b></big></big></big> <br/>
<br/>
Ten excellent reasons not to join the military:<br/>
a.. You Oct Be Killed, Even By Mistake<br/>
b.. You Oct Kill Others Who Do Not Deserve to Die <br/>
c.. You Oct Be Injured <br/>
d.. You Oct Not Receive Proper Medical Care <br/>
e.. You Oct Suffer Long-term Health Problems <br/>
f.. You Oct Be Lied To <br/>
g.. You Oct Face Discrimination <br/>
h.. You Oct Be Asked to Do Things Against Your Beliefs <br/>
i.. You Oct Find It Difficult to Leave the Military<br/>
j.. You Have Other Choices, including the Choice to Learn a Marketable Skill<br/>
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for more info:<br/>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.10reasonsbook.com/medcare.htm">http://www.10reasonsbook.com/medcare.htm</a><br/>
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penny peace push
tag:tulsapeacefellowship.ning.com,2011-09-09:2567841:Topic:14266
2011-09-09T02:53:44.670Z
Larry Hochhaus
http://tulsapeacefellowship.ning.com/profile/LarryHochhaus708
<p align="center"><b>Penny Peace Push</b></p>
<p> </p>
<p align="center">Volume 1, Issue 4 Price $.01*</p>
<p> </p>
<p align="center"><b>Published monthly by the Tulsa Peace Fellowship (TPF), Tulsa, OK.</b></p>
<p align="center"><b> </b></p>
<p align="center">Co-editors:<b> Larry Hochhaus and Bryan Cheek</b></p>
<p><u>Goals</u>:</p>
<ol>
<li>To promote peace and justice at all levels from local to city-wide to state, national, and the world. </li>
<li>To inform readers of significant…</li>
</ol>
<p align="center"><b>Penny Peace Push</b></p>
<p> </p>
<p align="center">Volume 1, Issue 4 Price $.01*</p>
<p> </p>
<p align="center"><b>Published monthly by the Tulsa Peace Fellowship (TPF), Tulsa, OK.</b></p>
<p align="center"><b> </b></p>
<p align="center">Co-editors:<b> Larry Hochhaus and Bryan Cheek</b></p>
<p><u>Goals</u>:</p>
<ol>
<li>To promote peace and justice at all levels from local to city-wide to state, national, and the world. </li>
<li>To inform readers of significant events pertinent to waging peace in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the Midwest, the Nation, and the World. </li>
<li>To inspire our readers to take action toward advancement of peace on many levels.</li>
</ol>
<p><u>Contact information</u>: </p>
<p> Larry Hochhaus: <a href="mailto:addictionhelp@cox.net">addictionhelp@cox.net</a> or Bryan Cheek: <a href="mailto:bcheek225@netzero.com">bcheek225@netzero.com</a></p>
<p> </p>
<p align="center"><b>Announcements and Events:</b></p>
<p><b>Events:</b></p>
<p>Saturday, September 3</p>
<p> Regular Peace Demonstration at 41<sup>st</sup> & Yale, Noon – 2 PM</p>
<p>Theme: <b>“War is not the answer.”</b></p>
<p>To prepare for the Peace Demonstration, keep in mind the C.A.R.A principles: </p>
<p> Namely, 1. <b>C</b>enter yourself 2. <b>A</b>rticulate your truth</p>
<p>3. <b>R</b>eceive the truth of the other person / Respect their opinion</p>
<p>4. <b>A</b>gree, don't assume</p>
<p> from <i>Engage: Exploring Non-Violent Living,</i> pp. 90-93 chapter section entitled: </p>
<p> "CARA: A FOUR-STEP PROCESS FOR NONVIOLENT ENGAGEMENT"</p>
<p> Thursday, Sept 8</p>
<p> 6:30-8:30 Monthly Tulsa Peace Fellowship (TPF) meeting</p>
<p>(all TPF members and visitors welcome)</p>
<p>Church of the Restoration, Unitarian Universalist, 1314 N. Greenwood</p>
<p><b>Ongoing Event:</b></p>
<p> TPF is encouraging members and PPP readers to write post cards in support of Bradley</p>
<p>Manning. Send cards to Bradley Manning 89289, 830 Sabalu Road, Fort Leavenworth KS 66027</p>
<p><b> </b></p>
<p><b>Looking ahead:</b></p>
<ol>
<li> TPF is planning to bring David Rovics, protest singer, Tulsa for a concert <i>sometime</i> in <i>Oct</i> 2011. (I have heard this is Oct. 19, but I have few details at the time of this printing.)</li>
</ol>
<p> </p>
<ol>
<li>A trip to D.C. for October Occupation of Liberty Square, Washington D.C. is being planned. The lead organizer for this trip is TPF seasoned activist Mark Manley. The start of the rally/occupation is planned for Oct 6 th , 2011 . See the flyer from Manley, on page 3 of the present Penny Peace Push. To express your interest in joining the bus/van headed to D.C. from Tulsa contact Mark directly (email: <a href="mailto:oneactivist@impeachok1.org">oneactivist@impeachok1.org</a>) (or see other info at <a href="http://october2011.org/welcome">http://october2011.org/welcome</a>).</li>
</ol>
<p align="center"><b> </b></p>
<p align="center"><b>Featured Article: </b></p>
<p><b>Another lame editorial by Larry Hochhaus.</b></p>
<p> </p>
<p> I want peace, yet I wonder if we are any closer. The liberation of the prison in Tripoli and other documents via Wikileaks suggests we sent prisoners to that prison undoubtedly knowing they would be tortured there. In Afghanistan, the Northern Alliance and the Talliban seem no closer than they were 10 years ago when we invaded there. The income disparity in the US continues to worsen, hence corporate interests, particularly big oil control more and more of our foreign policy positions. Will the Arab spring come to Saudi Arabia? Not likely with our huge military to prevent it. </p>
<p> </p>
<p> I don’t know what to say. I’d like to believe Obama will start a draw-down in Afghanistan, yet I suspect poor motives. I don’t know who would bring this country closer to peace, but I would vote for them if I thought it would. Ron Paul is against military spending and always catches my attention when he says so, yet he’s a right-wing, wing-nut. I just want these wars to stop. </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>I urge anyone reading this to email us anything they consider helpful in working for peace. Email me (Larry Hochhaus) at <a href="mailto:addictionhelp@cox.net">addictionhelp@cox.net</a> or send your thoughts to Bryan Cheek at <a href="mailto:bcheek225@netzero.com">bcheek225@netzero.com</a>. We want to hear from you.</p>
<p><u>Notes</u>: * other donations cheerfully accepted</p>
<p> </p>
<p> <b>Peace Penguin</b></p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<br clear="all"/><p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> Peace Penguin says,</p>
<p> End All Wars.</p>
<p> </p>
<br clear="all"/><br clear="all"/><p> </p>
The Tulsa Peace Fellowship's Counter-Recruitment Update/Digest, for Sept 2011
tag:tulsapeacefellowship.ning.com,2011-09-02:2567841:Topic:14175
2011-09-02T17:11:25.447Z
Tony Nuspl
http://tulsapeacefellowship.ning.com/profile/TonyNuspl
<div class="moz-text-html" lang="x-western" xml:lang="x-western"> <b><font face="Andalus"><big><i>Truth in Recruiting</i> - "Don't Believe the Hype!"</big></font></b> <b><font face="Andalus"><big>-</big></font></b> <b><font face="Andalus"><br></br></font></b> <br></br> scroll down for details about any story, or follow the links <b><font face="Andalus"><big>-</big></font></b> <br></br> <br></br> Lead Story from the past month's news:…<br></br> <br></br></div>
<div class="moz-text-html" lang="x-western" xml:lang="x-western"> <b><font face="Andalus"><big><i>Truth in Recruiting</i> - "Don't Believe the Hype!"</big></font></b> <b><font face="Andalus"><big>-</big></font></b> <b><font face="Andalus"><br/></font></b> <br/> scroll down for details about any story, or follow the links <b><font face="Andalus"><big>-</big></font></b> <br/> <br/> Lead Story from the past month's news:<br/> <br/> <a target="_self" href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2310613061?profile=original"><img class="align-left" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2310613061?profile=original" width="480"/></a></div>
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<div class="moz-text-html" lang="x-western" xml:lang="x-western"><p style="margin-bottom: 0.2in;"><br/> <a href="http://www.nationofchange.org/public-schools-military-bases-get-bad-report-card-1314805977"><b>Public Schools On Military Bases Get Bad Report Card</b></a><br/> Emma Schwartz, News Analysis:</p>
<blockquote>“A substantial number of public schools on military bases are in either poor or failing condition, and many are <font color="#FF0000">overcrowded</font>, a new report card by the Defense Department shows. The latest data adds to the grim portrait of <font color="#FF0000">dilapidated</font> and undersized schools described in an iWatch News investigation , which found that three in four Pentagon-run schools are either <font color="#FF0000">beyond repair</font> or would require extensive renovation to meet minimum standards for safety, quality, accessibility and design. Where military children go to school depends on circumstances often <font color="#FF0000">beyond family control</font>. More than 500,000 children, the largest proportion, live off base, attending local schools in urban or suburban communities that often have significantly more resources.”<br/> <br/> Among the schools with the worst rankings in the report was <font color="#FF0000">Geronimo Road Elementary</font> at Fort Sill in Oklahoma. The report listed Geronimo Road's condition as failing.<br/> <br/> <br/></blockquote>
<p><br/> <br/> page 1<br/> <br/> featured op/ed<br/> <b>Forty years after Vietnam, a new call to protest:</b><br/> <a href="http://october2011.org/blogs/margaret-flowers/forty-years-later-new-call-protest"><b>U.S. Government turns a blind eye to Orwellian crimes</b></a><br/> --U.S. State Department accused of intentionally lying to the American people<br/> --Written by a former Superior Court judge who now is a <font color="#000000">member of</font> <font color="#009900"><b>"Veterans for Peace"</b></font></p>
<blockquote>"Stop the Machine" comes from the words and meaning of <font color="#009900"><b>Henry David Thoreau's 1849 essay "On the Duty of Civil Disobedience."</b></font> The nonviolent protest will begin on Oct. 6. It will end when we decide we have done all that we can.<br/> <br/> --for detailed information about the Oct. 6 protest, go to <a href="http://october2011.org/">http://october2011.org</a></blockquote>
<p><br/> file under: the militarization of peaceful vocations<br/> <a href="http://www.fff.org/freedom/fd1104c.asp"><b>The Forgotten Failures of the Peace Corps</b></a><br/> --a litany of reasons <u>not</u> to join up as a volunteer with this organization, accused of <font color="#FF0000">fostering neocolonialism</font> <font color="#000000">(dependency on America)</font></p>
<p style="margin-left: 0.49in; margin-bottom: 0.2in;">facts & figures:<br/> The Peace Corps was re-organized in 1981 as a fully-independent federal agency. Limitations on former volunteers include the following: 1. Former members of the Peace Corps may not be assigned to military intelligence duties for a period of 4 years following Peace Corps service; 2 furthermore, they are by law forever prohibited from serving in a military intelligence posting to any country in which they volunteered.</p>
<p style="margin-left: 0.49in; margin-bottom: 0.2in;">In 2010, concerns about the safety of volunteers were ratified by a report by the Office of Inspector General listing hundreds of violent crimes against Peace Corps volunteers. In 2011, a 20/20 investigation found that "more than 1,000 young American women have been <font color="#FF0000">raped or sexually assaulted while serving as Peace Corps volunteers</font> in foreign countries in the last decade."</p>
<p style="margin-left: 0.49in; margin-bottom: 0.2in;">also see:<br/> Video segment, historical retrospective on the genesis of the Peace Corps, in 1960: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNW6ftdCOMo">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNW6ftdCOMo</a></p>
<p>file under: bringing the war home<br/> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blog/162649/20-percent-veterans-college-have-planned-commit-suicide"><b>20 Percent of Veterans in College Have Planned to Commit Suicide</b></a></p>
<blockquote>facts & figures:<br/> In the past two years state governments across the country have slashed the budgets that would have provided services for veterans in college.<br/> <br/> related story:<br/> <a href="http://www.armytimes.com/news/2011/08/ap-ranger-killed-self-to-avoid-added-tour-082411/"><b>Widow: Ranger killed self to avoid added tour</b></a></blockquote>
<p>file under: the militarization of civilian life<br/> <a href="http://old.news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110814/ap_on_re_us/us_recruiting_lawyers_don_t_ask"><b>Holdout law schools to accept military recruiters</b></a><br/> --Vermont Law School and another independent law school — the William Mitchell College of Law, in St. Paul, Minn. — are <font color="#FF0000">caving in to allow military recruiters</font>, once again, on campus, like at every other law school in the country.<br/> <br/> sidebar:<br/> <a href="http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/07/31/dozens-of-ak-47-rifles-stolen-from-ca-army-base/"><b>Dozens of AK-47 rifles stolen from California Army base</b></a><br/> file under: Situation Normal All Fouled Up<br/> <br/> file under: <font color="#FF0000">DoD fleeced</font> by outsourcers, yet again<br/> <a href="http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/08/pentagons-lightning-gun/"><b>Pentagon’s Lightning Gun Sold for Scraps on eBay</b></a><br/> --worthless technology not even good enough for an art show<br/> <br/> file under: <font color="#FF0000">cycle of violence</font><br/> <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/aug/06/us-biggest-loss-afghan-war-helicopter-crash-38"><b>Worst US loss of life in Afghan war as downed helicopter kills 38</b></a><br/> --Eight Afghan soldiers and 30 US forces from unit that killed Bin Laden die after insurgents shoot down Chinook<br/> <br/> related op/ed<br/> <a href="http://original.antiwar.com/mbenjamin/2011/08/07/stop-sacrificing-american-lives-for-afghan-debacle/"><b>Stop Sacrificing American Lives for Afghan Debacle</b></a><br/> by Medea Benjamin</p>
<blockquote>quote:<br/> Our presence in Afghanistan is not making us safer because <font color="#009900"><b>Afghanistan is not a threat to us.</b></font> This was clearly acknowledged by a senior Obama administration official in a background briefing to reporters on June 21.“United States hasn’t seen a terrorist threat from Afghanistan, for the past seven or eight years,” he said.</blockquote>
<p><b><a href="http://news.antiwar.com/2011/08/09/gadhafi-officials-nato-bombs-kill-85-civilians/">NATO Bombs Kill 85 Civilians in Single Deadliest Attack</a><br/> Worst loss of innocent life since the Western war on Libya’s Gadhafi regime began</b><br/> --The <font color="#FF0000">civilians were killed</font> in a cluster of farmhouses in Majar, according to Libyan officials.<br/> <br/> <a href="http://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/2011/08/10/most-complete-picture-yet-of-cia-drone-strikes/"><b>164 Children Murdered By US Drones</b></a><br/> --Unembedded analysts come to independent conclusions, flying in the face of <font color="#FF0000">Pentagon party line</font> on UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles)<br/> <br/> <a href="http://www.nationofchange.org/despite-65-billion-investment-worlds-most-costly-jet-still-grounded-1313676874"><b>World’s Most Costly Jet Still Grounded</b></a><br/> --just the latest in a <font color="#FF0000">series of snafus</font> for the F-22 fighter jet</p>
<p>more coverage:</p>
<blockquote>file under: FUBAR<br/> <a href="http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/08/entire-u-s-stealth-fighter-fleet-grounded/"><b>Thousands of Faulty Stealth Fighters Grounded</b></a><br/> --hundreds of billions of <font color="#FF0000">dollars wasted</font>, all designs are faulty <br/></blockquote>
<p><br/> page 2<br/> <br/> file under: Don't they screen who gets a gun?<br/> <a href="http://www.fff.org/comment/com1107x.asp"><b>How Do These People Get Through the Military Recruitment Process?</b></a><br/> --screening process needs to be scrutinized when members of the Armed Forces are repeatedly implicated in <font color="#FF0000">atrocities</font> or serious crimes. <br/> <br/> <a href="http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/08/16/ex-u-s-soldier-loses-appeal-over-rape-and-killing-of-iraqis/"><b>Ex-U.S. soldier loses appeal over rape and killing of Iraqi civilians</b></a><br/> — Steven Green, named as the ringleader in the March 2006 atrocity, is a former US soldier serving a <font color="#FF0000">life sentence</font> for the gang rape and murder of an Iraqi girl and the slaughter of her family<br/> <br/> follow up: bringing the war back home with you, in your head<br/> <a href="http://old.news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110729/ap_on_re_us/us_veterans_lawsuit"><b>Vets with PTSD, government reach settlement</b></a><br/> --More than a thousand Iraq and Afghanistan veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder would be given <font color="#FF0000">lifetime disability</font> retirement benefits <br/> <br/> on a tangent:<br/> <b><a href="http://www.stripes.com/army-vet-with-ptsd-sought-the-treatment-he-needed-by-taking-hostages-but-got-jail-instead-1.152525">Army vet with PTSD sought the treatment he needed by taking hostages</a> – but got</b> <font color="#FF0000"><b>jail</b></font> <b>instead</b><br/> <br/> file under: what?! there are rules in wartime?<br/> <b>Two Iraq</b> <font color="#FF0000"><b>war crime cases</b></font> <b>linger for <a href="http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/aug/03/iraq-war-crime-cases-linger-for-camp-pendleton/">Camp Pendleton Marines</a></b><br/> --Both deal with former infantry squad leaders accused in the <font color="#FF0000">slaying of one or more Iraqi civilians</font> in the far western province of Anbar, during the height of the insurgency.<br/> <br/> featured op/ed<br/> <a href="http://lewrockwell.com/gregory/gregory232.html"><b>Hiroshima, Nagasaki and the U.S. Terror State</b></a><br/> file under: no statute of limitations on <font color="#FF0000">war crimes</font></p>
<blockquote>quote:<br/> "The propaganda that the atomic bombings saved lives was nothing but a public relations pitch contrived in retrospect. These were just gratuitous acts of mass terrorism."<br/> ~Anthony Gregory<br/> <br/> related story:<br/> <b>The Lingering Effects of the U.S. Occupation of Hiroshima and Nagasaki</b><br/> --Greg Mitchell recounts how, in the weeks and months after the U.S. attacked the two cities with atomic bombs, spreading <font color="#FF0000">destruction and radiation</font> over a wide area, an estimated 118,000 U.S. military personnel passed through the atomic cities, between Sept 1945 and August 1946<br/> <br/> quote:<br/> “We walked into Nagasaki unprepared…. Really, we were ignorant about what the hell the bomb was,” one soldier recalls. When the servicemen returned to the United States, many of them suffered from strange rashes and sores. Years later some were afflicted with disease (such as thyroid problems and leukemia) or cancer associated with <font color="#FF0000">radiation exposure</font>.</blockquote>
<p>file under: the wheels of justice grind slowly but surely<b><br/> <a href="http://www.democracynow.org/2011/8/5/headlines#9">U.S. Veteran Allowed to Sue Former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld for Torture</a></b><br/> --In court filings, the unidentified former soldier alleges he had been preparing to come home when the <font color="#FF0000">U.S. military abducted him out of the blue</font> and held him without charge.<br/> <br/> file under: travesty of justice, military style<br/> <a href="http://thenews.com.pk/NewsDetail.aspx?ID=20181&title=US-soldier-gets-3-yrs-for-Afghan-killing"><b>US soldier gets 3 years for Afghan killing spree</b></a><br/> --In a plea bargain, "manslaughterer" avoids life sentence for <font color="#FF0000">premeditated murder</font><br/> <br/> file under: <font color="#FF0000">psychotic sub-culture</font> in the military<br/> <a href="http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/breaking/3_Hawaii_Marines_charged_in_Afghanistan_hazing_case.html"><b>3 Marines charged in Afghanistan hazing case</b></a><br/> <br/> <br/> backpage:<br/> <br/> <a href="http://news.antiwar.com/2011/07/27/north-korea-urges-us-to-accept-peace-deal/"><b>North Korea Urges US to Accept Peace Deal</b></a><br/> --The statement also made it clear that the North Korean government believes that a peace deal would be a key to moving toward nuclear disarmament on the Korean Peninsula. <font color="#FF0000">The North Korean government successfully tested a nuclear weapon in May, 2009</font>.<br/> <br/> follow up:<br/> <b>Two days later: <a href="http://news.antiwar.com/2011/07/29/us-cautiously-optimistic-on-north-korea-talks/">US Unilaterally Demands North Korea Accept Nuclear Disarmament</a></b></p>
<p style="margin-left: 0.49in;">US officials insisted that further talks required the North to immediately commit to <font color="#009900"><b>full nuclear disarmament</b></font>.</p>
<p>file under: how the mighty have fallen<br/> <a href="http://news.antiwar.com/2011/08/03/mubarak-in-cage-at-court-pleads-not-guilty/"><b>Mubarak, in Cage at Court, Pleads Not Guilty</b></a><br/> <br/> file under: negotiating with erstwhile enemies<br/> <a href="http://news.antiwar.com/2011/08/03/former-pm-taliban-okays-peace-talks-if-us-sets-pullout-date/"><b>Taliban Okays Peace Talks If US Sets Pullout Date</b></a><br/> --Taliban Leadership Insists It Already Agreed to Sever All Ties With al-Qaeda</p>
<p>file under: ending the American occupation of Iraq<br/> <b>Iraqi Vice President says: <a href="http://news.antiwar.com/2011/08/14/iraqi-vp-us-pullout-would-improve-security/">US Pullout Would Improve Security</a></b><br/> --Continued <font color="#FF0000">American military presence</font> is "a problem, not a solution," VP says<br/> <br/> file under: an empire of bases<br/> <a href="http://www.stripes.com/news/ready-or-not-okinawa-aims-to-wean-itself-off-of-military-dollars-1.152708"><b>Okinawa aims to wean itself off of U.S. military dollars</b></a><br/> --US troops in Japan are to be relocated to the island of Guam, in the Pacific Ocean</p>
<blockquote>quote:<br/> “What we will gain is far greater than what we lose from <font color="#009900"><b>base closure</b></font>.” <br/> ~Okinawa Vice Governor Kanetoshi Yoseda</blockquote>
<blockquote>facts & figures:<br/> U.S. military personnel based in Okinawa spend about $17 million each year on personal vehicle purchases, according to USFJ data.</blockquote>
<br/> <br/> related event:<br/>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><font color="#000000"><font face="Andalus"><font size="7"><b>Tulsa Peace Fellowship</b></font></font></font></p>
<p align="center"><font style="font-size: 28pt;" size="6">presents</font></p>
<big><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman, Times, serif"><span class="484465117-08032008"><font size="2"><big><br/></big></font></span></font></big>
<div align="center"><big><big><big><font color="#000000"><span class="484465117-08032008"><font size="2"><big><big><big><font color="#009900"><b>monthly "first Saturday" anti-war demo in Tulsa</b></font></big></big></big></font></span></font></big> <br/> <big><font color="#000000"><span class="484465117-08032008"><font size="2"><big><big><big>scheduled for</big></big></big></font></span></font></big><br/> <big><font color="#000000"><span class="484465117-08032008"><font size="2"><big><big><big><b>Saturday Sept 3rd, 2011, 12noon to 2pm,</b></big></big></big></font></span></font></big> <br/> <big><font color="#000000"><span class="484465117-08032008"><font size="2"><big><big><big><b>corner of 41st & Yale, in Tulsa</b></big></big></big></font></span></font></big></big></big></div>
<div align="center"><big><big><big><font color="#000000"><span class="484465117-08032008"><font size="2"><big><big><big><b>with the themes:</b></big></big></big></font></span></font></big><br/> <big><big><font face="Andalus"><big><font color="#000000"><span class="484465117-08032008"><font size="2"><big><big><big><big><big><b>"Bring the Military $$ Home!"<br/> "The Wars Are Making You Poor"<br/> "War Destroys Our Wealth"<br/></b></big></big></big></big></big></font></span></font></big></font></big></big></big></big> <big><font color="#000000"><span class="484465117-08032008"><font size="2"><big><br/> Details online: <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="../../">http://tulsapeacefellowship.ning.com/</a></big></font></span></font></big></div>
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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"> </p>
<b><br/></b> <br/> epitaph for this edition of "Truth in Recruiting"<br/> <br/>
<blockquote><big><b><font size="-1" face="Tahoma"><big>One of the least reported biographical details of <font color="#FF0000">Timothy McVeigh, executed for the Oklahoma bombing</font> that killed so many innocent people, is that his own disregard for life was cultivated during his time as an American soldier from 1988 to 1992. He was awarded the bronze star for service in the first war on Iraq, where he killed civilians and teenage conscripts under the cover of law. It was here that he learned how to suppress the whisperings of his conscience, and to harden his heart. As he said:<br/> <br/></big></font></b></big><blockquote><font color="#FF0000"><big><b><font size="-1" face="Tahoma"><big>"If there is a hell, then I'll be in good company with a lot of fighter pilots who also had to bomb innocents to win the war."</big></font></b></big></font><br/></blockquote>
<big><b><font size="-1" face="Tahoma"><big><br/></big></font></b> <font size="-1" face="Tahoma"><big>~Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr., founder and chairman of the Mises Institute, executor for the estate of Murray N. Rothbard, and editor of LewRockwell.com. Formerly he was</big></font> <font size="-1" face="Tahoma"><big>editorial assistant to Ludwig von Mises and congressional chief of staff to Congressman Ron Paul. source: "Ideas and the Culpability for Violence" July 27, 2011 <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://lewrockwell.com/rockwell/ideas-and-culpability-for-violence187.html">http://lewrockwell.com/rockwell/ideas-and-culpability-for-violence187.html</a></big></font></big></blockquote>
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<hr size="2" width="100%"/>The Tulsa Peace Fellowship's Counter-Recruitment Update/Digest, for Sept 2011<br/> <i>lead story</i><br/> <br/> <big><big><big><b>Public Schools On Military Bases Get Bad Report Card</b></big></big></big><br/> Emma Schwartz, News Analysis<br/> <br/> “A substantial number of public schools on military bases are in either poor or failing condition, and many are overcrowded, a new report card by the Defense Department shows. The latest data adds to the grim portrait of dilapidated and undersized schools described in an iWatch News investigation , which found that three in four Pentagon-run schools are either beyond repair or would require extensive renovation to meet minimum standards for safety, quality, accessibility and design. Where military children go to school depends on circumstances often beyond families’ control. More than 500,000 children, the largest proportion, live off base, attending local schools in urban or suburban communities that often have significantly more resources.”<br/> <br/> Among the schools with the worst rankings in the report was Geronimo Road Elementary at Fort Sill in Oklahoma, one of the schools highlighted in an iWatchNews video about Catie Hunter, a fifth grader whose father has been deployed multiple times. At her school, she must navigate between garbage bins collecting water from the roof in order to class. The school also has mold on some of its walls, and cracks can be seen along a hallway. The report listed Geronimo Road's condition as failing.<br/> <br/> The iWatchNews investigation in June revealed an array of substandard conditions at many of the 353 schools for military children worldwide. Three in four Defense Department-run schools on military installations are either beyond repair or would require extensive renovation to meet minimum standards for safety, quality, accessibility and design, the iWatchNews probe found. Schools run by public-school systems on Army posts don’t fare much better: 39 percent fail to meet even the military’s own standards, according to a 2010 Army report.<br/> <br/> <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.nationofchange.org/public-schools-military-bases-get-bad-report-card-1314805977">http://www.nationofchange.org/public-schools-military-bases-get-bad-report-card-1314805977</a><br/> <br/>
<hr size="2" width="100%"/>The Tulsa Peace Fellowship's Counter-Recruitment Update/Digest, for Sept 2011<br/> <i>page 1</i><br/> <br/> Forty years later, a new call to protest<br/> <big><big><big><b>Government has turned a blind eye to Orwellian crimes</b></big></big></big><br/> By Art Brennan / For the Monitor<br/> August 21, 2011<br/> <br/> On Oct. 6, "Stop the Machine" begins in Washington, D.C. The last time I participated in a powerful American protest was in the spring of 1971: the peace march against the war in Vietnam. I was a young soldier in the 82d Airborne and my wife Nancy had just given birth to Molly at Fort Bragg. I was deployed to D.C. and did what I was ordered to do - nothing that amounted to much. But I promised myself that if I ever got into a position where I could make a difference, I would not lie about war, as our military and civilian leaders were doing then and are doing now. I would do my best to tell the truth.<br/> <br/> In the summer of 2007, I retired as a full-time New Hampshire superior court judge and went to Iraq to direct a State Department anti-corruption agency at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad called the Office of Accountability and Transparency. The character of that agency turned out to be just as ironic and Orwellian as its name. It was intended as window dressing for the State Department.<br/> <br/> After less than a month in Iraq, I returned to the United States and was asked to testify to Congress about my experience with OAT and the government of Iraq. I testified about the murderous corruption and deceit of the government of Iraq and of the U.S. State Department. When I say "corruption," I'm talking about $18 billion missing. When I say "deceit," I'm talking about the State Department intentionally lying to the American people. I gave examples of what I had witnessed. I hoped that my testimony would help get the truth out and move Congress to act. Those of us who testified knew there could be consequences; the last thing the State Department wanted was accountability and transparency for itself and for the al Maliki government it was propping up.<br/> <br/> But the "professionals" of the State Department need not have worried. Our testimony was ignored by Presidents Bush and Obama and, to a great extent, by the House and the Senate. Even the U.S. Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, which audited and reported to Congress on the billions of dollars lost from negligence, theft and waste, failed to move Congress and the White House. In fact, the same ambassadors, foreign service officers, senior military officers and contractors who wasted thousands of American lives and billions of American dollars under Bush are now wasting thousands of American lives and billions of American dollars under Obama. The only material consequence of our testimony was our blacklisting by the U.S. Embassy.<br/> <br/> Now I am a member of "Veterans for Peace." A few weeks ago I volunteered to be on the legal team for the "October 2011 Coalition." Nancy and I decided to join many other Americans who plan to protest against the endless wars, the environmental destruction and the financial devastation being inflicted on Americans and people all over the world by our increasingly phony and dangerously militaristic "leadership."<br/> <br/> On Oct. 6, this coalition of American citizens for peace, justice, health and security will begin an extended nonviolent community exercise at Freedom Plaza in Washington. The protest will consist of thousands of us who plan to use our presence, our bodies, to send an unmistakable message to the U.S. government. The message is (with apologies to Ralph Waldo Emerson) that we are fed up with the "little statesmen, corporations and divines" who are running the people of this country into the ground. We are disgusted with the lack of integrity in Congress, the Senate, the White House and the U.S. Supreme Court. We will stop these pretenders from stealing our freedom and our universal human rights. We demand that Congress repeal the weirdly named "Homeland" laws that invade our privacy and ensure secrecy for a government that wants to keep us ignorant and afraid. We hold Presidents Obama and Bush accountable for applying twisted interpretations of our laws to secretly counsel the "Department of Justice" to turn a blind eye to major crimes by the highest-ranking U.S. officials while it brutally prosecutes federal employees, contractors, and American soldiers who have had the conscience and the courage to speak the truth.<br/> <br/> We will make education, health and security for all the people, including people who live hopelessly in poverty, the top priority for domestic policy in this country. We will stop the slide toward fascism and prevent the White House, Congress and the Supreme Court from sacrificing our human dignity, health and security for the corporate masters of greed and war.<br/> <br/> We will teach our leaders to influence the world by example, not with U.S. corporate greed and military power, but with the understanding, intelligence and success of a nation of courageous, dynamic and responsible people.<br/> <br/> "Stop the Machine" comes from the words and meaning of Henry David Thoreau's 1849 essay "On the Duty of Civil Disobedience." The nonviolent protest will begin on Oct. 6. It will end when we decide we have done all that we can.<br/> <br/> (Art Brennan lives in Weare. For detailed information about the Oct. 6 protest, go to october2011.org.)<br/> <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://october2011.org/blogs/margaret-flowers/forty-years-later-new-call-protest">http://october2011.org/blogs/margaret-flowers/forty-years-later-new-call-protest</a> <br/> <br/> <font color="#009900">TPF would like to thank Mark Manley for bringing the above op/ed to our attention.</font><br/> <br/> <br/> <big><big><big><b>The Forgotten Failures of the Peace Corps</b></big></big></big><br/> by James Bovard<br/> August 4, 2011<br/> <br/> The Peace Corps’s founders deliberately emphasized amateurism in volunteers as a virtue, which turned out to be a prescription for disasters. <br/> <br/> Robert E. White, Peace Corps regional director for Latin America, told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in 1970, “In the early days ... it was like a parachute drop. A Volunteer would be told, ‘Here’s the bus that you take. Go and look around and get off where you think you can do some good.’” An official report by the government of Honduras concluded in 1968, “The Volunteer appears to be someone with nothing to do; his skills are not utilized and the community doesn’t know what he has to offer in the way of help.”<br/> <br/> Indeed, throughout Latin America, volunteers were sometimes referred to as “vagos” — Spanish for “vagabonds.” A Brazilian development expert concluded in a Peace Corps-commissioned study in 1968, “As economic developers, Volunteers have not had any lasting impact on any community. They are more efficient spokesmen for their interests than ... for the poor.” One Latin American government official complained to a Peace Corps auditor in 1968, “The Volunteers I have known recently — with one exception — are not helping us at all. They created problems for us.” <br/> <br/> Competence has often been a Peace Corps stumbling block. In the Peace Corps’s first quarter-century, 21 governments kicked it out of their countries, often because volunteers had little or nothing to offer. The inability of the volunteers to speak the local language has been a perennial problem. <br/> <br/> Many volunteers have worked as teachers abroad, but often with little success. Two studies of volunteers’ effectiveness in Korea found that they did little or no good for their students. The Cameroon Foreign Ministry once complained that volunteers’ “work showed a complete lack of worthwhile teaching method” and suggested that they confine their efforts to physical education and sports. A young Ceylonese observed, “It was because of their complete unsuitability as teachers that these Volunteers became the laughingstock among our teachers and students.” <br/> <br/> Some Peace Corps agricultural efforts directly hurt Third World poor. ... Peace Corps evaluations tell stories of volunteers who urged farmers to use fertilizer that cost the farmers more than the value of the increased crop output. Indeed, volunteers’ lack of economic realism often bushwhacked the recipients of their benevolence. <br/> <br/> Faced with 20 years of such grim evaluations, the Reagan administration got rid of the Inspector General. Instead of an IG that evaluated what volunteers did abroad, the Peace Corps got a new “Office of Compliance,” which mainly worried about whether the country’s programs were following regulations. Charles Peters, chief of Peace Corps evaluation in the 1960s and now editor of The Washington Monthly, observes, “That means the guy in charge doesn’t want to find out what’s wrong.” A former top Peace Corps official under Reagan confirms this charge: “You’re talking about Alice in Wonderland management. It’s not important what’s happening — it’s only important what people think is happening.” The Peace Corps under Reagan even stopped taking annual surveys of volunteers’ assessment of the Corps’s strengths and weaknesses.<br/> <br/> As early as 1969, a Peace Corps official complained that the Peace Corps had become an organization “of the volunteers, by the volunteers, and for the volunteers.” Chilean sociologist Ricardo Zuniga, in his Harvard doctoral dissertation on the Peace Corps, observed, “There is a pervasive focusing on the giver rather than the host.” After surveying thousands of pages of Peace Corps literature, Zuniga concluded that it gives “almost no attention to ‘goal attainment’ (effectiveness).”<br/> <br/> Most of the former Peace Corps volunteers I have met conceded that their time abroad did little good for the foreigners.<br/> <br/> Insofar as the Peace Corps makes Americans believe that the U.S. government’s actions abroad are a fount of benevolence, they prevent citizens from recognizing the harm inflicted on many nations in their name.<br/> <br/> byline: <i>James Bovard is the author of</i> Attention Deficit Democracy [2006] <i>as well as</i> The Bush Betrayal [2004], Lost Rights [1994] <i>and</i> Terrorism and Tyranny: Trampling Freedom, Justice and Peace to Rid the World of Evil (Palgrave-Macmillan, September 2003) a<i>nd serves as a policy advisor for The Future of Freedom Foundation. Send him email.</i><br/> <br/> This article originally appeared in the April 2011 edition of Freedom Daily.<br/> <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.fff.org/freedom/fd1104c.asp">http://www.fff.org/freedom/fd1104c.asp</a><br/> <br/> For more information on the Peace Corps, from a neutral source, see <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peace_Corps">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peace_Corps</a><br/> <br/> follow up: PTSD epidemic<br/> <big><big><big><b>20 Percent of Veterans in College Have Planned to Commit Suicide</b></big></big></big><br/> Kevin S. Donohoe<br/> August 9, 2011 <br/> <br/> Veterans in college are six times more likely to attempt suicide than the typical student and more than a fifth have planned to kill themselves, a new study presented at the American Psychological Association’s annual meeting shows.<br/> <br/> “If we don’t think [this] through, it’s going to be a significant and very difficult problem,” the study’s author, M.David Rudd said. “These [mental health] numbers were far higher than anticipated” and veterans are “having dramatically more difficulty than the typical student.”<br/> <br/> The study shows that about half of veterans have contemplated killing themselves and that 82 percent of those who attempted suicide also struggled with significant post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms. Researchers say veterans often feel disconnected from their fellow students. <br/> <br/> In Maryland, Charles Whittington, an Iraq war veteran, was suspended from the Community College of Baltimore County after he wrote a paper about his addiction to killing that college administrators found “disturbing.” Other veterans have complained that fellow students are immature or constantly ask, “Did you kill anyone over there?”<br/> <br/> <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.thenation.com/blog/162649/20-percent-veterans-college-have-planned-commit-suicide">http://www.thenation.com/blog/162649/20-percent-veterans-college-have-planned-commit-suicide</a><br/> <br/> <font color="#009900">TPF would like to thank contributors to the <a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/counter-recruitment/?yguid=364277839">NNOMY listserv</a> for bringing the above article to our attention.</font><br/> <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/counter-recruitment/?yguid=364277839">http://groups.yahoo.com/group/counter-recruitment/?yguid=364277839</a><br/> <br/> <br/> file under: ongoing epidemic of suicides in the U.S. military<br/> <big><big><big><b>Widow: Ranger killed self to avoid added tour</b></big></big></big><br/> The Associated Press<br/> Posted : Wednesday Aug 24, 2011 19:46:16 EDT<br/> <br/> SEATTLE — The widow of an Army Ranger who served at least six combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan says her husband killed himself to avoid a new deployment.<br/> <br/> Ashley Joppa-Hagemann says Staff Sgt. Jared Hagemann was scheduled to deploy to Afghanistan this month but he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and tried desperately to avoid redeployment. She says he shot himself June 28 at Joint Base Lewis-McChord south of Seattle. She said this would have been her husband’s 9th deployment, while the Army said Wednesday it would have been his 7th.<br/> <br/> An Army spokesman says Hagemann reenlisted in January.<br/> <br/> <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.armytimes.com/news/2011/08/ap-ranger-killed-self-to-avoid-added-tour-082411/">http://www.armytimes.com/news/2011/08/ap-ranger-killed-self-to-avoid-added-tour-082411/</a><br/> <br/> file under: the militarization of civilian life<br/> <big><big><big><b>Holdout law schools to accept military recruiters</b></big></big></big><br/> By John Curran, Associated Press<br/> Aug 14, 2011<br/> <br/> SOUTH ROYALTON, Vt. – For Vermont Law School, the price of standing on principle was $500,000. That's how much school officials estimate they lost in federal money every year for refusing to allow military recruiters on campus because of their opposition to the Pentagon's policy on gays in the uniformed services.<br/> <br/> Now that it's being repealed, Vermont Law School and another independent law school — the William Mitchell College of Law, in St. Paul, Minn. — are gearing up to welcome back recruiters. <br/> <br/> The law schools were the only ones in America that barred the recruiters despite a measure known as the Solomon Amendment, which banned some types of federal funding from going to institutions that balked at allowing on-campus visits by recruiters for the judge advocates general.<br/> <br/> Both are independent law schools unaffiliated with larger universities or state institutions, which allowed them to stand on principle without costing affiliated schools millions of federal dollars for scientific research and other academic pursuits.<br/> <br/> Other schools couldn't.<br/> <br/> "William Mitchell and Vermont (Law School) deserve a ton of credit," said Kent Greenfield, a Boston College law professor who was part of an unsuccessful court challenge to the Solomon Amendment by law schools in 2003. "They're worthy of a lot of admiration and the thanks of gay and lesbian service members and gay and lesbians around the country for sticking up for gay rights, even when it cost them federal funds."<br/> <br/> The U.S. has barred homosexuals from the armed services since World War I.<br/> <br/> <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://old.news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110814/ap_on_re_us/us_recruiting_lawyers_don_t_ask">http://old.news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110814/ap_on_re_us/us_recruiting_lawyers_don_t_ask</a><br/> <br/> sidebar: SNAFU<br/> <big><big><big><b>Dozens of AK-47 rifles stolen from CA Army base</b></big></big></big><br/> <br/> By Kase Wickman<br/> July 31st, 2011<br/> <br/> Twenty-six AK-47 rifles and a Dragunov rifle were stolen from a supply warehouse at Fort Irwin, an Army base in California's Mojave Desert, the LA Times reported.<br/> <br/> Officials are offering a $10,000 reward for information. Investigators suspect that some of the stolen assault rifles could turn up in Fresno, California, according to UPI.<br/> <br/> <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/07/31/dozens-of-ak-47-rifles-stolen-from-ca-army-base/">http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/07/31/dozens-of-ak-47-rifles-stolen-from-ca-army-base/</a><br/> <br/> <br/> <big><big><big><b>Pentagon’s Lightning Gun Sold for Scraps on eBay</b></big></big></big><br/> <br/> By Noah Shachtman<br/> August 4, 2011<br/> <br/> There was a time, not all that long ago, when the Pentagon sank tens of millions of dollars into remote-controlled lightning guns that it hoped would fry insurgent bombs before they killed any more troops. Now, disassembled parts from the one-time wonder-weapons are being sold on eBay. At least one buyer snatched up the gear, hoping to use it in his latest art project.<br/> <br/> All of which would make for a funny little story, if that buyer didn’t discover that the multimillion dollar “Joint Improvised Explosive Device Neutralizers,” or JINs, were kluged together from third-rate commercial electronics, and controlled by open Wi-Fi signals. In other words, the Pentagon didn’t just overpay for a flawed weapon. On the off-chance the JIN ever worked, the insurgents could control it, too.<br/> <br/> “This is the hack of all hacks,” says Cody Oliver, a freelance technologist in San Francisco. “And this is what they were selling to the government? Holy shit.”<br/> <br/> OK, that story is kind of funny, too<br/> <br/> The military, on the other hand, continues to have some faith in [said] technology, investing additional millions into their lightning weapons.<br/> <br/> <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/08/pentagons-lightning-gun/">http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/08/pentagons-lightning-gun/</a><br/> <br/> <br/> <big><big><big><b>Worst US loss of life in Afghan war as helicopter crash kills 38</b></big></big></big><br/> <br/> Eight Afghan soldiers and 30 US forces from unit that killed Bin Laden die after insurgents shoot down Chinook<br/> <br/> Jon Boone in Kabul<br/> guardian.co.uk<br/> 7 August 2011 <br/> <br/> Thirty members of the American special forces have been killed in Afghanistan in the deadliest day of the 10-year war for US military personnel when the Taliban shot down a Chinook helicopter. The majority of those killed were from Navy Seal Team 6, the unit that killed Osama bin Laden in a night-time raid deep into Pakistan, but are not the same personnel.<br/> <br/> Eight members of the Afghan National Army were also killed when rebels destroyed the massive double-rotor transport helicopter with a rocket-propelled grenade.<br/> <br/> The Taliban claimed they had downed the helicopter with rocket fire while it was taking part in a raid on a house where insurgents were gathered in the province of Wardak. It said wreckage was strewn at the scene.<br/> <br/> Nato confirmed the crash <br/> <br/> At a time of collapsing public support for the Afghan war in the US, where the conflict is increasingly seen as too expensive and possibly unwinnable, the deaths of so many soldiers is likely to increase pressure on Obama to speed up the withdrawal of US forces.<br/> <br/> <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/aug/06/us-biggest-loss-afghan-war-helicopter-crash-38">http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/aug/06/us-biggest-loss-afghan-war-helicopter-crash-38</a><br/> <br/> related op/ed<br/> <a href="http://original.antiwar.com/mbenjamin/2011/08/07/stop-sacrificing-american-lives-for-afghan-debacle/"><b>Stop Sacrificing American Lives for Afghan Debacle</b></a><br/> by Medea Benjamin<br/> August 08, 2011 <br/> <br/>
<blockquote>quote:<br/> Our presence in Afghanistan is not making us safer because Afghanistan is not a threat to us. This was clearly acknowledged by a senior Obama administration official in a background briefing to reporters on June 21.“United States hasn’t seen a terrorist threat from Afghanistan, for the past seven or eight years,” he said.<br/></blockquote>
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<div id="box"><h3><big><big><a href="http://news.antiwar.com/2011/08/09/gadhafi-officials-nato-bombs-kill-85-civilians/">Gadhafi Officials: NATO Bombs Kill 85 Civilians</a></big></big></h3>
<h4 id="pagesub">NATO says attack was on 'military staging area'</h4>
<div class="details">by Jeremy Sapienza<br/> August 09, 2011</div>
</div>
<p>In what could be the single deadliest NATO attack since the Western war on Libya’s Gadhafi regime began in May, <a href="http://old.news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110809/wl_nm/us_libya">85 civilians were killed</a> in a cluster of farmhouses in Majar, according to Libyan officials. The village is about 90 miles east of the capital, Tripoli.</p>
<p>A Gadhafi spokesman said 33 children, 32 women, and 20 men were killed in the attack.</p>
<p>A Reuters reporter saw 30 bodies at a hospital in nearby Zlitan, some of which contained the remains of children.</p>
<p><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://news.antiwar.com/2011/08/09/gadhafi-officials-nato-bombs-kill-85-civilians/">http://news.antiwar.com/2011/08/09/gadhafi-officials-nato-bombs-kill-85-civilians/</a><br/> <br/></p>
<big><big><big><b>164 Children Murdered By US Drones</b></big></big></big><br/> <br/> The Bureau of Investigative Journalism (TBIJ) last month began to publish their findings in a study of the U.S. drone war in Pakistan. The study found that much higher rates of civilian casualties had resulted from the U.S. drone war than had been admitted by the government or than had been reported in the press.<br/> <br/> <b>Drone War Exposed – the complete picture of CIA strikes in Pakistan</b><br/> <br/> August 10th, 2011 | by Chris Woods<br/> <br/> CIA drone strikes have led to far more deaths in Pakistan than previously understood, according to extensive new research published by the Bureau. More than 160 children are among at least 2,292 people reported killed in US attacks since 2004. There are credible reports of at least 385 civilians among the dead.<br/> <br/> In a [completely predictable attempt at damage control], a counter-terrorism official has also released US government estimates of the numbers killed. These state that an estimated 2,050 people have been killed in drone strikes – of whom all but an estimated 50 are combatants.<br/> <br/> Reassessment<br/> The Bureau’s fundamental reassessment of the covert US campaign involved a complete re-examination of all that is known about each US drone strike.<br/> <br/> The study is based on close analysis of credible materials: some 2,000 media reports; witness testimonies; field reports of NGOs and lawyers; secret US government cables; leaked intelligence documents, and relevant accounts by journalists, politicians and former intelligence officers.<br/> <br/> The Bureau’s findings are published in a 22,000-word database which covers each individual strike in Pakistan in detail. A powerful search engine, an extensive timeline and searchable maps accompany the data.<br/> <br/> The result is the clearest public understanding so far of the CIA’s covert drone war against the militants. <br/> <br/> Iain Overton, the Bureau’s editor said: ‘It comes as no surprise that the US intelligence services would attack our findings in this way. But to claim our methodology is problematic before we had even published reveals how they really operate. A revelation that is reinforced by the fact that they cannot bring themselves to refer to non-combatants as what they really are: civilians and, all too often, children’.<br/> <br/> The Bureau’s data reveals many more CIA attacks on alleged militant targets than previously reported. At least 291 US drone strikes are now known to have taken place since 2004.<br/> <br/> full article: <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/2011/08/10/most-complete-picture-yet-of-cia-drone-strikes/">http://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/2011/08/10/most-complete-picture-yet-of-cia-drone-strikes/</a><br/> <br/> <big><big><big><b>World’s Most Costly Jet Still Grounded</b></big></big></big><br/> <br/> Marian Wang, Pro Publica<br/> 18 August 2011 <br/> <br/> News Analysis: "The problem is just the latest in a series of snafus for the F-22, which has faced a number of hurdles in its three-decade-long development. In 2009, the Washington Post noted early structural deficiencies and computer flaws with the F-22s, as well as problems with the jet’s radar-absorbent coating, which required costly and time-consuming maintenance. The United States has spent more than $65 billion on developing the F-22s, which have never been used in combat. Air Force officials told the Los Angeles Times recently that the F-22 hasn’t been used in conflicts yet because it’s “designed for high-threat environments, not what we’ve seen in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya.”<br/> <br/> In 2009, then-Defense Secretary Robert Gates successfully pushed to Congress to stop buying more of the planes.<br/> <br/> <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.nationofchange.org/despite-65-billion-investment-worlds-most-costly-jet-still-grounded-1313676874">http://www.nationofchange.org/despite-65-billion-investment-worlds-most-costly-jet-still-grounded-1313676874</a><br/> <br/> <br/> <big><big><big><b>Thousands of Faulty Stealth Fighters Grounded</b></big></big></big><br/> by John Glaser<br/> August 09, 2011<br/> <br/> The U.S. Air Force has wasted hundreds of billions of dollars on research and development for three fleets of stealth fighter jets, all of which are faulty or have been put on hold for complications.<br/> <br/> But after building more than 170 F-22 Raptors and a handful of F-35 Joint Strike Fighters, not a single one is available for service. <br/> <br/> The vaunted F-22 has been grounded with a possible faulty oxygen system since May. Production of the last few Raptors is even on hold, because the jets can’t fly from the factory.<br/> <br/> Last week, test flights for the newer F-35 were suspended, too, because of a valve problem in the plane’s integrated power package. It’s the third time this year that JSFs have been grounded.<br/> <br/> Nonetheless, the U.S. military committed to spending another $535 million to buy 38 more Joint Strike Fighters.<br/> <br/> <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/08/entire-u-s-stealth-fighter-fleet-grounded/">http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/08/entire-u-s-stealth-fighter-fleet-grounded/</a><br/> <br/> <br/>
<hr size="2" width="100%"/>The Tulsa Peace Fellowship's Counter-Recruitment Update/Digest, for Sept 2011<br/> <i>page 2</i><br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <big><big><big><b>How do these people get through the military recruitment process?</b></big></big></big><br/> Some Neglected Questions on the Attempted Fort Hood Attack<br/> by Anthony Gregory, July 29, 2011<br/> The Future of Freedom Foundation<br/> <br/> The military supposedly employs the best and the brightest, and yet its screening process is rarely scrutinized when a member of the Armed Forces is implicated in an atrocity or serious crime. Neither the soldiers callously shooting at what turns out to be civilians in the Wikileaks footage from last year, nor the troops caught up in the multiple torture scandals throughout the war on terrorism, nor the numerous instances of soldiers returning from battle engaging in domestic crime, are ever noted as possible evidence that there is a problem with the military itself.<br/> <br/> As the war on terror has slugged along, the military has lowered its standards to widen the pool of potential recruits. Americans have tired of these wars, and so we have seen stop-loss orders, the redeployment of soldiers multiple times after their terms expire, and dishonest practices adopted by recruiters on school campuses. The military has loosened standards to enlist illegal aliens and has waived rules against recruiting felons in tens of thousands of cases. CBS reported in 2009 that not only did female soldiers accuse male soldiers of rape in hundreds of cases that were never seriously investigated, but in numerous instances “moral waivers ” were used by the Army and the Marines to enlist convicts with felony rape and sexual assault on their records.<br/> <br/> It should thus be no surprise that the U.S. government is so desperate for cannon fodder that those who are a bit mentally unstable even before heading into combat make the cut. The state lacks the means or incentives to carefully screen out dangerous people, even if such a process could be undertaken reliably. Let us remember that the first Fort Hood shooter, Nidal Hassan, was an Army psychologist. <br/> <br/> Does the military itself breed violence?<br/> <br/> The military is an institution in which the enemy is dehumanized. When soldiers and veterans resort to violence outside the battlefield, acts of torture, or terrorism, it is rarely regarded as possibly connected to the military culture itself. The most notable example of this was Timothy McVeigh, the convicted and executed Oklahoma City bomber, who was in the U.S. Army for several years, including a stint in the First Gulf War, where he later said he learned how to turn off his emotions. He considered himself a soldier at war with a U.S. government gone out of control, notably in its conduct in the Waco, Texas, standoff of 1993. Two years later, on the anniversary of the Waco fire, he bombed the Murrah building, seeing his crime as an act of war.<br/> <br/> Yet although the connection should be obvious — an institution that instills into people the capacity to see other people as subhuman enemies to be killed is going to breed people with problems handling their violent impulses — it is never asked outright if the military, and especially its wars, encourage acts of violence. But as long as we are at perpetual war, living with a permanent warfare state, there will be more Abdos, Nissans, and McVeighs.<br/> <br/> <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.fff.org/comment/com1107x.asp">http://www.fff.org/comment/com1107x.asp</a><br/> <br/> <br/> <big><big><big><b>Ex-U.S. soldier loses appeal over rape and killing of Iraqis</b></big></big></big><br/> <br/> By Agence France-Presse<br/> August 16th, 2011<br/> <br/> CHICAGO — A former US soldier serving a life sentence for the gang rape and murder of an Iraqi girl and the slaughter of her family lost his appeal Tuesday, court records showed.<br/> <br/> Steven Green, named as the ringleader in the March 2006 atrocity, was tried in civilian court after being discharged from the army due to a "personality disorder" before his role in the crime came to light.<br/> <br/> Three other soldiers were given life sentences by a military court for the attack, which they plotted over whiskey and a game of cards at a traffic check point in Mahmudiyah, south of Baghdad.<br/> <br/> Unlike Green, who has no possibility of parole, they can be released in as little as 10 years for participating in the rape and killing of 14-year-old Abeer al-Janabi and the murder of her mother, father and six-year-old sister.<br/> <br/> Green's lawyers argued in their appeal of his 2009 conviction that the civilian court lacked jurisdiction because he was not properly discharged from the army.<br/> <br/> They said the statute that allowed him to be tried in a civilian court for crimes committed while serving in the military -- which has its own system of justice -- was unconstitutional.<br/> <br/> "We find that these arguments fail and thus affirm the decision of the district court," Judge Boyce Martin wrote in a unanimous 23-page opinion.<br/> <br/> While there was "no question" of Green's guilt, Martin wrote that "Green should never have been accepted by the Army" noting that his testing at enlistment was "marginal at best" and he only had "limited" training.<br/> <br/> "While many were to blame for the breakdown that led up to this tragedy, there was no single cause," Martin wrote, adding that Green's supervisors "failed in their duties."<br/> <br/> <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/08/16/ex-u-s-soldier-loses-appeal-over-rape-and-killing-of-iraqis/">http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/08/16/ex-u-s-soldier-loses-appeal-over-rape-and-killing-of-iraqis/</a><br/>
<h1 id="yn-title">Vets with PTSD, government reach settlement</h1>
By Kimberly Hefling, Associated Press – Jul 29, 2011<br/> <br/> WASHINGTON – More than a thousand Iraq and Afghanistan veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder would be given lifetime disability retirement benefits such as military health insurance under the terms of a settlement reached between the government and the veterans.<br/> <br/> Attorneys for the veterans, the Justice Department and the military jointly filed a motion on Thursday that spelled out the terms. The settlement must be approved by a judge to be final.<br/> <br/> It also affects another thousand veterans who already had lifetime retirement benefits, but would receive a higher disability rating from the military. All of the veterans affected by the settlement would potentially receive new monthly disability compensation.<br/> <br/> The settlement stems from a 2008 class action lawsuit filed in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims in Washington by veterans unable to serve, at least in part, because of the anxiety disorder who said they were illegally denied benefits.<br/> <br/> The law requires the military to give a disability rating of at least 50 percent to troops discharged for PTSD, but each of the plaintiffs received a disability less than that, said Bart Stichman, co-executive director of the National Veterans Legal Services Program, a nonprofit organization that represented the veterans.<br/> <br/> <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://old.news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110729/ap_on_re_us/us_veterans_lawsuit">http://old.news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110729/ap_on_re_us/us_veterans_lawsuit</a><br/> <br/> <br/> <big><big><big><b>Army vet with PTSD sought the treatment he needed by taking hostages – but got jail instead</b></big></big></big><br/> By Megan McCloskey<br/> Stars and Stripes<br/> Published: August 18, 2011<br/> <br/> FORT STEWART, Ga.-- Fifteen months of carnage in Iraq had left the 29-year-old Anthony Quinones debilitated by post-traumatic stress disorder. But despite his doctor’s urgent recommendation, the Army failed to send him to a Warrior Transition Unit for help. The best the Department of Veterans Affairs could offer was 10-minute therapy sessions — via videoconference.<br/> <br/> So, early on Labor Day morning last year, after topping off a night of drinking with a handful of sleeping pills, Quinones barged into Fort Stewart’s hospital, forced his way to the third-floor psychiatric ward and held three soldiers hostage, demanding better mental health treatment.<br/> <br/> “I’ve done it the Army’s way,” Quinones told Henson. “We’re going to do it my way now.”<br/> <br/> The standoff ended after two hours without any injuries, but Quinones’ problems were only beginning. Now he’s sitting in a jail cell awaiting his fate on a litany of federal charges while a court sorts out whether he should be prosecuted or committed.<br/> <br/> When Quinones returned from Iraq in September 2007, his leaders noticed he wasn’t the same. He had a hard time readjusting. The hypervigilance just wouldn’t go away. He was anxious all the time and plagued by insomnia. He roamed the hallways at night while the rest of the barracks slept. When he did sleep, he had nightmares. After years of occasional drinking, he started hitting the bottle hard, first with friends and then by himself. PTSD had taken a hostage of its own.<br/> <br/> Quinones’ story is one of an ordinary soldier who went off to war, came home broken, and then went over the edge after the government didn’t do enough to fix him.<br/> <br/> full article: <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.stripes.com/army-vet-with-ptsd-sought-the-treatment-he-needed-by-taking-hostages-but-got-jail-instead-1.152525">http://www.stripes.com/army-vet-with-ptsd-sought-the-treatment-he-needed-by-taking-hostages-but-got-jail-instead-1.152525</a><br/> <br/> <br/> <big><big><big><b>Two Iraq war crime cases linger for Camp Pendleton Marines</b></big></big></big><br/> <br/> By Gretel C. Kovach, Reporter<br/> August 3, 2011<br/> <br/> Legal battles for two Camp Pendleton Marines implicated in prominent war crimes cases are dragging on.<br/> <br/> Both deal with former infantry squad leaders accused in the slaying of one or more Iraqi civilians in the far western province of Anbar, during the height of the insurgency.<br/> <br/> Sgt. Lawrence Hutchins III was convicted in 2007 by a military jury of murder and other crimes relating to the death of an unarmed Iraqi man the previous year in Hamdaniya. Hutchins was accused of being the ringleader of eight servicemen who plotted to capture and kill an insurgent bomb layer.<br/> <br/> When they couldn’t find the man at home, they kidnapped a neighbor instead, shot him and planted a shovel and gun at the scene, according to court testimony.<br/> <br/> Hutchins, who was demoted to the rank of private and sent to Fort Leavenworth to complete an 11-year sentence, has been on a legal roller coaster since then.<br/> <br/> Navy Secretary Ray Mabus described him in 2009 as the instigator of premeditated murder.<br/> <br/> In the other Iraq case, Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich has been charged with manslaughter and other crimes relating to the deaths of 24 civilians, including women and children, in Haditha in 2005.<br/> <br/> Wuterich and his squad have been accused of a massacre and a U.S. congressman said they killed “in cold blood.” Wuterich pleaded not guilty. None of the seven others charged in the case was convicted of a crime.<br/> <br/> Wuterich serves at Camp Pendleton while he awaits court martial, six years later. <br/> <br/> Gary Solis, a former Camp Pendleton judge who teaches the law of war at Georgetown University, said he thinks the prospect of a conviction in Wuterich’s case has grown remote in intervening years.<br/> <br/> “The outcome of the trial is now weighted in favor of the accused because of this gross delay,” Solis said. <br/> <br/> <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/aug/03/iraq-war-crime-cases-linger-for-camp-pendleton/">http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/aug/03/iraq-war-crime-cases-linger-for-camp-pendleton/</a><br/> <br/> <br/> <big><big><big><b>Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and the U.S. Terror State</b></big></big></big><br/> <br/> by Anthony Gregory <br/> <br/> Being a U.S. war criminal means never having to say sorry. Paul Tibbets, the man who flew the Enola Gay and destroyed Hiroshima, lived to the impressive age of 92 without publicly expressing guilt for what he had done. He had even reenacted his infamous mission at a 1976 Texas air show, complete with a mushroom cloud, and later said he never meant this to be offensive. In contrast, he called it a "damn big insult" when the Smithsonian planned an exhibit in 1995 showing some of the damage the bombing caused.<br/> <br/> We might understand a man not coming to terms with his most important contribution to human history being such a destructive act. But what about the rest of the country?<br/> <br/> It’s sickening that Americans even debate the atomic bombings, as they do every year in early August. Polls in recent years reveal overwhelming majorities of the American public accepting the acts as necessary.<br/> <br/> Conservatives are much worse on this topic, although liberals surely don’t give it the weight it deserves. Trent Lott was taken to the woodshed for his comments in late 2002 about how Strom Thurmond would have been a better president than Truman. Lott and Thurmond both represent ugly strains in American politics, but no one dared question the assumption that Thurmond was obviously a less defensible candidate than Truman. Zora Neale Hurston, heroic author of the Harlem Renaissance, might have had a different take, as she astutely called Truman "a monster" and "the butcher of Asia." Governmental segregation is terrible, but why is murdering hundreds of thousands of foreign civilians with as much thought as one would give to eradicating silverfish treated as simply a controversial policy decision in comparison?<br/> <br/> Perhaps it is the appeal to necessity. We hear that the United States would have otherwise had to invade the Japanese mainland and so the bombings saved American lives. But saving U.S. soldiers wouldn’t justify killing Japanese children any more than saving Taliban soldiers would justify dropping bombs on American children. Targeting civilians to manipulate their government is the very definition of terrorism. Everyone was properly horrified by Anders Behring Breivik’s murder spree in Norway last month – killing innocents to alter diplomacy. Truman murdered a thousand times as many innocents on August 6, 1945, then again on August 9.<br/> <br/> It doesn’t matter if Japan "started it," either. Only individuals have rights, not nations. Unless you can prove that every single Japanese snuffed out at Hiroshima and Nagasaki was involved in the Pearl Harbor attack, the murderousness of the bombings is indisputable. Even the official history should doom Truman to a status of permanent condemnation. Besides being atrocious in themselves, the U.S. creation and deployment of the first nuclear weapons ushered in the seemingly endless era of global fear over nuclear war.<br/> <br/> However, as it so happens, the official history is a lie. The U.S. provoked the Japanese to fire the first shot, as more and more historians have acknowledged. Although the attack on Pearl Harbor, a military base, was wrong, it was far less indefensible than the attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki's civilian populations.<br/> <br/> As for the utilitarian calculus of "saving American lives," historian Ralph Raico explains:<br/>
<blockquote> [T]he rationale for the atomic bombings has come to rest on a single colossal fabrication, which has gained surprising currency: that they were necessary in order to save a half-million or more American lives. These, supposedly, are the lives that would have been lost in the planned invasion of Kyushu in December, then in the all-out invasion of Honshu the next year, if that was needed. But the worst-case scenario for a full-scale invasion of the Japanese home islands was forty-six thousand American lives lost.<br/></blockquote>
<br/> The propaganda that the atomic bombings saved lives was nothing but a public relations pitch contrived in retrospect. These were just gratuitous acts of mass terrorism. By August 1945, the Japanese were completely defeated, blockaded, starving. They were desperate to surrender. All they wanted was to keep their emperor, which was ultimately allowed anyway. The U.S. was insisting upon unconditional surrender, a purely despotic demand. Given what the Allies had done to the Central Powers, especially Germany, after the conditional surrender of World War I, it’s understandable that the Japanese resisted the totalitarian demand for unconditional surrender.<br/> <br/> A 1946 U.S. Strategic Bombing Survey determined the Hiroshima and Nagasaki nukings were not decisive in ending the war. Most of the political and military brass agreed. "The Japanese were ready to surrender and it wasn't necessary to hit them with that awful thing," said Dwight Eisenhower in a 1963 interview with Newsweek.<br/> <br/> Another excuse we hear is the specter of Hitler getting the bomb first. This is a non sequitur. By the time the U.S. dropped the bombs, Germany was defeated and its nuclear program was revealed to be nothing in comparison to America’s. The U.S. had 180,000 people working for several years on the Manhattan Project. The Germans had a small group led by a few elite scientists, most of whom were flabbergasted on August 6, as they had doubted such bombs were even possible. Even if the Nazis had gotten the bomb – which they were very far from getting – it wouldn’t in any way justify killing innocent Japanese.<br/> <br/> For more evidence suggesting that the Truman administration was out to draw Japanese blood for its own sake, or as a show of force for reasons of Realpolitik, consider the United States’s one-thousand-plane bombing of Tokyo on August 14, the largest bombing raid of the Pacific war, after Hirohito agreed to surrender and the Japanese state made it clear it wanted peace. The bombing of Nagasaki should be enough to know it was not all about genuinely stopping the war as painlessly as possible – why not wait more than three days for the surrender to come? But to strategically bomb Japan five days after the destruction Nagasaki, as Japan was in the process of waving the white flag? It’s hard to imagine a greater atrocity, or clearer evidence that the U.S. government was not out to secure peace, but instead to slaughter as many Japanese as it could before consolidating its power for the next global conflict.<br/> <br/> The U.S. had, by the time of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, destroyed 67 Japanese cities by firebombing, in addition to helping the British destroy over a hundred cities in Germany. In this dramatic footage from The Fog of War, Robert McNamara describes the horror he helped unleash alongside General Curtis LeMay, with images of the destroyed Japanese cities and an indication of what it would have meant for comparably sized cities in the United States:<br/> <br/> "Killing fifty to ninety percent of the people in 67 Japanese cities and then bombing them with two nuclear bombs is not proportional – in the minds of some people – to the objectives we were trying to achieve," McNamara casually says. Indeed, this was clearly murderous, and Americans are probably the most resistant of all peoples to the truths of their government’s historical atrocities. It doesn’t hurt that the U.S. government has suppressed for years evidence such as film footage shot after the Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Yet even based on what has long been uncontroversial historical fact, we should all be disgusted and horrified by what the U.S. government did.<br/> <br/> How would it have been if all those Germans and Japanese, instead of being burned to death from the sky, were corralled into camps and shot or gassed? Materially, it would have been the same. But Americans refuse to think of bombings as even in the same ballpark as other technologically expedient ways of exterminating people by the tens and hundreds of thousands. Why? Because the U.S. government has essentially monopolized terror bombing for nearly a century. No one wants to confront the reality of America’s crimes against humanity.<br/> <br/> It would be one thing if Americans were in wide agreement that their government, like that of the Axis governments of World War II, had acted in a completely indefensible manner. But they’re not. The Allies were the white hats. Ignore the fact that the biggest belligerent on America’s side was Stalin’s Russia, whom the FDR and Truman administrations helped round up a million or two refugees to enslave and murder in the notorious undertaking known as Operation Keelhaul. We’re not supposed to think about that. World War II began with Pearl Harbor and it ended with D-Day and American sailors returning home to kiss their sweethearts who had kept America strong by working on assembly lines.<br/> <br/> In the Korean war, another Truman project, the U.S. policy of shameful mass murder continued. According to historian Bruce Cumings, professor at the University of Chicago, millions of North Korean civilians were slaughtered by U.S. fire-bombings, chemical weapons and newly developed ordnance, some of which weighed in at 12,000 pounds. Eighteen out of 22 major cities were at least half destroyed. For a period in 1950, the US dropped about 800 tons of bombs on North Korea every day. Developed at the end of World War II, napalm got its real start in Korea. The US government also targeted civilian dams, causing massive flooding.<br/> <br/> In Indochina, the U.S. slaughtered millions in a similar fashion. Millions of tons of explosives were dropped on Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. These ghastly weapons are literally still killing people – tens of thousands have died since the war ended, and three farmers were killed just last week. Among the horrible effects of the bombing was the rise of Pol Pot’s regime, probably the worst in history on a per capita basis.<br/> <br/> The U.S. has committed mass terrorism since, although not on quite the scale as in past generations. Back in the day the U.S. would drop tons of explosives, knowing that thousands would die in an instant. In today’s wars, it drops explosives and then pretends it didn’t mean to kill the many civilians who predictably die in such acts of violence. Only fifteen hundred bombs were used to attack Baghdad in March 2003. That’s what passes as progress. The naked murderousness of U.S. foreign policy, however, is still apparent. The bombings of water treatment facilities and sanctions on Iraq in the 1990s deliberately targeted the vulnerable Iraqi people. Once the type of atrocities the U.S. committed in World War II have been accepted as at the worst debatable tactics in diplomacy, anything goes.<br/> <br/> American politicians would have us worry about Iran, a nation that hasn’t attacked another country in centuries, one day getting the bomb. There is no evidence that the Iranians are even seeking nuclear weapons. But even if they were, the U.S. has a much worse record in both warmongering and nuclear terror than Iran or any other country in modern times. It is more than hypocritical for the U.S. to pose as the leader of global peace and nuclear disarmament.<br/> <br/> The hypocrisy and moral degeneracy in the mouths of America’s celebrated leaders should frighten us more than anything coming out of Iran or North Korea, especially given America’s capacity to kill and willingness to do it. Upon dropping the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, President Truman called the bomb the "greatest achievement of organized science in history" and wondered aloud how "atomic power can become a powerful and forceful influence toward the maintenance of world peace." Nothing inverts good and evil, progress and regress, as much as the imperial state. In describing the perversion of morality in the history of U.S. wars, Orwell’s "war is peace" doesn’t cut it. "Exterminating civilians by the millions is the highest of all virtues" is perhaps a better tagline for the U.S. terror state.<br/> <br/> August 3, 2011<br/> <br/> Anthony Gregory is research editor at the Independent Institute. He lives in Oakland, California. See his webpage for more articles and personal information.<br/> <br/> Copyright © 2011 by LewRockwell.com. Permission to reprint in whole or in part is gladly granted, provided full credit is given.<br/> <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://lewrockwell.com/gregory/gregory232.html">http://lewrockwell.com/gregory/gregory232.html</a><br/> <br/> <big><big><big><b>U.S. Veteran Allowed to Sue Former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld for Torture</b></big></big></big><br/> <br/> A U.S. Army veteran has won court approval to sue former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld for alleged unjust imprisonment and torture in Iraq. In court filings, the unidentified former soldier alleges he was jailed for nine months at Camp Cropper, a U.S. military prison in Baghdad for "high-value" detainees, while working as a translator for a Marine contractor in Anbar province. He had been preparing to come home when the U.S. military abducted him out of the blue and held him without charge. The veteran says he was repeatedly abused before ultimately being released in August 2006. The government claims he was suspected of aiding anti-U.S. fighters in Iraq, but he was never charged with a crime. In okaying the suit, the district judge in the case rejected the Obama administration’s argument that Rumsfeld cannot be sued personally for official conduct and that congressionally mandated presidential and congressional decisions cannot be reviewed by the courts.<br/> <br/> <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.democracynow.org/2011/8/5/headlines#9">http://www.democracynow.org/2011/8/5/headlines#9</a><br/> <br/> file under: travesty of justice, military style<br/> <big><big><big><b>US soldier gets 3 years for Afghan killing spree</b></big></big></big><br/> <br/> Aug 6th 2011<br/> <br/> BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD: A member of a rogue US Army unit has been sentenced to three years' prison after pleading guilty to killing an unarmed Afghan civilian in US custody in May 2010.<br/> <br/> Specialist Adam Winfield, 23, of Coral Gables, Fla., had been charged with premeditated murder, aggravated assault and conspiracy to commit murder in several incidents, including the deaths of three Afghan civilians in Kandahar Province.<br/> <br/> He pleaded guilty to the reduced charge of involuntary manslaughter in military court, along with one count of illegal use of marijuana, in exchange for his testimony against other soldiers accused in the killings. On Friday, his rank was reduced to private and Winfield was stripped of pay and allowances, as well as discharged for bad conduct. The Coral Gables,<br/> <br/> Florida man will get credit for the approximately 507 days he has already served in prison.<br/> <br/> <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://thenews.com.pk/NewsDetail.aspx?ID=20181&title=US-soldier-gets-3-yrs-for-Afghan-killing">http://thenews.com.pk/NewsDetail.aspx?ID=20181&title=US-soldier-gets-3-yrs-for-Afghan-killing</a><br/> <br/> file under: psychotic sub-culture in the military<br/> <big><big><big><b>3 Marines charged in Afghanistan hazing case</b></big></big></big><br/> <br/> By William Cole<br/> Aug 25, 2011 <br/> <br/> Three Hawaii Marines have been charged with multiple offenses ranging from assault and maltreatment to violation of orders and dereliction of duty for alleged hazing leading up to the April 3 death of fellow Marine Lance Cpl. Harry Lew in Afghanistan, officials said today.<br/> <br/> Lew, 21, committed suicide April 3 after being hazed by two other Marine lance corporals, the Marine Corps Times said, citing an investigation into the death.<br/> <br/> NBC News reported that according to the investigation, Lew, of Santa Clara, Calif., put the muzzle of his M249 Squad Automatic Weapon in his mouth and pulled the trigger. Lew had written on his arm, "may hate me now, but in the long run this was the right choice I'm sorry my mom deserves the truth," NBC said.<br/> <br/> The accused are:<br/> <br/> Lance Cpl. Carlos Orozco III, 22, violation of a lawful order for wrongfully humiliating and demeaning Lew; dereliction for willfully failing to supervise and ensure the welfare of the Marines under his care; cruelty and maltreatment for ordering Lew to do push-ups, side planks, leg lifts with a sandbag, while wearing full personal protective equipment and pouring sand onto his face. Orozco also is charged with assault for unlawfully striking Lew by stomping on his back with his foot and kicking Lew’s head while Lew was wearing a Kevlar helmet.<br/> <br/> Sgt. Benjamin E. Johns, 26, violation of a lawful order for wrongfully humiliating and demeaning Lew, and dereliction for willfully failing to supervise and ensure the welfare of the Marines under his care.<br/> <br/> Lance Cpl. Jacob D. Jacoby, 21, violation of a lawful order for wrongfully abusing, humiliating and demeaning Lew; assault for unlawfully striking Lew in the back with his foot; assault for unlawfully kicking Lew in the head while Lew was wearing a Kevlar helmet; assault for striking Lew in the head with a closed fist while Lew wore a helmet. Jacoby also is charged with communicating a threat to Lew that he was going to receive a beating, which “was to the prejudice of good order and discipline or was of a nature to bring discredit upon the armed forces.”<br/> <br/> An Article 32 hearing, similar to a civilian preliminary hearing, tentatively is scheduled for Sept. 8, 2011.<br/> <br/> <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/breaking/3_Hawaii_Marines_charged_in_Afghanistan_hazing_case.html">http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/breaking/3_Hawaii_Marines_charged_in_Afghanistan_hazing_case.html</a><br/> <br/> <br/>
<hr size="2" width="100%"/>The Tulsa Peace Fellowship's Counter-Recruitment Update/Digest, for Sept 2011<br/> <i>backpage</i><br/> <br/> <big><big><big><b>North Korea Urges US to Accept Peace Deal</b></big></big></big><br/> 61 Years Into Conflict, US Seems Uninterested in Offer<br/> by Jason Ditz, antiwar.com<br/> July 27, 2011<br/> <br/> Over 61 years after the Korean War began, the United States is still in a state of war with the North Koreans. The North Korean government hopes to change that, however, as a top official arrived in New York today for “exploratory talks” and urged the signing of a peace treaty.<br/> <br/> North Korea’s state news agency released a statement on the issue, insisting that the 1953 armistice should be replaced with a permanent end to hostilities and an actual peace treaty between the nations involved in the conflict.<br/> <br/> The statement also made it clear that the North Korean government believes that a peace deal would be a key to moving toward nuclear disamament on the Korean Peninsula. The North Korean government successfully tested a nuclear weapon in May, 2009.<br/> <br/> <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://news.antiwar.com/2011/07/27/north-korea-urges-us-to-accept-peace-deal/">http://news.antiwar.com/2011/07/27/north-korea-urges-us-to-accept-peace-deal/</a><br/> <br/>
<blockquote>follow up:<br/> <big><big><big><b>US Unilaterally Demands North Korea Accept Nuclear Disamament</b></big></big></big><br/> by Jason Ditz, <br/> July 29, 2011<br/> <br/> US officials insisted that further talks required the North to immediately commit to full nuclear disarmament.<br/> <br/> The comments come just two days after North Korean officials urged the US to accept a peace deal ending the 61-year-old Korean War. Those officials said that the path toward nuclear disarament would move forward much more easily in the absence of a war.<br/> <br/> <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://news.antiwar.com/2011/07/29/us-cautiously-optimistic-on-north-korea-talks/">http://news.antiwar.com/2011/07/29/us-cautiously-optimistic-on-north-korea-talks/</a><br/></blockquote>
<font color="#009900">TPF comment: What's your problem Clinton? Surely you can respect that the N. Koreans are now negotiating from a position of strength? Time to sit down with them at the table and hammer out a peace deal. A be snappy about it! We've waited six decades for this opportunity.</font><br/> <br/> <br/> <big><big><big><b>Taliban Okays Peace Talks If US Sets Pullout Date</b></big></big></big><br/> --Taliban Leadership Insists It Already Agreed to Sever All Ties With al-Qaeda<br/> <br/> by Jason Ditz, antiwar.com<br/> August 03, 2011<br/> <br/> In comments to media outlets, former prime minister of Taliban-run Afghanistan Ahmad Ahmadzai insisted that the Taliban agreed to take part in direct peace talks with the US two years ago, requiring only that the US set a date for a full pullout from Afghanistan.<br/> <br/> Indeed, Ahmadzai claims, the Taliban didn’t even require a certain date of their own choosing, saying it was entirely up to the US to set a date and that the date simply needed to be set publicly. They reportedly reiterated this offer a few days ago.<br/> <br/> They also, according to Ahmadzai, agreed to a US demand that they sever all ties with al-Qaeda, insisting that such a move would not be an issue to such talks. <br/> <br/> <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://news.antiwar.com/2011/08/03/former-pm-taliban-okays-peace-talks-if-us-sets-pullout-date/">http://news.antiwar.com/2011/08/03/former-pm-taliban-okays-peace-talks-if-us-sets-pullout-date/</a><br/> <br/> <big><big><big><b>Mubarak, in Cage at Court, Pleads Not Guilty</b></big></big></big><br/> <br/> by John Glaser, antiwar.com<br/> August 03, 2011<br/> <br/> Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak appeared in a Cairo court Wednesday to face charges of corruption and the killing of almost 900 anti-government protesters during February’s popular revolution that ousted him from power. Mubarak pleaded not guilty, declaring, "I deny all these accusations completely." If convicted, he could face the death penalty. <br/> <br/> <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://news.antiwar.com/2011/08/03/mubarak-in-cage-at-court-pleads-not-guilty/">http://news.antiwar.com/2011/08/03/mubarak-in-cage-at-court-pleads-not-guilty/</a><br/> <br/> <big><big><big><b>Iraqi VP: US Pullout Would Improve Security</b></big></big></big><br/> Continued American presence would be "a problem, not a solution," VP says<br/> by John Glaser <br/> August 14, 2011<br/> <br/> Pulling U.S. forces out of Iraq will improve the security situation there, Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi claimed Sunday, days after Iraqi leaders agreed to negotiate a possible post-2011 occupation. Hashemi, a Sunni Muslim and one of two vice presidents whose positions are largely ceremonial, said a continued American military presence in Iraq would be “a problem, not a solution.”<br/> <br/> Hashemi’s statements seem to recognize that only full sovereignty will make Iraq safe and independent. Only a full withdrawal of U.S. troops will prevent an upscale in violence and pacify Iraqis who refuse to continue to be militarily occupied.<br/> <br/> Meanwhile, U.S. leaders, desperate to continue to occupy Iraq to solidify dominance over their newfound client state, have been pressuring the Iraqi leadership for months on an extension. Negotiations are ongoing over whether and how many of the 47,000 remaining troops will stay. Unresolved issues include the size of the force, its responsibilities, the duration of its stay, and whether its members would be immune from Iraqi prosecution.<br/> <br/> <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://news.antiwar.com/2011/08/14/iraqi-vp-us-pullout-would-improve-security/">http://news.antiwar.com/2011/08/14/iraqi-vp-us-pullout-would-improve-security/</a><br/> <br/> <br/> <big><big><big><b>Ready or not, Okinawa aims to wean itself off of military dollars</b></big></big></big><br/> By Travis J. Tritten and Chiyomi Sumida<br/> Stars and Stripes<br/> August 20, 2011<br/> <br/> CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa — Yoichi Iha unfolded a colored city map on the desk in his office, which sits just outside the fence line of the Futenma air station.<br/> <br/> The former mayor of Ginowan knows well what the map shows — the sprawling oval military base at the center, surrounded by a doughnut of city land.<br/> <br/> About 10 percent of Japan’s southernmost prefecture is occupied by U.S. military bases including Futenma, a fact of life that has caused deep frustration on the island and political turmoil in Tokyo.<br/> <br/> For years, Iha and others have envisioned a future when the military land is returned and transformed into malls, restaurants, shops and office buildings that will draw new prosperity and tourists from abroad.<br/> <br/> “The presence of vast military bases hinders Okinawa’s ability to further grow its economy,” Okinawa Vice Gov. Kanetoshi Yoseda said. “Even if closing bases causes a temporary loss of income, people believe that far bigger chances at growth will be in their hands” when the military is gone.<br/> <br/> Yoseda, Iha and others who champion redevelopment can look to successes.<br/> <br/> The American Village in Chatan was once U.S. Army land but is now a sprawling seaside commercial district of restaurants, coffee shops and clothing stores that draws about 1 million visitors each year and employs about 3,000 people.<br/> <br/> A 2007 study by a private Japanese institute found that American Village produced about 215 times more benefit to the local economy than the Army operations that existed there before.<br/> <br/> Similarly, the Omoromachi center in the prefecture capital of Naha was once U.S. military housing, but was redeveloped into a mall, offices and government facilities and produces about 16 times more economic benefit to the island, according to the report published by Nomura Research Institute in Tokyo and Urban Science Associates in Naha.<br/> <br/> “What we will gain is far greater than what we lose from base closure,” Yoseda said.<br/> <br/> <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.stripes.com/news/ready-or-not-okinawa-aims-to-wean-itself-off-of-military-dollars-1.152708">http://www.stripes.com/news/ready-or-not-okinawa-aims-to-wean-itself-off-of-military-dollars-1.152708</a><br/> <br/> <br/>
<hr size="2" width="100%"/>The Tulsa Peace Fellowship's Counter-Recruitment Update/Digest, for Sept 2011<br/> <i>masthead</i><br/>
<p align="left">who we are:<br/> <br/> <i><font color="#009900"><b>The Tulsa Peace Fellowship</b></font> is the activist wing of the peace movement in Eastern Oklahoma. TPF offers citizens and community groups tools and resources to participate personally in our democracy, to help shape federal budget and policy priorities, and to promote peace, social and economic justice, and human rights. TPF is a registered non-profit organization and a non-partisan civic-sector organization, loosely affiliated with the Unitarian Universalist Church of the Restoration, north side of Tulsa.</i></p>
<p align="left"><font color="#009900"><b>"Waging Peace One Person at a Time".</b></font></p>
<p align="left"><font class="titlebar_black">Through its counter-recruitment task force, TPF is a member of the</font> <font color="#009900"><b><font class="titlebar_black">National Network in Opposition to the Militarization of Youth (NNOMY)</font></b></font> representing some 188 counter-recruitment groups in cities and towns across the country. <font class="titlebar_black">On the web: <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.nnomy.org/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=216&Itemid=91">http://www.nnomy.org/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=216&Itemid=91</a></font><big><font size="2"><big> </big></font></big></p>
Tulsa Peace Fellowship is open to members of third parties, progressives, Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians, Green Party members, etc. If you have not already done so, please join the <font color="#009900"><b>new social networking tool for TPF on Ning,</b></font> <i>in lieu</i> of TPFtalks on yahoogroups, which has fallen into disuse Thank you! You can check out our new tool here: <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="../../">http://tulsapeacefellowship.ning.com</a> (new for 2011) Also still going strong: our announcement list on yahoo! <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:tulsapeace@yahoogroups.com">tulsapeace@yahoogroups.com</a> (since 2002) Go to: <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://groups.yahoo.com/">http://groups.yahoo.com/</a> and search for "tulsapeace"<br/> <font color="#000000"><br/> If you enjoyed this news digest and/or found this update useful, please consider making a donation of time, money, or effort to the Tulsa Peace Fellowship. </font> <br/>
<p align="left"><font color="#009900"><b>TPF needs your support.</b></font></p>
<p align="left">You can donate online via PINC (pull down menu for US$ donations)<br/> <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.pincgiving.com/donate/organization/1202854">http://www.pincgiving.com/donate/organization/1202854</a></p>
<p align="left">Or, please mail a check or money order made out to the"Tulsa Peace Fellowship" to :</p>
<p align="left">The Tulsa Peace Fellowship<br/> c/o UU Church of the Restoration, <br/> 1314 N. Greenwood Ave, Tulsa Oklahoma. 74106-4854<br/> Find on a map: <a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&q=peace+fellowship&sll=36.173998,-95.986798&sspn=0.010168,0.022552&ie=UTF8&radius=0.75&split=1&filter=0&rq=1&ev=zi&hq=peace+fellowship&hnear=&z=16&iwloc=E">Google Maps link</a></p>
<p align="left">Contributions to TPF are not tax deductible at the present time. <font color="#000000">Details on tax status available.</font></p>
<big><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman, Times, serif"><span class="484465117-08032008"><font size="2"><big><br/> <br/> <font color="#009900"><b>The next</b> <b>monthly anti-war demo in Tulsa</b></font> <br/> is scheduled for<br/> <b>Saturday Sept <font color="#000000">3rd</font>, 2011, 12noon to 2pm, with the theme: "Bring U.S. Military $$$ Home Now!"</b><br/> Details online: <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="../../events/out-of-afghanistan-1">http://tulsapeacefellowship.ning.com/events/out-of-afghanistan-1</a><br/></big></font></span></font></big> <br/> <font color="#000000"><font color="#000000">The next regularly scheduled business meeting of</font> <font color="#000000">the Fellowship will be held</font><b><br/> on</b></font> <font color="#000000"><b>Thursday, Sept <font color="#FF0000"><font color="#000000">8th</font></font> 2011, 6:15 PM – 7:30 PM @ the UU Church of the Restoration, in Tulsa, just north of downtown</b></font><br/> <font color="#000000">--including members from other local non-partisan groups such as the Tulsa University chapter of Amnesty International, Veterans for Peace, the Humanist Association of Tulsa, the Center for Racial Justice in Tulsa, the</font> Tulsa Interfaith Allliance, Pax Christi, and the Quakers<font color="#000000"><br/> <br/> Come join us! Especially parents, guardians, and students in the Tulsa Public Schools system who are interested in countering the presence of military recruiters on school grounds.</font><br/> <br/> <font color="#000000">An archive of TPF counter-recruitment updates and other related TPF material is available to members online:</font><br/> <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/tulsapeace/?v=1&t=search&ch=web&pub=groups&sec=group&slk=1"><font color="#000000">http://groups.yahoo.com/group/tulsapeace/</font></a><br/> <font color="#000000">You must sign in to yahoo! groups to see the archived "message history"</font><br/> <font color="#000000">TPF messages have been archived online since 2002</font><br/> <font color="#000000">TPF was founded some 30 years ago.</font><br/> <font color="#000000">Current membership online:</font> 692 subscribers<br/> <br/> <font color="#000000">The information provided in this digest/update herein is for non-profit use only, according to "fair use" doctrine. Copyright and all commercial exploitation rights remain with the various authors/publishers cited above. The</font> Tulsa Peace Fellowship does not necessarily endorse the views expressed in the articles appearing herein.<br/> <font color="#000000"><br/></font> <i>further information<br/></i>
<div id="legaltext"><p>IN ACCORDANCE WITH TITLE 17 U.S.C. SECTION 107, THIS MATERIAL IS DISTRIBUTED WITHOUT PROFIT TO THOSE WHO HAVE EXPRESSED A PRIOR INTEREST IN RECEIVING THE INCLUDED INFORMATION FOR RESEARCH AND EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES. Tulsa Peace Fellowship HAS NO AFFILIATION WHATSOEVER WITH THE ORIGINATOR OF THESE ARTICLES NOR IS Tulsa Peace Fellowship ENDORSED OR SPONSORED BY THE ORIGINATORS.</p>
<p>SOURCE ARTICLE LINKS ARE PROVIDED AS A CONVENIENCE TO OUR READERS AND ALLOW FOR VERIFICATION OF AUTHENTICITY. HOWEVER, AS ORIGINATING PAGES ARE OFTEN UPDATED BY THEIR ORIGINATING HOST SITES, THE VERSIONS POSTED MAY NOT MATCH THE VERSIONS OUR READERS VIEW WHEN CLICKING THE SOURCE ARTICLE LINKS, OR INDEED, THE WEBPAGES MAY NO LONGER EVEN EXIST.</p>
</div>
<br/> <font face="arial,helvetica"><b><font style="background-color: #ffffff;" lang="0" size="2" color="#400040" face="Univers" xml:lang="0">Strength Through Peace: Out of Iraq & Afghanistan</font></b></font><br/> <font face="arial,helvetica"><b><font style="background-color: #ffffff;" lang="0" size="2" color="#400040" face="Univers" xml:lang="0">Accountability: Indict & Imprison Bush & Cheney for War Crimes</font></b></font><br/> <font face="arial,helvetica"><b><font style="background-color: #ffffff;" lang="0" size="2" color="#400040" face="Univers" xml:lang="0">JROTC: Out of Our Schools</font></b></font><br/> <font face="arial,helvetica"><b><font style="background-color: #ffffff;" lang="0" size="2" color="#400040" face="Univers" xml:lang="0">Schools as Military-Free Zones</font></b></font><br/> <font face="arial,helvetica"><b><font style="background-color: #ffffff;" lang="0" size="2" color="#400040" face="Univers" xml:lang="0">Alternatives to War: Department of Peace & cabinet-level Secretary of Peace</font></b></font><br/> <br/> <big><big><big><b>THE 10 REASONS</b></big></big></big> <br/> <br/> Ten excellent reasons not to join the military:<br/> a.. You Sept Be Killed, Even By Mistake<br/> b.. You Sept Kill Others Who Do Not Deserve to Die <br/> c.. You Sept Be Injured <br/> d.. You Sept Not Receive Proper Medical Care <br/> e.. You Sept Suffer Long-term Health Problems <br/> f.. You Sept Be Lied To <br/> g.. You Sept Face Discrimination <br/> h.. You Sept Be Asked to Do Things Against Your Beliefs <br/> i.. You Sept Find It Difficult to Leave the Military<br/> j.. You Have Other Choices, including the Choice to Learn a Marketable Skill<br/> <br/> for more info:<br/> <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.10reasonsbook.com/medcare.htm">http://www.10reasonsbook.com/medcare.htm</a><br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/></div>
Sen. Coburn (R-Oklahoma) proposes elimination of Air Wing and Air Carrier, and three Nuke Subs to boot | TPF counter-recruitment digest/update for Aug 2011
tag:tulsapeacefellowship.ning.com,2011-07-30:2567841:Topic:13163
2011-07-30T15:52:02.553Z
Tony Nuspl
http://tulsapeacefellowship.ning.com/profile/TonyNuspl
<b><font face="Andalus"><big><i>Truth in Recruiting</i> - "Don't Believe the Hype!" --</big> <br></br> <big><big>The Tulsa Peace Fellowship's Counter-Recruitment Update/Digest, for Aug 2011</big></big></font></b> -- <br></br> (seethe attached PDF file for 30-page digest of the month's news, or follow the links for each individual story)<br></br> <br></br> Lead Story from the past month's news:…<br></br>
<b><font face="Andalus"><big><i>Truth in Recruiting</i> - "Don't Believe the Hype!" --</big> <br/> <big><big>The Tulsa Peace Fellowship's Counter-Recruitment Update/Digest, for Aug 2011</big></big></font></b> -- <br/> (seethe attached PDF file for 30-page digest of the month's news, or follow the links for each individual story)<br/> <br/> Lead Story from the past month's news:<br/>
<blockquote><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/coburns-cuts-another-whack-at-defense/2011/07/21/gIQAxHOxdI_print.html"><b>Sen. Coburn (R-Oklahoma) Proposes Defense Cuts in Order to Save Trillions of Dollars</b></a><br/> --Defense cuts are part of his deficit-reduction plan, “Back in Black,” including eliminating an Air Wing and an Air Carrier, and three Nuke Subs<br/> <br/> facts & figures<br/> Under current plans, the 50-year-old USS Enterprise, <b><font color="#009900">the first nuclear-powered carrier, will be decommissioned</font></b> next year. This is an opportunity for a Reduction-in-Force (RIF). Coburn also wants the Navy and Marine Corps to cancel their versions of the F-35, a fighter plane designed for the Cold War, now over for more than 20 years. He also wants to eliminate three nuclear submarines, from today’s 14 to 11. Coburn also recommends reducing military personnel stationed in Europe and Asia by one-third, and simultaneously, <b><font color="#009900">reducing authorized force levels</font></b> by the same number, therefore not requiring increased U.S. facilities to handle the returnees.<br/> <br/> other related story:<br/> <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/tom-coburns-cuts-militarys-tricare-prime-health-care-program-targeted/2011/07/20/gIQAtZl6WI_story.html"><b>The U.S. Military's Tricare among Coburn’s targets</b></a><br/> --Senator’s debt reduction plan calls for some service members to pay higher fees for health care.<br/> <br/> facts & figures<br/> The socialized medicine program known as Tricare (second only to Medicare, in terms of expense to the federal government) is worth an estimated $3,500 per family in health insurance coverage.<br/> <br/> related story:<br/> <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/28/us/28veterans.html?_r=1"><b>Cost of Treating Veterans Will Rise for Decades Long Past Wars' End</b></a><br/> --Ending the current wars will not lower the costs of treating veterans; indeed, they will rise ever more steeply for decades to come as the population of veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan expands, ages and becomes more infirm, becoming more and more of a burden on the public fisc.<br/> <br/> going deeper still:<br/> <b><a href="http://www.facebook.com/notes/faces-of-agent-orange/senator-coburn-to-vietnam-veterans-no-more-agent-orange-claims/207585842621884"><font color="#000000">Senator Coburn</font> vs Vietnam Veterans</a>: No More <font color="#FF0000">Agent Orange</font> Claims</b><br/> --a press release from <b><font color="#009900">Vietnam Veterans of America</font></b> (an association of U.S. soldiers exposed to defoliants and herbicides used as a weapon by the U.S. military)<br/> <br/><blockquote>facts & figures:<br/> Information on <font color="#FF0000">dioxin exposures to American personnel serving overseas</font>, entirely unaware of the environmental hazard to which the military was subjecting them, during the Vietnam war, with information for the Agent Orange Education Campaign, a project of the VVA</blockquote>
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<br/> <br/> page 1 stories:<br/> <br/>
<div id="box"><b><a href="http://news.antiwar.com/2011/07/07/house-narrowly-reject-defunding-of-libya-war/">House Narrowly Rejects Defunding of Libya War</a></b><br/> --bipartisan amendment from Reps. Amash (R – MI) and Kucinich (D – OH) narrowly failed, with a vote of, 199-229</div>
<br/> featured op/ed<br/> <a href="http://www.truth-out.org/bring-our-troops-home-afghan-war-over/1310391115"><b>Bring Our Troops Home: The Afghan War Is Over</b></a><br/> by Jim Hightower<br/>
<blockquote>quote:<br/> "At long last, America's overdue withdrawal from Afghanistan has begun."<br/></blockquote>
<blockquote>facts & figures<br/> 1,650 U.S. troops killed in Afghanistan, more than 11,000 maimed (many horribly, their lives shattered), and almost half a trillion of our tax dollars siphoned from crucial needs here at home.<br/></blockquote>
<br/> <a href="http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/mental-problems-of-us-soldiers-kids-tied-to-wars/"><b>Mental problems of U.S. soldiers' kids tied to wars</b></a><br/> --and when they return with PTSD it only gets worse for their kids<br/> <br/> related story:<br/> <a href="http://www.stripes.com/reports-of-family-violence-abuse-within-military-rise-1.148815"><b>Reports multiply of family violence, abuse within military families</b></a><br/>
<blockquote>quote:<br/> “The best data around shows that Army families have higher rates of spouse abuse, with negative repercussions for kids."<br/> ~Deborah Gibbs, deputy program director of the Women, Children and Families Program for Research at the research institute RTI International<br/></blockquote>
file under: the militarization of everyday life<br/> <a href="http://zenhuber.blogspot.com/2011/07/real-human-shield-our-troops.html"><b>Why those yellow-ribbon campaigns are a scam</b></a><br/> --part of a political beard worn by the Big War camp<br/>
<blockquote>quote:<br/> "Why, if we the taxpayers have <font color="#FF0000">ponied up over a trillion dollars</font> for our woebegone wars in Iraq and the Bananastans, should any of us pull another dollar out of our wallet to make sure our troops get a candy bar for Christmas?"<br/> ~Jeff Huber<br/> <br/> related op/ed<br/> <a href="http://original.antiwar.com/engelhardt/2011/07/28/ballpark-liturgy-americas-new-civic-religion/"><b>Ballpark Liturgy: America’s New Civic Religion of Worshipping the Military</b></a> <br/> Cheap Grace at Fenway, Benefits Accrue to the Pentagon Sponsoring Such Public Rituals at "No Cost" to the American Taxpayer<br/> By Andrew Bacevich<br/> --The cringing story of how Navy veteran Bridget (annual salary approximately $22,000) throws the ceremonial first pitch to aging Red Sox veteran Tim Wakefield (annual salary $2,000,000). <br/></blockquote>
related op/ed<br/> <a href="http://njtoday.net/2011/07/12/the-military-industrial-complex-the-enemy-from-within/"><b>The Military Industrial Complex: The Enemy from Within</b></a><br/>
<blockquote>quote:<br/> "Those in uniform are being used as convenient fronts for a military industrial complex that is bilking taxpayers out of billions of dollars in questionable defense spending."<br/> ~Rev John Whitehead<br/></blockquote>
file under: the militarization of civilian life<br/> <a href="http://www.alternet.org/world/151528/why_do_the_police_have_tanks_the_strange_and_dangerous_militarization_of_the_us_police_force"><b>Why Do the Police Have Tanks? The Strange and Dangerous Militarization of the US Police Force</b></a><br/> --Shockingly, paramilitary raids that mirror the tactics of US soldiers in combat are not uncommon in civilian America. <br/>
<blockquote>quote:<br/> "The notion that militarization is a necessary reaction to a growth in violence against police officers is absurd, considering that <font color="#009900"><b>violent crime is trending downward</b></font>. The reality is that SWAT team raids actually escalate provocation, usually resulting in senseless violence in what would otherwise be a routine, nonviolent police procedure."<br/> <br/> quote:<br/> Soldiers are “trained to vaporize, not Mirandize."<br/> ~Lawrence Korb, a former official in the Reagan administration, commenting on the pervasive culture of militarism plaguing domestic law enforcement<br/> <br/> quote:<br/> "The state in all countries in the developed world is working its mischief as never before in world history. It taxes more, regulates more, manipulates more than ever. The state has never been more pompous, arrogant, and ambitious than it is today. The police state has visited the developed world in a manner none of us have seen in our lifetimes. The local police reflect that ethos. They disregard their heritage of wearing a civil mask and now bully people openly in a way contrary to freedom."<br/> ~Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr., former editorial assistant to Ludwig von Mises and congressional chief of staff to Ron Paul, founder and chairman of the Mises Institute, executor for the estate of Murray N. Rothbard, and editor of LewRockwell.com. <br/> <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://lewrockwell.com/rockwell/ideas-and-culpability-for-violence187.html">http://lewrockwell.com/rockwell/ideas-and-culpability-for-violence187.html</a><br/> <br/></blockquote>
file under: SNAFU<br/> <a href="http://www.theatlanticwire.com/national/2011/07/anti-freeze-pilots-blood-baffles-air-force/40480/"><b>Anti-Freeze in Pilots' Blood Baffles Air Force</b></a><br/> --F-22 pilots remain grounded indefinitely, due to apparent design flaw<br/> <br/> sidebar:<br/> <a href="http://www.pogo.org/pogo-files/alerts/national-security/ns-sp-20110623-2.html"><b>Leaked Audit: Boeing Overcharged Army Up to 177,000% on Helicopter Spare Parts</b></a><br/> <br/> page 2<br/> <br/> file under: attempted fragging<br/> <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/fort-hood-plot-awol-us-serviceman-arrested/story?id=14179096"><b>AWOL US Soldier Arrested Over Fort Hood 'Plot'</b></a><br/> A U.S. serviceman is in custody after he allegedly admitted he was planning an attack on his fellow servicemen at the U.S. Army base at Fort Hood, Texas, the same base where 13 people were killed in a 2009 terror attack.<br/> <br/> <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/news/military/2011-07-13-army-reservists-claim-mistreatment_n.htm"><b>Reservists Allege Mistreatment by Army</b></a><br/> --Nearly 200 Reservists in Iraq have signed a complaint accusing the Army of mistreatment and discrimination during the months training<br/>
<blockquote>quote:<br/> The complaint says: "Service is voluntary, and if not shown the respect and courtesy accorded their active-duty brethren, reservists will no longer be willing to make the personal, family and civilian-life sacrifices required."<br/></blockquote>
file under: so much for being models of behavior<br/> <a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43759903/ns/travel-news"><b>U.S. Soldier Caught Boarding Flight with Explosive</b></a><br/> --allegedly stole a small amount of C4 from a training course<br/> <br/> file under: military-industrial-prison complex<br/> <a href="http://hamptonroads.com/2011/07/navys-newest-prison-set-open-chesapeake"><b>Navy's newest prison set to open in Chesapeake, Virginia</b></a><br/> --built to hold as many as 400 prisoners<br/> <br/> file under: fragging<br/> <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/21/us/21hood.html?_r=1"><b>Army Major Is Arraigned under Military Law: Faces Charges that could entail Capital Punishment</b></a><br/> --One of the deadliest mass shootings ever to unfold at an American military base<br/> <br/> follow up: sexual assaults committed by U.S. soldiers<br/> <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/the-womens-blog-with-jane-martinson/2011/jul/21/rape-shame-us-military"><b>Rape is the shame of the US military</b></a><br/> --A US female soldier in Iraq is more likely to be raped by a fellow soldier than killed by an enemy.<br/> <br/> file under: bringing the war home<br/> <a href="http://old.news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110720/ap_on_re_us/us_recruiters_shot"><b>Lawyer says Suspect in Soldier's Death Was Delusional: Murder Case in Little Rock, Arkansas</b></a><br/> -- It's not clear whether the accused actually has links to terrorist groups or just says he does. <br/>
<blockquote>further developments:<br/> <a href="http://old.news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110725/ap_on_re_us/us_recruiters_shot"><b>Shooter in Ark. Soldier Killing : The Accused Now Convicted and Sentenced to Life in Prison</b></a><br/> --A defense psychiatrist testified that the convicted killer was delusional.<br/></blockquote>
<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/29/world/middleeast/29reconstruct.html"><b>Army Corps Agrees to Settle with Whistle-Blower in Procurement Fraud Case</b></a><br/> --Ending a six-year legal battle, the Army Corps of Engineers has agreed to pay nearly $1 million to a former top contracting official who charged that she was demoted after she objected to a $7 billion no-bid contract granted to a Halliburton subsidiary to repair oil fields in Iraq.<br/>
<blockquote>facts & figures<br/> In the end, KBR collected about $2.4 billion under the no-bid uncompetitive contract, according to a Congressional report. It's not know by how much the U.S. governmetn overpaid KBR for services provided. KBR, was a subsidiary of the same company for which Vice President Cheney served as CEO. The decision to grant the contract to KBR came from the Office of the Secretary of Defense, run by VP Cheney’s close friend, Donald Rumsfeld.<br/> <br/> More coverage:<br/> <a href="http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/war_is_a_racket_20110727/"><b>War Is a Racket</b></a><br/> By Amy Goodman<br/> <br/> quote:<br/> “I can unequivocally state that the abuse related to contracts awarded to KBR represents the most blatant and improper contract abuse I have witnessed during the course of my professional career.”<br/> ~Bunnatine “Bunny” Greenhouse, chief procurement officer, speaking to a congressional committee</blockquote>
file under: military is a waste of good money<br/> <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/two-navy-ships-henry-eckford-benjamin-isherwood-scrapyard-2011-7"><b>Two Navy Ships That Cost $300 Million Are Headed To The Scrapyard Without Having Seen A Day Of Service</b></a><br/> --single-hulled ships commissioned and now decommissioned, to be scrapped for metal<br/> <br/> file under: what the corporate media does not print<br/> <b>The Worst Polluter on the Globe: Seven Ways the U.S. Department of Defense Pollutes</b><br/> --the Department of Defense (DoD) is the largest polluter in the world, producing more hazardous waste than the five largest US chemical companies combined<br/> <br/> backpage<br/> <br/> <b><a href="http://news.antiwar.com/2011/07/06/taliban-denies-peace-talks-with-us/">Taliban Denies Peace Talks With US</a></b><br/> --Statement insists no talks until foreign troops leave<br/> <br/> <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/china-says-us-spends-too-much-money-military-100904169.html"><b>China says US spends too much money on military</b></a><br/> --world's second largest military still dwarfed by U.S. overkill<br/>
<blockquote>facts & figures:<br/> China spends $95 billion on its military per year, whereas the U.S. spends $690 billion on its military (not including related expenditures for 15 separate "intelligence" departments and other "homeland security" spending). Ralph Nader, former presidential candidate, says the U.S. could easily reduce its military spending by 3/4ths without any compromise to national security. <br/></blockquote>
file under: what?! we still have bases in Germany? 65 years after end of WWII?<b><br/> <a href="http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/german-sues-govt-to-remove-us-nuclear-warheads/">German Peace Activist Sues Govt to Remove US Nuclear Warheads</a></b><br/> --demands U.S. nuclear weapons be removed from a military base near her home<br/> <br/> file under: demobilizing<br/> <b><a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/onthefrontline/8642576/Defence-shake-up-means-our-smallest-Army-since-the-Boer-War.html">British Army is to be cut in size by 17,000 soldiers in a radical overhaul of the armed forces</a> <br/></b> --In a separate development it is understood that RAF Leuchars, in Scotland, is to close<br/> <br/> sidebar:<br/> <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-14172966"><b>Royal Navy divers are tracking a live World War II mine which has been dredged up off the Essex coast</b></a><br/> <br/> sidebar: life in the army<br/> <a href="http://www.thestate.com/2011/07/21/1906199/official-rusian-military-beatings.html"><b>Official: Russian military beatings up sharply</b></a><br/> --violent, sometimes-fatal hazings are common for conscripts<br/> <br/> file under: gang of 30<br/> <a href="http://www.globalsaskatoon.com/Ottawa+names+wanted+criminals+Canada/5138116/story.html"><b>Ottawa names wanted war criminals suspected to be in Canada</b></a><br/> --there is no statute of limitations for war crimes<br/> <br/> file under: caught in the crossfire<br/> <a href="http://original.antiwar.com/pcrowe/2011/07/20/war-increasingly-spills-over-into-classrooms/"><b>War Increasingly Spills Over Into Classrooms</b></a><br/> --The most pressing global challenge to children’s rights may be the increasing number of military attacks on schools in war zones.<br/> <br/> related event:<br/> <br/>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><font color="#000000"><font face="Andalus"><font size="7"><b>Tulsa Peace Fellowship</b></font></font></font></p>
<p align="center"><font style="font-size: 28pt;" size="6">presents</font></p>
<big><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman, Times, serif"><span class="484465117-08032008"><font size="2"><big><br/></big></font></span></font></big>
<div align="center"><big><big><big><font color="#000000"><span class="484465117-08032008"><font size="2"><big><big><big><font color="#009900"><b>monthly "first Saturday" anti-war demo in Tulsa</b></font></big></big></big></font></span></font></big> <br/> <big><font color="#000000"><span class="484465117-08032008"><font size="2"><big><big><big>scheduled for</big></big></big></font></span></font></big><br/> <big><font color="#000000"><span class="484465117-08032008"><font size="2"><big><big><big><b>Saturday Aug <font color="#000000">6th</font>, 2011, 12noon to 2pm,</b></big></big></big></font></span></font></big> <br/> <big><font color="#000000"><span class="484465117-08032008"><font size="2"><big><big><big><b>with the themes:</b></big></big></big></font></span></font></big><br/> <big><big><font face="Andalus"><big><font color="#000000"><span class="484465117-08032008"><font size="2"><big><big><big><big><big><b>"Bring the Military $$ Home!"<br/> "The Wars Are Making You Poor"<br/> "War Destroys Our Wealth"<br/></b></big></big></big></big></big></font></span></font></big></font></big></big></big></big> <big><font color="#000000"><span class="484465117-08032008"><font size="2"><big><br/> Details online: <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="../../">http://tulsapeacefellowship.ning.com/</a></big></font></span></font></big></div>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"> </p>
<b><br/></b> <br/> epitaph for this edition of "Truth in Recruiting"<br/> <br/>
<blockquote><font face="Tahoma" size="-1"><big><b>It should be understood<br/> that an army is an instrument of murder,<br/> that the recruiting and drilling of armies<br/> which Kings, Emperors, and Presidents carry on<br/> with so much self-assurance are preparations for murder.<br/> <br/> ~Leo Tolstoy, in <i>The Kingdom of God Is Within You</i>, 1893</b></big> <br/></font></blockquote>
<b><br/></b>
The Tulsa Peace Fellowship's Counter-Recruitment Update/Digest, for July 2011
tag:tulsapeacefellowship.ning.com,2011-07-03:2567841:Topic:12563
2011-07-03T11:38:06.830Z
Tony Nuspl
http://tulsapeacefellowship.ning.com/profile/TonyNuspl
<b><font face="Andalus"><big><i>Truth in Recruiting</i> - "Don't Believe the Hype!"</big><br></br> <big><big>The Tulsa Peace Fellowship's Counter-Recruitment Update/Digest, for July 2011</big></big></font></b><br></br> ( scroll down for details about any story – also see archived version of this digest on our Ning website:…
<b><font face="Andalus"><big><i>Truth in Recruiting</i> - "Don't Believe the Hype!"</big><br/> <big><big>The Tulsa Peace Fellowship's Counter-Recruitment Update/Digest, for July 2011</big></big></font></b><br/> ( scroll down for details about any story – also see archived version of this digest on our Ning website: <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="../categories/truth-in-recruiting-tpf/listForCategory">http://tulsapeacefellowship.ning.com/forum/categories/truth-in-recruiting-tpf/listForCategory</a> )<br/> <br/> <u>Lead story from the past month's news:</u><br/> <br/> <a href="http://www.antiwar.com/blog/2011/06/11/war-in-libya-fought-for-oil/"><b>War in Libya Fought for Oil</b></a><br/> --Wasn’t there a big risk in not seeking congressional approval, thus going forward with an illegal war?<br/> <br/> related op/ed<br/> <a href="http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/2011/06/11/libya/index.html"><b>In a Pure Coincidence, Gaddafi Impeded U.S. Oil Interests Before the War</b></a><br/> --Glenn Greenwald diagnoses the causes of this war<br/> <br/> file under: defunding war<br/> <a href="http://news.antiwar.com/2011/06/19/growing-congressional-condemnation-of-obamas-libya-war/"><b>Growing Congressional Condemnation of Obama’s Libya War</b></a><br/> --Will the U.S. House under Republican control use the power of the purse to reclaim its power over the President?<br/> <br/> file under: imperial president over-stepping his bounds<br/> <a href="http://news.antiwar.com/2011/06/16/house-leadership-bill-to-defund-libya-war-coming-soon/"><b>House Leadership: Bill to Defund Libya War Coming Soon</b></a><br/> Boehner Slams Obama Claims that Libya War Doesn't Require Congressional Okay<br/> <br/> file under: war crimes<br/> <a href="http://news.antiwar.com/2011/06/19/nato-admits-killing-civilians-in-tripoli-attack/"><b>NATO Admits the Killing of Civilians in Tripoli Attack</b></a><br/> --Claims 'Weapons System Failure' in Attack Which <font color="#FF0000">Killed Toddlers, not only Unarmed Civilians</font><br/> <br/> file under: the alternative view<br/> <a href="http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article28367.htm"><b>Western Campaign against Libya was Launched to Prevent the Unification of Three Revolutionary Arab States - Egypt, Libya and Tunisia</b></a> <br/> --Experts Fear Israeli Design to Balkanise Arab States; U.S./NATO doing Israel's bidding in the Arab world<br/>
<blockquote>quote:<br/> "The western campaign against Libya wasn't undertaken to protect human rights or foster democracy," said al-Sakhawi. Rather, it was undertaken because "Egypt, Libya and Tunisia together might pose a threat to Israeli regional dominance."</blockquote>
<br/> <br/> <u>Other stories of note on other U.S. wars, being prosecuted simultaneously:</u><br/> <br/> <a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2011/US/06/16/army.suicides/index.html"><b>Army suicides at highest level in a year</b></a><br/> --follow up on continuing saga of hopelessness and despair among U.S. military, veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan<br/>
<blockquote>statistic:<br/> Suicide attempts among U.S. military per day: 17 (seventeen)<br/></blockquote>
<br/> file under: the majority against wars of foreign intervention<br/> <a href="http://warisacrime.org/content/mayors-tell-congress-bring-war-dollars-home"><b>U.S. Mayors Pass First Anti-War Resolution Since Vietnam</b></a><br/>
<blockquote>quote:<br/> "As mayors, we recognize there is an absurdly false choice being put to Americans that we somehow have to pick between all the priorities we care deeply about but can't touch massive spending on the military."<br/> ~<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/15/us-mayors-to-push-for-ani-war-resolution_n_877817.html">U.S. Council of Mayors</a><br/> <br/> related petition:<p><a href="http://salsa.wiredforchange.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=UH%2F6KwlffuSmDz4tapwN99PQkPyazFyS"><font color="#2B6868"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><b><span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 50% transparent;">Ask Congress and the President to listen to the public and our cities' mayors now.</span></b></span></font></a></p>
</blockquote>
file under: vox populi<br/> <a href="http://www.nationaljournal.com/nationalsecurity/poll-americans-who-favor-withdrawing-troops-quickly-at-all-time-high-20110621"><b>Poll: Americans Favor Withdrawing Troops Quickly from Afghanistan</b></a><br/> --Record numbers favor withdrawing troops from Afghanistan "as quickly as possible"<br/>
<blockquote>quote:<br/> "I’m tired of seeing our young people getting killed and getting their arms and legs blown off. What do you say to the mother, father, wife of our military killed there — that we support a corrupt government in a fight we can’t win?’”<br/> ~Congressional Representative Walter B. Jones, R-NC, in Feb 2011<br/> <br/> <font color="#009900"><b>TPF Press Release:</b> In response to President Obama's President's anemic withdrawal plan for U.S. troops stationed in Afghanistan, please see the TPF Media Advisory, 25th June 2011, under the title <b>"Anti-war movement in Tulsa not satisfied with Obama's timeline for Afghanistan Withdrawal<br/> : TPF Expected War $$ to Come Home under Obama"</b></font><br/> <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="../../profiles/blogs/press-release-tulsa-peace">http://tulsapeacefellowship.ning.com/profiles/blogs/press-release-tulsa-peace</a><br/></blockquote>
sidebar:<br/> <a href="http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article28364.htm"><b>Afghan President Karzai Accuses NATO of Polluting his Country’s with its Weapons</b></a><br/> --A recent spike in civilian deaths in the country has put Afghanistan’s president at odds with coalition forces. <br/> <br/> file under: negotiating, rather than firing weapons<br/> <a href="http://www.haaretz.com/news/international/u-s-talking-to-taliban-says-afghanistan-president-1.368359"><b>U.S. talking to Taliban, says Afghanistan president</b></a><br/> --Karzai's comments are the first official confirmation that U.S. is negotiating with the Taliban to end the war in Afghanistan<br/> <br/> related news:<br/> <a href="http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/3653650/UK-in-peace-talks-with-the-Taliban.html"><b>UK in peace talks with the Taliban</b></a><br/> --At some point, peace is pragmatic, says UK Foreign Sec'y, Alexander Haig<br/> <br/> file under: "Full Spectrum Absurdity"<br/> <a href="http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2011/06/11/115645/us-congressional-delegation-sets.html"><b>U.S. congressional delegation sets off political IED in Iraq</b></a><br/> --the abysmal stupidity of members of Congress, illustrated<br/> <br/> file under: U.S. hypocrisy, or Republican blind points<br/> <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110611/pl_afp/iraquspoliticsdiplomacyfinance"><b>Iraq asks US congressman Dana Rohrabacker (R-Calif) to leave over 'repay' remark</b></a><br/> --U.S. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher said that Iraq should partly repay the United States for money spent since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion<br/> <br/> featured editorial<br/> <b><a href="http://www.antiwar.com/blog/2011/06/12/imperial-hypocrisy-u-s-calls-iraq-criminals-and-seeks-reparations/">Imperial Hypocrisy: U.S. calls Iraq 'criminal' and seeks reparations</a><br/></b> --but U.S. unwilling to let <b><font color="#009900">International Criminal Court</font></b> have the jurisdiction to decide<br/> <br/> sidebar:<br/> <a href="http://news.antiwar.com/2011/06/24/basra-council-bars-us-troops-from-province/"><b>Basra Council Bars US Troops</b></a><br/> --Also demands compensation from U.S. for damages to Iraqis over the course of the war<br/> <br/> featured video/film<br/> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_SQk9tvHTA"><b>"The War You Don't See" by John Pilger (Dec 2010)</b></a><br/> --broadcast on mainstream media in the U.K., in Jan 2011., it has never be shown to American audiences<br/> --watch entirety of the film on YouTube, in 8 parts: <em><a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_SQk9tvHTA" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_SQk9tvHTA</a></em><span class="xg_sprite feed-endquote"> </span><br/> <br/>
<blockquote>see this review of the documentary (broadcast date, 19 March 2011, in the UK)<br/> <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.presstv.com/Program/170877.html">http://www.presstv.com/Program/170877.html</a><br/> watch on YouTube: <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.youtube.com/presstvglobalnews#p/u/38/h3jtxT9wOo8">http://www.youtube.com/presstvglobalnews#p/u/38/h3jtxT9wOo8</a><br/> <br/> excerpt from the film:<br/> During World War I, 10% of all casualties were civilians.<br/> During World War II, the number of civilian deaths rose to 50%.<br/> During the Vietnam War, 70% of all casualties were civilians.<br/> In the war in Iraq, civilians account for up to 90% of all deaths.<br/> <br/> <b>"The killing of civilians and willfully causing great suffering is a war crime."<br/> ~Fourth Geneva Convention, 1949</b><br/> <br/></blockquote>
<br/> <br/> <u>backpage stories:</u><br/> <br/> featured song/lyrics<br/> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OkUYrNKylgY"><b>"War Resister" by Jon Brooks</b></a><br/> --inspired by conscientious objector in self-imposed exile in Canada<br/> --listen online here: <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.jonbrooks.ca/index.php/jb/album/moth_nor_rust/">http://www.jonbrooks.ca/index.php/jb/album/moth_nor_rust/</a><br/>
<blockquote>quote<br/> ‘What’s freedom worth if it’s bought with a gun?’<br/></blockquote>
<br/> featured editorial<br/> <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/jun/16/eisenhower-fears-invent-enemies-buy-bombs?commentpage=2"><b>Eisenhower's worst fears came true. We invent enemies to buy the bombs</b></a><br/> --Simon Jenkins on British arms industry<br/>
<blockquote>quote:<br/> "While big defence exists, glory-hungry politicians will use it. Why do we still go to war? We seem unable to stop."<br/></blockquote>
<br/> file under: Milo Minderbender redux<br/> <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110610/ap_on_re_us/us_ex_defense_contractor_indicted_iraq"><b>NV man accused of selling stolen US military ammo</b></a><br/> – A former defense contractor employee has been indicted related editorial:<br/> <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ellen-brown/the-military-as-a-jobs-pr_b_880542.html?ref=fb&src=sp#sb=16920,b=facebook"><b>There are More Efficient Ways to Stimulate the Economy than So-Called "Military Jobs"</b></a><br/> --Ellen Brown on the ludicrous claim that the U.S. military is other than a drain on the U.S. economy<br/>
<blockquote>quote:<br/> <font color="#FF0000">"The military actually destroys jobs in the civilian economy."</font><br/> <br/> facts & figures;<br/> A 2007 study by Robert Pollin and Heidi Garrett-Peltier of the University of Massachusetts found that government investment in education creates twice as many jobs as investment in the military. Spending on personal consumption, health care, education, mass transit, and construction for home weatherization and infrastructure repair all were found to create more jobs per $1 billon in expenditures than military spending does. <br/></blockquote>
<br/> <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-13865346"><b>Okinawa row: Japan and US drop Futenma airbase deadline</b></a><br/> --Japan and the US have agreed to drop a 2014 deadline to move a controversial US airbase on the island of Okinawa.<br/>
<blockquote>OKINAWA TIMELINE<br/> 1945: An estimated 100,000 Okinawan civilians die in Battle of Okinawa; Japan surrenders; US takes control of Okinawa<br/> 1972: Okinawa reverts to Japan; US bases stay<br/> 2014: Planned date for removal of US bases from Okinawa, almost 70 years later; now postponed indefinitely<br/></blockquote>
<br/> <u>epitaph for this edition of "Truth in Recruiting"</u><br/> <br/>
<blockquote>"Human beings will do anything, anything. I am convinced. That's why when all those beheadings started in Iraq, it didn't bother me. A lot of people here were horrified, "Whaaaa, beheadings! Beheadings!" What, are you fucking surprised? Just one more form of extreme human behavior. Besides, who cares about some mercenary civilian contractor from Oklahoma who gets his head cut off? Fuck 'em. Hey Jack, you don't want to get your head cut off? Stay the fuck in Oklahoma. They ain't cuttin' off heads in Oklahoma, far as I know. But I do know this: you strap on a gun and go struttin' around some other man's country, you'd better be ready for some action, Jack. People are touchy about that sort of thing. And let me ask you this... this is a moral question, not rhetorical, I'm looking for the answer: what is the moral difference between cuttin' off one guy's head, or two, or three, or five, or ten - and dropping a big bomb on a hospital and killing a whole bunch of sick kids? Has anybody in authority given you an explanation of the difference?" <br/> —George Carlin</blockquote>
<b><br/></b>
<hr size="2" width="100%"/><p>The Tulsa Peace Fellowship's Counter-Recruitment Update/Digest, for July 2011<br/> <i>lead story</i><br/> <br/> <big><big><big><b>War in Libya Fought for Oil</b></big></big></big><br/> <br/> John Glaser<br/> June 11, 2011<br/> <br/> Much of the war has actually seemed extremely odd, as if it didn’t match up. There seemed to be many more reasons for the administration not to get involved. Why, Greenwald asks, in the middle of debt crises “and when polls show Americans solidly and increasingly opposed to the war — would the U.S. Government continue to spend huge sums of money to fight this war?” Wasn’t there a big risk in not seeking congressional approval, thus going forward with an illegal war? Why, in an Arab Spring which makes this contradiction so obvious, would we attack Qaddafi for behaving exactly the way we pay other allies to behave? Didn’t Washington see considerable risk in engaging in a third/fourth outright war in against a Muslim country? Wasn’t there some concern, even if only for PR purposes, within the administration that the rebels on whose behalf we would ostensibly fight this war have direct ties to al-Qaeda? Did Obama not calculate a future political vulnerability of engaging in what he knew would be deliberate mission creep, or as Greenwald says, that the real goal of the war was “exactly the one Obama vowed would not be pursued — regime change through the use of military force”?<br/> <br/> Last month McClatchy reported on Wikileaks cables which revealed an oil deal emerging in the last few years in Libya that U.S. officials didn’t like. The Italian oil company Eni, the largest corporation in Italy and one in which the Italian government holds a 30 percent stake, was wagering a deal with the Russian oil company Gazprom, with which Vladimir Putin is connected. In the deal, Eni would have given Gazprom access to Libyan oil and helped Gazprom build a pipeline across the Black sea. The leaked cables reveal U.S. officials plotting ways to prevent such a success from a Russian oil giant. War was never mentioned in the cables, but since the start of Obama’s intervention in Libya, the deal has officially been put on hold.<br/> <br/> <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.antiwar.com/blog/2011/06/11/war-in-libya-fought-for-oil/">http://www.antiwar.com/blog/2011/06/11/war-in-libya-fought-for-oil/</a><br/> <br/> <br/> <big><big><big><b>In a pure coincidence, Gaddafi impeded U.S. oil interests before the war</b></big></big></big><br/> By Glenn Greenwald<br/> Jun 11, 2011<br/> <br/> Is there anything more obvious -- as the world's oil supplies rapidly diminish -- than the fact that our prime objective is to remove Gaddafi and install a regime that is a far more reliable servant to Western oil interests, and that protecting civilians was the justifying pretext for this war, not the purpose? If (as is quite possible) the new regime turns out to be as oppressive as Gaddafi but far more subservient to Western corporations (like, say, our good Saudi friends), does anyone think we're going to care in the slightest or (at most) do anything other than pay occasional lip service to protesting it? Does anyone think we're going to care about The Libyan People if they're being oppressed or brutalized by a reliably pro-Western successor to Gaddafi?<br/> <br/> [T]o believe that humanitarianism (protection of Libya civilians) was why we went to war in Libya requires a blindness so willful and complete that it's genuinely difficult to describe.<br/> <br/> [T]he point here is not that the U.S. invaded Libya in order to steal its oil. That's not the West's <i>modus operandi.</i> The point is that what distinguishes Gaddafi and made him a war target is not the claimed humanitarian rationale (he brutalized his own people) ... Instead, what distinguished Gaddafi and made him a war target was that he had become insufficiently compliant -- an unreliable and unstable servant to the West.<br/> <br/> The very idea that the U.S. Government woke up one day and suddenly decided that it can no longer abide a leader who mistreats his own people -- and that's why we went to Libya -- is so ludicrous that it's actually painful to hear that people believe that. It so obviously confuses pretext with cause. If Gaddafi had continued to be as compliant as he had been in the past, does anyone really believe we would have invaded his country and spent months trying to kill him and replace him with another regime?<br/> <br/> That's not to say that Gaddafi's "resource nationalism" is the only or even overriding motive for the war in Libya. Wars are typically caused by the interests of multiple factions and rarely have just one motive. As Jim Webb explained in arguing that the U.S. has no vital interest in Libya, the French and British are far more reliant on Libyan oil than the U.S. is (and this reader offers a rational dissent and alternative explanation for the war). But the U.S. has long made clear that it will not tolerate hostile or disobedient rulers in countries where it believes it has vital interests, and that's particularly true in oil rich nations (which is one reason for the American obsession with Iran). It's just hard to believe that any rational person would believe that the war in Libya is unrelated to the fact that Gaddafi has been increasingly obstructionist in allowing Western oil companies access to that nation's oil and that Libya is so rich in oil.<br/> <br/> <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/2011/06/11/libya/index.html">http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/2011/06/11/libya/index.html</a><br/> <br/> <br/> <big><big><big><b>Growing Congressional Condemnation of Obama’s Libya War</b></big></big></big><br/> Defunding Vote Looms<br/> by Jason Ditz, June 19, 2011<br/> <br/> Though there are a handful of diehard hawks in the Senate for whom any war on any flimsy justification is to be praised, the Republican Party is seeing a major rethink on war, with the unilateral war in Libya.<br/> <br/> [T]he House is expected to vote, potentially in a matter of days, on defunding the conflict. Such votes were being fought tooth and nail by House Republican leadership just weeks ago, but now livid at the president’s claims that Congress has no oversight over the war, they are not just allowing the vote but it seems to have a strong chance of passing through the House with plenty of bipartisan support.<br/> <br/> Congress has gone from mocking to livid, and the war has gone from controversial in the eyes of many Congressmen to an illegal challenge of Congressional authority. The president could be facing the first real Congressional backlash at unchecked warmaking power in decades, with both lawsuits and the power of the purse being brought to bear against the administration’s claim Congress can’t stop the U.S. from prosecuting a Libyan War.<br/> <br/> <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://news.antiwar.com/2011/06/19/growing-congressional-condemnation-of-obamas-libya-war/">http://news.antiwar.com/2011/06/19/growing-congressional-condemnation-of-obamas-libya-war/</a><br/> <br/> <font color="#006600">TPF comment: The U.S. Constitution states unequivocally that the power to declare war resides with the U.S. Congress, not with the president.</font><br/> <br/> <br/> file under: imperial president over-stepping his bounds<br/> <big><big><big><b>House Leadership: Bill to Defund Libya War Coming Soon</b></big></big></big><br/> Boehner Slams Obama Claims that Libya War Doesn't Require Congressional Support<br/> by Jason Ditz, June 16, 2011<br/> <br/> Members of the House Republican leadership announced today their intentions to move forward with a bill to defund the war in Libya, barring a major change of perspective from the Obama Administration, which yesterday claimed the war was immune to the War Powers Act requirement for Congressional support for deploying US troops overseas.<br/> <br/> House Speaker John Boehner (R – OH) slammed the claim, insisting that the suggestion does not “pass the straight face test.” Indeed, the letter and spirit of the act, passed during the Vietnam War era, make the administration’s claim extremely difficult to understand.<br/> <br/> An amendment barring spending military appropriations bill funding on the conflict already passed with strong bipartisan support.<br/> <br/> <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://news.antiwar.com/2011/06/16/house-leadership-bill-to-defund-libya-war-coming-soon/">http://news.antiwar.com/2011/06/16/house-leadership-bill-to-defund-libya-war-coming-soon/</a> <br/> <br/> <br/> <big><big><big><b>NATO Admits Killing Civilians in Tripoli Attack</b></big></big></big><br/> Claims 'Weapons System Failure' in Attack Which Killed Toddlers<br/> by Jason Ditz, June 19, 2011<br/> <br/> NATO has admitted a missile strike hit a civilian home in the Libyan capital of Tripoli today, killing a number of civilians including at least two toddlers. Though far from the first strike to kill civilians in the Libyan War, it is the first that NATO officials have admitted to.<br/> <br/> US and French forces began attacking Libya on March 19, ostensibly based on a UN resolution calling for them to “protect civilians” with a no fly zone. Though officials have argued this extended to allowing the continuing air war, it will be difficult to defend the growing number of civilian killings by the NATO forces themselves.<br/> <br/> <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://news.antiwar.com/2011/06/19/nato-admits-killing-civilians-in-tripoli-attack/">http://news.antiwar.com/2011/06/19/nato-admits-killing-civilians-in-tripoli-attack/</a></p>
<p> </p>
<br/>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><font color="#000000"><font face="Andalus"><font size="7"><b>Tulsa Peace Fellowship</b></font></font></font></p>
<br/>
<p align="left">who we are:<br/> <br/> <i><font color="#009900"><b>The Tulsa Peace Fellowship</b></font> is the activist wing of the peace movement in Eastern Oklahoma, and part of the nationwide Peace, Justice & the Environment (PJ&E) movement. TPF offers citizens and community groups tools and resources to participate personally in our democracy, to help shape federal budget and policy priorities, and to promote peace, social and economic justice, and human rights. TPF is a registered non-profit organization and a non-partisan civic-sector organization, loosely affiliated with the Unitarian Universalist Church of the Restoration, north side of Tulsa.</i></p>
<p align="left"><font color="#009900"><b>"Waging Peace One Person at a Time".</b></font></p>
<p align="left"><font class="titlebar_black">Through its counter-recruitment task force, TPF is a member of the</font> <font color="#009900"><b><font class="titlebar_black">National Network in Opposition to the Militarization of Youth (NNOMY)</font></b></font> representing some 188 counter-recruitment groups in cities and towns across the country. <font class="titlebar_black">On the web: <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.nnomy.org/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=216&Itemid=91">http://www.nnomy.org/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=216&Itemid=91</a></font><big><font size="2"><big> </big></font></big></p>
Tulsa Peace Fellowship is open to members of third parties, progressives, Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians, Green Party members, etc. If you have not already done so, please join the <font color="#009900"><b>new social networking tool for TPF on Ning,</b></font> <i>in lieu</i> of TPFtalks on yahoogroups, which has fallen into disuse Thank you! You can check out our new tool here: <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="../../">http://tulsapeacefellowship.ning.com</a> (new for 2011) Also still going strong: our announcement list on yahoo! <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:tulsapeace@yahoogroups.com">tulsapeace@yahoogroups.com</a> (since 2002) Go to: <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://groups.yahoo.com/">http://groups.yahoo.com/</a> and search for "tulsapeace"<br/> <font color="#000000"><br/> If you enjoyed this news digest and/or found this update useful, please consider making a donation of time, money, or effort to the Tulsa Peace Fellowship. An archive of previous editions of "Truth in Recruiting" going back to January 2009 is available online on our Ning website discussion forum: <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="../categories/truth-in-recruiting-tpf/listForCategory">http://tulsapeacefellowship.ning.com/forum/categories/truth-in-recruiting-tpf/listForCategory</a></font> <br/>
<p align="left"> </p>
<p align="left"><font color="#009900"><b>TPF needs your support.</b></font></p>
<p align="left">You can donate online via PINC (pull down menu for US$ donations)<br/> <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.pincgiving.com/donate/organization/1202854">http://www.pincgiving.com/donate/organization/1202854</a></p>
<p align="left">Or, please mail a check or money order made out to the"Tulsa Peace Fellowship" to :</p>
<p align="left">The Tulsa Peace Fellowship<br/> c/o UU Church of the Restoration, <br/> 1314 N. Greenwood Ave, Tulsa Oklahoma. 74106-4854<br/> Find on a map: <a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&q=peace+fellowship&sll=36.173998,-95.986798&sspn=0.010168,0.022552&ie=UTF8&radius=0.75&split=1&filter=0&rq=1&ev=zi&hq=peace+fellowship&hnear=&z=16&iwloc=E">Google Maps link</a></p>
<p align="left">Contributions to TPF are not tax deductible at the present time. <font color="#000000">Details on tax status available</font></p>
<br/> <font color="#000000"><font color="#000000">The next regularly scheduled business meeting of</font> <font color="#000000">the Fellowship will be held</font><b><br/></b></font> <font color="#000000"><b>Thursday, July <font color="#000000">7th</font> 2011, 6:15 PM – 8:00 PM @ the UU Church of the Restoration</b>, <b>in Tulsa, just north of downtown</b></font><br/> <font color="#000000">--including members from other local non-partisan groups such as Veterans for Peace, the Center for Racial Justice in Tulsa, the</font> Tulsa Interfaith Allliance, Pax Christi, and the Quakers. <font color="#000000">Come join us! Especially parents, guardians, and students in the Tulsa Public Schools system who are interested in countering the presence of military recruiters on school grounds.</font><big><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman, Times, serif"><span class="484465117-08032008"><font size="2"><big><br/> <br/> <font color="#009900"><b>The next</b> <b>monthly anti-war demo in Tulsa</b></font> <br/> is scheduled for <b>Saturday August 6th, 2011, 12noon to 2pm, with the theme: "U.S. Out of Afghanistan Now!"</b><br/> Details online: <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="../../">http://tulsapeacefellowship.ning.com/</a></big></font></span></font></big><br/> <br/> <font color="#000000">An archive of TPF counter-recruitment updates and other related TPF material is available to members online:</font><br/> <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/tulsapeace/?v=1&t=search&ch=web&pub=groups&sec=group&slk=1"><font color="#000000">http://groups.yahoo.com/group/tulsapeace/</font></a><br/> <font color="#000000">You must sign in to yahoo! groups to see the archived "message history"</font><br/> <font color="#000000">TPF messages have been archived online since 2002</font><br/> <font color="#000000">TPF was founded some 30 years ago.</font><br/> <font color="#000000">Current membership online:</font> 692 subscribers<br/> <br/> <font color="#000000">The information provided in this digest/update herein is for non-profit use only, according to "fair use" doctrine. Copyright and all commercial exploitation rights remain with the various authors/publishers cited above. The</font> Tulsa Peace Fellowship does not necessarily endorse the views expressed in the articles appearing herein.<br/> <font color="#000000"><br/></font> <i>further information<br/></i>
<div id="legaltext"><p>IN ACCORDANCE WITH TITLE 17 U.S.C. SECTION 107, THIS MATERIAL IS DISTRIBUTED WITHOUT PROFIT TO THOSE WHO HAVE EXPRESSED A PRIOR INTEREST IN RECEIVING THE INCLUDED INFORMATION FOR RESEARCH AND EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES. Tulsa Peace Fellowship HAS NO AFFILIATION WHATSOEVER WITH THE ORIGINATOR OF THESE ARTICLES NOR IS Tulsa Peace Fellowship ENDORSED OR SPONSORED BY THE ORIGINATORS.</p>
<p>SOURCE ARTICLE LINKS ARE PROVIDED AS A CONVENIENCE TO OUR READERS AND ALLOW FOR VERIFICATION OF AUTHENTICITY. HOWEVER, AS ORIGINATING PAGES ARE OFTEN UPDATED BY THEIR ORIGINATING HOST SITES, THE VERSIONS POSTED MAY NOT MATCH THE VERSIONS OUR READERS VIEW WHEN CLICKING THE SOURCE ARTICLE LINKS, OR INDEED, THE WEBPAGES MAY NO LONGER EVEN EXIST.</p>
</div>
<br/> <font face="arial,helvetica"><b><font style="background-color: #ffffff;" color="#400040" face="Univers" lang="0" size="2" xml:lang="0">Strength Through Peace: Out of Iraq & Afghanistan</font></b></font><br/> <font face="arial,helvetica"><b><font style="background-color: #ffffff;" color="#400040" face="Univers" lang="0" size="2" xml:lang="0">Accountability: Indict & Imprison Bush & Cheney for War Crimes</font></b></font><br/> <font face="arial,helvetica"><b><font style="background-color: #ffffff;" color="#400040" face="Univers" lang="0" size="2" xml:lang="0">JROTC: Out of Our Schools</font></b></font><br/> <font face="arial,helvetica"><b><font style="background-color: #ffffff;" color="#400040" face="Univers" lang="0" size="2" xml:lang="0">Schools as Military-Free Zones</font></b></font><br/> <font face="arial,helvetica"><b><font style="background-color: #ffffff;" color="#400040" face="Univers" lang="0" size="2" xml:lang="0">Alternatives to War: Department of Peace & cabinet-level Secretary of Peace</font></b></font><br/> <br/> <big><big><big><b>THE 10 REASONS</b></big></big></big> <br/> <br/> Ten excellent reasons not to join the military:<br/> a.. You July Be Killed, Even By Mistake<br/> b.. You July Kill Others Who Do Not Deserve to Die <br/> c.. You July Be Injured <br/> d.. You July Not Receive Proper Medical Care <br/> e.. You July Suffer Long-term Health Problems <br/> f.. You July Be Lied To <br/> g.. You July Face Discrimination <br/> h.. You July Be Asked to Do Things Against Your Beliefs <br/> i.. You July Find It Difficult to Leave the Military<br/> j.. You Have Other Choices, including the Choice to Learn a Marketable Skill<br/> <br/> for more info:<br/> <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.10reasonsbook.com/medcare.htm">http://www.10reasonsbook.com/medcare.htm</a>
The Tulsa Peace Fellowship's Counter-Recruitment Update/Digest, for June 2011
tag:tulsapeacefellowship.ning.com,2011-06-08:2567841:Topic:11463
2011-06-08T21:46:47.520Z
Tony Nuspl
http://tulsapeacefellowship.ning.com/profile/TonyNuspl
<p style="margin-bottom: 0.2in;"><font face="Andalus"><font size="6"><i><b>Truth in Recruiting</b></i></font></font> <font face="Andalus"><font size="6"><b>-</b></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0.2in;"><font face="Andalus"><font size="6"><b>"Don't Believe the Hype!"</b></font></font> <font face="Andalus"><b>--<br></br></b></font><font face="Andalus"><font size="4"><b>The Tulsa Peace Fellowship's Counter-Recruitment Update/Digest, for June 2011</b></font></font> --<br></br><br></br><br></br>Lead…</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0.2in;"><font face="Andalus"><font size="6"><i><b>Truth in Recruiting</b></i></font></font> <font face="Andalus"><font size="6"><b>-</b></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0.2in;"><font face="Andalus"><font size="6"><b>"Don't Believe the Hype!"</b></font></font> <font face="Andalus"><b>--<br/></b></font><font face="Andalus"><font size="4"><b>The Tulsa Peace Fellowship's Counter-Recruitment Update/Digest, for June 2011</b></font></font> --<br/><br/><br/>Lead Story from the past month's news: <br/><br/><b>Congress Admits Soldiers Have <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/bill-would-require-us-troops-to-receive-job-training-before-leaving-military/2011/05/10/AFWNq5jG_print.html" target="_blank">No Marketable Skills after Service in the Military</a></b><br/><br/>Bill before Congress would require U.S. troops to receive job training before leaving military</p>
<blockquote>quote:<br/>“They’ve been out of the workforce, and that puts them at a disadvantage.” <br/>~Paul Rieckhoff, the executive director and founder of the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America</blockquote>
<p>page 1 stories:<br/><br/><b>Villagers brought their dead children to the Afghan governor's office shouting: "See they aren't Taliban"</b><br/>--The BBC's Quentin Sommerville said Afghan villagers brought their dead children to the governor's office, after <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-13589193" target="_blank">14 women and children killed in latest botched NATO bombing</a><br/><br/>featured op/ed<br/><b>DoD Dodges Deadly Dust Data</b><br/>--now-documented increase of <a href="http://original.antiwar.com/vlahos/2011/05/23/persian-gulf-syndrome/" target="_blank">respiratory problems among Iraq veterans</a> is variously attributed to the use of <span style="color: #ff0000;">depleted uranium</span>, the widespread and unregulated use of burn pits on forward operating bases, the oil fires early in the war, or the burning of a sulfur plant in Mosul in the 2003.</p>
<blockquote>quote:<br/>"How many sick people will there be when it’s finally over? Better yet, are these wars worth it? Getting wise to the cause of these illnesses is one thing, demanding the government stop treating American men and women like <font color="#FF0000">replaceable fodder</font> is another."<br/>~Kelley B. Vlahos</blockquote>
<p style="margin-left: 0.49in; margin-bottom: 0.2in;">facts & figures:<br/>A 15-cent mask could have prevented the health problems they are living with today.</p>
<p>file under: Afghanistan, the graveyard of empires<br/><b>Tom Engelhardt reacts to the spate of</b> <font color="#FF0000"><b><a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/archive/175394/" target="_blank">"green-on-blue" violence</a> aimed at U.S. occupying forces</b></font><br/>--on April 25th, 2011, nine Americans evidently involved in a training program for Afghan pilots were all gunned down by a veteran Afghan air force pilot <br/><br/>file under: bringing the war home<br/><b>Govt figures 4,194 Iraq and Afghanistan</b> <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/29/us/29bcveterans.html?_r=1" target="_blank">veterans died prematurely, States-side</a><br/>--"excess deaths" among U.S. soldiers, often related to PTSD<br/><br/><b>Five US Soldiers Killed in Baghdad Attack, Despite Wonted "End of Hostilities"</b><br/>--rockets targeted US Base Near Sadr City, during <a href="http://news.antiwar.com/2011/06/06/five-us-soldiers-killed-in-baghdad-attack/" target="_blank">continued U.S. occupation of Iraq</a></p>
<p>page 2 stories:<br/><br/><b>Sailor Gets 34 Years in Prison in Espionage Case</b><br/>Navy intelligence specialist Bryan Minkyu Martin was sentenced to 34 years in prison for <a href="http://www.military.com/news/article/sailor-gets-34-years-in-prison-in-espionage-case.html?col=1186032310810" target="_blank">attempted espionage</a>.<br/><br/><b>U.S. Veterans Admit Burying Deadly Chemical in Korea</b><br/>-- <a href="http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2011/05/20/2011052001085.html" target="_blank">toxic defoliant Agent Orange</a> was buried surreptitiously at one of the American bases in Korea<br/><br/>backpage:</p>
<p>file under: continued occupation of Korea, 60 years later<br/><b><a href="http://www.space4peace.org/actions/jeju_island_protest_12_10.htm" target="_blank">Protest and Resistance against U.S. Navy Base</a> on Jeju Island, South Korea</b><br/>--The people of the Gangjeong village on Jeju Island in South Korea are in the midst of the fight of their lives. They are facing down the Navy plans to destroy their sacred coastline for a Navy base of U.S. Aegis destroyers.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>file under: the <a href="http://www.thelocal.de/national/20110520-35155.html" target="_blank">circle of violence</a><br/><b>German soldiers admit to shooting Afghans</b><br/>--who provoked whom?<br/><br/>related event:</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><font color="#000000"><font face="Andalus"><font size="5"><b>Tulsa Peace Fellowship</b></font></font></font></p>
<p align="center"><font size="4">TPF organizational meeting, monthly</font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><font color="#000000"><font face="Copperplate Gothic Bold, Segoe Script, sans-serif"><font size="3"><b>Thursday, June 9th, 2011</b></font></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><font color="#000000"><font face="Copperplate Gothic Bold, Segoe Script, sans-serif"><font size="3"><b>U.U. Church of the Restoration, <br/>1314 N. Greenwood Ave, Tulsa Oklahoma 74106-4854</b></font></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><font color="#000000"><font face="Copperplate Gothic Bold, Segoe Script, sans-serif"><font size="3"><b>6:15 PM to 8:00 PM</b></font></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman, Times, serif"><font size="3">The TPF executive and TPF Steering Committee welcome your input, at our monthly collective exercise in decision-making. <br/>Come join us! Especially parents, guardians, and students in the Tulsa Public Schools system <br/>who are interested in countering the presence of military recruiters on school grounds.</font></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><font color="#000000"><font face="Copperplate Gothic Bold, Segoe Script, sans-serif"><font size="3"><b>discussion:</b></font></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><font color="#000000"><font size="4"><b>Time to rethink U.S. involvement in the occupation of Afghanistan.</b></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"> </p>
<p><b><br/></b><br/>epitaph for this edition of "Truth in Recruiting"</p>
<blockquote><b>"The chain reaction of evil — wars producing more wars — must be broken, or we shall be plunged into the dark abyss of annihilation."</b></blockquote>
<blockquote>~Martin Luther King, Jr.</blockquote>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"> </p>
<hr size="1"/><p>The Tulsa Peace Fellowship's Counter-Recruitment Update/Digest, for June 2011<br/><i>lead story</i><br/><br/><font size="4"><b>Congress Admits Soldiers Have No Marketable Skills after Service in the Military</b></font><br/><br/>Bill before Congress would require U.S. troops to receive job training before leaving military</p>
<blockquote>quote:<br/>“They’ve been out of the workforce, and that puts them at a disadvantage.” <br/>~Paul Rieckhoff, the executive director and founder of the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America</blockquote>
<p><br/>Legislation to be introduced in Congress on Wednesday would require all U.S. service members to undergo job-skills training before leaving the military, a measure that supporters say is aimed at cutting the high unemployment rate among veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.<br/><br/>About 27 percent of veterans age 20 to 24 are unemployed, according to recent statistics from the Labor Department. Many veterans returning from service in Iraq and Afghanistan are finding themselves at a competitive disadvantage when they look for civilian employment in the difficult economy because they lack job-skills training, according to Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), the bill’s sponsor.<br/><br/>“One of the biggest barriers they face upon returning is finding a job,” Murray, who is chairman of the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, said in an interview Tuesday.<br/><br/>The legislation would require all departing service members to participate in the Transition Assistance Program, which is administered by the Labor Department in partnership with the Defense Department and the Department of Veterans Affairs. The training, which is now voluntary, includes job-search techniques, resume writing and interviewing tips.<br/><br/>“They’ve been out of the workforce, and that puts them at a disadvantage,” said Paul Rieckhoff, the executive director and founder of the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, which is supporting the legislation. “This is a good way to soften their landing. These folks shouldn’t have to face high unemployment rates when they return. They shouldn’t be coming home to unemployment checks.”<br/><br/>As many as one-third of departing service members do not participate in the program, according to Murray’s office. Commanders do not always set aside time to allow demobilizing service members to take advantage of the training. In other cases, service members are given little or no information about the program, or do not want the training.<br/><br/>The legislation also would require the Defense Department, the Labor Department and the VA to jointly sponsor a study that would identify how to eliminate barriers in translating military jobs into civilian employment. Military medics, for example, are often unable to get certification that would allow them to get civilian positions despite their training. “They have tremendous experience in Iraq and Afghanistan, and they come home and they can’t drive an ambulance,” Murray said.<br/><br/>Murray said the numbers of unemployed young veterans might grow as more troops return from Afghanistan. <br/><br/>© The Washington Post Company<br/><br/><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/bill-would-require-us-troops-to-receive-job-training-before-leaving-military/2011/05/10/AFWNq5jG_print.html">http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/bill-would-require-us-troops-to-receive-job-training-before-leaving-military/2011/05/10/AFWNq5jG_print.html</a><br/><br/><br/><br/></p>
<hr size="1"/><p>The Tulsa Peace Fellowship's Counter-Recruitment Update/Digest, for June 2011<br/><i>page 1</i><br/><br/><font size="6"><b>Villagers brought their dead children to the governor's office shouting: "See, they aren't Taliban"</b></font><br/>The BBC<br/>Quentin Sommerville<br/>29 May 2011<br/><br/>Afghan President Hamid Karzai has forcefully condemned the killing of 14 civilians in the south-west of the country in a suspected Nato air strike.<br/><br/>Mr Karzai said his government had repeatedly asked the US to stop raids which end up killing Afghan civilians and this was his "last warning".<br/><br/>A Nato spokesman said a team had been sent to Helmand province to investigate the attack carried out on Saturday.<br/><br/>Afghan officials say all those killed were women and children.<br/><br/>The strike took place in Nawzad district after a US Marines base came under attack.<br/><br/>The air strike, targeted at insurgents, struck two civilian homes, killing two women and 12 children, reports say.<br/><br/>"The president called this incident a great mistake and the murdering of Afghanistan's children and women, and on behalf of the Afghan people gives his last warning to the US troops and US officials in this regard," his office said.<br/><br/>A group from Sera Cala village travelled to Helmand's capital, Lashkar Gah, bringing with them the bodies of eight dead children, some as young as two years old, says the BBC's Quentin Sommerville in Kabul.<br/><br/>"See, they aren't Taliban," they chanted as the carried the corpses to local journalists and the governor's mansion.<br/><br/>President Hamid Karzai has criticised Nato for not doing enough to prevent such deaths, especially during "night raids" and has called on the country's ministry of defence to stop what he described as "arbitrary" operations by foreign forces.<br/><br/><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-13589193">http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-13589193</a><br/><br/><br/>featured op/ed<br/><font size="6"><b>DoD Dodges Deadly Dust Data</b></font><br/>by Kelley B. Vlahos, May 24, 2011 <br/><br/>The military could have had the answer to Persian Gulf syndrome for years and did nothing about it, as tens of thousands more veterans return from war in the region, possibly suffering from the same exposures and symptoms.<br/><br/>Simply put: it’s in the dust.<br/><br/>A growing body of evidence indicates that U.S soldiers have been exposed to a highly toxic “stew” of microscopic particles—including 37 metals and 147 different kinds of bacteria, as well as disease-carrying fungi—found uniquely in the Iraqi dust. <br/><br/>In a <i>USA Today</i> report by longtime military reporter Kelly Kennedy on May 12, a team of scientists under the authority of the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Northport, N.Y., said veterans who had been deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan were seven times more likely to suffer from what they called “lung injury,” or respiratory-related illness, compared to their cohorts who had been deployed elsewhere.<br/><br/>“Not only do soldiers deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan suffer serious respiratory problems at a rate seven times that of soldiers deployed elsewhere, but the respiratory issues they present with show a unique pattern of fixed obstruction in half of cases, while most of the rest are clinically reversible new-onset asthma, in addition to the rare interstitial lung disease called non-specific interstitial pneumonitis associated with inhalation of titanium and iron,” said Anthony Szema, a professor of medicine and surgery at the State University of New York at Stony Brook School of Medicine, who presented the findings at a conference last week.<br/><br/>The study, which surveyed 7,000 veterans who served between 2004 and 2007, is reportedly the latest and biggest of its kind. The results jibe with a smaller-scale study Szema did a year ago, and with work being done with veterans by Dr. Robert Miller, associate professor of Allergy, Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.</p>
<p>Dr. Mark Lyles, chair of the Health and Security Studies at the U.S Naval War College, said he and his team of fellow researchers found fine particulate matter– that is, dangerously microscopic particles of matter suspended in the dust—exhibiting rare concentrations of the aforementioned bacteria and metals, including aluminum, lead, manganese and chromium, far greater than any acceptable health levels here in the U.S. For example, he said the average American home has particulate matter of 1 microgram or less per cubic meter. The worst day in Iraq recorded by the team seven years ago measured an average of 2,000 micrograms per cubic meter during a <i>minor</i> dust storm. Major dust storms would peg their instrument at 9,999 micrograms per cubic meter—the highest it would go.</p>
<p>“It’s like breathing in peanut butter,” said Lyles, who is a doctor of dental medicine and has a PhD in cellular and structural biology. “You couldn’t re-create that in your house if you had to.”</p>
<p>In 2005, Lyles said he prepared a report based on his 2004 findings for the office of the Navy Surgeon General. He recommended that N95 dust protection masks be issued upon request, and that convoys be protected from dust exposure. “A dust nuisance mask would have reduced the exposure 99 percent. Especially people in convoys or laying on the ground… that’s what we’re talking about, are they still not taking the proper steps in acting on this?”</p>
<p>For countless individuals who’ve served overseas, the prospect of solving the mystery now is cold comfort, seeing that, as Lyles suggested, a 15-cent mask could have prevented the health problems they are living with today.</p>
<p><a href="http://original.antiwar.com/vlahos/2011/05/23/persian-gulf-syndrome/">http://original.antiwar.com/vlahos/2011/05/23/persian-gulf-syndrome/</a></p>
<p><br/>file under: Afghanistan, the graveyard of empires<br/><font size="6"><b>Tom Engelhardt reacts to the spate of "green-on-blue" violence aimed at U.S. occupying forces</b></font><br/>May 19, 2011 on TomDispatch <br/><br/>“Afghan officer fires on NATO troops, kills 9”: This was breaking news when it happened. On April 25th, a veteran Afghan air force pilot, armed with two weapons and in a specially guarded and secure area of Kabul airport, suddenly opened fire on a group of Americans evidently involved in a training program for Afghan pilots. He gunned down eight U.S. Air Force personnel, including a lieutenant colonel, four majors, two captains, and a master sergeant, as well as a private contractor (himself a retired U.S. military officer) before being killed. It was “the deadliest episode to date of an Afghan turning against his own coalition partners.” But hardly the only one. In a sense, this was no news at all. It was already at least the fourth time in 2011 that someone dressed in an Afghan army or police uniform had turned a weapon on U.S. or NATO personnel. Among such incidents was one just three weeks earlier in which a man wearing a border police uniform, reportedly “upset over the recent burning of the Quran at a Florida church,” killed two Americans, and another in February in which an Afghan soldier, reportedly “offended by his German partners,” killed three of them, wounding yet more. <br/><br/>By military count, since March 2009, 17 such incidents have been reported. Since the mass killing at Kabul airport, there has already been an 18th in which, according to sketchy reports, a man in an Afghan police uniform opened fire on two NATO personnel at a “luncheon” in Helmand Province in the country’s embattled south. In such incidents, at least 34 Americans have died. (Not counted in this total, evidently, is an incident in January 2010 in which a Taliban double or triple agent blew himself up amid a group of CIA employees on a forward operating base in Eastern Afghanistan, killing seven of them, including the station chief.)<br/><br/>Such incidents pile up repetitively, without adding up to anything of significance here. Yes, the literal math has been done and it should be striking, even shocking, to Americans, and yet these news stories seldom get much attention and have already fallen into a he said/he said pattern in which the only crucial question becomes: Was the killer a Taliban plant or a “rogue” member of the Afghan security forces? As soon as such an attack occurs, the Taliban -- which has made striking strides in entering the modern age of media spin -- promptly takes credit for it, claiming that whoever blew away a coalition soldier was one of its own and the incident a carefully planned operation. <br/><br/>It’s easy to understand why the Taliban would want to associate itself with such events. Harder to grasp -- though no reporter seems to give it a second thought -- is the U.S./NATO response. Their spokespeople regularly hustle out statements insisting that whoever attacked U.S. or coalition personnel was not connected to the Taliban, but simply having a truly bad day/life (experiencing, say, financial or psychological stress) and that, as a result, the incident was an “isolated” one, “not part of any organized pattern,” or as an American general summed it up to reporters, “rare.” And yet the phenomenon turns out to be common enough that the military has a label for it: “green-on-blue” violence.<br/><br/>Consider this, though: Is the thought that the enemy is capable of repeatedly infiltrating American or NATO ranks really more devastating than the thought that, on a really bad day, “our” Afghans, the ones we are training or regularly working side-by-side with, have a deep-seated, repetitive urge to blow the foreigners away? That seems to me the devastating message U.S. military officials are rushing to reinforce.<br/><br/>Where else is there such a record of police and military personnel blowing away their own trainers and ostensible allies so often? Isn’t it possible that all those “rogues” are offering a collective message Americans simply don’t care to hear?<br/><br/>The missing learning curve. At home and abroad, Americans seem remarkably incapable of doing anything other than repeating the same self-defeating acts.<br/><br/><a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/archive/175394/">http://www.tomdispatch.com/archive/175394/</a><br/><br/><br/>file under: bringing the war home<br/><font size="6"><b>Troubled Veterans and Early Deaths After Iraq</b></font><br/>By Aaron Glantz<br/>Published: May 28, 2011 <br/><i>New York Times</i><br/><br/>Records obtained from the government by <i>The Bay Citizen</i> under the Freedom of Information Act, show that the V.A. is aware of 4,194 Iraq and Afghanistan veterans who died after leaving the military. More than half died within two years of discharge. Nearly 1,200 were receiving disability compensation for a mental health condition, the most common of which was post-traumatic stress disorder. <br/><br/>The new data comes amid growing criticism of the V.A. for its handling of veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. On May 10, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, in San Francisco, cited the V.A. for “unchecked incompetence” and ordered an overhaul of how it provided health care and disability benefits.<br/><br/>The decision grew out of a 2007 lawsuit in which two veterans groups accused the V.A. of failing to provide proper care for hundreds of thousands of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans with post-traumatic stress. <br/><br/>In October, The Bay Citizen, using public health records, reported that 1,000 California veterans under 35 died from 2005 to 2008 — three times the number killed in Iraq and Afghanistan during the same period.<br/><br/>“V.A. still doesn’t get it,” said Paul Sullivan, executive director of Veterans for Common Sense, a nonprofit advocacy group.<br/><br/>The agency, Mr. Sullivan said, is “intentionally and outrageously ignorant about what’s happening to our veterans.” <br/><br/><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/29/us/29bcveterans.html?_r=1">http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/29/us/29bcveterans.html?_r=1</a><br/><br/>More coverage on DemocracyNow!<br/>Story from October 18, 2010<br/><b>War’s Hidden Death Toll: After Service, Veteran Deaths & Suicides Surge</b><br/><a href="http://www.democracynow.org/2010/10/18/wars_hidden_death_toll_after_service">http://www.democracynow.org/2010/10/18/wars_hidden_death_toll_after_service</a><br/><br/><font size="6"><b>Five US Soldiers Killed in Baghdad Attack</b></font><br/>Rockets Targeted US Base Near Sadr City<br/>by Jason Ditz, June 06, 2011<br/><br/>At least five US soldiers were killed today in the deadliest single incident against troops in Iraq in two years. The five were killed at “Camp Loyalty,” a US military forward operating base in the city of Baghdad, not far from Sadr City.<br/><br/>Iraqi security officials say that at least six missiles were fired against the base, and hit near the living quarters. The US confirmed the deaths but provided no additional information on the attack.<br/><br/>It is so far unclear who was responsible for the attacks.<br/><br/>The presence of US troops in Iraq has been hugely controversial, and it is doubly so for those operating within the cities. Though the US made a big deal of “withdrawing from the cities” and of ending the “combat mission,” operations within cities and combat both continue, and if US officials have their way will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.<br/><br/><a href="http://news.antiwar.com/2011/06/06/five-us-soldiers-killed-in-baghdad-attack/">http://news.antiwar.com/2011/06/06/five-us-soldiers-killed-in-baghdad-attack/</a><br/>[includes photo of bombed-out barracks]</p>
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<hr size="1"/><p>The Tulsa Peace Fellowship's Counter-Recruitment Update/Digest, for June 2011<br/><i>page 2</i><br/><br/><font size="6"><b>Sailor Gets 34 Years in Prison in Espionage Case</b></font><br/>Navy intelligence specialist Bryan Minkyu Martin was sentenced to 34 years in prison for attempted espionage.<br/>May 23, 2011<br/>Virginian-Pilot<br/><br/>NORFOLK -- Bryan Minkyu Martin, the Navy intelligence specialist convicted of attempted espionage, said Friday that he was "blinded by greed" when he sold classified documents to a man he believed was a Chinese spy.<br/><br/>A military judge Friday sentenced Martin to 34 years in prison a day after he pleaded guilty to 11 charges. The judge also issued Martin a dishonorable discharge.<br/><br/>Martin acknowledged in court that he had betrayed his country but said he does not hate the United States.<br/><br/>"My soul was blinded by greed," he said. "I am filled with remorse and self-loathing," he continued. "I was arrogant and greedy and selfish."<br/><br/>He then turned to his parents sitting behind him and wept as he apologized to them. His parents adopted him from South Korea and raised him in a small town in upstate New York.<br/><br/><a href="http://www.military.com/news/article/sailor-gets-34-years-in-prison-in-espionage-case.html?col=1186032310810">http://www.military.com/news/article/sailor-gets-34-years-in-prison-in-espionage-case.html?col=1186032310810</a><br/><br/><font size="6"><b>U.S. Veterans Admit Burying Deadly Chemical in Korea</b></font><br/><br/>The Environment Ministry is investigating claims by three American veterans that the U.S. Forces Korea buried the toxic defoliant Agent Orange at one of their bases in Korea. KPHO-TV in Phoenix, Arizona on Monday broadcast interviews with the three.<br/><br/>One of them, Steve House, who served as a heavy machinery operator at Camp Carroll in Waegwan, North Gyeongsang Province in 1978 said, "Yeah, it haunts me. We basically buried our garbage in their back yard." The soldiers were ordered to dig a ditch almost the size of a city block. "Fifty-five gallon drums with bright yellow, some of them bright orange, writing on them," said House. "And some of the cans said Province of Vietnam, Compound Orange."<br/><br/>Robert Travis, who served at Camp Carroll with House, said, "There were approximately 250 drums, all OD green," adding he remembers hand-wheeling each barrel out of the warehouse. Travis said he developed a red rash all over his body after accidentally touching the chemical that seeped out of the drums. Agent Orange was widely used during the Vietnam War and is an extremely toxic chemical based on the carcinogenic compound dioxin and causes trees and plants to wither and die.<br/><br/>The Environment Ministry said Thursday it will launch an investigation of the environmental effects, including contamination to the underground water supply and rivers, following an on-site inspection of Camp Carroll and consultations with experts. <br/><br/><a href="http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2011/05/20/2011052001085.html">http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2011/05/20/2011052001085.html</a><br/><br/><br/></p>
<hr size="1"/><p>The Tulsa Peace Fellowship's Counter-Recruitment Update/Digest, for June 2011<br/><i>backpage</i><br/><br/><font size="6"><b>Protest and Resistance on Jeju Island</b></font><br/>news from Dec 2010, in South Korea<br/><br/>The people of the Gangjeong village on Jeju Island in South Korea are in the midst of the fight of their lives. They are facing down the Navy and their plans to destroy their sacred coastline for a Navy base for U.S. Aegis destroyers.<br/><br/>28 December 2010<br/>from Bruce Gagnon<br/><br/>The protests against the Navy base on Jeju Island (in the Gangjeong village) moved to the biggest city on the island today - Jeju City - as activists attempted to set up an encampment vigil outside the Island assembly building. <br/><br/>The Pan Island Committeee Against the Military Base confronted the Jeju City authorities and police as the city did not allow the activists' tent vigil in front of the Island assembly. One member was arrested and two women - of whom one was greatly wounded in her face - were carried to the hospital.<br/><br/>Otherwise, the Lee Myung bak [right-wing] national government announced on Dec. 27 that it would manage 10 ports as the governmental management port including Gangjeong (Civilian-military complex), Hwasoon (maritime police port) in the Jeju island, and Chuja Island in the southern part, near the Jeju Island. The other two ports will be in the East Sea (Japan Sea) while five ports will be in the western sea. People say the plan must be against China. <br/><br/>All of this in order to build a Navy base that is needed as the U.S. Navy builds more ships and deploys them in the region. Maine's Sen. Olympia Snowe (Republican) has said over and over again to the media in our state that more Navy ships are needed to "protect" against China's expanding power. There can be now doubt that this base has nothing to do with North Korea. It is all about projecting power toward China in order to block their ability to import oil on ships along the waterway between Jeju Island and mainland China. The Chinese import 80% of their oil via this sea route and if the U.S. can successfully "choke off" their ability to transport oil then the U.S., who can't compete with China's growing economy, would be able to still hold the "keys" to their economic engine. <br/><br/>It is hardball politics that the U.S. is playing here in this expensive and dangerous game. The people on Jeju Island, sadly enough, are just pawns in the way of imperial designs.<br/><br/>Thirty-four citizens were arrested trying to block 66 cement trucks from dumping their concrete on the rocky coast. <br/><br/>Photo album: <a href="http://www.space4peace.org/actions/jeju_island_protest_12_10.htm">http://www.space4peace.org/actions/jeju_island_protest_12_10.htm</a><br/><br/><br/><font size="6"><b>German soldiers admit to shooting Afghans</b></font><br/><br/>The German military on Friday admitted its soldiers in Afghanistan deliberately shot several people during a violent protest outside their base in the northern town of Taloqan.<br/><br/>An investigation being carried out at the Provincial Advisory Team (PAT) base has so far established that German soldiers on Wednesday were shooting at protesters’ legs and in three or four cases, at their torsos.<br/><br/>“In one case, according to current information, a hit in the head-neck area cannot be ruled out,” a statement from the Bundeswehr released on Friday said.<br/><br/>The soldiers had followed the standard engagement procedures by first shouting and gesturing at the protesters, before firing in the air and then firing shots aimed at the legs of those who were still being threatening, it said.<br/><br/>“In three, possibly four cases (final clarification is not available) shots were fired on violent attackers (hand grenades, Molotov cocktails) in the torso area, arms and hands. In one case, according to current information, a hit in the head-neck area cannot be ruled out.”<br/><br/>At least 12 people were killed during Wednesday’s violent demonstration which was prompted by the deaths of four locals during a night-time raid by ISAF forces.<br/><br/>The PAT base, where 40 German soldiers are stationed, was surrounded by a group of up to 1,500 people, some of whom threw grenades and Molotov cocktails at the base. The police tried to calm the situation, and, the Bundeswehr statement said, also shot at some protesters. <br/><br/><a href="http://www.thelocal.de/national/20110520-35155.html">http://www.thelocal.de/national/20110520-35155.html</a><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/></p>
<hr size="1"/><p>The Tulsa Peace Fellowship's Counter-Recruitment Update/Digest, for June 2011<br/><i>masthead</i><br/><br/><a target="_self" href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2310613022?profile=original"><img class="align-full" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2310613022?profile=original" width="125"/></a></p>
<p align="left">who we are:<br/><br/><font color="#009900"><i><b>The Tulsa Peace Fellowship</b></i></font> <i>is the activist wing of the peace movement in Eastern Oklahoma. TPF offers citizens and community groups tools and resources to participate personally in our democracy, to help shape federal budget and policy priorities, and to promote peace, social and economic justice, and human rights. TPF is a registered non-profit organization and a non-partisan civic-sector organization, loosely affiliated with the Unitarian Universalist Church of the Restoration, north side of Tulsa.</i></p>
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<p align="left">Through its counter-recruitment task force, TPF is a member of the <font color="#009900"><b>National Network in Opposition to the Militarization of Youth (NNOMY)</b></font> representing some 188 counter-recruitment groups in cities and towns across the country. On the web: <a href="http://www.nnomy.org/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=216&Itemid=91">http://www.nnomy.org/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=216&Itemid=91</a> </p>
<p>Tulsa Peace Fellowship is open to members of third parties, progressives, Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians, Green Party members, etc. If you have not already done so, please join the <font color="#009900"><b>new social networking tool for TPF on Ning,</b></font> <i>in lieu</i> of TPFtalks on yahoogroups, which has fallen into disuse Thank you! You can check out our new tool here: <a href="../../">http://tulsapeacefellowship.ning.com</a> (new for 2011) Also still going strong: our announcement list on yahoo! <a href="mailto:tulsapeace@yahoogroups.com">tulsapeace@yahoogroups.com</a> (since 2002) Go to: <a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/">http://groups.yahoo.com/</a> and search for "tulsapeace"<br/><font color="#000000"><br/>If you enjoyed this news digest and/or found this update useful, please consider making a donation of time, money, or effort to the Tulsa Peace Fellowship. </font></p>
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<p><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman, Times, serif"><font size="3"><br/></font></font></font><font color="#009900"><font face="Times New Roman, Times, serif"><font size="3"><b>The next monthly anti-war demo in Tulsa</b></font></font></font> <font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman, Times, serif"><font size="3">is scheduled for<br/></font></font></font><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman, Times, serif"><font size="3"><b>Saturday July 2nd, 2011, 12noon to 2pm,</b></font></font></font></p>
<p><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman, Times, serif"><font size="3"><b>with the theme: "U.S. Out of Afghanistan Now!"</b></font></font></font><br/><br/><font color="#000000">An archive of TPF counter-recruitment updates and other related TPF material is available to members online:</font><br/><a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/tulsapeace/?v=1&t=search&ch=web&pub=groups&sec=group&slk=1"><font color="#000000">http://groups.yahoo.com/group/tulsapeace/</font></a><br/><font color="#000000">You must sign in to yahoo! groups to see the archived "message history"</font><br/><font color="#000000">TPF messages have been archived online since 2002</font><br/><font color="#000000">TPF was founded some 30 years ago.</font><br/><font color="#000000">Current membership online:</font> 692 subscribers<br/><br/><font color="#000000">The information provided in this digest/update herein is for non-profit use only, according to "fair use" doctrine. Copyright and all commercial exploitation rights remain with the various authors/publishers cited above. The</font> Tulsa Peace Fellowship does not necessarily endorse the views expressed in the articles appearing herein.<br/><font color="#000000"><br/></font><i>further information</i></p>
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<p><br/><font color="#400040"><font face="Univers"><font size="2"><b><span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% #ffffff;">Strength Through Peace: Out of Iraq & Afghanistan</span></b></font></font></font><br/><font color="#400040"><font face="Univers"><font size="2"><b><span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% #ffffff;">Accountability: Indict & Imprison Bush & Cheney for War Crimes</span></b></font></font></font><br/><font color="#400040"><font face="Univers"><font size="2"><b><span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% #ffffff;">JROTC: Out of Our Schools</span></b></font></font></font><br/><font color="#400040"><font face="Univers"><font size="2"><b><span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% #ffffff;">Schools as Military-Free Zones</span></b></font></font></font><br/><font color="#400040"><font face="Univers"><font size="2"><b><span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% #ffffff;">Alternatives to War: Department of Peace & cabinet-level Secretary of Peace</span></b></font></font></font><br/><br/><font size="6"><b>THE 10 REASONS</b></font> <br/><br/>Ten excellent reasons not to join the military:<br/>a.. You May Be Killed, Even By Mistake<br/>b.. You May Kill Others Who Do Not Deserve to Die <br/>c.. You May Be Injured <br/>d.. You May Not Receive Proper Medical Care <br/>e.. You May Suffer Long-term Health Problems <br/>f.. You May Be Lied To <br/>g.. You May Face Discrimination <br/>h.. You May Be Asked to Do Things Against Your Beliefs <br/>i.. You May Find It Difficult to Leave the Military<br/>j.. You Have Other Choices, including the Choice to Learn a Marketable Skill <br/><br/>for more info:<br/><a href="http://www.10reasonsbook.com/medcare.htm">http://www.10reasonsbook.com/medcare.htm</a><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/></p>
News from Under the Hood..helps soldiers leave the military at Ft Hood,Tx
tag:tulsapeacefellowship.ning.com,2011-05-17:2567841:Topic:9465
2011-05-17T03:04:34.209Z
Jean Mcmahon
http://tulsapeacefellowship.ning.com/profile/JeanMcmahon
<div style="text-align: right;"><strong><span style="font-size: 16pt;"> </span></strong><span style="font-family: times new roman,times; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> …</span></span></div>
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<div style="text-align: left;"><div><div><div><span style="font-family: times new roman,times; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,times; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,times; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,times; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,times; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,times; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,times; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,times; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,times; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,times; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,times; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,times; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,times; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,times; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,times;"><span style="font-size: 18pt;"><strong>May is a busy month at Under the Hood. </strong></span> <span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1305597370_1">Iraq Veterans Against the War</span> headed to UTH this month, as part of its <a rel="nofollow" title="Operation Recovery" target="_blank" href="http://e2ma.net/go/7067285078/208562072/223035611/1403269/goto:http://www.ivaw.org/operation-recovery"><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1305597370_2">Operation Recovery Campaign</span></a>, in its continued effort to stop the deployment of troops suffering from PTSD, Traumatic Brain Injury, and Military Sexual Trauma . IVAW has requested a <a rel="nofollow" title="IVAW requests meeting with Gen. Campbell" target="_blank" href="http://e2ma.net/go/7067285078/208562072/223035612/1403269/goto:http://www.ivaw.org/blog/operation-recovery-heads-fort-hood"><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1305597370_3">meeting</span></a> with General Don Campbell. Read IVAW's letter to General Campbell <a rel="nofollow" title="Letter to Gen Campbell" target="_blank" href="http://e2ma.net/go/7067285078/208562072/223035613/1403269/goto:http://www.ivaw.org/sites/default/files/documents/public/Letter_to_LTG_Campbell_final.pdf"><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1305597370_4">here</span></a>. IVAW has not yet received a response, but their efforts to reach the General is only the beginning of the work they plan to do while in Fort Hood. IVAW's organizing team will work for several months to outreach to soldiers, build their case against the military's egregious practices, conduct town hall meetings, and pressure Fort Hood's new General to do the right thing.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><div> </div>
<span style="font-family: times new roman,times; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,times; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,times; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,times; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,times; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,times; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,times; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,times; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,times; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,times; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,times; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,times; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,times; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,times;"><br />
</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><div><span style="font-family: times new roman,times; font-size: 18pt;"><strong><span style="font-size: 18pt;">Under the Hood has a new intern! </span></strong> <span style="font-size: 18pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">He's a longtime supporter of UTH - Malachi Muncy. This internship through the national G.I. Coffeehouse Network started on May 9th and will last for a total of 12 weeks. Malachy will be working closely with the Under the Hood staff, volunteers an board members<span style="font-family: times new roman,times;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,times;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,times;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,times;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,times;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,times;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,times;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,times;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,times;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,times;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,times;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,times;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,times;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,times;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,times;"> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>to build working relationships with veterans, servicemembers and the civilian community. We're very excited to have him on staff.</span></span></span></div>
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<div><div><span style="font-family: times new roman,times;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,times;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,times;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,times;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,times;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,times;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,times;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,times;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,times;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,times;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,times;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,times;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,times;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,times;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,times;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,times;"> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div><span style="font-family: times new roman,times;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,times;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,times;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,times;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,times;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,times;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,times;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,times;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,times;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,times;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,times;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,times;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,times;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,times;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,times;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,times;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,times;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,times;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,times;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,times;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,times;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,times;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,times;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,times;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,times;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,times;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,times;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,times;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,times;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,times;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,times;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,times;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,times;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,times;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,times;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,times;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,times;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,times;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,times;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,times;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,times;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,times;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,times;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,times;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,times;"><span style="font-size: 18pt;"><strong>Regina Vasquez brings her <a rel="nofollow" title="Fatigues Clothesline" target="_blank" href="http://e2ma.net/go/7067285078/208562072/223035614/1403269/goto:http://www.graceafterfire.org/blogs/rv1978semperfi/381-fatigues-clothesline-project-update-po-box-now-up.html"><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1305597370_5">Fatigues Clothesline</span></a> to UTH. </strong></span> This 8 week series beginning May 15th, from 5-7 pm, is for women only. To find out more, you can reach Regina at <a rel="nofollow" title="E-mail to Regina Vasquez" target="_blank" href="http://us.mc1114.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=rv_fatigues@yahoo.com"><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1305597370_6">rv_fatigues@yahoo.com</span></a>.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<div class="yiv1149808780MsoNormal"><strong><span style="font-family: times new roman,times; font-size: 18pt;">Join us on <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1305597370_7">Memorial Day</span> as we celebrate Kyle Wesolowski's release from the army! </span></strong> <span style="font-family: times new roman,times; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">As we told you in our <a rel="nofollow" title="UTH Update - March issue" target="_blank" href="http://e2ma.net/go/7067285078/208562072/223035615/1403269/goto:https://app.e2ma.net/app/view:CampaignPublic/id:1403269.3968329"><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1305597370_8">March issue</span></a>, </span></span><strong><span style="font-size: 18pt;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,times;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,times;"> </span></span></span></strong><span style="font-size: 18pt;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,times;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,times;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Kyle’s <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1305597370_9">Conscientious Objector</span> claim was approved by the U.S. Army. Since he was notified of his CO status, Kyle has been on terminal leave. After months of patiently waiting, Kyle will officially be out of the military by Memorial Day! </span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="yiv1149808780MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 18pt;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,times;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,times;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="yiv1149808780MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 18pt;"><strong><span style="font-family: times new roman,times;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,times;">Here are the details:</span></span></strong></span></div>
<div class="yiv1149808780MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 18pt;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,times;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,times;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 18pt;"><strong><span style="font-size: 12pt;">What:</span></strong> <span style="font-size: 12pt;">Under the Hood BBQ and get-together</span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: times new roman,times; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,times;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 18pt;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,times;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,times;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="yiv1149808780MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 18pt;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,times;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,times;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><strong>When:</strong> Monday, May 30th, starting at 2:00 p.m.</span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="yiv1149808780MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 18pt;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,times;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,times;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><strong>Where:</strong> Under the Hood Cafe & Outreach Center, <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1305597370_10">17 College Street, Killeen Texas</span></span></span></span></span></div>
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The Tulsa Peace Fellowship's Counter-Recruitment Update/Digest, for May 2011
tag:tulsapeacefellowship.ning.com,2011-05-02:2567841:Topic:8964
2011-05-02T17:18:49.399Z
Tony Nuspl
http://tulsapeacefellowship.ning.com/profile/TonyNuspl
<p style="margin-bottom: 0.2in;"><font face="Andalus"><font size="6"><i><b>Truth in Recruiting</b></i></font></font> <font face="Andalus"><font size="6"><b>- "Don't Believe the Hype!"</b></font></font><font face="Andalus"><b><br></br></b></font><br></br>Lead Stories from the past month's news:<br></br><br></br><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/11/predator-drone-us-soldiers-killed_n_847767.html"><font color="#FF0000"><b>Predator Drone</b></font> <b>Mistakenly Kills 2 U.S. Soldiers</b></a><br></br>--Two…</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0.2in;"><font face="Andalus"><font size="6"><i><b>Truth in Recruiting</b></i></font></font> <font face="Andalus"><font size="6"><b>- "Don't Believe the Hype!"</b></font></font><font face="Andalus"><b><br/></b></font><br/>Lead Stories from the past month's news:<br/><br/><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/11/predator-drone-us-soldiers-killed_n_847767.html"><font color="#FF0000"><b>Predator Drone</b></font> <b>Mistakenly Kills 2 U.S. Soldiers</b></a><br/>--Two U.S. service members were killed in a drone airstrike that is believed to be the first instance of <font color="#FF0000">friendly-fire deaths from drone attacks</font>.<br/><br/>related story:<br/><a href="http://warisacrime.org/content/37-people-who-protest-hancock-air-base-near-syracuse-against-use-drones-are-arrested-friday"><b>Arrested:</b> <b>37 people who protested at Hancock Air Base near Syracuse NY against the use of drones</b></a><br/>file under: <font color="#006600"><b>Nonviolent Resistance</b></font><br/><br/>other page 1 stories<br/><br/><a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/8438058/Officer-shot-dead-on-board-submarine-HMS-Astute.html"><b>Navy officer shot dead aboard nuclear submarine HMS Astute</b></a><br/>--Police arrest a man on suspicion of murder after two people are shot aboard berthed nuclear submarine HMS Astute in Southampton's eastern docks.<br/>--Submarines especially vulnerable to tensions between crew<br/><br/>featured radio interview:<br/><b>Is the U.S. Using Depleted Uranium in Libya?</b><br/>--Doug Weir on the likelihood and the danger of this internationally-banned weapon<br/><br/>featured editorial:<br/><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joe-cirincione/hiroshima-to-fukushima-th_b_840753.html?ir=Green"><b>Hiroshima to Fukushima: The Illusion of Control</b></a></p>
<blockquote>facts & figures:<br/>At the height of the Cold War, American and Russian arsenals topped 68,000 nuclear weapons,</blockquote>
<p><a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/the-invisible-division-us-soldiers-are-seven-times-as-likely-as-uk-troops-to-develop-posttraumatic-stress-2264849.html"><b>US soldiers are seven times as likely as UK troops to develop</b> <font color="#FF0000"><b>post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)</b></font></a><br/><br/>featured music video:<br/><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WM8bTdBs-cw"><b>Metallica - "One" (Video)</b></a> <br/>--In addition to hard-hitting lyrics, excerpts from the film based on the anti-war novel by Dalton Trumbo's <i>Johnny Got His Gun</i> (1939), telling the tale of a soldier whose body is severely damaged by a mortar shell, his arms, legs, eyes, mouth, nose and ears all gone</p>
<blockquote>quotes:<br/>Doctor: "The cerebrum has suffered irreparable damage."<br/>Priest: "He's the product of your profession, not mine"<br/>Damaged Soldier: "Help me, mother, I'm having a nightmare and I can't wake up."<br/>~excerpt from the film script, and the film clip used for the music video</blockquote>
<p><br/><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110408/us_nm/us_usa_budget_military"><b>Troops are political dynamite in budget battle</b></a><br/>--Soldiers will not get their paychecks for the duration of the shutdown, leaving their families at home struggling to pay the bills.</p>
<blockquote>facts & figures:<br/>There are 2.2 million people drawing a check from the U.S. government, including active duty, National Guard and reserve members of the armed forces. Paying their salaries is a substantial poriton of military spending, which accounts for up to 59% of federal discretionary spending per year, according to the War Resisters' League.<br/><br/><a target="_blank" href="http://www.warresisters.org/sites/default/files/FY2012piechart-small.jpg"><img class="align-full" src="http://www.warresisters.org/sites/default/files/FY2012piechart-small.jpg?width=24" height="222" width="173"/></a><br/>see attached PDF file, "where your money goes" or go to:</blockquote>
<p><br/>related story, video coverage only<br/><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGaXRL6t-H4&">Former Wyoming congressman, Alan Simpson, Wants to Cut Soldiers' Healthcare Too</a> <br/>--Military retirees with 20-years' seniority, even though they have no combat experience, are getting top-level health care through Tri-Care, costing the federal government $53 billion per year.<br/><br/>featured op/ed<br/><a href="http://www.flcourier.com/fleditorial/5025-nmessage-to-barack--make-luv-not-war"><b>Black Americans: Stop Supporting Obama and His Wars</b></a><br/>by William Reed<br/><br/><br/>page 2<br/><br/>file under: self-imposed exile in Canada<br/><a href="http://www.vancouversun.com/Court+rules+review+army+deserter+appeal+stay+Canada/4577160/story.html"><b>U.S. conscientious objector and war resister can reapply to stay in Canada: court</b></a><br/><br/>more context: story from six months ago<br/><a href="http://www.nationalpost.com/news/canada/Deserters+hope+WikiLeaks+release+will+help+with+asylum+bids/3717411/story.html"><b>Oklahoman Joshua Key is using Wikileaks to bolster his case as a Conscientious Objector and War Resister</b></a><br/>--Mr. Assange of Wikileaks told Al Jazeera television the documents had provided enough material for 40 wrongful killing lawsuits.<br/>--Key has been in self-imposed exile in Canada for years<br/><br/><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/08/us/08vets.html?_r=1&hp"><b>Families Fight the U.S. Veterans' Administration over Control of Benefits</b></a><br/>--Instead of helping, trustee program is hurting veterans, families say<br/><br/>update on U.S. soldiers committing war crimes in Afghanistan<br/><a href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/apr/17/afghanistan-death-squad-killings-fail-get-media-po/"><b>American ‘death squad’ killings in Afghanistan fail to get media attention</b></a><br/>2 wars, 2 scandals, 2 presidents add up to uneven coverage</p>
<blockquote>quote:<br/><br/>"War crimes occur in almost every prolonged armed conflict, as evidenced recently by the photos taken by <font color="#FF0000">an American "kill team" in Afghanistan, which shocked the public</font> when the images were published two weeks ago. Everything depends on whether these crimes are also seen as crimes by the military leadership and if the perpetrators are then punished accordingly."<br/>~Jan Fleischhauer, on rape, murder and genocide in times of war<br/><a href="http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,755385-4,00.html">http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,755385-4,00.html</a></blockquote>
<blockquote><i>Translated from the German by Christopher Sultan</i></blockquote>
<p><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/no-discharge-for-navy-officer-found-asleep-in-bed-with-another-male-sailor/2011/04/08/AFIsSm3C_print.html"><b>No discharge for Navy officer found asleep in bed with another male sailor</b></a><br/>--A Navy petty officer who faced discharge after he fell asleep in the same bed as another male sailor has gotten a reprieve, his attorneys said</p>
<p>from the archives:<br/><a href="http://www.ratical.org/radiation/NRBE/NRadBioEffects.html"><b>The one veteran from the USA exposed to radiation in its nuclear bomb program to have ever received compensation: Orvile Kelly</b></a><br/>file under: <a href="http://naav.com/">Risk of death or disease from U.S. military radioactive operations</a></p>
<p><br/>backpage<br/><br/>file under: reduction in force, demobilization<br/><a href="http://www.foxnews.com/world/2011/04/08/dutch-government-cutting-12000-military-jobs/#"><b>Dutch government cutting 12,000 military jobs</b></a><br/>--more than one in six of all armed forces personnel RIF'd, as part of spending cuts aimed at balancing the budget by 2015<br/><br/><a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/8383877/MoD-tried-to-stop-Dead-Men-Risen-book-to-prevent-ally-withdrawing-from-Afghanistan.html"><b>British Ministry of Defense (MoD) tried to stop</b> <i><b>Dead Men Risen</b></i> <b>book ‘to prevent ally withdrawing from Afghanistan’</b></a><br/>--The Ministry of Defence and Britain’s two top generals sought to stop the publication of a controversial new book about Afghanistan because of concerns that it might prompt a Nato ally to pull out of Helmand.<br/><br/>sidebar:<br/><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cumbria-13119241"><b>British Ex-soldier jailed for burning Koran in Carlisle (U.K.)</b></a><br/>--sentenced to 70 days in prison for setting fire to a copy of Muslim holy book<br/><br/><br/><br/></p>
<p><br/><br/></p>
<p><br/>upcoming regular event in Tulsa:</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><font color="#000000"><font face="Andalus"><font size="5"><b>Tulsa Peace Fellowship</b></font></font></font></p>
<p align="center"><font size="4">presents a pro-peace recruitment drive</font></p>
<p align="center"><font face="Copperplate Gothic Bold"><font style="font-size: 15pt;" size="4"><b>"always on the first Saturday of the month"</b></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><font color="#000000"><font face="Copperplate Gothic Bold, Segoe Script, sans-serif"><font size="3"><b>Saturday, May 7th 2011</b></font></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><font color="#000000"><font face="Copperplate Gothic Bold, Segoe Script, sans-serif"><font size="3"><b>corner of 41st & Yale, in Tulsa</b></font></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><font color="#000000"><font face="Copperplate Gothic Bold, Segoe Script, sans-serif"><font size="3"><b>12:00 noon to 2:00 PM</b></font></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center">Come brandish clear "<b>Honk for Peace"</b> signs. Come help fly the <b>TPF banner/logo</b>.</p>
<p align="center"><br/><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman, Times, serif"><font size="3">Please contact Bryan Cheek, a member of the TPF Steering Committee,</font></font></font> <br/><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman, Times, serif"><font size="3">on his cellphone: 918-407-3493</font></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="left">Other upcoming events:</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="left"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="left"><font size="4"><b>June 4th welcome rally for Bradley Manning, at Ft Leavenworth, Kansas</b></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="left"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="left">The nation's leading prisoner of conscience and victim of U.S. military torture in prison has been moved from Quantico Virgina Marines base to a Kansas military prison, or "an Army Pre-Trial Facility." There are reports that the 9-month long regime of solitary confinement has also ended with his transfer out of the U.S. Marines brig.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="left"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="left">This event is being organized using facebook, by event sponsors in Kansas and Missouri. You can join the discussion and logistics planning here: <a href="http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_204011756297337&ap=1">http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_204011756297337&ap=1</a></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="left"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="left"><font color="#009900">TPF comment: The event on 4th June is not officially endorsed by the TPF Steering Committee, at the present time. Event details are FYI only. Join us on May 12th for our regular monthly business meeting, if you have an opinion about the support efforts for Bradley Manning.</font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="left"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="left">Ft. Leavenworth mailing address for Bradley Manning:</p>
<blockquote>Bradley Manning 89289<br/>830 Sabalu Road<br/>Fort Leavenworth, KS 66027</blockquote>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="left"> </p>
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<td width="97%"><p align="left"><font color="#FFFFCC"><font face="Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif"><font style="font-size: 16pt;" size="4">UPCOMING MOVIE at CIRCLE CINEMA, TULSA</font></font></font></p>
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<p> </p>
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<td bgcolor="#D8D8D8" width="594"><p align="left"><span style="font-variant: normal;"><font color="#000000"><font face="Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif"><font size="2"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span><br/>6/3-PHIL OCHS: THERE BUT FOR FORTUNE</span></span></font></font></font></span></p>
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<p><br/>epitaph for this edition of "Truth in Recruiting"<br/><b>Words of wisdom from Howard Zinn</b> <br/>(see bottom of this update/digest)</p>
<p><br/><br/></p>
<hr size="1"/><p>The Tulsa Peace Fellowship's Counter-Recruitment Update/Digest, for May 2011<br/><i>lead story</i><br/><br/><font size="6"><b>Predator Drone Mistakenly Kills 2 U.S. Soldiers</b></font><br/>Two U.S. service members were killed last week in a drone airstrike that is believed to be the first instance of friendly-fire deaths from drone attacks, NBC News is reporting.<br/>by Cara Parks <br/><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/">www.huffingtonpost.com</a><br/>Apr 11, 2011<br/><br/>The attack, which took place in Afghanistan's restive Helmand province, appears to be a case of mistaken identity. Marine Staff Sgt. Jeremy Smith and Navy Corpsman Benjamin Rast were reportedly coming to serve as reinforcements for a group of Marines coming under fire in the region. The Marines were watching live video of the battlefield provided by a drone; when they saw infrared "hotspots" approaching, they ordered the drone strike. The hotspots were actually Smith, 26, and Rast, 23, according to NBC.<br/><br/>The U.S. government is investigating the incident, and "the families of both service members have been informed of the possibility this was a friendly fire incident," reports NBC.<br/><br/>The controversy surrounding U.S. drone strikes in Afghanistan and Pakistan was highlighted last month when a particularly deadly drone strike killed 36 people, most of them civilians, according to intelligence officials. Pakistan pulled out of high level talks about the future of Afghanistan in protest.<br/><br/>President Obama has ordered a "record number" of Predator strikes during his administration, reports Newsweek. <br/><br/><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/11/predator-drone-us-soldiers-killed_n_847767.html">http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/11/predator-drone-us-soldiers-killed_n_847767.html</a><br/><br/>related story:<br/><font size="6"><b>37 people who protest at Hancock Air Base near Syracuse against the use of drones are arrested Friday</b></font><br/>Submitted by davidswanson on Sat, 2011-04-23 17:31<br/><br/> Nonviolent Resistance<br/><br/>DeWitt, NY -- Dozens of war protesters were arrested Friday afternoon outside the main entrance of the New York Air National Guard’s base at Hancock Field.<br/><br/>Thirty seven protesters, draped with red-spattered sheets, had lain themselves in the main entrance roads to the base, off East Molloy Road.<br/><br/>They were arrested by Onondaga County Sheriff’s deputies on charges of trespassing and obstruction of justice.<br/><br/>They were handcuffed and, after a 45-minute wait, were led to a jail transport bus that was supposed to take them to the Onondaga County Justice Center for processing. Two were in wheel chairs.<br/><br/>The arrests followed a rally outside the air base where more than 150 people had gathered to protest the MQ-9 Reaper drones, and U.S. military involvement in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya.<br/><br/>Friday’s rally culminated a week of walks, talks and dinners that brought people from around New York State and the U.S., organized by the Upstate Coalition to Ground the Drones and End the Wars.<br/><br/>“Our real goal is to end the war,” said Kathy Kelly, a peace activist from Chicago.<br/><br/>Speaker after speaker said the drones represent a new stage of dehumanizing war, kill and maim many civilians. “They terrorize people we don’t want to terrorize,” said Elliott Adams, a Veterans for Peace member from Sharon Springs, NY.<br/><br/>The 174th Fighter Wing of the New York Air National Guard has been remotely flying MQ-9 Reaper drones over Afghanistan, from Syracuse, since late 2009. The unmanned surveillance aircraft is armed with Hellfire missiles and laser-guided bombs.<br/><br/>The 174th is the first Air National Guard unit to fly MQ-9s, and the first Air Force-affiliated unit east of the Mississippi to fly them.<br/><br/><a href="http://warisacrime.org/content/37-people-who-protest-hancock-air-base-near-syracuse-against-use-drones-are-arrested-friday">http://warisacrime.org/content/37-people-who-protest-hancock-air-base-near-syracuse-against-use-drones-are-arrested-friday</a><br/><br/><br/></p>
<hr size="1"/><p>The Tulsa Peace Fellowship's Counter-Recruitment Update/Digest, for May 2011<br/><i>more page 1 stories</i><br/><br/><br/><br/><font size="6"><b>Navy officer shot dead aboard nuclear submarine HMS Astute</b></font><br/>By Thomas Harding, Defence Correspondent for <i>The Telegraph</i> (UK)<br/>08 Apr 2011<br/><br/>Police arrest a man on suspicion of murder after two people are shot aboard berthed nuclear submarine HMS Astute in Southampton's eastern docks.<br/>Submarines especially vulnerable to tensions between crew<br/><br/>The incident happened this afternoon during a changeover of armed guards at the pier where the £1 billion nuclear submarine Astute was berthed in Southampton.<br/><br/>It is understood that the submariner pulled out his 9mm pistol and shot the officer and fellow sailor who had come to change the guard. The officer was killed outright and the rating suffered severe wounds that are said to be critical but not life-threatening.<br/><br/>The sailor was disarmed and has been detained by Hampshire police. Sources suggest that he will be charged with murder.<br/><br/>“It happened earlier today when they had the weapons changeover for the sailors who are guarding Astute,” a source said.<br/><br/>“It appears this rating got into an argument then just went crazy and began shooting people. He has not served in Afghanistan so it doesn’t appear to be related to combat stress like PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder).” <br/><br/>HMS Astute previously hit the headlines when it ran aground on a shingle bank between the Scottish mainland and the Isle of Skye and remained marooned for several hours. Her first captain Commander Andy Coles was relieved of command after the boat ran aground on mud off the Isle of Skye last October.<br/><br/>He was replaced by Cdr Iain Breckridge who was in command of the submarine Tireless when an oxygen generator exploded killing two crew while she was submerged under the polar icecap in 2007. He received an OBE in recognition of his leadership skills in bringing the crew to safety to the surface through the ice while the boat filled with noxious fumes. <br/><br/>The submarine was at 38/9 berth, with a 50 metre exclusion zone being patrolled by MoD police officers at all times.<br/><br/>During its stay HMS Astute was hosting several visits from sea scouts and local school and college pupils from the throughout the city and New Forest.<br/><br/><a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/8438058/Officer-shot-dead-on-board-submarine-HMS-Astute.html">http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/8438058/Officer-shot-dead-on-board-submarine-HMS-Astute.html</a><br/><br/><br/>featured radio interview:<br/><font size="6"><b>Is the U.S. Using Depleted Uranium in Libya?</b></font><br/><br/>Doug Weir on the likelihood and the danger<br/>interview by Scott Horton, April 03, 2011, for antiwar.com radio</p>
<p>Dour Weir of the <a href="http://www.bandepleteduranium.org/">Campaign Against Depleted Uranium</a> discusses the likelihood that <a href="http://l.wbx.me/l/?instId=ecf7b31d-c1f3-4985-825e-776c35da2dfc&token=c3dc881df1d7bc94fc856bbb1a11420ec9030de40000012f0c4daa19&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bandepleteduranium.org%2Fen%2Fa%2F397.html">depleted uranium weapons are being used in Libya</a>; the DU rounds commonly used by A-10 and Harrier jets against armored targets; the long lasting health risks from dust and chemical toxicity; and why the military seems to be slowly shifting away from DU weapons.</p>
<p><strong><a href="http://dissentradio.com/radio/11_04_01_weir.mp3">MP3 here</a></strong>. (19:04)</p>
<p>Doug Weir is a Development Worker for the Campaign Against Depleted Uranium and the International Coordinator for the International Coalition to Ban Uranium Weapons (ICBUW). He holds a degree in Geology and a post-graduate degree in Journalism.</p>
<p>further reading: <a href="http://www.bandepleteduranium.org/">http://www.bandepleteduranium.org/</a></p>
<blockquote>excerpt from rush transcript:<br/><br/>Weir: "It's a sort of natural human response for people who have never heard about it before to be aghast that this is being used in weapons. And of course there's also a deep human response to radioactivity. ... There is kind of a groundswell [against D.U.]. We've had repeated U.N resolutions calling on the U.S. to identify the locations where they fired these weapons in Iraq. This is a huge part of doing meaningful research on the ground, and to decontaminate the area. The U.S. hasn't told anybody where they fired these weapons, some 400 tons (that's European tons, so 400,000 kilos) of D.U. in Iraq, over the two conflicts. If this were land mines or cluster munitions, people would be up in arms, but somehow the U.S. has gotten away with not telling us where these weapons were used - despite the fact that we've got all sorts of august scientific bodies saying that one of the first things to do is identify these locations, warn the local people, and in areas where there has been high contamination, spend a lot of money and decontaminate these sites."</blockquote>
<p><font color="#006600">TPF correction: The host mistakenly refers to "uranium-</font><font color="#006600"><i>tipped</i></font><font color="#006600">" weapons a couple of times at the beginning of the 20-minute interview. In fact, uranium is the</font> <font color="#006600"><i>core</i></font> <font color="#006600">of these ammunition rounds, which are encased in other metals to try to contain the uranium's alpha-particle radiation, as well as beta- and gamma-radiation, while the rounds are being stored, handled, loaded, transported, etc. Some gamma, beta and alpha radiation is emitted by decaying uranium molecules at all times, and therefore, uranium weapons always pose a threat to anyone in the vicinity. After it has been fired, a round of uranium weapons poses an even greater threat to human health, because of the poison dust leading to alpha-particles that can lodge in the lungs, causing cancer, or rapid-growth tumors, birth defects, etc.</font><br/><br/><br/><br/>featured editorial:<br/><font size="6"><b>Hiroshima to Fukushima: The Illusion of Control</b></font><br/>by Joe Cirincione<br/>President, Ploughshares Fund<br/>Posted: March 25, 2011<br/><br/>Hiroshima and Fukushima, of course, are very different in fundamental ways. Hiroshima was an intentional bombing that happened in a blink, killing or injuring 135,000 people and destroying 70,000 buildings. Fukushima is the result of unprecedented natural disasters overwhelming safety systems with its consequences for the civilian population metered out over days, weeks or years.<br/><br/>But the connections between the two are just as fundamental. Both involve our collective deception that we can always control the nuclear machines we invented. We cannot. There have been dozens of close calls, false alerts and near launches in the nuclear age. In one instance, a US bomber crash dropped two hydrogen bombs over North Carolina. Five out of six of the bomb's arming devices activated -- only the sixth prevented an actual nuclear detonation.<br/><br/>August 29, 2007 provides a more recent reminder. On that day the U.S. Air Force lost track of the equivalent of 60 Hiroshima bombs for 36 hours. A B-52 bomber flew across the country with six nuclear missiles tucked under its wings. Unknown to the air crews, the missiles were each armed with a 150-kiloton nuclear warhead, ten times the power of the bomb that destroyed Hiroshima. The crew thought they had loaded conventional, non-nuclear missiles. The worst news? No one noticed they were missing. If anyone had asked 20 top experts before this event if anything like this was possible, they all would have said absolutely not.<br/><br/>As for nuclear bombs, there is a strong and growing global consensus that their time has passed, that their risks greatly outweigh their benefits. International security leaders increasingly say that we must move quickly and steadily to eliminate them. <br/><br/>for the full article, go to: <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joe-cirincione/hiroshima-to-fukushima-th_b_840753.html?ir=Green">http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joe-cirincione/hiroshima-to-fukushima-th_b_840753.html?ir=Green</a><br/><br/><br/><font size="6"><b>Afghanistan ‘death squad’ killings fail to get media, political attention</b></font><br/>2 wars, 2 scandals, 2 presidents add up to uneven coverage<br/><br/>By Rowan Scarborough<br/><i>The Washington Times </i> (not to be confused with the <i>Washington Post</i>)<br/>April 17, 2011<br/><br/>Reports of a U.S. “death squad” in Afghanistan, complete with the publication of gory photographs, have failed to attract the intense political or media attention afforded a previous war scandal — the mistreatment of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib.<br/><br/>In 2004, CBS News broadcast an array of photographs showing American jail guards abusing Iraqi detainees. The most famous: a forced pyramid of naked, humiliated prisoners. The depictions touched off an avalanche of media coverage. In Congress, liberals called for the resignation of Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld. Democrats launched inquiries and held a string of well-covered hearings.<br/><br/>In recent months, another wartime embarrassment has emerged. The Army charged five soldiers with murder in the deaths of Afghan civilians in what amounted to a “death squad.”</p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/topics/der-spiegel/">German magazine Der Spiegel</a> published several digital photos of soldiers posing with the dead last month.</p>
<p>Even someone at <i>Time Magazine</i> is struck by the lack of “death squad” coverage overall [in the U.S. mainstream media].<br/><br/>Jim Frederick, who covered the Iraq War and is now the managing editor of Time.com and the magazine’s executive editor, wrote in a March 29 blog that the Afghan story was remarkable for two reasons, the first of which is the depravity of the crimes. “The second reason this tale has been remarkable: It has garnered little attention from the media or the public, even though the allegations started leaking last May and Spc. Jeremy Morlock, one of the five soldiers accused of murder, pled guilty last week and was sentenced to 24 years in prison in exchange for his cooperation in the trials yet to come,” Mr. Frederick wrote.</p>
<p>Yet the Afghan death squad incident has barely touched Washington’s consciousness.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/apr/17/afghanistan-death-squad-killings-fail-get-media-po/">http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/apr/17/afghanistan-death-squad-killings-fail-get-media-po/</a></p>
<p><br/><br/><br/><br/></p>
<p>featured music video</p>
<h1 class="western"><a name="firstHeading" id="firstHeading"></a>One (Metallica song)</h1>
<table border="0" cellspacing="0" width="300">
<colgroup><col width="72"></col><col width="220"></col></colgroup><tbody><tr><th colspan="2" bgcolor="#F0E68C" width="296"><p align="center"><b>"One"</b></p>
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<tr><td colspan="2" width="296"><p align="center"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WM8bTdBs-cw"></a><a target="_blank" href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/3/34/Metallica_ONE.jpg/220px-Metallica_ONE.jpg"><img class="align-full" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/3/34/Metallica_ONE.jpg/220px-Metallica_ONE.jpg?width=24" height="247" width="247"/></a></p>
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<tr><th colspan="2" bgcolor="#F0E68C" width="296"><p align="center">Single by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metallica">Metallica</a></p>
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<tr><th colspan="2" bgcolor="#F0E68C" width="296"><p align="center">from the album <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...And_Justice_for_All_%28album%29"><i>...And Justice for All</i></a></p>
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<tr><th width="72"><p align="left">B-side</p>
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<td width="220"><p>The Prince</p>
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<tr><th width="72"><p align="left">Released</p>
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<td width="220"><p>January 1989</p>
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<tr><th width="72"><p align="left">Format</p>
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<td width="220"><p>CD single</p>
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<tr><th width="72"><p align="left">Recorded</p>
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<td width="220"><p>January-May, 1988</p>
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<tr><th width="72"><p align="left">Genre</p>
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<td width="220"><p>Heavy metal, thrash metal</p>
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<tr><th width="72"><p align="left">Length</p>
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<td width="220"><p>7:24</p>
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<tr><th width="72"><p align="left">Label</p>
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<td width="220"><p>Elektra</p>
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<tr><th width="72"><p align="left">Writer(s)</p>
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<td width="220"><p>James Hetfield / Lars Ulrich</p>
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<tr><th width="72"><p align="left">Producer</p>
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<td width="220"><p>Metallica, Flemming Rasmussen</p>
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<p><br/>According to Wikipedia: "One" is a song by the American heavy metal band Metallica. It was released as the fourth and final single from their fourth album ...And Justice for All. "One" was also the band's first Top 40 hit single, reaching number 35 on the Billboard Hot 100. It is one of the band's most popular songs and has remained a permanent live staple since the release of the album, making this the most played song from the album ...And Justice for All. Despite being a big hit on the Billboard Hot 100 and the music video receiving heavy airplay on MTV, the song itself received very little to no radio airplay.<br/><br/>The song's theme and lyrics are based on <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dalton_Trumbo">Dalton Trumbo</a>'s 1939 novel <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Got_His_Gun"><i>Johnny Got His Gun</i></a>, telling the tale of a soldier whose body is severely damaged by a mortar shell. His arms, legs, eyes, mouth, nose and ears are gone and he is unable to see, speak, smell, or hear. His mind functions perfectly, however, leaving him trapped inside his own body. Trumbo directed the movie adaptation in 1971, from which the footage for the "One" music video is taken.<br/><br/>Dalton Trumbo (December 9, 1905 – September 10, 1976) was an American screenwriter and novelist, and one of the Hollywood Ten, a group of film professionals who refused to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) in 1947 during the committee's investigation of Communist influences in the motion picture industry. Trumbo won two Academy Awards while blacklisted; one originally given to a front writer, and one awarded to Robert Rich, Trumbo's pseudonym.<br/><br/>Trumbo's 1939 anti-war novel, <i>Johnny Got His Gun,</i> won a National Book Award (then known as an American Book Sellers Award) that year. The novel was inspired by an article Trumbo had read about a Canadian soldier who had lost all his limbs in World War I and was visited in hospital by the Prince of Wales.<br/><br/>In 1971, Trumbo directed the film adaptation of his novel <i>Johnny Got His Gun,</i> which starred Timothy Bottoms, Diane Varsi and Jason Robards.<br/><br/>In 1982, Johnny Got His Gun was adapted into a stage play by Bradley Rand Smith, which has since been performed all over the world. Its first, Off-Broadway run starred Jeff Daniels.<br/><br/><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_%28Metallica_song%29">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_%28Metallica_song%29</a> <br/><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dalton_Trumbo">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dalton_Trumbo</a><br/><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Got_His_Gun">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Got_His_Gun</a><br/><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067277/">http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067277/</a><br/><br/><br/></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br/><br/>from the archives:<br/><br/><font size="5"><b>Soldiers and Civilians Killed by an Invisible Substance</b></font><br/>excerpt from an essay on radiation protection standards by Dr. Rosalie Bertell, published in 1985<br/><br/>Only one veteran from the USA exposed to radiation in its nuclear bomb programme has ever received compensation: Orvile Kelly. One of the first veterans to bring suit for in-service irradiation, Orville Kelly, participated in 22 atomic bomb tests. About six months before he died the Veterans Administration admitted that his illness could be attributed to radiation exposure. About 1,000 veteran claims have been refused. Compensation for damage [from U.S. bomb tests] is almost impossible to obtain. <br/><br/>An atomic veteran who participated in the nuclear tests which were conducted by the USA in the Bikini atoll in the late 1940s reported that he gained 75 lbs in the four years following his participation. The doctor diagnosed his problem as hypothyroidism. He also suffered from high blood pressure, chronic asthma and frequent bouts of bronchitis and pneumonia. He has had six tumours diagnosed since 1949, when he returned home from military service. Four have been surgically removed. <br/><br/>Prior to the above-ground nuclear weapon test ban in 1963, the USA set off at least 183 atmospheric nuclear tests, more than all the other nations of the world combined. About half these tests were set off near the Pacific Trust Territory of Micronesia, given into US protection by the United Nations after the Second World War, and the other half were set off on the 1,350 square miles at the Nevada Test Site north of Las Vegas. By 1978 the USA had set off an additional 400 nuclear bombs below ground in Nevada, some of which were officially admitted to have `leaked' large amounts of radioactive chemicals. Some of the tests were of UK weapons since it also uses the Nevada test site. Underground tests are still taking place in the USA,[36] the USSR and French Polynesia. In the Northern Hemisphere, above-ground tests have also been detonated by the USSR, China and India and in the Southern Hemisphere by France and South Africa. <br/> The Nevada nuclear tests have spread radiation poisons throughout central and eastern United States and Canada, and produced in the stratosphere a layer of radioactive material which encircles the globe. They also cause nitric oxides to form in the atmosphere which then descend on earth as acid rain. Radioactive chemicals can now be found in the organs, tissues and bones of every individual in the Northern Hemisphere<br/><br/>source online: "<b>The Problem: Nuclear Radiation and its Biological Effects"</b> Part I of <br/><i>No Immediate Danger, Prognosis for a Radioactive Earth</i>, by Dr Rosalie Bertell <br/>The Book Publishing Company -- Summertown, Tennessee, 1985 <br/>ISBN 0-913990-25-2 <br/>pages 15-63.<br/><br/>available online:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.ratical.org/radiation/NRBE/NRadBioEffects.html">http://www.ratical.org/radiation/NRBE/NRadBioEffects.html</a></p>
<p><br/>Further detail on Orville Kelly and the veterans' organization he founded, the <a href="http://naav.com/">National Association of Atomic Veterans</a> (NAAV), to help those sickened by exposure to radiation from U.S. nuclear bomb testing, see <i>Atomic Veterans' Newsletter</i>, September-October 1979, pp. 6-7:</p>
<blockquote>In 1979 the National Association of Atomic Veterans was founded by former Army sergeant Orville Kelly, and his wife, Wanda. Kelly had witnessed twenty-two nuclear weapons test explosions while serving as commander of Japtan, a small land mass in the Marshall Islands, two decades earlier.<br/><br/>Kelly's experiences were fairly typical. As described in an NAAV newsletter he "wore a film badge, which measured gamma radiation, from April 1, 1958 to August 31, 1958. During that time, the badge recorded an exposure of 3.445 rems. At no time was he measured for beta radiation or for possible internal deposition of radionuclides. The equipment used on the island for environmental monitoring also only measured gamma radiation."<br/><br/>Formation of NAAV in August 1979 brought a strong response from atomic veterans and widows all over the country. Within a year three thousand had become members of the association, operating out of headquarters in Burlington, Iowa, the hometown of Orville and Wanda Kelly. Together with nuclear veterans and supporters in every state, they set about challenging the Veterans Administration's treatment of former servicemen exposed to radiation while in the military.<br/><br/>Diagnosed as suffering from lymphocytic lymphoma in June 1973, Orville Kelly's claims for service-connected benefits were repeatedly rejected by the VA. Hobbled by the pain of his cancer and powerful chemotherapy drugs, Kelly traveled as much as he could, meeting with atomic veterans and speaking out on their behalfs. In the process Kelly's own often-rebuffed claim became a cause celebre, and a severe embarrassment to the VA and Defense Department.<br/><br/>In November 1979, after five years of denials, the VA's Board of Veterans Appeals granted Kelly's claim. The decision conceded the plausibility of a link between in-service radiation exposure and later cancer, but stopped short of acknowledging a definite connection. The VA made clear that the Kelly decision would not serve as a precedent for other such claims, which would still be processed case-by-case.<br/><br/>Kelly was well aware that only a handful of atomic vets had been successful in gaining compensation. In April 1980, two months before he died, Orville Kelly said from his sickbed: "Although our claims are difficult to prove because we cannot feel, taste, hear or smell radiation, it is more deadly than bullets or shrapnel."<br/><br/>Articulating the sentiments of thousands who had joined the National Association of Atomic Veterans, Kelly added: "I believe I should have been warned about the possible dangers of radiation exposure and that medical examinations should have been conducted on a regular basis after my exposure. The truth is that I was never warned nor were examinations ever performed. During all the years after I left the Army, I was never once told to get a physical because I participated in nuclear weapons testing. Even though I won my case, I have still lost the overall battle because doctors have told me I have but a short time to live."<br/><br/><a href="http://www.ratical.com/radiation/KillingOurOwn/KOO2.html">http://www.ratical.com/radiation/KillingOurOwn/KOO2.html</a>.</blockquote>
<p><br/>For ongoing information on atomic veterans contact: <br/><br/>R. J. Ritter – NAAV board member (2010-2014)<br/>Houston, Tx. - 281-481-1357<br/><a href="http://naav.com/">http://naav.com/</a><br/>e-mail: <a href="mailto:naav.cmdr@naav.com">naav.cmdr@naav.com</a><br/><br/>or,<br/><br/>Bernie Clark - NAAV board member (2010-2011)<br/>Secretary & Treasurer<br/>Tulsa, Ok. - 918-749-2034<br/>e-mail <a href="mailto:berniecl@swbell.net">berniecl@swbell.net</a><br/><br/>EASTERN OKLAHOMA ATOMIC VETERANS ASSOCIATION MUSKOGEE OK, U.S.A<br/>Send an email to Bernard E. Clark for information: <a href="mailto:berniecl@swbell.net">berniecl@swbell.net</a><br/><br/>Also see:<br/><br/><b>"Denial of Atomic Veterans' Tort Claims: The Enduring Fallout From Feres v. United States"</b><br/>by J. Thomas Morina<br/>in <i>William and Mary Law Review</i><br/>Volume 24 | Issue 2 Article 4, 1983<br/><br/>available online: <a href="http://scholarship.law.wm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2239">http://scholarship.law.wm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2239</a> <br/>or: <a href="http://scholarship.law.wm.edu/wmlr/vol24/iss2/4">http://scholarship.law.wm.edu/wmlr/vol24/iss2/4</a> <br/><br/><br/><br/></p>
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<p style="margin-bottom: 0.2in; padding: 0in; border: medium medium 1.1pt none none double -moz-use-text-color -moz-use-text-color #808080;"><font style="font-size: 6pt;" size="1"><br/><br/><br/><br/><font size="4"><b>epitaph, for this edition of "Truth in Recruiting"</b></font></font></p>
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<blockquote><font size="4"><font size="5"><b>"Civil disobedience is</b></font> <font size="5"><i><b>not</b></i></font> <font size="5"><b>our problem. Our problem is civil obedience. Our problem is that numbers of people all over the world have obeyed the dictates of the leaders of their government and have gone to war, and millions have been killed because of this obedience. Our problem is that people are obedient all over the world in the face of poverty and starvation and stupidity, and war, and cruelty. Our problem is that people are obedient while the jails are full of petty thieves, and all the while the grand thieves are running and robbing the country. That's our problem."</b></font><br/>~Howard Zinn</font></blockquote>
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<hr size="1"/><p>The Tulsa Peace Fellowship's Counter-Recruitment Update/Digest, for May 2011<br/><i>masthead</i><br/><br/><br/></p>
<p align="left">who we are:<br/><br/><font color="#009900"><i><b>The Tulsa Peace Fellowship</b></i></font> <i>is the activist wing of the peace movement in Eastern Oklahoma. TPF offers citizens and community groups tools and resources to participate personally in our democracy, to help shape federal budget and policy priorities, and to promote peace, social and economic justice, and human rights. TPF is a registered non-profit organization and a non-partisan civic-sector organization, loosely affiliated with the Unitarian Universalist Church of the Restoration, north side of Tulsa.</i></p>
<p align="left"><font color="#009900"><b>"Waging Peace One Person at a Time".</b></font></p>
<p align="left">Through its counter-recruitment task force, TPF is a member of the <font color="#009900"><b>National Network in Opposition to the Militarization of Youth (NNOMY)</b></font> representing some 188 counter-recruitment groups in cities and towns across the country. On the web: <a href="http://www.nnomy.org/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=216&Itemid=91">http://www.nnomy.org/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=216&Itemid=91</a> </p>
<p>Tulsa Peace Fellowship is open to members of third parties, progressives, Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians, Green Party members, etc. If you have not already done so, please join the <font color="#009900"><b>new social networking tool for TPF on Ning,</b></font> <i>in lieu</i> of TPFtalks on yahoogroups, which has fallen into disuse Thank you! You can check out our new tool here: <a href="../../">http://tulsapeacefellowship.ning.com</a> (new for 2011) Also still going strong: our announcement list on yahoo! <a href="mailto:tulsapeace@yahoogroups.com">tulsapeace@yahoogroups.com</a> (since 2002) Go to: <a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/">http://groups.yahoo.com/</a> and search for "tulsapeace"<br/><font color="#000000"><br/>If you enjoyed this news digest and/or found this update useful, please consider making a donation of time, money, or effort to the Tulsa Peace Fellowship. </font></p>
<p align="left"><font color="#009900"><b>TPF needs your support.</b></font></p>
<p align="left">You can donate online via PINC (pull down menu for US$ donations)<br/><a href="http://www.pincgiving.com/donate/organization/1202854">http://www.pincgiving.com/donate/organization/1202854</a></p>
<p align="left">Or, please mail a check or money order made out to the"Tulsa Peace Fellowship" to :</p>
<p align="left">The Tulsa Peace Fellowship<br/>c/o UU Church of the Restoration, <br/>1314 N. Greenwood Ave, Tulsa Oklahoma. 74106-4854<br/>Find on a map: <a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&q=peace+fellowship&sll=36.173998,-95.986798&sspn=0.010168,0.022552&ie=UTF8&radius=0.75&split=1&filter=0&rq=1&ev=zi&hq=peace+fellowship&hnear=&z=16&iwloc=E">Google Maps link</a></p>
<p align="left">Contributions to TPF are not tax deductible at the present time. <font color="#000000">Details on tax status available.</font></p>
<p><font color="#009900"><font face="Times New Roman, Times, serif"><font size="3"><b>The next monthly anti-war demo in Tulsa</b></font></font></font> <font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman, Times, serif"><font size="3">is scheduled for<br/></font></font></font><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman, Times, serif"><font size="3"><b>Saturday May 7th, 2011, 12noon to 2pm, with the theme: "U.S. Out of Afghanistan Now!"</b></font></font></font><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman, Times, serif"><font size="3"><br/>Details online: <a href="../../events/out-of-afghanistan-1">http://tulsapeacefellowship.ning.com/events/out-of-afghanistan-1</a><br/></font></font></font><br/><font color="#000000">The next regularly scheduled business meeting of the Fellowship will be held</font> <font color="#000000"><u>five days after</u></font> <font color="#000000">the demonstration</font><font color="#000000"><b><br/> on Thursday, May 12th 2011, 6:15 PM – 7:30 PM @ the UU Church of the Restoration</b></font><font color="#000000">, in Tulsa, just north of downtown<br/><br/>Come join us! Especially parents, guardians, and students in the Tulsa Public Schools system who are interested in countering the presence of military recruiters on school grounds.</font><br/><br/><font color="#000000">An archive of TPF counter-recruitment updates and other related TPF material is available to members online:</font><br/><a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/tulsapeace/?v=1&t=search&ch=web&pub=groups&sec=group&slk=1"><font color="#000000">http://groups.yahoo.com/group/tulsapeace/</font></a><br/><font color="#000000">You must sign in to yahoo! groups to see the archived "message history"</font><br/><font color="#000000">TPF messages have been archived online since 2002</font><br/><font color="#000000">TPF was founded some 30 years ago.</font><br/><font color="#000000">Current membership online:</font> 692 subscribers<br/><br/><font color="#000000">The information provided in this digest/update herein is for non-profit use only, according to "fair use" doctrine. Copyright and all commercial exploitation rights remain with the various authors/publishers cited above. The</font> Tulsa Peace Fellowship does not necessarily endorse the views expressed in the articles appearing herein.<br/><font color="#000000"><br/></font><i>further information</i></p>
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<p><br/><font color="#009900"><font face="Univers"><font size="3"><b><span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% #ffffff;">Strength Through Peace: Out of Iraq & Afghanistan</span></b></font></font></font><font color="#009900"><font size="4"><br/></font></font><font color="#009900"><font face="Univers"><font size="3"><b><span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% #ffffff;">Accountability: Indict & Imprison Bush & Cheney for War Crimes</span></b></font></font></font><font color="#009900"><font size="4"><br/></font></font><font color="#009900"><font face="Univers"><font size="3"><b><span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% #ffffff;">JROTC: Out of Our Schools</span></b></font></font></font><font color="#009900"><font size="4"><br/></font></font><font color="#009900"><font face="Univers"><font size="3"><b><span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% #ffffff;">Schools as Military-Free Zones</span></b></font></font></font><font color="#009900"><font size="4"><br/></font></font><font color="#009900"><font face="Univers"><font size="3"><b><span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% #ffffff;">Alternatives to War: Department of Peace & cabinet-level Secretary of Peace</span></b></font></font></font> <br/><br/><font size="6"><b>THE 10 REASONS</b></font> <br/><br/>Ten excellent reasons not to join the military:<br/>a.. You May Be Killed, Even By Mistake<br/>b.. You May Kill Others Who Do Not Deserve to Die <br/>c.. You May Be Injured <br/>d.. You May Not Receive Proper Medical Care <br/>e.. You May Suffer Long-term Health Problems <br/>f.. You May Be Lied To <br/>g.. You May Face Discrimination <br/>h.. You May Be Asked to Do Things Against Your Beliefs <br/>i.. You May Find It Difficult to Leave the Military<br/>j.. You Have Other Choices, including the Choice to Learn a Marketable Skill<br/><br/>for more info:<br/><a href="http://www.10reasonsbook.com/medcare.htm">http://www.10reasonsbook.com/medcare.htm</a><br/><br/><br/><br/></p>