"Don't Believe the Hype!" - Truth in Recruiting Now - TPF update/digest for Nov 2010

[Tony Nuspl]

The Tulsa Peace Fellowship's Counter-Recruitment Update/Digest, for Nov 2010
(scroll down for details about any story - also see more complete PDF version, attached)

Lead Story from the past month's news:
Amputations Increase Sharply With Surge in Afghanistan

quote:
"Understand you are going to Afghanistan, and you better make sure you are absolutely willing to make that ultimate sacrifice.''
~Oxford Area High School principal David C. Madden, when he counsels the few students who want to enlist. Madden
is a former Marine
source: http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/10/03/voters-sour-on-afghan-war-a...

Afghan war enters its 10th year with key players hedging their bets, uncertain over US plans

page 1

file under: portrait of a fascist running for office
Murder case against GOP House hopeful
--an ex-Marine running for Congress was charged with murder for killing two Iraqi prisoners
--transcript of case against Pantano "sickens" former chair of Tea Party
Express; endorses Democratic candidate instead
--military and human-rights experts condemn GOP candidate's conduct as deplorable

quote:
"Ilario Pantano should not even be elected dogcatcher for the things he's done. You can't just completely ignore his record. He is not a war hero. It is people like that that give
all our military a bad name.”
~Deborah Johns, former vice chair of the Tea Party Express

file under: confirming the image of U.S. troops as "trigger happy"
Iraq war logs: Apache helicopters kill 14 innocent civilians in hunt for
insurgents
--'Gun runs' over Baghdad saw pilots blasting vehicles and buildings on the slightest suspicion

quote:
"As untrue as the helicopter pilots' live reporting was, the intelligence summary they filed later compounds the lies."
~Jonathan Steele, The Guardian (UK)

related story:
Iraq war logs reveal 15,000 previously unlisted civilian deaths
--Leaked Pentagon files contain records of more than 100,000 fatalities including 66,000 civilians

facts & figures:
Independent estimates of the total number of killed in Iraq since 2003 place the number of fatalities at 1.25 million people killed

file under: Latinos wise up!
Immigrant vets face deportation, despite years of service in U.S. Armed Forces
--As TPF has stated repeatedly, enlistment in the military is no guarantee
of obtaining citizenship
--U.S. Armed Forces are not bound by the so-called "contracts" they sign with non-citizens

facts & figures
Up to 4,000 non-American veterans have been deported, over the years.

featured op/ed
Unique hell seemingly reserved for women in the military
--by Kelley Vlahos

follow up on suicide in the military
Military sees suicide trend grow worse
--statistics show 40% rise among Texans under 35 who have served

quote:
Orrin Gorman McClellan, a 25-year-old Vet, died on May 18th. It was suicide by alphabet - PTSD. His mother, Judith Gorman, said, "He never really came all the way home." The
Seattle Times article by Hal Benton is here. 
“In the last five years, suicide rates have increased year over
year,” said Army veteran Zack Choate, member of IVAW (Iraq Veterans
Against the War)

facts & figures:
In the state of Florida, more than 3,700 people identifying themselves as having been
in the armed services committed suicide between 2004 and 2009,
according to a study to be released in November by the University of
South Florida's College of Behavioral and Community Sciences.
source online: "Military
suicide rates surge"

more facts & figures:
Reports indicate some 12 percent of U.S. soldiers in Iraq are being medicated; 15 percent in Afghanistan.  Military
doctors begin prescribing questionable pill “cocktails” for
soldiers in the field – for pain due to injury, anxiety,
sleeplessness and depression. Recent studies and reports have
indicated that a growing number of active duty service members –
more than any other wartime cohort in American military history –
are on drugs, illegal and otherwise.

The prescriptions and self-medication continue when they get home, and, if they aren’t
retired or medically boarded out (which, depending on the injury,
could follow a hellish purgatory in a military trauma care unit),
chances are they’ll redeploy to the war zone again, broadly
sabotaging their chances for a ‘normal’ future as a fully
functioning individual.

In June, the Army found that active duty soldiers were killing themselves at the rate of one a day.

source online: http://original.antiwar.com/vlahos/2010/10/11

related story:
Veteran Suicides Outnumber US Military Deaths in Iraq and
Afghanistan
http://www.truth-out.org/veteran-suicides-outnumber-us-military-dea...

More than 1,000 veterans in California under 35 died after returning home
from Iraq and Afghanistan between 2005 and 2008 - three times as many
California service members who were killed in conflict overseas,
according to a recently published Bay Citizen report.

file under: Prozac Nation
Are We Giving Our Soldiers Drugs That May Make Them Kill Themselves?
--more soldiers than ever are on medically-prescribed drugs linked
to suicide and violent behavior

facts & figures:
Right now, 4,994 troops at Fort Bragg are on antidepressants; and another 664 are on an antipsychotics.

from the archives:
Episode of "Law & Order: SVU" on Primetime TV addresses Drug-induced Suicides by Returning Veterans
--fictional story addresses issue of widely disparate individuals turning violent in
order for Big Pharma to make profit off of DoD

page 2

follow up: what?! there are rules in warfare?
Refusing to "support the troops," when "troops" commit
murder
--featured op/ed from editor of antiwar.com, a libertarian publication online
--gruesome crimes in Afghanistan that have resulted in 12 U.S. Army soldiers facing trial
at a base near Seattle

file under: winning 'hearts and minds'
Afghanistan: Victims' Families Denounce U.S. 'Kill Team'
--one of the civilians was imam, or religious leader, of his tiny town, and
was killed after returning from tending his farmfields
--as in Iraq, U.S. soldiers attempted to plant a weapon on the victim, to
cover up their crime, according to Time Magazine

quote:
"The Americans really love to kill innocent people."
~Jan, father-in-law of the slain imam. The deep anti-American sentiment, he
adds, has only grown worse since their religious leader was
murdered.

quote:
"The military has become an outlet for the sociopaths in our midst."
~Justin Raimondo, war critic

related: protection for whistleblowers
Whistle-blowing soldier moved to solitary confinement
with photo: Christopher Winfield, father of Spc Adam Winfiled, whistleblower

quote:
"There are no more good men left here."
~Adam Winfield, whistleblower, in protective custody as key witness against murderous
band of U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan

more coverage:
Army won't seek death penalty against soldier who detailed plot to kill
Afghan civilians
--Despite Army regs, a U.S. soldier who told investigators that he and other members of his unit executed three
civilians in Afghanistan for sport will not face the death penalty if
convicted. 
--Plea bargain down to life in prison, as maximum sentence, in return for his cooperation
with the investigation

facts & figures:
Over the last nine years, as the U.S. Army has
court-martialed 34 soldiers on murder or
manslaughter charges in the killings of civilians in either
Afghanistan or Iraq. Twenty-two were convicted, and twelve acquitted.

quote:
“You have to motivate soldiers who you are asking to do very dangerous things. But you have to temper that with rule of law, and telling
troops that, ‘Hey, part of winning this conflict is going to be
every time you pull the trigger, you’ve got to make sure it’s the
right thing to do.’ Then 20 years from now when you’re waking up
in the middle of the night, that’s what’s going to keep you on
the right side of PTSD [post-traumatic stress disorder]. That’s
what’s going to keep you sane.”
~anonymous, senior US military official who was at the NTC

more coverage:
Pentagon had red flags about commander with responsibility over murderous 'kill team' brigade
--Five soldiers in the 5th Stryker brigade of the 2nd Infantry Division are charged with forming
a 'kill team' in Afghanistan. The commander of that brigade is not
yet implicated

quote:
“When you feel violent intent coming down from the command and into the culture of the brigade, that’s when you end up with things like the
rogue platoon.”
~anonymous, senior US military official who worked with the brigade accused of intentionally killing civilians in
Afghanistan.

file under: friendly fire? or murder?
US soldier charged with killing troops in Iraq
--An American soldier was charged Wednesday with killing two fellow U.S. troops and wounding a third
after an argument

file under: please don't bore me with that 'band of brothers' nonsense
Grieving family wants answers in Army slaying
--Weeks after soldier's killing in his living quarters in Iraq, full account still not forthcoming

quote:
"As far as I'm concerned, the military's the one that murdered my son. They owe me answers."
~Desiree Carrillo, 40, of Stockton, the mother of four children, including Army Spc. John "Junior" Carrillo,
her firstborn.  He was shot and killed by his Army roommates,
apparently.

quote:
"He didn't sign his life away to get killed by one of our own."
~Reylene Carrillo, 21, John Carrillo's widow and the mother of his two sons,
is equally angry.

file under: friendly fire
Iraq war logs: How friendly fire from US troops became routine
--Americans have shot at their own troops or allies so often that...

file under: stuff of war crimes
Iraq war logs: Apache crew killed insurgents who tried to surrender
--A US gunship crew attacked insurgents on the ground even though the pilots
reported that the men were trying to surrender
--With information revealed by the leaked Iraq war logs, the largest such leak in
history
--Debate over the Manual of the Law of Armed Conflict and the poor legal advice given to U.S. troops on the
battlefield

file under: Milo Minderbender rides again
Soldier gets 21 months for lying about money
--U.S. Army officer who approved supplies contracts in Iraq was sentenced Friday to 21 months
in prison for pilfering more than $100,000.

file under: Milo Minderbender redux
Army Engineer Accused of Shakedown in Iraq
--demanded 'kickbacks', soldier now faces up to 20 years in prison
--tags: Army corruption, Iraqi Consultants & Construction Bureau

file under:
Court ruling or no, Pentagon cautions gays in U.S. military about revealing
identity
--uncertainty continues to rule over place of homosexuality in the Armed Forces
--most err on side of caution, keep sexual orientation a secret

facts & figures:
A recent poll by the Pew Research Center found that 60 percent of Americans support allowing gays to serve openly in the military. Polling over the past 16 years has
consistently shown similar results, but some in the military contend
that it could have a negative impact on military effectiveness.

backpage

Pentagon efforts to keep memoir out of circulation backfire
--News of the pulping of more than 8,000 of the first edition copies briefly shot sales of the book to No. 1
on Amazon.com.
--The book will be ranked No. 7 on the Oct. 17 New York Times hardcover nonfiction list, according to the publisher.

--Now in its fourth printing, Operation Dark Heart has more than 50,000 copies in circulation.

file under: Reduce Military Spending. Rebuild America.
TIME: British Military Cuts:  When Will the U.S. Follow Suit? 
--British Defense Ministry elected to scrap the Royal Navy's only
fixed-wing-aircraft carrier
--Vaunted 20% cut did not happen, but British Defense budget will be cut by 7.5%

what the critics say:
Defence cuts don't go deep enough
Billions are being spent on defence projects the military do not want and will not use thanks to
ministers bottling tough decisions

facts & figures:
Defence cuts in the U.K. have seen the Harrier fleet scrapped, but two new aircraft carriers are still being built at a
cost of £5bn.

on the lighter side:
U.S. Air Force Academy Now Welcomes Spell-Casters
--Wiccans and Pagans now have a protected space to practice their religion, while serving in the U.S.
Armed Forces

sidebar:
41% of non-Christian Air Force cadets cite unwanted religious
proselytizing by fellow cadets

file under: U.S. interminable bases abroad
Filipinos aim to give US army the boot

file under: Reduce Military Spending, Re-build Your Country
Germans Recommend Cutbacks in Defense Spending
— Defense Ministry of Germany has been advised to cut its staff by
half, close several army bases and slim the armed forces from 250,000
to 180,000
— European countries seek to cut military forces in response to the economic slowdown and pressure from finance officials
to rein in spending

file under: counter-recruitment success?
Slots for soldiers go unfilled at West Point
--perhaps this is a measurable quantifiable effect of counter-recruitment
efforts nationwide?

---

The Tulsa Peace Fellowship's Counter-Recruitment Update/Digest, for Nov 2010
lead story

Amputations Increase Sharply With Surge in Afghanistan
7 Oct 2010
By Gregg Zoroya, USA TODAY

The number of U.S. soldiers who have suffered amputations in Afghanistan has increased sharply
over last year as more troops move into Taliban territory, according
to Army data.

Amputations rose from 47 in 2009 to 77 through Sept. 23 of this year, or an increase of more than 60%, the Army
reports.

The chief cause of the injuries are improvised explosive devices — or IEDs — that are planted in the ground or
along roads, according to the International Security Assistance
Force, which oversees military operations in Afghanistan.

Coalition forces have been hit by more IEDs in recent weeks as the surge in
U.S. troops allows for expanded operations into traditional Taliban
strongholds in Kandahar and Helmand provinces in southern
Afghanistan.

The vast majority of amputations involve the loss of either an arm or leg, but a dozen soldiers this year have had
multiple amputations, twice the number of such cases in 2009.

At the NATO hospital, doctors amputated a major limb — a leg or arm —
an average of once every other day in September, according to Navy
Capt. Michael Mullins, a hospital spokesman. The operations included
not only U.S. troops, but also NATO troops, Afghan soldiers and
civilians, Mullins said.

A recent Pentagon report said IEDs are now the "the most serious threat" to coalition forces,
killing 6,200 allied and Afghan troops in fiscal year 2009, compared
with 3,800 in 2008.

The surge in reinforcements ordered by President Obama and subsequent military operations in Taliban
strongholds have led to the "highest rate of IED attacks"
since the war began in 2001, the Pentagon report said.

Deaths among U.S. troops in Afghanistan this year reached 531 in September,
surpassing the 514 Americans killed in
2009.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/afghanistan/2010-10-05-afghanist...

sidebar:
Afghan war enters its 10th year with key players hedging their bets, uncertain over US plans

Deb Reichmann, AP News
Oct 06, 2010

http://wire.antiwar.com/2010/10/06/uncertainty-over-us-plans-as-war...


file under: portrait of a fascist
Murder case against GOP House hopeful
An ex-Marine running for Congress was charged with murder for killing two Iraqi
prisoners; case was later dropped

By Justin Elliott
Oct 7,
2010

http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war_room/2010/10/07/ilario_patan...
http://www.thedailybeast.com/beltway-beast/tea-partier-backs-democr...

more coverage
Tea Party Official Slams War Criminal Candidate
Eric Garris,
October 28, 2010

http://www.antiwar.com/blog/2010/10/28/tea-party-official-slams-war...

Iraq war logs: Apache helicopters kill 14 civilians in hunt for
insurgents

'Gun runs' over Baghdad saw pilots blasting vehicles and buildings on the slightest suspicion

by Jonathan Steele
guardian.co.uk
22 October 2010

Read the full article:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/oct/22/apache-helicopters-kill...

related story:
Iraq war logs reveal 15,000 previously unlisted civilian deaths

Leaked Pentagon files contain records of more than 100,000 fatalities including 66,000
civilians

by David Leagh
guardian.co.uk
22 October 2010

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/oct/22/true-civilian-body-coun...


Immigrant vets face deportation despite service

Immigrant veterans facing deportation fight to stay in the US, and try to
change the law

Juliana Barbassa
AP News
Oct 24, 2010

Source: AP News
http://wire.antiwar.com/2010/10/24/immigrant-vets-face-deportation-...




Unique hell seemingly reserved for women in the military
by Kelley B. Vlahos, October 12, 2010


http://original.antiwar.com/vlahos/2010/10/11/are-veterans-our-only...


Military sees suicide trend grow worse
Statistics show 40% rise among Texans under 35 who have served
By Lindsay Wise and Yang Want, Houston Chronicle
Oct. 4, 2010

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7230100.html

related public service campaign:
Operation Recovery

Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) has demanded that the U.S. military
stop redeploying traumatized, brain damaged, drugged out soldiers and
Marines to war. It is part of the group’s first national campaign,
Operation: Recovery.
http://www.ivaw.org/gallery/operation-recovery


file under: Prozac Nation
Are We Giving Our Soldiers Drugs That May Make Them Kill Themselves?
--more soldiers than ever are on medically-prescribed
drugs linked to suicide and violent behavior

October 10, 2010

More troops are dying by their own hand than in combat.

http://www.alternet.org/health/148444/are_we_giving_our_soldiers_dr...



from the archives:
Episode of "Law & Order: SVU" on Primetime TV addresses Drug-induced Suicides by
Returning Veterans
--fictional story addresses issue of widely disparate individuals turning violent in order for Big Pharma
to make profit off of DoD

Season 6, Episode 23: Goliath

Original Air Date—24 May 2005

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0629659/



--featured op/ed from the editor of antiwar.com, a libertarian publication online

Support the Troops? You mean, Johnnie-the-thug?? No way!
by Justin Raimondo, October 08, 2010


http://original.antiwar.com/justin/2010/10/07/support-the-troops/

more coverage:
Afghanistan: Victims' Families Denounce U.S. 'Kill Team'

by Jason Motlagh /  Muhib Habibi
Oct 15, 2010

View this article on Time.com

http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20101015/us_time/08599202509100

Whistle-blowing soldier moved to solitary confinement
Charley Keyes, CNN
October 4, 2010

-Safety concerns prompt Winfield's move, source says
-Spokeswoman says Army is investigating alleged threat
-12 soldiers charged in connection to civilians' killings

http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/10/04/us.soldier.solitary/index.html?ere...

update Oct 29, 3:11 PM EDT

SEATTLE (AP) -- A soldier who tried to blow the whistle on an alleged plot to kill Afghan civilians for sport has been removed from protective solitary
confinement at his own request, his father said Friday.

Army won't seek death penalty against soldier who detailed plot to kill Afghan civilians

Gene Johnson, AP News
Oct 15, 2010

A U.S. soldier who told investigators in horrifying detail that he and other members of his
unit executed three civilians in Afghanistan for sport will not face
the death penalty if convicted, the Army said
Friday.

http://wire.antiwar.com/2010/10/15/army-wont-seek-death-in-afghan-k...

Pentagon had red flags about command climate in 'kill team' Stryker brigade

Five soldiers in the 5th Stryker brigade of the 2nd Infantry Division are charged with
forming a 'kill team' in Afghanistan. The commander of that brigade
is not yet implicated

By Anna Mulrine, Staff writer for The Christian Science Monitor
October 28, 2010

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Military/2010/1028/Pentagon-had-red-fl...

another murder case, soldier-on-soldier this time:
US soldier charged with killing troops in Iraq

By Mazin Yahya, Associated Press – Oct 20, 2010

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101020/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_iraq

more coverage:
Grieving family wants answers in Army slaying
Weeks after soldier's killing in his living quarters in Iraq, full account still not forthcoming

By Joe Goldeen
Record Staff Writer
October 15, 2010

http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20101015/A_NEWS...


Iraq war logs: How friendly fire from US troops became routine

James Meek
guardian.co.uk,
22 October 2010

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/oct/22/american-troops-friendl...


file under: what?! there are rules in warfare?
Iraq war logs: Apache crew killed insurgents who tried to surrender

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/oct/22/iraq-war-logs-apache-in...


Soldier gets 21 months for lying about money

10/08/2010
By Adrian Sainz  / Associated Press

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/APStories/stories/D9INPJU83...


Army Engineer Accused of Iraq Contract Bribes

15 October 2010.

http://www.iraq-businessnews.com/2010/10/15/army-engineer-accused-o...



Pentagon cautions gays about revealing identity

by David Alexander
Oct 15, 2010

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20101015/ts_nm/us_usa_military_gays


Pentagon efforts to keep memoir out of circulation backfire
By Brian Bennet
Tribune Washington Bureau
Oct 11, 2010

Read more: http://www.kansascity.com/2010/10/11/2300022/pentagon-efforts-to-ke...


file under: Reduce Military Spending. Rebuild America.
TIME: British Military Cuts:  When Will the U.S. Follow Suit? 



http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2026961,00.html?xid=...

more coverage:
Defence cuts don't go deep enough, say critics

by Richard Norton-Taylor
guardian.co.uk
21 October 2010

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/oct/21/defence-cuts-do...

on the lighter side:
U.S. Air Force Academy Now Welcomes Spell-Casters

by Noah Shachtman
October 22, 2010

http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2010/10/air-force-academy-now-welco...

sidebar:
41% of non-Christian AF cadets cite unwanted proselytizing

Oct 30th 2010

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hsONUU5vC7qRhQMcL...

Filipinos aim to give US army the boot
By Al Labita
Asia Times
Oct 2010

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/LJ20Ae02.html


Germans Recommend Cutbacks in Defense Spending
By Judy Dempsey
October 24, 2010

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/25/world/europe/25iht-germany.html?r...


Slots for soldiers go unfilled at West Point

By John Ryan - Staff writer, Army Times
Oct 9, 2010

http://www.armytimes.com/news/2010/10/army-west-point-campaign-to-a...


epitaph for this edition of "Truth in Recruiting"

    "take your pleasantries
    your generalizations, good intentions,
    sweet words, and half-truths,
    put them in a box.
    drape a flag over it.
    and bury it with the rest of the dead."

    - Orrin Gorman McClellan, veteran/poet
    March 22, 1985 - May 18, 2010, death by suicide

---

The Tulsa Peace Fellowship's Counter-Recruitment Update/Digest, for Nov 2010
masthead

who we are:

The Tulsa Peace Fellowship 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.

"Waging Peace One Person at a Time"

Through its counter-recruitment task force, TPF is a member of the National Network in Opposition to the Militarization of Youth (NNOMY) representing some
188 counter-recruitment groups in cities and towns across the
country. On the web:
http://www.nnomy.org/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&task=v... 

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.   Details on tax status available.

The next monthly anti-war demo in Tulsa
is scheduled for
Saturday Nov 6th 2010, 12noon to 2pm, with the theme: "U.S. Out of
Afghanistan Now!"
Details online:
https://tulsapeacefellowship.ning.com/events/out-of-afghanistan-1

An archive of TPF counter-recruitment updates and other related TPF
material is available to members
online:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/tulsapeace/
You must sign in to yahoo! groups to see the archived "message
history"
TPF messages have been archived online since 2002
TPF was founded some 30 years ago.
Current membership online: 753 (including 687 subscribers through
Yahoogroups, 64 subscribers through Ning, our preferred network since
2009)

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
Tulsa Peace Fellowship does not necessarily endorse the views
expressed in the articles appearing herein.

THE 10 REASONS why you should NOT enlist


Ten excellent reasons not to join the military:
a.. You May Be Killed, Even By Mistake
b.. You May Kill Others Who Do Not Deserve to Die
c.. You May Be Injured
d.. You May Not Receive Proper Medical Care
e.. You May Suffer Long-term Health Problems
f.. You May Be Lied To
g.. You May Face Discrimination
h.. You May Be Asked to Do Things Against Your Beliefs
i.. You May Find It Difficult to Leave the Military
j.. You Have Other Choices, including the Choice to Learn a Marketable Skill

for more info:
http://www.10reasonsbook.com/medcare.htm