‘America’s Defense Meltdown’

Check it out.   I am saving to read later when I have more time; you might want to take a look and read it - very up to the minute.

at CDI - Center for Defense Information; newly released to and for President-Elect Barack Obama’s consideration.

         "America's Defense Meltdown"?  (pdf)

What’s in "America's Defense Meltdown" is a new anthology that gives President-elect Obama and Congress direction and will guide the United States back onto the path of an effective defense at a cost a nation in recession can afford.
Author(s): Winslow Wheeler

I haven't watched this video yet either at GRIT TV with Laura Flanders website  - it is where I found the info.

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My ‘morning reads’ are disturbing this morning

Michael Ware, CNN Correspondent, six years in Iraq.  At HuffPo the title is 'Michael Ware's Tortured World; I Am Not the Same F---g Person'...which links to the original article at Men's Journal titled ‘CNN's Prisoner of War'.

Michael Ware speaks to what he has witnessed and experienced.  He speaks to dehumanizing aspect of war, the war in Iraq in truth being now the war in Iran and was since beginning when U.S. troops crossed the Kuwait border, he speaks of  how Obama can bring the troops home and it may be at the expense of mortgaging our foreign policy in the Middle East. 

Read it for yourselves;  a few of excerpts;

"It's my firm belief that we need to constantly jar the sensitivities of the people back home," he says. "War is a jarring experience. Your kids are living it out, and you've inflicted it upon 20-odd million Iraqis. And when your brothers and sons and mates from the football team come home, and they ain't quite the same, you have an obligation to sit for three and a half minutes and share something of what it's like to be there."

It's an obligation now owed to Michael Ware, too.

excerpt from Men's Journal titled ' CNN's Prisoner of War'.

This freedom has helped Ware stay a year in front of conventional wisdom. In 2003, while others were covering the conquest of Baghdad, he talked with Iraqi policemen and soldiers, the men who would become the insurgency. Then in 2004, when Donald Rumsfeld was dismissing these insurgents as "dead-enders," Ware was reporting on their strength after seeing their training camps firsthand. Two years later, Ware was branding the conflict in Iraq a civil war while the Bush administration boasted about the results of Iraq's democratic elections. This year his obsession has been the extent of Iran's influence over the Iraqi government.

"From the moment the first American tanks crossed the Kuwait border, America was in a proxy war with Iran," Ware says. "The Iranians knew it, but it took the U.S. four years to figure it out. Now the Iraqi government is comprised almost entirely of factions created in Iran, supported by Iran, or with ties to the Iranian government — as many as 23 members of the Iraqi parliament are former members of Iran's Revolutionary Guard."

excerpt from Men's Journal titled ' CNN's Prisoner of War'.

As uncomfortable as he is with the idea of his leaving Iraq, if Ware were setting policy, American forces would be in Iraq for a very, very long time. He shudders at the idea of massive American troop withdrawals. Horrific genocide, he predicts; worse than Bosnia. "John McCain said, 'The war's going so well, so why stop now?' I say it's going so badly that we have to pay the price to prevent what's to come."

"The successes in bringing down the violence are undeniable, yet America hasn't been looking at the price to deliver these successes. Obama can bring American kids home tomorrow, but are you willing to mortgage your foreign policy future in that region? Are you willing to walk away from a stronger Iran that is gaining leverage to be a nuclear power? Are you willing to accept your diminished influence in the Middle East? As long as the American public is willing to ante up, then you can bring them home."

excerpt from Men's Journal titled ' CNN's Prisoner of War'.

"Then, for the next 20 minutes," Ware remembers, "all of us just stood around and watched this guy's life slowly ebb away in painful, heaving sobs for air, rendering him absolutely no assistance or aid. If that had been an American soldier, he would have been medevacked out and in 20 minutes would've landed on an operating table. Once an enemy combatant comes into your custody, you're obliged by the Geneva Conventions to render that wounded prisoner all aid. Even I — with my rudimentary medical training, I don't think his life could've been saved — but even I could've eased his passing.
"Instead a towel was laid over his face, making his breathing much more labored and painful, the taunts continued, and we just sat around and watched him die.

"And for some bizarre reason, it was just me and this platoon of soldiers, and I was able to see the dispassion of these kids in the way they just watched his life slip away. I was filming and worrying about the best composition of the shot, and I realized that I too was watching just as dispassionately. There's no blame to be laid here. That guy was a legitimate target who was rightfully shot in the head. But it made me realize, just once more, that this kind of dehumanization is what happens when we send our children to war."

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Soldier took his wife's place in Iraq and was KIA

A Virginia National Guardsman who re-enlisted so his wife, also a member of the National Guard, wouldn't have to go back to Iraq was killed April 16 when his vehicle struck a roadside bomb south of Baghdad.

Staff Sgt. Jesse Ault of Dublin in Pulaski County was 28. He was serving with E Company in the 429th Brigade Support Battalion out of Roanoke.

A native of Wheeling, W.Va., who grew up in Middlebourne, W.Va., Ault joined the U.S. Army while still in high school and joined the National Guard after moving to Virginia.

Yesterday, his wife, Betsy Ault, said she and her husband were dating in 2004 when their unit was deployed to Balad, Iraq. They returned to Virginia and married, she said, and her husband was "100 percent family," relishing time spent playing with her son, Nathan, 10, and their toddler, Adam, 1. He was so devoted to the family, she said, that he decided to take her place after her unit was told it was being sent to Iraq.

"Jesse separated from the Guard after the deployment [to Iraq], but I was still serving when my unit was alerted early 2007," she said. "Jesse loved our family so much and saw how important it was for me to stay with my sons, he joined the National Guard again to take my place on the deployment.

read more at Military.com

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Iraq War Vet, Bobby Wise, Speaks on why he supports Obama

You haven't heard these reasons before, and it assuredly speaks to the passion I know to be true among our troops. Please wait while the video loads



see more here

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How can you argue with this young soldier? His truth exceeds any political truth.

An offer Bush, Cheney, Lindsey Graham, & McRomniani should not refuse.

Do you realize just what you say when you spill terrible talking points?

The troops may as a majority harbor traditional patriotic sentiment but they ain't as stupid as our politicians.

Some of them are just plain common sense human beings.

Here's my hurried transcript excerpt from an ABC News film clip (Thanks for the tip to Dan at On The Road to 2008)

"I challenge Bush to come and spend a tour with me. I'll serve another 15 months if he will. They don't need to pay me any more. They don't have to do anything just come here and hang out with me.

We have people up there in Congress with brain of a two year old who don't know what they're doing. They don't experience it.

I challenge the President or whoever has us here for 15 months to ride along side me. I'll do another fifteen months if he comes out here and rides along with me every day for 15 months. I'll do 15 more months. They don't even have to pay me extra."

(edit update)


This is the followup report to the ABC News report, of Sean Smith's embed with American troops in Baghdad from The Guardian, that aired on 7-16-07.

Here is the written report:
'I Am the Mother of the Driver'"I am the mother of the driver of the Bradley you see upside down and burning," she wrote. "He was 19 years old and could see the futility of Iraq invasion and occupation."
from ABC comments on their newscast exclusive; soldier challenges Congress in 'A Violent and 'Normal' Day in Baghdad' footage. "I am Alex Varela's mother, the driver of the bradley shown here upside down and burning, 6 soldiers from the 1-5 Cavalry out of Fort Hood Texas died on May 19th and I hope the pictures this nation is viewing become an Icon for the occupation ending'

photo at ABC News Smith captured a deadly attack on a Bradley armored vehicle, seen here. (photo credit -Sean Smith/Guardian)


'I Am The Mother of the Driver"
Reactions to Rare Footage of U.S. Troops in Iraq




(Edit update)


Rarely seen on our News programs. We get major blast news, numbers killed of civilians and how many of our Military Personal, but rare footage of what's happening Daily. ABC News showed a cut of this report on 7-16-07, the Guardian Unlimited has the full report and it was shown on British TV.


"I challenge Congress and the President to do my Rotation!!"
http://www.guardian.co.uk/video/page/0,,2125978,00.html


The Guardian's award-winning photographer and filmmaker Sean Smith spent two months embedded with US troops in Baghdad and Anbar province. His harrowing documentary exposes the exhaustion and disillusionment of the soldiers.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/






Seed Newsvine

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Iraq Vets - a growing part of the the new 'Homeless' population

Experts say growing numbers of former servicemen and women -- wracked by post-traumatic stress disorder and brain injuries and struggling with substance abuse and other ills -- are winding up on the streets.

It is a problem that military and Veterans Affairs officials and homeless advocates are struggling to cope with. A Department of Defense task force reported last week that "the military system does not have enough resources, funding or personnel to adequately support the psychological health of service members and their families in peace and during conflict."

From 2004 to 2006 -- the most current data available -- the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs identified as homeless 1,049 service members who served in the current fighting in either Iraq or Afghanistan.

"It certainly is higher" than expected, said Peter Dougherty, director of homeless veterans programs for the federal agency.

At least 300 veterans of those ongoing conflicts are homeless any given night, according to Veterans Affairs. The tally is a fraction of the more than 400,000 service members who have returned from Iraq and Afghanistan, and of the total number of veterans on the street.

Total homeless veterans number 200,000 nationwide, Veterans Affairs estimates. Almost half, 47 percent, served in the Vietnam War, according to the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans.

But advocates and Veterans Affairs officials alike expect the ranks of new homeless veterans to swell in the next few years in part because of increasingly long deployments and the nature of combat in Iraq, where insurgent attacks make everywhere the front lines and no real safe zones exist.

Other reasons, some say, include the military's failure to properly screen troops for combat-related mental problems, a benefits system that is overly bureaucratic and increasingly overwhelmed by claims, and the fact that many members of the military are reluctant to seek help.

"If someone had set about trying to put together a recipe for PTSD and homelessness, they really couldn't have done better," said Amy Fairweather of Swords to Plowshares, a San Francisco-based nonprofit group. The group provides counseling, housing and other services for veterans and advocates on their behalf.

While the United States has no female troops in designated combat roles, the psychological scars of serving in a place where anyone is subject to attack are apparent. Nearly 12 percent of all homeless veterans of the ongoing conflicts are women, compared to just 4 percent from the Vietnam War, in which women served as nurses and other roles behind the front lines, Dougherty said.

Read entire article here

GETTING HELP

For more information on veterans and homelessness:

The U.S. Department of

Veterans Affairs

1-800-827-1000

http://www1.va.gov/homeless/

The National Coalition

for Homeless Veterans

1-800-VET-HELP

http://www.nchv.org/

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Evan Knappenberger, Iraq Veteran Begins Weeklong Tower Guard Vigil in Bellingham, Washington

Iraq Vet Evan Knappenberger introduces himself.





Evan Knappenberger sends a message to his friends still serving in Iraq.




Gold Star Mother, Doris Kent, Bellingham, WA speaks in support of Evan Knappenberger


Capt Benjamin Marx, a two tour returning Iraq veteran from Federal Way, WA speaks in support of Evan Knappenberger


More from Evan Knappenberger


To see up to the minute videos of Evan's tower guard vigil, visit Bellingham blogger's blog Washington Outsiders.





Iraq Veteran Begins Weeklong Tower Guard Vigil in Bellingham, Washington

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 1, 2007


CONTACT:
Iraq Veteran Evan Knappenberger: (434) 249-5956
www.TowerGuard.org

Marie Marchand, Executive Director
Whatcom Peace & Justice Center
(360) 734-0217 (office); (360) 920-4817 (cell)
www.WhatcomPJC.org; WhatcomPJC@fidalgo.net

WHERE: Federal Building 104 E. Magnolia Street, Bellingham, WA
WHEN: 24-hrs. a day, June 1-7





Standing Tower Guard on a 6' scaffold at the Federal Building in downtown Bellingham, Iraq Veteran Evan Knappenberger, 1st BDE, 4th Infantry Division, started a weeklong vigil on June 1st to draw
attention to the US military STOP-LOSS and INACTIVE RESERVE policies, which he submits are being used as a substitute for conscription in a political war.

I spent a year in Iraq. I pulled 97 nights on tower guard, explained Knappenberger. Many of the friends I served with have completed their contractual obligations to Active Duty. Now, they're being sent back to
Iraq for their third or fourth tours. Some soldiers are getting called up after living years of civilian life. Stop-loss is an unethical policy.

The Whatcom Peace & Justice Center, a non-profit organization in Bellingham, is supporting Knappenberger's week-long action. "This is a powerful, highly-visible action," said Executive Director Marie
Marchand. "It's a nonviolent, creative way of educating the public about this widespread exploitation and abuse of our soldiers. Evan has seen this injustice perpetrated against his friends and comrades. We
will do everything we can to help him get his message out."

Community members have shown an outpouring of support for Knappenberger, including help with night security, media outreach, meals, and solidarity. A new website has been set up: www.TowerGuard.org.

"People come out of the woodwork to support courageous leadership like this," stated Marchand. "This is huge; and the news is spreading across the nation like wild fire."

Western WA University students are also hyped-up by this action. Student group, Western Against War, has made a statement of support for Knappenberger. "For those who take notice, this sobering demonstration will bring the hardships our solders have been forced to endure a little closer to home," stated Michael Biesheuvel, WAW president. "Western Against War wholeheartedly supports Evan."

Knappenberger invites the public to talk with him while he is on Tower Guard, and to learn more about the unethical stop-loss policy.


###

Marie Marchand, Executive Director
Whatcom Peace & Justice Center
100 E. Maple Street/PO Box 2444
Bellingham, WA 98227
(360) 734-0217
www.whatcompjc.org

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On Ending War

On Ending War
Monica Benderman
March 27, 2007

The Veterans For Peace caravan came through Hinesville, Georgia last week. It was the first time since the start of the war that a group from the Peace movement had held any actions in this military town, home of the Third Infantry Division, the division to invade Iraq.

Hinesville is a quiet community whose resident population includes many veterans from wars as far back as World War II. Yellow ribbons still circle the trunks of giant oaks and pines in the center of town, but they belie the true support the community of Hinesville has given to Ft. Stewart soldiers over the years.

In 1971, the community of Hinesville joined together to create a waiver program meant to offer real support for the men and women stationed at Ft. Stewart. This program was a joint effort between business members in the community to ensure that soldiers and their families were taken care of while they served their country. Local landlords offered discounts on rent, waived security deposits and offered lower rates on storage when the soldiers were deployed. Local utility companies participated as well also offering to waive security deposits, and local businesses gave discounts to soldiers and family members who visited their stores.

Hinesville doesn’t wear its political bent openly. The community members don’t actively protest the war, nor do they rage against those who do. The community of Hinesville quietly supports the soldiers who serve, knowing the difficulty of the times. Veterans talk together about how the war has changed and how frustrated they are at the lack of any real results. They speak of the administration’s decisions with a wisdom that comes from having served and seen war firsthand, and they acknowledge the efforts to alter the course of the war with equal intellect.

Are we ready for that change in course?

It is time to bring the war to an end and to begin the process of bringing our soldiers home. But the community of Hinesville knows there is much about this country that is not ready for the return of 200,000 combat weary members of the military. The soldiers of the 3rd Infantry have been to war three times in the past five years. Many of the members of the 3rd Infantry were in Afghanistan before being sent to the invasion of Iraq rather than redeployed home. The community of Hinesville was here for the soldiers when their families were told they would be stop-lossed in Iraq for months past their scheduled return dates. They were here when the soldiers were told they would be returning to Iraq just one very short year after they had arrived home.

At Warrior Walk on Ft. Stewart there are currently 320 trees standing in memorial to the members of the 3rd Infantry who gave their lives in Iraq. As we walk around the grounds of Winn Army Hospital we pass soldiers with artificial limbs, a permanent limp, and in wheelchairs all trying to recover from the war that seems to go on forever. The community of Hinesville knows, cares and does what it can to support them and their families. Veterans have not forgotten – and they understand how much is needed when the war comes home.

Do we understand what we will face when the war is over?

In the year between the first two deployments of the 3rd Infantry there were 191 confirmed cases of child abuse on Ft. Stewart alone. Soldiers returned but we were not ready.

In the next year the soldiers were home following their second deployment to Iraq, there were 138 cases of spousal abuse confirmed on Ft. Stewart. America continued to call for the soldiers to come home, but we were not ready.

As we drive the twelve mile stretch of road that passes through the training areas of Ft. Stewart there are new landmarks along the way. Billboards in bright colors with simple messages, thirty or more, directed at the soldiers of the 3rd ID, ordered to be erected by a concerned installation command -

“Don’t drink and drive.”

“Riding motorcycles drunk will kill.”

“We care about our soldiers, we want you alive.”

Large neon message boards at the exit gates of the garrison proudly display the message, “177 days since our last traffic fatality.”

Soldiers have returned home from war alive at least, although far from unaffected. Alongside the memorial posts in the local newspaper reminding us of the lives taken in Iraq we read posts reminding us that soldiers are affected, and while they survived combat in Iraq, they could not survive drinking and driving to forget.

Once again the soldiers of the 3rd ID are heading to Iraq. America is calling loudly for them to be brought home, but America is not ready.

In 2005, the garrison commander of Ft. Stewart, Col. John Kidd, approached the on-post office of the Community Waiver project. At no cost to the military the members of the Hinesville community had operated a project which resulted in a multi-million dollar a year savings for the soldiers and families of Ft. Stewart. With no explanation this Colonel, serving as garrison commander, told the employees of the Waiver project that they had 30 days to collect their papers, close the office and close the door on a community offering which had been serving the needs of the soldiers for over 30 years. This Colonel told members of the project that they were to disband, and to begin charging security deposits to the soldiers who continued to lease from them. This same Colonel was the Convening Authority for my husband’s courts-martial, a man openly hostile to our attempts to publicize the mismanagement of the installation and the corrupt practices of some members of the command. Col. Kidd determined that my husband deserved to go to jail for his actions, and insisted that it be for no less than 18 months – a decision he discussed with the prosecutors in the case even before the charges against my husband had been investigated.

Shortly thereafter, new construction began at the back gate of Ft. Stewart. New town homes appeared, a map for a master-planned community is now displayed, and hard-selling representatives leap exuberantly in hopes of a new sale as cars wind through the entrance with passengers seeking to satisfy their curiosity. The community of Hinesville now understands. It’s hard to sell an over-priced monster to soldiers who don’t really need the burden, unless the community has been detached – where is that Colonel now that he is no longer in command?

The Veterans For Peace were well received in Hinesville. Soldiers and their families continue to speak of the event and the information they received about the Appeal for Redress. The community of Hinesville understands the need, but they also understand the need for so much more.

My husband went to prison as a result of his public protest of this war and the lack of support the soldiers were receiving. He spent over a year in prison yet continued to speak of the need for a legal remedy for soldiers to have the right to speak about their concerns regarding this war. The Appeal for Redress does just that. We hope many will support it so that soldiers do not have to face what my husband faced simply for telling the truth.

It is the kind of support our soldiers need, and the kind I wish my husband had been given.

Americans talk about ending the war. Americans talk about supporting the soldiers who fight, and supporting the soldiers who choose to take steps to honorably refuse to further participate in the actions of a war which has shown itself to be unjust, immoral, and to include so many illegal actions.

So many Americans still do not understand, and our soldiers and their families continue to pay the price for their sacrifices while Americans face off over their differences, rather than work together to create a solution.

So we end the war. So our soldiers come home. I can tell you from firsthand experience – America is not ready.

Monica is the wife of Sgt. Kevin Benderman, a ten-year Army veteran who served a combat tour in Iraq and a year in prison for his public protest of war and the destruction it causes to civilians and to American military personnel. Please visit their website, www.BendermanDefense.org to learn more.

Kevin and Monica may be reached at mdawnb@coastalnow.net

see original of this article at American Chronicle





Update

Friday, March 16, 2007

Kevin and Monica Launch "Benderman's Bridge"
Kevin and Monica Benderman have launched a new organization, called "Benderman's Bridge," which will develop projects designed to restore peace at home by reaching out to connect the small towns and communities of America with the veterans who fought to defend them.



The Paradise Hotel and Restaurant
Photo Source: Benderman's Bridge

The first project of Benderman's Bridge is "Paradise--American Made," redeveloping a classic American motel located near Fort Stewart, Georgia, into a training and counseling center for veterans--as well as a functioning hotel and restaurant. "By incorporating veteran counseling, hands-on training in business management and other vocational trades, and by securing job placement when their training is complete, we will not only revitalize a part of America we stand to lose otherwise, but we revitalize those Americans who have been forgotten in our country’s drive to leave its past behind," said Kevin and Monica Benderman.

Please visit Benderman's Bridge.

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Washington DC under occupation, IVAW guerrilla street theatre commemorates 4th anniversary Iraq war

In a staged all day guerrilla street theatre production, the Iraq Veterans Against the War, gave an example of what it might be like if Washington DC was 'occupied' by military troops. IVAW - whose members are returning Iraq veterans who have served in combat tours in Iraq - commemorated the 4th anniversary of Iraq war with this staged production in Washington DC, March 19, 2007.

When I saw some of the photos, I was both startled and impressed with the way IVAW chose to share their message. I think you will also be startled, and I hope impressed, by the photos depicting the actions of IVAW. I do wish I had been in DC to see it as I know it would have kept my interest the entire day. I hope IVAW will stage this kind of theatre again, maybe in various local communities. I talked to one of my colleagues in Texas and she thought she might invited them to stage the theatre in her city in Texas.

See additional photos including the mock taking of detainees at IVAW website.
And see More photos - excellent photography with chilling effects.

Also read the 'Far From Iraq; A Demonstration of a War Zone', the Washington Post article and account of the IVAW actions that day in DC. Interesting way WAPO put it together - and gives more detail to some of the photos, and some of the citizen public reactions to what was happening! There is also a short online video posted at WAPO website, along with the article.

photos courtesy of my friend,
Bill Perry, Delaware Valley Veterans For America Disabled American Veteran, VVAW, VFP, VFW, VVA

He was there and has these comments (along with the photos) on the experience:

Truth is the FIRST CASUALTY of WAR

It was a remarkable privilege to witness IVAW running a mission that included interrogations of civilians, taking hostages, and displaying the hostility that an Occupation Force must possess.

IVAW certainly learned from us VVAW Vets of R.A.W. ( Rapid American Withdrawal ) and our Labor Day weekend, 1970 March, from Mooristown, NJ, to Valley Forge, PA.

Our VVAW March had incredibly long stretches thru the countryside, where nobody but pheasants and farm animals saw us, over 3 days.

IVAW's run, from Union Station, Congress, the Nat'l Mall, Wash Monument, etc., only took 8 hours, and garnered worldwide attention.

The varied reactions of passersby ran the gamut: Fear, consternation, shock, appreciation, and many expressed great PRIDE in IVAW's Guerilla Theater.

My favorite moment was when I informed 3 or 400 high school kids, { in the RED Tee-shirts } what the IVAW mission was, and they broke out in wild applause & appreciation.


Securing the Area

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