Clipmarks | masbury's 'military' clips

ACLU: Massive Pentagon effort conceals human costs of war

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 05:53:04 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: ACLU charges unprecedented effort to "control and suppress information about the human cost" of the wars

Clip Source: thinkprogress.org

The ACLU today released documents regarding Navy investigations of civilians killed by coalition troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. The report notes that the administration has gone to “unprecedented lengths to control and suppress information about the human cost” of the wars. Some of the key findings:

– Banning photographers on U.S. military bases from covering the arrival of caskets containing the remains of U.S. soldiers killed overseas

– Paying Iraqi journalists to write positive accounts of the U.S. war effort

– Inviting U.S. journalists to “embed” with military units but requiring them to submit their stories for pre-publication review

– Erasing journalists’ footage of civilian deaths in Afghanistan

– Refusing to disclose statistics on civilian casualties.

The New York Times revealed in April that the Pentagon also had used a domestic propaganda program to paint a rosy portrait of the war effort. See the documents here.

Tags: war on terror

Gitmo torture training based on Korea-era Chinese torture

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 21:06:09 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: Used on US prisoners during Korean conflict

Clip Source: www.democracynow.org

Gitmo Trainers Based Interrogations on Chinese Techniques

The New York Times has revealed military trainers at Guantanamo Bay based an entire interrogation class on Chinese techniques used on US prisoners during the Korean War. The techniques have long been considered forms of torture, including “sleep deprivation,” “prolonged constraint,” “exposure,” “semi-starvation," “exploitation of wounds.” Some of the intended effects include “Makes Victim Dependent on Interrogator,” “Weakens Mental and Physical Ability to Resist” and “Reduces Prisoner to ‘Animal Level’ Concerns.” The methods were also seen as widely ineffective, having obtained mostly false confessions. The techniques were outlined in a chart from a 1957 Air Force study entitled “Communist Attempts to Elicit False Confessions from Air Force Prisoners of War.” Some of the methods were used on Guantanamo prisoners until Congress banned the use of coercion in 2005.

Tags: torture

UN Rapporteur: Gitmo trials flawed, fail internat'l standards

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 03:02:00 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: Also called on US to open files on five prisoner deaths

Clip Source: www.democracynow.org

UN Official: Gitmo Tribunals Flawed and Unfair

A top United Nations human rights official has said the U.S. military tribunals at Guantanamo are flawed and fall short of international standards for fair trials. Philip Alston, a special rapporteur of the UN Human Rights Council, also called on the U.S. to open its files on the five prisoners who died in custody at Guantanamo. Four prisoners are said to have committed suicide but their autopsies have never been released.

Tags: un, gitmo

Gen Wesley Clark: McCain hasn't shown "sound judgment"

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 18:26:40 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: Especially in foreign policy: "has time and again undervalued other, non-military elements of national power that must be used effectively to protect America"

Clip Source: www.motherjones.com

I have made comments in the past about John McCain's service and I want to reiterate them in order be crystal clear. As I have said before I honor John McCain's service as a prisoner of war and a Vietnam Veteran. He was a hero to me and to hundreds of thousands and millions of others in Armed Forces as a prisoner of war.

John McCain is running his campaign on his experience

That experience shows courage and commitment to our country — but it doesn't include executive experience wrestling with national policy or go-to-war decisions. And in this area his judgment has been flawed — he not only supported going into a war we didn't have to fight in Iraq, but has time and again undervalued other, non-military elements of national power that must be used effectively to protect America. But as an American and former military officer I will not back down if I believe someone doesn't have sound judgment when it comes to our nation's most critical issues.

Tags: mccain, clark, politics

Iraqis outraged by US raid in their zone of control

Sat, 28 Jun 2008 01:10:38 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: "Not one Iraqi soldier took part in the airdrop, and the operation was not coordinated with any Iraqi authority" Relative of Prime Minister killed.

Clip Source: www.mcclatchydc.com

Iraqi officials outraged by U.S. raid in prime minister's hometown

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Outraged Iraqi officials demanded an investigation into an early morning U.S. military raid Friday near the birthplace of Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki, saying the operation violated the terms of the handover of Karbala province to Iraqi security forces.

Iraqi officials in Karbala said the operation began at dawn Friday, when U.S. aircraft delivered dozens of American troops to the rural Shiite Muslim town of Janaja, which is populated mostly by members of the Maliki tribe.

"Not one Iraqi soldier took part in the airdrop, and the operation was not coordinated with any Iraqi authority," he said. "We are still looking for an answer as to why this has taken place, and we still have no logical explanation from the American forces."

the Iraqi killed in the operation was a relative of the U.S.-backed prime minister

US hid detainees from Red Cross

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 06:47:08 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: Though has often complained about communist countries doing so

Clip Source: www.mcclatchydc.com

Documents confirm U.S. hid detainees from Red Cross

WASHINGTON — The U.S. military hid the locations of suspected terrorist detainees and concealed harsh treatment to avoid the scrutiny of the International Committee of the Red Cross, according to documents that a Senate committee released Tuesday.

"We may need to curb the harsher operations while ICRC is around. It is better not to expose them to any controversial techniques," Lt. Col. Diane Beaver, a military lawyer who's since retired, said during an October 2002 meeting at the Guantanamo Bay prison

Her comments were recorded in minutes of the meeting that were made public Tuesday

A third person at the meeting, Jonathan Fredman, the chief counsel for the CIA's Counterterrorism Center, disclosed that detainees were moved routinely to avoid the scrutiny of the ICRC, which keeps tabs on prisoners in conflicts around the world.

the United States long has complained that

China or the old Soviet Union prevented independent access to prisoners

Tags: war on terror

US General: Bush committed war crimes, must be prosecuted

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 19:53:59 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: Maj. Gen. Taguba led the US Army's official investigation into the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal and testified before Congress on his findings in May 2004. Taguba retired in January 2007, later alleging that Pentagon officials had ordered him to retire for being "overzealous" in his criticisms of the military. He writes here, in the Preface to the report "Broken Laws, Broken Lives."

Clip Source: www.truthout.org

This report tells the largely untold human story of what happened to detainees in our custody when the Commander-in-Chief and those under him authorized a systematic regime of torture. This story is not only written in words: It is scrawled for the rest of these individuals' lives on their bodies and minds. Our national honor is stained by the indignity and inhumane treatment these men received from their captors.

The profiles of these eleven former detainees, none of whom were ever charged with a crime or told why they were detained, are tragic and brutal

In order for these individuals to suffer the wanton cruelty to which they were subjected, a government policy was promulgated to the field whereby the Geneva Conventions and the Uniform Code of Military Justice were disregarded

there is no longer any doubt as to whether the current administration has committed war crimes

The only question that remains to be answered is whether those who ordered the use of torture will be held to account.

Tags: bush, torture, war on terror

Army official fired for questioning $1B payout to KBR

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 19:25:18 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: Told Iraq contractor to improve "chaotic" performance, held up payment on questionable charges

Clip Source: www.democracynow.org

Army Ousted Official for Questioning KBR Contract

The New York Times reports the Army official who managed the Pentagon’s largest contract in Iraq says he was ousted from his job when he refused to approve paying more than $1 billion in questionable charges to the former Halliburton subsidiary KBR. Charles Smith said that he was forced from his job in 2004, after informing KBR officials that the Army would impose escalating financial penalties if they failed to improve their chaotic Iraqi operations. Although KBR’s performance in Iraq has come under fierce criticism from lawmakers, the Pentagon recently awarded the company part of a ten-year $150 billion contract in Iraq. Until last year, KBR was known as Kellogg Brown & Root and was a subsidiary of Halliburton, the Texas oil services giant, where Vice President Dick Cheney previously served as chief executive

KBR has repeatedly gouged the taxpayer, and the Bush administration has looked the other way

Tags: military, iraq, war

Fox anchor: Iranian missile could hit US [not!]

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 00:33:12 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: Alas, fair and balanced, Iran is 6,340 miles away, and the range of Iran's Shahab missile is 1200 miles. Nevermind. How will we be afraid enough if we're careful about the facts? How will we envision impending doom, or cheer for necessary war? I can "only hope the smoking gun is not a mushroom cloud."

Clip Source: thinkprogress.org

Fox anchor claims Iranian missile could possibly ‘hit some military installations’ in the U.S.»

In an interview with former UN ambassador John Bolton today, Fox News anchor Gregg Jarrett asserted that Iran’s Shahab missile “could actually hit — I think — some military installations in the United States.”

The current range of Iran’s Shahab missiles is said to be 1,200 miles, but the United States and Iran are much more than 1,200 miles apart. The approximate distance between Tehran and Washington, D.C. is actually 6,340 miles.

Tags: media

Iran is no threat unless Bush makes it one

Fri, 06 Jun 2008 22:23:35 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: Attack on Iran will quash democracy movement

Clip Source: www.payvand.com

Iran Is No Threat, Unless Bush Makes It One

Worst of all, military attacks on Iran will only consolidate the hardliners' grip on Iran, just when economic problems and political repression are shaking the foundations of their power. President Ahmadinejad is in deep trouble at home, even among his own base. The vast majority of Iran's urban population, and in particular its university students, despise him for his failed economic policies, political repression, and the danger that his hollow rhetoric has created for Iran's national security.

In April 2005, when the reformist Mohammad Khatami was still president, Iran made a comprehensive proposal to the U.S., offering to enter serious negotiations and putting all the important issues on the table. The offer was never taken seriously.

given the deep unpopularity of the hardliners, the absence of an external threat to Iran's national security would make it much easier for democratic groups to push for reforms

Tags: iran

Bush's Iraq security bribe: $50B for 50 US bases, US autonomy in-country

Fri, 06 Jun 2008 21:58:14 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: Iraqis take to the streets

Clip Source: www.juancole.com

The intrepid Patrick Cockburn reveals that the White House is more or less blackmailing the Iraqi government into signing a security pact with George W. Bush. At stake is $50 bn. of Iraqi money held in the US Federal Reserve, at least $20 bn. of which could be lost to Iraq if the government of Nuri al-Maliki declines to sign on the dotted line. Cockburn also reveals that the Iraqis wanted to diversify their receipts from oil sales away from dollar holdings into euros, and that the Americans vetoed the move. Bush wants 50 bases in Iraq and the prerogative of the US military to act unilaterally and with impunity inside the country.

large demonstrations against the security agreement, barely covered by the US press, last Friday, and Iraqi religious and political leaders are coalescing against it

Postcolonial states of the Arab world, which only attained real independence from Britain and France with great difficulty and in living memory, are touchy about

kowtowing to imperial demands

Tags: iraq

Obama instructs DNC: No lobbyist money

Thu, 05 Jun 2008 22:12:43 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: Fed govt lobbyist money banned from DNC fundraising; freedom from influence of Washington insiders sought

Clip Source: www.rawstory.com

DNC bans lobbyist money

DNC will no longer take lobbyist, PAC money consistent with Obama's position

In his first order of business as his party's presumed presidential nominee, Barack Obama is instructing the Democratic National Committee to adopt his policy against accepting donations from federal lobbyists or political action committees.

The change will make the party and the candidate have a consistent position. Obama often says banning the donations is one way to help keep him free of the influence of Washington insiders.

McCain's senior advisers are former lobbyists, including campaign manager Rick Davis, and McCain was stung last month by the disclosure that two advisers worked for a firm that had represented Myanmar's military junta, which has restricted foreign assistance for cyclone victims.

Tags: obama, elections

Gen. Sanchez: Bush guilty of "Dereliction of Duty"

Tue, 03 Jun 2008 02:03:50 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: "I watched helplessly as the Bush administration led America into a strategic blunder of historic proportions."

Clip Source: www.crooksandliars.com

Gen. Ricardo Sanchez: Bush Guilty of “Gross Incompetence and Dereliction of Duty”

Clip Source: www.crooksandliars.com

In the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, I watched helplessly as the Bush administration led America into a strategic blunder of historic proportions. It became painfully obvious that the executive branch of our government did not trust its military. It relied instead on a neoconservative ideology developed by men and women with little, if any, military experience. Some senior military leaders did not challenge civilian decision makers at the appropriate times, and the courageous few who did take a stand were subsequently forced out of the service.

Tags: sanchez, foreign policy, iraq

Why is military spending highest since WWII?

Mon, 02 Jun 2008 03:08:39 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: Hi-tech cold-war toys in development. One thing's sure: if we get them, we'll use them on a few thousand poor suckers. Meanwhile Lieberman crusades for deep water submarines that, coincidentally, are made in his home state, but serve no strategic purpose.

Clip Source: www.truthdig.com

Indefensible Spending

What should be the most important issue in this election is one that is rarely, if ever, addressed: Why is U.S. military spending at the highest point, in inflation-adjusted dollars, than at any time since the end of World War II? Why, without a sophisticated military opponent in sight, is the United States spending trillions of dollars on the development of high-tech weapons systems that lost their purpose with the collapse of the Soviet Union two decades ago?

The Pentagon’s budget for fiscal year 2008 set a post-World War II record at $625 billion, and that does not include more than $100 billion in other federal budget expenditures for homeland security, nuclear weapons and so-called black budget—or covert—operations.

We are talking high-tech war toys designed to fight a Cold War enemy that no longer exists

Since President Bush’s first year

Defense Department has doubled its future planned investment in those ultra-pricey weapons from $790 billion to $1.6 trillion

Tags: military, defense

US military spending twice that of any other gov't program

Sat, 31 May 2008 19:59:16 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: Where are the critics of Big Government? Dabbing at the trickles, rather than stanching the gusher.

Clip Source: www.journeywithjesus.net

Jim Wallis observes in his book God's Politics that government budgets are "moral documents."

here's how the government spent my 2007 tax dollars:

42% went to Past and Current Military
22% Health
10% Interest on Non-Military Debt
9% Anti-Poverty Programs
4% Education, Training & Social Services
4% Government & Law Enforcement
3% Housing & Community Development
3% Environment, Energy & Science
2% Agriculture, Commerce and Transportation
1% International Relations

In 2005 the United States accounted for 48% of the entire world's military spending — which is to say that our one country nearly spent more on the military than the rest of the world combined. Our Department of Defense says that America deploys 254,788 military personnel (double that number if you include dependents) to at least 725 military bases in 153 countries. Our own country is home to 969 separate bases in all fifty states. By these budgetary metrics, the United States prioritizes war like no nation on earth.

Tags: military, government, taxes