jimstaro's blog

Everything done by prince and company is Done In Our Names!!

Letter from America: The Unholy Emergence of Blackwater in the Emirates

2011-05-22 - Remember Blackwater USA, the private military group, which worked as contractors for the U.S. State Department? Since June 2004, it has been paid more than $320 million out of a $1 billion, five-year State Department budget for the Worldwide Personal Protective Service, which protects U.S. officials and some foreign officials in conflict zones.

A violent road out of Iraq for U.S. troops

May 18, 2011 - American forces are facing an increasingly dangerous environment in southern Iraq, where Shiite militias trying to claim they are driving out U.S. occupiers have stepped up attacks against bases and troops.

"We're very concerned about it," said Col. Reginald Allen, who commands the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment that operates in five predominantly Shiite provinces. "This environment is very fluid, but in general our planning assumptions and our precautions are based on the worst case, that levels of violence will continue to increase."

With prince having a U.S. flag stamped on his forehead, done in our names, al Qaeda move over, new kid, same as the old, on the block!!

A contract to kill ... how big business is baying for blood

18 May 2011 - You can buy a war for half a billion dollars. But get in quick. That's at current market prices.

Costs may rise following last Saturday's New York Times story revealing that the United Arab Emirates has paid $529m to a company set up by Blackwater boss Eric Prince to recruit and train a mercenary army to undertake 'special missions' against the oil state's enemies, defend oil pipelines, crush internal opposition and so forth.

The abuse of was done in our names as we still continue to condemn others for exactly same!

Continuing the lawless damage his private mercenary armies have already created, and greatly enhanced, in the name of the United States and citizens of! The equivalent of al Qaeda but in the U.S. brand and stamp!

Secret UAE Desert Force Set Up By Blackwater’s Founder

Documents show 800-strong mercenary force is aimed at UAE's external — and internal — foes.

May 15, 2011 - Late one night last November, a plane carrying dozens of Colombian men touched down in this glittering seaside capital. Whisked through customs by an Emirati intelligence officer, the group boarded an unmarked bus and drove roughly 20 miles to a windswept military complex in the desert sand.

13th May 2011 - The Chilcot Inquiry into the disastrous Iraq War has been a largely depressing affair.

It has cost millions of pounds, dragged on for two years and – when the key players appeared before the inquiry panel – the questioning was unfocused and inadequate.

Tony Blair and Alastair Campbell were slippery, unrepentant and able to complete their evidence unscathed –much to the anger and disgust of the families of the 179 soldiers who gave their lives in this most bloody of conflicts.

Eleven slides were sexist, three advocated domestic violence, one was racist and two promoted child degradation. One slide featured a comic strip in which a man kicks his girlfriend in the stomach after she tells him she is pregnant.

Other slides, the investigator wrote, were culturally insensitive.

Report: 82nd battalion leaders ousted over inappropriate pictures

May 10, 2011 - On Sept. 27, 2009, about a month into a deployment in Afghanistan, the commanders of an 82nd Airborne Division battalion met for a daily update briefing that always included PowerPoint slides.

We, the U.S., tour apart the pandora's box and opened the floodgates of destruction well beyond that which we did, in Iraq, expanded in Afghanistan and in and out of the region!

Iraqis’ mixed emotions over bin Laden’s killing

Al-Qaeda leader is not thought to have ever set foot in Iraq, but it became one of his main battlegrounds.

'There are new al-Qaeda leaders who belong to a generation after bin Laden and are even more blood thirsty and more extreme'

2011-05-09 - Iraq, a nation that has endured a steady barrage of al-Qaeda assaults that has claimed thousands of lives, reacted to the killing of Osama bin Laden this week with a mixture of relief and anger amid fears of further attacks.

Below are just a few related articles and links.

May 6th, 2011 - This week on War News Radio, " Made in Afghanistan,” we hear the final part of a two part report on the Afghan rug trade. Then, we examine American attitudes towards Osama bin Laden’s death. Finally, we learn about China’s investment role in Afghanistan. But first, a round up of this week's news.

May 7, 2011 - In a rare public appeal, the father of a U.S. soldier held captive in the Afghan war has sought the help of Pakistan's military in securing the release of Spc. Bowe Bergdahl.

Idaho resident Bob Bergdahl, in a video post on YouTube, directly addresses Pakistan Army Chief of Staff Ashfaq Parvez Kayani and Lieutenant-General Ahmad Shuja Pasha, the head of the country's intelligence service.

The National Security Archive at George Washington University has been releasing numerous Government documents and reports the past couple of days on bin Laden, our Government as related to him and that region especially Pakistan. The criminal cronies, both in and out of the Government at the time they took over from the Clinton administration to 9/11 and beyond have been coming out of the closet, including their talking heads, trying to justify their policies, especially as to torture, illegal by our laws and the international laws we help establish, that they should share in the take down of bin Laden or should receive the glory from. Frankly they're raising more questions by their tactic, questions that have been there the whole past decade some being answered with hard evidence that has leaked out and coming from the Iraq War Inquiries.

Restoring 'America's Honor' means living by ours and those international Laws we helped write, that means Torture is Illegal and Inhumane, any torture not just water boarding, which by the way is Not a fun experience, just ask any of us who've gone through CI/SERE training, that's why they use it in the training.

May 3: Malcolm Nance, former master instructor and chief of training at the Navy`s Survival Evasion Resistance and Escape School (the SERE School), talks with Rachel Maddow about the infrastructure of al-Qaida and the importance of Islamic democracy and the role of human intelligence in finding Osama bin Laden.

 

This is what should have happened directly after and as to 9/11! Terrorism is a criminal offense, international criminal terrorism is an international crime. We had the backing of most of the World then, meaning working with them and their resources added to ours. There should never have been Iraq and all that went with that as well as the added recruiting tools in Afghanistan. Once the Taliban were driven from there we should have worked to reign in the ghost al Qaeda while helping to rebuild Afghanistan after decades of war destruction, as we promised. But we walked away once again, like we did after the Afghan/Soviet debacle, rest is the present history as we created the next generations of bin Ladens!!

On May 1st, An Infuriating Anniversary, the day of the Mission Accomplished' Speech and Banner as to Iraq eight years prior, the War of Choice, that turned the Afghan Operation into same, nothing to do with 9/11 al Qaeda nor bin Laden, the Afghan 'Mission is Finally Accomplished', bin Laden dead, after creating possibly thousands of bin Ladens seeking blowback!

Tens of thousands dead, millions turned into refugee's, lives and countries destroyed, and still no 'Sacrifice' as to the results for the Veterans of nor Accountability for the lies of those who ordered the destructive decade plus, Still Ongoing!!

The double standard of the U.S. mindset, now widely known! Wonder how much the many Iraqi's, in our hands, will settle for if even having the chance to seek retribution and for much much more then just torture and mistreatment and the citizens here are willing to pay!

Lawmakers approve $400 million payment to settle U.S. lawsuits

May 01, 2011 - Iraqi lawmakers approved a controversial $400 million settlement Saturday for Americans who claim they were abused by Saddam Hussein's regime during the 1990 invasion of Kuwait.

The settlement is part of a deal reached between Baghdad and Washington last year to end years of legal battles by U.S. citizens who claim they were tortured or traumatized, including hundreds held as human shields.

Title above comes from a post by a brother Vietnam Vet BOHICA.

Orangutans are endangered by loss of their forest habitat. (Photo © naturepl.com / Anup Shah courtesy WWF)

April 29, 2011 (ENS) - Environmental leaders and politicians from around the world today called for an urgent move towards a global green economy in order to achieve sustainable development and wildlife conservation over the next 50 years.

Low-carbon technology, green infrastructures, investment in renewable energy and sustainable agriculture are essential in combating climate change, poverty and water shortages, said participants in the summit convened by WWF to mark the global conservation organization's 50th anniversary.

Does one need to serve, no, but that one had better choose his or her words very carefully, especially those 'his', when spinning what they think is wrong with a Country they avoided like a plague to do that service in their younger years!! Oh ya and Especially if one likes to brag about their vast wealth, some probably left to them other gained by investing in defense industry corporations, and Doesn't Demand they 'Sacrifice' for the Veterans, and Families of, sent into the wars of choice which reap those huge defense profits!!

Deferments Helped Trump Dodge Vietnam

How the presidential aspirant avoided fighting for his country

Fresh effort to trace missing persons

Photo: Afif Sarhan/IRIN: Rayhan Nasir, 24, is losing hope after two years spent searching for his father (file photo)

27 April 2011 (IRIN) - The government has set up a committee to trace thousands of Iraqis missing since the 2003 US-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein, says an official.

“Our definition of missing people are those who disappeared in military operations, terrorist attacks or those who are reported kidnapped but have not appeared yet,” Maj. Farouk Al-Araji, office manager of the Chief Commander of Iraq’s Military Command, told a news conference in Baghdad on 25 April.

They should take a poll as to our, the U.S., standing now in this world stage and it wouldn't have even needed Wikileaks to be mentioned, Especially as we've made no move to dig out the accountability!!

WikiLeaks' Assange is not a criminal - global poll

Apr 26, 2011 - A 24-country poll found that most people believe WikiLeaks co-founder Julian Assange is not a criminal and should not be charged by the U.S. government for releasing thousands of secret U.S. documents.

The poll by Ipsos found 79 percent of people were aware of WikiLeaks and two-thirds of those believed Assange should not be charged and three-quarters supported the group's bid to make public secret government or corporate documents.

President Bashar Assad co-operated with the USA’s Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in its anti-Al Qaeda operations. As a result of this co-operation, Syria allegedly became a favourite rendition centre of the CIA where Al Qaeda suspects were brought for interrogation by Syrian interrogators who had no qualms over the use of torture.

Worsening Violence In Syria – Analysis

This week on War news Radio First, we learn about the Raymond Davis case and the implications of Islamic and secular law.

Then, we hear about Shepherds of Helmand, a recently released documentary about the war in Afghanistan.

These stories, plus this week's news.

 

Johan Spanner for The New York Times: A view of Nisour Square, site of shooting in September 2007 involving former Blackwater contractors that killed 17 Iraqis

April 22, 2011 - A federal appeals court on Friday reopened the criminal case against four former American military contractors accused of manslaughter in connection with a shooting that killed at least 17 Iraqi civilians in Baghdad in 2007.