Military Industrial Complex

Russia says US mercenaries, others fought for Georgia | Alternet.org

Russia has evidence that citizens from NATO member states including the United States and Turkey fought for Georgia in the five-day August war, Russia's top investigator said on Monday.

A senior security official in Tbilisi dismissed the statement and said by law only Georgian nationals could serve in the country's armed forces.

Asked to list the nationalities of the foreign fighters it believes were involved, Alexander Bastrykin, head of the Prosecutor-General's investigative committee said: "America, the Czech Republic, Chechnya, the Baltic States, Ukraine and Turkey."

"It was a fairly small number of people. They mainly fulfilled support roles", Bastrykin told reporters in Russia's second city of St Petersburg.

Contractors in Iraq could face charges in earlier incidents
By Nancy A. Youssef | McClatchy Newspapers

Private security contractors operating in Iraq could face Iraqi prosecution for acts committed when they supposedly had immunity from Iraqi law, U.S. officials said Thursday.

A new U.S.-Iraq security agreement doesn't specifically prevent Iraqi officials from bringing criminal charges retroactively in cases such as the September 2007 shooting deaths of 17 Iraqi civilians by contractors protecting a State Department convoy, officials told security company officials during meetings in Washington Thursday.

The news caught company officials by surprise.

Unofficial Translation of U.S. - Iraq Troop Agreement from the Arabic Text
By McClatchy Newspapers | McClatchy Newspapers | Submitted by Michael Munk | www.MichaelMunk.com

Translated from the Arabic by Sahar Issa, Jenan Hussein and Hussein Kadhim of the McClatchy Baghdad Bureau.

An Agreement between the Republic of Iraq and the United States of America regarding the Withdrawal of the American Forces from Iraq and Regulating their Activities During their Temporary Presence in it

Based on a letter that will be sent from the President of the United States to the Prime Minister of Iraq, the United States will remain committed to helping Iraq in regard to the demand it submitted to the Security Council to extend the protection and other arrangements regarding petroleum, petroleum products and natural gas produced in Iraq and the resources and commitments that stem from these sales and the Development Fund of Iraq, these are the arrangements defined in the two resolutions of the Security Council (1483)(2003) and (1546)(2003).

by Amitai Etzioni, Huffington Post
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/amitai-etzioni/retire-admiral-mullen_b_145...

My original timetable called for President Obama to retire Admiral Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (the highest ranking uniformed military commander) on Jan 20 at 12:01 pm -- as quickly as possible after the new president took his oath of office. I then considered that one must first find a suitable replacement. President Obama should make it clear that he will not tolerate military officers publicly denouncing his policies, not to mention undermining an agreement the United States and the Iraqi government just worked out of after agonizing negotiations.

By Dave Lindorff

The ongoing and deepening global economic crisis, to which Barack Obama owes his presidential election victory, is no small thing, to be sure. It also presents us on the left with a lot of openings to press for progressive change.

By Katrina vanden Heuvel, The Nation

Last month, Congressman Barney Frank called for a 25 percent cut in the defense budget--approximately $150 billion in annual spending--saying, "We don't need all these fancy new weapons. I think there needs to be additional review."

Predictably, the Republican backlash was swift. House Minority Leader John Boehner called Frank "incredibly irresponsible." House Armed Services Personnel Subcommittee ranking member John McHugh (R-NY) labeled the proposed reduction "unconscionable." Democrats--especially those on the House Armed Services Committee --didn't exactly embrace Frank's target, either.

NOTE How the possibility of cutting military and war spending is making it into discussions like this one:

Obama Spelled Out Goals in Letters to Federal Employees
Pre-Election Missives Addressed Staff At Seven Agencies, Provided Specifics
By Carol D. Leonnig
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, November 17, 2008; A01

In wooing federal employee votes on the eve of the election, Barack Obama wrote a series of letters to workers that offer detailed descriptions of how he intends to add muscle to specific government programs, give new power to bureaucrats and roll back some Bush administration policies.

Pentagon pressured by financial crisis
By Jen Dimascio | Politico.com

Barack Obama’s aides reached out to the aerospace industry last month to ease fears that massive cuts were headed its way, according to numerous sources within the defense industry.

“There have been waves of, ‘The world is going to fall apart,’” said F. Whitten Peters, a former Air Force secretary who advised Obama’s Democratic presidential campaign on defense industrial base issues. “That was not the view of the campaign.”

By ANGELA CHARLTON

NICE, France (AP) — France's U.S.-friendly president sent a clear message Friday to the next American administration: Plans for a U.S. missile shield in Eastern Europe are misguided, and won't make the continent a safer place.

Nicolas Sarkozy also warned Russian President Dmitry Medvedev against upping tensions by deploying missiles on the borders of the European Union in response to the U.S. planned missile defense system. Medvedev urged all sides to refrain from "unilateral" moves.

Sarkozy's comments, at a summit with Medvedev, were the strongest to date by an American ally against the missile-defense plans — and undercut the rationale behind U.S. President George W. Bush's European security strategy.

The plans for using sites in Poland and the Czech Republic have infuriated Russia despite the Bush administration's insistence that they are aimed at protecting Europe from Iran.

Indictment drafted in Blackwater shooting
By Lara Jakes Jordan and Matt Apuzzo | ABCNews.com

"An indictment would send the message that the Justice Department believes U.S. contractors do not operate with legal impunity in war zones. It's an untested legal theory, since the law is murky on whether contractors could be charged in U.S. courts, or anywhere, for crimes committed overseas."

Federal prosecutors have drafted an indictment against six Blackwater Worldwide security guards in last year's deadly Baghdad shootings of 17 Iraqi civilians, The Associated Press has learned.

New Blackwater Iraq Scandal: Guns, Silencers and Dog Food
Ex-employees Tell ABC News the Firm Used Dog Food Sacks to Smuggle Unauthorized Weapons to Iraq
By Brian Ross and Jason Ryan | ABCNews.com

A federal grand jury in North Carolina is investigating allegations the controversial private security firm Blackwater illegally shipped assault weapons and silencers to Iraq, hidden in large sacks of dog food, ABCNews.com has learned.

Under State Department rules, Blackwater is prohibited from using certain assault weapons and silencers in Iraq because they are considered "offensive" weapons inappropriate for Blackwater's role as a private security firm protecting US diplomatic missions.

"The only reason you need a silencer is if you want to assassinate someone," said former CIA intelligence officer John Kiriakou, an ABC News consultant.

From a War Zone to Stateside Nightmare
Recruiters Describe Brutal Working Conditions They Say Led to Soldier Suicides
By Sarah Netter | ABCNews.com

Staff Sgt. Nils Aron Andersson was a newlywed of just a few hours and had completed his first counseling session when he shot himself atop a parking garage.

Staff Sgt. Patrick Henderson had made plans with his wife and stepson to go fishing the night he hanged himself in his shed.

Now their friends and family members are speaking out against the job they say led the men to kill themselves -- recruiting for the Army.

The families have said high-pressure, sometimes abusive tactics used on recruiters combined with lingering combat-related mental health problems drove the soldiers to suicide. There have been four suicides in the Houston Recruiting Battalion alone, including three in the past 18 months.

Remarks to the State Association of County Retirement Systems
By Ambassador Chas W. Freeman, Jr. (USFS, Ret.), Costa Mesa, California, November 13, 2008

Last week Americans voted in record numbers for a new president. However you felt about the outcome, you must have been moved, as I was, by how the two candidates reacted to the election results. In defeat, Senator McCain was gracious, sincere, and – as always – put our country ahead of himself. His patriotic call for all of us to "help our new president lead us through the many challenges we face" reminded us why he deserves our respect both as a man and as a public figure.

President-elect Obama's remarks at his victory celebration in Chicago were eloquent and inspiring. Two-and-a third centuries ago, our founders pledged that we would be a nation in which "all men are created equal." We have finally made that proposition an unrefutable reality.

After the parades: A veterans’ call to action
From the Florida Chapters of Veterans For Peace

After the parades, the flyovers, and the politicians’ glad-handing and speeches of Veterans Day 2008 are over, we veterans are left with a very important question to answer … the answer to which could indeed determine the survival of the very freedoms which we and those who came before us and after were willing to die for to protect. Those freedoms are secured for us in the U.S. Constitution, which we as former members of the military took an oath of enlistment or commission to “support and defend against all enemies, foreign and domestic”. We must remember that our oath was to the defense of the U.S. Constitution and not an oath of loyalty or allegiance to a political party or any individual in our servant government.

Military Families: Military Suicides Are Casualties of War

Members of Military Families Speak Out are condemning comments by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs suggesting that the dramatic increase in the suicide rate among young veterans is not connected to the war in Iraq. The suicide rate among male veterans under the age of 29 is now twice that of the general population.

In an interview aired Monday November 10th on PBS's NewsHour, Secretary of Veterans Affairs James Peake said that Veterans' suicides are the result of:

"the same kinds of issues that have to do with suicide in the general population. It is issues of failed relationships, senses of hopelessness, transitions in life, that are at the root cause . . . we're not making a direct correlation with combat."

Specialist Scott Eiswert committed suicide in May after being told by a friend that his unit of the Tennessee National Guard would be returning to Iraq. His widow, Tracy Eiswert, a member of Military Families Speak Out, expressed outrage at Secretary Peake's comments:

By Dave Lindorff

A CBS/Associated Press story yesterday reported that the man who runs the Pentagon’s anti-missile program, Lt. Gen. Henry Obering III, had warned incoming President-elect Barack Obama that any reversal of Bush/Cheney administration plans to install anti-ballistic missile missiles in Poland would “severely hurt” American interests.

It was a classic “stupid” story of the type that we now expect to get from our corporate media—basically a regurgitation of the statement of one self-interested official, backed up by a few supporting quotes from other government officials, and the usual “anonymous” official sources, and lacking any context or opposing viewpoints.

US Iraq casualties jump to 69,607
by Michael Munk | www.MichaelMunk.com

US military occupation forces in Iraq suffered 21 combat casualties casualties in the period ending Nov. 12 as the official casualty total jumped to at least 69,607 because the Pentagon revealed its "non combat" casualties for the first time since Aug. 2. The total includes 34,183 dead and wounded by what the Pentagon classifies as "hostile" causes and more than 35,424 dead and medically evacuated (as of Nov. 1) from "non-hostile" causes.*

The actual total is over 89,000 because the Pentagon chooses not to count as "Iraq casualties" the more than 20,000 veterans whose injuries-mainly brain trauma from explosions--were diagnosed only after they had left Iraq..**

KBR to provide power during emergencies | UPI.com

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has contracted KBR to provide power during emergency or disaster situations.

U.S. company KBR was awarded a $75 million deal from the Army Corps or Engineers for disaster relief services. Under the contract, KBR will supply emergency power for the Western region of the United States in case of a natural or manmade disaster.

SAIC to develop protections for aircraft | UPI.com

The U.S. Air Force has contracted Science Applications International Corp. to develop infrared systems to protect aircraft from enemy threats.

U.S. company SAIC was awarded a $45.6 million contract from the Air Force Research Laboratory to support the Electro-Optical Warfare Technical Analysis Effort II Program.

Under the contract, managed by the Air Force Research Laboratory's Sensors Directorate, SAIC will be expected to develop new infrared countermeasures for integration with aircraft that offer protection from surface-to-air and air-to-air missile threats.

Which Was It?
By Bruce K. Gagnon | Organizing Notes

Obama has not even been sworn into office yet and already the sparks are flying across the Atlantic.

The BBC reported on November 8 that Polish President Lech Kaczynski said in a statement published on his website that during a phone call with Mr. Obama the president-elect had "emphasised the importance of the strategic partnership of Poland and the U.S. and expressed hope in the continuation of political and military co-operation between our countries."

"He also said that the missile defence project [Bush's plan to deploy U.S. interceptor missiles in Poland] would continue," the statement added.

During his campaign Obama had said otherwise.

By Brandon Friedman

Well that didn't take long. Polls across America had been closed for less than 24 hours and Army Career Counselors were already exploiting Barack Obama's victory in an effort to recruit former soldiers back into units. This email was forwarded to me by an Iraq veteran and former Army captain who received it on Wednesday: READ THE REST.

Tomgram: Andrew Bacevich, Strategic Vacuum | TomDispatch.com

Even as the Bush presidency wears down, the Global War on Terror only expands. Perhaps the word should be "metastasizes." Just this week, the U.S. military, using SOFA-less Iraq as its launching pad, sent four helicopters with U.S. special forces soldiers across the Syrian border in an operation in which a number of people were killed. (The Syrians claim the assault was on a farm and that "a father and his three children, the farm's guard and his wife, and a fisherman" all died; the U.S. claims that its forces took out a key al-Qaeda in Mesopotamia operative.) After a several day delay, American officials told the Washington Post that the raid was "intended to send a warning to the Syrian government. 'You have to clean up the global threat that is in your backyard, and if you won't do that, we are left with no choice but to take these matters into our hands,' said a senior U.S. official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the cross-border strike."

Foreclosed: The George W. Bush Story
By Tom Engelhardt

They may have been the most disastrous dreamers, the most reckless gamblers, and the most vigorous imperial hucksters and grifters in our history. Selling was their passion. And they were classic American salesmen -- if you're talking about underwater land in Florida, or the Brooklyn Bridge, or three-card monte, or bizarre visions of Iraqi unmanned aerial vehicles armed with chemical and biological weaponry let loose over the U.S., or Saddam Hussein's mushroom clouds rising over American cities, or a full-scale reordering of the Middle East to our taste, or simply eternal global dominance.

By David Morrison
www.david-morrison.org.uk

Things are not going the US’s way

Nothing much is going right for the US these days. Leaving aside the troubles with its financial system

Turkey denied US naval ships access to the Black Sea in August, and refused to condemn Russia’s actions in Georgia.

Likewise, Azerbaijan refused to condemn Russia’s actions in Georgia, and didn’t treat Vice President Cheney with due respect on his visit in early September.

In Ukraine, the Orange revolution is in the process of being reversed – it looks as if Ukraine will make its peace with Russia and stay out of NATO.

In Iraq, a Status of Forces Agreement, to replace the UN mandate which runs out on 31 December 2008, has yet to be agreed with the Iraqi Government, let alone approved by the Iraqi Parliament.

The new US Africa Command has had to locate its headquarters in Stuttgart, because no African country was prepared to host it.

Good to see Joe Biden is enthusiastically embracing the creepy US political tradition of calling the president "our" commander-in-chief: MORE HERE.

By Paul Bompard in Rome, Times

American Nato officers have been renting a villa near Naples for years that belongs, indirectly, to Antonio Iovine, a clan chieftain of the Camorra, the Neapolitan Mafia.

Mr Iovine, 44, nicknamed “o’ninno” — the baby — because of his small stature, is wanted for murder and other crimes, and is listed among the 30 most dangerous criminals in Italy. He has been on the run for 12 years.

According to an investigation that was published in Corriere della Sera yesterday the villa of Mr Iovine may be only the tip of an iceberg. Italian police sources suggested that there were scores of similar cases in the Naples area of Nato service personnel living in houses that were owned by the Camorra. There are several Nato facilities in the area, notably a US telecommunications centre in Bagnoli and the US Air Force base at Capodichino.

Analysis: Army seeks to replace M4 and M16 | UPI.com

Since the Vietnam War, soldiers have fought with the M16 rifle and its little brother the M4 as their main weapon, but that may change soon as the Army steps up its search for a replacement.

And it says it is open to replacing it with a higher caliber weapon, highlighting long-standing criticism of the existing 5.56mm round.

In August, the Army posted a "Request For Information" -- a procurement document that asks the industry what it can offer -- on a possible successor to the M4, manufactured by West Hartford, Conn.-based Colt Defense LLC. The military has looked at alternatives in the past, and some elite Special Forces units have already retired the M4 in favor of newer, higher-caliber weapons.

Reviewing James Petras' "Zionism, Militarism, and the Decline of US Power"
by Stephen Lendman

James Petras is Binghamton University Professor Emeritus of Sociology. His credentials and achievements are long and impressive as a noted academic figure on the left. A well-respected Latin American expert, and a longtime chronicler of the region's popular struggles.

He's also a prolific author of hundreds of articles and dozens of books, including his latest titled "Zionism, Militarism, and the Decline of US Power" and subject of this review. It follows from his earlier 2006 book: "The Power of Israel in the United States" that documented the Israeli Lobby's enormous influence over US Middle East policy and its destructive effects.

Can Anyone Confirm This???

Paul Joseph Watson & Yihan Dai, Prison Planet.com, InfoWars

According to reports out of top Chinese mainstream news outlets, the RAND Corporation recently presented a shocking proposal to the Pentagon in which it lobbied for a war to be started with a major foreign power in an attempt to stimulate the American economy and prevent a recession.

A fierce debate has now ensued in China about who that foreign power may be, with China itself as well as Russia and even Japan suspected to be the targets of aggression.

The reports cite French media news sources as having uncovered the proposal, in which RAND suggested that the $700 billion dollars that has been earmarked to bailout Wall Street and failing banks instead be used to finance a new war which would in turn re-invigorate the flagging stock markets.

KBR to Compete for Construction Deal | UPI.com

Global engineering firm KBR has been selected to compete, along with two other companies, for future U.S. Army Corps of Engineers task orders.

The Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha District selected the three companies to compete for task orders under a $490 million Security, Disaster, Infrastructure and Construction contract.

Officials say KBR was selected to compete by the Army Corps of Engineers for its construction engineering services that will be expected to be deployed for fast-track construction projects at federal agencies.

"KBR has a longstanding reputation as a premier government contractor, and this award demonstrates the confidence our government clients have in our work," Bruce Stanski, KBR government and infrastructure president, said in a statement.