Military Industrial Complex

Canadian Government Continues Ouster of US War Resisters
America's neighbor to the north is erecting barriers to Iraq War resisters seeking asylum
by Sarah Lazare | Common Dreams

In the past weeks, the Harper Administration has moved swiftly to push U.S. Iraq War resisters out of Canada, issuing removal orders to five more resisters who had resettled up north. Two have recently been forced out of the country, and the rest continue their appeals through the Canadian Courts. This adds to the growing number of U.S. war resisters in Canada who are being threatened with deportation and eventually U.S. military court martials and imprisonment.

Once You See What Truly Happened in Gaza, It Will Change You Forever
By Medea Benjamin | Alternet

What I saw was like a form of collective punishment, leaving behind a trail of grieving mothers, angry fathers and traumatized children.

When I traveled to Gaza last week, everywhere I went, a photo haunted me. I saw it in a brochure called "Gaza will not die" that Hamas gives out to visitors at the border crossing. A poster-sized version was posted outside a makeshift memorial at the Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. And now that I am back home, the image comes to me when I look at children playing in the park, when I glance at the school across the street, when I go to sleep at night.

Anne Miller: Stimulate Peace, Not War | Capital Times

As the $787 billion stimulus bill snaked its way through the House and the Senate and finally landed under the pen of President Obama, my predominant thought has been holy cow -- that's a lot of money!

Sen. John Thune was even kind enough to explain to CSPAN viewers last week how a stack of hundred dollar bills totaling $787 billion, wrapped side by side, would encircle the Earth nearly 39 times. As unsettling as this new financial commitment may be, it is at least an attempt to help more Americans achieve some semblance of economic security.

The stimulus package was aggressively attacked by fiscal conservatives who have been outspoken about the "pet projects" in the bill, and the wasteful programs that will weigh down future generations with massive debt. Point taken.

Solidarity message from Japanese citizens
To friends in Europe who are against the Missile Defense system and the Space Shield

We are several citizen groups which are respectively committed in peaceful ways to movements of anti-MD system and anti-US Bases in Japan. We would like to convey, by this message, our solidarity with all who are against the deployment of the US MD system into the eastern Europe. We, who live with the various problems arising from many US bases occupying our homeland, always look enviously at the unified efforts in the anti-radar movement by citizens and the League of Mayors in Czech Republic. Your movement has encouraged us a lot and we thank you for that.

Japanese government introduced the MD system in Dec. 2003, and ever since, its deployment has been accelerated here along with the US’ deployment of its own MD system in Japan.

By Peter Phillips

The Barack Obama administration is continuing the neo-conservative agenda of US military domination of the world— albeit with perhaps a kinder-gentler face. While overt torture is now forbidden for the CIA and Pentagon, and symbolic gestures like the closing of the Guantanamo prison are in evidence, a unilateral military dominance policy, expanding military budget, and wars of occupation and aggression will likely continue unabated.

The military expansionists from within the Reagan, George H. W. Bush, Clinton, G. W. Bush administrations put into place solid support for increased military spending. Clinton’s model of supporting the US military industrial complex held steady defense spending and increased foreign weapons sales from 16% of global orders to over 63% by the end of his administration.

http://www.space4peace.org

2009 is the 60th anniversary of NATO and the US-led alliance is planning big celebrations in Europe to promote their expanded global role as an extension of US foreign and military policy. In 1999, seeking to justify its existence after the collapse of the former Soviet Union, NATO acknowledged that it was seeking to orient itself according to a new fundamental strategic concept. From a narrow military defense alliance it was to become a broad-based alliance for the protection of the vital resource needs (oil/natural gas/etc) of its member states. Besides being mired in Afghanistan today, NATO is now expanding eastward as a tool in the aggressive US program to surround resource rich Russia. There are even discussions now within NATO to take the alliance into the Asian-Pacific to help the US militarily surround China.

By Elaine Brower, www.opednews.com

On Monday, February 16th about 50 activists decided to take a trip to the Franklin Mills Mall right outside Philadelphia, PA to get their look at a new "store". "The Army Experience" (AEC), as it is called, built by the taxpayers to the tune of $12 million, attracts local kids to play video games, most of which are high tech simulations of combat situations.

Story and photos.

Operation Uptick: Obama Launches Afghan Surge
Written by Chris Floyd | Empire Burlesque

Rogue forces operating outside any established chain of command, killing civilians and bowing to no outside authority: these are what the U.S. government would ordinarily define as "terrorists."...Mr. Mohammed said he was taken to a nearby base, interrogated for several hours and let go as sunrise neared. When he returned home, Mr. Mohammed said, he went next door to his son’s house, only to find that most of his family had been killed: the son, Nurallah, and his pregnant wife and two of his sons, Abdul Basit, age 1, and Mohammed, 2. Only Mr. Mohammed’s 4-year-old grandson, Zarqawi, survived. “The soldiers had a right to search our house,” Mr. Mohammed said. “But they didn’t have a right to do this.”

NPP Releases Recruitment 2008: Age, Race, Income, Education

National Priorities Project (NPP) finds a drop in age among new recruits, an over representation of low- and middle-income individuals, an increase in Black recruits and a decrease in Hispanic recruits

Online Tool Allows the Public to Analyze Army Data by State, County, Zip Code, Education Level, "Quality of Recruit"

NORTHAMPTON, MA – A new NPP analysis notes a significant drop in age among new recruits. Using census material, combined with data on 2008 Army enlistment obtained through a Freedom of Information Act, NPP research also uncovers a continued over representation of recruits from low- and middle-income families, an increase in Black recruits, decrease in Hispanic recruits and important education trends.

Secrecy and Denial as Pakistan Lets CIA Use Airbase to Strike Militants
By Tom Coghlan, Zahid Hussain, and Jeremy Page | Times On Line | Click through for online video | Submitted by Michael Munk | www.MichaelMunk.com

The CIA is secretly using an airbase in southern Pakistan to launch the Predator drones that observe and attack al-Qaeda and Taleban militants on the Pakistani side of the border with Afghanistan, a Times investigation has found.

UN: 'Worst year' for Afghan Deaths | AlJazeera | Submitted by Michael Munk | www.MichaelMunk.com

Civilian casualties in Afghanistan's escalating conflict have increased by 39 per cent over the last year, hitting their worst-ever level, according to a United Nations report.

A total of 2,118 civilians were killed in Afghanistan in 2008, the deadliest year since US-ousted the Taliban in 2001, the world body said in a report released on Tuesday.

"This disquieting pattern demands that the parties to the conflict take all necessary measures to avoid the killing of civilians," the report by the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan human rights unit said.

US-led forces, Nato troops and other pro-government forces were responsible for 39 per cent of the civilian deaths, according to the report.

1. Withdrawal From Iraq:

A timely withdrawal from Iraq could create $105 billon in savings in year one, if the recommendations from Center for American Progress report "Building a Military for the 21st Century" are followed.

At the present time, the United States is spending about $10 billion a month to maintain over 140,000 troops a year in Iraq and $2 billion a month to support 34,000 American troops in Afghanistan. If President Obama withdraws all combat brigades from Iraq over the January 2009 to April 2010 period, this would decrease the U.S. presence by about 50,000, or about 36 percent, and reduce the cost to about $7 billion a month by mid-2010.

If the withdrawal of combat troops is accompanied by a withdrawal of an equal number of support troops, this would mean that the costs would drop to about $4 billion a month. If all American troops are withdrawn by the end of calendar year 2011, as the Status of Forces Agreement mandates, the costs would drop to zero by the second quarter of FY 2012.

Adding another 20,000 troops to Afghanistan, as requested by General McKiernan, would increase the costs in that theatre by at least $1.5 billion a month. Thus, the savings from a drawdown from Iraq accompanied by an increase in Afghanistan would result in a net savings of about $2.5 billion a month until the complete withdrawal from Iraq. At that time, the monthly costs for Afghanistan would be $3.5 billion. Thus, as indicated in the table below, the net savings from a complete withdrawal from Iraq over the next four years would be $316 billion (After $54 billion is offset by the increase of our forces in Afghanistan). If $76 billion is allocated to reset, the net savings would be approximately about $240 billion.

2. Center for American Progress/Institute for Policy Studies “Unified Security Budget”

An additional $60B could be saved from eliminating wasteful weapons systems, reducing the number of active nuclear warheads and tightening procurement processes to reduce waste, fraud and abuse, as outlined in the attached Foreign Policy in Focus report "A Unified Security Budget".

Here is CAP’s list of items that total $60B:

--- --- Administration’s FY 2008 Request --- --- Task Force’s Proposed Change+

F/A-22 Raptor --- --- 4.1 --- --- -3.8
Ballistic Missile Defense --- --- 10.5 --- --- -8.1
Virginia-Class Submarine --- --- 3.6 --- --- -2.5
DDG-1000 --- --- 3.2 --- --- -3.2
V-22 Osprey --- --- 3.5 --- --- -3.0
Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle --- --- 0.3 --- --- -0.3
F35 Joint Strike Fighter --- --- 6.7 --- --- -3.7
Offensive Space Weapons --- --- 1.5 --- --- -1.4
Future Combat Systems --- --- 3.6 --- --- -2.1
Research & Development --- --- 80.0 --- --- -5.0
Nuclear Forces --- --- 21.0 --- --- -15.6
Force Structure --- --- - --- --- -5.0
Waste in Procurement and Business Operations --- --- - --- --- -7.0
Total --- --- - --- --- -60.7

Taken together, the billion this gets us most of the way to 25% ($165.7 billion) of the estimated $700B defense budget for FY09. 25% of $700 billion is $175 billion. The amount saved from tightening up auditing and procurement oversight can be stretched to fill the gap.

The Czech Republic and Poland: US Trojan Horses to divide Europe?
Contact: Gerardo Femina (Prague, Czech Republic) gfemina@gmail.com

Three buses filled with Czech Mayors from the League of Mayors against the Radar and activists from the Nonviolence Movement will travel to Brussels to meet Members of the European Parliament on Wednesday and to protest against the “Star wars” plan. They have been invited to attend a public hearing about the controversial US Missile Defense enlargement into the Czech Republic and Poland. While in Brussels they will meet with several MEPs, Belgian Senators and the Vice-president of the European Parliament Luisa Morgantini. They will also attend a public rally against the radar held outside the European Parliament building.

Tomgram: William Astore, Whose Military Is It Anyway? | TomDispatch.com

With startlingly few exceptions, America's sons and daughters dodging bullets remain the progeny of rural America, of immigrant America, of the working and lower middle classes....Instead of collective patriotic sacrifice, however, it's clear that the military will now be running the equivalent of a poverty and recession "draft" to fill the "all-volunteer" military. Those without jobs or down on their luck in terrible times will have the singular honor of fighting our future wars....Caught in the shock and awe of 9/11, we allowed our military to be transformed into a neocon imperial police force.

Blackwater Sheds Name, Shifts Focus
By Dana Hedgpeth, Washington Post

Blackwater Worldwide, a private security company whose work in Iraq was plagued by trouble, said yesterday that it is changing its name to Xe as it shifts its business focus.

The company, based in Moyock, N.C., has more than a dozen business units that are owned by Erik Prince, a former Navy SEAL and heir to an industrial fortune. Prince grew the company over the past decade from a small firm that offered training for law enforcement and small military units to landing part of a lucrative State Department contract to provide security in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Ron Paul: What If? ... The American People Learn the Truth!

Statement of Congressman Ron Paul
February 12, 2009

By Sherwood Ross

Thousands of GIs have suffered preventable hearing loss because they were not supplied with earplugs to reduce the din of battle. Many have a permanent ringing in their ears they will suffer throughout their lives.

The condition is widespread. In 2006, the Veterans Administration paid out more than a half billion dollars to veterans with tinnitus, a condition which affects nearly half of those troops exposed to blasts.

The U.S. Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine conducted a study 141,000 GIs between April, 2003, and March, 2004, that showed tinnitus --- ringing in the ears---accounted for more than 30 per cent of post-deployment-related diagnoses.

Paranoia or proper vigilance?

VFP Says: "Congress Must Face Escalating Military Suicides!" | Press Release

The United States military is scrambling to head off what has turned into an epidemic of suicides. As reported on CNN, 24 service members killed themselves in January of this year, six times as many as in January of last year. 2008 was the fourth consecutive year of increases in soldier suicides.

Veterans For Peace Executive Director Michael McPhearson said this is not a surprise to him. “It is tragic. It is the culmination of years of continuous deployments and general stress the Armed Services have been put under because of an invasion and subsequent occupation that should have never happened.”

The Army Times reports that Army Secretary Pete Geren has ordered a February 13, 2009, one day halt to recruitment activities also known as stand-down of the Army’s entire recruiting force and a review of almost every aspect of the job in the wake of a wide-ranging investigation of four suicides in a Houston Recruiting Battalion.

Military uses social networking to reach public
By Audrey McAvoy - The Associate Press

HONOLULU — You too can become a friend of the U.S. Pacific Command, the people who manage U.S. security interests from Hawaii to India. Or you could "tweet" your thoughts to the Northern Command, which is responsible for defending the continental U.S.

Both commands are using social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and MySpace to reach the public and tell their stories to those less likely to read the newspaper and watch television news.

Many of the sites are well known for facilitating teenage gossip and reconnecting old college friends years after graduation. But the sites are increasingly becoming places where friends and colleagues trade information and share ideas.

By Barney Frank, The Nation

I am a great believer in freedom of expression and am proud of those times when I have been one of a few members of Congress to oppose censorship. I still hold close to an absolutist position, but I have been tempted recently to make an exception, not by banning speech but by requiring it. I would be very happy if there was some way to make it a misdemeanor for people to talk about reducing the budget deficit without including a recommendation that we substantially cut military spending.

From Peace Action:

Thank you for taking action to block nuclear pork from the stimulus bill! Peace Action just learned that the $1 billion requested for nuclear weapons has been blocked thanks to the many people like you who took action.

Now we need to work to build up pressure on Congress to overcome the nuclear hawks who will continue to push to maintain, or even increase, our nuclear weapons spending. President Obama has committed to a world free of nuclear weapons, and re-opening talks with Russia to reinvigorate treaties for mutual disarmament.

*****

From ENS

'Nuclear Pork' Cut Out of Final Recovery and Reinvestment Package

Stopping the Military Van visit at a Los Angeles High School

Action Call to DC'rs: The public will have a chance to see and touch some of the Army's latest and greatest gear as the American Soldier Adventure Van makes two stops in the Washington, DC area in May.

The van will be on the National Mall in Washington, DC for Public Service Recognition Week May 10-13. The van will be open to visitors from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on May 10 and 11 and from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. May 12 and 13., The van will be part of a larger PEO Soldier display at the Joint Service Open House May 18-20 at Andrews Air Force Base, Md. (May 18 is for Department of Defense personnel only, with exhibits open to the public May 19 and 20.)

If you'd like to help organize an event to keep the van off the national mall, email.

Here's what activists in Los Angeles did:

San Diego Silences JROTC Guns

February 10, 2009 (see photos below) - San Diego Unified, located in the middle of one of the largest military complexes in the world, took the uncharacteristic step of banning rifle training conducted under the military's high school JROTC program. Eleven schools with rifle ranges were affected in the nation's eighth largest urban district.

Before the board meeting began, speakers representing local high schools and colleges addressed an outside crowd of 200 students, parents, teachers and community supporters. Some high schools sent so many students that two charter buses, courtesy of the AFSC, were used for transportation. Anticipating a long evening before the school board would discuss the rifle training issue, the Association of Raza Educators provided tamales to help sustain the crowd.

Believe it.

The question is being starkly framed now: Who runs this country?