Excerp: Truth of War - Page 8

Americans disguised in Arab Dress captured in the act of setting off a car bomb

Quds Press pointed out that about a month ago, the Iraqi puppet police in the southern Iraqi city of al-Basrah arrested two Britons whom they accused of attempting to cause an explosion in the city. The Britons were taken into custody by the Iraqi puppet police only to be broken out of prison by an assault of British occupation troops. That incident has created a tense relationship between the British and the local puppet authorities in al-Basrah, Quds Press noted.

http://prisonplanet.com/articles/october2005/151005US_terrorism.htm

More Highly Credible Whistle Blowers Identifying Global 'Al-Qaeda' Terrorism as State Controlled
Looking back at the Bali bombing and new whistleblowers

Paul Joseph Watson | October 18 2005

During an interview for an Australian documentary, former Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid unequivocally fingered the Indonesian authorities as the true culprits behind the 2002 Bali bombings.

Other sources used for the documentary were adamant that there were no Al-Qaeda affiliated terrorist groups in existence that were not controlled by intelligence agencies.

http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/october2005/181005statecontrolled.h
tm

Military Hides Cause of Women Soldiers' Deaths
Marjorie Cohn, t r u t h o u t



January 30, 2006

In a startling revelation, the former commander of Abu Ghraib prison testified that Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, former senior US military commander in Iraq, gave orders to cover up the cause of death for some female American soldiers serving in Iraq.

Last week, Col. Janis Karpinski told a panel of judges at the Commission of Inquiry for Crimes against Humanity Committed by the Bush Administration in New York that several women had died of dehydration because they refused to drink liquids late in the day. They were afraid of being assaulted or even raped by male soldiers if they had to use the women's latrine after dark.

http://www.uruknet.info/?p=m20112&l=i&size=1&hd=0

ACLU: New documents show senior officials approved Gitmo abuse

Raw story | February 24 2006

The American Civil Liberties Union released newly obtained documents Thursday showing that senior Defense Department officials approved aggressive interrogation techniques that FBI agents deemed abusive, ineffective and unlawful, RAW STORY has learned.

'We now possess overwhelming evidence that political and military leaders endorsed interrogation methods that violate both domestic and international law,' Jameel Jaffer, an attorney with the ACLU said in a release. 'It is entirely unacceptable that no senior official has been held accountable.'

The ACLU's release follows...

http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/february2006/240206abuse.htm
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Now, depending of the validity of this of course, since people have literally and admittedly been tortured to death in US custody, who knows how many or of their guilt or innocence of any wrong doing, regardless, this makes us criminals.

'We now possess overwhelming evidence that political and military leaders endorsed interrogation methods that violate both domestic and international law,'

Not just Bush and company are guilty here, they are simply OUR representatives.

These are criminal acts. Crimes against humanity even. Doesn't get much worse. All we need now to compete with all the "evil" people from history, is more numbers, and time to accumulate them.

We've been doing this since day one of the war, and I'm quite sure before that. Official war is always proceeded by covert operations. Regardless we already have a couple of YEARS under our belt of gathering, torturing, and even to the point of deaths, and I'm sure actual executions as well, mass or otherwise.

Meaning we have no idea just how many have been tortured or killed and probably never will since people just keep on letting this happen and supporting Bush and company and their secrecy.

Just an added point slightly off subject. I would love to know if anyone here believes the number of US casualties ever offered by the white house and the media.

If you have noticed, it doesn't change much anymore, hasn't for quite some time. Nor is it nearly as reported, regardless of what I'm sure is intentional innaccuracy.

SAS soldier quits Army in disgust at 'illegal' American tactics in Iraq
By Sean Rayment, Defence Correspondent
(Filed: 12/03/2006)

An SAS soldier has refused to fight in Iraq and has left the Army over the "illegal" tactics of United States troops and the policies of coalition forces.

He said he had witnessed "dozens of illegal acts" by US troops, claiming they viewed all Iraqis as "untermenschen" - the Nazi term for races regarded as sub-human.

Mr Griffin, 28, who spent two years with the SAS, said the American military's "gung-ho and trigger happy mentality" and tactics had completely undermined any chance of winning the hearts and minds of the Iraqi population. He added that many innocent civilians were arrested in night-time raids and interrogated by American soldiers, imprisoned in the notorious Abu Ghraib prison, or handed over to the Iraqi authorities and "most probably" tortured.

He expected to be labelled a coward and to face a court martial and imprisonment after making what "the most difficult decision of my life" last March.

Instead, he was discharged with a testimonial describing him as a "balanced, honest, loyal and determined individual who possesses the strength of character to have the courage of his convictions".

Last night Patrick Mercer, the shadow minister for homeland security, said: "Trooper Griffin is a highly experienced soldier. This makes his decision particularly disturbing and his views and opinions must be listened to by the Government."

The MoD declined to comment.

http://news.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/03/12/nsas12.
xml&sSheet=/news/2006/03/12/ixhome.html

White House Ordered Prisoners at Abu Ghraib Sodomized

http://prisonplanet.com/articles/april2006/080406Sodomized.htm

And some recent related news...

MSNBC report on US military secrets on sale in Afghanistan mentions new photographs of "individuals" who have been tortured and killed.

http://prisonplanet.com/articles/april2006/140406_b_photos.htm

'L.A. Times' Afghan Horror Story Confirmed by NBC

http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/april2006/140406horrorstory.htm

Snippets from top story...

Bush administration appointees have been keeping Maryland police particularly busy. A few weeks after White House domestic policy adviser Claude Allen was arrested for shoplifting from Target and Hecht's stores, Department of Homeland Security Brian Doyle, who worked overtime to justify his department's sky marshals' shooting an unarmed mentally disturbed airline passenger in the back at Miami International Airport, was arrested at his Silver Spring home on 23 counts relating to the solicitation of sex from an undercover Polk County, Florida detective posing as a 14-year old girl. In one of the photographs of himself that Doyle sent to the detective, his Department of Homeland Security security badge lanyard is clearly visible. Doyle also revealed to the detective that he worked at Homeland Security and provided his official office and cell phone numbers to her.

The news about Doyle broke after Clifton Bennett, the 19-year old son of Arizona's GOP Senate President Ken Bennett, was charged with sodomizing 18 boys who were between the ages of 11 and 14 at an Arizona youth camp. Bennett and a friend were charged with sodomizing the youths with broom sticks and flashlights. WMR has previously reported that similar abuse of underage teens at Abu Ghraib was videotaped and the tapes were made available to senior White House staff for "entertainment" purposes. The Taguba Report mentions that prisoners at Abu Ghraib were sodomized by glow sticks.


There is good reason for the embarrassment of the Pentagon in the affair. The orders to take the sexually-oriented photos and videos, some of which involve teenage Iraqi boys and girls and sodomization by their guards, came directly from a pedophile and closeted male homosexual ring operating in the White House, according to the intelligence sources. Copies of the tapes and photos were sent directly to the White House for the entertainment of senior members of the Bush White House, including officials in the Vice President's office and the Executive Office of the President.

When the photos at Abu Ghraib became public, the senior military command structure in Iraq "went nuts," according to an individual who witnessed the cover-up of the affair. "They ordered an immediate policy of denial about details of the prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib," said the source. The source added that senior officers were disgusted that lower ranking guards were prosecuted and jailed when the order for the mistreatment came directly from the White House
www.waynemadsenreport.com/

Saturday, April 15th 2006

We Pledge Allegiance To One Nation Under Bush

If a whole bunch of retired generals said get rid of your Defense Secretary - He's an idiot (HERE= http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,11069-2134803,00.html), and you were a president concerned about your poll ratings, you would agree with these generals and get rid of him, blame it all on him and get some fresh meat in that office so that you can be popular again and take advantage of the "political capital."

So why does the president time and time again insist on keeping Rumsfeld, defending him to his own peril. - (HERE= http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/14/washington/14cnd-military.html?_r=1&am
p;hp&ex=1145073600&en=cc1e2d1808d9b1c0&ei=5094&partner=ho
mepage&oref=slogin). Please don't tell me its integrity, if you're that naive I feel sorry for you.

That I know of, the press is not asking or not telling, obviously if Bush fired Rumsfeld, Rumsfeld might spill the beans on a whole lot of secrets of unpatriotic lies and deceit showing the world the real anti christ american TRAITOR Bush really is - it would be terrible because then the Republicans will have to defend him with every last bit of shit they have left, they can't have much left, while the Democrats pretend they didn't hear nothing so they can win in 2008 which kinda seems fishy to me. Why would letting Bush flush the constitution down the toilet ensure them a win? - (VOTE RIGGING). *shh don't tell no one - its a secret*

Did you think this was your country or something?

http://okcitykid.bravejournal.com/entry/20648

Torture widespread under U.S. custody: Amnesty

Richard Waddington / Reuters | May 3 2006

Torture and inhumane treatment are "widespread" in U.S.-run detention centers in Afghanistan, Iraq, Cuba and elsewhere despite Washington's denials, Amnesty International said on Wednesday.

http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=topNews&storyid=
2006-05-03T050706Z_01_L01670156_RTRUKOC_0_US-RIGHTS-AMNESTY.xml

Like so many things today that exist as shining examples of history repeating itself, here are some words from days past whose message is as equally important today as they were then.

They were written by a war hero, a reluctant one at that, but by the very war hero who was co-opted by the grandfather of our current president, along with other leading corporate and banker families mixing in government, in their attempt to assassinate the president of the day in their plan to create a fascist dictatorship in America, before this war hero stopped them dead in their tracks, at least from an overt attempt.

History is showing that he may have slowed that process, but it appears it is in full swing again, thanks to the grand child (and of course many others) of what many, if educated on the facts, would describe as an evil man.

I highly recommend reading the full writing to fully grasp the concept, its context, and its timeless poignancy.

He presents some of the best ideas I've heard in curbing the military industrial mentality that we are allowing to consume us and the entire world.

So from the mouth of one Smedley Darlington Butler, a hero in more ways than one, here is his "War Is A Racket"

http://lexrex.com/enlightened/articles/warisaracket.htm

Thanks - that is good. I added it to my new web site, the oklahoma city chapter of veterans for peace.

Excerpt: False Flag Operations: Declassified Military Documents Show How US Government Planned Terrorist Attacks Against its Own Citizens Thu Sep 7, 3:00 AM ET

New York, NY (PRWEB) September 7th, 2006 – As reported by ABC News, stunning military documents codenamed "Operation Northwoods" were declassified in recent years and show how in 1962, the top US military leaders planned an operation to create terror attacks against its own cities and kill US citizens. See: http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=92662&page=1

The documents state that through the fabrication of false evidence, the US would blame Cuba and gain public support for an unpopular war against Castro. They included developing a fake Communist Cuban terror campaign in the Miami area, the use of airplanes, and much more.

For further details, the now declassified military documents are available at the National Security Archive of the George Washington University: http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/news/20010430/

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/prweb/20060907/bs_prweb/prw
eb434292_2

Excerpt:

IDF commander: We fired more than a million cluster bombs in Lebanon

Meron Rappaport / Haaretz | September 13 2006

"What we did was insane and monstrous, we covered entire towns in cluster bombs," the head of an IDF rocket unit in Lebanon said regarding the use of cluster bombs and phosphorous shells during the war.

Quoting his battalion commander, the rocket unit head stated that the IDF fired around 1,800 cluster bombs, containing over 1.2 million cluster bomblets.

In addition, soldiers in IDF artillery units testified that the army used phosphorous shells during the war, widely forbidden by international law. According to their claims, the vast majority of said explosive ordinance was fired in the final 10 days of the war.

The rocket unit commander stated that Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS) platforms were heavily used in spite of the fact that they were known to be highly inaccurate.

MLRS is a track or tire carried mobile rocket launching platform, capable of firing a very high volume of mostly unguided munitions. The basic rocket fired by the platform is unguided and imprecise, with a range of about 32 kilometers. The rockets are designed to burst into sub-munitions at a planned altitude in order to blanket enemy army and personnel on the ground with smaller explosive rounds.

The use of such weaponry is controversial mainly due to its inaccuracy and ability to wreak great havoc against indeterminate targets over large areas of territory, with a margin of error of as much as 1,200 meters from the intended target to the area hit.

The cluster rounds which don't detonate on impact, believed by the United Nations to be around 40% of those fired by the IDF in Lebanon, remain on the ground as unexploded munitions, effectively littering the landscape with thousands of land mines which will continue to claim victims long after the war has ended.

Because of their high level of failure to detonate, it is believed that there are around 500,000 unexploded munitions on the ground in Lebanon. To date 12 Lebanese civilians have been killed by these mines since the end of the war.

According to the commander, in order to compensate for the inaccuracy of the rockets and the inability to strike individual targets precisely, units would "flood" the battlefield with munitions, accounting for the littered and explosive landscape of post-war Lebanon.

When his reserve duty came to a close, the commander in question sent a letter to Defense Minister Amir Peretz outlining the use of cluster munitions, a letter which has remained unanswered.

'Excessive injury and unnecessary suffering'

It has come to light that IDF soldiers fired phosphorous rounds in order to cause fires in Lebanon. An artillery commander has admitted to seeing trucks loaded with phosphorous rounds on their way to artillery crews in the north of Israel.

A direct hit from a phosphorous shell typically causes severe burns and a slow, painful death.

International law forbids the use of weapons that cause "excessive injury and unnecessary suffering", and many experts are of the opinion that phosphorous rounds fall directly in that category.

The International Red Cross has determined that international law forbids the use of phosphorous and other types of flammable rounds against personnel, both civilian and military.

IDF: No violation of international law
In response, the IDF Spokesman's Office stated that "International law does not include a sweeping prohibition of the use of cluster bombs. The convention on conventional weaponry does not declare a prohibition on [phosphorous weapons], rather, on principles regulating the use of such weapons.

"For understandable operational reasons, the IDF does not respond to [accounts of] details of weaponry in its possession.

"The IDF makes use only of methods and weaponry which are permissible under international law. Artillery fire in general, including MLRS fire, were used in response solely to firing on the state of Israel."

The Defense Minister's office said it had not received messages regarding cluster bomb fire.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/761781.html

Excerpt: Pat Tillman's Brother Speaks Out

Kevin Tillman / Truthdig | October 20 2006

Editor's note: Kevin Tillman joined the Army with his brother Pat in 2002, and they served together in Iraq and Afghanistan. Pat was killed in Afghanistan on April 22, 2004. Kevin, who was discharged in 2005, has written a powerful, must-read document.

It is Pat's birthday on November 6, and elections are the day after. It gets me thinking about a conversation I had with Pat before we joined the military. He spoke about the risks with signing the papers. How once we committed, we were at the mercy of the American leadership and the American people. How we could be thrown in a direction not of our volition. How fighting as a soldier would leave us without a voice... until we get out.

Much has happened since we handed over our voice:

Somehow we were sent to invade a nation because it was a direct threat to the American people, or to the world, or harbored terrorists, or was involved in the September 11 attacks, or received weapons-grade uranium from Niger, or had mobile weapons labs, or WMD, or had a need to be liberated, or we needed to establish a democracy, or stop an insurgency, or stop a civil war we created that can't be called a civil war even though it is. Something like that.

Somehow our elected leaders were subverting international law and humanity by setting up secret prisons around the world, secretly kidnapping people, secretly holding them indefinitely, secretly not charging them with anything, secretly torturing them. Somehow that overt policy of torture became the fault of a few 'bad apples' in the military.

Somehow back at home, support for the soldiers meant having a five-year-old kindergartener scribble a picture with crayons and send it overseas, or slapping stickers on cars, or lobbying Congress for an extra pad in a helmet. It's interesting that a soldier on his third or fourth tour should care about a drawing from a five-year-old; or a faded sticker on a car as his friends die around him; or an extra pad in a helmet, as if it will protect him when an IED throws his vehicle 50 feet into the air as his body comes apart and his skin melts to the seat.

Somehow the more soldiers that die, the more legitimate the illegal invasion becomes.

Somehow American leadership, whose only credit is lying to its people and illegally invading a nation, has been allowed to steal the courage, virtue and honor of its soldiers on the ground.

Somehow those afraid to fight an illegal invasion decades ago are allowed to send soldiers to die for an illegal invasion they started.

Somehow faking character, virtue and strength is tolerated.

Somehow profiting from tragedy and horror is tolerated.

Somehow the death of tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of people is tolerated.

Somehow subversion of the Bill of Rights and The Constitution is tolerated.

Somehow suspension of Habeas Corpus is supposed to keep this country safe.

Somehow torture is tolerated.

Somehow lying is tolerated.

Somehow reason is being discarded for faith, dogma, and nonsense.

Somehow American leadership managed to create a more dangerous world.

Somehow a narrative is more important than reality.

Somehow America has become a country that projects everything that it is not and condemns everything that it is.

Somehow the most reasonable, trusted and respected country in the world has become one of the most irrational, belligerent, feared, and distrusted countries in the world.

Somehow being politically informed, diligent, and skeptical has been replaced by apathy through active ignorance.

Somehow the same incompetent, narcissistic, virtueless, vacuous, malicious criminals are still in charge of this country.

Somehow this is tolerated.

Somehow nobody is accountable for this.

In a democracy, the policy of the leaders is the policy of the people. So don't be shocked when our grandkids bury much of this generation as traitors to the nation, to the world and to humanity. Most likely, they will come to know that 'somehow' was nurtured by fear, insecurity and indifference, leaving the country vulnerable to unchecked, unchallenged parasites.

Luckily this country is still a democracy. People still have a voice. People still can take action. It can start after Pat's birthday.

Is this country a democracy? How does voting for some poltical person into office constitute our government being a democracy?

I was looking at another thread . . . http://www.captaincynic.com/thread/68028/depleted_uranium.htm#68052 Capitalism or Democracy? Government serving the people . . . funny thing how War is great for the economy thus serves the people, right?
I was brouwsing the TV channels & oted a section advocating our government spending on developing our military arsenal, ya right to profit. The Pentagon profits & expands the demand for War technology, private sector profits from government expences for the developement (research) & suppling the armed forces. Hey, if it is alright for these people to profit so should the soldiers? Their cost isn't an intellectual property, nor is it their production quotes for manufacturing, it is something far more precious & fleeting. So why should they not profit more, should not they receive payment at least equal to civilian contractors &/or mercernaries? I mean what is fair is fair, they should receive equal profit as do others, after all it is their lives that are being put on the line & it is their future that is being put at risk!
So they should profit just as much as those civilians who provide the means & methods of War!