ARTICLES

Red Cross Described 'Torture' at CIA Jails
Secret Report Implies That U.S. Violated International Law

By Joby Warrick, Peter Finn and Julie Tate, Washington Post Staff Writers

The International Committee of the Red Cross concluded in a secret report that the Bush administration's treatment of al-Qaeda captives "constituted torture," a finding that strongly implied that CIA interrogation methods violated international law, according to newly published excerpts from the long-concealed 2007 document.

.......read and or listen to this report for yourself here

Military Suicide Rate Hits 30-Year High
News & Notes , February 17, 2009
National Public Radio

Last year, the suicide rate among U.S. soldiers reached its highest in three decades. This January alone, 24 soldiers took their own lives — that's more than the total number of combat casualties for that same time period.

.......read and or listen to this report for yourself here

US Soldiers Investigated Over 'Fraud' Bigger Than Madoff
By Patrick Cockburn in northern Iraq
Monday, 16 February 2009

The exact sum missing may never be clear, but a report by the US Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR) suggests it may exceed $50bn, making it an even bigger theft than Bernard Madoff's notorious Ponzi scheme.

.......read this report for yourself here

Former Gitmo Guard Tells All
By SCOTT HORTON
New Yorker Magazine, February 15, 2009

He details their sexual abuse by medical personnel, torture by other medical personnel, brutal beatings out of frustration, fear, and retribution, the first hunger strike and its causes, torturous shackling, positional torture, interference with religious practices and beliefs, verbal abuse, restriction of recreation, the behavior of mentally ill detainees, an isolation regime that was put in place for child-detainees, and his conversations with prisoners David Hicks and Rhuhel Ahmed. It makes for fascinating reading.

.......read this report for yourself here

RECRUITING STAND-DOWN ORDERED
Probe of Houston suicides prompts wide-ranging action
Posted: Thursday Jan 29, 2009 ARMYTIMES.com

The Army is shutting down its entire recruiting operation in the wake of four suicides, Army Times reports.

There were 17 suicides within Recruiting Command between fiscal years 2001 and 2008, said Col. Michael Negard, a Training and Doctrine Command spokesman. There were more than 500 suicides by active-duty soldiers across the Army from Jan. 1, 2003, through Aug. 31, according to data from the Army G-1. Another 31 cases were pending final determination, as of Aug. 31. The Army’s suicide rate increased from 12.4 for every 100,000 soldiers in 2003 to 18.1 in 2007, an all-time high for the service. Nationwide, the suicide rate for every 100,000 people was 19.5 in 2005, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

.......read this report for yourself here

›››  No Hard Evidence Connecting Bin Laden to 9/11

Osama bin Laden’s role in the events of September 11, 2001 is not mentioned on the FBI’s “Ten Most Wanted” poster. On June 5, 2006, author Ed Haas contacted the Federal Bureau of Investigation headquarters to ask why, while claiming that bin Laden is wanted in connection with the August 1998 bombings of US Embassies in Tanzania and Kenya, the poster does not indicate that he is wanted in connection with the events of 9/11.

Rex Tomb, Chief of Investigative Publicity for the FBI responded, “The reason why 9/11 is not mentioned on Osama bin Laden’s Most Wanted page is because the FBI has no hard evidence connecting bin Laden to 9/11.” Tomb continued, “Bin Laden has not been formally charged in connection to 9/11.” Asked to explain the process, Tomb responded, “The FBI gathers evidence. Once evidence is gathered, it is turned over to the Department of Justice. The Department of Justice then decides whether it has enough evidence to present to a federal grand jury. In the case of the 1998 United States Embassies being bombed, bin Laden has been formally indicted and charged by a grand jury. He has not been formally indicted and charged in connection with 9/11 because the FBI has no hard evidence connecting bin Laden to 9/11.”

.......read this report for yourself here

Bush Says Saddam Hussein Was Not Connected to 9/11
written by Gary Benoit
Monday, 08 December 2008

Addressing the Saban Forum on December 5, President George W. Bush stated: "It is true, as I've said many times, that Saddam Hussein was not connected to the 9/11 attacks."

Really? Well, Bush has acknowledged in the past that Saddam Hussein did not attack us on 9/11. For example, in response to a question on September 17, 2003, Bush stated: "We've had no evidence that Saddam Hussein was involved with the September 11th [attacks]."
.......continue this article here

No Habeas Corpus for “Any Person”

With the approval of Congress and no outcry from corporate media, the Military Commissions Act (MCA) signed by Bush on October 17, 2006, ushered in military commission law for US citizens and non-citizens alike. While media, including a lead editorial in the New York Times October 19, have given false comfort that we, as American citizens, will not be the victims of the draconian measures legalized by this Act—such as military roundups and life-long detention with no rights or constitutional protections—Robert Parry points to text in the MCA that allows for the institution of a military alternative to the constitutional justice system for “any person” regardless of American citizenship. The MCA effectively does away with habeas corpus rights for “any person” arbitrarily deemed to be an “enemy of the state.” The judgment on who is deemed an “enemy combatant” is solely at the discretion of President Bush.

.......read this report for yourself here

CNN tells you what you won’t see on CNN

Gaza: What Arabs are watching. CNN's Octavia Nasr reports on how Arab media is covering the conflict in Gaza. Graphic images, viewer discretion advised.
.......watch this report for yourself here

U.S. Weaponry Facilitates Killings in Gaza
By Thalif Deen January 09, 2009 "IPS"

The devastating Israeli firepower, unleashed largely on Palestinian civilians in Gaza during two weeks of fighting, is the product of advanced U.S. military technology. The U.S. weapons systems used by the Israelis -- including F-16 fighter planes, Apache helicopters, tactical missiles and a wide array of munitions -- have been provided by Washington mostly as outright military grants.
.......continue this report here

Ban on foreign journalists skews coverage of conflict
* Chris McGreal in Jerusalem  * The Guardian, Saturday 10 January 2009

Throughout the two-week bombardment of the Gaza Strip most journalists have been kept out by the Israeli government on the pretext of security. And the Israelis are pleased with the results.
.......continue this report here

Peace, Propaganda and the Promised Land:
U.S. Media & the Israel-Palestine Conflict

Peace, Propaganda & the Promised Land provides a striking comparison of U.S. and international media coverage of the crisis in the Middle East, zeroing in on how structural distortions in U.S. coverage have reinforced false perceptions of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. This pivotal documentary exposes how the foreign policy interests of American political elites--oil, and a need to have a secure military base in the region, among others--work in combination with Israeli public relations strategies to exercise a powerful influence over how news from the region is reported.

.......watch this video here

Unrest Caused by Bad Economy May Require Military Action, Report Says
Monday 29 December 2008 by: Diana Washington Valdez, El Paso Times

El Paso - A U.S. Army War College report warns an economic crisis in the United States could lead to massive civil unrest and the need to call on the military to restore order.
.......read about this here
Download the full report from the US Army War College here:
Known Unknowns: Unconventional "Strategic Shocks" in Defense Strategy Development 

Oklahoma City war veteran accused of selling bombs to gang members
By Johnny Johnson,  Published: December 25, 2008

Police spent the day searching the house of a decorated, two-tour Iraq war veteran on Tuesday to investigate a tip that the former soldier was said to have been making explosive devices to sell to gang members, according to a probable cause affidavit.
.......read about this here

Republican IT Specialist Dies in Plane Crash
December 22, 2008; Democracy Now! broadcast

A top Republican internet strategist who was set to testify in a case alleging election tampering in 2004 in Ohio has died in a plane crash. Michael Connell was the chief IT consultant to Karl Rove and created websites for the Bush and McCain electoral campaigns. Michael Connell was deposed one day before the election this year by attorneys Cliff Arnebeck and Bob Fitrakis about his actions during the 2004 vote count in Ohio and his access to Karl Rove’s email files and how they went missing. [includes rush transcript]

What haven't we heared about this in the mainstream news?
.......watch, listen, or read this broadcast

'September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows Continue Advocacy for Victims of US Attacks on Iraq, Afghanistan
September 11, 2008; Democracy Now! broadcast

Nearly seven years ago, a group of family members of those killed on Sept. 11 united to advocate for a nonviolent response to the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon. Since then, members of September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows have traveled to Iraq, Afghanistan and other conflict areas to meet with the victims of the Bush administration’s so-called war on terror. We speak to Terry Rockefeller, who has just returned from her second trip to Iraq. Terry’s sister Laura died on 9/11 at the World Trade Center. [includes rush transcript]
.......watch, listen, or read this broadcast

'I Was Still Holding my Grandson's Hand - The Rest Was Gone'
December 16, 2008 "The Guardian"

In the second of our series of dispatches from the ravaged country, Afghans explain how mounting civilian casualties are aiding Taliban recruiting
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US Troops Open Fire On Fallujah Students at Shoe Rally
Posted Wednesday, December 17 2008

Separate Incident Reported at Baghdad Bridge as Public Increasingly Shows Unrest
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Federal Report Finds $100B Failure in US Reconstruction of Iraq
A Democracy Now! Report
Wednesday, 17 December 2008

An unpublished federal report has concluded the US reconstruction effort in Iraq has been a $100 billion failure. It found that the rebuilding has not done much more than restore what was destroyed during the invasion and the looting that followed. We speak to journalist T. Christian Miller of the investigative website ProPublica, who obtained a copy of the report. [includes rush transcript]
.......continue this article here

A Crisis of Conscience: Conscientious Objection, Law and Morality
Tuesday 09 December 2008
by: Camillo "Mac" Bica, Ph.D., t r u t h o u t | Perspective

Based on moral convictions, soldiers can decide to be discharged as Conscientious Objectors. Upon the realization that their primary function is to wage war and kill other human beings, some soldiers [1], pursuant to the dictates of their consciences, refuse to fight and apply for discharge from military service as a Conscientious Objector
.......continue this article here

Bush/Exxon Oil buddies fund 90% of US killed in Iraq [VIDEO]

Even if we were to take the Bush admin at its (now retracted) word and connected Iran to the Shiite insurgency, it'd still be Saudi Arabia, the nation that just happens to let us have at their oil.
.......continue this article here

The Poverty Draft:
Unemployed and Hungry in the US
- a 6 Minute Video Report -

Jobless numbers highest in 15 years, food stamp users hit record 31.6 million or 1 in 10 Americans
.......view the video and a brief article here

Challenging the myths of the "good war"
Analysis: Eric Ruder
Posted on Dec 4, 2008

Eric Ruder talks to veterans of the war on Afghanistan about why they want the U.S. to end its occupation.
.......Continue the article here

Confronting the Terrorist Within
By Chris Hedges
Posted on Dec 1, 2008

The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, when viewed from the receiving end, are state-sponsored acts of terrorism. These wars defy every ethical and legal code that seek to determine when a nation can wage war, from Just War Theory to the statutes of international law largely put into place by the United States after World War II. These wars are criminal wars of aggression.
.......Continue the article here

On This Veterans Day
by: Camillo "Mac" Bica, t r u t h o u t | Perspective
November 11th, 2008

Many march to remember, others to forget. But for those who truly know war, no parade is necessary to help us remember, as the memories of war are with us every day of our lives, haunting our existences. Nor does marching in a parade help us put to rest the turmoil of a life interrupted and impacted by war, or forget the dying and the killing. Parades accomplish nothing other than to allow those who make war easily or who ignore completely its reality and horror to feign support and appreciation and to relieve their collective guilt for immoral war.
.......Continue the article here

'Soldier Suicide' Epidemic Continues in Iraq --
This One Was Still a Teen
Posted June 23, 2008 | 10:54 AM (EST)

His family questions the idea of suicide. As I reported here two days ago another family, this one in Texas, was told last year that their daughter was killed by friendly fire, and it turned out to be murder. But incidents of murder and friendly fire have been relatively rare in Iraq, while the suicides toll is now in the hundreds.
.......Continue the article here

Why is a U.S. Army brigade being assigned to the "Homeland"?'
Posted WEDNESDAY SEPT. 24, 2008 12:26 EDT
by Glenn Greenwald

Several bloggers today have pointed to this obviously disturbing article from Army Times, which announces that "beginning Oct. 1 for 12 months, the [1st Brigade Combat Team of the 3rd Infantry Division] will be under the day-to-day control of U.S. Army North" -- "the first time an active unit has been given a dedicated assignment to NorthCom, a joint command established in 2002 to provide command and control for federal homeland defense efforts and coordinate defense support of civil authorities." The article details:
.......Continue the article here

Afghanistan now 15X deadlier than Iraq
Wed Sep 24, 2008 at 12:52:56 PM EDT
by: Brandon Friedman

Nobody wants to break the loss of human life down into simple statistics, but it's often necessary to highlight just what exactly is going on. First, consider that one year ago--last September--the hostile fire death rates in Iraq and Afghanistan were roughly equal. But now, in terms of hostile fire death rates, what was once seen as the "safer" theater, Afghanistan has now exploded to the point that it's nearly 15 times more dangerous for American troops than Iraq.

This data is for the last 15 days: .......Continue the article here

Another Iraq Vet, Haunted by the War, Hangs Himself
Posted June 3, 2008 | 10:19 AM (EST)

In recent months, the issue of suicides among troops in Iraq, and returnees at home, has -- after long being ignored -- earned wide attention in the U.S. press. Many newspapers have documented tragic examples in their own backyards, the only way they can really get recognized at all, and I have been documenting this in my writings here and elsewhere, and in my new book, for almost five years.
.......Continue the article here

US soldiers accidentally kill Sunni leader in Iraq
By KIM GAMEL, Associated Press Writer | Tuesday, September 23, 2008

(09-23) 12:07 PDT BAGHDAD, (AP) -- American soldiers accidentally shot and killed the leader of a local U.S.-allied Sunni group Tuesday after coming under attack in a volatile area north of Baghdad, the military said.
.......Continue the article here

A SOLDIER'S TRAGIC TALE: A victim of the war within
By LINDSAY WISE | Houston Chronicle
May 18, 2008, 7:35AM

Army recruiter Nils Aron Andersson sat behind the wheel of his brand-new Ford F-150, firing round after round into the truck's CD player and radio with a .22-caliber semiautomatic pistol. Spent cartridges littered the seats and floorboards, along with a paper pharmacy bag holding a prescription for the antidepressant Lexapro.

When Andersson killed himself on March 6, 2007, he became one of at least 16 ARMY RECRUITERS TO COMMIT SUICIDE NATIONWIDE SINCE 2000. Five of those suicides occurred in Texas, including three at the Houston Recruiting Battalion, where Andersson worked after serving two tours of duty in Iraq.
.......Continue reading this article here

How post-invasion Iraq came to be awash in 'missing' guns
By Inter Press Service | Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Sep 23, 2008 14:12 EST

SAN FRANCISCO: Clandestine gun suppliers, funded by the US and Iraqi governments, have flooded Iraq with a million weapons since 2003, a new Amnesty International investigation has found. Because of faulty or non-existent tracking systems, many of those guns have gone missing, and some have turned up in the hands of insurgents.
.......Continue the article here

Soldiers of Conscience
By Catherine Ryan and Gary Weimberg

When is it right to kill? In the midst of war, is it right to refuse? Eight U.S. soldiers, some who have killed and some who said no, reveal their inner moral dilemmas in "Soldiers of Conscience." Made with official permission of the U.S. Army, the film transcends politics to explore the tension between spiritual values and military orders. Soldiers follows the stories of both conscientious objectors and those who criticize them. Through this clash of views, the film discovers a surprising common ground: All soldiers are "soldiers of conscience," torn between the demands of duty and the call of conscience.
.......View short preview video here

VA Conceals Vet Suicide Figures From CBS To Downplay ‘Epidemic In Suicide’
CBS News Investigation | April 21, 2008

Today, CBS News reports that the VA apparently concealed veteran suicide statistics, and fed the news organization faulty data for a story on the issue. The VA told CBS that there were 790 attempted suicides in all of 2007. Yet shortly after, the VA’s head of Mental Health, Dr. Ira Katz, wrote in an e-mail to the VA’s top media adviser that there were “about 1,000 suicide attempts per month among veterans we see in our medical facilities.”
.......Continue reading here

Sept. 11 suspect grills U.S. judge on religion
Randall Mikkelsen | Reuters North American News Service
Sep 23, 2008 14:12 EST

GUANTANAMO BAY U.S. NAVAL BASE, Cuba - Accused Sept. 11 plotter Khalid Sheikh Mohammed asked a U.S. military judge at the Guantanamo war crimes court Tuesday whether he was a member of an "extremist" American religious group.
.......Continue the story here

9/11 Defendant Would Like to See Secret Evidence Before He's Executed
By Carol Rosenberg | The Miami Herald

At least four of the men want to defend themselves. Kohlmann has been warning them that, even as their own lawyers, they can't see or challenge classified evidence until their trial.
.......Continue the story here

Welcome Home Soldier: Now Shut Up!
By By Paul Rockwell

“Now listen. You won’t believe this. I got done and nobody said a word. No applause. Nothing. Then this skinny old fart shaped like a cold chisel gets up and says he’s a retired colonel, and he thinks we should keep on pounding those little yellow bastards until they do what we say or we kill ‘em all, and he tells me I can’t be a real veteran because a real veteran wouldn’t go around badmouthing the good old U.S. of A., and the whole place erupts in thunderous applause.”
.......Continue the story here

New High In U.S. Prison Numbers
By N.C. Aizenman Washington Post Staff Writer, Friday, February 29, 2008; Page A01

With more than 2.3 million people behind bars, the United States leads the world in both the number and percentage of residents it incarcerates, leaving far-more-populous China a distant second,
.......Continue the story here

The Myth of the Media's Role in Vietnam
By Jeff Cohen, Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting, May 2001

Of the many myths that mushroomed from the carnage of the Vietnam War perhaps none is more specious than the fable about how a bold, aggressive mainstream media turned America against the war. As the pundit class sinks into a new quagmire debating former Sen. Bob Kerrey's Vietnam mission, it's a good time to dissect the myth.
.......Continue the story here

More Americans Fear Losing Their Health Insurance
Than Being in a Terrorist Attack
By Ezra Klein, The American Prospect. Posted May 21, 2008.

An October 2007 Kaiser Family Foundation poll found that more Americans were "very worried" about being priced out of their health insurance than feared losing their job, their house, or being in a terrorist attack. And with good reason: Premiums have gone up 98 percent since 2000. Wages have not.
...Continue reading this article here

Pentagon Reverses Position and Admits U.S. Troops
Used White Phosphorus Against Iraqis in Fallujah
Democracy Now!, originally broadcast on November 17, 2005.

The U.S. government has now admitted its troops used white phosphorus as an incendiary weapon against Iraqis during the assault on Fallujah a year ago. Chemical weapons experts say such attacks are in violation of international law banning the use of chemical weapons. We speak with columnist George Monbiot and the news director of RAI TV, the Italian TV network that produced the film “Fallujah: The Hidden Massacre.” ....
...watch the video or listen to audio of this broadcast here [includes rush transcript]

How Politicians and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death

Just recently, it was revealed that the Pentagon was placing retired military officers as "consultants" on television to recite the pro-war line in the run-up to the invasion of Iraq – and you can bet they're doing the same thing to gin up a war with Iran..
Watch the video here on our web site
.....Continue reading this article here

The Truth About Veteran Suicides
By Aaron Glantz - Foreign Policy in Focus - Posted Friday 09 May 2008

Shh! begins one e-mail from Dr. Ira Katz, the head of the VAs Mental Health Division, advising a media spokesperson not to tell CBS News that 1,000 veterans receiving care at the VA try to kill themselves every month.
.......Continue the story here

Pentagon’s Pundits: A Look at the Defense Department’s Propaganda Program
Democracy Now! Broadcasted on Tuesday, April 22, 2008

The New York Times has revealed new details on how the Pentagon recruited more than seventy-five retired military officers to appear on TV outlets as so-called military analysts ahead of the Iraq war to portray Iraq as an urgent threat. The Times reported the Pentagon continues to use the analysts in a propaganda campaign to generate favorable news coverage of the administration’s wartime performance. We speak with Col. Sam Gardiner (Ret.) and Peter Hart of Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting. [includes rush transcript]
.......Continue the story on the Democracy Now! web site

What did you sacrifice for the war?
Bush Says Gave up Golf in Solidarity With Iraq Dead

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - “I feel I owe it to the families to be as -- to be in solidarity as best as I can with them. And I think playing golf during a war just sends the wrong signal,” he said.

A Picture Worth A Thousand Words: Newspaper Criticized For Publishing Photo
By Helen Thomas, Hearst White House columnist - May 7, 2008

Some Americans believe the media were to blame for the U.S. defeat in Vietnam. Nonsense.
Read more here

Insidious disease of war is behind many military suicides
By AL MARTINEZ - Los Angeles Times - Posted May 5, 2008

Recent reports from Iraq and Afghanistan bring to mind a sad case from Korea.
Read more here

Dying for Coverage: 8 Californians Die Each Day Due to Lack of Health Care
New State Reports from Families USA March – April 2008

The number of uninsured Americans reached 47 million in 2006, and it continues to rise. For many of the uninsured, the lack of health insurance has dire consequences. The uninsured face medical debt, often go without necessary care, and even die prematurely. Across the United States, in 2006, twice as many people died from lack of health insurance as died from homicide.
Get Your State Report Here

Pentagon Propaganda: So Much Worse Than We Thought
By John Stauber and Sheldon Rampton, PR Watch. Posted April 25, 2008

The Bush Administration has spent millions on deceptive PR to sell the war, as recently documented in the New York Times. Where's the fallout?
Read more here

Behind TV Analysts, Pentagon’s Hidden Hand
By Michael Doyle | McClatchy Newspapers

The abrupt collapse of ATA Airlines has left an untold number of U.S. soldiers, sailors and Marines stuck in Iraqi and Afghan airports while they await a ride home.
Read more here, here and here.
See our page here for a video on this subject.

Half of Vets Suffering Brain and Mind Injuries Go Untreated, But Pentagon Pretends Nothing's Going on
By Penny Coleman, AlterNet. Posted April 29, 2008

An activist travels to the DoD's annual suicide prevention conference, only to find the military brass living in a parallel universe.
Read more here

Union Shuts West Coast Ports in Antiwar Protest
by Eric Garris

The International Longshore and Warehouse Union - ILWU, brought all ports on the US west coast to a halt in a one-day protest against the US occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan.

“Longshore workers are standing down on the job and standing up for America,” said ILWU International President Bob McEllrath. “We’re supporting the troops and telling politicians in Washington that it’s time to end the war in Iraq.”
Read more here and here

Airline's Bankruptcy Strands U.S. Troops in Middle East
By Michael Doyle | McClatchy Newspapers

The abrupt collapse of ATA Airlines has left an untold number of U.S. soldiers, sailors and Marines stuck in Iraqi and Afghan airports while they await a ride home.
Read more here

Saudi Royals Snub Bush, Fund Opposition to U.S. Troops
By Jeffrey Klein and Paolo Pontoniere, New America Media

Saudi Arabia, fearful of a nuclear Iran and a Shiite Iraq, is taking steps to influence U.S. policy in Iraq. The kingdom may also be building its own nuclear program.
Read more here

“We Think the Price Is Worth It”
Media uncurious about Iraq policy's effects - there or here
By Rahul Mahajan, Extra! November/December 2001

Lesley Stahl on U.S. sanctions against Iraq: “We have heard that a half million children have died. I mean, that's more children than died in Hiroshima. And, you know, is the price worth it?”

Secretary of State Madeleine Albright: “I think this is a very hard choice, but the price--we think the price is worth it.”

--60 Minutes (5/12/96) Read more here

Pentagon, Big Pharma: Drug Troops to Numb Them to Horrors of War
By Penny Coleman, AlterNet. Posted January 10, 2008

The DoD is flirting with the idea of medicating soldiers to desensitize them to combat trauma -- will an army of unfeeling monsters result?
Read more here

935 False Statements Led U.S. to War in Iraq

President Bush and seven of his top officials made at least 935 false statements in the two years following 9/11 about the national security threat posed by Saddam Hussein's Iraq. That's the finding of an exhaustive investigation by the non-partisan Center for Public Integrity which showed an orchestrated campaign of misinformation marked the march to war.
(Read the report here)