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POPSInheriting Halliburton's Army In the last eight years, many of the tasks formerly associated with the U.S. military have been privatized and outsourced in a wholesale way—from guard duty for U.S. diplomats to peeling potatoes and delivering the mail, not to speak of building and maintaining the U.S. bases that now dot the Middle East and Afghanistan. Without its private crony corporations, the Pentagon might, in fact, be on something like life support.
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POPSLet the Coffins Be Seen Supporters of the Iraq war have long argued that media images of the fallen are nothing more than political statements But suppressing these images is the more blatant political ploy. The ban by the first President Bush was especially handy for his son after it became excruciatingly clear that his mission was far from accomplished in Iraq. Instead of manipulating the media for political purposes, the US should honor the freedom its service members fight for Why not trust the American people to make up their own minds about the meaning of those flag-draped coffins? Obama indicated at his news conference last week that he is considering lifting the ban.
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POPSClose Guantanamo, Yes. Prosecute the Detainees, Absolutely
Don’t let this ‘symbol of mismanagement and overreach’ become the making of another symbol. That being that in the rush to cleanse ourselves of the atrocities of the Bush administration we allow terrorists to go free. Jamil Dakwar, a representative for the American Civil Liberties Union at the base, said the ACLU believes all charges against the prisoners should be dropped. Jamil Dakwar is a moron. Why should Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the confessed organizer of the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington, go free after his responsibility in killing over 3,000 Americans? This is the major problem I have with the ACLU. They would rather Americans ‘forgive’ him his murderous actions by turning the other cheek, to allow him and terrorists like him to strike that cheek as well. The ACLU needs to balance its pursuit of the protection of human rights for the living with demanding justice for the victims of people like Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.
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POPSHamas war crimes: the CNN strategy The use of human shields, in the way Hamas uses the civilian population of Gaza, is a war crime. Every human shield that is killed by Israeli self-defense measures is the responsibility of Hamas, but you wouldn't know that from watching the media coverage. The media is being manipulated. Hamas declared war on Israel calling for its complete destruction and is interpreting protest against Israel as pro-Palestinian and therefore are emboldened to continue fighting. The author of this report is decidedly pro-Israel, but the fact remains that Israel is using their technologically advanced military against what amounts to sticks and stones, by comparison. This situation is the result of Israel forcing Palestinians to live in a cramped strip of land and blockading food and medical supplies into the area. When Hamas fired their unsophisticated rockets at Israel as protest, Israel fought back with a lopsided and heavy-handed offense. This is what the world is protesting against.
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POPSWhy is the U.S. Military Preparing for Civil Disorder? They are anticipating riots in the streets over the economy. But it could be because or freedoms are beginning to be restricted. Now there is news that Homeland Security plans to start monitoring blogs and message boards all over the United States for any signs of suspicious activity. http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2008-12-23-terrorblogs_N.htm?csp=34 Does that include criticizing the government? We have a long history of voicing our opinion against our government officials, and we are not going to give that up that right without a fight. The prospect of military roaming our streets as they do in our airports is distasteful and it will trigger even more protest. Civil disobedience may have been instrumental in formally creating America but it is the people who use civil disobedience as a cover to loot stores and homes that worry me just as much as my fellow Americans pointing their military issue weapons at me for protesting what they are doing.
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POPSBurma 'Dirty List' Grows Longer Profits still count for more than Human Rights. The Burmese regime spends half its budget on the military and just 1.4% of GDP on health and education, less than half that spent by the next poorest country in Asia. Burma is the only country in Asia whose defense budget is greater than that of health and education combined. As a consequence Burma has the 4th highest child mortality rate in the world.
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POPSBlackwater Victims and Americans Need Justice I sincerely hope that the families of these innocent people, gunned down by an arrogant Blackwater private security force, will get justice. The American people need to know that our military will not condone the actions of a few ‘hired guns’. Actions by this administration have severely damaged the hard fought-for respect that our fathers and brothers in the military died to earn. This nation cannot be associated with ‘soldiers of fortune’ if we are to retain that respect. The hiring of private security forces is a step towards fascism and in this case was put in place for the financial benefit of current and ex-government and military officials. Bush, Cheney and all Department of Defense officials should be held accountable for the atmosphere created by this misguided and irresponsible decision. Allowing these individuals to go unpunished will be a major blow against U.S. foreign relations and the American people for years to come.
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POPSPentagon wants to build ethical soldier bots My initial response was to laugh. Anything man builds is flawed in some way. Making such a grand prediction that scientist can even build a robot that won’t commit a crime is asking for too much faith from us. Noel Sharkey, a computer scientist at Sheffield University, best known for his involvement with the cult television show Robot Wars, is the leading critic of the US plans. He says: "It sends a cold shiver down my spine. I have worked in artificial intelligence for decades, and the idea of a robot making decisions about human termination is terrifying." Noel, that about sums it up.
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POPSPentagon reserves troops for domestic emergencies I feel safer already. Please excuse my snarkiness, but since my trust in Bush's reasoning has been shaken (by just about everything he does) I get just a little concerned when the military begins beefing up their numbers in the name of 'domestic security'. I want to believe the Pentagon is looking out for our best interests but I can't help thinking they know something we don't and won't tell us. If the U.S. is attacked it would be good to already have more security available but I can't shake the admitted paranoid feeling that something big is waiting just around the bend. And I don't think it is going to be welcomed.
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POPSUS global dominance 'set to wane' Get ready for a bumpy ride. We are likely to see conflicts revolving around trade, investments and technological innovation and acquisition, as well as resources which could lead to a 19th Century-like scenario of arms races, territorial expansion and military rivalries. Most likely 'trigger-spots' would be the collapse of governments in Africa and South Asia, and the rise of organised crime in Eastern and Central Europe. Most troublesome is increasing danger concerning nuclear weapons, as "rogue states" and militant groups gain greater access to them. Let's hope our world leaders will will address these dire warnings with level-headed action.
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POPSVeterans Occupy Natioanl Archives, Again Members of Veterans for Peace (VFP) chose the Archives for their nonviolent protest because it is symbolic of their military oath to "defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic." In September they occupied the Archives for 24 hours, and plan to stay longer this time. Semper fi. Good luck to you all.
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POPSBurma sentences blogger to 20 years Nay Phone Latt was sentenced for using the internet. There is an urgent need now for bloggers all over the world to demonstrate their solidarity with Nay Phone Latt by posting his photo on their blog and by writing to Burmese embassies worldwide to request his release. This website has a picture of Nay Phone Latt http://advocacy.globalvoicesonline.org/2008/11/11/burmese-blogger-nay-phone-latt-sentenced-to-twenty-years-and-six-months/ Type his name into a search engine to learn more about his case.
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POPSDozens killed in US attack on Afghan wedding party What the hell is going on with our military? The U.S. does not have a reputation for murdering civilians. And yet lately many civilians have lost their lives at our hands. Are we becoming careless? In this age of advanced technology why are we not able to be more precise in selecting our targets instead of just killing everyone and hoping to get the right one. Are we being played by erroneously intelligence for the purpose of making us look like murderous fools? This trend is very disturbing.
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POPSColumbia military killing civilians Soldiers are kidnapping civilians, posing them as insurgents and killing them to pad their 'kill rate' so they can get promotions, time off, and extra pay. The depth of human depravity knows no bounds. The unseen tragedy of random killings is that the victim might have one day aspired to be a great leader or been instrumental in solving some medical mystery that could have benefited all of mankind. As the result of the selfishness and greed of a handful of murderous and theiving people, the rest of the world loses so much more. "If the responsibility of the army is to protect us from harm, how could they have killed my son this way?" Blanca Monroy, 49, Oviedo's mother, asked in an interview in her cinderblock home here. "The official explanation is absurd, if he was here just a day earlier living a normal life," she said. "The irony of it all is that my son dreamed of being a soldier" for the government.
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POPSArmy Orders Pain Ray Trucks Can anyone else see that law enforcement would love to have these on our streets? This could be a precursor to a vaporization weapon. In the meantime, scientist are working on a handheld short range weapon for law enforcement officials. Potential for abuse is expected to be very high. We have already seen the damage that ‘non lethal’ stun guns do in the hands of over-zealous police officers.
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POPSBig Brother Listening in on Personal Phone Calls If these allegations turn out to be true, it will only be further proof that this administration refuses to follow the letter of the law. There are clear stipulations concerning when eavesdropping without a court order can be used and, of course, the NSA claims it operates in “strict accordance with U.S. laws and regulations”. What else are they going to say? It is despicable that our government has turned itself into such a distrusting caretaker. The flip side to this story is that the two individuals could have made this up for the purpose of having contributed to a book that author Jim Bamford is writing. This could also be a stunt to get his name in front of the public and increase sales. See what we have become? It is now so easy to believe that everyone is capable of lying to satisfy some ulterior motive that no news item can be taken at face value. This country is in serious need of an ethical makeover.
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POPSBush signs bill to turn military satellites on U.S. G W Bush, aka Big Brother, is inching closer to allowing Homeland Security greater access to military satellites, despite statutes that make it illegal to use the armed forces to "execute the laws" within U.S. borders. Bush continues to subvert civil protection laws in the government's obsessive quest to 'know' everything that goes on within our borders. This shows this administrations sociopathic distrust of its citizens and a continued lack of respect for its citizens privacy.
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POPSRussia Moving into U.S. Backyard Thanks to the arrogance of the Bush/Cheney foreign policy with Venezuela, we now have talk of nuclear reactors being built in Venezuela with Russia's assistance. Relations between U.S. and Venezuela have been deteriorating for years and as a result Russia is extending its reach around the world. If we had maintained better relations with Russia, this would not cause Americans much concern. But the reality is that we now have two oil rich nations trading nuclear technology and weapons that are not motivated to work with the U.S.
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POPSU.S. Corporations are Ugly Americans American corporations pay foreign countries for rights to extract oil, gas, and minerals from within their borders. Those governments have done nothing to regulate oil company practices that pollute the environment and otherwise endanger the lives of local residents. The Bush administration, in their typically arrogant, misguided, neocon, "corporations-can-do-no-wrong" attitude, have turned a blind eye to how U.S. corporations (as representatives of our country) have done little to provide for the locals needs and security. The security for these U.S. corporations are local military who use villagers as forced laborers and freely rape local women and children. U.S. corporations, stalwarts of democracy and human rights that they are, also turn a blind eye as long as they can keep their bottom line healthy.
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POPSPakistan orders troops to open fire if US raids This brings up two questions: Is Pakistan for or against helping the U.S. ferret out terrorists? Is Pakistan harboring terrorists and therefore should Pakistan be considered a terrorist state? The U.S. has given the Pakistanis millions of dollars for the purpose of fighting terrorism (and to keep Pakistan on our side) but it appears that this money was ill-spent. We are not getting a very good return on it.
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POPSRussia's response to Georgia was right Georgia made the first act of aggression knowing that Russian peacekeepers were present in Ossetia. Western media is misrepresenting Georgia as the poor innocent victim. Georgia is trying to use the U.S. as a pawn in order to get into NATO. President Mikheil Saakashvili is a contemptible and opportunistic toad and we need to distance ourselves from him immediately.
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