Thursday, August 30, 2012
World News
Nation in a flap: Australian army suffers its worst losses since Vietnam War as five soldiers are killed in one day in Afghanistan
Australian army suffers its worst losses since Vietnam War as five soldiers are killed in one day in Afghanistan
Emma Reynolds Mail Online UK August 30, 2012
Five Australian soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan in the nation's deadliest day in combat since the Vietnam War.
Three servicemen died in an 'insider attack' by an Afghan solider, which brought to the number of Australian lives lost in the conflict to 38.
'This is a very big toll... this is our single worst day in Afghanistan,' said Prime Minister Julia Gillard today. 'Indeed this is the most lost in combat since the days of the Vietnam War.' ...
Green on blue: the new face of war in Afghanistan
Ben Doherty and Dylan Welch Sydney Morning Herald Australia Dateline August 31, 2012
If the Iraq war became known as the conflict that brought the horror of improvised explosive devices to global infamy, Afghanistan is quickly becoming the face of a new and even more insidious form of deadly violence ? the insider attack.
Known in NATO parlance as green on blue (green represents friendly national forces and blue represents international forces), the attacks have increased dramatically this year. So far, 48 NATO troops ? including the three Australians killed on Wednesday ? have died in 31 separate attacks. This month, during Ramadan, 11 US soldiers were killed in nine days.
The high number represents 14 per cent of all combat fatalities this year and though it is still only August, the figure is already significantly higher than last year, when 31 troops died.
The numbers are so high that some analysts claim they may represent the highest incidence of intentional friendly fire attacks in recorded military history. In response, this month the commander of the International Security Assistance Force, US General John Allen, ordered that all coalition soldiers carry loaded weapons, even at the larger "secure" bases, inside buildings and at meetings.
But the Afghan and US governments ? and branches of the US administration ? continue to disagree over what has caused the recent surge in attacks.
Last week the Afghan President, Hamid Karzai, blamed ?foreign countries? ? a reference to Pakistan and Iran ? for infiltrating the Afghan national army and brainwashing vulnerable or disenchanted soldiers.
Hatreds that never change
Editorial Herald Sun Australia Dateline August 31, 2012
The ultimate betrayal of the Diggers in Afghanistan is that they are being killed by the brothers-in-arms supposedly fighting alongside them to bring peace and democracy to a devastated country.
Afghan troops, who have now murdered seven Australians sent to help them achieve democracy, cannot be trusted to always point their weapons at the enemy, for they are too often the enemy.
The shock is not only that they are in the uniform of the Afghan National Army, trained by Australians and allied troops, but that the Afghan Government is quick to deny they are Taliban insurgents who have infiltrated the Afghan defence forces; but rather rogue soldiers.
If so, the threat to Australian troops is even more insidious. Whom do you trust? The Taliban cause, although religious fanaticism, can at least be understood. They want to turn the country back several hundred years to the autocratic and unrelenting rule that sees women and children slaughtered because, in a massacre in recent days, they were playing music in a village.
Women count for little and boys are more often forcefully recruited by the Taliban and girls used as a human currency.
But when Afghan soldiers turn on their allies, the question goes deeper. The answer must be that many Afghans have no wish for foreign soldiers to help them achieve democracy.
This is a country that has survived all attempts to help it to find a better way. Soviet forces learnt that when they withdrew after 10 years of trying to impose their own harsh will on Afghanistan.
The truth is that after 11 years, Australians together with troops from the United States, Britain and the NATO nations, must be confused, not over what they are fighting for - that is clear enough - but whether many Afghans are really on the same side. ...
Prime Minister Julia Gillard, who insists the Australian intervention in Afghanistan is working, admits that Australians will today be justified in asking why we are still there.
So, what is success in Afghanistan? The answer, bought in blood, is that it will never be a democracy as we know it. ...
This is no time to cut and run from Afghanistan
Andrew Bolt Herald Sun Australia Dateline August 31, 2012
We are already withdrawing from Afghanistan. We cannot let the terrible loss of five more Diggers turn that withdrawal into retreat.
We especially cannot let the Taliban convince us with the murder of three of those soldiers - shot by a man in an Afghan uniform - that Afghans despise what we've done.
Related: In two separate incidents, five more NATO troops died in so-called insider attacks
Jason Ditz Antiwar.com News USA August 30, 2012
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... The fact that all those killed in the last two incidents were Australian strains an already tense US relationship with Australia over the war in Afghanistan. In April, Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard announced an early withdrawal to be completed a year before the Obama administration?s so-called withdrawal date at the end of 2014. ...
The failure of the US mission in Afghanistan ? to build up and train a centralized state and security apparatus ? is illustrated clearly in the constant killing of US soldiers by their Afghan counterparts. Much of the security force has been infiltrated by the Taliban or Pakistani agents.
Earlier this month it was reported that the Taliban?s supreme leader Mullah Omar issued a statement bragging about extensive insurgent infiltration in America?s trained security personnel in Afghanistan.
?They are able to (safely) enter bases, offices and intelligence centers of the enemy,? he said. ?Then, they easily carry out decisive and coordinated attacks, inflicting heavy losses on the enemy.?
As a former US official told Dexter Filkins of the New Yorker, ?several hundred soldiers in the Afghan Army are thought to be agents for the Taliban or for Pakistan.? He said that many insurgents who have infiltrated the Afghan forces and killed US troops ?had been planted in the Army by the Taliban or by Inter-Services Intelligence, Pakistan?s main intelligence branch.?
The US mission in Afghanistan has failed miserably. President Obama?s supposed justification for building up Afghan security forces is so they serve as a bulwark against a return to Taliban rule. But the Taliban have seeped deep into those forces the US is spending billions of dollars on training, and the insurgency is as strong as ever.
Below: How quickly will the US leave Afghanistan? Whether its a 15-year-old tea boy or 70-year-old volunteer turning their guns on US Army trainers in Afghanistan, the message to US leaders is emphatic: Attempt a lengthy Iraq-style drawdown and you'll pay dearly in blood and treasure. Yet instead of trying to fathom the underlying anti-colonial instinct behind "green-on-blue" attacks, Washington sees them as a surmountable obstacle to occupation.
Losing it in Washington
Tom Englehardt TomDispatch USA August 26, 2012
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With this post, TomDispatch will close down until the Tuesday after Labor Day. But count on it, we?ll be back better than ever. ... My thanks, as this boiling summer ends, to.... Tom
The Best Laid Plans
How Quickly Will the U.S. Leave Afghanistan?
By Tom Engelhardt
In the wake of several deaths among its contingent of troops in a previously peaceful province in Afghanistan, New Zealand (like France and South Korea) is now expediting the departure of its 140 soldiers. That?s not exactly headline-making news here in the U.S. If you?re an American, you probably didn?t even know that New Zealand was playing a small part in our Afghan War. In fact, you may hardly have known about the part Americans are playing in a war that, over the last decade-plus, has repeatedly been labeled ?the forgotten war.?
Still, maybe it?s time to take notice. Maybe the flight of those Kiwis should be thought of as a small omen, even if they are departing as decorously, quietly, and flightlessly as possible. Because here?s the thing: once the November election is over, ?expedited departure? could well become an American term and the U.S., as it slips ignominiously out of Afghanistan, could turn out to be the New Zealand of superpowers.
You undoubtedly know the phrase: the best laid plans of mice and men. It couldn?t be more apt when it comes to the American project in Afghanistan. Washington?s plans have indeed been carefully drawn up. By the end of 2014, U.S. ?combat troops? are to be withdrawn, but left behind on the giant bases the Pentagon has built will be thousands of U.S. trainers and advisers, as well as special operations forces to go after al-Qaeda remnants (and other ?militants?), and undoubtedly the air power to back them all up.
Their job will officially be to continue to ?stand up? the humongous security force that no Afghan government in that thoroughly impoverished country will ever be able to pay for. Thanks to a 10-year Strategic Partnership Agreement that President Obama flew to Kabul to seal with Afghan President Hamid Karzai as May began, there they are to remain until 2020 or beyond.
In other words, it being Afghanistan, we need a translator. The American ?withdrawal? regularly mentioned in the media doesn?t really mean ?withdrawal.? On paper at least, for years to come the U.S. will partially occupy a country that has a history of loathing foreigners who won?t leave (and making them pay for it). ...
Posted at: Thursday, August 30, 2012 - 11:55 AM -- Posted by: Jim Scott -- Permalink: (#)
World News
Dying: A generation of war reporters that, much to the Pentagon's chagrin, brought the reality of the Vietnam conflict to the living rooms of America in unprecedented detail and horrifying close-up & War and the media?press freedom vs. military censorship
It's been a cruel year for the fabled crew of reporters that that covered the Vietnam War for The Associated Press.
AP's fabled Saigon team thinning
Chris Brummitt Associated Press/Seattle Times USA August 29, 2012
HANOI, Vietnam ? It's been a cruel year for the fabled crew of reporters that that covered the Vietnam War for The Associated Press.
Correspondent George Esper died in February, writer Roy Essoyan a month later. Legendary photographer Horst Faas passed away in May.
Malcolm Browne, whose photograph of a South Vietnamese monk engulfed in flames became an iconic image of the war, died on Monday.
Their deaths represent the slipping away of a generation of war reporters that brought the reality of the conflict to the living rooms of America in unprecedented detail and horrifying close-up. Often working under hostile conditions, their work helped set a new standard for combat journalism and inspired scores of journalists in their wake.
"We have lost four journalistic legends from the great AP Saigon bureau this year, and I fear we are running out of them," said Richard Pyle, who covered the Vietnam War for five years and was AP's Saigon bureau chief from 1970 to 1973, in an email. "After Horst died in May I wrote that it was suddenly as if a rooftop sniper had found out where we live and was picking us off one by one."
Esper wrote more words about the Vietnam War than any other correspondent during his 10 years in the country, and refused to leave when it fell to the northern communists on April 30, 1975. He returned in 1993 to open the AP's first postwar bureau in Hanoi.
As chief of photo operations for The Associated Press in Saigon for a decade beginning in 1962, Faas covered the fighting and also recruited and trained new talent from among foreign and Vietnamese freelancers. He was severely wounded in 1967 and won four major photo awards in Vietnam, including the first of his two Pulitzers.
Browne was perhaps best known for his photo of the burning monk, which appeared on front pages around the globe and sent shudders all the way to the White House, prompting President John F. Kennedy to order a re-evaluation of his administration's Vietnam policy. Browne also won a Pulitzer for his work in Vietnam.
Many hundreds of reporters from around the world covered the war, but the AP was especially well represented. A selection of Faas' pictures are currently on display at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Hong Kong.
Related: When the war in Southeast Asia finally ended, many in the military blamed the press for "losing Vietnam." Some Pentagon officials resolved to restrict press coverage of future American wars.
"War and the Media
Press Freedom vs. Military Censorship"
Constitutional Rights Foundation USA ? 2012
News about every war, including the 2003 war in Iraq, involves gathering highly sensitive information. There has been considerable discussion about what information should?or should not?be released to the press in wartime. Is it important for people in a democracy to know what the government is doing? Can the media print or broadcast all information they receive? What press policy should the military use in wartime?
Throughout the Persian Gulf War of 1991, Iraqi President Saddam Hussein permitted only one foreign journalist to remain in Baghdad?CNN's veteran war correspondent Peter Arnett. Arnett had to obey Iraqi press-censorship rules. "From the beginning," Arnett later revealed, "I accepted the constraints that the Iraqis laid down. They said, 'Anything you do, you put on paper. We go over it, and we alter it. We change it if we wish to, and that's what you're going to use.'" Once the war began, the Iraqi government selected Arnett's reporting locations and monitored his interviews. As a result, many of Arnett's stories dwelled on bombing damage to civilian areas and the suffering of the Iraqi people.
Many Americans, including members of Congress and even fellow journalists, severely criticized Arnett for reporting material provided or censored by Iraq. But at the same time, hundreds of American reporters sent to Saudi Arabia had to deal with attempts by the U.S. military to control information.
Press vs. Military
During the Spanish-American War of 1898, reporters, if anything, led cheers for the military. Throughout World War I, journalists considered themselves part of the war effort, not independent observers. This pattern of press and military cooperation continued through World War II.
But starting with the Korean War and then Vietnam, the press took an increasingly independent and critical view of the military. In Vietnam, more than 2,000 accredited reporters roamed freely throughout battle zones interviewing ordinary soldiers rather than relying on the often rosy picture of the war presented by the Pentagon. There were few incidents of news stories endangering U.S. troops or military operations. But negative press accounts fueled anti-war feelings back home.
When the war in Southeast Asia finally ended, many in the military blamed the press for "losing Vietnam." Some Pentagon officials resolved to restrict press coverage of future American wars. In 1983, the Pentagon barred all journalists from the initial invasion of Grenada. Then in 1989, the Pentagon selected a dozen reporters to cover the invasion of Panama and restricted them to an airport in Panama until nearly all fighting ended.
...
Posted at: Thursday, August 30, 2012 - 11:44 AM -- Posted by: Jim Scott -- Permalink: (#) Wednesday, August 29, 2012
World News
Syrian massacre: Who ya gonna believe? & Despite US request to do so, Egypt wouldn't fire on Iran ship passing through the Suez canal
You can set me free or bang me up, just stop torturing me, tell me what ya gonna do, What ya gonna do?You can set me free or bang me up, just stop torturing me, tell me what ya gonna do? What ya gonna do?
So here we are again, it's like De-javu....
- British muscician, Benjamin Paul Ballance-Drew, most commonly known as Plan B. He is an English rapper, singer-songwriter, actor and film director from Forest Gate, London.
?We believe that the USA is the major player against Syria and the rest are its instruments?
Robert Fisk The Independent UK August 28, 2012
Assad's Foreign Minister gives his first interview to a Western journalist since the conflict began. "We believe that the US is the major player against Syria and the rest are its instruments."
The battle for Damascus could be heard inside the Foreign Minister's office yesterday, a vibration of mortars and tank fire from the suburbs of the capital that penetrated Walid Muallem's inner sanctum, a dangerous heartbeat to match the man's words.
America was behind Syria's violence, he said, which will not end even after the battle for Aleppo is over. "I tell the Europeans: 'I don't understand your slogan about the welfare of the Syrian people when you are supporting 17 resolutions against the welfare of the Syrian people'. And I tell the Americans: 'You must read well what you did in Afghanistan and Somalia. I don't understand your slogan of fighting international terrorism when you are supporting this terrorism in Syria'."
Walid Muallem spoke in English and very slowly, either because of the disconcerting uproar outside or because this was his first interview with a Western journalist since the Syrian crisis began. At one point, the conflict between rebels and government troops in the suburbs of Douma, Jobar, Arbeen and Qaboun ? where a helicopter was shot down ? became so loud that even the most phlegmatic of Foreign Ministers in a region plagued by rhetoric glanced towards the window. How did he feel when he heard this, I asked him?
"Before I am a minister, I am a Syrian citizen, and I feel sad at seeing what's happening in Syria, compared with two years ago," he said. "There are many Syrians like me ? eager to see Syria return to the old days when we were proud of our security."
I have my doubts about how many Syrians want a return to "the old days" but Muallem claims that perhaps 60 per cent of the country's violence comes from abroad, from Turkey, from Qatar and Saudi Arabia, with the United States exercising its influence over all others. ...
A year ago, I told Muallem, I lunched with the Emir of Qatar, and he was enraged at what he called Bashar al-Assad's lies, claiming that the Syrian President had reneged on a deal to allow Muslim Brotherhood members to return home.
Muallem nodded. "If you met the same Emir two years ago, he was praising Assad, and considered him a dear friend. They used to have family relations, spending family holidays in Damascus and sometimes in Doha. There is an important question: what happened? I met the Emir in Doha in, I think, November 2011, when the Arab League started their initiative [resulting in the sending of League observers to Syria] and we reached agreement ? The Emir told me: 'If you agree to this initiative, I will change the attitude of Al Jazeera and I will tell [Sheikh] Qaradawi [a popular prelate with a regular slot on the television chain] to support Syria and reconciliation, and I have put down some billions of dollars to rebuild Syria?'. ...
Related: Inside Daraya - how a failed prisoner swap turned into a massacre
Robert Fisk The Independent UK August 29, 2012
Scene from Daraya.
The massacre town of Daraya is a place of ghosts and questions. It echoed with the roar of mortar explosions and the crackle of gunfire yesterday, its few returning citizens talking of death, assault, foreign "terrorists", and its cemetery of slaughter haunted by snipers.
The men and women to whom we could talk, two of whom had lost loved ones on Daraya's day of infamy four days ago, told a story different from the version that has been repeated around the world: theirs was a tale of hostage-taking by the Free Syria Army and desperate prisoner-exchange negotiations between the armed opponents of the regime and the Syrian army, before President Bashar al-Assad's government forces stormed into the town to seize it back from rebel control.
Officially, no word of such talks between the enemies has been mentioned. But senior Syrian officers told The Independent how they had "exhausted all possibilities of reconciliation" with those holding the town, while residents of Daraya said there had been an attempt by both sides to arrange a swap of civilians and off-duty soldiers ? apparently kidnapped by rebels because of their family ties to the government army ? with prisoners in the army's custody. When these talks broke down, the army advanced into Daraya, six miles from the centre of Damascus.
Being the first Western eyewitness into the town yesterday was as frustrating as it was dangerous. The bodies of men, women and children had been moved from the cemetery where many of them were found; and when we arrived in the company of Syrian troops at the Sunni Muslim graveyard ? divided by the main road through Daraya ? snipers opened fire at the soldiers, hitting the back of the ancient armoured vehicle in which we made our escape. Yet we could talk to civilians out of earshot of Syrian officials ? in two cases in the security of their own homes ? and their narrative of last Saturday's mass killing of at least 245 men, women and children suggested that the atrocities were far more widespread than supposed.
One woman, who gave her name as Leena, said she was travelling through the town in a car and saw at least 10 male bodies lying on the road near her home. "We carried on driving past, we did not dare to stop, we just saw these bodies in the street," she said, adding that Syrian troops had not yet entered Daraya.
Another man said that, although he had not seen the dead in the graveyard, he believed that most were related to the government army and included several off-duty conscripts. "One of the dead was a postman ? they included him because he was a government worker," the man said. If these stories are true, then the armed men ? wearing hoods, according to another woman who described how they broke into her home and how she kissed them in a fearful attempt to prevent them shooting her own family ? were armed insurgents rather than Syrian troops. ...
Darayya deaths shocks Syrians
BBC News UK August 27, 2012
A pro-government TV report from Darayya shocked many Syrians, both for its content and its tone.
Following reports by opposition activists that more than 300 people, many of them civilians, had been killed in Darayya, near Damascus, a journalist in the capital writes about the suburb's history of protest and the reaction among Syrians.
Many Syrians have been shocked by a report from Darayya broadcast recently by the pro-government TV station, al-Dunya.
Michelene Azar, a reporter for al-Dunya, was the first journalist to go into the small town south-west of Damascus, embedded with the Syrian army.
Her gruesome report showed graphic images of the bodies of men, women and children who had been shot.
As she moves along with her cameraman, she enters a graveyard where a woman is slumped against a headstone, clearly in need of emergency medical attention.
"What did the terrorists do to you?" she asks her, wanting to demonstrate the crimes the "armed groups" have committed in Darayya, as the government alleges.
Many ordinary Syrians I spoke to were appalled by what happened in Darayya, but their anger was fuelled by Al Dunia's report?
Perhaps the most shocking part of the video is when Ms Azar interviews a four-year-old girl, who she finds leaning on the dead body of her mother in the back of a truck, as what appears to be the body of her young brother lies next to her.
After she describes the girl's situation, she turns to her to ask: "Who is this woman? Where were you going?"
Visibly scared and traumatised, the girl can only whisper: "My mother."
Many ordinary Syrians I spoke to were appalled by what happened in Darayya, but their anger was fuelled by al-Dunya's report. For many, it showed no mercy for the town's traumatised people, particularly the children.
Michelene Azar was keen to show the Syrian military helping out civilians, taking them for medical treatment and so on. But for the last week, Damascus residents have heard and sometimes seen the bombardment of Darayya from Mount Qassioun, which towers over the city.
Families in Darayya spent days in underground basements hiding from the shelling. When it finished, opposition activists accused the government of a massacre that left more then 200 people dead, including women and children like the ones shown in al-Dunya's report. The government says armed gangs were to blame.
The full story is yet to be revealed but Darayya is no stranger to protests and repression. ...
Below: AP apparently really twisting the truth to benefit the Western Axis propaganda storyline.
Britain concerned at report of new Syria massacre
Jamal Halaby Associated Press/Yahoo! News USA August 26, 2012
AMMAN (AP) ? Britain said Sunday it was deeply concerned by emerging reports of a "brutal massacre of civilians" in a Damascus suburb where activists claim more than 300 people have been killed over the past week in a major government offensive to take back control of rebel-held areas in and around the capital.
The British-based activist group Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 32 more dead bodies were found in the streets of Daraya on Sunday and that they had been killed by "gunfire and summary executions." Among them were three women and two children, the group said. It put the toll for the past week at at least 320.
Another activist group, The Local Communication Committees, claimed 300 bodies were discovered Saturday in Daraya and 633 people have been killed there since the government launched its assault last week.
President Bashar Assad, in comments carried by state media, reiterated his long-standing claim that a foreign plot was behind the uprising against his rule and said he would not allow it to succeed "whatever the price might be."
Britain's Middle East Minister Alistair Burt, meanwhile, said if confirmed, the massacre "would be an atrocity on a new scale requiring unequivocal condemnation from the entire international community." He added that it "highlights the urgent need for international action to bring an end to the violence, end this culture of impunity and hold to account those responsible for these terrible acts." ...
It is impossible to independently verify the death tolls for the town because of severe restrictions on media coverage of the conflict. However, activists and residents have reported excessive use of force by the regime in major battles, with indiscriminate shelling from the ground and the air. ...
Deadly car bomb hits funeral in Damascus suburb
Barbara Plett BBC News UK August 29, 2012
Twelve people have been killed by a car bomb at a funeral in the Jaramana suburb of the Syrian capital Damascus, state TV has reported.
Injuries were also reported, with state media saying 48 people were wounded.
The funeral was for two supporters of the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, according to a UK-based opposition group.
Activists estimate over 20,000 people have died since March 2011, with over a million thought to be displaced.
The two who were being buried had reportedly been killed in a bomb attack on Monday.
A taxi had been used to carry the bomb, according to state-run news agency Sana.
The suburb of Jaramana where the blast occurred is predominantly populated by Christians and Druze, who follow an offshoot of Shia Islam.
Pictures of the aftermath of the bombing showed several destroyed vehicles and damage to surrounding buildings. ...
Noted: Reports: Egypt wouldn't fire on Iran ship
UPI USA August 28, 2012
CAIRO, Aug. 27 (UPI) -- Egypt's Navy refused a U.S. request to fire on an Iranian weapons ship heading for violence-torn Syria through the Suez Canal, al-Arabiya reported.
"The Suez Canal is a narrow waterway and it is impossible for military action to take place there," Mohab Mamish, recently appointed chairman of the Suez Canal Authority and former Egyptian Navy commander told al-Arabiya.
The U.S. request was made recently, the report said.
The Egypt Independent had a similar report, saying it was told by Mamish the Navy refused a United States request to "strike" the Iranian ship.
Mamish said the authority is notified 24 hours in advance of which ships will pass through the canal and the cargo they are carrying. The information is verified before the ships are permitted to pass, he said.
"My main goal since I was appointed chairman of the Suez Canal Authority [Aug. 12] is to secure all ships passing through the waterway," he said.
The Suez Canal connects the Mediterranean Sea with the Red Sea.
In February of 2011, two Iranian navy vessels were permitted to sail through the canal and were later spotted at the Syrian port of Latakia, Haaretz reported at the time.
Thousands of people have been killed in the continuing conflict in Syria.
Posted at: Wednesday, August 29, 2012 - 07:39 PM -- Posted by: Jim Scott -- Permalink: (#) Tuesday, August 28, 2012
World News
Proud minority outrage inside 'Orwellian/Soviet' America: Judge orders Brandon Raub released?many military veterans say they have been victims of involuntary civil commitments like Raub
Brandon Raub. Photo source: Facebook
Force is not the way because liberty is a powerful concept. The idea that men can govern themselves is the basis for every just form of government. - Retired USMC Sgt. Brandon Raub, from a Facebook post, November 11, 2011. (Raub had been considering reenlisting before last week?s events.)
The Rutherford Institute has come to the defense of a former Marine, 26-year-old Brandon Raub, who was arrested, detained indefinitely in a psych ward and forced to undergo psychological evaluations based solely on the controversial nature of lines from song lyrics, political messages and virtual card games which he posted to his private Facebook page. Although the FBI and Chesterfield County police have not charged Brandon Raub, a resident of Chesterfield County, Va., with committing any crime, they arrested Raub on Thursday, August 16, 2012, and transported him to John Randolph Medical Center, where he was held against his will due to alleged concerns that his Facebook (FB) posts were controversial and ?terrorist in nature.? ... In coming to Raub?s defense, Rutherford Institute attorneys are challenging Raub?s arrest and forcible detention, as well as the government?s overt Facebook surveillance and violation of Raub?s First Amendment rights. - From the statement issued by
The Rutherford Institute
[John Whitehead, founder of the Rutherford Institute] also reiterated that the Rutherford Institute is getting flooded with calls, many of them from military veterans, who say they have been victims of involuntary civil commitments like Raub: ?What I?m getting from veterans is, they say they are getting picked up by the FBI, mainly for 9/11 ?truther? statements.? While believing that the U.S. government intentionally coordinated the attacks on the world trade center in 2001 is objectionable, this is still America and even those we disagree with have the right to free speech under the U.S. Constitution. That?s arguably why the nation?s founders made it Amendment number one. - Jason Howerton. (Emphasis in the original)
Update: phone interview with Brandon ? Marine held for Facebook posts, Veterans Today offers full support
Gordon Duff Veterans Today USA August 21, 2012
This page contains Brandon Raub?s full Facebook message, The Rutherford Institue's complete, unedited statement on the incident and several embedded videos.
The Truth by Brandon J Raub on Friday, November 11, 2011 at 10:00 am. America has lost itself. We have lost who we truly are. This is the land of the free and the home of the brave.
Law enforcement seems to have lost it?s mind here folks. There is already getting bogus resisting arrest report.
While the FBI has used the term ?terrorist in nature? to describe their reason for picking him up, they are ducking to explain what exactly Brandon had posted qualified for that treatment.
That is a strong indication they want to keep their options open. This alone smells like a rat as they are obligated to disclose their probable cause. I would not be surprised to see a big push for an FBI professional ethics investigation here, the sooner the better.
Marine vet held for psychiatric evaluation after anti-government Facebook posts
Joe Newby Examiner.com USA August 21, 2012
Visit this page for its embedded links.
Brandon J. Raub, a 26-year-old former Marine who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, is being involuntarily "detained for psychiatric evaluation" in a Virginia hospital after making strident anti-government posts on Facebook, Fox News reported Tuesday.
Fox and other sources said Raub has been in custody since FBI, Secret Service agents and police in Virginia's Chesterfield County questioned him Thursday evening over "ominous posts" that seemed to warn of a coming revolution.
?Friends, you deserve to know the truth. There has been an overwhelming amount of evil enacted and planned against you, your children, and your countrymen. It is great in scope. Your government [is] evil. It is as simple as that.? Another read, ?sharpen up my axe; I?m here to sever heads.?
"The Revolution will come for me. Men will be at my door soon to pick me up to lead it," he wrote on August 14. As of this writing, that message had been shared 108 times.
The Associated Press reported Monday that police took the former Marine to the John Randolph Medical Center in Hopewell, acting under a Virginia law that allows emergency, temporary psychiatric commitments upon the recommendation of a mental health professional. He was not charged with any crime, the AP adds, but he was placed in handcuffs.
According to Fox, he was detained without a warrant and without having been read his rights, but authorities say he was only handcuffed because he allegedly resisted the police.
An attorney with the Virginia-based Rutherford Institute represented Raub at a hearing on Monday.
The judge ordered Raub to be detained for an additional month, reports said.
?For government officials to not only arrest Brandon Raub for doing nothing more than exercising his First Amendment rights but to actually force him to undergo psychological evaluations and detain him against his will goes against every constitutional principle this country was founded upon,? said Rutherford executive director John Whitehead. ...
Whitehead, who said he found nothing "alarming" in Raub's posts, wondered if the government is monitoring Facebook pages of those with whom they disagree, but the FBI said there was no snooping of Raub's page.
?We received quite a few complaints about what were perceived as threatening posts,? said FBI spokeswoman Dee Rybiski. ?Given the circumstances with the things that have gone on in the country with some of these mass shootings, it would be horrible for law enforcement not to pay attention to complaints.?
Whitehead, however, said that some of the comments were made in a closed Facebook group that Raub had recently created.
Fox also reported that support for the Marine veteran is growing, with Facebook pages springing up in support of Raub.
One group already has 5,892 members.
Another page warns that there will be more like Raub if patriotic Americans do not unite.
"If we let them take away this right what will come next?" a post on the page asks.
?Orwellian?: Lawyer of former Marine detained over Facebook posts says 20k ?civil commitments? in VA each year part of bigger problem
Jason Howerton TheBlaze.com USA August 24, 2012
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The 26-year-old former Marine detained for making controversial Facebook posts is back home at last. However, the fight to figure out exactly what happened ? and what may be happening all across the country ? has just begun.
Brandon Raub was scooped up in Richmond, Va. by federal and local law enforcement officials on Aug. 16 for making anti-government Facebook posts referring to ?revolution? and statements that questioned the official story behind the 9/11 terrorist attacks, said John Whitehead, Raub?s lead attorney and president of the Rutherford Institute. He was then sentenced to up to 30 days in a psychiatric facility on Aug. 20 ? no trial, no arrest warrant, no charges filed. He was finally released on Thursday.
?They are doing it under a law in Virginia, a civil commitment law? Whitehead told TheBlaze in an exclusive interview. And there are similar laws in other states all over the country, he explained. According to Va. Code ? 37.2-808, the statute in question, a person can be civilly committed if a magistrate judge has probable cause that any person:
- Has a mental illness and that there exists a substantial likelihood that, as a result of mental illness, the person will, in the near future, (a) cause serious physical harm to himself or others as evidenced by recent behavior causing, attempting, or threatening harm and other relevant information, if any, or (b) suffer serious harm due to his lack of capacity to protect himself from harm or to provide for his basic human needs.
- Is in need of hospitalization or treatment, and (iii) is unwilling to volunteer or incapable of volunteering for hospitalization or treatment. Any emergency custody order entered pursuant to this section shall provide for the disclosure of medical records pursuant to ? 37.2-804.2. This subsection shall not preclude any other disclosures as required or permitted by law.
Whitehead doesn?t believe his client meets any of the criteria needed for a civil commitment and argues Raub is anything but ?mentally ill.? He says they haven?t seen the psychiatric institute?s so-called ?evaluations? but his legal team plans on having Raub evaluated by an independent psychiatrist from the University of Virginia.
The incident raises a larger question: Is Raub?s case ? whether you agree with his positions or not ? cause for greater concern? Whitehead says yes.
Every year in Virginia, more than 20,000 people are detained for civil commitment and whisked away just like Raub, the attorney said. In fact, in Chesterfield County, where Raub was taken from his home, there have been 20 civil commitments in the past month alone, he added.
The civil commitment statistics are confirmed by documents found on the Virginia Supreme Court?s website. You can read it here (page 36, paragraph 1). The Virginia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services did not respond to TheBlaze?s request for comment in time for this report. However, TheBlaze is working to get some clarification on whether the 20,000 figure is up or down from previous years or if the number is a normal average as well as some state-by-state comparisons. ...
Marine vet Brandon J Raub the ?Facebook Thought Criminal? ordered released
David Query The Empower Zone Blog USA August 26, 2012
Visit this page for its embedded links.
Do you feel safe online? Safe to express your personal opinions about whatever it is that winds your watch without fear of reprisal?
I?ll bet that this 26 year old Marine Sargent Brandon J. Raub of Chesterfield VA, thought he was, or at least hoped he was? that is until the Marine who has served this country with tours as a Combat Engineer in both Iraq and Afghanistan had his privacy invaded by the FBI on 8/16/12 after he (perhaps naively) agreed to speak with them without a warrant and invited the vampires in. He was then arrested (on alleged concerns that his Facebook posts were ?terrorist in nature.?) cuffed and stuffed? no Miranda rights, no charges, no judge, no jury? just Psychiatric detention!
? In an unexpected ruling handed down today by Circuit Court Judge Allan Sharrett, the judge dismissed the government?s case against Brandon Raub, the Marine who was arrested by local police and FBI agents, detained in a psychiatric ward and forced to undergo psychological evaluations based solely on the controversial nature of lines from song lyrics, political messages and virtual card games which he posted to his private Facebook page. Judge Sharrett dismissed the petition for involuntary commitment on the grounds that the petition ?is so devoid of any factual allegations that it could not be reasonably expected to give rise to a case or controversy.? Raub is expected to be released immediately.? This according to The Rutherford Institute News dated 8/23/12. ...
Secret psyc ward renditions ? USMC Sgt. Brandon Raub was just one of many
Jim W. Dean Veterans Today USA August 24, 2012
The Brandon Raub case began going nationwide today when the dust has not even settled on the Government?s involuntary commitment case being shot down in flames by Prince George County Circuit Court Judge Allan Sharrett, who threw the whole thing out as being totally groundless.
By this strange quirk of fate it is beginning to look like this veteran?s case has exposed a coordinated program out of the Department of Homeland Security.
The goal is to build case file statistics of veterans being committed for mental evaluation to punish them for their political views toward the government.
These files can then be used to build a trumped up case for closer permanent monitoring of combat veterans. Are you getting the picture of who they are trying to intimidate? ...
Psycho-state targeted Brandon Raub
The Lew Rockwell Show/The Rutherford Institute USA August 27, 2012
Original article and podcast available here
On the basis that there was zero reason to detain a retired Marine and commit him to a medical facility for psychiatric evaluation, a Virginia judge has demanded that Brandon Raub be released from custody immediately.
Raub, 26, had his home visited one week earlier by FBI, Secret Service and local law enforcement agents who expressed concern over a series of Facebook posts he had made on his public social networking profile. They detained him without charge and admitted him to a local hospital for evaluation.
"The petition is so devoid of any factual allegations that it could not be reasonably expected to give rise to a case or controversy," reads a signed statement by Circuit Judge W. Allan Sharrett, which was provided to the Richmond Times-Dispatch Thursday afternoon.
Judge Sharrett adds that he was shocked to find that a magistrate did not include any grounds at all for holding Raub, who was placed in custody for a full week without any charges being pressed.
Earlier in the week, attorneys representing Raub from the Rutherford Institute attacked the mishandling of the case by suggesting that the entire ordeal was a war on their client?s constitutional rights.
?This is not how justice in America is supposed to work ? with Americans being arrested for doing nothing more than exercising their First Amendment rights, forced to undergo psychological evaluations, detained against their will and isolated from their family, friends and attorneys. This is a scary new chapter in our history,? Rutherford Institute President John W. Whitehead says in a statement released on Tuesday this week. ?Brandon Raub is no different from the majority of Americans who use their private Facebook pages to post a variety of content, ranging from song lyrics and political hyperbole to trash talking their neighbors, friends and government leaders.?
Days before he was detained, Raub had made a series of posts that reportedly worried the authorities. His most recent postings included critique of the investigation of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and other messages, such as, ?The Revolution will come for me. Men will be at my door soon to pick me up to lead it? and ?Sharpen up my axe; I?m here to sever heads.
?The bottom line is his freedom of speech has been violated,? Raub?s mother, Cathleen Thomas, told the Associated Press after her son was detained. On Thursday, she told the Times-Dispatch that the entire ordeal has been ?phenomenal? and that others could be considered because, ?This could have happened to anyone.?
"This has never been about anything but freedom of speech?. We?re going to continue to post on Facebook,? Thomas continued, adding that she considered her son a ?true patriot.?
Raub served in both Iraq and Afghanistan and says he had been considering reenlisting before last week?s events.
Posted at: Tuesday, August 28, 2012 - 01:54 PM -- Posted by: Jim Scott -- Permalink: (#) Commentary
Rachel Corrie's parents have not received justice, but their quest reveals the lie of the IDF's claim to be the world's 'most moral army'
Rachel Corrie verdict exposes Israeli military mindset
Chris McGreal gaurdian.co,uk UK August 28, 2012
Rachel Corrie's family ? father Craig, mother Cindy and sister Sarah Corrie Simpson ? at the Haifa district court where a judge ruled that Israel did not intentionally kill the pro-Palestinian activist in 2003. Photo: Oliver Weiken/EPA. Visit this page for its embedded links.
Reporters covering Israel are routinely confronted with the question: why not call Hamas a terrorist organisation? It's a fair point. How else to describe blowing up families on buses but terrorism?
But the difficulty lies in what then to call the Israeli army when it, too, at particular times and places, has used indiscriminate killing and terror as a means of breaking Palestinian civilians. One of those places was Rafah, in the southern tip of the Gaza strip, where Rachel Corrie was crushed by a military bulldozer nine years ago as she tried to stop the Israeli army going about its routine destruction of Palestinian homes.
An Israeli judge on Tuesday perpetuated the fiction that Corrie's death was a terrible accident and upheld the results of the military's own investigation, widely regarded as such a whitewash that even the US ambassador to Israel described it as neither thorough nor credible. Corrie's parents may have failed in their attempt to see some justice for their daughter, but in their struggle they forced a court case that established that her death was not arbitrary but one of a pattern of killings as the Israeli army pursued a daily routine of attacks intended to terrorise the Palestinian population of southern Gaza into submission.
The case laid bare the state of the collective Israeli military mind, which cast the definition of enemies so widely that children walking down the street were legitimate targets if they crossed a red line that was invisible to everyone but the soldiers looking at it on their maps. The military gave itself a blanket protection by declaring southern Gaza a war zone, even though it was heavily populated by ordinary Palestinians, and set rules of engagement so broad that just about anyone was a target.
With that went virtual impunity for Israeli troops no matter who they killed or in what circumstances ? an impunity reinforced by Tuesday's verdict in Haifa.
The Israeli military commander in southern Gaza at the time was Colonel Pinhas "Pinky" Zuaretz. A few weeks after Corrie's death, I (as the Guardian's correspondent in Israel) spoke to him about how it was that so many children were shot by Israeli soldiers at times when there was no combat. His explanation was chilling. ...
The message to ordinary soldiers was clear: you have a free hand because the military will protect you to protect itself. It is that immunity from accountability that was the road to Corrie's death.
She wasn't the only foreign victim at about that time. In the following months, Israeli soldiers shot dead James Miller, a British television documentary journalist, and Tom Hurndall, a British photographer and pro-Palestinian activist. In November 2002, an Israeli sniper had killed a British United Nations worker, Iain Hook, in Jenin in the West Bank.
British inquests returned verdicts of unlawful killings in all three deaths, but Israel rejected calls for the soldiers who killed Miller and Hook to be held to account. The Israeli military initially whitewashed Hurndall's killing but after an outcry led by his parents, and British government pressure, the sniper who shot him was sentenced to eight years in prison for manslaughter.
That sentence apparently did nothing to erode a military mindset that sees only enemies.
Three years after Corrie's death, an Israeli army officer who emptied the magazine of his automatic rifle into a 13-year-old Palestinian girl, Iman al-Hams, and then said he would have done the same even if she had been three years old was cleared by a military court. ...
Video (6:26): Cindy Corrie speaks to Al Jazeera, August 28, 2012
An Israeli court has ruled in a civil case that the Israel army was not at fault in the bulldozer death of American pro-Palestinian activist Rachel Corrie nearly 10 years ago.
Corrie was 23 years old when she went to the town of Rafah in the Gaza Strip as part of a group of activists from the International Solidarity Movement (ISM).
Cindy Corrie, the mother of Rachel Corrie, tells Al Jazeera why she is hurt by the decision.
Related: 'Rachel Corrie ruling a black day for human rights'
Yonah Jeremy Bob Jerusalem Post Israel August 28, 2012
Rachel Corrie moments before her death. Photo: Reuters
There was no middle ground in reactions to the Haifa District Court ruling rejecting the Corrie family?s case on Tuesday, with Rachel Corrie?s parents and attorney calling the ruling a ?black day for human rights,? and the State Attorney?s Office expressing complete satisfaction that the court fully accepted its arguments.
Hussein Abu-Hussein said that the court?s ruling showed that there was injustice across the legal system.
He displayed photographs which had been presented in court and which he said proved that the bulldozer must have seen Corrie.
The photographs also disproved the judge?s ruling that the bulldozers were active, but not demolishing homes at the time, said Hussein.
Hussein argued that there was no basis for applying the ?combatant activities? exception because there was no battle going on at the time that Rachel was killed.
Rather, he noted that all that was happening was several hours of a slow motion version of cat and mouse where the bulldozers would approach an area to bulldoze it and International Solidarity Movement (ISM) Activists like Corrie would step in the way until they were removed or moved out of the way on their own.
Her voice trembling, Corrie?s mother Cindy read out a letter written by Rachel to thank her hosts in Gaza where she was staying at the time of the incident and in which she told them to remain hopeful against the ?occupation.? ...
[T]he state attorney called Corrie?s death ?without a doubt a tragic accident.? However, the state also said that, ?As the verdict states ? the driver of the bulldozer and his commander had a very limited field of vision, such that they had no possibility of seeing Ms. Corrie and thus are exonerated of any blame for negligence.?
The press release also noted that the background to the incident was ?a military action in the course of war. The security forces at the Philadelphi Corridor during 2003 were compelled to carry out ?leveling? work against explosive devices that posed a tangible danger to life and limb and were not in any form posing a threat to Palestinian homes,? said the statement.
On behalf of the Palestinian Authority, legislator and activist Hanan Ashrawi said that despite the ?testimonies of eyewitnesses, the audiovisual evidence and the overwhelming proof that Rachel was deliberately murdered, the Israeli court insists on victimizing her again in her tragic death.?
?This proves that once again the occupation has distorted the legal and judicial systems in Israel and that the lack of accountability for its violence and violations has generated a culture of hate and impunity,? she said. ...
Below: There is oncern the ruling will allow Israel to exploit 'legal black hole' and avoid responsibility for its actions.
Rachel Corrie lawsuit result 'dangerous precedent' say human rights groups
Harriet Sherwood, Jerusalem correspondent The Guardian UK August 28, 2012
Human rights organisations have warned of a "dangerous precedent" following an Israeli court's dismissal of a civil lawsuit over the death of US activist Rachel Corrie, which stated that Israel could not be held responsible because its army was engaged in a combat operation. ...
Human Rights Watch said the ruling contravened international law, which is intended to protect non-combatants in war zones, and set "a dangerous precedent". "The idea that there can be no fault for killing civilians in a combat operation flatly contradicts Israel's international legal obligations to spare civilians from harm during armed conflict and to credibly investigate and punish violations by its forces," said Bill van Esveld, a senior Middle East researcher at HRW.
Shawan Jabarin, director of the Palestinian human rights organisation, Al Haq, said: "Israel has claimed that it is not responsible for the death of a civilian in armed conflict. However, this flatly ignores international law, which stipulates that Israel is under an obligation to take all measures to ensure that no civilians will be harmed during hostilities, and must at all times distinguish between military targets and civilians.
"The presence of a civilian in a combat zone does in any way not affect their right to protection. Instead, their protected status applies regardless of their location in a conflict, and international law clearly states that they must be protected against acts of violence in all circumstances." ...
Posted at: Tuesday, August 28, 2012 - 01:50 PM -- Posted by: Jim Scott -- Permalink: (#) Commentary
The time has come for the Western Axis to reconsider its hostility toward the Nonaligned Movement; When Assad falls, Kurds in Syria say they?ll take back lands given to Arabs in 1960s and '70s & Why was a US Navy adviser stripped of her career?
Noted: In the last two years, American arms manufacturers have profited massively from increased tension between Gulf states and Iran, thanks in large part to repeated threats of war emanating from Israel. See U.S. more than doubles previous record in global weapons sales, August 27, 2012
Gathering hope in Tehran
Kaveh Afrasiabi New York Times USA August 23, 2012
CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS ? The Nonaligned Movement?s much-heralded summit meeting next week in Tehran ? featuring dozens of leaders from the developing world, including President Mohamed Morsi of Egypt and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of India, as well as the U.N. secretary general, Ban Ki-moon ? will elevate Iran as the movement?s new president for three years and enhance Tehran?s regional and international clout.
Tehran wants to seize this opportunity to neutralize Western-imposed isolation over its nuclear efforts and to defend its program, which has been consistently supported at past Nonaligned Movement summits as well as by Nonaligned countries in the International Atomic Energy Agency. Concurrent with the Tehran summit will be a new round of Iran-I.A.E.A. talks in Vienna that holds out the promise of greater nuclear transparency by Iran.
Unfortunately, the United States and a number of other Western countries have adopted a purely negative approach toward the Tehran summit, going even as far as urging Ban to boycott it since the host nation is in defiance of U.N. resolutions on the nuclear issue. But the secretary general must be lauded for exercising independent judgment in deciding to go to Tehran for the meeting. After all, there are 120 Nonaligned Movement member states in the U.N. General Assembly, and U.N. chiefs have regularly attended Nonaligned Movement summits.
Although the Tehran summit has been mocked as a ?bacchanal of nonsense,? it is likely to have significant implications, above all for regional peace and stability. As a case in point, both Singh and President Asif Ali Zardari of Pakistan have stated their intention to meet on the summit?s sidelines to discuss bilateral issues. And though Syria?s embattled president, Bashar al-Assad, may not participate, the crisis in Syria will be on the agenda and may culminate in a new Nonaligned Movement mediation push to complement the efforts of both the United Nations and the Organization of the Islamic Conference. ...
Morsi?s decision to go to Tehran indicates a thaw in Iran-Egypt relations and could be the harbinger of a diplomatic normalization between the two countries that could greatly enhance stability in the region.
With respect to the stalemated nuclear negotiations between Iran and the ?P5+1? nations ? the U.N. Security Council?s permanent members plus Germany ? the Tehran summit is expected to produce some good. As the Nonaligned Movement underscores the extent of international support for Iran?s right to enrich uranium for peaceful purposes, the United States and its allies will be pressed to drop their rigid insistence on a complete halt to Iran?s enrichment efforts and take a more nuanced approach to help break the deadlock on the issue. ...
Turkey peculiarly absent from Tehran
Kaveh L Afrasiabi Asia Times Online Hong Kong August 28, 2012
Ankara has decided to boycott this week's Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit in Tehran, which has been much maligned in the Western media despite the summit's potential to contribute to mediation efforts on the conflict in Syria. By all indications, this decision reflects a low point in Turkish foreign policy.
Despite a personal invitation by Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Turkish President Abdullah Gul has cited personal health and scheduling conflict. Even the resourceful Foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu has baulked at the idea of attending the summit, which brings dozens of leaders from the South to discuss their issues, including regional conflicts such as Syria. [1]
Tehran has called for a serious discussion of the Syrian conflict on the summit's sideline, in light of the participation of Egypt's President Mohammed Morsi, who has proposed a Syria contact group consisting of Turkey, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Iran. Instead of welcoming this opportunity, the Turkish leadership has chosen to ignore it and, instead, focus on its "regime change" strategy vis-a-vis Damascus that is inching closer to the "no-fly" option by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
Ankara's decision will be viewed negatively by both Tehran and even Cairo, which unlike Turkey's desire to toe NATO's policy in the Middle East, is eager to play an independent role that mandates conflict mediation in a fellow Arab country. The latest report from Egypt indicates that Cairo was hoping to hold a meeting on Syria with the quartet (ie Iran, Turkey, Saudi
Source: http://saltspringnews.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=22742
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