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Nov 17 2009 Fight Taliban or care for thousands who hunger in the U.S.?

We weren't going to post Wright Salisbury''s latest article because it doesn't talk about Iraq. We deplore the American penchant for denial, and each new debacle seems to enable the U.S. public to ignore the disasters we have caused in the past. In some ways our incursion into Afghanistan serves to take our minds off the devastation we brought to the Iraqi people. 

Our use of violence in Afghanistan as well as Iraq helps us ignore the growing number of American families who simply do not have enough to eat. We are talking about some 49 million Americans, according to U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.

However, Wright's impassioned piece deserves to be read. We agree with him. We think  you should take the time to see if you do also. And if so, then take at least the minimal action of letting your elected representatives know how you feel. It will only take you a few minutes, and the lives you save and the pain you help avoid will be worth it.

Boots on the ground or food on the table?

 ... and a house to live in, and clothes to wear, and affordable health care?  Which is it going to be, President Obama?

 

At $1,000,000 per year to put a soldier in Afghanistan and unemployment topping 10%, which do we value more — fighting a war almost certainly doomed to failure or feeding, clothing, housing and providing health care to our own people?

 

Seems like a no-brainer, doesn’t it?

 

Think outside the box, Mr. President

 

Just because you inherited two wars from your mentally- and morally-challenged predecessor, you are not obliged to continue them.  Back in the 60’s, people used to ask, “What if they gave a war and nobody came?”  That was in the Vietnam era, when young people were being drafted.  Lyndon Johnson sat in the White House suffering severe depression as people marched out front, chanting, “Hey, hey, LBJ. How many kids did you kill today?”

 

He was so depressed, he declined to run for another term, and Richard Nixon became the next president. Hardly an improvement.

 

But that did put an end to the Selective Service System.  From then on, if we fought a war, we would not draft college kids.  We would use our National Guard, which was peopled by middle class folks who wanted to earn a little extra money.

 

Do something unprecedented: Use your head.

 

I’m serious.  No one has ever declared a war over before his country was definitively defeated.  No one.  Not Germany, not England or Spain or Portugal of France.  Be the first to admit that your country can’t win a war and, more than that, recognize your error and end the war in Afghanistan and our continued presence in Iraq.

 

You have every excuse in the world, and except for a few right wing nuts, you would be applauded for saving the country from disaster.  If you need a reason to give the American people for the decision, here are six reasons, any one of which alone provides sufficient grounds for ending the war.

 

1) Our allies don’t want to send more than token forces, if that.  What do they know that we don’t?  Well, for one thing, they know the war is very unpopular with their people.  A majority of Americans also think we should get out of Afghanistan.

 

2) Our country is not at peril from the Taliban, and Al Queda is a stateless organization that can find sanctuary elsewhere and is doing so.

 

3) What is so special about Afghanistan?  If we are freeing people from oppression, why did we not intervene in Rwanda, where a million people were killed in a war between the Tutsis and the Hutus?

 

4) The government of Harmid Karzai is deeply unpopular and untrusted by the people of Afghanistan, because it is corrupt and shows no tendency whatever to change its ways.

 

5) We can’t allow more of our young people to be killed or wounded in wars of questionable necessity.

 

6) And finally, we can’t afford this war.  Our economy is in tatters.

 

Don’t be fooled by reassurances from our military commanders.  Generals fight.  That’s what they do for a living.  But tell them to stop fighting and they will stop, because you are the Commander in Chief.

 

You decide, Mr. President.

 

Wright Salisbury lost his son-in-law, Edward Hennessy, Jr. in the 9/11 attack.  He is also the founder of The Alliance for Jewish-Christian-Muslim Understanding, Inc., a non-profit organization dedicated to building bridges of understanding between people of different faiths.

 

Nov 15 2009 Birth defects in Fallujah from U.S. munitions?

"Young women in Fallujah in Iraq are terrified of having children because of the increasing number of babies born grotesquely deformed, with no heads, two heads, a single eye in their foreheads, scaly bodies or missing limbs"...Iraqirabita, Oct 2009 [We decided not to include the photographs with this story.]

We first heard about the sudden rise in birth defects in Fallujah a couple of years ago, but put it down to outrageous exaggeration. Unable to find corroboration we filed it away with other anecdotal material.  After digging around a bit I feel justified in adding my voice to the those who are speaking out about this particular horror the U.S. visited upon innocent Iraqi civilians.

Lisa Holland, of SKYNews UK made a video report of the situation in May of 2008. I believe she should be credited with this latest round of concern. She interviews family members, physicians, and human rights workers directly involved.

Dahr Jamail spoke of the birth defects in Fallujah on TalkRadio in July of 2008. 

Subsequent reporting has included statistical data gathered by pediatrician, Samira Abdul Ghani. Birth records were relatively sketchy since the invasion, and rare during Sadaam's reign, but are back on track. The comparisons are staggering.

[Iraqirabita, Oct 2009]Young women in Fallujah in Iraq are terrified of having children because of the increasing number of babies born grotesquely deformed, with no heads, two heads, a single eye in their foreheads, scaly bodies or missing limbs...young children in Fallujah are experiencing hideous cancers and leukemias. These deformities are now well documented, for example in television documentaries on SKY UK on September 1 2009, and on SKY UK June 2008.

...In September 2009, Fallujah General Hospital had 170 new born babies, 24% of whom were dead within the first seven days, a staggering 75% of the dead babies were classified as deformed...compared with data from the month of August in 2002 where there were 530 new born babies of whom six were dead within the first seven days and only one birth defect was reported.

[UPI Nov 2009] Birth defects and early childhood cancers have soared in Fallujah, site of two major battles after the invasion of Iraq, doctors say.

Doctors say they are unsure what is behind the spike in birth defects, The Guardian reported, but suggest it might be chemicals used during the two periods of intense fighting.

"We are seeing a very significant increase in central nervous system anomalies," said Dr. Ayman Qais. "Before 2003 I was seeing sporadic numbers of deformities in babies. Now the frequency of deformities has increased dramatically." Studies suggest the rate of birth defects is about 15 times higher than elsewhere in Iraq. Clusters of congenital defects have also been found in Basra and Najaf, also racked by violence after the 2003 invasion.

[The Guardian/UK Nov 2009] reports that British and Iraqi medical personnel and officials have petitioned the U.N. to investigate and help with the cleanup of toxic materials resulting from the U.S. invasion and occupation.

There is still no conclusive link between American weapons, especially white phosphorous and depleted uranium, and the rise in birth defects. No scientific study of the linkage has yet been done.

We hope the U.N. will hear the cries of Fallujah and initiate a thorough investigation. The Obama administration should also support these efforts at finding the truth.

Nov 14 2009 Bring back the draft and end the wars!

What follows is an open letter by Wright Salisbury whom we came to know as a members of September Eleventh Families for Peaceful Tomorrows. His thoughtful position on the draft is one that we share, and one we hope you will take time to consider.

Wright lost his son-in-law, Edward Hennessy, Jr. in the 9/11 attack. He is also the founder of The Alliance for Jewish-Christian-Muslim Understanding, Inc., a non-profit organization dedicated to building bridges of understanding between people of different faiths.

Bring back the draft and end the wars! by Wright Salisbury

 A brief history of the draft
The United States first employed conscription during the Civil War. Interestingly, since passions in
support of the war were high, only 2% were draftees. Another 6% were paid substitutes. (If a man were drafted, he could pay someone else to take his place.)

After Congress declared war in the World War I, the Conscription Act of 1917 was passed. There
was a lot of resistance to it and almost 300,000 men evaded the draft, mainly through moving and not
leaving a forwarding address.

The Selective Training and Service Act (STSA) of 1940 was passed into law by congress in anticipation of the coming or World War II. 350,000 men evaded the draft in World War II. After that act expired, it was replaced by the Selective Service Act in 1948, requiring all men between 18 and 26 to register for the draft.

After the debacle of the Vietnam War and the passions it aroused in draft-age men, conscription
ended in June, 1973. Since that time, the armed services have relied on enlistees and members of
the National Guard.

Why we should reinstate the draft
Since the end of the Vietnam War, the U.S. has been engaged in many military actions but not until
the Iraq War were National Guard people required to fight on foreign soil. There has been a lot of
discussion about whether the National Guard can be required to fight overseas, and it will be some
time before the legality of sending National Guard troops overseas is resolved. However, the use of
National Guard personnel to fight overseas clearly compromises their main mission, which is to deal
with domestic disasters.

The answer obviously is to reinstate the draft, perhaps under the original terms of the Selective
Training and Service Act of 1940, requiring all men between 18 and 26 to register for the draft. A bill
reinstating the draft under these terms was introduced by Congressman Charles Rangel in 2003 and
was soundly defeated, garnering only two votes. This idea clearly is not popular with congressmen
anxious to keep their seats in Congress. How much more convenient it is for all of us to send other
people to fight our wars.

Reinstatement of the draft, or even a movement to do so, would trigger a necessary national discussion. If a war is worth fighting, it should be the responsibility of all to share in the hardships and
possible deaths involved in the fighting.

I think it is time to begin that discussion in earnest.

Nov 13 2009 Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and Marwa in NYC

NYC is soon to host the trials of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (KSM) and 4 others accused (Khalid actually boasts of his work) of a crime that reshaped our world. One of his victims is heading for NYC this week. It's a long chain of events that led from KSM's planning to Marwa losing her leg, but the steps are clearly connected.

KSM planned, the killers acted, the U.S. was attacked, the Bushmen lied, and we invaded and occupied an innocent nation, terrorizing its innocent civilian population and delivering devastating violence that destroyed lives, limbs, and the cultural fabric of Iraq.

Marwa lost her right leg in a US bombing raid that killed her sister Azra. She was 16 years old.  

Like many Iraqi children, Marwa no longer goes to school. She was flown to Germany where she received her first prosthesis, paid for by Jürgen Todenhöfer using proceeds from his book "Why do you kill, Zaid?"

On the recommendation of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), Todenhöfer provided Marwa with some money to enable her to open a small grocery shop. Because Sadr-City is controlled by the Mahdi Army, an Iraqi paramilitary force created by the Shi’ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, fixtures and fittings for the shop had to be smuggled to Marwa’s house in the back of an ambulance.

She needs a new prosthesis, having outgrown the original. The best are in the U.S. and Todenhöfer and the IOM are flying her to New York City so she can receive the best device, and the best medical and rehabilitative care available.

She'll be staying in Brooklyn, at the house of a generous soul who has opened her doors and extended her family for the duration of Marwa's stay here. Some of New York City's growing Muslim/Iraqi population have volunteered to provide transportation, translation, and much deserved entertainment.

If  you would like to help, make a check out to Bruce Wallace, mail it to:

Bruce Wallace
121Contact
523 72nd Street
Brooklyn NY 11209

and we'll see that 100% of your gift is delivered directly to Marwa.

Nov 11, 2009 Blackwater bribery? A mother's pain? Occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan?

The linkages are clear enough.

When a nation steps outside the law, people lose their foundation of trust. Yeah, I think about getting swept up one day; cut off from communication; lost to the 'free' world...and sometimes it really happens and some families are caught in the maelstrom of unknowing, perhaps forever.

One cannot value the word of a nation that lies its way into occupation, bribes its way past mercenary atrocities, hides it ways of rendition, torture, and assassination. One cannot value the judgment of a nation that pours over 10 billion dollars a month into occupation efforts while 45 million Americans are unable to adequately feed themselves.

It is time to stop the lying--to other and to ourselves.

It is time to end the occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan.

It is time to end the lawlessness of the U.S. government.

 

Indefinitely Detained

 

By Talat Hamdani

 

 

 “Harsh tactics” or torture, the threat of indefinite detention, whisking people to other countries without recourse, actions that our government has adopted, have left many Americans in a state of acute apprehension and often in outright fear. What happened to Salman Hamdani is still a question in the mind of his mother. Until we can say these actions are completely rejected by our government, the fears will remain.  We must reject extra-Constitutional activities once and for all.

 

 

It’s almost too painful to remember everything; the chaos, my first-born being ripped away from me was too much to bear.  When we couldn’t reach him and he didn’t come home on September 11, we knew that he had gone to the Trade Center to help.

 

He was still fresh at his research job at Rockefeller University in Manhattan . At age 23 he had just graduated from Queens College , was applying for medical school and was in the final throes of an NYPD police cadet training program.   Gentle and caring, he worked as an ambulance driver while studying and, as a certified paramedic, we were certain he went where he could use his skills to aid others.

 

Many calls came from the victim’s family center in the following days; the callers said they were investigators.  They kept asking the same questions over and again, calling sometime late into the night.  ”Where was Salman going?” “Who was he going to meet that day?” “When did he leave the house?”

 

Two weeks later someone came into my husband’s store in Queens and said he had seen our son’s picture on an MTA wanted poster from the “Terrorist Task Force”.  We were stunned.  Salman came here with us as an infant from Pakistan ; his two younger brothers were born here our chosen country.   He was deemed suspect, it seems, because he was a chemistry major in college, was born in Pakistan , and was Muslim.

 

We were overrun by reporters.  For the most part, they were fair and refrained from wild conjecture in their reporting, except for the NY Post, whose sensational headline blared “Missing or Hiding?” under Salman’s picture, and claimed someone saw him later that day uptown.  Then people came from the Bureau of Criminal Investigation and searched our house.

 

In early October, exhausted and depressed, our family made the pilgrimage to Mecca to pray.  Returning later that month, we were questioned by our Congressman. Rep. Ackerman, who suggested that Salman might have been detained by the immigration service, giving us hope that he might still be alive and only detained.  Maybe the poster was meant to mislead?  Maybe the government agencies weren’t coordinated?

 

We contacted the White House and the FBI, but only received form letters in return. Only then we learned that Salman’s name was included in an heroic context in Section 102 of the Patriot Act, which was passed on October 26, 2001 .

 

Six months after the event, on March 20, 2002, at 11:30 PM, two police officers came to our house and told us that his remains were identified through DNA testing at about the same time that the Patriot Act was passed, and almost the same day that we had returned from Mecca,… three months earlier.

 

We picked up his remains the next day.  When I asked for proof that this was actually Salman’s remains, the Medical Examiner told us, “Go get yourself a lawyer.” We had two choices: to take the remains and the death certificate, accepting what they told us, or to leave them there and have nothing.  We had been through too much and we chose the former. 

 

The months of stress were too much for my husband, who succumbed to a heart attack a few months later.  Without his good counsel, a terrible thought has crept in to my mind since then.  Was Salman detained and tortured?  Where did he really die?  Why was he lauded in the Patriot Act while he was being investigated as a suspected terrorist? Why did the authorities wait six months to tell us his remains were found?  I will live with these doubts and questions until I die.

 

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Nov 3 2009 USS New York: Commemorating US Crimes in Iraq

Just as we burrow deeper into the maelstrom of Afghanistan we are gifted with one of the ugliest warships ever built by any nation.

It is hard to think of a less fitting way to send "a message of America becoming stronger as a result" of 9/11 [Naval Cmdr. Quentin King]. Secretary of the Navy Gordon England announced the naming as to "honor the victims of Sept. 11."                                          

Tragically neither the U.S. Navy nor President Obama evidently understand the enormity of the insult this warship delivers to those innocent civilians lost on September 11, 2001.

America weakened significantly after 9/11. The response to invade and occupy Iraq was a criminal act based on deliberate deceit. The punitive crushing of the Iraqi populace was nothing to be proud of. Our moral standing in the world was greatly diminished. Our civil liberties at home suffered setbacks that may never be recovered.

President Obama will come to New York to commission the USS New York on Saturday. We wish he would stay in Washington and decommission our failed effort in Iraq, and put an end to the inevitable failure of our mission in Afghanistan. We can no more force cultures to adopt the mythical Democratic model than we can forge peaceful tomorrows from weapons of destruction.

We also wish President Obama would stop the lies. We already have more mercenaries in Afghanistan that we have troops, but that fact is never added to official tallies of troop numbers.

Let us honor the innocent civilians who died on 9/11 by stopping the slaughter of innocent civilians by our own hands. This would be a true tribute to the fallen.