Today, it was announced the United States will sell to Taiwan a package of Arms Weapons in the amount $6.4 billion to include Black Hawk helicopters, Patriot “Advanced Capability-3” anti-missile missiles, and two refurbished Osprey-class mine-hunting ships. This is a slap in the face to China, as China sees Taiwan as part of China so this sale is a sign of double-talk by the U.S. in stating there’s a “One China Policy”. China has announced it has suspended mutual military visits with the United States. Next, China will most likely not support sanctions against Iran as a “pay-back”. Here’s U.S. technology at work. The Patriot missile system is the same as sold to Poland and within 100 kilometers of the Russian border, view the video below. [UPDATE:
China’s Response, click here)
Here’s some facts from a NY Times article of Sept. 2009: Despite Slump, U.S. Role as Top Arms Supplier Grows. Read the whole story, click here.
What would the world think if Russia or China were number one in Arms Sales World-Wide? What would the U.S. say? In 2008, the U.S. sold $37.8 BILLION U.S. Dollars in sales, a total of 68.4% of all World-Wide Arms Sales. Guess who was in Second Place? Guess how much they sold? China? Russia? No, it was Italy. Yes, Italy was second in a total of 3.7 Billion in sales (10% of the total U.S. sales). And Russia was #3 with 3.5 Billion in Arms Sales.
Arms Sales World-Wide in 2008
United States $37.8 Billion in Sales
Italy 3.7
Russia 3.5
The biggest purchase in 2008 from the U.S. was 6.5 Billion air defense system for the United Arab Emirates, followed by a 2.1 Billion dollar jet fighter deal with Morocco (does Morocco even have an air force?) and a 2 Billion dollar attack helicopter sale to Taiwan.
How is the United States for World Peace while supplying the World with Arms to kill other human beings? The U.S. is in a War Ecomomy, the only export of any size is Military Equipment and Deadly Arms. “The United States was the leader not only in arms sales worldwide, but also in sales to nations in the developing world, signing $29.6 billion in weapons agreements with these nations, or 70.1 percent of all such deals.”
How to get international troops out of Afghanistan, and replace them with local forces? That was the crunch issue being discussed at a 70 nation conference on the future of the war-torn country.
More from an interview with Sabah Al-Mukhtar, President of the Arab Lawyers Association in London: One plan involves tempting Taliban fighters to leave the insurgency behind, and take up civilian jobs. Sabah Al-Mukhtar – President of the Arab Lawyers Association in London – says the attempt to induce Western values in Afghan society is doomed to fail.
* * * “March on Washington on March 20, End the War(s)” was first Posted on January 2, 2010. It is being Re-Posted today because we all must participate on March 20. Read all you can and organize locally if you can’t get to Washington on March 20. Come the week before as there will be events of protest leading up to the day of the march. Please pass this Post link along to your friends.
Show your support on March 20. A day for Peace…..
The time has come for your personal action to End the War(s). The date to show how you feel is March 20, 2010. There will be a March on Washington, led by the ANSWER Coalition. Spread the word. There will be a lot of news on this in the upcoming months. Organize your local town for action on March 20. Show the world WE CARE. Take action now. Personally endorse the March 20 March on Washington, click here.
We marched when Bush was President, now let's march when Obama increases troops. Come March 20 to Washington, DC and demand the End to the War(s)
A.N.S.W.E.R. The anti-war movement responds to President Obama’s speech Statement from the ANSWER Coalition Rhetoric and Reality: Masking War Escalation as a Withdrawal Plan
On Saturday, March 20, 2010, there will be a mass National March & Rally in D.C. We will march together to say “No Colonial-type Wars and Occupations in Afghanistan, Iraq, Palestine!” We will march together to say “No War Against Iran!” We will march together to say “No War for Empire Anywhere!” Instead of war, we will demand funds so that every person can have a job, free and universal health care, decent schools, and affordable housing. A day of action and outreach in Washington, D.C., will take place on Friday, March 19, preceding the Saturday march. There will be coinciding mass marches on March 20 in San Francisco and Los Angeles.
Cindy Sheehan and a coalition of groups has announced a new initiative set to begin in March 2010 called Peace of the Action, ( Click Here for More) an integral part of which will be a camp that will be set up beginning March 13.
This camp will be a staging area for people coming to DC to take part in anti-war activities. Join Peace of the Action, Click Here.Our demand is simple: Troops out of the Middle East, which includes drones, permanent bases, contractors and torture/detention facilities.We will begin Peace of the Action on March 13th when we gather in Washington, DC to erect Camp OUT NOW on the lawn of the Washington Monument, directly across the street from the White House and our actions will begin on March 22nd.
We need individuals who realize that time is running short for us to truly affect change through commitment and dedication to humanity through the end to the U.S. Empire (and its subsidiaries). March 20 is the seventh anniversary of the criminal war of aggression launched by Bush and Cheney against Iraq. One million or more Iraqis have died. Tens of thousands of U.S. troops have lost their lives or been maimed, and continue to suffer a whole host of enduring problems from this terrible war. This is the time for united action. The slogans on banners may differ, but all those who carry them should be marching shoulder to shoulder.
The initiators and endorsers of the March 20 National March on Washington (preceded by the March 19 Day of Action and Outreach in D.C.) include: the ANSWER Coalition; Muslim American Society Freedom; National Council of Arab Americans; Cynthia McKinney; Malik Rahim, co-founder of Common Ground Collective; Ramsey Clark; Cindy Sheehan; Medea Benjamin, co-founder of CODEPINK; Debra Sweet, Director, World Can’t Wait; Mike Ferner, President, Veterans for Peace; Al-Awda, the Palestine Right to Return Coalition; Heidi Boghosian, Executive Director, National Lawyers Guild; Ron Kovic, author of “Born on the 4th of July”; Juan Jose Gutierrez, Director, Latino Movement USA; Col. Ann Wright (ret.); March Forward!; Partnership for Civil Justice; Palestinian American Women Association; MANA – Muslim Alliance in North America; Alliance for a Just and Lasting Peace in the Philippines; Alliance for Global Justice; Claudia de la Cruz, Pastor, Iglesia San Romero de Las Americas-UCC; Phil Portluck, Social Justice Ministry, Covenant Baptist Church, D.C.; Blase & Theresa Bonpane, Office of the Americas; Coalition for Peace and Democracy in Honduras; Comite Pro-Democracia en Mexico; Frente Unido de los Pueblos Americanos; Comites de Base FMLN, Los Angeles; Free Palestine Alliance; GABRIELA Network; Justice for Filipino American Veterans; KmB Pro-People Youth; Students Fight Back; Jim Lafferty, Executive Director, National Lawyers Guild – LA Chapter; LEF Foundation; National Coalition to Free the Angola 3; Community Futures Collective; Advocates for Indigenous California Language Survival; Companeros del Barrio; Barrio Unido for Full and Unconditional Amnesty; Michael Berg; Action Center for Justice – Charlotte, NC; Bay Area United Against War; Casa las Américas; Community Organizing Center, Columbus, Ohio; CT-SAW (Connecticut Students Against the War) ; Delaware Valley Veterans for America; Hawai’i Solidarity Committee; Malcolm X Center for Self-Determination; Texans for Peace; and many more.
End the War(s): U.S. Out of Afghanistan Now, AFP photo
* * * Stop the Assassination Drones:. Call Leon Panetta at (703) 482-0623, CIA headquarters, leave a message: No More Drone Assasination attacks, and don’t attack Quetta. End the War(s) NOW.
Call President Obama ALL WEEK LONG. Let’s keep his White House lines busy: Take Action Now ! ! Call President Obama: To reach the U.S. Capitol Switchboard: 202-224-3121 or 202-225-3121 Leave a message: “You made the wrong decision. I do not support you on this. I feel betrayed.” Say NO to Escalation in Afghanistan. Sign the petition here. No funds from Congress for the troop escalation. Tell them now.
Today, please tell your member of Congress and U.S. Senators to End the War in Afghanistan, sign this petition. If you live outside the United States, write to your leaders, End the War Now.
The release of two cables sent by U.S. Ambassador Karl Eikenberry reveal how our course in Afghanistan is wrong, sending more troops is the wrong thing to do. Ray McGovern posts the following story covering the two memos and how things work in the CIA and White House relations on when a National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) is needed and how none was done prior to the troop increase announced by President Obama. Ray Mcgovern’s whole article is printed here for your viewing. Your opinions in the comment section below, please.
General Petraeus and US Ambassador Karl Eikenberry (former Lt. General, for two years (2005-2007) commander of all U.S. forces stationed in Afghanistan
Published on Thursday, January 28, 2010 by CommonDreams.org
President Put Politics First on Afghanistan
by Ray McGovern
Nothing highlights President Obama’s abject surrender to Gen. David Petraeus on the “way forward” in Afghanistan than two cables U.S. Ambassador Karl Eikenberry sent to Washington on Nov. 6 and 9, 2009, the texts of which were released Tuesday by the New York Times.
No longer is it possible to suggest that Obama was totally deprived of wise counsel on Afghanistan; Eikenberry got it largely right. Sadly, the inevitable conclusion is that, although Obama is not as dumb as his predecessor, he is no less willing to sacrifice thousands of lives for political gain.
Ambassador Eikenberry, a retired Army Lt. General who served three years in Afghanistan over the course of two separate tours of duty, was responsible during 2002-2003 for rebuilding Afghan security forces. He then served 18 months (2005-2007) as commander of all U.S. forces stationed in Afghanistan.
Straight Talk
In the cable he sent to Washington on Nov. 6, he explains why, “I cannot support [the Defense Department’s] recommendation for an immediate Presidential decision to deploy another 40,000 here.” His reasons include:
~Afghan President Hamid Karzai is not “an adequate strategic partner.” His government has “little to no political will or capacity to carry out basic tasks of governance. … It strains credulity to expect Karzai to change fundamentally this late in his life and in our relationship.”
~Karzai and many of his advisers “are only too happy to see us invest further. They assume we covet their territory for a never ending ‘war on terror’ and for military bases to use against surrounding powers.”
[Comment: I wonder where Karzai ever got that idea about military bases-perhaps because we are building them? I’ll bet Karzai also assumes continuing U.S. interest in the projected oil/natural gas pipeline from the extraordinarily rich deposits in the Caspian Sea area and Turkmenistan through Afghanistan to the Arabian Sea, bypassing both Russia and the Strait of Hormuz. ]
~”The proposed troop increase will bring vastly increased costs and an indefinite, large-scale U.S. military role.”
~”We overestimate the ability of Afghan security forces to take over…by 2013. … and underestimate how long it will take to restore or establish civilian government.”
~”More troops won’t end the insurgency as long as Pakistan sanctuaries remain…and Pakistan views its strategic interests as best served by a weak neighbor.”
~”There is also the deeper concern about dependency. … Rather than reducing Afghan dependence, sending more troops, therefore, is likely to deepen it, at least in the short term. That would further delay our goal of shifting the combat burden to the Afghans.”
More Straight Talk
Eikenberry is even more direct in his cable of Nov. 9, taking strong issue with “a proposed counterinsurgency strategy that relies on a large, all-or-nothing increase in U.S. troops,” and warning of the risk that “we will become more deeply engaged here with no way to extricate ourselves…” Condemning Gen. Stanley McChrystal’s recommendations with faint praise, Ambassador Eikenberry describes them as “logical and compelling within his [McChrystal’s] narrow mandate to define the needs for a military counterinsurgency campaign within Afghanistan.”
“Unaddressed variables,” says Eikenberry, “include Pakistan sanctuaries, weak Afghan leadership and governance, NATO civilian-military integration, and our national will to bear the human and fiscal costs over many years.” He complains that the troop increase proposal “sets aside” these variables, even though “each has the potential to block us from achieving our strategic goals, regardless of the number of additional troops we may send.”
The ambassador also notes that it is hardly a safe assumption that Karzai and his new team will ever be “committed to lead the counterinsurgency mission we are defining for them,” noting that Karzai “explicitly rejected” McChrystal’s counterinsurgency proposal when first briefed on it in detail.
Eikenberry does not stop there. Rather, he bluntly warns-in vain, it turned out-against a premature decision regarding a troop increase, arguing “there is no option but to widen the scope of our analysis and to consider alternatives beyond a strictly military counterinsurgency effort within Afghanistan.” He adds:
~”We have not yet conducted a comprehensive, interdisciplinary analysis of all our strategic options. Nor have we brought all the real-world variables to bear in testing the proposed counterinsurgency plan.”
~”This strategic re-examination could either include or lead to high-level U.S. talks with the Afghans, the Pakistanis, the Saudis and other important regional players-including possibly Iran. …”
Extraordinary. Here is the U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan bemoaning the fact that, as the President approaches his decision on a large troop increase, there has still been no comprehensive analysis of the wider issues that remain “unaddressed” in McChrystal’s proposal.
NIEs
Taking an objective look at a complex national security problem is precisely the job for which President Harry Truman created the CIA, giving its director the task of drafting what became known as National Intelligence Estimates-a process in which all agencies of the intelligence community can take part.
That no estimate has been prepared on Afghanistan/Pakistan and the “unaddressed variables” is an indictment of President Obama and his deference to the military. The President and other misguided Democrats are hell bent on preventing the bemedaled Petraeus, a likely Republican candidate for president in 2012, from painting them soft on terrorism. Letting Petraeus run the policy, while avoiding any critical intelligence analysis, is Obama’s safe-and cowardly-way out.
During my tenure at CIA (from the administration of John Kennedy to that of George H. W. Bush), I cannot think of an occasion on which a President chose to forgo a National Intelligence Estimate before making a key decision on foreign policy. However, in early 2002, President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney set a new kind of precedent when they ordered CIA Director George Tenet NOT to prepare an NIE on weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, out of fear that an honest estimate would make it immensely more difficult to attack Iraq.
That did not change until September 2002, when Sen. Bob Graham, then-chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, warned the White House that, absent an NIE, he would do all he could to prevent a vote on war with Iraq. That’s when a totally dishonest NIE was woven out of whole cloth (or, in the words of subsequent Intelligence Committee chair, Sen. Jay Rockefeller, fashioned from “created” intelligence) to hype a threat from non-existent Iraqi WMD.
After that debacle, new leadership was given to the NIE process in the person of Tom Fingar who had run the intelligence unit at the State Department. It was Fingar who insisted on a bottom-up review of intelligence on Iran’s nuclear plans, which resulted in an NIE that helped prevent Bush and Cheney from attacking Iran-or encouraging Israel to do so.
That NIE, issued in November 2007, assessed “with high confidence” that Iran had stopped working on the nuclear weapons part of its nuclear program in late 2003, directly contradicting claims of Bush and Cheney at the time.
Of equal importance, the Joint Chiefs of Staff and other senior military had no appetite to take on Iran (or to acquiesce in Israel’s doing so) and insisted that the key judgments of that NIE be made public.
This time, on Afghanistan, it’s different. Army generals Petraeus and McChrystal apparently persuaded the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Admiral Mike Mullen, that they knew what they’re doing and didn’t need any intelligence analysts reaching troublesome conclusions.
What’s the Rush?
From his vantage point in Kabul, Eikenberry seems impervious to Dick Cheney’s charges that the President is “dithering.” The first two (of three) subheadings in Eikenberry’s second cable are: “We Have Time” and “Why We Must Take the Time.” He finishes with an appeal to “widen the scope of our analysis.”
Eikenberry is all but demanding a National Intelligence Estimate, but stops short so as not to cross the President or rub salt in the wounds that the ambassador’s cables have opened in Petraeus and McChrystal.
Instead of requesting an NIE, Ambassador Eikenberry suggests that the White House appoint “a panel of civilian and military experts to examine the Afghanistan-Pakistan strategy and the full range of options.” The list of issues he says this panel “should examine” reads very much like what the intelligence community calls “Terms of Reference” for an NIE. (As a CIA analyst and manger I contributed to many NIEs and chaired some myself.)
When the White House gave Eikenberry short shrift, he should have resigned, rather than support the misbegotten strategy Obama chose.
Leakophobia
Part of Obama’s motivation in not ordering the customary NIE was to avoid any chance that its conclusions might leak, according to a source with good access. Assuming that intelligence community estimators have not regressed to the Bush/Cheney days of cooking estimates to order, such a leak would certainly have made it more difficult for the President to render unflinching support to Petraeus and McChrystal.
Pity Obama. It is hard to believe he could be so naive to the ways of Washington and so dismissive of the possibility that there could still be some courageous patriots among the senior officials dismayed at his remarkable retreat from the “transparency” he promised.
The New York Times reports, “An American official provided a copy of the cables to The Times after a reporter requested them.” Well, good for that patriotic truth-teller. And good, as well, for the New York Times for publishing the cables. I am permitting myself to hope that still more truth-tellers will emerge from the woodwork, and even that The Times might begin to play the kind of key role it did 40 years ago, once it finally brought itself to concede that Vietnam was a fool’s errand.
NODIS
It may be that one needs to have worked at senior levels on the “inside” to understand the twinge that I felt after downloading the NODIS cables made available by The Times. NODIS cables on my desk at home!
As the cover sheet indicates, “NODIS” means no dissemination beyond the named “addressee and, if not expressly precluded, by those officials under his authority whom he considers to have a clear-cut ‘need to know.'” (Emphasis added. It is not entirely clear, but I assume that exceptions can now be made for the current Secretary of State and other senior officials of her gender.)
In my day we had to go to the CIA Director’s office, sign for, and read NODIS cables right there. No doubt there are similar controls today. So, in this case the whistleblower took considerable risk in taking it upon him/herself to make “transparency” real, not just Obaman rhetoric.
The irony? If, as I have been told, the President put the kibosh on preparation of an NIE for fear it would leak, we now have an even more instructive kind of leak. Thanks to The Times and its courageous source, we now know not only that President Obama elected to forgo an honest NIE, but that he did so in the face of very strong urging from Ambassador Eikenberry to “widen the scope” of analysis, and not simply kowtow to the Army brass.
I imagine that in years to come, Eikenberry will proudly show his cables to his grandchildren. Or maybe he won’t, out of fear that one of them might ask why he didn’t have the guts to quit and let the rest of the country know what he really thought of this latest March of Folly.
Ray McGovern works with Tell the Word, the publishing arm of the ecumenical Church of the Saviour in Washington, DC. During his career as a CIA analyst, he prepared and briefed the President’s Daily Brief and chaired National Intelligence Estimates. He is a member of the Steering Group of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS).
* * * “March on Washington on March 20, End the War(s)” was first Posted on January 2, 2010. It is being Re-Posted today because we all must participate on March 20. Read all you can and organize locally if you can’t get to Washington on March 20. Come the week before as there will be events of protest leading up to the day of the march. Please pass this Post link along to your friends.
Show your support on March 20. A day for Peace…..
The time has come for your personal action to End the War(s). The date to show how you feel is March 20, 2010. There will be a March on Washington, led by the ANSWER Coalition. Spread the word. There will be a lot of news on this in the upcoming months. Organize your local town for action on March 20. Show the world WE CARE. Take action now. Personally endorse the March 20 March on Washington, click here.
We marched when Bush was President, now let's march when Obama increases troops. Come March 20 to Washington, DC and demand the End to the War(s)
A.N.S.W.E.R. The anti-war movement responds to President Obama’s speech Statement from the ANSWER Coalition Rhetoric and Reality: Masking War Escalation as a Withdrawal Plan
On Saturday, March 20, 2010, there will be a mass National March & Rally in D.C. We will march together to say “No Colonial-type Wars and Occupations in Afghanistan, Iraq, Palestine!” We will march together to say “No War Against Iran!” We will march together to say “No War for Empire Anywhere!” Instead of war, we will demand funds so that every person can have a job, free and universal health care, decent schools, and affordable housing. A day of action and outreach in Washington, D.C., will take place on Friday, March 19, preceding the Saturday march. There will be coinciding mass marches on March 20 in San Francisco and Los Angeles.
Cindy Sheehan and a coalition of groups has announced a new initiative set to begin in March 2010 called Peace of the Action, ( Click Here for More) an integral part of which will be a camp that will be set up beginning March 13.
This camp will be a staging area for people coming to DC to take part in anti-war activities. Join Peace of the Action, Click Here.Our demand is simple: Troops out of the Middle East, which includes drones, permanent bases, contractors and torture/detention facilities.We will begin Peace of the Action on March 13th when we gather in Washington, DC to erect Camp OUT NOW on the lawn of the Washington Monument, directly across the street from the White House and our actions will begin on March 22nd.
We need individuals who realize that time is running short for us to truly affect change through commitment and dedication to humanity through the end to the U.S. Empire (and its subsidiaries). March 20 is the seventh anniversary of the criminal war of aggression launched by Bush and Cheney against Iraq. One million or more Iraqis have died. Tens of thousands of U.S. troops have lost their lives or been maimed, and continue to suffer a whole host of enduring problems from this terrible war. This is the time for united action. The slogans on banners may differ, but all those who carry them should be marching shoulder to shoulder.
The initiators and endorsers of the March 20 National March on Washington (preceded by the March 19 Day of Action and Outreach in D.C.) include: the ANSWER Coalition; Muslim American Society Freedom; National Council of Arab Americans; Cynthia McKinney; Malik Rahim, co-founder of Common Ground Collective; Ramsey Clark; Cindy Sheehan; Medea Benjamin, co-founder of CODEPINK; Debra Sweet, Director, World Can’t Wait; Mike Ferner, President, Veterans for Peace; Al-Awda, the Palestine Right to Return Coalition; Heidi Boghosian, Executive Director, National Lawyers Guild; Ron Kovic, author of “Born on the 4th of July”; Juan Jose Gutierrez, Director, Latino Movement USA; Col. Ann Wright (ret.); March Forward!; Partnership for Civil Justice; Palestinian American Women Association; MANA – Muslim Alliance in North America; Alliance for a Just and Lasting Peace in the Philippines; Alliance for Global Justice; Claudia de la Cruz, Pastor, Iglesia San Romero de Las Americas-UCC; Phil Portluck, Social Justice Ministry, Covenant Baptist Church, D.C.; Blase & Theresa Bonpane, Office of the Americas; Coalition for Peace and Democracy in Honduras; Comite Pro-Democracia en Mexico; Frente Unido de los Pueblos Americanos; Comites de Base FMLN, Los Angeles; Free Palestine Alliance; GABRIELA Network; Justice for Filipino American Veterans; KmB Pro-People Youth; Students Fight Back; Jim Lafferty, Executive Director, National Lawyers Guild – LA Chapter; LEF Foundation; National Coalition to Free the Angola 3; Community Futures Collective; Advocates for Indigenous California Language Survival; Companeros del Barrio; Barrio Unido for Full and Unconditional Amnesty; Michael Berg; Action Center for Justice – Charlotte, NC; Bay Area United Against War; Casa las Américas; Community Organizing Center, Columbus, Ohio; CT-SAW (Connecticut Students Against the War) ; Delaware Valley Veterans for America; Hawai’i Solidarity Committee; Malcolm X Center for Self-Determination; Texans for Peace; and many more.
End the War(s): U.S. Out of Afghanistan Now, AFP photo
* * * Stop the Assassination Drones:. Call Leon Panetta at (703) 482-0623, CIA headquarters, leave a message: No More Drone Assasination attacks, and don’t attack Quetta. End the War(s) NOW.
Call President Obama ALL WEEK LONG. Let’s keep his White House lines busy: Take Action Now ! ! Call President Obama: To reach the U.S. Capitol Switchboard: 202-224-3121 or 202-225-3121 Leave a message: “You made the wrong decision. I do not support you on this. I feel betrayed.” Say NO to Escalation in Afghanistan. Sign the petition here. No funds from Congress for the troop escalation. Tell them now.
Today, please tell your member of Congress and U.S. Senators to End the War in Afghanistan, sign this petition. If you live outside the United States, write to your leaders, End the War Now.
The gun markets of Pakistan By Suroosh Alvi, Founder, Vice Magazine and VBS.TV
Wonder how the “taliban”and “insurgents” get guns? Who delivers them? How about all the ammo that is needed? How does that get bought and where does it come from? Making guns by hand in a tribal town. Primitive conditions. Watch this video taken at the source of the guns.This is a good source for on-the-scene footage by some very brave people. View the video below and visit their news site: http://www.vbs.tv/newsroom
Pakistan President Zardari sacrifices a black goat daily to ward off evil eye
CEC to hear Zardari’s eligibility petition on Feb 4
ISLAMABAD: From The Times of India: Pakistan’s beleaguered President Asif Ali Zardari, who is facing fresh challenges since the Supreme Court scrapped a graft amnesty that benefited him, has sacrificed hundreds of black goats to ward off the “evil eye” since he moved into the presidency in 2008.
A black goat is slaughtered almost daily to ward off the “evil eye” and protect Zardari from “black magic”, the Dawn newspaper reported on Wednesday. The President also reportedly uses only camel and goat milk due to superstitions, the report said. However, presidential spokesman Farhatullah Babar brushed aside suggestions that Zardari is a superstitious man. “It has been an old practice of Mr Zardari to offer ‘sadqa’ (charity). He has been doing this for a long time,” Babar said.
Zardari’s detractors, however, perceive his new-found religiosity as a sign of nervousness in the wake of the scrapping of the National Reconciliation Ordinance by the Supreme Court last month.
The NRO was issued by former military ruler Pervez Musharraf to withdraw anti-corruption cases against Zardari and over 8,000 others. The Dawn reported that hundreds of black goats had been sacrificed since Zardari moved into the presidency in September 2008. Zardari’s trusted personal servant, Bai Khan, buys the goats from Saidpur, a village in the heart of Islamabad. The animal is touched by Zardari before it is sent to his private house in Sector F-8/2 in the city to be sacrificed. When Zardari moved into the presidency in September 2008, he was shown on state-run TV touching several black goats before they were led away by a member of his staff.
There are also reports that when Zardari moved into the President’s House, a flock of black partridges were introduced there for their supposedly magical effects. However, the whole flock was electrocuted when a live wire fell on its cage. [Ed. Note: This is a sure sign that there’s no way out for President Zardari, even if he drinks milk directly from the Camel, the money laundering charges from the past will raise up again and take him down. The NRO will allow him to be brought to court on Civil Charges, as immunity will not protect him from Civil Charges. President Zardari’s days are numbered, and shrinking fast, the Black Partridges getting electrocuted is a VERY BAD SIGN]
A camel, a cow and a few goats have also been kept on the grounds of the presidency to provide milk for Zardari. The President has also introduced the neem tree at his official residence for its antiseptic qualities.
ISLAMABAD: Chief Election Commissioner Justice Hamid Ali Mirza will hear on Feb 4 arguments on maintainability of a petition challenging eligibility of Asif Ali Zardari to hold the office of president and seeking fresh scrutiny of his nomination papers as a presidential candidate…The petitioner said that after the Supreme Court had ordered that all steps taken and all orders passed by whatever authority, any orders passed by the courts of law including the orders of discharge and acquittal recorded in favour of accused persons were declared to have never existed in the eyes of law and resultantly of no legal effect. The petitioner submitted that being a beneficiary of NRO, Mr Zardari could not have qualified to contest presidential polls had the ordinance not been in the field at the time of the scrutiny nomination papers. He said Mr Zardari had been convicted by a Swiss Court and subordinate courts in the country.
* * * “March on Washington on March 20, End the War(s)” was first Posted on January 2, 2010. It is being Re-Posted today because we all must participate on March 20. Read all you can and organize locally if you can’t get to Washington on March 20. Come the week before as there will be events of protest leading up to the day of the march. Please pass this Post link along to your friends.
Show your support on March 20. A day for Peace…..
The time has come for your personal action to End the War(s). The date to show how you feel is March 20, 2010. There will be a March on Washington, led by the ANSWER Coalition. Spread the word. There will be a lot of news on this in the upcoming months. Organize your local town for action on March 20. Show the world WE CARE. Take action now. Personally endorse the March 20 March on Washington, click here.
We marched when Bush was President, now let's march when Obama increases troops. Come March 20 to Washington, DC and demand the End to the War(s)
A.N.S.W.E.R. The anti-war movement responds to President Obama’s speech Statement from the ANSWER Coalition Rhetoric and Reality: Masking War Escalation as a Withdrawal Plan
On Saturday, March 20, 2010, there will be a mass National March & Rally in D.C. We will march together to say “No Colonial-type Wars and Occupations in Afghanistan, Iraq, Palestine!” We will march together to say “No War Against Iran!” We will march together to say “No War for Empire Anywhere!” Instead of war, we will demand funds so that every person can have a job, free and universal health care, decent schools, and affordable housing. A day of action and outreach in Washington, D.C., will take place on Friday, March 19, preceding the Saturday march. There will be coinciding mass marches on March 20 in San Francisco and Los Angeles.
Cindy Sheehan and a coalition of groups has announced a new initiative set to begin in March 2010 called Peace of the Action, ( Click Here for More) an integral part of which will be a camp that will be set up beginning March 13.
This camp will be a staging area for people coming to DC to take part in anti-war activities. Join Peace of the Action, Click Here.Our demand is simple: Troops out of the Middle East, which includes drones, permanent bases, contractors and torture/detention facilities.We will begin Peace of the Action on March 13th when we gather in Washington, DC to erect Camp OUT NOW on the lawn of the Washington Monument, directly across the street from the White House and our actions will begin on March 22nd.
We need individuals who realize that time is running short for us to truly affect change through commitment and dedication to humanity through the end to the U.S. Empire (and its subsidiaries). March 20 is the seventh anniversary of the criminal war of aggression launched by Bush and Cheney against Iraq. One million or more Iraqis have died. Tens of thousands of U.S. troops have lost their lives or been maimed, and continue to suffer a whole host of enduring problems from this terrible war. This is the time for united action. The slogans on banners may differ, but all those who carry them should be marching shoulder to shoulder.
The initiators and endorsers of the March 20 National March on Washington (preceded by the March 19 Day of Action and Outreach in D.C.) include: the ANSWER Coalition; Muslim American Society Freedom; National Council of Arab Americans; Cynthia McKinney; Malik Rahim, co-founder of Common Ground Collective; Ramsey Clark; Cindy Sheehan; Medea Benjamin, co-founder of CODEPINK; Debra Sweet, Director, World Can’t Wait; Mike Ferner, President, Veterans for Peace; Al-Awda, the Palestine Right to Return Coalition; Heidi Boghosian, Executive Director, National Lawyers Guild; Ron Kovic, author of “Born on the 4th of July”; Juan Jose Gutierrez, Director, Latino Movement USA; Col. Ann Wright (ret.); March Forward!; Partnership for Civil Justice; Palestinian American Women Association; MANA – Muslim Alliance in North America; Alliance for a Just and Lasting Peace in the Philippines; Alliance for Global Justice; Claudia de la Cruz, Pastor, Iglesia San Romero de Las Americas-UCC; Phil Portluck, Social Justice Ministry, Covenant Baptist Church, D.C.; Blase & Theresa Bonpane, Office of the Americas; Coalition for Peace and Democracy in Honduras; Comite Pro-Democracia en Mexico; Frente Unido de los Pueblos Americanos; Comites de Base FMLN, Los Angeles; Free Palestine Alliance; GABRIELA Network; Justice for Filipino American Veterans; KmB Pro-People Youth; Students Fight Back; Jim Lafferty, Executive Director, National Lawyers Guild – LA Chapter; LEF Foundation; National Coalition to Free the Angola 3; Community Futures Collective; Advocates for Indigenous California Language Survival; Companeros del Barrio; Barrio Unido for Full and Unconditional Amnesty; Michael Berg; Action Center for Justice – Charlotte, NC; Bay Area United Against War; Casa las Américas; Community Organizing Center, Columbus, Ohio; CT-SAW (Connecticut Students Against the War) ; Delaware Valley Veterans for America; Hawai’i Solidarity Committee; Malcolm X Center for Self-Determination; Texans for Peace; and many more.
End the War(s): U.S. Out of Afghanistan Now, AFP photo
* * * Stop the Assassination Drones:. Call Leon Panetta at (703) 482-0623, CIA headquarters, leave a message: No More Drone Assasination attacks, and don’t attack Quetta. End the War(s) NOW.
Call President Obama ALL WEEK LONG. Let’s keep his White House lines busy: Take Action Now ! ! Call President Obama: To reach the U.S. Capitol Switchboard: 202-224-3121 or 202-225-3121 Leave a message: “You made the wrong decision. I do not support you on this. I feel betrayed.” Say NO to Escalation in Afghanistan. Sign the petition here. No funds from Congress for the troop escalation. Tell them now.
Today, please tell your member of Congress and U.S. Senators to End the War in Afghanistan, sign this petition. If you live outside the United States, write to your leaders, End the War Now.
A160T UAV Hummingbird US Assassination Drones will be purchased by the U.S. Dept. of Defense in such great numbers as to overtake the military spending verses “Human Pilot” airplanes for the first time in 2010. What’s coming? Many different Unmanned Aircraft, or Drones as they are called, making the assassination machines more palatable to the general public. Here’s a few new deveopments coming out of DARPA, where the U.S. research money is being spent, in killing people, not in saving the planet from Global Warming.
A160T UAV Hummingbird Robot Helicopter with a 1,000 lb. Test Payload
From the Defense Industry Daily: Recent years have seen a variety of unmanned helicopter options introduced into the market. Boeing’s entry lays a breathtaking challenge before the field: what could the military do with a helicopter-like, autonomously-flown UAV with a range of 2,500 nautical miles and endurance of 16-24 hours, carrying a payload of 1,000-2,500 pounds, and doing it all more quietly than conventional helicopters? For that matter, imagine what disaster relief officials could do with something that had all the positive search characteristics of a helicopter, but much longer endurance. Enter the A160 Hummingbird Warrior (YMQ-18), which was snapped up in one of Boeing’s corporate acquisition deals. It uses a very unconventional rotor technology, and Boeing’s Phantom Works division continues to develop it as a revolutionary technology demonstrator and future UAV platform.
Special Forces’ Gigapixel Flying Spy Sees A
ARGUS, Autonomous Real-time Ground Ubiquitous Surveillance-imaging system
From Wired.com: You may think your new ten-megapixel camera is pretty hot –- but not when you compare it to the 1.8 Gigapixel beast built for the Pentagon. The camera is designed as a payload for the A-160T Hummingbird robot helicopter now being quietly delivered to Special Forces. It will give them an unprecedented ability to track everything on the ground in real time. The camera is scheduled for flight testing at the start of next year. Developed under the auspices of Darpa, the camera is the sensor part of Autonomous Real-time Ground Ubiquitous Surveillance – Imaging System or ARGUS-IS. The camera is composed of four arrays, each containing 92 five-megapixel imagers. The other parts of ARGUS are the airborne processing system, which has to deal with a phenomenal torrent of data, and the ground-based element. The airborne part fits into a 500-pound pod. The Hummingbird is unique in its ability to hover at high altitude (over 15,000 feet) and its endurance of over 20 hours. This means it can park high in the sky and scan a wide area. Robo-chopper camera-maker BAE Systems says that its imager will be able to cover an area of over a hundred square miles. The refresh rate is fifteen frames per second and a “ground sample distance” of 15 centimeters –- this means that each pixel represents six inches on the ground. (The Darpa diagram, above, suggests a smaller area of coverage, 40 square kilometers or 15 square miles, at that resolution.)
* * * “March on Washington on March 20, End the War(s)” was first Posted on January 2, 2010. It is being Re-Posted today because we all must participate on March 20. Read all you can and organize locally if you can’t get to Washington on March 20. Come the week before as there will be events of protest leading up to the day of the march. Please pass this Post link along to your friends.
Show your support on March 20. A day for Peace…..
The time has come for your personal action to End the War(s). The date to show how you feel is March 20, 2010. There will be a March on Washington, led by the ANSWER Coalition. Spread the word. There will be a lot of news on this in the upcoming months. Organize your local town for action on March 20. Show the world WE CARE. Take action now. Personally endorse the March 20 March on Washington, click here.
We marched when Bush was President, now let's march when Obama increases troops. Come March 20 to Washington, DC and demand the End to the War(s)
A.N.S.W.E.R. The anti-war movement responds to President Obama’s speech Statement from the ANSWER Coalition Rhetoric and Reality: Masking War Escalation as a Withdrawal Plan
On Saturday, March 20, 2010, there will be a mass National March & Rally in D.C. We will march together to say “No Colonial-type Wars and Occupations in Afghanistan, Iraq, Palestine!” We will march together to say “No War Against Iran!” We will march together to say “No War for Empire Anywhere!” Instead of war, we will demand funds so that every person can have a job, free and universal health care, decent schools, and affordable housing. A day of action and outreach in Washington, D.C., will take place on Friday, March 19, preceding the Saturday march. There will be coinciding mass marches on March 20 in San Francisco and Los Angeles.
Cindy Sheehan and a coalition of groups has announced a new initiative set to begin in March 2010 called Peace of the Action, ( Click Here for More) an integral part of which will be a camp that will be set up beginning March 13.
This camp will be a staging area for people coming to DC to take part in anti-war activities. Join Peace of the Action, Click Here.Our demand is simple: Troops out of the Middle East, which includes drones, permanent bases, contractors and torture/detention facilities.We will begin Peace of the Action on March 13th when we gather in Washington, DC to erect Camp OUT NOW on the lawn of the Washington Monument, directly across the street from the White House and our actions will begin on March 22nd.
We need individuals who realize that time is running short for us to truly affect change through commitment and dedication to humanity through the end to the U.S. Empire (and its subsidiaries). March 20 is the seventh anniversary of the criminal war of aggression launched by Bush and Cheney against Iraq. One million or more Iraqis have died. Tens of thousands of U.S. troops have lost their lives or been maimed, and continue to suffer a whole host of enduring problems from this terrible war. This is the time for united action. The slogans on banners may differ, but all those who carry them should be marching shoulder to shoulder.
The initiators and endorsers of the March 20 National March on Washington (preceded by the March 19 Day of Action and Outreach in D.C.) include: the ANSWER Coalition; Muslim American Society Freedom; National Council of Arab Americans; Cynthia McKinney; Malik Rahim, co-founder of Common Ground Collective; Ramsey Clark; Cindy Sheehan; Medea Benjamin, co-founder of CODEPINK; Debra Sweet, Director, World Can’t Wait; Mike Ferner, President, Veterans for Peace; Al-Awda, the Palestine Right to Return Coalition; Heidi Boghosian, Executive Director, National Lawyers Guild; Ron Kovic, author of “Born on the 4th of July”; Juan Jose Gutierrez, Director, Latino Movement USA; Col. Ann Wright (ret.); March Forward!; Partnership for Civil Justice; Palestinian American Women Association; MANA – Muslim Alliance in North America; Alliance for a Just and Lasting Peace in the Philippines; Alliance for Global Justice; Claudia de la Cruz, Pastor, Iglesia San Romero de Las Americas-UCC; Phil Portluck, Social Justice Ministry, Covenant Baptist Church, D.C.; Blase & Theresa Bonpane, Office of the Americas; Coalition for Peace and Democracy in Honduras; Comite Pro-Democracia en Mexico; Frente Unido de los Pueblos Americanos; Comites de Base FMLN, Los Angeles; Free Palestine Alliance; GABRIELA Network; Justice for Filipino American Veterans; KmB Pro-People Youth; Students Fight Back; Jim Lafferty, Executive Director, National Lawyers Guild – LA Chapter; LEF Foundation; National Coalition to Free the Angola 3; Community Futures Collective; Advocates for Indigenous California Language Survival; Companeros del Barrio; Barrio Unido for Full and Unconditional Amnesty; Michael Berg; Action Center for Justice – Charlotte, NC; Bay Area United Against War; Casa las Américas; Community Organizing Center, Columbus, Ohio; CT-SAW (Connecticut Students Against the War) ; Delaware Valley Veterans for America; Hawai’i Solidarity Committee; Malcolm X Center for Self-Determination; Texans for Peace; and many more.
End the War(s): U.S. Out of Afghanistan Now, AFP photo
* * * Stop the Assassination Drones:. Call Leon Panetta at (703) 482-0623, CIA headquarters, leave a message: No More Drone Assasination attacks, and don’t attack Quetta. End the War(s) NOW.
Call President Obama ALL WEEK LONG. Let’s keep his White House lines busy: Take Action Now ! ! Call President Obama: To reach the U.S. Capitol Switchboard: 202-224-3121 or 202-225-3121 Leave a message: “You made the wrong decision. I do not support you on this. I feel betrayed.” Say NO to Escalation in Afghanistan. Sign the petition here. No funds from Congress for the troop escalation. Tell them now.
Today, please tell your member of Congress and U.S. Senators to End the War in Afghanistan, sign this petition. If you live outside the United States, write to your leaders, End the War Now.
What are the costs of War to the innocent; to those yet born? In 2004, in Falluja, Iraq, four soldiers were killed and their bodies maimed and hung from a bridge for all to see. The US and its allies then destroyed the whole town of Falluja, with days of bombings and shellings and troops on the ground carrying out search and destroy missions. Five years later, we are seeing what “depleted uranium” from the shells used in Falluja is causing to the new-born. What is it doing to the rest of the population that is breathing the remaining uranium particles on the ground? Here’s what it is doing to a high proportion of the new-born. It is not easy to see. You will not feel good. Don’t turn it off, help End the War(s) and the misery it causes. Sign up below for the March 20 March on Washington to End the War(s). Please do your part.
The children of Falluja Doctors are dealing with an increase in chronic deformities in infants in Falluja, where heavy munitions were used in 2004 Many areas of Iraq and Afghanistan have Depleted Uranium dust covering the ground after being released into the air when the shells exploded, releasing the uranium into the air. How many other areas are like Falluja? If this is not a War Crime (the use of Depleted Uranium), there is no such thilng as a War Crime. Who made the decision to allow Depleted Uranium to be used on shells? Who was in charge at the time? Who gave final approval? When was this approved? These innocent babies are the result of this policy to allow Depleted Uranium to be used in making armaments (howitzer shells and bombs). These are our babies.
Here’s a few related Depleted Uranium studies/stories for your review:
* * * “March on Washington on March 20, End the War(s)” was first Posted on January 2, 2010. It is being Re-Posted today because we all must participate on March 20. Read all you can and organize locally if you can’t get to Washington on March 20. Come the week before as there will be events of protest leading up to the day of the march. Please pass this Post link along to your friends.
Show your support on March 20. A day for Peace…..
The time has come for your personal action to End the War(s). The date to show how you feel is March 20, 2010. There will be a March on Washington, led by the ANSWER Coalition. Spread the word. There will be a lot of news on this in the upcoming months. Organize your local town for action on March 20. Show the world WE CARE. Take action now. Personally endorse the March 20 March on Washington, click here.
We marched when Bush was President, now let's march when Obama increases troops. Come March 20 to Washington, DC and demand the End to the War(s)
A.N.S.W.E.R. The anti-war movement responds to President Obama’s speech Statement from the ANSWER Coalition Rhetoric and Reality: Masking War Escalation as a Withdrawal Plan
On Saturday, March 20, 2010, there will be a mass National March & Rally in D.C. We will march together to say “No Colonial-type Wars and Occupations in Afghanistan, Iraq, Palestine!” We will march together to say “No War Against Iran!” We will march together to say “No War for Empire Anywhere!” Instead of war, we will demand funds so that every person can have a job, free and universal health care, decent schools, and affordable housing. A day of action and outreach in Washington, D.C., will take place on Friday, March 19, preceding the Saturday march. There will be coinciding mass marches on March 20 in San Francisco and Los Angeles.
Cindy Sheehan and a coalition of groups has announced a new initiative set to begin in March 2010 called Peace of the Action, ( Click Here for More) an integral part of which will be a camp that will be set up beginning March 13.
This camp will be a staging area for people coming to DC to take part in anti-war activities. Join Peace of the Action, Click Here.Our demand is simple: Troops out of the Middle East, which includes drones, permanent bases, contractors and torture/detention facilities.We will begin Peace of the Action on March 13th when we gather in Washington, DC to erect Camp OUT NOW on the lawn of the Washington Monument, directly across the street from the White House and our actions will begin on March 22nd.
We need individuals who realize that time is running short for us to truly affect change through commitment and dedication to humanity through the end to the U.S. Empire (and its subsidiaries). March 20 is the seventh anniversary of the criminal war of aggression launched by Bush and Cheney against Iraq. One million or more Iraqis have died. Tens of thousands of U.S. troops have lost their lives or been maimed, and continue to suffer a whole host of enduring problems from this terrible war. This is the time for united action. The slogans on banners may differ, but all those who carry them should be marching shoulder to shoulder.
The initiators and endorsers of the March 20 National March on Washington (preceded by the March 19 Day of Action and Outreach in D.C.) include: the ANSWER Coalition; Muslim American Society Freedom; National Council of Arab Americans; Cynthia McKinney; Malik Rahim, co-founder of Common Ground Collective; Ramsey Clark; Cindy Sheehan; Medea Benjamin, co-founder of CODEPINK; Debra Sweet, Director, World Can’t Wait; Mike Ferner, President, Veterans for Peace; Al-Awda, the Palestine Right to Return Coalition; Heidi Boghosian, Executive Director, National Lawyers Guild; Ron Kovic, author of “Born on the 4th of July”; Juan Jose Gutierrez, Director, Latino Movement USA; Col. Ann Wright (ret.); March Forward!; Partnership for Civil Justice; Palestinian American Women Association; MANA – Muslim Alliance in North America; Alliance for a Just and Lasting Peace in the Philippines; Alliance for Global Justice; Claudia de la Cruz, Pastor, Iglesia San Romero de Las Americas-UCC; Phil Portluck, Social Justice Ministry, Covenant Baptist Church, D.C.; Blase & Theresa Bonpane, Office of the Americas; Coalition for Peace and Democracy in Honduras; Comite Pro-Democracia en Mexico; Frente Unido de los Pueblos Americanos; Comites de Base FMLN, Los Angeles; Free Palestine Alliance; GABRIELA Network; Justice for Filipino American Veterans; KmB Pro-People Youth; Students Fight Back; Jim Lafferty, Executive Director, National Lawyers Guild – LA Chapter; LEF Foundation; National Coalition to Free the Angola 3; Community Futures Collective; Advocates for Indigenous California Language Survival; Companeros del Barrio; Barrio Unido for Full and Unconditional Amnesty; Michael Berg; Action Center for Justice – Charlotte, NC; Bay Area United Against War; Casa las Américas; Community Organizing Center, Columbus, Ohio; CT-SAW (Connecticut Students Against the War) ; Delaware Valley Veterans for America; Hawai’i Solidarity Committee; Malcolm X Center for Self-Determination; Texans for Peace; and many more.
End the War(s): U.S. Out of Afghanistan Now, AFP photo
* * * Stop the Assassination Drones:. Call Leon Panetta at (703) 482-0623, CIA headquarters, leave a message: No More Drone Assasination attacks, and don’t attack Quetta. End the War(s) NOW.
Call President Obama ALL WEEK LONG. Let’s keep his White House lines busy: Take Action Now ! ! Call President Obama: To reach the U.S. Capitol Switchboard: 202-224-3121 or 202-225-3121 Leave a message: “You made the wrong decision. I do not support you on this. I feel betrayed.” Say NO to Escalation in Afghanistan. Sign the petition here. No funds from Congress for the troop escalation. Tell them now.
Today, please tell your member of Congress and U.S. Senators to End the War in Afghanistan, sign this petition. If you live outside the United States, write to your leaders, End the War Now.
Afghan Citizens Protest “Middle of the Night” raids by foreign troops that kill innocent civilians Picture this Your Town, Your Neighbors, Your Friends. For What? End the War(s) Now. All life is precious and with the same value, yours and theirs, your loved ones and their loved ones. With each innocent death, the whole family and their relatives must seek REVENGE. The cycle of violence has no end unless the US gets the troops out of Central Asia Now. Sign up here to support the March 20 March on Washington to End the War(s).
* * * “March on Washington on March 20, End the War(s)” was first Posted on January 2, 2010. It is being Re-Posted today because we all must participate on March 20. Read all you can and organize locally if you can’t get to Washington on March 20. Come the week before as there will be events of protest leading up to the day of the march. Please pass this Post link along to your friends.
Show your support on March 20. A day for Peace…..
The time has come for your personal action to End the War(s). The date to show how you feel is March 20, 2010. There will be a March on Washington, led by the ANSWER Coalition. Spread the word. There will be a lot of news on this in the upcoming months. Organize your local town for action on March 20. Show the world WE CARE. Take action now. Personally endorse the March 20 March on Washington, click here.
We marched when Bush was President, now let's march when Obama increases troops. Come March 20 to Washington, DC and demand the End to the War(s)
A.N.S.W.E.R. The anti-war movement responds to President Obama’s speech Statement from the ANSWER Coalition Rhetoric and Reality: Masking War Escalation as a Withdrawal Plan
On Saturday, March 20, 2010, there will be a mass National March & Rally in D.C. We will march together to say “No Colonial-type Wars and Occupations in Afghanistan, Iraq, Palestine!” We will march together to say “No War Against Iran!” We will march together to say “No War for Empire Anywhere!” Instead of war, we will demand funds so that every person can have a job, free and universal health care, decent schools, and affordable housing. A day of action and outreach in Washington, D.C., will take place on Friday, March 19, preceding the Saturday march. There will be coinciding mass marches on March 20 in San Francisco and Los Angeles.
Cindy Sheehan and a coalition of groups has announced a new initiative set to begin in March 2010 called Peace of the Action, ( Click Here for More) an integral part of which will be a camp that will be set up beginning March 13.
This camp will be a staging area for people coming to DC to take part in anti-war activities. Join Peace of the Action, Click Here.Our demand is simple: Troops out of the Middle East, which includes drones, permanent bases, contractors and torture/detention facilities.We will begin Peace of the Action on March 13th when we gather in Washington, DC to erect Camp OUT NOW on the lawn of the Washington Monument, directly across the street from the White House and our actions will begin on March 22nd.
We need individuals who realize that time is running short for us to truly affect change through commitment and dedication to humanity through the end to the U.S. Empire (and its subsidiaries). March 20 is the seventh anniversary of the criminal war of aggression launched by Bush and Cheney against Iraq. One million or more Iraqis have died. Tens of thousands of U.S. troops have lost their lives or been maimed, and continue to suffer a whole host of enduring problems from this terrible war. This is the time for united action. The slogans on banners may differ, but all those who carry them should be marching shoulder to shoulder.
The initiators and endorsers of the March 20 National March on Washington (preceded by the March 19 Day of Action and Outreach in D.C.) include: the ANSWER Coalition; Muslim American Society Freedom; National Council of Arab Americans; Cynthia McKinney; Malik Rahim, co-founder of Common Ground Collective; Ramsey Clark; Cindy Sheehan; Medea Benjamin, co-founder of CODEPINK; Debra Sweet, Director, World Can’t Wait; Mike Ferner, President, Veterans for Peace; Al-Awda, the Palestine Right to Return Coalition; Heidi Boghosian, Executive Director, National Lawyers Guild; Ron Kovic, author of “Born on the 4th of July”; Juan Jose Gutierrez, Director, Latino Movement USA; Col. Ann Wright (ret.); March Forward!; Partnership for Civil Justice; Palestinian American Women Association; MANA – Muslim Alliance in North America; Alliance for a Just and Lasting Peace in the Philippines; Alliance for Global Justice; Claudia de la Cruz, Pastor, Iglesia San Romero de Las Americas-UCC; Phil Portluck, Social Justice Ministry, Covenant Baptist Church, D.C.; Blase & Theresa Bonpane, Office of the Americas; Coalition for Peace and Democracy in Honduras; Comite Pro-Democracia en Mexico; Frente Unido de los Pueblos Americanos; Comites de Base FMLN, Los Angeles; Free Palestine Alliance; GABRIELA Network; Justice for Filipino American Veterans; KmB Pro-People Youth; Students Fight Back; Jim Lafferty, Executive Director, National Lawyers Guild – LA Chapter; LEF Foundation; National Coalition to Free the Angola 3; Community Futures Collective; Advocates for Indigenous California Language Survival; Companeros del Barrio; Barrio Unido for Full and Unconditional Amnesty; Michael Berg; Action Center for Justice – Charlotte, NC; Bay Area United Against War; Casa las Américas; Community Organizing Center, Columbus, Ohio; CT-SAW (Connecticut Students Against the War) ; Delaware Valley Veterans for America; Hawai’i Solidarity Committee; Malcolm X Center for Self-Determination; Texans for Peace; and many more.
End the War(s): U.S. Out of Afghanistan Now, AFP photo
* * * Stop the Assassination Drones:. Call Leon Panetta at (703) 482-0623, CIA headquarters, leave a message: No More Drone Assasination attacks, and don’t attack Quetta. End the War(s) NOW.
Call President Obama ALL WEEK LONG. Let’s keep his White House lines busy: Take Action Now ! ! Call President Obama: To reach the U.S. Capitol Switchboard: 202-224-3121 or 202-225-3121 Leave a message: “You made the wrong decision. I do not support you on this. I feel betrayed.” Say NO to Escalation in Afghanistan. Sign the petition here. No funds from Congress for the troop escalation. Tell them now.
Today, please tell your member of Congress and U.S. Senators to End the War in Afghanistan, sign this petition. If you live outside the United States, write to your leaders, End the War Now.
President Zardari of Pakistan is now under high pressure as the Supreme Court asks the Swiss government to reopen money laundering charges against Zardari. Consitutional Crisis Next?
Sen. Carl Levin, Jack Reed, Edward Kaufman and Pres. Zardari Photo by AAP
LAHORE: Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said on Friday that his government respected the judiciary and its decisions and had decided to immediately implement the Supreme Court’s verdict on the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO).
“I had a meeting with legal experts this morning on matters pertaining to the detailed judgment of the Supreme Court. I have given instructions to the ministry of law and justice for implementation of the court’s directives forthwith,” he told reporters on his arrival here from Islamabad. The prime minister said President Asif Ali Zardari enjoyed immunity from criminal proceedings during his tenure under Article 248 of the Constitution, which could be revoked only by parliament. The constitutional immunity had been given to the president by parliament which alone had the power to revoke it, he said.
…While striking down the NRO, the court ordered the government to approach the Swiss government for resumption of proceedings in money laundering cases against President Zardari. The court also ordered reopening of cases against all beneficiaries of the ordinance. Some legal experts, including Aitzaz Ahsan, former chief of the Supreme Court Bar Association, say that the president enjoys constitutional protection against any criminal proceedings. But others argue that the president may have immunity from criminal proceedings, but not in civil cases.
Here’s five Posts that give you a good idea of the range of problems and why the war(s) must be ended. Too many innocent people maimed and killed, and too many soldiers wounded and killed. For What?
* * * “March on Washington on March 20, End the War(s)” was first Posted on January 2, 2010. It is being Re-Posted today because we all must participate on March 20. Read all you can and organize locally if you can’t get to Washington on March 20. Come the week before as there will be events of protest leading up to the day of the march. Please pass this Post link along to your friends.
Show your support on March 20. A day for Peace…..
The time has come for your personal action to End the War(s). The date to show how you feel is March 20, 2010. There will be a March on Washington, led by the ANSWER Coalition. Spread the word. There will be a lot of news on this in the upcoming months. Organize your local town for action on March 20. Show the world WE CARE. Take action now. Personally endorse the March 20 March on Washington, click here.
We marched when Bush was President, now let's march when Obama increases troops. Come March 20 to Washington, DC and demand the End to the War(s)
A.N.S.W.E.R. The anti-war movement responds to President Obama’s speech Statement from the ANSWER Coalition Rhetoric and Reality: Masking War Escalation as a Withdrawal Plan
On Saturday, March 20, 2010, there will be a mass National March & Rally in D.C. We will march together to say “No Colonial-type Wars and Occupations in Afghanistan, Iraq, Palestine!” We will march together to say “No War Against Iran!” We will march together to say “No War for Empire Anywhere!” Instead of war, we will demand funds so that every person can have a job, free and universal health care, decent schools, and affordable housing. A day of action and outreach in Washington, D.C., will take place on Friday, March 19, preceding the Saturday march. There will be coinciding mass marches on March 20 in San Francisco and Los Angeles.
Cindy Sheehan and a coalition of groups has announced a new initiative set to begin in March 2010 called Peace of the Action, ( Click Here for More) an integral part of which will be a camp that will be set up beginning March 13.
This camp will be a staging area for people coming to DC to take part in anti-war activities. Join Peace of the Action, Click Here.Our demand is simple: Troops out of the Middle East, which includes drones, permanent bases, contractors and torture/detention facilities.We will begin Peace of the Action on March 13th when we gather in Washington, DC to erect Camp OUT NOW on the lawn of the Washington Monument, directly across the street from the White House and our actions will begin on March 22nd.
We need individuals who realize that time is running short for us to truly affect change through commitment and dedication to humanity through the end to the U.S. Empire (and its subsidiaries). March 20 is the seventh anniversary of the criminal war of aggression launched by Bush and Cheney against Iraq. One million or more Iraqis have died. Tens of thousands of U.S. troops have lost their lives or been maimed, and continue to suffer a whole host of enduring problems from this terrible war. This is the time for united action. The slogans on banners may differ, but all those who carry them should be marching shoulder to shoulder.
The initiators and endorsers of the March 20 National March on Washington (preceded by the March 19 Day of Action and Outreach in D.C.) include: the ANSWER Coalition; Muslim American Society Freedom; National Council of Arab Americans; Cynthia McKinney; Malik Rahim, co-founder of Common Ground Collective; Ramsey Clark; Cindy Sheehan; Medea Benjamin, co-founder of CODEPINK; Debra Sweet, Director, World Can’t Wait; Mike Ferner, President, Veterans for Peace; Al-Awda, the Palestine Right to Return Coalition; Heidi Boghosian, Executive Director, National Lawyers Guild; Ron Kovic, author of “Born on the 4th of July”; Juan Jose Gutierrez, Director, Latino Movement USA; Col. Ann Wright (ret.); March Forward!; Partnership for Civil Justice; Palestinian American Women Association; MANA – Muslim Alliance in North America; Alliance for a Just and Lasting Peace in the Philippines; Alliance for Global Justice; Claudia de la Cruz, Pastor, Iglesia San Romero de Las Americas-UCC; Phil Portluck, Social Justice Ministry, Covenant Baptist Church, D.C.; Blase & Theresa Bonpane, Office of the Americas; Coalition for Peace and Democracy in Honduras; Comite Pro-Democracia en Mexico; Frente Unido de los Pueblos Americanos; Comites de Base FMLN, Los Angeles; Free Palestine Alliance; GABRIELA Network; Justice for Filipino American Veterans; KmB Pro-People Youth; Students Fight Back; Jim Lafferty, Executive Director, National Lawyers Guild – LA Chapter; LEF Foundation; National Coalition to Free the Angola 3; Community Futures Collective; Advocates for Indigenous California Language Survival; Companeros del Barrio; Barrio Unido for Full and Unconditional Amnesty; Michael Berg; Action Center for Justice – Charlotte, NC; Bay Area United Against War; Casa las Américas; Community Organizing Center, Columbus, Ohio; CT-SAW (Connecticut Students Against the War) ; Delaware Valley Veterans for America; Hawai’i Solidarity Committee; Malcolm X Center for Self-Determination; Texans for Peace; and many more.
End the War(s): U.S. Out of Afghanistan Now, AFP photo
* * * Stop the Assassination Drones:. Call Leon Panetta at (703) 482-0623, CIA headquarters, leave a message: No More Drone Assasination attacks, and don’t attack Quetta. End the War(s) NOW.
Call President Obama ALL WEEK LONG. Let’s keep his White House lines busy: Take Action Now ! ! Call President Obama: To reach the U.S. Capitol Switchboard: 202-224-3121 or 202-225-3121 Leave a message: “You made the wrong decision. I do not support you on this. I feel betrayed.” Say NO to Escalation in Afghanistan. Sign the petition here. No funds from Congress for the troop escalation. Tell them now.
Today, please tell your member of Congress and U.S. Senators to End the War in Afghanistan, sign this petition. If you live outside the United States, write to your leaders, End the War Now.
US to supply ‘Shadow’ drones to Pakistan: Defence officials
[Ed. Note: India is very nervous about this. India has Drones in the air now, provided by Israel. One of the first Drones India purchased was a Harrop Suicide Drone (see below for video). They have more advanced Drones in the air also. The US supplying Pakistan with the Shadow Drone is the first step to either being supplied with more advanced systems, or Pakistan altering the Shadow Drone to carry weapons. Here’s what is in the planning stages by the US Military for the Shadow Drone, make it a Killer Drone, read below.]
New DOD Effort Arms Low-Flying Unmanned Aircraft With Precision Weapons
The Defense Department is planning a new pilot program to arm low-flying unmanned aircraft with precision weapons, a move to emulate strike capabilities of higher-flying Predator UAVs that Pentagon officials believe could point toward an entire class of small, unmanned systems capable of killing targets they locate. U.S. Special Operations Command will launch in fiscal year 2009 a technology demonstration effort to equip Shadow unmanned aerial vehicles with laser-guided munitions, according to Pentagon officials. . .“We’re going to weaponize Shadow for SOCOM,” John Wilcox, director of the joint concept technology demonstrations office in the Office of the Secretary of Defense’s Advanced Systems and Concepts shop, disclosed. “We’re also going to look at weaponizing a couple more small UAVs.” With one-to-five-pound weapons, these tny killers could take out high-value targets — “or hold a target at risk until bigger and better operational platforms with more ordnance get onto the battlefield.”
ISLAMABAD: The United States plans to provide Pakistan with a dozen unarmed drone aircraft that will help bolster its military as it takes on Taliban militants, US defence officials said.
Details of the drones emerged late Thursday during a visit to Pakistan by Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who was asked in an interview with Pakistani television if Washington would supply Islamabad with the unmanned aircraft.
“There are some tactical UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) that we are considering, yes,” Gates said. Defence officials in his delegation afterward confirmed funds had been set aside to secure 12 Shadow aerial drones for Pakistan. The Shadow drones, smaller than the armed Predator and Reaper aircraft, are about 11 feet (three metres) long and have a wing-span of 14-feet, with sensors and cameras feeding video images back to operators on the ground.
The Pakistani military already had some less sophisticated drones for surveillance but would need to heavily invest in training specialists to be able to take advantage of the new hardware, said US officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity. The US employs armed drones for missile strikes against Al-Qaida and Taliban figures in Pakistan, fuelling anti-American sentiment and drawing public condemnation from the government in Islamabad.
Pakistani officials have previously called for Washington to provide its military with armed drones.
Harop Suicide Drone purchased by India from Israel (Watch the video below)
Harop-Unmanned Aerial Vehicle loitering munition. Can be launced for sea and land based target upto 1000km range @ speed of 182kmph with 6hrs endurance. Harop can also be used against suspected ballistic missile sites before its launched. IAI first exposed its drone in India before Aero India 2009. IAI developed the Harop for suppression of enemy air defense (SEAD) missions.
* * * “March on Washington on March 20, End the War(s)” was first Posted on January 2, 2010. It is being Re-Posted today because we all must participate on March 20. Read all you can and organize locally if you can’t get to Washington on March 20. Come the week before as there will be events of protest leading up to the day of the march. Please pass this Post link along to your friends.
Show your support on March 20. A day for Peace…..
The time has come for your personal action to End the War(s). The date to show how you feel is March 20, 2010. There will be a March on Washington, led by the ANSWER Coalition. Spread the word. There will be a lot of news on this in the upcoming months. Organize your local town for action on March 20. Show the world WE CARE. Take action now. Personally endorse the March 20 March on Washington, click here.
We marched when Bush was President, now let's march when Obama increases troops. Come March 20 to Washington, DC and demand the End to the War(s)
A.N.S.W.E.R. The anti-war movement responds to President Obama’s speech Statement from the ANSWER Coalition Rhetoric and Reality: Masking War Escalation as a Withdrawal Plan
On Saturday, March 20, 2010, there will be a mass National March & Rally in D.C. We will march together to say “No Colonial-type Wars and Occupations in Afghanistan, Iraq, Palestine!” We will march together to say “No War Against Iran!” We will march together to say “No War for Empire Anywhere!” Instead of war, we will demand funds so that every person can have a job, free and universal health care, decent schools, and affordable housing. A day of action and outreach in Washington, D.C., will take place on Friday, March 19, preceding the Saturday march. There will be coinciding mass marches on March 20 in San Francisco and Los Angeles.
Cindy Sheehan and a coalition of groups has announced a new initiative set to begin in March 2010 called Peace of the Action, ( Click Here for More) an integral part of which will be a camp that will be set up beginning March 13.
This camp will be a staging area for people coming to DC to take part in anti-war activities. Join Peace of the Action, Click Here.Our demand is simple: Troops out of the Middle East, which includes drones, permanent bases, contractors and torture/detention facilities.We will begin Peace of the Action on March 13th when we gather in Washington, DC to erect Camp OUT NOW on the lawn of the Washington Monument, directly across the street from the White House and our actions will begin on March 22nd.
We need individuals who realize that time is running short for us to truly affect change through commitment and dedication to humanity through the end to the U.S. Empire (and its subsidiaries). March 20 is the seventh anniversary of the criminal war of aggression launched by Bush and Cheney against Iraq. One million or more Iraqis have died. Tens of thousands of U.S. troops have lost their lives or been maimed, and continue to suffer a whole host of enduring problems from this terrible war. This is the time for united action. The slogans on banners may differ, but all those who carry them should be marching shoulder to shoulder.
The initiators and endorsers of the March 20 National March on Washington (preceded by the March 19 Day of Action and Outreach in D.C.) include: the ANSWER Coalition; Muslim American Society Freedom; National Council of Arab Americans; Cynthia McKinney; Malik Rahim, co-founder of Common Ground Collective; Ramsey Clark; Cindy Sheehan; Medea Benjamin, co-founder of CODEPINK; Debra Sweet, Director, World Can’t Wait; Mike Ferner, President, Veterans for Peace; Al-Awda, the Palestine Right to Return Coalition; Heidi Boghosian, Executive Director, National Lawyers Guild; Ron Kovic, author of “Born on the 4th of July”; Juan Jose Gutierrez, Director, Latino Movement USA; Col. Ann Wright (ret.); March Forward!; Partnership for Civil Justice; Palestinian American Women Association; MANA – Muslim Alliance in North America; Alliance for a Just and Lasting Peace in the Philippines; Alliance for Global Justice; Claudia de la Cruz, Pastor, Iglesia San Romero de Las Americas-UCC; Phil Portluck, Social Justice Ministry, Covenant Baptist Church, D.C.; Blase & Theresa Bonpane, Office of the Americas; Coalition for Peace and Democracy in Honduras; Comite Pro-Democracia en Mexico; Frente Unido de los Pueblos Americanos; Comites de Base FMLN, Los Angeles; Free Palestine Alliance; GABRIELA Network; Justice for Filipino American Veterans; KmB Pro-People Youth; Students Fight Back; Jim Lafferty, Executive Director, National Lawyers Guild – LA Chapter; LEF Foundation; National Coalition to Free the Angola 3; Community Futures Collective; Advocates for Indigenous California Language Survival; Companeros del Barrio; Barrio Unido for Full and Unconditional Amnesty; Michael Berg; Action Center for Justice – Charlotte, NC; Bay Area United Against War; Casa las Américas; Community Organizing Center, Columbus, Ohio; CT-SAW (Connecticut Students Against the War) ; Delaware Valley Veterans for America; Hawai’i Solidarity Committee; Malcolm X Center for Self-Determination; Texans for Peace; and many more.
End the War(s): U.S. Out of Afghanistan Now, AFP photo
* * * Stop the Assassination Drones:. Call Leon Panetta at (703) 482-0623, CIA headquarters, leave a message: No More Drone Assasination attacks, and don’t attack Quetta. End the War(s) NOW.
Call President Obama ALL WEEK LONG. Let’s keep his White House lines busy: Take Action Now ! ! Call President Obama: To reach the U.S. Capitol Switchboard: 202-224-3121 or 202-225-3121 Leave a message: “You made the wrong decision. I do not support you on this. I feel betrayed.” Say NO to Escalation in Afghanistan. Sign the petition here. No funds from Congress for the troop escalation. Tell them now.
Today, please tell your member of Congress and U.S. Senators to End the War in Afghanistan, sign this petition. If you live outside the United States, write to your leaders, End the War Now.
It has been reported that in the past two days, 14 and 20 “suspected militants” have been killed in South Waziristan by US Assassination Drones that have been following Hakimullah Mehsud, the chief of the Pakistani Taliban. Many Hellfire Missiles were shot into two compounds.
Hakimullah Mehsud, US Assassination Drones New #1 Target in South Waziristan
The Pakistan Government wants an end to these Assassination Drones, but are helpless in getting the US to stop, when in turn, they are not really against the uses, but the Pakistani people believe it is an attack on their soverenty. Today, we are highlighting some stories of the past month, along with yesterday’s full post below the links. Take a few minutes to click the links to keep you abreast of the news in the War Zone areas.
Get it While You Can: Afghanistan (Iraq and Pakistan also) Corruption of U.S. Aid Monies. This story was first posted here December 30, 2009, and is reposted because of the upcoming President Obama’s request for 35 BILLION more dollars for the War(s). Say “NO” to more funds at the bottom of this post, pass this to your friends. We can get Out of Central Asia Now !!
One of the biggest reasons the U.S. can’t leave Afghanistan is that we spend so much money there, without our presence, there will be no money circulating to anyone. The upper-class, connected people (and warlords lead this group) will not allow the U.S. to leave. The U.S. is holding up the Karazi Government with Billions of U.S. Dollars.
Over $40 Billion in U.S. Aid Dollars spent on non-military projects in Afghanistan since 2003. Over $10 Billion to be spent this year. Where does the money go? In this Al Jazzera video, the Inspector General of the U.S. says that when the U.S. sends one dollar to Afghanistan, by the time it gets used in a project it is 20 to 30 cents, the rest disappears into people’s pockets. If you live in the U.S., see what the War(s) cost your state and local governments at costofwar.com Most U.S. states are in deep trouble, cutting essential services to support the War(s). Pass this to your friends. Want services, End the War(s).
ASSESSMENT OF CORRUPTION IN AFGHANISTAN a study prepared for the United States Agency for International Development is here for your reading. The following is a short excerpt outlining the overall problem:
The Dimensions, Causes and Impact of Corruption in Afghanistan
The domestic and international consensus is that corruption has become pervasive, entrenched, systemic and by all accounts now unprecedented in scale and reach. This view is apparent in the country’s declining (worsening) ranking in the Transparency International Corruption Perception Index. Afghanistan fell from a ranking of 117th out of 159 countries covered in 2005, to 172nd of 180 countries in 2007, and finally to 176th out of 180 countries in 2008 – the fifth most corrupt country in the world.
Seven years after the fall of the Taliban government, corruption has become more than the standard issue bribery, nepotism, and extortion in government. Corruption has become a system, through networks of corrupt practices and people that reach across the whole of government to subvert governance. Particularly perniciously, these networks ensure that the guilty are not brought to justice; often the officials and agencies that are supposed to be part of the solution to corruption are instead a critical part of the corruption syndrome. Over and over, interview and survey respondents noted the failure of the Afghan National Police (ANP), Attorney General’s Office (AGO), and court system to detect, prosecute, judge, and punish corruption at any level. Read the full report here.
Ed. Note: This is Reposted below as a tribute to Malalai Joya and her Cause. President Obama wants 33 BILLION MORE and Congress can say “NO”. Malalai Joya tells us why we should ‘get out’, and the March on Washington on March 20 will show members of Congress and the Administration we mean it, Get Out of Central Asia NOW. Take action below please.]
The symbol of the spirit of the Afghan people is present in Malalai Joya’s body and words. She is not afraid. All her life (32 years) has been surrounded with War. We have reported many times on Out of Central Asia Now about her work and her appearances. Please take the time to view this interview and pass it along to your friends. Then join the March 20 March on Washington to End the War(s) below the video. Thank you, with your help, we can End the War(s) NOW.
First, read this story about Malalai Joya: “Afghanistan’s soft-spoken rebel, The voice from the back of the room” by Andrew Oxford (Full story Click Here) Malalai Joya is only 32, but she has been an exile, a refugee, a teacher of girls in the Taliban’s Afghanistan, and now that country’s youngest member of parliament. She’s still on the run though, and still threatened with assassination. Now view the video of Amy’s interview with Malalai Joya.
“March on Washington on March 20, End the War(s)” was first Posted on January 2, 2010. It is being Re-Posted today because we all must participate on March 20. Read all you can and organize locally if you can’t get to Washington on March 20. Come the week before as there will be events of protest leading up to the day of the march. Please pass this Post link along to your friends.
Show your support on March 20. A day for Peace…..
The time has come for your personal action to End the War(s). The date to show how you feel is March 20, 2010. There will be a March on Washington, led by the ANSWER Coalition. Spread the word. There will be a lot of news on this in the upcoming months. Organize your local town for action on March 20. Show the world WE CARE. Take action now. Personally endorse the March 20 March on Washington, click here.
We marched when Bush was President, now let's march when Obama increases troops. Come March 20 to Washington, DC and demand the End to the War(s)
A.N.S.W.E.R. The anti-war movement responds to President Obama’s speech Statement from the ANSWER Coalition Rhetoric and Reality: Masking War Escalation as a Withdrawal Plan
On Saturday, March 20, 2010, there will be a mass National March & Rally in D.C. We will march together to say “No Colonial-type Wars and Occupations in Afghanistan, Iraq, Palestine!” We will march together to say “No War Against Iran!” We will march together to say “No War for Empire Anywhere!” Instead of war, we will demand funds so that every person can have a job, free and universal health care, decent schools, and affordable housing. A day of action and outreach in Washington, D.C., will take place on Friday, March 19, preceding the Saturday march. There will be coinciding mass marches on March 20 in San Francisco and Los Angeles.
Cindy Sheehan and a coalition of groups has announced a new initiative set to begin in March 2010 called Peace of the Action, ( Click Here for More) an integral part of which will be a camp that will be set up beginning March 13.
This camp will be a staging area for people coming to DC to take part in anti-war activities. Join Peace of the Action, Click Here.Our demand is simple: Troops out of the Middle East, which includes drones, permanent bases, contractors and torture/detention facilities.We will begin Peace of the Action on March 13th when we gather in Washington, DC to erect Camp OUT NOW on the lawn of the Washington Monument, directly across the street from the White House and our actions will begin on March 22nd.
We need individuals who realize that time is running short for us to truly affect change through commitment and dedication to humanity through the end to the U.S. Empire (and its subsidiaries). March 20 is the seventh anniversary of the criminal war of aggression launched by Bush and Cheney against Iraq. One million or more Iraqis have died. Tens of thousands of U.S. troops have lost their lives or been maimed, and continue to suffer a whole host of enduring problems from this terrible war. This is the time for united action. The slogans on banners may differ, but all those who carry them should be marching shoulder to shoulder.
The initiators and endorsers of the March 20 National March on Washington (preceded by the March 19 Day of Action and Outreach in D.C.) include: the ANSWER Coalition; Muslim American Society Freedom; National Council of Arab Americans; Cynthia McKinney; Malik Rahim, co-founder of Common Ground Collective; Ramsey Clark; Cindy Sheehan; Medea Benjamin, co-founder of CODEPINK; Debra Sweet, Director, World Can’t Wait; Mike Ferner, President, Veterans for Peace; Al-Awda, the Palestine Right to Return Coalition; Heidi Boghosian, Executive Director, National Lawyers Guild; Ron Kovic, author of “Born on the 4th of July”; Juan Jose Gutierrez, Director, Latino Movement USA; Col. Ann Wright (ret.); March Forward!; Partnership for Civil Justice; Palestinian American Women Association; MANA – Muslim Alliance in North America; Alliance for a Just and Lasting Peace in the Philippines; Alliance for Global Justice; Claudia de la Cruz, Pastor, Iglesia San Romero de Las Americas-UCC; Phil Portluck, Social Justice Ministry, Covenant Baptist Church, D.C.; Blase & Theresa Bonpane, Office of the Americas; Coalition for Peace and Democracy in Honduras; Comite Pro-Democracia en Mexico; Frente Unido de los Pueblos Americanos; Comites de Base FMLN, Los Angeles; Free Palestine Alliance; GABRIELA Network; Justice for Filipino American Veterans; KmB Pro-People Youth; Students Fight Back; Jim Lafferty, Executive Director, National Lawyers Guild – LA Chapter; LEF Foundation; National Coalition to Free the Angola 3; Community Futures Collective; Advocates for Indigenous California Language Survival; Companeros del Barrio; Barrio Unido for Full and Unconditional Amnesty; Michael Berg; Action Center for Justice – Charlotte, NC; Bay Area United Against War; Casa las Américas; Community Organizing Center, Columbus, Ohio; CT-SAW (Connecticut Students Against the War) ; Delaware Valley Veterans for America; Hawai’i Solidarity Committee; Malcolm X Center for Self-Determination; Texans for Peace; and many more.
End the War(s): U.S. Out of Afghanistan Now, AFP photo
* * * Stop the Assassination Drones:. Call Leon Panetta at (703) 482-0623, CIA headquarters, leave a message: No More Drone Assasination attacks, and don’t attack Quetta. End the War(s) NOW.
Call President Obama ALL WEEK LONG. Let’s keep his White House lines busy: Take Action Now ! ! Call President Obama: To reach the U.S. Capitol Switchboard: 202-224-3121 or 202-225-3121 Leave a message: “You made the wrong decision. I do not support you on this. I feel betrayed.” Say NO to Escalation in Afghanistan. Sign the petition here. No funds from Congress for the troop escalation. Tell them now.
Today, please tell your member of Congress and U.S. Senators to End the War in Afghanistan, sign this petition. If you live outside the United States, write to your leaders, End the War Now.
Get it While You Can: Afghanistan (Iraq and Pakistan also) Corruption of U.S. Aid Monies. This story was first posted here December 30, 2009, and is reposted because of the upcoming President Obama’s request for 35 BILLION more dollars for the War(s). Say “NO” to more funds at the bottom of this post, pass this to your friends. We can get Out of Central Asia Now !!
One of the biggest reasons the U.S. can’t leave Afghanistan is that we spend so much money there, without our presence, there will be no money circulating to anyone. The upper-class, connected people (and warlords lead this group) will not allow the U.S. to leave. The U.S. is holding up the Karazi Government with Billions of U.S. Dollars.
Over $40 Billion in U.S. Aid Dollars spent on non-military projects in Afghanistan since 2003. Over $10 Billion to be spent this year. Where does the money go? In this Al Jazzera video, the Inspector General of the U.S. says that when the U.S. sends one dollar to Afghanistan, by the time it gets used in a project it is 20 to 30 cents, the rest disappears into people’s pockets. If you live in the U.S., see what the War(s) cost your state and local governments at costofwar.com Most U.S. states are in deep trouble, cutting essential services to support the War(s). Pass this to your friends. Want services, End the War(s).
ASSESSMENT OF CORRUPTION IN AFGHANISTAN a study prepared for the United States Agency for International Development is here for your reading. The following is a short excerpt outlining the overall problem:
The Dimensions, Causes and Impact of Corruption in Afghanistan
The domestic and international consensus is that corruption has become pervasive, entrenched, systemic and by all accounts now unprecedented in scale and reach. This view is apparent in the country’s declining (worsening) ranking in the Transparency International Corruption Perception Index. Afghanistan fell from a ranking of 117th out of 159 countries covered in 2005, to 172nd of 180 countries in 2007, and finally to 176th out of 180 countries in 2008 – the fifth most corrupt country in the world.
Seven years after the fall of the Taliban government, corruption has become more than the standard issue bribery, nepotism, and extortion in government. Corruption has become a system, through networks of corrupt practices and people that reach across the whole of government to subvert governance. Particularly perniciously, these networks ensure that the guilty are not brought to justice; often the officials and agencies that are supposed to be part of the solution to corruption are instead a critical part of the corruption syndrome. Over and over, interview and survey respondents noted the failure of the Afghan National Police (ANP), Attorney General’s Office (AGO), and court system to detect, prosecute, judge, and punish corruption at any level. Read the full report here.
Ed. Note: This is Reposted below as a tribute to Malalai Joya and her Cause. President Obama wants 33 BILLION MORE and Congress can say “NO”. Malalai Joya tells us why we should ‘get out’, and the March on Washington on March 20 will show members of Congress and the Administration we mean it, Get Out of Central Asia NOW. Take action below please.]
The symbol of the spirit of the Afghan people is present in Malalai Joya’s body and words. She is not afraid. All her life (32 years) has been surrounded with War. We have reported many times on Out of Central Asia Now about her work and her appearances. Please take the time to view this interview and pass it along to your friends. Then join the March 20 March on Washington to End the War(s) below the video. Thank you, with your help, we can End the War(s) NOW.
First, read this story about Malalai Joya: “Afghanistan’s soft-spoken rebel, The voice from the back of the room” by Andrew Oxford (Full story Click Here) Malalai Joya is only 32, but she has been an exile, a refugee, a teacher of girls in the Taliban’s Afghanistan, and now that country’s youngest member of parliament. She’s still on the run though, and still threatened with assassination. Now view the video of Amy’s interview with Malalai Joya.
“March on Washington on March 20, End the War(s)” was first Posted on January 2, 2010. It is being Re-Posted today because we all must participate on March 20. Read all you can and organize locally if you can’t get to Washington on March 20. Come the week before as there will be events of protest leading up to the day of the march. Please pass this Post link along to your friends.
Show your support on March 20. A day for Peace…..
The time has come for your personal action to End the War(s). The date to show how you feel is March 20, 2010. There will be a March on Washington, led by the ANSWER Coalition. Spread the word. There will be a lot of news on this in the upcoming months. Organize your local town for action on March 20. Show the world WE CARE. Take action now. Personally endorse the March 20 March on Washington, click here.
We marched when Bush was President, now let's march when Obama increases troops. Come March 20 to Washington, DC and demand the End to the War(s)
A.N.S.W.E.R. The anti-war movement responds to President Obama’s speech Statement from the ANSWER Coalition Rhetoric and Reality: Masking War Escalation as a Withdrawal Plan
On Saturday, March 20, 2010, there will be a mass National March & Rally in D.C. We will march together to say “No Colonial-type Wars and Occupations in Afghanistan, Iraq, Palestine!” We will march together to say “No War Against Iran!” We will march together to say “No War for Empire Anywhere!” Instead of war, we will demand funds so that every person can have a job, free and universal health care, decent schools, and affordable housing. A day of action and outreach in Washington, D.C., will take place on Friday, March 19, preceding the Saturday march. There will be coinciding mass marches on March 20 in San Francisco and Los Angeles.
Cindy Sheehan and a coalition of groups has announced a new initiative set to begin in March 2010 called Peace of the Action, ( Click Here for More) an integral part of which will be a camp that will be set up beginning March 13.
This camp will be a staging area for people coming to DC to take part in anti-war activities. Join Peace of the Action, Click Here.Our demand is simple: Troops out of the Middle East, which includes drones, permanent bases, contractors and torture/detention facilities.We will begin Peace of the Action on March 13th when we gather in Washington, DC to erect Camp OUT NOW on the lawn of the Washington Monument, directly across the street from the White House and our actions will begin on March 22nd.
We need individuals who realize that time is running short for us to truly affect change through commitment and dedication to humanity through the end to the U.S. Empire (and its subsidiaries). March 20 is the seventh anniversary of the criminal war of aggression launched by Bush and Cheney against Iraq. One million or more Iraqis have died. Tens of thousands of U.S. troops have lost their lives or been maimed, and continue to suffer a whole host of enduring problems from this terrible war. This is the time for united action. The slogans on banners may differ, but all those who carry them should be marching shoulder to shoulder.
The initiators and endorsers of the March 20 National March on Washington (preceded by the March 19 Day of Action and Outreach in D.C.) include: the ANSWER Coalition; Muslim American Society Freedom; National Council of Arab Americans; Cynthia McKinney; Malik Rahim, co-founder of Common Ground Collective; Ramsey Clark; Cindy Sheehan; Medea Benjamin, co-founder of CODEPINK; Debra Sweet, Director, World Can’t Wait; Mike Ferner, President, Veterans for Peace; Al-Awda, the Palestine Right to Return Coalition; Heidi Boghosian, Executive Director, National Lawyers Guild; Ron Kovic, author of “Born on the 4th of July”; Juan Jose Gutierrez, Director, Latino Movement USA; Col. Ann Wright (ret.); March Forward!; Partnership for Civil Justice; Palestinian American Women Association; MANA – Muslim Alliance in North America; Alliance for a Just and Lasting Peace in the Philippines; Alliance for Global Justice; Claudia de la Cruz, Pastor, Iglesia San Romero de Las Americas-UCC; Phil Portluck, Social Justice Ministry, Covenant Baptist Church, D.C.; Blase & Theresa Bonpane, Office of the Americas; Coalition for Peace and Democracy in Honduras; Comite Pro-Democracia en Mexico; Frente Unido de los Pueblos Americanos; Comites de Base FMLN, Los Angeles; Free Palestine Alliance; GABRIELA Network; Justice for Filipino American Veterans; KmB Pro-People Youth; Students Fight Back; Jim Lafferty, Executive Director, National Lawyers Guild – LA Chapter; LEF Foundation; National Coalition to Free the Angola 3; Community Futures Collective; Advocates for Indigenous California Language Survival; Companeros del Barrio; Barrio Unido for Full and Unconditional Amnesty; Michael Berg; Action Center for Justice – Charlotte, NC; Bay Area United Against War; Casa las Américas; Community Organizing Center, Columbus, Ohio; CT-SAW (Connecticut Students Against the War) ; Delaware Valley Veterans for America; Hawai’i Solidarity Committee; Malcolm X Center for Self-Determination; Texans for Peace; and many more.
End the War(s): U.S. Out of Afghanistan Now, AFP photo
* * * Stop the Assassination Drones:. Call Leon Panetta at (703) 482-0623, CIA headquarters, leave a message: No More Drone Assasination attacks, and don’t attack Quetta. End the War(s) NOW.
Call President Obama ALL WEEK LONG. Let’s keep his White House lines busy: Take Action Now ! ! Call President Obama: To reach the U.S. Capitol Switchboard: 202-224-3121 or 202-225-3121 Leave a message: “You made the wrong decision. I do not support you on this. I feel betrayed.” Say NO to Escalation in Afghanistan. Sign the petition here. No funds from Congress for the troop escalation. Tell them now.
Today, please tell your member of Congress and U.S. Senators to End the War in Afghanistan, sign this petition. If you live outside the United States, write to your leaders, End the War Now.
Out of Central Asia Now 