military resistance 9e 16 : "unchecked incompetence"

8/6/2019 Military Resistance 9E 16 : "Unchecked Incompetence"

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Military Resistance: [email protected] 5.21.11 Print it out: color best. Pass it on.

Military Resistance 9E16

Court Finds V.A. Guilty Of

Unchecked IncompetenceNo More Veterans Should Be

Compelled To Agonize Or PerishWhile The Government Fails To

Perform Its Obligations

V.A. Had No Plan For Any NewPatients And ClaimsV.A. Still Has No Plan

[Here it is again. Same old story. Used up, thrown away, and the politicianscouldnt care less. To repeat for the 3,556th time, there is no enemy in Iraq or
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]


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Afghanistan. Their citizens and U.S. troops have a common enemy. Thatcommon enemy owns and operates the Imperial government in Washington DCfor their own profit. That common enemy started these wars of conquest on aplatform of lies, because they couldnt tell the truth: U.S. Imperial wars are aboutmaking money for them, and nothing else. Payback is overdue. T]

[Thanks to Clancy Sigal, who sent this in.]

11 May 2011 By James Dao, New York Times & By Carol J. Williams, Los AngelesTimes & The Associated Press in 5.23.11 Army Times [Excerpts]

In a sweeping decision released Tuesday, the United States Court of Appeals for theNinth Circuit ruled that unchecked incompetence by the Department of Veterans Affairshad led to poor mental health care and slow processing of disability claims for veterans.

A federal appeals court, noting that an average of 18 veterans commit suicide every day,has ordered the Veterans Affairs Department to dramatically overhaul its mental healthcare system.

Treatment delays for PTSD and other combat-related mental illnesses are soegregious that they violate veterans constitutional rights and contribute to the despairbehind many of the 6,500 suicides among veterans each year, the U.S. 9th Circuit Courtof Appeals said in its 2-1 ruling.

The Obama administration and its secretary of veterans affairs, Eric Shinseki, aformer Army chief of staff, took office pledging to reduce both suicide ratesamong veterans and returning troops and shorten the backlog of disabilityapplications.

There comes a time when the political branches have so completely and

chronically failed to respect the Peoples constitutional rights that the courts mustbe willing to enforce them.

We have reached that unfortunate point with respect to veterans who aresuffering from the hidden, or not hidden, wounds of war, said the ruling writtenby Judge Stephen Reinhardt and joined by Senior Judge Procter Hug Jr., bothappointees of President Carter.

In the strongly worded ruling, the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appealssaid it takes VA an average of four years to fully provide the mental health benefits owedveterans.

The court also said it often takes weeks for a suicidal vet to get a first appointment.

The unchecked incompetence in handling the flood of post-traumatic stress disorderand other mental health claims is unconstitutional, the court said.

No more veterans should be compelled to agonize or perish while the government failsto perform its obligations, Judge Stephen Reinhardt wrote for the three-judge panel.


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The court said one of every three troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan was treatedby VA for mental health issues, including post-traumatic stress disorder. A 2008 RandCorp. study found that 18.5 percent of troops returning from those countries werediagnosed with PTSD, and the study concluded that more than 300,000 veterans of thecurrent wars suffer from PTSD or major depression.

On disability claims, he noted that initial processing usually took longer than the 120-daygoal set by the department itself.

If the department approves a claim, it gives the veteran a disability rating thatdetermines the size of the monthly disability check the veteran will receive. Thosechecks can range up to more than $2,600 a month depending on the severity of thedisability and the size of a veterans family.

When a veteran disputes the disability rating, the appeals process can beparticularly slow, the court said. Regional offices often take more than a year tocertify appeals, a merely ministerial act, Judge Reinhardt wrote.

A special appeals board can typically take almost a year to issue a decision inthose cases, the court also noted.

No official with the Veterans Department was able to provide the court with asufficient justification for the delays, Judge Reinhardt said.

The 9th Circuit ruling overturned a 2008 verdict by U.S. District Judge Samuel Conti.

Conti said he was powerless to act because Congress narrowly limited the authority ofthe courts to review VA benefit decisions.

The appeals court, however, said there is ample evidence that VA is failing in its duty to

provide timely mental health care for the nations veterans, despite increases in itshealth care budget in recent years. The delays have worsened as the influx of injuredtroops returning from deployment in Afghanistan and Iraq has placed an unprecedentedstrain on VA, overwhelming the system, Rein-hardt wrote.

These extensive waiting times can have devastating results for individuals with seriousmental illnesses, Reinhardt wrote.

The appeals court sent the case back to Conti in the trial court and ordered him to workwith VA and the veterans groups toward a new mental health care plan that implementsa speedier process to appeal denied benefits, provides timely mental health treatmentand ensures suicidal vets are seen immediately.

If VA fails to come up with an acceptable plan, the appeals court told Conti to fashion hisown plan. He has scheduled a court hearing for May 27.

The lawsuit originally was filed by Veterans for Common Sense and Veterans United forTruth.

The veterans groups asserted that the department was unprepared for the flood ofpsychologically troubled or physically injured troops returning from the wars in Iraq and


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Afghanistan, had inadequate services at veterans clinics and had allowed a hugebacklog of compensation applications to grow.

In a statement released after the ruling, Veterans for Common Sense said that recentwar veterans had filed more than 550,000 disability claims.

V.A. had no plan for any new patients and claims, Paul Sullivan, executive director ofVeterans for Common Sense, said in the statement. V.A. still has no plan. Tragically,the Appeals Court noted veterans died while waiting for V.A. to provide healthcare andbenefits.

During the two-week trial without a jury in April 2008, lawyers for the groupsshowed the judge emails between high-ranking VA officials confirming highsuicide rates among veterans and a desire to keep quiet the number of vets underits care who attempt suicide.

Shhh! began a Feb. 13, 2008, email from Dr. Ira Katz, a VA deputy chief.

Our suicide prevention coordinators are identifying about 1,000 suicide attempts permonth among the veterans we see in our medical facilities. Is this something we should(carefully) address ourselves in some sort of release before someone stumbles on it?

In another email, Katz wrote that suicides among veterans average 18 per day.

After the trial, another email surfaced that was written by VA psychologist NormaPerez suggesting that counselors in Texas make a point to diagnose fewer PTSDcases.

The veterans lawyers argued that email underscored VAs unwillingness to properlytreat mental health issues.

MORE:

DoD, VA Condemned For Failure ToTrack Severely Wounded Troops

May 23, 2011, Army Times [Excerpts]

Ten years into war, there is no database in the Defense or Veterans Affairsdepartments that defines severely wounded, or keeps track of such troops, the

Government Accountability Offices director of health care told lawmakersrecently.

Are you kidding me? Is this true? asked an incredulous Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz.

Not to have documentation on severely wounded people that are coming back here?

Thats a minimum standard, folks. ...


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What youre giving us is unacceptable results, he told DoD and VA officials.

This should be the simplest of tasks, he said, and the gap points to a lack ofinteragency discipline to have something that both agencies can agree on.

GAOs Randall Williamson said DoD and VA officials need to do a better job ofidentifying troops who are severely wounded, because its not clear whether all thosewho could benefit are being enrolled in the Federal Recovery Coordination Program.

That program helps coordinate all clinical and nonclinical services to make sure thosewho are most severely injured, ill and wounded get the care they need.

MORE:

A System Designed To Get Wounded

Troops Out Of The Military And OnDisability Compensation MoreQuickly Is Delaying Service

Members Release Sometimes MoreThan A Year

Under The New System, It Takes OnAverage Nearly 400 Days To Process A

Claim

May 18, 2011 By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON (AP) A system designed to get wounded troops out of the military andon disability compensation more quickly has failed recently to meet its efficiency goals,delaying service members release sometimes more than a year, documents show.

The lag has caused some of the troops to turn down job offers or postpone college

because they dont know when they will be discharged from the military.

The system is called the Integrated Disability Evaluation System. It works byconsolidating the required medical exams and ratings, so that a service member doesnthave to go through the disability claims process first in the military and then in the VA.

Congress pushed the system following the 2007 scandal over poor living conditions atWalter Reed Army Medical Center, which highlighted the complexities of the disabilitiesclaims system.


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Some wounded veterans were left in dire financial conditions as they waited forcompensation from the VA.

The new programs goal is to get troops through the system in a little more thannine months on average.

But March figures show it only met that goal about 15 percent of the time foractive-duty troops, 28 percent for those in the Reserves and 40 percent for theGuard, according to documents obtained by the Senate Veterans AffairsCommittee and shared with The Associated Press.

Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., chairwoman of the committee, said in a statement thatunder the new system, it takes on average nearly 400 days to process a claim.

All too often this time spent idle results in our men and women in uniform falling throughthe cracks of the system, said Murray, who is expected to question defense and VAofficials about the delays at a hearing before the committee on Wednesday.

Thirteen troops going through the new system have committed suicide or died from drugoverdoses, according to the records.

IRAQ WAR REPORTS

Funeral Services For Robert Friese

Saturday, May 14, In Harrison

Robert Frieses funeral set for Saturday, May 14

May 11, 2011 By Cindy M. Cranmer, The Clare Sentinel


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Special to The Clare Sentinel

HARRISON Funeral services for Robert Friese will take place on Saturday, May 14,2011 at 10:00 am located at St. Athanasius Catholic Church, Harrison with Father NoelRudy officiating.

Visitation will be held from 2:00 pm 9:00 pm on Friday, May 13, 2011 at StockingFuneral Home, Harrison.

Friese will be arriving at Midland, Bay City Airport on Thursday, May 12, 2011 at 9:31a.m. The processional will take place from US 10 to Harrison as the final destination.The procession will be exiting at the first Clare exit, Continuing past the Clare VA clinic,taking a right at The Doherty Hotel, proceeding North on McEwan, to Old business 27,past Mid MI Community College into Harrison through downtown to Fairlane and left onWestlawn to M-61 proceeding to Stocking Funeral Home. We are asking the public toplease line the sidewalks in support of this soldier as he makes his final trip home.Estimated time of arrival in Clare-11:00 and 11:20 a.m.

Estimated time of arrival in Harrison-11:30-11:45 a.m.

********************************

By Cindy M. Cranmer, The Clare Sentinel

HARRISON A fallen soldier who ultimately sacrificed his life for his country isremembered by those who knew him as kind, intelligent, friendly and giving.

Robert Friese, who served as a private first class in the United States Army, died duringan insurgent attack on his unit in Iraq on Friday, April 29.

After the Pentagon announced his death on Sunday, May 1, memorials honoring Friesealong with national media coverage circulated over the Internet.

Friese, a 21-year-old Chesterfield Township resident, lived in Harrison until moving toMacomb County. He graduated from Harrison High School in 2007.

He continues to have family and friends in his hometown of Clare County, all of whomremember him warmly and want to honor the soldier.

He was an outstanding young man and a great citizen, said Tom House, who was thehigh school principal at the time Friese attended Harrison Community Schools. He wasvery respectful.

I cant emphasize enough how wonderful of a young man he was. He was just a very,very fine citizen, said House, who is now superintendent in Harrison.

He was a very quiet, intelligent boy, said Clare County Sheriff John Wilson. He was amodel teenager. He was never in trouble. He was very friendly.

Friese died from injuries sustained when insurgents attacked his unit with a rocket-propelled grenade, according to the Defense Department.


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The incident happened in Al Qadisiyah province.

According to the Pentagon, Friese was a recipient of several honors and awardsincluding the Army Achievement Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, IraqCampaign Medal with campaign star, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Army

Service Ribbon and Overseas Service Ribbon.

Friese was deployed to Iraq in September 2010 in support of Operation New Dawn. TheObama administration gave the war in Iraq a new name starting in September 2010 Operation New Dawn which was to reflect the reduced role the troops would play insecuring the country.

The war was known as Operation Iraqi Freedom from when United States forcescrossed the Kuwaiti border toward Baghdad in 2003 until the name change inSeptember 2010, according to official information.

Friese was preparing to serve his country as early as high school when he was in the

Junior ROTC of Harrison.

He was an extremely nice young man giving, polite and well disciplined, said MasterSgt. Mark Carlstrom of the Junior ROTC. He was a really nice kid.

Harrison High School and the Junior ROTC would like to send a message to the friendsand family of Private First Class Robert Friese, former cadet, thanking him for hissacrifice. Well never forget him, Carlstrom said.

A sentiment echoed by many in the community who want to recognize the fallen soldierfor his sacrifice. The community is lowering flags to half staff and ribbons are beinghung in his honor.

Wilson said plans also are being made to line the streets when he returns home. Funeralarrangements are still being made as his family left the state to pick up his body.

On behalf of myself, the Harrison Board of Education and all the staff at HarrisonCommunity Schools, we would like to offer our condolences to his family and sinceregratitude for his service to our country and for his time in Iraq, House said.

I had Robert the whole time as his principal, House said. He is the type of kid youremember as he was just such an outstanding young man.

I remember him being quiet in school and a very nice young man, said Marsha Henry,

Harrison Community High School attendance clerk. He was very nice and giving.

According to a prepared statement from the military, Friese was assigned in September2009 to Troop 1, 3rd Squadron of the Third Armored Cavalry Regiment, which wasbased at Fort Hood in Texas.

He is the son of Cindy Friese, who formerly ran the Budd Lake Bar in Harrison, andDoug Friese. Both of his parents were unavailable for comment as they were traveling topick up his body.


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POLITICIANS CANT BE COUNTED ONTO HALT THE BLOODSHED

THE TROOPS HAVE THE POWER TOSTOP THE WARS

Resistance Action

May 20 (Reuters) & May 21 (Reuters)

KIRKUK - An off-duty policeman and his brother were killed when insurgents stormed hishouse in northern Kirkuk, 250 km (155 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

KIRKUK - A roadside bomb targeting an Iraqi army patrol, killed two soldiers andwounded two others in the southwest of Kirkuk on Friday, police said.

MOSUL - Two policemen were killed and eight others wounded when two successiveroadside bombs went off in central Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad onFriday, police said. The second bomb exploded when security forces gathered at thescene.

MOSUL - Insurgents opening fire at a police checkpoint killed one policeman in westernMosul late on Friday, police said.

KIRKUK - Insurgents opened fire at the house of an off-duty policeman, wounding him insouthern Kirkuk, 250 km (155 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

BAGHDAD - Insurgents equipped with silenced weapons shot dead Col. NameerKhazaal, an officer working for the local forensics office in Baghdads southwesterndistrict of Bayaa, an Interior Ministry source said.

BAGHDAD - Insurgents using silenced weapons shot dead two employees working atthe Iraqi intelligence facility in western Baghdad, an Interior Ministry source.

IF YOU DONT LIKE THE RESISTANCEEND THE OCCUPATIONS


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AFGHANISTAN WAR REPORTS

Colorado Soldier Killed In Kandahar

U.S. Army Cpl. Brandon Michael Kirton, 25, a 101st Airborne Division Soldier fromCentennial, Colo., died May 18 after being struck by insurgent small arms fire and mortarrounds in Kandahar province, Afghanistan. (AP Photo/U.S. Army)

Resistance Bombs Afghan MilitaryHospital Complex In Kabul:

What Kind Of Government Is This,That Cant Even Protect Itself?Fears About Insurgents Ability ToInfiltrate Sensitive Government And

Military Installations

May 21, 2011 By Laura King, Los Angeles Times & ABC

Reporting from Kabul, Afghanistan

The medical trainees were just settling in for lunch when the bomber struck.

The attack at the well-guarded Afghan Charsad Bestar military hospital complex in thecenter of the capital Saturday killed at least six people, injured about two dozen others


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and revived persistent fears about insurgents ability to infiltrate sensitive governmentand military installations.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack.

The thunderous blast, which echoed across much of the city, marked the first major

assault inside Kabul since Taliban fighters announced the start of their spring offensiveat the beginning of May.

The noontime explosion, on the first day of the Afghan workweek, took place in a part ofthe sprawling 400-bed hospital compound mainly devoted to medical training, DefenseMinistry spokesman Gen. Mohammed Zahir Azimi told reporters.

The blast tore through a crowded tent used as a staff canteen.

The facility remained under lockdown while security personnel searched for a secondbomber, but none was found. Emergency vehicles, sirens wailing, rushed to the scene,and police and soldiers blocked off nearby streets.

As word of the attack spread, frantic family members of patients and workers clusteredoutside, denied entry by security forces guarding the hospital compound. My brother isan army officer and works inside, said Ahmad Shah, a shopkeeper.

Ive been calling and calling his cellphone, but its not answering, and they wont let mein. What kind of government is this, that cant even protect itself?

Fuel Supplies For Foreign Troops Blown

Up As Usual

Oil tankers for foreign troops in Afghanistan burn after a bomb attack by militants inLandi Kotal town in the northwestern tribal region of Khyber, Pakistan. (AFP)


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Afghans Condemn Killing Of Civilians ByForeign Troops In Taloqan

Afghans condemn U.S. military occupation of Afghanistan during a demonstration inTaloqan, Takhar province, north of Kabul, Afghanistan May 19, 2011. Protesters againreturned to the streets of Taloqan on Thursday to protest a nighttime raid by foreigntroops in the area that left four dead. Afghan officials said they were civilians. (APPhoto/Ezatullah Pamir)

Protesters burn police motor cycles at a police headquarter compound in Taloqan,Takhar province, north of Kabul, Afghanistan May 19, 2011, to protest a nighttime raidby foreign troops in the area that left four dead. Afghan officials said they were civilians.(AP Photo/Ezatullah Pamir)


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REALLY BAD PLACE TO BE:ALL HOME NOW

U.S. Marines run through dust kicked up by a Black Hawk helicopter from Task ForceLift Dust Off, Charlie Company 1-214 Aviation Regiment as they rush a colleaguewounded in an IED strike for evacuation near Sangin, Helmand Province, Afghanistan,May 10, 2011. (AP Photo/Kevin Frayer)

United States Marines rush a wounded colleague, who was shot during an exchange offire with insurgents, to a waiting medevac helicopter from the US Armys Task Force LiftDust Off, Charlie Company 1-214 Aviation Regiment at a hot landing zone north ofSangin, Helmand Province Afghanistan, May 11, 2011. (AP Photo/Kevin Frayer)


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MILITARY NEWS

NOT ANOTHER DAYNOT ANOTHER DOLLAR

NOT ANOTHER LIFE

Sgt. Jose Castaneda kisses his daughter Makyla as he returns from Afghanistan, March28, 2011, at Camp Pendleton, Calif. Members of the 1 Marine Expeditionary ForceCommand Element based in Camp Pendleton returned Monday, after operations inSouthern Afghanistan since April 2010. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

A Rally Against The U.S. Drone Strikes

In Pakistani Tribal Areas

Pakistanis burn an effigy of Obama during a rally against the U.S. drone strikes inPakistani tribal areas, May 21, 2011 in Multan, Pakistan. Pakistani government andpeople demand an end to U.S. missile strikes. (AP Photo/Khalid Tanveer)


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FORWARD OBSERVATIONS

At a time like this, scorching irony, not convincing argument, is needed. Oh hadI the ability, and could reach the nations ear, I would, pour out a fiery stream ofbiting ridicule, blasting reproach, withering sarcasm, and stern rebuke.

For it is not light that is needed, but fire; it is not the gentle shower, but thunder.

We need the storm, the whirlwind, and the earthquake.

The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom theyoppose.

Frederick Douglass, 1852

Rise like Lions after slumberIn unvanquishable number,Shake your chains to earth like dewWhich in sleep had fallen on you-Ye are many they are few-- Percy Bysshe Shelley, 1819, on the occasion of a mass murder of British

workers by the Imperial government at Peterloo.


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A revolution is always distinguished by impoliteness, probably because the rulingclasses did not take the trouble in good season to teach the people fine manners.-- Leon Trotsky, History Of The Russian Revolution

TO: Brother Jeffs Vietnam GIColleagues & Others Whove Helped

On The Memoir Project

From: Sharlet, Robert

Jeff Sharlet: Creator and Editor, Vietnam GI

Comment: T


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The blogspot and the mini-Web site linked just below are full of previouslyunknown and rich history of Vietnam days resistance to the war from inside themilitary, spearheaded by Vietnam GInewspaper.The graphic design of both ought to win international awards: a lesson on how to

do graphics.

The content magnificent.

The photos are amazing too.

BLOG:http://jeffsharletandvietnamgi.blogspot.com)

WEBSITE:http://jeffsharlet-and-vietnamgi.com.yolasite.com

******************************************************************************

From: Sharlet, RobertSent: May 19, 2011Subject: Jeff Sharlet -- An Online Trifecta

TO: Brother Jeffs Vietnam GIcolleagues & others whove helped on the memoirproject

Since last springs update on the Jeff Sharlet memoir project, weve completed an onlinetrifecta, adding a blog, Searching for Jeff

(http://jeffsharletandvietnamgi.blogspot.com), and a mini-Web site (http://jeffsharlet-and-vietnamgi.com.yolasite.com) to the Wiki still athttp://en.Wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Sharlet_and_Vietnam_GI.

The blog with a new post weekly on the back story, the search itself, has attractedreadership around the world, while we created the Web site with the hope offinding people out there we havent been able to locate.

Periodically updated, the Wiki has garnered nearly 10,000 hits since it went up.

**************************************************************

NEW DEVELOPMENTS:

An annual Jeff Sharlet Literary Prize has been established at the University ofIowa, the premier program for aspiring writers.

Competition will be open to military veterans as well as active-duty writers from any ofAmericas wars, with the genre rotating triennially between fiction, non-fiction, andpoetry.
http://jeffsharletandvietnamgi.blogspot.com/http://jeffsharlet-and-vietnamgi.com.yolasite.com/http://jeffsharlet-and-vietnamgi.com.yolasite.com/http://jeffsharletandvietnamgi.blogspot.com/http://jeffsharlet-and-vietnamgi.com.yolasite.com/http://jeffsharlet-and-vietnamgi.com.yolasite.com/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Sharlet_and_Vietnam_GIhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Sharlet_and_Vietnam_GIhttp://jeffsharlet-and-vietnamgi.com.yolasite.com/http://jeffsharlet-and-vietnamgi.com.yolasite.com/http://jeffsharletandvietnamgi.blogspot.com/http://jeffsharlet-and-vietnamgi.com.yolasite.com/http://jeffsharletandvietnamgi.blogspot.com/


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Jeffs prep school honored him with its first posthumous Distinguished AlumniAward for his work in the Vietnam GI antiwar movement of the 60s.

Finally, Jeff the namesake, my son and co-author, published his most recent booklast fall, C Street: The Fundamentalist Threat to American Democracy, completed

his national book tour, and is now back on the memoir with me.

Since I last wrote, he joined the faculty at Dartmouth College not too far from here, theCapital District of New York.

As always, thanks for your interest and support,

Bob [email protected]

[http://jeffsharlet-and-vietnamgi.com.yolasite.com]

MORE:

VGIs Door Gunner Distributor:Everyone Humping Out There Was

Against The War[Excerpt from Searching for Jeff]

[http://jeffsharletandvietnamgi.blogspot.com]

A blog about reconstructing the short but interesting life and times of Jeff Sharlet(1942-1969), a leader of the GI antiwar movement during the Vietnam War; founder
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]://jeffsharletandvietnamgi.blogspot.com/http://jeffsharletandvietnamgi.blogspot.com/mailto:[email protected]


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and editor of Vietnam GI, the first antiwar underground paper written by and forGIs. A memoir is in progress. New post every Wednesday.

******************************************************

The primary objective of Jeff Sharlet and fellow editors of Vietnam GI (VGI) was to get

the paper into the hands of GIs in Vietnam, the guys fighting the war.

In addition to the friendly antiwar unit mail clerks who would surreptitiously distributeVGI to sympathetic troops in the Headquarters Company under the nose of thecommanding officer (CO), Jeff relied on some 200 individual GIs scattered up and downSouth Vietnam who had volunteered as covert distributors.

VGI would hear from the volunteers when they sent in the blank for a free subscriptionand offered to pass around extra copies as well.

One such volunteer distributor was Terry DeMott of the Americal Division.

Arriving at the main base near Chu Lai in March 68, he spent the first half of his tour onthe ground in the 5th battalion, 46th infantry regiment of the divisions 198th brigade, butfor the last half of his 12-month tour Terry transferred to the aviation wing of the 198th serving as a door gunner in an observation chopper.

Wounded near the end of his tour, he left Vietnam on a stretcher in February 69, justdays before his 12 months were up.

Door gunner in flight, Mark Jury

From Terrys perspective on the war, he and his buddies were being used as bait todraw out and pinpoint the enemy for destruction by US military technology.


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As he saw it as an infantry grunt, his patrols were designed to draw fire from the VC soplanes and artillery could open up on them. Even when he transferred to choppers, Terryand his buddies were still being dangled as bait, flying in formations of three up toDanang where Marine artillery was on alert at Red Beach. The mission was to fly around

just west of Danang in order to draw and mark ground fire to which Marine batterieswould then respond.

He remembered first coming upon a copy of VGI on his return from patrol to base campat Landing Zone (LZ) Gator. Terry vaguely recalled just finding the paper in his squadtent, reading it front to back, and almost immediately filling out the subscription blankwhich he mailed to Chicago with a note offering to distribute VGI if additional copieswere sent.

His letter was read by Bob Brown*, one of the sub-editors who promptly wrote back,enclosing five copies of the latest issue.

Bob added that the number of GIs in Nam circulating the paper had increased from 75 inJuly 68 to 200 by September.

Terry carried the copies in his backpack on combat patrol, and, as he put it, One nighton a laager (night defensive position) and everybody in my squad had read them.

On return to base camp, the copies would then be passed to other squads. Once VGImade the rounds in Terrys platoon, the papers would be handed over to other units.

He was circumspect in his distribution efforts, but not too worried since they hada cool top sergeant and anyway, everyone humping out there was against thewar.

In response to the question, Ok, but what if you did get caught distributing

Vietnam GI, Terry replied: Paranoia was a way of life out there. You wereconstantly worrying about your life so (getting caught distributing) seemed smallpotatoes.

The worst they could do was pull me out of the field, send me someplace andcourt-martial me. And (then) Id be safe anyway.

* http://jeffsharlet-and-vietnamgi.com.yolasite.com/

[From Vietnam GI]

VIETNAM GI


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August 1969

Many good men never came back from Nam. Some came back disabled in mind. JeffSharlet came back a pretty together cat--and he came back angry. Jeff started VGI, andfor almost two years poured his life into it, in an endless succession of 18-hour daystrying to organize men to fight for their own rights.

On Monday, June 16th, at 2:45 pm, Jeff died in the Miami VA Hospital. He died of asudden heart failure, brought on by the uncontrollable growth of the cancer that hadearlier destroyed his kidney.

There was no way to save him. He was only 27 years old.

Rather than wait for the draft, like so many others Jeff went RA. With dreams of seeingEurope, he applied for translator-interpreter, and found himself at the US ArmyLanguage School at Monterey, California. But instead of French, Czech or German, hewas assigned a strange language called Vietnamese--. spoken in a country he couldnteven find on the map. For eleven months in 1962 he was drilled in Vietnamese.

In 1963 he was assigned to Army Security Agency, and left for his first tour in Nam.Stationed in Saigon awhile, Jeff witnessed the ARVN coup that overthrew Saigondictator Ngo Diem.

On his second tour his ASA unit was stationed near Phu Bai. Engaged in top-secretwork monitoring, decoding and translating North Vietnamese radio messages, they woreAF uniforms and worked at a small air base.

But every time they went into the bars, every bargirl could reel off all the facts about theirmission.

Speaking the language well, Jeff could talk to many Vietnamese about what washappening to their country.

He spent long hours questioning ex-Foreign Legion men, whod settled in Vietnam afterthe French left, peasants, ARVN officers, students, and even suspected VC agents. Bythe time he ETSed in July, 1964 hed put a lot of pieces together.

Jeff went back to school, and got his college degree (with honors) from IndianaUniversity in 1967.

During his GI Bill years he joined the peace movement, and became chairman ofhis local chapter of Students for a Democratic Society.

But he had become increasingly disillusioned about the student movement, andfelt that its shallowness and snotty attitude towards other people made itineffective.

That summer he went to New York City to work with Vietnam Veterans Against theWar, and it was there that he decided to try to organize other GIs to fight thebrass. Jeff had won a Woodrow Wilson Fellowship for graduate study at theUniversity of Chicago.


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He enrolled and picked up his check. From then on all his time and money weresunk into starting a newspaper for servicemen.

After two years of endless traveling, fund-raising and writing, Jeffs drive started to fade.That restless energy that had brought him countless miles to base after base wasnt

there.

After his last trip to Ft. Hood in the Fall of 1968, Jeff complained that he was really beat,burnt out. We all agreed that he should go on leave and take a rest.

It was while visiting friends in Boston that the first really severe pains started. Jeff flewhome to Florida, and entered the hospital.

From there it was steadily downhill all the way. The removal of his left kidney, massiveradiation treatments, drugs--nothing stopped the growth of his cancer. At the end hewas weak and emaciated, without enough breath in his lungs to speak for more than afew sentences.

He said that he had many new ideas for our fight, but was just too exhausted to talkabout them.

Jeff was a truly rare man.

He was our friend and comrade, and those of us who came together in this fight willnever forget him. VGI, the paper that so many readers called the truth paper, will goon fighting.

MORE:

Vietnam GI: Reprints Available

Vietnam: They Stopped An Imperial War


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Edited by Vietnam Veteran Jeff Sharlet from 1968 until his death, this newspaperrocked the world, attracting attention even from Time Magazine, and extremelyhostile attention from the chain of command.

The pages and pages of letters in the paper from troops in Vietnam condemning

the war are lost to history, but you can find them here.

Military Resistance has copied complete sets of Vietnam GI. The originals were abit rough, but every page is there. Over 100 pages, full 11x17 size.

Free on request to active duty members of the armed forces.

Cost for others: $15 if picked up in New York City. For mailing inside USA add $5for bubble bag and postage. For outside USA, include extra for mailing 2.5pounds to wherever you are.

Checks, money orders payable to: The Military Project

Orders to:Military ResistanceBox 1262576 BroadwayNew York, N.Y.10025-5657

All proceeds are used for projects giving aid and comfort to members of thearmed forces organizing to resist todays Imperial wars.

The single largest failure of the anti-war movement at this pointis the lack of outreach to the troops.

Tim Goodrich, Iraq Veterans Against The War

OCCUPATION PALESTINE

For Many Of Those Who Protested

And Died On Israels Border WithLebanon This May 15, It Was Their First

Sighting Of Their Ancestral Home


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Palestinians going home.

They reach the border where Zionists wait to kill them.


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The sounds from the protesters grew, then roared, as the Israeli gunfire started,then stopped: silence from the Israeli side, then a few bullets. Every few minutesthe pattern repeated.

But it wasnt random firing: all the bullets reached a target.

After a while, I understood. If I heard three bullets, three people had been hit.

17 May, by Sabah Haider Le Monde diplomatique

I was standing in Maroun al-Ras, Lebanon, on 15 May, in solidarity with thousands ofPalestinians, Lebanese and other pro-Palestinian protestors, and I saw Israelis use liveammunition against protesters throwing rocks over the barbed-wire fence at the border.

Many young men were shot: 10 people died and 115 were wounded, the largest numberof casualties at any of the days border protests in Egypt, Syria, Jordan and Lebanon.There were reports that the Israelis used rubber bullets, but rubber bullets dont kill.

Hundreds of buses from all over the country brought thousands to Maroun al-Ras, avillage in southern Lebanon, that morning the day was the 63rd anniversary of theNaqba, when so many Palestinians were displaced from their homeland at the creationof the state of Israel. I dont think anyone paid for their journey. I wanted to pay the busorganiser, but he wouldnt take it. Its been paid for, he said with a smile.

Thousands of people walked together for miles through the slippery, rocky hills to theplateau of Maroun al-Ras that overlooks Palestine.

There were no speeches, no dances. Commemoration of Naqba day was, this year,about direct protests at the nearest border. Most people stayed on the top or side of thehill and watched as, below, a few hundred protesters threw rocks across the border with

Israel. A dozen or so Israeli soldiers behind bushes sporadically fired at them on theother side of the fence.

The sounds from the protesters grew, then roared, as the Israeli gunfire started,then stopped: silence from the Israeli side, then a few bullets. Every few minutesthe pattern repeated.

But it wasnt random firing: all the bullets reached a target.

After a while, I understood. If I heard three bullets, three people had been hit.

I started counting makeshift stretchers made of kuffiyahs tied to flagpoles to avoid

watching people fall. Every time the firing started, we all ducked. Crouched on theground, I started counting rocks with blood on them. Then I counted the legs of menhovering above piles of rocks and dirt landmines.

Volunteers, mostly teenage boys, encircled mines demarcated with sticks and stones toensure no one set them off. According to some reports, the Lebanese army went into thefield before the protest and identified the mines to mark a safe path to the fence. I wasabout 15 metres from the fence, but couldnt make myself go any closer, even though I


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wanted to look at the Israeli soldiers faces and see their expressions before they fired atthe protestors.

A narrow dirt road, with a few Lebanese army vehicles parked along it, divided theprotesters near the fence from those on the hill or coming from Maroun al-Ras. Soldiersalong the road directed people and ambulances, which waited for the next casualties.

When the Israeli firing intensified, the Lebanese army formed a line to stop moreprotesters from coming, yelling the Israelis are firing.

On my way back, a group of young men and women asked me for my kuffiyah to use forthe wounded. I also gave them some juice and water from my bag, which Hizbullah hadhanded out. The protest ended with the Lebanese army firing into the air and using teargas to force the crowds to leave.

In the weeks before, factions in Palestinian camps had encouraged everyone to go downto Maroun al-Ras on Naqba day, but cautioned them not to do anything to provoke theIsraelis. One warned: We want Palestine but we shouldnt fight with the enemy fromLebanon, because we are guests here. If anything happens, the Lebanese will blame

us.

The Lebanese army did not prevent people, including many children under 18, fromapproaching the fence until long after the Israelis had started firing.

Hizbullahs presence was more cordial. Buses and cars arriving were greeted byHizbullah banners From Hijair, the valley of honour, we salute those who are passing.(Hijair is the valley in South Lebanon where Hizbullah destroyed 21 tanks in the 2006war with Israel.) Hizbullah also made every vehicle pass through a makeshift checkpointwhere they counted each passenger so they could how many people attended. Partymembers gave everyone water and snacks.

Hizbullah also had a visible presence; smiling members clad in their signature bright-yellow t-shirts, baseball caps and sneakers gave elderly ladies and mothers yellowchairs to sit on.

No weapons were on display. The US may call them a terrorist organisation, butthey were extremely polite and I was happy to be hydrated by them.

Before the shooting started, the place was filled with smiling Palestinian refugeesfrom all over Lebanon, excited to go and see Palestine: though most of themwere born and raised in Lebanon, they dont have permission from the Lebanesearmy to go as far south as the border.

Despite living within a two-hour drive from their familial towns and villages oforigin in Palestine, most had never even seen their country.

The family of my friend Ahmed, who was ducking bullets next to me, fled from Acre toLebanon in 1948.

There was a very old man from Pakistan with a henna-stained beard. He stood besidethe rest of the (mostly Palestinian) protesters at the fence, in the line of fire, in solidarity.A tear streamed down his wrinkled cheek as he crouched nearby and gathered rocks.


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When the firing paused, he got up and walked back towards the fence. He could havebeen one of the many South Asians who fought with the fedayeen in the 70s and 80sand stayed on after, marrying Palestinian women. (Last year I heard of a Bangladeshikid in the UAE, named Yasser Arafat, whose father had been one of the fedayeen.) Iwanted to ask the old man his story, but the shooting started again.

When Ahmed and I first descended down the steep hill covered in wild thyme, fromMaroun al-Ras towards the border fence that afternoon, the views of Palestine werebreathtaking: ancient trees, hills, lush green fields. It looks just like Lebanon, except itsnot, its Palestine.

[To check out what life is like under a murderous military occupation commandedby foreign terrorists, go to: www.rafahtoday.org The occupied nation is Palestine.The foreign terrorists call themselves Israeli.]

DO YOU HAVE A FRIEND OR RELATIVE IN THEMILITARY?Forward Military Resistance along, or send us the address if you wish andwell send it regularly. Whether in Afghanistan, Iraq or stuck on a base inthe USA, this is extra important for your service friend, too often cut offfrom access to encouraging news of growing resistance to the wars, insidethe armed services and at home. Send email requests to address up top orwrite to: The Military Resistance, Box 126, 2576 Broadway, New York, N.Y.10025-5657. Phone: 888.711.2550

NEED SOME TRUTH?CHECK OUT TRAVELING SOLDIER

Traveling Soldier is the publication of the Military Resistance Organization.

Telling the truth - about the occupations or the criminals running the governmentin Washington - is the first reason for Traveling Soldier. But we want to do morethan tell the truth; we want to report on the resistance to Imperial wars inside thearmed forces.

Our goal is for Traveling Soldier to become the thread that ties working-class

people inside the armed services together. We want this newsletter to be aweapon to help you organize resistance within the armed forces.

If you like what you've read, we hope that you'll join with us in building a networkof active duty organizers. http://www.traveling-soldier.org/

DANGER: POLITICIANS AT WORK
http://www.rafahtoday.org/http://www.traveling-soldier.org/http://www.traveling-soldier.org/http://www.rafahtoday.org/


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Troops Invited:Comments, arguments, articles, and letters from service menand women, and veterans, are especially welcome. Write to Box126, 2576 Broadway, New York, N.Y. 10025-5657 or send email [email protected]: Name, I.D., withheld unless yourequest publication. Same address to unsubscribe.

Pedophiles R Us:Twisted Freaks Grope Little Kids And

Call It Security10th May 2011 By Paul Bentley, Daily Mail [Excerpts]

A disturbing photograph which shows a baby being subjected to a full bodysearch by airport security has caused outrage after it was posted online.
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]


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The picture, which was uploaded to a social networking site, appears to show two TSAagents at Kansas City International Airport laughing as they pat down the child, who isbeing held in the air by his mother.

Perhaps concerned that the toddler might be smuggling weapons in his diaper, the burlysecurity guard and his female assistant focus their attention on the lower half of the

childs body.

A baby being searched by TSA Agents at Kansas City airport

The shocking photograph comes just a month after the TSA were widelycondemned after footage emerged of a six-year-old girl and an eight-year-old boybeing subjected to the searches in separate incidents at airports across America.

The TSA has now said it will review its screening policies so as not to waste resourcesby subjecting children to over-zealous security methods.

The image of the baby being touched down by agents was taken yesterday by fellowpassenger Jacob Jester, as proof of what he thought was an extreme measure. TSAagents insisted on frisking the baby after his stroller beeped when it went throughsecurity.

Jester uploaded the photograph onto Twitter and wrote: Just saw #tsa agents pattingdown a little baby at @KCIAirport. Pretty sure thats extreme.

Those who then viewed the picture were shocked at what appears to show a ridiculouslyover-zealous approach to airport security.

Chris Lopez responded to the photograph: Whats even more terrible is the TSA agentis smiling!

Deb Wilker added; Doesnt get much more sickening, appalling, oppressive andunlawful than this... Frightening, disturbing, disgusting,


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Last month, pictures emerged of an eight-year-old boy being full body searched by TSAagents at airport security.

Spencer Sheahan, 8, was patted down on the way to Disneyland

Spencer Sheahan was pulled aside and patted down by a burly TSA agent at PortlandInternational airport as his family made their way to Disneyland. Appalled at thetreatment, his mother, Heather, took out her camera and photographed the invasivesearch of her little boy.

That incident came just days after a video showing a six-year-old girl being searched inNew Orleans airport also caused outrage after it was posted on-line.

Threat? Anna Drexel, 6, was subject to a full body search by a TSA agent


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Selena and Todd Drexel, from Kentucky, demanded a change to the way TSAofficials screens children after their daughter Anna was subject to an invasivebody search.

The video shows a gloved guard feeling all over the childs body, poking herfingers down the childs trousers before running her hands around the waist

band.

As the female guard touches the childs bottom she says: I am touching yoursensitive area with the back of my hand.

She also runs her hands over the childs legs, arms, chest and groin areas.

The couple, who also have a nine-year-old daughter, Grace and a two-year-old daughterCaroline, said everyone bar Caroline had to go through the airport scanner, but it waslittle Anna who was selected for a pat down.

A spokesman said: TSA has reviewed the screening of this family and determined

that the officers involved followed proper current screening procedures.

CLASS WAR REPORTS

If printed out, a copy of this newsletter is your personal property and cannotlegally be confiscated from you. Possession of unauthorized material may notbe prohibited. DoD Directive 1325.6 Section 3.5.1.2.

military resistance 9e 16 : "unchecked incompetence"

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