TresSugar

Pentagon: More Ex-Gitmo Inmates Returning to Terrorism

CitizenSugar — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 15:30:30 -0800

News broke yesterday that President-elect Obama plans on signing an order to close Guantanamo Bay perhaps as early as his first day on the job. Well today, the Pentagon cast a potential shadow on the plan, announcing that 61 ex-Gitmo prisoners have "returned to the fight." The Pentagon's spokesperson said: "The overall known terrorist re-engagement rate has increased to 11 percent" from 7 percent.

The Pentagon's assessment previews the challenges Obama will face while trying to close the controversial prison. While some detainees present a clear danger, the US admits that others, such as 17 dissidents kept at Gitmo because they could face death back in China, should be released.

Last night on the Rachel Maddow Show an Air Force major who defends detainees in Gitmo's US military tribunals said: "Americans would expect that the military commission would focus on high-level terrorists, people responsible for 9/11 and other serious terrorist attacks against the United States. In fact the early focus of the commissions has been on child soldiers, drivers, foot soldiers."

Do you think the Pentagon's 11 percent terrorist recidivism rate for those released from Guantanamo is enough to justify the prison, or should the US close it ASAP? And, to see the clip from last night's Rachel Maddow Show, read more.

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Right Direction? Pentagon Launches Africa Command

CitizenSugar — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 00:00:40 -0700

Before September 11th, 2001, American military strategy in Africa was little more than a cursory investment to buffer its interests against those of the Soviet Union, then Russia, China, and the Middle East governments. Now the Pentagon is taking a new approach to the African continent, one that may be especially welcome.

Part of the new strategy is to create a new regional headquarters called “Africa Command” responsible for coordinating American military projects on that continent. The idea is that the Pentagon will forge a “civilian-military partnership” in which the Defense Department will work with the State Department and Agency for International Development and the host nation’s security and development agencies as well. They hope to assign military personnel to train local anti-terrorism forces, dig wells, build sewers, and assist with inoculations of the local citizenry.

Not everyone is excited about the development. To see why, read more.

The new top officer of this command, General William E. Ward reassured those with a suspicious eye towards American militarism that: “We are trying to prevent conflict, as opposed to having to react to a conflict.” Those casting the suspicious eyes are not assuaged. Many of those who work in NGOs in Africa are very concerned that injecting the military into public services will ultimately result in change in policies driven by fears of terrorism or the desire for the countries natural resources such as oil. One official has an even more practical worry which is the risk that Africom (African Command) “... will take over many humanitarian and development activities that soldiers aren’t trained to perform.”

Is inserting a proactive military presence into Africa a positive step - or should humanitarian efforts be kept separate from military interests?

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Front Page: Pentagon Dedicates Memorial, Bush Allows Pakistan Raids, Thailand Renominates PM

CitizenSugar — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 06:51:15 -0700

Pentagon Dedicates Memorial:
The two-acre memorial to American Airlines Flight 77 will be dedicated today by President Bush at the Pentagon. The memorial's 184 steel and granite benches are engraved with each victim's name and oriented along the plane's flight path the morning of Sept. 11, 2001. Unlike the rest of the Pentagon, the memorial will be open to the public all day, every day, starting at 7 p.m. tonight.

Bush Allows Pakistan Raids:
President Bush approved orders in July to allow American Special Operations forces to carry out ground assaults into Pakistan without approval by the Pakistani government. Officials say they will notify Pakistan when they carry out missions, but that they will not ask for permission.

Thailand Renominates PM:
Two days after being forced to resign due to constitutional misdeeds, Thailand's prime minister has been renominated by his party. The party claims there is nothing in the constitution to stop them from doing so, but the opposition and the thousands of protesters who called for the prime minister's resignation will likely disagree. After a two-hour meeting, Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej said, "I am accepting the nomination in order to protect democracy in the country."

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Shocking: Bad Electrical Work Killing Troops in Iraq

LibertySugar — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 11:00:00 -0700

The death of a Green Beret in Iraq, electrocuted while showering this past January, finally attracted the attention of the Pentagon and US lawmakers to the issue of shoddy and dangerous electrical work on US bases in Iraq. At one building complex, soldiers have complained of electrical shocks in their living quarters daily.

For millions of dollars, private contractors have upgraded Iraqi buildings, including the electrical systems, that house American troops. The New York Times got its hands on internal Army documents that show the electrical work done by private contractors has caused more deaths and injuries than the Pentagon has acknowledged.

Critics accuse these companies of overbiling, failing to protect female employees from sexual assault, and providing unsafe water to soldiers. Electricians working for KBR, a former subsidiary of Haliburton receiving a bulk of the work, say they warned the company about the danger the unsafe work posed to soldiers; but, their complaints fell on deaf ears. While allegations of overbilling and corruption concern me, it's even worse when the subsequent work puts soldiers in harm's way.

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Military Prosecutor Says Justice Became Political at Gitmo

LibertySugar — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 14:30:01 -0700

Col. Morris D. Davis, the US military's former chief prosecutor at Guantanamo Bay, testified yesterday that top Pentagon officials interfered with his work for political reasons, and told him that there could be no detainee acquittals. The former prosecutor found himself on a peculiar side of a court case: testifying on behalf of a detainee, Osama bin Laden's driver Salim Hamdan, and being cross examined by his prosecutorial successor.

Brig. Gen. Thomas Hartmann (pictured), oversaw the military commissions and allegedly told prosecutor-turned-witness Davis: "If we don't get some cases going before the elections, this thing's going to implode." He also told him that charges against well-known detainees “could have real strategic political value” and that there could be no acquittals.

Last night, TV host Keith Olbermann's asserted that the policy Davis described, co-opted the values of the very constitution and sacred freedoms for which the heroes of the military have fought and died. To see that chilling video, and to find out what else went down in the court, read more.

On the witness stand, Davis recounted a conversation he had with General Hartmann: "He said, 'We've been holding these guys for years. How can we explain acquittals? We have to have convictions.'" Hartmann also insisted that prosecutors use evidence obtained during waterboarding.

Do you care whether justice is served at Guantanamo Bay? Is it dangerously easy to let slide these stories of partisan concerns compromising the constitution because we hear so many of them?

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YouTube Video of Fort Bragg Gets Results

CitizenSugar — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 06:00:18 -0700

We've been focused on the ills of YouTube lately, but here's one story where the website was used for good instead of evil. Army dad Edward Frawley paid a welcome home visit on his 22-year-old son - just returning from a tour of duty with the 82nd Airborne Division in the mountains of Afghanistan - and he was shocked to see the deplorable conditions of his son's barracks at Fort Bragg, NC.

In our high-tech age when we want to send a grievance we don't have to wait for a carrier pigeon - and Frawley didn't. He put together this thoughtfully narrated 10 minute video telling the story of his son and showing the conditions, which included moldy walls, a bathroom that looked flooded with sewage, uncapped sewage pipes and peeling paint.

In just a few days, Senator Elizabeth Dole of NC had declared the condition of the barracks “wholly unacceptable and it must be immediately corrected.” She contacted the Army secretary and just three days after the YouTube clip was posted, the Army responded to the claims. Repairs are under way, and the creative response seems to have spurred action.

Is this a happy ending, or a story highlighting a bigger problem? Are you surprised to see this dad had to take matters to the court of YouTube?

Pentagon Pauses Propaganda Program

LibertySugar — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 10:00:00 -0700

Since the build-up to Iraq, retired US military generals, presented as independent mediate analysts, were in fact part of an extensive Pentagon program called "Message Force Multipliers."

The New York Times reported last week that the experienced personnel, appearing to want nothing more than to help Americans assess a post-9/11 world, were actually part of a carefully organized Pentagon information apparatus used to disseminate a message favorable to the Bush Administration.

The effort began with the build-up to Iraq, and television stations continued to use these retirees, who also had extensive and current military contracts, until yesterday when the Pentagon suspended the program.

The Pentagon's spokesman said that the media-infiltration operation was being reevaluated due to criticism that the retired officers offered Pentagon talking points as their own.

Who do you think is more to blame for this dishonest representation -the Bush Administration, or the willing television networks ready to use war for ratings? Do you think they collectively and gravely deceived the American public, or should it have been obvious to viewers that the "analysts" were puppets of the Pentagon? Is this fraud? Treason? Or politics as usual?

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Pentagon Favors Stem-Cell Research to Help Soldiers

CitizenSugar — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 11:00:41 -0700

Imagine soldiers returning from battle with missing limbs, burned skin, and damaged organs from a confrontation. Then imagine them days later completely regenerated, healed with their own tissue. According to the Pentagon, this day is not far off.

The Pentagon has joined forces with universities and hospitals in a $250-million research institute to fund an initiative to regenerate soldiers’ torn bodies. Lt. General Eric Schoomaker, the army surgeon general said: “We’ll use the soldier’s own stem cells to repair nerve damage, to regrow muscles and tendons, to repair burn wounds, and to help them heal without scarring.” To see how the plan would work, read more.

The Pentagon is set to provide $85 million and another $100 million will come from grants through the National Institutes of Health. The big project stands to be "the largest US government-funded research consortium in the field of regenerative medicine," said Schoomaker.

If all goes according to plan, at some point in the future, adult stem cells will be harvested before a soldier goes into battle and then, should a soldier return with permanent wounds, those cells would then be used to regrow new tissue and limbs within days of the injury. Because the plan intends to use the adult's own stem cells it circumvents some of the administration's current stem cell restrictions.

Are you glad to see progress being made on this front? Do you think the fact that the research will use adult stem cells addresses ethical concerns or do you wish stem cell research could go further? Is the military the perfect research ground for this kind of work?

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Are the Pentagon and Bush Administration to Blame For Torture?

CitizenSugar — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 16:00:42 -0700

What's being called the Torture Memo (written in 2003 and made public yesterday) sheds a bold light on upper official decrees on the definition of torture at the beginning of the Iraq War. The memo contains language telling Pentagon senior leadership that inflicting pain would not be considered torture unless it caused “death, organ failure or permanent damage.”

It is the most fully developed legal justification that has yet come to light for inflicting physical and mental pressure on suspects, and it was declassified in response to a request by the American Civil Liberties Union under the Freedom of Information Act. Campus Progress has a great breakdown of the quotes and arguments from the memo.

While top Pentagon officials, including Donald Rumsfeld, have said they never condoned mistreatment of prisoners, the role played by senior officials at the Pentagon has never been fully explained. Given the way some of the soldiers were held personally accountable for the events at Abu Ghraib, do you think the "culture of abuse" actually came as a directive from the top?

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Pentagon Denied Gay Rep's Request to Travel with Partner

LibertySugar — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 03:00:53 -0700

The Pentagon initially denied Representative Tammy Baldwin's request to bring her domestic partner with her on a fact-finding trip to Europe over the Easter recess. As usual, the delegation traveled on a military flight. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi petitioned Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, before the trip was approved.

At the center of the story is the definition of "spouse." According to the House guidelines, members of Congress can travel with spouses so long as there is room, and protocol requires it. The same goes for an adult child; however, Congress must be reimbursed for the second guest. Baldwin and her partner have exchanged vows, but her home state of Wisconsin does not recognize same-sex marriage.

Apparently Secretary Gates told Speaker Pelosi that it was up to her to make an exception. To see what happened, read more.

Once Gates received a formal request for an exception, he approved the flight. Pelosi insisted that she was simply following the precedent set by her predecessor Dennis Hassert. But, Hassert's former aides said he was unaware that Baldwin's domestic partner flew with her, until the trips already were underway.

While we can all argue about tax money being used to transport guests, it does seem unfair to make a gay congresswoman jump through extra hoops, involving the Speaker of the House and the Secretary of Defense, for a routine trip. Perhaps spouses shouldn't be allowed on these vacations, uh, I mean fact-finding trips. But since they are, should unrecognized spouses be allowed, too?

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