GI Special:

thomasfbarton@earthlink.net

3.2.06

Print it out: color best.  Pass it on.

 

GI SPECIAL 4C2:

 

 

SENT TO GI SPECIAL IN 2004 BY SOLDIERS, 1^ST ID, WHO ORGANIZED ANTI-WAR GROUP AMONG TROOPS IN BAQUBA AREA, IRAQ

 

 

72% Of U.S. Troops Say Get Out Of Iraq In 2006:

29% For Immediate Withdrawal:

Only 23% Give A Shit About Stupid Bush Call To Stay “As Long As They Are Needed”

 

 

2.28.06 Zogby.com & John Zogby, HuffingtonPost.com.

 

The wide-ranging poll also shows that 58% of those serving in country say the U.S. mission in Iraq is clear in their minds, while 42% said it is either somewhat or very unclear to them, that they have no understanding of it at all, or are unsure.

 

In wars of America's century just past, we have sent our soldiers to far-off fields of battle and were left to wonder about their opinions of the life-and-death conflicts in which they were involved.

 

Letters home, and more recently telephone calls and emails, would give us a peek into their states of mind.  Some who returned would regale friends and family with tales from the front lines.

 

Times have now changed. 

 

A first-ever survey of U.S. troops on the ground fighting a war overseas has revealed surprising findings, not the least of which is that an overwhelming majority of 72% of American troops in Iraq think the U.S. should exit the country within the next year.

 

Further, a new Le Moyne College/Zogby International survey shows that more than one in four (29%) thought the U.S. should pull its troops immediately.

 

The poll, conducted in conjunction with Le Moyne College's Center for Peace and Global Studies, also showed that another 22% of the respondents, serving in various branches of the armed forces, said the U.S. should leave Iraq in the next six months.

 

One in every five troops 21%, said troops should be out between six and 12 months.

 

The Le Moyne College/Zogby Poll shows just one in five troops want to heed Bush call to stay “as long as they are needed”

 

Different branches had quite different sentiments on the question, the poll shows.

 

While 89% of reserves and 82% of those in the National Guard said the U.S. should leave Iraq within a year, 58% of Marines think so. 

 

The troops have drawn different conclusions about fellow citizens back home.  Asked why they think some Americans favor rapid U.S. troop withdrawal from Iraq, 37% of troops serving there said those Americans are unpatriotic, while 20% believe people back home don't believe a continued occupation will work.  Another 16% said they believe those favoring a quick withdrawal do so because they oppose the use of the military in a pre-emptive war, while 15% said they do not believe those Americans understand the need for the U.S. troops in Iraq.

 

At 55%, reservists serving in Iraq were most likely to see those back home as unpatriotic for wanting a rapid withdrawal, while 45% of Marines and 33% of members of the regular Army agreed.

 

The wide-ranging poll also shows that 58% of those serving in country say the U.S. mission in Iraq is clear in their minds, while 42% said it is either somewhat or very unclear to them, that they have no understanding of it at all, or are unsure.

 

Ninety-three percent said that removing weapons of mass destruction is not a reason for U.S. troops being there. Instead, that initial rationale went by the wayside and, in the minds of 68% of the troops, the real mission became to remove Saddam Hussein.  [In which case, the mission is over.]

 

Just 24% said that “establishing a democracy that can be a model for the Arab World" was the main or a major reason for the war. Only small percentages see the mission there as securing oil supplies (11%) or to provide long-term bases for US troops in the region (6%).

 

More than 80% of the troops said they did not hold a negative view of Iraqis because of continuing insurgent attacks against them.

 

Only about two in five see the insurgency as being comprised of discontented Sunnis with very few non-Iraqi helpers.  On this question there appears to be some confusion among the troops, but two in every three do not agree that if non-Iraqi terrorists could be prevented from crossing the border into Iraq, the insurgency would end.

 

To control the insurgency, a majority of respondents (53%) said the U.S. should double both the number of troops and bombing missions, an option absolutely no one back in Washington is considering.

 

Reservists were most enthusiastic about using bombing runs and a doubling of ground troops to counter the enemy, with 70% agreeing that would work to control the insurgency.  Among regular Army respondents, 48% favored more troops and bombing, and 47% of Marines agreed. 

 

However, 36% of Marines said they were uncertain that strategy would work, compared to just 9% of regular Army, 6% of National Guard respondents, and 2% of reservists who said they were not sure.

 

Those in Iraq on their first tour of duty were less optimistic that more troops and bombing runs would work.  While 38% of first-timers agreed, 62% of those on their second tour and 53% in Iraq at least three times favored more U.S. troops and firepower.

 

The survey shows that most U.S. military personnel in-country have a clear sense of right and wrong when it comes to using banned weapons against the enemy, and in interrogation of prisoners. Four in five said they oppose the use of such internationally banned weapons as napalm and white phosphorous. And, even as more photos of prisoner abuse in Iraq surface around the world, 55% said it is not appropriate or standard military conduct to use harsh and threatening methods against insurgent prisoners in order to gain information of military value.

 

The continuing insurgent attacks have not turned U.S. troops against the Iraqi population, the survey shows.  More than 80% said they did not hold a negative view of Iraqis because of those attacks. Less than a third think that if non-Iraqi terrorists could be prevented from crossing the border into Iraq, the insurgency would end.

 

Among all respondents, 26% said they were on their first tour of duty in Iraq, while 45% said they were on their second tour, and 29% said they were in Iraq for a third time, or more. 

 

Three of every four were male respondents, with 63% under the age of 30.

 

The survey included 944 military respondents interviewed at several undisclosed locations throughout Iraq. The names of the specific locations and specific personnel who conducted the survey are being withheld for security purposes. Surveys were conducted face-to-face using random sampling techniques. The margin of error for the survey, conducted Jan. 18 through Feb. 14, 2006, is +/- 3.3 percentage points.

 

In other words, the poll is a sound, solid measurement of what is going through the minds of our front-line warriors.  It's no letter home, but it's still good to hear from them.

 

MORE:

 

“I Think We Should Be Out Now” Sgt. Says

 

[Thanks to PB and Katherine Y who sent this in.]

 

3.1.06 By Tom Regan, csmonitor.com & February 28, 2006 accuracy.org

 

In its report [of the military poll story] however, Knight Ridder noted that American soldiers in Iraq have frequently expressed dissatisfaction with their situation.  "They've cited too few soldiers to control the insurgency, a lack of equipment and pessimism about the success of the mission."

 

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette interviewed a number of troops in its area who had served in Iraq, and found sentiments similar to the ones in the poll.

 

Army Master Sgt. Michelle Michalak of Elyria, Ohio, who served in Iraq from January 2004 to January 2005, said she shares the majority sentiment.

 

"I think we should be out now," she said. "There are people there who appreciate the Americans but there are also those who don't."

 

She said the United States has accomplished much in Iraq but there also are problems here that need to be addressed.

 

"We have our own people that are homeless, hungry and living on the street, and why should we provide for people over there before we provide for our own people here?" she said.

 

Co-founder of Iraq Veterans Against the War, Dougherty said today: "For many troops, it's their second or third tour; the situation is more dangerous than ever; they've been stop-lossed or forced to re-enlist."

 

 

47.8% Of Americans Support The Troops:

Say Get Out Of Iraq Now

 

February 24, 2006 Angus Reid Consultants

 

Many adults in the United States believe the coalition effort should end soon, according to a poll by the Sacred Heart University Polling Institute.

 

47.8 per cent of respondents think the U.S. should pull out of Iraq now, while 44.1 per cent disagree.

 

Polling Data

 

Do you think the United States should pull out of Iraq now?

 

Yes	47.8%
No	44.1%
Unsure	8.1%

 

Source: Sacred Heart University Polling Institute

 

Methodology: Telephone interviews with 1,000 American adults, conducted from Feb. 9 to Feb. 15, 2006. Margin for error is 3 per cent.

 

56 Per Cent Of Respondents Say They Oppose The U.S. War With Iraq

 

02 March 2006 NZ Post & February 15, 2006 (Angus Reid Global Scan)

 

More adults in the United States believe their federal administration was wrong to order military action against Iraq, according to a poll by Gallup released by CNN and USA Today.

 

55 per cent of respondents believe the U.S. made a mistake in sending troops to Iraq, up four points since late January.

 

56 per cent of respondents say they oppose the U.S. war with Iraq.

 

[A] CBS poll showed public approval for Bush's handling of Iraq, once among his strongest suits, falling to 30 per cent from 37 per cent in January.

 

Gallup: 55% Now Call Iraq War A ‘Mistake’

Peak Opposition To Vietnam Was 61%

 

February 22, 2006 By Editor & Publisher Staff

 

NEW YORK More Americans than nearly ever before now say the war in Iraq is a "mistake" for the United States, according to a new Gallup poll.  That figure now stands at 55%, up 4% point since late January.  Only once before was the figure higher, at 59%, and that was during the period of overall pessimism right after Hurricane Katrina hit.

 

Gallup noted that it had asked this question about other wars involving the United States, "and only the Vietnam War engendered more public opposition than the current Iraq War."  The peak opposition to the Vietnam conflict was 61%.  That figure for the generally unpopular Korean War was 51%.

 

When asked to assess the progress of the war, only 31% say the United States and its allies are winning the war: the lowest Gallup has measured to date.

 

"A majority of Americans, 55%, say neither side is winning the war, while just 10% say the insurgents in Iraq are winning," Gallup reports.

 

The poll questioned exactly 1000 adults across the country this month.

 

“Americans Have Rejected The Prospect Of Funding A Massive And Prolonged Occupation”

“In That Sense, We Have Already Tipped”

 

[Thanks to Phil G, who sent this in.]

 

2.24.06 By Mark Engler, Tomdispatch.com [Excerpt]

 

John Mueller, Professor of Political Science at Ohio State University and an expert on wartime public opinion, has argued that eroding support for Iraq matches patterns for wars in Korea and Vietnam.

 

"The most striking thing about the comparison among the three wars is how much more quickly support has eroded in the case of Iraq," he writes in Foreign Affairs.  By the start of last year, with just 1,500 American troops dead, public opinion on Iraq had dropped to depths only reached in the Vietnam War after Tet, when some 20,000 Americans had been killed.

 

Mueller concludes, "If history is any indication, there is little the Bush administration can do to reverse this decline."

 

The fact of the matter is that the majority of the country has already decided that the war in Iraq has become too costly.  Americans have rejected the prospect of funding a massive and prolonged occupation.  In that sense, we have already tipped.

 

 

IRAQ WAR REPORTS

 

 

British Soldiers Collect Body Parts After IED Attack

British soldiers collect the body parts of their comrade killed in Amara February 28, 2006.

 

Two British soldiers were killed and a third was wounded in an attack on their patrol in Amara on Tuesday, the British military said. REUTERS/Salah Thani

 

NO HONORABLE MISSION:

FUTILE EXERCISE:

BRING THEM ALL HOME NOW!

US soldiers from the 1-506 RCT 101st Airborne Division run for cover during sporadic fighting in Ramadi February 2006. A wide-ranging poll of US troops serving in Iraq made public found that 72 percent believe the United States should exit Iraq within a year. (AFP/File/David Furst)

 

101st Airborne Soldier Died In Iraq:

Mom Says “Military Service Wasn't Exactly What Her Son Thought It Would Be”

 

March 1, 2006 Associated Press

 

OKLAHOMA CITY:  A 101st Airborne Division soldier from Oklahoma has died in Iraq, his mother said.

 

On Saturday, Army Pfc. Joshua Francis Powers, based at Fort Campbell, Ky., died in southern Baghdad after having been in the country about 2 1/2 weeks, said his mother, Patricia Powers.

 

Joshua Powers joined the Army in July.  Although he dropped out of high school, his mother said he was "extremely bright" and immersed himself in books after he decided to become a soldier.

 

"He studied for about a month and passed his GED," she said.  "He had a real high score.  We were real proud of him for doing that."

 

Patricia Powers said military service wasn't exactly what her son thought it would be, but "he was meeting that responsibility."

 

Joshua Powers is the 62nd Fort Campbell soldier to die in Iraq since the 101st began its latest deployment there in September.

 

MND-B SOLDIER DIES IN NON-COMBAT RELATED INCIDENT

 

3/1/2006 HEADQUARTERS UNITED STATES CENTRAL COMMAND Release Number: 06-03-01C

 

BAGHDAD, Iraq:  A Multi-National Division Baghdad Soldier died in a non-combat incident at 11:45 a.m. March 1.

 

 

 

TROOP NEWS

 

 

THIS IS HOW BUSH BRINGS THE TROOPS HOME:

BRING THEM ALL HOME NOW!

The casket of Marine Lance Cpl. Daniel Deyarmin, Jr., 22, in Tallmadge, Ohio Aug. 11, 2005.  Deyarmin was one of the group of Marines from the Brook Park, Ohio-based 3rd Battalion, 25th Marines who were killed in two attacks in Iraq.  (AP Photo/Amy Sancetta)

 

www.firebasenetwork.net

 

 

AFGHANISTAN WAR REPORTS

 

 

U.S. Soldier Killed By IED

 

3.1.06 Wall St. Journal

 

A U.S. Soldier was killed by an Afghan IED.  U.S. intelligence officials said attacks rose 20% in 2005

 

Afghan Prison Rebellion Ends:

“This Is Not A Jail, It's A Cemetery,” Said The Woman

 

March 1, 2006 By AMIR SHAH, Associated Press Writer, KABUL, Afghanistan

 

A four-day rebellion that left six inmates dead and exposed security flaws at Afghanistan's main prison ended Wednesday after more than 1,000 inmates surrendered.

 

Reporters were allowed into the prison, but could not talk to inmates.  The wrecked, three-story Block Two where the riot began was dark and empty, its walls riddled with bullet marks.

 

The unrest at Policharki, which was built on the outskirts of the Afghan capital in the 1970s and is notorious for harsh and crowded conditions, has shaken what little confidence remained in authorities' ability to keep the prisoners under control.

 

The government agreed to prisoner demands for a library, better food and sanitation, he said, but rejected calls for retrials from inmates who claimed they had been unfairly convicted.

 

A spasm of violence broke a fragile truce at Kabul's main prison Tuesday as rioting inmates tried to push down a gate and police fired on them, killing one and wounding three, officials said.

 

Outside the jail, women beat the ground as their children wailed, fearful that loved ones in the facility have been killed in the three-day standoff.

 

The two sides agreed to a truce late Monday, but the deal collapsed 24 hours later over a demand by authorities that inmates move to another wing of the lockup, said Abdul Halik, a police commander.

 

The inmates refused, saying conditions in the new block were no better than the current one.  They then tried to break down a gate leading into a courtyard where hundreds of police and soldiers have taken up positions, he said.

 

Security forces opened fire, killing an inmate and wounding three others until the prisoners, armed with knives and clubs, withdrew, the commander said.  Dozens of police reinforcements rushed to the prison, but the fighting was over within minutes.

 

Dozens of relatives of the inmates came to the prison Tuesday and pleaded for news of their family members.  One woman covered in an all-encompassing burqa kissed the feet of a journalist, begging him for information.

 

"My son is innocent.  We're afraid he is dead," said Zubaida Gul, as tears ran down her face and she beat her fists on the ground in front of a line of guards.  "Please tell me how he is."  The guards did not react.

 

Another woman said she was afraid for her brother, Abdul Baseer, a convicted murderer, because conditions in the prison were terrible.

 

"This is not a jail, it's a cemetery," said the woman, who gave her name only as Mariam. "No one has any rights once they've gone inside.  I doubt I will ever see him again."

 

Policharki Prison was built in the 1970s and is notorious for harsh and crowded conditions.

 

 

 

IRAQ RESISTANCE ROUNDUP

 

 

“They Fix It And Then It Gets Sabotaged Again”

 

March 1 By Mariam Karouny, (Reuters)

 

Exports from the north are still on hold and it was not clear when pumping will resume. Shippers said no tankers had loaded from Ceyhan in February.

 

"The pipeline that carries exports to Ceyhan is still not working, there isn't any pumping," Faraj said.

 

"I do not know when it will work again, they fix it and then it gets sabotaged again."

 

Assorted Resistance Action

 

3.1.06 (Reuters) & AP

 

Four policemen were killed and eight wounded when a convoy they were travelling in northern Iraq was attacked by guerrillas, according to police. Some 22 officers were seized by the gunmen but later released, police said.  Another 16 officers fled at the time of the incident and made their own way to safety, police said.

 

Three Iraqi policemen said they had survived the ambush.  The three arrived at a police post and said a convoy of minibuses bringing about 50 officers back to Tikrit from a training course in the Kurdish city of Sulaimaniya had been attacked.  They said they saw one officer killed and 10 abducted.  The fate of the other policemen was unclear.

 

Three policemen were killed and five wounded when their patrol was ambushed by guerrillas in Riyad 60 km (40 miles) southwest of the northern oil city of Kirkuk, police colonel Sarhat Khadir said.

 

GET THE MESSAGE?

Iraqi Children Throw Rocks At Convoy Of British Troops

Iraqi children throw rocks at convoy of British troops in Amara February 28, 2006.  Two British soldiers were killed and a third was wounded in an attack on their patrol in Amara, the British military said.  REUTERS/Salah Thani

 

 

 

FORWARD OBSERVATIONS

 

 

 

 

“If Another Power Were To Attempt To Occupy The United States, Your Father And I Would Be Hanging Their Blackened Bodies From The Nearest Bridge”

“We Share The Experience Of Being Under Arms In A Country Where We Are Not Welcome”

 

 

Feb 25, 2006 Douglas Nelson, Veterans For Common Sense [Excerpt]

 

It is increasingly clear that the reasons for this war, like the reasons for my war, are fraudulent.  Intelligence, military and diplomatic professionals have made this clear.

 

Military adventurism is not “defending America” any more than I was defending my country in Viet Nam.

 

“Weapons of mass destruction”, the links between Iraq and Al Qaeda, and the attempts to secure uranium have been found and proven to be untrue. No one can define to our satisfaction what “victory” is, and how we would know when we have achieved it.

 

Like Vietnam, a victory of sorts might be possible by using the weaponry available to lay waste to an entire country.  Both then and now, we stop short of doing the unthinkable. History is strewn with the shame of the Japanese in Nanking, the Russians in Berlin, the Holocaust, and My Lai.  We know better, we claim to stop short of inflicting intentional suffering and death on citizens not involved in combat.

 

We share the experience of being under arms in a country where we are not welcome.

 

The most cursory reading of military history makes clear the tremendous risk of forcing an opponent to defend his own home territory.

 

If another power were to attempt to occupy the continental United States, your father and I would be hanging their blackened bodies from the nearest bridge. I suppose they would term us something like “insurgents.”

 

While you are in Afghanistan or Iraq, take care of each other, look out for each other and do your best to keep safe.

 

We freely chose to be soldiers.  We make the best of our situation, try to survive it, try to get others though it unharmed. 

 

Your mind is your own.  Read and stay informed.  Stay in touch with friends and family. 

 

If the military shuts down your blogs, then write letters.

 

There are fine writers, poets, photographers, and artists among you.

 

You must survive to tell your stories when you are back with us.

 

The military experience will always be a part of you, even if you don’t choose to define yourself in terms of it. 

 

When we are no longer soldiers, the experience of war never leaves our dreams.  We see our comrades, and hear their voices, sometimes even of our enemies.

 

My friends and I have sent letters and care items to those of you in the Middle East.  We would deny you nothing that would make your life over there a little easier, a little more comfortable.

 

What I cannot do for you is to accept the reasons for and the circumstances under which you were sent to Iraq. 

 

My gift to you today is to let you know that good people are working to bring you home.

 

Go back to school, using the education benefits you have earned.  Choose your course of study and your life’s work carefully.

 

Work for justice; work for peace.

 

And, finally, be involved enough in your country’s government to be very, very sure before you commit soldiers to combat, before you allow people the age of your children to endure what you have endured, to suffer what you have suffered.

 

Welcome home.

 

 

 

“What Is Frightening Is Not The Evil Of Much American Foreign Policy At Present But Its Stupidity”

 

[Thanks to James Starowicz, who sent this in.]

 

February 19, 2006 By Simon Jenkins, The Sunday Times [Excerpt]

 

Is Osama Bin Laden winning after all?  Until recently I would have derided such a thought.  How could a tinpot fanatic who is either dead or shut in some mountain hideout hold the world to ransom for five years?  It would stretch the imagination of an Ian Fleming.

 

Now I am beginning to wonder.

 

Not a day passes without some new sign of Bin Laden’s mesmeric grip on the governments of Britain and America.

 

His deeds lie behind half the world’s headlines. British policy seems obsessed with one word: terrorism. The West is equivocating, writhing, slithering in precisely the direction most desired by its enemy.  He must be roaring with delight.

 

On any objective measure, terrorism in the West is a trivial crime.

 

True, New York and London saw outrages in 2001 and 2005 respectively.  Both were the outcome of sloppy intelligence.  Neither has been repeated, though of course they may be.  Policing has improved and probably averted other attacks. 

 

But incidents genuinely attributable to Al-Qaeda rather than domestic grievances are comparable to the IRA and pro-Palestinian campaigns.  Vigilance is important but only those with money in security have an interest in presenting Bin Laden as a cosmic threat.

 

Indeed if ever there were a case for collective restraint it is in response to terrorism. 

 

The word refers to a technique, usually a bomb, not an ideology.

 

A bombing is an anarchic gesture calling for police and medical services.  It becomes a political weapon only if publicised and answered with hysteria.

 

A killing is so staged as to cause over-reaction, violent response, mass arrests and a decay of civilised values. 

 

Bin Laden’s intention in 2001 was to portray the West as scared, emotionally vulnerable, over-reactive, decadent and careless of liberal values. The West has done its damnedest to prove him right.

 

Were I Bin Laden I could not have dreamt that the spirit of 9/11 would be so vigorous five years on.

 

I have western leaders still parroting my motto that “9/11 alters everything” and “the rules of the game are changed”.

 

I have the Taliban resurgent, financed by Europe’s voracious demand for oil and opium.

 

I have the Pentagon and Scotland Yard paying me the compliment of a “long war” of indefinite duration.

 

My potency is said to require more defence spending than was needed to contain the might of the Soviet Union.

 

The 9/11 “changes everything” mantra began as an explanation of a national trauma and a plea for sympathy.  It was hijacked to validate the latent authoritarianism of democratic leaders.

 

America asks the world to believe itself so threatened as to require the kidnappings of foreign citizens in foreign parts, detention without legal process, the curbing of free speech and derogation from all international law.

 

It asks the world to believe that it must disregard the Geneva conventions and employ foreign dictators to help it to torture at random. It uses the same justification for occupying Iraq and Afghanistan. 

 

The world simply refuses to agree.  Only cringing Britain appeases such actions and calls them merely “anomalous”. There are madmen aplenty, but they do not constitute a war.

 

Even America’s most robust champions plead that this is all grotesquely counter-productive.  What is frightening is not the evil of much American foreign policy at present but its stupidity; the damage it does to its own objectives.

 

What was terrifying about Soviet power in the cold war was not its mega-tonnage but the incompetence of those controlling it.

 

There never was a “terrorist threat” to western civilisation or democracy, only to western lives and property.

 

The threat becomes systemic only when democracy loses its confidence and when its leaders are weak, as now.  Terror attacks are for the police.  For George Bush and Blair to demand a “long war” against Bin Laden and, by implication, a long suppression of civil liberty is ludicrous.

 

The American president and the British prime minister have spent half a decade exploiting Bin Laden for political ends, in thrall to their security/industrial complex. They have relied on terrifying their electorates with new and bloodcurdling threats, with what Runciman calls “spook politics”. But they will pass.

 

Bin Laden is not going to win and never was.  But Bush and Blair are giving him an astonishing run for his money.

 

 

 

OCCUPATION REPORT

 

 

U.S. OCCUPATION RECRUITING DRIVE IN HIGH GEAR;

RECRUITING FOR THE ARMED RESISTANCE THAT IS

US soldiers load Iraqi citizens onto an armored personnel carrier in Ramadi. (AFP/David Furst)

 

[Fair is fair.  Let’s bring 150,000 Iraqis over here to the USA.  They can arrest or kill people at checkpoints, bust into their houses with force and violence, overthrow the government, put a new one in office they like better and call it “sovereign,” and “detain” anybody who doesn’t like it in some prison without any charges being filed against them, or any trial.]

 

[Those Iraqis are sure a bunch of backward primitives.  They actually resent this help, have the absurd notion that it’s bad their country is occupied by a foreign military dictatorship, and consider it their patriotic duty to fight and kill the soldiers sent to grab their country.  What a bunch of silly people.  How fortunate they are to live under a military dictatorship run by George Bush.  Why, how could anybody not love that?  You’d want that in your home town, right?]

 

 

How Convenient For Bush

 

Mar 1, 2006 By SAMEER N. YACOUB, (AP)

 

The violence also raised questions about U.S. plans to begin withdrawing troops this summer.

 

 

OCCUPATION PALESTINE

 

 

Imagine!!!

 

February 24, 2006 By Raja Chemayel, Anti-Allawi-group. Dedicated to Todd.

 

Imagine!!!

 

Imagine, that the State of Israel did not ever come to exist,

and that Zionism would have stayed a "theory" and that

the World Jewish Congress remained as a social welfare organisation

taking care of the less fortunate Jews world wide, only.

 

 

Imagine,

 

The world without the State of Israel......

and each year, almost a Million Jews would fly over

to Palestine, visit and do pilgrimage, and then go back home.

Like other Millions of Muslims do in Mecca, each year since 15 centuries.

 

 

Imagine,

 

Palestine free-secular and independent

functioning as a hub for three monotheistic religions,

a place to come and worship and meditate ........

and to reload ones faith.............and then to go back home.

 

 

This is probably too utopic, or too much to be true

but one side-effect here-for would be:

a huge eradication of Anti-Semitism

and a safer World

and more chances for Peace.

 

I was having a Beer yesterday evening with a Jewish friend...

and he inspired me to what I write, today......

He asked: "how much of Anti-Semitism is due to Israel, itself??"

 

 

Think of it!!

a World without the State of Israel......

and without all its ugly "side-effects"

Like our own home grown Terrorists,

and three million-refugees........

 

Raja Chemayel

25.02.06

 

PS:

"You may say I am  a dreamer"  ....but am I the only one?

 

Israeli-Palestinian Combatants For Peace

 

From: David Cline, Veterans For Peace

Sent: March 01, 2006

Subject: Israeli-Palestinian Combatants For Peace formation gathering

 

Recently I met a former Israeli Defense Force Black Hawk pilot named Yonathan Shapira who was one of a group of pilots who refused to fly in the occupied territories. He is one of the main organizers for this new organization called Combatants For Peace.

 

Below is his message to me followed by the invitation to their upcoming organization launch event.  If anyone is interested in traveling to Palestine-Israel to participate, please let me know and I will hook you up with them. Dave Cline

 

Dear David,

 

I hope all is well with you and your friends!  After long time of not being connected to the internet, I send you the official invitation to the opening event of "Combatants for Pease" on April the 10 in Jerusalem Abu-Dis next to the separation wall.

 

You can send this invitation to those who would be interested in participating or supporting us in any way.  If in any chance you have people/members that would like to come we will be very happy!

 

Best wishes, Yonatan

 

Liberation Gathering

In The Shadow Of The Separation Wall

 

 

EL Kuds University Piazza, Abu Dis

Monday, April 10^th, 2006, 3:00 PM

 

We are honored to invite you to the "Combatants for Peace" Israeli-Palestine Liberation Gathering.

 

On the occasions of Passover and Palestinian Prisoner Day, we will gather around one table and describe how all of us, who were warriors in the past, put our weapons aside and replaced them with a non violent joint battle against the occupation and for peace between the two peoples.

 

"Combatants for Peace" is a unique non profit organization comprised of a group of Israeli and Palestinian individuals who were actively involved in the cycle of violence in our area.

 

The Israelis served as combat soldiers in the Israeli army and the Palestinians were involved in acts of violence in the name of Palestinian liberation.  It is us, who in the past used weapons against one another, who saw each other only through eye-sights, it is us who cooperate today.

 

The Liberation Gathering marks the hope and longing for freedom and independence of both peoples.  The liberation gathering is the first public event of "Combatants for Peace" following a year of activity.

 

Schedule of event:

 

Gathering

Presenting the organization and its activities

Personal testimonials – the stories of two group members

Artistic show

Speeches

Artistic show 

Summary and future plans

 

We will be honored to host you in the Liberation Gathering

For more details: www.combatantsforpeace.org

Elik Elchanan:  054-2015159

Dr. Achmad Pharess

 

[To check out what life is like under a murderous military occupation by a foreign power, go to: www.rafahtoday.org  The foreign army is Israeli; the occupied nation is Palestine.]

 

 

DANGER: POLITICIANS AT WORK

 

 

[Thanks to David Honish, Veterans For Peace, who sent this in.]

 

 

CLASS WAR REPORTS

 

 

GET THE MESSAGE?

 

An Indian woman holds a placard during a protest against U.S. President George W. Bush in the southern Indian city of Bangalore March 1, 2006.  REUTERS/Jagadeesh Nv

 

Kashmiris shout anti-U.S. slogans as they burn a U.S. flag in Srinagar, India, Feb. 25, 2006.  Thousands of Shiite Muslims took part in the rally protesting against the bombing of the major Shiite Askariya Shrine in the Iraqi northern town of Samarra. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)