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Showing posts with label Military. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Military. Show all posts

Saturday, April 10, 2010

London Mayor Wants Compulsory National Service

It was supposed to be a photo opportunity to help David Cameron on the campaign trail – but the decision to invite the mayor of London, Boris Johnson, appeared to backfire when he urged the Tory leader to beef up his national citizen service proposals.

During a visit to south-west London with Cameron today, Johnson decided to offer advice on the policy, announced yesterday with the backing of Sir Michael Caine.

The two were drinking tea with Chelsea Pensioners as Cameron explained his proposals for every 16-year-old to have the opportunity to do citizen service when Johnson intervened, saying: "I think it should be compulsory. Why don't you make it compulsory?"

Cameron – who did not respond directly to the mayor's suggestion – suggested teenagers participating in the scheme could do some service with the armed forces.

"It might have a military side. The military are keen to get involved," he added.'

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Friday, January 22, 2010

Disasters are Big Business




I am staggered. There are 10,000 ‘NGOs’ (Non-Governmental Organizations) in Haiti, one for every 900 inhabitants and each one of them has no doubt at least one Westerner working within, yet aside from the Cuban health workers, it seems they could do nothing until the gringos arrived with their Blackhawks and nuclear-tipped aircraft carrier and of course, the 82nd Airborne, paying yet another ‘visit’ to this benighted and super-exploited land to ’secure’ the place for the locust storm of aid to come (too late for too many).

Now I’ve never been a fan of ‘NGOs’ not only because my own experience with them has been less than edifying but because they are the direct result of ‘benign neglect’ on the part of the state. In other words they initially appeared to fill a void left when states washed their hands of the mess they’d left behind or they just ditched their responsibilities.

But unlike governments who are, in theory anyway, answerable to their electorate, ‘NGOs’ are answerable to no one. They are not elected, they are not representative. In their way they are more like neo-colonial ‘stand-ins’ for the former colonizers, at least at the ‘social services’ end of things. Well, it seems many of the 10,000 have been tested and found wanting.

Now this is not say that there aren’t thousands, even tens of thousands of people who genuinely want to help (Brits have so far donated more than £30 million to Haiti Relief) but compare the role of the Cuban medical teams with most of the other ‘NGOs’ working in Haiti, all ten thousand of them. The Cubans have the direct backing of the Cuban state with all that that entails. Moreover, they were able to draw on their own experiences with disasters to which Cuba is no stranger and react immediately and effectively (not that you’d have seen it reported much on your TV screens but they were first on the scene).

I have no idea how many people in the ‘developed’ world owe their living to other people’s misfortunes but it surely must run into millions and given that the most advanced of the capitalist states now have largely ‘service’ economies under which I assume ‘NGOs’ fall, disasters make a major contribution to their economies.

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Monday, January 18, 2010

Ortega Warns of US Military Deployment in Haiti



Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega says that the United States has taken advantage of the massive quake in Haiti and deployed troops in the country.

"What is happening in Haiti seriously concerns me as US troops have already taken control of the airport," Ortega said on Saturday.

"There is no logic that US troops landed in Haiti. Haiti seeks humanitarian aid, not troops. It would be madness we all began to send troops to Haiti," said Ortega.

"I hope they will withdraw troops occupying Haiti," he added.'

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Monday, November 09, 2009

Antidepressants Cause Suicide, Violence in Soldiers

Here are the starting facts: Death by suicide is at record levels in the armed services. Simultaneously the use of antidepressant drugs is also at record levels, including brand names like Prozac, Zoloft, Paxil, Celexa and Lexapro....

Some observed that the drugs often change the personality of the soldiers, making them irritable, edgy, and angry. They fear these drugs many unleash impulsive violence. Meanwhile, because many soldiers don't want to take psychiatric medications, they avoid seeking any kind of help.'

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Ask Military to Help With H1N1: Ottawa Councillor

An Ottawa city councillor wants to call in the Armed Forces to help conduct swine flu vaccinations.

Coun. Bob Monette said Thursday he has written to federal Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq asking if doctors, nurses and medics from the Canadian Forces could be deployed in cities across Canada to help with the H1N1 vaccinations.'

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Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Military to Get Mandatory Swine Flu Shots Soon

U.S. military troops will begin getting required swine flu shots in the next week to 10 days, with active duty forces deploying to war zones and other critical areas going to the front of the vaccine line, a top military commander said Tuesday.

Air Force Gen. Gene Renuart also told The Associated Press that as many as 400 troops are ready to go to five regional headquarters around the country to assist federal health and emergency management officials if needed as the flu season heats up.

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Monday, September 28, 2009

Military and Riot Thugs Detain, Dehumanize and TORTURE American Citizens

n what was possibly the most surreal, horrific, and unimaginable thing I have ever witnessed in my life, 1200 Riot Police and Military Personal rabidly attacked a group of well under 300 American citizens, many of them just students that were unaware there was even a protest going on. They then expanded their perimeter and shut large areas of Oakland down. This is how my last experience at the G20 in Pittsburgh went down, out of control authorities mercilessly attacking an unarmed crowd with batons, tear gas, pepper spray, sound weapons, and rubber bullets. Around 10pm on Friday night, long after the vast majority of dignitaries and protesters had left, it became evident that the outrageous show of force by the Military and Police was not enough to stave off their thirst for blood.

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Saturday, August 29, 2009

Military To Work With FEMA During Swine Flu Pandemic


According to a CNN report, the military will assist civilian authorities in the event of a significant swine flu outbreak in the U.S. this fall, stoking fears that the pandemic, which has claimed relatively few lives so far, will be used as an excuse to implement martial law and a mandatory vaccination program.

“The plan calls for military task forces to work in conjunction with the Federal Emergency Management Agency. There is no final decision on how the military effort would be manned, but one source said it would likely include personnel from all branches of the military,” states the report.

The proposal, which was drawn up by U.S. Northern Command’s Gen. Victor Renuart, is awaiting final approval from Defense Secretary Robert Gates. The first step would be to sign an “execution order” which would authorize the military to begin detailed planning on how to implement the proposal, before actual orders to deploy military personnel are given.

The amount of troops required or whether they would come from the active duty or the National Guard and Reserve forces has not yet been determined.

Northcom has been preparing for mass flu pandemics for years and indeed, Gen. Victor Renuart spoke of the threat of a flu pandemic emerging out of Mexico just weeks before it actually happened.

Testifying back in March, Renuart said Northcom would provide “assistance in support of civil authorities” during an epidemic, adding “when requested and approved by the Secretary of Defense or directed by the President, federal military forces will contribute to federal support.” However, Renuart then added, “USNorthCom does not wait for that call to action.”

“Because Mexico is our neighbor and disasters do not respect national boundaries, we are focused on developing and improving procedures to respond to potentially catastrophic events such as pandemic influenza outbreak, mass exposure to dangerous chemicals and materials, and natural disasters,” he testified.

Northcom was only relatively recently assigned its own fighting unit – the Army’s 3rd Infantry Division’s 1st Brigade Combat Team, which had been fighting in Iraq for five years before that. As we have previously reported, the Armed Forces Press Service has initiated a propaganda campaign designed to convince the American people that deploying the 3rd Infantry Division in the United States in violation of the Posse Comitatus Act is a good thing, with images of soldiers from the brigade helping in “humanitarian” rescue missions, such as car wrecks. This is all designed to condition Americans to accept troops on the streets and highways as a part of everyday life.

The assignment of the 1st Brigade Combat Team to Northcom alarmed the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). “This is a radical departure from separation of civilian law enforcement and military authority and could, quite possibly, represent a violation of law,” said Mike German, ACLU national security policy counsel.

The news that troops are being prepared to work with FEMA in the event of a swine flu pandemic will increase fears that the government is preparing to
enforce a mandatory vaccination program – at gunpoint if necessary.

State health authorities have already confirmed that if the government were to announce a mandatory vaccination program, then there would be no exemptions whatsoever and the program could be carried out with the use of force if necessary.

As reported by CNS News earlier this month, a health-care reform bill approved by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pension Committee called The Affordable Health Choices Act, will fund the creation of state “intervention” teams that will carry out home visits in order to check that both children and adults have been vaccinated and also provide “provision of immunizations”.

“Home visits? What exactly is the state going to do when it sends people to “implement interventions” in private homes designed “to improve immunization coverage of children”? asks the CNS report.

There can be little doubt that many Americans will call upon their second amendment rights and resort to using force to protect themselves and their children if the government attempts to forcibly impose a mass vaccination program. This is why the assistance of military personnel may be necessary to subdue potential resistors in the event of mandatory quarantines and inoculations.

The last time the the national guard and military worked with FEMA and local law enforcement on a large scale in the United States was during Hurricane Katrina, when they aided in the confiscation of privately owned firearms of citizens, even those who lived in the high and dry areas and were unaffected by the hurricane.

Source

Thursday, August 27, 2009

UK to Stay in Afghanistan for 'a Generation'

The British Ambassador to Afghanistan Mark Sedwill expects his country's presence in Afghanistan to last for at least "a generation."

"We would expect there to be a British presence here (Afghanistan) ... trying to bring this country up for at least a generation," Sedwill said on Wednesday, adding that they would be active in the "training and mentoring" role for many years.

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Saturday, August 15, 2009

The Pentagon Wants Authority to Post Almost 400,000 Military Personnel in U.S.

The Pentagon has approached Congress to grant the Secretary of Defense the authority to post almost 400,000 military personnel throughout the United States in times of emergency or a major disaster.

This request has already occasioned a dispute with the nation’s governors. And it raises the prospect of U.S. military personnel patrolling the streets of the United States, in conflict with the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878.

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Friday, August 14, 2009

Kremlin Prepares Law on Military Missions Abroad

President Dmitry Medvedev on Monday proposed legislation to give him the legal basis to send troops abroad to defend Russia's interests, the Kremlin said.
Medvedev sent troops deep into Georgian territory last year in a brief war over the disputed province of South Ossetia, but Russian media questioned whether the proper legal procedures had been followed.

The new law would allow foreign deployments to defend a third country against aggression, to protect Russian citizens and military personnel and to fight naval piracy, according to the draft posted on the Kremlin's website.

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Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Military Planning for Possible H1N1 Outbreak

The U.S. military wants to establish regional teams of military personel to assist civilian authorities in the event of a significant outbreak of the H1N1 virus — the swine flu — this fall, according to Defense Department officials.

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Saturday, May 09, 2009

Military Police Document Reveals Integration with Local Law Enforcement

In short, the document explains how the U.S. military, in violation of the Posse Comitatus Act, has “integrated” with local law enforcement under the rubric of the GWOT, or so-called Global War on Terrorism. It stresses the need for military police to collect “information that identifies trends, patterns and associations that indicate a possible nexus disrupting or targeting Army operations” within the United States. The “criminal intelligence produced from this analysis should be focused on future coordination” with local law enforcement, again a direct violation of Posse Comitatus.

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Thursday, April 09, 2009

Pentagon Blows up Pigs in Bombproof Armor

The US military blows up live pigs and rats dressed in bombproof body armor to measure the protection the suit would provide for the troops.

Most of the armor-clad animals died when put in semi-military vehicles which were blown up by the military researchers, the USA Today reported on Monday. The move is in clear violation of Animal rights and Animal Law.

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And you can bet the British military do exactly the same!!!

Thursday, March 05, 2009

Military May Patrol Bar Zone In Canadian City

Authorities in Barrie, Ontario are considering a proposal to allow troops to patrol bar areas on weekends in a supposed attempt to prevent rowdiness, another example of the militarization of law enforcement and the public being conditioned to accept martial law.

“City police and Camp Borden officers are discussing using joint street patrols to help keep the peace in Barrie’s busy entertainment district on peak weekends,” reports the Toronto Star, as part of a move to “cement the base’s partnership with Barrie police” (police and military merging into one enforcement unit).

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Saturday, January 03, 2009

Georgia: Renewed Military Buildup?

Georgia is moving tanks and armoured vehicles closer to the border with South Ossetia, the republic’s government said on Monday.
"According to intelligence that is coming in, Georgia has moved 28 tanks into the city of Gori, where a tank battalion is deployed. Moreover, Cobra armoured personnel carriers have been detected in the village of Nikozi in the immediate vicinity of the Republic of South Ossetia’s borders," the press release said.

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Friday, October 24, 2008

D-notice Slapped On MoD's History Of Censorship, Secrecy And The Media

There is a long tradition of the military suppressing news that it considers detrimental to national security by slapping a D-notice on it.
But when the D-notice committee decided that the time was ripe to publish its own official history, nobody imagined that it would fall victim to its own system.

The history of the D-notice committee has, in effect, had a D-notice slapped on it by the D-notice committee.

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You couldn't make it up could you !

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

US-Russia Commanders Meet To Mend Ties

US and Russian military commanders have met in Finland to restore strained relations, the first such meeting after Russia-Georgia conflict. The chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Michael Mullen met with General Nikolai Makarov the head of the Russian General Staff in Helsinki on Tuesday to fix bilateral relations that was severely marred over the Russia-Georgia conflicts, AFP reported.

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First the top military commanders of the US and EU meet up last weekend , now the US and Russian top military brass in clandestine meeting.

In my view something big is being hatched up.

Friday, October 03, 2008

The Militarization of America




The name of the so-called "U.S. Department of Homeland Security" has always disturbed and rankled me.
Created in the frenzied political aftermath of the 9-11-2001 terrorist attacks, it sounds like something Hitler's propaganda minister, Josef Goebbels would have dreamed up to impress the gullible masses. Indeed, the attitude too often displayed at airports by the over paid DHS's minions of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is akin to that of storm troopers.
Two years ago I and others called attention to a dangerous provision slipped into an omnibus appropriation bill that gave the President of the United States the unprecedented power to deploy the U.S. military for domestic duty within the United States as he sees fit.
President Bush (or someone who had his ear) came up with the disturbing idea that the U.S. military should be put in charge of domestic police matters when a "major catastrophe" occurs within America.


Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Gates says the U.S. is willing to send troops into Pakistan

U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said Thursday that the United States is "ready, able and willing" to send troops to Pakistan if the government of the South Asian nation is interested.
.S. military officials have told CNN that commanders are reviewing a classified planning order that could result in troops going to Pakistan for training purposes if Pakistan's government approves.
The announcement comes as Pakistan's government faces what Gates called increased efforts by al Qaeda.
Musharraf and other Pakistani leaders, however, have repeatedly said it is their military -- not that of the United States -- that will fight elements of al Qaeda and the Taliban that are believed to live and train in the mountainous region of Pakistan that borders Afghanistan.
"It's obviously been a subject of ongoing dialogue," Gates said. "Pakistan is a sovereign country; they clearly have the right to decide whether or not forces from another country are going to operate on their soil.

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Love that last bit about soverign country. It's never stopped the US neocons before and after that last little reminder at the Marriot, the pressure is on.