Military Resistance 11G7 Stand Your Ground
On a recent trip to Kabul, Afghanistan, I stood among dozens of men injecting heroin and inhaling opium vapors huddled under scarves in small groups under the Pul-i-Sokhta bridge – the name means “burned bridge.”Some corners were so dark I wondered how users found a vein to inject.The smog of combustible opium filled the air. The soggy mud under our feet was full ofputrid human detritus. I saw caked blood on track-pocked arms, weeping sores, scars and necrotic tissue. All I could think of was this: It doesn’t have to be this way. The hell and human suffering under the Pul-i-Sokhta bridge is entirely man-made. Drug users in Kabul need a safe injection site ( like this one), but instead, many will die from bloodborne infections and preventable diseases like HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis C.... Afghans use drugs for many reasons, but in a country that’s suffered 30 years of uninterrupted war and foreign occupation, it’s no surprise that many men, women and even children use opiates....
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7.21.13
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Military Resistance 11G7
[Thanks to SSG N (ret’d) who sent this in with caption. She writes: "Big picture. Nothin' like bringing it home.”]
ACTION REPORTS
“Two Of The Soldiers, Both Very Young Privates, Agreed Politicians Are The Ones Conducting Them To Afghanistan And Other Places The U.S. Population Prefers Them Not To Be”
[Outreach To New York National Guard]
From: Alan S, Military Resistance Sent: Jul 19, 2013 To: Military Resistance Newsletter Subject: 7/18/13 Outreach to New York National Guard Yesterday, at two of the city's commuter terminals I found 6 National Guard soldiers on duty. The first I met recognized me (as I've said before many of the troops know me from previous outreaches and are usually reluctant to take any more material) and was friendly but turned down further material. He did, however, upon prompting, tell me drill schedules are issued “about every two months now” making it that much more difficult to ascertain any long range drill plans/schedules we used to have on hand for years. Subsequently, five more troops were approached and accepted 5 Military Resistance Newsletters, 5 DVDs of “Sir! No Sir!” and 4 DVDs of “Authority and Expectations.” They also took our intro cards and accepted all material in a receptive manner. These were mostly new faces and were meeting me for the first time. Two of the soldiers, both very young privates, agreed politicians are the ones conducting them to Afghanistan and other places the U.S. population prefers them not to be. One was eager to learn of our organization and promised to examine his newsletter and DVD carefully and get in touch if so inclined. I wrote my name and telephone # on back of his intro card in case he wanted more direct contact. He drills out of the Lexington Avenue armory we accessed (years ago) but not one we have frequented recently. He told me he's been looking into conspiratorial theories and mentioned a personality I've never heard of: Alex Roberts. I told him all he's been given by me is factual which provides the basis for outreaches. None of the other four soldiers belong to units we've outreached to for over 11 years and seeing our contact for the past few years no longer responds to phone inquiries we're still out in the cold re: Harlem, our main outreach target.
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ACTION REPORTS WANTED: FROM YOU!
An effective way to encourage others to support members of the armed forces organizing to resist the Imperial war is to report what you do. If you’ve carried out organized contact with troops on active duty, at base gates, airports, or anywhere else, send a report in to Military Resistance for the Action Reports section.
Same for contact with National Guard and/or Reserve components. They don’t have to be long. Just clear, and direct action reports about what work was done and how. If there were favorable responses, say so. If there were unfavorable responses or problems, don’t leave them out. Reporting what went wrong and/or got screwed up is especially important, so that others may learn from you what to expect, and how to avoid similar problems if possible. If you are not planning or engaging in outreach to the troops, you have nothing to report.
NOTE WELL:
Do not make public any information that could compromise the work. Identifying information – locations, personnel – will be omitted from the reports. Whether you are serving in the armed forces or not, do not identify members of the armed forces organizing to stop the wars. If accidentally included, that information will not be published. The sole exception: occasions when a member of the armed services explicitly directs identifying information be published in reporting on the action.
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The Military Resistance Organization:
Military Resistance Mission Statement:
1. The mission of Military Resistance is to bring together in one organization members of the armed forces and civilians in order to give aid and comfort to members of the armed forces who are organizing to end the war of empire in Afghanistan. The long term objective is to assist in eliminating all wars of empire by eliminating all empires.
2. Military Resistance does not advocate individual disobedience to orders or desertion from the armed forces. The most effective resistance is organized by members of the armed forces working together. However, Military Resistance respects and will assist in the defense of troops who see individual desertion or refusal of orders as the only course of action open to them for reasons of conscience.
3. Military Resistance stands for the immediate, unconditional withdrawal of all U.S. and other occupation troops from Afghanistan. Occupied nations have the right to independence and the right to resist Imperial invasion and occupation by force of arms.
4. Efforts to increase democratic rights in every society, organization, movement, and within the armed forces itself will receive encouragement and support. Members of the armed forces, whether those of the United States or any other nation, have the right and duty to act against dictatorships commanding their services, and to assist civilian movements against dictatorship. This applies whether a political dictatorship is imposed by force of arms or a political dictatorship is imposed by those in command of the resources of society using their wealth to purchase the political leadership.
5. Military Resistance uses organizational democracy. This means control of the organization by the membership, through elected delegates to any coordinating bodies that may be formed, whether at local, regional, or national levels. Any member may run for any job in the organization. All persons elected are subject to immediate recall, by majority vote of the membership. Coordinating bodies report their actions, decisions and votes to the membership who elected them, and may be overruled by a majority of the membership.
6. It is not necessary for Military Resistance to be in political agreement with other organizations in order to work together towards specific common objectives. It is productive for organizations working together on common projects to discuss differences about the best way forward for the movement. Debate is necessary to arrive at the best course of action.
Membership Requirements:
7. It is a condition of membership that each member prioritize and participate in organized action to reach out to active duty armed forces, Reserve and/or National Guard units.
8. Military Resistance or individual members may choose to support candidates for elective office who are for immediate withdrawal from Afghanistan, but do not support a candidate opposed to immediate, unconditional withdrawal. 9. Members may not be active duty or drilling reserve commissioned officers, or employed in any capacity by any police or intelligence agency, local, state, or national. 10. I understand and am in agreement with the above statement. I pledge to defend my brothers and sisters, and the democratic rights of the citizens of the United States, against all enemies, foreign and domestic. ----------------------------(Signed (Date) ----------------------------- (Application taken by) Military Resistance: [email protected] Box 126, 2576 Broadway, New York, N.Y. 10025-5657 888-711-2550
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You Can Take Action That Makes A Difference:
Join The Military Resistance Organization:
MILITARY RESISTANCE MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION
Name (please print): __________________________ Armed Forces? (Branch) ____________ Veteran? Years: ____________ Union: ____________________ Occupation: _________________________________________ Mailing address: ______________________________________
E-Mail:_____________________________ Phone (Landline):_______________________________________ Phone (Cell):___________________________________________ $ dues paid _________________________ (See next: Calendar year basis.) Armed Forces Members Civilians Students/Unemployed Civilian/Military Prisoners Comments: NOTE: Civilian applicants will be interviewed, in person if possible, or by phone. Military Resistance: [email protected] Box 126, 2576 Broadway, New York, N.Y. 10025-5657 888-711-2550 @ @ @ @ Dues waived $25 $10 Dues Waived
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“People Need Not Be Helpless Before The Power Of Illegitimate Authority”
MILITARY RESISTANCE:
Box 126, 2576 Broadway, New York, N.Y. 10025-5657 [email protected] [Based on a statement by David Cortright, Vietnam Veteran and armed forces resistance organizer.] In the final analysis the stationing of American forces abroad serves not the national interest but the class interest of the corporate and political elite. The maintenance of a massive, interventionist-oriented military establishment is based on the need to protect multinational investment and preserve regimes friendly to American capital. Imperialism is at the heart of the national-security system and is the force fundamentally responsible for the counterrevolutionary, repressive aims of U.S. policy.
Only if we confront this reality and challenge it throughout society and within the ranks can we restore democratic control of the military. Of course nothing can be accomplished without citizen involvement and active political struggle. During the Vietnam era enlisted servicemen created massive pressures for change, despite severe repression, and significantly altered the course of the war and subsequent military policy. To sustain and strengthen this challenge we must continue to build political opposition to interventionism and support those within the armed services, including national guard and reserves, who defy the goals and program of Empire. The central lesson of the GI movement is that people need not be helpless before the power of illegitimate authority, that by getting together and acting upon their convictions people can change society and, in effect, make their own history. The Military Project Military Resistance: [email protected] Box 126, 2576 Broadway, New York, N.Y. 10025-5657 888-711-2550
POLITICIANS REFUSE TO HALT THE BLOODSHED THE TROOPS HAVE THE POWER TO STOP THE WAR
AFGHANISTAN WAR REPORTS
Was Bales Poisoned By Mefloquine?
“New Evidence Suggests He Was Prescribed An Anti-Malaria Drug Known To Cause Hallucinations,
Aggression And Psychotic Behavior In Some Patients”
“This Patient Was Administered Mefloquine Indirect Contradiction To U.S. Military Rules That Mefloquine Should Not Be Given To Soldiers Who Had Suffered Traumatic Brain Injury”
7.22.13 by Patricia Kime, Army Times [Excerpts] In less than a month, Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales will be sentenced for the massacre of 16 Afghan civilians in March 2012. His attorney, John Henry Browne, has not publicly disclosed whether he will use a mental health defense to fight for a parole-eligible sentence. But an argument could be made that Bales, 40, was out of his mind: He was treated for a traumatic brain injury resulting from a roll-over accident in 2010 and possibly had post-traumatic stress disorder. He admitted to using steroids, which can cause aggression and violence. And new evidence suggests he was prescribed an anti-malaria drug known to cause hallucinations, aggression and psychotic behavior in some patients. The Food and Drug Administration received notification in April 2012 from the maker of the anti-malarial drug Lariam, also manufactured under the generic name mefloquine, that a patient taking the medication “developed homicidal behavior and led to homicide killing 17 (sic) Afghans.” The report, obtained July 5 by Military Times through Freedom of Information Act request, states: “It was reported that this patient was administered mefloquine indirect contradiction to U.S. military rules that mefloquine should not be given to soldiers who had suffered traumatic brain injury due to its propensity to cross blood-brain barriers inciting psychotic, homicidal or suicidal behavior.” A spokesman for the manufacturer, Roche, said the company received an initial report March 29 from a pharmacist in the U.S. and was obligated to notify drug monitoring agencies worldwide by law. But the medically confirmed report does imply either that the source was someone involved with the patient’s medical care or that Roche received documentation verifying
the information, said Dr. Remington Nevin, a leading researcher on mefloquine toxicity, who also filed a FOIA re-quest for the information. The drug remains popular for distribution among special operations forces because it is taken weekly rather than daily. Symptoms ranged from homicidal and suicidal ideation and psychosis to vomiting, nausea and dizziness.
Heroin Track Marks Are The Scars Of War In Afghanistan:
“On A Recent Trip To Kabul, Afghanistan, I Stood Among Dozens Of Men Injecting Heroin And Inhaling Opium Vapors Huddled Under Scarves In Small Groups Under The Pul-I-Sokhta Bridge”
July 9, 2013 By Helen Redmond, AlterNet. Helen Redmond is a freelance journalist and a drug and health policy analyst. All names have been changed to protect privacy. **************************************************************************** Under the bridge downtown Is where I drew some blood Under the bridge I could not get enough Under the bridge Forgot about my love Under the bridge I gave my life away – Red Hot Chili Peppers Drug users are drawn to bridges. They offer a modicum of privacy and camaraderie to go about the illegal business of staving off opiate withdrawal and tamping down painful feelings. On a recent trip to Kabul, Afghanistan, I stood among dozens of men injecting heroin and inhaling opium vapors huddled under scarves in small groups under the Pul-iSokhta bridge – the name means “burned bridge.” Some corners were so dark I wondered how users found a vein to inject.
The smog of combustible opium filled the air. The soggy mud under our feet was full of putrid human detritus. I saw caked blood on track-pocked arms, weeping sores, scars and necrotic tissue. All I could think of was this: It doesn’t have to be this way. The hell and human suffering under the Pul-i-Sokhta bridge is entirely man-made. Drug users in Kabul need a safe injection site ( like this one), but instead, many will die from bloodborne infections and preventable diseases like HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis C. I was at the bridge with a group of outreach workers from the Organization for Harm Reduction in Afghanistan (OHRA), who deliver “kites” filled with condoms, syringes and alcohol pads. Amidst feces, discarded syringes, cigarette butts and crushed plastic bottles, men surrounded me and Ziauddin, a former heroin user and a peer educator for OHRA. They shouted loudly and angrily about the police. Drug users are routinely assaulted and injured by officers driving them away from the bridge. Some are arrested. One man was beaten to death; Ziauddin showed me a picture of the dead man taken with his cell phone camera. There is a mosque next to the bridge, and Ziauddin said the Mullah has given permission for Muslims to attack drug users with heavy wooden sticks. Hospitals openly refuse to treat the drug addicted. “We have no rights,” the men said over and over again. Then came a series of desperate pleas to the outreach staff, for basic items like food, clothing, housing and money. The men believe it’s the government’s responsibility to help them, although they’re cynical enough to understand that their criminal status makes any assistance unlikely. Ziauddin explained many of the men have lost family support due to their opiate addiction. In Afghanistan, drug use brings tremendous shame to families. But to be without family is emotionally devastating in a country where there are few social support programs. Drug users depend on each other for survival, and meeting in public places to use drugs creates alternative families and community.
“In A Country That’s Suffered 30 Years Of Uninterrupted War And Foreign Occupation, It’s No Surprise That Many Men, Women And Even Children Use Opiates”
Afghans use drugs for many reasons, but in a country that’s suffered 30 years of uninterrupted war and foreign occupation, it’s no surprise that many men, women and even children use opiates. Opiates are well known for their calming effect, as well as their ability to mediate unpleasant emotions and suppress traumatic memories. Heroin and opium are fastacting, powerful pain relievers with effects that last a long time, from seven to eight
hours depending on the purity, which in Afghanistan, outreach workers told me, is about 80 percent. The trauma of war creates the conditions for, and increases the risks of drug addiction. The prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in Afghanistan is among the highest in the world. Add that to the facts that more than 20 million Afghans live in poverty, the unemployment rate is 35 percent, and hundreds of thousands of internally displaced people live in squalid refugee camps. No one in Afghanistan talks about addiction as a brain disease; it seems obvious that addiction is a response to trauma and social and economic deprivation. Afghanistan during the civil war that ended with the Taliban taking power in 1996, Afghans took their revenge on symbols of Soviet rule. The Russian Cultural Center was bombed into a gigantic hulk of twisted metal and concrete catacombs. The ruins became home to thousands of traumatized Afghan men and boys who sought solace in the powerful derivatives of poppy. The center functioned as a no-frills opium den, an open-air drug market and a homeless shelter. In 2010, the drug users were evicted by force. A few were offered treatment, but the vast majority scattered to other parts of Kabul and created new open-air drug scenes, most famously, the Pul-i-Sokhta bridge. The Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan in 1989 didn’t end the relationship between the two countries. Afghan heroin has found its way across Russia’s borders and checkpoints and into the veins of over 1.8 million men and women between the ages of 18 and 39. A staggering 30,000 Russians die from overdose every year, a number far higher than all the Russian soldiers killed during the Afghan war. Is this Afghanistan’s way of avenging 10 years of war and occupation and death and the destruction of their country? Russian officials blame the Afghans for their drug problem and routinely castigate the Karzai government and the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) for not eradicating more poppy fields, as well as for their failure to interdict more heroin shipments bound for Russia and other countries in Central Asia. But it is internal Russian drug policy that is killing thousands of heroin injectors, not only from overdose but also from HIV/AIDS. The war on drug users in Russia is cruel in the extreme and consists of psychological torture and humiliation masquerading as drug treatment, incarceration and legally sanctioned discrimination. Proven harm-reduction interventions are rejected as “enabling” the drug-addicted to continue to get high. The government doesn’t fund syringe exchange and police have harassed, beaten and arrested those who hand out clean needles.
Condom distribution is met with similar violence. The Russians rejected millions of dollars from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS because a portion of the money must be used to distribute syringes. There is a full-blown AIDS epidemic in Russia as a result of needle sharing that the government refuses to address: 40,000 die every year. Decades of studies have proven that methadone maintenance is the most successful and safe treatment for heroin addiction. But it is illegal in Russia despite methadone being on the World Health Organization’s list of essential medicines. Viktor Ivanov, former KGB agent and Russian drug czar, actually asserts that there is no medical data supporting the efficacy of methadone. The only support available for injection drug users are 12-step programs with notoriously low success rates, like Narcotics Anonymous, or so-called drug treatment centers like the infamous City Without Drugs, where clients endure harsh prison-like conditions during unsupervised, nonmedical withdrawal from opiates. Drug users used to be handcuffed to their beds.
“Afghanistan Is A Poppy Paradise, Producing Over 90 Percent Of The Heroin That Is Exported To Central Asia And Europe”
The Afghan government often blames Russia for its 10-year war and occupation for creating the conditions for opiate addiction to take root, and for the explosion of poppy cultivation in Helmand and Kandahar provinces in the south. Afghanistan is a poppy paradise, producing over 90 percent of the heroin that is exported to Central Asia and Europe. A heroin or opium addiction can be maintained for as little as $4 day. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) estimates that nearly one million Afghans between 15 and 64 are recreational and/or problematic drug users. That number should be treated with caution, though, because of the reluctance to reveal drug addiction due to stigma, as well as the barriers to conducting research in rural areas where insurgency, language differences, and lack of roads or addresses make it unsafe or difficult for field researchers to visit. UNODC also has a vested interest in inflating the numbers of drug users to ensure that the drug war is maintained and its funding continued. Back under the burned bridge in Kabul, Azim, his glassy pupils constricted to pinpoints, tells me he started using opium to cope with myriad losses when he was a 13-year-old. Now he injects heroin. A thick rubber band is wrapped tightly around Azim’s thigh and as I watch, he tries in vain to find a vein in his groin. The sharp needle hovers above his skin, but then he slowly places the syringe on the dusty ground and nods off. He does this over and over again. Another regular at Pul-i-Sokhta bridge is a young man named Shams. He’s been using heroin for many years and says it helps him concentrate at work. He’s a translator for the U.S. military at Bagram prison, and his English is excellent.
Other drug users explain that they moved illegally to Iran to find work to support their families. They found poorly paid employment and a lot of cheap heroin. Afghans are scapegoated for many social problems in Iran, and drug use was how they coped with both discrimination and the depression of being separated from loved ones. Afghan women use opiates too.
“The Problem Is There Are Over 7,000 Opiate Addicts In Kabul And One Methadone Clinic In The City That Serves Only 77 People”
It is estimated that between 18,000 to 23,000 women are smoking opium or injecting heroin. Women are never seen getting high in public; they have drugs delivered to the privacy of their homes. Mothers, particularly in remote, rural areas, give opium to sick children (they blow the smoke into their mouths) because they lack access to healthcare and other non-opioid medications. Some of the children become addicted. Many opiate users want drug treatment, so Nazir, another peer educator, scribbles their names on a waiting list to get into a methadone program. The problem is there are over 7,000 opiate addicts in Kabul and one methadone clinic in the city that serves only 77 people. Drug warriors in the Afghan government, like their counterparts in Russia, don’t like opiate substitution therapy (OST) and on two occasions blocked shipments of methadone from coming into the country. T hey prefer to fund abstinence-based treatment despite its high failure rate. Government drug prevention and education materials use the discredited slogan, “Just say no.” It was left to the French doctors' organization, Médicins du Monde (MDM), to open the first methadone clinic in Afghanistan in partnership with OHRA. In 2012, the Afghan Ministry of Public Health accepted the necessity of OST and took over from MDM but capacity hasn’t increased to meet the need, and methadone maintenance is considered a “pilot” program, as if its efficacy needed to be studied. The Afghan government refuses to adequately fund validated harm reduction interventions to treat opiate addiction, reduce the spread of HIV, lower the rate of overdose deaths and decrease the sharing of syringes.
“It Is The Criminalization And Demonization Of Drug Users, Funded And Fueled By The U.S. War On Drugs In Afghanistan That Makes Implementing These Common Sense And Humane Measures Difficult”
Treating drug addiction and stopping the spread of infectious diseases isn’t difficult. A report by the Global Commission on Drug Policy outlines how to do it: Mobile methadone vans, heroin or buprenorphine prescriptions, safe injection sites, condoms and naloxone distribution, and syringe exchange. These science-based, inexpensive, life-saving interventions are available right now.
It is the criminalization and demonization of drug users, funded and fueled by the U.S. war on drugs in Afghanistan that makes implementing these common sense and humane measures difficult. The Drug Enforcement Administration, the U.S. military and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) have wasted billions of dollars on poppy eradication, alternative crop development and hunting down, prosecuting and incarcerating thousands of Afghans involved in the drug trade. The enforcement-led, punishment approach hasn’t made a dent in opium cultivation, the availability of heroin or the rate of addiction. That money needs to be channeled into a massive expansion of drug treatment that is available to anyone on demand. The real crime is the relentless, brutal and deadly war on Afghan drug users, a vulnerable and traumatized segment of the population. The drawdown of American troops and the end of the war and occupation could help Afghanistan to develop a new drug policy based on human rights, respect and compassion.
“You Need To Know Just How Shamefully Even A Purple Heart Recipient/Disabled Veteran Can Be Treated By Some TSA And Security Employees”
“TSA Wanted Him To Raise His Arms Above His Head For The Full-Body Scanner At Sacramento International Airport, He Could Not Comply”
“‘My Right Arm Doesn’t Work,’ Kemnitz Said”
7.22.13 by Patricia Kime, Army Times [Excerpts] Wearing the uniform of the Few and Proud doesn’t rate preferential treatment from the Transportation Security Administration or California capitol security officers, retired Marine Cpl. Nathan Kemnitz recently learned.
Kemnitz, severely injured in 2004 in a roadside bomb attack in Fallujah, Iraq, has limited use of his right arm and cannot lift it above his head. So when security guards at the state capitol in Sac-ramento, Calif., asked him to re-move his dress blue blouse “because he was wearing too much metal,” and TSA wanted him to raise his arms above his head for the full-body scanner at Sacra-mento International Airport, he could not comply. “My right arm doesn’t work,” Kemnitz said. At the state capitol, the Marine’s refusal to remove his uniform top grew into what was described by friend Patricia Martin as a heated exchange with security officers. And at the airport, supervisors looked on as a TSA security screener looked under Kemnitz’s medals, ran his hands under the Marine’s waistband and swabbed his shoes for explosives, she said. “What does a uniform and heroism represent if our own citizens— in this case employees of the TSA and security personnel— have no regard for them?” Martin later wrote in a letter to Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki. “I feel so strongly that you need to know just how shamefully even a Purple Heart recipient/disabled veteran can be treated by some TSA and security employees.” Kemnitz said after the incidents that he was not as annoyed with TSA as he was with a security screener at the California state capitol, whom he described as rude and unapologetic. Kemnitz was visiting the building to be honored as his legislative district’s veteran of the year. “At some places I’m treated like royalty and at some like a terrorist. There’s got to be something in the middle,” he said. In the media firestorm that followed publication of the story on-line on militarytimes.com, a spokesman for the California State Senate Sergeant-at-Arms office, which oversees security for the building, said the incident was under investigation, to include reviewing the security video and interviewing screeners.
TROOPS INVITED:
Comments, arguments, articles, and letters from service men and women, and veterans, are especially welcome. Write to Box 126, 2576 Broadway, New York, N.Y. 10025-5657 or email [email protected]: Name, I.D., withheld unless you request publication. Same address to unsubscribe.
FORWARD OBSERVATIONS
“At a time like this, scorching irony, not convincing argument, is needed. Oh had I the ability, and could reach the nation’s ear, I would, pour out a fiery stream of biting 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 they oppose.” Frederick Douglass, 1852
A revolution is always distinguished by impoliteness, probably because the ruling classes did not take the trouble in good season to teach the people fine manners. -- Leon Trotsky, History Of The Russian Revolution
Film Review: “The Iran Job”
“Iran Is A Simmering Cauldron, But The Lid Is Shut Tight, So Not Much Information Gets Out”
“That Is Why ‘The Iran Job’ Is Such A Unique Film”
“It Shows That Iran’s Repressive Brand Of Islam Is Not A Fearful Monolith. It Rebels Against The Autocrats And Haters On All Sides”
Yes, the Iranian government forbade the filming, and yes, the U.S. government pressed charges against Sheppard for violating its embargo on doing business with Iran. See this movie, if you want to relish this irony. 20 July 2013, by Robert Maier, Robertmaier.us/ “The Iran Job,” is that wonderful kind of documentary that sheds a contrary light on the echo chamber of “common sense” that dominates American media and culture. Of course, Iran is an evil place. They are trying to build nuclear weapons. They hate America because we are a free society. They are religious fanatics. Case closed.
These beliefs permeate our “scareocracy,” even though a little research shows a different truth. Iran has a huge young population that yearns to be free of its repressive government. J Just two years ago, there was violent revolution in its streets, sadly extinguished by a well-armed Iranian military. The frustrated youth haven’t been defeated, they’ve just gone underground. The most up-to-date news from Iran is hopeful. A new more moderate president was recently chosen, probably due to fear of the legions of unemployed and frustrated youth who could force a collapse similar to its neighbor, Syria. Iran is a simmering cauldron, but the lid is shut tight, so not much information gets out. That is why “The Iran Job” is such a unique film. It shows that Iran’s repressive brand of Islam is not a fearful monolith. Its youth, and especially women, are fed up. Iran has a surprising share of rock ‘n rollers, free-thinkers, and women fervently pursuing education and power. When Iranian artists escape the clutches of the fundamentalists, they create astonishing works of art in music, cinema, literature, dance—even cuisine. 5,000 years ago, Persia (Iran) had a written alphabet, number system, and money. It was the cradle of civilization. So, here we have “The Iran Job,” where an American basketball player, Kevin Sheppard, is recruited to play in an Iranian pro league, and allows a German camera crew to secretly follow him on his awakening walk through the cradle of civilization. He is obviously an exceptionally brave and curious person, and what he found was a culture bursting with love for America, and especially two precocious young women delighted to guide him through their proud, but sympathetic culture. This kind of documentary turns your world upside down. It rebels against the autocrats and haters on all sides. It turns the very idea of “bomb Iran” into a reptilian nightmare of shame. It offers rays of hope that we can get along just fine with a little direct human-to-human communication, unfiltered by self-serving pundits, hypocritical scolds, and power-hungry officials. Yes, the Iranian government forbade the filming, and yes, the U.S. government pressed charges against Sheppard for violating its embargo on doing business with Iran. See this movie, if you want to relish this irony.
Schizophrenic NSA Analyst Keeps Hearing Voices, Seeing Emails And Skype Calls
Jul 19, 2013 By Maverick, The Duffel Blog WASHINGTON, DC — Josiah Curtis joined the National Security Agency to make America safer. “I could no longer stand by dilly while communist Islamic infiltration tore at the vulnerable guts of American culture and heritage,” said Mr. Curtis in an exclusive interview with the Duffel Blog. “Every day I would tap into phones all over the world, listening to people plotting against the Constitution. Sometimes I wouldn’t go home, sleeping on the floor of my cubicle so I wouldn’t miss even one of those traitors self-incriminating to charges of high treason.” Mr. Curtis credits himself with 2746 uncovered terrorist plots against American landmarks and citizens. “I kept telling my supervisor, Senior Agent Roads, that we needed to order all the social media corporations to give us all their data on damned communist subversion of our Christian values and that they’re either with us or against us.
He told me that I was nuts and to go back to shuffling my DD1342s.” Mr. Curtis smiled thinly, “So I took it upon myself to put together PRISM: Prevention and Repression of Islamic Subversion in the Media.” The Duffel Blog interviewed some of Mr. Curtis’ co workers to get their opinion on the prolific counterintelligence agent. “Oh Curtis?” Agent Andrew Byers commented with upturned eyebrow, “Guy’s a complete nutjob. Spends hours at night making this fugly powerpoint about this PRISM project that he made up. Used to mutter all the time about getting Facebook and Microsoft on board this grand scheme to listen in on ‘Islamic extremists sapping and impurifying all of our precious bodily fluids.’” “I honestly had no clue what he was going on about,” said Special Agent Susan Burke, “The National Security Agency don’t have the competence or capability to listen on millions of communications every single day. I mean, we just sit around all day drinking coffee and wasting taxpayer money like every other federal agency.” For Mr. Curtis, wearied by his solitary three-year crusade, the last straw was the worldwide publication of his PRISM fever dream as an actual NSA program. “When that communist Muslim Edward J. Snowden copied my life’s blood and told the whole world about it,” Curtis said, “I became a broken man. My pure essence has been irrevocably tainted by the mockery of my coworkers and the revile of the press. That pinko bastard (Snowden) didn’t even publish my last slides about the international Sino/Arab conspiracy to spray chemtrails over major American cities.” Curtis has since left the NSA and been diagnosed with schizophrenia and post-traumatic stress disorder. He’s unemployed, divorced, unable to find a job, living with his mother and too broke to afford his alimony payments. He’s having trouble sleeping, and frequently wakes up in the middle of the night to whisper: “The horror…the horror.”
CLASS WAR REPORTS
Starving For Change:
The California Prison Hunger Strike;
“Nearly 30,000 Inmates Have Gone On Hunger Strike In The Country’s Largest Prison System”
July 16, 2013 by CLANCY SIGAL, CounterPunch. Clancy Sigal is a screenwriter and novelist. His latest book is Hemingway Lives. ******************************************************************** “It is said that no one truly knows a nation until one has been inside its jails. A nation should not be judged by how it treats its highest citizens, but its lowest ones.”
― Nelson Mandela who spent six of his 27 prison years in solitary confinement Morgan Freeman and Tim Robbins’s’ prison movie The Shawshank Redemption is one of the most popular repeats on cable. The story is set in the 1940s. When Robbins, the convicted wife-killer, screws up he’s thrown into solitary confinement, a dark dungeon, for only a couple of weeks, which is seen as very brutal punishment. All through the “prison cycle” of movies in the 30s and 40s, from Each Dawn I Die to Brute Force, solitary is relatively brief before the misbehaving prisoner is released into the “general population”. In the past few days, in the largest prison protest in California’s history, nearly 30,000 inmates have gone on hunger strike in the country’s largest prison system. Such near-insurrections are not unusual in America’s prison-industrial complex. Last year’s “starve for change” strike in Georgia lasted 36 days before it was broken. All across the country correctional authorities always respond with the same Pavlovian scenario: first, a news blackout; second, flat-out denial of the obvious; third, official press releases acknowledging a strike but downgrading numbers; fourth, mass punishment by withdrawal of privileges and, away from media’s glare, beatings by guards on militants. California officials have followed this protocol almost to the letter. As of today, 7600 prisoners remain on hunger strike at 23 of California’s 33 prisons. The Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation refuses to acknowledge the strike is a political protest, calling it a “mass disturbance”. The prisoners’ core issue is the use of “no human contact” solitary confinement in special “control cells” or the infamous SHU, segregated housing unit. California holds 4500 inmates in solitary. Basically it means that, for example in Pelican Bay prison, you’re cooped up in a tiny, 7by-11-foot windowless cell, sometimes without radio or TV, 23 hours a day. You cannot make or receive phone calls or have contact visits with family or friends. You have no access to rehab programs and cannot attend religious services. The average inmate stays in isolation for over seven years, and in some cases much longer. The Catholic Conference of bishops, not your standard liberal group, has called for a change in “this inhuman form of punishment.”
You qualify for solitary either because you’re a real threat (killing another prisoner or guard) or unsubstantiated gossip that you belong to, or are “affiliated with”, a gang such as Mexican Mafia or Crips. Evidence of a gang “association” is possession of books like Sun Tzu’s “Art of War” or Machiavelli’s “The Prince” – or using words like tio and hermano Spanish for uncle and brother. SHU can be a bloody killing field. A few years ago CBS reporter Mike Wallace found that in Corcoran State prison in northern California the guards routinely staged inmate fights in the Segregated Unit, wagering on the outcome, and if fights got out of control shooting the inmates involved. Scores of inmates have been shot and eight killed in these fights. When Wallace returned to Corcoran to follow up he found that guards, now wary of shooting prisoners, retaliated by encouraging the inmate-on-inmate rape. We in California like to think of ourselves as more progressive and tolerant than the rest of America. The underfunded, overcrowded, guards-union-tyrannized prison system is a huge exception because of how we handle our inmates female as well as male. The Sacramento Bee, Los Angeles Times and Center for Investigative Reporting has revealed that from 2006 to 2010 nearly 150 female inmates were pressured to undergo sterilization via tubal ligation. (Shades of the infamous “Tuskegee experiment” where hundreds of poor Alabama blacks were mistreated as lab animals by the U.S. Public Health Service.) One of the California prison doctors is quoted that sterilizing women or removing their ovaries provided “an important service to poor women”, and that the money spent on sterilizing them isn’t “huge…compared to what you save in welfare paying for the unwanted children…” Even if you’re the Devil himself – and some of these imprisoned guys have done horrendous crimes – nobody deserves inhuman isolation that, in some cases, can go on not for weeks or months but for many years. In the past, solitary was a temporary punishment. Today it’s a life sentence of psychological torture. Who wouldn’t go crazy? California prisoners in isolation account for 5% of the total prison population but account for nearly half the suicides. MSNBC, the “liberal” network, airs “Lockup” on weekends which probably gets higher ratings than the same networks’ Rachel Maddow. This prison-reality show is designed to scare us by interviewing zombie-like psychopaths who can’t wait to tell the camera how they chopped the head off their cellmate. It’s gripping, disgusting TV. They’ve convinced me I don’t want these bloodthirsty creeps
ever released to roam around my neighborhood. But I also don’t see much point in killing their souls with endless solitary. You can sometimes get out of solitary by telling the warden you’ve left the gang; the problem is, once you’re back out on the yard you’re known as a snitch worth murdering. Of the 160,000 prisoners in California, two-thirds are African-American and Latino. The feds, under Obama and his attorney general Eric Holder, both African American, refuse to intervene. Being a prison guard – even though you have the backing of an awesomely powerful union – is shitty work. Being the politician in charge of it all – hey, Gov Jerry Brown! what happened to your Jesuit ethics? – is even shittier. The
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Pavlov's Prison Dog
Update: The California Prison Hunger Strike;
Jul 18, 2013 By Clancy Sigal A few days ago I wrote about Calif prison hunger strike that "correctional authorities always respond with the same Pavlovian scenario: first, a news blackout; second, flatout denial of the obvious; third, official press releases acknowledging a strike but downgrading numbers; fourth, mass punishment by withdrawal of privileges and, away from media’s glare, beatings by guards on militants." Today the LATimes reporter covering the story, Paige St. John, reports that Pavlov's dog is alive and biting. "Prison officials have moved 14 inmate leaders...to more isolated quarters", cutting off access to the media and to their lawyers. Members of an outside mediation team, such as Quakers, are banned. Gov Jerry Brown and prison boss Jeffrey Beard are heading for a Gitmo disaster. They refuse to negotiate while aggressively sabotaging attempts to mediate. Way to go, fellas. The way to solve your solitary confinement issue is to put protestors into solitary confinement. Genius.
DO YOU HAVE A FRIEND OR RELATIVE IN THE MILITARY?
Forward Military Resistance along, or send us the email address if you wish and we’ll send it regularly with your best wishes. Whether in Afghanistan or at a base in the USA, this is extra important for your service friend, too often cut off from access to encouraging news of growing resistance to injustices, inside the armed services and at home. Send email requests to address up top or write to: Military Resistance, Box 126, 2576 Broadway, New York, N.Y. 10025-5657.
Bahrain Anti-Government Protests “Erupted Late Thursday And Lasted Until The Early Hours Of Friday”
A Bahraini protestor throws back a tear gas canister fired by riot police during clashes following a protest to demand more rights and against the ruling regime in the village of Diraz, West of Manama, on July 19, 2013. (AFP Photo / Mohammed Al-Shaikh) July 19, 2013 TV-Novosti Dozens of people were reportedly injured in Bahrain early Friday, after police fired birdshot to disperse hundreds of anti-government protesters in several Shiite villages. A policeman was also wounded after being shot by a homemade gun.
The protests, which erupted late Thursday and lasted until the early hours of Friday, were called by the opposition February 14 Coalition youth group, according to witnesses cited by AFP. “We will remove you (King) Hamad,” was reportedly the banner slogan issued by the group to rally protesters against the monarch. Activists said that dozens were injured in clashes as police responded to protests by firing birdshot. Meanwhile, the Bahraini Ministry of Interior posted on Twitter that “security forces confronted a terror group” near Manama, and that a policeman was wounded after being shot with a homemade gun. AFP quoted witnesses confirming both the police fire and the shooting, but said that an official list of casualties was not immediately available. Demonstrators have repeatedly clashed with security forces since the start of protests against the dynasty. The demonstrations have not ceased, despite a 2011 crackdown backed by Saudi-led Gulf troops. At least 80 people have been killed in Bahrain since the uprising began, according to the International Federation for Human Rights.
DANGER: POLITICIANS AT WORK
DO YOU HAVE A FRIEND OR RELATIVE IN THE MILITARY?
Forward Military Resistance along, or send us the email address if you wish and we’ll send it regularly with your best wishes. Whether in Afghanistan or at a base in the USA, this is extra important for your service friend, too often cut off from access to encouraging news of growing resistance to injustices, inside the armed services and at home. Send email requests to address up top or write to: Military Resistance, Box 126, 2576 Broadway, New York, N.Y. 10025-5657.
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7.21.13
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Military Resistance 11G7
[Thanks to SSG N (ret’d) who sent this in with caption. She writes: "Big picture. Nothin' like bringing it home.”]
ACTION REPORTS
“Two Of The Soldiers, Both Very Young Privates, Agreed Politicians Are The Ones Conducting Them To Afghanistan And Other Places The U.S. Population Prefers Them Not To Be”
[Outreach To New York National Guard]
From: Alan S, Military Resistance Sent: Jul 19, 2013 To: Military Resistance Newsletter Subject: 7/18/13 Outreach to New York National Guard Yesterday, at two of the city's commuter terminals I found 6 National Guard soldiers on duty. The first I met recognized me (as I've said before many of the troops know me from previous outreaches and are usually reluctant to take any more material) and was friendly but turned down further material. He did, however, upon prompting, tell me drill schedules are issued “about every two months now” making it that much more difficult to ascertain any long range drill plans/schedules we used to have on hand for years. Subsequently, five more troops were approached and accepted 5 Military Resistance Newsletters, 5 DVDs of “Sir! No Sir!” and 4 DVDs of “Authority and Expectations.” They also took our intro cards and accepted all material in a receptive manner. These were mostly new faces and were meeting me for the first time. Two of the soldiers, both very young privates, agreed politicians are the ones conducting them to Afghanistan and other places the U.S. population prefers them not to be. One was eager to learn of our organization and promised to examine his newsletter and DVD carefully and get in touch if so inclined. I wrote my name and telephone # on back of his intro card in case he wanted more direct contact. He drills out of the Lexington Avenue armory we accessed (years ago) but not one we have frequented recently. He told me he's been looking into conspiratorial theories and mentioned a personality I've never heard of: Alex Roberts. I told him all he's been given by me is factual which provides the basis for outreaches. None of the other four soldiers belong to units we've outreached to for over 11 years and seeing our contact for the past few years no longer responds to phone inquiries we're still out in the cold re: Harlem, our main outreach target.
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ACTION REPORTS WANTED: FROM YOU!
An effective way to encourage others to support members of the armed forces organizing to resist the Imperial war is to report what you do. If you’ve carried out organized contact with troops on active duty, at base gates, airports, or anywhere else, send a report in to Military Resistance for the Action Reports section.
Same for contact with National Guard and/or Reserve components. They don’t have to be long. Just clear, and direct action reports about what work was done and how. If there were favorable responses, say so. If there were unfavorable responses or problems, don’t leave them out. Reporting what went wrong and/or got screwed up is especially important, so that others may learn from you what to expect, and how to avoid similar problems if possible. If you are not planning or engaging in outreach to the troops, you have nothing to report.
NOTE WELL:
Do not make public any information that could compromise the work. Identifying information – locations, personnel – will be omitted from the reports. Whether you are serving in the armed forces or not, do not identify members of the armed forces organizing to stop the wars. If accidentally included, that information will not be published. The sole exception: occasions when a member of the armed services explicitly directs identifying information be published in reporting on the action.
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The Military Resistance Organization:
Military Resistance Mission Statement:
1. The mission of Military Resistance is to bring together in one organization members of the armed forces and civilians in order to give aid and comfort to members of the armed forces who are organizing to end the war of empire in Afghanistan. The long term objective is to assist in eliminating all wars of empire by eliminating all empires.
2. Military Resistance does not advocate individual disobedience to orders or desertion from the armed forces. The most effective resistance is organized by members of the armed forces working together. However, Military Resistance respects and will assist in the defense of troops who see individual desertion or refusal of orders as the only course of action open to them for reasons of conscience.
3. Military Resistance stands for the immediate, unconditional withdrawal of all U.S. and other occupation troops from Afghanistan. Occupied nations have the right to independence and the right to resist Imperial invasion and occupation by force of arms.
4. Efforts to increase democratic rights in every society, organization, movement, and within the armed forces itself will receive encouragement and support. Members of the armed forces, whether those of the United States or any other nation, have the right and duty to act against dictatorships commanding their services, and to assist civilian movements against dictatorship. This applies whether a political dictatorship is imposed by force of arms or a political dictatorship is imposed by those in command of the resources of society using their wealth to purchase the political leadership.
5. Military Resistance uses organizational democracy. This means control of the organization by the membership, through elected delegates to any coordinating bodies that may be formed, whether at local, regional, or national levels. Any member may run for any job in the organization. All persons elected are subject to immediate recall, by majority vote of the membership. Coordinating bodies report their actions, decisions and votes to the membership who elected them, and may be overruled by a majority of the membership.
6. It is not necessary for Military Resistance to be in political agreement with other organizations in order to work together towards specific common objectives. It is productive for organizations working together on common projects to discuss differences about the best way forward for the movement. Debate is necessary to arrive at the best course of action.
Membership Requirements:
7. It is a condition of membership that each member prioritize and participate in organized action to reach out to active duty armed forces, Reserve and/or National Guard units.
8. Military Resistance or individual members may choose to support candidates for elective office who are for immediate withdrawal from Afghanistan, but do not support a candidate opposed to immediate, unconditional withdrawal. 9. Members may not be active duty or drilling reserve commissioned officers, or employed in any capacity by any police or intelligence agency, local, state, or national. 10. I understand and am in agreement with the above statement. I pledge to defend my brothers and sisters, and the democratic rights of the citizens of the United States, against all enemies, foreign and domestic. ----------------------------(Signed (Date) ----------------------------- (Application taken by) Military Resistance: [email protected] Box 126, 2576 Broadway, New York, N.Y. 10025-5657 888-711-2550
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You Can Take Action That Makes A Difference:
Join The Military Resistance Organization:
MILITARY RESISTANCE MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION
Name (please print): __________________________ Armed Forces? (Branch) ____________ Veteran? Years: ____________ Union: ____________________ Occupation: _________________________________________ Mailing address: ______________________________________
E-Mail:_____________________________ Phone (Landline):_______________________________________ Phone (Cell):___________________________________________ $ dues paid _________________________ (See next: Calendar year basis.) Armed Forces Members Civilians Students/Unemployed Civilian/Military Prisoners Comments: NOTE: Civilian applicants will be interviewed, in person if possible, or by phone. Military Resistance: [email protected] Box 126, 2576 Broadway, New York, N.Y. 10025-5657 888-711-2550 @ @ @ @ Dues waived $25 $10 Dues Waived
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“People Need Not Be Helpless Before The Power Of Illegitimate Authority”
MILITARY RESISTANCE:
Box 126, 2576 Broadway, New York, N.Y. 10025-5657 [email protected] [Based on a statement by David Cortright, Vietnam Veteran and armed forces resistance organizer.] In the final analysis the stationing of American forces abroad serves not the national interest but the class interest of the corporate and political elite. The maintenance of a massive, interventionist-oriented military establishment is based on the need to protect multinational investment and preserve regimes friendly to American capital. Imperialism is at the heart of the national-security system and is the force fundamentally responsible for the counterrevolutionary, repressive aims of U.S. policy.
Only if we confront this reality and challenge it throughout society and within the ranks can we restore democratic control of the military. Of course nothing can be accomplished without citizen involvement and active political struggle. During the Vietnam era enlisted servicemen created massive pressures for change, despite severe repression, and significantly altered the course of the war and subsequent military policy. To sustain and strengthen this challenge we must continue to build political opposition to interventionism and support those within the armed services, including national guard and reserves, who defy the goals and program of Empire. The central lesson of the GI movement is that people need not be helpless before the power of illegitimate authority, that by getting together and acting upon their convictions people can change society and, in effect, make their own history. The Military Project Military Resistance: [email protected] Box 126, 2576 Broadway, New York, N.Y. 10025-5657 888-711-2550
POLITICIANS REFUSE TO HALT THE BLOODSHED THE TROOPS HAVE THE POWER TO STOP THE WAR
AFGHANISTAN WAR REPORTS
Was Bales Poisoned By Mefloquine?
“New Evidence Suggests He Was Prescribed An Anti-Malaria Drug Known To Cause Hallucinations,
Aggression And Psychotic Behavior In Some Patients”
“This Patient Was Administered Mefloquine Indirect Contradiction To U.S. Military Rules That Mefloquine Should Not Be Given To Soldiers Who Had Suffered Traumatic Brain Injury”
7.22.13 by Patricia Kime, Army Times [Excerpts] In less than a month, Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales will be sentenced for the massacre of 16 Afghan civilians in March 2012. His attorney, John Henry Browne, has not publicly disclosed whether he will use a mental health defense to fight for a parole-eligible sentence. But an argument could be made that Bales, 40, was out of his mind: He was treated for a traumatic brain injury resulting from a roll-over accident in 2010 and possibly had post-traumatic stress disorder. He admitted to using steroids, which can cause aggression and violence. And new evidence suggests he was prescribed an anti-malaria drug known to cause hallucinations, aggression and psychotic behavior in some patients. The Food and Drug Administration received notification in April 2012 from the maker of the anti-malarial drug Lariam, also manufactured under the generic name mefloquine, that a patient taking the medication “developed homicidal behavior and led to homicide killing 17 (sic) Afghans.” The report, obtained July 5 by Military Times through Freedom of Information Act request, states: “It was reported that this patient was administered mefloquine indirect contradiction to U.S. military rules that mefloquine should not be given to soldiers who had suffered traumatic brain injury due to its propensity to cross blood-brain barriers inciting psychotic, homicidal or suicidal behavior.” A spokesman for the manufacturer, Roche, said the company received an initial report March 29 from a pharmacist in the U.S. and was obligated to notify drug monitoring agencies worldwide by law. But the medically confirmed report does imply either that the source was someone involved with the patient’s medical care or that Roche received documentation verifying
the information, said Dr. Remington Nevin, a leading researcher on mefloquine toxicity, who also filed a FOIA re-quest for the information. The drug remains popular for distribution among special operations forces because it is taken weekly rather than daily. Symptoms ranged from homicidal and suicidal ideation and psychosis to vomiting, nausea and dizziness.
Heroin Track Marks Are The Scars Of War In Afghanistan:
“On A Recent Trip To Kabul, Afghanistan, I Stood Among Dozens Of Men Injecting Heroin And Inhaling Opium Vapors Huddled Under Scarves In Small Groups Under The Pul-I-Sokhta Bridge”
July 9, 2013 By Helen Redmond, AlterNet. Helen Redmond is a freelance journalist and a drug and health policy analyst. All names have been changed to protect privacy. **************************************************************************** Under the bridge downtown Is where I drew some blood Under the bridge I could not get enough Under the bridge Forgot about my love Under the bridge I gave my life away – Red Hot Chili Peppers Drug users are drawn to bridges. They offer a modicum of privacy and camaraderie to go about the illegal business of staving off opiate withdrawal and tamping down painful feelings. On a recent trip to Kabul, Afghanistan, I stood among dozens of men injecting heroin and inhaling opium vapors huddled under scarves in small groups under the Pul-iSokhta bridge – the name means “burned bridge.” Some corners were so dark I wondered how users found a vein to inject.
The smog of combustible opium filled the air. The soggy mud under our feet was full of putrid human detritus. I saw caked blood on track-pocked arms, weeping sores, scars and necrotic tissue. All I could think of was this: It doesn’t have to be this way. The hell and human suffering under the Pul-i-Sokhta bridge is entirely man-made. Drug users in Kabul need a safe injection site ( like this one), but instead, many will die from bloodborne infections and preventable diseases like HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis C. I was at the bridge with a group of outreach workers from the Organization for Harm Reduction in Afghanistan (OHRA), who deliver “kites” filled with condoms, syringes and alcohol pads. Amidst feces, discarded syringes, cigarette butts and crushed plastic bottles, men surrounded me and Ziauddin, a former heroin user and a peer educator for OHRA. They shouted loudly and angrily about the police. Drug users are routinely assaulted and injured by officers driving them away from the bridge. Some are arrested. One man was beaten to death; Ziauddin showed me a picture of the dead man taken with his cell phone camera. There is a mosque next to the bridge, and Ziauddin said the Mullah has given permission for Muslims to attack drug users with heavy wooden sticks. Hospitals openly refuse to treat the drug addicted. “We have no rights,” the men said over and over again. Then came a series of desperate pleas to the outreach staff, for basic items like food, clothing, housing and money. The men believe it’s the government’s responsibility to help them, although they’re cynical enough to understand that their criminal status makes any assistance unlikely. Ziauddin explained many of the men have lost family support due to their opiate addiction. In Afghanistan, drug use brings tremendous shame to families. But to be without family is emotionally devastating in a country where there are few social support programs. Drug users depend on each other for survival, and meeting in public places to use drugs creates alternative families and community.
“In A Country That’s Suffered 30 Years Of Uninterrupted War And Foreign Occupation, It’s No Surprise That Many Men, Women And Even Children Use Opiates”
Afghans use drugs for many reasons, but in a country that’s suffered 30 years of uninterrupted war and foreign occupation, it’s no surprise that many men, women and even children use opiates. Opiates are well known for their calming effect, as well as their ability to mediate unpleasant emotions and suppress traumatic memories. Heroin and opium are fastacting, powerful pain relievers with effects that last a long time, from seven to eight
hours depending on the purity, which in Afghanistan, outreach workers told me, is about 80 percent. The trauma of war creates the conditions for, and increases the risks of drug addiction. The prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in Afghanistan is among the highest in the world. Add that to the facts that more than 20 million Afghans live in poverty, the unemployment rate is 35 percent, and hundreds of thousands of internally displaced people live in squalid refugee camps. No one in Afghanistan talks about addiction as a brain disease; it seems obvious that addiction is a response to trauma and social and economic deprivation. Afghanistan during the civil war that ended with the Taliban taking power in 1996, Afghans took their revenge on symbols of Soviet rule. The Russian Cultural Center was bombed into a gigantic hulk of twisted metal and concrete catacombs. The ruins became home to thousands of traumatized Afghan men and boys who sought solace in the powerful derivatives of poppy. The center functioned as a no-frills opium den, an open-air drug market and a homeless shelter. In 2010, the drug users were evicted by force. A few were offered treatment, but the vast majority scattered to other parts of Kabul and created new open-air drug scenes, most famously, the Pul-i-Sokhta bridge. The Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan in 1989 didn’t end the relationship between the two countries. Afghan heroin has found its way across Russia’s borders and checkpoints and into the veins of over 1.8 million men and women between the ages of 18 and 39. A staggering 30,000 Russians die from overdose every year, a number far higher than all the Russian soldiers killed during the Afghan war. Is this Afghanistan’s way of avenging 10 years of war and occupation and death and the destruction of their country? Russian officials blame the Afghans for their drug problem and routinely castigate the Karzai government and the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) for not eradicating more poppy fields, as well as for their failure to interdict more heroin shipments bound for Russia and other countries in Central Asia. But it is internal Russian drug policy that is killing thousands of heroin injectors, not only from overdose but also from HIV/AIDS. The war on drug users in Russia is cruel in the extreme and consists of psychological torture and humiliation masquerading as drug treatment, incarceration and legally sanctioned discrimination. Proven harm-reduction interventions are rejected as “enabling” the drug-addicted to continue to get high. The government doesn’t fund syringe exchange and police have harassed, beaten and arrested those who hand out clean needles.
Condom distribution is met with similar violence. The Russians rejected millions of dollars from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS because a portion of the money must be used to distribute syringes. There is a full-blown AIDS epidemic in Russia as a result of needle sharing that the government refuses to address: 40,000 die every year. Decades of studies have proven that methadone maintenance is the most successful and safe treatment for heroin addiction. But it is illegal in Russia despite methadone being on the World Health Organization’s list of essential medicines. Viktor Ivanov, former KGB agent and Russian drug czar, actually asserts that there is no medical data supporting the efficacy of methadone. The only support available for injection drug users are 12-step programs with notoriously low success rates, like Narcotics Anonymous, or so-called drug treatment centers like the infamous City Without Drugs, where clients endure harsh prison-like conditions during unsupervised, nonmedical withdrawal from opiates. Drug users used to be handcuffed to their beds.
“Afghanistan Is A Poppy Paradise, Producing Over 90 Percent Of The Heroin That Is Exported To Central Asia And Europe”
The Afghan government often blames Russia for its 10-year war and occupation for creating the conditions for opiate addiction to take root, and for the explosion of poppy cultivation in Helmand and Kandahar provinces in the south. Afghanistan is a poppy paradise, producing over 90 percent of the heroin that is exported to Central Asia and Europe. A heroin or opium addiction can be maintained for as little as $4 day. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) estimates that nearly one million Afghans between 15 and 64 are recreational and/or problematic drug users. That number should be treated with caution, though, because of the reluctance to reveal drug addiction due to stigma, as well as the barriers to conducting research in rural areas where insurgency, language differences, and lack of roads or addresses make it unsafe or difficult for field researchers to visit. UNODC also has a vested interest in inflating the numbers of drug users to ensure that the drug war is maintained and its funding continued. Back under the burned bridge in Kabul, Azim, his glassy pupils constricted to pinpoints, tells me he started using opium to cope with myriad losses when he was a 13-year-old. Now he injects heroin. A thick rubber band is wrapped tightly around Azim’s thigh and as I watch, he tries in vain to find a vein in his groin. The sharp needle hovers above his skin, but then he slowly places the syringe on the dusty ground and nods off. He does this over and over again. Another regular at Pul-i-Sokhta bridge is a young man named Shams. He’s been using heroin for many years and says it helps him concentrate at work. He’s a translator for the U.S. military at Bagram prison, and his English is excellent.
Other drug users explain that they moved illegally to Iran to find work to support their families. They found poorly paid employment and a lot of cheap heroin. Afghans are scapegoated for many social problems in Iran, and drug use was how they coped with both discrimination and the depression of being separated from loved ones. Afghan women use opiates too.
“The Problem Is There Are Over 7,000 Opiate Addicts In Kabul And One Methadone Clinic In The City That Serves Only 77 People”
It is estimated that between 18,000 to 23,000 women are smoking opium or injecting heroin. Women are never seen getting high in public; they have drugs delivered to the privacy of their homes. Mothers, particularly in remote, rural areas, give opium to sick children (they blow the smoke into their mouths) because they lack access to healthcare and other non-opioid medications. Some of the children become addicted. Many opiate users want drug treatment, so Nazir, another peer educator, scribbles their names on a waiting list to get into a methadone program. The problem is there are over 7,000 opiate addicts in Kabul and one methadone clinic in the city that serves only 77 people. Drug warriors in the Afghan government, like their counterparts in Russia, don’t like opiate substitution therapy (OST) and on two occasions blocked shipments of methadone from coming into the country. T hey prefer to fund abstinence-based treatment despite its high failure rate. Government drug prevention and education materials use the discredited slogan, “Just say no.” It was left to the French doctors' organization, Médicins du Monde (MDM), to open the first methadone clinic in Afghanistan in partnership with OHRA. In 2012, the Afghan Ministry of Public Health accepted the necessity of OST and took over from MDM but capacity hasn’t increased to meet the need, and methadone maintenance is considered a “pilot” program, as if its efficacy needed to be studied. The Afghan government refuses to adequately fund validated harm reduction interventions to treat opiate addiction, reduce the spread of HIV, lower the rate of overdose deaths and decrease the sharing of syringes.
“It Is The Criminalization And Demonization Of Drug Users, Funded And Fueled By The U.S. War On Drugs In Afghanistan That Makes Implementing These Common Sense And Humane Measures Difficult”
Treating drug addiction and stopping the spread of infectious diseases isn’t difficult. A report by the Global Commission on Drug Policy outlines how to do it: Mobile methadone vans, heroin or buprenorphine prescriptions, safe injection sites, condoms and naloxone distribution, and syringe exchange. These science-based, inexpensive, life-saving interventions are available right now.
It is the criminalization and demonization of drug users, funded and fueled by the U.S. war on drugs in Afghanistan that makes implementing these common sense and humane measures difficult. The Drug Enforcement Administration, the U.S. military and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) have wasted billions of dollars on poppy eradication, alternative crop development and hunting down, prosecuting and incarcerating thousands of Afghans involved in the drug trade. The enforcement-led, punishment approach hasn’t made a dent in opium cultivation, the availability of heroin or the rate of addiction. That money needs to be channeled into a massive expansion of drug treatment that is available to anyone on demand. The real crime is the relentless, brutal and deadly war on Afghan drug users, a vulnerable and traumatized segment of the population. The drawdown of American troops and the end of the war and occupation could help Afghanistan to develop a new drug policy based on human rights, respect and compassion.
“You Need To Know Just How Shamefully Even A Purple Heart Recipient/Disabled Veteran Can Be Treated By Some TSA And Security Employees”
“TSA Wanted Him To Raise His Arms Above His Head For The Full-Body Scanner At Sacramento International Airport, He Could Not Comply”
“‘My Right Arm Doesn’t Work,’ Kemnitz Said”
7.22.13 by Patricia Kime, Army Times [Excerpts] Wearing the uniform of the Few and Proud doesn’t rate preferential treatment from the Transportation Security Administration or California capitol security officers, retired Marine Cpl. Nathan Kemnitz recently learned.
Kemnitz, severely injured in 2004 in a roadside bomb attack in Fallujah, Iraq, has limited use of his right arm and cannot lift it above his head. So when security guards at the state capitol in Sac-ramento, Calif., asked him to re-move his dress blue blouse “because he was wearing too much metal,” and TSA wanted him to raise his arms above his head for the full-body scanner at Sacra-mento International Airport, he could not comply. “My right arm doesn’t work,” Kemnitz said. At the state capitol, the Marine’s refusal to remove his uniform top grew into what was described by friend Patricia Martin as a heated exchange with security officers. And at the airport, supervisors looked on as a TSA security screener looked under Kemnitz’s medals, ran his hands under the Marine’s waistband and swabbed his shoes for explosives, she said. “What does a uniform and heroism represent if our own citizens— in this case employees of the TSA and security personnel— have no regard for them?” Martin later wrote in a letter to Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki. “I feel so strongly that you need to know just how shamefully even a Purple Heart recipient/disabled veteran can be treated by some TSA and security employees.” Kemnitz said after the incidents that he was not as annoyed with TSA as he was with a security screener at the California state capitol, whom he described as rude and unapologetic. Kemnitz was visiting the building to be honored as his legislative district’s veteran of the year. “At some places I’m treated like royalty and at some like a terrorist. There’s got to be something in the middle,” he said. In the media firestorm that followed publication of the story on-line on militarytimes.com, a spokesman for the California State Senate Sergeant-at-Arms office, which oversees security for the building, said the incident was under investigation, to include reviewing the security video and interviewing screeners.
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FORWARD OBSERVATIONS
“At a time like this, scorching irony, not convincing argument, is needed. Oh had I the ability, and could reach the nation’s ear, I would, pour out a fiery stream of biting 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 they oppose.” Frederick Douglass, 1852
A revolution is always distinguished by impoliteness, probably because the ruling classes did not take the trouble in good season to teach the people fine manners. -- Leon Trotsky, History Of The Russian Revolution
Film Review: “The Iran Job”
“Iran Is A Simmering Cauldron, But The Lid Is Shut Tight, So Not Much Information Gets Out”
“That Is Why ‘The Iran Job’ Is Such A Unique Film”
“It Shows That Iran’s Repressive Brand Of Islam Is Not A Fearful Monolith. It Rebels Against The Autocrats And Haters On All Sides”
Yes, the Iranian government forbade the filming, and yes, the U.S. government pressed charges against Sheppard for violating its embargo on doing business with Iran. See this movie, if you want to relish this irony. 20 July 2013, by Robert Maier, Robertmaier.us/ “The Iran Job,” is that wonderful kind of documentary that sheds a contrary light on the echo chamber of “common sense” that dominates American media and culture. Of course, Iran is an evil place. They are trying to build nuclear weapons. They hate America because we are a free society. They are religious fanatics. Case closed.
These beliefs permeate our “scareocracy,” even though a little research shows a different truth. Iran has a huge young population that yearns to be free of its repressive government. J Just two years ago, there was violent revolution in its streets, sadly extinguished by a well-armed Iranian military. The frustrated youth haven’t been defeated, they’ve just gone underground. The most up-to-date news from Iran is hopeful. A new more moderate president was recently chosen, probably due to fear of the legions of unemployed and frustrated youth who could force a collapse similar to its neighbor, Syria. Iran is a simmering cauldron, but the lid is shut tight, so not much information gets out. That is why “The Iran Job” is such a unique film. It shows that Iran’s repressive brand of Islam is not a fearful monolith. Its youth, and especially women, are fed up. Iran has a surprising share of rock ‘n rollers, free-thinkers, and women fervently pursuing education and power. When Iranian artists escape the clutches of the fundamentalists, they create astonishing works of art in music, cinema, literature, dance—even cuisine. 5,000 years ago, Persia (Iran) had a written alphabet, number system, and money. It was the cradle of civilization. So, here we have “The Iran Job,” where an American basketball player, Kevin Sheppard, is recruited to play in an Iranian pro league, and allows a German camera crew to secretly follow him on his awakening walk through the cradle of civilization. He is obviously an exceptionally brave and curious person, and what he found was a culture bursting with love for America, and especially two precocious young women delighted to guide him through their proud, but sympathetic culture. This kind of documentary turns your world upside down. It rebels against the autocrats and haters on all sides. It turns the very idea of “bomb Iran” into a reptilian nightmare of shame. It offers rays of hope that we can get along just fine with a little direct human-to-human communication, unfiltered by self-serving pundits, hypocritical scolds, and power-hungry officials. Yes, the Iranian government forbade the filming, and yes, the U.S. government pressed charges against Sheppard for violating its embargo on doing business with Iran. See this movie, if you want to relish this irony.
Schizophrenic NSA Analyst Keeps Hearing Voices, Seeing Emails And Skype Calls
Jul 19, 2013 By Maverick, The Duffel Blog WASHINGTON, DC — Josiah Curtis joined the National Security Agency to make America safer. “I could no longer stand by dilly while communist Islamic infiltration tore at the vulnerable guts of American culture and heritage,” said Mr. Curtis in an exclusive interview with the Duffel Blog. “Every day I would tap into phones all over the world, listening to people plotting against the Constitution. Sometimes I wouldn’t go home, sleeping on the floor of my cubicle so I wouldn’t miss even one of those traitors self-incriminating to charges of high treason.” Mr. Curtis credits himself with 2746 uncovered terrorist plots against American landmarks and citizens. “I kept telling my supervisor, Senior Agent Roads, that we needed to order all the social media corporations to give us all their data on damned communist subversion of our Christian values and that they’re either with us or against us.
He told me that I was nuts and to go back to shuffling my DD1342s.” Mr. Curtis smiled thinly, “So I took it upon myself to put together PRISM: Prevention and Repression of Islamic Subversion in the Media.” The Duffel Blog interviewed some of Mr. Curtis’ co workers to get their opinion on the prolific counterintelligence agent. “Oh Curtis?” Agent Andrew Byers commented with upturned eyebrow, “Guy’s a complete nutjob. Spends hours at night making this fugly powerpoint about this PRISM project that he made up. Used to mutter all the time about getting Facebook and Microsoft on board this grand scheme to listen in on ‘Islamic extremists sapping and impurifying all of our precious bodily fluids.’” “I honestly had no clue what he was going on about,” said Special Agent Susan Burke, “The National Security Agency don’t have the competence or capability to listen on millions of communications every single day. I mean, we just sit around all day drinking coffee and wasting taxpayer money like every other federal agency.” For Mr. Curtis, wearied by his solitary three-year crusade, the last straw was the worldwide publication of his PRISM fever dream as an actual NSA program. “When that communist Muslim Edward J. Snowden copied my life’s blood and told the whole world about it,” Curtis said, “I became a broken man. My pure essence has been irrevocably tainted by the mockery of my coworkers and the revile of the press. That pinko bastard (Snowden) didn’t even publish my last slides about the international Sino/Arab conspiracy to spray chemtrails over major American cities.” Curtis has since left the NSA and been diagnosed with schizophrenia and post-traumatic stress disorder. He’s unemployed, divorced, unable to find a job, living with his mother and too broke to afford his alimony payments. He’s having trouble sleeping, and frequently wakes up in the middle of the night to whisper: “The horror…the horror.”
CLASS WAR REPORTS
Starving For Change:
The California Prison Hunger Strike;
“Nearly 30,000 Inmates Have Gone On Hunger Strike In The Country’s Largest Prison System”
July 16, 2013 by CLANCY SIGAL, CounterPunch. Clancy Sigal is a screenwriter and novelist. His latest book is Hemingway Lives. ******************************************************************** “It is said that no one truly knows a nation until one has been inside its jails. A nation should not be judged by how it treats its highest citizens, but its lowest ones.”
― Nelson Mandela who spent six of his 27 prison years in solitary confinement Morgan Freeman and Tim Robbins’s’ prison movie The Shawshank Redemption is one of the most popular repeats on cable. The story is set in the 1940s. When Robbins, the convicted wife-killer, screws up he’s thrown into solitary confinement, a dark dungeon, for only a couple of weeks, which is seen as very brutal punishment. All through the “prison cycle” of movies in the 30s and 40s, from Each Dawn I Die to Brute Force, solitary is relatively brief before the misbehaving prisoner is released into the “general population”. In the past few days, in the largest prison protest in California’s history, nearly 30,000 inmates have gone on hunger strike in the country’s largest prison system. Such near-insurrections are not unusual in America’s prison-industrial complex. Last year’s “starve for change” strike in Georgia lasted 36 days before it was broken. All across the country correctional authorities always respond with the same Pavlovian scenario: first, a news blackout; second, flat-out denial of the obvious; third, official press releases acknowledging a strike but downgrading numbers; fourth, mass punishment by withdrawal of privileges and, away from media’s glare, beatings by guards on militants. California officials have followed this protocol almost to the letter. As of today, 7600 prisoners remain on hunger strike at 23 of California’s 33 prisons. The Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation refuses to acknowledge the strike is a political protest, calling it a “mass disturbance”. The prisoners’ core issue is the use of “no human contact” solitary confinement in special “control cells” or the infamous SHU, segregated housing unit. California holds 4500 inmates in solitary. Basically it means that, for example in Pelican Bay prison, you’re cooped up in a tiny, 7by-11-foot windowless cell, sometimes without radio or TV, 23 hours a day. You cannot make or receive phone calls or have contact visits with family or friends. You have no access to rehab programs and cannot attend religious services. The average inmate stays in isolation for over seven years, and in some cases much longer. The Catholic Conference of bishops, not your standard liberal group, has called for a change in “this inhuman form of punishment.”
You qualify for solitary either because you’re a real threat (killing another prisoner or guard) or unsubstantiated gossip that you belong to, or are “affiliated with”, a gang such as Mexican Mafia or Crips. Evidence of a gang “association” is possession of books like Sun Tzu’s “Art of War” or Machiavelli’s “The Prince” – or using words like tio and hermano Spanish for uncle and brother. SHU can be a bloody killing field. A few years ago CBS reporter Mike Wallace found that in Corcoran State prison in northern California the guards routinely staged inmate fights in the Segregated Unit, wagering on the outcome, and if fights got out of control shooting the inmates involved. Scores of inmates have been shot and eight killed in these fights. When Wallace returned to Corcoran to follow up he found that guards, now wary of shooting prisoners, retaliated by encouraging the inmate-on-inmate rape. We in California like to think of ourselves as more progressive and tolerant than the rest of America. The underfunded, overcrowded, guards-union-tyrannized prison system is a huge exception because of how we handle our inmates female as well as male. The Sacramento Bee, Los Angeles Times and Center for Investigative Reporting has revealed that from 2006 to 2010 nearly 150 female inmates were pressured to undergo sterilization via tubal ligation. (Shades of the infamous “Tuskegee experiment” where hundreds of poor Alabama blacks were mistreated as lab animals by the U.S. Public Health Service.) One of the California prison doctors is quoted that sterilizing women or removing their ovaries provided “an important service to poor women”, and that the money spent on sterilizing them isn’t “huge…compared to what you save in welfare paying for the unwanted children…” Even if you’re the Devil himself – and some of these imprisoned guys have done horrendous crimes – nobody deserves inhuman isolation that, in some cases, can go on not for weeks or months but for many years. In the past, solitary was a temporary punishment. Today it’s a life sentence of psychological torture. Who wouldn’t go crazy? California prisoners in isolation account for 5% of the total prison population but account for nearly half the suicides. MSNBC, the “liberal” network, airs “Lockup” on weekends which probably gets higher ratings than the same networks’ Rachel Maddow. This prison-reality show is designed to scare us by interviewing zombie-like psychopaths who can’t wait to tell the camera how they chopped the head off their cellmate. It’s gripping, disgusting TV. They’ve convinced me I don’t want these bloodthirsty creeps
ever released to roam around my neighborhood. But I also don’t see much point in killing their souls with endless solitary. You can sometimes get out of solitary by telling the warden you’ve left the gang; the problem is, once you’re back out on the yard you’re known as a snitch worth murdering. Of the 160,000 prisoners in California, two-thirds are African-American and Latino. The feds, under Obama and his attorney general Eric Holder, both African American, refuse to intervene. Being a prison guard – even though you have the backing of an awesomely powerful union – is shitty work. Being the politician in charge of it all – hey, Gov Jerry Brown! what happened to your Jesuit ethics? – is even shittier. The
MORE:
Pavlov's Prison Dog
Update: The California Prison Hunger Strike;
Jul 18, 2013 By Clancy Sigal A few days ago I wrote about Calif prison hunger strike that "correctional authorities always respond with the same Pavlovian scenario: first, a news blackout; second, flatout denial of the obvious; third, official press releases acknowledging a strike but downgrading numbers; fourth, mass punishment by withdrawal of privileges and, away from media’s glare, beatings by guards on militants." Today the LATimes reporter covering the story, Paige St. John, reports that Pavlov's dog is alive and biting. "Prison officials have moved 14 inmate leaders...to more isolated quarters", cutting off access to the media and to their lawyers. Members of an outside mediation team, such as Quakers, are banned. Gov Jerry Brown and prison boss Jeffrey Beard are heading for a Gitmo disaster. They refuse to negotiate while aggressively sabotaging attempts to mediate. Way to go, fellas. The way to solve your solitary confinement issue is to put protestors into solitary confinement. Genius.
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Bahrain Anti-Government Protests “Erupted Late Thursday And Lasted Until The Early Hours Of Friday”
A Bahraini protestor throws back a tear gas canister fired by riot police during clashes following a protest to demand more rights and against the ruling regime in the village of Diraz, West of Manama, on July 19, 2013. (AFP Photo / Mohammed Al-Shaikh) July 19, 2013 TV-Novosti Dozens of people were reportedly injured in Bahrain early Friday, after police fired birdshot to disperse hundreds of anti-government protesters in several Shiite villages. A policeman was also wounded after being shot by a homemade gun.
The protests, which erupted late Thursday and lasted until the early hours of Friday, were called by the opposition February 14 Coalition youth group, according to witnesses cited by AFP. “We will remove you (King) Hamad,” was reportedly the banner slogan issued by the group to rally protesters against the monarch. Activists said that dozens were injured in clashes as police responded to protests by firing birdshot. Meanwhile, the Bahraini Ministry of Interior posted on Twitter that “security forces confronted a terror group” near Manama, and that a policeman was wounded after being shot with a homemade gun. AFP quoted witnesses confirming both the police fire and the shooting, but said that an official list of casualties was not immediately available. Demonstrators have repeatedly clashed with security forces since the start of protests against the dynasty. The demonstrations have not ceased, despite a 2011 crackdown backed by Saudi-led Gulf troops. At least 80 people have been killed in Bahrain since the uprising began, according to the International Federation for Human Rights.
DANGER: POLITICIANS AT WORK
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