*EMPIRE PLAN BACKFIRES
* ** *Whenever the US Empire finds its dictators can no longer rule, it continues to blunder right up to the end. President Obama called up President Mubarak, into whom the empire has invested a great many billions of dollars, and said that maybe the Egyptian public could be convinced to be happy campers if reforms were instituted. This is like a plan to prevent hitting icebergs after the Titanic has a nineteen foot gash in it and is headed for Davey Jones' Locker. Mubarak announced he is scrapping his cabinet, but staying. The protests continue. The people want Mubarak gone, that is the problem, not the distraction of rotating cabinet chairs. We learned how to do this from the British Empire which fostered us. When Captain Bligh was overthrown by his crew of the Bounty in the famous mutiny, the British government next assigned him to be Lord Governor of Australia, where he soon had an entire nation mutiny. Empires never learn, when you have a bad leader it's best to replace him, preferably before the mutiny begins, after which, it is usually too late.*** *In Egypt "The number of people killed in protests is reported to be in the scores, with at least 23 deaths confirmed in Alexandria, and at least 27 confirmed in Suez, with a further 22 deaths in Cairo," reports /al Jazeera/ this morning <http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/01/201112974149942894.html>. But the protests have increased in size, with thousands of public workers going on strike until Mubarak steps down.* * Older readers recall when Baby Doc DuValier flew out of Haiti in an American aircraft, Ferdinand Marcos flew out of the Philippines in an American aircraft, and so very many other dictators flew out on American aircraft, after their citizens said they'd had enough of a ruler who worked for an Empire against their interests. * ** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *THANK YOU, READERS * ** *Nothing will change to make a better world until there is an independent, public interest mass media source which allows criticism of the ruling Forces of Greed <http://members.cox.net/libertyuv/FOG.htm> and the National Security State <http://members.cox.net/libertyuv/NatSec.htm>. An ignorant public is a controlled public, which is why a handful of giant, transnational corporations that don't give a damn about this country or its people have bought up the mass media for control. Each day we get up to do /LUV News/ with the belief that it is the most important thing which can be done in order to support the things we stand for: freedom for everyone, not just those who inherit from robber barons, democracy for everyone, not just corporations, and other things we are proud to put up front <http://members.cox.net/libertyuv/Belief.htm>, unlike the deceptive corporate media who pretend to be objective while censoring and distorting public interest stories in their pursuit of corporate greed at any cost. We spend no time on advertising and depend on our readers to get /LUV News/ out to friends, family, work colleagues and internet groups. Thank you readers for any success /LUV News/ might have toward reaching the time when we go out of business, as a public interest mass media source takes our place and democracy breaks out in the land. * ------------------------------------------------------------------------ * * ** ** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ **President Obama told us we would begin to withdraw troops by July of this year, but of course, that's changed. Now we are actually adding troops this year, as we have each year since President Obama moved into the White House. Each time these promises get twisted, we wonder if the plan is to stay in Afghanistan permanently, like Germany and Japan since World War Two, or Korea since the war there? President Obama can't tell the American people we are going to stay forever, so the precedent is to kick the can down the street to the next president, as Johnson did to Nixon, saying "I am not going to be the first president to lose a war," as we now know he was fully aware we would eventually lose, admitting that to his Secretary of Defense. When I was in Vietnam, ten years before the war ended, I knew we were going to lose it in time. Everything pointed to it-- like the time I heard two medics curse a helicopter going overhead, taking ice to the officer's club at a base camp. The medics were trying to care for a badly wounded soldier who needed the chopper for medevac to save his life. Us enlisted soldiers at the bottom never saw ice, but we were happy to die so that they could have ice at the officer's club and big profits on Wall Street. Before it ended, our soldiers were killing their officers. Wilfred Owen, a British World War One soldier, wrote a poem (just before he was killed in battle), whose ironic last line reads "/Dulce et decorum est, pro patria mori/," or, it is sweet and fitting to die for one's country, having earlier described the vomiting soldiers exposed to chlorine gas that he'd watched dying before him --Jack ** With 36,000 Troops Set to Deploy in 2011, Is Permanent War on the Horizon? <http://www.truth-out.org/36000-troops-set-deploy-2011-permanent-war-horizon67235> *by Matt Southworth* *As the US war in Afghanistan spreads <http://ofpeaceandpolitics.wordpress.com/2010/12/17/afghanistan_war_spreading_to_pakistan/> toward Pakistan and the strategy drifts <http://ofpeaceandpolitics.wordpress.com/2010/10/21/what-is-the-strategy-in-afghanistan-anyway/> to Counter Terrorism (CT), there is no deescalation in sight. In fact, it is increasingly clear that the White House has little intention to significantly draw down troops in July of this year, as promised in President Obama's West Point speech <http://ofpeaceandpolitics.wordpress.com/2010/11/30/one-year-after-west-point-still-no-military-solution-in-afghanistan/>.* *Approximately 36,000 troops will be deployed to Afghanistan in 2011; 28,900 -80%- of those will deploy before July-the first month of President Obama's promised transition and draw down phases. The deployments are part of the regular troop rotations, but what might this mean for the July 2011 draw down?* *Here is a list of deployments compiled by my fellow anti-war organizer and writer Ryan Harvey <http://voiceshakes.wordpress.com/>:* *FORT KNOX, KY -- Early Winter 2011 (February) *3,500 soldiers** *3rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division.* *FORT CAMPBELL, KY -- Early 2011 (February) *2,700 soldiers** *159th Combat Aviation Brigade, 101st Airborne Division.* *FORT HOOD, TX -- Late Winter/Early Spring 2011 *3,500 soldiers** *1st Cavalry Divison's Air Cavalry Brigade* *FORT CARSON, CO -- Spring 2011 *3,800 soldiers** *2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division.* *FORT DRUM -- Spring 2011 *3,500 soldiers ** *3rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division.* *SCHOFIELD BARRACKS, HI -- Late March/April 2011 *3,500 soldiers** *3rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division.* *FORT LEWIS, WA -- Early Spring/Summer 2011 *800 soldiers** *I Corps Headquarters, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash.* *GERMANY -- Spring or Fall 2011 *3,500 soldiers** *170th and 172nd Infantry Brigade Combat Teams.* *FORT BRAGG, NC -- Fall 2011 *2,800 soldiers** *82nd Airborne Combat Aviation Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division.* *FORT WAINWRIGHT, AK -- Late 2011 *3,500 soldiers** *1st Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division.* *OHIO NATIONAL GUARD, OH- May 2011 *3,600 Soldiers <http://ong.ohio.gov/stories/2010/06_June/historic_deployment/story_20100630a.html> * 37th Infantry Brigade Combat Team.* *NEW YORK NATIONAL GUARD, NY -- early 2012 *3,500 soldiers <http://www.timesunion.com/news/article/N-Y-troops-prepare-for-Afghan-tour-553480.php#ixzz1BVpiOVpx> ** *27th Brigade Combat Team.* *CAMP LEJEUNE, NC - January *1,400 Marines <http://abcnews.go.com/International/pentagon-sends-1400-marines-afghanistan/story?id=12559549>** *26th Marine Expeditionary Unit, 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment.* *As long as this list is, it is not exhaustive. For example, several thousand Marines will deploy from Camp Pendleton and Camp Lejeune throughout 2011. This kind of war planning is not uncommon. The underlying point is that President Obama and General Petraeus know exactly now many troops they plan to bring home in July of this year.* */Busy schedule? Click here to keep up with Truthout with free email updates. <http://www.truth-out.org/newsletter>/* *What exactly do these impending deployments mean for the July 2011 draw down date in Afghanistan? Most likely that the draw down-deployment combination will represent a net troop withdrawal of only a few Brigade Combat Teams- approximately 9,000-12,000 troops. Could this mean that U.S. is planning an extended engagement in Afghanistan?* *Indeed, with the November NATO announcement <http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/11/09/103468/obama-administration-moving-away.html> to end operations in Afghanistan by December 2014, the military seems to be abandoning July 2011. Vice President Joe Biden, an advocate of a more CT centered strategy, has sent mixed messages about both July 2011 and December 2014. Most recently, VP Biden stated <http://www.newser.com/story/109573/biden-to-karzai-well-stay-past-2014.html> that "if the Afghan people want..." the U.S. will "not leav[e] Afghanistan" in 2014.* *Just how long will the U.S. stay, Mr. Biden?* *If Senator Lindsey Graham has his way, the U.S. might just stay forever. Recently on Meet the Press, Sen. Graham said <http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40871803/ns/meet_the_press-transcripts>, "a couple of [permanent] air bases in Afghanistan" could "Change [Pakistan's] behavior." Sen. Graham also believes the presence of a few air bases would help Afghan security forces edge out the Taliban. Al Qaeda, the given reason for the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan, did not even receive mention by the Senator.* *Could permanent bases really be on the U.S. agenda in Afghanistan?* *The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2011 (H.R. 5136 <http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/C?c111:./temp/%7Ec111UoICB9>) explicitly states:* ** *"None of the funds authorized to be appropriated by this Act may be obligated or expended by the United States Government to establish any military installation or base for the purpose of providing for the permanent stationing of United States Armed Forces in Afghanistan."* *However, this bill passed the House, but did not make it through the Senate. A Continuing Resolution (CR)-a bill which extends current funding -was passed to cover funding through March 4th, 2011. There is currently no protection by law preventing the Department of Defense from establishing permanent bases in Afghanistan.* *Most alarming, yet, is the Pentagon requested much more money for Fiscal Year (FY) 2011 than it is currently spending. According to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO <http://www.cbo.gov/>), average DoD spending in September 2010 reached $5.7 billion <http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/RL33110.pdf> per month, a 63% increase over September 2009. At this pace, FY 2011 should cost U.S. taxpayers around $68 billion. The Pentagon actually requested $119 billion to fund Afghanistan war for FY 2011.* *The $119 billion request for Afghanistan was granted by Congress in December. As per current monthly spending, that's somewhere between $40-50 billion more than the General Petraeus should /need/. As the CBO report says <http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/RL33110.pdf>, the FY 2011 request is most likely "overstated." One Congressional Staffer told me, Congress has "repeatedly overfunded the war."* *This is unconscionable as state and local governments around the country are taking bitter budget medicine-jeopardizing our safety by laying off our police <http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2011/01/18/deep-layoffs-take-effect-in-camden/> and our future by laying off our teachers <http://californiawatch.org/dailyreport/voters-charge-high-anxiety-about-teacher-layoffs-8102>; ending the war in Afghanistan is certainly one quick way to free up capital that can then be reinvested back into our communities.* *The Los Angeles Times, commenting on Vice President Biden's recent visit to Afghanistan, said <http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/editorials/la-ed-afghan-20110116,0,1738457.story>:* ** *"We worry that the administration's more ambitious goals --- a credible government in Afghanistan, the permanent defeat of the Taliban --- may prove elusive even after three more years of military involvement, let alone a presence beyond that. We hope that isn't the case, but regardless of what happens, the United States and NATO should take their own deadlines seriously. That means a significant withdrawal this year and an unambiguous completion of the mission in 2014."* *The American people cannot afford permanent war in Afghanistan- not morally, or financially. Extending the war until 2014 will not deliver the Obama administration's stated objectives and will cost the American taxpayer nearly half a trillion dollars more. Help FCNL make sure the 112th Congress <http://capwiz.com/fconl/directory/congdir.tt?action=myreps_form> knows that permanent bases and unending deployments to Afghanistan are unacceptable.* *UPDATE: the numbers in this article were updated on January 24th to reflect the additional 1,400 Marines deploying in early 2011. * http://www.truth-out.org/36000-troops-set-deploy-2011-permanent-war-horizon67235 */Matt Southworth is a former intelligence analyst for the Army and presently a Legislative Program Assistant for the Foreign Policy program at the Friends Committee on National Legislation <http://www.fcnl.org>, a Quaker lobby in the public interest./* ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *If you wish to be removed from this list, please let us know* ** *To join the Liberty Underground news service email [email protected] "join" for a subject* ** *You may also join our talk group athttp://groups.yahoo.com/group/libertyundergroundtalk/ <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/libertyundergroundtalk/>if you would like to participate* ** *email: [email protected]* ** *Tell your friends about /LUV News/ because some people just don't get it* [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ --------------------------------------------------------------------------- LAAMN: Los Angeles Alternative Media Network --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Unsubscribe: <mailto:[email protected]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe: <mailto:[email protected]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Digest: <mailto:[email protected]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Help: <mailto:[email protected]?subject=laamn> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Post: <mailto:[email protected]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Archive1: <http://www.egroups.com/messages/laamn> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Archive2: <http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yahoo! 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