Dear friends of peace and justice,
Below please find an assortment of compelling reports from Iraq that “scream disaster.” Please read them and share them with anyone who is or may become concerned about this awful mess our “rulers” have created and its ultimate effect on our nation and world. It’s very bad now. But every day we don’t stop the nuts running this show is more hell our children will have to pay. jamie
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U.S. general warns Army Reserve is being 'broken'05 Jan 2005 19:15:16 GMTSource: Reuters
By Will Dunham WASHINGTON, Jan 5 (Reuters) - The U.S. Army Reserve, tapped heavily to provide soldiers for wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, is "degenerating into a 'broken' force" due to dysfunctional military policies, the Army Reserve's chief said in a memo made public on Wednesday. "I do not wish to sound alarmist. I do wish to send a clear, distinctive signal of deepening concern," Lt. Gen. James Helmly said in a Dec. 20 memo to Army Chief of Staff Gen. Peter Schoomaker. The Army Reserve is a force of 200,000 part-time soldiers who opted not to sign up for the active-duty Army but can be mobilized from their civilian lives in times of national need. About 52,000 Army Reserve soldiers are on active duty, with 17,000 in Iraq and 2,000 in Afghanistan, the Army said. The Army Reserve has provided many military police, civil affairs soldiers, medics and truck drivers for the wars. "While ability to meet the current demands associated with OIF (Operational Iraqi Freedom) and OEF (Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan) is of great importance, the Army Reserve is additionally in grave danger of being unable to meet other operational requirements including those in named OPLANS (operational plans) and CONUS (continental United States) emergencies, and is rapidly degenerating into a 'broken' force," Helmly wrote. Helmly said military leaders had rebuffed his proposals for change. The memo's purpose was to inform Schoomaker of the Army Reserve's "inability -- under current policies, procedures and practices governing mobilization, training and reserve component manpower management -- to meet mission requirements" for the two wars, Helmly wrote. 'DYSFUNCTIONAL PRACTICES' In his eight-page memo, first disclosed by the Baltimore Sun, Helmly titled one section "US Army Reserve Readiness Discussion, Past Dysfunctional Practices/Policies." The Pentagon, maintaining higher-than-expected troop levels after failing to anticipate that a bloody guerrilla war would follow Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's ouster in 2003, has relied heavily on Army Reserve and Army National Guard soldiers. These part-time troops comprise about 40 percent of the U.S. force in Iraq. Some reservists and families have complained about frequent and lengthy tours in war zones, inferior equipment and scant notice before being pressed into service. Helmly's remarks gave fuel to critics of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld who argue that his policies and his resistance to a large increase in the active-duty Army are harming the all-volunteer military. Democratic Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island called the memo "deeply disturbing," adding: "By consistently underestimating the number of troops necessary for the successful occupation of Iraq, the administration has placed a tremendous burden on the Army Reserve and created this crisis." Helmly referred to "potential 'sociological' damage" to the all-volunteer military by paying inducements of $1,000 extra per month to reservists who volunteer to remobilize. "We must consider the point at which we confuse 'volunteer to become an American Soldier' with 'mercenary,'" Helmly said. Helmly said Pentagon reluctance to issue orders calling reservists to active duty "in a timely manner" resulted in more than 10,000 reserve soldiers getting as little as three to five days notice before being compelled back into uniform. A senior Army official said Schoomaker and Army Secretary Francis Harvey were reviewing the memo. "Changes are expected over time, and the Army is already working these issues. The memo just brings it to the forefront," the official said.
A GI write to us:
The New Year Seen From In Country (part 2)Thanks for Trying to Get Us Back!hello Lou. hope everything is alright there. it is x-mass eve. i am in baghdad right by the airport. so far this experience has been nothing like i expected. everything has changed so much since i was here last time. the highways that we run our supplies on, the bases, and the structures for us troops. it is kreepy because the stuff that they are building all says that we are not going anywhere soon. in ways it is sick because literally everything is about money. it is almost like a sell-out war. anything like coffee cups, t-shirts, coats, bags and on and on all have OIF logos and shit on them. i am drinking out of the lid of my thermos cause i refuse to buy a coffee mug or anything else for that matter that says OIF on it. i tell all the soldiers that are with me that this is not a fucking disneyland or six flags, it is a fucking warzone. people are losing life and limb every day and it is not a positive thing. out in the open desert i feel half way safe convoying due to the fact that there are so many soft targets heading south. convoy after convoy of trucks full of oil with military escorts. i have no faith in the decision-making process of the major officers appointed above me. so far this camp i am at gets rocketed or mortared 3 or 4 times a week. my first night here we got mortared. about a week ago i woke up and 2 trailers behind me a rocket hit sometime during the night but did not explode. i took pictures of it just sticking out of the sandbags reinforcing our sleeping quarters. the same thing happened right outside where i work--another rocket was found just sticking out of the ground. when i 1st got here it did not matter if it was incoming or out going i just hit the deck. now it is just like nothing at all. at night we can't have any lights on outside because we will be a possible target. but on the other hand we are still expected to salute? mortars are hitting all around us but it is just business as usual. but now a defac [dining facility] gets hit 220 mile north of here and they decide to raise our threat level. and i put my life in the hands of the people who make these decisions? i am sorry--i did not mean to sound all negative. i wanted to make sure that my snake is healthy. has he been eating? also i take it that my car is ok? well, anyway i hope that you are having a merry x-mass. another thing i never made a copy of fahrenheit 911. if you could get me a copy of it i will appreciate it. anyway i know that you are supporting us troops out here the best way possible. trying to get us back! a lot of soldiers are like sheep and don't see it that way. but know this one is really grateful for people like you. happy brave new year.posted 02 january 2005
As the U.S. “controls” so little of Iraq and has negligible support in the general population, those willing to work with the invaders (unemployment is about 75-80%) are extremely vulnerable.
18 Iraqis seeking jobs at US base found dead
Associated Press
Baghdad, January 6, 2005 | 17:13 IST
The bodies of 18 young Iraqis executed after seeking work at a US base have been found in a field near the volatile city of Mosul, police said on Thursday.Police said that the insurgents shot the men, aged between 14 and 20, on December 8 after stopping their two mini-buses about 50 kilometres west of Mosul as they travelled from Baghdad.Their hands were tied behind their back and each of them was shot in the head, police said.All of them were Shiite Muslims from Baghdad's northern neighbourhood of Kadhimiya who were hired by an Iraqi contractor to work at a US base in Mosul.Their corpses were discovered on Wednesday and were taken to the Kadhimiya hospital in Baghdad, the police in the capital said.Police in Mosul confirmed the killings, but could not provide more details.Dozens of bodies, mostly belonging to members of Iraqi security forces, were found in Mosul in November.At least 10 of the bodies were of Iraqi soldiers based at the al-Kisik military base about 50 kilometres west of Mosul.Four of the bodies were found decapitated. Insurgents have frequently warned Iraqis cooperating with US military that they would be killed because of their collaboration with American occupiers.
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Don’t expect oil prices to keep coming down.
Oil jumps 4% on Iraq violence, OPEC cuts
Reuters News AgencyWednesday, January 5, 2005 - Page B7
NEW YORK -- Oil prices surged 4 per cent yesterday as new violence rocked Iraq while Saudi Arabia said it would make good on plans to cut output.American crude settled at $43.91 (U.S.) a barrel, up $1.79 on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after gunmen killed Baghdad's governor, Ali al-Haidri, as part of an escalating campaign to disrupt elections scheduled for Jan. 30. It was Iraq's highest-profile assassination in eight months, and it came on the same day that a suicide bomber rammed a fuel truck into a roadblock near Baghdad's Green Zone, home to the U.S. and British embassies, killing eight commandos and three civilians.While violence gripped Iraq, members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries reiterated pledges to cut one million barrels a day of excess production in an attempt to stop inventories building too quickly.Saudi Arabia, OPEC's largest producer, has cut 500,000 barrels a day and is now producing about nine million, Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said yesterday.Crude had started the year's trading on Monday with a $1.33 drop that was attributed to mild weather in the U.S. Northeast. But a succession of supply hitches is providing price support. Iraq's northern exports through Turkey have been stopped since Dec. 18 because of sabotage.Officials said security forces had foiled another attack on Sunday at a refinery near the oil exporting city of Basra, where about 1.6 million barrels a day are shipped.A government report today is expected to show U.S. distillate inventories, which include heating oil and diesel, rose a modest 160,000 barrels last week, according to an expanded Reuters poll.
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sources: www.icasualties.org www.BringThemHomeNow.org www.mirror-world.ru
Again, please spread widely. Peace. jamie
