Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Was there another rampage on a US base in Iraq?

DoD's still unable to issue a release on the death of 21-year-old David Jones in Iraq Sunday -- despite the family having gone public. And despite new details emerging. Steve Flamisch (WRGB) reports the family of David Jones has been told by "a service member" that Jones and another soldier were killed Sunday by a third US soldier on a rampage. David Jones' mother Theresa Bennett (biological aunt, raised him as her own -- last time we're making that reference, she was his mother) is quoted stating, "Two died, and three others were in urgent care." Pat Bailey (WKTV -- link has text and video) reports that Pfc David Jones "leaves behind 7 brothers" and that the family is stating they will get to the bottom of how he died. Julie Tremmel (Fox23 News -- link has text and video) reports that US House Rep Paul Tonko states there will be "a thorough investigation" and his brother Bernie Bennett states, "If he was out in the battlefield when he died that would be something else. But he was in his room and they say that he got murdered by just a gunshot to his head, and it's just so hard to explain."

Paul Grondahl (Albany Times Union) quotes Theresa Bennett stating, "We were told he was shot by one of those very long rifles and there's no way he could have done it himself. There's no way this was a suicide." Grondahl also speaks with Colleen Murphy, mother of Staff Sgt Amy Seyboth Tirador who was killed in Iraq a year ago (November 4, 2009) and who has never been able to get answers about her daughter's death that made sense (the military insists -- despite many details to the contrary -- that Amy Seyboth Tirador took her own life). Colleen Murphy states, "I'd gently encourage whoever is strong enough in the Jones family, when they're ready, not to take what the military says at face value and to challenge it. To allow the Army to get away with closing these cases as suicides is not fair to our soldiers." If the family's being told is true about an "enraged" US soldier killing David Jones and another as yet unnamed US soldier (and wounding three otehrs), it also echoes last month's shooting in which John Carrillo and Gebrah Noonan were shot dead and a third soldier was wounded. The suspect charged in that shooting is US Spc Neftaly Platero. If it does turn out to be similar, the Army's going to have to do a lot of explaining on how, the second month in a row, this took place. Maybe that's why they're planning to wait until after 11:00 p.m. tonight to issue any statement?

Meanwhile AP reports that a send-off ceremony will be held at King Field House Friday for Fort Riley soldiers deploying to Iraq. The Iraq War continues. And on Monday we get the US State Dept spokesperson Philip J. Crowley admitting that the US is "open" to renegotiating the SOFA and extending the US military presence of 50,000 soldiers in Iraq beyond 2011 and no one's reporting on it. No one's even noting it. They're all so busy whoring. That's major news and notice how they run from it.

Especially our so-called 'left' 'independent' media. Which is a good time to note this from Justin Raimondo (Antiwar.com):

Indeed, most Americans who were marching in the streets, denouncing what they called “Bush’s war,” voted for Barack Obama for President. They supported him enthusiastically, a number of the activist types campaigned for him, and now that we’re living through what Bob Woodward calls “Obama’s Wars,” these former peaceniks have buttoned their lips.

When Obama was elected, the main peace coalition, which called itself United for Peace and Justice, congratulated him in a front page article on their web site – and then promptly dissolved! Oh, they still claim to oppose the wars we are fighting – in theory – but in practice they just aren’t all that interested in doing anything about it. And we’re not just talking about the limousine liberal set here: hard-line Marxists, who have always been involved in the various peace movements, are also going squishy. At a recent “antiwar conference” held in Buffalo, New York, which was dominated and largely organized by a Trotskyist group known as Socialist Action, the participants voted to pour their energy into building the October 2nd pro-Obama demonstration recently held in Washington, D.C., which dubbed itself “One Nation Working Together.”

Yeah, right, One Nation Working Together for the Democratic Party.

The rally, a left-wing version of the Glenn Beck pray in, was basically a get out the vote effort on behalf of the beleaguered Democrats. From the platform, speaker after speaker told the rather thin crowd that their moral duty was to go out and vote Democrat. That’s the ticket! And what did they get in exchange for acting as water boys for the union bureaucrats? Nothing – not a single speaker, not a single slogan, not a single antiwar placard onstage. Nothing, nada, zilch. There was no official antiwar speaker precisely because the rally was organized and controlled by the Obama-crats, who all support their commander-in-chief as he wages a war of conquest in Afghanistan and extends it into Pakistan. However, the party hacks lost control of the stage, at one point, when Harry Belafonte shattered the silence.

Charging that “the wars that we wage today in far away lands are immoral, unconscionable and unwinnable,” the famous musician delivered a stunning denunciation of the war – a moment you can bet was not supposed to happen. Belafonte then started railing about how we’re headed for “a totalitarian state in America,” which kind of made him seem like a tea partier – except that in the next breath he accused the tea party of being the “villainous” force behind this sinister trend. Go figure.

According to more than one eye witness, the reception to Belafonte’s antiwar message was “muted,” at best. But of course it was. The Democrats don’t want to bring up the war issue, because it’s just another reason for their base to stay home on Election Day. The only other reference to the military — aside from some patriotic comments to the troops — was Jesse Jackson’s call to “Cut the military budget.” A few moments out of hours. Big deal.


That's from a speech he gave this week at the University of Michigan. If he comes to a campus near you, make a point to see him. And if he's not coming, maybe you need to extend an invitation?

The following community sites -- and wowOwow -- updated last night:




We'll close with this from "FBI Raids on Antiwar Activists – In the Age of Obama: Criminalizing Political Opposition to U.S. Aggression" (Revolution magazine via World Can't Wait):

In late September, FBI agents carried out coordinated early morning raids on the office of the Anti-War Committee in Minneapolis and on seven homes in Minneapolis and Chicago. At some homes, the FBI had guns drawn. The raids were aimed at people active in the antiwar movement; the Colombian and Palestinian solidarity movements; and Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO). The home of the executive director of a Chicago social service agency, Arab American Action Network, was raided.
The warrants authorizing the raid claimed that the Joint Terrorism Task Force (which includes the FBI) was seeking evidence in an ongoing investigation into "material support of terrorism."
As part of this investigation, 14 activists were subpoenaed to appear before a federal grand jury in Chicago. Each signed a letter from their lawyers stating they would NOT testify. The Assistant U.S. Attorney in charge then told the lawyers for the activists that he would withdraw the subpoenas, but he would say nothing more. The government has not backed off. There are a number of options for what the authorities could do next: more raids; indictments and arrests; issue a new round of subpoenas to testify before the grand jury, but this time offer limited immunity to some which comes coupled with the threat of imprisonment if they still refuse to testify. (See "The Grand Jury—The Grand Inquisition.")
Meantime, even more antiwar activists continue to report being harassed by the FBI at their homes and workplaces.
Not a single person was arrested, yet people's homes were ransacked for hours. Their computers, cell phones, passports, address books, email accounts, personal correspondence and papers, photographs, financial records and even some of their children's belongings were seized by the FBI. And now anyone dragged before the grand jury faces the real possibility of being jailed without being convicted of specific criminal charges for the duration of the grand jury (potentially months and even years), simply for exercising their right to not participate in the fishing expedition.
Across the country, people immediately rallied to defend those under attack.





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