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Military Resistance 11E7

What A Surprise:

Obama Plans For Afghan War To Go On And On And On And On:

U.S. Government Wants 9 U.S. Military Bases In Afghanistan After 2014:

“The Bases Are Bagram Air Field Near Kabul, Kandahar Air Field And Bases In Kabul, Jalalabad, Mazar-E-Sharif, Gardez, Helmand Province, Shindand And Heart”

“Those Are Among The Largest Bases Now Housing U.S. And Other Foreign Military Forces”

May 9, 2013 By David Zucchino, Los Angeles Times [Excerpts]

KABUL, Afghanistan – The United States has requested the use of nine large military bases in Afghanistan after international forces complete their combat mission here at the end of next year, Afghan President Hamid Karzai said Thursday.

[So, since the “combat mission” will be completed “at the end of next year,” which of three following will apply, according to this drooling idiocy?: A) The U.S. military bases will be defended from Taliban attack by non-combat combat forces. B) The bases will be defended from Taliban attack by combat non-combat forces. C) The bases will not be defended from Taliban attack at all. U.S. military personnel will be issued suicide pills to be taken in the event of attack. Death before dishonor. T]

In the first public disclosure of the number of bases under discussion in security talks between the U.S. and Afghanistan, Karzai indicated that he would agree to the U.S. request. But he said Washington must provide unspecified “security and economic” guarantees in return.

“If these conditions are met, we are ready to sign the contract with the United States,” Karzai said in a speech at Kabul University, referring to the bilateral security arrangement now under negotiation.

He added: “Our conditions are to bring security in Afghanistan, strengthen Afghanistan’s security forces, provide concrete economic support and to have a strong and positive government.’’

Since Nov. 15, American and Afghan negotiators have been hammering out post-2014 security arrangements.

The U.S. request for nine bases was included in the most recent U.S. draft proposal, presented last month, Aimal Faizy, Karzai’s spokesman, said in a telephone interview Thursday.

Karzai said the bases are Bagram Air Field near Kabul, Kandahar Air Field and bases in Kabul, Jalalabad, Mazar-e-Sharif, Gardez, Helmand Province, Shindand and Herat. Those are among the largest bases now housing U.S. and other foreign military forces.

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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.

AFGHANISTAN WAR REPORTS

Fallen Soldier Was A Green Beret In JBLM’s 1st Special Forces Group

May 4, 2013 by ADAM ASHTON; Staff writer; Tacoma News, Inc.

A Joint Base Lewis-McChord Green Beret who followed his father into the Army’s Special Forces died Thursday at a military hospital in Germany from wounds he sustained in Afghanistan last week.

Staff Sgt. Michael H. Simpson, 30, leaves behind a widow, Krista, and sons Michael, 3, and Gabriel, 1.

His wife and other loved ones were with him at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center before he died, she said. He was hurt by an explosion on April 27.

“I’m so proud of him through everything,” Krista Simpson said Friday. “The man that he was when I met him, the man he grew to be, the father he was, and the person he made me.”

He is the third Lewis-McChord soldier to die in combat this year and the second from the 4th Battalion of the 1st Special Forces Group, reflecting how the fight has shifted to special operations teams as Stryker infantry brigades have returned to the base south of Tacoma.

Krista Simpson described her husband as a “badass” who lived out his dream to join the Special Forces. He’d show a softer side at home and embraced fatherhood as intensely as he pursued his military career.

His father, Michael W. Simpson, is a retired Special Forces lieutenant colonel who now works as the city manager of Olmos Park, Texas. The elder Simpson has sent messages to residents about his journey to Germany to meet his son over the past week.

“We’re warriors. We know things happen,” he once told The San Antonio Express-News.

The younger Simpson joined the Army in 2003 as an infantryman. He deployed to Iraq in 2007 with the Germany-based 2nd Cavalry Regiment.

He completed his qualifications to join Army Special Forces in July 2011 and later joined the 1st Special Forces Group at Lewis-McChord. He was assigned to its newest unit, the 4th Battalion.

Krista’s stepfather recently attended the Boston Marathon and was shook up by the bombings. Staff Sgt. Simpson sent him a message: “I wish there was something I could have done better in my job to keep this evil from happening,” the soldier wrote.

He wanted to try, even though he understood that a government could not always stop harm from falling on innocents. “He believed that,” Krista said. “He believed God has a plan. There’s a reason for everything.”

POLITICIANS REFUSE TO HALT THE BLOODSHED

THE TROOPS HAVE THE POWER TO STOP THE WAR

“Arrests And Torture Of Peaceful Protesters By Security Forces In Kabul”

“Mistreated In Custody For Up To Three Days, Including By Being Severely Beaten With Punches, Kicks, And Rifle Butts While Being Interrogated About The Protest Organizers”

May 7, 2013 Human Rights Watch [Excerpts]

Kabul) – Afghan authorities should investigate the arrests and torture of peaceful protesters by security forces in Kabul, Human Rights Watch said today. The abuses appear intended to silence public dissent against the government.

On May 2, 2013, hundreds of people participated in a demonstration in Kabul’s Cinema Pamir neighborhood organized by the Solidarity Party of Afghanistan to protest the government’s failure to prosecute abusive warlords, including those now in official positions.

State security forces cut short the protest and arrested at least nine people. Six of them described to Human Rights Watch being mistreated in custody for up to three days, including by being severely beaten with punches, kicks, and rifle butts while being interrogated about the protest organizers.

“The arrest and brutal beating of peaceful protesters seems aimed at sending a message to all Afghans not to publicly criticize the government,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch.

The six people interviewed by Human Rights Watch said that much of their mistreatment occurred while they were being transported following arrest or in custody while handcuffed to a wall.

Human Rights Watch observed physical injuries consistent with the detainees’ accounts, including bruises and swelling.

Two were seriously injured, including one whose knee was struck with a rifle butt, and will require surgery. Several detainees reported confiscation of their personal property. All were released without being charged with any criminal offense.

Security forces encouraged residents and local business people to leave the area and refused access to several hundred protesters.

A journalist told Human Rights Watch that security forces prevented her from covering the protest and conducting interviews.

The Solidarity Party of Afghanistan, a legally registered political party since 2004, has previously faced government harassment, Human Rights Watch said.

The party has not fielded political candidates, but has been outspoken on controversial issues, including organizing protests against the US and NATO presence in Afghanistan, the execution of Afghans in Iran, and civilian casualties caused by international forces.

It has also spoken out against Taliban abuses and in support of women’s rights.

Protesters carried signs with photos of those they accuse of human rights abuses with faces crossed out in red paint. A statement issued by the party mentioned a number of sitting officials by name.

IF YOU DON’T LIKE THE RESISTANCE

END THE OCCUPATION

SOMALIA WAR REPORTS

A Fierce Fighting Between Alshabab Militia And The Raskamboni Brigade

10 May 2013 By Maalik_eng, Shabelle Media Network

A fierce fighting between Alshabab [insurgents] militia and the Raskamboni brigade occurred last night at the surrounding of Kismayu airport and the Kismayu University.

This happened when members of Alshabab started a hit and run fighting at the airport. The airport which acts as an army base for the Kenyan troops who are part of the Amisom troops based in Somalia faces frequent attacks from the Alshabab militia.

Other reports from Kisamyu have confirmed that heavy artilleries were fired at the University of Kismayu which hosts a delegation which is spearheading the formation of an administration for the region.

The fighting which lasted for hours has caused severe damages and both death and injury casualties has been reported however the two sides have not released statements about last night’s engagement.

The port city of Kismayu administrated by the Raskamboni militia and federal government troops aided by the Kenyan troops has not yet settled and faces frequent attack from Alshabab militia.

MILITARY NEWS

[Thanks to Phil G. & SSG N (ret’d) who sent this in. SSG N (ret’d) writes: “Something wrong with this picture. The purpose of the military is to kill people and destroy things. This is universal, there is no differentiation between who gets destroyed. Everyone is harmed More likely to be raped in theater than killed by fire. Violence is not good for men or women.”]

Catholic Soldier Harassed And Tormented By Ignorant Filth Because She Has A “Muslim Name”

Then Scum In Command Tried To Force Her To Quit Army:

“It’s Horrible To Feel Like People Are Against You When You Are Supposed To Be On The Same Team”

[Thanks to Mark Shapiro, Military Resistance Organization, who sent this in.]

May 8, 2013 By MICHAEL BIESECKER, Associated Press [Excerpts]

Sgt. 1st Class Naida Hosan is not a Muslim — she’s a Catholic.

But her name sounded Islamic to fellow U.S. soldiers in Iraq, and they would taunt her, calling her “Sgt. Hussein” and asking what God she prayed to.

So before deploying to Afghanistan last year for her second war tour, she legally changed her name — to Naida Christian Nova.

This did not solve her problems.

Instead, matters escalated.

Nova complained to her superiors about constant anti-Muslim slurs and jokes.

She says they responded with a series of reprisals intended to drive her out of the Army, leading her to consider suicide.

“My complaints fell on deaf ears every time,” said Nova, 41, a member of the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division based at Fort Bragg, N.C.

“Any time I would say something about it I was treated like I didn’t know what I was talking about or that I’m an idiot or that I was a Muslim sympathizer. It was just a very lonely feeling.”

Determined to remain in the service for at least eight years, until she is eligible for retirement, Nova recently re-enlisted.

But she agreed to tell her story to The Associated Press because “I don’t want this to happen to anyone else if I can help it. It’s a horrible to feel like people are against you when you are supposed to be on the same team.”

Fort Bragg spokeswoman Sheri L. Crowe said the Army would not comment on the case, and referred questions to the U.S. Department of Justice.

But her account is supported by an affidavit filed by an old friend, Sharon Deborah Sheetz, who said that Nova had confided in her about the harassment she had suffered, telling Sheetz that she was so unhappy that she no longer wanted to live.

A Farsi linguist who works in military intelligence, Nova’s multicultural background exemplifies the kind of soldier Army recruiters prize — U.S. citizens with ethnic ties to a part of the world many Americans can’t find on a map.

Nova’s father, Roy Hosein, was born into a Muslim family on the Caribbean island of Trinidad, where his parents had emigrated from India. He converted to Christianity after meeting Nova’s mother, a Catholic from the Philippines, and became a U.S. citizen shortly after his daughter was born in New York. He changed the spelling of his family name to Hosan in the hope his children would avoid discrimination.

“He Americanized it,” his daughter explained. “He got Hosan from Hosanna. He kept hearing it in church.”

She reported for basic training two months after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.

“Before 9-11, my last name never raised an eyebrow,” she said. “But after 9-11, I felt compelled to tell people I am a Christian and felt I had to prove I was loyal to the United States.”

Her first deployment was to Iraq in 2005. She said other soldiers, including her supervisors, mocked her family name and made crude jokes.

“I was called Sgt. Hussein, as in Saddam Hussein,” she said. “Even when I would correct them on the pronunciation of my name, I was still called Sgt. Hussein. I was asked what God I pray to. And there were a lot of references to hajjis, used as a derogatory term.”

Hajiis, in fact, are Muslims who have made the pilgrimage to the Saudi Arabian birthplace of the prophet Muhammad. But Nova said she regularly heard U.S. troops use the word as racist slang for enemy, terrorist or suicide bomber.

“My uncle is a hajji, because he made the pilgrimage to Mecca in 2005,” Nova said. “I would stand up for what I thought was right and say, ‘Not all terrorists are Muslims and not all Muslims are terrorists.’

That just opened the door for more harassment.”

Mikey Weinstein, a former U.S. Air Force officer who founded Military Religious Freedom Foundation, said Nova’s experience is not uncommon. Military personnel who are Muslim or perceived to be of Middle Eastern descent are often targets for discrimination, he said.

“When a Muslim soldier, sailor or airman stands up for themselves, they are the subject of vicious reprisal and retribution,” said Weinstein, who is Jewish. “What (Sgt. Nova) has gone through is horrible, but it is typical.”