U.S. undergoes rapid military expansion

This article appeared in USA TODAY on January 15, 2002. The WarHawks wasted no time in setting the world stage for the final act of George Orwell's 1984 and the beginning of their long planned neverendingwar.

Do not miss the fact, toward the bottom of the article, the admission that the U.S. is downplaying publicizing its military expansion in return for bases in many countries. Even before the holocaust on September 11, 2001 at the World Trade Center, "the military had a presence in 140 countries worldwide".

Who will protect America?

When the phrase 'military presence' is used, a sterilization process takes place. We forget the military consists of America's young men and women who have no idea they are being used as a mercenary force for an alien power in control of the U.S. government.

It would NOT be surprising to discover that the U.S. is threatening to bomb them if the countries' leaders refuse a U.S. "military presence". Lot's of American 'tax' dollars being used as bribe money.

-- Jackie --

November 3, 2002

================================

USA TODAY

January 15, 2002

U.S. undergoes rapid military expansion

By Amr Nabil, AP

Egyptian troops come ashore from a U.S. hovercraft on the Egyptian coast near Alexandria last October.

American On Alert - Full coverage index

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The United States is rapidly increasing its military ties with nations large and small, thanks to the war on terrorism.

That means more U.S. soldiers will be spread around the globe in coming years, despite President Bush's warning during his election campaign that the military was stretched thin, with too many overseas deployments.

Already, American special forces train armies across Africa. The Pentagon fights war games in the Middle East. U.S. soldiers engage in scores of joint training exercises from South America to Southeast Asia.

Even before Sept. 11, the military had a presence in 140 countries worldwide.

Now it is busy expanding -- or considering expansion -- not just in Afghanistan, where the war against accused terror mastermind Osama bin Laden is taking place, and neighboring Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, but in a slew of countries beyond:  Armenia and Azerbaijan in Central Asia to Somalia in East Africa to the Philippines and Indonesia in Southeast Asia.

"Overall, the American military global presence is more pervasive today than at any point in American history," said John Pike, a military analyst in Washington.

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld has suggested a pullback in only one place -- a cut of about one-third in NATO troops on peacekeeping duty in Bosnia.

The new reach of America's military is worrying some nations. Iran is increasingly nervous about being encircled by countries with new U.S. military ties, said Judith Kipper, a Middle East expert in Washington. China has long worried about American power. The military presence worldwide also could further anger Islamic hard-liners across southwest Asia and the Middle East.

Bin Laden first targeted America when thousands of U.S. troops who came to Saudi Arabia to fight the Persian Gulf War stayed on to maintain regional security. During his 2000 campaign for president, Bush criticized his opponent, Al Gore, and the vice president's boss, President Clinton, for overextending U.S. military forces by intervening in places where vital U.S. security interests were not at stake.

Yet a recent Pentagon paper identifies vital American security interests in almost every part of the globe, with the notable exception of Africa.

The Afghan campaign again has taught U.S. officials that it pays to have relationships with countries important and obscure worldwide, whom the United States may need tomorrow, national security adviser Condoleezza Rice said recently.

After the Sept. 11 attacks, the United States moved quickly to strengthen ties with Pakistan so it could use Pakistani air bases. It approached the former Soviet republics of Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan and reached deals to put air bases in both.

In return, those countries get valuable help with military training or access to equipment. Countries like Singapore, where Navy ships dock, get a public linkage with America that might deter aggression, even if the United States makes no formal guarantee of military help.

The United States also increasingly tries to pre-position military equipment worldwide, to lessen its dependence on cargo planes when trouble pops up, said Loren Thompson, an analyst at the Lexington Institute in Washington. A recent Pentagon study proposed putting even more equipment in the Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean.

"Coming out of Desert Storm (in 1991), we started to build up prepositioned things," Pentagon spokesman Rear Adm. John Stufflebeem said Monday.

In some cases, as it courts a country's military forces, the United States is willing to set aside human rights or other problems.

U.S. officials want to help Indonesia fight possible member clusters of bin Laden's al-Qaeda network, for example, but are under restrictions because of human rights abuses there, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz recently told The New York Times. Those restrictions "really need to be reviewed in the light of Sept. 11," he said.

The United States doesn't trumpet much of the military cooperation. Uzbekistan, for example, is skittish that its role could anger Islamic hard-liners and thus has pressed U.S. officials to restrict news coverage. Rumsfeld and his spokeswoman, Victoria Clarke, have said that is a fair deal, in return for base access.

Saudi Arabia also doesn't talk about the thousands of U.S. forces there. That trend will only grow as America's presence grows, analyst Pike said.

In both the Persian Gulf and central Asia, he said, "A great deal is being done to downplay the thing."

Copyright 2002 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.



So... You Want to Go to War? - Introduction
Introduction by Jackie Patru
"Are you sure? You're willing to risk your life for. . . what? For whom? Your country needs you? To do what? To massacre innocent, defenseless people? Why? Is your country at risk? Or do you have your country confused with the corporation in Washington, D.C... the U.S. Government, Inc.? Are you willing to forfeit your life and possibly your soul in blind obedience to the government? Are you willing to become a human guinea pig to the Military/ Industrial/ Pharmaceutical complex? You will ... if you go to war.

Watch out for this school note: Grades 9, 10, 11, 12
It is a wide and deep river of paper, and in the currents it would be easy to miss the school notification required under Sec. 9528 of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. Think of this notification as the dangerous undertow in the river of paper from your local schools. It is the one required under the "Armed Forces Recruiter Access to Students" section of the "No Child" law.



We have assembled the items below into two categories. Those that are now a part of human history, and those incidents that fathers, mothers, sons, daughers, brothers, and sisters are currently living. Our purpose is to compare the abuses of our men and women in uniform from the past, to the present day reality that nothing has changed.

Think long and hard about whether to send your children off to war. For whom, and what purpose, will you allow your children to spill their blood?

Throughout History

THIS IS WAR!
An unblinking look — in words and images — at the reality of warefare. From an excellent website called the Memory Hole.

U.S. Admits It Tested Nerve Gas on It's Sailors
The Guardian — "The US has admitted that it deliberately sprayed nerve gas on its sailors in the 1960s as part of a series of tests... The Pentagon started releasing the previously classified information... after being pushed by a Democrat congressman from California, Mike Thompson. [who said] "We now know that our military personnel were exposed to Sarin gas and VX nerve agent, which are both lethal, and other agents that are known carcinogens."

Hundreds Died of Cancer After DU Bombing
ABC News — "Cases of cancer have been reported among Italian, Belgian, French, Dutch, Spanish and Portuguese soldiers who served a peacekeepers in Bosnia and Kosovo... Some of the victims had worn flak jackets made from shells with depleted uranium (DU), he told Reuters in an interview."

USS Liberty - Did Israel Commit One War Crime to Hide Another?
By James M. Ennes, Jr. - Survivor: "When the Liberty was attacked, Captain Joseph Tully in the aircraft carrier USS Saratoga received the ship's call for help and immediately sent jet aircraft to her assistance. Tully's jets were recalled almost immediately by orders from Washington. As a result, American jet fighter support was withheld for more than 90 minutes. By then the damage was done and 34 men were dead or dying."

Refusal To Investigate Israel's 1967 Attack on USS Liberty
Wisconsin state legislator, Marlin Schneider, was very naive when he agreed to sponsor a resolution calling for an investigation into the murder of U.S. sailors on orders of the Israeli government. He was sacked as assistant Democratic leader, removed from a leadership position and warned to: "beware of massive political contributions against me and even potential assassination."

Female Sergeant Dead From Anthrax Shot
Retired Air Force LTC Redmond Handy, who resigned his officer's commission rather than participate in what he calls a "terrible crime against our men and women in uniform," warned "there are others currently at risk because of this flawed vaccine. I'm afraid SGT Larson's death won't be the last," he told MilitaryCorruption.com. "When will the Pentagon end this madness?"

Korean "Police Action" - American Soldiers Betrayed
From our How Wars Are Made section
"The enemy then contacted and relayed these battle plans to their communist forces in the field. The enemy knew when to move from an area and when to attack our smaller fighting forces. They knew beforehand when we were coming and how many of us there were. They knew everything about us all the time – 24 hours a day!!!"

It continues today

Pentagon Eyes Mass Graves (for U.S. Soldiers)
From our Iraq section.
Denver Post:
"The bodies of U.S. soldiers killed by chemical or biological weapons in Iraq or future wars may be bulldozed into mass graves and burned to save the lives of surviving troops, under an option being considered by the Pentagon."

Talk of War No Deterrent for Some Looking to Military
NY Times — "Mr. Moran's former school friends also had something else to say in light of the military buildup in the Middle East: They said, "'Oh yeah, you're going to go die over there,' " he recalled. "But I was going to die over here, too, So it doesn't really matter. As a teenager, it's more of a risk to be in the streets."

"U.S. Undergoes Rapid Military Expansion" - Who Will Protect America?
USA Today — "The United States is rapidly increasing its military ties with nations large and small, thanks to the war on terrorism. . . "Overall, the American military global presence is more pervasive today than at any point in American history,": John Pike, military analyst in Washington. . . A recent Pentagon paper identifies vital American security interests in almost every part of the globe, with the notable exception of Africa.

Soldier Sues Military Over Extended Service Order
"This lawsuit seeks to stop the forced retention of men and women who have fulfilled their service obligations. When their period of enlistment ends, they should be entitled to return to their families", said attorney Michael Sorgen. The "stop loss'' order means soldiers who otherwise could leave when their commitments expire will be compelled to remain until the end of a year-long overseas deployment and up to another 90 days after returning to their home base.

Maimed in Iraq, then mistreated, neglected, and hidden in America
Go ahead, guys and gals, sign up! Join the U.S. Army, Navy, Marines, or Air Force. Join the National Guard so you can be sent to Europe to disarm the Bosnians. Become an Iraqi 'Liberator', so you can kill and die for the New World Order.

Unfit Soldiers Returned to War
Guardian, UK
"A stretched Pentagon is sending unfit soldiers back to Iraq long before they are ready to serve again. Soldiers went to war with chronic illnesses such as coronary disease, mental illness, arthritis, diabetes and the nervous condition, Tourette's syndrome, or after undergoing recent surgery."

Soldier Suicides in Iraq Increase
Associated Press
"A U.S. commander warned troops Thursday to watch their friends because suicides are on the rise."

Army to Recall Former Military Members
From our Iraq section
"The Army is preparing to notify about 5,600 retired and discharged soldiers who are not members of the National Guard or Reserve that they will be involuntarily recalled to active duty for possible service in Iraq or Afghanistan...."

US Army forces 50,000 soldiers into extended duty
The U.S. Army has forced about 50,000 soldiers to continue serving after their voluntary stints ended under a policy called "stop-loss," but while some dispute its fairness, court challenges have fallen flat. ...With yearlong tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, some soldiers can be forced to stay in the Army an extra 18 months.

Thousands of US troops evacuated from Iraq for unexplained medical reasons
From our Iraq section
September 2003

"At no point in the last six months have the American people been told that for every soldier who has been killed in Iraq, at least another 15 have fallen so ill that they had to be flown back to the United States."

Iraq War Vets Struggle to Adjust to Lost Limbs, Flashbacks
"Unlike the young draftees of earlier wars, many of these men and women are older, with families. For them, this morphing from a fighting machine ducking bullets into a mommy or daddy packing school lunches presents a special challenge. This time the government tapped the National Guard and the Reserve to augment regular forces. Some returnees-proportionately many more than in Vietnam-have left limbs and slices of sanity on an urban battlefield as strange as the Iraq war itself."

Depleted Uranium: Dirty Bombs, Dirty Missiles, Dirty Bullets
"...eight out of 20 men who served in one unit in 2003 U.S. in Iraq now have malignancies. ... 40% of the soldiers in that unit have developed malignancies in just 16 months. ...it targets the DNA. Marion Fulk, a nuclear physical chemist retired from the Livermore Nuclear Weapons Lab and formerly involved with the Manhattan Project, interprets the new and rapid malignancies in soldiers from the 2003 war as 'spectacular ... and a matter of concern'."

Google Video: Veteran Who Served in Iraq Tells of U.S. Atrocities
Jesse McBeth is with a group called Iraq Vets Against the War. In this video, he tells of the horrors being committed against the Iraqi people. Jesse says the people being called "insurgents" and "the enemy" in Iraq are only trying to protect their families against the invaders.



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