military resistance: 9h18 body parts

8/4/2019 Military Resistance: 9H18 Body Parts

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Military Resistance: [email protected] 8.26.11 Print it out: color best. Pass it on.

Military Resistance 9H18

Were Saving The Really SeverelyInjured, Legs Gone, Blinded, Deaf,

Parts Of Brains DestroyedThose Now Number In The Tens Of

ThousandsDespite The Growing Sophistication OfOur Battlefield Medicine And The NewBody Armor, The Orthopedic Wards At

Walter Reed Are Filled With Numbers OfAmputees Not Seen Since The Civil War
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]


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August 25, 2011 By Eve Ottenberg, Monterey County Weekly [Excerpts]

The human costs of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are high and hidden, due toadvances in combat medicine, and this masks the ferocity of these conflicts.

In Broken Bodies, Shattered Minds: A Medical Odyssey from Vietnam to Afghanistan(History Publishing, June 2011), Ronald Glasser quotes one army nurse in Baghdad:Were saving the really severely injured, legs gone, blinded, deaf, parts of brainsdestroyed.

You may go home, but you wont be the same as when you left. As Glasser writes,

Those now number in the tens of thousands.So the overt cost of war, the death toll, would be much greater if not for new medicaldevelopments that enable the low fatality statistics to hide the brutality of thesestruggles.

The signature wounds are traumatic brain injuries and multiple amputations, which occurbecause our soldiers are being blown up by Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs).

Such wounds would once have been fatal, but not anymore, thanks to surgical advancesand the transformation of combat medicine.

We have been lulled by our own successes in simply keeping our troops alive as ifdeath is the only measure of risks on the battlefield, Glasser writes.

Despite the growing sophistication of our battlefield medicine and the new body armor,the orthopedic wards at Walter Reed are filled with numbers of amputees not seensince the Civil War.

He argues that unlike all our other wars, the real legacy of Iraq and Afghanistan is nolonger the graveyard, but the orthopedics ward, the neurological unit, and the psychiatricout-patient department.

AFGHANISTAN WAR REPORTS

Three Foreign OccupationServicemembers Killed Somewhere Or

Other In Afghanistan:Nationality Not Announced

August 25, 2011 Reuters


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A foreign servicemember died following an improvised explosive device attack insouthern Afghanistan today.

Two more foreign servicemembers died following an IED attack in southern Afghanistan.

Another Foreign OccupationServicemember Killed Somewhere Or

Other In Afghanistan:Nationality Not Announced

August 26, 2011 Reuters

A foreign servicemember died following an insurgent attack in southern Afghanistan,yesterday.

A LOT Of Toast19 Fuel Tankers For Foreign Troops In

Afghanistan Set Ablaze In Mastung

[Thanks to Felicity Arbuthnot who sent this in. She writes A LOT of toast.]

August 22, 2011 Pakistan Times

QUETTA - Militants torched at least 19 oil tankers near Dasht tehsil of Mastung onMonday. The tankers were carrying fuel for foreign forces in neighbouring Afghanistan.


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A convoy of NATO oil tankers was attacked by armed motorcyclists when the vehicleswere parked on the Quetta-Sibi national highway and awaited security clearance late onSaturday night, police official Ismail Kurd said .

Thirteen oil tankers were completely burnt, six partially damaged while seven othersremained safe, Kurd said, adding that there were no human casualties.

Police cordoned off the entire area immediately after the attack and started searching forthe assailants.

There has been no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack however similarattacks have been carried out by Taliban militants in the past to disrupt supplies to US-led troops fighting against the militia in Afghanistan for the past 10 years.

WELCOME TO OBAMAWORLD. HAVE A NICEDAY

U.S. Marines from the 3/4 Infantry Battalion walk into a patrol base in the GereshkValley, Helmand province, southern Afghanistan, Aug. 20, 2011. (AP Photo/BrennanLinsley)

LIBYA WAR REPORTS


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Lieberman Called Libya AnImportant Ally In The War On

TerrorismMcCain Pledged To Help Qaddafi SecureU.S. Military Hardware

24 August 11 By Ali Gharib, ThinkProgress [Excerpts]

For all the braying by the Senates top three hawks about how the US wasnt doingenough to oust Libyan dictator Col. Muammar Qaddafi from power, one might besurprised to learn that exactly two years ago, Sens. John McCain (R-AZ), Joe Lieberman(I-CT) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) were in Tripoli meeting with the erratic leader and

giving him assurances that relations between the nations were on the mend.

According to a leaked August 2009 US diplomatic cable released by WikiLeaksrecounting the Senators junket, the neoconservative Connecticut Senator captured thedynamic of aligning with a brutal dictator:

Lieberman called Libya an important ally in the war on terrorism, noting that commonenemies sometimes make better friends.

Qaddafis history as a top enemy of the US stretched back decades, but hischange of heart came quickly after the US invaded Iraq under the pretense ofSaddam Husseins development of weapons of mass destruction.

Hawks seized on Libyas dtente with the West as a sign that Bushs tough actions inIraq were having a ripple effect, though patently not, as Iraq War boosters had predicted,with regard to democratic reforms.

"We never would have guessed ten years ago that we would be sitting in Tripoli, beingwelcomed by a son of Muammar al-Qaddafi," said Lieberman, according to the leakedcable.

The three Senate hawks discussed in detail the Qaddafi regimes security needs withLibyas National Security Adviser, Qaddafis son Muatassim. According to the cable:

5.(C) Senator McCain assured Muatassim that the United States wanted to provideLibya with the equipment it needs for its (a Libyan security program). He stated that heunderstood Libyas requests regarding the rehabilitation of its eight C130s and pledgedto see what he could do to move things forward in Congress. He encouragedMuatassim to keep in mind the long-term perspective of bilateral security engagementand to remember that small obstacles will emerge from time to time that can beovercome.


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At another point, McCain and Graham reiterated pledges to push to fulfill the Qaddafiregime requests at the Pentagon and on the Hill:

Senators McCain and Graham conveyed the US interest in continuing the progress ofthe bilateral relationship and pledged to try to resolve the C130 issue with Congress andDefense Secretary Gates.

But 18 months later, Qaddafi reacted to mass protests by mobilizing his military, bringingdown international condemnation and, in just a few short weeks, a UN Security Councilresolution authorizing the use of force.

One wonders if August 2009 was too soon to press Qaddafi on the well-being of hispeople: theres no hint of democratic reforms, or indeed the Libyan people, in theWikiLeaks cable.

In The Ruins Of Gadhafis Compound,Rebels Find Album Filled With Photos Of

His Darling Condoleezza Rice

Sergey Ponomarev, AP

Aug 25, 2011 By David R Arnott, MSNBC [Excerpts]

"Deeply bizarre and deeply creepy."


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Thats how the State Department is describing a surprising find inside the compound ofLibyan leader Moammar Gadhafi: a photo album filled with page after page of pictures ofCondoleezza Rice, the former secretary of state who visited Tripoli in 2008.

The pictures were first highlighted here on PhotoBlog and went on to be publishedaround the world.

Though maybe the discovery isnt that surprising. Over the years, the Libyan leaderscomments and actions related to the former secretary of state have raised a feweyebrows.

Consider how he talked about her in an interview with Al-Jazeera television in 2007,where he hinted that then-President George W. Bushs top diplomat wieldedconsiderable influence in the Arab world.

"I support my darling black African woman," he said. "I admire and am very proud of theway she leans back and gives orders to the Arab leaders. ... Leezza, Leezza, Leezza. ...I love her very much. I admire her, and Im proud of her, because shes a black woman

of African origin."

The following year, Gadhafi and Rice had an opportunity to meet when the secretary ofstate paid a historic visit to Libya one that made steps toward normalizing relationsafter the United States went decades without an ambassador in Tripoli. (The U.S."doesnt have any permanent enemies," she said during the trip.)

Gahdafi welcomed Rice in his home one that President Ronald Reagan once orderedbombed in retaliation for Libyas attack on a German disco for the traditional meal thatends the daylight fast during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Once again, herepeatedly addressed Rice "Condi" to her friends as "Leezza," her aides said.

During the visit, he presented Rice with a diamond ring, a lute, a locket with an engravedlikeness of himself inside and an inscribed edition of "The Green Book," a personalpolitical manifesto that explains his "Third Universal Theory for a new democraticsociety."

Together, the haul was worth $212,000. (Rules prevent her, or any other U.S. official,from keeping gifts from foreign leaders they generally end up in a warehouse, andsome may turn up years later in a presidential library.)

Flash forward three years, when Libyan rebels moved into Gadhafis Tripoli strongholdand took control. There, left behind in the compound, was Gadhafis dear Leezza, herimage affixed to the pages of a photo book.

Rebels leafed through the album Wednesday after finding it as they rummaged throughGadhafis Bab al-Aziziya compound.

Rice did not immediately respond to requests for comment about the discovery of thephotos.

MORE:


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Rebels Fan Across Libya Dressed AsCondoleezza Rice

August 26, 2011 (The Borowitz Report)

TRIPOLI In an all-out effort to capture Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, rebelsfanned out across the country today dressed as former U.S. Secretary of StateCondoleezza Rice.

Donning bright pink pantsuits and black pumps, the fifteen thousand rebels blanketedthe Middle Eastern nation, hoping to create a honey trap of sorts for Mr. Gaddafi, whoseunrequited crush on Secretary Rice has come to light in recent days.

In the latest revelation, a diary recovered from Col. Gaffafis battered compound detailsthe origins of his passion for the woman he referred to as my sweet Condoleezza.

It was love at first sight, he said of his meeting with the former Secretary of State in2008. I was immediately turned on by her hard-to-spell name.

Rebel field commander Awad Daiki said that with thousands of fierce fighters disguisedas Rice, the military mission dubbed Operation Condoleezza was sure to be a success.

Once we will have Gaddafi in our clutches, there will be cause for celebration, he said.Plus, we cant wait to get out of these heels.

NEED SOME TRUTH?

CHECK OUT TRAVELING SOLDIERTraveling Soldier is the publication of the Military Resistance Organization.

Telling the truth - about the occupations or the criminals running the governmentin Washington - is the first reason for Traveling Soldier. But we want to do morethan tell the truth; we want to report on the resistance to Imperial wars inside thearmed forces.

Our goal is for Traveling Soldier to become the thread that ties working-classpeople inside the armed services together. We want this newsletter to be aweapon to help you organize resistance within the armed forces.

If you like what you've read, we hope that you'll join with us in building a networkof active duty organizers. http://www.traveling-soldier.org/

And join with Iraq Veterans Against the War to end the occupations and bring alltroops home now! (www.ivaw.org/)
http://www.traveling-soldier.org/http://www.ivaw.org/http://www.ivaw.org/http://www.traveling-soldier.org/


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MILITARY NEWS

THIS IS HOW OBAMA BRINGS THEM HOME:

ALL HOME NOW, ALIVEThe casket containing the remains of Chief Petty Officer Nicholas H. Null at the WoodsValley Regional Airport Aug. 19, 2011 in Parkersburg, W. Va. Null was among 30Americans killed when insurgents shot down their helicopter in Afghanistan. The 30-year-old Wood County native was an explosive ordnance disposal technician. Nullserved in Iraq and Afghanistan and earned two Bronze Stars, one with valor. Null joinedthe Navy in 2000 and had been stationed in Virginia Beach since 2007, reporting to aSEAL team in 2009. (AP Photo/U.S. Navy, Mass Communication Specialist 2nd ClassByron C. Linder,


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POLITICIANS CANT BE COUNTED ON TO HALTTHE BLOODSHED

THE TROOPS HAVE THE POWER TO STOP THEWARS

How Pentagon Officials Often SpinMass Casualty Bombing Attacks In

Iraq And Afghanistan:Mass Killings Mean Progress, Military

Says

[Thanks to Michael Letwin, New York City Labor Against The War & Military ResistanceOrganization, who sent this in.]

August 15, 2011 By Kevin Baron, Stars and Stripes

WASHINGTON Weve written for years how Pentagon officials often spin masscasualty terrorist bombing attacks in Iraq and Afghanistan into signs of progress.


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After multiple bombings killed more than 80 people across the warzones Sundayand Monday, heres an example of how the war is spun.

One standard Defense Department talking point reads something like this: It is a clearsign that the counterinsurgency is working when insurgents dont engage in head-to-

head fighting against Western troops (who are armed to the teeth like sci-fi warriors) andinstead launch suicide attacks against local security forces, political leaders andcivilians.

The bad guys are desperate.

Politicos Morning Defense shared an email Monday that is pure military public affairsgold.

How do you interpret a suicide bombing assassination attempt north of Kabul thatkilled at least 20 people into an obvious sign the war was going as planned?

An International Security Assistance Force spokesman emailed MDs ChuckHoskinson a response claiming the attack was a resounding failure because: 1)the target, a provincial governor survived, 2) the Afghan security forces reactedautonomously and 3) the attack did not target U.S. forces.

The ISAF spokesman explained those points are important to make because they arecrucial to undermining the Talibans attempt to obtain a propaganda victory from theirfailed attack.

Judge for yourself who won the victory, propaganda or otherwise.

According to The Washington Post, the attack occurred in a relatively secure Parwan

province, north of Kabul.

A car bomb blew up an entrance to the governors compound, five insurgents breachedthe facility and a two-hour gunfight commenced where five explosions shook thebuilding. ISAF reported at least six IEDs in addition to the car bomb were detonated.

In far worse carnage, bombings in at least 17 Iraqi cities on Monday killed more than 60people in bloodbath scenes of scattered human flesh.

Stars and Stripes Erik Slavin, in Iraq, reports U.S. servicemembers were not attackedand Iraqi forces had to call for American assistance just once.

U.S. Forces Iraq spokesman Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Buchanan, in the Pentagon Monday, saidthe attacks show Iraq remains dangerous but do not threaten the government and theinsurgency remains an unpopular shadow of its former self.

It is something that is obviously concerning, said Pentagon spokesman BryanWhitman, in Mondays press gaggle.


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Then he noted the attacks were not necessarily targeting U.S. forces and, repeating anoft-heard DOD talking point, that U.S. leaders had anticipated for some time terroristattacks would spike as Americans headed for the exits.

You can probably anticipate youll hear that line again, for some time.

Troops Invited:Comments, arguments, articles, and letters from service menand women, and veterans, are especially welcome. Write to Box126, 2576 Broadway, New York, N.Y. 10025-5657 or send email [email protected]: Name, I.D., withheld unless yourequest publication. Same address to unsubscribe.

Twisted Religious Fanatic DefiesWishes Of Family Of Decorated

Veteran:She Torments Them With UnwantedBullshit At Burial Of Their Soldier:

Army Ignoring The Familys ComplaintThat They Were Disrespected At Funeral

Ceremony
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]


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August 11, 2011 by MAAFAdmin [Excerpts]

On July 25th, 2011, John Hormuth and his wife Mattie were interred at Arlingtoncemetery.

John was a WWII pilot who earned the Air Medal and Purple Heart during over 100sorties in the war. He was also a loving father and husband to his wife Mattie, who lovedhim, their 7 children, and her gardens.

The day was beautiful for the ceremony, with full military honors of a band, a caisson tocarry their remains, and a military detail to fold the flag and fire volleys to lay them torest. Over 30 friends and family, including great grandchildren, came from around thecountry to attend the service, share their sorrows, and cherish fond memories.

Unfortunately, the event did not go perfectly.

The family is requesting action from the Arlington cemetery administration and the Armyregarding religious intrusions into the event.

The family requested a humanist headstone, a humanist speaker, no chaplaininteraction, and specifically reiterated the importance of a nonreligious event onthe day of the service.

These requests were ignored by the assigned representative and by the ArlingtonLadies who, as an official part of the ceremony, blessed the grieving family andprovided a religious card as an official part of the service and, according to the

lady, on behalf of the chief of staff of the Army.

MAAF has requested comment from the assigned Arlington Lady and the Army,but inquiries have not yet been responded to.

The Department of Veterans Affairs has done well in making its policies clear.

Arlington Cemetery, unlike other US military cemeteries, is under the direction of theArmy rather than the Veterans Administration.


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The Chief of Staff of the Army should ensure that the Arlington Ladies are not praying onhis behalf.

The Army should ensure that Arlington National Cemetery includes religious content onlyat the request of the family and only under the supervision of the chaplains.

MAAF applauds the care and dedication of the Arlington Ladies and other similargroups, but their care must not come at the cost of government-sponsored religiousspeech that is against a familys wishes.

MAAF hopes this can be a case in point to allow the Army to stand firm for familiesrights and ensure staff and volunteers work within the bounds of propriety during militaryceremonies.

Crash!!! Its Raining Drones:A US Military Official Commentating OnThe Drone Said (With No Apparent TraceOf Irony) We Were In Complete Control

Up Until The Collision

A man examines the destruction caused by a drone crash in Jalalabad (creditGannett.com)

[Thanks to Felicity Arbuthnot who sent this in.]

24/08/2011Dronewarsuk.wordpress.com [Excerpts]


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In the same week that a UK industry insider told a drone conference in the US that theUK is preparing to take preliminary steps in plans that will eventually allow drones to flyin UK civil airspace, three drones on operation in Afghanistan and Somali have crashed.

On 16th August, an RQ-7 Shadow drone, which is about 12 feet long and 20 feet across,crashed into a US military cargo plane in East Afghanistan. There were no reports of

injuries and the cargo plane made an emergency landing.

According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, a US military official commentating onthe drone said (with no apparent trace of irony) We were in complete control up untilthe collision.

A few days later, an unknown type of drone crashed in the middle of the Somali capital,Mogadishu.

A reporter from Associated Press witnessed the wreckage before it was removed byAfrican Union troops. The drone is suspected, but not confirmed, to be operated by theUS military.

Finally a third drone crashed in the Naranj Bagh neighbourhood of the provincial capitalJalalabad in Afghanistan on 20th August, damaging two houses. Local media tookpictures of the damage (above) and the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF)acknowledged the drone was one of theirs.

I have updated our Drone Crash Database with these and eight other dronecrashes for 2011 and added details of a further five for 2010 giving a total of thirty-six large drone crashes for 2010 & 2011 (smaller drone crashes are ignored asthey happen so often it would swamp the database).

Overall the database now has some details of almost eighty large drone crashes

since 2007, compiled from USAF accident reports, press reports and Wikileaks.

As the drone industry continues to push regulators and parlimentarians to relax the rulesthat currently forbid drones from flying in civil UK airspace we believe it is important forthe public and decision makers to be aware how unreliable drones are and how oftenthey simply fall out of the sky.

Troops Invited:Comments, arguments, articles, and letters from service

men and women, and veterans, are especially welcome.Write to Box 126, 2576 Broadway, New York, N.Y. 10025-5657 or send email to [email protected]:Name, I.D., withheld unless you request publication.Same address to unsubscribe.
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]


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DANGER: POLITICIANS AT WORK

New York City PoliceDepartment Traitors Helping Kill

U.S. Troops:Mass Harassment Of MuslimsAssists Terrorists Overseas

Recruit Fighters:The Program Was Modeled In Part

On How Israeli Authorities Operate InThe West Bank, A Former Police

Official SaidBy Design, The NYPD Was LookingMore And More Like A Domestic CIA


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In 2007, Sanchez testified before the Senate Homeland Security Committee andwas asked how the NYPD spots signs of radicalization.

He said the key was viewing innocuous activity, including behavior that might beprotected by the First Amendment, as a potential precursor to terrorism.

August 24 By Associated Press [Excerpts]

NEW YORK Since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the New York PoliceDepartment has become one of the nations most aggressive domesticintelligence agencies, targeting ethnic communities in ways that would run afoulof civil liberties rules if practiced by the federal government, an Associated Pressinvestigation has found.

These operations have benefited from unprecedented help from the CIA, apartnership that has blurred the line between foreign and domestic spying.

The department has dispatched undercover officers, known as rakers, intominority neighborhoods as part of a human mapping program, according toofficials directly involved in the program.

Theyve monitored daily life in bookstores, bars, cafes and nightclubs.

Police have also used informants, known as mosque crawlers, to monitorsermons, even when theres no evidence of wrongdoing.

Neither the city council, which finances the department, nor the federalgovernment, which has given NYPD more than $1.6 billion since 9/11, is toldexactly whats going on.

Many of these operations were built with help from the CIA, which is prohibited fromspying on Americans but was instrumental in transforming the NYPDs intelligence unit.

A veteran CIA officer, while still on the agencys payroll, was the architect of the NYPDsintelligence programs.

The CIA trained a police detective at the Farm, the agencys spy school in Virginia, thenreturned him to New York, where he put his new espionage skills to work inside theUnited States.

And just last month, the CIA sent a senior officer to work as a clandestine operative

inside police headquarters.

APs investigation is based on documents and interviews with more than 40 current andformer New York Police Department and federal officials. Many were directly involved inplanning and carrying out these secret operations for the department.

In just two episodes showing how widely the NYPD cast its net, the departmentsought a rundown from the taxi commission of every Pakistani cab driver in the


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city, and produced an analytical report on every mosque within 100 miles, officialssaid.

One of the enduring questions of the past decade is whether being safe requires givingup some liberty and privacy. The focus of that debate has primarily been federalprograms like wiretapping and indefinite detention.

The question has received less attention in New York, where residents do not know forsure what, if anything, they have given up.

The story of how the NYPD Intelligence Division developed such aggressive programsbegins with one man.

In Short, He Wanted New York To Have Its Own Version Of The CIA.

David Cohen arrived at the New York Police Department in January 2002, just weeksafter the last fires had been extinguished at the debris field that had been the twin

towers.

A retired 35-year veteran of the CIA, Cohen became the police departments firstcivilian intelligence chief.

Cohen had an exceptional career at the CIA, rising to lead both the agencys analyticaland operational divisions.

He also was an extraordinarily divisive figure, a man whose sharp tongue and supremeconfidence in his own abilities gave him a reputation as arrogant. Cohens tenure ashead of CIA operations, the nations top spy, was so contentious that in 1997, The NewYork Times editorial page took the unusual step of calling for his ouster.

He had no police experience. He had never defended a city from an attack. But NewYork wasnt looking for a cop.

Post-9/11, we needed someone in there who knew how to really gather intelligence,said John Cutter, a retired NYPD official who served as one of Cohens top uniformedofficers.

At the time, the intelligence division was best known for driving dignitaries around thecity. Cohen envisioned a unit that would analyze intelligence, run undercover operationsand cultivate a network of informants.

In short, he wanted New York to have its own version of the CIA.

If anything goes on in New York, one former officer recalls Cohen telling his staff in theearly days, its your fault.

Among Cohens earliest moves at the NYPD was making a request of his old colleaguesat CIA headquarters in Langley, Va.


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He needed someone to help build this new operation, someone with experience andclout and, most important, someone who had access to the latest intelligence so theNYPD wouldnt have to rely on the FBI to dole out information.

CIA Director George Tenet responded by tapping Larry Sanchez, a respectedveteran who had served as a CIA official inside the United Nations.

Often, when the CIA places someone on temporary assignment, the other agencypicks up the tab. In this case, three former intelligence officials said, Tenet keptSanchez on the CIA payroll.

When he arrived in New York in March 2002, Sanchez had offices at both theNYPD and the CIAs station in New York, one former official said.

Sanchez interviewed police officers for newly defined intelligence jobs. He guided andmentored officers, schooling them in the art of gathering information. He also directedtheir efforts, another said.

There had never been an arrangement like it, and some senior CIA officials soon beganquestioning whether Tenet was allowing Sanchez to operate on both sides of the wallthats supposed to keep the CIA out of the domestic intelligence business.

Just as at the CIA, Cohen and Sanchez knew that informants would have to become thebackbone of their operation.

They came up with a makeshift solution.

They dispatched more officers to Pakistani neighborhoods and, according to oneformer police official directly involved in the effort, instructed them to look forreasons to stop cars: speeding, broken tail lights, running stop signs, whatever.

The traffic stop gave police an opportunity to search for outstanding warrants orlook for suspicious behavior.

An arrest could be the leverage the police needed to persuade someone tobecome an informant.

But one significant barrier stood in the way of Cohens vision.

Since 1985, the NYPD had operated under a federal court order limiting the tactics itcould use to gather intelligence. During the 1960s and 1970s, the department had usedinformants and undercover officers to infiltrate anti-war protest groups and other activists

without any reason to suspect criminal behavior.

To settle a lawsuit, the department agreed to follow guidelines that required specificinformation of criminal activity before police could monitor political activity.

In September 2002, Cohen told a federal judge that those guidelines made it virtuallyimpossible to detect terrorist plots. The FBI was changing its rules to respond to 9/11,and Cohen argued that the NYPD must do so, too.


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In the case of terrorism, to wait for an indication of crime before investigating is to waitfar too long, Cohen wrote.

U.S. District Judge Charles S. Haight Jr. agreed, saying the old guidelines addresseddifferent perils in a different time. He scrapped the old rules and replaced them withmore lenient ones.

It was a turning point for the NYPD.

A Secret Squad That Would Soon Infiltrate Muslim Neighborhoods

With his newfound authority, Cohen created a secret squad that would sooninfiltrate Muslim neighborhoods, according to several current and former officialsdirectly involved in the program.

The NYPD carved up the city into more than a dozen zones and assigned undercoverofficers to monitor them, looking for potential trouble.

Using census data, the department matched undercover officers to ethnic communitiesand instructed them to blend in, the officials said. Pakistani-American officers infiltratedPakistani neighborhoods, Palestinians focused on Palestinian neighborhoods. Theyhung out in hookah bars and cafes, quietly observing the community around them.

The unit, which has been undisclosed until now, became known inside thedepartment as the Demographic Unit, former police officials said. [See 7thparagraph below, where the chief stupid fool for NYPD press relations says theDemographic Unit does not exist.]

The officers did not work out of headquarters, officials said. Instead, they passed their

intelligence to police handlers who knew their identities.

Cohen said he wanted the squad to rake the coals, looking for hot spots, formerofficials recalled. The undercover officers soon became known inside the department asrakers.

Undercover officers might visit an Internet cafe and look at the browsing historyon a computer, a former police official involved in the program said. If it revealedvisits to radical websites, the cafe might be deemed a hot spot.

Ethnic bookstores, too, were on the list. If a raker noticed a customer looking atradical literature, he might chat up the store owner and see what he could learn.

The bookstore, or even the customer, might get further scrutiny.

The Program Was Modeled In Part On How Israeli Authorities Operate InThe West Bank, A Former Police Official Said


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Mapping crimes has been a successful police strategy nationwide. But mappingrobberies and shootings is one thing. Mapping ethnic neighborhoods is different,something that at least brushes against what the federal government considers racialprofiling.

[Paul] Browne, the NYPD spokesman, said the Demographic Unit does not exist.

We will go into a location, whether its a mosque or a bookstore, if the lead warrants it,and at least establish whether theres something that requires more attention, Brownesaid.

That conflicts with testimony from an undercover officer in the 2006 trial of ShahawarMatin Siraj, who was convicted of planning an attack on New Yorks subway system.The officer said he was instructed to live in Brooklyn and act as a walking camera forpolice.

I was told to act like a civilian hang out in the neighborhood, gather information, theBangladeshi officer testified, under a false name, in what offered the first narrow glimpse

at the NYPDs infiltration of ethnic neighborhoods.

In 2007, the Los Angeles Police Department was criticized for even considering asimilar program.

The police announced plans to map Islamic neighborhoods to look for pockets ofradicalization among the regions roughly 500,000 Muslims. Criticism was swift, andchief William Bratton scrapped the plan.

A lot of these people came from countries where the police were the terrorists, Brattonsaid at a news conference, according to the Los Angeles Daily News. We dont do thathere. We do not want to spread fear.

In New York, current and former officials said, the lesson of that controversy wasthat such programs should be kept secret.

Some in the department, including lawyers, have privately expressed concerns about theraking program and how police use the information, current and former officials said.

Part of the concern was that it might appear that police were building dossiers oninnocent people, officials said.

Another concern was that, if a case went to court, the department could be forced toreveal details about the program, putting the entire operation in jeopardy.

Thats why, former officials said, police regularly shredded documents discussing rakers.

The Traitor Cohen Promises And Lies

When Cohen made his case in court that he needed broader authority toinvestigate terrorism, he had promised to abide by the FBIs investigativeguidelines.


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But the FBI is prohibited from using undercover agents unless theres specificevidence of criminal activity, meaning a federal raking program like the oneofficials described to the AP would violate FBI guidelines.

The NYPD declined to make Cohen available for comment.

The Traitor Cohen Runs A Rogue Domestic Surveillance Operation AtThe 2004 RNC

The department clashed with civil rights groups most publicly after Cohens undercoverofficers infiltrated anti-war groups before the 2004 Republican National Convention inNew York.

A lawsuit over that program continues today.

During the convention, when protesters were arrested, police asked a list of

questions which, according to court documents, included: What are yourpolitical affiliations? Do you do any kind of political work? and Do you hateGeorge W. Bush?

At the end of the day, its pure and simple a rogue domestic surveillanceoperation, said Christopher Dunn, a New York Civil Liberties Union lawyerinvolved in the convention lawsuit.

The FBI Condemns And Refuses Information From New York City SecretPolice

Undercover agents like the rakers were valuable, but what Cohen and Sanchez wantedmost were informants.

The NYPD dedicated an entire squad, the Terrorist Interdiction Unit, to developing andhandling informants. Current and former officials said Sanchez was instrumental inteaching them how to develop sources.

For years, detectives used informants known as mosque crawlers to monitor weeklysermons and report what was said, several current and former officials directly involvedin the informant program said.

If FBI agents were to do that, they would be in violation of the Privacy Act, which

prohibits the federal government from collecting intelligence on purely FirstAmendment activities.

The FBI has generated its own share of controversy for putting informants insidemosques, but unlike the program described to the AP, the FBI requires evidenceof a crime before an informant can be used inside a mosque.


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Valerie Caproni, the FBIs general counsel, would not discuss the NYPDsprograms but said FBI informants cant troll mosques looking for leads.

Such operations are reviewed for civil liberties concerns, she said.

If youre sending an informant into a mosque when there is no evidence of

wrongdoing, thats a very high-risk thing to do, Caproni said.

Youre running right up against core constitutional rights. Youre talking aboutfreedom of religion.

Thats why senior FBI officials in New York ordered their own agents not to acceptany reports from the NYPDs mosque crawlers, two retired agents said.

Its unclear whether the police department still uses mosque crawlers. Officials said that,as Muslims figured out what was going on, the mosque crawlers became cafe crawlers,fanning out into the citys ethnic hangouts.

Following the foiled subway plot, however, the key informant in the case, OsamaEldawoody, said he attended hundreds of prayer services and collected informationeven on people who showed no signs of radicalization.

NYPD detectives have recruited shopkeepers and nosy neighbors to becomeseeded informants who keep police up to date on the latest happenings inethnic neighborhoods, one official directly involved in the informant program said.

The department also has a roster of directed informants it can tap for assignments.

For instance, if a raker identifies a bookstore as a hot spot, police might assign aninformant to gather information, long before theres concrete evidence of anything

criminal.

To identify possible informants, the department created what became known as thedebriefing program.

When someone is arrested who might be useful to the intelligence unit whetherbecause he said something suspicious or because he is simply a young Middle Easternman he is singled out for extra questioning.

Intelligence officials dont care about the underlying charges; they want to know moreabout his community and, ideally, they want to put him to work.

Police are in prisons, too, promising better living conditions and help or money on theoutside for Muslim prisoners who will work with them.

Early in the intelligence divisions transformation, police asked the taxicommission to run a report on all the citys Pakistani cab drivers, looking forthose who got licenses fraudulently and might be susceptible to pressure tocooperate, according to former officials who were involved in or briefed on theeffort.


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That strategy has been rejected in other cities.

Boston police once asked neighboring Cambridge for a list of Somali cab drivers,Cambridge Police Chief Robert Haas said. Haas refused, saying that without aspecific reason, the search was inappropriate.

It really has a chilling effect in terms of the relationship between the local policedepartment and those cultural groups, if they think thats going to take place,Haas said.

The informant division was so important to the NYPD that Cohen persuaded his formercolleagues to train a detective, Steve Pinkall, at the CIAs training center at the Farm.Pinkall, who had an intelligence background as a Marine, was given an unusualtemporary assignment at CIA headquarters, officials said. He took the field tradecraftcourse alongside future CIA spies then returned to New York to run investigations.

The idea troubled senior FBI officials, who saw it as the NYPD and CIA blurring the linesbetween police work and spying, in which undercover officers regularly break the laws of

foreign governments. The arrangement even made its way to FBI Director RobertMueller, two former senior FBI officials said, but the training was already under way andMueller did not press the issue.

The Traitor Cohen Sends Secret Agents To Other States And 11 ForeignCountries

NYPDs intelligence operations do not stop at the city line.

In June 2009, a New Brunswick, N.J., building superintendent opened the door toapartment No. 1076 and discovered an alarming scene: terrorist literature strewn about

the table and computer and surveillance equipment set up in the next room.

The panicked superintendent dialed 911, sending police and the FBI rushing to thebuilding near Rutgers University.

What they found in that first-floor apartment, however, was not a terrorist hideout but acommand center set up by a secret team of New York Police Department intelligenceofficers.

From that apartment, about an hour outside the departments jurisdiction, theNYPD had been staging undercover operations and conducting surveillancethroughout New Jersey. Neither the FBI nor the local police had any idea.

The NYPD has gotten some of its officers deputized as federal marshals, allowing themto work out of state.

But often, theres no specific jurisdiction at all.

Cohens undercover squad, the Special Services Unit, operates in places such asNew Jersey, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts, officials said.


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They cant make arrests and, if something goes wrong a shooting or a car accident,for instance the officers could be personally liable. But the NYPD has decided itsworth the risk, a former police official said.

With Police Commissioner Kellys backing, Cohens policy is that any potential threat toNew York City is the NYPDs business, regardless of where it occurs, officials said.

The FBI Says Operations By The Traitor Cohen Encroached On ItsResponsibilities

That aggressiveness has sometimes put the NYPD at odds with local policedepartments and, more frequently, with the FBI.

The FBI didnt like the rules Cohen played by and said his operations encroachedon its responsibilities.

Once, undercover officers were stopped by police in Massachusetts while conducting

surveillance on a house, one former New York official recalled.

In another instance, the NYPD sparked concern among federal officials byexpanding its intelligence-gathering efforts related to the United Nations, wherethe FBI is in charge, current and former federal officials said.

The AP has agreed not to disclose details of either the FBI or NYPD operations becausethey involve foreign counterintelligence.

Cohen has also sent officers abroad, stationing them in 11 foreign cities.

If a bomber blows himself up in Jerusalem, the NYPD rushes to the scene, said

Dzikansky, who served in Israel and is the co-author of the forthcoming book TerroristSuicide Bombings: Attack Interdiction, Mitigation, and Response.

All of this intelligence from the rakers, the undercovers, the overseas liaisons and theinformants is passed to a team of analysts hired from some of the nations mostprestigious universities.

Analysts have spotted emerging trends and summarized topics such as Hezbollahsactivities in New York and the threat of South Asian terrorist groups.

They also have tackled more contentious topics, including drafting a report onevery mosque in the area, one former police official said.

The report drew on information from mosque crawlers, undercover officers and publicinformation. It mapped hundreds of mosques and discussed the likelihood of them beinginfiltrated by al-Qaida, Hezbollah and other terrorist groups.

Though the CIA is prohibited from collecting intelligence domestically, the wall betweendomestic and foreign operations became more porous.


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Intelligence gathered by the NYPD, with CIA officer Sanchez overseeing collection, wasoften passed to the CIA in informal conversations and through unofficial channels, aformer official involved in that process said.

By Design, The NYPD Was Looking More And More Like A Domestic CIA.

By design, the NYPD was looking more and more like a domestic CIA.

Its like starting the CIA over in the post-9/11 world, Cohen said in Securing the City,a laudatory 2009 book about the NYPD. What would you do if you could begin it all overagain? Hah. This is what you would do.

Though Sanchezs assignments were blessed by CIA management, some in theagencys New York station saw the presence of such a senior officer in the city as a turfencroachment.

Finally, the New York station chief, Tom Higgins, called headquarters, one former senior

intelligence official said. Higgins complained, the official said, that Sanchez was wearingboth hats, sometimes acting as a CIA officer, sometimes as an NYPD official.

The CIA finally forced him to choose: Stay with the agency or stay with the NYPD.

Sanchez declined to comment to the AP about the arrangement, but he picked theNYPD. He retired last year and is now a consultant in the Middle East.

Last month, the CIA deepened its NYPD ties even further.

It sent one of its most experienced operatives, a former station chief in two MiddleEastern countries, to work out of police headquarters as Cohens special

assistant while on the CIA payroll.

Officials said revealing the CIA officers name would jeopardize national security. Thearrangement was described as a sabbatical. He is a member of the agencys seniormanagement, but officials said he was sent to the municipal police department to getmanagement experience.

At the NYPD, he works undercover in the senior ranks of the intelligence division.

The City Comptrollers Office Has Audited Several NYPD ComponentsSince 9/11 But Not The Intelligence Unit, Which Had A $62 Million Budget

Last Year

The NYPD has faced little scrutiny over the past decade as it has taken on broad newintelligence missions, targeted ethnic neighborhoods and partnered with the CIA inextraordinary ways.


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The departments primary watchdog, the New York City Council, has not held hearingson the intelligence divisions operations and former NYPD officials said council memberstypically do not ask for details.

Ray Kelly briefs me privately on certain subjects that should not be discussed in public,said City Councilman Peter Vallone. Weve discussed in person how they investigate

certain groups they suspect have terrorist sympathizers or have terrorist suspects.

The city comptrollers office has audited several NYPD components since 9/11 but notthe intelligence unit, which had a $62 million budget last year.

The federal government, too, has done little to scrutinize the nations largestpolice force, despite the massive federal aid. Homeland Security officials reviewNYPD grants but not its underlying programs.

Secret Police Engaged In Corrupt Contracting:The NYPD Violated State And Federal Contracting Rules Between 2006

And 2008 By Buying More Than $4 Million In Equipment Through A No-BidProcess

A report in January by the Homeland Security inspector general, for instance,found that the NYPD violated state and federal contracting rules between 2006 and2008 by buying more than $4 million in equipment through a no-bid process.

NYPD said public bidding would have revealed sensitive information to terrorists,but police never got approval from state or federal officials to adopt their ownrules, the inspector general said.

On Capitol Hill, where FBI tactics have frequently been criticized for their effect on civilliberties, the NYPD faces no such opposition.

In 2007, Sanchez testified before the Senate Homeland Security Committee andwas asked how the NYPD spots signs of radicalization.

He said the key was viewing innocuous activity, including behavior that might beprotected by the First Amendment, as a potential precursor to terrorism.

That triggered no questions from the committee, which Sanchez said had been briefedin the past on how we do business.

One of the hallmarks of the intelligence division over the last 10 years is that, not

only has it gotten extremely aggressive and sophisticated, but its operatingcompletely on its own, said Dunn, the civil liberties lawyer.

There are no checks. There is no oversight.

The NYPD has been mentioned as a model for policing in the post-9/11 era. But its amodel that seems custom-made for New York.


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No other city has the Big Apples combination of a low crime rate, a $4.5 billion policebudget and a diverse 34,000-person police force.

Certainly no other police department has such deep CIA ties.

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Forward Military Resistance along, or send us the address if you wish andwell send it regularly. Whether in Afghanistan, Iraq or stuck on a base inthe USA, this is extra important for your service friend, too often cut offfrom access to encouraging news of growing resistance to the wars, insidethe armed services and at home. Send email requests to address up top orwrite to: The Military Resistance, Box 126, 2576 Broadway, New York, N.Y.10025-5657. Phone: 888.711.2550


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School District Punishes LittleGirl For Reporting She Was

Raped:She Was Then Expelled For The

Rest Of The School Year AndReferred To Juvenile Authorities

For Filing A False Report

After He Rapes Her Again AndSchool Ignores It Again, Mom Acts:The Boy Was Taken Into Custody InJuvenile Court And Pleaded Guilty

In February 2010, the boy allegedly forcibly raped the girl again, this time in theback of the school library. While school officials allegedly expressed skepticismof the girl, her mother took her to the Child Advocacy Center and an exam showed

a sexual assault had occurred.

DNA in semen found on the girl matched the DNA of the boy she accused, the suitsays.

Aug. 16, 2011 Written by Cory de Vera, NEWS-LEADER [Excerpts]

A lawsuit filed against the Republic School District alleges school officials failed toprotect a middle school girl from a male classmate who harassed her, sexually assaultedher, and raped her.

The suit, filed July 5, alleges when the girl a special education student told officials

about the harassment, assault and rape that occurred during the 2008-09 school year,they told her they did not believe her. She recanted.

The suit also alleges that, without seeking her mothers permission, school officialsforced the girl to write a letter of apology to the boy and personally deliver it to him.

She was then expelled for the rest of the 2008-2009 school year and referred to juvenileauthorities for filing a false report.


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School Officials, although mandatory reporters under Missouris Child AbuseReporting Law, failed to report (the girls) complaints to the Division of FamilyServices or to Greene County Juvenile Authorities, the suit says.

In 2009-10, the girl was allowed back in school, and the boy continued to harassand assault her, the suit says.

She did not tell school officials because she was afraid she would be accused oflying and kicked out of school.

In February 2010, the boy allegedly forcibly raped the girl again, this time in theback of the school library.

While school officials allegedly expressed skepticism of the girl, her mother tookher to the Child Advocacy Center and an exam showed a sexual assault hadoccurred.

DNA in semen found on the girl matched the DNA of the boy she accused, the suit

says.

The boy was taken into custody in Juvenile Court and pleaded guilty to charges,the suit says.

School Officials acted recklessly in conscious disregard of and with deliberateindifference to the risk of (the girls) safety by failing to conduct an investigation into herallegations of rape and sexual assault, by suspending her from school, and by failing toprovide her with any protection from her rapist, the suit says.

The suit alleges that when school officials interviewed the girl in 2008-09, they failed toeven look at her own school file, which included a psychological report which clearly

indicated that (the girl) was conflict adverse, behaviorally passive and would forego herown needs and wishes to satisfy the request of others around so she can be accepted.

The 23-page suit was filed July 5 and only identifies the girl, her mother, and the boy byinitials. The girl is represented by attorney Doug Harpool. The suit seeks unspecifiedactual and punitive damages.

Defendants specifically named in the suit are the Republic School District,Superintendent Vern Minor, middle school Principal Patricia Mithelavage, counselor JoniRagain, and school resource officer Robert Duncan.

The school districts 19-page response was filed July 29.

The girl failed and neglected to use reasonable means to protect her self, theresponse says.

Military Resistance distributes and posts to our website copyrighted material the use of which has not always beenspecifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in an effort to advanceunderstanding of the invasion and occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan. We believe this constitutes a fair use of anysuch copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law since it is being distributed withoutcharge or profit for educational purposes to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the includedinformation for educational purposes, in accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107. Military Resistance has noaffiliation whatsoever with the originator of these articles nor is Military Resistance endorsed or sponsored by


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the originators. This attributed work is provided a non-profit basis to facilitate understanding, research,education, and the advancement of human rights and social justice. Go to:www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml for more information. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site forpurposes of your own that go beyond fair use, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

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