Military Resistance: thomasfbarton@earthlink.net 5.4.14 Print it out: color best. Pass it on.

Military Resistance 12E2

Comment: T
About The Ukrainian Crisis
[With Supporting Article Below]

Russia is run by a corrupt pack of super rich capitalists, called oligarchs, who
intend to oppress and exploit every piece of the earth they can get their hands on
for their Empire, and dont give a shit about freedom, democracy, the right of
nations to self-determination, or anything else besides heaping up their money.

The United States is run by a corrupt pack of super rich capitalists, called
oligarchs, who intend to oppress and exploit every piece of the earth they can get
their hands on for their Empire, and dont give a shit about freedom, democracy,
the right of nations to self-determination, or anything else besides heaping up
their money.

The Ukrainian government in Kyiv is run by a corrupt pack of super rich
capitalists, called oligarchs, who intend to oppress and exploit every piece of the
land inside the borders of the Ukraine they can get their hands on, and dont give
a shit about about freedom, democracy, or anything else besides heaping up their
money.

That said, regardless of the regime in power over them, the Ukrainians have the
right to refuse to become part of either the Russian or the U.S. Empires, and to
resist either by force of arms.

If Ukrainians could manage to wipe out their own ruling class government of
oligarchs, centered in Kyiv, and install a working class government, it will be
much easier to defend themselves against hungry Empires.

This would also bring the support of unhappy Eastern Ukrainians.

The Eastern Ukrainians are rebelling against a corrupt government of Ukrainian
oligarchs who have oppressed and exploited them ever since the Ukraine became
a nation, lately appointing billionaire governors to rule over them and suck their
blood, treating them like an internal colony.

The rebels are not infiltrating agents of Putin, as the Obama regime would have
you believe. The New York Times reporter, story below, found that out first hand
and reports it truthfully, unlike Obamas stupid lies.

A large majority of Eastern Ukrainians do not wish to become part of Imperial
Russia, as poll after poll of their views has repeatedly shown.

The Eastern Ukrainians have as much right to revolution against a government of
capitalist oligarch tyrants as the Ukrainians had to rise up against the government
of the tyrant Yanukovych and his oligarchs that their uncompleted revolution
overthrew in February.

The Eastern Ukrainians are right to rise up against the new government of
oligarchs in Kyiv and the billionaire oligarchs that government has appointed to
rule over them without their consent.

If they wish to, the Eastern Ukrainians have as much right to self-determination as
any other group of oppressed, exploited people ruled by appointed oligarchs who
set governors over them from far away, and grow fat on their exploitation.

In the best of all possible worlds, Ukrainian government soldiers and the armed
rebels of Eastern Ukraine would stop fighting each other and join together to wipe
out all the Ukrainian oligarchs, and set an example for what Russians can do with
Putins government of, by, and for the super rich in Russia.

Following this comment is a report indicating the situation in Eastern Ukraine is
far more complex that ass-kissing propagandists who defend the U.S. or Russian
Imperial governments wish you to believe.

Excerpt from below:

At the 12th Companys main base, the home of Tanya and her husband, Lev,
residents visited to donate food: homemade pastries, slabs of salted pork fat, a
vat of borscht, bags of fresh green onions, jars of pickled vegetables and fruits.

To the guys in Kiev, we are separatists and terrorists, Yuri said. But to the
people here, we are defenders and protectors

MORE:

The Many Faces Of
Armed Rebellion:
All Spoke Of Disgust With The
Interim Authorities In Kiev
There Is No Russian Master. We
Have No Muscovites Here. I Have
Experience Enough
Several Fighters Shook Their Heads
At The Idea That They Had Been Paid
By Russia, By Oligarchs Or By
Anybody Else
This Is Not A Job, Said One Fighter,
Dmitry. It Is A Service

They bristled at any suggestion that their seizure of government buildings was
wrong. Pro-Western protesters in Kiev have held government buildings and the
citys main square since last fall, they said.

Why did America support those acts, but is in opposition to ours? said Maksim,
the young former paratrooper who organized Yuris snipers by the bridge. These
are the contradictions of the West.

MAY 3, 2014 By C. J . CHIVERS and NOAH SNEIDERMAY, New York Times

SLOVYANSK, Ukraine

The rebel leader spread a topographic map in front of a closed grocery store here as a
Ukrainian military helicopter flew past a nearby hill. Ukrainian troops had just seized
positions along a river, about a mile and a half away. The commander thought they
might advance.

He issued orders with the authority of a man who had seen many battles. Go down to
the bridge and set up the snipers, the leader, who gave only a first name, Yuri, said to a
former Ukrainian paratrooper, who jogged away.

Yuri commands the 12th Company, part of the self-proclaimed Peoples Militia of the
Donetsk Peoples Republic, a previously unknown and often masked rebel force that
since early April has seized government buildings in eastern Ukraine and, until Saturday,
held prisoner a team of European military observers it accused of being NATO spies.

His is one of the faces behind the shadowy paramilitary takeover. But even with his
mask off, much about his aims, motivations and connections remains murky, illustrating
why this expanding conflict is still so complex.

Yuri, who appears to be in his mid-50s, is in many ways an ordinary eastern Ukrainian of
his generation. A military veteran, he survived the Soviet collapse to own a small
construction business in Druzhkovka, about 15 miles south of here.

But his rebel stature has a particular root:

He is also a former Soviet special forces commander who served in Afghanistan, a
background that could make him both authentically local and a capable Kremlin proxy.

In this war, clouded by competing claims on both sides, one persistent mystery has been
the identity and affiliations of the militiamen, who have pressed the confrontation
between Russia and the West into its latest bitter phase.

Moscow says they are Ukrainians and not part of the Russian armed forces, as the
so-called green men in Crimea turned out to be.

Western officials and the Ukrainian government insist that Russians have led,
organized and equipped the fighters.

A deeper look at the 12th Company during more than a week of visiting its
checkpoints, interviewing its fighters and observing them in action against a
Ukrainian military advance here on Friday shows that in its case neither
portrayal captures the full story.

The rebels of the 12th Company appear to be Ukrainians but, like many in the region,
have deep ties to and affinity for Russia. They are veterans of the Soviet, Ukrainian or
Russian Armies, and some have families on the other side of the border.

Theirs is a tangled mix of identities and loyalties.

Further complicating the picture, while the fighters share a passionate distrust of
Ukraines government and the Western powers that support it, they disagree
among themselves about their ultimate goals.

They argue about whether Ukraine should redistribute power via greater
federalization or whether the region should be annexed by Russia, and they
harbor different views about which side might claim Kiev, the capital, and even
about where the border of a divided Ukraine might lie.

Yuri speaks with ambivalence about the possibility of Russian annexation, even as
Russias tri-colored flag fluttered beside the porch where he directed his troops.

He says he participated in the seizure of Ukraines intelligence service building in
Donetsk on April 7 and led the capture of this citys police building five days later, twin
operations that helped establish the militias foothold. Videos and photographs of the
second attack confirm his story.

Throughout the week, as Ukrainian soldiers sometimes pressed closer, he chuckled at
the claims by officials in Kiev and the West that his operations had been guided by
Russian military intelligence officers.

There is no Russian master, he said. We have no Muscovites here, he said. I
have experience enough.

That experience, he and his fighters say, includes four years as a Soviet small-unit
commander in Kandahar, Afghanistan, in the 1980s.

The 119 fighters he said he leads, who appear to range in age from their 20s to
their 50s, all speak of prior service in Soviet or Ukrainian infantry, airborne,
special forces or air-defense units.

One, Kostya, served in the post-Soviet Russian Army, where he was a paratrooper. But
he too claimed Ukrainian citizenship, which he said he received two years ago after
moving to the Donetsk region in 1997 to live near his mother.

Two others said they were from outside eastern Ukraine, one from Odessa, in the south,
and the other from Dnipropetrovsk, in the center.

For now, the 12th Company forms part of the front lines in Slovyansk, where its fighters
stand at barricades facing the Ukrainian military, with whom the militia has clashed
several times.

The companys members wear masks on patrols, which crisscross the city around the
clock.

They show signs of discipline, including organizing rotating watches at checkpoints,
frequently cleaning their weapons and abstaining from alcohol.

And they claim to have a sprawling network of informers who warn them of Ukrainian
military actions as they begin.

All spoke of disgust with the interim authorities in Kiev, who came to power after
chasing President Viktor F. Yanukovych from office in February.

They bristled at any suggestion that their seizure of government buildings was
wrong. Pro-Western protesters in Kiev have held government buildings and the
citys main square since last fall, they said.

Why did America support those acts, but is in opposition to ours? said Maksim,
the young former paratrooper who organized Yuris snipers by the bridge. These
are the contradictions of the West.

Maksim, like many others, speaks of what he sees as unbreakable cultural, economic
and religious ties to Russia and his ideal of a greater Slavic world, which he says is
threatened from outside.

The threats, the fighters said, were made clear by a parliamentary proposal in February
by the interim authorities in Kiev that would have stripped Russian of its status as an
official language in eastern Ukraine. The proposal was vetoed by the interim president,
but in the fighters view the episode signaled an official cultural assault.

That was a turning point, said Maksim, adjusting a knife tucked against his chest in a
black vest.

Several fighters shook their heads at the idea that they had been paid by Russia, by
oligarchs or by anybody else.

This is not a job, said one fighter, Dmitry. It is a service.

Moreover, if Russias intelligence services had been helping them, they said, they
would have new weapons, not the dated arms visible at their checkpoints and
stored in the base where they sleep.

During the fighting on Friday, two of the fighters carried hunting shotguns, and
the heaviest visible weapon was a sole rocket-propelled grenade.

Much of their stock was identical to the weapons seen in the hands of Ukrainian
soldiers and Interior Ministry special forces troops at government positions
outside the city.

These included 9-millimeter Makarov pistols, Kalashnikov assault rifles and a few
Dragunov sniper rifles, RPK light machine guns and portable antitank rockets,
including some with production stamps from the 1980s and early 1990s.

Many of the weapons show signs of long service. One, an RPG-7 launcher, looked
clean and fresh. The fighters said it had been purchased from Ukrainian soldiers
for $2,000, along with 12 high-explosive projectiles.

Militia members said their weapons had either been taken from seized police
buildings and a column of captured Ukrainian armored vehicles, or bought from
corrupt Ukrainian soldiers.

There was no clear Russian link in the 12th Companys arsenal, but it was not possible
to confirm the rebels descriptions of the sources of their money and equipment.

There were, however, indicators of local support.


Residents of Slovyansk paying their respects at a memorial to four demonstrators. Credit
Mauricio Lima for The New York Times

One afternoon, a crowd labored to build a barricade and a bunker beside a bridge over a
canal to the citys west.

At the 12th Companys main base, the home of Tanya and her husband, Lev,
residents visited to donate food: homemade pastries, slabs of salted pork fat, a
vat of borscht, bags of fresh green onions, jars of pickled vegetables and fruits.

To the guys in Kiev, we are separatists and terrorists, Yuri said. But to the
people here, we are defenders and protectors.

Tanya, 60, who offered to feed the rebels after her son joined them last month, has
assumed the role of company cook. She keeps the table behind the house stacked with
food and admonishes the men to eat more whenever they leave bowls of borscht
unfinished.

The couples garage has become a barracks; a shed is now an armory. Camouflage
hangs on lines strung from cherry trees.

The militia claims to have mostly good relations with the local police, who have
done little to stop them.

Many police officers still patrol in rebel territory, accepting the militias authority
while directing traffic or investigating accidents.

Where these militiamen and their backers are trying to steer Ukraine remains a
matter of dispute even among the men wearing masks.

In the 12th Company, some hope the eastern provinces can establish autonomy
within a federalized Ukraine. Others speak of dividing the nation in two, with much
of it joining Russia.

Asked whether Ukraine should remain one nation, Sergey, a veteran of the Soviet
air-defense service, said, Sure, why not?

No, no, no, interjected Dmitry, a younger fighter. What kind of united Ukraine
could there be?

Later, another fighter, Aleksey, agreed. In western Ukraine, they showed their faces:
Nazis, fascist, he said. They destroyed monuments to Lenin, attacked our history.
Living on one land with them is senseless for us.

Then came the matter of details, where might a new border be, and which side should
keep Kiev. Let Kiev remain there in the west, said Sanya, a huge man with a shaved
head who carried a Dragunov sniper rifle. Its not a problem in principle.

No, all the way to Kiev! Dmitry said.

Alexey proposed a border along the Dnieper, the river that runs through Kiev.

Fine, along the Dnieper, Dmitry said. Left bank is theirs, right bank is ours.

Whatever the final shape, Yuri said later, Ukraines interim government must allow
a vote or face civil war.

Either a sea of blood and corpses, or a referendum, he said. There is no third
way.



AFGHANISTAN WAR REPORTS


Soldier From Trenton Dies In
Afghanistan

Apr 30, 2014 By Meredith Yeomans, Reporter, KTEN

WHITEWRIGHT -- Hearts are heavy in Whitewright after the U.S. Army confirmed today
a young soldier from the area has died.

The Army says Pfc. Christian Chandler, 20, was killed when enemy forces attacked his
unit with small arms fire in the Logar Province on Monday.

Chandler was from Trenton but went to school in Whitewright. Wednesday, the city
lowered flags to half staff outside city hall.

Mayor Bill Goodson says hes known chandler since pre-school. He says his daughter
graduated Whitewright High School with Chandler in 2012 and says news of his death
hits hard.

You can see Im choking up now, Goodson said. When I talk about any of the kids
from Whitewright, Ive been around here and mayor for 29 years, so half the kids here
Ive been able to bring up.

Chandler joined the army in October 2012. He deployed to Afghanistan in October 2013.

The Army says hes survived by his mother and stepfather who live in Whitewright.

Goodson says Chandler was always eager to join the military and serve his country.
Hes ordered flags fly at half staff through Thursday.


POLITICIANS REFUSE TO HALT THE
BLOODSHED

THE TROOPS HAVE THE POWER TO STOP THE
WAR


MILITARY NEWS


Outrageous Bullshit Award For
2014 So Far Goes To:
Bottom Feeding Scum Suckers Who
Punish CO, Master Chief For Taking
Donations For Approved Activity
From Lawful Local Businesses:
They Are Relived Of Duty After Raising
Funds From Strip Clubs For Submarine
Birthday Ball

Capt. J ohn Heatherington was relieved of duty as CO of Naval Ordnance Test Unit in
Cape Canaveral, Fla. (Malcolm Denemark / Florida Today)

Feb. 18, 2014 By Meghann Myers, Staff Writer; Navy Times

The commanding officer and senior enlisted leader of a Florida-based ordnance disposal
unit have been fired after the Navy determined their command inappropriately sought
Submarine Birthday Ball funds from local strip clubs, the Navy said Tuesday.

Capt. J ohn Heatherington, the CO of Naval Ordnance Test Unit in Cape Canaveral, Fla.,
was relieved of duty Tuesday by Vice Adm. Terry Benedict, the director of Strategic
Systems Programs, SSP spokesman J ohn Daniels told Navy Times.

NOTUs senior enlisted leader, Master Chief Missile Technician (SS) Eric Spindle, has
also been relieved as part of the investigation.

The firings stem from the commands fundraising for the 2014 Submarine Birthday Ball
at Cape Canaveral, with NOTU members soliciting sponsors for a November golf
tournament to raise funds for the ball, Daniels said, including local dry cleaners,
restaurants and two local adult entertainment businesses.

Theres a governing Navy regulation on how to solicit money for official events and you
can do it, but it just wasnt done properly, Daniels said. We can go out to businesses,
go to a dry cleaner and say, Will you sponsor hole 12 in conjunction with tournament?
But only certain types of businesses.

He wrongfully affiliated the U. S. Navy with businesses that are not representative of the
Navy and DoDs high standards, a Navy release said.

The fund-raising team included active-duty, civilian and contract personnel, who are
being handled administratively, Daniels added.

Heatheringtons reassignment has not yet been determined. Capt. Kevin Brenton, the
SSP deputy director, has assumed command until a permanent relief reports later this
year. Heatherington, a 1986 Naval Academy graduate, assumed command of NOTU in
August 2011 and was scheduled to move on this summer.

His previous assignments include Defense Liason Division and J oint Staff, Operations in
Washington, D.C. and as commanding officer of the submarine Pasadena. His awards
include three Meritorious Service Medals, five Navy and Marine Corps Commendation
Medals, three Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medals, a Defense Superior Service
Medal and a Meritorious Unit Commendation.

He not immediately respond to an email seeking comment Tuesday.

Command Master Chief (SS) Victor Smith, SSPs CMC, has assumed duties as senior
enlisted leader.


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FORWARD OBSERVATIONS




At a time like this, scorching irony, not convincing argument, is needed. Oh had
I the ability, and could reach the nations ear, I would, pour out a fiery stream of
biting ridicule, blasting reproach, withering sarcasm, and stern rebuke.

For it is not light that is needed, but fire; it is not the gentle shower, but thunder.

We need the storm, the whirlwind, and the earthquake.

The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they
oppose.

Frederick Douglass, 1852


But out of this complicated web of material and psychic forces one conclusion
emerges with irrefutable clarity: the more the soldiers in their mass are convinced
that the rebels are really rebelling that this is not a demonstration after which
they will have to go back to the barracks and report, that this is a struggle to the
death, that the people may win if they join them, and that this winning will not only
guarantee impunity, but alleviate the lot of all the more they realize this, the
more willing they are to turn aside their bayonets, or go over with them to the
people.

And the highest determination never can, or will, remain unarmed.
-- Leon Trotsky; The History of the Russian Revolution


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Readers from an additional 67 countries have also accessed.

Source: AWStats


GI Activists Should Remain On Base
And Work Directly With People At Their
Jobs And In The Barracks
This Should Be Part Of A General Shift
In The Locus Of GI Action Away From
Off-Base Coffeehouses, Back To The
Barracks


From: SOLDIERS IN REVOLT: DAVID CORTRIGHT, Anchor Press/Doubleday, Garden
City, New York, 1975. Now available in paperback from Haymarket Books. [Excerpts]

***********************

[By activists with the paper FighT bAck in Germany, 1973. Excerpts]

Radicals Must Join The Army.

The role of radicals who purposely join the services to organize has been important
throughout the GI movement and remains so today. Within the FighT bAck grOup, in the
GI Alliance in Tacoma, and at numerous other projects, former civilian activists, some of
whom gave up deferments to join, have been a vital force in sustaining GI dissent.

The presence of even a few hundred committed activists could have great impact on the
level of servicemens dissent.


Civilian Support Is Crucial:

As we have seen throughout the history of the GI movement, such support has been a
crucial ingredient of successful organizing. Civilian activists are most needed as political
workers and counselors at local projects.

Peace organizations should adopt programs for training civilians in military counseling
and supporting them during a tour of duty working directly with servicemen at major
bases.


A Newspaper Or Newsletter Is Necessary:

Nearly every servicemens organization has coalesced around a newspaper as the best
means available for communicating with other GIs.

An important variation of this is unit newsletters, pioneered at Fort Lewis, to expose
abuses within individual units and mobilize political pressure at the local level. Unit
newsletters appearing on a biweekly basis could then be supplemented by a monthly or
bimonthly base-wide newspaper.

This should be part of a general shift in the locus of GI action away from off-base
coffeehouses, back to the barracks.

Off-base locations are still needed for printing and counseling activities by civilian
staffers, but GI activists should remain on base and work directly with people at
their jobs and in the barracks

Regardless of what form it takes, though, citizen action must continue.

Continued work is necessary to establish democratic control over the institutions of war
and to secure independence and dignity for people in the ranks.


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Troops Say Generals Understand Need
For Cuts To Aides, Personal Drivers, And
Golf Courses

Photo Credit: US Marine Corps

April 24, 2014 By Lee Ho Fuk, The Duffle Blog

WASHINGTON, D.C. Troops from the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force told
Congress on Wednesday that general officers were willing to sacrifice portions of their
caviar rations, personal assistants, limousine drivers, and golf courses if it meant
improving training and equipment needed for the rest of the military.

We feel these cuts will provide us with the right training and equipment, said Marine
Lance Cpl. Eric Smaltz. Well be able to improve our quality of life through more suicide
awareness training, sexual assault classes, and motorcycle safety. Basically anything
that involves PowerPoint is what were looking for. Its why we signed up after all.

The enlisted members told a House subcommittee that generals wont complain about
cuts to the entourages of chauffeurs, chefs, hot nubile aides, private jets, motorcades,
$100,000 salaries, and harems of mistresses which can cost up to a million dollars for
every admiral and general.

If the top brass could sacrifice their tee time and spend it pressing their own uniforms it
would bolster readiness and modernization, said Army Specialist Teresa Brawn. We
cant afford to lower training standards in defense of renovating their palatial homes or
maintaining their chauffeured government vehicles.

Troops who offered testimony before the subcommittee could not name any generals
who actually feel this way and could only offer anecdotal perceptions of what they
thought generals felt, maybe.

I never really got to ask any admirals if they wanted to give up anything, admitted
Seaman Leroy Rogan. I mean, theyre way up there in the ward room all the time or on
Mount Olympus or something. Weve got more admirals than ships in the Navy so they
must be doing really important stuff instead of actually talking to sailors.

Cutting unwarranted perks will increase discipline among flag officers, the troops claim.

I believe it will raise discipline across the entire military, said Airman Tim McGinty. If
the generals have better spending habits, they wont be so wasteful and entitlement-
based. We need to slow the growth of their quality of life before it affects our ability to
win wars.

Following their testimony to lawmakers, the troops were ushered into the Pentagon to
receive NJ P awards for their remarks.



ANNIVERSARIES


May 5, 1818:
Happy Birthday

The Moor

Carl Bunin Peace history April 29 - May 5

Political philosopher, social scientist, historian and revolutionary Karl Marx was born in
Trier, Germany.

His ideas, laid out in the Communist Manifesto and Das Kapital, and in many other
publications, considered the state, class divisions, the nature of industrial capitalism, and
culture and religion as oppressive forces.


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CLASS WAR REPORTS





NBHS Locked Down After
Students Strike To Protest
Teachers Being Fired:
These Teachers Believe In Us
These Teachers Push Us To Be
Great
Filth Running The School Say I Cant
Tell You How Many Were Suspended

About 100 students walked out of class this morning at NBHS to protest the districts
decision not to renew teacher contracts. Reader-submitted Photo



May 2, 2014 By Charlie Kratovil, NewBrunswickToday.com

NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ

Roughly 100 high school students left class early this morning, and many more wore red
clothing to school, to protest the proposed non-renewal of contracts with some of their
favorite teachers.

Superintendent Richard Kaplan confirmed that the school was put under lockdown for
about twenty minutes. We did go into a lockdown. About a hundred youngsters...
decided to leave their classes and walk through the hall in a disruptive manner.

It was a protest that was stopped by administration, said one student who posted on
New Brunswick Todays Facebook page.

It was to help teachers keep their jobs because we believe they are being fired with no
good reason.

Using social media, students coordinated to wear red in solidarity with several non-
tenured teachers at the school who recently received notification that their contracts are
not expected to be renewed by the district.

According to Kaplan the teachers in question still have an opportunity to appeal the
decision to his office, as well as in writing to the Board of Education, which is scheduled
to meet on May 13 to make the final decisions.

Students also wore red in solidarity with the teachers, who were identified as Mr. King
and Mr. Smith in a photograph of a protest sign submitted to NBToday by a NBHS
student.

These teachers push us to be great, said one student upset with the decision not to
renew their contracts. These teachers believe in us.

Kaplan said he viewed videotapes of the incident and that it is possible students will be
suspended for disrupting the school day.

I cant tell you how many were suspended, he said citing state law concerning
students right to privacy.

The issue that is suspendable is that they disrupted the operation of the school day, he
said.

The decision to walk out of class was criticized by some students, who preferred to
express their frustration in a different way.

We are writing letters on the behalf of those teachers and that was it, wrote one
student on the NBT Facebook page. But for some reason, some students decided to
walk out. The school kept us in a lockdown and security guards grabbed any student
that was outside on the hallways.

The Board of Education will be holding a brief re-organization meeting on Tuesday May
6 at 7pm in the NBHS auditorium. The contract renewal vote will take place on May 13 at
7pm at the same location.



DANGER: CAPITALISTS AT WORK


The Mass-Murdering Tyrant Assad
Launches More Poison Gas
Attacks:
In The Last Two Weeks Alone There
Have Been Eight Separate Chemical
Attacks On Rebel Held Towns And
Villages In Idlib Province
Casualties Displaying Symptoms
Typical Of Chlorine Gas And Ammonia
Poisoning: Sore Eyes, Irritated Skin,
Difficulty Breathing And A Bloody
Foaming From The Mouth

29 Apr 2014 By Ruth Sherlock, Gaziantep; The Telegraph [Excerpts]

President Bashar al-Assad is still using chemical weapons against civilians, a
scientific analysis of samples from multiple gas attacks has shown.

In the first independent testing of its kind, conducted exclusively for The
Telegraph, soil samples from the scene of three recent attacks in the country were
collected by trained individuals known to this news organisation and analysed by
a chemical warfare expert.

Our results show sizeable and unambiguous traces of chlorine and ammonia present at
the site of all three attacks.

The use in war of asphyxiating, poisonous or other gases - both of which can be
produced by chlorine and ammonia - is banned by the Geneva Protocol, of which Syria
is a signatory.

The attacks, which in some cases used canisters marked with their chemical
contents, were conducted by helicopter.

In the Syrian civil war, only the regime has access to aerial power, making it now
certain that the recent chemical attacks could only have been carried out by the
regime, not the opposition.


Map: the locations of the three attacks.

Hamish de Bretton-Gordon, a British chemical weapons expert involved in the testing,
said: We have unequivocally proved that the regime has used chlorine and ammonia
against its own civilians in the last two to three weeks.

The regime had previously agreed to hand over its chemical weapons to international
control following an attack in the suburbs of Damascus last August. That attack is said to
have killed up to 1,400 people and sparked international outrage.

But even as the OPCW now works to remove the last elements of Syrias declared
stockpile, a crude but deadly new type of chemical attack is being launched.

In the last two weeks alone there have been eight separate chemical attacks on
rebel held towns and villages in Idlib province.

The Syrian government has denied the claim that it is using chemical weapons again as
a baseless allegation with some critics, including Russia, claiming the attacks could
have been mounted by the rebels themselves to trigger international intervention.

But chemical tests conducted with The Telegraph now confirm that chlorine gas and
ammonia have been used in Idlib, and that the toxins came from barrels that were
dropped from helicopters.

This newspaper obtained soil samples collected from sites of chemical attacks inside
Syria by Dr Ahmad - a medic whose real identity cannot be revealed for his own
protection - who had previously received training in sample collection by western
chemical weapons experts. Mr de Bretton-Gordon, a British chemical weapons expert
and director of Secure Bio, a private company, was one of the trainers.

This week Dr Ahmad passed on soil samples taken from the attacks that happened on
April 11 and 18 in Kafr Zita, and on the 21 April. There was also a sample from an attack
last week in the village of Talmenes which killed at least three people.

Several people, including children, died and hundreds were seriously wounded in the
attacks.

Video footage and eye witness testimony show casualties displaying symptoms typical
of chlorine gas and ammonia poisoning: sore eyes, irritated skin, difficulty breathing and
a bloody foaming from the mouth.

Mr de Bretton-Gordon, a retired British Army colonel, said: I had to verify that the
samples had the complete chain of evidence, so that the video footage, stills
photography, and GPS locations taken by Dr Ahmad in collecting the samples
marries up - and it does.

The samples were kept along the rules that the OPCW require. They were presented in
perfect condition required so that we can test them.

Watched by The Telegraph, Mr de Bretton-Gordon tested the samples for chlorine and
ammonia, and the results of the analysis were soon clear.

In each of the samples we have found evidence of chlorine, said Mr de Bretton-
Gordon. Also, the samples indicate that ammonia has also been used in Kafr Zita.

Last week Franois Hollande, Frances president, said his government had some
information but not proof that the Syrian government had used chlorine gas in recent
attacks.

At the behest of western nations, including Britain, the OPCW announced on Tuesday
that it is sending a fact-finding mission to probe the recent alleged use of chlorine gas in
the Syrian conflict.

Chlorine was not a substance included in the original OPCW weapons deal but its use
as a chemical weapon, with the intent to cause harm, is a direct contraction of the
Chemical Weapons Convention.

The Telegraph understands that some foreign governments have also collected
and are testing samples from the attack sites in Idlib. The Telegraphs findings
however, are the first independent scientific results to be published on the
attacks.

For the first time there is independent collected and produced evidence that the regime
has been using chlorine and ammonia, said Mr de Bretton-Gordon.

FCO spokesman said: We are deeply concerned by the allegations that chemical
weapons, including chlorine, continue to be used in the Syrian conflict. Last week we
called for an investigation and we therefore welcome the decision taken by the OPCW to
determine the facts. The UK, along with a growing number of states, again raised these
concerns in todays OPCW Executive Council meeting.

The OPCW mission must provide urgent answers for the Syrian people who have
already suffered so much.



OCCUPATION PALESTINE





Zionist Troops Occupying The Home
Of Palestinian Family In The Nablus
District:
Residents Of The Home Held In One
Room And Forbidden From Using
Telephones Or Leaving The House For
Any Reason

05/03/2014 Maan

NABLUS --

Israeli troops have been occupying the home of a Palestinian family in the Nablus district
since Tuesday evening and have not allowed the residents to leave, locals told Maan.

Witnesses said Israeli troops raided the village of Awarta Tuesday night and entered the
home of Muhammad Said Sharab.

The house is located near the illegal Israeli settlement of Itamar, locals said.

Neighbors told Maan that the residents of the home are being held in one room and are
forbidden from using telephones or leaving the house for any reason.

An Israeli army spokeswoman did not immediately return calls seeking comment.

The internationally recognized Palestinian territories of which the West Bank and East
J erusalem form a part have been occupied by the Israeli military since 1967.


Settlers Beat Farmer Near
Bethlehem, While Also
Unleashing Their Dogs To
Assault Him
Israeli Army And Settlers Are
Currently Seeking To Seize The
Land Where The Farmer Was
Assaulted
An Israeli Settler On Sunday Ran
Over A Farmer While He Was Riding
A Donkey In The Village Of Al-
Khader
He Sustained A Fracture In The Pelvis


April 27, 2014 (WAFA)

BETHLEHEM, Israeli settlers on Sunday assaulted and beat up a farmer in the village
Wadi Rahhal to the south of Bethlehem, said Hassan Burajeyah, coordinator of the anti-
settlement and segregation wall committee in Bethlehem.

He said settlers from the nearby illegal settlement of Avrat were present at the
ranch of farmer Mohammad Ayyash, 55 from the village of Artas, when he asked
them to leave.

They then assaulted and beat him up while also unleashing their dogs to assault
him. Ayyash sustained several bruises and was horribly terrified.

To be noted, Israeli army and settlers are currently seeking to seize the land where the
farmer was assaulted for settlement expansion purposes.

In the meantime, an Israeli settler on Sunday ran over a farmer while he was riding
a donkey in the village of al-Khader, to the south of Bethlehem, according to
security sources.

Ismail al-Sheikh, 70, was run over by an Israeli settler near An-Nashash military
checkpoint. He sustained a fracture in the pelvis as well as multiple bruises
throughout his body and was transferred to hospital for medical treatment.

In Nablus, Israeli settlers on Sunday chopped off 60 olive trees in the village of
Huwwara, to the south of Nablus in the West Bank, according to Ghassan Daghlas, who
monitors settlement activities in the northern West bank.

He said settlers from the nearby illegal settlement of Yitzhar had earlier assaulted a
Palestinian private-owned ranch and chopped off 60 olive trees.


Six Palestinians Arrested In Burqa
(Nablus) By The Israeli Army:
No Reasons Given

25th April 2014 International Solidarity Movement, Nablus Team

Burqa, Occupied Palestine

On the night of the 23rd to 24th of April, approximately 24 Israeli military vehicles
entered the town of Burqa and arrested six Palestinian youths.

The Israeli army forced its way into five out of the six houses, using a device to break
open the doors. The army did not seem to know the exact location of one of the young
men, and so broke into his uncles house, then the Israeli soldiers questioned a close
friend of a youth to learn his exact whereabouts.

The Israeli commander took this opportunity to threaten this Palestinian and told him to
watch out and dont do anything wrong.

According to local witnesses, the Israeli army was seen surrounding the town of Burqa at
midnight. Then, at 01:00AM, the series of arrests began lasting until 02:00AM, with the
army going to six different houses and arresting a Palestinian youth in each one. All of
the arrests followed the same pattern.

The Israeli army broke the doors into the houses, except for one, and took a Palestinian
in each home (ranging from 19 to 24 years old) spending just a few minutes in each of
the houses. The arrested were handcuffed and blindfolded when taken outside of their
homes or inside the military jeeps.

No reasons were given to their families for the arrest and no questions were asked.

Except for one of the families, they do not know where their sons have been taken; they
are expecting a phone call from the Israeli army 48 hours after the arrest to know the
whereabouts of their sons, brothers and nephews.

The names of the arrested in Burqa are: Abd al Hakeem (19 years old), Amran (20 years
old), Izat (20 years old), Mageed (21 years old), Bara Gehad (21 years old) and Ameen
Tyseer Salah (23 or 24 years old).

For all of them, except for Ameen on whom nobody could comment on in detail, it is the
first time these youths have been arrested and in some cases, it is even the first time
that one of their sons is arrested. Amran and Mageed physically resisted their arrest but
to no avail.

Relatives and friends of Barad know that he has been taken to Huwwara since they
already received a phone call from the Israeli army. The other families do not know the
whereabouts of their sons and may have to wait until Friday 25th to receive any
information.

Moreover the families do not know what charges their sons are being accused of and do
not recall any major incidents in the local area that may go towards explaining this series
of arrests.

According to a local contact, four of them are active in the PFLP (Popular Front for the
Liberation of Palestine) and two of them are active within Fatah.

Burqa (Nablus) is a town located 18 kilometers northwest of Nablus, with a population of
approximately 4,000 people. It overlooks Road 60, which is a road used by both
Palestinians and settlers from nearby illegal settlements, vital to connect the northern
area of the West Bank to major transport hubs like Nablus.

This Israel army has previously harassed this town, the nearest illegal settlement is
located five kilometers away (Shave Shomron).

According to a local villager, 48 people from Burqa have been arrested this year; 38 of
them belong to PFLP and the remaining 10 belong to Fatah.

To check out what life is like under a murderous military occupation commanded
by foreign terrorists, go to:
http://www.maannews.net/eng/Default.aspx and
http://www.palestinemonitor.org/list.php?id=ej898ra7yff0ukmf16
The occupied nation is Palestine. The foreign terrorists call themselves Israeli.


DANGER: POLITICIANS AT WORK





Petty Vindictive Mean Little
Bureau Of Prisons Fucks Throw
CIA Torture Whistleblower John
Kiriakous Children Out Of
Visitors Room:
The Facility Manager Denied That
He Was Throwing His Family Out
And Said He Was Simply Telling
Them To Leave
There Was No Space Problem In The
Visitation Room. There Were Plenty
Of Seats
Only A Troublemaker From Detroit
And I Were Told That Our Families Had
To Leave. We Were The Only Ones.
Coincidence? I Think Not.

April 21, 2014 By: Kevin Gosztola, Firedoglake [Excerpts]

In the midst of a thirty-month prison sentence at the federal correctional institution of
Loretto Pennsylvania, former CIA officer and whistleblower J ohn Kiriakou has written a
letter where he reports that his children were told they had to leave the visitors room
because it was overcrowded.

Kiriakou immediately saw this as an act of retaliation for writing letters from prison.

Since August of last year, Firedoglake has been publishing Letters from Loretto by
Kiriakou, who was the first member of the CIA to publicly acknowledge that torture was
official US policy under President George W. Bushs administration.

He was convicted in October 2012 after he pled guilty to violating the Intelligence
Identities Protection Act (IIPA) when he confirmed the name of an officer involved in the
CIAs Rendition, Detention and Interrogation program to a reporter, even though the
reporter did not publish it.

He was sentenced in J anuary 2013, and reported to prison on February 28, 2013.

On Sunday April 13 his wife Heather, cousin Kip, and his three younger children drove
210 miles to visit him early in the morning just as his family has been doing on many
weekends since he was incarcerated.


[The J ohn Kiriakou Support Fund: www.defendjohnk.com/howtohelp.html]

They arrived at the visitors room at 8:30 am and Kiriakou was called to the visitors room
at 8:45 am.

At 11:15 am, according to Kiriakou, the prison Facility Manager, a short,
portly, mustachioed middle-manager whom I have never seen before in the
visitation room and who usually spends his time checking IDs in the cafeteria,
made an announcement that he was worried about overcrowding and he wanted
volunteers to leave to make room for other people who may or may not be waiting
to come in. Nobody volunteered.

Kiriakou was then called into the strip search room fifteen minutes later and told
by the facility manager that his family had to leave.

You get lots of visits so Im exercising my authority to end your visit, the facility
manager said. Kiriakou replied, Youre throwing my family out.

The facility manager denied that he was throwing his family out and said he was
simply telling them to leave.

Kiriakou recalls, I told him that the regulation said that a decision to ask a family
to leave was based on the frequency of their visits and the distance of their travel.
They visit once a month and drive 210 miles, leaving at 5:00 am.

He said the regulation related to the frequency of all visits and they had to go.

He told his family they were being thrown out.

A CO that Kiriakou says he respects came over to try and stop the prison from
making them leave.

It was her belief, according to Kiriakou, that the regulation was not being
interpreted correctly. But, a few minutes later she returned to tell him that she had
been overruled.

My cousin and the kids left. My 7-year-old daughter and 2-year-old son cried all the
way out the door. My wife was able to stay. Of the four seats my family vacated, two
were filled with new visitors. Within an hour, another two dozen visitors left, calling it a
day.

He had the option of complaining through the Administrative Remedy process, an appeal
system he says he will be writing about in a future letter. That would not have helped him
stop the prison from making his children leave early.

It was crowded in the visitors room, but Kiriakou maintains it was not crowded
enough for the prison to do this to him.

So, he believes this was retaliation for writing Letters from Loretto.

There was no space problem in the visitation room. There were plenty of seats.
There were even more an hour later.

Only a troublemaker from Detroit and I were told that our families had to leave.
We were the only ones. Coincidence? I think not.

J esselyn Radack, a J ustice Department whistleblower and director of National Security
& Human Rights division at the Government Accountability Project who advised Kiriakou
while the government was prosecuting him, told Firedoglake it seems like the Bureau of
Prisons is using his family against him in retaliation for writing letters.

She recalled that Kiriakou took a plea deal where he would only be sentenced for 30
months in prison because he wanted to get back to his family as soon as possible.

This shows how petty, bureaucratic and senseless the justice system can be. If they
were concerned the facility would be overcrowded, they could have told him before his
family packed up early in the morning to come visit him. (The prison eavesdrops on all
his phone calls so it would have been easy for them to figure out his family was visiting.)

Over the weekend, a film called Silenced, which tells the story of Kiriakous casealong
with the stories of Radack and NSA whistleblower Thomas Drakes caseshad its world
premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York.

There are many things besides prosecution and conviction that the government can do
to exert its power over people they dont like, often in ways that can seem petty and
even vindictive, Silenced director J ames Spione reacted. Its a constant theme in my
film Silenced. J ohns sad treatment here unfortunately seems consistent with that
pattern.

Kiriakou wrote a statement that was read at the premiere of the film by his wife. He
explained, The worst part of this ordeal has been separation from Heather and our
children and the toll that it has taken on them.

Every night that I am not there for story time, birthdays, holiday or First Communion or
when Heather tells me my absence is causing so much stress for my son, Max, that he
has chronic nausea, its painful. Its a painful reminder of the price I am paying for
blowing the whistle on torture.

In the long term, Im sure that history will be on my side. My children will
understand, and theyll be proud of me.



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