Wednesday, November 30, 2016

America Has Been Launching Wars and Losing Them for Virtually the Entire 21st Century

Published on Alternet (http://www.alternet.org)

America Has Been Launching Wars and Losing Them for Virtually the Entire 21st Century

By Andrew Bacevich [1] / TomDispatch [2]
November 29, 2016

   President-elect Donald Trump’s message for the nation’s senior military leadership is ambiguously unambiguous. Here is he on 60 Minutes just days after winning the election.

    Trump: "We have some great generals. We have great generals."

Lesley Stahl: "You said you knew more than the generals about ISIS."

Trump: "Well, I'll be honest with you, I probably do because look at the job they've done. OK, look at the job they've done. They haven't done the job."

  In reality, Trump, the former reality show host, knows next to nothing about ISIS, one of many gaps in his education that his impending encounter with actual reality is likely to fill.  Yet when it comes to America’s generals, our president-to-be is onto something.  No doubt our three- and four-star officers qualify as “great” in the sense that they mean well, work hard, and are altogether fine men and women. 

    That they have not “done the job,” however, is indisputable -- at least if their job is to bring America’s wars to a timely and successful conclusion.

    Trump’s unhappy verdict -- that the senior U.S. military leadership doesn’t know how to win -- applies in spades to the two principal conflicts of the post-9/11 era: the Afghanistan War, now in its 16th year, and the Iraq War, launched in 2003 and (after a brief hiatus) once more grinding on.  Yet the verdict applies equally to lesser theaters of conflict, largely overlooked by the American public, that in recent years have engaged the attention of U.S. forces, a list that would include conflicts in Libya, Somalia, Syria, and Yemen.

   Granted, our generals have demonstrated an impressive aptitude for moving pieces around on a dauntingly complex military chessboard.  Brigades, battle groups, and squadrons shuttle in and out of various war zones, responding to the needs of the moment.  The sheer immensity of the enterprise across the Greater Middle East and northern Africa -- the sorties flown [3]munitions expended [4], the seamless deployment and redeployment of thousands of troops over thousands of miles, the vast stockpiles of material positioned, expended, and continuously resupplied -- represents a staggering achievement. Measured by these or similar quantifiable outputs, America’s military has excelled.  No other military establishment in history could have come close to duplicating the logistical feats being performed year in, year out by the armed forces of the United States.

   Nor should we overlook the resulting body count.  Since the autumn of 2001, something like 370,000 [5] combatants and noncombatants have been killed in the various theaters of operations where U.S. forces have been active. Although modest by twentieth century standards, this post-9/11 harvest of death is hardly trivial.

     Yet in evaluating military operations, it’s a mistake to confuse how much with how well.  Only rarely do the outcomes of armed conflicts turn on comparative statistics.  Ultimately, the one measure of success that really matters involves achieving war’s political purposes.  By that standard, victory requires not simply the defeat of the enemy, but accomplishing the nation’s stated war aims, and not just in part or temporarily but definitively. Anything less constitutes failure, not to mention utter waste for taxpayers, and for those called upon to fight, it constitutes cause for mourning.

   By that standard, having been “at war” for virtually the entire twenty-first century, the United States military is still looking for its first win.  And however strong the disinclination to concede that Donald Trump could be right about anything, his verdict on American generalship qualifies as apt.

A Never-Ending Parade of Commanders for Wars That Never End

   That verdict brings to mind three questions. First, with Trump a rare exception, why have the recurring shortcomings of America’s military leadership largely escaped notice?  Second, to what degree does faulty generalship suffice to explain why actual victory has proven so elusive? Third, to the extent that deficiencies at the top of the military hierarchy bear directly on the outcome of our wars, how might the generals improve their game?

   As to the first question, the explanation is quite simple:  During protracted wars, traditional standards for measuring generalship lose their salience.  Without pertinent standards, there can be no accountability.  Absent accountability, failings and weaknesses escape notice.  Eventually, what you’ve become accustomed to seems tolerable. Twenty-first century Americans inured to wars that never end have long since forgotten that bringing such conflicts to a prompt and successful conclusion once defined the very essence of what generals were expected to do.
Senior military officers were presumed to possess unique expertise in designing campaigns and directing engagements.  Not found among mere civilians or even among soldiers of lesser rank, this expertise provided the rationale for conferring status and authority on generals.

    In earlier eras, the very structure of wars provided a relatively straightforward mechanism for testing such claims to expertise.  Events on the battlefield rendered harsh judgments, creating or destroying reputations with brutal efficiency.

   Back then, standards employed in evaluating generalship were clear-cut and uncompromising.  Those who won battles earned fame, glory, and the gratitude of their countrymen.  Those who lost battles got fired or were put out to pasture.
During the Civil War, for example, Abraham Lincoln did not need an advanced degree in strategic studies to conclude that Union generals like John Pope, Ambrose Burnside, and Joseph Hooker didn’t have what it took to defeat the Army of Northern Virginia.  Humiliating defeats sustained by the Army of the Potomac at the Second Bull Run, Fredericksburg, and Chancellorsville made that obvious enough.  Similarly, the victories Ulysses S. Grant and William T. Sherman gained at Shiloh, at Vicksburg, and in the Chattanooga campaign strongly suggested that here was the team to which the president could entrust the task of bringing the Confederacy to its knees.

   Today, public drunkenness [6]petty corruption [7], or sexual shenanigans [8] with a subordinate might land generals in hot water.  But as long as they avoid egregious misbehavior, senior officers charged with prosecuting America’s wars are largely spared judgments of any sort.  Trying hard is enough to get a passing grade.With the country’s political leaders and public conditioned to conflicts seemingly destined to drag on for years, if not decades, no one expects the current general-in-chief in Iraq or Afghanistan to bring things to a successful conclusion.  His job is merely to manage the situation until he passes it along to a successor, while duly adding to his collection of personal decorations and perhaps advancing his career.

   Today, for example, Army General John Nicholson commands U.S. and allied forces in Afghanistan.  He’s only the latest in a long line of senior officers to preside over that war, beginning with General Tommy Franks in 2001 and continuing with Generals Mikolashek, Barno, Eikenberry, McNeill, McKiernan, McChrystal, Petraeus, Allen, Dunford, and Campbell.  The title carried by these officers changed over time.  So, too, did the specifics of their “mission” as Operation Enduring Freedom evolved into Operation Freedom’s Sentinel.  Yet even as expectations slipped lower and lower, none of the commanders rotating through Kabul delivered.  Not a single one has, in our president-elect’s concise formulation, “done the job.”  Indeed, it’s increasingly difficult to know what that job is, apart from preventing the Taliban from quite literally toppling the government.

   In Iraq, meanwhile, Army Lieutenant General Stephen Townsend currently serves as the -- count ‘em -- ninth American to command U.S. and coalition forces in that country since the George W. Bush administration ordered the invasion of 2003.  The first in that line, (once again) General Tommy Franks, overthrew the Saddam Hussein regime and thereby broke Iraq.  The next five, Generals Sanchez, Casey, Petraeus, Odierno, and Austin, labored for eight years to put it back together again.

   At the end of 2011, President Obama declared that they had done just that and terminated the U.S. military occupation.  The Islamic State soon exposed Obama’s claim as specious when its militants put a U.S.-trained Iraqi army to flight and annexed large swathes[9] of that country’s territory.  Following in the footsteps of his immediate predecessors Generals James Terry and Sean MacFarland, General Townsend now shoulders the task of trying to restore Iraq’s status as a more or less genuinely sovereign state.  He directs what the Pentagon calls Operation Inherent Resolve, dating from June 2014, the follow-on to Operation New Dawn (September 2010-December 2011), which was itself the successor to Operation Iraqi Freedom (March 2003-August 2010).

  When and how Inherent Resolve will conclude is difficult to forecast.  This much we can, however, say with some confidence: with the end nowhere in sight, General Townsend won’t be its last commander.  Other generals are waiting in the wings with their own careers to polish.  As in Kabul, the parade of U.S. military commanders through Baghdad will continue.

  For some readers, this listing of mostly forgotten names and dates may have a soporific effect.  Yet it should also drive home Trump’s point.  The United States may today have the world’s most powerful and capable military -- so at least we are constantly told.  Yet the record shows that it does not have a corps of senior officers who know how to translate capability into successful outcomes.

Draining Which Swamp?

   That brings us to the second question:  Even if commander-in-chief Trump were somehow able to identify modern day equivalents of Grant and Sherman to implement his war plans, secret or otherwise, would they deliver victory?
On that score, we would do well to entertain doubts.  Although senior officers charged with running recent American wars have not exactly covered themselves in glory, it doesn’t follow that their shortcomings offer the sole or even a principal explanation for why those wars have yielded such disappointing results.  The truth is that some wars aren’t winnable and shouldn’t be fought.

   So, yes, Trump’s critique of American generalship possesses merit, but whether he knows it or not, the question truly demanding his attention as the incoming commander-in-chief isn’t: Who should I hire (or fire) to fight my wars?  Instead, far more urgent is: Does further war promise to solve any of my problems?

    One mark of a successful business executive is knowing when to cut your losses. It’s also the mark of a successful statesman.  Trump claims to be the former.  Whether his putative business savvy will translate into the world of statecraft remains to be seen. Early signs are not promising.

  As a candidate, Trump vowed to [10] “defeat radical Islamic terrorism,” destroy ISIS, “decimate al-Qaeda,” and “starve funding for Iran-backed Hamas and Hezbollah.” Those promises imply a significant escalation of what Americans used to call the Global War on Terrorism.

  Toward that end, the incoming administration may well revive some aspects of the George W. Bush playbook, including repopulating the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and “if it’s so important [11] to the American people,” reinstituting torture.  The Trump administration will at least consider re-imposing sanctions on countries like Iran.  It may aggressively exploit the offensive potential of cyber-weapons, betting that America’s cyber-defenses will hold.

   Yet President Trump is also likely to double down on the use of conventional military force.  In that regard, his promise [12] to “quickly and decisively bomb the hell out of ISIS” offers a hint of what is to come. His appointment of the uber-hawkish Lieutenant General Michael Flynn as his national security adviser and his rumored selection of retired Marine Corps General James (“Mad Dog”) Mattis as defense secretary suggest that he means what he says.   In sum, a Trump administration seems unlikely to reexamine the conviction that the problems roiling the Greater Middle East will someday, somehow yield to a U.S.-imposed military solution.  Indeed, in the face of massive evidence to the contrary, that conviction will deepen, with genuinely ironic implications for the Trump presidency.

  In the immediate wake of 9/11, George W. Bush concocted a fantasy of American soldiers liberating oppressed Afghans and Iraqis and thereby “draining the swamp [13]” that served to incubate anti-Western terrorism.  The results achieved proved beyond disappointing, while the costs exacted in terms of lives and dollars squandered were painful indeed.  Incrementally, with the passage of time, many Americans concluded that perhaps the swamp most in need of attention was not on the far side of the planet but much closer at hand -- right in the imperial city nestled alongside the Potomac River.

   To a very considerable extent, Trump defeated Hillary Clinton, preferred candidate of the establishment, because he advertised himself as just the guy disgruntled Americans could count on to drain that swamp.

   Yet here’s what too few of those Americans appreciate, even today: war created that swamp in the first place.  War empowers Washington.  It centralizes.  It provides a rationale for federal authorities to accumulate and exercise new powers.  It makes government bigger and more intrusive.  It lubricates the machinery of waste, fraud, and abuse that causes tens of billions of taxpayer dollars to vanish every year.  When it comes to sustaining the swamp, nothing works better than war.

   Were Trump really intent on draining that swamp -- if he genuinely seeks to “Make America Great Again” -- then he would extricate the United States from war.  His liquidation [14] of Trump University, which was to higher education what Freedom’s Sentinel and Inherent Resolve are to modern warfare, provides a potentially instructive precedent for how to proceed.

   But don’t hold your breath on that one.  All signs indicate that, in one fashion or another, our combative next president will perpetuate the wars he’s inheriting.  Trump may fancy that, as a veteran of Celebrity Apprentice (but not of military service), he possesses a special knack for spotting the next Grant or Sherman.  But acting on that impulse will merely replenish the swamp in the Greater Middle East along with the one in Washington.  And soon enough, those who elected him with expectations of seeing the much-despised establishment dismantled will realize that they’ve been had.

   Which brings us, finally, to that third question: To the extent that deficiencies at the top of the military hierarchy do affect the outcome of wars, what can be done to fix the problem?

   The most expeditious approach: purge all currently serving three- and four-star officers; then, make a precondition for promotion to those ranks confinement in a reeducation camp run by Iraq and Afghanistan war amputees, with a curriculum designed by Veterans for Peace [15].  Graduation should require each student to submit an essay reflecting on these words of wisdom from U.S. Grant himself:  “There never was a time when, in my opinion, some way could not be found to prevent the drawing of the sword.”

  True, such an approach may seem a bit draconian. But this is no time for half-measures -- as even Donald Trump may eventually recognize.

Andrew J. Bacevich is a professor of history and international relations emeritus at Boston University’s Pardee School of Global Studies. His new book is America's War for the Greater Middle East: A Military History [16] (Random House, 2016).

        [18]


Links:

[1] http://www.alternet.org/authors/andrew-bacevich
[2] http://www.tomdispatch.com/
[3] http://www.afcent.af.mil/Portals/82/Users/221/33/733/05%20-%2031%20May%202016%20Airpower%20Summary.pdf?ver=2016-06-18-072912-443
[4] http://blogs.cfr.org/zenko/2016/01/07/how-many-bombs-did-the-united-states-drop-in-2015/
[5] http://watson.brown.edu/costsofwar/figures
[6] http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/21/us/air-force-removed-general-over-drunken-behavior-in-moscow.html
[7] http://www.businessinsider.com/this-is-howgeneral-william-e-kip-ward-lost-one-of-the-armys-most-distinguished-generals-lost-his-prestigious-command-2012-8
[8] http://www.latimes.com/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-army-sinclair-demoted-20140620-story.html
[9] https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jun/11/mosul-isis-gunmen-middle-east-states
[10] http://www.politico.com/story/2016/08/donald-trump-terrorism-speech-227025
[11] http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/23/us/politics/trump-new-york-times-interview-transcript.html
[12] https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2015/11/18/donald-trump-promises-to-bomb-the-hell-out-of-isis-in-new-radio-ad/
[13] http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/1357781/US-asks-Nato-for-help-in-draining-the-swamp-of-global-terrorism.html
[14] https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/source-trump-nearing-settlement-in-trump-university-fraud-cases/2016/11/18/8dc047c0-ada0-11e6-a31b-4b6397e625d0_story.html
[15] https://www.veteransforpeace.org/
[16] http://www.amazon.com/Americas-War-Greater-Middle-East-ebook/dp/B0174PRIY4
[17] mailto:corrections@alternet.org?Subject=Typo on America Has Been Launching Wars and Losing Them for Virtually the Entire 21st Century
[18] http://www.alternet.org/
[19] http://www.alternet.org/%2Bnew_src%2B

Donations can be sent to the Baltimore Nonviolence Center, 325 E. 25th St., Baltimore, MD 21218.  Ph: 410-323-1607; Email: mobuszewski [at] verizon.net. Go to http://baltimorenonviolencecenter.blogspot.com/


"The master class has always declared the wars; the subject class has always fought the battles. The master class has had all to gain and nothing to lose, while the subject class has had nothing to gain and everything to lose--especially their lives." Eugene Victor Debs

Manning in Prison, Snowden in Exile, Petraeus in…the Next Presidential Cabinet?

Manning in Prison, Snowden in Exile, Petraeus in…the Next Presidential Cabinet?
November 29, 2016 by Sarah Nelson
David Petraeus (Official CIA Portrait)
David Petraeus (Official CIA Portrait)
As of Monday morning, General David Petraeus is being floated by the Trump transition team as a top candidate for secretary of state. Petraeus is the four-star general and former CIA director that was forced to resign in 2012 after it was revealed that he gave classified documents to his mistress. If Petraeus were to be chosen and approved as secretary of state, it is possible that he would serve his first few months in office while on criminal probation.
The announcement of Petraeus’ consideration stings with hypocrisy, and not just because Trump advocated for jailing Hillary Clinton during the election for being careless with classified information via a personal email server. The most glaring part of the hypocrisy is that our politicians excuse and lionize someone like Petraeus who leaks classified information for the benefit of his biographer mistress, but demonize and exile someone like Edward Snowden that cautiously blew the whistle to journalists in order to expose illegal mass surveillance by our government.
Petraeus gave his mistress his personal notebooks that contained detailed notes of high level security meetings on US operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, various classified documents and the identities of covert agents. Petraeus also lied to the FBI when asked about what he had and had not disclosed to his extramarital partner. For all of these indiscretions, Petraeus was only slapped with a misdemeanor charge that came with two years of probation and a fine of 100,000 dollars, which was a sentence considered light even in the eyes of the Department of Justice.
In comparison, we can look at how whistleblowers who leaked information that could not even begin to compare to the magnitude of Petraeus’ fared, while keeping in mind that these whistleblowers leaked information for the good of the country and not for the good of impressing their lovers.
For example, there is Jeffrey Sterling, who is currently serving a three and half year prison sentence for blowing the whistle on Operation Merlin. During his sentencing, Sterling was told that he had to be sentenced harshly because he revealed the identity of a CIA operative and there is “no more critical secret” than that. Sterling is only accused of revealing the identity of one CIA agent while Petraeus turned over documents with the names of numerous operatives and code words, but for some reason Sterling deserved jail time and Petraeus did not.
The judge also told Sterling that his sentence was increased because he did not concede wrongdoing, but Petraeus received no penalty for repeatedly telling FBI agents that he had never provided classified information to his mistress and for outright lying in a written statement to the FBI.
Then we have John Kiriakou, who got a three-year prison sentence for confirming that the United States was using torture (particularly waterboarding) with the approval of the executive branch. Again, we have the same hypocrisy that was present with Sterling, that Kiriakou is somehow worse than Petraeus for revealing the name of an individual that participated in torture.
The statement from Petraeus at the time of Kiriakou’s sentencing is bitingly ironic in hindsight: “[This case] marks an important victory for our Agency, for our Intelligence Community, and for our country. Oaths do matter, and there are indeed consequences for those who believe they are above the laws.”
Perhaps the most glaring example of Petraeus getting away with what another person cannot is with the case of Chelsea Manning. In an act of conscience, Manning leaked videos and documents that informed the American people of what our government was really doing in Iraq and Afghanistan, which was lying about not having an official tally of civilian deaths, holding prisoners at Guantanamo with no legitimate cause, excusing atrocities from defense contractors and covering up the deaths of journalists. For this public service, Manning is currently in her third year of a thirty-five-year long sentence.
Detractors of Manning always stick to the same abused talking points in justifying her sentence, that she should have never released so much information and that she knew the information could harm the national security of the United States. It is an argument that rings hollow when the same people defend Petraeus, who gave away our intelligence capabilities and upcoming war strategies while telling his mistress that they were “really…highly classified.”
The juxtaposition of Petraeus with whistleblowers like Jeffrey Sterling, Edward Snowden, Chelsea Manning and John Kiriakou illustrates a massive double standard: if you leak information for the public good then you are a traitor, but if you leak information out of pure negligence from a position of power then you can be the next secretary of state.
####

Donations can be sent to the Baltimore Nonviolence Center, 325 E. 25th St., Baltimore, MD 21218.  Ph: 410-323-1607; Email: mobuszewski [at] verizon.net. Go to http://baltimorenonviolencecenter.blogspot.com/

"The master class has always declared the wars; the subject class has always fought the battles. The master class has had all to gain and nothing to lose, while the subject class has had nothing to gain and everything to lose--especially their lives." Eugene Victor Debs


Tuesday, November 29, 2016

Baltimore Activist Alert - November 30 - December 2, 2016

22] Should we fear Russia? – Nov. 30
23] The settlements are continuing. -- Nov. 30
24] Nuclear Explosion Monitoring – Nov. 30
25] Support prison strikers – Nov. 30
26] Serving Refugees in our Communities – Nov. 30
27] Film DO NOT RESIST -- Nov. 30
28] People’s Tribunal on the Iraq War – Dec. 1 & 2
29] Global Security Forum – Dec. 1
30] Disclosing the Drone program -- Dec. 1
31] Creating a Moral Economy -- Dec. 1
32] A Look at US-Cuban Relation – Dec. 1
33] Refuse to Occupy – Dec. 1
34] World AIDS Day Fashion Show – Dec. 1
35] Building Resistance to Trump – Dec. 1
36] Film BLACK CANDLE – Dec. 1
37] Indigenous Peoples Symposium -- Dec. 1
38] Film THE GREAT INVISIBLE – Dec. 2
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23] – Living in Limbo: East Jerusalem's Neighborhoods Behind Separation Barrier will be discussed at The Palestine Center, 2425 Virginia Ave. NW, WDC, on Wed., Nov. 30 from 12:30 to 2 PM.  This talk will focus on the East Jerusalem neighborhoods behind the separation barrier where approximately 120,000 Palestinians reside. In these neighborhoods, the Palestinian Authority is not allowed to work because they are part of “Jerusalem”. Although located within the Jerusalem municipal boundaries, these neighborhoods receive almost no service from the Israeli Authorities, in the form of garbage disposal, functional road infrastructure, or sufficient water supply. This creates living conditions that would be unacceptable anywhere else. In other words, the Palestinian neighborhoods beyond the separation barrier present in an extreme form the broader processes that have taken place in East Jerusalem and Israel’s attitude toward the Palestinian population in the city. Israeli policy in these neighborhoods has destabilized Palestinians’ physical and symbolic linkage and belonging to their home city of Jerusalem. The separation barrier has restricted the residents’ actions and their physical, social, economic, cultural, and political existence, pushing tens of thousands of them into the neighborhoods beyond the wall, effectively displacing them from the city.  Visit http://www.thejerusalemfund.org/events/upcoming/living-limbo-east-jerusalems-neighborhoods-behind-separation-barrier.

24] – On Wed., Nov. 30 from 1 to 6:15 PM in the Dirksen Senate Office Building,
SDG-50, First St. NE, WDC 20002, catch "Nuclear Explosion Monitoring: 60 Years of Science and Innovation," sponsored by the State and Defense [sic] Departments. RSVP at http://www.rsvpbook.com/event.php?502707&m=2637305&h=e0f0253a65a8a294550dd01c5ccb1bd3&preid=1521756&preh=1974422c331e40682c8dac074d53905f&contactid=1521756&contacth=1974422c331e40682c8dac074d53905f.

25] - Participate in a Letter Writing to Support Prison Strikers at The Potter's House, 1658 Columbia Rd. NW, WDC, on Wed., Nov. 30 from 6:30 to 8:30 PM.  Prison resistance has been building over the last several years, culminating in a nationwide strike starting on September 9. Tens of thousands of incarcerated workers in at least a dozen states staged coordinated protests calling for an end to prison slavery. These workers took great risks in demanding basic rights, and many have been put in solitary, seen their food withheld and their communication restricted. Many have faced torturous conditions for asserting their humanity. Join DC Stampede in writing letters of support to these prisoners, letting them and the authorities know we are still with them on the outside. A representative of the DC IWW Incarcerated Worker Organizing Committee will tell us more about the campaign and update us on the latest news from inside the walls. Check out click here. https://www.facebook.com/events/1142088629216073/.

26] – The Peace & Justice Coalition of Prince George’s County invites you to a panel discussion Serving Refugees in our Communities Projects Past and Present on Wed., Nov. 30 from 7 to 9 PM at the Greenbelt Community Center, 15 Crescent Road, Room 114. Refugees from war and persecution in the Middle East are being resettled in nearby communities. How might we follow the long tradition of citizen volunteers who have welcomed families in similar need?

The speakers are Linda Rabben, human rights activist, anthropologist, & author of “Sanctuary and Asylum: A Social and Political History,” Shruti Bhatnagar, founding member of Maryland Welcomes Refugees & Coordinator of the Takoma Park Welcoming Group for Syrian Families, and Mira Mendick, Community Resource Coordinator of Maryland Refugee & Immigrant Programs of Lutheran Social Services, a U.S. State Department liaison resettlement agency. Go to www.md4refugees.org. Email justpeacepg@earthlink.net or call 301-577-2350.

27] – See the film DO NOT RESIST at 1102 South Campus Commons, Building 1, College Park, on Wed., Nov. 30 from 7 to 9 PM. Starting on the streets of Ferguson, Missouri, as the community grapples with the death of Michael Brown, the film, the directorial debut of Detropia cinematographer Craig Atkinson, offers a stunning look at the current state of policing in America and a glimpse into the future. The Tribeca Film Festival winner for Best Documentary puts viewers in the center of the action – from a ride-along with a South Carolina SWAT team and inside a police training seminar that teaches the importance of “righteous violence” to the floor of a congressional hearing on the proliferation of military equipment in small-town police departments – before exploring where controversial new technologies including predictive policing algorithms could lead the field next. See https://www.facebook.com/events/1778402709115841/.

28] – As part of the ongoing Peace Pledge campaign to get Washington out of the war business, UFPJ is asking Peace Pledge signers to submit testimony on the People’s Tribunal on the Iraq War, scheduled for Thurs., Dec. 1 and Fri., Dec. 2 from 9:30 AM to 5 PM at the University of DC, David Clarke Law School Moot Court Room, 4340 Connecticut Ave. NW, WDC. Register at http://www.codepink.org/iraqtribunal?link_id=8&can_id=9c5bbb0ed9159a7bb5318410d9b7fb18&source=email-testify-peoples-tribunal-on-the-iraq-war-dec-1-2-2&email_referrer=testify-peoples-tribunal-on-the-iraq-war-dec-1-2-2&email_subject=testify-peoples-tribunal-on-the-iraq-war-dec-1-2

   After 14 years of costly war based on lies, it’s time for truth and accountability. The People’s Tribunal on the Iraq War will unify the global anti-war/peace movements with other justice movements by uplifting testimonies of the costs of this war—and war itself. The Tribunal will bring the lies that created the war on Iraq into public awareness, while demanding Obama act on them. It will build and inspire the anti-war movement that we will need after the inauguration of the next administration in 2017. It will be a tool that all groups can use to build, inspire, and enliven their organizations and communities.

29] – On Thurs., Dec. 1 from 9:30 to 10:45 AM, Irina Kosterina, Heinrich Boell Foundation, and Olga Oliker, Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), will discuss "Russia Today and Tomorrow: Implications for the U.S," which is part of the CSIS Global Security Forum taking place at CSIS, 1616 Rhode Island Ave. NW, WDC. RSVP at https://www.csis.org/events/global-security-forum-2016 Global Security Forum 2016. The forum goes from 8 AM to 4 PM.

From 11 AM to 12:15 PM, Victor Cha, Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS); Robert Gallucci, Georgetown University; retired Gen. Walter Sharp, former Commander, United States Forces Korea; and Christine Wormuth, former Undersecretary of Defense for Policy, will tackle "Challenges from North Korea." RSVP at https://www.csis.org/events/global-security-forum-2016.

30] – Disclosing the Drone Program will take place on Thurs., Dec. 1 from 3:30 to 5 PM at the Stimson Center, 1211 Connecticut Ave. NW, 8th Floor, WDC. RSVP https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdq42POPLqNvVBFQxBvD8uUiwspYkV1mj4vxrs66cGg6ZU7ew/formResponse. Please join the Stimson Center for a discussion with Jameel Jaffer and Charlie Savage on issues surrounding the U.S. drone program. Jaffer is a former deputy legal director of the ACLU and was director of its Center for Democracy. He is the author of the recent book The Drone Memos. Charlie Savage, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, is a Washington correspondent for the New York Times and author of Power Wars, an inside look at Obama’s post 9-11 Presidency. Jaffer and Savage will discuss their recent books and examine the ethical, legal, and security implications of the U.S. drone program as well as its impact on current and future armed conflicts.

Drones have become a coveted tool in militaries and armed groups around the world. Under the Obama administration, the United States' use of armed drones considerably expanded, targeting terrorist threats and providing reconnaissance and surveillance support to military and intelligence operations in an increasing number of countries. Yet the U.S. drone program has largely been shrouded in secrecy and the administration has been reluctant to reveal substantive details about the program's policy guidance, legal justifications for strikes, or measures of effectiveness.

For years, journalists and civil society groups have tried to persuade the administration to increase transparency around the drone program. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and New York Times have been at the forefront of efforts to get the administration to disclose information that could contribute to the accountability of the U.S. drone program, as well as inform the public debate about the use of drones, engender greater understanding of strategic and political aims of the U.S. drone program, and help assess the program’s efficacy.

31] – From Thurs., Dec. 1 at 4 PM through Sun., Dec. 4, concluding after a noon meal, get over to Visioning and Creating a Moral Economy with Gar Alperovitz, Mark Engler, George Lakey, Judy Wicks, and others at Pendle Hill, 338 Plush Mill Rd., Wallingford, PA 19066-6023. Register at https://pendlehill.org/learn/visioning-and-creating-a-moral-economy/#.WDzNz_krKUl..

32] – A Look at US-Cuban Relation, Past Present & Desired Future is happening at the Institute for Policy Studies, 1301 Connecticut Ave. NW, Suite 600, WDC 20036, on Thurs., Dec. 1 from 6:30 to 8 PM.  In the wake of a new incoming U.S. Presidential Administration you’re invited to an energetic, in depth, and thought provoking discussion using comic relief and multi-media presentation with First Secretary of the Cuban Embassy, Miguel Fraga, who will overview incredible but little known comparisons with Cuba on the world stage, the nature and impact of the decades long U.S. blockade on the island, the changes made over the last two years, and how Cubans are preparing for continued negotiations going forward.  He was appointed First Secretary in June 2015 to the then Cuban Interests Section. Since 2006 he has worked in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in both the North American and U.S. divisions and the Office of the Minister. This program will now feature a showing of the new film "Fidel is Fidel."  Go to http://www.ips-dc.org/events/43801/.

33] –   Refuse to Occupy – A Solidarity Vigil at the White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, WDC, on Thurs., Dec. 1 from 6:30 to 8 PM.  Go to https://www.facebook.com/events/1322523801100924/. Tamar Alon and Tamar Ze'evi are facing imprisonment for refusing to serve the Israeli occupation. Support them at an international day of action.  Vigils will take place outside arms manufacturing facilities and other locations calling on governments to stop arming the Israeli occupation and profiting from it.  As long as the US continues to arm Israel, young Israelis will continue to be imprisoned for refusing to aim these weapons toward civilians. Email mesarvot.im@gmail.com.  Go to http://www.gumfilms.com/projects/lab or http://www.whoprofits.org/sites/default/files/weapons_report-8.pdf.

34] – Participate in World AIDS Day Fashion Show at BUSBOYS AND POETS, Takoma 234 Carroll St. NW, WDC, on Thurs., Dec. 1 from 6:30 to 8:30 PM.  The Women's Collective will be in the Nicolás Guillén Room. Join them for a night of art and fashion while discussing matters surrounding women and sexual reproductive health. Get the facts about PrEP as an HIV prevention tool. Refreshments will be provided. Visit http://busboysandpoets.com/events/event/world-aids-day-fashion-show.

35] – Come to a Public Meeting Building Resistance Against Trump at the Juanita Thornton Shepard Park Library, 7420 Georgia Ave. NW, WDC, on Thurs., Dec. 1 from 7 to 9 PM.  Now is the time to get organized. Join Socialist Alternative for a public meeting discussing how you can build resistance against Trump. Visit https://www.facebook.com/events/1149074928518536/.  There will be a meeting in Virginia on Saturday: https://www.facebook.com/events/1370225303018302/. Also there will be another meeting in D.C. on Sunday: https://www.facebook.com/events/1218871408180881/.
36] –   See the film “Black Candle” and hear from Dr. Raymond Winbush at the Emergence Community Arts Collective, 733 Euclid St. NW, WDC, on Thurs., Dec. 1 from 7 to 10 PM.  The National Black United Front presents a Pre-Kwanzaa Film Discussion with other panelists as well. Go to https://www.facebook.com/events/211098189341369/.

37] – On Thurs., Dec. 1 from 7 to 8:30 PM, attend the Delmarva Indigenous Peoples Symposium, Victory Church & Camp Ground, 2736 Forest Ave., Dover, DE 19936. There will be a question and answer session including a discussion about Standing with Standing Rock and Split Rock Camp along the Pilgrim Pipeline. Honor our Indigenous People.  Consider how to support and contextualize their learnings in the area to protect our water. Go to https://www.pachamama.org/workshop/3405/delmarva-indigenous-peoples-symposium?utm_source=Host%20Published%20Event&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Auto%20Emails.

38] –  The Hiroshima-Nagasaki Commemoration Committee, Baltimore Quaker Peace and Justice Committee of Homewood and Stony Run Meetings and Chesapeake Physicians for Social Responsibility are continuing the FILM & SOCIAL CONSCIOUSNESS DVD SERIES.  The DVDs will be shown at Homewood Friends Meetinghouse, 3107 N. Charles St., Baltimore 21218, usually on the First Friday.  After the Black Lives Matter vigil, there will be a potluck dinner. At 7:15 PM, from September through December, a DVD will be shown with a discussion to follow.  There is no charge, and refreshments will be available.  The series theme is REACTING TO WARS ON CONSTITUTIONAL PROTECTIONS, PEOPLE AND THE ENVIRONMENT.

On Fri., Dec. 2 see THE GREAT INVISIBLE [USA, 2014.] directed by Margaret Brown.  It is a documentary about the oil rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico.  On April 10, 2010, the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded, killing 11 workers on the rig, and dumping what amounted to almost 5 million barrels of crude into the gulf. The leak continued without interruption for 87 days, devastating the Gulf coastline, its wildlife, its beaches and its entire fishing industry (the main source of income for many in the bayou). BP's lack of response to the initial spill brought ferocious criticism to the company, and there was a possibility of fines of up to $18 billion. Brown's documentary personalizes the well-publicized event, bringing us close to those affected by it, fishermen, survivors and seafood workers: the "invisible" victims of the massive catastrophe. Call 410-366-1637 or email mobuszewski [at] verizon.net for further information

To be continued.

Donations can be sent to the Baltimore Nonviolence Center, 325 E. 25th St., Baltimore, MD 21218.  Ph: 410-323-1607; Email: mobuszewski [at] verizon.net. Go to http://baltimorenonviolencecenter.blogspot.com/.


"The master class has always declared the wars; the subject class has always fought the battles. The master class has had all to gain and nothing to lose, while the subject class has had nothing to gain and everything to lose--especially their lives." Eugene Victor Debs

I Witnessed the Shocking Police Assault on the Protest Camp Fighting the Dakota Pipeline

The Hiroshima-Nagasaki Commemoration Committee, Baltimore Quaker Peace and Justice Committee of Homewood and Stony Run Meetings and Chesapeake Physicians for Social Responsibility are continuing the FILM & SOCIAL CONSCIOUSNESS DVD SERIES.  The DVDs will be shown at Homewood Friends Meetinghouse, 3107 N. Charles St., Baltimore 21218, usually on the First Friday.  After the Black Lives Matter vigil, there will be a potluck dinner. At 7:15 PM, from September through December, a DVD will be shown with a discussion to follow.  There is no charge, and refreshments will be available.  The series theme is REACTING TO WARS ON CONSTITUTIONAL PROTECTIONS, PEOPLE AND THE ENVIRONMENT.

On Fri., Dec. 2 see THE GREAT INVISIBLE [USA, 2014.] directed by Margaret Brown.  It is a documentary about the oil rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico.  On April 10, 2010, the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded, killing 11 workers on the rig, and dumping what amounted to almost 5 million barrels of crude into the gulf. The leak continued without interruption for 87 days, devastating the Gulf coastline, its wildlife, its beaches and its entire fishing industry (the main source of income for many in the bayou). BP's lack of response to the initial spill brought ferocious criticism to the company, and there was a possibility of fines of up to $18 billion. Brown's documentary personalizes the well-publicized event, bringing us close to those affected by it, fishermen, survivors and seafood workers: the "invisible" victims of the massive catastrophe. Call 410-366-1637 or email mobuszewski [at] verizon.net for further information

Published on Alternet (http://www.alternet.org)

I Witnessed the Shocking Police Assault on the Protest Camp Fighting the Dakota Pipeline

By Tony Zinnanti [1] / Capital and Main [2]
November 28, 2016

  In a remote, windswept corner of North Dakota, a seven-month standoff continues without an end in sight. Thirty miles south of Bismarck, where eroded buttes rise from grassland and corn fields, the Oceti Sakowin camp appears along the winding girth of the Missouri River. Here, a story of protection, protest and cultural conflict unfolds against the desolate prairie.

   At issue is the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL); an “energy transfer” project that would pipe approximately 470,000 barrels of oil per day from the Bakken Oil Fields through South Dakota and Iowa, to refining facilities in Illinois. The pipeline is a 1,172 mile, 30-inch artery that is touted by its progenitor, Energy Transfer Partners, as necessary to transport light sweet crude in a “more direct, cost-effective, safer and responsible manner.” At the juncture of the Missouri River and Fort Yates, along the northeastern edge of the Lakota Sioux Standing Rock Reservation, the project slowly churns its way toward a hotly disputed patch of land.

  Several hundred yards north of the camp, a lone bridge has come to define the front line of this conflict. On one side, the West Dakota SWAT Team stands watch over the DAPL’s border. On the other, two young Lakota men are charged with maintaining order among the camp’s curious and defiant. In between rest the carcasses of burned-out trucks, which several tribal “water protectors” torched in response to the past few days of skirmishes that had culminated in a volley of tear gas and rubber-bullets. A concrete barrier topped with barbed wire and decorated with vulgar graffiti exemplifies the air of tension.

  The stand-off has given way to violence and threats of violence, here and well beyond the borders of the Standing Rock Reservation. While law enforcement and the water protectors engage in a guarded choreography, fear strikes in the vulnerable hamlets that dot the plains. Across the prairie, the pipeline dispute has resurrected age-old enmity between the native peoples and those they perceive to have permanently occupied the territory of native birthright.

  Normally, by mid-November the ground here would be frozen with knee-deep drifts of Midwest snow. Today, however, the temperature will rise into the mid-60s with almost balmy comfort.

   “This is what I call the upside of global warming,” jokes Ken Many Wounds. “Or, perhaps Great Spirit is looking out for us.” A member of the Standing Rock Lakota Sioux, Ken is an organizer and the camp’s communications director. His authority is confirmed by the company he keeps with the core leaders of the action. Ken is an imposing figure. He has rugged features and strides with a cowboy’s gait as his long wiry ponytail flows from beneath a baseball cap. Ken bristles at the term “protesters” and admonishes that those opposing the DAPL are “water protectors.”

   Versed in the complex history of Sioux land disputes, Ken explains the intricacies of treaties, land grabsand the exceptions within exceptions that have chipped away at the territory of the Sioux Nation for over 150 years. “Where we stand is Sioux land, according to the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1851,” he says, adding that the subsequent Sioux Treaty of 1868, which the Sioux allege to have never been properly ratified, illegally redefined the borders of Sioux territory. At best, the state of ownership and land rights is nothing short of confused.

  Indians and non-Indians mill around nearby, executing various tasks in the maintenance of the protest camp’s daily life. The aroma of wood fires and beef stewing in cast iron kettles fills the air. The setting sun casts a shadowy skyline of tents, tepees and converted buses, all gathered to push back at the slow, oncoming creep of the pipeline. The camp ebbs and flows in population, retaining about 6,000 inhabitants, and pushing hundreds of yards to the swampy tributaries flowing into the Missouri.

   In the distance, a drilling pad pushes closer to the river with the ultimate goal of tunneling beneath it. In the process, the excavation will cut through burial grounds. Distrust of the project has intensified over allegations that non-Indian archaeologists from the North Dakota State Historic Preservation Office have been exclusively charged with identifying native graves. Equally, there is concern as to what will occur should the pipeline breach below the Missouri’s pristine waters.

   On these two issues, there is an odd chorus of consensus bridging what is otherwise a de facto apartheid in this small corner of the world. On and off the reservation, the welfare of the Missouri River provokes ready conversation.
“We don’t want that pipeline coming through here,” explains a woman named Terrie in Mandan, a town of roughly 20,000 inhabitants just west of Bismarck and 30 miles north of the standing Rock Reservation. Her youthful face softens as her distrust of me thaws. “If that pipeline ruptures, it will be the end of the Missouri. That’s going to effect millions of people down-river.”

   But, just as quickly as Terrie is to condemn the pipeline, her teenage daughter shows me photos of vandalism in the nearby veteran’s graveyard. The agitated teen exclaims, “Look! Look at this. These pipeline protesters went and put a Tonka truck in the veteran’s graveyard with a sign that says ‘Let’s start drilling here’!”

   Terrie is angry. “Leave our veterans alone,” she says. “Why would you desecrate their graves? They have nothing to do with this.”

  It’s hard not to be taken in by the women’s congenial earthiness. On the other hand, the irony of their sensitivity to a distasteful prank, and the simultaneous indifference to the impact on Native American burial grounds, is inescapable. Here, the contempt for Native Americans is palpable and ubiquitous. “They get handouts and they are taken care of by the government,” Terrie adds. “They don’t have to work for any of it.”

   As much as there is division between races, there is also dissent within. Earlier in the day, a group from Standing Rock led a march to Mandan’s municipal offices. Working on a theme of forgiveness, love and peace, the group prayed for a cleansing of what they claim are the hatred and offenses of both sides of the conflict that occurred in the preceding weeks. Those actions led to the arrest and detention of Lakota Sioux who continued to languish in the Morton County Correctional Center in Mandan.

   The march was in stark contrast to the more extreme “direct action” principles undertaken by elements within the camp. In silence, the demonstrators encircled the jail and courthouse and pleaded for the release of their brethren. It was a display of the diverse beliefs and tactics emerging from the reservation; the hawks and the doves form a division so easily overlooked on the erroneous assumption of a monolithic Lakota Sioux culture and a unified stance in the face of adversity.

  On my way back to Standing Rock, I stop at Rusty’s Saloon in St. Anthony, a village half way between Mandan and the reservation. It is a clean and orderly establishment constructed as a lodge, and decorated with taxidermied wildlife. 

   The place is awash in camos and blaze orange as hunters gather for lunch. I take a seat alongside a regular who eyes me with suspicion. Lori, the barmaid, senses my apprehension and relaxes the atmosphere with some easy talk. I oblige and the conversation soon deepens.

   Before long, she voices concern about threats to local farmers, the killing of livestock and a plethora of fires and vandalism alleged to have been perpetrated by Indians. According to Lori, the acts are the product of a native reawakening of land rights and a history of intrusion. “Our children had to have an armed escort to school because of the threats over this pipeline,” Lori adds. “People here are just plain scared.”

   These and other conversations reveal that, while there is agreement as to issues between those on and off the reservation, opinions are very much in cadence with peer allegiances and along the cultural divide.

   The dialogue of race is different here. In contrast to the low rumble of urban settings, race-based hatred in rural North Dakota is immediately explosive. The conversations with non-Indians are rife with animus toward Indians and outsiders. Likewise, the indigenous population, on and off the reservation, offers little more warmth. There is a noticeable lack of eye contact with non-Indians and the almost obligatory dirty looks cast at the “was’ichu,” (the somewhat derogatory Lakota word for “white” and non-Indian). The culture is understandably steeped in historic distrust.

   Back at the camp, three young people bide their time waiting for a march to the front lines. Today, the Standing Rock Youth Council will take an offering to those manning the SWAT vehicles. The Youth Council is a contingent of the reservation’s younger generation that is guided by the mantra of “removing the invisible barriers that prevent our native youth from succeeding.” They are steadfast in support of the water protection action. Today, they will push to the front lines in peaceful offering to the men bearing arms and armor just beyond the barbed wire.

   I am confronted by the stoicism of two visiting tribal members from Michigan, and of Maria, a young woman affiliated with several North Dakota tribes. “This is not a conflict zone,” Maria explains. “It’s not a war zone. We don’t want it to be seen that way.”

   Maria is correct. While tear gas and rubber bullets have been unleashed in the course of the DAPL conflict, the people of Standing Rock show no interest in having their actions seen as being at war with the outside world. This erroneous characterization, spawned by the mainstream media, has drawn an array of characters to Standing Rock — Indian and non-Indian, each seeking to make the action their own. I find myself having to fight my way through throngs of posers and protesters to get to the core Native American water protectors who are truly sincere in their actions.

  Likewise, within the Indian community, as in any community, I discover a great variance of identity and adherence to the mores of Indian culture. Maria points to her companion, “Me Shet Nagle,” a visiting member of the Blackfeet Nation, and chides, “He doesn’t even know what his name means! For all he knows, he could be named after a sock!”

   Me Shet Nagle meets Maria’s playful contempt with a sheepish grin. I jokingly assure that they will be portrayed in the most stereotypical manner possible. They get the humor. We all get it; the revelation of the Native American as a diverse culture with all of the beauty, humor, internal conflict and struggle for identity as any other.

   Tension builds as the time to march draws near. Dozens of water protectors assemble across the bridge from the barricade. Members of the SWAT team can be seen readying themselves in the distance. The bridge is disputed territory. Leaders from the Youth Council cradle a sacred pipe and carry an offering of the life-giving water that is threatened by the DAPL. In silence, dozens march on toward the front line.

   Within yards of the barricade, the council motions for all marchers to be seated. People pray. Some look woefully onward, expecting plumes of tear gas. Cameras click away over the crowd. Among this throng, a young woman carries an infant wrapped in a thick wool blanket. The group is completely vulnerable. I glance over the edge of the bridge and quickly calculate a two-story drop to the freezing water of unknown depth. If things went as they have before, pandemonium could break out with any incoming projectiles.

  The leaders of the Youth Council disappear behind the burned-out trucks. A number of heavily armored police and military appear from behind the barricade to take stock of the crowd. They peer from behind dark goggles beneath Kevlar helmets, adorned in heavy flak vests, with weapons slung at the ready.

  The moments linger.

   Finally, the Youth Council members emerge. They slowly walk to the crowd and command that everyone rise and move forward. In unified mass movement, the marchers close another 10 yards toward the barricade and the tension heightens. The council leaders sternly motion directions and, again, everyone is seated. The marchers are entirely under the Youth Council’s control.

   “We offered them water,” one leader reports as he raise a mason jar. “They would not drink from it!” A murmur spreads across the crowd. “However,” the leader continues, “they prayed with us.” His words are slow and punctuated with the tension of the moment. “We prayed together and, while they would not drink the water, the men did accept our water and rubbed it about their uniforms in a showing of respect and solidarity.”

   After a long pause, a Lakota woman seated before me raises a rattle in the air and shakes it with a cry of approval. One by one, hands rise and a cheer of praise breaks the quiet. The armed troops’ act of personal solidarity and sensitivity was all they asked for. In modest triumph, the marchers make their way back across the bridge in humble silence and with a renewed hope.
In the distance, the machines churn on.

Tony Zinnanti is a lawyer, freelance journalist and photographer from Los Angeles.

        [4]


Links:


Donations can be sent to the Baltimore Nonviolence Center, 325 E. 25th St., Baltimore, MD 21218.  Ph: 410-323-1607; Email: mobuszewski [at] verizon.net. Go to http://baltimorenonviolencecenter.blogspot.com/

"The master class has always declared the wars; the subject class has always fought the battles. The master class has had all to gain and nothing to lose, while the subject class has had nothing to gain and everything to lose--especially their lives." Eugene Victor Debs