Military Resistance 9G9

Military Resistance:
thomasfbarton@earthlink.net
7.13.11
Print it out: color best. Pass it on.
Military Resistance 9G9
Regrets
For delay of this issue – computer problems.
T
IRAQ WAR REPORTS
Oroville Family Mourns Soldier
6/27 Reported by: Bryan Callahan, KHSLTV
An Oroville family is in mourning after learning their son was killed in Iraq.
Army Sgt. Russell Proctor, Jr. died Sunday after his vehicle was struck by an improvised
explosive device.
Russell and Renee Proctor were in bed last night around eleven o’clock, when two
soldiers knocked on their door to deliver the worst news any parent could imagine.
“Anytime you have a knock at your door with two soldiers, especially at this time; you
know what it means,” Russell Proctor, Sr. said.
Moments after opening the door Russell Proctor, Sr. closed the door to his home
overcome with grief… knowing he had lost his oldest son.
“We let them in and I already knew. I just want to know what happened to my boy,”
Proctor, Sr. said.
Russell Proctor, Jr. died early Sunday after he was struck by an IED in Iraq.
“He was so young. He was only 25. He had a beautiful son and a beautiful wife.
Everybody is devastated,” Renee Proctor said.
Proctor had joined the army two years after graduating from Rio Linda High School in
2003.
It was after joining the military that Proctor met his wife, and nearly one year ago the
couple welcomed their son, Ezekiel.
“He just had a good heart and the Army is what he wanted to do. He wanted to serve
his country and he was good at it. He was happy,” Renee Proctor said.
Even with a growing family, Proctor says his son couldn’t leave his fellow soldiers
behind.
“He didn’t want to leave them. He kept signing up for more tours and this time he didn’t
make it,” Proctor, Sr. said.
Even though his oldest son is gone, Proctor and his other ten children plan to keep his
memory alive.
“I loved that boy. From the little boy in the fire engine hat to the big boy in the military
helmet. I loved him and I’m going to miss him,” Proctor, Sr. said.
Proctor says his mission from today forward is to make sure his son gets the recognition
he deserves. “He’s my hero. He’s an American hero, and I want him to be recognized
as that,” Proctor, Sr. said.
The Proctor’s were meeting with military officials Monday afternoon to discuss funeral
arrangements.
They are also working to get in touch with Russell’s wife who was also serving in Iraq.
Stupid JCS Chief Mullen Invites Iraqi
Militias To Kill As Many U.S. Troops
As Possible As Soon As Possible:
The Fool Says U.S. Troops Won’t Stay In
Iraq Unless Attacks On U.S. Forces
Stopped
Jul 7, 2011 By Viola Gienger, BLOOMBERG L.P. [Excerpts]
Any U.S. agreement to keep troops in Iraq beyond the planned Dec. 31 withdrawal
should be contingent on Iraqi authorities cutting off the flow of Iranian weapons
and training to the militias killing American soldiers, said Admiral Mike Mullen,
chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
U.S. officials have said they would consider an Iraqi government request to keep some
of the almost 50,000 troops in the country longer, to help secure air space and improve
the Iraqi security force’s capabilities.
“Iran is very directly supporting extremist Shia groups which are killing our
troops” in Iraq, Mullen told reporters at the Pentagon.
Any extension of the U.S. troop presence “has to be done in conjunction with
control of Iran in that regard.”
The condition for a U.S. troop extension poses a challenge to Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri
al-Maliki, whose political party has struggled to manage Iran’s political and military
influence.
Troops Invited:
Comments, arguments, articles, and letters from service
men and women, and veterans, are especially welcome.
Write to Box 126, 2576 Broadway, New York, N.Y. 100255657 or send email to contact@militaryproject.org:
Name, I.D., withheld unless you request publication.
Same address to unsubscribe.
THIS ENVIRONMENT IS HAZARDOUS TO YOUR
HEALTH;
ALL HOME, NOW
June 30, 2011 U.S. Army Spc. Dennis Bechtel and his working dog Randy investigate
holes in a mud wall for weapon caches in Iraq.
Resistance Action
July 8 (Reuters) & July 9 (Reuters) & July 11 Reuters & July 12 Reuters
BAGHDAD - Three Katyusha rockets landed in Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green
Zone, home to the U.S. embassy and Iraqi government offices. No casualties were
reported. Six Katyusha rockets were launched from Zaafaraniya district, southeastern of Baghdad. Three rockets exploded after they landed on the outskirts of
the Green Zone without causing any casualties.
BAGHDAD - Three Katyusha rockets landed in Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green
Zone, home to the U.S. embassy and Iraqi government offices, an Interior Minister
source said. No casualties were reported.
BAGHDAD - One Katyusha rocket landed in Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green
Zone, home to the U.S. embassy and Iraqi government offices, an Interior Ministry
source said. No casualties were reported.
MUSSAYAB - A roadside bomb wounded a member of the government-backed Sahwa
militia in central Mussayab, about 60 km (40 miles) south of Baghdad, police said.
ABU GHRAIB - A car bomb went off near a Sahwa checkpoint, killing two members and
wounding four others, late on Monday in Abu Ghraib on the western outskirts of
Baghdad, police said.
JURF AL-SAKHAR - Insurgents in a speeding car killed two members of the
government-backed Sahwa militia in Jurf al-Sakhar, 60 km (37 miles) south of Baghdad,
according to the local police.
BAQUBA - Insurgents wearing military uniforms killed a member of the Sahwa militia
after forcing their way into his home in Baquba, 65 km (40 miles) northeast of Baghdad,
according to the local police.
BAGHDAD - A roadside bomb wounded a policeman when it went off near a police
patrol in Baghdad’s southern district of Doura, police said.
KIRKUK - Insurgents in a speeding car shot at and wounded a policeman standing by a
stationary police patrol in southern Kirkuk, 250 km (155 miles) north of Baghdad, police
said.
MOSUL - Armed men killed two Iraqi soldiers at a checkpoint in the eastern parts of
Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.
MOSUL - An Iraqi soldier was killed and two others were wounded, when insurgents in a
speeding car opened fire at their checkpoint in western Mosul, police said.
TUZ KHURMATO - A roadside bomb wounded four policemen, in the center of Tuz
Khurmato, 170 km (105 miles) north of Baghdad, police and hospital sources said.
BAGHDAD - A sticky bomb attached to the car of a member of the government-backed
Sahwa militia exploded, seriously wounding him, in the Ghazaliya district of western
Baghdad, an Interior Ministry source said.
IF YOU DON’T LIKE THE RESISTANCE
END THE OCCUPATION
AFGHANISTAN WAR REPORTS
Foreign Occupation “Servicemember”
Killed Somewhere Or Other In
Afghanistan Saturday:
Nationality Not Announced
July 1, 2011 AP
A foreign servicemember died following an insurgent attack in eastern Afghanistan
today.
Two More Foreign Occupation Troops
Killed Somewhere Or Other In
Afghanistan Sunday:
Nationality Not Announced
10 July 2011 BBC
Two foreign troops were killed in separate incidents.
A foreign soldier was killed in a bomb blast and an insurgent attack in southern
Afghanistan, while another was killed in an attack in the east of the country.
California Sgt. Killed In Khowst
Sgt. Nicanor Amper IV, 36, was killed July 5 in Khowst, Afghanistan, when his unit was
attacked with a rocket-propelled grenade. Amper was assigned to the 6th Squadron, 4th
Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division. [Army via the
Associated Press]
Jul 8, 2011 The Associated Press
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A Fort Knox soldier has been killed in an attack in Afghanistan.
The Department of Defense says 36-year-old Sgt. Nicanor Amper IV of San Jose, Calif.,
died Tuesday in Khowst of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his unit with a
rocket-propelled grenade.
Amper was a cavalry scout assigned to the 6th Squadron, 4th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd
Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division.
Fort Knox says Amper began military service as a Marine in 1995 and transferred to the
Army in 2005. He arrived at Fort Knox in January 2010.
Amper was on his first combat deployment.
Danish Soldier Killed In Helmand Sunday
Jul. 10, 2011 The Associated Press
Military officials say a Danish soldier has been killed by a roadside explosion during a
patrol in southern Afghanistan.
The blast happened Sunday morning west of a Danish base in Helmand province.
The Danish Army Operational Command says the soldier was airlifted by helicopter to a
field hospital but his life couldn’t be saved. It says next of kin have been notified.
Denmark will start withdrawing its combat units this year and gradually shift its role into
training Afghan forces.
Afghan Guard Kills Foreign Soldier
And Occupation Worker, Wounds
Another Soldier:
“The Shooter, Amanullah, Worked As A
Bodyguard For The Second-Ranking
Official In Afghanistan’s Intelligence
Service”
7.9.11 AP
An Afghan guard opened fire at foreign troops accompanying a reconstruction convoy
traveling in a northern province, killing one service member and a civilian working for the
coalition.
The shooting took place in the Darah district of Panjshir province, about 99 kilometres
north of the capital, Kabul, according to provincial police chief General Mohammad
Qasim Jangalbagh.
NATO did not identify the nationalities of the deceased and released no other details
about the incident.
Jangalbagh, the Panjshir police chief, said the Afghan guard, who goes by the name
Amanullah, was standing outside his home when the convoy passed by.
The guard stopped the convoy, started arguing with the foreign troops and then opened
fire, Jangalbagh said. A third coalition service member was wounded in the shooting,
the police chief added, and another service member fired back, killing Amanullah.
According to Jangalbagh, the shooter, Amanullah, worked as a bodyguard for the
second-ranking official in Afghanistan’s intelligence service - General Assam Din
Assam, the deputy director for National Directorate for Security.
Assam was not at the scene of the shooting in Panjshir. No one at the intelligence
agency could be reached for comment.
U.S. Marine Gurpreet Singh Killed in
Combat
June 30, 2011 By SUNITA SOHRABJI, India-West Publications Inc.
U.S. Marine Cpl. Gurpreet Singh, 21, was killed in combat June 22 in the Helmand
Province of Afghanistan.
Singh was born in Hoshiapur, Punjab, but immigrated to the U.S. in 2000 and grew up in
Antelope, Calif., near Sacramento. He leaves behind his father Nirmal, his mother
Satnam Kaur, his sister Manpreet and a brother, also named Gurpreet.
Funeral services for Singh will be held on July 2, 11 a.m., at Mount Vernon Memorial
Park in Fair Oaks, Calif. Singh’s body was flown home June 28 to McClellan Air Force
Base in Sacramento.
“He was always a very patriotic man for the U.S.,” Nirmal Singh told India-West. “From
the time he was a little boy, he knew he wanted to serve in the U.S. military.”
“Gupreet was very proud of his service with the Marines and our family is proud too,”
said Nirmal Singh, who was on his way to pick up his son’s body at McClellan.
Gurpreet Singh, who went to Oakmont High School in nearby Roseville, Calif., was on
his second tour of duty with the Marines, where he served with the 5th Marine Regiment
in the 1st Marine Division.
After finishing high school, Singh signed on with the Marines in November 2007 and
trained at Camp Pendleton in San Diego, Calif., before going into active combat in
Afghanistan to support Operation Enduring Freedom.
Singh had been in Afghanistan for seven months before he was killed. The Department
of Defense said Singh died of wounds received while in active combat, but released no
other information about the manner in which he was killed.
Gurpreet Singh was almost at the end of his four-year service, but extended his time to
cover for someone who wanted to take a leave of absence, said a friend, also named
Gurpreet Singh, who initially met the young Indian American at the West Sacramento
Sikh Gurdwara.
“He had been shot before and had injuries, but went back nevertheless,” said Gurpreet
Singh, adding that the Marine, before enlisting, had done a lot of volunteer work at the
temple.
For his service with the Marines, Singh had received six medals including the Purple
Heart, awarded to those who have been wounded or killed in combat.
Singh also received a Combat Action Ribbon, a National Defense Service Medal, a
Global War on Terrorism medal, a Good Conduct medal, and an Afghanistan Campaign
Medal.
“Cpl. Singh was someone everyone could get along with,” said Cpl. Fort, commenting on
the Los Angeles Times Web site.
“Whether it be another patrol in hostile territory or just a morning greeting, Gurpreet
would always have a positive attitude,” said Fort, adding: “Love you bro, forever in our
hearts.”
The Helmand Province is becoming an increasingly dangerous place for U.S. soldiers,
as Taliban fighters try to re-establish control in regions where they once dominated,
Marines Major General John Toolan told reporters at the Pentagon last month.
The Taliban are not well-trained as fighters but do know how to build and bury roadside
bombs, which are a major threat to U.S. troops, he said.
In a televised address from the White House June 23, President Barack Obama
announced that he was bringing home 10,000 troops from Afghanistan by the end of this
year.
Another 23,000 troops are scheduled to be withdrawn in 2012, leaving about 68,000
American troops in Afghanistan until 2014, when the president said he would end
America’s combat role in that country.
Approximately 1,634 American military personnel have died in Afghanistan.
POLITICIANS CAN’T BE COUNTED ON TO HALT
THE BLOODSHED
THE TROOPS HAVE THE POWER TO STOP THE
WARS
Afghan President Karzai’s HalfBrother Assassinated
“He Often Was Accused Of
Corruption And Being A Major Drug
Trafficker”
“The American Commander In
Afghanistan, Gen. David Petraeus,
Extended His ‘Personal Sympathy And
Condolences’”
July 12, 2011 By Habib Zohori and Saeed Shah; McClatchy Newspapers [Excerpts]
KABUL, Afghanistan — Ahmed Wali Karzai, the younger half-brother of President Hamid
Karzai and one of the most powerful men in Afghanistan, was assassinated Tuesday at
his residence in Kandahar, the family’s hometown.
President Karzai confirmed the killing, which officials in Kandahar said was carried out
by a Karzai family associate who ran several checkpoints around Ahmed Wali Karzai’s
home.
The killing sent shock waves through the Afghan political system and renewed questions
about how secure a country the U.S.-led mission will leave behind. It also amounted to
a major blow to President Karzai himself, who relied heavily on his half-brother as the
key power broker in insurgent- and drug-riddled southern Afghanistan, the heartland of
the Taliban.
The younger Karzai was a highly controversial figure, long accused of being a major
player in the Afghan drug trade, and had survived several previous assassination
attempts.
He provided the family muscle in Kandahar, the most politically important province
outside Kabul, and his death was likely to create a major power struggle that could result
in more violence.
The motive for the assassination wasn’t immediately clear. A Taliban spokesman
claimed responsibility for the killing, calling the assailant “our infiltrator,” but some
observers cast doubt on the claim.
The American commander in Afghanistan, Gen. David Petraeus, extended his “personal
sympathy and condolences” to President Karzai in a statement issued by the
International Security Assistance Force.
Ahmed Wali Karzai, often known by his initials, was the head of the Kandahar provincial
council, but he wielded much more power than that title indicates. He often was accused
of corruption and being a major drug trafficker, charges he dismissed as “politically
motivated.”
In 2009, he threatened a McClatchy reporter who questioned him in Kandahar about the
drug allegations, saying, “Get the (expletive) out before I kick your (expletive).”
He also was said to have long been on the CIA payroll, which caused friction
within Washington, as the State Department was critical of his links to criminal
activity.
His personal militia, the Kandahar Strike Force, was implicated in the
assassination of a former Kandahar police chief and prosecutor.
Gen. Abdul Razik, the police chief in Kandahar, said at a news conference that the killer
was “one of (Ahmed Wali Karzai’s) trusted men” and had been working with him for the
past seven years.
“His friends and comrades have been arrested and we will interrogate them,” said Razik,
who alleged that “some foreign hands were involved in the assassination plot.”
Haji Agha Lalai, a member of the Kandahar provincial council who was with the younger
Karzai at the time of his killing, told McClatchy that it happened at 11 a.m. in Karzai’s
own house, where he was receiving business, political and personal contacts as he
regularly did.
“He (Karzai) entered another room. He and the killer were the only ones in that room. I
heard firing,” Lalai said. “The killer was one of his security guys.”
According to Lalai, the assassin was 25 years old and from Dand district, just outside
Kandahar city. Unconfirmed news reports identified him as Sardar Mohammed and said
that he’d worked previously as a bodyguard for President Karzai’s older brother, Qayum
Karzai.
A doctor at Mirwais Hospital in Kandahar said that Ahmed Wali Karzai had been shot
twice at point-blank range, once in the chest and once in the skull.
He was dead on arrival at the hospital, said the doctor, who requested anonymity
because he wasn’t authorized to speak to the news media.
MILITARY NEWS
NOT ANOTHER DAY
NOT ANOTHER DOLLAR
NOT ANOTHER LIFE
The remains of Army Spc. Nicholas W. Newby of Coeur D Alene, Idaho at Dover Air
Force Base, Del. July 9, 2011. Newby died July 7 in Baghdad, Iraq, of injuries suffered
when insurgents attacked his convoy using an improvised explosive device. (AP
Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Soldier Killed Using New
Experimental Chute:
Army Says Chute Problems Had
Nothing To Do With It:
Army Suspends All Use Of New Chute
Due To Chute Problems
Jul 8, 2011 By Lance M. Bacon - Staff writer, Army Times [Excerpts]
The Army on Friday morning suspended all use of the new T-11 Advanced Tactical
Parachute System.
The announcement comes two weeks after the death of an 82nd Airborne paratrooper,
the first fatality involving the new chute, and exactly one month after the Army placed
safety restrictions on the T-11 after officials at the Pathfinder School at Fort Benning,
Ga., questioned whether published wind drift offset factors were accurate.
Staff Sgt. Jamal Clay’s June 25 death at Fort Bragg, N.C., was due to a parachute
malfunction and was unrelated to the previous restriction, officials said.
This latest restriction, outlined in All Army Action 251/2011, is due to “potential packing,
inspection, quality control and functionality problems,” according to the message.
The problems were uncovered during the investigation into Clay’s death. Investigators
identified problems in the packing process.
An inspection of 10 T-11 parachutes revealed tangled pack assist loops, improper
corner arm folds, improperly stowed bridle, twists in the top of the canopy, and
failed 14-pound pull tests of reserve chutes.
“The observations are significant and pervasive enough to indicate potential
systemic shortfalls,” the message said.
The suspension halts all jumps and packing operations using the T-11.
BOHICA
Letters To The Editor
Army Times
7.11.11
I can’t believe that in my Army career thus far (eight years) that I’ve worn three different
versions of battle uniforms with the Battle Dress Uniforms, Desert Camouflage Uniforms,
Army Combat Uniforms and whatever else the Army is considering to switching to next.
Is that really the most important thing to be spending millions of dollars on?
Sgt. Chris Sofia
Bensalem, Pa.
FORWARD OBSERVATIONS
“At a time like this, scorching irony, not convincing argument, is needed. Oh had
I the ability, and could reach the nation’s 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
Hope for change doesn’t cut it when you’re still losing buddies.
-- J.D. Englehart, Iraq Veterans Against The War
The Present Is Written On The Wall
Photograph by Mike Hastie
As God walks atop this wall and weeps,
I hear him say, “These were my sons and daughters.”
The sound of his tears fall silenced,
As hands are washed in the Potomac,
And it runs red with waste!
The Pontius Pilates of the new Rome,
Repeat history on full automatic.
-- Nicholas James Weber
Vietnam Veteran
From: Mike Hastie
To: Military Resistance Newsletter
Sent: July 08, 2011
Subject: The Present Is Written On The Wall
The Present Is Written On The Wall
This picture is a close up of a much larger image I took
of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.
in September 1986.
The original picture had six full panels of the Wall,
with only the little girl present in the picture.
58,000 American soldiers were killed in Vietnam.
58,000 American soldiers were lied to about Vietnam.
The entire Vietnam War was staged.
When the Colonial French were defeated in 1954,
the United States Empire became the next country
in a long line of countries to occupy Vietnam.
The French turned Vietnam into a cash register,
and now it was America’s turn to run the till.
It’s called breaking and entering for profit.
Fast forward to 2003 under the Bush administration,
and Iraq becomes the next Vietnam in the Middle East.
That’s what empire’s do--they shit and flush,
and concoct some moral reason why they are there,
so tax payers who are needed to support this murder
will be released from any guilt and shame.
Everything is a lie.
It’s a lie until it becomes a belief system.
Once that belief system is set in place,
the Empire can do anything.
I mean anything.
Let’s start with mass murder,
and move forward from there.
That was Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos,
and now it’s Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Fast forward to another date in American history,
and thousands of more names will be added to this Wall.
The amount of civilians killed would run for miles if
the same density of names were used on this memorial.
That is how great the lie is.
The great truth that has great silence.
The little girl’s profile with all those sea of names.
That is the nature of greed in an Empire’s quest for
relentless power.
Every name has a face...
Every face was lied to...
Every soul added to the U.S. Government’s
Wall of Shame.
Mike Hastie
Army medic Vietnam
July 7, 2011
Photo and caption from the I-R-A-Q (I Remember Another Quagmire) portfolio of
Mike Hastie, US Army Medic, Vietnam 1970-71. (For more of his outstanding work,
contact at: (hastiemike@earthlink.net) T)
One day while I was in a bunker in Vietnam, a sniper round went over my head.
The person who fired that weapon was not a terrorist, a rebel, an extremist, or a
so-called insurgent. The Vietnamese individual who tried to kill me was a citizen
of Vietnam, who did not want me in his country. This truth escapes millions.
Mike Hastie
U.S. Army Medic
Vietnam 1970-71
December 13, 2004
DANGER: POLITICIANS AT WORK
DO YOU HAVE A FRIEND OR RELATIVE IN THE
MILITARY?
Forward Military Resistance along, or send us the address if you wish and
we’ll send it regularly. Whether in Afghanistan, Iraq or stuck on a base in
the USA, this is extra important for your service friend, too often cut off
from access to encouraging news of growing resistance to the wars, inside
the armed services and at home. Send email requests to address up top or
write to: The Military Resistance, Box 126, 2576 Broadway, New York, N.Y.
10025-5657. Phone: 888.711.2550
CLASS WAR REPORTS
Inmate Strike Expands To More
California Prisons:
“Inmates In The Security Housing
Unit At Pelican Bay State Prison
Stopped Eating Meals In Protest
Of Conditions That They Contend
Are Cruel And Inhumane”
“The Inmates Spend 22 1/2 Hours A
Day In Their Cells”
“The Cells Have No Windows And Are
Soundproofed”
July 6, 2011 By Sam Quinones, Los Angeles Times [Excerpts]
Inmates in at least 11 of California’s 33 prisons are refusing meals in solidarity with a
hunger strike staged by prisoners in one of the system’s special maximum-security units,
officials said Tuesday.
The strike began Friday when inmates in the Security Housing Unit at Pelican Bay State
Prison stopped eating meals in protest of conditions that they contend are cruel and
inhumane.
“There are inmates in at least a third of our prisons who are refusing state-issued
meals,” said Terry Thornton, a spokeswoman for the California Department of
Corrections and Rehabilitation.
The number of declared strikers at Pelican Bay — reported Saturday as fewer than two
dozen — has grown but is changing daily, she said. The same is true at other prisons.
Some inmates are refusing all meals, while others are rejecting only some, Thornton
said. Some were eating in visitation rooms and refusing state-issued meals in their cells,
she said.
More than 400 prisoners at Pelican Bay are believed to be refusing meals, including
inmates on the prison’s general-population yard, said Molly Poizig, spokeswoman for the
Bay Area-based group Prisoner Hunger Strike Solidarity.
The group had received reports on the strike from lawyers and family members visiting
inmates over the weekend, she said.
The group’s website claims that prison officials attempted to head off the strike by
promoting a Fourth of July menu that included strawberry shortcake and ice cream.
According to the website, the wife of a Security Housing Unit inmate said her husband
had never had ice cream there and “has never seen a strawberry.”
Inmates at Calipatria State Prison — with more than a thousand prisoners — were
among those reported to be refusing meals, Poizig said.
But Thornton acknowledged that inmates at the prison were refusing to eat state-issued
meals.
The strike was organized by Security Housing Unit inmates at Pelican Bay
protesting the maximum-security unit’s extreme isolation. The inmates are also
asking for better food, warmer clothing and to be allowed one phone call a month.
The Security Housing Unit compound, which currently houses 1,100 inmates, is
designed to isolate prison-gang members or those who’ve committed crimes while in
prison.
The cells have no windows and are soundproofed to inhibit communication
among inmates. The inmates spend 22 1/2 hours a day in their cells, being
released only an hour a day to walk around a small area with high concrete walls.
Prisoner advocates have long complained that Security Housing Unit
incarceration amounts to torture, often leading to mental illness, because many
inmates spend years in the lockup.
Prison administrators are meeting with inmate advisory councils to discuss the inmates’
complaints, Thornton said.
But “I have not heard there’s been any decision” to modify policies governing the
Security Housing Unit, she said.
Syria:
“Tamer’s Death Became Known In
June, When Blurry Cellphone
Videos Showed The Teen’s
Bruised And Bullet-Pocked Body,
Missing Most Of His Teeth”
“He Wanted Freedom, He Wanted To
Be Like His Peers Elsewhere,
Enjoying Life, Going Out Without
Looking Over His Shoulder”
“Hamza Was Arrested At A
Demonstration And Not Seen Again Until
His Mutilated Body, With His Penis
Severed, Was Delivered To His Family
Weeks Later”
July 7th, 2011 By BASSEM MROUE, freedetainees.org [Excerpts]
Inside a filthy detention center in Damascus, eight or nine interrogators repeatedly
bludgeoned a skinny teenager whose hands were bound and who bore a bullet
wound on the left side of his chest.
They struck his head, back, feet and genitals until he was left on the floor of a cell,
bleeding from his ears and crying out for his mother and father to help him.
Ibrahim Jamal al-Jahamani, a fellow prisoner who said he witnessed the brutal scene in
Syria in May, heard the interrogators demand that the 15-year-old proclaim strongman
Bashar Assad as his “beloved” president.
The youth, later identified as Tamer Mohammed al-Sharei, refused. Instead, he chanted
an often-heard slogan from anti-regime street protests calling for “freedom and the love
of God and our country.”
Tamer’s refusal apparently was the final straw for the interrogators.
“Guards broke his right wrist, beating him with clubs on his hands, which were tied
behind his back,” al-Jahamani told The Associated Press after his release from
detention, referring to the beatings as torture.
“They also beat him on the face, head, back, feet and genitals until he bled from the
nose, mouth and ears and fell unconscious,” he recalled.
“He pleaded for mercy and yelled: ‘Mom, dad, come rescue me!’” al-Jahamani said.
“He was lying like a dog on the floor in his underwear, with blood covering his body. But
his interrogators had no compassion that they were savagely beating a boy,” alJahamani added, his voice breaking with emotion.
Tamer and al-Jahamani were two of thousands of Syrians caught up in mass arrests of
those suspected of opposing Assad during an uprising that began in March.
Al-Jahamani witnessed the beating from a corridor lined with cells while he was waiting
for two hours for the prison guards to take him to his cell. He said the corridor reeked
from the stench of blood and dirty toilets and the cell beds were covered in dirty sheets.
At the lockup run by Syria’s Air Force Intelligence, security forces kept Tamer bound and
nearly naked, his body covered in blood and bruises, while interrogators broke his
forearm and teeth.
At one point, a doctor was brought in to revive him, al-Jahamani said.
“He gave him an injection and they started beating him again,” concentrating on his feet
and genitals, and the boy started bleeding from his ears, al-Jahamani said.
The next day, the teenager’s screams abruptly stopped and al-Jahamani said he never
heard a sound from him again.
Al-Jahamani, 23, told the AP he was held in the same Damascus detention center as
Tamer in May and saw and heard the boy being beaten over two days.
On the first day, al-Jahamani saw a bruised Tamer face down on the floor of the corridor.
Later that day, they were placed in different cells near each other on that same corridor,
and al-Jahamani could hear Tamer’s screams.
The story of Tamer’s death while in detention offers a rare, first-hand account of the
beatings of young detainees during the nearly 4-month-old uprising.
Tamer’s case, along with another youth whose body bore signs of brutality, have
galvanized thousands of protesters in the face of a brutal crackdown that has killed more
than 1,400.
Al-Jahamani spoke to AP reporters by telephone and in person over two days of
interviews. He asked that his precise location, somewhere along the Syrian-Jordanian
border, not be revealed out of fear of retribution by Syrian secret police.
He said he fled Syria after authorities released him May 31. He spent nearly a month in
detention. He showed the AP a copy of his release paper, signed and stamped by Syrian
authorities after they failed to find evidence linking him to charges of incitement.
Syria has banned nearly all foreign media and restricted media coverage, making it
impossible to verify events independently. But since the early days of the uprising, alJahamani has provided reliable witness accounts to the AP that have been confirmed by
multiple sources.
Tamer’s death became known in June, when blurry cellphone videos showed the teen’s
bruised and bullet-pocked body, missing most of his teeth, in a wooden coffin. In one
clip, a woman cries out: “This is my son! I swear this is my son!”
Al-Jahamani said he saw the video after his release and instantly recognized the dead
youth as the teen from the detention center. He had heard interrogators call him
“Tamer.”
The videos have come to symbolize the brutality of a crackdown that does not even
spare children, with at least 72 of them killed in the uprising, according to the Local
Coordination Committees, a group that documents protests.
Tamer and another youth, Hamza al-Khatib, 13, both from the southern village of Jiza in
Daraa province, disappeared April 29. The province is where the uprising began after
security forces arrested high school students who scrawled anti-regime graffiti on a wall.
Hamza was arrested at a demonstration and not seen again until his mutilated body,
with his penis severed, was delivered to his family weeks later.
He, too, has become a symbol of the revolt against Assad, driving thousands of
protesters into the streets.
The deaths of Tamer and Hamza in particular enraged Syrians who have lived under a
brutal dictatorship led by the Assad family dynasty for more than four decades. The
protests have grown larger and drawn a broader cross section of society every week.
Al-Jahamani said he was walking in Daraa on May 3 with his friend, Firas Nassar, when
security forces asked them to stop. Nassar ran and was shot to death instantly by a
plainclothes policeman. “I was traumatized seeing my friend getting shot dead in front of
my eyes,” he said. “He didn’t do anything to be killed.”
Al-Jahamani said he wasn’t afraid, but he was angry about the death of his friend.
“I had to remain quiet because they may have killed me if I did or said anything,” he said.
Al-Jahamani decided not to run.
Security agents handcuffed him, covered his eyes and pushed him into a car where he
was driven for more than an hour. He later found out he was being held at the Air Force
Intelligence detention center in Damascus.
He said he also was beaten with clubs and kicked by interrogators, leaving marks on his
thigh long after his release. It was there that he witnessed Tamer’s beating.
“What mistake had he committed?” al-Jahamani asked. “He wanted freedom, he wanted
to be like his peers elsewhere, enjoying life, going out without looking over his shoulder.”
He said he was arrested at least three times since protests swept Syria in March.
“I was arrested twice in March, once in April, and the one during which I witnessed the
torture in May,” al-Jahamani said. “They were after me because I was active on
Facebook and the Internet, feeding video material and pictures to show the world the
brutality of Bashar Assad’s regime. I was also in contact with the media, like the AP,
outside Syria.”
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“Tens Of Thousands Of
Egyptians On Friday
Mounted One Of The
Country’s Largest
Demonstrations”
“We Want To Separate The
Supreme Council Of The Armed
Forces From The Army”
“The Supreme Council Are
Mubarak’s Men, But The Army Is
The Egyptian Army And They’re
With The Egyptian People”
“Protesters Who Gathered Under The
Slogan ‘Revolution First’ Expressed
Increasing Frustration Over Their
View That The Military Leadership
Has Stalled On Crucial Reform
Measures”
“The Crowds Also Appeared To Include
A Broader Cross-Section Of Egyptian
Society Than In Previous Postuprising
Rallies”
Thousands of protesters gather in Cairo’s Tahrir Square on Friday to demand swifter
reforms. Reuters
JULY 9, 2011 By MATT BRADLEY, Wall St. Journal [Excerpts]
CAIRO—Tens of thousands of Egyptians on Friday mounted one of the country’s largest
demonstrations since protesters overthrew President Hosni Mubarak in February, as
anger began to crystallize against what had been long been the unreproachable
guarantor of the revolution—the country’s military.
Protesters endured soaring temperatures to converge on Tahrir Square, the focal point
of demonstrations that ousted President Mubarak, and in other major cities, to press a
wide set of demands for political and economic reform.
The demonstrations marked the first clear expression of diminished public esteem for
the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, or SCAF, five months after military leaders
assumed interim power.
The crowds also appeared to include a broader cross-section of Egyptian society than in
previous postuprising rallies.
Protesters who gathered under the slogan “Revolution First” expressed increasing
frustration over their view that the military leadership has stalled on crucial reform
measures—citing lack of progress in abolishing military trials for civilians, prosecuting
those accused of abuses in the former regime, increasing the minimum wage and
reforming Egypt’s hated police forces.
“Of course not everything can be done in five months,” Gigi Ibrahim, an
independent activist, said Thursday. “But nothing has been done in five months.”
“At some point, there’s going to be a collision” between the Egyptian people and the
military leadership, said Joshua Stacher, an Egypt expert and professor of political
science at Kent State University.
“The fact that people think they need to keep mobilizing in order to get concessions is a
sign of SCAF’s failure to continue the transition in a way that meets the aims of the
revolutionaries,” said Mr. Stacher, who attended Friday’s protests.
While Tahrir Square has hosted regular protests since February, Friday’s march stood
apart from previous ones for its particularly wide spectrum of political parties and
ideologies.
“Ninety percent of the people just united together today,” said Ayman Zaki, a print-store
owner who said he is a Brotherhood member. Mr. Zaki said he is particularly vexed by
the slow pace of prosecutions against ex-officials and police officers accused of killing
protesters.
“In the beginning, the people loved the army and we’re still giving them a chance,” he
said. “But we want to separate the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces from the
army: The Supreme Council are Mubarak’s men, but the army is the Egyptian army and
they’re with the Egyptian people.”
Activists erected a large white tent across the grassy central portion of the square
Thursday night. Politicians made speeches from sound stages that had been set up
overnight.
In an indication of the wide range of demands, some youthful protesters passed out a
survey sheet asking demonstrators to evaluate the performance of the military
leadership. On the opposite side of the square, adherents to the ultraconservative Salafi
school of Islamic thought passed out draft copies of a proposed Islamist constitution.
Large banners mocked Mr. Mubarak, who is in police custody at a hospital in the resort
city of Sharm El Sheikh while awaiting a trial set for early August.
Another banner demanded that the families of the revolutionary “martyrs,” as Egyptians
refer to those who were killed during the revolution, be adequately compensated.
Supporting the families of the dead has emerged as a unifying populist cause for Egypt’s
bickering political parties. Police used tear gas and pellet rifles last week in clashes in
Tahrir Square against some members of the families who were demanding harsher
justice for police officers who are facing trial for killing protesters.
Family members rioted outside a courthouse in the coastal city of Suez earlier this week
after the court released on bail several police officers who had been accused of killing
protesters.
Police and military officers were largely absent from Tahrir Square on Friday.
Video footage of the police officers attacking protesters in Tahrir Square inspired
many to turn out for Friday’s demonstration, which had been planned for more
than a month as a “Constitution First” rally.
Last week, activists changed the theme of the rally to “Revolution First” from
“Constitution First”—an ideological widening that contributed to Friday’s strong turnout.
“Those who are campaigning for the ‘Constitution First’ are the liberal parties,”
said Ms. Ibrahim.
“The majority of the people on the streets are not interested in that because they
still don’t have minimum wage, they still don’t have freedom of the press, they still
don’t have the justice they are calling out for.”
While several surveys indicate the vast majority of Egyptians regard the military
favorably, Ms. Ibrahim, the activist, said Egyptians have turned against the
Supreme Council of the Armed Forces because few have felt an improvement in
their personal circumstances.
Instead, she said the military council should be replaced by a council of civilians
until parliamentary elections.
“Protests Have Built Up Into
Nightly Affairs In Syria’s
Sprawling Capital”
“Action Against The Government
Moves Closer To The Political And
Administrative Core”
“In The Past Few Weeks, Protests
Have Become Larger, Closer To
Central Damascus”
“Secular Activists And Even Christians
Have Found Sanctity In Mosques As A
Place To Gather For Protests”
“I wonder how the authorities could issue an invitation for dialogue when the
chains of their tanks are plowing the lands across Syria, blood is being shed, the
jails are flooding with prisoners and Syrians are clamoring to become refugees in
foreign lands,” dissident Haitham al-Maleh said.
JULY 8, 2011 By NOUR MALAS, Wall St. Journal & Reuters [Excerpts]
Protests have built up into nightly affairs in Syria’s sprawling capital and activists
are pressing boycotts against Syrian insiders, as action against the government
moves closer to the political and administrative core of President Bashar alAssad’s regime.
Protests have started to build in new areas of Damascus and gain breadth across
neighborhoods in the city over the past few weeks.
Alongside the crackdown on protests, Assad has promised political reforms and a
national dialogue with the opposition, due to start with preliminary talks on Sunday.
But opposition figures have said they will not talk with authorities while the killings and
arrests continue.
“I wonder how the authorities could issue an invitation for dialogue when the
chains of their tanks are plowing the lands across Syria, blood is being shed, the
jails are flooding with prisoners and Syrians are clamoring to become refugees in
foreign lands,” dissident Haitham al-Maleh said.
“I do not think that any citizen who honors his country would accept such an invitation,”
said Maleh, a lawyer and former judge.
Less visibly, young activists started publicizing lists of brands and companies distributed
or owned by people they say are close to the ruling regime to boycott.
The boycott list includes brands of cigarettes, canned tuna and dairy products as well as
taxi companies and cafes. The list includes several companies linked to Rami Makhlouf,
a cousin of the president who has been the target of U.S. and European Union sanctions
and who last month vowed to retire from business.
“The solution to mobilizing Damascus is to economically strangle the bourgeoisie and
business class that benefit from the regime,” said one activist, who was disappointed to
learn his favorite milk brand was controlled by Mr. Makhlouf.
Damascus and Syria’s second city, Aleppo, are keys to the survival of Mr. Assad’s
regime.
Together, they are home to over half of Syria’s population of at least 21 million. Analysts
say that should mass protests mobilize there, the two cities hold the potential to tip Syria
into what the International Crisis Group has called a “slow-motion revolution.”
Damascus has seen small protests since the early weeks of the four-month-long
uprising, both in the belt of underdeveloped suburbs around the city and in urban
neighborhoods aside from the capital’s wealthiest districts. The military has locked down
at least nine suburbs at various points and parts of Douma, Daraya and Moadamiyeh
remain under a security siege, residents and activists say.
In the past few weeks, protests have become larger, closer to central Damascus
and as frequent as nightly.
This past week, two separate protests marched through central Baghdad Street,
not far from the parliament building.
Violence against protesters is partly what has motivated more people to join protests, as
in other spots across Syria, city residents and activists said.
In a show of the regime’s willingness to crush dissent even at a centrally located college
campus, security forces stormed Damascus University on June 21, killing one student.
Students described thugs breaking down dorm doors and dragging women out of
their beds, just a day after Mr. Assad had delivered a speech at the university
acknowledging protesters had legitimate demands and promising reforms.
Syria’s economy is already sputtering, as a near-total dropoff in tourism leaves hotels
deserted and shopper reluctance has stores closing for what has traditionally been busy
evening hours.
If a targeted boycott of businesses aggravates those woes and protests continue to
grow, analysts say members of Damascus’s business community could quickly switch
sides to cut their losses.
Protests are expected to grow in August, when people gather at mosques for prayer
daily — rather than weekly — during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
For now, protesters have abandoned attempts to gather at the capital’s two large
squares, Omayyad Square and Abassin Square, after a march toward Abassin in April
was violently dispersed by security forces.
Omar Idlibi, a spokesperson for the activists’ Local Coordinating Committees, said they
don’t aim to settle around a public square in the capital, as Egypt’s protesters did. They
have avoided overnight sit-ins, hoping instead to wear out the regime’s military and
security with the spread of protests across the country.
“Damascus is likely to be the last place where there will be large scale antiregime
protests,” the diplomat said.
Some say antiregime protesters are still limited to disgruntled residents of cramped,
lower-class neighborhoods even when they march through the boutique-lined streets of
al-Shaalan.
Others say surprising constituencies have joined. Unable to gather in public
squares, secular activists and even Christians have found sanctity in mosques as
a place to gather for protests.
“My Christian and Communist friends and classmates come to the mosque with me
every week, just to protest after,” a university student said.
“They don’t know how to pray, but they ask me what to do when we’re on the way.”
Tens of thousands of people rallied in the Syrian city of Hama on Friday, calling for the
downfall of President Bashar al-Assad.
Footage on the Internet showed a huge crowd in Hama’s Orontes Square, some
carrying a Syrian flag tens of meters long and chanting “The people want the downfall of
the regime.”
In a now familiar pattern of defiance, protesters emerged from mosques to protest
in the capital, the southern city of Deraa where protests first erupted, the
industrial city of Homs and other towns nationwide.
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