Excerpt:
Brock McIntosh (Afghanistan Veteran), Cassandra Cantu (Afghanistan Veteran), Jacob George (Afghanistan Veteran), Nathan Toth (OEF Veteran), Tyler Zabel (Afghanistan War Resister), Alejandro Villatoro (Iraq Veteran and deployed to Afghanistan October 1, 2010) came together and proposed a AVAW Committee to the board in order to assure the struggle of Afghanistan Veterans to end the continued occupation of Afghanistan is acknowledged by the GI and Veterans Movement, the larger Antiwar Movement, and general public.
Letter to the Board:
To the Board of Directors, Members of IVAW,
We hereby call for the formation of the Afghanistan Veterans Against the War committee within Iraq Veterans Against the War. We seek to achieve full and equal recognition of the Afghanistan Occupation and our struggle to end it. Furthermore we demand immediate withdrawal from all occupying forces from Afghanistan, reparations and other compensation for the destruction and corporate pillaging of Afghanistan, so that the Afghan people can rebuild their lives and control their future, and full benefits and quality healthcare and other supports for returning service members.
Sincerely,
AVAW Committee
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/06/08-7
Excerpt:
Published on Wednesday, June 8, 2011 by Foreign Policy in Focus
Bigger than Blackwater: Arming the UAE
The International Defense Exhibition, otherwise known as IDEX, has been held bi-annually in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) since 1993. It is the largest defense expo in the Middle East and North Africa and one of the biggest in the world. But far from being a one-off, it highlights the UAE’s growing stature as a global arms buyer.
http://www.grist.org/article/the-real-surge-in-iraq-rent-a-soldier
Excerpt:
Everybody thought it was a big deal last spring when President Bush announced his "surge" of 20,000 troops in Iraq, which brings the total number to 160,000, four years after the invasion.
Meanwhile, with little public or Congressional scrutiny, the president has been eagerly shelling out billions to maintain an even larger private armed force in Iraq.
According to the journalist Jeremy Scahill -- without whose dogged reports in The Nation and on Democracy Now the story would be virtually unknown -- U.S. taxpayers are now supporting a private-security force of 180,000 in Iraq. That's larger than our formal military presence.
Some in Congress claim that the figure might be as high as 40 cents per dollar spent on the war.
Given that we're burning through $2 billion per week in Iraq, that means that a few secretive private-security firms -- a "coalition of the billing," to quote Scahill -- are shaking us down for some $800 million every week, or a cool $42 billion per year.
The opportunity costs of this boondoggle are monumental. I'm sure we can all think of more productive ways to spend $42 billion than to send a bunch of armed, little-supervised henchmen into a foreign country.
http://www.grist.org/article/the-real-surge-in-iraq-rent-a-soldier
Excerpt:
The real 'surge' in Iraq: Rent-a-soldier
In a privatized war, mercenaries outnumber soldiers—and bring home cash for their bosses 8
Meanwhile, with little public or Congressional scrutiny, the president has been eagerly shelling out billions to maintain an even larger private armed force in Iraq.
According to the journalist Jeremy Scahill -- without whose dogged reports in The Nation and on Democracy Now the story would be virtually unknown -- U.S. taxpayers are now supporting a private-security force of 180,000 in Iraq. That's larger than our formal military presence.
By contrast, in the 1991 Gulf War, "the ratio of troops to private soldiers was about 60 to 1," Scahill writes on Counterpunch.
Scahill reports that neither journalists nor elected officials have been able to ascertain exactly how much Bush is lavishing on this massive rent-a-cop force, which operates with much more impunity in Iraq than the formal army.Some in Congress claim that the figure might be as high as 40 cents per dollar spent on the war.
Given that we're burning through $2 billion per week in Iraq, that means that a few secretive private-security firms -- a "coalition of the billing," to quote Scahill -- are shaking us down for some $800 million every week, or a cool $42 billion per year.
The opportunity costs of this boondoggle are monumental. I'm sure we can all think of more productive ways to spend $42 billion than to send a bunch of armed, little-supervised henchmen into a foreign country.
Here's mine: $42 billion represents about six times the annual budget for our dismal school lunch program.
http://destroyamway.blogspot.com/2008/01/another-amwayblackwater-family.html
Excerpt:
I have previously noted that brothers-in-law, Rich DeVos of Amway and Erik Prince, who runs Blackwater USA, have a penchant for high mark-ups of their products and services as well as a dislike for paying their taxes.
Another DeVos/Prince family tradition is living off of the largess provided by the government. It's no secret that being a recipient of corporate welfare is good work if you can find it. Quick aside: David Cay Johnston, author of Free Lunch: How the Wealthiest Americans Enrich Themselves at Government Expense (and Stick You with the Bill), recently appeared on Bill Moyer's Journal.
It's well known that Prince makes a lot of his money from no-bid government contracts. What about DeVos and Amway? As the late Molly Ivins reported in 1997, being one of the top contributors to the GOP is not all give and no take: in fact, Amway was able to enjoy a $283 million tax break passed by the then-Republican Congress. More recently, DeVos and his wife received a windfall from the government for land they own. Although they rail against big government, DeVos and Prince like the government big enough for them to enrich billionaires--namely themselves.
http://destroyamway.blogspot.com/2008/01/another-amwayblackwater-family.html
Excerpt:
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Another Amway/Blackwater Family Tradition: Sponging off the US Government
I have previously noted that brothers-in-law, Rich DeVos of Amway and Erik Prince, who runs Blackwater USA, have a penchant for high mark-ups of their products and services as well as a dislike for paying their taxes.
Another DeVos/Prince family tradition is living off of the largess provided by the government. It's no secret that being a recipient of corporate welfare is good work if you can find it. Quick aside: David Cay Johnston, author of Free Lunch: How the Wealthiest Americans Enrich Themselves at Government Expense (and Stick You with the Bill), recently appeared on Bill Moyer's Journal.
It's well known that Prince makes a lot of his money from no-bid government contracts. What about DeVos and Amway? As the late Molly Ivins reported in 1997, being one of the top contributors to the GOP is not all give and no take: in fact, Amway was able to enjoy a $283 million tax break passed by the then-Republican Congress. More recently, DeVos and his wife received a windfall from the government for land they own. Although they rail against big government, DeVos and Prince like the government big enough for them to enrich billionaires--namely themselves.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2010/08/30/897434/-Ill-Pit-Tupac-Shakurs-Wisdom-over-Erik-Princes-Money-Any-Day
No comments:
Post a Comment