Opium-Addicted Children: Paying a Heavy Price for the Afghan War
The revelation that the number of opium-addicted Afghan children has reached new highs is a sad unintended consequence of that war. It dramatically illustrates how adult war games can doom generations of children to a miserable life.
http://www.theglobalist.com/printStoryId.aspx?StoryId=8472
From Information Clearing House
--------
US funds used to buy villas for wealthy Afghans
ABC News
07/06/10
Brigadier General Mohammed Asif Jabarkhel sits with folded arms in his office, just a few steps away from the security checkpoint at Kabul International Airport. ‘Of course I know what’s going on here,’ the 59-year-old head of the airport’s customs police grumbles from beneath his thick moustache as a fan whirs in the background. ‘But, in this country, who’s allowed to speak the truth?’ Jabarkhel is referring to the huge amounts of money regularly being secreted out of Afghanistan by plane in boxes and suitcases...
http://tinyurl.com/2dknnet
Informant: Thomas L. Knapp
--------
The Afghanistan War Funding Vote Was A Total Sham
When Michael Steele accidentally spoke the truth (while hypocritically trying to condemn President Obama for any possible reason) that "the one thing you don't do, is engage in a land war in Afghanistan", he was condemned by BOTH the Republican and Democratic leadership. Those in his own party demanded his resignation, while the DNC put out an especially snide press release accusing Steele of "rooting for failure" and other like chicken hawk talk.
Apparently he did not get the memo that BOTH major parties are now for endless, ruinous and vain foreign wars and occupations. But we need to tell our members of Congress that we DID get the memo and we are we not at all fooled or happy with yet other indefinite war bucks supplemental.
After The War Funding Vote Action Page: http://www.peaceteam.net/action/pnum1051.php
You see, friends, when Congress does something good and votes in the interest of the people (which hasn't happened much lately) they need to hear from us after the vote to let them know we appreciate them. But where, as here, they disregard the wishes of their constituents and do the exact opposite, and we are mad and unhappy about it, they need to hear that too.
The snaky "rule" vote (to pass if ANY one amendment passed) was completely manipulated to itself barely pass, to let the Democrats who voted against it pretend they would have voted against the war funding regardless (when they knew it was going to pass anyway), and to let the rest pretend they were not actually voting for it (when in fact the amendment votes had already been fixed). To show you how shamefully rigged this whole thing was, Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) switched her vote on the rule from "Yes" to "No", ONLY after it was clear hers would not be the DECIDING vote. Some peacenik, casting the vote of conscience when she knows it won't count.
Not to be outmatched in the cynical cowardice department the Republicans voted lock step against funding the war they themselves had touted all along, because it did anything else but burn war money.
The fact is the senseless and counterproductive occupation of Afghanistan has never been about supporting the troops. Instead it is about supporting war profiteers and overpaid mercenaries, because that's where most of the money we are borrowing from China to pay for it is going. And a substantial part of the rest is going as bribes and payoffs directly into the pockets of the very terrorists we are supposed to be fighting, literally a vote in support of terrorism.
So what we are left with is a two "war party" system in America, neither with the courage, the wisdom, or the leadership to end this hideously doomed, bloody mess.
Now, what are we going to do about? Step one is to call these people in Congress out, ALL of them. Submit the action page, and tell them, "You are not fooling me one little bit."
After The War Funding Vote Action Page: http://www.peaceteam.net/action/pnum1051.php
Because when you hear that 162 members of Congress voted for an amendment to set a timetable for withdrawal from Afghanistan that is just another total mirage, that dissipates the instant you try to approach it. In just the same way that they barely scraped up the votes to sneak this latest war funding vote through, they will always find a way to fall at least just a tad short on a vote to stop it, UNTIL WE all get an order of magnitude more vocal in our policy protests.
Notwithstanding the tens of thousands of you who have requested the free bumper stickers protesting the Supreme Court decision, that's still only about TEN percent of our distribution list.
That is simply unacceptable. The outrageous Supreme Court decision to turn our elections over to the corporations is opposed by at least
80% of Americans (if polls are to be believed), cutting across all party lines.
Are we doing to speak out or not? Are we going to demonstrate, and make our protest visible or not?
This week Ted Glick faced three years in prison for unfurling a banner in the Capitol protesting inaction by Congress on green climate legislation. That's what he did to make his protest visible. And if you must know the judge spared him any jail time today.
But all we are asking you to do is put a bumper sticker on your own car, and if you can, pick up a pack of 25 of the "Corporations Are NOT The People" bumper stickers so you can get all your like-minded friends to do the same thing.
Bulk Corporations Are Not The People bumper stickers: http://www.peaceteam.net/bumper_stickers_bulk.php
Please understand, we are on the inside of this activism process, and we STILL don't see the kind of numbers to persuade us that you folks COLLECTIVELY are serious about policy change. Those of you who are diehards need to keep up with what you are doing, and the rest need to get active more than once in a blue moon.
So unless you have a car registration problem, an outstanding warrant, or are fond of illegal turns, get a bumper sticker on your bumper and let's crank this thing up. When we run out of stock, we will know that real change is about to happen. Until then, not so much, as you can clearly see by recent events.
It's your call, folks. Do you really want policy change, or did you settle for a transitory rah-rah campaign slogan that never actually intended to deliver any such thing? It's time to demand delivery of what we were promised. Only BY demanding delivery will we ever get it.
And here is the Facebook link for the After The War Funding Vote action page further above.
[Facebook] Action Page: http://apps.facebook.com/fb_voices/action.php?qnum=pnum1051
And this is the Twitter reply for this same action
@cxs #p1051
Please take action NOW, so we can win all victories that are supposed to be ours, and forward this alert as widely as possible.
usalone400b:320622
http://sharenews.twoday.net/search?q=Afghanistan
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=opium
http://www.theglobalist.com/printStoryId.aspx?StoryId=8472
From Information Clearing House
--------
US funds used to buy villas for wealthy Afghans
ABC News
07/06/10
Brigadier General Mohammed Asif Jabarkhel sits with folded arms in his office, just a few steps away from the security checkpoint at Kabul International Airport. ‘Of course I know what’s going on here,’ the 59-year-old head of the airport’s customs police grumbles from beneath his thick moustache as a fan whirs in the background. ‘But, in this country, who’s allowed to speak the truth?’ Jabarkhel is referring to the huge amounts of money regularly being secreted out of Afghanistan by plane in boxes and suitcases...
http://tinyurl.com/2dknnet
Informant: Thomas L. Knapp
--------
The Afghanistan War Funding Vote Was A Total Sham
When Michael Steele accidentally spoke the truth (while hypocritically trying to condemn President Obama for any possible reason) that "the one thing you don't do, is engage in a land war in Afghanistan", he was condemned by BOTH the Republican and Democratic leadership. Those in his own party demanded his resignation, while the DNC put out an especially snide press release accusing Steele of "rooting for failure" and other like chicken hawk talk.
Apparently he did not get the memo that BOTH major parties are now for endless, ruinous and vain foreign wars and occupations. But we need to tell our members of Congress that we DID get the memo and we are we not at all fooled or happy with yet other indefinite war bucks supplemental.
After The War Funding Vote Action Page: http://www.peaceteam.net/action/pnum1051.php
You see, friends, when Congress does something good and votes in the interest of the people (which hasn't happened much lately) they need to hear from us after the vote to let them know we appreciate them. But where, as here, they disregard the wishes of their constituents and do the exact opposite, and we are mad and unhappy about it, they need to hear that too.
The snaky "rule" vote (to pass if ANY one amendment passed) was completely manipulated to itself barely pass, to let the Democrats who voted against it pretend they would have voted against the war funding regardless (when they knew it was going to pass anyway), and to let the rest pretend they were not actually voting for it (when in fact the amendment votes had already been fixed). To show you how shamefully rigged this whole thing was, Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) switched her vote on the rule from "Yes" to "No", ONLY after it was clear hers would not be the DECIDING vote. Some peacenik, casting the vote of conscience when she knows it won't count.
Not to be outmatched in the cynical cowardice department the Republicans voted lock step against funding the war they themselves had touted all along, because it did anything else but burn war money.
The fact is the senseless and counterproductive occupation of Afghanistan has never been about supporting the troops. Instead it is about supporting war profiteers and overpaid mercenaries, because that's where most of the money we are borrowing from China to pay for it is going. And a substantial part of the rest is going as bribes and payoffs directly into the pockets of the very terrorists we are supposed to be fighting, literally a vote in support of terrorism.
So what we are left with is a two "war party" system in America, neither with the courage, the wisdom, or the leadership to end this hideously doomed, bloody mess.
Now, what are we going to do about? Step one is to call these people in Congress out, ALL of them. Submit the action page, and tell them, "You are not fooling me one little bit."
After The War Funding Vote Action Page: http://www.peaceteam.net/action/pnum1051.php
Because when you hear that 162 members of Congress voted for an amendment to set a timetable for withdrawal from Afghanistan that is just another total mirage, that dissipates the instant you try to approach it. In just the same way that they barely scraped up the votes to sneak this latest war funding vote through, they will always find a way to fall at least just a tad short on a vote to stop it, UNTIL WE all get an order of magnitude more vocal in our policy protests.
Notwithstanding the tens of thousands of you who have requested the free bumper stickers protesting the Supreme Court decision, that's still only about TEN percent of our distribution list.
That is simply unacceptable. The outrageous Supreme Court decision to turn our elections over to the corporations is opposed by at least
80% of Americans (if polls are to be believed), cutting across all party lines.
Are we doing to speak out or not? Are we going to demonstrate, and make our protest visible or not?
This week Ted Glick faced three years in prison for unfurling a banner in the Capitol protesting inaction by Congress on green climate legislation. That's what he did to make his protest visible. And if you must know the judge spared him any jail time today.
But all we are asking you to do is put a bumper sticker on your own car, and if you can, pick up a pack of 25 of the "Corporations Are NOT The People" bumper stickers so you can get all your like-minded friends to do the same thing.
Bulk Corporations Are Not The People bumper stickers: http://www.peaceteam.net/bumper_stickers_bulk.php
Please understand, we are on the inside of this activism process, and we STILL don't see the kind of numbers to persuade us that you folks COLLECTIVELY are serious about policy change. Those of you who are diehards need to keep up with what you are doing, and the rest need to get active more than once in a blue moon.
So unless you have a car registration problem, an outstanding warrant, or are fond of illegal turns, get a bumper sticker on your bumper and let's crank this thing up. When we run out of stock, we will know that real change is about to happen. Until then, not so much, as you can clearly see by recent events.
It's your call, folks. Do you really want policy change, or did you settle for a transitory rah-rah campaign slogan that never actually intended to deliver any such thing? It's time to demand delivery of what we were promised. Only BY demanding delivery will we ever get it.
And here is the Facebook link for the After The War Funding Vote action page further above.
[Facebook] Action Page: http://apps.facebook.com/fb_voices/action.php?qnum=pnum1051
And this is the Twitter reply for this same action
@cxs #p1051
Please take action NOW, so we can win all victories that are supposed to be ours, and forward this alert as widely as possible.
usalone400b:320622
http://sharenews.twoday.net/search?q=Afghanistan
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=opium
rudkla - 6. Jul, 09:12
