Military Resistance 10A21: Knocking on the Door

8/3/2019 Military Resistance 10A21: Knocking on the Door

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Military Resistance 10A21

[News Of The Year, SoFar]Syria:

“The Town Of Zabadani, Located A

Half Hour Drive From The Capital,Has Largely Fallen, At LeastTemporarily, Into The Control Of

Antigovernment Fighters”

mailto:[email protected]





“The Military, For The First Time InThe Nearly Yearlong Uprising,

Agreed To A Cease Fire That Left TheTown Out Of Its Control, At Least For Now”

“Armed Conflict Between GovernmentForces And Their Opponents Moving

Closer To The Capital”

JANUARY 23, 2012 & 24; By NOUR MALAS and BILL SPINDLE in Damascus; WallStreet Journal [Excerpts]

The revolt against the Syrian regime has moved closer to the capital.

Over the past week, the town of Zabadani, located a half hour drive from thecapital, has largely fallen, at least temporarily, into the control of antigovernmentfighters and local residents opposed to the regime.

The military, for the first time in the nearly yearlong uprising, agreed to a ceasefire that left the town out of its control, at least for now.

While neither of these incidents posed any threat to Damascus itself, they showed howthe armed opposition is increasingly dovetailing with the peaceful protests that haverocked the country, and how both are moving closer to one of the biggest bastions ofsupport for the regime.

Protests continued to roil parts of the country on Monday, with armed conflict betweengovernment forces and their opponents moving closer to the capital.

On Monday, as many as 100,000 people marched in funeral processions in Douma, 12miles from the capital, to mourn victims of more than three days of fighting therebetween army defectors and the military, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Activists said the crowd was the largest the restive suburb—one of severalprotest hot spots that encircle Damascus— has seen since protests broke out inMarch.

AFGHANISTAN WAR REPORTS



NO MISSION;POINTLESS WAR:ALL HOME NOW

A U.S. soldier patrols in the eastern city of Jalalabad January 19, 2012.REUTERS/Omar Sobhani

Notes From A Lost War:

“The 1,610 Mile Border ThatMany Frontline Soldiers Believe

Is Too Rugged To Hold”

“Failing To Do So Would AllowMore Militants To Cross Over”



“Security Here In The City Is GoodBut They Won’t Be Able To Protect

The Remote Areas Further East”“They Are Taliban Land”

Jan 23, 2012 By Daniel Magnowski and Amie Ferris-Rotman Reuters [Excerpts]

COMBAT OUTPOST ZEROK/JALALABAD –

With snow past their ankles and their view of forbidding mountains blocked by low-slungcloud, U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan’s restive east are taking advantage of a bitter winterto brace for fresh fighting in spring.

The extreme cold has forced a lull in fighting at rugged outpost Zerok in Paktikaprovince, located 20 km (12 miles) from the porous, unruly border with Pakistan, whichteems with insurgents linked to the Taliban.

Afghanistan’s east has emerged as the new focus of attention as worries mount over anarrow strip of land that the United States has dubbed the most dangerous place in theworld.

But officials in the U.S. military and Afghan government are increasingly concerned bythe challenge of securing the 2,640 km (1,610 mile) border that many frontline soldiersbelieve is too rugged to hold.

Failing to do so would allow more militants to cross over.

Drug use, hastily trained ranks and widespread corruption are hindering the Afghanpolice and army nationally, some Afghan and U.S. officials say.

Three districts in Paktika, two of which touch the border, were handed over to Afghancontrol in November, while for the second tranche, four areas in eastern Nangarharprovince were selected, but none are actually on the border.

“We have some serious cross-border threats. We keep pushing Kabul to deal with thiseffectively,” Nangarhar deputy governor Mohammad Hanif Gardiwal told visitingreporters, saying security forces lacked heavy weapons to counter the insurgents.

Further north, not far from the Pakistan border in Jalalabad, the capital of Nangarharprovince, local officials and ordinary Afghans bemoaned what they said is their country’sinability to secure the rugged border districts.

“Security here in the city is good but they won’t be able to protect the remote areasfurther east,” said shopkeeper Houmayin in the city from where U.S. commandoslaunched the raid that killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan.



“They are Taliban land,” Houmayin said, perched upon mounds of nuts and chocolatesin his shop overlooking a busy road lined with palm trees.

IF YOU DON’T LIKE THE RESISTANCE

END THE OCCUPATION

How To Lose A War In OneHour, One Day, One Very Easy

Lesson:

“They Came To Discuss TheWoman’s Concerns And Needs”

“Now They’re Telling Her TheSoldiers Will Burn Her Cash Crop”

“If You Destroy This, I Won’t Have FoodFor My Kids”

Jan 22, 2012 by Cheryle Hatch, For the News-Miner [Excerpts]

KANDAHAR PROVINCE, Afghanistan — On patrol with infantry soldiers, Spc. ValerieCronkhite carries her weight.

At 5 feet 3 inches and 110 pounds, Cronkhite carries at least 110 pounds in gear. Herbody armor and ammo weigh about 50 pounds. As a medic, she carries a rucksackpacked with 70 pounds of supplies.

“I have to carry enough to sustain four to six people in case of casualties,” she says.

Cronkhite also is a member and veteran of a new program, the Female EngagementTeam and the Female Search and Seizure Team.

Seven women form the FET team attached to the 1st Battalion, 5th Infantry Regiment ofthe 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division. Cronkhite, 32, fromSkipperville, Ala., and Spc. Melicia James, 25, from Jamaica, N.Y., have been with theteam since its initial training at Fort Wainwright in late 2010. Pfc. Jamie Sterna, 21, from



Mequion, Wis., and Pvt. Liliana Nunez, 20, from Brownsville, Texas, are recentadditions.

In the morning, Sterna is among the first of the team to rise for the next mission. BeforeCronkhite rolls out of bed and puts a dip of chewing tobacco in her mouth, Sterna hasalready showered and put on make-up.

The women will accompany 3rd Platoon Bravo Company on a clearing operation inSekecha, a town the soldiers nicknamed “Sketchy.”

They reach a compound with only an older woman and several children living in it.

Once the ANA and American soldiers have cleared the structure, Cronkhite and Sternaapproach the woman with a translator. They remove their helmets and set aside theirrifles. They sit on the dirt floor and face the woman. Cronkhite talks and Sterna takesnotes.

“We are poor people. We have nothing to eat,” the woman says. “We make money

by our farm.”

The soldiers discover two rooms half-filled with processed marijuana (their unconfirmed estimate: 5,000 pounds).

“What does she think about the women being here?” Cronkhite says.

“Yes, we’re happy the women are here.”

Not for long.

The soldiers return and tell Cronkhite to tell the woman they’re going to burn her

crop. It’s illegal to raise marijuana in Afghanistan.

“That’s the only way we have to make money,” the woman says. “If you want todestroy it, you must give us money.”

This turn of events puts Sterna and Cronkhite in a tough position.

They came to discuss the woman’s concerns and needs. Now they’re telling her the soldiers will burn her cash crop.

“This is the first time we hear this is illegal,” the woman says.

“If you destroy this, I won’t have food for my kids. Just forgive us this time. Wewon’t grow it again.”

“Tell them to stick to wheat and grapes,” Staff Sgt. Matt Huck says.

The American soldiers spend the next three and a half hours shoveling themarijuana into bags, which the ANA soldiers drag outside and dump into two pilesfor burning.



The Americans want to use the woman’s straw as a fire-starter.

Again the woman protests.

“This is for heating the house and making bread.”

The soldiers take some of the straw.

The woman goes inside a room and does not return.

The Americans give the ANA soldiers the materials to set the blaze.

Troops Invited:Comments, arguments, articles, and letters from service menand women, and veterans, are especially welcome. Write to Box126, 2576 Broadway, New York, N.Y. 10025-5657 or [email protected]: Name, I.D., withheld unless yourequest publication. Same address to unsubscribe.

SOMALIA WAR REPORTS

Insurgents Attack And Destroy

Baladwayne AdministrationHeadquarters Building:

“The Building Housed TransitionalFederal Government Lawmakers And

Ethiopian And Somali GovernmentSoldiers”

Jan 24, 2012 Reuters

On Tuesday, an al Shabaab fighter rammed a minibus loaded with explosives into agovernment building in Baladwayne, a town in central Somalia about 45 km (28 miles)from Ethiopia.





“A minibus carrying explosives entered Baladwayne administration headquarterscompound. Government soldiers tried to stop it by firing but all in vain,” Hussein Aden, asenior military official, told Reuters by phone.

Aden said there was no immediate report of casualties and the area surrounding thecompound had been sealed off.

Aden Abdulle, head of a militia fighting alongside Somali and Ethiopian soldiers againstal Shabaab, said the building housed Transitional Federal Government lawmakers andEthiopian and Somali government soldiers.

Al Shabaab claimed responsibility for the attack.

“We carried the car bomb successfully into the Ethiopian and Somali base inBaladwayne this morning. Our brave driver is martyred. There we killed many Ethiopianand Somali troops on a parade,” said al Shabaab spokesman Sheikh Abdiasis AbuMusab.

Al Shabaab said in a statement it had killed 33 Ethiopian soldiers and wounded at least72.

There was no immediate comment from Addis Ababa.

Ethiopian soldiers previously went into Somalia in late 2006 and pushed the Islamistorganization, Islamic Courts Union, out of Mogadishu. The Ethiopian presence helpedfuel the rise of al Shabaab and the foreign troops left in early 2009.

Al Shabaab, which wants to impose a harsh interpretation of sharia on the Horn of Africanation, has waged a five-year campaign to drive the largely impotent government frompower.

MILITARY NEWS

Post Traumatic Stress, Yes:“Disorder,” Hell No!

Comment TSeveral years ago in New York City, an Iraq combat veterans talked to aconference on problems of returning veterans sponsored by the State of New

York.

She told the audience, “Don’t you dare say we have a disorder. We have aperfectly normal reaction to a combat situation you can’t even begin to imagine.We need to learn to get over traumatic stress, but we are not sick and we do nothave a disorder.”



She was and is right. T]

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

January 15, 2012 By Lindsay Wise, HOUSTON CHRONICLE [Excerpts]

The president of the American Psychiatric Association says he is “very open” to arequest from the Army to come up with an alternative name for post-traumatic stressdisorder so that troops returning from combat will feel less stigmatized and moreencouraged to seek treatment.

Dr. John Oldham, who serves as senior vice president and chief of staff at the Houston-based Menninger Clinic, said he is looking into the possibility of updating theassociation’s diagnostic manual with a new subcategory for PTSD.

The subcategory could be “combat post-traumatic stress injury,” or a similar term, hesaid.

The potential change was prompted by a request from Gen. Peter Chiarelli, the Army’svice chief of staff, who wrote to Oldham last year, suggesting APA drop the world“disorder” from PTSD.

“Calling it a disorder contributes to the stigma and makes it so some folks - notall, but some folks - don’t get the help they need,” Chiarelli said.

The general doesn’t like to use the word disorder.

“It’s not a dirty word, but I think it’s misused here,” he said.

“I don’t think that the post-traumatic stress that soldiers experience is a disorder.”

After receiving Chiarelli’s letter, Oldham wrote back to say he appreciated his concern,but dropping the word disorder might not be the best way to go. He said he was eagerto work with Chiarelli to see what APA could do.

The general invited Oldham to the Pentagon to discuss the situation. They met for aboutan hour and a half on Dec. 9. Oldham agreed to bring the general’s suggestion to theAPA work group tasked with reviewing PTSD for the next version of the association’sDiagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, the classification book used bypsychiatrists in America. APA is finalizing the fifth edition of the manual, due in May2013.

Oldham cautioned the discussion is very preliminary but speculated that a newsubcategory like “combat post-traumatic stress injury” might work.

Although Chiarelli still would prefer to lose “disorder” entirely, he said a newsubcategory would be a start.

“I’m frustrated with how long this is taking to be honest,” he said.



The general pointed out that PTSD has had many names over the years, from shellshock to battle fatigue. “It’s been called all kinds of different things and somehowwe decided to go with PTSD and I think that’s just wrong,” he said.

Stigma is a major problem. A study published in the Archives of GeneralPsychiatry in October found that soldiers were two to four times more willing to

report PTSD, depression, and suicidal thoughts if they were allowed to answer asurvey anonymously, rather than put their names on a routine post-deploymentscreening form.

Of the soldiers who screened positive for PTSD or depression, 20 percent saidthey weren’t comfortable answering honestly on the routine form.

The study concluded that the Army’s screening process misses most soldiers withsignificant mental health problems.

Dr. Harry Croft, a psychiatrist in San Antonio, said the findings jibe with what he hearsfrom veterans he treats for PTSD.

“Even though the rules, as I understand them, say you don’t get kicked out if youget diagnosed with PTSD, depression or any other issues, a lot of veterans say, ‘Iknew damn well if I answered the questions right my chance to get promoted wasgone,’ ” Croft said.

Chiarelli says his main concern is getting soldiers into treatment, so if calling post-traumatic stress a disorder keeps them from seeking help, then the wording needs tochange, the sooner the better.

“You can have the very, very best treatments in the world, but if you can’t get peopletake advantage of them, they don’t do any good,” he said.

DO YOU HAVE A FRIEND OR RELATIVE IN MILITARYSERVICE?

Forward Military Resistance along, or send us the address if you wish andwe’ll send it regularly.

Whether in Afghanistan or at 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 and economic injustice, 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



“Outrageously Twisted LogicWould Effectively Shield Military

Doctors From Ever Being HeldAccountable For Negligence”

“This Action Is Coming From TheObama Administration, Which

Trumpets Its Support For MilitaryFamilies”

“Military Spouses Endure Plenty, But ItIs Beyond The Pale To Suggest They

Should Endure Injury And Death With NoWay To Hold Anyone Accountable”

January 30, 2012 Editorial; Army Times

The Feres Doctrine, a 1950 Supreme Court ruling that bars active-duty troops from suing

the government for negligence that is “incident to military service,” also bars familymembers from suing on behalf of troops who die through such negligence.

The rationale is that allowing such lawsuits could subject commanders’ battlefielddecisions to legal challenges, potentially forcing commanders to think like lawyers ratherthan warriors.

But Feres also applies in settings outside war zones, such as military hospitals.

Now the Justice Department wants to expand it even further.

A U.S. attorney in Florida says Feres should bar a sailor from suing the government on

behalf of his civilian wife, who died after Navy doctors allegedly failed to diagnose acerebral hemorrhage that led to a fatal stroke.

The government argues that any injury to the sailor resulting from his wife’s death isincident to his service because she would not have been seen in a military hospital hadshe not been a military spouse.

That outrageously twisted logic would effectively shield military doctors from ever beingheld accountable for negligence, since all who enter a military facility for treatment do so



because of their ties to military service. It also ignores the fact that the military settlesnumerous such cases every year for tens of millions of dollars.

It’s especially galling that this action is coming from the Obama administration, whichtrumpets its support for military families.

If the government wins this case, any member of Congress who professes to be a friendof the military will have a moral obligation to change the law.

Feres itself is an outrage. To expand it further is a travesty.

Military spouses endure plenty, but it is beyond the pale to suggest they should endureinjury and death with no way to hold anyone accountable.

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 theyoppose.”

Frederick Douglass, 1852

The Nixon administration claimed and received great credit for withdrawing theArmy from Vietnam, but it was the rebellion of low-ranking GIs that forced thegovernment to abandon a hopeless suicidal policy.-- David Cortright; Soldiers In Revolt

Mission Accomplished

County Fair in Coeur d’ Alene, Idaho. The flip chart just happened to be inthe background, I added my opinion. Photo by Mike Hastie 2000

From: Mike HastieTo: Military Resistance Newsletter

Sent: January 23, 2012Subject: Mission Accomplished

Mission Accomplished

The United States mission in war is never over until the betrayal is buried.For every American soldier who died in theMiddle East, there is a lie connected to that



death.Those who survive the war do so at aninsidious price.The cost of freedom becomes an illusion.Day in and day out, the veteran has tomake the transition back into civilian life.

However, he or she is denied entrance intothe norms of society.A society that says put the war behind you,so things can return to normal.But, for the veteran, normal is an illusion.There will come a time, and it happens far too soon, when society does not want tohear about the war anymore.Why?Because Wall Street needs to start investingin the next war.A veteran’s toxic memory is not good for business,

because the up and coming new generation of soldiers need to have a clean slate.It’s always the same recipe of deceit.Those veterans who break the code of lies,are too often executed by their own senseof guilt and betrayal.War profiteering has no conscience.The American Empire sounds like outer space.When a veteran finally realizes that he or sheis a victim of incest by the Fatherland, their childhood belief system and sense of morality,is trampled to death.

Multiple tours for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans,now become multiple wars for Vietnam veterans.Beware of the powerful word, “ Patriotism.”Because,work will not set you free.

Mike HastieArmy Medic VietnamJanuary 23, 2012

Photo and caption from the portfolio of Mike Hastie, US Army Medic, Vietnam1970-71. (For more of his outstanding work, contact at:

([email protected]) 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 aso-called insurgent. The Vietnamese individual who tried to kill me was a citizenof Vietnam, who did not want me in his country. This truth escapes millions.

Mike Hastie





U.S. Army MedicVietnam 1970-71December 13, 2004

This Is Where We Take Our Stand Is TheStory Of Hundreds Of Veterans Who

Risked Everything To Publicly Tell Their Accounts Of The Horrors They

Witnessed In Iraq And Afghanistan.

Q&A With Directors and Vets at New York And DCScreenings

Both the February 1 screening at the IFC Center in New York and the February 2screening at Busboys and Poets in Washington, DC, will be followed bydiscussions with the Directors and veterans from the film.

In New York, all three (count ‘em, three!) Directors--Bestor Cram, Mike Majoros andDavid Zeiger--will discuss the film along with Selena Coppa, one of the veteransfeatured in the film.



In Washington, DC, Director David Zeiger will discuss the film with Geoff Millard, alsofeatured in the film.

There will also be veterans from the Winter Soldier Investigation at both screenings. Soplease join all of us for a lively, informative, and challenging evening.

In New York, the February 1st 7 pm screening will be at the IFCCenter

323 Avenue of the Americas at West 3rd Street

For more information go to http://www.ifccenter.com/films/this-is-where-we-take-our-stand/

Tickets are $15 general admission, $13 seniors, and $12 IFC Center membersFor advance tickets go to http://www.ifccenter.com/

In Washington, DC, the February 2nd 6 pm screening will be at

Busboys and Poets2021 West Fourteenth Street

For more information call 202-387-7638 or go tohttp://www.busboysandpoets.com/

This is Where We Take Our Stand is the story of hundreds of veterans who riskedeverything to publicly tell their accounts of the horrors they witnessed in Iraq andAfghanistan.

In March of 2008, two hundred and fifty veterans and active-duty soldiers marked the

fifth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq by gathering in Washington, DC, to testify fromtheir own experience about the nature of the occupations of Afghanistan and Iraq. It waschilling, horrifying, and challenging for all who witnessed it. Against tremendous odds,they brought the voices of the veterans themselves into the debate.

This is Where We Take Our Stand is the inside story of those three days and thecourageous men and women who testified-a story that’s as important to tell today asever. These brave soldiers and veterans are challenging a public silence that runs verydeep, underscoring a willingness to accept unspeakable horrors-as long as we don’tknow about them.

www.thisiswherewetakeourstand.com

How Corrupt African DictatorsAllied With The Obama Regime



Are Inspiring Insurgents ToOrganize Armed Rebellion To

Fight Them:“If You Mischaracterize A Local

Islamist Rebellion As GlobalTerrorism, That’s Eventually What

You’ll Face”

“Secret Underground Prison InMogadishu”

“No One Gets Out Of Here,” Says The 26- Year-Old. “They Don’t Know What To Do

With Me. They Can’t Let Me Out AndRisk Me Talking About This Place”

The 50 men held there are all terrorism suspects abducted from across East Africaby security services working with the U.S.

In the underground jail, he met Abdullahi, whom he recognized from Nairobi.Dahir also saw five white men — dressed in combat gear and carrying weapons —at the compound.

“Don’t tell anyone what you saw here. We can get to you wherever you are.”

Dec. 19, 2011 By Alex Perry, Maiduguri. With reporting by Alan Boswell / Nairobi andMiamey, Mohamed Dahir / Mogadishu and Karen Leigh / Ouagadougou [Excerpts]

The moment Nigeria’s Islamists graduated from local to international threat can be datedalmost precisely, to just before 11 a.m. on Aug. 26.

Mohammed Abul Barra, 27, a car mechanic and father of one from Maiduguri inNigeria’s northeast, had just turned into the diplomatic enclave in Nigeria’s hot, dustycapital, Abuja. As he passed by embassies and empty lots, Barra presented anunremarkable sight: his car was a Honda Accord sedan, and Barra dressed and droveconventionally.



The first indication of anything unusual was when he swerved into the exit lane of a 100-m driveway leading to U.N. House, the international organization’s four-storyheadquarters. He bounced over one speed bump, then another.

Then he drove straight at a 3-m sliding steel security gate, hitting its right edge so that it

popped off its rail and fell harmlessly to one side. Barra repeated the maneuver with asecond gate a few meters on and, the way now clear, drove on at U.N. House with thesame deliberate, unhurried speed.

He crashed into the lobby.

The car, finally halted by a wall, bounced back. Barra did not try to get out. To one side,a security guard stood frozen. Others — U.N. staff, security personnel — ran away, thenturned back. Barra stayed at the wheel. “Was he having second thoughts? Was hepraying?” asks U.S. Ambassador Terence McCulley in Abuja, reconstructing the scenebased on surveillance-camera footage he has viewed. “Was he searching for thedetonator?” After a full 16 seconds, the car exploded.

Debris killed perhaps a dozen people. Most of the other 24 dead and 115 wounded,nearly all Nigerian, suffered massive internal injuries as a blast wave big enough toflatten a water tower 100 m away crushed their insides.

An FBI forensic team later determined the bomb was colossal, and clever. Around 150kg of plastic explosives had been placed inside a metal cone — a shaped charge — tofocus its force. “This was very, very carefully planned,” says Nigeria’s national-securityadviser, General Andrew Owoeye Azazi. “This was not just a local guy from Maiduguri.”

The continent is home to three main Muslim militant movements. All are also based inthe Sahara or the Sahel, the semidesert that runs beneath it.

Maiduguri, Barra’s hometown, is on the southern edge of the Sahara in Nigeria’snortheast.

Hot, poor, and with some of the world’s worst levels of education and health, Maidugurihas been a fount of Islamic revolution since the early 19th century, when Muslim rebelsoverthrew the ruling Hausa dynasties, accusing them of un-Islamic corruption. Thatdynamic — antiauthoritarian, revivalist Islamic movements challenging an avaricious,secular elite — endures.

Its latest manifestation is Jama’atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati wal-Jihad, Arabic for PeopleCommitted to the Propagation of the Prophet’s Teachings and Jihad, better known as

Boko Haram, meaning Western Education Is Sacrilege.

The movement has its religious foundation in the Izala sect, a group of Islamic preachersfounded in the 1970s and led, by 2005, by a man called Mohammed Yusuf, who hadstudied in Saudi Arabia. Why bother with Western education, Yusuf would ask insermons, when there were no jobs even for graduates? Hadn’t Western influence giventhem Ali Modu Sheriff, a state governor who spent little on his people but built himself apalace of marble pillars and golden gates in Maiduguri? Yusuf set up a camp calledAfghanistan to train volunteers for his revolution.



The spark for a full-fledged insurgency came in late July 2009. After a clash betweenpolice and Boko Haram members resulted in three deaths, riots erupted acrossnortheast Nigeria.

On July 28, the army surrounded Yusuf’s compound in Maiduguri, arrested him, then

executed him.

By July 29, 700 people were dead, including enough militants to stall Boko Haram’sinsurgency. But by 2010, Boko Haram was back. This Nov. 5, at least 67 people died ina Boko Haram attack on the city of Damaturu.

One mistake made by both sides in the wars that followed 9/11 was how they oftenoverlooked the detail and peculiar dynamics of the places in which they fought. InAfghanistan, the U.S. initially all but equated al-Qaeda and the Taliban, and in Iraq manyAmericans saw little difference between Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein.

Will Africa make the same mistakes?

Nigeria’s President Goodluck Jonathan certainly seems susceptible.

Rather than focusing on addressing Boko Haram’s grievances regardingunderdevelopment and corruption, Jonathan — a Christian from southern Nigeria— describes his country as an unfortunate bystander caught in the cross fire of an international war. Boko Haram are “just like other terrorist attacks in theworld,” he said on Nov. 10.

If you misread a problem, you can’t fix it.

If you mischaracterize a local Islamist rebellion as global terrorism, that’s

eventually what you’ll face.

“Left to stew, this trend of internationalization is inevitable,” says a Western diplomat inAbuja.

The Abuja bomb is proof that the causes of Nigeria’s militancy have been leftunaddressed for long enough that some fighters are now thinking bigger, andJonathan’s misperception is becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy.

National-security adviser Azazi says the attack was most likely carried out by a BokoHaram faction led by a man called Mamman Nur, whom he describes as havingsophisticated bombmaking skills and links to Islamists in Mali, Algeria, Somalia and

Yemen. “Look at what happened between the crackdown in 2009 and their return in2010,” says Azazi. “Suddenly they can do IEDs and wire cars. This is something that’sbeen festering — and is suddenly exploding.”

“Secret Underground Prison In Mogadishu”

All that experience of extremism hasn’t always made those fighting it any wiser.



Proof of that lies behind a cage door at the back of the pink offices of the NationalSomali Security Intelligence, next to the presidential palace in Mogadishu. The dooropens into a staircase leading down to a basement. At the bottom, according to onesource, is another metal door that opens into a central corridor, flanked by 14 jail cells.

There is no light, no windows, and the floors and walls are filthy. The place stinks.

The 50 men held there are all terrorism suspects abducted from across East Africa bysecurity services working with the U.S.

Ahmed Abdullahi is an ethnic Somali with one leg who was snatched from Nairobi byKenya’s security services in September 2009.

“They came to my place in Nairobi, kicked my door down, blindfolded me and tookme to the airport and on to Mogadishu,” he says. On arrival, he says, he wasinterrogated by Somalis and unidentified Western personnel for a few weeks. Theythen lost interest.

Abdullahi’s been held ever since. “No one gets out of here,” says the 26-year-old.“They don’t know what to do with me. They can’t let me out and risk me talkingabout this place.”

TIME learned of this secret underground prison in Mogadishu, and Abdullahi’s accountof East African rendition, through a freelance photographer from Mogadishu, MohamedDahir, who has been briefly jailed there, twice.

The second time, this March, Dahir was accused of belonging to al-Shabab.

In the underground jail, he met Abdullahi, whom he recognized from Nairobi.Dahir also saw five white men — dressed in combat gear and carrying weapons —

at the compound.

That night, Dahir persuaded a guard to call his clan elders. They vouched for him, andhe was released the next day.

His captors apologized but warned: “Don’t tell anyone what you saw here. We canget to you wherever you are.”

Dahir’s account conforms to a pattern, documented in previous TIME reports andby human-rights groups, of forced rendition of hundreds of terrorism suspectsfrom Kenya and Somalia to jails in Kampala and Addis Ababa.

Kenya is making other mistakes too in its own war on terrorism.

On Oct. 16 it sent around 2,000 soldiers into Somalia in pursuit of al-Shabab. Kenya’sattack was ostensibly in retaliation for the killing of a British tourist, the kidnapping of twomore — a Briton and a French woman, who later died — and the abduction of twoSpanish aid workers, all of which Kenya blamed on al-Shabab.

U.S. diplomatic cables revealed by WikiLeaks show that Kenya has, in fact, beenplanning such an incursion for years.



Its long-term Somali strategy — using southern Somalia’s clans, the country’s last realauthority — to create an autonomous buffer state in the south has some merit, but al-Shabab has melted away and the advance has been slow.

Kenya is also ignoring well-founded suspicions that the foreigners were snatched

by professional kidnappers, and dismisses doubts over its military strategy, suchas the wisdom of attacking al-Shabab’s 2,500 fighters — fighters who saw off amuch larger Ethiopian force in 2009 — with fewer than 2,000 men, or doing so inthe rainy season, or during a famine, which war can only exacerbate.

E.J. Hogendoorn, Horn of Africa specialist for the International Crisis Group, says: “A lotof analysts, myself included, fear Kenya is going to get bogged down in a much moreprolonged occupation — and that’s going to cost them a lot in blood and treasure, and,of course, has the potential to create a backlash from Somalis.”

By joining the dots across Africa, U.S. General Ham may be speculating about thefuture, rather than describing present reality.

“Ham overstated,” says a Western diplomat in Abuja. “He’s extrapolating. We seetraining. We do not see operational links.”

Africom employs aid specialists alongside soldiers, and stresses intelligence sharing,advisers and training over armed confrontation.

Those are so far limited to one theatre — Somalia — and one type of strike:assassination, by drones, missiles or attack helicopters.

Kenya’s military spokesman Major Emmanuel Chirchir agrees with the need to “thinkbigger” in the fight against al-Shabab. Nigeria’s Azazi even accords the enemy some

respect. “I have had communication with a few of them,” he says. “If we can’t offer them jobs and good leadership, we cannot solve this problem.”

ANNIVERSARIES

January 25th, 1991:

Honorable Anniversary:Veterans Organize To Support

Resistance Among U.S. Troops InGermany



[Stars and Stripes Newspaper, January 25, 1991]

[Thanks to Dave Blalock, GI Café Kaiserslautern, Jan 15, 2011]



DANGER: POLITICIANS AT WORK

CLASS WAR REPORTS



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“Last Week, A Group Of Rebel

Fighters Carrying BannersComplaining About TheTreatment Of The Wounded

Blocked The Main Highway InBenghazi With Trucks”

“They Rattled Off Rounds Of Gunfire Into The Air And

Detonated Sound Bombs”A “Burgeoning Protest Movement” Is‘Challenging The Legitimacy Of The

Ruling Authorities”Provisional Government Accused Of “Impeding A Program For ThoseWounded In The Eight Months Of Fighting To Be Treated Overseas”





Chairman of the Libyan National Transitional Council Abdul Jalil surrounded byprotesting veterans, who were wounded from the war, at the NTC headquarters inBenghazi.

“I am hoping that the council will listen to the people and be transparent,” he said,accusing leaders of “not taking the street seriously.”

“We are hoping that it will settle down,” he added. “But Benghazi is always theplace where everything starts.”

January 24 By Alice Fordham, Washington Post [Excerpts]

BENGHAZI, Libya — As Libya’s interim government struggles to bring security, stabilityand democracy to the country, a burgeoning protest movement is rocking the fragilenation, venting grudges and challenging the legitimacy of the ruling authorities.

The movement is at its strongest in the eastern city of Benghazi, the cradle of theuprising

Rebel fighters began battling government forces here in February last year. Theycontrolled most of the city within a few days, and a transitional governing council began

operating before the end of that month as the city became the base for the revolution.

But almost a year later, support for the council, which has shifted its operations to Tripoli,is rapidly evaporating.

People complain of shaky security, delays in reopening schools and courts, and flaws inthe interim constitution and proposed electoral legislation, as well as the continuedpresence of Gaddafi-era officials on the council.



For more than a month, hundreds of angry demonstrators have gathered nightlyin Tree Square in the city center to chant, dance, sing and discuss their grievances.

“What we are asking for is not privileges,” said Saleh el-Haddar, a businessman ata recent protest. “We want the courts to work, we want the followers of Gaddafi to

go . . . and our main concern is transparency.”

The simmering discontent bubbled into violence on Saturday, when thousands ralliedoutside a government building where members of the transitional council were meetinglocal politicians.

Protesters threw grenades and homemade bombs, while the council’s chairman,Mustafa Abdel Jalil, remained inside, demonstrators said.

Speaking at a news conference after the clash, Abdel Jalil called for patience.

His remarks were swiftly followed by the resignation Sunday of Abdul Hafidh Ghoga, the

deputy head of the transitional council. He was head of the lawyers union under Gaddafiand was regarded by some as discredited by his association with the late leader.

“In Benghazi, we were very lucky — we did not suffer as they did in the west of Libya,”said Zahi el-Meghrabi, a professor of politics in Benghazi, referring to months of fightingbetween rebels and Gaddafi loyalists that left thousands dead. “The transitional councilhad support, but the honeymoon did not last.”

Now, people are frustrated by the confusing ways the government makes decisions andissues legislation, Meghrabi said.

Delays in unfreezing Libya’s assets abroad also were creating shortages of cash

for the government, causing payments to the poor to be suspended and impedinga program for those wounded in the eight months of fighting to be treatedoverseas, Meghrabi said.

Last week, a group of rebel fighters carrying banners complaining about the treatment ofthe wounded blocked the main highway in Benghazi with trucks. They rattled off roundsof gunfire into the air and detonated sound bombs.

The example of Benghazi’s protests have been followed, although with fewerparticipants and less violence, in Tripoli and the city of Misurata, where protesters havepitched tents and staged marches, largely peaceful but sometimes violent, calling for the“correction of the revolution.”

As in Benghazi, they draw support from a broad base: nascent civil societyorganizations, political activists and former rebel fighters.

Among the shattered buildings and posters hailing fallen rebels in Misurata, which sawsome of the war’s fiercest fighting, a few tents are pitched in an intersection known asFreedom Square.



Protests and sit-ins have called mainly for elections for the local council, which wasappointed by consensus after Gaddafi’s forces were largely defeated in May. About 200people participated in marches and camped out, with success: An electoral committeehas been set up and a local vote is set to be held in a month.

Thus far in Misurata and in a small encampment in Tripoli’s central Algeria square,

protesters’ demands have not been as strident as their counterparts’ in Benghazi. Mostpeople still support the interim government, but they want to ensure it stays on the righttrack, said Mohammed Benrasali, formerly of the Misurata city council.

“We made Gaddafi what he was by not standing up to him,” he said. “We need tomake Abdel Jalil realize that he cannot take the country by any road butdemocracy.”

In Benghazi, the situation remained explosive after the weekend’s events, said Haddar,the protester in Tree Square.

“I am hoping that the council will listen to the people and be transparent,” he said,

accusing leaders of “not taking the street seriously.”

“We are hoping that it will settle down,” he added. “But Benghazi is always theplace where everything starts.”

POLITICIANS CAN’T BE COUNTED ON TO HALTTHE BLOODSHED

THE TROOPS HAVE THE POWER TO STOP THEWARS



“The single largest failure of the anti-war movement at this pointis the lack of outreach to the troops.”

Tim Goodrich, Iraq Veterans Against The War

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