Getting It Wrong In Afghanistan: Bagram Air Base And Prison Complex

After 16 years of bloody occupation, the kleptocracy is poised to make even more money in Afghanistan. The demagogue with bad hair is listening to an inner circle that includes Erik Prince of the notorious Blackwater mercenary firm that helped occupy Iraq. Privatize even more of the war, they whisper. Endless war means endless profits!

The fact that Afghanistan's sovereignty is vigorously defended by freedom fighters posing as religious fanatics is super convenient.

During the Soviet occupation a fierce young man in Kabul told me, "As long as there is one Afghan left alive, the Soviets will never rule our country!" 

Fast forward to 2017.

Bagram Air Base and Prison Complex, constructed on the ruins of a Soviet base, is the largest U.S. military base in Afghanistan. A suicide bomber inside the gates killed numerous troops gathered to observe Veterans Day there (formerly Armistice Day) last November. It was again targeted this month by a motorcyle-riding suicide bomber who detonated at a security gate. In June, eight Afghan guards headed for the night shift at Bagram were killed when their car was attacked in a driveby shooting.



Back in 2002, prisoners were tortured and beaten to death in the "detention" facility there; a few soldiers were court martialed for their role in the abuse. In 2010 the Pentagon released the names of 645 souls being held prisoner at Bagram. For seven years the detainees included Pakistani neuroscientist Dr. Aafia Siddiqui and her three children.

Building big, expensive compounds where military personnel can enjoy air conditioning, fast food burgers and wifi is what the U.S. is good at. Winning hearts and minds, not so much.

The latest suicide bombing was said to be connected with a public relations faux pas on the part of the occupation. As reported by the Associated Press:

Earlier Wednesday, a U.S. commander had apologized for dropping leaflets in Afghanistan that were deemed offensive to Islam. 

The leaflets dropped Monday night, which encouraged Afghans to cooperate with security forces, included an image of a dog carrying the Taliban flag, said Shah Wali Shahid, the deputy governor of Parwan province, north of Kabul. The flag has Islamic verses inscribed on it, and dogs are seen as unclean in much of the Muslim world.

There have even been allegations that dogs were used to rape prisoners held at Bagram.

An Afghan interpreter interviewed by Emran Feroz for Alternet stated: "Guantanamo is a paradise if you compare it with Bagram."

How much has it cost U.S. taxpayers to create and maintain the cruelest military installation on Earth?

By Staff Sgt. Craig Seals - http://www.bagram.afcent.af.mil/photos

Due to the lack of accountability in Pentagon budgets and contracting practices, the price tag is impossible to determine with any certainty. Chronicles of waste and corruption abound, but accurately quantifying this mammoth corporate welfare scheme will probably not be possible.

Of the 800+ military bases that U.S. taxpayers support abroad, Bagram is at the top of my list to just close already. The U.S. and or NATO will never "win" the war in Afghanistan. Bagram has been called a "factory for terrorism" and even without the torture its mere presence is enough to help Taleban recruiters find the next generation of suicide bombers. 


Just bring the homesick troops back already, and close the base. Erik Prince is already rich enough.

War Profiteers Winning In Afghanistan, School Kids Losing In USA

The announcement that more resources would pour into the ongoing occupation of Afghanistan confirms that, no matter who is in the White House, war profiteers are in the driver's seat of U.S. government. Photo: TheNewsDoctors.com

It's no surprise that the swamp got the demagogue with bad hair to embrace imperial overreach and come out as a supporter of ramping up the 16 year war in Afghanistan.

War profiteers like Erik Prince of Blackwater -- which made a bundle on the U.S. war in Iraq -- are insiders in a regime that has incorporated ever more military personnel into supposedly civilian posts like Chief of Staff. War profiteers like Lockheed meanwhile pour millions of dollars a month into lobbying members of Congress who are alleged to represent the people.

How to fund these long, expensive, designed not to be winnable wars?

A recent action alert from my union, the National Education Association, gives a hint:

The FY 2018 education funding bill passed by the U.S. House of Representatives Appropriations Committee recently is a frightening read in its disregard for the welfare of the millions of students who attend public schools, and the educators who teach in them. 

The House spending bill:

• Cuts education spending by $2.4 billion.

• Completely eliminates Title II (within ESSA), which funds class-size reduction, professional development, and more.

• Slashes 21st Century Community Learning Centers that provide afterschool services to students most in need.

• Fails to increase funding for Title I, despite record numbers of low-income students in need of the services it provides.

Third grade teacher Teresa Danks made international news this summer by literally begging for the $2,000 or so she spends annually in her classroom. She's been a teacher in for decades and her annual salary in Oklahoma is around $35,000. She says: “I want the proper tools to do my job well. I wouldn’t ask somebody to build my house with a spoon.”

I've objected to U.S. imperial wars on the basis that they're morally wrong, that they're racist, that they churn out tons of carbon pollution, that they harm or kill soldiers and their families, and that we can't afford to pay for them.

"Drug War? American Troops Are Protecting Afghan Opium. U.S. Occupation Leads to All-Time High Heroin Production" Globalresearch.ca

I could also add that the occupation of Afghanistan specifically is fueling the U.S. heroin crisis by making the byproduct of opium poppies cheap and readily available (ka-ching goes the CIA cash register). 

All these pleas have fallen on deaf ears. There is no reason to believe that the militaristic cabal brought the demagogue with bad hair to heel will listen to the voice of the people.

My government no longer represents me. But it hasn't succeeded in silencing me yet, and so as another school year begins -- when hungry children who need sneakers and backpacks and a safe place out of the weather come trundling back to school -- I say:

BRING OUR WAR $$ HOME!

Education A Political Football In The Scramble For Pentagon Contracts #SuperBowl

What could be more shameful than underfunding public education for an entire generation that is slipping into poverty a little deeper with each passing year?

How about using widespread support for public education as a political football in the battle to make sure Pentagon contracts keep rolling in.

Here's what the federal budget looks like under sequestration, a fiscal responsibility measure allegedly choking the life out of Pentagon fat cats aka big campaign donors.

The National Priorities Project has helpfully colored the 6% for Education slice of the pie bright orange to assist you in finding it. Realists know that quite a bit of federal spending on the military is also hidden in some of the other slices: nuclear weapons research and development is under Energy, for instance. Perhaps as much as 2/3 of the federal discretionary budget each year goes to military-related costs.

Now comes faux progressive President Obama with his latest budget proposing that the Pentagon get its sequestration funding back. But (here comes the smoke and mirrors) Education and other "non-defense" budget lines should also get their funding back, dollar for dollar.

In the Punch and Judy show that constitutes bi-partisan politics in our day, this gives the red state bad guys a chance to bloviate thus:

The above is a quote from a National Education Association email insisting that all good educators must rally round and defend President Obama's fine plan. As educated people you would think they could figure out where the potential funding for public education is going: to corporations. The lion's share goes to corporations who build weapons, or in the form of tax breaks to corporations who control the food supply, pollute the planet extracting oil or frack for "natural" gas. A small share goes, not to children themselves or teachers or school districts, but to corporations who profit from testing children and to other education-based money making schemes.

No stone is left unturned in the quest to make support for education pay off in massive campaign donations to people like Sen. Susan Collins. Here's a brag from the email newsletter she sent me this week:

Because releasing all that extra carbon into the atmosphere via the KXL will do so much to improve the future health and wealth of children attending school in more energy-efficient buildings.

The U.S. slips farther behind other nations in education investment and in learning attained with each passing year. How this bodes for our #1 national priority, which is supposedly SECURITY, seems not to trouble the educated middle class players who have clawed their way to being insiders in Washington DC. They are wealthy now, and the Koch brothers will keep them that way as long as they don't make the mistake of listening to constituents when voting on the federal budget. 

Because that budget would look like the piles of copper pennies in this chart (data is from 2011):

One in five children in the U.S. suffer from food insecurity while the rich -- especially those who build weapons -- keep getting much, much richer. Growing up in poverty adversely affects the ability to learn for life. Wasting the potential of at least 20% of your population is a recipe for a disastrous future. So is bankrupting the national treasury keeping General Dynamics and pals happy.

Source: Organizing Notes

Join the Spring Rising March 18-21 national mobilization to push back against endless wars and war spending. Because all our grandchildren deserve a better future than the one we're heading toward.

An Open Letter To My Union, MEA/NEA: Stop Backing The War Party

Students in Newark walked out of class calling for support for public vs. privatized education for its citizens, and a return to local control of how education funds are spent. Source: PopularResistance.org 

I kind of needed irony guard yesterday morning while reading the Maine Education Association (MEA) newsletter in my email.

AT LEAST 5  KIDS IN YOUR CLASS ARE PROBABLY HUNGRY On Tuesday the Legislature held its third public meeting for the Task Force on Student Hunger in Bangor. Representatives from a variety of stakeholders spoke on the importance of providing our students with adequate meals so that all students have the chance to optimize their learning.  
One in 4 (25%) of Maine's students experience food insecurity, with over 45% of our kids qualifying for free or reduced lunch.  According to the Good Shepherd Food Bank some ways to identify hungry students are:

• food hoarding  

• anxiety about when meals will be served  

• rushing to get to the cafeteria and/or being one of the first in line for school meals  

• complaints of headaches, stomachaches, or falling asleep 

Your school may qualify for the Backpack Program through Good Shepherd, a program that provides food for families and students.  You can learn more here (large PDF file please allow time for it to download). 

HELPING KIDS COPE Recently there have been many stories in the news that are upsetting, even to adults.  These are particularly difficult for children.  We need to be letting kids know that our schools will protect them and are safe havens.  The American Psychological Association has put together some resources at their website.
Resources:

• How Much News Coverage is OK for Children?

• Resilience Guide for Parents & Teachers

And here is the feedback I sent the MEA, my union as an educator in Maine, and an affiliate of the National Education Association (NEA):

Regarding the high incidence of child poverty in Maine, and the many disturbing stories in the news that teachers need to support students in handling...

One of the reasons so many news stories are upsetting is that the Democratic Party, which the MEA/NEA unfailingly supports, is a war party. More than 50% of the discretionary federal budget each year under Democratic leadership has gone to the Pentagon and its contractors. Now President Obama has announced he will (continue) bombing Iraq and Syria, ostensibly to fight ISIS which the U.S. and the Saudis helped create, fund and arm. Then there is Ukraine, where the Obama administration is backing the neo-Nazis.

If the MEA/NEA cares about the well being of students as much as it says it does, it must stop supporting the war party. Any war party.

For years I implored the MEA to get involved in Maine's Bring Our War $$ Home campaign, waged to bring pressure on Congress to redirect military spending to needs at home. They never even dignified my requests with a reply must less joined us. Because they are beholden to the Democrats, who have not just stood by but actually helped gut the social program that made the U.S. prosperous and literate once upon a time. Like free, quality public education.

Hats off to students in Newark, N.J. this week who blocked traffic to protest the privatization of education in their high poverty city.  State control of the schools there has hastened a charter school takeover.

“We are building a movement to take back democratic local control of our schools,” Kristin Towkaniuk, president of the Newark Students Union to Eye Witness News. “Our action…will be an escalation demonstrating the community’s unrest over Chris Christie’s efforts to privatize our public schools.” 

You can read more about students' impressive organizing and resistance here. Follow events on twitter:#OurNewark.

How Much Food Would The FY15 Pentagon Budget Buy?

The endless cycle of draining U.S. pocketbooks to enrich military contractors is underway for Fiscal Year 2015. Thanks to Katie Falkenberg of CODEPINK Denver, we know how many years of school lunches for children living in poverty the current "defense" budget would fund. (It's roughly equal to the life expectancy of someone born under our decade long occupation of Afghanistan.)

Thanks to the Council for a Livable World via the New Priorities Network, we know this about the FY15 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA):

The House Armed Services Committee approved the bill 61-0 early the morning of May 8 after a marathon session. The bill is expected on the House floor the week of May 19, with the House Rules Committee to determine which amendments the GOP will permit to be offered and which they don’t want to allow. The Senate Armed Services has scheduled its writing of the bill to begin on May 20.

Consistent with the Murray (D-WA)-Ryan (R-WI) budget agreement, the bill authorizes $521.3 billion in spending for national defense and an additional $79.4 billion as a placeholder for Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO), for a total of $600.7 billion.  That total includes $17.9 billion for nuclear weapons and environmental cleanup activities at the Department of Energy.

Hey, isn't NDAA the acronym that brought us the right to be indefinitely detained by the U.S. military anytime they think we might be a threat to "security"? Yup, and this gargantuan amount of money also funds the NSA, which is part of the Pentagon, enabling it to spy on all the people all the time.

Those powers, coupled with the move to bring the Internet within the fold of mainstream media by allowing $$$$ to control access to online information, consolidate the ability of corporations that profit from killing to do it at the taxpayers' expense. Because the taxpayers are too busy watching the latest active shooter news, or celebrity scandal, to pay attention to the arcane and highly complicated Pentagon budgeting process.

A picture is worth a thousand words. Here's my state's entire congressional delegation -- Collins, King, Michaud & Pingree -- in April at the "christening" of one weapon of mass destruction, a Zumwalt destroyer warship, which cost $4 billion to develop and build. That's a lot of school lunches that could have been provided instead of helping General Dynamics doing business as Bath Iron Works continue to rake in profits.

Should I call all four of my "representatives" and demand they vote no on another $600.7 billion for the Pentagon next year? 

I've had both Mike Michaud (D) and Chellie Pingree (D) tell me repeatedly to my face that they agree we need to redirect military spending to domestic needs, yet here they are paying homage to General Dynamics for the umpteenth time. Will the Democratic Party bosses allow them to vote no on the FY15 NDAA bill when it comes to the floor of the House of Representatives? Probably, as long as there are already enough votes in hand to make sure it passes. 

That's they way our "democracy" works.

I'll call anyway. Even though "Independent" Angus King just endorsed Susan Collins (R) for the U.S. Senate again, and Collins has long been the darling of military-industrial corporations doing business in Maine. 

Why will I call? To hold those in power accountable. And because most of my fellow citizens are either too distracted or too scared to do it. And because I still can.

Congressional switchboard: (202) 224-3121

If We Brought #WarDollarsHome, How Many College Educations Could We Buy?

Thanks to Katie Falkenberg, CODEPINK Local Coordinator in Colorado, for this awesome infographic! Stay tuned for the whole series!