Posts Tagged ‘US’
AFGHANISTAN: Virtually no safety net for war victims families
Despite having one of the largest war victim populations in Asia, Afghanistan does not have a law on how to deal with hundreds of thousands of war widows, orphans and disabled
Ahmad Wali died in a bomb blast in Kandahar city on 25 August and Samim was killed in a suicide attack in Kabul on 15 September. Both men left grieving families with little capacity to cope on their own.
We could not afford to pay the rent so we left our old home and have moved into a small room outside the city, said Samims eldest son, Arif.
My children cannot go to school any more because we cannot afford their education, said Walis widow, Pashtana.
Both families have found it increasingly difficult to meet their food needs: We eat whatever we can find but wait for Gods mercy when there is no food, said Pashtana.
We dont receive a single dollar from the government to help war victims and their families, Suraya Paikan, deputy minister for Labour, Social Affairs and Martyrs & Disabled, told IRIN, adding that tens of thousands of victim households were registered with her department.
The office of the president told IRIN that in the last 18 months over 2,800 condolence payments (US$2,000 each) had been made to families that had lost a family member in the war, and 1,700 sympathy payments ($1,000) had been distributed to people wounded in the conflict.
However, the presidents condolence payments are ad hoc and authorized only for specific families – mostly those affected by military operations by pro-government forces, officials said.
Wali and Samims families said they had received no support from the government or aid agencies apparently because both men were killed in explosions allegedly perpetrated by anti-government forces.
No laws
Despite having one of the largest war victim populations in Asia, Afghanistan does not have a law on how to deal with hundreds of thousands of war widows, orphans and disabled.
There is a lack of almost everything – from budget, to capacity, to political commitment and to laws and rules, Paikan said.
Noor-ul-Haq Ulomi, a member of the National Assembly who served the Soviet-backed government in the 1980s, accused the international community and the current Afghan government of failing to heed the plight of war victims.
In the past the [Soviet-backed] government distributed free land and apartments, [making available] education facilities for orphans, and employment for widows and disabled people, but the existing government has done nothing compared to what had been done in the past, he said.
Tiny welfare payments
The families of about 100,000 government employees, police officers, soldiers and Mujahedin fighters killed in fighting between 1979 and 2001 have been registered at the Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Martyrs & Disabled (MoLSAMD), but assistance is minimal: With funds from the World Bank the government pays up to $12 monthly (40 US cents a day) to each family.
Government officials acknowledge that the real number of victim families is much higher but say they cannot help all of them.
Some beneficiaries said the monthly payments they received could not meet their needs for a single day, and also criticized the payment process as corrupt and bureaucratic.
The main weaknesses of the current social protection programmes include lack of well-designed targeting instruments, poor coordination across programmes, poor budgeting, and weak institutional and administrative capacity, the World Bank said in a statement on 15 October. The statement also said the Bank would spend $7.5 million in the next four years to strengthen the capacity of MoLSAMD and help develop its welfare programmes.
More war victims
Meanwhile, more families are becoming victims of the fighting: The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) recorded 2,118 civilian deaths in 2008, compared to 1523 in 2007.
In 2009 UNAMA recorded 1,500 civilian casualties between January and August, with August being the deadliest month since the beginning of 2009. These figures reflect an increasing trend in insecurity over recent months and in elections-related violence, said a recent report to the Security Council by the UN Secretary-General.
Almost three times as many civilian deaths (68 percent) were attributed to anti-government elements activities than to pro-government forces (23 percent). The most deadly tactics used and which accounted for the largest number of civilian casualties in the conflict to date were attributable to planted improvised explosive devices; suicide attacks carried out by anti-government elements accounted for 39.5 percent of fatalities. Air strikes by pro-government forces accounted for 20 percent of fatalities, the report said.
( _http://www.rawa.org/temp/runews/rawanews.php?id=1279 )
Battlefield skyhook robocopter
The deadline for makers to bring forward unmanned skyhook robocopters – intended to move battlefield supplies in Afghanistan as soon as this year – is upon us, and one team at least is claiming a successful demonstration.
US defence colossus Lockheed, teamed with intermesh-rotor whirlybird maker Kaman, say that their droid chopper has managed to pass the tests set out for it by the US Marines under their “IMMEDIATE CARGO UNMANNED AERIAL SYSTEM” project.
The Marines’ requirements were for an unmanned, VTOL aircraft able to hover with underslung loads at high altitudes – essential in the Hindu Kush – and demonstrate the potential to shift ten tons of supplies per aircraft across 150 miles in 24 hours (in as many trips as required).
Lockheed and Kaman say that their unmanned K-MAX chopper has ticked the boxes in trial flights at the Dugway Proving Ground in Utah. They say the crewless K-MAX moved 3,000 pounds using two 150-nautical-mile round trip flights and “well within the required 6-hour timeframe”.
That would seem to add up to 12,000lb of stuff over 24 hours, not ten tons (20,000lb). Perhaps the Marines have relaxed their requirements, or perhaps “well within 6 hours” means “less than 4 hours” – though that last seems unlikely for a helicopter covering 600 nautical miles.
However you look at the figures, though, this could be a significant new thing – because the unmanned K-MAX was able to do its thing pretty much entirely hands-off.
“The system performed a rigorous set of cargo resupply scenarios as programmed, allowing the ground-based operator to monitor progress, and make adjustments to aircraft positioning only when requested by the Marine Corps for demonstration purposes,” according to Lockheed’s Dan Spoor.
The robochopper remained in touch with its ground station using both line-of-sight comms and satellite relay, and the ability to upload a new flight plan in the air was demonstrated. The K-MAX team also showed off a nifty “four-hook carousel”, which lets the droidcopter make multiple dropoffs in a single flight:
As an optional demonstration, Team K-MAX showcased the Unmanned K-MAX helicopter’s four-hook carousel, which enables multi-load deliveries in a single flight. Lifting a total cargo of 3,450 pounds, the aircraft flew to three pre-programmed delivery coordinates, autonomously releasing a sling load at each location. At the customer’s request, the fourth load delivery was performed under manual control by the ground operator.
This sort of capability really could be good news in Afghanistan, where supplies need to go by helicopter as much as possible, and sometimes have to be rushed in urgently to forward bases which are under fire at the time. The need to keep air crews within their allowed operating hours, and the need to lift them and their associated things – armour protection for instance – makes manned helicopters very expensive and eats into their lifting ability.
In Afghanistan at least, once you factor in casualties, terrible roads, wrecked and destroyed vehicles etc, unmanned robocopter lift could even work out cheaper in money – as well as lives – than using ground convoys. It cost the Marines just $860,000 to Kaman for this demonstration, peanuts in terms of military/aerospace projects.
The other still-standing contender for the immediate air cargo plan is Boeing’s A160T variable-speed robo whispercopter. However the Marines want to move fast with this, and it was stated last year that Februrary would be the deadline to show a working system. If the A160T doesn’t make a demo soon, it may be left at the post.
t h e r e g i s t e r . c o . u k
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Nuclear War against Iran
by Michel Chossudovsky
The launching of an outright war using nuclear warheads against Iran is now in the final planning stages.
Coalition partners, which include the US, Israel and Turkey are in “an advanced stage of readiness”.
Various military exercises have been conducted, starting in early 2005. In turn, the Iranian Armed Forces have also conducted large scale military maneuvers in the Persian Gulf in December in anticipation of a US sponsored attack.
Since early 2005, there has been intense shuttle diplomacy between Washington, Tel Aviv, Ankara and NATO headquarters in Brussels.
In recent developments, CIA Director Porter Goss on a mission to Ankara, requested Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan “to provide political and logistic support for air strikes against Iranian nuclear and military targets.” Goss reportedly asked ” for special cooperation from Turkish intelligence to help prepare and monitor the operation.” (DDP, 30 December 2005).
In turn, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has given the green light to the Israeli Armed Forces to launch the attacks by the end of March:
All top Israeli officials have pronounced the end of March, 2006, as the deadline for launching a military assault on Iran…. The end of March date also coincides with the IAEA report to the UN on Iran’s nuclear energy program. Israeli policymakers believe that their threats may influence the report, or at least force the kind of ambiguities, which can be exploited by its overseas supporters to promote Security Council sanctions or justify Israeli military action.
(James Petras, Israel’s War Deadline: Iran in the Crosshairs, Global Research, December 2005)
The US sponsored military plan has been endorsed by NATO, although it is unclear, at this stage, as to the nature of NATO’s involvement in the planned aerial attacks.
“Shock and Awe”
The various components of the military operation are firmly under US Command, coordinated by the Pentagon and US Strategic Command Headquarters (USSTRATCOM) at the Offutt Air Force base in Nebraska.
The actions announced by Israel would be carried out in close coordination with the Pentagon. The command structure of the operation is centralized and ultimately Washington will decide when to launch the military operation.
US military sources have confirmed that an aerial attack on Iran would involve a large scale deployment comparable to the US “shock and awe” bombing raids on Iraq in March 2003:
American air strikes on Iran would vastly exceed the scope of the 1981 Israeli attack on the Osiraq nuclear center in Iraq, and would more resemble the opening days of the 2003 air campaign against Iraq. Using the full force of operational B-2 stealth bombers, staging from Diego Garcia or flying direct from the United States, possibly supplemented by F-117 stealth fighters staging from al Udeid in Qatar or some other location in theater, the two-dozen suspect nuclear sites would be targeted.
Military planners could tailor their target list to reflect the preferences of the Administration by having limited air strikes that would target only the most crucial facilities … or the United States could opt for a far more comprehensive set of strikes against a comprehensive range of WMD related targets, as well as conventional and unconventional forces that might be used to counterattack against US forces in Iraq
(See Globalsecurity.org at _http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ops/iran-strikes.htm
In November, US Strategic Command conducted a major exercise of a “global strike plan” entitled “Global Lightening”. The latter involved a simulated attack using both conventional and nuclear weapons against a “fictitious enemy”.
Following the “Global Lightening” exercise, US Strategic Command declared an advanced state of readiness (See our analysis below)
While Asian press reports stated that the “fictitious enemy” in the Global Lightening exercise was North Korea, the timing of the exercises, suggests that they were conducted in anticipation of a planned attack on Iran.
Consensus for Nuclear War
No dissenting political voices have emerged from within the European Union.
There are ongoing consultations between Washington, Paris and Berlin. Contrary to the invasion of Iraq, which was opposed at the diplomatic level by France and Germany, Washington has been building “a consensus” both within the Atlantic Alliance and the UN Security Council. This consensus pertains to the conduct of a nuclear war, which could potentially affect a large part of the Middle East Central Asian region.
Moreover, a number of frontline Arab states are now tacit partners in the US/ Israeli military project. A year ago in November 2004, Israel’s top military brass met at NATO headquarters in Brussels with their counterparts from six members of the Mediterranean basin nations, including Egypt, Jordan, Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria and Mauritania. A NATO-Israel protocol was signed. Following these meetings, joint military exercises were held off the coast of Syria involving the US, Israel and Turkey. and in February 2005, Israel participated in military exercises and “anti-terror maneuvers” together with several Arab countries.
The media in chorus has unequivocally pointed to Iran as a “threat to World Peace”.
The antiwar movement has swallowed the media lies. The fact that the US and Israel are planning a Middle East nuclear holocaust is not part of the antiwar/ anti- globalization agenda.
The “surgical strikes” are presented to world public opinion as a means to preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons.
We are told that this is not a war but a military peace-keeping operation, in the form of aerial attacks directed against Iran’s nuclear facilities.
The press reports, while revealing certain features of the military agenda, largely serve to distort the broader nature of the military operation, which contemplates the preemptive use of tactical nuclear weapons.
The war agenda is based on the Bush administration’s doctrine of “preemptive” nuclear war under the 2002 Nuclear Posture Review.
Media disinformation has been used extensively to conceal the devastating consequences of military action involving nuclear warheads against Iran. The fact that these surgical strikes would be carried out using both conventional and nuclear weapons is not an object of debate.
According to a 2003 Senate decision, the new generation of tactical nuclear weapons or “low yield” “mini-nukes”, with an explosive capacity of up to 6 times a Hiroshima bomb, are now considered “safe for civilians” because the explosion is underground.
Through a propaganda campaign which has enlisted the support of “authoritative” nuclear scientists, the mini-nukes are being presented as an instrument of peace rather than war. The low-yield nukes have now been cleared for “battlefield use”, they are slated to be used in the next stage of America’s “war on Terrorism” alongside conventional weapons:
Administration officials argue that low-yield nuclear weapons are needed as a credible deterrent against rogue states.[Iran, North Korea] Their logic is that existing nuclear weapons are too destructive to be used except in a full-scale nuclear war. Potential enemies realize this, thus they do not consider the threat of nuclear retaliation to be credible. However, low-yield nuclear weapons are less destructive, thus might conceivably be used. That would make them more effective as a deterrent. ( Opponents Surprised By Elimination of Nuke Research Funds Defense News November 29, 2004)
In an utterly twisted logic, nuclear weapons are presented as a means to building peace and preventing “collateral damage”. The Pentagon has intimated, in this regard, that the mini-nukes (with a yield of less than 5000 tons) are harmless to civilians because the explosions take place under ground. Each of these mini-nukes, nonetheless, constitutes in terms of explosion and potential radioactive fallout a significant fraction of the atom bomb dropped on Hiroshima in 1945. Estimates of yield for Nagasaki and Hiroshima indicate that they were respectively of 21000 and 15000 tons ( _http://www.warbirdforum.com/hiroshim.htm)
In other words, the low yielding mini-nukes have an explosive capacity of one third of a Hiroshima bomb.
The new definition of a nuclear warhead has blurred the distinction between conventional and nuclear weapons:
‘It’s a package (of nuclear and conventional weapons). The implication of this obviously is that nuclear weapons are being brought down from a special category of being a last resort, or sort of the ultimate weapon, to being just another tool in the toolbox,’ said Kristensen. (Japan Economic News Wire, op cit)
We are a dangerous crossroads: military planners believe their own propaganda.
The military manuals state that this new generation of nuclear weapons are “safe” for use in the battlefield. They are no longer a weapon of last resort. There are no impediments or political obstacles to their use. In this context, Senator Edward Kennedy has accused the Bush Administration for having developed “a generation of more useable nuclear weapons.”
The international community has endorsed nuclear war in the name of World Peace.
“Making the World safer” is the justification for launching a military operation which could potentially result in a nuclear holocaust.
But nuclear holocausts are not front page news! In the words of Mordechai Vanunu,
The Israeli government is preparing to use nuclear weapons in its next war with the Islamic world. Here where I live, people often talk of the Holocaust. But each and every nuclear bomb is a Holocaust in itself. It can kill, devastate cities, destroy entire peoples. (See interview with Mordechai Vanunu, December 2005).
Space and Earth Attack Command Unit
A preemptive nuclear attack using tactical nuclear weapons would be coordinated out of US Strategic Command Headquarters at the Offutt Air Force base in Nebraska, in liaison with US and coalition command units in the Persian Gulf, the Diego Garcia military base, Israel and Turkey.
Under its new mandate, USSTRATCOM has a responsibility for “overseeing a global strike plan” consisting of both conventional and nuclear weapons. In military jargon, it is slated to play the role of “a global integrator charged with the missions of Space Operations; Information Operations; Integrated Missile Defense; Global Command & Control; Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance; Global Strike; and Strategic Deterrence…. “
In January 2005, at the outset of the military build-up directed against Iran, USSTRATCOM was identified as “the lead Combatant Command for integration and synchronization of DoD-wide efforts in combating weapons of mass destruction.”
To implement this mandate, a brand new command unit entitled Joint Functional Component Command Space and Global Strike, or JFCCSGS was created.
JFCCSGS has the mandate to oversee the launching of a nuclear attack in accordance with the 2002 Nuclear Posture Review, approved by the US Congress in 2002. The NPR underscores the pre-emptive use of nuclear warheads not only against “rogue states” but also against China and Russia.
Since November, JFCCSGS is said to be in “an advance state of readiness” following the conduct of relevant military exercises. The announcement was made in early December by U.S. Strategic Command to the effect that the command unit had achieved “an operational capability for rapidly striking targets around the globe using nuclear or conventional weapons.” The exercises conducted in November used “a fictional country believed to represent North Korea” (see David Ruppe, 2 December 2005):
“The new unit [JFCCSGS] has ‘met requirements necessary to declare an initial operational capability’ as of Nov. 18. A week before this announcement, the unit finished a command-post exercise, dubbed Global Lightening, which was linked with another exercise, called Vigilant Shield, conducted by the North American Aerospace Defend Command, or NORAD, in charge of missile defense for North America.
‘After assuming several new missions in 2002, U.S. Strategic Command was reorganized to create better cooperation and cross-functional awareness,’ said Navy Capt. James Graybeal, a chief spokesperson for STRATCOM. ‘By May of this year, the JFCCSGS has published a concept of operations and began to develop its day-to-day operational requirements and integrated planning process.’
‘The command’s performance during Global Lightning demonstrated its preparedness to execute its mission of proving integrated space and global strike capabilities to deter and dissuade aggressors and when directed, defeat adversaries through decisive joint global effects in support of STRATCOM,’ he added without elaborating about ‘new missions’ of the new command unit that has around 250 personnel.
Nuclear specialists and governmental sources pointed out that one of its main missions would be to implement the 2001 nuclear strategy that includes an option of preemptive nuclear attacks on ‘rogue states’ with WMDs. (Japanese Economic Newswire, 30 December 2005)
CONCEPT PLAN (CONPLAN) 8022
JFCCSGS is in an advanced state of readiness to trigger nuclear attacks directed against Iran or North Korea.
The operational implementation of the Global Strike is called CONCEPT PLAN (CONPLAN) 8022. The latter is described as “an actual plan that the Navy and the Air Force translate into strike package for their submarines and bombers,’ (Ibid).
CONPLAN 8022 is ‘the overall umbrella plan for sort of the pre-planned strategic scenarios involving nuclear weapons.’
‘It’s specifically focused on these new types of threats — Iran, North Korea — proliferators and potentially terrorists too,’ he said. ‘There’s nothing that says that they can’t use CONPLAN 8022 in limited scenarios against Russian and Chinese targets.’(According to Hans Kristensen, of the Nuclear Information Project, quoted in Japanese economic News Wire, op cit)
The mission of JFCCSGS is to implement CONPLAN 8022, in other words to trigger a nuclear war with Iran.
The Commander in Chief, namely George W. Bush would instruct the Secretary of Defense, who would then instruct the Joint Chiefs of staff to activate CONPLAN 8022.
CONPLAN is distinct from other military operations. it does not contemplate the deployment of ground troops.
CONPLAN 8022 is different from other war plans in that it posits a small-scale operation and no “boots on the ground.” The typical war plan encompasses an amalgam of forces — air, ground, sea — and takes into account the logistics and political dimensions needed to sustain those forces in protracted operations…. The global strike plan is offensive, triggered by the perception of an imminent threat and carried out by presidential order.) (William Arkin, Washington Post, May 2005)
The Role of Israel
Since late 2004, Israel has been stockpiling US made conventional and nuclear weapons systems in anticipation of an attack on Iran. This stockpiling which is financed by US military aid was largely completed in June 2005. Israel has taken delivery from the US of several thousand “smart air launched weapons” including some 500 ‘bunker-buster bombs, which can also be used to deliver tactical nuclear bombs.
The B61-11 is the “nuclear version” of the “conventional” BLU 113, can be delivered in much same way as the conventional bunker buster bomb. (See Michel Chossudovsky, http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/CHO112C.html , see also
http://www.thebulletin.org/article_nn.php?art_ofn=jf03norris ) .
Moreover, reported in late 2003, Israeli Dolphin-class submarines equipped with US Harpoon missiles armed with nuclear warheads are now aimed at Iran. (See Gordon Thomas, http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/THO311A.html
TEXT BOX
Late April 2005. Sale of deadly military hardware to Israel. GBU-28 Buster Bunker Bombs:
Coinciding with Putin’s visit to Israel, the US Defence Security Cooperation Agency (Department of Defense) announced the sale of an additional 100 bunker-buster bombs produced by Lockheed Martin to Israel. This decision was viewed by the US media as “a warning to Iran about its nuclear ambitions.”
The sale pertains to the larger and more sophisticated “Guided Bomb Unit-28 (GBU-28) BLU-113 Penetrator” (including the WGU-36A/B guidance control unit and support equipment). The GBU-28 is described as “a special weapon for penetrating hardened command centers located deep underground. The fact of the matter is that the GBU-28 is among the World’s most deadly “conventional” weapons used in the 2003 invasion of Iraq, capable of causing thousands of civilian deaths through massive explosions.
The Israeli Air Force are slated to use the GBU-28s on their F-15 aircraft.
(See text of DSCA news release at http://www.dsca.osd.mil/PressReleases/36-b/2005/Israel_05-10_corrected.pdf
Extension of the War
Tehran has confirmed that it will retaliate if attacked, in the form of ballistic missile strikes directed against Israel (CNN, 8 Feb 2005). These attacks, could also target US military facilities in Iraq and Persian Gulf, which would immediately lead us into a scenario of military escalation and all out war.
At present there are three distinct war theaters: Afghanistan, Iraq and Palestine. The air strikes against Iran could contribute to unleashing a war in the broader Middle East Central Asian region.
Moreover, the planned attack on Iran should also be understood in relation to the timely withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon, which has opened up a new space, for the deployment of Israeli forces. The participation of Turkey in the US-Israeli military operation is also a factor, following last year’s agreement reached between Ankara and Tel Aviv.
More recently, Tehran has beefed up its air defenses through the acquisition of Russian 29 Tor M-1 anti-missile systems. In October, with Moscow`s collaboration, “a Russian rocket lifted an Iranian spy satellite, the Sinah-1, into orbit.” (see Chris Floyd)
The Sinah-1 is just the first of several Iranian satellites set for Russian launches in the coming months.
Thus the Iranians will soon have a satellite network in place to give them early warning of an Israeli attack, although it will still be a pale echo of the far more powerful Israeli and American space spies that can track the slightest movement of a Tehran mullahs beard. Whats more, late last month Russia signed a $1 billion contract to sell Iran an advanced defense system that can destroy guided missiles and laser-guided bombs, the Sunday Times reports. This too will be ready in the next few months. (op.cit.)
Ground War
While a ground war is not envisaged under CONPLAN, the aerial bombings could lead through the process of escalation into a ground war.
Iranian troops could cross the Iran-Iraq border and confront coalition forces inside Iraq. Israeli troops and/or Special Forces could enter into Lebanon and Syria.
In recent developments, Israel plans to conduct military exercises as well as deploy Special Forces in the mountainous areas of Turkey bordering Iran and Syria with the collaboration of the Ankara government:
Ankara and Tel Aviv have come to an agreement on allowing the Israeli army to carry out military exercises in the mountainous areas [in Turkey] that border Iran.
[According to] … a UAE newspaper …, according to the agreement reached by the Joint Chief of Staff of the Israeli army, Dan Halutz, and Turkish officials, Israel is to carry out various military manoeuvres in the areas that border Iran and Syria. [Punctuation as published here and throughout.] [Dan Halutz] had gone to Turkey a few days earlier.
Citing certain sources without naming them, the UAE daily goes on to stress: The Israeli side made the request to carry out the manoeuvres because of the difficulty of passage in the mountain terrains close to Iran’s borders in winter.
The two Hakari [phonetic; not traced] and Bulo [phonetic; not traced] units are to take part in the manoeuvres that have not been scheduled yet. The units are the most important of Israel’s special military units and are charged with fighting terrorism and carrying out guerrilla warfare.
Earlier Turkey had agreed to Israeli pilots being trained in the area bordering Iran. The news [of the agreement] is released at a time when Turkish officials are trying to evade the accusation of cooperating with America in espionage operations against its neighbouring countries Syria and Iran. Since last week the Arab press has been publishing various reports about Ankara’s readiness or, at least, agreement in principle to carry out negotiations about its soil and air space being used for action against Iran.
(E’temad website, Tehran, in Persian 28 Dec 05, BBC Monitoring Services Translation)
Concluding remarks
The implications are overwhelming.
The so-called international community has accepted the eventuality of a nuclear holocaust.
Those who decide have swallowed their own war propaganda.
A political consensus has developed in Western Europe and North America regarding the aerial attacks using tactical nuclear weapons, without considering their devastating implications.
This profit driven military adventure ultimately threatens the future of humanity.
What is needed in the months ahead is a major thrust, nationally and internationally which breaks the conspiracy of silence, which acknowledges the dangers, which brings this war project to the forefront of political debate and media attentiion, at all levels, which confronts and requires political and military leaders to take a firm stance against the US sponsored nuclear war.
Ultimately what is required are extensive international sanctions directed against the United States of America and Israel.
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A Tale of Two Brothers
by Charlayne Hunter-Gault
The war ended in 2002, but the legacy of child soldiers continues. The struggle for reconciliation in the new Angola includes brothers Feliciano and Jerimias Salamungo, who fought on opposing sides until they met by chance after a 22-year separation.
Feliciano Salamungo was 11 years old when he was forced to join the fight.
It was a day like any other. Feliciano was walking home from school, as oblivious to the scorching Angolan sun as he was to the men lurking in its shadows.
“In the middle of the way, I met a UNITA patrol. I was taken by them,” Feliciano recalled. “I was frightened. I was not expecting anything like that. Suddenly, there were troops asking me to join the group.”
Feliciano had no choice but to followfor the next two decades.
“We were obliged to walk a long way,” he said. “We reached unknown areas. We didn’t have any idea where we were living. It was living in the middle of the bush, like a strange land.”
That got stranger all the time.
“You never have a permanent home. You are here today. Two hours later, you move. Sometimes you have to sleep under trees. Sometimes you have to sleep in rivers, in water.”
‘Several Times I Cried’
Not yet a teenager, Feliciano was forcibly conscripted into a brutal civil war that started before he was born and made a mockery of the former Portuguese colony’s independence in 1975. As the liberation movements that fought together for freedom fractured, Jonas Savimbi’s guerrilla movement known as UNITA retreated to the bush.
Despite intermittent attempts at peace, the war went oneventually claiming the lives of more than 1.5 million Angolans. Landmines maimed countless numbers of innocent men, women, and children. Pitched battles that knew no boundaries rendered hundreds of thousands homeless.
Eleven-year-old Feliciano had no idea why he was taken or why the guerrillas who took him were fighting. He just knew he had to do what he was told.
“Otherwise, your life could be in danger,” he said. “I saw people being whipped … people being sent to distant areas…. When there was physical punishment, we were invited to witness. We were told that if you disobeyed, this could happen to you.”
“When there was physical punishment, we were invited to witness. We were told that if you disobeyed, this could happen to you.”
map of angola
“I would like to see my daughters have a different life from the one I’ve had so far….”
Jerimias Slamungo with Charlayne Hunter-Gault
Charlayne Hunter-Gault pictured with Jerimias Salamungo at a camp for demobilized UNITA guerrillas and their families in Kuito, Angola. Salamungo is a former government soldier whose younger brother was forced to fight for the rebels. Photo by Reese Erlich.
The US Role
UNITA became known for its tactics of kidnapping whole villages and attacking civilian supporters of the government. The United States and apartheid South Africa backed UNITA on the grounds it was fighting Soviet expansion in Africa.
Feliciano recalled the support UNITA got from the United States.
“I was told relations between the US and UNITA were very good. This was proven, because I myself saw medicines sent from the US. I used to distribute some weapons from the US to my fellow soldiers.”
The United States stopped supporting UNITA in 1993 when the guerrillas violated an internationally brokered peace plan. But UNITA continued fighting, forcing thousands of children to become soldiers. Many, like Feliciano Salamungo, were forced by circumstances to become men. But the child in Feliciano lay just beneath the surface.
“I missed my family,” he recalled. “Several times I cried.”
He especially missed them when he heard that his mother had died. He had not spoken with her since he was taken 25 years before. “I was very sad because I didn’t know my father. When I heard about my mother’s death, I was very sad. I cried a lot.”
Feliciano belonged to a force supporting the front linesproviding food, clothes, and ammunition. He says he saw many young people like himself forced to kill, but he says he never had to. That was one of the few good things about his time as a guerrilla. Because there was a chance the Angolan government soldier on the other side may have been his own brother.
‘It Was Hard, But What Could I Do?’
Jerimias Salamungo had joined the Angolan army before Feliciano was abducted. The government didn’t abduct children to become soldiers, but teens under 18 fought in the government militarysometimes as volunteers, sometimes as conscripts. Jerimias had no idea that his brother had become his enemy. But one day he got the word.
“It was hard, but what could I do?” he said. “I was also forced to do that. At that time when you don’t identify with the side where you are, you can be identified as somebody collaborating with the other side. This could be very dangerous.”
The Salamungo family was touched by the war in many other ways. Their sister was forced to marry an MPLA (Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola) officer. Like many women, including those forced to marry UNITA guerrillas, once the war ended, she left her husband. It was different for Feliciano, who married in the busha young woman, herself abducted at the age of eight.
A 12-year-old girl created this drawing of a mother killed in the Chechnya conflict.
Learn more about these drawings
child’s drawing of a burning house and a dying woman
“When I heard about my mother’s death, I was very sad. I cried a lot.”
The Brothers Meet
Augusta Chilombo was forced to tend the wounded on the battlefield. Fortunately for the Salamungos, the brothers didn’t meet on the battlefield. Instead, they met in a camp as the armed forces were demobilizing after a peace treaty was finally signed in 2002.
By this time, 39-year-old Jerimias had long since been discharged from the Army and was working for an international food aid agency, one that provided food for the former guerrillas in the quartering camps where they were waiting to reenter civilian life. By chance, Feliciano heard his brother’s name called by a colleague. He then asked that he take a letter to the man he thought could be his brother. Jerimias read the letter in disbelief.
“I had to control myself,” Jerimias said. “So okay, if it’s my brother, he’s welcome.”
Within a week, Jerimias was in the camp.
“Before 10 minutes, they were coming with somebody who I couldn’t recognize. I was still keeping an image of my brother when we separated. He was short and a little bit slim. As he was coming closer to us, I recognized his chin. It was the same I used to see when we lived together 22 years ago.”
Feliciano was speechless.
“All the words disappeared from my mouth,” he said. “Twenty-two years of separation isn’t an easy thing.”
Ticking Time Bombs
Nor is it easy for the former UNITA guerrillas who did in fact killif not their brothers, their own kindand were killed in return. Reconciliation is a key challenge in this deeply wounded country.
The other challenge lies in preparing the former soldiers for the lives they left behind when they were children.
“Now the real change is that we are not dealing with them as ex-soldiers but as a child, principally,” said Mario Ferrari, who heads the United Nations Children’s Fund in Angola. “If we can reunite them with families and get them to school and get vocational training, those children can go back to a normal life.”
The Angolan government is keenly aware of the challenge it faces, said Joao Kussumua, Angola’s minister of Social Assistance and Re-insertion.
“Children from 10 to 20 years old were used as soldiers,” he said. “They didn’t study. We have people who passed school age that we must teach to read and write. As you know, the government must solve all the problemseconomic and psychological.”
And that’s the ticking time bomb that makes the peace of Angola so precariousfinding the resources and the places for the thousands of children and adults whose only skills were those learned on the battlefield.
The government must also figure out how to help those like Feliciano’s 29-year-old wife, Augusta Chilombo, who gave birth to their four daughtersvirtually on the battlefield. As shy as she is tiny, she rarely speaks above a whisper until asked about her dreams for her young daughters.
“I would like to see my daughters have a different life from the one I’ve had so far,” she said, her voice filled with commitment and determination. “We were suffering because of war. Now that the war has ended, I would like to see my children having a better life. I would like to see them studying. Then having jobs so they can live well.”
Whatever else Angola’s long night of war may have destroyed, it failed to destroy the capacity to dream. It’s now up to the people of Angola and countries around the world to help the dreams for their wounded children become reality.
(_http://www . warchildren . org /two_brothers.html#more)
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Most horrifying side effects of war on terror
How true. A road leading to a dead end, no chance of turning back, no one to help you slow down, let alone stop and turn back. Drug abuse is a problem faced by every country, however it is less obvious in developed countries where they have adequate means to help such individuals, the true horrific effects of such substance abuse can only be seen in places where the much needed help and support is not readily available. Today we take a journey down such road, looking at images depicting the horros faced by these people, many of them the sole bread winners for their families.
Our contributing photographer Dr. Altamash Kamal (Karachi, Pakistan), takes us down this journey, where he shares with us the devastation caused by heorin, as captured by his lens. These photos were taken in Karachi, Pakistan.
No, he is not dead, but will be within a couple of years if he doesnt get help. for now flies have a feast on his face once he passes out after his heroin fix. This is the price Pakistan has paid for being next to the land-locked Afghanistan which is the worlds biggest producer of heroin. Pakistan has become the major export route for Afghan heroin. This in turn brought the drug mafia who was very keen to develop a local market for their produce. Here lies one of their happy consumers.
Surveys indicate that the prevalence of HIV/AIDS among intravenous drug users in the city is about 35%, yet if you look, you find people sharing needles in dark alleys and secluded corners all over the place. Strangely, in the cities at least, they all know the risk, but that doesnt change anything. Altamash Kamal
This young boy waits in a drug den waiting for friends to arrive with his next heroin fix. Altamash Kamal
Another heroin addict waiting for his fix.Heroin is one of the most addictive substances known. it captures the body and the mind of the addict. withdrawal from it is very painful, even to watch from from a distance.
Soon after i took this picture, he was busy helping his friend find a vein so the friend could inject himself with a fix. despite some NGOs operating free needle exchange programs in the city, few addicts use them consistently. Maybe because they are few and far between? The probability of getting infected by sharing a needle with a HIV carrier is around 99%. The governments health system is almost completely absent. they leave it to the NGOs to provide needle exchange, counselling and treatment.
Pakistan spends just 1% of it budget on heath and education (each) and 20 times that on getting fancy toys and other goodies for its generals to live like royalty. and the people who need help go untreated. Altamash Kamal
Two users preparing their fix. Altamash Kamal
Karachi, is the largest city in Pakistan and one of the biggest in the world population wise. The pictures these images paint points to a bigger problem, a problem faced by most of the developing world. These problems existed before as well, however, after the afghan war, these problems have increased in Pakistan many fold and hence it is more evident here. Pakistan/Afghanistan border runs through rough terrain and mountains, making it extremely difficult to man it at every single point of crossing, hence giving rise to a growing and thriving market for drug dealers. While the Pakistani government partners with US in dealing with Taleban and terrorism, its own people are getting drugged to death, inflation and poverty is not helping things either. ( http://www.coloursmag.com/?p=32)