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5.23.13

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Military Resistance 11E14

Tornado Wars
Written by Dennis Serdel, Vietnam 1967-68 (one tour) Light Infantry, Americal Div. 11th Brigade; United Auto Workers GM Retiree **************************************************************** From: Dennis Serdel To: Military Resistance Newsletter Sent: Tuesday, May 21, 2013 Subject: Tornado Wars Tornado Wars

Pat Robberson came out with his Rolex & $7000 suit on his TV 700 Million Dollar Christian Show & blasted the people

in Oklahoma for living like heathens, gamblers, sex addicts, trailer trash, drunks & said that they were punished by God with this Big Tornado The Oral Robber's looked down on them too & said they All needed to be Washed in a full submersion Baptism to wash their un-Godly ways before God punishes them again with another Tornado & sends more straight to Hell. Both said to Not send money to the victims & instead send money to their ministries so they could try & save them Both agreed to drop nuclear bombs on Afghanistan & kill all the filthy Muslins who are out to destroy Christianity, Kill All of them, the Taliban the Civilians, Young & Old, Women & Children, It's All they Understand & they would Go Straight to Hell for Killing Our brave USA Soldiers. After the atomic bombs, Kill the rest with Drones, so our Christian Soldiers would Not have to Die for Killing the Satanic Muslin stinking Animals Both agree to use atom bombs like Tornados in other Middle East Countries too. Because this is a Holy War Between Good & Evil & God is on Our Side Except for those in Oklahoma. Writing by Dennis Serdel for Military Resistance

AFGHANISTAN WAR REPORTS

Family: Meridian Soldier Wonderful, Outgoing Man

Courtesy of the Murach family May 6, 2013 Meridian Press

Spc. Thomas Paige Murach of Meridian is among the five Fort Bliss soldiers killed by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan over the weekend. Murach, 22, was with the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division at Fort Bliss. An Army statement Monday identified the dead as Murach, Spc. Kevin Cardoza of Mercedes, Texas; 1st Lt. Brandon James Landrum of Lawton, Okla.; Staff Sgt. Francis Gene Phillips IV of Meridian, N.Y.; and 24-year-old Spc. Brandon Joseph Prescott of Bend, Ore. Tom was a wonderful, outgoing man who lived his life to the fullest. He was very gregarious and kind, and was always quick with a laugh and a smile for friends and acquaintances alike. We couldnt imagine that anybody could meet him and not like him, Murach's family said in a statement.

Murach's family said he loved being an Army infantryman and never complained about the difficulty of his duties. Murach leaves behind his mother Mary, father Chet, brothers Nick, William and Mike along with many aunts, uncles, cousins and extended family. In another incident, a 30-year-old soldier from San Antonio died Wednesday after an April 27 roadside bombing in Afghanistan. Staff Sgt. Michael H. Simpson died at the military hospital in Landstuhl, Germany. He served with 4th Battalion, 1st Special Forces Group (Airborne) from Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash.

POLITICIANS REFUSE TO HALT THE BLOODSHED THE TROOPS HAVE THE POWER TO STOP THE WAR

A Whole Shitload Of Resistance Action:

Fighting Raged On All Day And Into The Night, Both Insurgents And Police Said
05/20/2013 AMIR SHAH, Associated Press & KAY JOHNSON, Associated Press & May 22, 2013 Agence France-Presse & Associated Press KABUL, Afghanistan A bomber dressed in a police uniform killed 14 people including a prominent provincial council chief outside the council headquarters in northern Afghanistan on Monday, authorities said. The Taliban insurgency quickly claimed responsibility. Baghlan provincial council leader Mohammad Rasoul Mohseni was entering the compound in the provincial capital of Pul-e-Khumri in the morning when the bomber approached on foot and detonated his explosives, said Baghlan chief of police Asadullah Sherzad. The attacker was dressed in police uniform and blended with officers at a checkpoint near the council headquarters, then slipped into a group of people surrounding Mohseni and set off his bomb in the crowd, said Baghlan deputy police chief Mohammad Sadeq Muradi. He was basically waiting for his target, who was Rasoul Mohseni, Muradi said.

Two of Mohseni's police bodyguards, four checkpoint police and seven civilians were killed in the blast, he said. It was unclear whether the attacker was actually a member of Afghan security forces or an insurgent who bought or stole a uniform. Mohammad Zahier Ghanizada, a member of parliament from Baghlan, said that Mohseni had previously received multiple death threats. A well-known figure in Baghlan, Mohseni was previously a respected commander in the Northern Alliance that fought against the Taliban's hard-line regime before it was toppled in 2001. He comes from a prominent family in the province, and his brother Azim Mohseni is a member of parliament. Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid claimed in a text message to journalists that an insurgent operative carried out the targeted bombing. Today at 11 a.m. in front of the Baghlan provincial council office, we have carried out an attack and killed the head of the council, it said. ************************************************ On Monday, Taliban forces attacked several police checkpoints in the southern province of Helmand, and fighting raged on all day and into the night, both insurgents and police said. Helmand's deputy police chief, Ghulam Rabbani, said the fighting was in heavily contested Sangin district and there were casualties on both sides. He expected the clashes to continue overnight. Taliban spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmadi said the insurgents had wrested control of six police checkpoints, but Helmand government officials denied that. The interior ministry spokesman in Kabul said about 100 insurgents were involved in the offensive. ************************************************ A bomb killed six police guards in Herat province on Tuesday as they travelled to a hydroelectric dam that is under protection from insurgent attack. The officers were from the Afghan Public Protection Force, a government-run force that provides security for international supply convoys, aid groups and foreign-funded reconstruction sites. The blast ripped through the vehicle as the men were heading to Obe district in Herat, where India is rebuilding a major hydroelectric dam. All six police guards were killed, Sher Agha, the Obe district police chief, said. ************************************************

A heavy explosion rocked eastern Ghazni province of Afghanistan late Wednesday evening. According to local authorities the incident took place after a bomber detonated his explosives in Moqor district. Anti-Taliban uprising forces were among those killed or injured during the explosion. ************************************************ A bomber on foot killed an anti-Taliban village elder and at least three other people in a busy marketplace Wednesday in central Afghanistan, the latest in a wave of assassinations and bombings. Habibullah Khan was killed along with two bodyguards and a civilian bystander in the afternoon attack in Ghazni provinces Moqur district, police said. Deputy Provincial Police Chief Asadullah Insafi said Khan led an uprising last year against the Talibans shadow government in his district, driving the insurgents out.

MILITARY NEWS

[Thanks to Mark Shapiro, Military Resistance Organization, who sent this in.]

Civil War Syria:

Contrary To Claims Made By The Syrian Regime, Opposition Sources Say Much Of Qusayr Still Lies In Rebel Hands

May 20, 2013 by Alex Rowell, NOW News. Yara Chehayed contributed reporting The streets of the western Syrian town of Al-Qusayr were enveloped in clouds of grey cement powder on Sunday as President Bashar al-Assad's air and ground forces, backed by Lebanese Hezbollah militiamen, commenced a long-awaited major assault on the lynchpin rebel-held town and its surrounding villages.

Humanitarian observers including the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, have warned that this may lead to massacres reminiscent of those in the coastal towns of al-Bayda and Banias earlier in the month. At least 58 Qusayr residents were killed Sunday many of them civilians and over 600 wounded in continuous air and artillery strikes, according to local opposition spokesman Hadi al-Abdallah. He also claimed some 30 Hezbollah fighters had been killed by rebel forces. Syrian state TV reported 100 opposition militants dead, with no mention of regime casualties. NOW was unable to reach the Hezbollah press office for confirmation of the Party's losses. Regime fighter jets continued to pound residential quarters of the town center Monday, according to Al-Abdallah, as contradictory reports emerged regarding the territorial gains made by Assad loyalists. While regime soldiers claimed Sunday to have conquered the central town square, raising the Syrian flag over the municipality building, numerous opposition sources asserted that no territory had been lost by the rebels whatsoever. It's not true what the regime is claiming, said Qusayr-based activist, Ahmad al-Qusayr. They're saying this to raise the morale of the fighters, because the rebels are giving them a beating. Indeed, Al-Qusayr was confident that the rebels could and would withstand the attack. The Free Syrian Army is still there on every corner and they have increased their defenses to face any invasion. They will fight until the last drop of blood, he told NOW. Though such claims are impossible to verify, there is evidence that rebels have put up stiff resistance thus far. A video purportedly filmed Sunday night shows a number of destroyed regime tanks and the corpse of an apparent Hezbollah fighter one of a number of similar videos uploaded by the opposition in recent days. Indeed, the past few weeks have seen a significant escalation in the comparatively low-intensity war of attrition that has been underway in Qusayr since it fell to rebel brigades in February 2012. Meeting with Lebanese allies one month ago, Assad reportedly described the fighting in Qusayr as the main battle in all of Syria, one that must be won at any cost. On 11 May, regime sources said they warned civilians to leave the town (a claim denied by the opposition) as an attack was imminent, and on 13 May, Abdallah reported the arrival of 30 regime tanks in the Qusayr countryside, sparking very violent battles. The following day, AFP reported the fall of three rebel-held villages to loyal Assad forces Dameina al-Gharbiyah, Eish al-Warwar and Haidariyeh situated between Qusayr

town and the allied neighborhoods of Homs, with sights set next on the rebels' captured military base at al-Dabaa. The town and its surroundings are deemed strategic for two key reasons. First, lying just 10km from the Lebanese border, it acts as the major buffer between the Hezbollah-controlled northeast Beqaa Valley and the rebel-held area of Homs. In the words of Syrian Observatory for Human Rights director Rami Abdel Rahman, If the army manages to take control of Al-Qusayr, the whole province of Homs will fall. Second, it flanks the main highway linking Damascus to the coastal Alawite heartland north of Lebanon, the principal bastion of support for the regime to which some analysts believe Assad may flee in the event that Damascus falls to the rebels. Given this strategic importance, the town has also been a magnet for Lebanese militants opposed to the regime. As fighting intensified last month, prominent Salafist clerics Ahmad al-Assir and Salem al-Rafei issued calls for jihad against Assad loyalists in Qusayr, with several hundred reportedly signing on to assist their allies across the border. Yet long before these calls, anti-Assad Lebanese were known to be fighting in Qusayr. NOW met and interviewed one last October who had battled regime and Hezbollah forces there as early as May 2012. As the indiscriminate loyalist assault continues, however, the stakes are not only strategic but humanitarian, according to local opposition sources. There are 40,000 civilians in the Qusayr town, said Muhammad Radwan Raad, a Homs-based activist. They have no water, no electricity, and no safe passage to escape. Already, some families have been bombarded while trying to flee. We don't know what to do with them, he told NOW. If the situation continues as it is, there will be no Qusayr in the future.

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FORWARD OBSERVATIONS

At a time like this, scorching irony, not convincing argument, is needed. Oh had I the ability, and could reach the nations 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 they oppose. Frederick Douglass, 1852

Nothing has more revolutionary effect, and nothing undermines more the foundations of all state power, than the continuation of that wretched and brainless rgime, which has the strength merely to cling to its positions but no longer the slightest power to rule or to steer the state ship on a definite course. -- Karl Kautsky; The Consequences of the Japanese Victory and Social Democracy

Fixin To Die Rag: Woodstock 1969

[It is absolutely impossible to hear this too many times.]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBdeCxJmcAo

[And Another At No Extra Charge] Fortunate Son:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7WtVJSJQaM&NR=1

DO YOU HAVE A FRIEND OR RELATIVE IN THE MILITARY?

Forward Military Resistance along, or send us the email address if you wish and well send it regularly with your best wishes. 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 injustices, inside the armed services and at home. Send email requests to address up top or write to: Military Resistance, Box 126, 2576 Broadway, New York, N.Y. 10025-5657.

ANNIVERSARIES

May 23, 1838: Infamous Anniversary

Carl Bunin Peace History May 21-27 U.S. General Winfield Scott ordered the forced removal of the Cherokee Indians from the east to the Indian Nation (what is now Oklahoma). Approximately one quarter of the 10,000 died on this march called The Trail of Tears.

May 24, 1971:

A Heroic Anniversary:
Military Officers Oppose War On Vietnam
Carl Bunin Peace History May 22-May 29 At Fort Bragg, North Carolina, an anti-war newspaper advertisement, signed by 29 U.S. soldiers supporting the Concerned Officers Movement, resulted in controversy. The group had been formed in 1970 in Washington, D.C. by a small group of junior naval officers opposed to the war. The newspaper advertisement at Fort Bragg was in support of the groups members, who had joined with anti-war activist David Harris and others in San Diego to mobilize opposition to the departure of the carrier USS Constellation for Vietnam.

No official action was taken against the military dissidents, though many were forced to resign their commissions.

Evil Anniversary:
May 24, 1934: Germany:
It Is The Aim Of The State Police To Support Zionism And Its Emigration Policy As Fully As Possible
From: Human Smoke; The Beginnings of World War II, By Nicholson Baker, Simon & Schuster; New York 2008 REINHARD HEYDRICH, head of the intelligence branch of the German secret police, read a position paper prepared for him concerning Jewish policy. It was May 24, 1934. The aim of Jewish policy must be the emigration of all Jews, the paper said. Jewish assimilationiststhose who wanted to live their lives as Germans within Germany should be discouraged; while Zioniststhose who wanted to emigrate to Palestine should be encouraged, according to the memo. It is the aim of the State Police to support Zionism and its emigration policy as fully as possible: Every authority concerned should, in particular, concentrate their efforts in recognizing the Zionist organizations and in supporting their training and emigration endeavors; at the same time the activities of German-Jewish groups should be restricted in order to force them to abandon the idea of remaining in Germany.

In this way, Germany would eventually become a country without a future for the Jews. Heydrich, a blond man with a high forehead and long, spidery fingers, began helping Zionist organizations set up agricultural training centers, so that Jews would know how to farm when they reached Palestine.

OCCUPATION PALESTINE

Heroic Zionist Forces Use Attack Dogs And Rubber-Coated Steel Bullets Against Palestinian Laborers

May 17, 2013 Ma'an news BETHLEHM -- Three Palestinian laborers were wounded on Friday in Beit Ula northwest of Hebron after Israeli forces fired rubber-coated steel bullets and unleashed police dogs at them, a local official said. Issa al-Amla, coordinator for the popular struggle committee, said that Omar Al-Amla, 31, and Abdulkadir Al-Amla, 28, suffered multiple dog bites in the neck and hands. The third laborer, Jihad Saleem, was shot in the leg with a rubber-coated steel bullet. They were taken to a nearby hospital.

Heroic Zionist Forces Attack Unarmed Fishermen, As Usual

Palestinian Fishermen And Their Boats Are Constantly Attacked
May 20, 2013 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC News The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR), based in Gaza, has reported that the Israeli Navy kidnapped, on Sunday at night, two Palestinian fishermen near the coast of Beit Lahia city, in the northern part of the Gaza Strip. The PCHR said that the soldiers kidnapped Mahmoud Zayed, 27, and his brother Khaled, as they were fishing in Palestinian territorial waters, and took them to an unknown destination before confiscating their boat. The soldiers also prevented Palestinian fishermen in the area from fishing and forced them back to the shore. Palestinian fishermen are only allowed to fish within three nautical miles off the Gaza shore due to illegal Israeli restrictions imposed as part of the Israeli siege on Gaza that was enforced starting in 2006. Yet, Palestinian fishermen and their boats are constantly attacked within those three miles; dozens of casualties have been reported. As part of the ceasefire agreement of November 2012, Israel agreed to allow the Palestinians to fish within six nautical miles of the shore, but unilaterally decreased the allotted area to three miles. Under the Oslo accords in the mid-nineties, the Palestinians are allowed to fish in 20 nautical miles off the Gaza shore, but in 2008, Israel unilaterally reduced the fishing area to only three nautical miles.

The Master Race Marches On:

Foreign Occupation Troops Using .22 Sniper Rifles To Fire On Unarmed Palestinian Demonstrators:

Soldiers Carried Out Their Commanders Direct Orders To Open Fire On The Demonstrators

20 May 2013 Middle East Monitor The online edition of the Israeli newspaper Maariv revealed on Sunday that the Israeli army has recently resumed using snipers units to disperse Palestinian demonstrations; a practice it had abandoned for a short period. The newspaper reported that this technique was used at the end of last week near the settlement of Beit El in eastern Ramallah. Tutu rifles (0.22 inch calibre bullets) were used injuring five Palestinian youths. The newspaper added that the soldiers carried out their commanders direct orders to open fire on the demonstrators after the army had exhausted the normal methods of crowd dispersal - tear gas, rubber bullets and live ammunition. The soldiers asserted that they only acted after the Palestinian youth had moved forward towards the settlement. Maariv's website stated that the army's use of the sniping policy constitutes a return to an old policy used to disperse demonstrations in the West Bank. At the same time, it is an indication of an on-going escalation as the Israeli army had stopped using this technique, returning to it only after Operation Pillar of Cloud in Gaza.

Now Almost 80 Years Old, Abu Khaled Lives In Jabaliya Refugee Camp In The Northern Gaza Strip

He Has Vivid Recollections Of His Childhood In Beit Jirja. Although Beit Jirja Is Only 15 Kilometers From Gaza, Abu Khaled May Never See It Again
A Handful Of Homegrown Wheat Is Worth More Than All The Treasures Of The World.
I Pray To God That I, My Husband, My Children And Grandchildren, Will All Return Back To Our Homeland
20 May 2013 by Rami Almeghari, The Electronic Intifada. Rami Almeghari is a journalist and university lecturer based in the Gaza Strip. *********************************************** It was the hardest trip that Zeidan Mahmoud Abu Naser has taken in his life. In May 1948, his village of Beit Jirja was attacked by Zionist gangs. Their vehicles and weapons were more sophisticated than anything we had, he recalled. He was forced to leave and to seek refuge in Gaza. We left behind our crops of wheat. We even left food right in the middle of our home, he said, recalling how he traveled in a donkey-drawn carriage, along with his parents, six brothers and two sisters. The trip took half a day but it was psychologically devastating, he added. We were simple villagers who had nothing to do with organized wars or military activities, he said. Arab soldiers mainly from Egypt tried to defend Palestinians. Yet they were besieged and defeated by Zionists in the nearby villages of Falluja and Karatiyya. Some 750,000 Palestinians were uprooted during the Nakba (catastrophe), the ethnic cleansing that allowed Israels foundation in the ruins.

Now almost 80 years old, this man also known as Abu Khaled lives in Jabaliya refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip. He has vivid recollections of his childhood in Beit Jirja. Life was very simple but really beautiful, he said. One evening, he recalls, I was accompanied by a friend of mine and we both walked down the village, whispering to each other and all of a sudden, we became more than twenty children and we all started playing a game called the bone, which involved throwing an animal bone around. The losing team had to carry the winners on their shoulders and turn around seven times. Beit Jirja had just one elementary school. Locals used to choose a village chief mukthar in Arabic. The mukthars role was meeting strangers who come over to the village, welcoming government representatives and intervening in family feuds, Abu Khaled said. Weddings were important community occasions. People in the village often held their wedding ceremonies in the beginning or in the middle of September. This was due to the fact that harvest season had just ended. When someone wanted to get married, his parents just visited the girls home and asked her family. One of the best features of these weddings that are missed nowadays, unfortunately was the nice attitude of inviting all folks in the village to the wedding party. Even if the parents of a groom were at odds with some others, the parents would go and ask forgiveness and reconciliation from those people before the wedding. Traditionally, each wedding involved a march around the village with the groom in the middle. Women were at the back, singing and clapping, he said. Parties would last for three days, while relatives would visit the groom with gifts of money. Although Beit Jirja is only 15 kilometers from Gaza, Abu Khaled may never see it again. My father used to say to us, Do not worry, the Arab media says we will soon return. Yet we have not returned back and I am afraid of dying here in Jabaliya, he said. Um Khaled, Abu Khaleds 75-year-old wife, recalled that they visited the village in the 1970s. We were surprised to see some farm tools still on a sycamore tree that Abu Khaled told me belonged to his fathers land, she said. I pray to God that I, my husband, my children and grandchildren, will all return back to our homeland. A handful of homegrown wheat is worth more than all the treasures of the world.

Palestinian Activists Demolish Part Of Apartheid Wall Near Ramallah:

Others Were Able To Enter Into Jerusalem While Holding Palestinian Flags

18 May 2013 Palestine News Network On Friday 17th May, a group of young Palestinians and activists from the popular resistance movements demolished part of the Israeli apartheid wall in Abu Deis village near Ramallah. One of the activists told PNN that dozens of Palestinians protested near the Israeli apartheid wall that was constructed between the Abu Deis and Al-Eizariya villages and that a number of youngsters demolished part of the wall. He said that Israeli forces arrived to the area and started firing metal-coated bullets and tear gas canisters toward the protesters. Several Palestinians were arrested while others were able to enter into Jerusalem while holding Palestinian flags, he added. A 17-year-old Palestinian was injured with a rubber bullet in his head during clashes erupted in Abu Deis village. Eyewitness said that the injured boy was transferred to Al-Maqased Hospital in the same village for treatment. His injuries were described as serious and severe after being shot by the IOF, according to medical sources. [To check out what life is like under a murderous military occupation commanded by foreign terrorists, go to: www.rafahtoday.org The occupied nation is Palestine. The foreign terrorists call themselves Israeli.]

DANGER: POLITICIANS AT WORK

Obama Regime Admits Government Assassination Of Four U.S. Citizens, So Far

Murders Were Ordered Without Due Process Or Other Constitutional Protections

May 22, 2013 By Karen DeYoung and Peter Finn, The Washington Post [Excerpts] The Obama administration acknowledged Wednesday that it has killed four Americans in overseas counterterrorism operations since 2009, the first time it has publicly taken responsibility for the deaths. Although the acknowledgment, contained in a letter from Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. to Congress, does not say how the four were killed, three are known to have died in CIA drone strikes in Yemen in 2011: Anwar al-Awlaki, his 16-year-old son and Samir Khan. The fourth Jude Kennan Mohammad, a Florida native indicted in North Carolina in 2009 was killed in Pakistan, where the CIA has operated a drone campaign against terrorism suspects for nearly a decade.

His death was previously unreported. In addition to disclosure of the four killings, Holder wrote that Obama has approved classified briefings for Congress on an overall policy document, informally called the playbook. The document, more than a year in the making, codifies the administrations standards and processes for its unprecedented program of targeted killing and capture of terrorism suspects outside of war zones. Although the administration has acknowledged the existence of the drone program and outlined its justification under international and domestic law, specific operations are considered classified. The secrecy surrounding the program including the criteria for choosing targets has led to widespread opposition from international law and human rights advocates and, increasingly, from Congress and the public. Although the administration has stressed the precision accuracy of drones, independent groups have charged that thousands of civilians have been unintentionally killed. Congressional and public criticism reached a crescendo this year when Obama nominated John Brennan, then his principal counter-terrorism adviser, as CIA director. Before they would confirm Brennan, lawmakers demanded access to Justice Department legal opinions justifying the killing of U.S. citizens overseas without due process or other constitutional protections. Although the documents were made available to the Senate and House intelligence committees, other members insisted that they had a right to the information. One of them was Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.), who threatened last month to subpoena the administration for the opinions. After that threat, Leahy said in an interview, the documents were produced for the committee in a classified meeting. Leahy said Wednesday afternoon that Holder called him to say he would receive a letter with information about the four killings and to tell him about upcoming briefings on the classified playbook. Although Holders letter was addressed to Leahy, it was copied to the rest of the Judiciary Committee. Prior to the Obama administration, the only known American killed by a drone strike was Kamal Derwish, who died in a strike launched in Yemen in 2002 under President George W. Bush. In September 2011, Obama announced the death of Awlaki, a New Mexico-born cleric described as the foreign operations director for Yemen-based al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, known as AQAP. Although Obama did not claim U.S. responsibility, the fact that Awlaki was killed by a CIA drone was one of the worst-kept secrets in Washington.

According to Holders letter, Awlaki was the only U.S. citizen the administration has specifically targeted and killed. Khan, who edited an AQAP online magazine that provided bomb-building instructions allegedly used to carry out the Boston Marathon attack, was not targeted but was at Awlakis side and killed in the same strike. Two weeks after Awlakis death, his 16-year-old son, Abdulrahman who had gone to the Yemeni desert in search of his father was killed in a drone strike meant for someone else. That strike was similarly un-acknowledged, although a senior administration official privately characterized it as a mistake. The fourth American death, Jude Kennan Mohammad, was previously unreported. According to an information sheet released by the Justice Department, the former North Carolina resident was charged in 2009 with conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists, including currency, training, transportation and personnel and to murder, kidnap, maim and injure persons abroad. Mohammad had fled the United States for Pakistan in the fall of 2008. According to Pakistan news accounts, the 20-year-old Mohammad, whose father was Pakistani, was detained by authorities when he tried to enter a tribal region near the Afghan border but was later released. Mohammads mother, Elena Mohammad, said in a telephone interview that she was aware that her son had been killed in a drone strike but that she got the news from people in Pakistan, not U.S. authorities. She said she had no details on when and where her son was killed. I dealt with that, and I dont have to deal with it anymore because its already over with, she said. So whatever transpired I dont want it back in my life anymore. Its gone. There are no questions. I dont have to hear any authorities; the FBI has finished coming to my house. Its over. Thats it.

TROOPS INVITED:
Comments, arguments, articles, and letters from service men and women, and veterans, are especially welcome. Write to Box 126, 2576 Broadway, New York, N.Y. 10025-5657 or email contact@militaryproject.org: Name, I.D., withheld unless you request publication. Same address to unsubscribe.

CLASS WAR REPORTS

[Thanks to Mark Shapiro, Military Resistance Organization, who sent this in.]

Security Officials Open Fire On Striking South African Mine Workers:

The Renewal Of Unrest Sent The Rand To Its Weakest Level Against The Dollar In More Than Four Years On Tuesday
May 21, 2013 By DEVON MAYLIE, Wall Street Journal JOHANNESBURG Security officials used rubber bullets [Translation: steel bullets with a thin, hardened rubber coating. T] to disperse a crowd of striking workers at a South African mine owned by Lanxess Chrome Mining Ltd. on Tuesday, as unrest rippled through the country's mining and industrial sectors ahead of contentious wage talks. Around 500 people gathered outside the Lanxess mine in Rustenburg, northwest of Johannesburg, police spokesman Brig. Thulani Ngubane said. He said mine security officials fired rubber bullets into the crowd after a confrontation with striking employees, injuring 20 people, 10 of whom were sent to the mine hospital.

Lanxess reported that two security guards were injured and that only two employees were hit by rubber bullets while three others suffered injuries during the exchange, according to a spokeswoman for the company. Between 200 and 400 employees from a workforce of around 700 embarked on a wildcat strike on Thursday in a bonus dispute at its Rustenburg mine, Lanxess said, the second significant mine strike so far this year. As mine management attempted to address workers Tuesday, protesters started to throw rocks at security, the Lanxess spokeswoman said. Unrest in South Africa has spread beyond the mining sector. Daimler unit MercedesBenz said a strike that started Friday by its 1,600 East London plant employees ended Tuesday. Union representatives there said employees were protesting outsourcing at the plant. Auto makers and the mining sector are preparing for wage talks that begin in the coming months. A two-year mining agreement in the gold and coal sectors and a three-year agreement in the auto industry end this year and wage negotiations are normally accompanied by strikes as unions push to get a better deal. The National Union of Mineworkers has submitted its wage demand to coal and gold companies, which includes an increase of up to 60% for entry-level workers. Meanwhile, the National Union of Metalworkers said it would request a 20% higher wage from auto makers. The demands come as many companies, including Anglo American Platinum, are scaling back spending, cutting production and planning to reduce employee numbers as mining costs rise and commodity prices weaken. The prospect for more unrest comes as labor tensions remain high, particularly in the Rustenburg mining region. The country's mining companies are still recovering from months of violent wildcat strikes last year that spread after police fired live ammunition into a crowd of protesters at platinum producer Lonmin, killing 34 people. Strikes spilled into other mines and sectors such as car makers, farms and trucking, costing the country and companies millions of dollars in lost revenue. Following the strikes last year, the three major ratings companies downgraded South Africa's debt rating by a notch, and last week Moody's Investors Service warned it could lower the country's rating again. The renewal of unrest sent the rand to its weakest level against the dollar in more than four years on Tuesday. Last week, a wildcat strike at Lonmin ended after two days, and union bosses persuaded workers not to carry out a threatened strike at Anglo American Platinum Ltd.

MORE:

Labor Militancy Shakes South African Capitalism:

Tuesday's Clashes Mark The Third Major Strike This Year
The Whole Equation (Of Strikes And Declining Commodity Prices) Is A Recipe For More Social Unrest
Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan Urged The Government To Bring A Decisive End To The Strikes

Striking workers gather with their supporters outside a South African platinum mine May 15. Reuters May 21, 2013 By PATRICK MCGROARTY and PRABHA NATARAJAN, Wall Streeet Journal [Excerpts] Devon Maylie and Jessica Mead contributed to this article

JOHANNESBURGSouth Africa's currency stumbled to a four-year low and the country's bonds sold off, signs that escalating labor unrest is starting to outweigh the lure of high yields for many investors. The rand has dropped nearly 7% against the dollar this month, and is on a nine-day losing streak, tied for its longest since 2005. The currency fell 1.2% Tuesday, to 9.5561 per dollar, after security officers fired rubber bullets at a large crowd of striking workers gathered outside a chrome mine northwest of Johannesburg. Investors also are souring on bonds denominated in rand, contributing to the currency's declines. The bonds had until recently remained a popular destination for foreign investment even as other South African assets fell out of favor. Yields on the benchmark 10-year government bond have crept up to 6.401%, from an all-time low of 6.126% May 9, according to FactSet. Bond yields rise when prices fall. Investors were willing to put up with sluggish economic growth and the occasional bout of labor unrest because South Africa offers some of the best yields among emerging markets. But the latest strikes, along with a sharp slide in the prices of gold and platinum, two of South Africa's biggest exports, have shaken faith in South Africa's prospects. Investors fear the rand will slide as the value of the country's exports falls, while slower growth could hurt state finances and lead ratings companies to downgrade South African debt. Those concerns have made the rand one of the biggest casualties as the dollar has rallied against most currencies this month. The whole equation (of strikes and declining commodity prices) is a recipe for more social unrest, and makes an investor just more cautious on South Africa, said Shamaila Khan, a portfolio manager at AllianceBernstein with $443 billion in assets under management. Her company holds fewer South African assets than its benchmarks. Tuesday's clashes mark the third major strike this year. On Tuesday, Daimler Mercedes-Benz unit said 1,600 employees had gone back to work at its plant in the port city of East London after striking since Friday. And last week, workers went on strike for two days at the same Lonmin platinum mine outside Johannesburg where police shot and killed 34 protesters last August, igniting a wave of labor turmoil that has simmered ever since. Investors pulled about $146 million from South Africa's bond market each day Thursday and Monday, compared with average daily inflows this year of about $10.5 million, said Michael Trounce, Standard Chartered's head of local markets strategy.

Outflows from the bond market swelled after Moody's Investors Service last week warned it might downgrade South Africa's credit rating from Baa1three notches above junkif labor unrest reduces growth. All three major rating companies downgraded South Africa's government debt between September and January. Clearly, there is concern about the credit quality of South Africa, Mr. Trounce said. Lars Peter Nielsen, senior portfolio manager at Global Evolution, a hedge fund based in Denmark, held on to South African bonds in the months of labor turmoil that followed the August protests. But, in the past two weeks, as the turmoil has worsened, he has reduced South Africa's share in his $125 million emerging-market local bond fund to 5%, from 6.5%. We were worried that the wage negotiations could turn messy, and it has proven to be true, Mr. Nielsen said. He said he profited on the bonds he sold. To be sure, the high yield offered by the rand and South African bonds is still a draw, and some investors could return as the weaker rand makes assets cheaper to buy in other currencies. South Africa's central bank is expected to hold interest rates steady at 5% when it meets Thursday. Its benchmark rate is among the highest for a major economy, and the gap between South Africa's and other countries' rates has grown as central banks from South Korea to Poland have cut this month. If the currency itself becomes so weak and offers value, then we could potentiallybuy the bonds, said Mike Lee, co-manager of the $300 million Wells Fargo Advantage Emerging Markets Local Bond Fund. His fund has 8% of its assets in South African bonds, compared with the 10% maintained by his benchmark. But Mr. Nielsen, with Global Evolution, and other investors said they would likely need to see a resolution to South Africa's labor problems before boosting their holdings. Speaking at South Africa's Parliament in Cape Town on Tuesday, Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan urged the government to bring a decisive end to the strikes. If we do not resolve our labor-relations challenges, we will be losers. We will see deteriorating confidence, job losses and business failures, Mr. Gordhan said.

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