Military Resistance 8G24 We Got the Momentum

Military Resistance: thomasfbarton@earthlink.net 7.30.10

Print it out: color best. Pass it on.

Military Resistance 8G24

We Got The Momentum:

Immediate Withdrawal FromAfghanistan Takes The LeadAmong Choices Offered In NewU.S. Public Opinion Poll:

“One-Quarter Of U.S. Adults (25%) SayAll U.S. Troops Should Come HomeNow”

14/07/2010 The FINANCIAL [Excerpts]The timeframe for when U.S. troops should come home has been debated sinceAmerican forces were first sent to Afghanistan.

After the surge of troops was implemented, President Obama announced that some ofthose troops would begin coming home in the summer of 2011.American opinion is divided on this timetable.

One-quarter of U.S. adults (25%) say all U.S. troops should come home now while22% believe there should be no timetable for troops to come home.One in five Americans (19%) believe this is a good timetable for U.S. troops tocome home, while 17% say some troops should come home before 2011 and 14%are not sure.In January, over one-quarter of Americans (27%) believed there should be notimetable for U.S. troops to come home, while less than one-in five (18%) believedall U.S. troops should come home now.These are some of the results of The Harris Poll of 2,227 adults surveyed onlinebetween June 14 and 21, 2010 by Harris Interactive.

DO YOU HAVE A FRIEND OR RELATIVE IN THEMILITARY?

Forward Military Resistance along, or send us the address if you wish andwe’ll send it regularly. Whether in Afghanistan, Iraq or stuck on a base inthe USA, this is extra important for your service friend, too often cut offfrom access to encouraging news of growing resistance to the wars, insidethe armed services and at home. Send email requests to address up top orwrite to: The Military Resistance, Box 126, 2576 Broadway, New York, N.Y.10025-5657. Phone: 888.711.2550

IRAQ WAR REPORTS

“Insurgents Have Been Holding UpBlood Banks And Hospitals AtGunpoint, Stealing Blood For TheirWounded Fighters”

“The Iraqi Security Force Members ThatGuard Medical Facilities Have OftenStood Idly By”

07/27/10 NY Times [Excerpts]MOSUL, Iraq — Insurgents have been holding up blood banks and hospitals at gunpoint,stealing blood for their wounded fighters rather than risk having them arrested at medicalfacilities, according to Iraqi doctors, employees at health centers and the insurgentsthemselves.The Iraqi security force members that guard medical facilities have often stood idly by asthe armed robberies take place, according to workers.What is not clear, however, is whether the stolen blood would do an injured person anygood. Imperfectly matched blood can prove fatal. “Even if you had the same blood type,you’d have to make a perfect match,” said Dr. Yaseen Ahmed Abbass, director of theRed Crescent Society in Iraq. “It is not an easy procedure.”But some Iraqi doctors working in Sunni areas believe that insurgents have their ownspecialists who perform blood transfusions and treat shrapnel and bullet wounds — andcarry out more gruesome procedures as well.Hospital employees say they have not reported the problem to the Iraqi security forcesfor fear of reprisal or because they believe the Iraqi police and the Iraqi Army havemembers sympathetic to the insurgency.They said the blood raids have taken place in Diyala, Salahuddin, Anbar and NinevehProvinces, most frequently in Mosul, the capital of Nineveh Province.Abu Hazim, an employee at Mosul General Hospital’s blood bank, said Iraqi policeofficers had come recently, seeking blood after a car bomb exploded at a nearby policestation and piling the bags into a cardboard tomato box.Less than an hour later, he said, a group of armed insurgents came in, demanding bloodfor their own injured.On at least one occasion, insurgents and the police arrived at a Mosul hospital at thesame time, said Abu Karam, who works at a blood bank in the city.“Two men came in and said they were from ‘the state’ and that they wanted a certainblood type,” he said. “I was very scared because four policemen who had brought in aninjured colleague were standing nearby. I thought the police and the insurgents hadprobably been shot in the same incident. The police heard the conversation, yet they didnot do anything.”He added: “I asked the men, ‘From which state are you from?’ They said: ‘We are fromthe Islamic State of Iraq. Give us the blood without delay.’ I requested the required