9 Comments for “Military Families Speak Out against the occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan War”

1. Military Families Speak Out against the occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan War – Dark Politricks

   March 14, 2010 - 2:44 pm

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2. Military Families Speak Out against the occupation of Iraq and …

   March 14, 2010 - 3:30 pm

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   March 14, 2010 - 4:06 pm

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4. Military Families Speak Out against the occupation of Iraq and … | Afghanistan Today

   March 14, 2010 - 5:31 pm

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5. Military Families Speak Out against the occupation of Iraq and … | Iraq Today

   March 14, 2010 - 6:11 pm

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   March 14, 2010 - 9:19 pm

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7. Rita Walpole Ague

   March 14, 2010 - 9:57 pm

   My brother, Jim, is a fully disabled Vietnam era vet. He is a very caring person, who speaks and acts in favor of peace and justice for all. Yesterday, Jim participated in the 2010 St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Colorado Springs – super fusion center of the nation, where orders are given re. ‘spook’ ( C.I.A., F.B.I., N.S.A., etc.) direction of local authorities in our country’s over seventy fusion centers. Jim braved the possibility of torture and intimidation present in this city for any and all who display in public their peace signs and/or pro-peace banners. The sign he carried declared: VETS AGAINST ALL WARS. Ont the flip side it said: VETS AGAINST A WAR IN IRAN. Beneath this anti-war declaration was a large green shamrock, honoring Elizabeth Fineron, the 65 year, fully disabled former nun who was tripped and dragged by fully fused cops until she was bloody and raw during the 2007 St. Patrick’s Day Parade. She died a year and a month later, still post traumatic stress disordered.

   Her ‘crime’? Wearing a green shirt with a peace sign on it, demanding to know why cops were brutalizing other peace marchers who had a permit to be in the parade and had marched the year before without incident, and asking for the name and badge number of the cop who led the torture terror of the peace demonstrators.

   Jim’s first comment to me when we met up after the parade was that he was so glad that he had marched and carried his sign with a group of anti-war vets. He and the others were cheered by nearly all the onlookers, with only a very few jeers coming their way in this highly military, extremely conservative city. He said “It was the right thing to do.” Jim and I agree. We need a lot more people speaking out against the constant war way of life we live now, even if it does make a lot of money for greedy contractors and suppliers, and gets the oil barons more oil. Maybe if a lot more people take the time, and make the effort, we can end these endless wars and say enough is enough.
   • Robert L. Hanafin

     March 15, 2010 - 2:21 pm

     Rita,

     Our staff took the liberty of editing your post in order to make a few issues clear.

     For instance, not all our readers are going to know what Police Intelligence Gathering Fusion Centers are or what they can potentially be used for – a POLICE STATE.

     Frankly, Rita, I did not know what a “super fusion center of the nation, where orders are given re. ’spook’ ( C.I.A., F.B.I., N.S.A., etc.) direction of local authorities in our country’s over seventy fusion centers” was until I looked it up.

     In fair and balanced reporting, this is what law enforcement experts say such police fusion centers can be used for to benefit crime fighting. In a Feb 2010 report appearing in Police Chief Magazine called Intelligence Sharing: Efforts to Develop Fusion Center Intelligence Standards

     http://policechiefmagazine.org/magazine/index.cfm?fuseaction=display&article_id=514&issue_id=22005

     By implementing and following the National Criminal Intelligence Sharing Plan (NCISP). The NCISP is regarded as the blueprint for law enforcement administrators to follow when enhancing or building an intelligence function.1 The plan contains over 25 recommendations that were vetted by law enforcement officials and experts from local, state, tribal, and federal agencies. The plan embraces intelligence-led policing, community policing, and collaboration. The recent proliferation of fusion centers is viewed as a possible conduit for implementing portions of the plan, while maximizing resources, streamlining operations, and improving law enforcement’s ability to fight crime and terrorism.

     among other critical functions, fusion centers will provide a conduit for integrating, analyzing, and disseminating intelligence information.

     in support of the efforts of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Justice Programs to develop fusion center standards, coordinated the creation of the Fusion Center Intelligence Standards Focus Group, which is responsible for developing minimum standards specifically for the law enforcement intelligence component of fusion centers. Although the focus group members recognize the need to integrate public safety and private partners, the first step of this initiative is to focus on law enforcement intelligence only.

     One impetus for fusion center development is the need to create a generation of law enforcement officers who understand how information becomes intelligence and the importance of intelligence sharing and collaboration. Fusion centers embody the core of collaboration. One goal of collaboration is to increase capacity, communication, and continuity of service, while eliminating the duplication of services. As demands increase and resources decrease,

     WHAT MAKES LAW ENFORCEMENT FUSION CENTERS POTENTIAL TOOLS OF THE POLICE STATE? The links between local, federal, and most important private sector security firms (rent-a-cops). In their own words below…

     It is anticipated that fusion centers will become the nerve centers for collaborating efforts among investigative support, intelligence information sharing, public safety, and the private sector. The intelligence component of fusion centers is the foundation for successful data integration and exchange.

     LETS LOOK AT THE GUIDING PRINCIPLES TO SEE WHAT IS MISSING?

     1. Follow the guidelines set down by the ‘National’ Criminal Intelligence Sharing Plan (NCISP) for it covers a wide spectrum of intelligence issues and concerns. It provides model standards and policies and is the blueprint for establishing or enhancing intelligence functions.
     2. Embrace a Mission Statement that provide focus and meaning for those participating in the fusion center. Mission statements should be clear and concise and should convey the purpose, priority, and role of the center.
     3. Create a Representative Governance structure: All participating agencies should have a voice in the establishment and operation of the fusion center and be adequately represented in the governance structure. Note: What is missing here is public representation, and ethical oversight of fusion centers.
     5. Integration of Local, State, Tribal, and Federal Law Enforcement: Fusion centers embody the concept of collaboration. Collaboration allows agencies to maximize available resources and work jointly toward a common goal.
     7. Develop Policies and procedures that outline the roles and responsibilities of the center. Policies and procedures ensure consistency, define accountability, reduce liability, and professionalize the overall operation.
     8. Privacy policy: It is critical that the civil and constitutional rights of citizens be upheld. Centers should develop, display, adhere to, and train personnel on the center’s privacy policy. Note: It is not clear exactly how law enforcement intends to ensure the public’s constitutional rights are protected IF there’s no public representation on these fusion centers nor no watchdog oversight???

     In addition to the efforts by the Fusion Center Intelligence Standards Focus Group, it is important to note that ‘the Homeland Security Advisory Council’s Prevention and Information Sharing Working Group’ is developing guidelines to assist local and state agencies in the collection, analysis, and dissemination of terrorism-related intelligence information. Members of the CICC continue to collaborate with the working group to define roles, responsibilities, and requirements of local and state government entities.

     The ultimate goal is to provide a mechanism through which law enforcement partners can come together with a common purpose and improve the ability to safeguard our homeland and prevent criminal activity. As threats against our nation intensify, the ability to quickly exchange relevant information and intelligence will become increasingly critical.

     Since September 11, 2001, significant progress has been made in both breaking down barriers and improving information exchange. Through the use of fusion centers and the progress made through the Fusion Center Intelligence Standards Focus Group and the Prevention and Information Sharing Working Group, law enforcement will have the tools to further accomplish these goals.
     ****************************************************************************************************************
     CRITICS OF FUSION CENTERS – MAINLY THEY VIOLATE OUR CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS!!!

     The common theme of critics of law enforcement fusion centers from across the political spectrum is that they violate citizen protections under the U.S. Constitution, lead to the United States being a Police State, and lastly as pointed out by Rita may lead to police excesses and brutality as the case of Elizabeth Fineron, the 65 year, fully disabled former nun who was tripped and dragged by fully fused Colorado Springs cops until she was bloody and raw during the 2007 St. Patrick’s Day Parade clearly shows. The photographic evidence of what Elizabeth Fineron looked like after being brutalized by police is shocking to say the least and most condemning of U.S. law enforcement heading in the direction of a police state.

     However, critics of Police Fusion Centers are not only found among Peace activists. Such Secret Police Action Centers have come under attack from libertarians and the far right.

     For example, “inappropriate references to social, religious and political ideologies including support of third party presidential candidates such as Congressman Ron Paul and former Congressman Bob Barr” in a February 2009 report on the “modern militia movement” authored by the Missouri Information Anaysis Center was brought up as evidence by the ACLU that Law Enforcement Fusion Centers pose a threat to our constitutional rights in the Report ‘Police ‘fusion’ centers criticized for tracking Third Party Political Candidate Ron Paul, former Congressman Bob Barr among others.

     http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Fusion_centers_targeted_by_rights_groups_0401.html

     In Missouri, the use of Law Enforcement Fusion Centers came under fire from domestic militia movements such as the Minuteman Militia in a report in the Columbia Daily Tribune called, ‘Fusion center’ data draws fire over assertions. In this news report a radio program talks about a strategic report compiled by Missouri state and federal law enforcement agencies to combat domestic terrorism.

     ● Controversial law enforcement report outlines Missouri ‘militia’ habits [infowars.com]

     Titled “The Modern Militia Movement,” the report is dated Feb. 20, 2009 and designed to help police identify U.S. militia members or domestic terrorists. Red flags outlined in the document include political bumper stickers such as those for U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, talk of conspiracy theories such as the plan for a mega-highway from Canada to Mexico and possession of subversive literature. But when you read the report, one couldn’t help but think it describes anyone who questions the two party system be it Tea Baggers, Third Party Political Candidate supporters, or Peace activists.

     Roger Webb, president of the University of Missouri campus Libertarians, also took offense. “It’s absolutely obscene,” he said of the Police fusion center report. “It seems like they want to stifle political thought. There are a lot of third parties out there, and none of them express any violence. In fact, if you join the Libertarian Party, one of the things you sign in your membership application is that you don’t support violence as a means to any ends.”

     People in Missouri with a Ron Paul bumper sticker on their car,the next time they are pulled over by a police officer, they won’t know whether it’s because they are speeding or because of their political views.

     “If a police officer is pulling me over with my family in the car, ” said one Ron Paul supporter, “and he sees a bumper sticker on my vehicle that has been specifically identified as one that an extremist would have in their vehicle, the guy is probably going to be pretty apprehensive and not thinking in a rational manner, And this guy’s walking up to my vehicle with a gun.”

     POINT: The issues surrounding Law Enforcement Fusion Centers and the Police State are not Constitutional Questions that concern right, left, or moderate political thinkers but all Americans regardless if you are protesting the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Obama administration in general, too much or too little government in your lives, whatever…..
8. David Scott

   March 15, 2010 - 11:25 pm

   Thank you for this article! Everybody knows that the real reason US troops are in Afghanistan, is to keep the opium fields in full production. Until we remove all our troops from the middle-east, and do something to solve our problems at home, our reputation in every country is ruined. If I could afford to go anywhere after the damage the neoconservative war/profit-mongers have done to our economy, I would definitely say I was from Canada. I invite you to my pages devoted to raising awareness on these important issues: http://pltcldscsn.blogspot.com/

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