From TPM, we get this little tidbit of news concerning Blackwater, a corporation so tarnished with corruption, gun running, muder, prostitution and rape of minors and other legal issues that they changed their name to Xe to try and dump the image they had built for themselves and other mercenary groups:

A lawsuit filed by two former employees of Blackwater charges that
the controversial security contractor defrauded the U.S. government,
including charging it for strippers and prostitutes, the New York Times reports.

Perhaps the most explosive charge in the lawsuit -- filed by a
married couple, Brad and Melan Davis, is that the company put a
Filipino prostitute in Afghanistan on its payroll under the "Morale
Welfare Recreation" category, then billed the government for her salary
and plane tickets.

I think TPM gets this story mostly right... But it seems that Blackwater/Xe may have actually been double billing for the prostitues' flights, as well as pretty much anyone else they could book on their privatized fraudulent err farce:

Michael Collins

I've spent a good part of the last week re-reading Neil Sheehan's book, A Bright Shining Lie: John Paul Vann and America in Vietnam. Partly, this is just happenstance; I found a nicely annotated hardback copy in a local used book store. But it's also because I wanted to look again at the 1962-64 period of the Vietnam War to see how much it resembles our current situation in Afghanistan. I don't have good news to report.

Starting in earnest in 1962, the U.S. began arming the Viet Cong inadvertently through the strategic hamlet and strategic outpost programs. The communist side in the South was not relying on Chinese or Soviet supplies, except for heavy weapons that could not easily be captured. They got all the guns and ammo they needed simply by taking them from the people the U.S. handed them out to. The strategic hamlet program turned the peasants against the Saigon regime for good. Indiscriminate bombing of villages turned the rural populace into mortal foes of the United States. The cities were lost because the Catholic regime was brutal, corrupt, and attempted to crush the power of the Buddhist leadership.

The parallels to Afghanistan are not perfect, but the situations have enough commonality to give serious pause. The most worrisome feature is the corruption and illegitimacy of the Karzai Regime. If this was 1963, our ambassador would be plotting a coup to make sure Karzai and his opium-selling brother were assassinated and replaced by a (hopefully) more competent and popular successor. But, with hindsight, we know that that gambit didn't save South Vietnam and it probably wouldn't save Afghanistan either.

Michael Collins

U.S. Afghan Envoy Urges Caution on Troop Increase

"WASHINGTON
-- The United States ambassador to Afghanistan, who once served as the
top American military commander there, has expressed in writing his
reservations about deploying additional troops to the country, three
senior American officials said Wednesday.

"The position of the ambassador, Karl W. Eikenberry, puts him in stark opposition to the current American and NATO commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, who has asked for 40,000 more troops. New York Times, Nov. 11

This isn't just any envoy.  General Karl Eikenberry
has served two tours of duty in Afghanistan, the second as head of the
Combined Forces Command.  After the second Afghan tour, Eikenberry was
Chairman of the NATO
Joint Military Committee.  He's a West Point graduate with advanced
degrees from Harvard and Stanford and is fluent in Mandarin Chinese.

General McChrystal has asked for 50,000 troops in early October.  By October 28, the president was said to favor a "McChrystal light" number as low as 15,000. On Nov. 7, just four days before Eikenberry's statement, McClatchy Newspapers put Obama's preferred number at 30,000. At this moment, the president is reported have rejected all of the troop increases on the table, according to Associated Press at 12:02 am EDT, today, November 12.

How did we get from McChrystal's request for 50,000 troops
in early October to Eikenberry's "written reservations about deploying
additional troops" just days before President Obama's planned decision?

They also discuss issues between India and Pakistan. And this is why Rachel Maddow is among the best news sources on TV. She gets the right person, asks the right questions and gets you information you need to know.

I am betting a lot of the eternal war set are pissed at Eikenberry right now. (Julie Gulden @ dKos has transcripts of the interview for those that have troubles YouTubes)

A drumbeat of recent news reports has called attention to rising rates of suicide among soldiers, post-traumatic stress disorder among veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and hardships of military families facing multiple deployments to war zones. How communities can help address these often shattering effects of war is the focus of public forums in several cities on or around Veterans Day.

In Hoboken, NJ, the Nov. 11 event is being held at the high school under the sponsorship of Mayor Dawn Zimmer and the Board of Education. It features a showing of “Leave No Soldier,” a documentary by Donna Bassin about veterans helping one another deal with troubling war legacies; a staged reading from a new play, “Flashback,” by Penny Coleman, about the emotional turmoil in families of veterans who killed themselves; and a panel discussion of veterans and counselors with the audience.

In this video, taken on Saturday, September 26th, '09, Senator Chris Dodd makes sense on the situation in Afghanistan. It starts with Nutmegger John Kantrowitz, from My Left Nutmeg and the Conn-Post Blogs, discussing the shades of Vietnam parallels. But there is an 800 pound guerrilla that too many ignore that I try to point out at the end of the video:

Just so you understand what I am talking about at the end of the video, General Petraeus re-wrote the doctrine for dealing with counterinsurgencies:

The first chapter of Petraeus's manual calls for a "force ratio" of 25 counterinsurgents (here meaning US, allied, and Iraqi soldiers and police) per 1,000 residents. In Baghdad that would require a total force of 120,000. But even with the additional 17,500 US troops President Bush has called for, and a reallocation of Iraqi troops from the North to Baghdad, the total force will be approximately 80,000, a full third less than what the manual prescribes.

I was shooting from the hip and based on my faulty memory, but the numbers I was talking about were sufficiently close to make the point. Thinking in terms of the situation in Afghanistan a quick look at the math tells you what you need to know.

The population of Afghanistan is 28,150,000 according to wikipedia - And the math based on 25 soldiers per thousand residents?

703,750

By Genral Petraeus' own standard that is how many soldiers would be needed to effectively stabelize Afghanistan.

For some time now it has seemed that the Obama Administration might be shielding Cheney, Rumsfeld and yes George W. Bush from even the threat of prosecution for the crimes committed by them during their time in office.

I don't happen to think that this is merely a partisan issue. As we begin to unravel the crimes of the Bush Administration I believe that the threads will lead back to Democratic and Republican administrations in the past,

But the place to start is here.

This comes from Nadia McCaffery who's son Patrick was killed in Iraq. Her campaign to Honor her son, and all that serve:

Patrick McCaffrey Foundation

Sgt Patrick Ryan McCaffrey May 26 1970 * June 22 2004

In Central Minnesota, there is a 244 acre facility with a history of providing healing and training to those in need. For ten years, it has been waiting for a new vision. Valley Forge Village is a vision of a place of peace and beauty for Veterans to heal. Either alone or with their families, they can allow the spirit of nature to soothe and heal, while learning new training skills in a rapidly changing workplace. We desperately need funding to keep this vision alive. Please visit us at Valley Forge Center for more information and/or to make a donation.

THE DECLINE OF AMERICAN CHARACTER

THE "CRINGING WIMP" GENERATION

For years we hear little else, "But he kept us safe." The "but" refers to bankrupting the country, stealing elections, suspending Constitutional Rights, poisoning the air and water and turning the country over to racketeers from oil, drug, insurance and crooked financial services..........

Promoted & bumped; originally posted 2009-06-26 08:09:42 -0400. -- GH

Soldiers on a Live Wire Between Peril and Protocol

If “The Hurt Locker” is not the best action movie of the summer, I’ll blow up my car. The movie is a viscerally exciting, adrenaline-soaked tour de force of suspense and surprise, full of explosions and hectic scenes of combat, but it blows a hole in the condescending assumption that such effects are just empty spectacle or mindless noise........

Trailers follow, after the fold... -- GH

Ex-detainees allege Bagram abuse

Wednesday, 24 June 2009 Allegations of abuse and neglect at a US detention facility in Afghanistan have been uncovered by the BBC. Former detainees have alleged they were beaten, deprived of sleep and threatened with dogs at the Bagram military base. The BBC interviewed 27 former inmates of Bagram around the country over a period of two months. The Pentagon has denied the charges and insisted that all inmates in the facility are treated humanely. All the men were asked the same questions and they were all interviewed in isolation.......

Remember on this day, We as a Nation are Directly Responsible for the plight of millions of recent refugee's through our failed foreign policies of Wars/Occupations of Choice in Afghanistan, in Iraq, and now in Pakistan. We have many, supporters of our occupations mostly, who rail against any illegal immigrants crossing our borders for the jobs companies will give them, while at the same time forcing millions to flee to their neighbors countries, leaving those countries to absorb and support them. We Are Directly Responsible! HM Queen Noor honors World Refugee Day

For 35 years, my home has been one of the world's major conflict regions, home also to over 10 million refugees and displaced inhabitants. World Refugee Day is a time to honor and support these individuals and families who persevere through devastating tragedies.............

Angelina Jolie calls for greater understanding of the plight of refugees

WASHINGTON, DC, United States, June 18 (UNHCR) – At an event marking the launch of activities in the United States for World Refugee Day, UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie appeared alongside UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres to call on the world to recognize millions of victims of conflict around the world not as a burden but as a potential gift............ Snip "The refugees I have met and spent time with have profoundly changed my life," Jolie added. "Today . . . I want to thank them for letting me into their lives."..........

The question above is asked on the site of the Commission on Wartime Contracting as to their recently released report. Remember the meme at the beginning of the War Drum Beating and the easy certain Corporate "No Bid Contracts" in support of the Wars and Occupations: "They're the only ones in the World who can do the organizing and work needed in support of our Military and the Coalition of Willing!" Never mind they were connected by the hips to those beating the drums, never mind they were only paper pushers tens of thousands of miles away and sub-contracting out all the work, never mind the many issues of lost billions, shoddy work, bonuses, waste and corruption that almost instantly started coming to light and even with that they were given more, not even handshakes, just here ya go Pallets with Shrink wrapped Blocks of Cash, Millions and Billions, freshly printed and minted!! I had similar questions as this LTE writer asks, well before the report was issued the other day and this posted today, but than again many of us have had the questions of Defense Spending for years, with extremely little questioning from the greater masses. Especially us Veterans of our previous failed policies as we've watched our brothers and sisters being short changed for their service, short changed and no questions or willingness from the greater masses who don't serve!

No tea parties over billions lost in Iraq? Where are the tea parties? Where is the outrage from the purveyors of the vaunted, unregulated “free market?” The Wartime Contracting Commission reports that tens of billions have been wasted on private sector contracts in Iraq and Afghanistan, due to “poorly defined work orders, inadequate oversight and contractor inefficiencies.”...........

The following was released a few days ago, yet I've heard very little talk from the talking heads, Especially the opinionated right wing spinmeisters, they have alot to say about everything else, in this country or so called libertarians and very little from the left, All War Drum Beating Supporters Of, remember there was some seventy five plus percent in favor of destroying an innocent country and many still in favor of occupying two countries while bombing another! Commission on Wartime Contracting