ProgressOhio

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) received the Major General Charles Dick Award for Legislative Excellence Award from the Ohio National Guard Association in Columbus on Saturday. Brown discussed his efforts to ensure that the Ohio National Guard has superior equipment and facilities for training and that all Guards members have increased benefits and improved health care.

The award is presented to an elected official who has made outstanding contributions in support of the Ohio National Guard.

"Senator Brown has been a champion for the Soldiers and Airmen of the Ohio National Guard for almost two decades," said Maj. Gen. Gregory L. Wayt, Ohio adjutant general. "On behalf of the almost 17,000 members of the Ohio National Guard, we honor him for his staunch support of our organization."

Retired Brig. Gen. Robert L. Lawson, executive director of the Ohio National Guard Association said Sen. Brown "has developed a very strong personal relationship with the Ohio National Guard and we are proud to present him with this recognition."

Brown is also working with the Department of Defense and the National Guard Bureau to ensure that critical missions and jobs remain in Ohio.

"Senator Brown affords the National Guard the opportunity to become part of the larger debate on issues of importance to our Soldiers and Airmen at times when our input can have the greatest impact," said Wayt.

This letter to the editor appeared recently in the Boston Globe.

REPRESENTATIVE STEPHEN Lynch (my congressman) writes in a Feb. 17 op-ed that the United States must preserve the rights of Afghan women by avoiding any reconciliation with the Taliban (“The price of appeasing the Taliban’’).

But the warlord-dominated regime that the United States currently supports in Kabul has brought nothing but disaster for Afghan women. Eight years after the US military intervention in Afghanistan, Afghan women still die in childbirth more than women in any other country, women’s life expectancy is one of the lowest in the world (about 42 years), and UNICEF has just announced that Afghanistan has replaced Sierra Leone as the worst place in the world for a child to be born today.

Lynch must not use Afghan women as a cover for continued US occupation of their country. He should vote to deny funds for the Afghanistan war, to bring all the troops home and end the bloodshed. Afghan women’s struggle for rights will be a long one, but it cannot be waged by our military. Let’s get out of their way.

Cole Harrison
Roslindale
The writer is the organizer of a task force on Afghanistan in association with United for Justice with Peace, a coalition of more than 100 Boston-area groups.

AP reports:

Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, described as the No. 2 behind Taliban founder and Osama bin Laden associate Mullah Muhammad Omar, has been in Pakistan's custody for several days...

Baradar was captured in Karachi, Pakistan, in a raid by Pakistan's Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence, with CIA operatives accompanying the Pakistanis, the Times reported. Pakistan has been leading the interrogation of Baradar, but Americans were also involved, it said.

Baradar heads the Taliban's military council and was elevated in the body after the 2006 death of military chief Mullah Akhtar Mohammed Usmani. Baradar is known to coordinate the movement's military operations throughout the south and southwest of Afghanistan. His area of direct responsibility stretches over Kandahar, Helmand, Nimroz, Zabul and Uruzgan provinces.

If confirmed, Baradar's arrest would be a major setback for the Taliban.

He may also have information on the whereabouts of Omar and bin Laden.

The Advocate is reporting that Army Lt. Dan Choi, a West Point graduate and Arabic translator who famously challenged ‘Don’t Ask Don’t Tell’ last year, has been recalled to active duty. The Advocates's story is based upon this report from The Bilerica Progject.,

If these reports of Lt. Choi being called back to service are in fact correct, that’s a strong sign that even ahead of a full repeal of the so-called gay ban, proceeding at a deliberate, year-long pace advocated by the Pentagon’s top leadership, relaxed enforcement of the policy is already in place.

Three years ago, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) was pretty clear about his stand on the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy.

McCain said he would support ending the ban once the military's top brass told him that they agreed with the change.

"The day that the leadership of the military comes to me and says, 'Senator, we ought to change the policy,' then I think we ought to consider seriously changing it," McCain said in October 2006 to an audience of Iowa State University students.

That day arrived Tuesday, with Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and Joint Chiefs Chairman Mike Mullen testifying to senators after President Obama's announcement that he would seek a congressional repeal of the 15-year-old policy.

McCain went into his first flip-flop. (View Video)

"At this moment of immense hardship for our armed services, we should not be seeking to overturn the 'don't ask, don't tell' policy," he said bluntly, before describing it as "imperfect but effective."

Now he's going to have to perform his second.

In the same interview in 2006, McCain said, "I listen to leaders like Colin Powell on Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell".

Watch It:

Gen. Colin L. Powell, who as the nation’s top military officer in the 1990s opposed allowing gay men and lesbians to serve openly in the military, switched gears today and threw his support behind efforts to end the “don’t ask, don’t tell” law he helped shepherd in.

“In the almost 17 years since the ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ legislation was passed, attitudes and circumstances have changed,” General Powell said in a statement issued by his office. He added: “I fully support the new approach presented to the Senate Armed Services Committee this week by Secretary of Defense Gates and Admiral Mullen.”

Ooops!  McCain it's your move!

First Lady Michelle Obama attends the Joint Armed Forces
Officers' Wives' Luncheon at Bolling Air Force Base

Obama made the announcement during a speech before the Joint Armed Forces Officers Wives Club at Bolling Air Force Base, here in the nation's capital. Since her husband's presidential campaign, she has made support for military families one of her top priorities. Last year, on her first solo first trip as first lady, Obama visited soldiers, their families and volunteers at Fort Bragg in North Carolina.

"At every one of these visits, my goal has been simple," Obama said today. "First to listen. ... Second to share what I've heard with a team of dedicated leaders who also care deeply about military familes ... and finally, to work hard to ensure that their concerns and needs actually lead to real change."

The funding will go to a host of programs aimed at easing the lives of military spouses and their families, including child care, housing, youth programs for kids and tuition assitance.

Among the items Mrs. Obama highlighted:

• $1.9 billion for counseling and support to military spouses and families, including families of National Guard members and reservists.
• $1.3 billion to reduce shortages in military child care.
• $84 million for spousal career development, including tuition assistance and a federal internship program.
• $14 million in new funding for Coast Guard housing.

Anger is growing among Americans - who say less money should be spent on the country's overseas military campaigns and more on tackling the country's domestic problems.

U.S. congressman Dennis Kucinich says America can no longer afford war-based economy.

Rep. Kucinich also said that U.S. generals who spoke publicly about the nation's Afghan strategy during the president's deliberations should lose their jobs. 

Kucinich, who is known for his anti-war views, told Russia Today in an interview Wednesday that Congress should be making the final decision on whether to go to war, not the president or his generals. 

Kucinich's comments come weeks after he introduced a resolution in Congress calling for American forces to withdraw from the war-torn country

Watch It:

When George Bush was president, Republicans were quick to criticize anyone who voted against the defense supplemental bills as being against the troops, even going so far as to call a no vote on defense supplemental bills to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan "treason".

Senate Republicans said Thursday that they would try to filibuster a massive Pentagon bill that funds the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, an unusual move that several acknowledged was an effort to delay President Obama's health-care legislation.

"I don't want health care," Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kansas) said in explaining his support of a filibuster. He is a member of the Appropriations Committee, which crafted the Pentagon funding bill.

Republican Sens. Susan Collins (Maine), Richard C. Shelby (Ala.) and Christopher "Kit" Bond (Mo.) admitted they support the spending bill but acknowledged they were considering opposing it because of the health-care debate.

"They are prepared to jeopardize funding for troops at war," Senate Majority Whip Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.) said Thursday evening. "If Democrats did that, there would be cries of treason."

Sen. Jim DeMint said Thursday he is prepared to use every procedural tool to delay a vote on the Democratic healthcare legislation.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) is planning to schedule votes around the clock over the next week to meet a deadline of passing the bill by Christmas. Without the cooperation of Republicans, the marathon schedule would end with a vote on Christmas Eve.

In lieu of another “War on Christmas” panic, it seems that the conservative culture war of December 2009 will be over James Cameron’s much-hyped, almost-as-much-anticipated blockbuster “Avatar.”

John Nolte, the editor of Andrew Breitbart’s influential “Big Hollywood” site, was first out of the gate with a review that accuses Cameron of making an anti-war screed, a sci-fi version of Operation Iraqi Freedom with evil earthlings killing aliens for their energy resources.

Think of “Avatar” as “Death Wish 5” for leftists. A simplistic, revisionist revenge fantasy where if you freakin’ hate the bad guys (America), you’re able to forgive the by-the-numbers predictability of it all and still get off watching them get what they got coming.

Congressman Dennis Kucinich took part in a protest outside the White House this weekend:

Speakers urged Americans to take to the streets in opposition to what they called the escalation of an unnecessary war that has killed soldiers and civilians.

"The message is clear: We have money for war but not for jobs," said Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich (D-Ohio). "We have money for war but not for health care. We have money for war but not for education. . . . We have money for war but not for peace."

Kucinich said that he is urging his fellow lawmakers to vote against additional war funding.

Here's the Congressman on the floor of the US Congress on Friday.

Watch It:

"You know, on the Internet there's an acronym that's used to apply to situations like this," Grayson said. "It's called 'STFU.' I don't think I can say that on the air, but I think you know what that means."

Grayson also addressed Republican complaints about President Obama bowing when he greeted the Emperor of Japan. Grayson said how he remembered when George Bush Senior "did something really awful" to the Prime Minister of Japan at a state dinner -- to which Matthews objected that vomiting on someone is an accident, not an action done on command.

"Well what about Bush Junior?" said Grayson. "I remember Bush Junior kissing Prince Abdullah on the cheek, and then holding his hand for an extended period of time. Maybe if he'd let him get to second base, then gasoline would be a dollar a gallon."

Matthews also asked Grayson about Cheney's statement that Obama's bow to the Emperor of Japan was a display of weakness that would lead to more terrorist attacks. "It's just too bad that it's too late to impeach him," Grayson answered. "That's all I can say."

Watch It:

A wartime president honored for peace, Obama became the first sitting U.S. president in 90 years and the third ever to win the prize -- some say prematurely.

"I receive this honor with deep gratitude and great humility," he said after accepting the prize. "It is an award that speaks to our highest aspirations — that for all the cruelty and hardship of our world, we are not mere prisoners of fate. Our actions matter, and can bend history in the direction of justice."

"And yet I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge the considerable controversy that your generous decision has generated," he added. "Perhaps the most profound issue surrounding my receipt of this prize is the fact that I am the Commander-in-Chief of a nation in the midst of two wars."

Watch It:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Full Text Of The President's Speech Below:

Representative Dennis Kucinich

“America is in the fight of its life and that fight is not in Afghanistan -- its here. We are deeply in debt. Our GDP is down. Our manufacturing is down. Our savings are down. The value of the dollar is down. Our trade deficit is up. Business failures are up. Bankruptcies are up.  

“The war is a threat to our national security.  We’ll spend over one $100 billion next year to bomb a nation of poor people while we reenergize the Taliban, destabilize Pakistan, deplete our army and put more of our soldiers’ lives on the line.  Meanwhile, back here in the USA, 15 million people are out of work. People are losing their jobs, their health care, their savings, their investments, and their retirement security. $13 trillion in bailouts for Wall Street, trillions for war; when are we going to start taking care of things here at home?”

How can anyone argue with the truth?

In announcing his 18-month escalation strategy for Afghanistan, President Obama underscored his view that “Islamist extremism in the region remains an enduring threat to the security of Americans.” Obama revealed, “In the last few months alone, we have apprehended extremists within our borders who were sent here from the border region of Afghanistan and Pakistan to commit new acts of terror.”

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) offered a cautious response to President Obama’s speech last night, saying in a statement that “Congress will now have an opportunity to fully examine this strategy.” Offering no explicit praise for Obama’s proposal, Pelosi noted that “President Obama inherited a deteriorating situation in Afghanistan because the Bush Administration did not have a plan to get the job done.”

In a written statement, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown urged “all our allies to unite behind President Obama’s strategy.” “Britain will continue to play its full part in persuading other countries to offer troops to the Afghanistan campaign,” said Brown. “A vital next stage is the London conference on Afghanistan on 28 January, to which all 43 coalition nations will be invited.”

Democrats are “divided” on how to fund the new Afghanistan strategy, which will cost at least $30 billion more. “Key leaders rejected a proposal from liberal members to impose a ‘war tax,’” but “they offered no plan of their own.”

~ Think Progress

Asked on MSNBC Tuesday to comment on Vice President Cheney's criticism of the president's war strategy, National Security Council chief of staff Denis McDonough retorted: "For someone who's been so wrong for so long, it's very difficult to comment."

Saying the war in Afghanistan had been "adrift" under the Bush administration, McDonough added: "If you go back to ... the early 1990s when, then Vice President Cheney was the secretary of defense, we made a very grave mistake when we walked away from Afghanistan and Pakistan."

Watch It:

White House Eyes Afghan Exit by 2017

War Not Going to Last Forever, Spokesman Assures
by Jason Ditz,
November 25, 2009 Anti-War.Com In an effort to reassure Americans ahead of next week’s speech in which President Obama will announce the escalation of the Afghan War, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs wants Americans to rest safe in the knowledge that the war is not going to last forever.
“We are in year nine of our efforts in Afghanistan,” Gibbs noted, “we are not going to be there another eight or nine years.” This would mean that the administration is at least hoping at this point to be out of Afghanistan by 2017.
Recent polls have shown Americans increasingly opposed to not only the Afghan War, but to President Obama’s handling of it. In spite of this President Obama is expected to commit another 34,000 troops to the conflict in next week’s speech.
When the US invaded Afghanistan in 2001, the military presence was comparatively limited, and even in summer of 2008 only about 28,000 American soldiers were on the ground. When the latest escalation is approved the US will have over 100,000 troops in Afghanistan.

 http://news.antiwar.com/2009/11/25/white-house-eyes-afghan-exit-by-2017/

The Noble Peace recipiant prepares the US for our next war.

Obama Threatens Iran with New Sanctions 

STEVEN ERLANGER
The New York Times
November 20, 2009

Senior officials from Western powers discussed the possibility of new sanctions on Iran on Friday for flouting the United Nations Security Council’s demands and expressed disappointment that Iran had not yet accepted a draft agreement to export most of its enriched uranium for nuclear fuel.

 The officials met in Brussels to discuss where matters stand with Iran and the possibility of new sanctions should Iran continue to play for time. While a joint statement after the meeting was expressed in diplomatic language, the meeting itself was a sign of exasperation with Iran.

Even President Obama, who has been most willing to give Iran time to decide on the proposal, as a means to broader negotiations with the United States, said Thursday in South Korea that because Iran had not agreed to the proposal, the United States would begin “developing a package of potential steps that we could take that will indicate our seriousness to Iran.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/21/world/middleeast/21nuke.html

 Wonderful isn't it? The war pigs are still at the helm.

President Obama will announce within days whether he will send more troops to Afghanistan, the White House said after he met with his national security team Monday night.

"After completing a rigorous final meeting, President Obama has the information he wants and needs to make his decision and he will announce that decision within days," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said.

The U.S. commander on the ground has asked for more troops and Republicans have criticized Obama for the drawn-out consideration process. The White House has defended its timetable, saying the president wants to get the decision right, not fast.

Monday's meeting, which ended at 10 p.m., included Vice President Joe Biden, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Adm. Michael Mullen, Afghanistan commanding Gen. Stanley McChrystal, U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan Karl Eikenberry and other senior officials.