military resistance: 9i14 one in ten

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Military Resistance 9I14

“Some Marines Say RoughlyOne In 10 IEDs Hits A Target”

“Sixteen Of The Battalion’sMarines Have Died And At Least160 Have Been Injured During ASeven-Month Deployment That

Ends In October”

“If I Lose My Manhood, Then I Don’tWant To Live Through It”

“It’s One Of The Areas We Can’t Put ATourniquet On”

mailto:[email protected]





From one perspective, a Marine who loses a foot is lucky because he didn’t losethe leg. If he lost the lower part of his leg, he’s lucky because he didn’t lose theknee, which enables an easier transition to a prosthetic leg. If he lost most of theleg, he’s lucky because he still has the other one.

Losing genitals, however, is a “whole new ballgame,” said the battalion’s

chaplain, Navy Lt. David Kim of Mineola, N.Y.

September 21, 2011 By CHRISTOPHER TORCHIA, Associated Press [Excerpts]

FORWARD OPERATING BASE JACKSON, Afghanistan — It is a conversation, themilitary surgeon says, that every U.S. Marine has with his corpsman, the buddy who isfirst to treat him if he is wounded by an insurgent’s bomb.

The Marine says, “‘If I lose my manhood, then I don’t want to live through it,’“ accordingto Navy Lt. Richard Whitehead, surgeon for 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, which isfighting in one of the most treacherous combat areas of Afghanistan.

“They ask us not to save them if their ‘junk’ gets blown off,” said Whitehead, using aslang term for genitals. “Usually, we laugh. We joke with them about it. At the sametime, you know that you’re going to treat them anyway.”

This is a world of fear, resolve and dark humor that is mostly hidden from accounts ofthe human cost of the war in Afghanistan.

American troops who patrol on foot in bomb-laced areas know they might lose a leg, ortwo, if they step in the wrong place. But for young men in their prime, most unmarriedand without children, the prospect of losing their sexual organs seems even worse.

Whitehead said: “It’s one of the areas we can’t put a tourniquet on.”

Sangin, the district of southern Afghanistan where the Marine battalion is based, was aTaliban stronghold for years. It has one of the highest concentrations of improvisedexplosive devices, or IEDs, in the country.

Lt. Col. Thomas Savage, the battalion commander, said there was a rough average offive IED strikes, finds or interdictions a day in Sangin, in Helmand province.

Estimates vary, but some Marines say roughly one in 10 IEDs hits a target.

Sixteen of the battalion’s Marines have died and at least 160 have been injuredduring a seven-month deployment that ends in October.

Of those, about 90 were sent home because of the severity of their wounds, saidWhitehead, the battalion surgeon. One lost both testicles, four Marines lost one testicleand two had penis injuries.

The U.S. military’s Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany said it hastreated 134 servicemen with one or more amputated limbs through July 31 thisyear, about 80 percent of the number that suffered similar injuries in all of 2010.



Ninety of the 134 also had genital injuries, according to the center. Virtually all thetroops were injured in Afghanistan.

Several months into the deployment, the Marines in Sangin were issued so-called “blastpanties” or “ballistic boxers,” British-made underwear made of densely woven silk that

ends above the knee. The black garb resembles cycling shorts and can’t stop shrapnel,but it protects against infection and the tight fit compresses flesh and offsets the impactof a blast wave, which separates skin from muscle.

“We’ll get guys in here with all of the skin on their legs pushed up like a pair of loosepants around their waist,” said Whitehead, of Pascagoula, Mississippi. “All that tissue isgoing to die. With the compression down around their knees, the blast wave stops.”

Early on, some Marines complained the heavy underwear was hot and uncomfortable. Itis now mandatory clothing, deemed as essential as gloves, helmets, plastic eyewear andother protective gear. Before a patrol, squad leaders check to make sure their men haveit on.

A flap hanging from body armor around the torso also offers Marines some protection tothe groin, which has major blood vessels. The sweepers, those who lead patrols with ametal detector, wear extra padding that loops between the legs. Some call it a “Kevlardiaper.”

One of the first things that Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class Richard Erfurth of Portland,Oregon does when he assists an injured comrade is check his groin. If all is well, he willreassure the wounded Marine by saying: “Your junk’s still there.”

Erfurth says the Marine usually appears relieved and says something like: “Sweet,dude.”

This scenario, the medical specialists say, plays out even if an injured Marine has lost afoot or a leg.

Troops in areas where IED attacks are common have become so accustomed to theprospect of extreme injury and amputation that a gruesome relativism takes over.

From one perspective, a Marine who loses a foot is lucky because he didn’t lose the leg.If he lost the lower part of his leg, he’s lucky because he didn’t lose the knee, whichenables an easier transition to a prosthetic leg. If he lost most of the leg, he’s luckybecause he still has the other one.

Losing genitals, however, is a “whole new ballgame,” said the battalion’s chaplain, NavyLt. David Kim of Mineola, N.Y.

Marine Cpl. Robert Cole of Klamath Falls, Oregon, was blown up twice in thisdeployment, suffering a concussion both times and falling unconscious for a few minutesin the second attack. In each blast, men near him lost legs.

Cole said a close friend in his platoon lost a testicle as well as his legs in an IED strike inMay, and is recuperating in the United States.



“He’s dealing better with losing his legs than with losing his testicle,” Cole said.

He recalled that his friend, in a telephone conversation, paused awkwardly beforementioning his lost testicle. Two months after the blast, however, the injured friend hadsex with his wife for the first time and they were both “bragging” about it, according to

Cole.

The corporal said he once had tests for possible testicular cancer and that the resultscame back negative. After grappling with the private fear of losing his testicles, hebelieves more than ever that there should be open talk of a grievous, deeply personalinjury that is often dodged in public discussions about casualties.

The topic has edged into popular culture. A fictional character in a U.S. television series,Sons of Anarchy, is called “Half-Sack” because he lost a testicle while serving in theMarines in the Iraq war.

Marines seem more likely to indulge in macabre humor about losing legs as a way to

deflate the anxiety.

At Camp Pendleton in California, a Marine scrawled “I am going to miss my legs”on the walls of a portable restroom before deploying to Afghanistan. SomeMarines posted photos of their legs or feet on Facebook accounts.

There’s a shorthand for the unfortunates now: “double amp,” or “triple amp” if they losean arm as well.

Such injuries are common in Afghanistan because insurgents bury bombs made withsmall amounts of homemade explosives.

“The charges here aren’t meant to kill, they’re meant to maim.”

MORE:

“The Number Of Serious BattlefieldInjuries, Including Multiple

Amputations And Genital Wounds,

Continues To Rise”“The Army Said That The Number OfMultiple Amputations So Far This Year Is

Higher Than All Of 2010, Blaming TheIncrease On Walking Patrols”



September 21, 2011 By Charley Keyes, CNN Senior National Security Producer[Excerpts]

WASHINGTON -- The Defense Department confirmed Tuesday that the number ofserious battlefield injuries, including multiple amputations and genital wounds, continues

to rise.

The Army said that the number of multiple amputations so far this year is higher than allof 2010, blaming the increase on walking patrols -- a key element in U.S.counterinsurgency strategy -- and the continuing threat of roadside bombs buried byinsurgents such as those in Afghanistan.

And the report, titled “Dismounted Complex Blast Injury,” says that some militarypersonnel may be so concerned about potential injuries, such as multiple amputations,that they may not want to survive serious wounds.

“The increased rate of double and triple amputees, coupled with pelvic and genital

injuries, represented a new level of injury to overcome,” the 87-page reports says.

“To some, the resultant burden on their family and loved ones seemed too muchto accept, and, anecdotally, some actually developed ‘do not resuscitate’ pactswith their battle buddies in the event of this type of injury.”

Army doctors said at the Pentagon Tuesday that the number of major-limb amputationshad increased from 86 in 2009 to 187 in 2010 and that so far this year there has been147.

But increases in the numbers of multiple amputations -- three or more limbs -- are evenmore dramatic, from 23 in 2009 to 72 in 2010 and already 77 in the first nine months of

this year.

And injuries that result in multiple amputations also are likely to cause urinary andgenital injuries.

“The ATO’s (Afghanistan Theater of Operations) most dramatic changes in 2010 werethe increased numbers of bilateral thigh amputations, triple and quadruple amputations,and associated genital injuries,” the report says.

But Army officials said they were unable to give details of how many military personnelreceived genital injuries, saying based on the available data it could not be determinedwhether an injury was a laceration or full loss of genitalia.

IRAQ WAR REPORTS



Iraqi Insurgents Launch CoordinatedAttack On Ramadi Police & Government

Buildings

September 20 By Uthman al-Mokhtar and Dan Zak, Washington Post & Sept 21(Reuters) [Excerpts]

RAMADI, Iraq — Insurgents dressed in military uniforms launched a coordinated attackon a government compound in the western city of Ramadi on Tuesday.

Two police officers, one civilian and a leader of the Sons of Iraq, a government militia,were killed by twin bombs, said Brig. Mohammed Rashid, the police commander inRamadi, capital of Anbar province.

Fifteen policemen were injured in an ensuing firefight with five insurgents who breached

the perimeter of the compound after the explosions.

Police shot and killed the insurgents. They also fatally shot a third would-be bomberbefore he could trigger his device.

One bomber detonated his explosives at the eastern gate of the compound about 12:45p.m., and another blew up his car at the western gate. Police then cordoned off thecompound, and gunfire could be heard inside.

The compound, about 60 miles west of Baghdad, houses the headquarters of the Anbarpolice department, government and counterterrorism bureau. It has been the site ofseven insurgent assaults in the past two years.

Among the dead Tuesday was Khalid al-Alwani, one of the leaders of the Sons of Iraq.

Elsewhere Tuesday, three Iraqi policemen were killed by insurgents using silencerpistols at a checkpoint in the Shiite district of Shaab, in northern Baghdad, and a districtpolice commander was injured by a bomb attached to his car in the city of Baqubah,about 35 miles northeast of the capital.

MOSUL - Attackers detonated three roadside bombs in quick succession and then firedshots at a police patrol, killing three policemen and wounding 13 policemen in westernMosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad.

BAGHDAD - A roadside bomb went off near a police patrol, wounding one policeman, ona highway near Baghdad’s southern Doura district.

KIRKUK - A roadside bomb went off near a military vehicle carrying Iraqi soldiers, killingtwo soldiers and wounded one, in central Kirkuk, 250 km (155 miles) north of Baghdad.



AFGHANISTAN WAR REPORTS

3 Italian Soldiers Killed In Afghanistan

Sept. 23, 2011 UPI

Three Italian soldiers were killed in Afghanistan Friday, bringing Italy’s death toll to 44since it joined the international force in 2004.

A fourth soldier was seriously injured in the incident, which involved Italian patrols in thewestern city of Herat, ANSA reported.

The last Italian solider to be killed in Afghanistan was Cpl. Maj. David Tobini, 28, whowas shot in the head during a gunfight in Murghab Valley July 26.

Two Foreign Occupation“Servicemembers” Killed Somewhere Or

Other In Afghanistan Wednesday:Nationality Not Announced

September 21, 2011 AP

Two foreign servicemembers died following an insurgent attack in southern Afghanistantoday.

Foreign Occupation “Servicemember”Killed Somewhere Or Other In

Afghanistan:

Nationality Not AnnouncedSeptember 23, 2011 AP

A foreign servicemember died following an improvised explosive device attack in easternAfghanistan today.



Seminole High School TeachersRemember Soldier Killed In Afghanistan

Craig Day, News On 6

SEMINOLE, Oklahoma -- An Oklahoma soldier who grew up and went to high school inSeminole was killed in Afghanistan on Friday.

At Seminole High School, the flag hangs at half staff and heavy hearts hang over thosewho knew Sergeant Bret Isenhower.

The 26-year-old was killed Friday in Afghanistan by small arms fire.

His former teachers and coaches are saddened by the loss of a fine young man, knownfor his smile and friendly demeanor.

“Just a wonderful, wonderful young man. A great representative of America andSeminole,” said Krista Clark, Seminole High School Teacher.

Isenhower graduated from Seminole High in 2003 where he played football, was indrama and speech, belonged to FCA and sang in the choir.

Even after graduation, he’d return to the school to say hello and visit with his teachers.They say he was quick with a smile. “Just a great personality. Someone you’d wantyour kids to be like,” said Jack Tinsley, Seminole High School Teacher.

“Not only did he give the ultimate sacrifice for his country, but he was a good persontoo,” said Seminole High School Teacher Laura Rose.

Not only was Isenhower a hero for making the ultimate sacrifice, he was also one forsaving the life of a fellow soldier just two weeks ago.

When a bullet severed an artery in Randen Allison’s arm during a gun battle, SergeantIsenhower ran to his aid, putting a tourniquet on to keep Allison from bleeding to death.

Allison talked to him on the phone two days before Isenhower was killed to thank him.Isenhower’s response: don’t worry about it, and that he was just doing his job.

Back at Seminole High, that’s the kind of person they remember. The kind of personthey’ll miss. Selfless, patriotic, genuine. A person to admire... and a hero. “Put himself in

harm’s way. What more can you say, just a super person. It’s a shame that we losepeople like that,” Tinsley said.

Funeral services for Bret Isenhower are pending.

Ten soldiers from Oklahoma’s 45th have died in Afghanistan since the end of July.



Porterville Grad Killed In Afghanistan

Sep. 09, 2011 By Lewis Griswold, The Fresno Bee

Douglas J. Jeffries Jr. joined the Army after graduating from Porterville High School,

hoping that his military service would help him land his dream job as a forestry “hot shot”firefighter.

Instead, the 20-year-old Army private first class was killed Thursday by an improvisedexplosive device in Kandahar, Afghanistan. The Department of Defense reported hisdeath Friday. He is the 43rd service member with ties to the Valley to have died in anoverseas war zone since 9/11.

Douglas Jeffries Sr. was informed of his son’s death on Thursday and traveled lateThursday to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware to await the arrival of the casket, saidPastor Chris Ferrell of Springville.

The attack on Jeffries’ unit -- part of the 10th Mountain Division based in Fort Drum, N.Y.-- killed both Jeffries and Spc. Koran P. Contreras, 21, of Lawndale in Los AngelesCounty. They served in the 22nd Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade CombatTeam.

Jeffries, who graduated from Porterville High School in 2009, was engaged to a womanhe met in New York, said high school buddy Carl Bushnell.

Bushnell said Jeffries enlisted about six months after high school, figuring that serving inthe military would give him credentials to become a firefighter and join a forestry hot shotcrew.

Friends and a former teacher said Jeffries was fun-loving and friendly, but also a hardworker.

“He was just a really good all-around guy,” Bushnell said. “He was outgoing, funny andalways had something good to say about people.”

In high school, Jeffries played bass guitar in a rock ‘n’ roll band with Bushnell and otherfriends.

Robert “Bobby” Brown of Springville said they’d race their pickups to school.

“It was like a NASCAR race to see who would get there first,” Brown said. “I had a big

pickup, and he had a little pickup. It was cat and mouse.”

Jeffries was active in the National FFA Organization in speech, agricultural mechanics,agricultural finance and forestry in all four years at Porterville High, said teacher ToddCoons. As a senior, he was on the team that won Tulare County FFA’s ag financecompetition, qualifying him to receive the American FFA Degree.

He will be recognized for earning that degree posthumously at the National FFAConvention in October in Indianapolis, Coons said.



Jeffries was responsible and could work independently, Coons said. “He knew when toplay and he knew when to work.”

On car trips to FFA events, Jeffries would keep the mood light, Coons said: “He had thathumor. There was always a ... good aura, a kind of grin on his face.”

High school friend Aneliz Jimenez said Jeffries was part of a crowd that hung out andate lunch together daily.

“He’d always ask you for a bite of your food,” she said. “He’d throw ice at you. He wasnever down.”

Jimenez said she got a text message on Thursday that Jeffries had been killed in action.

“I’m really proud of him,” Jimenez said. “He did something so special for me, to give hislife, something so selfless, to keep us safe.”

Germany-Based Soldier Killed In PaktikaAttack Is Identified

Staff Sgt. Daniel A. Quintana is shown in a photo posted on the official Facebook pageof the 172nd Separate Infantry Brigade. Quintana, with the brigade’s 2nd Battalion, 28thInfantry Regiment, was killed when his unit came under small arms fire in Afghanistan’sPaktika province.

September 12, 2011 Stars and Stripes

A soldier killed Saturday in eastern Afghanistan was part of the 172nd Separate InfantryBrigade out of Germany, according to the Department of Defense.



Staff Sgt. Daniel A. Quintana, 30, of Huntington Park, Calif., died of gunshot woundsfrom an insurgent attack on his unit in Paktika province, according to a press release.Quintana was a weapons squad leader in the brigade’s 2nd Battalion, 28th InfantryRegiment, according to the brigade.

Reached at home in Huntington on Tuesday, Quintana’s father, Daniel Quintana Sr., 50,said he was told his son died after he was shot while on foot patrol. The youngerQuintana joined the military 11 years ago, first joining the Air Force before enlisting inthe Army, his father said. He planned to make a career of the service, Quintana Sr.added.

“He told me, ‘Dad, I love what I do. Don’t worry about me, I’m a great soldier.’” the fatherrecalled. “I believe him. He was a great soldier.”

The deployment was Quintana’s second, following a tour in Iraq, the elder Quintanasaid. The soldier leaves behind a wife and two children. A third is due in January,according to the father.

The 172nd, based out of Schweinfurt and Grafenwöhr, Germany, deployed to easternAfghanistan in July for a 12-month tour.

POLITICIANS CAN’T BE COUNTED ON TO HALTTHE BLOODSHED

THE TROOPS HAVE THE POWER TO STOP THE

WARS

Taliban Attacks Closing DownAfghanistan Road Resupply Of

U.S. Troop Outposts:General Confirms “Shift TowardConducting More Air Drops Of

Supplies And Equipment”Convoys “Are Often A Target For Taliban

Attacks”



09/20/11 By John T. Bennett, The Hill [Excerpts]

American tanker planes have pumped nearly 150 million gallons of fuel into U.S. andcoalition combat aircraft, U.S. Air Mobility Command (AMC) chief Gen. Raymond Johnstold reporters during a breakfast meeting in Washington.

In Afghanistan, the command — tasked with moving the military’s fuel, cargo andpersonnel — plans to continue its shift toward conducting more air drops of supplies andequipment.

That’s because some of the first American troops that will be removed from Afghanistanunder the White House’s 2014 total withdrawal goal will be support troops like truckconvoy drivers and support personnel.

“I would love to have all the convoys gone,” Johns said, because they are often a targetfor Taliban attacks.

Aerial cargo movement is more expensive, but it removes easily targeted troops from thebattlefield, Pentagon officials say.

[For further reading in relevant military history, see:]

Crowd Shouts “Death To America!Death To Pakistan! Death To Karzai!” At

Funeral:

Former President “Was Assassinated OnTuesday By A Suicide Bomber Who HadPromised To Help Negotiate With Taliban

Insurgents”



[Go figure that one. T]

23 September 2011 By RFI

Angry mourners stoned government vehicles and police fired into the air at the funeral offormer Afghan president Burhanuddin Rabbani in Kabul Friday. Thousands of people

turned out, demanding action against Rabbani’s killers.

“Death to America! Death to Pakistan! Death to Karzai!” the crowd shouted beforebeing dispersed by guards who fired warning shots into the air.

The former president, whom President Hamid Karzai had appointed head of theHigh Peace Council, was assassinated on Tuesday by a suicide bomber who hadpromised to help negotiate with Taliban insurgents.

IF YOU DON’T LIKE THE RESISTANCE

END THE OCCUPATION

NO MISSION;POINTLESS WAR:ALL HOME NOW

Aug. 26, 2011: A U.S. Marine Scout Sniper, 3/4 Marines, walks back into his living areaafter an exchange of fire with Taliban militants in the Gesresk Valley, Helmand province,southern Afghanistan. The Marines of 3rd Platoon who live inside the mud-walledcompound of PB-302 face Taliban militants who regularly attack the base from multipledirections using launched grenades, sniper rifles, and AK-47s. (AP Photo/BrennanLinsley)



Aug. 28, 2011: A U.S. Marine at Patrol Base 302, in the Gesresk Valley, Helmandprovince, southern Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)

Sgt. Misha Pemble-Belkin, 25, of Portland, Ore., with the U.S. Army’s Bravo Company ofthe 25th Infantry Division, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Battalion, 27th InfantryRegiment based in Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, hikes up to an observation post fromCombat Outpost Monti Sept. 4, 2011, in Kunar province, Afghanistan. (AP Photo/DavidGoldman)



Pfc. Garrick Carlton, 21, of Sacramento, Calif., with the U.S. Army’s Bravo Company ofthe 25th Infantry Division, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Battalion 27th InfantryRegiment based in Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, hikes up to man a hilltop observationpost Sept. 10, 2011 at Combat Outpost Monti in Kunar province, Afghanistan. (APPhoto/David Goldman)

SOMALIA WAR REPORTS

Shabab Fighters Took An Ambush

September 21, 2011 Mareeg

Mogadishu: Fighters of rebel group, Shabab and government soldiers are reported tohave exchanged fires in Dharkenlay district in the capital Mogadishu killing 3 T.F.Gsoldiers.

The clash came as Shabab fighters took an ambush against some government soldierswho were going throught civilians in a passenger bus in Kah-shikal village in Dharkelaydistrict killing 3 soldiers, reports said.

The dead soldiers are reported to be government soldiers and it’s not known thecasualties reached Shabab fighters as though broadcast extended the number ofcasualties than found now.



MILITARY NEWS

THIS IS HOW OBAMA BRINGS THEM HOME:

ALL HOME NOW, ALIVE

SEPTEMBER 14: The casket of U.S. Army Spc. Douglas J. Green during a full honorsburial service at Arlington National Cemetery on September 14, 2011 in Arlington,Virginia. Spc. Green, who was from Sterling, Virginia, was killed in Kandahar province inAfghanistan from injuries suffered when insurgents attacked his unit using an improvisedexplosive device. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

Veteran Says U.S. Government‘Betrayed’ Him By Forcing His

German Wife To Leave:

“‘If You Don’t Have A Lawyer AndCan’t Afford A Lawyer’, You’re

Doomed”“This Breaks My Heart”



[Thanks to Pham Binh, Military Resistance Organization, who sent this in.]

Sep 14, 2011 By Liz Goodwin, Yahoo! News Network

Michael Giesey spent thousands of dollars in immigration fees to try to keep hisGerman-born wife as a legal resident of the United States.

For a while, Giesey thought all the money and time spent on forms and interviews wouldfinally pay off. He and his wife and their 7-year-old daughter were going to be able tostay in Florida and help take care of his brother, a Fort Lauderdale firefighter who wasinjured on the job.

But an e-mail arrived on July 30 from Citizen and Immigration Services. In it, Marina,Giesey’s wife of more than 10 years, was asked to leave the country within 30 days.

Giesey, who is 50, was serving in the Air Force while stationed in Germany when he metMarina. He doesn’t know what went wrong.

“I feel betrayed by my own country,” he said in an interview with The Lookout.

Making mistakes early in the immigration process can doom a person’s chances for agreen card. In the Gieseys’ case, the mistakes happened during the rush to get home tocare for a relative, and were compounded by a belief that the government would make itrelatively easy for an American citizen to live in the United States with his wife.

Giesey, a 20-year veteran who served in Saudi Arabia, near the Iraqi border, during thefirst Gulf War, retired in 2000 while he was stationed in Germany.

He had met his wife Marina at a New Year’s Eve party two years earlier, and theymarried in 1999. Marina worked as a nurse in Germany, and Giesey began to work in

aircraft maintenance. They had a daughter in 2003, and they planned to stay inGermany for the rest of their lives. “I had pretty much resigned myself to a life there,”Giesey says. “I enjoyed it and it was a nice place to live, a beautiful country.”

(Giesey does not have German citizenship. Because he is married to a citizen, hemerely needed to register with the city government to legally reside there. There was nofee.)

But Giesey’s brother Stan suffered a serious spinal injury in 2008 while on the job as afirefighter.

Giesey quickly looked for aircraft maintenance work in Florida, so that he could help take

care of Stan. When he was hired by the company Gulf Stream, he was told to be atwork in two weeks.

“Because of what happened with my brother it was kind of a rushed deal,” Giesey says.“There was so much to do before I got here. We didn’t have time to go to the consulatein Frankfurt and didn’t have the money to pay the fees. We figured we could do it (once)she got here.”



Marina entered the country on a 90-day tourist visa, which she overstayed while Gieseytried to scrounge up the more than $1,000 in fees required to get her a green card.

In 2009, Marina and Michael returned to Germany. Marina stayed a little longer to havesome dental work done, and tried to return to the United States by herself in July of thatyear. She was detained for five hours by customs officials who said she didn’t have the

legal status to enter the country.

The customs officials seemed sympathetic to Marina’s situation, Giesey says, and theygave her what’s called a “paroled” status.

That was supposed to give the Gieseys time to fill out the forms and pay the fees to getlegal residency for Marina. In the meantime, Marina started a small business sellingGerman cookies and became the regional president in Florida of the United StatesNordic Walking Association.

But what the officials did not mention is that after a first visa violation, it’s very rare forthe government to grant a green card. Federal law says that anyone who overstays a

visa may not re-enter the country for at least three years.

In April, customs officials in Palm Beach told the Gieseys to fill out a form to prove thatMarina’s deportation would cause undue hardship to her family.

This time, the forms and a green card application cost more than $2,000, but theGieseys were assured that everything would work out.

In July, Citizen and Immigration Services declined to give Marina hardship status, sayingthat it is usually granted only if an immediate family member has a severe disability--andthat a brother-in-law did not count.

No one told the Gieseys that, Michael Giesey says.

A lawyer told Giesey that an appeal would cost at least another $2,600.

Giesey had hoped that the Obama administration’s controversial move to dismiss mostdeportation cases against non-criminal illegal immigrants would help his wife. But inorder to benefit from the government’s “prosecutorial discretion,” a person has to firstenter deportation proceedings. Letting his wife enter that process was unthinkable toGiesey.

“I absolutely cannot allow a customs official officer or a sheriff or whoever...to show up atmy front door and handcuff my wife and take her away in front of my daughter,” he said.

Giesey decided to quit his job, short-sell his house and move the whole family toGermany. No one has offered to buy his house, so he plans to turn the deed over to thebank to pay his mortgage.

“My idea of a family is that you’re together,” he went on. “I spent 20 years in the militarytraveling around and I know what that does to families.”



The Minnesota National Guard sent helicopters Sept. 15 to help put out wildfires inBoundary Waters wilderness area — one of the latest in a recent string of naturaldisasters that brought calls for guardsmen around the country.

Guardsmen have gone in recent weeks to help local authorities fight fires, contain floods,evacuate residents and remove debris after heavy storms including Hurricane Irene.

In early September, more than 1,200 Pennsyl-vania National Guard members weremobilized to help with flooding along the Susquehanna River that followed TropicalStorm Lee.

On Sept. 9, guardsmen used a boat to rescue 11 people, including two young children,trapped on the second floor of a house in West Pittston, Pa.

Black Hawks from the Louisiana National Guard, hanging with 500-gallon buckets, putout the last of smoldering marsh fires in New Orleans on Sept. 10, reported Nola.com.

Days earlier, the Texas National Guard deployed Chinooks and Black Hawks, bulldozers

and large trucks to help fight fires in the south-eastern part of the state.

After Hurricane Irene blew through New England, Connecticut’s 192nd Multi-FunctionalEngineer Battalion rescued residents in Hartford trapped by floodwaters, reported gasleaks and assessed damage, the National Guard reported.

More than 1,600 guardsmen from Maine, Vermont, Ohio, South Carolina, Virginia andWest Virginia remained on duty in New England into September. Staff Sgt. JasonBurnham, of the Maine National Guard’s 262nd Engineers, a veteran of two overseastours, left his home state ready to help.

“This is the best mission that I’ve done since I’ve been in the Army,” he said.

“There’s nothing that beats helping out the local people in the United States.”

ANNIVERSARIES

September 23, 1939:

Disgusting Imperial Anniversary;Hitler Sells Lithuania, Stalin Buys

Carl Bunin Peace News 9.23 – 9.30

Nazi-led Germany [capitalists pretending to be “National Socialists”] and the CommunistSoviet Union [capitalists pretending to be Communists] considered enemies at the time,



negotiated an addendum to the Hitler-Stalin Pact ceding Lithuania, the smallindependent country on the Baltic Sea, to the Soviets’ sphere of influence [translation: tothe Russian Empire] in exchange for 7.5 million gold dollars.

Josef Stalin, the Georgian who was General Secretary of the Soviet Communist Party,and Adolf Hitler, Chancellor of Germany, had agreed the previous month to allow

Germany free reign [translation: to expand the German Empire] in eastern Europe,leading to Germany’s invasion of Poland.

DANGER: POLITICIANS AT WORK

“If Hurricane Irene Had Been Severe, TheBloomberg Administration’s Measures

Would Have Cost Many People TheirLives”

September 5 - 19, 2011 The Spark Issue no. 899

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has been busy ever since Irene passedthrough, patting himself on the back for saving New York.



It’s true, he ordered public transport shut down. The entire system of buses andsubways was shut down more than eight hours before the storm arrived.

But Bloomberg did not require businesses to shut down.

And many did not, leaving their employees, who depend on mass transit,scrambling to find a ride just before the hurricane hit.

And without public transit, many families in the evacuation zones had no way toget out.

Moreover, thousands of families in the huge public housing projects within theevacuation zone, such as in Red Hook, Brooklyn and the far Lower East side ofManhattan, were trapped in their apartments, because management shut down theelevators “for the tenants’ safety.”

Just as with Katrina, a city administration was saving property to the detriment of the

population. In fact, if Hurricane Irene had been severe, the Bloomberg administration’smeasures would have cost many people their lives.

2012 Republican Party Nominee ForEmperor Receives Award

Former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, second from left, receives the Liberty Medalfrom Iraq War veteran Anthony Odierno, right, representing Wounded Warrior Project,and Sergeant First Class Dana Graham, left, of the Pennsylvania Army National Guard,and David Eisner, president and CEO of the National Constitution Center during aceremony Sept. 22, 2011 in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)



CLASS WAR REPORTS

“Violent Protests Tuesday RockedLarge Oil Fields In Colombia”

“Several Hundred RubialesEmployees Demanding Better

Working Conditions Refused To WorkAnd Instead Faced Off With Antiriot

Police”“The Angry Workers Blocked Roads And

Destroyed Company Property While



Police Tried To Beat Them Back WithTear Gas And Other Measures”

SEPTEMBER 21, 2011 By DAN MOLINSKI, Wall Street Journal [Excerpts]

BOGOTA—Violent protests Tuesday rocked large oil fields in Colombia operated byCanada-based Pacific Rubiales, forcing the company to halt production and declare a‘force majeure’ on the oil it sends abroad.

Camilo Valencia, a company vice president, told reporters production is completelyparalyzed at its main Rubiales field, the highest-producing field in Colombia at 180,000barrels a day, and at its smaller Quifa field. A total of some 225,000 barrels a day hasbeen shut in, the company official said.

Force majeure is a term in a contract that can be invoked when conditions beyond thecontrol of the company make it impossible for it to fulfill terms to which it originally

agreed.

“We were forced to declare a force majeure to be able to cover ourselves legally,” Mr.Valencia said. “It’s the reality, what is happening to us, and we hope to reestablish ouroperations as soon as possible.”

He said most of the oil the company produces at the two fields is sent to the northernColombian port of Covenas for export.

The protests began Tuesday morning when several hundred Rubiales employeesdemanding better working conditions refused to work and instead faced off with antiriotpolice that were sent in earlier to protect the oil installations.

The angry workers blocked roads and destroyed company property while police tried tobeat them back with tear gas and other measures, said a government official who askednot to be named.

“There are injuries on both sides, the protesters as well as the police,” the governmentofficial said, who said the extent of the injuries wasn’t known.

Tuesday’s protests are only the latest in a string of recent disturbances a the Rubialesfield, which is operated by Pacific Rubiales and majority-controlled by state-runEcopetrol.

In July, production at the Rubiales field, located near the town of Puerto Gaitan in centralColombia, was halted for several days due to protests by workers.

And last month, about 1,000 protesters including residents in Puerto Gaitan blockedroads leading to the oil field, demanding the company hire more local workers andprovide more social welfare to the community.

A meeting aimed at resolving the conflict was scheduled for Tuesday night among unionrepresentatives, company management and government officials. Colombia’s National



Police commander, Gen. Oscar Naranjo, was also scheduled to attend, the governmentofficial said.

The halt in production is expected to at least temporarily slow the sharp rise in overall oilproduction in Colombia, which has been experiencing a boom in its oil industry for thepast four years. The country produced 953,000 barrels a day of oil last month, up from

around half that just four years ago. It is aiming to reach 1 million barrels a day of crudeproduction by the end of 2011.

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