Katherine Jashinski,primera mujer objetora por conciencia de Irak es liberada

Katherine Jashinski is the first woman Conscientious Objector to be
wrongly denied discharge by the Army, then charged and jailed as a
resister to the current war.  Katherine was released at 7 am Sunday
July 9 from the Miramar interservice women's detention facility, San
Diego, after service of her 120-day sentence for refusing an
order.  (She had been acquitted of the more serious charge of
"missing movement.") A Navy driver took her to the airport, where she
was greeted by Pablo Paredes, a fellow Iraq War CO, and two of her
attorneys, MLTF members Jim Feldman and Peter Goldberger.  (Jim and
Peter were in San Diego to lead two workshops this weekend on
counseling and representing conscientious objectors.)  

 

Katherine wasin remarkably good spirits, and looking forward to going home to
Austin, where she will resume her engineering studies at the

University of Texas in the fall.  She was due back in Texas
tonight.  Presently, she remains on "appellate leave" (without
duties) pending the appeal of her court martial conviction.   She
elected not to appeal to the Fifth Circuit the district court's
wrongful denial of her habeas corpus challenge to the Army's improper
rejection of her CO claim.  She expressed appreciation to all those
who extended support during her trial and her incarceration.
 -- Peter Goldberger

www.truthout.org

Los generales en Haditha no actuaron diligentemente en investigar matanza de civiles

INTERNATIONAL / MIDDLE EAST | July 8, 2006
The Review: General Faults Marine Response to Iraq Killings
By ERIC SCHMITT and DAVID S. CLOUD
Lt. Gen. Peter W. Chiarelli has concluded that some senior Marine officers were negligent in failing

to investigate the deaths of 24 Iraqi civilians in Haditha last November, officials said.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/08/world/middleeast/08haditha.html?ex=1153022400&en=9114241a5d73decd&ei=5070&emc=eta1

The military's domestic violence problem

Base Crimes
News: The military has a domestic violence problem.
By Karen Houppert
July/August 2005 Issue

AT NORTH CAROLINA'S Fort Bragg this February, Army Special Forces trainee Richard Corcoran got mad at his estranged wife, Michele. He'd gotten mad before, but this would mark the sixth and final time the Cumberland County Sheriffs Department would be called to break up a "domestic disturbance" between Corcoran and his wife. At 8:30 p.m. Corcoran arrived at his wife's house and went after 30-year-old Michele with a gun, firing at her as she fled to a neighbor's. (She was wounded but survived.) He shot and wounded another Fort Bragg soldier who was in the house and then shot and killed himself—all while his seven-month-old daughter lay in another room.

He joins a band of brothers. Corcoran's is the 10th fatality in a slew of domestic violence homicides involving Fort Bragg soldiers since 2002; in one six-week spree four Army wives were murdered by their husbands or ex-husbands. Including nonfatal incidents, there were 832 victims of domestic violence between 2002 and 2004 at Fort Bragg alone, according to Army figures.

And yet Corcoran's attack stands out. Not only had he just attended a mandated anger-management class on-post that same afternoon—calling into question the efficacy of these sessions that the Army considers the cornerstone of its domestic violence treatment program—but Corcoran had a past that should have kept him out of the Army in the first place: He had been indicted for rape at the age of 19.

On March 1, 1989, in the town of Glen Ridge, New Jersey, Corcoran and six other high school athletes sexually assaulted a retarded girl with sticks and a baseball bat. Corcoran, like all the boys, admitted being present but insisted he just watched. Four of the boys were tried and convicted in a grueling five-month trial. Three days before Corcoran's trial was slated to begin in 1994, the victim's parents decided it was not in their daughter's best interest to pursue another trial. The case against Corcoran, son of a Glen Ridge police lieutenant, was dropped.

Several years later, Richard Corcoran joined the Army.


THE MILITARY HAS A DOMESTIC violence problem—or, as the Army calls it, a "spousal aggression issue." Sometimes, when soldiers have just returned from a war zone—like Corcoran, who had spent eight months in Afghan- istan—the media speculates that post-traumatic stress may be to blame. This seems somewhat specious. The Defense Department doesn't break down pre- and post-deployment figures, but the fact is that rates of domestic violence in the military have been high for years—two to five times higher than among civilians, depending on which study is consulted.

In the 1990s, the military quietly watched as its domestic violence rates shot up from 19 per 1,000 soldiers in 1990 to 26 per 1,000 soldiers in 1996. After three soldiers stationed at Kentucky's Fort Campbell were charged with killing their wives or girlfriends, an alarmed Congress appointed a task force to investigate and make recommendations. Last year, according to DoD figures, there were 16,400 cases of domestic violence reported, with 9,450 of them substantiated. That's still a rate of 14 cases for every 1,000 couples, compared with 3 per 1,000 among civilians. And consider that many soldiers spent all or part of last year deployed and thus physically separated from their spouses.

The military admits it has a problem but points out that its population is disproportionately young and poor—and, statistically, domestic violence is higher among such civilians, too. (Whether that's because the young and poor—more likely to come into contact with the system via shelters, social services, and the courts—are just overcounted is hotly contested among experts.)

Meanwhile, domestic violence advocates assert that the military's numbers are even higher than the DoD says. If military spouses live off-post—as 60 percent do—and call the local cops or shelter for help, they might not show up in the military's statistics. Further, the military defines domestic violence narrowly: It has only counted incidents against a current, legal spouse—and half the 1.5 million enlisted soldiers are unmarried, divorced, living with girlfriends, dating, or busy "not asking or telling."

Twenty years ago when the military did its domestic violence training, it was not unusual to call it a "relationship issue" and hand it over to therapists to sort out. Even today, batterers in the military are typically ordered into anger-management classes and couples counseling—both considered largely ineffective by most civilian experts.
"These anger-treatment models are not very successful because this is not an illness, it's an attitude. It's about people feeling like they're entitled to do this to their wives," says attorney Juley Fulcher, who worked on the issue for years at the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence. "The day you start seeing these guys go after their commanding officer because they're pissed off and they can't control their anger, we'll rethink our theory," she adds.

According to Deborah Tucker, who heads the National Center on Domestic and Sexual Violence in Austin, Texas, and cochaired the Defense Task Force on Domestic Violence, the military is making progress on the issue. In 2003, it agreed to adopt 194 of the task force's 200 recommendations to improve services for victims and beef up offender accountability. Still, two years later many have yet to be implemented and that troubles her, though she adds that "some argue that what's been done already is much faster than usual [for the military]."

Meanwhile, the military faces new scandals over sexual harassment in its ranks, rape at the Air Force Academy, and reports on the high numbers of sexual assaults against its female soldiers. These are behaviors that exist on a continuum with domestic violence, explains Tucker. "To eradicate domestic violence in the military—and the United States of America—will take a cultural shift that condemns violence as criminal behavior and does not excuse it because of the comportment of the victim, the alcohol or drug abuse of the offender, the stress the offender is under, or even how sorry the offender is afterwards," says Tucker. She insists that military brass must lead the charge if change is to trickle down from the base commanders to the recruiters trawling the local mall.

FOR EVIDENCE that this has yet to happen, one need only consider Richard Corcoran's career trajectory. Army recruiters might have suggested that even if the teenage Corcoran had just watched the assault in the basement on that winter day in Glen Ridge—as so many soldiers at Abu Ghraib apparently also just "watched"—the fact that he did nothing to stop it is not in keeping with core Army values of honor and integrity. Call it a tip-off that this prospective soldier lacked respect for women—and perhaps the law.

But maybe the Army didn't know about the rape?

"Sure they knew," says Essex County prosecutor Robert Laurino, who tried the first Glen Ridge case. One recruiter even came to meet with Laurino. "Are you aware of this fellow and what his background is?" Laurino recalls asking, shocked that the Army was recruiting Corcoran.

"Yes," the recruiter told Laurino. "That's just the kind of guy we want to turn into a man."

http://www.motherjones.com/news/featurex/2005/07/base_crimes.html

==============================================================================

 Published on Tuesday, June 11, 2006 by the San Francisco Chronicle
Army Relaxes Its Standards to Fill Ranks
Critics say push to meet quotas may let unstable recruits join up

by Anna Badkhen

Pentagon officials announced Monday that the Army has managed to achieve its latest recruiting goals, while admitting that they have lowered some standards that had been set to ensure the quality of the force.
But as the military continues investigations into alleged atrocities committed by U.S. troops in Iraq, some experts worry that the Army, stretched thin by wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and under pressure to fill its ranks, might be signing up soldiers who should not be in the service.
Signing Them Up
The Army is on track to exceed its recruiting target for this budget year, which ends Sept. 30.
June goal: 8,600
June total: 8,756
2006 goal: 80,000
2006 so far: 51,612
The military's revelation last week that former Pfc. Steven Green, who allegedly organized the rape and murder of an Iraqi girl and the killing of her family, suffered from "anti-social personality disorder" sheds new light on the importance of how the Army decides whom to sign up for service, say military analysts.

"The issue is not whether they've met their quota," said Winslow Wheeler, an expert on the U.S. military at the Center for Defense Information in Washington. "The issue is quality ... and what concessions they are willing to make to meet this quota."

Coincidentally, the Pentagon's announcement on recruiting came on the same day the military identified several soldiers it accuses of participating in the rape and murders with Green.

Green faces murder and kidnapping charges in the case. Four others, identified as Sgt. Paul E. Cortez, Spc. James P. Barker, Pfc. Jesse V. Spielman and Pfc. Bryan L. Howard, face similar charges, while Sgt. Anthony W. Yribe is charged with dereliction of duty for failing to prevent or report the attack.

Army recruiters found 8,756 new recruits for active-duty service last month, surpassing their stated target of 8,600 -- marking the 13th consecutive month the service met or exceeded its target. The active Army now has 51,612 new recruits, and it hopes to sign up a total of 80,000 new recruits by the end of the 2006 budget year on Sept. 30.

The Navy in June met its goal of 3,961 recruits for that month. The Marine Corps and the Air Force exceeded their recruiting objectives, signing up 4,357 and 2,564 service members, respectively. The Reserve and National Guard components of the services met or surpassed their recruiting goals last month, except for the Navy Reserve, which recruited 95 percent of its target.
To allow more recruits to join, the Army last fall amended its rule that it can sign up no more than 2 percent of recruits who score between 15 and 30 out of 99 on the Army's aptitude test. Now, up to 4 percent of Army recruits can score under 30 on the aptitude test, which measures such things as the applicants' knowledge of mathematics and command of the English language, said Lt. Col. Bryan Hilferty, an Army spokesman.

He said the Army will have "less than 4 percent" of recruits who scored under 30 by the end of the year, but did not elaborate. In 2005, 1.8 percent of the soldiers the Army signed up scored between 15 and 30 percent.

"We're being held up to an impossibly high standard," Hilferty said.

At the same time, in the first four months of this year, the percentage of recruits whom the Army otherwise considers fit for service but who required special waivers to join rose to 15.5 percent. The waivers were for misdemeanor offenses, drug- or alcohol-related violations or medical problems, Hilferty said. In 2004, 12 percent of recruits required such waivers; in 2005, 15 percent needed them.

Hilferty said Army recruiters have "an aggressive mental health program" consisting of tests and checkups intended to weed out applicants with mental health problems or personality disorders -- which Green is reported to have -- during either recruiting or at basic training.

But not all behavioral problems can be spotted during these tests, experts warn -- and some may only emerge under the extreme stress of war.
"It's actually very easy for people like Steven Green to get into the military, because he is a reasonably intelligent, physically fit young man whose emotions are not close to the surface," said Loren Thompson, a defense analyst at the Lexington Institute in Arlington, Va.

"Many of the qualities that would make you a problem in the civilian society are welcomed in the military. For example, a highly aggressive young man is precisely what the Marines are looking for ... particularly in the enlisted ranks," Thompson said.

Some experts said that regardless of how strict the criteria are during recruiting, it is impossible to completely prevent people with personality disorders from getting into the military.

"You're talking about weeding out 1 in half a million. That's very difficult," said Thomas Mahnken, an expert on the military at Johns Hopkins University.
Last year, the Army discharged 1,038 soldiers because of various personality disorders, Hilferty said. But it is unclear how many of these soldiers had developed the disorders before they signed up for military service, and whether they could have been prevented from joining the Army at the recruiting stage, he said.

Still, some critics say recruiters, pressed to fill the ranks amid wartime shortfalls, may ignore signs that a few of their recruits fail to measure up to military requirements.

The Southern Poverty Law Center, which monitors racist and right-wing militia groups, reported this month that thousands of white supremacists may have infiltrated the military, taking advantage of loosened recruiting standards.
"Over the last several years, there has been a lot of pressure, and ... some of the recruiters have turned a blind eye," said Mark Potok, who works at the center. The Pentagon declared a zero-tolerance policy for racist hate groups in 1996.

The Army has not responded to the center's report.

©2006 San Francisco Chronicle

###

Invitación de Madres Contra la Guerra

¡Aumentemos la resistencia a la Guerra y la destrucción!
Únete a nuestras próximas actividades:

 

Mayagüez

7 de julio de 2006

12-1pm

piquete en a las oficinas de Reclutamiento militar, frente al Parque de los Próceres

 

Ponce

21 de julio de 2006

12-1pm

piquete frente de las oficinas de Reclutamiento militar en la Ave. Las Américas

(cerca del MAP)

 

Guánica

21 de julio de 2006

6pm-8pm

Apertura en el Museo de Arte e Historia Don Pedro Juan Vargas, de la exhibición

"Terrazos en Faluya IV"

frente a la Plaza Municipal.

 

Juntos por la paz-

Damary Burgos

Madres Contra la Guerra, rep.

U.S. troops accused of killing Iraq family - raping & burning a young woman

U.S. troops accused of killing Iraq family

Associated Press

By RYAN LENZ, Associated Press Writer 14 minutes ago

BEIJI, Iraq - Five U.S. soldiers are being investigated for allegedly raping a young woman, then killing her and three relatives, an American military official said Friday, describing the latest allegations of abuse of Iraqi civilians.

The soldiers also allegedly burned the body of the woman they are accused of assaulting in the March incident, the official told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the case.

The U.S. command issued a sparse statement, saying Maj. Gen. James D. Thurman, commander of coalition troops in Baghdad, had ordered a criminal investigation into the alleged killing of a family of four in Mahmoudiyah, south of Baghdad. The statement had no other details.

The case represents the latest allegations against U.S. soldiers stemming from the deaths of Iraqis. At least 14 U.S. troops have been convicted.

The United States also is investigating allegations that two dozen unarmed Iraqi civilians were killed by U.S. Marines in the western town of Haditha on Nov. 19 in a revenge attack after one of their own died in a roadside bombing.

"The entire investigation will encompass everything that could have happened that evening. We're not releasing any specifics of an ongoing investigation," military spokesman Maj. Todd Breasseale said of the Mahmoudiyah allegations.

"There is no indication what led soldiers to this home. The investigation just cracked open. We're just beginning to dig into the details."

Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said he had no additional details on the incident but added that the military routinely investigates all allegations of misconduct.

However, a U.S. official close to the investigation said at least one of the soldiers, all assigned to the 502nd Infantry Regiment, has admitted his role and been arrested. Two soldiers from the same regiment were slain this month when they were kidnapped at a checkpoint near Youssifiyah.

The official told the AP the accused soldiers were from the same platoon as the two slain soldiers. The military has said one and possibly both of the slain soldiers were tortured and beheaded.

The official said the mutilation of the slain soldiers stirred feelings of guilt and led at least one of them to reveal the rape-slaying on June 22.

According to a senior Army official, the alleged incident was first revealed by a soldier during a routine counseling-type session. The official, who requested anonymity because the investigation is ongoing, said that soldier did not witness the incident but heard about it.

A second soldier, who also was not involved, said he overhead soldiers conspiring to commit the crimes, and then later saw bloodstains on their clothes, the official said.

He also said the four people killed included three adults and a child, and one of the adults was the woman who allegedly was raped.

One of the accused soldiers already has been discharged and is believed to be in the United States, several U.S. officials said on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing. The others have had their weapons taken away and are confined to Forward Operating Base Mahmoudiyah.

Senior officers were aware of the family's death but believed it was due to sectarian violence, common in the religiously mixed town, a U.S. official said.

The killings appeared to have been a "crime of opportunity," the official said. The soldiers had not been attacked by insurgents but had noticed the woman on previous patrols.

___
AP correspondent Ryan Lenz is embedded with the 101st Airborne Division in Beiji, Iraq. He was previously embedded with the 502nd Infantry Regiment in Mahmoudiyah.
__
The Associated Press News and Information Research Center and Lolita C. Baldor in Washington contributed to this report.

 

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060630/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_soldiers_investigated;_ylt=AkjbrzVibwvdxBoEoGrpYDKs0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA2Z2szazkxBHNlYwN0bQ--

Vamos a Ponce y a Mayagüez por la PAZ

¡NO a la Guerra!
Piquete en Mayagüez

____________________________________________________

¡NO a la Guerra!
Piquete en Ponce

Video: Un marine estadounidense canta cómo asesina a ciudadanos iraquíes inocentes

Entre risas de sus compañeros la letra cuenta: "Agarré a su pequeña hermana y la puse delante de mí. Las balas comenzaron a volar. La sangre se deslizaba entre sus ojos. Yo me reía como un loco". Vínculo al vídeo.

Agencias

El vídeo, de cuatro minutos de duración y titulado 'Hadji Girl' ('China Hadyi', nombre con que se conoce a los peregrinos a la Meca), muestra a un Marine cantando ante un auditorio. La canción cuenta cómo los Marines disparan a los miembros de la familia de una mujer iraquí después de enfrentarse a ellos con armas automáticas.

El teniente coronel Scott Fazekas, un portavoz de los Marines, declaró ayer que el cuerpo había sido alertado de un vídeo en el que "aparecía un Marine cantando una canción indelicada sobre iraquíes". Fazekas aseguró que el mando no conoce la identidad del cantante ni si éste está en el Ejército.

En todo caso, la canción es "inapropiada y contraria a los altos valores que se espera de todos los Marines", afirmó el teniente coronel Fazekas, quien precisó que los responsables del cuerpo están investigando el hecho. El vídeo había sido colocado de forma anónima en la página de Internet y censurado inmediatamente.

"El vídeo no refleja los tremendos sacrificios y la dedicación demostrados, día a día, por decenas de miles de Marines que han ayudado al pueblo iraquí a ganar su libertad", prosiguió Fazekas.

El cantante cuenta, con una guitarra, el encuentro con una mujer iraquí y el enfrentamiento con su padre y su hermano, que tienen una pistola. La letra narra cómo el Marine empuja a la hermana de la mujer que se encuentra delante de él y cómo le sale un requero de sangre de su cabeza. A continuación, relata que el padre y el hermano han sido enviados "a la eternidad". La letra dice: "Agarré a su pequeña hermana y la puse delante de mí. Las balas comenzaron a volar. La sangre se deslizaba entre sus ojos. Yo me reía como un loco" "Mandé a esos pequeños hijos de... a la eternidad (...) Deberían haber sabido que no podían joder a los marines", seguía la canción. Mientras el joven canta de fondo se oyen risas y aplausos.

El "cantautor" ha sido identificado como el cabo Joshua Belile, de 23 años, que vive en Carolina del Norte (este) luego de haber servido en Irak, dijo al periódico Jacksonville Daily News que la canción sólo pretendía ser divertida.

Se limitó a declarar que "es una canción que compuse y que no pretendía más que ser una divertida parodia" del filme "Team America: World Police". Agregó: "Pido disculpas por cualquier sentimiento que haya podido herir a la comunidad musulmana. La canción fue escrita en un espíritu humorístico".

El vídeo ha sido retirado del servidor www.youtube.com, puedes ver la noticia y las imágenes en el siguiente enlace: http://www.elplural.com/popup_video.php?id=5018&resId=3298&resType=2

Estados Unidos acaparó el 80% del gasto militar en el mundo en 2005

Agencias/La Jornada

Los gastos militares en el mundo alcanzaron un nuevo récord en 2005, al llegar a un billón 118 mil millones de dólares; y el primer consumidor de armamento fue Estados Unidos, con 48 por ciento de lo invertido a nivel mundial, indicó este lunes un informe del Instituto Internacional de Investigación para la Paz (SIPRI), con sede en Estocolmo.

Chile fue el país de América Latina y el Caribe que más invirtió en armas, aunque en la región los presupuestos de defensa han caído en relación a los años 80.

De acuerdo con el informe anual del SIPRI sobre la producción armamentista y el desarme, los gastos mundiales en armamento aumentaron 34 por ciento frente a los de 2004, y la cifra equivale a un desembolso de 173 dólares per cápita.

El reporte, divulgado en Estocolmo, indicó que 80 por ciento de todos los gastos militares adicionales registrados en 2005 correspondió a Estados Unidos.

Para Washington, el gasto hecho en 2005 representó un incremento de uno por ciento respecto de 2004, mientras su presupuesto de defensa alcanzó mil 604 dólares por ciudadano.

El aumento del presupuesto militar estadunidense es explicado por la continuidad de las guerras entabladas contra Irak y Afganistán, y por los eventos para cubrir las consecuencias del paso de los ciclones Katrina y Rita en territorio nacional.

A Estados Unidos le siguen, muy de lejos, Gran Bretaña Francia, Japón y China, con apenas 4 y 5 por ciento del gasto mundial en 2005.

Europa fue la única región del mundo donde los gastos militares disminuyeron en 1.7 por ciento, sobre todo por las reducciones de los presupuestos de defensa en Europa occidental. Las disminuciones más significativas se registraron en Italia y Gran Bretaña.

Medio Oriente fue la región donde el alza relativa fue más importante por los diversos conflictos que enfrenta y el aumento del presupuesto de Defensa en Arabia Saudita. Los gastos totales en la zona habrían sido más elevados si Irak y Qatar no hubieran sido excluidos del cálculo debido a datos poco fiables.

Pese a que los gastos militares de China e India experimentan un claro aumento desde hace años, el desembolso de ambos países es una minucia frente a Estados Unidos, señaló el Instituto.

Respecto de las exportaciones de armamento, los expertos del SIPRI constataron que sigue la tendencia al alza con un volumen de un 44 mil a 53 mil millones de dólares, y los principales exportadores son desde 2001 Rusia y Estados Unidos, cada uno con una cuota de mercado de alrededor de 30 por ciento. A ellos les siguen, a mucha distancia: Francia, Alemania y Gran Bretaña, con 20 por ciento entre los tres.

En 2005 Rusia vendió 30 por ciento de las armas comercializadas y tuvo entre sus principales compradores a China e India, mientras que Estados Unidos tiene entre sus principales clientes a Grecia, Israel, Gran Bretaña y Egipto.

En cuanto a América Latina y el Caribe, los gastos militares aumentaron 7.2 por ciento en 2005, bajo el impulso de Chile, Brasil y Colombia que totalizan las tres cuartas partes de los gastos de defensa en la región.

Los gastos de Chile crecieron gracias al aumento de los ingresos procedentes del cobre, que han ayudado a las fuerzas armadas del país a financiar el programa de modernización en marcha, que prevé que el país pueda ser en 2010 el primero en la región en poseer fuerzas armadas equiparables a las de la Organización del Tratado del Atlántico Norte (OTAN), indicó el SIPRI.

En Venezuela, el aumento de los ingresos procedentes del petróleo se tradujeron en un incremento de los gastos militares, y se convirtió en el tercer país de la región donde más aumentaron los gastos militares, tras Brasil y Chile.

En Centroamérica, donde fue ubicado México, los gastos militares fueron estables entre 2004 y 2005, y ese país sumó 85 por ciento del total. Las cifras no fueron completas por la carencia de datos fiables sobre Cuba.

En este contexto, un centro de investigación británico independiente, el Oxford Research Group, advirtió que la "guerra contra el terror" lanzada por Estados Unidos y Gran Bretaña aumenta, en vez de disminuir, el riesgo de ataques como los perpetrados contra Nueva York, Madrid y Londres, pues Al Qaeda "está tan activa" como antes.

El centro destacó que la prioridad dada a la guerra contra el terror distrae a los políticos de los verdaderas problemas que representan "una verdadera amenaza, duradera y destructiva", mayor que el "terrorismo internacional".

Entre estas amenazas mencionó a la pobreza, la desigualdad comercial, la militarización global, la competencia por los recursos y el cambio climático, que son las "causas más probables de un conflicto futuro".

"Son esas las tendencias que pueden conducir a una inestabilidad global y regional, y a una pérdida de vidas de una magnitud incomparable con (la causada por) otras amenazas potenciales, incluidas la del terrorismo", indicaron los investigadores.

La política de los gobiernos de Washington y Londres es "una estrategia fundamentalmente equivocada, que consume miles de millones de dólares" y que sólo consigue "crear más reclutados y más apoyo para el terrorismo, en vez de derrotarlo", apuntó.

El SIPRI llamó a los países a adoptar un "nuevo enfoque" para enfrentar las causas fundamentales de la inseguridad, y dar la prioridad a combatir la pobreza, al desarrollo de energías renovables para frenar el cambio climático, y a frenar la carrera armamentista.

China, exportador "irresponsable"

Otro estudio, este elaborado por Amnistía Internacional, indicó que China es uno de los exportadores de armas más "irresponsables" del mundo y contribuye a alimentar conflictos en Birmania, Sudán y Nepal. Sus exportaciones de armas están estimadas en más de mil millones de dólares anuales.

Explicó que China es la única gran potencia que exporta armas sin haber firmado ninguno de los acuerdos multilaterales cuyos criterios están destinados a impedir la exportación de armas que podrían contribuir a graves violaciones de los derechos humanos.

Piquete en Ponce [9/junio/06]

9 de junio de 2006

¡NO A LA GUERRA - NO AL RECLUTAMIENTO!
Primer piquete de MCG en Ponce

Más de 50 personas manifestamos hoy nuestro repudio a la guerra en un piquete frente a las oficinas de reclutamiento del ARMY, AIR FORCE, NAVY de los Estados Unidos en Ponce.

Denunciamos que se requiera por el Departamento del Trabajo de Puerto Rico que nuestros jóvenes tengan que presentar evidencia de haberse registrado en el Servicio Selectivo, para cualificar en un empleo de verano a tiempo parcial. De este modo, se hacen cómplices de la inmoralidad de la milicia.

La maternidad es vida, la guerra es la antítesis de la maternidad. La matanza de 24 civiles iraquíes en Irak por marinos de guerra estadounidenses pone en evidencia la degeneración espiritual, la corrupción de principios que permea esta guerra. Hay más de 8,000 desertores y cientos de objetores por conciencia. Exigimos paz y el regreso inmediato de nuestros familiares militares.

Manifestantes anti-guerra.


Madres Contra la Guerra - ¡PRESENTE!


"Apoya Nuestras Tropas.
Exige su regreso a casa...¡VIVOS!"


Sonia Santiago Hernández
Fundadora-Portavoz de MCG

Divulgan video de la matanza de once civiles por soldados de EEUU en Irak

Por: AFP Y DPA

Londres, viernes 2 de junio. La cadena británica BBC recibió y divulgó el jueves una imagen de video en la cual se observa a varios adultos y niños iraquíes que, según la policía local, son algunos de los 11 civiles que fueron rodeados y deliberadamente asesinados por tropas estadunidenses en marzo pasado.

La BBC citó a un vocero de las fuerzas estadunidenses en Irak que afirma que está en curso una investigación sobre lo ocurrido en Ishaqi -unos 100 kilómetros al norte de Bagdad-, el 15 de marzo de este año.

La cadena británica, que afirmó haber recibido las imágenes de un grupo sunita opositor a la ocupación estadunidense, dijo que la evidencia parece contradecir la versión que Estados Unidos dio de esos hechos.

Funcionarios estadunidenses dijeron en ese momento que cuatro personas murieron cuando las tropas de ese país intervenían en un enfrentamiento armado, luego de recibir un aviso que indicaba que un militante de Al Qaeda visitaba una casa en Ishaqi, afirmó la BBC.

Estados Unidos dijo que la casa quedó bajo un intenso tiroteo en el que fueron ultimados el supuesto militante de Al Qaeda, dos mujeres y un niño.

Sin embargo, un informe de la policía iraquí acusa a las tropas estadunidenses de rodear el lugar y matar deliberadamente a 11 personas que estaban en la casa, incluyendo a cinco niños y cuatro mujeres, antes de volar la propiedad.

La imagen transmitida por la BBC muestra varios cuerpos, incluidos los de tres niños, uno de ellos cubierto de sangre.

El periodista de la BBC en Bagdad, Ian Pannell, dijo que las imágenes fueron comparadas con otras similares tomadas en el momento de los hechos, y que se cree son auténticas.

Estas nuevas acusaciones contra las fuerzas estadunidenses suceden a la denuncia de una matanza en Haditha, donde marines son sospechosos de haber matado a 24 civiles iraquíes en noviembre del año pasado.

El presidente estadunidense, George W. Bush, prometió el jueves que el "mundo podrá ver" los resultados de la investigación sobre ese asesinato de civiles iraquíes.

El Washington Post publicó una investigación del ejército estadunidense que concluye que los marines mataron, sin provocación alguna, a los 24 civiles en Haditha, y que para encubrir el hecho entregaron información falsa sobre el caso.

La matanza de Haditha fue calificada de "crimen odioso" por el primer ministro iraquí Nuri Maliki.

Inicialmente, los marines aseguraron que lo que ocurrió el pasado 19 de noviembre fue que una bomba a un lado del camino destruyó su patrulla y mató a uno de sus compañeros y a unos 15 civiles que estaban en el lugar.

Pero testigos, uno de los cuales logró grabar un video, aseguran que los marines, furiosos por el ataque con bomba, dispararon primero contra hombres desarmados que se encontraban cerca del lugar, y después allanaron casas y mataron a varias familias.

En este contexto, se informó que durante mayo la guerra se cobró la vida de unas mil 400 personas en Irak, lo que representa un incremento de 38 por ciento con relación a abril, según balances proporcionados por las autoridades a Afp.

Además, 14 iraquíes perdieron la vida y 65 fueron heridos en varios atentados perpetrados este jueves, informaron fuentes de seguridad.

Click aquí para ver el video

¡Pa` Ponce a piquetear por primera vez!

¡Protestemos la Guerra en Ponce!

Madres Contra la Guerra te invita a su primer piquete a llevarse a cabo en Ponce, el viernes 9 de junio de de 12:00 am a 1:00 pm. Frente al edificio que alberga las oficinas de reclutamiento del ejército de Estados Unidos (ARMY) en la 2197 Avenida Las Américas, edificio Las Américas, suite 104.

¡Nacionalizar la resistencia al militarismo!

¡QUE REGRESEN A CASA YA!

Las universidades iraquíes al borde de una catástrofe

Ali Ayam

Traducción: AlFanar

Mundoarabe.org, 22/04/2006
Paralelamente al aumento del dominio de las universidades iraquíes por los partidos políticos religiosos, han aumentado las formas con que se atenta contra los profesores universitarios y académicos. Del asesinato (el último fue Abderrazaq Al Naas), al apaleamiento y humillación dentro de las universidades (el último fue Muaiad Al Jafaf). En medio de este atmósfera, salir del país se ha convertido en “una solución razonable en medio de este atmósfera irracional” según palabras de un profesor que no quiso desvelar su nombre.

El profesor de periodismo en la Facultad de Comunicación de Bagdad, Muaiad Qasem Al Jafaf, estaba dando su clase en el pasado 15 de enero cuando, de repente, un grupo (que se autodefinió como parte de la tendencia de Al Sáder) irrumpió su clase. Después se lo llevaron a su despacho y empezaron a apalearle por haber dicho una observación, considerada como “inaceptable”, de que “existe un papel creciente de la autoridad religiosa en Nayaf en la gestión de la vida política y cultural”.

Si Al Jafaf decidió no volver a la universidad hasta que se descubra la identidad de sus agresores, el final de su colega Abderrazaq Al Naas, activista político que no dudaba en dirigir críticas al gobierno y a sus partidos en diferentes medios de comunicación, fue sangriento cuando cayó muerto por disparos unos desconocidos al salir de la universidad.

La Asociación de Profesores Universitarios habla del asesinato de más de cien personalidades científicas desde la caída del régimen iraquí, y “la escalada del proceso de persecución de científicos iraquíes, cuya meta es vaciar a Iraq de sus cerebros y acerbo cultural, intelectual y educativo, u obligarles, mediante amenazas, a salir del país”. La universidad de Bagdad ocupa el primer puesto en cuanto a asesinatos, le sigue la de Basora, Mustanseriya, Al Anbar, Mosul y la de Tikrit; y después está el Comité de Enseñanza Técnica, la Universidad Tecnológica, la de Qadesiya, el Centro de Estudios Superiores y el Centro de Investigación del Cáncer.

Las universidades iraquíes que incluían alrededor de 13.000 profesores y fueron consideradas, en los años setenta, como las mejores universidades árabes, ahora están al borde de una catástrofe por el asesinato y secuestro de sus profesores, y la emigración de cerca de 1.000 profesores desde el derrocamiento del régimen de Saddam.

En la Universidad de Saddam, que se conoce actualmente por el nombre de Universidad de los Dos Ríos, el químico, Saadun Isa, se vio obligado a pagar un rescate de 50 mil dólares para liberar a su hijo, de 22 años de edad, que fue secuestrado. Y no sólo eso, sino que le pidieron salir del país.

Según un profesor de derecho que no quiso desvelar su identidad por miedo: “la responsabilidad de investigar en los crímenes de asesinato de académicos y científicos iraquíes incumbe a los aparatos judiciales y policiales” insistiendo que “estas operaciones no tienen nada que ver con revanchas individuales sino que se enmarcan en un crimen estructural financiado por sectores que se benefician de ello. Si las fuerzas de seguridad detuviesen a los asesinos mercenarios, llegarían a las cabezas que planifican este proyecto diabólico que tiene como blanco al intelectual iraquí”.

INTERVENCIÓN DE LOS PARTIDOS POLÍTICOS Y SECTARIOS EN LOS CENTROS

ACADÉMICOS

Los movimientos políticos entre los estudiantes se han dinamizado. La universidad se ha convertido en un campo para los enfrentamientos sectarios y el dominio del poder partidista. Existen varias formas de esta escalada de las actividades partidistas y sectarias: los estudiantes cercanos a las fuerzas sunníes se encargan de quitar las pancartas de la Asociación de Desbaacificación, o se unen para hacer frente a la tendencia chií que, por su parte, propaga las fotos de Sistani, del “primer y segundo mártir Al Sáder” y de Mohamed Baqer Al Hakim, hace la publicidad de la visita a templos de imanes chíies en Irán a precios simbólicos, y hacen extender los ritos chiíes, como en la universidad Al Mustanseriya cuyo presidente, Taqi Musaui, hizo un llamamiento el mes pasado a la conmemoración de la festividad de la Ashura dentro de la facultad. También es chocante la existencia de un grupo nada despreciable de hombres de religión que se reúnen con los estudiantes y dan conferencias sobre “el islam político” en las universidades.

Si los analistas políticos iraquíes declaran que “el verdadero ganador en las últimas elecciones son las milicias que impusieron un atmósfera de terror”, las universidades son otro ejemplo de la actividad creciente de las milicias “religiosas” dentro de la facultad. Dichas milicias dominan la seguridad de la universidad, obligan a las estudiantes a llevar el velo como en la universidad de Basora, donde hay varias estudiantes cristianas y conversas visten con velo para escapar al grupo Invocar el Bien y Prohibir el Mal, parte de las brigadas del Mehdi, dependientes de Moqtada Al Sáder. La universidad de Mustanseriya organizó un foro del libro iraní, en el que se vendieron los libros a precios muy bajos, además se vendía el velo “legítimo” de la mujer.

El presidente iraquí pidió a los profesores y estudiantes de las universidades iraquíes que mantengan las instituciones académicas fuera de las intervenciones e influencias políticas, haciendo frente a la oleada de asesinatos contra los profesores universitarios, y amenazas contra otros para que salgan del país.

DEFICIENCIA GUBERNAMENTAL

Ante la incapacidad del gobierno para proteger a los profesores, la Asociación de Profesores Universitarios las instituciones académicas oficiales han asumido la “misión de salvaguardar” a los profesores y científicos, mediante la celebración de una conferencia titulada “Las libertades académicas en las universidades iraquíes” durante el pasado mes de noviembre. Se presentaron en la conferencia 17 tesis, de las que se destaca “el efecto de las intervenciones religiosas, partidistas y sectarias en la actividad de las instituciones académicas”.

A partir del concepto de las libertades académicas, los profesores universitarios insistieron sobre:

1- La necesidad de que exista un margen de libertad para que los profesores puedan escribir y hablar de la realidad tal como la ven, sin ataduras, y protegerles de las presiones, dentro y fuera de las universidades, cuando ejercen su derecho de hacer públicas sus opiniones o las conclusiones a las que llegan en sus investigaciones.
2- El papel independiente de la universidad, mediante la determinación y aplicación de sus propias políticas, sin ninguna intervención o presión de sectores externos a la propia universidad.

3- La determinación de códigos que garanticen la libertad académica en las universidades.

Fuente: Diario Al Hayat

Casualties: Narrative and images of the war on Iraq

Seiji Yamada, Mary C. Smith Fawzi, Gregory G. Maskarinec, and Paul E. Farmer

International Journal of Health Services, Volume 36, Number 2, Pages 401–415, 2006

The Iraqi people have endured an excess burden of morbidity and mortality
during the past 15 years due to war and sanctions, with the March 2003
Anglo-American assault on and subsequent occupation of Iraq representing
the most recent chapter. Children have been disproportionately affected;
many have died from infectious disease, malnutrition, and lack of access
to health care. There have been significant differences in the availability of
narrative accounts and images of this suffering, reflective of the need of those
who wage wars and impose sanctions to keep the public uninformed. This
article suggests that public health and medical practitioners have a responsibility
to seek out such accounts and images. The authors explore possible
responses to narrative and images of this suffering, and outline the sorts
of responses engendered by three perspectives—charity, development, and
social justice. The suffering of the people of Iraq should spur a response
from the health community to alleviate the situation and prevent unnecessary
suffering.

To obtain a pdf copy of this article for personal use only, please email: seiji@hawaii.edu

Irak: Mueren cuatro soldados norteamericanos y su traductor al explotar una bomba

Bagdad, 18 may.- Cuatro soldados norteamericanos y un traductor iraquí fallecieron hoy al explotar un artefacto al paso del vehículo en el que circulaban por el noroeste de Bagdad, informó el mando militar estadounidense en la capital iraquí.

Según el comunicado del Ejército, la explosión se produjo a las 14.30 hora local (10.30 GMT) y acabó con la vida de los cuatro militares, pertenecientes a las tropas invasoras desplegadas en Irak.

La breve nota, que apunta que la identidad de los fallecidos se hará pública cuando sean informados sus familiares, añade que se investiga lo sucedido.

Además, otro comunicado del mando castrense publicado hoy afirmó que un marine perteneciente a la Quinta Brigada de la Infantería de Marina murió ayer "en una acción enemiga mientras participaba en una operación en la provincia de Al Anbar", al oeste de la capital.

Más de 2.450 soldados estadounidenses han muerto en Irak desde el inicio de la guerra, en marzo de 2003, y la posterior ocupación del país árabe.

Mueren más soldados estadounidenses por acciones rebeldes en Irak

Bagdad, 16 may (PL) El Comando Central de las fuerzas estadounidenses en Irak confirmó hoy la muerte de otro de sus militares en una acción rebelde, mientras varios grupos de la resistencia se niegan a negociar con los ocupantes extranjeros.

Un efectivo asignado a la División Multinacional Bagdad pereció al estallar una bomba casera colocada por los insurrectos en un camino en el sur de esta capital.

El escueto comunicado del Ejército no reveló la identidad, ni el rango del uniformado caído, el número 42 en lo que va de mes.

Estados Unidos perdió dos mil 446 soldados en Iraq desde marzo de 2003 cuando comenzó la guerra contra este Estado árabe sin el consentimiento de la ONU y el repudio de la comunidad internacional.

El canal qatarí de televisión Al Jazeera informó este martes que cinco grupos de la resistencia sunita rechazaron iniciar conversaciones con los mandos de Estados Unidos y el Reino Unido.

"Aún no ha llegado la hora de la negociación. Los norteamericanos están intentando sacarse de encima sus problemas militares y políticos por cualquier método", subrayó un comunicado conjunto.

Las agrupaciones negadas a entablar un diálogo con los ocupantes estadounidenses y británicos son las desconocidas Brigadas Tamkim y Curación de los Habitantes de Irak.

Otras tres organizaciones son Ejército de Rachidín, Movimiento Islámico de los Muyahidines de Iraq y las Brigadas de la Revolución de 1920.

Con anterioridad, el resistente Ejército Islámico de Iraq exigió un calendario de retirada de las tropas norteamericanas de la nación árabe y que el deseo de negociar partiera de la insurgencia.

La invitación para alcanzar un acuerdo pacificador entre insurrectos e invasores fue presentada el pasado domingo por el vicepresidente de Irak, el sunita Tareq al Hachemi.

Este martes, prosiguió imperando la violencia en este país del Golfo Pérsico a consecuencia de la presencia de una coalición militar foránea encabezada por Estados Unidos.

El Ministerio iraquí del Interior informó el hallazgo de 21 cuerpos sin vida en diferentes puntos de Bagdad, nueve de ellos en avanzado estado de descomposición.

Entre las víctimas figuran un director general del Ministerio iraquí de Vivienda y un oficial de la policía.

La mayoría de los cuerpos mostraban señales de haber sido torturados y baleados, precisó el comunicado del Ministerio del Interior.

Graduados de West Point Contra la Guerra

West Point Graduates Against The War: Now Is The Time
by James Ryan

Cry "Havoc!" and let slip the dogs of war,
That this foul deed shall smell above the earth
With carrion men, groaning for burial.
Julius Caesar

Why?

We members of West Point Graduates Against The War stand appalled at
the deceitful behavior of the government of the United States and, in
particular, its widely known malefactors. Their lying, cheating,
stealing, and rendition of evasive statements not only has demeaned
these deceivers and our country, but they have placed vast numbers of
innocent people in deadly peril as a direct result of their deceptions.
We will not serve these lies, that is, we will not work for, be a
servant to, provide for, assist, or promote the interests of this
dishonorable administration. By remaining silent we tacitly serve; we
are no longer silent.

The illegal assault and occupation in Iraq has killed tens of thousands
of innocents, both American, Iraqi, and others, causing incalculable
damage to Iraq and the Iraqi people, as well as the reputation and honor
of the United States of America.

The behavior of this administration is particularly odious since it
makes mockery of the code of conduct instilled in us at West Point. "A
cadet will not lie, cheat, or steal, or tolerate those who do." This has
provided us with a lifelong respect for the truth, and a sense of
responsibility to do the right thing, even if that means admonishing our
country's leadership.

Our position may be counter to the opinion of many of our fellow
graduates. Our views are most probably not the views of the official
institution that is West Point. It does its work, we ours. Yet, we are
undeniably full-blown products of that place, trademarked by the West
Point way of behavior. "Duty, Honor, Country," the motto of the Academy,
our watchwords, as well. And we express our views as an organization of
graduates, as retired generals of similar pedigree express their own.
The difference? There are more of us than there are generals.


What?

Admiral John Paul Jones, the father of the American navy, said it best.
"I would lay down my life for America, but I cannot trifle with my
honor." This administration has done neither. Chicken hawks in wolves'
clothing, they have been derelict in duty, honor, and country.

Consider their sending under-equipped troops into battle under false
pretenses, the widely-known ignoring of Second Amendment protections of
the Constitution, the "quaintness" of the Geneva Convention, or Colin
Powell's ill-starred, mendacious UN presentation. Their lies and
misleading statements, detailed in so many places, have become epic.
They tried to make their case. They failed. Facts and time have proven
these people untrustworty and incompetent. They lied, tens of thousands
died, and that is a moral tragedy.

Shamelessly, the president of the United States mocks his own deceitful
behavior at White House Correspondents' Dinners. People have perished
from his infamous words, and he and his ilk, and the ilk of journalists,
all guffaw and wink and preen. Duty, Honor, Country? Be serious.


Who?

We are graduates of the United States Military Academy at West Point,
New York who are against the war in Iraq, and any other future wars
similarly premised. Our ranks include sons, daughters, and spouses of
deceased graduates. All of us stand in common cause against the
deceitful policies and lies of the Bush administration. We are heartened
by supporters from all over the world, but particularly the American
taxpayers who gave and maintain the life of the institution that bore us
into the adult world of service to our country. And, in that spirit, we
now act.

We are not politicians, professional media pundits, retired generals,
peace-at-any-price activists, conscientious objectors, Communists or
traitors. We seek to overthrow nothing. Except the pattern of deceit by
this administration that has so sorely damaged this country, its
standing in the world, and the world itself.

We have no historic legacy of public life that we are out to maintain
because we have had no public life. We are ordinary people, forged by
one unforgettable unifying experience - West Point. We studied there, we
trained there, we were inspired there. We are the voice of a growing
band of men and women, graduates of West Point, not perfect people, but
honorable. And we speak for the many who, because of their circumstance,
are reluctant or unable to speak.

We call likeminded graduates of West Point to stand with us and speak
out against the deceitful policies of this administration, and the
resulting destruction of the honor of the United States, and the
dissipation of its military.


Alarum and call to action

Say no to preventive war. Heed President Eisenhower's words. "When
people speak to you about a preventive war," he said, "you tell them to
go and fight it."

Say no to torture. Demand that the United States government respect the
conventions of war. We must lead by example, preserving some aspect of
humanity in the carnage and devastation. Today, we gaze into the abyss
of perpetual war. Be aware, as Nietzsche warned, "If you gaze into the
abyss, the abyss gazes also into you."

Say no to the trashing of the honor of our country. Stay the forked
tongues of this deplorable administration.

This is not a partisan issue. Both sides of the legislative chambers
have aided and abetted this corrupt administration. We exhort everyone
to stand with us and to write to their political representatives. We
will do the same. Tell them that you don't appreciate their silence on
these vital issues. Tell them to support and defend the Constitution as
they have sworn to do. Demand honorable behavior from all public
officials. Tell them how you feel about what THEY have allowed to happen
to our country. And tell them that we, West Point Graduates Against The
War, sent you. Tell them that we stand with you. It's the truth!

"Now is the time!" Martin Luther King said long ago. Indeed, NOW is the
time.

We live on the precipice of yet another "arranged" war. This time it's
Iran. As in Iraq, the demonization is well underway. The dogs of war are
foaming and gnashing. Deja vu all over again, or, as we used to say at
West Point, S.O.S, "Same Old Stuff," or words to that effect.

And all this in the name of homeland security. Please be serious. As
Dwight Eisenhower said, "If all that Americans want is security, they
can go to prison. They'll have enough to eat, a bed and a roof over
their heads. But if an American wants to preserve his dignity and his
equality as a human being, he must not bow his neck to any dictatorial
government."

Today, we have clear intimations of just such a government. We think
that Americans are not so easily cowed, and that the vast majority
demands far more than a diet of false statements, and confinement in
endless, immoral wars.

New voices can change the world. They always have. Stand with us!
James Ryan

Cofounder: West Point Graduates Against The War
(http://www.westpointgradsagainstthewar.org/)

Hartos con la guerra

Una enorme marcha contra la guerra en Irak, de más de 350,000 personas, tuvo lugar el pasado domingo en Manhattan, ciudad de Nueva York; concentración que es reflejo del creciente malestar en grandes sectores de la sociedad estadounidense por los efectos devastadores de dicho conflicto. Precisamente se celebró el último día de abril, mes que registró la pérdida de 70 soldados norteamericanos, el más alto saldo de muerte entre dichas tropas en cinco meses, cifra que alcanza ya los 2,400 soldados muertos. Las víctimas fatales entre la población iraquí se cuentan por decenas de miles, en las múltiples matanzas indiscriminadas que allí ocurren a diario. Por otro lado, se anuncia que los costos de la guerra en Irak y Afganistán, ya sobrepasan los $810 billones, según un informe del “Congressional Research Service” de Estados Unidos, el cual revela la preocupación del Congreso por los crecientes costos de dichos conflictos. Por su parte, el presidente de ese país, George W. Bush, se ha negado consistentemente a fijar una fecha para la salida de las tropas de Irak, aún a pesar de que muchas voces autorizadas consideran la guerra como perdida. A todos esos factores se añade la revelación reciente, por parte de algunos medios de prensa, de que sólo 20 hospitales han sido construidos por firmas constructoras estadounidenses en Irak, a pesar de que se asignaron fondos para la construcción de más de cien. Esto apunta hacia un escándalo mayúsculo de corrupción con los fondos para la reconstrucción de Irak. En otras palabras, Irak se ha convertido en el foso profundo de la moral estadounidense ante el mundo, arrastrando la imagen de dicho país y de su gobierno a los niveles más bajos en su historia reciente.

Tomado de Claridad.

GRAFICAS: Reclutamiento Militar - Razas y Etnias

Military Recruitment, Race and Ethnicity

The tables and charts below provide racial and demographic information on active-duty Army recruits in fiscal year 2004. Data and statistics are available by ZIP code, schools, county and state on the NPP Database . Highlights of the tables and charts can be found on the summary section of this page. Tables Top 100 Counties Ranked by Number of Army Recruits in 2004 Total Army Recruits Black Army Recruits Hispanic Army Recruits White Army Recruits Top 100 Counties Ranked by Number of Army Recruits per 1000 Youth in 2004 Total Army Recruits per 1000 Youth Black Army Recruits per 1000 Black Youth Hispanic Army Recruits per 1000 Hispanic Youth White Army Recruits per 1000 White Youth Top 50 High Schools Ranked by Number of Army Recruits in 2004 Black Hispanic Top 50 Colleges Ranked by Number of Army Recruits in 2004 Black Hispanic Other List of Army Bases by County Charts Chart 1: Racial Composition of Army Recruits v. Population in 2004 Chart 2: Army Recruits by Neighborhood Income in 2004 Chart 3: Army Recruits by Race According to Neighborhood Income in 2004 Summary Analysis of Army Recruiting in 2004 and Race and Ethnicity The following information is illustrated in the charts and tables above and includes only active-duty (or regular) Army recruits in 2004 (not reserves or National Guard). Only recruits from the 50 states and the District of Columbia are included. Top 100 Counties Ranked by Black and Hispanic Army Recruits, 2004 Of the top 100 counties ranked by the highest numbers of Hispanic Army recruits, 50 were located in three states: California, Texas and Florida. Those three states accounted for 57% of the 8,263 Hispanic Army recruits in 2004. The top 100 counties accounted for 70% of all Hispanic recruits in 2004. In 2004, the three counties with the highest numbers of Hispanic Army recruits were Los Angeles County, California with 718; Bexar County, Texas with 316; and Miami-Dade County, Florida with 288 recruits. Black recruits were slightly more spread out across the states. Fifty of the top 100 counties ranked by Black recruits were found in six states: Georgia, Virginia, New York, Florida, Texas and California. Those six states accounted for about 36% of the 10,441 Black recruits in 2004. The top 100 counties accounted for 55% of all Black recruits in 2004. In 2004, the three counties with the highest numbers of Black Army recruits were Kings County, New York; Cook County, Illinois; and Los Angeles County, California, with 239, 223, and 199 Black Army recruits, respectively. Top 100 Counties Ranked by Number of Army Recruits per 1000 Youth (15 - 24 year old), by Race and Ethnicity in 2004 Black: The county with the highest Black recruitment rate was Montgomery County, Mississippi with 12.8 Black recruits per thousand Black youth. The national rate was 1.7 Black recruits per 1000 Black youth. Hispanic: The county with the highest Hispanic recruitment rate was Eaton County, Michigan with 7.2 Hispanic recruits per 1000 Hispanic youth. The national rate was 1.2 Hispanic recruits per 1000 Hispanic youth. White: The county with the highest White recruitment rate was Petersburg City, Virginia with 14.2 White recruits per 1000 White youth. The national rate was 1.6 White recruits per 1000 White youth. Total: The county with the highest recruitment rate was Pope County, Illinois with 9.5 recruits per 1000 youth. The national rate was 1.5 recruits per 1000 youth. Cumberland County, North Carolina and Bell County, Texas appear in each of the top 100 counties ranked by number of total, Black, Hispanic and White recruits, as well as each of the top 100 county lists ranked by recruitment rate of total, Black, Hispanic, and White youth. Bell County is the home of Fort Hood and Cumberland County is the home of Fort Bragg. A total of twenty counties appear both on the lists of the top 100 counties ranked by the number of Black recruits and ranked by the Black recruitment rate. The lists for Hispanic recruitment have 29 counties in common. Income distribution of Army Recruits by Race and Ethnicity, 2004 Seventy percent of Black recruits come from neighborhoods at or below the U.S. median household income, while 64% of Hispanic recruits, and 57% of White recruits come from such neighborhoods. Neighborhoods with median household incomes at or above $60,000 (125% of the median household income) were under-represented. Within those neighborhoods, Black and Hispanic youth are over-represented in the Army recruits of 2004, while White youth are under-represented. The neighborhoods are comprised of: 5.5% Black youth, 8.9% Hispanic youth, and 76.1% White youth. Army recruits from those neighborhoods were made up of: 11.1% Black youth, 10.4% Hispanic youth, and 70.2% White youth. Top 50 High Schools Ranked by Number of Black Army Recruits, 2004 Within the top 50 high schools ranked by Black recruits, four states account for more that half of the schools: Florida and Virginia each have eight schools; and Georgia and North Carolina each have six schools. Within the top 50 high schools, 81 recruits came from Florida high schools and 82 from Virginia high schools. Four states, Florida, Virginia, Georgia, and North Carolina, made up over half (57%) of the Black high school recruits in the top 50. Of the top 50 high schools ranked by Black recruits, 47 (or 94%) have a JROTC program affiliated with some branch of the military. Of the 1,790 high schools with Black recruits, the top 50 high schools account for 529 of the 6,106 recruits (or 8.6%). Top 50 Colleges Ranked by Number of Black Army Recruits, 2004 Within the top 50 colleges ranked by the number of Black recruits, North Carolina alone had ten colleges with a total of 107 recruits. The top three colleges for Black recruits were Norfolk State University (Virginia), Fayetteville State University (North Carolina) and Florida Agriculture and Mechanical University (Florida). Out of the 559 colleges with Black recruits, the top 50 colleges with Black recruits account for 532 of the 2,210 Black recruits from colleges (or 24%). Top 50 High Schools Ranked by Hispanic Army Recruits, 2004 The top 50 high schools ranked by the number of Hispanic recruits is composed of high schools from only six states: Texas (16 schools), California (14 schools) and Florida (13 schools) made up 86% of the top 50 high schools. Within the top 50, Texas (162 recruits), Florida (171 recruits) and California (151 recruits) made up 87% of the Hispanic high school recruits from the top 50. Of the top 50 high schools, 43 (or 86%) had a JROTC program affiliated with some branch of the military. Of the 1,270 high schools with Hispanic recruits, the top 50 account for 554 out of the 4,316 Hispanic recruits (or 12.8%). Top 50 Colleges Ranked by Number of Hispanic Recruits, 2004 Within the top 50 colleges ranked by the number of Hispanic recruits, Texas alone had 20 colleges making up a total of 316 (47%) recruits from the top 50 colleges. The top three colleges with Hispanic recruits were Miami-Dade Community College (Florida), El Paso Community College (Texas), and San Antonio College (Texas). Of the 392 colleges with Hispanic recruits, the top 50 colleges account for 676 out of the 1,748 Hispanic recruits from colleges (or 38.7%). Other JROTC (Junior Reserve Officer Training Corp.) programs are represented in the formal curriculum in high schools in every state. These multi-year programs provide an introduction to the basic subject matter relevant to the particular JROTC branch as well as military history and culture. The Army has programs in 1,682 high schools; the Navy has programs in 613 high schools; the Air Force has programs in 797 high schools; and the Marines have programs in 216 high schools (not including Puerto Rico or APOs). JROTC programs exist in approximately 18% of high schools (as well as some junior high schools). Approximately 40-45% of JROTC graduates enlist in the military.* The three counties with the most military recruiters assigned were Los Angeles County, California; Cook County, Illinois; and Harris County, Texas. *D. Goodman, 'Recruiting the class of 2005,' Mother Jones, January/February, 2002.

Hispanic and Black Army?

What counties had the highest number of Hispanic and Black Army
recruits in 2004? What about high schools? And how do neighborhood
income levels compare for Black, White and Hispanic recruits?

Answers to these questions, and more summary findings are available

{http://www.nationalpriorities.org/militaryrecruits04} as part of the
National Priorities Project's expansion of the NPP Database to include
race and ethnicity data for Army recruits in 2004. The Database also
contains 2004 military recruitment data broken down by zip code, high
school, county and state, along with related statistics.

The summary findings include: The three counties with the highest
numbers of Hispanic Army recruits were Los Angeles County, Californiwith 718; Bexar County, Texas with 316; and Miami-Dade County, Florida
with 288. The three counties with the highest numbers of Black Army
recruits were Kings County, New York (239); Cook County, Illinois
(223); and Los Angeles County, California (199). The county with the
highest Hispanic recruitment rate (number of Hispanic recruits per
1000 Hispanic youths) was Eaton County, Michigan.

The county with the
highest Black recruitment rate (number of Black recruits per 1000
Black youths) was Montgomery County, Mississippi. Seventy percent of
Black recruits come from neighborhoods whose median household incomes
are below the median household income, while 64% of Hispanic recruits
and 57% of White recruits come from such neighborhoods. Within the
top 50 high schools ranked by Black recruits, 81 recruits came from
Florida high schools and 82 from Virginia high schools. Of the top 50
high schools ranked by Black recruits, 47 (or 94%) have a JROTC
program affiliated with some branch of the military. High schools
from Texas (16 schools), California (14 schools) and Florida (13
schools) made up 86% of the top 50 high schools ranked by number of
Hispanic recruits. Additional findings, along with charts and tables,
are available at www.nationalpriorities.org/militaryrecruits04
{http://www.nationalpriorities.org/militaryrecruits04