Bush da señales de que no se acabará la guerra , ni bajará el número de tropas en Irak, bendito sea Dios, Paz ya

The New York Times: At White House, a Second Look at Iraq Troop Cuts By SHERYL GAY STOLBERG and THOM SHANKER

Published: January 30, 2008

WASHINGTON — Four months after announcing troop reductions in Iraq, President Bush is now sending signals that the cuts may not continue past this summer, a development likely to infuriate Democrats and renew concerns among military planners about strains on the force.

Mr. Bush has made no decisions on troop reductions to follow those he announced last September. But White House officials said Mr. Bush had been taking the opportunity, as he did in Monday's State of the Union address, to prepare Americans for the possibility that, when he leaves office a year from now, the military presence in Iraq will be just as large as it was a year ago, or even slightly larger.

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Mr. Bush wanted to tamp down criticism that a large, sustained presence in Iraq would harm the overall health of the military — a view held not only by Democrats, but by some members of his own Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Within the Pentagon, senior officers have struggled to balance the demands of the Iraq war against the competing demands to recruit, train and retain a robust and growing ground force. That institutional tension is personified by two of Mr. Bush's top generals, David H. Petraeus, the top commander in Iraq, and George W. Casey Jr., the Army chief of staff. General Petraeus's mission is to win the war; General Casey must also worry about the health of the whole Army.

"We're concerned about the health of the force as well, but the most important thing is that they succeed in Iraq," said one senior White House official, adding, "If the commanders on the ground believe we need to maintain the troop numbers at the current level to maintain security for a little while longer, then that's what the president will do."

That strong White House tilt in favor of General Petraeus comes as he prepares to testify before Congress in April about the next step in Iraq. In September, based on General Petraeus's earlier recommendation, Mr. Bush announced that he intended to withdraw five combat brigades and Marine units — roughly 20,000 troops — from Iraq by July. That would leave 15 combat brigades in place. In his address to Congress, Mr. Bush spoke of those reductions, but not of any future ones. What a continuing commitment of 15 brigades — more than 130,000 troops — would mean for the Army as a whole is said to be a major concern of General Casey, among others on the joint staff. But officials said Mr. Bush's primary concern was not letting military gains in Iraq slip away, a warning he issued in his State of the Union address. After meeting General Petraeus in Kuwait this month, he appeared to give the general tacit permission to recommend no further troop reductions.

"My attitude is, if he didn't want to continue the drawdown, that's fine with me, in order to make sure we succeed, see," Mr. Bush said then. "I said to the general, if you want to slow her down, fine, it's up to you."

Mr. Bush hinted in September that there might be more reductions to come, although he has never made an explicit promise. The Pentagon has also not made any promises, although military planners have talked about wanting to reduce the number of brigades to 12 from 15 by the end of this year, if the security situation improves enough to permit it.

Mr. Bush's defense secretary, Robert M. Gates, has said he would like to cut even further, eventually dropping to 10 brigades if possible. But Mr. Gates has avoided using specific numbers in more recent comments, and says unswervingly that he would be guided by conditions on the ground.

At the Pentagon, officials said the withdrawal of 20,000 combat troops pledged by Mr. Bush left open the future of the 7,000 to 8,000 support and aviation troops that accompanied those "surge" combat forces.

If those extra support troops remain in Iraq even after the withdrawal of the additional combat troops, then it is possible that the number of American military personnel in Iraq after the surge could be higher than before, officials said.

Madres contra la Guerra

Sonia Margarita Santiago, portavoz

Apartado 875 Dorado, PR 00646

http:madrescontralaguerra.blogspot.com

Este caso ejemplifica cómo la guerra afecta al militar y su vida en comunidad, más casos de violencia en la vida cotidiana- no a la guerra

In More Cases, Combat Trauma Is Taking the Stand

By DEBORAH SONTAG and LIZETTE ALVAREZ

When it came time to sentence James Allen Gregg for his conviction on murder charges, the judge in South Dakota took a moment to reflect on the defendant as an Iraq combat veteran who suffered from severe post-traumatic stress disorder.
"This is a terrible case, as all here have observed," said Judge Charles B. Kornmann of United States District Court. "Obviously not all the casualties coming home from Iraq or Afghanistan come home in body bags."
Judge Kornmann noted that Mr. Gregg, a fresh-faced young man who grew up on a cattle ranch, led "an exemplary life until that day, that terrible morning." With no criminal record or psychiatric history, Mr. Gregg had started unraveling in Iraq, growing disillusioned with the war and volunteering for dangerous missions in the hope of getting killed, he testified.
Nonetheless, the judge found that Mr. Gregg's combat trauma had not rendered him incapable of comprehending his actions when he shot an acquaintance in the back, fled the scene, and then pointed the gun at himself as a SWAT team approached — the helmeted officers "low crawling," Mr. Gregg testified, and looking "like my own soldiers turning on me."
When combat veterans like Mr. Gregg stand accused of killings and other offenses on their return from Iraq and Afghanistan, prosecutors, judges and juries are increasingly prodded to assess the role of combat trauma in their crimes and whether they deserve special treatment because of it.
That idea has met with considerable resistance from prosecutors and judges leery of creating any class of offenders with distinct privileges. In Mr. Gregg's case, for instance, Judge Kornmann cautioned the jury that nobody got "a free pass to shoot somebody" because they "went to Iraq or Afghanistan or the moon."
Still, more and more, with the troops' mental health a rising concern, these defendants are succeeding in at least raising the issue of psychological war injuries. Aggressive defense lawyers, many in the military bar, are insisting that Iraq or Afghanistan be factored into the calculus of justice in these cases. They are arguing that war be seen as the backdrop for these crimes, most of which are committed by individuals without criminal records.
"I think they should always receive some kind of consideration for the fact that their mind has been broken by war," said Lt. Col. Colby Vokey, Western regional defense counsel for the Marines.
Last year, California became the first state to pass legislation dealing with the small fraction of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans who end up entangled with the law. Updating a Vietnam-era statute, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger quietly signed a bill that permitted judges to divert troubled veterans into treatment programs.
"This is going to be on my tombstone, this bill," said Pete Conaty, a Vietnam veteran who lobbied for it. "It has been a personal crusade of mine to make sure we don't make the same mistake with Iraqi vets as we did with my generation."
But the California law applies only to lesser crimes, as, in all likelihood, will any bills that it inspires, like one being debated in Minnesota.
Iraq and Afghanistan veterans facing homicide charges must defend themselves without the benefit of such laws. And in so doing, they often provoke intense moral and legal wrangling, turning local courthouses into unlikely forums for debate on the effects of the war.
Generally that debate takes place behind closed doors during plea negotiations. In cases that go to trial, however, the scene can be surreal, with Iraq commanding center stage as testimony about fingerprints and blood spatter alternates with questioning about mortar attacks in Baquba and civilian casualties in Baghdad.
Service members, sometimes wearing dress uniforms and spit-shined shoes, introduce their psychiatric evaluations into evidence and put their military colleagues on the stand to argue that the crime in question was completely out of character.
Tim Long, for instance, a company first sergeant with the South Dakota National Guard, testified about Mr. Gregg, whom he had nominated for a Bronze Star. "He's a young farm boy, you know?" he said. "Competent young man. My friend."
A Disorder Is Recognized
Born during the Vietnam War era, the combat version of what became known as the PTSD defense is being dusted off for a new generation of war veterans.
"I'm seeing it all the time now," said David P. Sheldon, a civilian lawyer in Washington who represents military personnel. "And I will not be surprised to see this resonate as a consistent theme over the next few decades when people will be committing crimes after suffering repeated traumas in Iraq."
It was in 1980, five years after the Vietnam War ended, that the psychiatric establishment first recognized post-traumatic stress disorder. Vietnam veterans quickly summoned it as a primary legal defense. In many cases, the veterans argued that they had been rendered temporarily insane as a result of flashbacks to the war while committing their crimes.
One of the first murder defendants to do so successfully was Charles G. Heads, who was found not guilty by reason of insanity for killing his brother-in-law a decade after he left Vietnam. Medical experts contended that Mr. Heads believed he was "cleaning out a hooch," or hut, in Vietnam when he kicked in a door and shot his victim.
As time went on, the PTSD defense met increasing resistance just as the use of the insanity defense was limited by many states.
Taking a more cautious approach, the current generation of war-era defendants is most often using combat trauma not to escape culpability but to explain state of mind.
Were it not for their deployment to Iraq, they argue, they probably never would have committed the crime. Before Iraq, they claim, they were not paranoid, aggressive, jumpy or suicidal; they did not carry around loaded weapons, drink to excess, misread threats or explode in anger.
"In many of these cases, you have a nasty mix: a gun, intoxication and someone inaccurately assessing their environment and the consequences of their behavior," said Thomas Grieger, a recently retired Navy forensic psychiatrist.
In general, the veterans raise their combat trauma during plea negotiations or in the sentencing phase of trials, hoping for reduced charges or a lesser sentence.
Occasionally it works.
Anthony J. Klecker, a former marine, pleaded guilty to criminal vehicular homicide for a drunken crash that killed a high school cheerleader, Deanna Casey, in Minnesota in 2006. But his lawyer argued that Mr. Klecker, 29, who had already spent a year in jail, should be sentenced to six months of inpatient treatment instead of the 48 months in prison called for by sentencing guidelines.
"Tony would never, ever claim his war experiences, associated psychological injuries and alcoholism should excuse him from responsibility for Ms. Casey's death," his lawyer, Brockton D. Hunter, wrote the judge. But, he said, Mr. Klecker was a "psychological casualty of the war in Iraq who unsuccessfully sought treatment from an overstrained Veterans Administration."
The state judge agreed to impose the alternative sentence, and Mr. Klecker was admitted to a dual program for substance abuse and PTSD at the Veterans Affairs hospital in St. Cloud, Minn.
But then things got complicated. After getting into a verbal fight with another veteran, Mr. Klecker lost his residency privileges. He was returned to jail; the prosecutor is seeking once more to send him to prison.
'A Tale of Two Places'
"This is really a tale of two places," James Gregg's lawyer said during his opening statement in 2005 in the federal courthouse in Pierre, S.D.: the Crow Creek Indian Reservation where the killing took place and "a very, very faraway" place, "a place called Iraq."
By framing the case this way from the start, the lawyer, Timothy J. Rensch, made it clear that Mr. Gregg's explanation for the "murder in Indian country," as the charge read, would be inextricably bound to his year as a National Guardsman in Iraq.
That approach rankled the prosecutor, who referred to it as "waving the flag," although Mr. Rensch stated that he was not trying to use Iraq "as an excuse" since Mr. Gregg was arguing self-defense.
"But you need to understand about Iraq and what happened to Jim over there for you to be able to see things from his point of view, and understand his thinking, and especially understand, really, his desperation at the end," Mr. Rensch said.
On the evening of July 3, 2004, Mr. Gregg, then 22, spent the night with friends in a roving pre-Independence Day celebration on the reservation where he grew up, part of a small non-Indian population. They drank at a Quonset hut bar called the Pit Stop, in a trailer community and finally at a mint farm where they built a bonfire, roasted marshmallows and made s'mores.
According to the prosecutor, Mr. Gregg got upset because a young woman accompanying him gravitated to another man. This, the prosecutor said, led to Mr. Gregg spinning the wheels of his truck and spraying gravel on a car belonging to James Fallis, 26, a former high school football lineman who grew up performing American Indian dances on what is called the powwow circuit.
Some time later, a confrontation ensued. Mr. Gregg was severely beaten by Mr. Fallis and, primarily, by another man, suffering facial fractures. Later that night, with one eye swollen shut and a fat lip, he drove to Mr. Fallis's neighborhood.
Mr. Fallis emerged from a trailer, removed his jacket, asked Mr. Gregg if he had come back for more and opened the door to Mr. Gregg's pickup truck. Mr. Gregg then reached for the pistol that he carried with him after his return from Iraq. He pointed it at Mr. Fallis and warned him to back away.
Mr. Fallis moved toward the trunk of his car, and Mr. Gregg testified that he believed Mr. Fallis was going to get a weapon. He started shooting to stop him, he said, and then Mr. Fallis veered toward his house. Mr. Gregg fired nine times, and struck Mr. Fallis with five bullets.
Mr. Gregg drove quickly away, ending up in a pasture near his parents' house. From there, he spoke on the phone to his best friend, Jacob Big Eagle, who told him that Mr. Fallis was dead.
According to Mr. Gregg's testimony, he then put a magazine of more bullets in his gun, chambered a round and pointed it at his chest.
"Jim, why were you going to kill yourself?" his lawyer asked in court, seeking to rebut the prosecutor's contention that guilt had driven him to suicidal despair.
"Because it felt like Iraq had come back," Mr. Gregg said. "I felt hopeless. All that happened, no one would believe me. That I didn't want this to happen. I never wanted to shoot him. Never wanted to hurt him. Never. Everything happened just so fast. I mean, it was almost instinct that I had to protect myself."
Tense Courtroom Atmosphere
The atmosphere in the courtroom was tense throughout the trial, with American Indians on one side of the aisle and white ranchers on the other. Complicating matters, the participants in Mr. Gregg's case traveled, in a sense, back and forth between the bluffs of the Missouri River and those of the Tigris as they grappled with the relevancy of his military experience.
Mr. Gregg joined the National Guard at 18. He was studying at a technical school, with the goal of becoming a diesel mechanic, when his combat engineering company, whose expertise resided in bridge building, was shipped to Iraq in the spring of 2003.
"He left for Iraq enthusiastic and energetic and eager to serve his country," wrote one of four mental health professionals, including two government officials, who diagnosed PTSD in Mr. Gregg. He "returned impaired by PTSD complicated by his disillusionment with the military operation in Iraq."
After building a bridge across the Tigris River, his National Guard company effectively became an infantry unit. Mr. Gregg estimated that he searched well over 10,000 vehicles and fired over 1,000 rounds.
Mr. Gregg found checkpoint duty unbearable, said Michael Furois, a Department of Veterans Affairs psychologist who treated him after his arrest. According to Mr. Furois's testimony, Mr. Gregg disliked "standing guard at a gate when the Iraq civilians would bring in their dead or wounded and would be yelling and crying and blaming those at the gate for that occurring."
After many months in Iraq, Mr. Gregg testified, he began to think about suicide, hoping that his "chance" at death would come if he volunteered for dangerous missions. His superior officer, Sergeant Long, testified that he selected him for a nighttime patrol team, instructing them never to hesitate when they perceived a threat because "if you hesitate, you're dead."
Cross-examining Sergeant Long, Mikal G. Hanson, an assistant United States attorney, asked him if he were implying that his instruction about hesitating had caused Mr. Gregg, on his return to the United States, to shoot "an unarmed civilian."
"I hope not," Sergeant Long said.
When Mr. Gregg's tour of duty ended in March 2004, he started drinking heavily to ease his stress and expressed the wish that he had died in Iraq.
Mental health experts for the defense said, as one psychiatrist testified, that "PTSD was the driving force behind Mr. Gregg's actions" when he shot his victim. Having suffered a severe beating, they said, he experienced an exaggerated "startle reaction" — a characteristic of PTSD — when Mr. Fallis reached for his car door, and responded instinctively.
Mr. Gregg's trial lawyer put it theatrically: When Mr. Fallis rushed at Mr. Gregg, he said, Mr. Gregg switched into military mode. "What does he think?" the lawyer said. "Lethal threat, lethal threat, lethal threat, neutralize threat, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, continues to shoot."
The prosecutor, reflecting his skepticism about this explanation, asked Mr. Gregg if he had been a "walking time bomb" since Iraq. "You're not telling this jury," Mr. Hanson said, "that National Guard members like yourself that went through that experience are a threat to kill people?"
Mr. Gregg: "I wouldn't know."
The prosecutor also referred to Mr. Gregg's military experiences for his own purposes, asking whether military trainers tried to strengthen soldiers' minds as well as bodies.
"Not really," Mr. Gregg said. "They actually break down your mind."
"Break down your mind," Mr. Hanson said. "Explain that to the jury."
"They break down your mind, and then they try to build you back up," Mr. Gregg said.
"Into a killer?" the prosecutor asked.
"Yes," Mr. Gregg said.
The jury found Mr. Gregg guilty of second-degree but not first-degree murder. The judge later referred to this as having "dodged a bullet, so to speak."
The Sentence: 21 Years
Judge Kornmann also said in court that he found the case troubling, calling the sentencing hearing "one of those days" when he wondered whether he should have declined the offer by Tom Daschle, the former Senate majority leader from South Dakota, to nominate him for a federal judgeship.
"I see these stickers that people have on their vehicles saying, 'Support the troops,' " Judge Kornmann said. "I don't see much support for the troops as years go on when these people come back injured and maimed."
Nonetheless, the judge said that Mr. Gregg did not deserve any of the "downward departures" from sentencing guidelines that his lawyers had requested in consideration of his military service, his PTSD and his crime-free record. The mandatory minimum for a federal offense involving a gun is 10 years, and Mr. Gregg's lawyers indicated that they hoped he would be sentenced to no more than 12.
Judge Kornmann handed down a 21-year sentence.
Through a relative who works for the prominent law firm of WilmerHale, Mr. Gregg secured the company's services; his case was taken pro bono.
In late June, Mr. Gregg's lawyers filed a habeas corpus petition, seeing to vacate his conviction on the basis of ineffective assistance of trial counsel. Mr. Rensch, they argue, did not demonstrate that Mr. Gregg's state of mind was heavily influenced by being "vividly aware of specific, dramatic instances of past violent acts" by his victim.
While Mr. Gregg awaits the outcome, he is locked in a federal medical prison in Rochester, Minn., where he tried to kill himself on one occasion and has been placed on suicide watch episodically. If all efforts to free him fail, he is projected to be released on July 22, 2023, a few weeks shy of his 42nd birthday.

Madres contra la Guerra

Sonia Margarita Santiago, portavoz
Apartado 875 Dorado, PR 00646
http:madrescontralaguerra.blogspot.com

Más dinero para la guerra, Bush pedirá otros $70,000 millones al Congreso

.Por The Associated Press

WASHINGTON — La Casa Blanca le pedirá la semana próxima al Congreso otros $70,000 millones para las guerras de Irak y Afganistán, un monto que ayudaría a cubrir los costos operativos sólo hasta comienzos del 2009, cuando asuma el nuevo gobierno.

El portavoz del Pentágono Bryan Whitman expresó el lunes que el dinero, incluido como parte del pedido de presupuesto del 2009, podría ser considerado una "concesión de emergencia" para pagar los operativos a partir del 1 de octubre, cuando comienza el año fiscal, posiblemente hasta enero.

El presidente George W. Bush pidió más que el doble de esa cantidad — $196,400 millones— para financiar los operativos de combate en este año fiscal.

La oposición demócrata aún está obstaculizando el monto. De los casi $200,000 millones del presupuesto, el Congreso ha aprobado menos de la mitad —$70,000 millones para operaciones generales y $16,800 millones para vehículos blindados.

http://www.elnuevodia.com/diario/noticia/mundiales/noticias/mas_dinero_para_la_guerra_/353594

 

 

Brattleboro to vote on arresting Bush, Cheney for war crimes

By Susan Smallheer Herald Staff

Brattleboro residents will vote at town meeting on whether President George Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney should be indicted and arrested for war crimes, perjury or obstruction of justice if they ever step foot in Vermont.
The Brattleboro Select Board voted 3-2 Friday to put the controversial item on the Town Meeting Day warning.
According to Town Clerk Annette Cappy, organizers of the Bush-Cheney issue gathered enough signatures, and it was up to the Select Board whether Brattleboro voters would consider the issue in March.
Cappy said residents will get to vote on the matter by paper balloting March 4.
Kurt Daims, 54, of Brattleboro, the organizer of the petition drive, said Friday the debate to get the issue on the ballot was a good one. Opposition to the vote focused on whether the town had any power to endorse the matter.
"It is an advisory thing," said Daims, a retired prototype machinist and stay-at-home dad of three daughters.
So far, Vermont is the only state Bush hasn't visited since he became president in 2001.
Daims said the most grievous crime committed by Bush and Cheney was perjury — lying to Congress and U.S. citizens about the basis of a war in Iraq.
He said the latest count showed a total of 600,000 people have died in the war.
Daims also said he believed Bush and Cheney were also guilty of espionage for spying on American people and obstruction of justice, for the politically generated firings of U.S. attorneys.
Voting to put the matter on the town ballot were Chairwoman Audrey Garfield and board members Richard Garrant and Dora Boubalis.
Voting against the idea were board members Richard DeGray and Stephen Steidle.
Daims said the names submitted to the town clerk's office were the second wave of signatures the petition drive had to collect, because he had to rewrite the wording of the petition.
He said he gathered nearly 500 signatures in about three weeks, and he said most people he encountered were eager to sign it. He started the petition drive about three months ago.
"Everybody I talked to wanted Bush to go," he said, noting that even members of the local police department supported the drive.
"This is exactly what the charter envisioned as a citizen initiative," Daims said. "People want to express themselves and they want to say how they feel."
He said the idea is spreading: Activists in Louisville, Ky., are spearheading a similar drive, and he said activists were also working in Montague, Mass., a Berkshires town.
The article asked the town attorney to "draft indictments against President Bush and Vice President Cheney for crimes against our Constitution and publish said indictments for consideration by other authorities."
The article goes on to say the indictments would be the "law of the town of Brattleboro that the Brattleboro police ... arrest and detain George Bush and Richard Cheney in Brattleboro, if they are not duly impeached ..."
Daims said people in Brattleboro were willing to "think outside the box" and consider the issue.
Daims had no compunction in comparing Bush and Cheney with one of the most notorious people in history.
"If Hitler were still alive and walked through Brattleboro, I think the local police would arrest him for war crimes," Daims said.

http://www.rutlandherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080126/NEWS04/801260359/1003/NEWS02

aquí en español http://www.minutouno.com/1/hoy/article/67352-Bush-podría-ser-acusado-de-crímenes-de-guerra-en-una-ciudad-de-EE.UU./

MUEREN CINCO SOLDADOS ESTADOUNIDENSES, BENDITO SEA DIOS

Las Madres contra la guerra denunciamos estas y tantas muertes de iraquíes, boricuas y estadounidenses, exigimos la paz...

Por Agencia EFE

Bagdad - Cinco soldados estadounidenses murieron hoy tras el estallido de un artefacto explosivo al paso de una patrulla en Mosul, capital de la provincia de Ninive, unos 400 kilómetros al norte de Bagdad, informó el mando norteamericano.
Tras el atentado, que tuvo lugar en el sur de la ciudad, los militares fueron atacados con armas de fuego por un grupo de hombres, indica un comunicado del Ejército estadounidense.
El atentado se produce un día después de que el mando norteamericano anunciase que uno de sus uniformados perdiese la vida ayer por la detonación de una bomba al paso del vehículo en que se trasladaba, en el noreste de Bagdad.
Asimismo, un soldado norteamericano falleció el sábado pasado en un ataque similar que tuvo lugar en el barrio de mayoría chií de Kadimiya, en el este de la capital iraquí.
Con las cinco nuevas bajas mortales de hoy, asciende a 3,934 el número de militares norteamericanos muertos en Irak desde que la coalición multinacional invadió y ocupó el país árabe, en marzo de 2003.
Madres contra la Guerra
Sonia Margarita Santiago, portavoz
Apartado 875 Dorado, PR 00646
http:madrescontralaguerra.blogspot.com

George McGovern reclama juicio político para Bush-Cheney

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/04/AR2008010404308.html
por George McGovern
En este octavo año del Gobierno de Bush-Cheney, aunque tardíamente, he llegado a la penosa conclusión de que el único camino honroso que debo asumir es el de instar a que tanto el presidente como su vicepresidente se sometan a juicio político.
Después de los comicios presidenciales de 1972, me mantuve al margen de los llamados a favor de que el Presidente Richard M. Nixon se sometiera a un juicio político por su mala conducta durante la campaña. Me pareció que si me sumaba a las voces que pedían ese proceso, ello se vería como una expresión de venganza personal contra el presidente que me había derrotado.
Hoy adopto una posición diferente.
http://www.visionesalternativas.com/article.asp?ID=%7B31A0F7E4-99A5-46CF-A24F-518F9010ABAB%7D&language=ES para continuar en español pulse aquí

1 día = $720 millones

MCG felicita a D. Estela Ortega y apoyamos el apelar sentencia en caso fabricado a su hijo

Madre de José Padilla ve una batalla ganada, pero adelanta que apelarán

La madre del convicto José Padilla adelantó hoy, martes, que apelarán la sentencia de 17 años y cuatro meses de cárcel que le impuso el martes una jueza de Miami.

Para Estela Ortega, la condena impuesta por la jueza de distrito Marcia Cooke demuestra que "no encontró evidencia completa de lo que dijo el gobierno" de Estados Unidos, que acusó a su hijo de ser un enemigo combatiente.

"¿Dónde están esos cargos? Estoy contenta porque todo lo que se dijo se comprobó que son mentiras. Ahí no había evidencia concreta de que mi hijo es terrorista, ni es talibán ni es nada de eso. Este era un caso fabricado contra mi hijo", sostuvo en entrevista telefónica con Prensa Asociada.

"Nosotros vamos a apelar la sentencia. Esto no se ha acabado, ahora es que se va a poner mejor esto. Dios es tan grande y tan bueno, se hizo justicia hoy", añadió Otero.

Recordó que su hijo fue detenido en el 2002 y que, en ese momento, no se le leyeron las advertencias de rigor antes de ser entrevistado durante más de siete horas por agentes del Negociado Federal de Investigaciones (FBI, en inglés).

"Cuando a José Padilla lo pararon en Chicago y no le leyeron los 'Miranda Rights'... eso fue un acosamiento, lo tuvieron a él solo haciéndole preguntas y ya habían pasado siete horas y él les decía, yo todavía hoy lo dice: 'Yo vine aquí a ver a mi hijo y mi mamá'. Este es un caso fabricado", insistió.

Padilla, de origen puertorriqueño y quien estuvo tres años y medio encarcelado como un enemigo combatiente, había sido acusado inicialmente de tramar con al-Qaida para detonar una bomba radiactiva, pero fue sentenciado el martes por otros cargos que no se mencionaron en esas acusaciones iniciales.

Fue hallado culpable por un jurado el 16 de agosto de haber ayudado a extremistas islámicos a conspirar para atacar al gobierno de Estados Unidos luego del 11 de septiembre de 2001.

Padilla fue detenido en junio de 2002 en el aeropuerto de Chicago, y el gobierno lo señaló como un hombre clave de la organización terrorista al-Qaida que planificaba detonar una bomba sucia radioactiva en una ciudad de Estados Unidos. Esa acusación nunca se presentó al tribunal.

Luego de un juicio de tres meses y de sólo un día y medio de deliberaciones, Padilla y dos coacusados extranjeros fueron convictos por conspirar para asesinar, secuestrar y mutilar personas y dos cargos de proveer material para apoyar terroristas.

Padilla es un ciudadano estadounidense que se convirtió al islamismo. Tiene 37 años.

Cooke también impuso en agosto penas de prisión para dos hombres originarios del Medio Oriente, encontrados culpables de confabulación y apoyar con recursos al terrorismo, junto con Padilla. Los tres formaban parte de una célula norteamericana de apoyo para la red al-Qaida y otros extremistas islámicos del mundo, dijeron las autoridades.

Cooke sentenció al reclutador de Padilla, Adham Amin Hassoun, de 45 años, a 15 años y ocho meses de prisión, y al tercer acusado, Kifah Wael Jayyousi, de 46, a 12 años y ocho meses. Jayyousi era el encargado de finanzas y propaganda de la célula, que prestaba ayuda a extremistas islámicos en Chechenia, Afganistán, Somalia y el resto del mundo, de acuerdo con los testimonios vertidos en el juicio. Ambos enfrentaban cadena perpetua.

http://www.primerahora.com/noticia/otras/noticias/madre_de_jose_padilla_ve_una_batalla_ganada,_pero_adelanta_que_apelaran/150016

Iraquíes culpan a la invasión de EEUU como el motivo de sus discordias

¿Se perdió usted esta noticia? Debería haber sido la principal en todos los periódicos y programas de radio y televisión en USA. El Washington Post la publicó en la página 14. En casi todos los otros medios estaba en la página 0, el canal 0, la frecuencia 0000 AM o la 00.0 FM.

Los militares de USA en Iraq contrataron una firma para realizar sesiones de grupo (focus groups) con muestras representativas de la población. El Washington Post obtuvo un resumen del informe sobre los resultados. Estos son algunos de los aspectos más destacados del informe revelado por el periódico.

* Hasta que USA ocupó Iraq en marzo de 2003, los suníes y los shiíes coexistían pacíficamente.

* Los iraquíes de todos los grupos religiosos y étnicos creen que la invasión militar de USA es la causa principal de las diferencias violentas entre ellos.

* Cuando USA salga de Iraq, la reconciliación nacional ocurrirá de manera "natural".

* "Todas estas sesiones de grupo estaban permeadas por un sentimiento de posibilidades vistas con optimismo… y entre estos grupos aparentemente diversos de iraquíes hay muchos más puntos en común que diferencias."

* Dividir Iraq en tres estados impediría la reconciliación nacional. (Solamente los kurdos aceptaron esta opción.)

* La mayoría afirmó que los elementos negativos de la vida en Iraq comenzaron con la ocupación de USA.

* Muy pocos mencionaron a Saddam Husseim como la causa de sus problemas, lo cual se describe en el informe como un hallazgo importante, pues implica que "la lucha actual en Iraq parece haber eclipsado totalmente los sufrimientos o agravios que muchos iraquíes achacaban al régimen anterior, el cual duró casi cuarenta años, en comparación con el conflicto actual que ha durado cinco años."

El Washington Post agregó esta nota:

"Aparte de los militares, algunas de las encuestas más extensas en Iraq las ha realizado D3 Systems, compañía con sede en Virginia que tiene oficinas en las 18 provincias de Iraq. La encuesta publicada en fecha más reciente, efectuada en septiembre para varias organizaciones de noticias, también mostraba, al igual que las sesiones de grupo de los militares, que los iraquíes están convencidos de que las cosas mejorarán cuando USA se vaya. Una encuesta del Departamento de Estado realizada en septiembre de 2006 arrojaba el mismo resultado."

Podemos agregar que USA ha encontrado la manera perfecta de contrarrestar esas tontas actitudes del pueblo iraquí. El 10 de enero, Associated Press informaba que: "El jueves, aviones bombarderos y de combate de USA lanzaron en 10 minutos más de 18.000 kilos de explosivos sobre los barrios del sur de Bagdad, en uno de los peores ataques aéreos de la guerra, y destruyeron totalmente lo que los militares denominaron santuarios de Al Qaeda en Iraq." No se mencionaba si los aviones también habían lanzado panfletos diciendo. "Los bombardeamos porque nos importan."

El pasado 20 de diciembre, la Asamblea Nacional de Panamá declaró esa fecha como "día de duelo nacional" en conmemoración de la invasión de USA ocurrida el 20 de diciembre de 1989. "Esto es un reconocimiento a los caídos del 20 de diciembre, producto de la cruenta e injusta invasión por el ejército más poderoso del mundo'', dijo el legislador César Pardo, del gobernante Partido Revolucionario Democrático, con mayoría en la Asamblea Nacional. Funcionarios de USA restaron importancia al asunto.

"Preferimos mirar al futuro," dijo un vocero de la Embajada de USA. "Estamos muy satisfechos de tener un amigo y socio como Panamá, una nación que ha logrado desarrollar una democracia madura."

Al igual que cuando atacó Iraq el 19 de marzo de 2003, USA, sin ninguna provocación y contraviniendo las leyes internacionales (sí, otra guerra de agresión), primero bombardeó Panamá y luego lo invadió por tierra y asesinó a varios miles de panameños, sin ofrecer ninguna razón creíble para este comportamiento patológico. Quizá algún día, en un Iraq libre e independiente, el 19 de marzo sea declarado día de duelo nacional.

William Blum

Fuente: http://www.counterpunch.org/blum01142008.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/18/AR2007121802262_pf.html

The Iraq War: Legal or Illegal?

El enfermero Doug Connor denuncia condiciones deplorables en el hospital militar Walter Reed y acoso en au contra al hacer las denuncias

Ongoing Problems at Walter Reed
By Matt Renne t r u t h o u t Interview

Tuesday 15 January 2008

"Nothing has changed [at Walter Reed]. Same facility. None of the recommendations that I made have been implemented and to my knowledge they really aren't working on it."

Former Army Lt. and military nurse Doug Connor sat down for an interview with Truthout reporter Geoffrey Millard to share his experience before and after the Walter Reed Medical Center scandal broke.

Encouraged by the firings of top military officials as a result of the problems at Walter Reed, Connor spoke out about the dilapidated conditions at Walter Reed. He sent a letter to Gen. Gregory A. Schumacher with recommendations for improving conditions in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) where there were equipment shortages and outbreaks of infectious bacteria, including extremely dangerous drug-resistant forms of Acinetobacter baumannii, a bacterium that has been ravaging injured soldiers in Iraq and in domestic military hospitals.

The infection problems caused other units within the hospital to lose faith in the ICU's ability to care for surgical patients. Because of the infections, "the kidney transplant team will not recover their patients in the surgical ICU anymore," Connor said in the interview.

According to Connor, his recommendations were not acted upon. Instead, he claims that he was retaliated against. "I thought he would thank me for letting him know where there were areas that needed to be fixed ... I have been retaliated against because of the letters that I have sent out. It is pretty transparent ... Everyone that has seen what happened around me is just like 'yeah, they're going after you.'"

---

para escuchar la entrevista: www.truthout.org

Connor is a member of Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW).

---

Matt Renner is an assistant editor and Washington reporter for Truthout

Madres contra la Guerra
Sonia Margarita Santiago, portavoz
Apartado 875 Dorado, PR 00646
http:madrescontralaguerra.blogspot.com

Aumentan los crímenes a manos de veteranos

NUEVA YORK( AP 13-1-08 ) Al menos 121 veteranos de guerra de Irak y de Afganistán han cometido un homicidio o han sido acusados de ello al regresar a Estados Unidos, informó el domingo The New York Times.El matutino dijo que también había registrado 349 homicidios entre todos los efectivos militares en servicio activo y nuevos veteranos en los seis años desde que se inició la acción militar en Afganistán, y luego en Irak. Eso representa un 89% de incremento sobre el previo período de seis años, indicó el periódico.

Alrededor de tres cuartas partes de esos homicidios involucraron a veteranos de Afganistán y de Irak, dijo el diario. El informe no señaló de manera exacta la relación entre esos casos y los 121 homicidios también mencionados en el informe.

El diario dijo que su investigación involucró examinar informes de prensa locales, analizar registros policiales, judiciales y militares, y entrevistar a acusados, a sus abogados y a sus familias, entre otros.

El teniente coronel Les Melnyk, vocero del ejército, cuestionó los métodos de investigación del New York Times, dijo el periódico. Melnyk indicó que el periódico había sumado a los asesinatos otros episodios de homicidio no intencional. También sugirió que el aparente incremento podría reflejar sólo "un aumento en la atención a las fuerzas armadas por parte de reporteros a partir de los atentados del 11 de septiembre del 2001".

Los 121 asesinatos iban desde tiroteos y apuñalamientos hasta ahogar a personas en bañeras. También se incluyeron accidentes fatales causados por manejar en estado de ebriedad, dijo el periódico. Todos los implicados, excepto uno, eran hombres.

Una tercera parte de las víctimas eran novias o familiares de los homicidas. Eso incluyó una bebita de dos años asesinada por su padre, un soldado de 20 años de edad que se estaba recuperando de heridas sufridas en Irak.

Una cuarta parte de las víctimas eran miembros de las fuerzas armadas. Un efectivo militar fue apuñaleado y luego incinerado por sus camaradas de armas un día después que todos regresaron de Irak.

http://www.wapa.tv/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=7185&Itemid=57

Puerto Rico se une a Protesta mundial en el quinto aniversario de la invasión a Irak: sábado 15 de marzo

Madres contra la Guerra anuncia protesta mundial masiva en el quinto aniversario de la invasión a irak: sábado 15 de marzo de 12:00-1:00 pm frente a las instalaciones de la Guardia Nacioana en la avenida Roosevelt en Hato Rey y nos unimos a los planteamientos de la siguiente declaración suscrita en Londres, acordada por 1,200 delegadas y delegados de 26 países, donde estuvimos representadas :

Declaración :1 de diciembre de 2007: Esta conferencia de delegadas y delegados de movimientos por la paz, contra la guerra, antiimperialistas y de liberación, de todo el mundo, declara su oposición a la "guerra sin fin" llevada a cabo por el gobierno estadounidense contra Estados, pueblos y movimientos en todo nuestro planeta. Nos oponemos a la interferencia de EEUU, y de sus aliados, en Estados soberanos, y afirmamos el derecho a la autodeterminación de todos los pueblos. Apoyamos a todos los que luchan por la paz y contra el imperialismo. En particular, exigimos: • El fin inmediato de la ocupación militar ilegal de Irak, que ha causado centenares de miles de muertos y ha producido el desplazamiento de millones de personas, la retirada de totes les tropas extranjeras y la plena transferencia de soberanía al pueblo iraquí y a sus representantes. • Que paren todos los preparativos para un ataque a Irán, así como el compromiso de que se solucione cualquier tema exclusivamente mediante la diplomacia. • La retirada de las tropas extranjeras de Afganistán, permitiendo al pueblo afgano decidir su propio futuro. • Justicia para el pueblo palestino, y el final de la agresión israelí en todo Oriente Medio. • El fin de los planes de EEUU respecto a escudos anti misiles, y que todos los Estados promuevan activamente el desarme nuclear. Reafirmamos la solidaridad entre todos aquellos que luchan por la paz, la justicia social y la autodeterminación en todo el mundo, y nos comprometemos a reforzar nuestra unidad y a desarrollar nuevas formas de cooperación. Por tanto, designamos el aniversario de la invasión de Irak como un día mundial de acción a favor de las demandas :NINGÚN ATAQUE A IRÁN y TROPAS FUERA DE IRAK/AFGANISTÁN. Llamamos a todos los movimientos antiguerra nacionales a convocar protestas y manifestaciones masivas para este día. En Puerto Rico: sábado 15 de marzo de 2008, 12:00-1:00 pm frente a las instalaciones de la Guardia Nacional de Estados unidos en la avenida Roosevelt en Hato Rey ... porque la maternidad es vida y la guerra es la antítesis de la maternidad, poque más de un millón de civiles iraquíes han fallecido, 4,000 estadounidenses y 86 boricuas, queremos un mundo de paz... Endosa la declaración y marcha; únete: madrescontralaguerra@yahoo.com

Madres contra la Guerra

Sonia Margarita Santiago, portavoz

Apartado 875 Dorado, PR 00646

http:madrescontralaguerra.blogspot.com

Un Infante de la marina de guerra estadounidense declara en investigación sobre tiroteo masivo en Afganistán

9-1-08

Un Infante de la marina de guerra estadounidense declara en investigación sobre tiroteo masivo en Afganistán

Un ex infante de marina estadounidense fue el primero en declarar en una investigación sobre la masacre de al menos 19 civiles afganos perpetrada por fuerzas estadounidenses en marzo del año pasado. El martes, el ex sargento de inteligencia Nathaniel Travers declaró que vio a otros infantes de marina balear a civiles afganos desarmados en una carretera abierta. El tiroteo indiscriminado tuvo lugar tras un atentado suicida con coche bomba contra el convoy de la Marina. Ningún infante de marina resultó herido en el ataque. Hasta el momento no se han presentado cargos contra ningún infante de marina.
para más información: www.democracynow.org


Madres contra la Guerra
Sonia Margarita Santiago, portavoz
Apartado 875 Dorado, PR 00646
http:madrescontralaguerra.blogspot.com

Estudio de la OMS revela que entre 2003 y 2006 hubo 120 muertes violentas diarias en Irak

Iraquíes identifican el cadáver de un familiar víctima de un atentado...Las cifras incluyen mujeres y niños iraquíes muertos por la guerra que Estados Unidos mantiene en Irak

GINEBRA - Desde marzo de 2003, fecha de la intervención estadounidense en Irak, hasta junio de 2006, fallecieron una media de 120 personas diarias por causas violentas, según un informe de la Organización Mundial de la Salud (OMS) publicado el miércoles.

Según esta estadística, la primera de este tipo, entre 104.000 y 223.000 iraquíes fallecieron "por muerte violenta" en el mencionado periodo. Más de la mitad de las muertes se produjeron en Bagdad, según el estudio hecho público por la web del New England Journal of Medicine.

Para realizar el estudio, la OMS se basó en los datos recogidos tras visitar 9.345 hogares dispersados en más de un millar de barrios y pueblos de todo el país. "En ausencia de una contabilidad completa de la mortalidad por parte de los servicios civiles y los hospitales, las encuestras en los hogares son el mejor método del que disponemos", aseguró uno de los autores del estudio, Mohamed Ali.

La investigación también señala que la guerra que EEUU mantiene en Irak, se convirtió en la primera causa de muerte para los hombres entre 15 y 59 años, desde que las tropas estadounidense invadieran el país árabe, hace ya casi cinco años.

"Las cifras que se extraen de esta encuesta son tres veces más elevadas que las ofrecidas por (la ONG) Iraq Body Count en base a un estudio sistemático de lo publicado en prensa", destacó el representante de la OMS en Irak, Naeema Al Gasseer.

"Hay muchas incertidumbres al hacer estas estimaciones," dijo el especialista en estadísticas de la OMS Mohamed Ali, coautor del estudio, a periodistas en una conferencia telefónica. Señaló que la inseguridad que reina en el país ocupado hizo que algunas áreas de las provincias de Bagdad y Anbar fuesen inalcanzables para los realizadores del informe. Además, muchas familias huyeron de sus hogares a causa de la violencia, y algunos dejaron el país, lo que hace difícil que den una evaluación precisa de la violencia en Irak. Por este motivo, Ali señaló que el margen de error de la cifra era relativamente alto.

Un controvertido estudio de la Universidad John Hopkins publicado en 2006, señaló que más de 600 mil iraquíes murieron desde que EEUU invadió a Irak y hasta la fecha de publicación de la investigación.

Esta semana, el presidentes estadounidense, George W. Bush, dijo en la Casa Blanca que "hay grandes esperanzas en Irak" y que "los iraquíes empiezan a ver que el progreso político va a la par con los avances sustanciales en seguridad en este último año".

El 10 de enero de 2007, Bush anunció un cambio en la estrategia para Irak, que incluía la adopción del plan del general David Petraeus. El plan contemplaba un fuerte incremento de la presencia militar estadounidense, con el envió de 30 mil soldados adicionales a la guerra, que elevó de 132 mil a 168 mil el número de soldados en Irak.

Al cumplirse un año de la decisión de enviar tropas suplementarias a Irak, Washington afirma que "el envío de refuerzos fue, hasta ahora, un éxito", dijo el martes el subsecretario estadounidense de Defensa a cargo de Oriente Medio, Mark Kimmitt, durante una conferencia de expertos.

Pero lo cierto es que, además de los miles de civiles iraquíes muertos, desde la invasión de Irak han fallecido también unos 4 mil soldados estadounidenses, y casi 40 mil han sufrido heridas, mientras que 2007 cerró con una cifra récord, con más de 900 militares muertos en combate en una guerra en la que EEUU ha gastado más de 500 mil millones de dólares.

nn-Efe-Bbc-Rt-Afp-NN

http://es.noticias.yahoo.com/afp/20080110/twl-irak-onu-oms-violencia-696b303_1.html

http://www.telesurtv.net/secciones/noticias/nota/22944/guerra-de-eeuu-en-irak-mato-a-unos-120-iraquies-diarios-entre-2003-y-2006/

JOSÉ PADILLA DEMANDA JUNTO A SU MADRE AL ABOGADO AUTOR INTELECTUAL DE LAS TORTURAS QUE HA SUFRIDO

UC Berkeley lawyer who justified harsh treatment of detainees sued

Bob Egelko, Chronicle Staff Writer

Saturday, January 5, 2008

A man who was held in isolation for more than three years before being tried and convicted of aiding terrorists filed suit Friday against the UC Berkeley law professor and former Justice Department official whose memos justified inflicting physical and mental pain during interrogations.

Military officials relied on John Yoo's writings in subjecting Jose Padilla to prolonged sensory deprivation, sleep interruption, stress positions and other techniques designed to break his will, Padilla's lawyers said in a lawsuit filed in San Francisco. Padilla faces sentencing Monday in Miami.

The same lawyers filed a similar suit in South Carolina last year against former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and other Pentagon officials who they said authorized Padilla's detention and harsh treatment. One new element in Friday's suit against Yoo is that it seeks to hold a former government lawyer responsible for allegedly unconstitutional acts by officials who followed his legal advice.

"John Yoo was central to the justification and creation of the torture system," Jonathan Freiman, an attorney at a Yale Law School human rights clinic who represents Padilla, said in a statement. "What Yoo seems to have forgotten is that lawyers are not above the law."

Carl Tobias, a University of Richmond law professor, said the suit faces difficult hurdles because lawyers normally can't be held liable for the consequences of their advice, or government officials for their policy decisions.

Yoo was unavailable for comment. In a 2006 book, "War by Other Means," he described working on a memo that led to Padilla's 2002 detention in a Navy brig, and also defended his August 2002 memo on interrogation methods that was cited in Friday's lawsuit.

That memo, written to then-White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales, said legal prohibitions against torture applied only to the infliction of pain as severe as that caused by "organ failure, impairment of bodily function or even death." It also said the president may have the constitutional power to authorize torture of enemy combatants.

The Justice Department repudiated the memo in 2004, when Gonzales was up for confirmation as attorney general. Before the document surfaced, the official who signed it, Jay Bybee, Yoo's Justice Department supervisor, was appointed by President Bush to the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco.

Padilla, a U.S. citizen and Muslim convert, was arrested in Chicago in 2002 and accused by Bush administration officials of plotting with al Qaeda to detonate a radioactive "dirty bomb."

He was declared an enemy combatant by Bush and held in a brig without charges for 3 1/2 years, then charged with taking part in an unrelated conspiracy to provide money and supplies to Islamic extremist groups, with no reference to the alleged radioactive bomb. After prosecutors offered evidence of a document linking Padilla to an al Qaeda training camp in Afghanistan, he and two co-defendants were convicted in August.

Padilla's lawyers have cited his treatment in the brig in an unsuccessful attempt to dismiss the charges and in opposing a life sentence sought by the government. Prosecutors say his treatment in military custody was irrelevant to the case and deny that he was tortured.

Friday's civil suit, filed on behalf of Padilla and his mother, Estela Lebron, said he had been subjected to physical and mental abuse throughout his confinement. He was kept in a blacked-out cell, hooded whenever he was let out, prevented from sleeping by loud noises, shackled or forced to stand in painful positions for long periods, exposed to extreme heat, cold and noxious fumes, threatened with death and denied access to lawyers, relatives or anyone else except his guards and interrogators, the suit says.

Padilla's lawyers said government documents show that Defense Department officials relied on Yoo's advice, in the August 2002 memo and other writings that "purported to provide legal justification for unprecedented and illegal detention and interrogation techniques." Although Padilla's lawyers say he suffered serious psychological harm and violations of numerous constitutional rights, the suit seeks only token damages of $1, along with a declaration that Yoo acted illegally.

Madres contra la Guerra
Sonia Margarita Santiago, portavoz
Apartado 875 Dorado, PR 00646
http:madrescontralaguerra.blogspot.com

Emotiva partida de soldados boricuas

http://www.elnuevodia.com/diario/noticia/puertoricohoy/noticias/emotiva_partida_de_soldados_boricuas/341540

Entre sollozos y aplausos, familiares despiden a 43 militares, que estarán destacados por un año en Afganistán.

Permanecerán ocho semanas en suelo estadounidense para los entrenamientos de rigor y, luego, partirán hacia Afganistán. (Ángel M. Rivera/ END)

Por Cynthia López Cabán / End.cynthia.lopez@elnuevodia.com

Todavía no salía el sol cuando unos 43 soldados boricuas de la Reserva del Ejército de Estados Unidos arribaron al aeropuerto internacional Luis Muñoz Marín para iniciar la travesía que los llevará a Afganistán por un año.

Algunos llegaron con cara de susto. Otros, evitaban pensar en la magnitud de la tarea que les espera en el convulso país. Mientras, unos pocos vacilaban al bajar su equipaje de la guagua que los transportó desde el Fuerte Buchanan, en Guaynabo. Muchos llegaron sin familiares para evitar el trago amargo de la despedida en la víspera del Día de Reyes, pero los que llegaron acompañados recibían abrazos y estrujones de sus hijos, esposas, madres y padres.

El grupo de la Compañía 268 de Transportación y Carga partió en dos vuelos diferentes con destino al Fuerte Lewis en el estado de Washington para las ocho semanas de entrenamiento previo a su viaje al continente asiático.

"No puedo opinar sobre la guerra. Voy a hacer un trabajo. Salgo y regreso", comentó Yolanda Rivera Sánchez.Esta es la segunda vez que la militar de 29 años visita la Base Bagran de Afganistán para realizar tareas de transporte de equipo.

A pocos pasos, Efraín Rivera Rodríguez se paseaba entre el equipaje, donde se observaba un bulto con la bandera de Puerto Rico.

"Para esto uno tiene que prepararse mental y físicamente", indicó.

Rivera Rodríguez, de Ceiba, precisó que el momento más difícil de la partida fue despedirse de su hijo de 10 años.

"Estaba triste, pero tranquilo. Sabe que estoy haciendo esto por él y por su futuro", afirmó.

Explicó que para evitar la ansiedad del viaje y de su participación en la denominada Operación Libertad Duradera mantiene la mente "ocupada y enfocada en su trabajo".

Después de los ataques a las Torres Gemelas y el Pentágono, Estados Unidos declaró la guerra al régimen talibán que gobernaba Afganistán por negarse a entregar a Osama bin Laden, que supuestamente estaba en dicho país.

El año pasado esta guerra costó sobre 100 vidas de militares estadounidenses, incluyendo boricuas.

Casi a la entrada del área de los mostradores de las líneas aéreas, la familia de Edward Carrión Cruz, de Cataño, esperaba por la despedida.

Su esposa, María Ortiz, se mantenía abrazada al militar y sus padres, Mirna Cruz y Edward Carrión, aunque tensos, conversaban sobre diversos temas.

Cruz y Carrión señalaron a El Nuevo Día Domingo que han manejado las preocupaciones del viaje de su hijo con la ayuda de los grupos de apoyo de la Reserva.

Además indicaron que ya establecieron un plan de comunicación para mantenerse en contacto con su hijo por internet y teléfono.

La familia de Miguel Decene Rivera también tiene su plan para sobrevivir a esta separación.

Su esposa Blanca Albino y sus hijos Emily, de 20 años, y Harold, de 17, utilizarán la internet y tomarán muchas fotos para evitar que el militar se pierda los momentos importantes en la vida de sus dos vástagos.

No estuvo presente en la graduación de noveno grado de su hija y, en esta ocasión, se perderá la graduación de cuarto año de su hijo.

Emily comentó que no está de acuerdo con la guerra, pero que respeta la carrera militar de su padre.

"Él es mi héroe", indicó la estudiante universitaria, que junto a su hermano cabildeará para que su padre se acoja al retiro después de esta movilización.

"Él estaba esperando la carta del retiro, pero primero le llegó la carta de esta activación", comentó Albino, quien adelantó la celebración familiar del Día de Reyes para poder celebrar junto a su marido.

Luego, la familia se perdió entre los soldados del primer viaje que partía, quienes entre lágrimas, aplausos y sollozos comenzaron a decir adiós.

Otro grupo de siete soldados partió en la tarde.

PAZ EN EL 2008, FELIZ DÍA DE REYES, 15 DE MARZO DENUNCIAREMOS EL 5TO ANIVERSARIO DE LA INVASIÓN A IRAK

PAZ , SALUD, LOGROS PATRIOS Y BENDICIONES LES DESEAMOS LAS MADRES CONTRA LA GUERRA en el 2008 ,
FELIZ DÍA DE REYES Y EL 15 DE MARZO DENUNCIAREMOS EL 5TO ANIVERSARIO DE LA INVASIÓN A IRAK, LUCHAMOS POR LA PAZ


Madres contra la Guerra
Sonia Margarita Santiago, portavoz
Apartado 875 Dorado, PR 00646
http:madrescontralaguerra.blogspot.com