Want, nuclear rise; peace ops fall — SIPRI report

Edited excerpt by Carolyn Bennett

“Resource competition raises tensions. Nuclear forces ‘leaner but meaner.’ Peace operation numbers fall,” says the latest SIPRI Yearbook. The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) on June 7 released findings assessing current state of international security, armaments and disarmament.

Key findings:

• ·     New levels of global resource demand could destabilize international relations
• ·     Continuing cuts in U.S. and Russian nuclear forces offset by long-term force modernization programs
• ·     Number of peace missions fell to the lowest level since 2002

Excerpt from report highlights

NUCLEAR WEAPONS

Falling numbers

Little progress towards disarmament

The United States, Russia, the United Kingdom, France, China, India, Pakistan and Israel possess more than 20,500 nuclear weapons, a drop of more than 2,000 since 2009.

More than 5000 of these nuclear weapons are deployed and ready for use, including nearly 2,000 that are kept in a state of high operational alert.

Modest cuts in U.S. and Russian strategic nuclear forces were agreed in April 2010 under the New START treaty but both countries currently are either deploying new nuclear weapon delivery systems or have announced programs to do so and appear determined to retain their nuclear arsenals for the indefinite future.

Meanwhile, India and Pakistan continue to develop new ballistic and cruise missile systems capable of delivering nuclear weapons. They are also expanding their capacities to produce fissile material for military purposes.

SIPRI Senior Researcher Shannon Kile says, “‘It is a stretch to say that the New START cuts agreed by the USA and Russia are a genuine step towards nuclear disarmament when their planning for nuclear forces is done on a time scale that encompasses decades and when nuclear modernization is a major priority of their defense policies.’”

World nuclear forces, 2011


Country	Deployed warheads*	Other warheads	Total 2011	Total 2010
USA	2150	6350	8500	9600
Russia	2427	8570	11000	12000
UK	160	65	225	225
France	290	10	300	300
China		200	240	240
India		80-100	80-110	60-80
Pakistan		90-110	90-110	70-90
Israel		80	80	80
Total	5027	15500	20530	22600

Source: SIPRI Yearbook 2011 * “Deployed” means warheads placed on missiles or located on bases with operational forces. 


PEACE operations
Fewer operations

NATO International Security Assistance Force has most world’s ‘peacekeepers’

“‘The vast size of the ISAF creates a misleading picture’” of peace, says Senior Researcher Sharon Wiharta, Head of SIPRI’s Project on Multilateral Peace Operations. “‘ISAF troops are mostly engaged in counter-insurgency rather than mainstream peacekeeping. Take them out of the equation and the peacekeeping surge of the 2000s appears to be largely over.’”

The number of active peace operations fell in 2010 to its lowest level since 2002.

Fifty-two (52) peace operations deployed 262, 842 international troops, observers, civilian police and civilian staff, an increase of 20 percent over the 2009 level (219, 278 in 54 operations).  However, at 131, 730 troops, the NATO International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan deployed more personnel than all the other 51 operations combined.

Non-ISAF personnel numbers actually fell by 3 percent (from 135 132 in 2009 to 131,112 in 2010).

Source

“Resource competition raises tensions. Nuclear forces ‘leaner but meaner.’ Peace operation numbers fall,” says SIPRI Yearbook released in early June. The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) on June 7, 2011, released findings assessing current state of international security, armaments and disarmament, http://www.sipri.org/media/pressreleases/yblaunch11

Established in 1966, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) is an independent international institute dedicated to research into conflict, armaments, arms control and disarmament. SIPRI provides data, analysis and recommendations, based on open sources, to policymakers, researchers, media and the interested public.

SIPRI was established based on a decision by the Swedish Parliament and receives a substantial part of its funding in the form of an annual grant from the Swedish Government. To carry out its broad research program, the Institute also seeks financial support from other organizations. http://www.sipri.org/about

_____________________________________

Bennett's books available in New York State independent bookstores: Lift Bridge Bookshop: www.liftbridgebooks.com [Brockport, NY]; Sundance Books: http://www.sundancebooks.com/main.html [Geneseo, NY]; The Book Den, Ltd.: BookDenLtd@frontiernet.net [Danville, NY]; Talking Leaves Books-Elmwood: talking.leaves.elmwood@gmail.com [Buffalo, NY]; Book House of Stuyvesant Plaza: http://www.bhny.com/ [Albany, NY]; Mood Makers Books: www.moodmakersbooks.com [City of Rochester, NY]; Dog Ears Bookstore and Literary Arts Center: www.enlightenthedog.org/ [Buffalo, NY]; Burlingham Books – ‘Your Local Chapter’: http://burlinghambooks.com/ [Perry, NY 14530]; The Bookworm: http://www.eabookworm.com/ [East Aurora, NY]; LONGS’ Cards and Books: http://longscardsandbooks.com/ [Penn Yan, NY]
_____________________________________

Endless aftermath

War makers’ mendacity, war’s consequences

Re-reporting, editing, brief comment by Carolyn Bennett 

The Eisenhower Research Project derives its purpose from 34th U.S. President Dwight David Eisenhower’s 1961 farewell address in which he warns of the ‘unwarranted influence’ of the military-industrial complex and appeals for an ‘alert and knowledgeable citizenry’ as the only force capable of balancing the often contrasting demands of security and liberty in a democratic state. 

A new report by the Eisenhower Research Project based at the Watson Institute for International Studies at Brown University has found that U.S. wars will cost its people 3.2 to 4 trillion dollars — including medical care and disability for current and future war veterans.

The first comprehensive analysis of all U.S., coalition, and civilian casualties, including U.S. contractors, this ‘Costs of War’ project “assesses many of the wars’ hidden costs, such as interest on war-related debt and veterans’ benefits.…

The U.S. wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Pakistan will cost between $3.2 and $4 trillion, including medical care and disability for current and future war veterans. This figure does not include substantial probable future interest on war-related debt.

More than 31,000 people in uniform and military contractors have died, including the Iraqi and Afghan security forces and other military forces allied with the United States.

Conservatively estimated, 137,000 civilians have died in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

The wars have created more than 7.8 million refugees among Iraqis, Afghans, and Pakistanis.

Pentagon bills account for half of the budgetary costs incurred and are a fraction of the full economic cost of the wars.

Because the war has been financed almost entirely by borrowing, $185 billion in interest has already been paid on war spending, and another $1 trillion could accrue in interest alone through 2020.

Federal obligations to care for past and future veterans of these wars will range (total estimates) from $600 to $950 billion. This number is not included in most analyses of the costs of war and will not peak until mid-century.

Co-director of the Eisenhower Research Project Neta Crawford says, “There are many costs and consequences of war that cannot be quantified, and the consequences of wars do not end when the fighting stops… The Eisenhower study group has made a start at counting and estimating the costs in blood, treasure, and lost opportunities that are both immediately visible and those which are less visible and likely to grow even when the fighting winds down.”

Nevertheless, U.S. officials continue making wars on foreign lands and peoples and neglecting critical U.S. domestic needs. Democracy Now reports today on the U.S.’s continuing carnage.

HORN OF AFRICA

Somalia

“Somalia is one of the poorest countries in the world,” AlertNet reports in its country profiles. “Health indicators are also among the worst in Africa. The maternal mortality rate is around one in 100.”

U.S. Drones target “militant Islamist group” in Somalia, the Democracy Now program headlines. The United States is now using drone missiles in attacks on “at least six countries: Afghanistan, Pakistan, Libya, Iraq, Yemen and Somalia.” U.S. President Barack Obama “has greatly ramped up the U.S. use of armed drones.”

Somalia suffers climate change effect: Drought causing displacement, mass exit of refugees into neighboring Kenya.

In the midst of U.S. drone strikes, the Save the Children group has reportedly “estimated [that] 800 Somali children cross into Kenya every day to escape the drought.” The United Nations estimates the drought has caused dire hardship for “10 million people in Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia and Uganda.

The United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia, Mark Bowden, says, at the current rate of suffering and malnutrition, the future “level of deaths in Somalia [will likely] take us back almost 20 years and certainly be unparalleled in the recent decade.”

Developing countries or underdeveloped countries cannot develop when “rich” countries are bombing them back to antiquity.

When asking why poor people are poor and remain poor, it might be well to look at who is enormously rich, and how and why they are enormously rich.

AFGHANISTAN/PAKISTAN

Afghanistan is one of the most heavily mined countries in the world and home to a booming narcotics trade. The country struggles to recover from more than a quarter-century of conflict, with violence still raging in parts of the country. The Taliban are fighting to oust tens of thousands of foreign troops and Afghanistan’s Western-backed government.

Geo-strategic Pakistan, though receiving enormous aid, is scarred by conflict, buffeted by earthquakes and floods. Among the world’s biggest humanitarian emergencies are in Pakistan. The 2010 floods affected 20 million of its people, a fifth of the population.

PAKISTAN

Droned, post-floods, climate change

United States officials continue to intensify a drone war on Pakistan. Pakistan’s officials reportedly have “told the U.S. to stop using the Shamsi Air Base in the southwest of the country to launch drone strikes.”

PERSIAN GULF 

IRAQ

Tens of thousands of Iraqis have been killed since a U.S.-led invasion toppled the country’s leader, Saddam Hussein, in 2003. Many people have been displaced. Others have fled abroad. Basic services have been devastated by sanctions and war. Violence continues to hamper aid operations.

U.S.-occupation, war claimed not to be war

In the deadliest month in three years, another three U.S. soldiers died yesterday “in [military] action in southern Iraq.” This month, at least 15 U.S. soldiers have died in this country; all except of one reportedly died in combat.

The Obama administration persists in claiming the U.S. combat mission in Iraq has ended.

Sources and notes

“Costs of War” Project — Estimated cost of post-9/11 wars: 225,000 lives, up to $4 trillion,” http://news.brown.edu/pressreleases/2011/06/warcosts

“U.S. Wars in Projected to Cost Nearly $4 Trillion With Hundreds of Thousands Dead — A new report is estimating the true cost of the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan will end up being approximately $4 trillion — far more than the Bush or Obama administrations have acknowledged. The report also estimates between 224,000 and 258,000 people have died directly from warfare, including 125,000 civilians in Iraq. Brown University professor Catherine Lutz is the co-director of the ‘Costs of War’ report,” June 30, 2011, http://www.democracynow.org/2011/6/30/headlines

Department of Defense by Spc. Tia P. Sokimson, U.S. Army/Released The cost of wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Pakistan are estimated at 225,000 lives and up to $4 trillion in U.S. spending, in a new report by scholars with the Eisenhower Research Project at Brown University’s Watson Institute for International Studies.

“The Eisenhower Research Project is a new, nonpartisan, nonprofit, scholarly initiative that derives its purpose from President Eisenhower’s 1961 farewell address, in which he warned of the ‘unwarranted influence’ of the military-industrial complex and appealed for an ‘alert and knowledgeable citizenry’ as the only force able to balance the often contrasting demands of security and liberty in the democratic state.”

Catherine Lutz, the Thomas J. Watson Jr. Family Professor of Anthropology and International Studies at Brown University, co-directs the Eisenhower Research Project with Neta Crawford, a 1985 Brown graduate and professor of political science at Boston University.

The Costs of War has released its findings online, at www.costsofwar.org, to spur public discussion about America at war. Editors: Brown University has a fiber link television studio available for domestic and international live and taped interviews, and maintains an ISDN line for radio interviews. For more information, call (401) 863-2476.

Democracy Now headlines, June 30, 2011, http://www.democracynow.org/2011/6/30/headlines

Country profiles at AlertNet

http://www.trust.org/alertnet/country-profiles/somalia/

http://www.trust.org/alertnet/country-profiles/afghanistan/

http://www.trust.org/alertnet/country-profiles/pakistan/

http://www.trust.org/alertnet/country-profiles/iraq/

U.S.-OCCUPIED, at WAR
MIDDLE EAST NEAR EAST COUNTRIES

The Middle or Near East consists of the lands around the southern and eastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea. These lands extend from Morocco to the Arabian Peninsula and Iran, sometimes beyond. 

Some of the first modern Western geographers and historians who tended to divide the Orient into three regions gave the region the name Near East. In their three-region designations, the Near East applied to the region nearest Europe, extending from the Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf; the Middle East, extending from the Persian Gulf to Southeast Asia; and the Far East, encompassing the regions facing the Pacific Ocean.

The change in usage from Near to Middle East began evolving before World War II and extended through the war. The term Middle East was given to the British military command in Egypt.

So defined, the Middle East consisted of the states or territories of —

Turkey, Cyprus, Syria, Lebanon
Iraq, Iran, Palestine, Jordan
Egypt, The Sudan, Libya and
Various states of Arabia proper (Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Yemen, Oman, Bahrain, Qatar, and the Trucial States, or Trucial Oman [now United Arab Emirates]

 Subsequent events have tended, in loose usage, to enlarge the number of lands included in the definition, among them —

Three North African countries: Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco“closely connected in sentiment and foreign policy with the Arab states”  

Afghanistan and Pakistan, because of geographic factors, state official and others take into account in connection with affairs of the Middle East. 

Greece occasionally is included in the compass of the Middle East because the Middle Eastern (then Near Eastern) question in its modern form first became apparent when the Greeks in 1821 rebelled to assert their independence from the Ottoman Empire). Turkey and Greece, together with the predominantly Arabic-speaking lands around the eastern end of the Mediterranean, were also formerly known as the Levant.

Historically the countries along the eastern Mediterranean shores were called the Levant. Common use of the term is associated with Venetian and other trading ventures and the establishment of commerce with cities such as Tyre and Sidon as a result of the Crusades. It was applied to the coastlands of Asia Minor and Syria, sometimes extending from Greece to Egypt. It was also used for Anatolia and as a synonym for the Middle or Near East. In the 16th and 17th centuries, the term High Levant referred to the Far East. The name Levant States was given to the French mandate of Syria and Lebanon after World War I, and the term is sometimes still used for those two countries, which became independent in 1946. Levant (from the French lever, ‘to rise,’ as in sunrise, meaning the east.

Use of the term Middle East remains unsettled, and some agencies (notably the United States State Department and certain bodies of the United Nations) still employ the term Near East.

Middle East. (2011). Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Deluxe Edition.  Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica

_____________________________

Bennett's books available in New York State independent bookstores: Lift Bridge Bookshop: www.liftbridgebooks.com [Brockport, NY]; Sundance Books: http://www.sundancebooks.com/main.html [Geneseo, NY]; The Book Den, Ltd.: BookDenLtd@frontiernet.net [Danville, NY]; Talking Leaves Books-Elmwood: talking.leaves.elmwood@gmail.com [Buffalo, NY]; Book House of Stuyvesant Plaza: http://www.bhny.com/ [Albany, NY]; Mood Makers Books: www.moodmakersbooks.com [City of Rochester, NY]; Dog Ears Bookstore and Literary Arts Center: www.enlightenthedog.org/ [Buffalo, NY]; Burlingham Books – ‘Your Local Chapter’: http://burlinghambooks.com/ [Perry, NY 14530]; The Bookworm: http://www.eabookworm.com/ [East Aurora, NY]; LONGS’ Cards and Books: http://longscardsandbooks.com/ [Penn Yan, NY]
_____________________________

U.S. can’t afford Libya says Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison

HOWEVER, Senate Committee war horses okay continued U.S. violence, law breaking in Libya

Re-reporting, editing, brief comment by Carolyn Bennett

Last week Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas said, “After several months of military engagement in Libya, members of both political parties, high-level officials in multiple branches of government, and the American public have raised serious concerns about our involvement in Libya. …

“We are facing a very real and very serious fiscal crisis in our country. It is clear that we can no longer continue to pay for the vast majority of NATO operations, especially those that are not in the vital interest of our nation. America should not only reduce the level of funding we provide to NATO, we should also move to redeploy a large portion of our military presence in Europe back to the United States. I intend to continue fighting to reduce our large overseas military basing presence, to cut spending on the excessive United States military presence in Europe, and to allow more of our troops to be based and trained at home.

“Unfortunately, the President’s decision that the U.S. will support the ongoing military operation in Libya sends the message to our European allies that American taxpayers are willing and able to shoulder the burden for their foreign policy and military priorities, and that there are no consequences for the failure of Europeans to do their share. Given our nation's current financial difficulties, it is imperative that we change that message now.

“The American taxpayer can no longer afford to write a blank check for NATO operations. It is time for our allies to shoulder their responsibilities and reduce their dependence on United States military forces.”

In April, Hutchison cosponsored Senate.Resolution146 (S.RES.146), a resolution expressing the sense of the Senate [in part] that it is not in the vital interest of the United States to intervene militarily in Libya. …

Bill summary “Expresses the sense of the Senate that:

(1) U.S. military intervention in Libya, as explained by the President, is not in the vital interests of the United States

(2) The President should have consulted with Congress prior to committing the U.S. Armed Forces either independently or as a major part of North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) operations

(3) The President should obtain authorization from Congress before providing further military and financial support to Libya operations and should not assume that such an authorization would equate to the U.S. Armed Forces leading any future strike or support operations

(4) Prior to further U.S. military involvement NATO members and other nations with a vital regional interest should agree to provide a substantial portion of the military and financial burdens associated with Operation Unified Protector; and

(5) Members of the Arab League should ensure that all of their military resources are available to enforce U.N. Resolutions 1970 and 1973.

Latest Major Action: 4/14/2011 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations [Sponsor: Sen. Ensign, John [NV] (introduced 4/14/2011); cosponsors (2) Sen.  Hutchison, Kay Bailey [TX] - 4/14/2011; Sen. Manchin, Joe, III [WV] - 4/14/2011

Senators for war on Libya show their hand.

Yesterday afternoon the Senate Foreign Relations Committee — led by former veteran against the Vietnam War — approved a resolution authorizing “the limited use of United States Armed Forces in support of the NATO mission in Libya.” The vote was 14-5.

Crafty politicians are against war as they are with all their “values” and “principles” —  only when it is convenient or suits their corporate or partisan brand. 

That's no way to lead a country. Men like Kerry and McCain and Levin have far outlived (in the Senate) their ability to lead and legislate in the best interest of the United States and its relations with world.

Sources and notes

“NATO Allies Must Bear Brunt of Responsibility & Cost for Libya, Not U.S. Taxpayers,”

June 24, 2011, http://hutchison.senate.gov/?p=weekly_column&id=639

Bill Summary & Status, 112th Congress (2011 - 2012), S.RES.146, CRS Summary http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d112:s.res.00146

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d112:SE00146:@@@P

Kay Bailey Hutchison

Elected to the Senate of United States representing the State of Texas in June 5, 1993, Kathryn Ann Bailey (Kay) Hutchison has served in the Senate since June 14, 1993, completing another senator’s term; and winning successive reelections, her latest term ending on January 3, 2013. Before coming to the U.S. Senate, Senator Hutchison was a member of the Texas (State) House of Representatives (1972-1976), vice-chair of the National Transportation Safety Board (1976-1978), bank executive and general counsel, business executive, Texas state treasurer (1990-1993), temporary co-chair of the Republican National Convention (1992).

Along with her position as member of the U.S. Senate, Kay Bailey Hutchison was Republican Conference vice-chair (2000-2007), Republican Policy Committee chair (2007-2009), deputy permanent chair of the Republican National Convention (2004).

Kathryn Ann Bailey (Kay) Hutchison (b. Galveston, Texas, 1943) holds undergraduate and graduate credentials from the University of Texas (Austin) and University of Texas School of Law. She has also been a television reporter.

Kathryn Ann (Kay) Bailey Hutchison in Women in Congress, 1917-2006 prepared under the direction of the Committee on House Administration by the Office of History and Preservation, U.S. House of Representatives. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 2006. http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=H001016

ALSO OF NOTE

Bill Summary & Status 112th Congress (2011 - 2012) S.J.RES.18

S.J.RES.18: A joint resolution prohibiting the deployment, establishment, or maintenance of a presence of units and members of the United States Armed Forces on the ground in Libya, and for other purposes. Sponsor: Sen. Webb, Jim [VA] (introduced 6/8/2011)      Cosponsors (2) Sen. Corker, Bob [TN] - 6/8/2011, Sen. Lee, Mike [UT] - 6/9/2011

Related Bills: H.RES.292

Latest Major Action: 6/8/2011 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations. http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d112:SJ00018:@@@P

http://foreign.senate.gov/press/chair/release/?id=b0a179e3-9753-4a69-a5bf-b6213298be7f

S.J.RES.20: “A joint resolution authorizing the limited use of the United States Armed Forces in support of the NATO mission in Libya”

CRS Summary of S.J.RES.20

“Expresses the sense of Congress that:

(1) The U.S. Armed Forces and coalition partners who are engaged in military operations to protect the people of Libya have demonstrated extraordinary bravery and should be commended

(2) The U.S. government should continue to support the aspirations of the people of Libya for political reform and self-government based on democratic and human rights

(3) The goal of U.S. policy in Libya, as stated by the President, is to achieve the departure from power of Muammar Qaddafi and his family, including through the use of diplomatic and economic pressure, so that a peaceful transition can begin to an inclusive government that ensures freedom and opportunity; and

(4) The Qaddafi regime’s funds that have been frozen by the United States should be returned to the people of Libya for their benefit, and the President should explore the possibility with the Transitional National Council of using some of such funds to reimburse North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) countries for expenses incurred in Operation Odyssey Dawn and Operation Unified Protector.

Authorizes the President to continue the limited use of the U.S. Armed Forces in Libya in support of U.S. security policy interests as part of the NATO mission to enforce U.N. Security Council Resolution 1973, as requested by the Transitional National Council, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), and the Arab League.

Terminates such authorization one year after the date of enactment of this joint resolution.

States that Congress does not support deploying, establishing, or maintaining the presence of units and members of the U.S. Armed Forces on the ground in Libya unless the purpose of the presence is limited to the immediate personal defense of U.S. government officials (including diplomatic representatives) or to rescuing members of NATO forces from imminent danger.

Directs the President to consult frequently with Congress regarding U.S. efforts in Libya, including by providing regular briefings and reports. Includes as elements in such briefings and reports:

(1) An updated description of U.S. national security interests and policy objectives in Libya

(2) An updated list of U.S. Armed Forces activities in Libya

(3) An updated assessment of the opposition groups in Libya, including potential successor governments; and

(4) An updated explanation of the President’s legal and constitutional rationale for conducting military operations in Libya consistent with the War Powers Resolution.”

Sponsor Sen. Kerry, John F. [MA] (introduced 6/21/2011)

Cosponsors (12) Sen. Blunt, Roy [MO] - 6/21/2011, Sen. Cardin, Benjamin L. [MD] - 6/21/2011, Sen. Durbin, Richard [IL] - 6/21/2011, Sen. Feinstein, Dianne [CA] - 6/21/2011, Sen. Franken, Al [MN] - 6/22/2011, Sen. Graham, Lindsey [SC] - 6/21/2011, Sen. Kirk, Mark Steven [IL] - 6/21/2011, Sen. Kyl, Jon [AZ] - 6/21/2011, Sen. Levin, Carl [MI] - 6/21/2011, Sen. Lieberman, Joseph I. [CT] - 6/21/2011, Sen. McCain, John [AZ] - 6/21/2011, Sen. Nelson, Bill [FL] - 6/27/2011 Related Bills: H.J.RES.67, H.J.RES.68

Latest Major Action: 6/28/2011 Senate committee/subcommittee actions. Status: Committee on Foreign Relations. Ordered to be reported with amendments favorably

Senate Foreign Relations Committee members

John Kerry, Chair; Richard Lugar, Ranking Member

Committee Members: Barbara Boxer, Robert Menendez, Benjamin L. Cardin, Robert P. Casey II, Jim Webb, Jeanne Shaheen, Christopher Coons, Richard J. Durbin, Tom Udall [MAJORITY]

Bob Corker, James E. Risch, Marco Rubio, James M. Inhofe, Jim DeMint, Johnny Isakson, John Barrasso, Mike Lee [MINORITY] http://foreign.senate.gov/

____________________________

Bennett's books available in New York State independent bookstores: Lift Bridge Bookshop: www.liftbridgebooks.com [Brockport, NY]; Sundance Books: http://www.sundancebooks.com/main.html [Geneseo, NY]; The Book Den, Ltd.: BookDenLtd@frontiernet.net [Danville, NY]; Talking Leaves Books-Elmwood: talking.leaves.elmwood@gmail.com [Buffalo, NY]; Book House of Stuyvesant Plaza: http://www.bhny.com/ [Albany, NY]; Mood Makers Books: www.moodmakersbooks.com [City of Rochester, NY]; Dog Ears Bookstore and Literary Arts Center: www.enlightenthedog.org/ [Buffalo, NY]; Burlingham Books – ‘Your Local Chapter’: http://burlinghambooks.com/ [Perry, NY 14530]; The Bookworm: http://www.eabookworm.com/ [East Aurora, NY]; LONGS’ Cards and Books: http://longscardsandbooks.com/ [Penn Yan, NY]
____________________________

No matter what, “We set sail”

“We are coming to Gaza”

Editing by Carolyn Bennett

On Saturday, the French boat ‘Dignity/Karama’ left the port of l'ile Rousse in Corsica, France. It will “meet up with at least nine other vessels — carrying nearly 3,000 tons of aid and hundreds of civilians from dozens of countries, including members of parliament, politicians, writers, artists, journalists and sports figures, representatives of indigenous peoples, various faith groups — sailing to Gaza to challenge Israel’s illegal blockade.…

“The Freedom Flotilla has set sail,” says a statement issued yesterday from the international steering committee of Freedom Flotilla II - Stay Human.

“[D]espite intimidation, pressure, and threats of violence from the Israeli government, which is not ashamed to boast that it will use snipers and attack dogs against unarmed civilians,” the statement said, “we will sail.

“We are part of a growing movement, led by Palestinian civil society campaigning for their freedom that Israel’s strong-arm tactics cannot stop. We call on our governments to do their utmost to protect their citizens as we take to the sea, without weapons or protection or threat of force, in defense of freedom, human rights, and the rule of law.

“Gaza, we are coming.”

Alice Walker spoke from Athens giving her reasons for going to Gaza. Her statement excerpted with minor editing here was rebroadcast today on Pacifica’s Democracy Now.

“I am going to Gaza, the American writer said, “because my government has failed. It has failed us. It has failed to understand or to care about the people of Gaza.

“Worse than that: our government is ignorant of our own history in the United States.… [W]hen black people were enslaved for 300 years, it took a lot of people from outside of our communities to come to help free us. … [D]uring the [1960s] civil rights movement … it took people from outside our own communities to come and help us free ourselves.

“This is a fine tradition of going to people who need us wherever they exist on the planet. This is our responsibility. This is what we are here for as human beings.…

“So [to] Gazans — especially to the children — we are on our way. We hear you. We are coming.”

“… Hillary Clinton may put up all the protests she likes. She may say that we should not travel, that it is dangerous. We know it is dangerous. …

“[W]hen the U.S. government in the person of our president makes a speech about [the Middle East] and really speaks only to Israelis and not to Palestinians — this is unacceptable.

“We cannot accept this. We look at what has happened to the Palestinian people for all of these decades and see it is insufferable.…

“We will not accept it. We will not.

“As Americans, with our history of enslavement of people, of segregation, of apartheid, of brutalization, of lynching — we will not accept this.…

“This is our present. This is our future.… [I]f we work on these issues … we are beginning to see, we are freeing ourselves of the myths that have crippled us, beginning to see what is the truth. [I]f we can see what is the truth in this situation, we will free ourselves to work on the real issue for humanity, protecting earth.”

Sources and notes

“Despite pressure and threats of violence, flotilla will sail —This statement was issued earlier today from the international steering committee of Freedom Flotilla II - Stay Human” (on rabble.ca), June 27, 2011, http://rabble.ca/print/blogs/bloggers/canadianboattogaza/2011/06/despite-pressure-and-threats-violence-flotilla-will-sail#comment-1266502; http://rabble.ca

“It Takes People On the Outside: Prestigious Author Alice Walker to Confront Israeli Naval Blockade of Gaza on U.S. Aid Ship.” http://www.democracynow.org/2011/6/28/it_takes_people_on_the_outside

Alice Walker is one of the United States’ celebrated authors, poets and activists.

News World Organizers say Israel pressuring Greece to halt departure of flotilla to blockaded Gaza

http://www.1310news.com/news/world/article/246253--organizers-say-israel-pressuring-greece-to-halt-departure-of-gaza-flotilla

Alice Walker, June 10, 2011, Mendocino, Ca, “That is why I sail,” .http://rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/canadianboattogaza/2011/06/alice-walker-why-i-am-sailing-gaza-freedom-flotilla

http://rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/canadianboattogaza/2011/06/despite-pressure-and-threats-violence-flotilla-will-sail

Canadian Boat to Gaza Canada4Gaza FF2StayHuman flotilla2 Gaza rabblers Gaza

Source URL (retrieved on June 28 2011 - 2:22pm): http://rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/canadianboattogaza/2011/06/despite-pressure-and-threats-violence-flotilla-will-sail

Links: http://rabble.ca/print/blogs/bloggers/canadianboattogaza/2011/06/despite-pressure-and-threats-violence-flotilla-will-sail#comment-1266502

______________________________________


Bennett's books available in New York State independent bookstores: Lift Bridge Bookshop: www.liftbridgebooks.com [Brockport, NY]; Sundance Books: http://www.sundancebooks.com/main.html [Geneseo, NY]; The Book Den, Ltd.: BookDenLtd@frontiernet.net [Danville, NY]; Talking Leaves Books-Elmwood: talking.leaves.elmwood@gmail.com [Buffalo, NY]; Book House of Stuyvesant Plaza: http://www.bhny.com/ [Albany, NY]; Mood Makers Books: www.moodmakersbooks.com [City of Rochester, NY]; Dog Ears Bookstore and Literary Arts Center: www.enlightenthedog.org/ [Buffalo, NY]; Burlingham Books – ‘Your Local Chapter’: http://burlinghambooks.com/ [Perry, NY 14530]; The Bookworm: http://www.eabookworm.com/ [East Aurora, NY]; LONGS’ Cards and Books: http://longscardsandbooks.com/ [Penn Yan, NY]

______________________________________

Middle East, Africa, U.S. reeling

Under U.S. Occupation, Threat, War

Compiled and Edited by Carolyn Bennett

U.S.-led

WAR DEAD

Casualty sites reporting June 26, 2011

(Accurate totals unknown)

Anti-war dot com Casualties in Iraq since March 19, 2003

[U.S. war dead since the Obama inauguration January 20,

2009: 237] Information out of date

•

Wounded 33,080-100,000

U.S. veterans with brain injuries 320,000

Suicides estimated: 18 a day

Latest update on this site: June 26, 2011

http://www.antiwar.com/casualties/

•

Iraq Body Count

The worldwide update on civilians killed in the Iraq war and occupation

Documented civilian deaths from violence

101,426 – 110,810

Full analysis of the WikiLeaks’ Iraq War Logs may add 15,000 civilian deaths.  http://www.iraqbodycount.org/

•

ICasualties figures:

AFGHANISTAN:

1,637 United States

2,552 Coalition

IRAQ:

4,463 United States

4,781 Coalition

http://icasualties.org/

OCCUPIED PALESTINE, U.S. Threatened

Following major delays in deliveries of medical supplies from the West Bank, a medical crisis is unfolding, health authorities in the Gaza Strip are warning. Medical shortages, says Al Jazeera’s Nadim Baba in Gaza, “have increased calls for an end to Israel’s blockade and Palestinian disunity.”

Freedom ships, Free press

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has branded freedom ships to Gaza a  ‘provoking act’— “‘We do not believe that the flotilla is a necessary or useful effort to try to assist the people of Gaza.’”

Press TV reports, “Israel and the United States have threatened journalists and human rights campaigners against taking part in a Gaza Strip-bound aid mission.”

Reuters reported the director of Israel’s Government Press Office today saying that joining the Freedom Flotilla II convoy could “‘lead to participants being denied entry into…Israel for ten years, to the impounding of their equipment and to additional sanctions.’”

The Foreign Press Association responded, saying, “The government’s threat to punish journalists covering the Gaza flotilla sends a chilling message to the international media and raises serious questions about Israel’s commitment to freedom of the press.”

Nevertheless, the second Freedom Flotilla — ten ships carrying 1,000 activists from 20 countries — readies sail for the besieged Gaza Strip; and, Israeli daily Haaretz, has “revealed that the Israeli military held a large drill for special commandos and snipers to prepare to intercept the flotilla.”

A statement issued by the Rumbo a Gaza [trans. Sailing to Gaza] Spanish civil society initiative says, “Israel has warned foreign diplomats in Tel Aviv to get ready to ‘face the consequences.’”

Thousands of personalities from around the world are supporting the second flotilla and calling on UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to urge governments to take necessary measures to guarantee the safety of people taking part in the mission.

Among the prominent peace and human rights activists calling on the UN secretary general are Nobel Peace Prize-winners Rigoberta Menchú of Guatemala, Mairead Maguire of Northern Ireland, Jody Williams of the United States, and Shirin Ebadi of Iran.

U.S.-War, Occupied AFGHANISTAN

Six (est.) Afghan police died Wednesday in an assault at a checkpoint. Another four officers died when a roadside bomb exploded as the officers travelled to the scene in Ghazni province’s Qarabagh district, about 120km southwest of Kabul.

The deputy governor of Ghazni, Mohammad Ali Ahmadi, is reported to have said, “‘Probably one of the police officers at the checkpoint had a previous deal with the insurgents and cooperated with and facilitated the assault.’”

In a similar attack on their checkpoint in that district earlier this month, three more police officers died.

Around 130,000 international troops occupy Afghanistan under the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force. Among them are an estimated 90,000 forces from the United States.

U.S.-War PAKISTAN

Displaced by conflict, war, occupation

More people have been displaced by recent operations in the Pakistan-Afghanistan border area. The route via Afghanistan [and the border region where foreign forces transport materiel into Afghanistan] has been closed, limiting the flow of food, medicine and other supplies to civilians.

Pakistan’s tribal northwest is said to be under siege. The only road connecting the Parachinar district bordering Afghanistan to the rest of Pakistan has been blocked by Taliban fighters since 2007.

In March, more than 40 people traveling on the Thal-Parachinar road were kidnapped. Women and children were freed, seven men died, 30 remained in captivity for nearly three months. After negotiations involving tribal elders, the Pakistani government, and varying Taliban factions, 22 of the captives were set free on June 21.

Of $6.6 billion in U.S. military aid to Pakistan during 2003-2009 for ‘counter-terrorism’ measures, “only $500 million had been used for that purpose,” this according to two Pakistani generals’ statements to the Associated Press in 2009. “The rest of the funds went to Pakistan’s ‘defense against India.’”

U.S. War LIBYA

A speaker for NATO again has denied civilian killings or that the alliance “[targeted] buildings in an abandoned area of Brega.” However, “Libyan state TV reported that at least 15 people were killed in strikes on civilian sites in this eastern city.”

Witnesses reportedly heard loud explosions in the Libyan capital Tripoli as jets flew over the city. On Saturday, a Reuters correspondent reportedly heard four explosions in Tripoli as jets flew overhead on two occasions. The blasts appeared to have come from the eastern suburb of Tajura. Libya’s state TV “referred to a NATO ‘war of extermination’ and ‘crimes against humanity.’”

U.S.-Occupied Iraq

More than a million Iraqis have died as a result of the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, according to a study conducted by the prestigious British polling group, Opinion Research Business.

Currently about 50,000 U.S. soldiers are stationed in Iraq. This month has been the deadliest month for U.S. forces in this country since May 2009.

Today two U.S. soldiers reportedly died in northern Iraq. The soldiers were said to have been “conducting operations.”Since the start of June, approximately 11 U.S. soldiers have died. “Sunday’s casualties,” according to icasualties.org, “raise the death toll for U.S. forces in Iraq since March 2003 to 4,465.

Earlier in the day, there had been an attack on Kirkuk. No casualties or damage was reported but the report said unidentified gunmen had launched a mortar attack on a U.S. military airbase in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk.

Sources and notes

OCCUPIED PALESTINE, U.S. Threatened

“Blockaded Gaza Strip nears ‘medical crisis’— Territory running out of medical supplies due to major delays in West Bank deliveries,” June 24, 2011,  

http://english.aljazeera.net/video/middleeast/2011/06/20116248514672596.html

“Israel, U.S. declare war on flotilla,” June 26, 2011, http://www.presstv.ir/detail/186351.html

“Flotilla II prepares to sail for Gaza — Freedom Flotilla II, comprising ten ships carrying 1,000 activists from 20 countries prepares to sail to Gaza,” 24, 2011, http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/features/2011/06/2011623152134419503.html

U.S.-War, Occupied AFGHANISTAN

“Police killed at Afghanistan checkpoint — Taliban claims responsibility for attack killing six officers, as the US prepares for a troop withdrawal,” June 22, 2011,

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2011/06/201162216912642382.html

U.S.-War PAKISTAN

“A community under siege in tribal Pakistan — As U.S. prepares troop withdrawal, Taliban’s strong hold on border regions reveals Pakistan's vulnerability, June 25, 2011,

http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/features/2011/06/2011622182410260797.html

U.S. War LIBYA

“NATO denies killing civilians in Libya strike  — Capital Tripoli hit in fresh raid as state TV reports that 15 people were killed in Brega,” June 25, 2011,

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/06/201162513183844244.html

U.S.-Occupied Iraq

“Two U.S. soldiers killed in northern Iraq,” June 26, 2011, http://www.presstv.ir/detail/186379.html

______________________________________


Bennett's books available in New York State independent bookstores: Lift Bridge Bookshop: www.liftbridgebooks.com [Brockport, NY]; Sundance Books: http://www.sundancebooks.com/main.html [Geneseo, NY]; The Book Den, Ltd.: BookDenLtd@frontiernet.net [Danville, NY]; Talking Leaves Books-Elmwood: talking.leaves.elmwood@gmail.com [Buffalo, NY]; Book House of Stuyvesant Plaza: http://www.bhny.com/ [Albany, NY]; Mood Makers Books: www.moodmakersbooks.com [City of Rochester, NY]; Dog Ears Bookstore and Literary Arts Center: www.enlightenthedog.org/ [Buffalo, NY]; Burlingham Books – ‘Your Local Chapter’: http://burlinghambooks.com/ [Perry, NY 14530]; The Bookworm: http://www.eabookworm.com/ [East Aurora, NY]; LONGS’ Cards and Books: http://longscardsandbooks.com/ [Penn Yan, NY]

______________________________________

Mass Media leads and misleads often do deep harm

HOT COFFEE premieres tomorrow night

Editing, re-reporting, brief comment by Carolyn Bennett

I don’t watch television but this documentary seems a must-see for people who watch television or who might ferret out a copy for home viewing.

HOT COFFEE reveals what really happened to Stella Liebeck, the Albuquerque woman who spilled coffee on herself and sued. The documentary explores “how and why the case garnered so much media attention, who funded the effort and to what end. After seeing this film, [the audience] will decide who really profited from spilling hot coffee.”

Stella Liebeck (age 79) suffered severe third-degree burns, years of expensive medical treatment, and a lawsuit that soon had the whole country — spreading false information and commentary.

“Seinfeld mocked [her]. Late-night comic Letterman ranked [the incident] in his top ten list.” Its infamy has seemed unstoppable. “Everyone knows the McDonald’s coffee case… routinely cited as an example of how citizens have taken advantage of America’s legal system; but have the facts been fairly rendered?”

Liebeck was a passenger not a driver in a parked not a moving car. She had ordered a cup of coffee from a McDonald’s restaurant drive-through window in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She proceeded to add cream and sugar to her coffee, spilled the entire cup of scalding hot coffee on her lap and suffered third-degree burns.

In HOT COFFEE, Stella Liebeck’s personal legal battle over a spilled cup of coffee serves as a springboard into understanding our civil justice system.

Also among the documentary’s cast

Jamie Leigh Jones — sexually assaulted (raped) by her co-workers when working in Iraq as a private contractor for KBR/Halliburton. When criminal charges could not be filed, she sought to hold Halliburton accountable for their misconduct, but a forced arbitration clause buried in her employment agreement meant she lost her right to a jury trial. While documenting Jamie Leigh Jones’s story, the film follows Senator Al Franken’s first bill, prohibiting in government contracts mandatory arbitration clauses for sexual assault, passed in the U.S. Senate.

The film shows the success of the ‘tort reform movement’ and its impact on average people in the form of mandatory arbitration contracts.

Colin Gourley — born with cerebral palsy because of medical malpractice at birth who received a $5.65 million award at trial to cover his medical expenses but, because of a Nebraska state-mandated cap on damages, he could only collect $1.25 million, an amount that will not cover a lifetime of care. The film shows how the lawsuit cap has affected Colin Gourley and his family, as well as how dramatically different his life is compared to that of his identical twin brother, Connor.

When state Supreme Courts were holding caps on damages unconstitutional, Karl Rove and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce masterminded a national campaign to unseat judges who stood in the way of ‘tort reform.’

[Tort: a wrongful act other than a breach of contract for which relief may be obtained in the form of damages or an injunction] 

Oliver Diaz — a former Mississippi Supreme Court Justice big business interests, despite their millions spent in advertising, could not beat in his re-election to the Mississippi Supreme Court “found a way to have him criminally prosecuted on false charges, tainting his reputation and causing political hardship for years to come.” Diaz’s life was fictionalized in John Grisham’s book, The Appeal.

HOT COFFEE'S makers

SUSAN SALADOFF (Producer, Director) spent twenty-five years practicing law in the civil justice system, representing injured victims of individual and corporate negligence. She stopped practicing law in 2009 to make the documentary HOT COFFEE, her first feature-length film. Susan Saladoff lectures often and widely on the importance of the civil justice system.

CINDY LEE (Editor) has feature editing credits to include No End In Sight (Oscar nominee 2007, New York Film Critics Circle 2007 Best Documentary, Sundance Special Jury Prize 2006), Hotel Gramercy Park (Tribeca Film Festival 2008), and Manhattan, Kansas (SXSW Film Festival 2006).

CARLY HUGO (Producer) is a founding partner of The Group Entertainment, an NYC film production and talent management company; and producer of Beautiful Darling (Berlin & ND/NF ’10), Beware the Gonzo (Tribeca ’10), Peter and Vandy (Sundance ’09), Bass Ackwards (Sundance ’10), and Loggerheads (Sundance ’05).

ALAN OXMAN (Producer) is winner of two Emmy Awards for Outstanding Documentary Editing on the PBS series ‘City Life’; co-producer of the Oscar-nominated documentary film Children Underground and co-producer and supervising editor of the Al-Jazeera documentary Control Room (Grand Jury Prize, Full Frame Film Festival).

MARTINA RADWAN (Director of Photography) recently completed the documentaries William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe (premiered at Sundance 2009, was picked up by Arthouse Films for a mid-2009 theatrical release); and documentary projects including Through a Lens Darkly (director Thomas Allan Harris) and Poetry of Resilience and Skywalkers (Nomine Katja Esson).

MICHAEL MOLLURA (Composer, musical score featuring piano, orchestral, guitar, electronica, clarinet and cello solos) scored the “haunting” for the feature film Climate Refugees (premiered at 2010 Sundance Film Festival). His recent work also includes a feature length score for the drama Reconciliation (2010).

BRIAN OAKES (Motion Graphics Designer) designed the graphic visuals for the film Wordplay (2006 documentary) and will have two other documentary films premiering at the Sundance Film Festival this year: HBO’s Bobby Fischer Against The World and These Amazing Shadows (Gravitas Films).

ERIN CRUMPACKER (Associate Producer) is a TV and documentary film producer based in New York City.

BETSY RATE (Associate Producer) is a freelance TV news and documentary producer based in New York City.

PRUDENCE ARNDT (Archive Producer) with more than 25 years as visual media researcher and documentary producer found archival film and photos on award-winning films and TV shows: I Knew It Was You: Remembering John Cazale (HBO); Why We Fight (BBC/Charlotte Films); Still Bill; African-American Lives Series 1; Looking For Answers; Bigger, Stronger, Faster: The Side Effects of Being American; Inside Deep Throat (HBO); and The Endurance (White Mountain Films/Nova)

RENIQUA ALLEN (Archive Producer) is a journalist based in the New York City area who produces Make It Plain on Sirius XM Radio and has written and produced for several media outlets including Congressional Quarterly, Black Enterprise, PBS.

REBECCA SALADOFF (Co-Producer, Assistant Editor) was production intern on ‘East Fifth Bliss’; a key intern leading up to and during the 2010 Independent Feature Project (IFP) Film Week; operations intern at the largest outdoor summer-long music festival in Southern Oregon Britt Music Festival (Jacksonville, OR).

HOT COFFEE premieres on HBO Monday June 27 as part of the Summer Documentary Series

Sources and notes

“Is Justice Being Served?” http://hotcoffeethemovie.com/

http://www.hbo.com/documentaries/hot-coffee/index.html#/documentaries/hot-coffee/synopsis.html

 “Full Frame Comes Full Circle: Doc Fest Reconnects with Duke University

Online Articles” (Ron Sutton), May 2011, http://www.documentary.org/magazine/full-frame-comes-full-circle-doc-fest-reconnects-duke-university

This week on CounterSpin — “Susan Saladoff on Hot Coffee, Suki Hawley and Michael Galinsky on Battle for Brooklyn,” June 24-30, 2011), http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=4325

Tort \'tȯrt\ n (1586): a wrongful act other than a breach of contract for which relief may be obtained in the form of damages or an injunction 

Karl Christian Rove (b.1950 in Denver, Colorado) is an American political consultant and principal architect of U.S. President George W. Bush’s two presidential election campaigns (2000, 2004).

__________________________________

Bennett's books available in New York State independent bookstores: Lift Bridge Bookshop: www.liftbridgebooks.com [Brockport, NY]; Sundance Books: http://www.sundancebooks.com/main.html [Geneseo, NY]; The Book Den, Ltd.: BookDenLtd@frontiernet.net [Danville, NY]; Talking Leaves Books-Elmwood: talking.leaves.elmwood@gmail.com [Buffalo, NY]; Book House of Stuyvesant Plaza: http://www.bhny.com/ [Albany, NY]; Mood Makers Books: www.moodmakersbooks.com [City of Rochester, NY]; Dog Ears Bookstore and Literary Arts Center: www.enlightenthedog.org/ [Buffalo, NY]; Burlingham Books – ‘Your Local Chapter’: http://burlinghambooks.com/ [Perry, NY 14530]; The Bookworm: http://www.eabookworm.com/ [East Aurora, NY]; LONGS’ Cards and Books: http://longscardsandbooks.com/ [Penn Yan, NY]
__________________________________

U.S. House says NO to U.S. White House in Libya

House Members against foreign massacres, U.S. destruction

“We have been in Afghanistan for ten years at a cost of over a half trillion dollars, in Iraq for eight years at a long term cost of at least three trillion.

“Those who told us the war in Libya would last days, now want to extend it for another year at total cost of billions.

“It is surreal we could even be considering authorizing this war at a time when the government is collapsing in debt.

“Those who told us the war in Libya was to save civilians’ lives quickly switched to regime change with innocent civilians dying from NATO’s bombs.

“Prior to NATO assuming responsibility, we launched hundreds of cruise missiles and dropped tons of bombs on Libya. Since NATO took over, the U.S. has struck from the air at least 90 times, including drone attacks but these are not hostilities, claims the White House, so what business is it of Congress?

“We must put an end not only to the war in Libya, but we must put an end to the thinking that the Constitution is a doormat and that our constituents must simply bear the consequences of the misguided policies of this Administration without this Congress having any say whatsoever.

“Defeat the authorization for the war. Vote for the Rooney bill which limits the war and when we return let’s vote for a total cutoff of funds for this wrongheaded adventure.” [U.S. Representative Dennis Kucinich of Ohio, June 24, 2011, on the House Floor http://kucinich.house.gov/News/DocumentPrint.aspx?DocumentID=248640]

Excerpted by Carolyn Bennett from 
Office of the Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives, http://clerk.house.gov/

FAILED

H.J. Res. 68: “Authorizing the limited use of the United States Armed Forces in support of the NATO mission in Libya”

FINAL VOTE RESULTS FOR ROLL CALL 493 FAILED by recorded vote: 123 - 295 (Roll no. 493) ECORDED VOTE June 24, 2011, 12:16 PM

Republican Democratic  Independent   Ayes Noes PRES NV: TOTALS 123 295   13

http://clerk.house.gov/floorsummary/floor.aspx?day=20110624&today=20110625

Here are the 295 NOES:

Adams Aderholt Akin Alexander Amash Andrews Austria Bachmann Baldwin Barletta Bartlett Barton (TX) Bass (NH) Becerra Benishek Biggert Bilbray Bilirakis Bishop (GA) Bishop (UT) Black Blackburn Bonner Bono Mack Boustany Brady (TX) Braley (IA) Brooks Broun (GA) Buchanan Bucshon Buerkle Burgess Burton (IN) Calvert Camp Campbell Canseco Cantor Capito Capuano Carney Carson (IN) Carter Cassidy Chabot

Chaffetz Cicilline Clarke (MI) Clarke (NY) Clay Coble Coffman (CO) Cole Conaway Conyers Costello Cravaack Crawford Crenshaw Culberson Davis (IL) Davis (KY) DeFazio          Denham DesJarlais Diaz-Balart Dold Duffy Duncan (SC) Duncan (TN) Ellmers Emerson Farenthold Farr Fincher Fitzpatrick Flake Fleischmann Fleming Flores Forbes Fortenberry Foxx Frank (MA) Franks (AZ) Frelinghuysen Gallegly Gardner Garrett Gerlach Gibbs

Gibson Gohmert Gonzalez Goodlatte Gosar Gowdy Granger Graves (GA) Graves (MO) Green, Gene Griffin (AR) Griffith (VA) Grijalva Grimm Guinta Guthrie Gutierrez Hall Hanabusa Hanna Harper Harris Hartzler Hastings (WA) Hayworth Heck Hensarling Herger Herrera Beutler Himes Hinchey Hinojosa Holt Honda Huelskamp Huizenga (MI) Hultgren Hunter Hurt Issa Jackson (IL) Jenkins Johnson (IL) Johnson (OH) Johnson, Sam

Jones Jordan Keating Kelly Kingston Kline Kucinich Labrador Lamborn Lance Landry Lankford Larson (CT) Latham LaTourette Latta Lee (CA) Lewis (CA) Lewis (GA) Lipinski LoBiondo Loebsack Lofgren, Zoe Long Lucas Luetkemeyer Luján Lummis Lungren, Daniel E. Lynch Maloney Manzullo Marchant Marino McCarthy (CA) McCaul McClintock McGovern McHenry McIntyre McKeon McKinley McMorris Rodgers

Meehan Mica Michaud Miller (FL) Miller (MI) Miller, Gary Miller, Geo Moore Mulvaney Murphy (CT) Murphy (PA) Myrick Nadler Neugebauer Noem Nugent Nunes Nunnelee  Olson Palazzo Pallone Pastor (AZ) Paul Paulsen Pearce Pence Peterson Petri Pingree (ME) Pitts Platts Poe (TX) Pompeo Posey Price (GA) Quayle Quigley Reed Rehberg Reichert Renacci Ribble Richardson Rigell Roby Roe (TN)

Rogers (AL) Rogers (KY) Rohrabacher Rokita Rooney Ros-Lehtinen Roskam Ross (AR) Ross (FL) Royce Runyan Ryan (WI) Sanchez, Loretta Scalise Schilling Schmidt Schock Schrader Schweikert Scott (SC) Scott (VA) Scott, Austin Sensenbrenner Serrano Sessions Sherman Shimkus Shuler Shuster Simpson Slaughter Smith (NE) Smith (NJ) Smith (TX) Southerland Stark Stearns Stutzman Sullivan Terry Thompson (PA) Thornberry Tiberi Tierney

Tipton Tsongas Turner Upton Velázquez Visclosky Walberg Walden Walsh (IL) Waters Waxman Webster Westmoreland Whitfield Wilson (SC) Wittman Wolf Womack Woodall Woolsey Wu Yoder Young (AK) Young (FL) Young (IN)

On Follow up measure, H R 2278,  concerning U.S. forces and NATO operation in Libya

FINAL VOTE RESULTS FOR ROLL CALL 494

H R 2278      RECORDED VOTE      June 24, 2011      2:00 PM
QUESTION:  On Passage FAIL

BILL TITLE: To limit the use of funds appropriated to the Department of Defense for United States Armed Forces in support of North Atlantic Treaty Organization Operation Unified Protector with respect to Libya,  unless otherwise specifically authorized by law, 494 June 24, 2011 H R 2278 

http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2011/index.asp

SUMMARY AS OF: 6/22/2011--Introduced.

“Prohibits, unless otherwise specifically authorized by law, funds appropriated or otherwise available to the Department of Defense (DOD) from being obligated or expended for U.S. Armed Forces in support of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization Operation Unified Protector with respect to Libya, except for: (1) search and rescue; (2) intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance; (3) aerial refueling; and (4) operational planning.”

Sponsor: Rep Rooney, Thomas J. [FL-16] (introduced 6/22/2011)      Cosponsors (None)

Related Bills: H.RES.328

Latest Major Action: 6/24/2011 Failed of passage/not agreed to in House. Status: On passage Failed by recorded vote: 180 - 238 (Roll no. 494).

H.R.2278

6/24/2011 12:15pm: Rule provides for consideration of H.J. Res. 68 and H.R. 2278 with 1 hour of general debate. Motion to recommit with or without instructions is allowed. Will be considered read. Bill is closed to amendments. The rule provides one hour of debate on H.J.Res. 68 with 40 minutes equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs and 20 minutes equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on Armed Services. All points of order against consideration and provisions are waived.

6/24/2011 12:18pm: DEBATE - The House proceeded with one hour of debate on H.R. 2278.

6/24/2011 1:35pm: The previous question was ordered pursuant to the rule.

6/24/2011 1:59pm: Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.

6/24/2011 1:59pm: On passage Failed by recorded vote: 180 - 238 (Roll no. 494).

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d112:HR02278:@@@X

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d112:HR02278:@@@D&summ2=m&

http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2011/index.asp

ROLL CALL

(Republicans in roman; Democrats in italic; Independents underlined)

	Ayes	Noes	PRES	NV
Republican	144	89		6
Democratic	36	149		7
Independent
TOTALS	180	238		13

---- AYES    180 ---

Aderholt Akin Alexander Austria Barletta Barton (TX) Bass (NH) Benishek Bilbray Bilirakis Bishop (UT) Black Bonner Bono Mack Boustany Brady (TX) Braley (IA) Buchanan Bucshon Calvert Cantor Capito Capuano Carney Cassidy Chabot Cicilline Coble Coffman (CO) Conaway Conyers Cravaack Crenshaw Culberson Davis (KY) DeFazio Denham DesJarlais Duffy Emerson Farenthold Farr Fitzpatrick Fleischmann Fleming Flores Forbes Fortenberry Foxx Frank (MA) Frelinghuysen Gallegly Gerlach Gibbs Gibson Gohmert Gonzalez Goodlatte Granger Graves (MO)

Griffith (VA) Grimm Guthrie Hall Harper Harris Hartzler Hastings (WA) Hayworth Hensarling Herger Herrera Beutler Himes Hinchey Holt Huizenga (MI) Hunter Jackson (IL) Jenkins Johnson (OH) Jordan Kaptur Kelly Kingston Kline Kucinich Lamborn Latham Latta Lee (CA) Lewis (CA) Lipinski LoBiondo Long Lucas Luetkemeyer Lungren, Daniel E. Lynch Mack Marino McCarthy (CA) McCaul McKeon McKinley McMorris Rodgers Meehan Mica Michaud Miller (FL) Miller, Gary Murphy (CT) Murphy (PA) Myrick Nadler Neugebauer Noem Nunes Nunnelee Olson Palazzo

Petri Pingree (ME) Platts Price (GA) Quigley Reed Rehberg Reichert Renacci Ribble Richardson Rigell Roby Roe (TN) Rogers (AL) Rogers (KY) Rooney Ros-Lehtinen Rothman (NJ) Runyan Scalise Schilling Schmidt Schrader Schweikert Scott (VA) Scott, Austin Serrano Sessions Sherman Shimkus Shuler Shuster Simpson Slaughter Smith (NE) Smith (TX) Stark Terry Thornberry Tiberi Turner Upton Visclosky Walberg Walden Waters Webster Whitfield Wilson (SC) Wittman Wolf Womack Woodall Woolsey Wu Yoder Young (AK) Young (FL) Young (IN)

---- NOES    238 ---

Ackerman Adams Altmire Amash Andrews Baca Bachmann Baldwin Barrow Bartlett Bass (CA) Becerra Berkley Berman Biggert Bishop (GA) Bishop (NY) Blackburn Blumenauer Boren Boswell Brady (PA) Brooks Broun (GA) Brown (FL) Buerkle Burgess Burton (IN) Campbell Canseco Capps Cardoza Carnahan Carson (IN) Carter Castor (FL) Chaffetz Chandler Chu Clarke (MI) Clarke (NY) Clay Cleaver Clyburn Cohen Cole Connolly (VA) Cooper Costa Costello Courtney Crawford Critz Crowley Cuellar Cummings Davis (CA) Davis (IL) DeGette DeLauro Dent Deutch Diaz-Balart Dicks Dingell Doggett Dold Donnelly (IN) Doyle Dreier Duncan (SC) Duncan (TN) Edwards Ellison Ellmers Eshoo Fattah Filner Fincher Flake

Franks (AZ) Fudge Garamendi Gardner Garrett Gosar Gowdy Graves (GA) Green, Al Green, Gene Griffin (AR) Grijalva Guinta Gutierrez Hanabusa Hanna Hastings (FL) Heck Heinrich Higgins Hinojosa Hirono Hochul Holden Honda Hoyer Huelskamp Hultgren Inslee Israel Issa Jackson Lee (TX) Johnson (GA) Johnson (IL) Johnson, E. B. Johnson, Sam Jones Keating Kildee Kind King (IA) King (NY) Kinzinger (IL) Kissell Labrador Lance Landry Langevin Lankford Larsen (WA) Larson (CT) LaTourette Levin Lewis (GA) Loebsack Lofgren, Zoe Lowey Luján Lummis Maloney Manzullo Marchant Markey Matheson Matsui McCarthy (NY) McClintock McCollum McCotter McDermott McGovern McHenry McIntyre McNerney Meeks Miller (MI) Miller (NC) Miller, George Moore Moran

Mulvaney Neal Nugent Olver Owens Pallone Pascrell Pastor (AZ) Paul Paulsen Payne Pearce Pelosi Pence Perlmutter Peters Peterson Pitts Poe (TX) Polis Pompeo Posey Price (NC) Quayle Rahall Rangel Reyes Richmond Rivera Rogers (MI) Rohrabacher Rokita Roskam Ross (AR) Ross (FL) Roybal-Allard Royce Ruppersberger Rush Ryan (WI) Sánchez, Linda T. Sanchez, Loretta Sarbanes Schakowsky Schiff Schock Schwartz Scott (SC) Scott, David Sensenbrenner Sires Smith (NJ) Smith (WA) Southerland Speier Stearns Stutzman Sullivan Sutton Thompson (CA) Thompson (MS) Thompson (PA) Tierney Tipton Tonko Tsongas Van Hollen Velázquez Walsh (IL) Walz (MN) Wasserman Schultz Watt Waxman Welch West Westmoreland Wilson (FL) Yarmuth

---- NOT VOTING    13 ---

Bachus Berg Butterfield Camp Engel

Giffords Gingrey (GA) Hurt Napolitano Ryan (OH)

Sewell Stivers Towns

___________________________________

Bennett's books available in New York State independent bookstores: Lift Bridge Bookshop: www.liftbridgebooks.com [Brockport, NY]; Sundance Books: http://www.sundancebooks.com/main.html [Geneseo, NY]; The Book Den, Ltd.: BookDenLtd@frontiernet.net [Danville, NY]; Talking Leaves Books-Elmwood: talking.leaves.elmwood@gmail.com [Buffalo, NY]; Book House of Stuyvesant Plaza: http://www.bhny.com/ [Albany, NY]; Mood Makers Books: www.moodmakersbooks.com [City of Rochester, NY]; Dog Ears Bookstore and Literary Arts Center: www.enlightenthedog.org/ [Buffalo, NY]; Burlingham Books – ‘Your Local Chapter’: http://burlinghambooks.com/ [Perry, NY 14530]; The Bookworm: http://www.eabookworm.com/ [East Aurora, NY]; LONGS’ Cards and Books: http://longscardsandbooks.com/ [Penn Yan, NY]

_____________________________________