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	"The only way to abolish war   is to make peace heroic." John Dewey, 1859-1952 U.S. philosopher & educator Phil Ochs ¹
	soldiers destroying weapons   OPERATIONJoint Guardian

shanti sena

Wash.DC   Ellen Thomas sits on a blue Mexican serape blanket, which partly covers a large blue protest sign directly across Pennsylvania Avenue from the White House. It's adorned with the slogans "LIVE BY THE BOMB … DIE BY THE BOMB " & "CONVERT THE WAR MACHINES". She's been sitting there, peacefully protesting since 1984. The signs have been there since 1981, and so has her husband, vigil founder Wm. Thomas, whom they call simply "Thomas."

Ellen Thomas talks quietly with passers-by and hands out fliers to tourists, schoolkids and business people. Only those who stop to read the signs are offered a flier. Many toss them once out of view, but a few will read the newsletter, and a few more might check out the group's Web site. At the base of a large tree, her dog, Bo, lounges in the late-morning summer heat. He pants even though he just got a haircut. Ellen Thomas is just one of a handful of volunteers who spend their evenings, nights, mornings, weekends or afternoons in the shade, with theirback to the White House, looking into Lafayette Park. Twenty-four hours aday, 365 days a year. 19 years and counting. They're protesting nuclear weapons. They want the U.S. govt, along with the other nations of the world, to give up their nuclear weapons and divert the money spent on the arms to humanitarian and environmental causes. "Basically, the core motivation is my beliefs," Wm Thomas said. "I believe that energy & resources should be expended in a constructive manner, and I live in a society where constructive use of those resources isn't highly valued." Party lines They have been successful in introducing in the U.S. House of Representatives an initiative known as Proposition 1, which calls for the disarmament of nuclear weapons. The proposition has been introduced 4 times by D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, but it never made it out of committee. William Thomas began the Lafayette Park vigil in 1981 with Concepcion Picciotto, another protester who sits about 20 ft away with her signs. The protesters have endured bitter cold, pulsing heat and jail time in order to promote their message to tourists and now three presidents. One group member claims that President Clinton once pulled up at 3 a.m. and spoke with him for several minutes, but the story can't be substantiated. Ellen Thomas is relieved of her vigil duties after several hours by Donn Condron, another protester. He's been involved in the vigil since its inception, but didn't start protesting until last June. "I've done all kinds of things, construction, carpentry; but I used to come over here on my lunch break," he said. "We used to use my apartment to make the signs." Group members have to be careful with how they protest. Displeased presidents and Secret Service agents have pushed for ordinances over the years that limit their protesting, such as allowing only two signs and the right to remove the signs if protesters are more than 3 feet away from them. "When the Republicans are in office, it's more stringent," Condron said. "With the Democrats, it's not as bad." Thomas concurs, pointing out that the group is banished from the White House side of Pennsylvania Avenue. But the vigil is still going with no end in sight. "The police tried to get rid of him (Thomas), but we just keep on going," Ellen Thomas said. "There used to be a concerted effort to get us out of here, but it doesn't seem to be a policy to remove us anymore, and we appreciate that." "Planted some seeds" Ellen Thomas became involved in the group after her two children were grown. "I was working at the National Wildlife Federation," she said. "I decided that when I didn't need to worry about providing for my daughter, I was going to reduce my income to below the poverty level so I wouldn't have to pay taxes, because I don't agree with the policies" of the U.S. govt. She met William Thomas soon after and the two were married in 1984. Since then, she has spent time in prison for "camping" in Lafayette Park. She and Thomas were arrested in 1987 for wrapping themselves in a blanket to keep warm, which, according to the U.S. Park Police, is considered illegal. Ellen Thomas believes that after 19 years, something has been accomplished. "We've planted some seeds because 3 million people visit the White House each year," suggesting that some of those visitors leave with a different perspective on nuclear weapons. Many people who pass by the signs think that the protesters are homeless, but that isn't the case. The group lives and works out of an office on 12th Street in Northwest Washington, where they run their award-winning Web site. They received the office, a former crack house, free in exchange for bringing it up to code. Through it all, Ellen is proud to point out that she's there to offer a solution. "I'm doing it because I choose to do it. I meet a lot of interesting people and learn stuff I wouldn't otherwise learn," she said. "I'm not here to complain, I'm here to fix." A revolution for revolt ¹   Britain's biggest political protest was mobilised on the web 2.20.03   Alistair Alexander Stop the War Coalition This weekend's anti-war demonstration was almost certainly the largest coordinated political protest the world has seen. Events began in Melbourne, Australia, and then erupted in hundreds of cities across the world like a global wave before ending in San Francisco 48 hours later. While estimates range from six to 12 million people taking part, February 15, or F15 in activist parlance, underlines the extent to which the dynamics of protest politics have been transformed by the internet. As a press officer for the Stop the War Coalition in the run-up to Saturday's march, I experienced first-hand how the internet has allowed tiny political groups with virtually no resources to mobilise millions of people. The press campaign would not have existed without the internet. By using email for press releases, we could send immediate responses to govt statements at no cost. We could direct journalists to our website. The internet provides a vital resource for checking discrepancies in govt statements. The revelation that a govt dossier was cut & pasted from a 10-year-old thesis would never have made the headlines had the original author not read the dossier on the internet. The web exposes govt information to unprecedented scrutiny. The internet has dramatically effected the way Stop the War Coalition is organised. "A major part of campaigns in the past was stuffing envelopes. That used to take literally days," says Andrew Burgin, one of the founders of Stop the War. "So campaigns in the past always required a much bigger labour force." Using mailing lists & its website, the central office communicates with a rapidly growing network of local groups that provide much of the movement's organisation. Those local groups communicate with their members and the wider movement through their own mailing lists, group text messages and local websites. The groups also run their own press campaigns with local media. My local group is in Dulwich, South London, hardly a hotbed of revolutionary fervour. But meetings draw people from every ethnic background, class, age and political persuasion, who you could hardly imagine meeting in any other circumstance. The founder of the group, Mike Healey, has also researched the social effects of the internet as a lecturer for Westminster University. "We've used the internet to build the group," he says. "There's a lot of talk of virtual communities and what's happened here is one example. "But the community only exists to mobilise, not to just chat online." This distributed structure has proved to be infinitely extensible, with more & more local groups continuing to be formed and the central office remaining minimal, it is run by less than 10 people. But for the anti-war movement the internet is only a means to an end. The reason people get involved is not for online discussions, but for offline protest such as Saturday's march. The internet makes that process more accessible to people who would not normally get involved in politics.

Bush, Blair nominated 2002 peace Nobel   ¹ 2.4.02   Doug Mellgren AP Oslo, Norway   Pres.GWBush & British PM Tony Blair nominated for the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize for fighting terrorism & securing world peace, a Norwegian lawmaker announced Monday. Harald Tom Nesvik, a member of parliament from the right-wing Party of Progress, said he has nominated the 2 leaders who have been at the forefront of the war in Afghanistan. "The background for my nomination is their decisive action against terrorism, something I believe in the future will be the greatest threat to peace," Nesvik said. "Unfortunately, sometimes ... you have to use force to secure peace." Nesvik has nomination rights as a member of a national legislature. The Oslo-based awards committee accepts nominations postmarked by Feb. 1, so proposals continue to arrive and a final number is not expected until late in the month. Last year, 136 individuals and groups were nominated. The $943,000 prize was shared by the UN & Sec.Gen Kofi Annan. The committee keeps the names of nominees secret for 50 years. However, those making nominations often reveal their choice. 9.11.01 expected to influence this year's nominations, because those events were too late to be considered in last year's award. Other nominations mentioned, but not confirmed, include former NYC Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and Guy Tozzoli, an engineer who helped design the World Trade Center. Also Monday, 2 Christian Democratic members of Norway's parliament announced their nomination of the Salvation Army, adding to a list that includes Rome-based Catholic group Church of Sant'Egidio for peace & humanitarian efforts and the Mission of Mercy humanitarian group for work in Latin America. The Nobel Prize winners are named in mid-Oct. and the awards are always presented on Dec. 10, the day their founder, Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel, died in 1896. The peace prize is awarded in Oslo, and the others in Stockholm, Sweden. Belgium amends law to avoid war crimes lawsuit against Bush   3.25.03   AFP Brussels   The Belgian parliament amended a controversial law to prevent US President GWBush being prosecuted for war crimes over the conflict in Iraq. The law allows Belgian courts to try suspects for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide, regardless of where the alleged acts took place or the nationality of the accused. Under the amendment, which the Belgian Senate must approve before it takes effect, a federal prosecutor will decide in certain cases whether to accept a suit filed under the so-called "universal competence" law. This was one of the "filters" that lawmakers inserted into the law to prevent plaintiffs bringing "harebrained" lawsuits. Critics of the law, incl U.S., have warned Belgium that its role as host to intl institutions like NATO & the European Union, would be threatened if a war crimes suit were filed against Bush. "It's a serious problem," said US Sec.State Powell, after he was named last week in a lawsuit for alleged crimes during the 1991 Gulf war along with former US president George Bush & current VP Cheney. "For a place that is an intl center they should be a little bit concerned about this," Powell said. The lawsuit against him was filed by 7 Iraqi families over the bombing of a civilian shelter in Baghdad that killed 403 people on the night of 2.12-13.91. Powell served as the head of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff and Cheney as defense secretary during the 1991 Gulf war. Some 30 current or former political leaders are facing action under the Belgian law, incl Israeli PM Ariel Sharon, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and Cuban President Fidel Castro. "I expect there to be, any day, a suit against President (George W.) Bush in Belgium," Herman De Croo, speaker of Belgium's lower house of parliament, said earlier Tuesday. Throughout the day, Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt had hosted intense negotiations among political leaders from his ruling "rainbow" coalition to discuss changes to the law. Under the amendments passed, the prosecutor will decide if a lawsuit is valid if the alleged crime did not happen in Belgium; if the alleged perpetrator is not Belgian or is not on Belgian territory; and if the victims are not Belgian or have not resided in Belgium for at least 3 years. If one of these conditions applies, the lawsuit goes ahead automatically. If none of the conditions apply, the Belgian justice minister can pass on the case to the country of the accused. The amendments will affect only cases filed after 7.1.02, like the one against Bush senior and only those where the country of the accused has war crimes legislation. Fears that a war crimes lawsuit over the Iraqi conflict could be brought against the current US president have further strained relations between U.S. & Belgium, which has been a fierce critic of the war on Iraq and was at the center of an unprecedented crisis at NATO over the conflict last month. The changes to the law came only a week before Belgium's parliament was due to be dissolved ahead of a general election scheduled 5.18.03. According to parliamentary sources, the parties in the ruling coalition were divided over how to amend the law. Verhofstadt's Liberals, backed by Flemish-speaking Socialists, had proposed a "diplomatic filter" allowing the govt to pass on any cases to the country where the alleged crimes took place, providing it is democratic. Francophone Socialists & Greens feared that the law would be rendered toothless if the amendments were too radical.

Teen anarchist's supporters accuse FBI of AIM hack   2.7.02   Brian McWilliams Newsbytes Los Angeles   The FBI declined to comment Wednesday on allegations that federal agents have commandeered online chat accounts belonging to the teen-aged operator of anti-govt site Raisethefist.com. However, the agency denies allegations that it has harassed associates of 18-year-old self-proclaimed anarchist Sherman Martin Austin. According to several of Austin's supporters, someone has repeatedly logged into the teen's accounts on America Online's AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) real-time chat service while he was in police custody. Austin, a resident of Sherman Oaks, Calif., has been incarcerated in a high-security federal jail in Manhattan since Saturday on charges of disorderly conduct following a protest against the World Economic Forum in New York. A friend listed on Austin's AIM Buddy List who identified himself only as "James" said he was threatened Monday by someone he suspects was an FBI agent using Austin's account. "He told me, 'Your ass is next, pal,'" James said. Laura Bosley, a spokesperson for the FBI's Los Angeles field office, declined to say whether the FBI would commandeer someone's AIM account as part of an investigation, citing its ongoing nature. But she said FBI agents would never harass associates of a suspect. Last week, federal agents executed a search warrant at Austin's home and confiscated several computers as well as equipment for making explosives. According to an affidavit, the FBI suspects Austin of hacking into several Web sites to post anarchist messages and using his own site, Raisethefist.com, to publish bomb-making information. Newsbytes independently observed that someone using Austin's AOL screen name "Ucaun" signed on to the service briefly Tuesday night. But that person did not respond to interview requests. Matt Yarborough, head of the cyberlaw section at Fish and Richardson and a former assistant U.S. attorney, said it was "certainly possible" that FBI agents commandeered Austin's AIM accounts as part of their undercover work on the case. "I've dealt with federal agents who did things that made my stomach turn. But, assuming these claims are true, the agents might see this as a good technique for flushing people out," said Yarborough, who noted that Austin may also have been instructed to sign on to his AIM account while in custody. However, Mark Rasch, vice president of cyberlaw at Predictive Systems and a former federal prosecutor, said it was most likely that one of Austin's enemies, and not the FBI, was responsible for hijacking his AIM accounts. "It would be very improbable that even an overzealous agent would do this. It's unfathomable that a court would grant such an order," said Rasch. Susan Tipograph, the attorney representing Austin in New York, said Austin has not spoken to the FBI since being arrested. According to Tipograph, he has been held in a maximum-security cell around the clock and it was impossible that he would have signed on to his account.

"He's in the same unit where they held people who bombed the U.S. embassies in Africa in 1998. It seems odd to treat an 18-year-old this way," said Tipograph.
Austin's political views have made him a target for verbal attack by right-wing extremists, his associates said, but they dismissed suggestions that his accounts may have been compromised by such adversaries.

While AIM accounts are password-protected, the technology has been abused in the past by attackers who hijack others' AIM accounts through trickery, Trojan horses, packet-sniffing and other techniques. Matthew Dickinson, a San Diego-based accountant who said he was an online acquaintance of Austin's, reported that the teen told him last autumn that his AIM accounts had been hacked into by law enforcement officials. Dickinson provided a Nov. 10 e-mail message, purportedly from Austin, in which he recounted discovering that one of his AIM screen names was being used by the FBI to harass him.

The message included a log file of an AIM session in which someone using Austin's screen name Raisethefist told Austin, "This is a matter of national security, pal. We're tapping all accounts," and, "We're watching you, and packeting you. Warrants are wonderful." AIM log files are simple text documents that can be created or edited using a word processor. As such, their authenticity is difficult to determine. It was not clear whether Austin shared the login information for his AIM account with family members or friends. Austin's mother referred all inquiries to Tipograph, who said she had no information on the matter. If federal agents took over Austin's AIM accounts without his permission, such an action would constitute unauthorized access and be illegal, according to Yarborough.
"The govt doesn't have the right to hack into someone else's computer. If these allegations are true, it would look bad in court, as if the agents were attempting to intimidate people to disclose information," he said. In an interview with Newsbytes last week over AIM, Austin admitted to defacing several Web sites in the past three years to post messages about overthrowing the U.S. govt. One of the defacements included the message: "We don't gather weapons, plan extreme operations, and risk our lives for nothing. This is real." Austin was not charged with any crimes as a result of his arrest in New York, Tipograph said. However, federal charges were filed against him for posting information at his site about making explosives and with possessing a Molotov cocktail, which is considered an "unregistered firearm" by the FBI.

No hacking charges have yet been filed against Austin, although Bosley told Newsbytes that additional charges are possible. Raisethefist.com has been unreachable since late last week. Austin's former hosting company, About Web Services, refused to comment on the status of the site, citing the firm's privacy policy. Domain registration records today showed that Raisethefist.com is no longer receiving domain-name service from About Web's Freeservers.com service, and that the domain was transferred to InfoSpace's HyperMart hosting service on Feb. 1.

In the interview last week, Austin told Newsbytes that he didn't think 18 was too young to be an anarchist. "16yr olds fight in the New Peoples Army in the Philippines," he said. When asked whether he thought it should be illegal to publish bomb-making information, Austin replied that everyone should have a right to distribute such knowledge.
"I think it should be illegal for other people to get rich off dropping bombs on poor women and children. I personally would like a society without bombs," he said. According to an FBI affidavit, a search by New York police of Austin's car last weekend uncovered "electrical wiring, electrical tape, one empty gasoline tank, and anarchist literature."

U.S. 'contractors' fight Colombia drug war   ¹
3.2.01   Jared Kotle AP   via Bush Drug War / Corruption Awareness Project   Roni Bowers

School Of the Americas   Castano in Colombia GCMESS death squads Al Martin

School of the Americas Reborn ¹

Critics insist Institute is merely touched-up version of School of the Americas that in 54 years trained more than 63,000 members of Latin American armed forces. After graduating such infamous individuals as Manuel Noriega, officers of Augusto Pinochet and death squad leaders from El Salvador, it became known by some as the "School of the Assassins." Rep. Joe Moakley D-MA said changes in the school proposed by the Clinton admin & approved by Congress last year are "little more than a fresh coat of paint, and do not address our concerns with this training facility." Moakley spearheaded long campaign in Congress to close the school, said, "Democracies aren't built with weapons & war. They are built with democratic institutions like fair judiciaries, open electoral systems and civilian police forces that protect people. That is what we should be teaching Latin Americans, not how to wage war against their own people." Defenders of the new institution say military exchanges bring greater understanding & cooperation in the hemisphere, which are key elements to confront new realities & threats in the Americas. They also say that bringing together the region's armed forces, esp. those with questionable human rights records, is better than no contact at all.   [ No contact is not the only option. Intl tribunal's prosecution & imprisonment for convicts are excellent alternatives. ] "Arguably our best instrument of cooperation, of defense engagement in the hemisphere, is military education & training and that is what this institute does," said Pedro Pablo Permuy, dep. asst secretary of defense for inter-American affairs. "It is absolutely critical." He added that there is no doubt that training 800 members of Latin American armed forces at the school each year in professionalism, respect for human rights and support for democracy is positive. He said it is unfortunate Pentagon is trying to break past patterns while new institute's critics been slow "to get into the mindset that we are no longer in a Cold War." Unlike the school, which closed last month, the new institute will also train civilians in govt & nongovt jobs and will be under congressional oversight. It will have a civilian-military dept directed by State Dept official not yet been named, and the curriculum will include courses such as natural disaster response, intl law & human rights. All students take 8hrs min. of human rights training. New institute opening & earlier changes in SOA resulted in part from critics efforts but these also may have brought military training increase outside the U.S. which limits possibility of oversight, said observers, incl authors of a report to be released Thursday. Most U.S. military training takes place in the Andean region & Mexico under pgms such as Joint Combined Exchange Training (JCET) & International Military Education & Training (IMET). "If all training was as transparent as the SOA's, we wouldn't have much of a mission," said Adam Isacson of the Center for Intl Policy in Washington, which prepared the report with the Latin American Working Group, a coalition of religious, human rights & policy organizations. The report, Just the Facts 2000-2001, says 5% to 10% of U.S. training for Latin American military personnel in 1999 was provided at SOA. The report estimates 13,000 to 15,000 Latin American military & police personnel were trained by U.S. in 1999, more than all armed forces personnel trained by the U.S. in the Middle East, East Asia and countries of the former Soviet Union. Isacson recognized courses' value in promoting better relations with civilians & respect for human rights, but added that other courses are worrisome, such as training in combat, weapons familiarization & infiltration. Concern is heightened, he said, with perception that the U.S. govt underestimates need to take responsibility for training results. "We contend that with training comes a share of responsibility for how skills transferred are subsequently used," the report says. Last year Congress passed a law to establish a way to track foreign military personnel trained by the U.S. which states beginning Jan. 1, Sec.Def must maintain database with information about all trainees, the type & date of their training and, as far as possible, the positions they hold after training. "[Nearly 70% of the military budget] is to provide men and weapons to fight in foreign countries in support of our allies and friends and for offensive operations in Third World countries … Another big chunk of the defense budget is the 20% allocated for our offensive nuclear force of bombers, missles, and submarines whose job it is to carry nuclear weapons to the Soviet Union … Actual defense of U.S. costs about 10% of the military budget and is the least expensive function performed by the Pentagon." Rear Admiral Gene LaRoque, U.S. Navy retired	New military school gives officers new tools   Course in Iraq challenges conventional tactics, stresses cultural awareness   2.21.06   Thos. Ricks Wash.Post Taji, Iraq   If the U.S. effort in Iraq ultimately is successful, one reason may be the small school started recently on a military base here by U.S. commander in Iraq Army Gen. George W. Casey Jr. Called the COIN Academy, using military shorthand for "counterinsurgency", the newest educational institution in the U.S. military establishment seeks, as a course summary puts it, to "stress the need for U.S. forces to shift from a conventional warfare mindset" to one that understands how to win in a guerrilla-style conflict. Or, as a sign on the wall of one administrator's office here put it less politely: "Insanity is doing the same thing the same way and expecting a different outcome." The purpose of the school north of Baghdad is to try to bring about a different outcome than the U.S. military achieved in 2003-04, when Army commanders committed mistakes typical of a conventional military facing an insurgency. "When the insurgency started, we came in very conventional," said Col. Chris Short, the District native and recent Manassas resident who is the new school's commandant. Back then, U.S. forces rounded up tens of thousands of Iraqis, mixing innocent people in detention with hard-core Islamic extremists. Commanders permitted troops to shoot at anything mildly threatening. They failed to give their troops the basic conceptual and cultural tools needed to operate in the complex environment of Iraq, from how to deal with a sheik to understanding why killing insurgents usually is the least desirable outcome in dealing with them. (It is more effective, they are now taught, to persuade them either to desert or to join the political process.) Last year, an internal study by Army experts of U.S. commanders here found that some understood the principles of counterinsurgency and applied them well, while others faltered. "If the commander had it, the unit had it, but if the commander got it halfway, then the unit got it halfway," Casey said in a recent interview. The new school is designed to ensure that all the commanders get it. Even now, some conventional unit commanders balk at the idea of leaving their troops for the 5 day course, which covers subjects from counterinsurgency theory and interrogations to detainee operations and how to dine with a sheik. When told that he had to leave his battalion of Marines in Fallujah to come here, recalled Lt. Col. Patrick Looney, his reaction was disbelief. "I didn't want to come," concurred Lt. Col. David Furness, commander of the 1st Battalion of the 1st Marine Regiment, now operating between Baghdad and Fallujah. "But I'm glad I came." Casey, the school's builder, found an easy way to make them come: He made attendance compulsory for any officer heading to a combat command in Iraq. He also meets with each class, offering the captains and lieutenant colonels a rare chance to quiz a four-star general. Some members of the facultydraws heavily on Special Forces officers, were not eager to teach U.S. infantry, artillery, aviation and armor officers. Short recalled that some said: "That's not our mission. We don't teach U.S. forces." Such qualms have been eliminated, he said with a chuckle. Again and again, the intense immersion course, which 30 to 50 officers attend at a time, emphasizes that the right answer is probably the counterintuitive one, rather than something that the Army has taught officers in their 10 or 20 years of service. The school's textbook, a huge binder, offers the example of a mission that busts into a house and captures someone who mortared a U.S. base. "On the surface, a raid that captures a known insurgent or terrorist may seem like a sure victory for the coalition," it observes in red block letters. It continues, "The potential second- and third-order effects, however, can turn it into a long-term defeat if our actions humiliate the family, needlessly destroy property, or alienate the local population from our goals." At points, the school's leaders seem to go out of their way to challenge current U.S. military practices here. Short said in an interview Friday inside his sandbagged headquarters that he has issues with "this big-base mentality" that keeps tens of thousands of troops inside facilities called forwarding operating bases, or FOBs, which they leave for patrols and raids. Classic counterinsurgency theory holds that troops should live out among the people as much as possible, to develop a sense of how the society works and to gather intelligence. As Apache attack helicopters clattered overhead, Short also offered an unconventional view of Iraq's December elections, which many U.S. officials have portrayed as a great victory. "You can ask just about every Iraqi, 'What about the elections?' " he said. "They'll say", Short shrugged his shoulders, " 'Well, we voted five times, and nothing's happening out here.' " Recent attendees at the school came away impressed. "I think it's an incredibly insightful course," said Army Maj. Sheldon Horsfall, an adviser to the Iraqi military in Baghdad. "One of the things that was brought home to us, again and again, was the importance of cultural awareness." "The course opened my eyes to some of the bigger picture," said Lt. Col. Nathan Nastase, the operations officer for the 5th Marine Regiment, based near Fallujah. He said he especially liked hearing about the role of Special Operations Forces in Iraq, as well as learning about the tactics being used by successful commanders. The school's greatest effect seems to be on younger officers. "My initial impression of it was it was a waste of time," said Capt. Klaudius Robinson, commander of a cavalry troop in the 4th Infantry Division. "But after going through it, it really changed my thinking about how to fight this insurgency. I came to realize that the center of gravity is the people, and you have to drive a wedge between the insurgents and the people." Before the course, he said, he expected to spend his time here combating insurgents, but instead he is focused on training and operating with Iraqi troops. "We're never going to catch every bad guy," he tells his troops. "That's not a ticket home. But what I can do is help Iraqi security forces and get them to take the lead." "One of the things I picked up at the COIN Academy is, we don't need to be hard on people all the time," said Capt. Bret Lindberg, commander of another 4th Infantry cavalry troop. The major criticism offered by students is that it would have been better to have the education 6 months earlier, when they were training their troops to deploy to Iraq, not after the units have arrived. Short had a tart response: It's not a bad idea, he said, but the Army back home wasn't stepping up to the job. "They didn't do it for three years", the length of the war so far, he noted. "That's why the boss said, 'Screw it, I'm doing it here.' " At any rate, the school isn't just about operating in Iraq, Short said, but about preparing officers for the rest of their careers. "I think we're going to be in more of these wars," he said.
Fed. Acq. Reform Act eliminated foreign arms sales fee req. by law to recoup tax funded R&D active denial technology freq cannon xray eyes re 802.11b more e-bombs cyberterrorism et al WIO DEW contratech offsite archive cop militarization Pentagon fielding electromagnetic crowd dispersal weapon   3.2.01   F. Morales CNN "The Marine Corps is on the verge of unveiling perhaps the biggest breakthrough in weapons technology since the atomic bomb: a nonlethal weapon that fires directed energy at human targets. I have nothing to hide. This is a good news story. Our American public needs to understand that we have done our homework." 5.5.01 Col. Geo.Fenton, dir. Defense Dept Joint NonLethal Weapons Directorate per Marine Corps Times In a neatly calculated "unveiling" of weapons designed for social control, for use against civilians and the suppression of dissent, the Pentagon has gone "transparent" with the latest in electronic weapons technology which targets people.
At a selective 3.1.01 press briefing for congressional & military leaders, Pentagon officials stated they were "developing a new non-lethal weapon which uses electromagnetic energy to cause a burning sensation on the skin..." (Reuters, 3/1/01) The "biggest breakthrough in weapons technology since the atomic bomb" is none other than the so-called "Vehicle-Mounted Active Denial System" VMADS. According to 3.5.01 Marine Corps Times article entitled, "The People Zapper: This new secret weapon doesn't kill, but it sure does burn", the "VMADS system is the first non-lethal, directed energy weapon designed specifically for use against humans." The weapon "focuses energy into a beam of micromillimeter waves designed to stop an individual in his tracks." Powered by electricity, it would ultimately "be powered by the modified Humvee on which it would be mounted." According to Marine Corps Times report, the projected energy "falls near microwaves on electromagnetic spectrum, causes the moisture in a person's skin to heat up rapidly, creating a burning sensation, similar to a hot light bulb pressed against one's flesh." The microwaves, "whose exact length, frequency and amplitude are classified, cause water molecules in the skin cells to vibrate." Presumably, "when used as directed, i.e. briefly, the weapon causes no long-term problems". Meanwhile, "the amount of time the weapon must be trained on an individual to cause permanent damage or death is classified." Studies of long-term effects of "the VMADS system" have been completed, according to the report, but "the findings have not been released publicly." It should be noted that the Joint Chiefs of Staff major policy directive in the area of non-lethal weapons, DoD Directive 3000.3, which is currently under revision, calls for these weapons to have a built-in "rheostatic" (ie. "tunable") capability.	speculative conjecture …   longitudinal EM interferometers scattered around the world (sometimes called "Tesla howitzers). One of the abilities of these new superweapons is to create waves of electromagnetic energy at the distant target which can soften metal. … * Sounds like specular RF reflector 'd send the beams off in all directions, & with practice maybe even right back at those firing them. Wonder what a large, parabolic dish would do. Break out the mirrors per RF Causes Cancer 3.16.01 U.S. military unveils 'super sandwich' 4.11.02   BBC American military researchers have cooked up an indestructible sandwich for soldiers to eat on the battlefield. It is designed to stay fresh & dry for up to 3 years, and to withstand airdrops, rough handling and extreme climates. Until now, American soldiers have been forced to construct their own sandwiches from pasteurised ingredients stored in separate pouches. … To combat sogginess, researchers at the US Army Soldier Systems Center in Natick, Massachusetts used fillings such as pepperoni and chicken, then added substances called humectants which prevent water from leaking out. Humectants also limit the amount of moisture available for bacterial growth. Oxygen-scavenging chemicals prevent yeast from growing in the sealed plastic sandwich pouches. Soldiers who tried the pepperoni and barbecue-chicken "pocket sandwich" have given it their approval, New Scientist magazine reported. Researchers hope to extend the menu of indestructible edibles to include pocket pizzas, cream-filled bagels, breakfast burritos and peanut butter sandwiches. New Scientist wrote: "The pocket sandwiches won't see action until 2004. But like dehydrated egg, freeze-dried coffee and processed cheese all originally developed by the military; the long-life sandwich will probably find its way into grocery stores."

The Air Force Research Laboratory Directed Energy Directorate, in addition to developing "high powered electromagnetic weapons and countermeasures" also develops "moderate and high power laser devices". (3) In fact, recently (2/212/01), the public affairs office of the Airborne Laser System Program Office, located at Kirtland, AFB, announced that "Lockheed Martin Space Systems will open an $8 million, 16,000 square-foot optical test center...designed to analyze the beam guidance system for the U.S. Air Force's Airborne Laser, the world's first combat aircraft armed with a directed energy weapon." (4) Meanwhile, the Space Vehicles Directorate - Air Force Research Laboratory, "develops technologies to support evolving warfighter requirements to control and exploit space." (5) This past November, Kirtland AFB was the sight of the 3rd Annual Directed Energy Symposium entitled, Directed Energy for the 21st Century, presented by the Directed Energy Professional Association, in cooperation with the Office of the Secretary of Defense. (6)
The VMADS system is currently being tested in field conditions by the Air Force at Kirtland, AFB. At the New Mexico site, "they are using a transmitter that sends a narrow beam of energy to a test subject hundreds of yards away." It is reassuring to note that "all testing is being conducted with strict observance of the procedures, laws and regulations governing animal and human experimentation". In addition, "the tests have been reviewed and approved by the Air Force Surgeon General's Office and are conducted by the Air Force Research Laboratory's Human Effectiveness Directorate." Finally, "although testing is expected to continue in this summer (2001), officials have begun examining the technology for use on a vehicle-mounted version. Future versions might also be used onboard planes and ships." (7)

Col. George Fenton, director of the US Marine operated NLW program firmly believes in the safety of this "revolutionary force protection technology." He recently stated that "humans have been exposed more than 6,000 times in testing, all inside the laboratory (and that) no long term effects have been detected." Given that track record, Fenton believes that "the technology could move into the acquisition phase of making a prototype as soon as this summer (2001), when the project would be taken over by the Air Force's Electronic Systems Center at Hanscom Air Force Base, Mass., near Boston." (8)
Finally, on-cue the New York Times joined in on the "unveiling", heralding "what some military officials hope will become the rubber bullet of the 21st century: a weapon that uses electromagnetic waves to disperse crowds without killing, maiming or, military officials say, even injuring anyone slightly." (9) Not even slightly! After all, notes the Times, they are only "intended to influence motivational behavior." According to free lance writer/researcher David Guyatt, "less than lethal anti-personnel weapons, especially some classes of EM weapons that are viewed as having a capability to remotely modify behavior or attack higher functions, are seen in some influential quarters as being the ideal remedy for future domestic disturbances...", wherein, the forces of repression will target the opposition, "armed with innovative technological weapons that do not necessarily kill but which render disenfranchised segments of society physically inactive, emotionally stupefied and incapable of meaningful thought..." (10)

Sound farfetched? Back in 1986, Marine Corps Captain Paul E. Tyler, author of an influential study entitled, "The Electromagnetic Spectrum in Low-Intensity Conflict" (11) was already making the point that "the potential applications of artificial electromagnetic fields are wide ranging and can be used in many military or quasi - military situations" including "crowd control". At that time he pointed out that although scientists hadn't identified electromagnetism for what it really was until the eighteenth century, "the results of many studies that have been published in the last few years indicate that specific biological effects can be achieved by controlling the various parameters of the electromagnetic (EM) field." And further, "many of the clinical effects of electromagnetic radiation (have) been reported in the literature to induce or enhance the following effects (including) … electroanesthesia...behavior modification in animals, altered electroencephalograms in animals and humans, altered brain morphology in animals, altered firing of neuronal cells." According to Capt.Tyler, "a 1982 Air Force review of biotechnology had this to say: Currently available data allow the projection that specially generated radio frequency radiation (RFR) fields may pose powerful and revolutionary antipersonnel military threats. Electroshock therapy indicates the ability of induced electric current to completely interrupt mental functioning for short periods of time, to obtain cognition for longer periods and to restructure emotional response over prolonged intervals." Further, "experience with electroshock therapy, RFR experiments and the increasing understanding of the brain as an electrically mediated organ suggested the serious probability that impressed electromagnetic fields can be disruptive to purposeful behavior and may be capable of directing and or interrogating such behavior", while "the passage of approximately 100 milliamperes through the myocardium can lead to cardiac standstill and death, again pointing to a speed-of-light weapons effect."

1. Marine Corps Times, "The People Zapper: This new secret weapon doesn't kill, but it sure does burn", C. Mark Brinkley, March 5, 2001, pg.10.
2. United States Air Force, Air Force Research Laboratory, News Release, Office of Public Affairs, "New Technology Drives Away Adversaries", February 22, 2001. www.de.afrl.af.mil/pa/releases/2001/01-09.html
3. Air Force Research Laboratory, Kirtland AFB, New Mexico, Directorate descriptions, www.afrl.af.mil/techconn/directorate_descriptions.htm
4. United States Air Force, Airborne Laser System Program Office, Office of Public Affairs, "Airborne Laser Optical Facility Opens", February 21, 2001. www.de.afrl.af.mil/pa/releases/2001/01-06.html
5. Air Force Research Laboratory, Directorate descriptions (above)
6. Directed Energy for the 21st Century, 3rd Annual Directed Energy Symposium, Preliminary Program and Registration, Kirtland Air Force Base, White Sands Missile Range, 30 October - 3 November 2000.
7. Air Force Research Laboratory, "New technology Drives Away Adversaries" 2/22/01 (above) 8. Marine Corps Times, 3/5/01 (above)
9. New York Times, "Pentagon Unveils Plans for a New Crowd-Dispersal Weapon", James Dao, 3.2.01
10. David G. Guyatt, "Some Aspects of Antipersonnel Electromagnetic Weapons", February 1996 www.adacomp.net/~mcherney/aspects.html
11. Capt. Paul E. Tyler, MC, USN, "The Electromagnetic Spectrum in Low-Intensity Conflict", in, LtCol. David J. Dean, USAF, Editor, Low-Intensity Conflict and Modern Technology, Air University Press, Alabama, June 1986. www.adacomp.net/~mcherney/mn142a.htm

general NION stencil to print United for Peace Father Divine Pax Christi USA Charlie Wilson's war Just & Unjust Wars Hymn before action Kipling & Morant & links

Frans Osinga DNI Chet Richards Geo. Stalk & Tom Hout Belisarius H. John Poole   re "Patterns of Conflict" & OODA loop :   2 primary themes   • A focus on time, not speed, specifically using dislocations in time to shape the competitive situation, effects quite different in business than in war.   • A culture with attributes that enable, even impel, organizations to exploit time for competitive advantage. Within Boyd´s culture, members will seek out or invent specific practices that will work for it. "   … ability to employ these maneuver concepts rests on an underlying cultural foundation. Sun Tzu, writing sometime before 400 B.C., made the earliest known identification of the elements of such a high-performing culture.   Chief among these is trust, which is so fundamental that he simply called it, "The Way." Mutual trust is now recognized as essential by every successful practitioner of maneuver concepts.   … destruction of trust as a result of corporate short-sightedness or lack of integrity among sr managers is the single most significant cause of business failures in the early 21st century."   Belisarius   ¹ ² ³ " I fear that machines are some centuries ahead of morals. " Harry S. Truman touring bombed out post-war Berlin Of 67 fatal casualties by the 12th day of the second Gulf War, more died of mishap (multiple helicopter crashes & other vehicle accidents), 25, than by enemy fire in combat, 21. In addition to these, more died from friendly fire, 6, than by sappers, 4. 3.30.03   Forces: U.S. & Coalition / casualties CNN According to NATO's own figures, of 307 cruise missiles launched at Iraq during the first Gulf War, 65 (21%) missed their targets. 10.10.01   Bombing long-term fears BBC What mythological confusion is this? Since when has Mars been god of commerce & Mercury god of war ? Viennese ed. Karl Kraus auth. & publ. "Die Fackel" (The Torch) 1899-1936 … (few) will pick up a gun if it means putting down a cash register. Horse under water   auth. Len Deighton

Mother Jones' Index Proposition One Washington's finest peace patrol Country Joe McDonald & Zipper Wars Ctr for Intl Policy   hammering out plowshares California Peace Action L.A.   formerly SANE/FREEZE infoshop.org Chico State Gulf protest Friends Committee on Legislation of California, longest running cause lobby in Sacramento FY99 655 Report State Dept rpt on direct commercial sales licenses of munitions Arms Control per   Intl Security Pgm Union of Concerned Scientists COAT Coalition to Oppose Arms Trade (Canada) U.N. recent docs re conventional arms/small arms The Arms Fixers   weapons watch Biowar kill patient to cure disease : Tricky Dick's ghost vs. the future of the planetary ecosystem Pentagon's Fraud   Emperor's newest clothes Army InspectorGen Kosovo abusive troops report   &   RULES of PEACEKEEPING FEMA ¹ D I Y munitions   from the front lines of the drug wars torture The last days of mankind a tragedy in 5 acts auth. Karl Kraus   "a play to be performed on Mars" compiled from Vienna newspaper articles, official bulletins, and overheard conversations during WWI re wartime reporting as popular entertainment. Performed excerpts during the war.   Franz Pfemfert

Global Exchange of Military Information As a participating state in the Helsinki Document 1992, U.S. must submit annually to the Organization of Security & Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) information on major weapon and equipment systems & personnel in their conventional armed forces. Only Russia stood between Napoleon and France's domination of Europe. … At the beginning of the 18th century, the Russian frontier had been on the Dneiper; a century later, it reached the Vistula, 500 miles farther west. At the beginning of the 18th century, Russia had been fighting for its existence against Sweden at the Poltova, deep in the present day Ukraine. By the middle of the century, it was participating in the Seven Years' War and its troops were at the outskirts of Berlin. By the end of the century, it would be the principal agent in the partition of Poland. Henry Kissinger Diplomacy p74

OSCE Duma re-election participants field offices U.S. meets European allies for talks on bases 12.8.03   Reuters Brussels   U.S. began a diplomatic roadshow Monday to explain the post-Cold War realignment of its military forces, which is widely expected to bring base closures in Western Europe. Bush admin has made no decisions yet, but Defense under secretary Feith said its new defense policy would reflect NATO's eastward shift as countries once behind the Iron Curtain join the alliance. "A lot of the current force posture in Europe is based on the realities of the Cold War, and so adjustments are going to have to be made to take into account that the alliance is larger & stronger than it was a few years ago," he said. Feith was speaking at a news conference after briefing NATO ambassadors with Under Sec. State Marc Grossman at the U.S. led alliance's HQ.

From Brussels the 2 men will split for consultations in nearly a dozen capitals across Europe, a sign, diplomats said, of Washington's eagerness to tread carefully after transatlantic strains over the Iraq war. "No final decisions have been made. The work we are doing now is an attempt to talk to people about the strategy and the concepts," Grossman said.
Some adjustments would be made in the next year or two, Feith said, but the whole review would take years to implement. 1991 Gulf War and more recent conflicts in Afghanistan & Iraq have taught the U.S. & its allies that military mobility, incl temporary basing & overflight rights, combined with technology, rather than entrenched Cold War forces, are the keys to preventing or winning future wars.

Washington has already withdrawn its forces from Saudi Arabia and is working on plans to realign the 100,000 U.S. troops in the Western Pacific, South Korea and Japan. It keeps 2 of its 10 army divisions in Europe. In Germany, it has some 77,000 personnel, many with families, at bases which have become thriving townships in their own right and bring considerable benefits to the local economies.
U.S. strategic planners have long argued that 110,000 service personnel stationed in Europe at huge cost should be replaced by smaller units with troops on short rotation tours at bases stretching into eastern European countries. This would give U.S., and by extension NATO, a foothold in the Balkans and strategic reach into central Asia & MidEast to take on new security threats such as terrorism and the spread of weapons of mass destruction.

U.S. forces in Europe commander Gen. James Jones, champion of expeditionary forces, has been pressing for a 3 tiered bases structure. He told Reuters recently that this would entail main operating bases such as Ramstein in Germany, lighter forward operating bases at further-flung locations such as Camp Bondsteel in Kosovo and bare- bones forward operating locations "where you … bring in what you wish to have on your back."

mil ~ sec

While an overall spending figure for the city of San Diego was not available, the police dept alone incurred more than $540,000 in additional costs between Sept. 11 and Dec. 11, said asst chief John Welter. That includes increased security at city buildings, water facilities and large public events, as well as training and equipt for biological & chemical attacks. The dept expects to spend an extra $2 million a year on security in the post-Sept. 11 environment, Welter said. "It's a major expense and a serious impact. When you couple that with the loss of revenue from sales taxes, we're really hurting," he said.

The mayors' concerns over the fiscal impact of the war on terrorism echo those already expressed by governors. The National Governors Assoc. has lobbied the White House for at least $3 billion for the states. Gov. Gray Davis is counting on $350 million in federal funds to help cover state security costs in California. Hahn, meanwhile, called for a beefed up Coast Guard on the West Coast. "We see more . . . resources going to the East Coast than the West Coast, even though we have greater coastline," he said. "The Coast Guard is really stretched pretty thin on the West Coast. They have to cover Alaska and Hawaii and California, Oregon and Washington."

environment depleted uranium Scorched Earth Wm Thomas denying the widowmaker Allies deliberately poisoned Iraq public water supply in Gulf War 9.17.00   Felicity Arbuthnot Sunday Herald Scotland more re prognosis US-led allied forces deliberately destroyed Iraq's water supply during the Gulf War, flagrantly breaking the Geneva Convention & causing thousands of civilian deaths. Since 1991 war end, allied nations thwarted any attempts to make contaminated water safe. American Thos. J. Nagy, Professor of Expert Systems at Geo.Washington Univ. Business School & Public Management doctoral fellowship in public health intends to convene expert hearings to pursue criminal indictments under intl law against those responsible. "Those who saw nothing wrong in producing [this plan], those who ordered its production and those who knew about it and have remained silent for 10 years are in violation of Federal Statute and perhaps conspired to commit genocide." Professor Nagy obtained a minutely detailed 7pg document prepared by the US Defense Intelligence Agency, issued the day after the war started, entitled Iraq Water Treatment Vulnerabilities and circulated to all major allied Commands. It states Iraq had gone to considerable trouble to provide a supply of pure water to its population. It had to depend on importing specialised equipment & purification chemicals, since water is "heavily mineralised & frequently brackish". Geneva Convention Article 54 states: "It is prohibited to attack, destroy or render useless objects indispensable to the survival of the civilian population" and includes foodstuffs, livestock and "drinking water supplies and irrigation works". Results of the allied bombing campaign were obvious when Dr David Levenson visited Iraq immediately after the Gulf War, on behalf of Intl Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War. He said: "For many weeks people in Baghdad, without tv, radio, or newspapers to warn them, brought their drinking water from the Tigris, in buckets. "Dehydrated from nausea & diarrhea, craving liquids, they drank more of the water that made them sick in the first place." Rep. Tony Hall D-OH wrote SecState Madeleine Albright saying he shares concerns expressed by UNICEF about "profound effects the deterioration of Iraq's water supply and sanitation systems on children's health". Diarrheal diseases he says are of "epidemic proportions" and are "prime killer of children under five". U.S. Truth Commission   Roni Bowers US has its own record of atrocities 12.23.00   Boston Globe Johns Hopkins Univ. asst prof. sociology & poli-sci Jas. Ron & Brown Univ. Watson Inst. for Intl Studies asst prof. for research Chas. T. Call During Serbia's forced depopulation of Kosovo in 1999, Slobodan Milosevic, the former Yugoslavian president, acknowledged that irregular Serbian forces were committing excesses while fighting Kosovar insurgents. He claimed, however, that these were mild when compared with US war crimes in Vietnam. Slobodan Milosevic was a deceptive autocrat responsible for the deaths of thousands, but he had a point. Compared with the US record in Vietnam, Serbia's Kosovo atrocities were far fewer. Remember My Lai? In just a few hours, Lieutenant William Calley's men shot or knifed more than 400 men, women, and children, raping and mutilating some victims. Even that chilling episode, however, pales alongside US tactics in the Vietnamese and Cambodian countryside, where high explosives, napalm, and defoliant were the methods of choice. Serbian forces killed some 10,000 Kosovars, but in Southeast Asia U.S. and its allies slew 1 million, many of whom were civilians. More than twice that number were wounded or forcibly displaced. Direct US involvement in war crimes continued even after the Vietnam conflict. CIA operatives mined Nicaragua's main harbor in the 1980s, and until the 1990s, US Army courses for Latin American soldiers included torture. In the early 1990s, CIA agents created a right-wing group in Haiti that killed hundreds of civilians. Although most Americans barely recall those events, others elsewhere have not forgotten. For them, the contemporary US fascination with human rights seems empty and cynical. If U.S. does not investigate its past misdeeds, these suspicions will ring true. In addition to directly participating in abuses, U.S. also covertly aided brutal authoritarians abroad. Just as Milosevic pulled the strings during Bosnia's ethnic cleansing, U.S. secretly sponsored cruel allies to advance political goals. Consider Chile, where CIA operatives helped overrow an elected leftist leader in the early 1970s, creating the long nightmare of Pinochet's rule. The Chilean judiciary is now investigating Pinochet's crimes, but the CIA is only reluctantly opening its files. Or recall Iran, where US operatives in the 1950s helped depose an elected govt that was threatening Western oil profits. They then installed the Shah, a dictator who relied on torture to maintain control. The same is true for Guatemala, where UN-backed investigators found that govt counterinsurgency forces killed 90% of an estimated 200,000 civil war victims. President Clinton recently called the substantial, clandestine US role in that war wrong, but did nothing to investigate those responsible. The US govt offered widely accepted reasons for its behavior during the Cold War years. It was fighting global communism, which to many seemed a noble and worthwhile goal. Yet wouldn't men like Milosevic supply similarly reasonable explanations? Govts are skilled at justifying abusive policies, citing overwhelming threats to national security. Milosevic defended the Serbian nation, Pinochet battled subversives, and South African whites were fighting communism. Although the rhetoric of justification shifts with time, the realities of abuse remain constant. When states use indiscriminate force to get their way, innocents usually suffer. In the post-Cold War environment there is increasing cause for optimism. Many countries, including Rwanda, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Ethiopia, Chad, El Salvador, Chile, Haiti, and Guatemala, have tried to expose the truth about their past, often at great political cost. Yet U.S. still refuses to practice what it preaches. As supreme Cold War victor, its representatives lecture others about human rights without stopping to consider their own past crimes. For both moral and political reasons, U.S. should create a commission to investigate its own involvement in Cold War misdeeds. The methods of an official US "truth commission" should be professional and nonpartisan in order to avoid narrow political agendas. Despite these precautions, a U.S. inquiry would be painful and divisive. Presidential fortunes might suffer, and congressional careers could be hurt. Yet recall that these are only some of the powerful risks run every day by politicians promoting truth-telling elsewhere, from S.Africa to Argentina. How long can U.S. promote accountability for others if it itself is unwilling to do the same?

spartans For gays, secrecy in love, war Partners of American military personnel are the invisible players back home, bearing their burdens without support or rights. 4.17.03   Patricia Ward Biederman L.A. Times When he went off to fight in Iraq, the 39-year-old Los Angeles resident did what any airman might do. He took with him a photo of his beloved, a reminder of who waits for him at home. But the airman is gay. So the photo he carries with him appears to be of his dog. The pet is in the foreground, and the man's partner of 5 years, a 41-year-old talent agent named Brian, is in the background, as if Brian were a friend who just wandered into the frame. U.S. armed forces deem open homosexuality a risk to morale, good order, discipline and unit readiness. Gay servicemen & women who reveal their sexual orientation or are found to be homosexual are subject to discharge. Brian and other partners of American military personnel are invisible players on the home front. Media photos of worried families of straight soldiers include tearful, poignant goodbyes or joyous reunions. Gay & lesbian partners can't access support services the military offers spouses. They can't be sure they would find out if their loved ones were wounded, captured or killed. "We do our goodbyes at home behind closed doors and then drive to the base or the airport … and, there, we'll just shake hands like we're brothers or friends," Brian said. Brian's partner has been mobilized several times since they met, said Brian, who asked to be interviewed in a Beverly Hills restaurant, where other diners would not overhear. He declined to let his surname be printed, lest it reveal his partner's identity to other airmen. The men keep in touch by e-mail, but they never know who might be reading their exchanges. "We have to keep our e-mails very sterile & cryptic," Brian said. Brian said he hates pretending that they are just pals, but subterfuge has become second nature for his partner after almost 20 years in USAF. Their caution extends to the greeting heard by anyone who calls their Westside home, a house that Brian lived in for years before he met his partner: "Our answering machine at home has to be in his voice only, no mention of me," Brian said. Brian tolerates these evasions, which he blames on the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy. "Americans shouldn't have to do this," he said. A Defense Dept cial pointed out that "don't ask, don't tell" is the law and said: "The dept continues to work tirelessly to administer that law in a manner that is both fair & consistent. Defense Dept remains committed to treating all service members with dignity & respect while fairly enforcing the provisions of the law." In 1982 the Defense Dept formalized World War II-era policies against allowing homosexuals to serve. As a presidential candidate, Bill Clinton supported repealing the ban, but early in his first term he softened his stance in the face of opposition from the military, Congress and a substantial portion of the U.S. public. The opposition argued that the presence of homosexual soldiers could offend or make other troops uncomfortable, undermining esprit de corps and possibly compromising security. In 1994 the "don't ask, don't tell" compromise took effect. Recruits could not be asked their sexual orientation, but evidence of homosexual conduct could be turned over to unit commanders for fact-finding investigations. In recent years, most European countries have begun allowing out-of-the-closet gays to serve in their militaries. In the MidEast, closeted American gays serve alongside openly gay troops from Britain and Australia. Among the 19 NATO countries, 6 do not let openly gay men & women serve: Greece, Hungary, Poland, Portugal, Turkey and U.S.. Ireland & Israel are among the 24 nations that allow openly gay soldiers. UC Santa Barbara Ctr for Study of Sexual Minorities in the Military dir. Aaron Belkin said his group is keeping watch to see whether other nations open their militaries to gays as a result of a 1999 ruling by the European Court of Human Rights that led to Britain's lifting of its ban in 2000. Servicemembers Legal Defense Network in Washington has counseled & provided legal services to about 3,000 gay, lesbian and bisexual Americans in the military over the last decade. The defense network advises gay soldiers filling out military life insurance forms to describe the beneficiary partner only as a "friend." Similarly, the defense network advises gay soldiers to use "friend" on the form that tells the military whom to notify in case the soldier is wounded, taken prisoner, missing in action or killed. Next of kin must be listed on notification forms as well, and blood relatives are more likely to be called than "friends," say the defense network and other advocates for gay soldiers. Unlike blood relatives and straight spouses, gay & lesbian partners don't have access to base support groups & services, and they often can't visit hospitalized service personnel, let alone have a voice in their treatment. Brian is listed as a friend on his partner's notification form, and Brian doubts that he would be treated like a mourning spouse if his airman partner were to fall in battle. "If something were to happen to him, they're not going to knock on my door. They're going to go to the person who is first on that list, and the person who's first on that list is not going to tell me," Brian said. In wartime, when manpower needs are high, soldiers who are identified as gay are less likely to be ousted than in peacetime, according to a 2001 report by the UC Santa Barbara center. Discharges often all but stop during the actual conflict, only to pick up again as soon as the fighting is over. Discharges for homosexuality tripled after World War II ended in 1945