US led death machine set to expand


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Bush administration to expand Arlington cemetery
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Friday 27th May, 2005 - Defense Department officials have garnered more than 70 acres of land to expand the sprawling 600-plus-acres on the west bank of the Potomac River overlooking the nation's capital.


The Arlington National Cemetery will be expanded by the inclusion of a newly acquired 70 acres.


'We estimated that we would run out of grave space between the year 2025 and 2030,' said cemetery superintendent John Metzler Jr. 'So one of the things we were directed to do was to develop a new master plan and to look at not only what we needed to do internally to maintain the cemetery, but also how we could look at expanding the cemetery beyond the year 2025.'


Officials searched around the cemetery in all directions to see who owned the land, what it was currently being used for, and the likelihood of being able to acquire the land.


'As a result of all this, we've been able to acquire three parcels of land so far, including the 44-acre Navy Annex that lies to our south,' Metzler noted. 'We also acquired a piece of property inside the cemetery that had belonged to the National Park Service, which was being used as a buffer zone between the Arlington House and the cemetery. There was a 24-acre tract, and we were able to acquire half of that -- 12 acres.'


The Arlington House mansion is where Gen. Robert E. Lee lived before the Civil War. After he joined the Confederacy, the plantation mansion was confiscated at the outbreak of the Civil War and converted to headquarters for the Union's Army of the Potomac. The grounds were used as a burial site for families that were too poor to claim their deceased loved ones from the battlefield.


Today, the mansion house is restored as a museum, and the grounds are considered a sacred shrine.


The cemetery also will use a 17-acre tract of land that's now a picnic area at adjacent Fort Myer, Metzler noted. 'We're also looking at relocating our utilities inside the cemetery from underneath the grass-tufted area and placing them underneath our roads,' he said.


With these initiatives in place, Metzler said, Arlington would be able to continue operations until at least 2060, and that would include development for both ground and columbarium burials.


He pointed out that the cemetery averages 26 burials a day, with 6,452 burials held during fiscal 2004. More than 292,000 people are buried at Arlington.


Eligibility for burial at Arlington includes:


Anyone who dies on active duty;
Any retired veteran with 20 years service or greater from the regular military;
Reservists who have one period of active duty service other than training, who are aged 60 or older, and have a total of 20 years or more; and Honorably discharged recipients of the Medal of Honor, Distinguished Service Cross, Distinguished Service Medal, Silver Star and Purple.
Other eligible servicemembers include former prisoners of war and veterans who are medically disabled with a 30 percent rating or greater before Oct. 1, 1949, as a result of their military service and were discharged for that reason. The spouses of these servicemembers are eligible for burial alongside their husbands or wives.



Metzler said any veteran with one period of active duty service ending with an honorable discharge is entitled to have his or her cremated remains placed into the Arlington Cemetery columbarium. Ashes of their spouses can be interred in the same location.


Caissons are authorized for any officer or Medal of Honor recipient. E-9s are included in some cases, varying with each service branch, Metzler noted.


Several little-known historic sites are located at the cemetery. For example, there are two different locations for remains from the Civil War era. One has 'USCT' engraved on the headstones, which stands for U.S. Colored Troops.


'We have several sections within the cemetery where the predominated burials are USCT,' Metzler noted. 'Plus, we have the former residents of Freedmen's Village. These were blacks who would be called in today's terminology 'homeless.' They had no place to go. They'd come off the plantations, had no education, no money, no means to support themselves, and the government created a bureau -- the Freedmen's Bureau -- to address this issue.'


Metzler said six villages were constructed in the Washington area. One was constructed on the grounds of Arlington Cemetery. 'For some 30 years, this village existed, and over that period of time, 3,500 residents of Freedmen's Village passed away and are buried here in Arlington Cemetery in Section 27,' he said.


There's a plaque in Section 8 designated in memory of American Indians. The inscription reads, 'The Viet-Nam Era Vets. We are honored to remember you. The indigenous people of America. Dedicated to our Indian warriors and their brothers who have served us so well.'


President John F. Kenney's gravesite and the Tomb of the Unknowns are the most visited sites on the grounds of the cemetery. Metzler noted these sites draw about 4 million visitors each year. Big News Network.com




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$15.9 million in tents????
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Johnson Outdoors Inc. (stock: JOUT) announced Friday that it has received a $15.9 million order for military tents.


The government's "urgent need" order requires the Racine-based manufacturer of outdoor equipment deliver 2,510 modular general purpose tent systems over the next eight months. Urgent need orders are issued based on a company's ability to produce a product quickly.


Cynthia Georgeson, spokeswoman for Johnson Outdoors, said that work on the project will begin immediately, and she did not know whether more workers will be hired to help fill the order.

- jsonline.com
 http://www.jsonline.com/bym/news/may05/329527.asp


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winner of the strangest Iraq news story: would you crowd round a suspicious vehicle???

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Bomber Targets Elite Police
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2:10 pm PST, 11 June 2005 The Iraqi Government says a former police commando has blown himself up in a failed bid to assassinate the controversial leader of the anti-insurgent Wolf Brigade.


The unit's chief, Major General Mohammed Qureishi, was not hurt but three other policemen were killed and another wounded in the attempt. Iraqi Interior Minister Bayan Jabor says the suicide bomber walked into the brigade's Baghdad headquarters with the morning shift, wearing the unit's military uniform.


The force comprises hundreds of commandos mainly drawn from poor Shi'ite districts of the capital. Minority Sunnis have accused the unit of aggressive methods and dirty tactics against them.


An internet statement apparently posted by the Sunni insurgent group linked to al Qaeda has claimed responsibility for the attack.


It follows an overnight car bombing in a Shi'ite district of Baghdad evening which killed 11 people and wounded 29.


Residents say locals became suspicious about a car parked in a street in northwest Baghdad and as they crowded around it the car exploded.


Since a new Iraqi Government was unveiled in late April there has been a sharp increase in the number of car bomb attacks in Iraq. -

- 7am.com
 http://7am.com/cgi-bin/wires02.cgi?1000_2005061103.htm




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Britain postpones Iraq handover
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12th June, 2005 - British military officials reportedly have decided to delay turning over security in southern Iraq to Iraqis until at least next year.


Middle East Newsline reports that the after an assessment of the situation in the Basra area and of Iraqi military capability, the Defense Ministry decided that Iraq's army is not yet ready. Officials cited high absenteeism, a lack of discipline and inability to cope with the insurgency.


About 25,000 British troops have been based in Basra since the invasion of Iraq more than two years ago. British officials say that the city is more secure than Baghdad, which is occupied by U.S. forces.


British officials visited Iraqi training programs and combat units in May and decided they would not be prepared to take over in Basra until 2006.



- Big News Network.com
 http://feeds.bignewsnetwork.com/?sid=92309a7c7862b051




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Fears of military action on Iraq-Iran border
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By Phil Sands and Jumana Al Tamimi

Muntheria, Iraq/Dubai : Tensions between Iran and Iraq have escalated in recent weeks to the extent that threats of military action have been made, a senior member of Iraq’s security forces said.

General Nazim Mohammad, chief of Iraq’s Border Police in Muntheria, told Gulf News he had personally told his Iranian counterparts their soldiers would be shot if they strayed too close to Iraqi fortifications.


Speaking during an interview at his headquarters in Muntheria, on the Iraq-Iran frontier, he claimed his forces had come under small arms fire from the Iranians. Iranian troops had also fired mortars which exploded on Iraqi soil, he said.


American officers confirmed there had been mortar strikes, which they said appeared to have hit the no-man’s land between Iraqi and Iranian lines.


When contacted, Laith Kubba, spokesman for the Iraqi Government, told Gulf News: “I don’t have any information on this. But these could be smuggling groups which are usually armed. This is not the first time it has happened.”


Iranian officials and mediamen, however, felt the accusations were not true.


Mosib Nuaimi, Editor-in-Chief of Al Wesaq newspaper, told Gulf News from Iran: “How can mortar shells fall without anyone seeing them? After the recent explosions in the Iranian city of Ahvaz, security has been boosted. But I haven’t heard of any tension on the border.”


According to Gen Nazim, he and other Iraqi officials were sent by the Ministry of Interior to a meeting with Iranian authorities recently.


“I told the Iranians: ‘Mortars from the Iranian side are often being fired on the Iraqi side ... I have ordered my soldiers, if Iranian soldiers come close to us, we will open fire directly. If I capture your soldiers, I will parade them on TV in front of the entire world’.”


Gen Nazim, who is well respected by US forces for his tough approach to security, also said his men had arrested several Iranians involved in sabotage.


“We captured three men and there is proof they blew up oil pipelines near Nuft Khaneh under the orders of Iranian intelligence officers,” he said. “They had people working with them in Baquba too.”

 http://www.gulf-news.com/Articles/RegionNF.asp?ArticleID=169442

If Iraq launches a fullscale war against Iran, we need another mass anti-war movement (preferably not led by the SWP this time but that's a detail) letting Bush know we're not fooled for a second and this time we'll actually STOP the war.