Hitting Back, Nonviolently
By Ted Glick
This Tuesday morning, around 10 a.m., on the 99th day of my climate emergency fast, I’m going to the Senate office on Capitol Hill of Mitch McConnell, the top-ranking Republican in the Senate. And I’m going to stay there for a while, attempting to draw attention to the anger that a lot of us feel about this latest outrage by Republican leaders in Washington out of touch with even their own rank and file. According to a recent Zogby poll, 77% of Republicans agree that utilities should be required to produce some of their energy from clean sources such as wind and solar.
Despite this reality, McConnell led the Republicans in a successful effort Friday morning to defeat a surprisingly good—for this Congress—energy bill passed by the House on Thursday. A key part of that bill, and a part singled out by Republicans as a main reason for their opposition, was a requirement that 13 years from now, by 2020, utility companies must get 15% of their power from renewable sources, from the sun, wind, tides, the earth’s heat and other clean sources.
Never mind the fact that half the states have already passed legislation mandating something similar, some of them with stronger requirements. Never mind the fact that there was a 20% reduction in the amount of sea ice in the Arctic between the end of this summer and the end of the summer of 2005. Never mind the fact that the House renewables requirement is actually quite modest, as is true for other parts of the bill.
It is absolutely clear that what we need is not a 1% a year increase in renewable energy, or a 3/4 of a mile per year increase in fuel efficiency standards, which is what the CAFÉ provision of the House bill provides for, to an average of 35 miles per gallon by 2020. After all, mpg for cars is over 40 for Europe and 35 for China right now!
What we need is a full-fledged, deep-seated, through-going clean energy revolution. If we’re going to have a chance of avoiding the catastrophic climate change that we’re staring down the gun barrel at right now, we must make that qualitative and quantitative shift as soon as possible. We must do on the energy issue what we did in 1942 when the U.S., following the December 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, rapidly shifted from a peacetime to a wartime economy in the battle to defeat Hitler and Japanese fascism.
This time, we need to defeat the oil and coal interests and their enablers in other parts of the economy and in Congress. Those are the corporate interests who are behind what McConnell his partners did on Friday.
I was asked yesterday by someone I was trying to recruit for this sit-in idea what I thought could come of it.
One thing that might come of it is an intensification of grassroots pressure—calls, faxes, emails, visits—to the offices of Senators, demanding that they must include support of renewable energy in any energy bill they pass. An energy bill without significant support for renewables is like sex without love, religion without God, or democracy without free and fair elections.
Another thing that should come of this is that some Republicans and, for that matter, weak-kneed Democrats might think twice next time before they do something like this again.
But perhaps more important, what an action like this can do is give hope and courage to those thousands of young people who attended the historic Power Shift conference over a month ago, encourage their taking action where they are. It can help to build a spirit of resistance within the broader environmental, climate and progressive movement that we are going to need going forward into 2008 and 2009 when the absolutely decisive showdowns in Washington, D.C. will be taking place over a new U.S. government climate policy.
I know that there’ll be others with me on Tuesday morning, hopefully a lot of us, and I hope that there’ll be similar actions this week at the district offices of Senate Republicans who voted with McConnell and for the corporate polluters on Friday . McConnell’s office is room number 361-A in the Russell Building on Constitution Avenue up on Capitol Hill.
Resistance is forming, no war, no warming!
Ted Glick is on the 97th day of a climate emergency fast and is the coordinator of the U.S. Climate Emergency Council. More information on the energy bill struggle and the fast can be found at www.climateemergency.org. Ted can be reached at indpol@igc.org or 240-396-2155.
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www.VelvetRevolution.us
READ THIS AND UNDERSTAND WHAT IT MEANS
this information is imperative for EVERY PATRIOT TO KNOW AND FULLY UNDERSTAND, AS
THERE ARE PLANS FOR U.S. TROOP ROTATIONS BACK TO CONUS FROM IRAQ, TO FIGHT AGAINST
UNITED STATES 'INSURGENTS' AFTER A MARTIAL LAW DECLARATION.
Green Zone Follies
BAGHDAD -- "Yesterday, one of my good friends from another office was telling
me they were going to start issuing armored vests to us office types because of the
growing danger from mortars. We are being shelled daily and, like everything else,
casualties are way underreported . But more important than the flak vests was a file
he had copied out and which he gave to me to smuggle out of the country. As I have
said, we have strict censorship here on all incoming and outgoing snail mail, email,
phone calls and so on. This report is so serious I am making a précis of it and am
even now sending it around to various news outlets, both Stateside and elsewhere. I
have my sources and believe me, the CIC people here are so stupid they couldn't
pour piss out of a boot if the directions were on the bottom.
It states that because of "growing popular unrest in the United States, caused by the
prolonged war in Iraq .coupled with obvious Congressional inaction," the U.S.
military has drawn up plans for combating domestic U.S. civil insurrections. This is
not a theoretical study but a very specific one. Units to be used domestically are
listed in detail as are detention centers, etc.
As a result of this, plans are now in train to segregate, retrain and reequip certain
anti-insurgent U.S. military units now serving in Iraq and to prepare them for quick
transfer back to the United States for use "as needed" The Pentagon command
believes that such civil insurrections are not only a possibility but a very real
probability in the event that the President and his advisors maintain their present
course vis a vis the Iraqi war.
It is interesting to note that "foreign intelligence representatives, now active in the
United States" (read Mossad) are to be subject to "arrest, confinement and eventual
deportation to their country of origin."
The report and several attached ones, run to almost 900 pages and cannot be put up
in their current form. However, I will list some of the more important data here:
Classification: Top Secret-Noforn as of 1 June 2007
Distribution Restriction: Distribution authorized to the DOD and DOD contractors
only to maintain operations security. This determination was made on 1 June 2007.
Other requests for this document must be referred to (redacted)
Destruction Notice: Destroy by any method that will prevent disclosure of contents
or reconstruction of the document. .
This publication uses the term insurgent to describe those taking part in any activity
designed to undermine or to overthrow the established authorities
Counterinsurgency is those military, paramilitary, political, economic,
psychological, and civicactions taken by a government to defeat insurgency (JP 1-
02). It is an offensive approach involving all elements of national power; it can take
place across the range of operations and spectrum of conflict
In dealing with the local populace, the primary aims must be to:
·Protect the population.
·Establish local political institutions.
·Reinforce local governments.
·Eliminate insurgent capabilities.
·Exploit information from local sources.
An insurgency is organized movement aimed at the overthrow of a constituted
government through use of subversion and armed conflict (JP 1-02). It is a
protracted politico-military struggle designed to weaken government control and
legitimacy while increasing insurgent control. Political power is the central issue in
an insurgency.
An insurgent organization normally consists of four elements:
Leadership.
Combatants (main forces, regional forces, local forces).
Cadre (local political leaders that are also called the militants).
Mass base (the bulk of the membership).
A perceived serious potential of dissident American groups rising up against
constituted authority has been clearly identified by counter-intelligence agencies..
The stated cause for such an uprising appear to be growing dissatisfaction with the
course and conduct of the war in Iraq, the chronic inability of Congress to deal with
various pressing issues and the perception of widespread corruption and
indifference to public needs.
The support of the people, passive or active then, is the center of gravity. It must be
gained in whatever proportion is necessary to sustain the insurgent movement (or,
contrariwise, to defeat it). As in any political campaign, all levels of support are
relative.
Insurgent movements begin as "fire in the minds of men." Insurgent leaders commit
themselves to building a new world. They construct the organization to carry
through this desire. Generally, popular grievances become insurgent causes when
interpreted and shaped by the insurgent leadership. The insurgency grows if the
cadre that is local insurgent leaders and representatives can establish a link between
the insurgent movement and the desire for solutions to grievances sought by the
local population
Insurgent leaders will exploit opportunities created by government security force
actions. The behavior of security forces is critical. Lack of security force discipline
leads to alienation, and security force abuse of the populace is a very effective
insurgent recruiting tool. Consequently, specific insurgent tactical actions are often
planned to frequently elicit overreaction from security force individuals and units.
Insurgencies are dynamic political movements, resulting from real or perceived
grievance or neglect that leads to alienation from an established government.
A successful counterinsurgency will result in the neutralization by the state of the
insurgency and its effort to form a counterstate. While many abortive insurgencies
are defeated by military and police actions alone, if an insurgency has tapped into
serious grievances and has mobilized a significant portion of the population, simply
returning to the status quo may not be an option. Reform may be necessary, but
reform is a matter for the state, using all of its human and material resources.
Security forces are only one such resource. The response must be multifaceted and
coordinated, yet states typically charge their security forces with "waging
counterinsurgency." This the security forces cannot do alone.
These imperatives are-
· Facilitate establishment or reestablishment of a 'legitimate government'.
· Counterinsurgency requires perseverance.
· Foster popular support for the incumbent US government.
· Prepare to perform functions and conduct operations that are outside normal scope
of training.
· Coordinate with US governmental departments and agencies, and with vital nongovernmental,
agencies.
Urban operations.
· Protection of government facilities.
· Protection of infrastructure.
· Protection of commercial enterprises vital to the HN economy.
· Protection of cultural facilities.
· Prevention of looting.
· Military police functions.
· Close interaction with civilians.
· Assistance with reconstruction projects.
· Securing the national borders.
· Training or retraining a national military police and security force.
Establishing and maintaining local government credibility.
· Contributing local government is both tangible and psychological. Local security
forces must reinforce and be integrated into the plan at every stage.
· Facilitate and use information and intelligence obtained from local sources to gain
access to the insurgent's economic and social base of support, order of battle, tactics,
techniques, and procedures.
Army forces help local pro-government police, paramilitary, and military forces
perform counterinsurgency, area security, or local security operations. They advise
and assist in finding, dispersing, capturing, and destroying the insurgent force.
US forces may conduct offensive operations to disrupt and destroy insurgent combat
formations. These operations prevent the insurgents from attacking governmentcontrolled
areas.
There are many organizations and extensive resources available to aid
counterinsurgent forces.
Commanders should not overlook the aid these organizations may provide. All
forces assigned an AO or function should determine which departments and
agencies are assisting in that AO and coordinate actions so that there is no
duplication of effort. Such departments,
councils and agencies include-
· National Security Council.
· Department of Defense.
· Department of State.
· Department of Justice.
· Department of the Treasury.
· Department of Homeland Security.
· Department of Agriculture.
· Department of Commerce.
· Central Intelligence Agency.
· Department of Transportation
Various governmental departments directly administer or support other
governmental agencies. Examples of these US agencies are-
· The US Coast Guard (under Department of Homeland Security).
· The Federal Bureau of Investigation (under Department of Justice).
· Immigration Customs Enforcement (under Department of Homeland Security).
· Federal Communications Commission
. The proper application of force is a critical component to any successful
counterinsurgency operation. In a counterinsurgency, the center of gravity is public
support. In order to defeat an insurgent force, US forces must be able to separate
insurgents from the population. At the same time, US forces must conduct
themselves in a manner that enables them to maintain popular domestic support.
Excessive or indiscriminant use of force is likely to alienate the local populace,
thereby increasing support for insurgent forces. Insufficient use of force results in
increased risks to US forces and perceived weaknesses that can jeopardize the
mission by emboldening insurgents and undermining domestic popular support.
Achieving the appropriate balance requires a thorough understanding of the nature
and causes of the insurgency, the end state, and the military's role in a
counterinsurgency operation. Nevertheless, US forces always retain the right to use
necessary and proportional force for individual and unit self-defense in response to
a hostile act or demonstrated hostile intent.
The media, print and broadcast (radio, television and the Internet), play a vital role
in societies involved in a counterinsurgency. Members of the media have a
significant influence and shaping impact on political direction, national security
objectives, and policy and national will. The media is a factor in military operations.
It is their right and obligation to report to their respective audiences on the use of
military force. They demand logistic support and access to military operations while
refusing to be controlled. Their desire for immediate footage and on-the-spot
coverage of events, and the increasing contact with units and Soldiers (for example,
with embedded reporters) require commanders and public affairs officers to provide
guidance to leaders and Soldiers on media relations. However, military planners
must provide and enforce ground rules to the media to ensure operations security.
Public affairs offices plan for daily briefings and a special briefing after each
significant event because the media affect and influence each potential target
audience external and internal to the AO. Speaking with the media in a forwarddeployed
area is an opportunity to explain what our organizations and efforts have
accomplished.
Continuous PSYOP are mounted to-
· Counter the effects of insurgent propaganda.
· Relate controls to the security and well-being of the population.
· Portray a favorable governmental image.
.Control measures musthttp://
· Be authorized by national laws and regulations (counterparts should be trained not
to improvise unauthorized measures).
· Be tailored to fit the situation (apply the minimum force required to achieve the desired
result).
· Be supported by effective local intelligence.
· Be instituted in as wide an area as possible to prevent bypass or evasion.
· Be supported by good communications.
· Be enforceable.
· Be lifted as the need diminishes.
· Be compatible, where possible, with local customs and traditions.
· Establish and maintain credibility of local government.
A control program may be developed in five phases:
· Securing and defending the area internally and externally.
· Organizing for law enforcement.
· Executing cordon and search operations.
· Screening and documenting the population (performing a detailed census).
· Performing public administration, to include resource control.
Support to the judiciary may be limited to providing security to the existing courts
or may lead to more comprehensive actions to build local, regional, and national
courts and the required support apparatus. To avoid overcrowding in police jails, the
courts must have an efficient and timely magistrate capability, ideally co-located
with police stations and police jails, to review cases for trial.
Cordon and search is a technique used by military and police forces in both urban
and rural environments. It is frequently used by counterinsurgency forces
conducting a population and resource control mission against small centers of
population or subdivisions of a larger community. To be effective, cordon and
search operations must have sufficient forces to effectively cordon off and
thoroughly search target areas, to include subsurface areas.
PSYOP, civil affairs, and specialist interrogation teams should augment cordon and
search orces to increase the effectiveness of operations. Consider the following
when conducting cordon and search operations:
Cordon and search operations may be conducted as follows:
Disposition of troops should-
· Facilitate visual contact between posts within the cordon.
· Provide for adequate patrolling and immediate deployment of an effective re-serve
force.
Priority should be given to-
· Sealing the administrative center of the community.
· Occupying all critical facilities.
· Detaining personnel in place.
· Preserving and securing all records, files, and other archives.
Key facilities include-
· Administrative buildings.
· Police stations.
· News media facilities.
· Post offices.
· Communications centers.
· Transportation offices and motor pools.
· Prisons and other places of detention.
· Schools.
· Medical facilities.
Search Techniques include-
· Search teams of squad size organized in assault, support, and security elements.
One target is assigned per team.
· Room searches are conducted by two-person teams.
· Room search teams are armed with pistols, assault weapons, and automatic
weapons.
· Providing security for search teams screening operations and facilities.
Pre-search coordination includes-
· Between control personnel and screening team leaders.
· Study of layout plans.
· Communications, that is, radio, whistle, and hand signals.
· Disposition of suspects.
· On-site security.
· Guard entrances, exits (to include the roof), halls, corridors, and tunnels.
· Assign contingency tasks for reserve.
· Room searches conducted by two- or three-person teams.
· Immobilize occupants with one team member.
· Search room with other team member.
· Search all occupants. When available, a third team member should be the recorder.
· Place documents in a numbered envelope and tag the associated individual with a
corresponding number.
SCREENING AND DOCUMENTING THE POPULATION
Screening and documentation include following:
· Systematic identification and registration.
· Issuance of individual identification cards containing-
A unique number.
Picture of individual.
Personal identification data.
Fingerprints.
An official stamp (use different colors for each administration region).
Family group census cards, an official copy of which is retained at the local po-lice
agency. These must include a picture and appropriate personal data.
Frequent use of mobile and fixed checkpoints for inspection, identification, and registration
of documents.
Preventing counterfeiting of identification and registration documents by laminating
and embossing.
Programs to inform the population of the need for identification and registration.
Covert surveillance is a collection effort with the responsibility fixed at the
intelligence/security division or detective division of the police department. Covert
techniques, ranging from application of sophisticated electronics systems to
informants, should include-
Informant nets. Reliability of informants should be verified. Protection of identity is
a must.
Block control. Dividing a community or populated area into zones where a trusted
resident reports on the activities of the population. If the loyalty of block leaders is
questionable, an informant net can be established to verify questionable areas.
Units designated for counterinsurgency operations
· 115th MIB, Schofield, HI
· 704th MIB, Fort Made, MD, Collaboration with NSA
· 513st MIB, Fort Gordon, GA in Collaboration with NSA
· Arlington Hall Station, VA
· Aberdeen Proving Ground (Maryland)
· US Army Intelligence and Security Command INSCOM-
Huachuca ( Arizona )
· INTELLIGENCE THREAT and ANALYSIS CENTER ( Center Analysis for
threat and Intelligence )
· 501st Military Intelligence Brigade EAC
· 3rd Military Intelligence Battalion Exploitation Area