Senator Gillibrand Calls for Plan to Begin Combat Troop Redeployment from Afghanistan

Mounting al Qaeda Threats in Arab Peninsula Outweigh Threats in Afghanistan, Responsible Redeployment Supports Afghanistan Sovereignty, Widespread Corruption and Lack of Cooperation from Pakistan Undermining Afghan Stability

America’s Cost of War in Afghanistan: Over $345 Billion and Growing

COUNTY-BY-COUNTY Data: Over 1,600 New York Troops Deployed in Afghanistan Right Now

After nearly a decade at war in Afghanistan and more than 1,600 New York troops deployed there currently, U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, today called for a clear plan for withdrawal of America’s combat forces from Afghanistan by 2014. Over the last decade, America spent a total of $336 billion to fund the war and $11 billion for assistance in Afghanistan, with about $124 billion more set to be approved by Congress for FY2011.

Senator Gillibrand is calling for passage of the Safe and Responsible Redeployment of United States Combat Forces from Afghanistan Act, legislation to begin withdrawing American combat forces from Afghanistan on July 1 of this year. Senator Gillibrand is also making a formal request for Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Defense Secretary Robert Gates to negotiate a Strategic Redeployment Agreement, based on the model used to withdraw American forces from Iraq, to establish a 2014 withdrawal end date for U.S. combat troops.

“America cannot afford an endless war in Afghanistan,” Senator Gillibrand said. “After nearly a decade at war, with still no equal commitment from the Karzai government, and after all the lives we’ve sacrificed and the billions we’ve spent on this war, it’s time to start bringing our troops home. It’s time to put the future and security of Afghanistan in the hands of its own leaders, and focus America’s national security on the emerging and more imminent threats from al Qaeda in other regions.”

Nearly 100,000 American troops are deployed in Afghanistan today, including more than 1,600 from New York State.

• New York City is home to 259 total military personnel currently deployed in Afghanistan.
• Western New York is home to 95 total military personnel currently deployed in Afghanistan.
• The Rochester/Finger Lakes Region is home to 88 total military personnel currently deployed in Afghanistan.
• Central New York is home to 98 total military personnel currently deployed in Afghanistan.
• The Southern Tier is home to 45 total military personnel are currently deployed in Afghanistan.
• The Capital Region is home to 55 total military personnel currently deployed in Afghanistan.
• The North Country is home to 528 total military personnel currently deployed in Afghanistan.
• The Hudson Valley is home to 105 total military personnel currently deployed in Afghanistan.
• Long Island is home to 96 total personnel military currently deployed in Afghanistan.

Factors Behind Redeployment Strategy

• Transparency International ranks Afghanistan the second most corrupt nation in the world. Its largest bank, Kabul Bank, which processes international aid, funds government salaries and security forces, is on the verge of collapse as a result of widespread corruption.
• Neighboring Pakistan harbors al Qaeda and Taliban insurgency while Pakistan’s intelligence agency maintains ties to the Taliban.
• Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai has called for Afghanistan’s forces to take lead for their country’s security.
• Al Qaeda in the Arab Peninsula has now surpassed Osama bin Laden’s al Qaeda organization in Afghanistan as the most likely to successfully execute an attack inside the United States, according to Director of the National Counterterrorism Center Michael Leiter.

The Gillibrand Afghanistan Withdrawal Plan

Begin Combat Forces Withdrawal in July 2011
Senator Gillibrand believes it is time to signal a clear end to America’s combat mission in Afghanistan. Senator Gillibrand is an original co-sponsor of the Safe and Responsible Redeployment of United States Combat Forces from Afghanistan Act, legislation authored by Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and co-sponsored by 4 senators. The legislation would:

• State that it is U.S. policy to begin the phased redeployment of U.S. combat forces from Afghanistan by July 1, 2011;
• Require the president to submit a plan to Congress by July 31, 2011 for the phased redeployment of U.S. combat forces from Afghanistan, including a completion date for such redeployment.

The legislation builds on President Obama’s strategy to begin the responsible reduction of U.S. forces in July 2011; complete the transfer of responsibility of security to Afghan forces by 2014; and implement a sustained, long-term commitment beyond the withdrawal date.

Establish Strategic Redeployment Agreement
To lay the foundation for an end date to America’s combat forces in Afghanistan and support Afghanistan security forces’ lead for their country’s security, Senator Gillibrand has written to Secretaries Clinton and Gates requesting the negotiation of a Strategic Redeployment Agreement, based on the model used to withdraw American forces from Iraq.

The agreement could also set conditions beyond 2014 for a continued, modest, non-combat mission in Afghanistan, such as an ongoing counter-terrorism mission, along with training of Afghan forces and civilian security projects. The agreement would retain current freedom of mission and protections for U.S. personnel in Afghanistan.

A 2008 Strategic Framework Agreement between the U.S. and Iraq established the broader relationship between the two countries and a 2008 Withdrawal of U.S. Forces Agreement set December 31, 2011 as the complete withdrawal date for U.S. troops.

Senator Gillibrand’s full letter to Secretaries Gates and Clinton:

Dear Secretaries Clinton and Gates,

It is my strong view that it is time to negotiate a Strategic Redeployment Agreement with Afghanistan that would mandate a date certain for the withdrawal of all United States combat forces no later than 2014. I am writing out of consideration for our changing national security challenges, my deep concern about the toll that the war in Afghanistan is taking on our troops and our country, and recognition of that the Afghan and Pakistani governments are not taking steps critical to the war effort. I believe a clear combat redeployment agreement would help our efforts in Afghanistan by reinforcing Afghan sovereignty and protecting both the readiness and the flexibility we need to meet the full array of global security challenges that confront our country.

I have great confidence in the ability of our troops and the strategic focus of our commanders. The surge in Afghanistan has accomplished some substantial military gains. However, as the President has said, in laying out the strategy for Afghanistan, there are “three core elements of our strategy: a military effort to create the conditions for a transition; a civilian surge that reinforces positive action; and an effective partnership with Pakistan.” Despite our civilian assistance, corruption in Afghanistan remains rife. As the near-collapse of Kabul Bank has demonstrated, corruption undermines Afghanistan’s stability and the support of its people for their government. Without a strong, stable, and effective Afghan government, we risk serious domestic instability that opens the door to a return to control by the Taliban and related organizations of major parts of the country despite a U.S. military commitment. As for Pakistan, while I applaud the sacrifices Pakistan’s military has made in fighting some insurgent groups, al Qaeda, the Afghan Taliban, the Haqqani network, and others continue to enjoy safe havens inside Pakistan, near the Pakistani-Afghan border, allowing them to resupply and direct the war in Afghanistan. Insufficient dedication from Kabul and Islamabad undermines our military investment in Afghanistan.

I am also concerned that the drain on our resources in Afghanistan may deteriorate our flexibility to address other global threats. In the past few months, upheavals in the Middle East have posed new challenges for our government as a whole, including the military. Yet, our flexibility of response appears to be compromised in part by our ongoing military involvement in two other Muslim majority countries. Top U.S. intelligence officials have said that Al Qaeda in the Arab Peninsula is a greater national security challenge than bin Laden. And al Qaeda’s reach appears to be increasingly global – spreading ideology and seeking recruits via the Internet and other methods - not limited to specific contests like the one in Afghanistan. U.S. strategy for countering terrorism needs to be far more nimble, innovative, and global than the troop-heavy counter-insurgency.

What I am suggesting is not to spell out every stage of U.S. troop redeployment from Afghanistan – specific redeployment decisions should be up to commanders on the ground and avoid giving the enemy a potential propaganda tool. Nor should we change the protection for our troops and flexibility for our mission that has been agreed in the U.S.-Afghanistan diplomatic notes exchange and the ISAF-Afghanistan Military Technical Agreement. I do not believe that a withdrawal agreement must necessarily limit our training or counter-terrorism missions, or protection for our civilian development programs. It is critical, however, that we provide for a date certain for withdrawal of our combat forces, in order to give certainty to the American people; to ensure maximum flexibility in responding to other contingencies; and to publicly endorse the Afghan Government’s assumption of lead responsibility as planned.

State Senator Joe Addabbo: Calling All Queens Veterans..! Register in National Purple Heart Roll of Honor...

New York State Senator Joseph P. Addabbo, Jr., a member of the Senate’s Veterans, Homeland Security & Military Affairs Committee, today called on all Queens veterans (or their next of kin) who were awarded the Purple Heart, to register in the Roll of Honor at the National Purple Heart Hall of Honor. The facility is located in New Windsor, approximately 10 miles north of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point , NY .

The mission of the Hall of Honor is to collect, preserve and ultimately share the record of all Purple Heart recipients. The Roll of Honor is an electronic database created to preserve and present the stories of Purple Heart recipients. It can be accessed at eight interactive computer kiosks at the National Purple Heart Hall of Honor, and there is also an abbreviated online version which can be accessed from any computer. Visitors to the Hall can learn about individual Purple Heart recipients by reading short narratives and looking at the photographs and other documents that have been submitted to the Hall of Honor. Registration is voluntary. If you are interested in learning more about the registration process, refer to “How do I register a Purple Heart recipient?” on the Hall of Honor Web site: www.thepurpleheart.com. You may also contact The National Purple Heart Hall of Honor, P.O. Box 207, Vails Gate, New York 12584-0207, or call: 845-561-1765 or 877-284-6667; fax: 845-569-0382.

Explains Addabbo, “Since the award was established in 1932, there has not been a consistent record kept of the total number of Purple Hearts awarded. There have been an estimated 1.7 million Purple Hearts awarded since that time, of which there are currently 150,000 already enrolled in the Roll of Honor. Now, with the help from many such highly decorated veterans or their families from Queens and the greater metropolitan area, the Hall of Honor can enhance its registry of Purple Heart recipients from all branches of service, all wars for which the Purple Heart was awarded, and from across the nation. The Hall of Honor also is looking for photos, telegrams, letters home, news articles or other materials that help put a face and a context with each recipient’s name. So even friends of any deceased Purple Heart recipients who have no known living family members are also encouraged to check the Roll of Honor for names and to contribute such items.”

In order to verify receipt of the medal, requested documentation includes a variety of materials, including: DD-214 or other discharge forms listing awards; medical forms; a photo of the back of the medal bearing the recipient’s name; or other supporting materials.

“Enrollment is free; download an enrollment form online at: www.thepurpleheart.com (pdf attached). If you need help obtaining necessary military discharge papers for documentation, contact the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis. The NPRC can be accessed electronically, or through the mail. Their Web address is: http://www.archives.gov/st-louis/military-personnel/index.html. For the veteran or next of kin (defined by them as parent, spouse, child or sibling) the records can be requested at no cost, and can be applied for electronically through eVetrecs, their electronic request system, at: (http://www.archives.gov/veterans/evetrecs/). If you are not a veteran or the next of kin, you must complete the Standard Form 180 (SF 180). This form is available at the National Archives and Records Administration,” notes Senator Addabbo.

Adds the Senator, “During this holiday season of giving and remembering others, two more outstanding programs would like to hear from you so that together, we can make a difference in the lives of our veterans or soldiers (and their families) currently serving in theatre, or facing deployment to, Iraq or Afghanistan”:

Cell Phones for Soldiers, 243 Winter Street, Norwell , Massachusetts 02061

Web site: http://www.cellphonesforsoldiers.com

or

Call toll free at 800-426-1031; for all program inquiries, email: cellphonesforsoldiers@recellular.com.

For questions on calling cards, please email: bob@cellphonesforsoldiers.com.

America’s Adopt a Soldier, P.O. Box 1049, Springfield, Virginia 22151

Web site: http://www.americasadoptasoldier.org

or contact:

Mary E. Keeser, Chair & Founder

Phone: 703-405-9956

Fax: 703-321-4925

email: mary.keeser@americasadoptasoldier.org

Assemblywoman Pheffer Announces Increased Tax Exemptions for Cold War Veterans

Assemblywoman Audrey I. Pheffer (D-Queens) is please to announce a new law (Ch. 235 of 2009), effective Jan. 2, 2010, which provides an opportunity for municipalities to choose to offer increased property tax exemptions for veterans pursuant to section 458-b of the real property tax law and to also allow such veterans who reside in cooperative apartments to benefit from property tax exemptions when they are tenant-stockholders of cooperative apartment corporations.

“This past November marked the 20^th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, and with its passing came a reminder of the dedication and service of Cold War veterans. That is why it was vital that my colleagues and I in the New York State Assembly led the way on a law to increase tax exemptions for Cold War veterans,” said Pheffer.

New York State has a host of benefits for veterans and their families, like the state’s Homes for Veterans Program, which offers fixed-rate, low-interest mortgages to veterans and their spouses through the New York State Mortgage Agency (SONYMA). There are also annuity payments for Gold Star parents, scholarships, burial allowances, and restrictions on foreclosure actions. New York State also offers the Veterans’ Property Tax Exemption to provide a partial exemption to wartime veterans, veterans who received expeditionary medals or the spouses of qualified veterans. This new law takes it another step further by expanding availability to all Cold War veterans.

The Cold War lasted 46 years from 1945 to 1991. Our Cold War veterans endured tense times and served during two wars, both the Korean War and the Vietnam War. Their service kept our nation secure, and their sacrifice made peace a reality for all of us. This law lends support for countless veterans, many of whom are retired and in financial situations where every little bit helps.

“The Assembly has always strived to go beyond a salute to our veterans and address the increasingly complex circumstances of those who defend our families and freedom. We are committed to providing our veterans with the help and support they deserve when they are home,” said Pheffer. “I am hopeful that New York City will take advantage of this opportunity and offer this important tax exemption to our veterans.”

Veterans exemplify the principles and ideals of democracy. Their work made events like the falling of the Berlin Wall possible and helped unite nations for the cause of freedom. Our world would be a very different place without their tireless efforts.

Visit www.veterans.ny.gov for more information about state programs for veterans.

Sign Petition to Rethink Afghanistan - Brave New Foundation

Read original...

News reports indicate that in the next few weeks, President Obama plans to announce his decision to send up to 40,000 more troops to Afghanistan.

If he does so, he will be making the biggest mistake of his presidency.

Sign the petition to send a clear message to President Obama: Do not send more soldiers into this quagmire:

http://rethinkafghanistan.com#petition

An Afghanistan War veteran will travel to D.C. to deliver this message to the White House. Make sure your voice is heard.

Text of Petition:



Dear President Obama,

News reports indicate that you plan to send between 34,000 and 40,000 more troops to Afghanistan.

We urge you to reconsider this decision.

Expanding the war in Afghanistan will make Americans less safe, not more so.

Less than 100 members of Al Qaeda remain in Afghanistan. The Karzai government we once supported is controlled by warlords and is riddled with corruption. Pakistan’s stability will be gravely imperiled by an expansion of the war. Hundreds if not thousands of troops will be killed, along with countless civilians. Anti-American sentiment throughout the Muslim world will be inflamed by civilian bloodshed, facilitating recruitment by terrorist organizations.

The war will cost billions of dollars when we can least afford it, and will stymie your domestic agenda.

The cost of sustaining a military force in Afghanistan is $1 million per soldier per year – that’s close to $100 billion dollars annually with the troop increase. With the economy in shambles, the deficits generated by these enormous costs will compromise your domestic legislative agenda both fiscally and politically.

The United States has no vital interest in Afghanistan. If you choose to further escalate troop levels in Afghanistan, you will be making the biggest mistake of your presidency.

Please reject General McChrystal’s troop requests and begin the process of exiting U.S. forces from Afghanistan.

Sign Petition Now...

Sen. Addabbo Honors New York's Veterans as Nation Marks 90th Observation of Veterans Day and Local Flag Dealer Boosts Our Veterans on November 11th..

As the nation prepares for its 90th Veterans Day observance, we should remember the contributions of the men and women of our armed services every day, according to State Senator Joseph P. Addabbo, Jr., who serves on the Senate’s Veterans, Homeland Security & Military Affairs Committee.

"New York’s one million veterans and all the men and women who have served in uniform deserve our thanks on Veterans Day and every day," said Senator Addabbo. “They put protecting our country ahead of protecting their personal safety. As our end of the bargain, the people of the State of New York have made a continuing commitment to our veterans.”

New York’s one million veterans are eligible for a number of benefits and programs, including property tax exemptions, tuition education assistance, job training, employment placement assistance and counseling.

This year, the state Senate, working with the governor, increased funding for veterans’ service agencies and enacted additional property tax exemptions for veterans. The Senate’s Veterans, Homeland Security and Military Affairs Committee will be bringing together returning veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars with representatives of the Building Congress, the Building and Construction Trades Council and other potential employers of veterans.

For more information on benefits available to veterans, visit the State Department of Veterans Affairs Web site at http://veterans.ny.gov/, or call 518-474-7606 or 212-564-8414.

This year, U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki and the Veterans Day National Committee have designated New York City’s Veterans Day Parade as an official regional Veterans Day observance.

Veterans Day originated as “Armistice Day” on Nov. 11, 1919, the first anniversary of the end of World War I, and became a national holiday in 1938. President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1954 changed the name to Veterans Day to honor those who served in all American wars.

For more information, call Senator Addabbo’s office at 718-738-1111.

Glendale Flag Dealer Boosts Our Veterans on November 11

At this 90^th anniversary of the holiday, during a time of growing support for the men and women of our Armed Forces, online flag dealer FlagsExpo.com, with a flag store in Queens, NY, announced that it will give away free USA flags.

FlagsExpo.com has been giving away free American flags for a long time, and on this Veterans Day, the tradition continues. The flags can be claimed on November 11, 2009, (one to a customer, walk-ins only) from 9 AM - 5 PM, at 6524 Myrtle Avenue, Glendale, NY, while supplies last. The free American flags being distributed by FlagsExpo.com are 12” x 18’’ on the staff and are made in the USA.

“Our flags fly in government agencies, churches, community organizations, schools and colleges. Our customers are from all over the USA and we are proud that our flags are flying on military bases in Afghanistan and Iraq,” adds the flag company president Fred Vaynman, whose business operates in the heart of Senator Addabbo’s 15th Senate District in Glendale.

About Delta Signs & Flags Co.

Delta Flags Co. has been in business since 1979, has a flag store in Queens, New York, and a FlagsExpo.com Web site offering USA, military, religious, state, world, pet flags, flagpoles & flag accessories. For more information, contact FlagsExpo.com or Delta Signs & Flags Co., 6524 Myrtle Avenue, Glendale, New York 11385, 718-418-3705, deltaflags@yahoo.com or signs718@yahoo.com.

Pre-Emptive Prizes - MarkFiore.com

News-in-a-Nutshell is back, this time diving into Obama's Nobel Prize! See just what the ramifications are of Barack Obama's latest laurel. If a prize can encourage world peace, why not health care, jobs and environmental goodness? A Mark Fiore animated political cartoon.

MarkFiore.com...

Community of Veterans - Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA)

Community of Veterans

About this site:

A joint effort of the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA) and the Ad Council, this site is designed as a resource to our nation’s newest Veterans. Comprising less than 1 percent of the population, Veterans face a myriad of challenges while feeling isolated and cut off from those to whom they can best relate – other Veterans. While addressing a range of topics, this site is ultimately a point of connection where Veterans are helping Veterans.

IAVA
Founded in 2004, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA) is the nation's first and largest group representing veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. IAVA is a non-profit and nonpartisan organization with more than 125,000 active veteran members and grassroots supporters in all 50 states. For more information, visit www.iava.org.

IF YOU ARE A VETERAN of OIF or OEF, you are eligible to become an IAVA member. Joining IAVA is free- just click below to get started. A new window will open with the registration form from the main IAVA website.

Join IAVA

The Advertising Council
The Ad Council, www.adcouncil.org is a private, non-profit organization that marshals talent from the advertising and communications industries, the facilities of the media, and the resources of the business and non-profit communities to produce, distribute and promote public service campaigns on behalf of non-profit organizations and government agencies in issue areas such as improving the quality of life for children, preventive health, education, community well-being, environmental preservation and strengthening families.

The mental health consequences of combat threaten to overwhelm a new generation of veterans. There are 1.7 million men and women who have served, or are currently serving, in Iraq and Afghanistan. About 1 in 5 Iraq and Afghanistan veterans are suffering from a mental health injury, ranging from depression to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), as a result of their service.

Less than 1% of the U.S. population has served or is serving in the current conflicts and when they return home, their sense of isolation is often magnified. This campaigns long-term objective is to decrease the depression and PTSD-related outcomes among returning Vets by taking a two-pronged approach encouraging Veterans to join other Veterans at the first ever online community exclusive to OIF/OEF Vets, and separately, to empower their Friends and Family by helping them learn how to start constructive conversations. The challenges facing returning vets are myriad but with support from other Veterans, family, and friends the issues can be effectively dealt with.

Holiday Card Request - Send One to a Recovering American Soldier...

When doing your Christmas cards this year, take one card and send it to a recovering American soldier at the following address. If we pass this on and everyone sends one card, think of how many cards these wonderful special people who have sacrificed so much would get.

When you are making out your Christmas card list this year, please include the following:

A Recovering American Soldier
c/o Walter Reed Army Medical Center
6900 Georgia Avenue,NW
Washington,D.C. 20307-5001

The 6th New York National Guardsman to Die in Afghanistan in Less Than a Month - Various Sources

This is the sixth New York National Guardsman to die in Afghanistan in less than a month, it's such a shame...RIP

Queens cop is dead in Afghanistan
By Richard Sisk in Washington and Jonathan Lemire in New York
Daily News Staff Writers...
New York Daily News, NY

An NYPD lieutenant serving his country in the National Guard has died in Afghanistan, officials said Saturday.

Lt. Daniel Farkas, 42, was a 20-year-veteran of the NYPD assigned to the 112th Precinct in Forest Hills, Queens, police said.

"He was very well-liked by his peers and his subordinates," said a cop at the 112th Precinct, who said he was not permitted to give his name.

"He was definitely extraordinary," the cop said. "Everybody here is very sad."

The circumstances of Farkas' death are not yet known.

The New York branch of the National Guard deferred questions to the Department of Defense, but a spokesman for the military declined comment, citing a policy of not speaking publicly until 24 hours after the casualty's family was notified.

A Defense Department source told the Daily News the death did not occur in combat.

Farkas lived in a brownstone on a leafy street in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, with his mother, two sisters and two nieces, neighbors said. His relatives did not talk to reporters Saturday.

Farkas, who was remembered by fellow cops and neighbors as a good athlete and dedicated officer, was honored for helping arrest a serial arsonist in Middle Village last year and subduing a rowdy passenger on a flight to New Orleans in 2003.

"I'm so upset," said neighbor Jannie Lui, 38, a clothing designer. "I can't believe this, it's terrible."

Farkas' death comes as the U.S.-led coalition has struggled to beat back a resurgent Taliban allied with Al Qaeda.

Last week, the Pentagon ordered the 2,200 Marines in Afghanistan to extend their stay from October to November, and Adm. Mike Mullen, the Joint Chiefs chairman, warned that he lacked the extra troops requested by ground commanders because of existing commitments in Iraq.

In 2005, NYPD Transit Bureau cop James McNaughton serving in the Army Reserve was killed by sniper fire while guarding an Iraqi prison camp.

With Kristen Brown and Gould

jlemire@nydailynews

NYPD officer serving as guardsman in Afghanistan dies

By Sophia Chang |sophia.chang@newsday.com; Daniel Edward Rosen

A New York City police lieutenant serving as a National Guardsman has died in Afghanistan, police said yesterday.

Lt. Daniel Farkas, 42, of Brooklyn, who joined the NYPD in 1988, was assigned to the 112th Precinct in Forest Hills, police said.

The date and details of Farkas' death were not available yesterday afternoon. A police spokesman said the military informed the department of Farkas' death on Friday.

A spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Defense declined to comment yesterday, citing a policy of waiting 24 hours after family notification to release names of casualties.

The New York National Guard did not return a call for comment.

"He is greatly missed," said a sergeant at the 112th Precinct, who would not give his full name. "He was well liked."

Family members at Farkas' home declined to comment yesterday.

In late 2006 and early 2007, Farkas was among the officers investigating a series of arsons in the Elmhurst, Maspeth and Rego Park neighborhoods.

In January 2007, an Elmhurst man was accused of being the serial firebug responsible for setting 18 fires and causing millions of dollars in property damage.

In March 2003, Farkas was one of three city officers who helped a federal air marshal subdue an unruly passenger from Bay Shore on a US Airways flight from LaGuardia Airport to New Orleans.

At that time, according to a news report about the incident, Farkas was assigned to the police academy.

Daniel Edward Rosen contributed to this story.

State To Honor Queens National Guardsman Killed In Afghanistan - NY1: Queens

Read original...

Watch video report...

Flags on state government buildings will be flown at half staff Thursday in honor of two New York National Guardsmen killed in Afghanistan, including one from Queens.

Sergeant First Class Joseph McKay of Cambria Heights was killed Thursday, along with Specialist Mark Palmateer of Poughkeepsie. A third soldier from Michigan was also killed in the attack. The Humvee they were riding in was hit by rocket-propelled grenades.

The 51-year-old McKay, who was born on the Fourth of July, joined the Guard in 1977 and was a member of the 101st Cavalry based in Jamestown, about 50 miles from Buffalo. His unit was responsible for training the Afghan National Army.

"Nobody forced him to go. He just loved the military, he just loved it," said a friend of McKay, Newton Baptiste.

But for his family, the Fourth of July will never be the same.

"He'd always say that's my day, Fourth of July that's Independence Day, that's my day," said McKay's step-daughter Tanisha Segre.

"Everybody was just worried, from the first day he landed, he told me over here is terrible, over here is not like Iraq," said Baptiste.

McKay had only been in Afghanistan for a few months when he was killed.

"I feel for them because this neighborhood is very close-knit, and when something like this happens it hurts everyone," said neighbor Oscar Edwards.

News of McKay’s death came just a week after another Queens family received news that 36-year-old Andrew Seabrooks of South Ozone Park was killed in Afghanistan.

Five members of New York's National Guard have were killed in the last eight days of June.

Three others were killed by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan last Saturday, including Seabrooks.

Queens Congressman Calls To Save Veterans' Medical Services - NY1: Queens

Read original...

Watch video report...

Congressman Gregory Meeks said Saturday that Queens veterans who served the country may no longer have a medical facility in the borough to serve them.

Meeks called on the Department of Veterans’ Affairs to suspend a consolidation plan that would cut back on services at facilities like the Saint Albans Veterans Primary and Extended Care Center.

"We make sure that these young men and women are going to fight for the country, yet when they return home we're not giving the kind of treatment and the kind facilities that would reward such heroic efforts," said Democratic Queens Representative Gregory Meeks.

"We've had more veterans than ever are injured and in permanent need of rehab as a result of this war. So there's no way we can cut back on facilities in the boroughs and cut back on any services here," said Democratic Councilman Leroy Comrie.

As of Saturday evening, the Department of Veterans’ Affairs did not comment.

Report: City Workers Have Missed 700,000 Days of Work in Iraq, Afghanistan - $65 Million Bill Being Footed by City Taxpayers

Report: City Workers Have Missed 700,000 Days of Work in Iraq, Afghanistan

$65 Million Bill Being Footed by City Taxpayers

Weiner Seeks Reimbursement for First Responders

New York City – Representative Anthony Weiner (D – Brooklyn and Queens) will release a new report MONDAY, JUNE 30 detailing the cost the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have had on New York City taxpayers. Weiner’s report finds that, since September 11, 2001, City fire fighters, police officers, and municipal workers have spent nearly 700,000 days of work in Iraq and Afghanistan. To date, the City has not been reimbursed for more than $65 million in salaries for civil servants deployed overseas.

WHO: Representative Anthony Weiner

WHAT: Releasing New Report on the Cost of War on New York City

WHEN: Monday, June 30, 2007 @ 10:30 AM

WHERE: Armed Forces Recruiting Station 43rd Street and Broadway (Intersection of Broadway and 7th Avenue) Manhattan, NY

Killed in Afghanistan - Sergeant’s Last Words: ‘Don’t Give Up the House’ by Tonia N. Cimino & Victor G. Mimoni- The Queens Courier

Read original...


A South Ozone Park soldier who wanted desperately to save his family from foreclosure - and who volunteered for a second tour of duty - made the ultimate sacrifice when he was killed by an improvised explosive device (IED) and small arms fire outside of Kandahar in southern Afghanistan, near the border with Pakistan.

Andrew Seabrooks, 36, an Army National Guard Sergeant due to come home on one week’s leave from July 3 through 10, spoke with his family on June 20.

He was killed the next day.

His last words were, “I’m coming home. Don’t give up the house.”

Seabrooks’ story is truly one of tragedy.

THE COURIER/PHOTO BY NICK BENEDUCE
This is the home (in threat of foreclosure) of Sergeant Andrew Seabrooks, 36, who was due to come home on leave from Afghanistan on July 3.He was killed in action on June 21.

The two-family home he lived in at 109th Avenue and 133rd Street belonged to his mother, who died on January 30, 2005.

Her dying words to her son were, “Take care of the house and your sister.”

Seabrooks’ sister, Melissa, 39, has Down syndrome and lived with him.

In March of 1994, Seabrooks enlisted because he “wanted to protect his country.” He was assigned to Company G of the 427th Brigade Support Battalion in Jamaica prior to being assigned to the 101st Cavalry for this deployment in 2007.

He had already served a tour of duty in Iraq when, facing foreclosure and having trouble making his mortgage payments, the installer of radio equipment in cars volunteered to go to Afghanistan for the money.

He always said, “I’m not letting this house go,” according to family members.

“He was my best friend,” said a cousin, Clintso Armstrong III. “He was a joker, a great guy.”

Seabrooks was not the only casualty of the IED.

Sergeant Anthony Mangano, of Greenlawn, Long Island, Specialist Nelson Rodriguez-Ramirez of Revere, MA, and Lieutenant Colonel James Walton of the 1st Infantry Division were also in the vehicle and were killed in the ambush en route to a training location. All three soldiers were assigned to A Troop, Second Squadron 101st Cavalry, based in Geneva, Ontario County, NY.

“We in the military understand that we may be called upon to pay the ultimate sacrifice,” said Major General Joseph Taluto, the Adjutant General and commander of the New York Army National Guard. “But we are always saddened when comrades in arms make those sacrifices.”

He continued, “These three members of the Army National Guard died carrying out an important mission; training the Afghan forces to stand against elements that would return their country to the dark ages. We are proud of them and we will never forget them.”

Aside from his sister, Seabrooks leaves behind a son, Andrew Frasier, 15, who lives in Jamaica; a wife, Kimberly, 16-year-old daughter Shermonique and 15-year-old, Danielle, all of whom live in Virginia; son Dante, 8; a niece, Gloria Hedges; and a great-nephew, Xavier, 4.

The decorated soldier was awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart posthumously.

More than 6,500 members of the New York Army National Guard have served in Iraq and Afghanistan since September 11, 2001. Twenty-three members of the New York Army National Guard have been killed in action since then, all in Iraq until now.

Currently, 1,700 members of the New York Army National Guard are serving in Afghanistan and about 150 are serving in Iraq. Another 300 soldiers will deploy to Iraq later this year. About 300 members of the New York Air National Guard's 174 Fighter Wing are currently deployed in Iraq and about 200 other Air Guard members are serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.

In the face of the family’s loss, Hedges asked, “When is this war going to end?”

Woodhaven Celebrates Memorial Day by Yaldaz Sadakova - The Queens Courier

Read original...

Casey Rios still has flashbacks from when he served near Saigon, in Vietnam, between 1967 and 1969. Sometimes he will be driving and he will suddenly start thinking about the many dead bodies he saw while serving as a gunner. “I stopped watching war movies. They bring back a lot of memories,” Rios, 65, said.

Yet, on Thursday, May 22, Rios joined about two dozen people at the Woodhaven Monument, at Jackson Avenue and Forest Parkway, to pay homage to the country’s troops. Rios joins his neighborhood celebration every year. “I enjoy doing this,” he said.

Other Vietnam and World War II veterans from Woodhaven also came to the commemoration and listened to local politicians.

“It is so important that we acknowledge those who have given the ultimate sacrifice,” said Councilmember Joseph Addabbo. “The ground we stand on right now was protected by the veterans of today.”

“This weekend . . . please say a prayer, put up a flag, light a candle. Some people’s children are still overseas,” urged Anthony Como, from the office of State Senator Serphin Maltese.

Maria Thomson, Executive Director of the Greater Woodhaven Development Corporation, organized the service. She’s been doing so since 1981, partly because she has two brothers and a brother-in-law who are veterans. “It’s like having history in the family. But they don’t talk too much about it. It’s very emotional,” Thomson explained.

177/168 by: robert.harding - the albany project

Read original...

5 years ago today, May 1, 2003, our moron President boarded the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln dressed in a military outfit and declared victory in Iraq. MISSION ACCOMPLISHED indeed. 4064 deaths later, we remain in a quagmire in Iraq. The same fools who tell us the surge is working are the ones who displayed aluminum tubes as proof there were weapons of mass destruction. Enough gullible Americans bought it. God damn the pathetically incompetent leaders who have brought this nation down a destructive path these past 8 years, and God damn those who should have known better. The innocent whose children arrive home in flag-draped coffins suffer while the privileged few still make the terrible decisions...

Below are the names of the 177 troops from New York out of the 4,064 soldiers who have died serving their country in Iraq. The list includes the 168 New Yorkers who have died since President Bush declared Mission Accomplished.

May these men and women, who served their country honorably and heroically, rest in peace.

Eric James Orlowski, Tamario Demetrice Burkett, Robert Marcus Rodriguez, William Wayne White, Eric Allen Smith, Bernard George Gooden, Gregory Paul Huxley Jr., Riayan Augusto Tejeda, Joseph Acevedo, Rasheed Sahib, David Evans Jr., Raheen Tyson Heighter, Heath A. McMillin, Joseph E. Robsky Jr., Kevin C. Kimmerly, David Travis Friedrich, Michael L. Williams, Rayshawn S. Johnson, Linda C. Jimenez, Jacob S. Fletcher, Irving Medina, George A. Wood, Charles E. Bush Jr., Luis A. Moreno, Thomas D. Robbins, Roger G. Ling, Doron Chan, Timothy Toney, David M. McKeever, Isaac Michael Nieves, Nathan P. Brown, Kevin T. Kolm, Jason L. Dunham, Michael J. Pernaselli, Nathan B. Bruckenthal, James G. West, Shawn A. Lane, Kevin A. Cuming, Luis A. Perez, Ronald Winchester, Ramon Mateo, Michael A. Uvanni, James E. Prevete, Brian K. Schramm, Segun Frederick Akintade, Matthew D. Lynch, Brian K. Baker, Jeffrey Lam, Steven E. Auchman, James C. "J.C." Matteson, Catalin D. Dima, Dimitrios Gavriel, David L. Roustum, Christian P. Engeldrum, Wilfredo F. Urbina, Pablo A. Calderon, David M. Fisher, Henry E. Irizarry, Cari Anne Gasiewicz, Joseph O. Behnke, Victor A. Martinez, Julian S. Melo, Jeff LeBrun, Kenneth G. Vonronn, Nathaniel T. Swindell, Francis C. Obaji, Michael A. Arciola, Christopher M. Pusateri, Azhar Ali, Wai Pyoe Lwin, Matthew A. Koch, Christopher W. Dill, Angelo L. Lozada Jr., Jacob M. Pfister, Kelly M. Cannan, Joseph S. Tremblay, Charles S. Cooper Jr., Michael V. Postal, Terrence K. Crowe, Phillip T. Esposito, Ramona M. Valdez, Manny Hornedo, Efrain Sanchez Jr., James D. McNaughton, Anthony N. Kalladeen, Hernando Rios, Jose L. Ruiz, Regilio E. Nelom, Mark H. Dooley, Casey E. Howe, Tulsa T. Tuliau, Leon G. James II, Seamus M. Davey, Ramon A. Acevedoaponte, Jared J. Kremm, Robert C. Pope II, Dominic J. Sacco, Aram J. Bass, Steven C. Reynolds, Clarence L. Floyd Jr., Lance S. Sage, Marlon A. Bustamante, Sergio A. Mercedes Saez, Nicholas Wilson, Thomas J. Wilwerth, Benjamin C. Schuster, Dwayne Peter R. Lewis, Carlos M. Gonzalez, Timothy J. Moshier, Scott M. Bandhold, Bobby Mendez, Jose Gomez, Elisha R. Parker, Michael L. Licalzi, Steve Vahaviolos, John W. Engeman, Jose M. Velez, Nicholas J. Whyte, Collin T. Mason, Irving Hernandez Jr., Julian A. Ramon, Hai Ming Hsia, Michael Dennis Glover, John James McKenna IV, Howard S. March Jr., James N. Lyons, Mario Nelson, Denise A. Lannaman, Michael K. Oremus, Julian M. Arechaga, Jonathan E. Lootens, Justin R. Garcia, Schuyler B. Haynes, Jeannette T. Dunn, Kenneth W. Haines, Travis C. Krege, Yevgeniy Ryndych, Jason C. Denfrund, Joseph D. Alomar, Shawn Patrick Falter, Nathan P. Fairlie, James J. Regan, Angel R. Ramirez, Lorne E. Henry Jr., Michael D. Rivera, Anthony A. Kaiser, Henry W. Bogrette, Brian E. Ritzberg, Daniel A. Fuentes, Steve Butcher Jr., James E. Lundin, Matthew E. Baylis, Kimel L. Watt, Shawn P. Martin, Alphonso J. Montenegro II, Le Ron A. Wilson, Christopher G. Scherer, Charles E. Bilbrey Jr., Juan M. Alcantara, Reynold Armand, Paulomarko U. Pacificador, Courtney Hollinsworth, Jonathan Rivadeneira, Chirasak Vidhyarkorn, Dwane A. Covert Jr., John D. Linde, Daniel J. Shaw, Steven C. Ganczewski, Isaac T. Cortes, James D. Gudridge, John P. Sigsbee, Justin R. Whiting, Jack T. Sweet, Kevin S. Mowl, Dayne D. Dhanoolal, Jordan C. Haerter

RIP, God bless our troops..!

NY Times Frank Rich via greenpagan: Shuffling Off to Crawford, 2007 Edition...

greenpagan: Shuffling Off to Crawford, 2007 Edition

THE cases of Pat Tillman and Jessica Lynch were ugly enough. So surely someone in the White House might have the good taste to draw the line at exploiting the murdered Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl. But nothing is out of bounds for a government that puts the darkest arts of politics and public relations above even the exigencies of war.

As Jane Mayer told the story in last week’s New Yorker, Mariane Pearl was called by Alberto Gonzales with some good news in March: the Justice Department was releasing a transcript in which the long-incarcerated Qaeda thug Khalid Sheikh Mohammed confessed to the beheading of her husband. But there was something off about Mr. Gonzales’s news. It was almost four years old.

Condoleezza Rice had called Ms. Pearl to tell her in confidence about the very same confession back in 2003; it was also reported that year in The Journal and elsewhere. What’s more, the confession was suspect; another terrorist had been convicted in the Pearl case in Pakistan in 2002. There is no known corroborating evidence that Mohammed, the 9/11 ringleader who has taken credit for many horrific crimes while in American custody, was responsible for this particular murder. None of his claims, particularly those possibly coerced by torture, can be taken as gospel solely on our truth-challenged attorney general’s say-so.

Ms. Pearl recognized a publicity ploy when she saw it. And this one wasn’t subtle.

Read more...

YouTube - Jimmy Breslin: "Beware the ChickenhawksTOON" v30

YouTube - "Beware the ChickenhawksTOON"

AfterDowningStreet.org: Impeach George Bush to Stop War Lies, Deaths

Impeach George Bush to stop war lies, deaths | AfterDowningStreet.org:

by Jimmy Breslin
Newsday
Sunday, July 22, 2007

I am walking in Rosedale on this day early in the week while I wait for the funeral of Army soldier Le Ron Wilson, who died at age 18 in Iraq. He was 17 1/2 when he had his mother sign his enlistment papers at the Jamaica recruiting office. If she didn't, he told her, he would just wait for the months to his 18th birthday and go in anyway. He graduated from Thomas Edison High School at noon one day in May. He left right away for basic training. He came home in a box last weekend. He had a fast war.

The war was there to take his life because George Bush started it with bold-faced lies.

He got this lovely kid killed by lying.

If Bush did this in Queens, he would be in court on Queens Boulevard on a murder charge.

He did it in the White House, and it is appropriate, and mandatory for the good of the nation, that impeachment proceedings be started. You can't live with lies. You can't permit them to be passed on as if it is the thing to do.

Yesterday, Bush didn't run the country for a couple of hours while he had a colonoscopy at the presidential retreat, Camp David. He came out of it all right. He should now take his good health and go home, quit a job he doesn't have a clue as to how to do.

The other day, Bush said he couldn't understand why in the world would some people say that millions of Americans have no health insurance. "Why, all they have to do is go to the emergency room," he said.

Said this with the smirk, the insolent smug, contemptuous way he speaks to citizens.

People, particularly these politicians, these frightened beggars in suits, seem petrified about impeachment. It could wreck the country. Ridiculous. I've been around this business twice and we're all still here and no politician was even injured. Richard Nixon lied during a war and helped get some 58,500 Americans killed and many escaped by hanging onto helicopter skids. Nixon left peacefully. Mike Mansfield of Montana, the Democratic Senate majority leader, said on television that the Senate impeachment trial of Nixon would be televised and there would be no immunity. That meant Nixon would have to face the country under oath and if he lied he would go to prison. He knew he was finished as he heard this. Mansfield said no more. He got up and left. Barbara Walters, on the "Today" show, said, "He doesn't say very much, does he?"

The second time the subject was Bill Clinton for illegal holding in the hallway.

This time, we have dead bodies involved. Consider what is accomplished by the simple power of the word impeachment. If you read these broken-down news writers or terrified politicians claiming that an impeachment would leave the nation in pieces, don't give a moment to them.

It opens with the appointing of an investigator to report to the House on evidence that calls for impeachment. He could bring witnesses forward. That would be all you'd need. Here in the impeachment proceedings against Richard Nixon came John Dean. His history shows how far down the honesty and honor of this country has gone. Dean was the White House counsel. Richard Nixon, at his worst, never told him not to appear or to remain silent in front of the Congress. Dean went on and did his best to fill prisons. After that came Alexander Butterfield, a nobody. All he had to say was that the White House had a taping system that caught all the conversations in the White House. Any of them not on tape were erased by a participant.

The same is desperately needed now. Curious, following the words, an investigator - the mind here sees George Mitchell and Warren Rudman, and you name me better - can slap a hand on the slitherers and sneaks who have kept us in war for five years and who use failing generals to beg for more time and more lives of our young. A final word in September? Two years more, the generals and Bush people say.

Say impeachment and you'll get your troops home.

As I am walking in Rosedale, on these streets sparkling with sun, I remember the places I have been in the cold rain for the deaths of our young in this war. Rosedale now, Washington Heights before, and the South Bronx, and Bay Shore and Hauppauge and too many other places around here.

And in Washington we had this Bush, and it is implausible to have anyone who is this dumb running anything, smirking at his country. He sure doesn't mind copying those people. On his PBS television show the other night, Bill Moyers said he was amazed at Sara Taylor of the White House staff saying that she didn't have to talk to a congressional committee because George Bush had ordered her not to. "I took an oath to uphold the president," she said.

That president had been in charge of a government that kidnapped, tortured, lied, intercepted mail and calls, all in the name of opposing people who are willing to kill themselves right in front of you. You have to get rid of a government like this. Ask anybody in Rosedale, where Le Ron Wilson wanted to live his young life. His grave speaks out that this is an impeachable offense.

NY1: Funeral Held For Queens Soldier Killed In Iraq

Watch video...

Motorcycles roared onto 145th Road in Brookville Tuesday, leading the funeral procession for 18-year-old Private Le Ron Wilson, who was killed in Iraq on July 6th when his vehicle hit an explosive device.

"He was a great kid, always outgoing, always willing to do anything., really fun to hang out with,” said Wilson’s friend Vernon Cruz.

"Someone so young, so close to us, who hung out with us, you know, this happens, and you don't know how to take it, you just gotta keep moving forward, that’s about it,” said another friend Daniel Rafael.

Hundreds of mourners made their way into Christ the King church to remember Wilson, who came to New York from Trinidad at the age of 11.

For his 17th birthday, he asked his mother to sign enlistment papers for the army, and she did it.

He joined up after graduation from Thomas Edison High School.

"We all told him not to go, but he still went,” said Wilson’s aunt Anne Marie Charles. “That was his choice."

Wilson followed in the footsteps of his father, a Cadet Force Major in Trinidad.

"I'm very proud of him. I don't want his name to just be a name hanging on a wall. I want him to live on,” said Wilson’s father Lawrence Wilson. “I've been promised by a couple people that they're going to do whatever they can to keep his name living on and that's what I hope. I'm going to fight every fight possible to ensure that his name lives on. He didn't die for no reason. He died for a cause.”

Le Ron Wilson was posthumously awarded the Good Conduct, Bronze Star and Purple Heart medals.

Wilson will be buried with full military honors at Long Island National Cemetery.

Newsday.com - Jimmy Breslin: Weapons Caused Her Greatest Pain -

Read original article...

The moment she saw the car pulling up on her street, 229th Street in Rosedale, on this summer night in quiet Queens, she stood at the dark screen of her two-story attached house and watched the car, with one man inside, without any feeling at first and then she felt the beginnings of anxiety.

Inside the car, the lone man put on an Army officer's hat. Then he stepped out and stood in the street and pulled his officer's jacket down. In his right hand was full of death. But while she could not see this, there was a dark loss in the air, and it added to the rising disturbance of her nerves.

"I hope he's not coming here," Simona Francis remembers saying to herself. She is a pretty 42-year-old who had spent the day assisting the handicapped.

The man in the Army uniform now was walking from the car. When he got on the sidewalk, she called out, "Keep on walking."

He did not hear her, and he could not see her as she stood in the darkness of the front room of her house with her face behind the dark screen door.

The man in uniform only had to take a few steps to be at the walk leading up to her door. "Keep on walking," she said.

Read more...