USA: 180,000 Women at War

suchandra · April 24, 2008

Vedic system is to understand that in order to do something expertly you have to learn it from childhood and - in case of ksatriya - you have to be born in a ksatriya family and endowed with sufficient physical strength.

Therefore vedic wars were finished after a very short period of time - only experts were on the battle-field.

Wikipedia: The Kurukshetra war was probably the bloodiest war in history as most of the warriors and soldiers perished during the brief period of only eighteen days. At the end of the 18 days of deadly war, only the five Pandavas, Krishna and a few old warriors from the Kaurava side had survived. The war left an extremely large number of widows and orphans and led to an economic depression and beginning of Kali Yuga.

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</td> </tr> </tbody></table> April 7, 2008 Issue

2007 The American Conservative

Women at War

The strain of Iraq forced the shock integration of women into the military. The results aren’t all pretty.

by Kelley Beaucar Vlahos

A high point of Kayla Williams’s service as a noncommissioned Army officer in Iraq was receiving a commendation for her support on missions in Baghdad. Low points included getting molested by one of her own men and being asked to mock a naked Iraqi prisoner in an interrogation cage in Mosul.

Riding a line between woman and warrior, “bitch” and “slut,” Williams, 31, was not alone. The Bush administration’s “long war” has forced the military to shock integrate more than 180,000 women into Iraq and Afghanistan over the last six years. The consequences have been both impressive and ugly and do little to put to rest decades of debate over women in combat.

Critics say the rush to put women into combat-related roles for which they weren’t trained has made them more vulnerable, exacerbated male-female tensions in theater, and advanced a controversial policy while most of the country wasn’t looking.

“We have large numbers of women who have been willing to come into the Armed Forces, who are willing to do jobs for which we have a shortage of young men,” says one retired Army colonel, now in the private sector, who declined to be identified because of his ties to the defense community. “I think the women under these circumstances do the best they can.”

Veterans who have spoken to TAC say most female soldiers have exceeded expectations. But the experience of the largest contingent of female soldiers in modern history is not unclouded. The rate of single motherhood among women on active duty is 14 percent, and nursing mothers are being deployed four months after giving birth. Reports of sexual assault are climbing, as are suicides and the number of women—now over 36,000—who have visited VA hospitals since leaving the service. As of February, 102 female soldiers had died in Iraq.

Meanwhile, the Army, which represents most women in theater, won’t release figures on how many are evacuated from the field due to noncombat injuries, illness, or pregnancy.

“Whatever they are able to conceal or cover that’s not attractive—whether it’s unplanned pregnancy, rapes, whatever—everyone is prepared to pretend what is happening really isn’t,” says the retired colonel.

The drive to integrate women into every crevice of the military—the “ungendered vision” advocated by Duke law professor Madeleine Morris, a former assistant to Clinton administration Army Secretary Togo West—has created turmoil in Washington since the 1970s. And since then the number of women in the Armed Forces has increased dramatically, from 7,000 in Vietnam (mostly medical personnel) to over 40,000 in the Persian Gulf War to one in seven of our troops in Iraq today.

Thanks to Clinton-era liberals—like former Rep. Pat Schroeder and women-in-combat pioneers like Army Assistant Secretary Sara Lister, who was forced to resign in 1997 after she called the Marines “extremists”—new roles opened to women in the 1990s. Formerly all-male military academies and basic training programs turned co-ed. Today, tens of thousands of women are flying combat aircraft and serving as military police, gunners operating MK19 grenade launchers, interrogators, and prison guards.

to be continued: http://amconmag.com/2008/2008_04_07/article.html

suchandra · April 25, 2008

Looks like the nations of the antique world (Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon, Egypt, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Belarus, etc.) will soon be ready to receive Lord Caitanya's Sankirtan Movement.

New jobs set for 2 U.S. commanders with Iraq role

Tom Shanker –

International Herald Tribune April 24, 2008

General David Petraeus at Baghdad's Muttana air base on Tuesday.

A Pentagon plan to elevate General David Petraeus and his former deputy means that the two commanders most closely associated with President George W. Bush's current strategy in Iraq will have responsibilities over the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan extending into the next administration.

Petraeus would take charge of all military affairs across the Middle East and Central Asia and would be succeeded as the senior commander in Iraq by Lieutenant General Raymond Odierno, who returned to Washington in February after serving 15 months as Petraeus's deputy.

Asked whether the planned nominations by Bush were a sign that U.S. policy was to "stay the course" in Iraq, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Wednesday that the security gains that had been achieved under Petraeus's command meant that "staying that course is not a bad idea."

The nomination of Petraeus could, however, portend a renewed U.S. focus on Afghanistan, where the American war effort is widely believed to be lagging, with violence by the Taliban and Al Qaeda on the rise. Gates already has expressed the desire to send several thousand additional troops to Afghanistan next year, although that could require further reductions in troop commitments to Iraq.

Petraeus would be expected to apply his views of counterinsurgency to Afghanistan, which may include a push toward increased troops.

Gates said he and Bush settled on Petraeus for the post because his counterinsurgency experience in Iraq made him best suited to oversee U.S. operations across a region where the United States was engaged in "asymmetric" warfare, a term used to describe the fight against militants and nonuniformed combatants.

The previous Central Command chief, Admiral William Fallon, chose early retirement in March after rankling the Bush administration with public comments that seemed to suggest differences with the White House. If Petraeus and Odierno were to win Senate confirmation to their new posts, Gates said, they would take over in late summer or early autumn.

The situation in Iraq remains fragile, as Petraeus acknowledged in testimony to Congress this month when he warned that recent security gains could be easily reversed. Under his command, an increase in U.S. forces brought troop levels as high as 165,000, and even critics of the increase say it contributed to a decline in violence, along with the cease-fire proclaimed by the Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr for his militia, the Mahdi army, and a shift in sentiment among Sunni tribes that turned them against Sunni militants.

Among the three major candidates still vying to become the next president, Senator John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, has defended the idea of maintaining high troop levels even after the troop increase runs its course in July, bringing the number down to slightly more than 140,000.

The two Democratic contenders, Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, by contrast, have pressed for troop reductions at a pace far faster than those Petraeus has endorsed and have pledged to carry out withdrawals even if it meant going against the advice of field commanders. It would be unusual for a new president to replace a senior general new to his assignment.

In a statement, Clinton described Petraeus as "an able and respected leader in Iraq under incredibly difficult circumstances," and said she looked forward to hearing "how he will meet these important challenges" of the broader Central Command region.

McCain, at a news conference Wednesday, said that Odierno "is maybe not perfect, but I think he has done a magnificent job." Referring to Petraeus, McCain said, "I think he is by far the best-qualified individual to take that job" as the regional commander.

www.iht.com/articles/2008/04/24/mideast/centcom.php

suchandra · April 25, 2008

Sri Sri Nitai Gaura arrive at U.S. Army base

347 Views / EMail This Post / Print This Post / Home » Sri Sri Nitai Gaura arrive at U.S. Army base

By Mitravinda devi dasi

The full moon of the month of Phalguna shines down upon the soldier-medics at Fort Sam Houston Texas. Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu would appear in His Deity form for the pleasure of His devotees. His arrival at this US Army base would be glorious, in a small cloth covered postal package coming from Vrndavana India. The Lord would create a stir, anticipation and wonder as to His presence.

Every week packages arrive from devotees all over the country containing prasadam cookies for the troops. Mail arrives uneventful usually several days delayed. This package was different. It arrived on time and became an urgent pick up. For some reason Sergeant Mack took up this mission to find me and make sure that no matter what I would get this package today.

Sergeant Mack is a large black bodied soldier, I do not know him personally just seen him around the company. He is well known as the kindest authority willing to go that extra mile to serve the soldiers in his command. It has been said that he is a very good medic with several combat tours under his belt. He became fixed upon this package containing 6” Gaura Nitai Deities. Which he was unaware. All morning it was reported he carried the package around looking for me.

This day we were not in our classrooms; we were out doing field training. Low crawling in the dirt, suppressing fire, and dealing with simulated traumatic injuries. Sergeant Mack did not know who I was or what team I was working, just that I was out there somewhere. He sent messengers looking for me with orders to find me and report to the mail room immediately. Nobody has ever been excused from field training, certainly not over mail. The mail room would close at 3:00 pm, the postal soldiers were ordered to remain open until the package was claimed. At 2:50 pm several messengers were coming down the hill yelling my name. My leaving the field angered the instructors but what could they do? Orders from Sergeant Mack. I arrived at the mail room 3:30 pm, the postal duty soldiers were awestruck. The package smelled good, it did not smell like cookies this time, it smelled like flowers or perfume. It was covered in cloth. They were dying to see what was inside. What has come from India? Open the box!

The female soldiers were captivated the most following me back to the barracks so that I could secure The Lords in my locker and return to the field. On the walk back I explained the process of Deity worship and the mercy of Lord Chaitanya and Nityananda on this most auspicious day of Gaura Purnima. They took turns carrying the box; each soldier wanted the chance to carry the Lords back to the barracks. It reminded me of Ratha Yatra. I was happy to give each soldier a turn to carry the box.

The box had to be inspected as all incoming packages are. Half a dozen Sergeants participated in the inspection. Pulling out bundles wrapped in Hindi newspaper, I let each soldier unwrap the contents. There were no flowers or incense. The sweet scent emanating from the box must have been from the dust of Vrndavana. Each item of an aroti tray was revealed. I explained each item. Lord Nityananda was revealed first then Mahaprabhu. All Their clothes, crowns and jewelry.

“Tonight after we take showers we can dress and decorate Them.” I told the soldiers. We females are dirty, sweaty, bear arms and train with our male contempories. Watching the females eagerly participate reminded me that we are still women, ladies at heart. The overwhelming fascination of Deity dressing, decorating and worship is the nature of the soul, especially the nature of woman.

That evening several soldiers stayed back to take care of Sri Sri Nitai Gaura. They learned how to use tilak and lemon juice to clean brass with cotton balls. Lord Nityananda is a little taller than Mahaprabhu and the spoon is to clean the right hand with water drops- one handed took some practice. When I looked out the barracks window I saw the night sky and the beautiful full moon shining. We improvised an altar made of new clean brown army issued towels and new uniform cloth.

I went to thank Sergeant Mack for his determination in making sure I got this special package. He humbly said it was just his job; he was doing his job taking care of the special needs of his soldiers. Going that extra mile….He did not realize that extra mile was for Lord Chaitanya’s pleasure.

Orders are in… I have been assigned to a medical unit in Colorado that will deploy to Iraq in August 2008. Next Gaura Purnima Sri Sri Nitai Gaura will spend Their holiday in Bagdad.

convert this post to pdf.

suchandra · April 25, 2008

Battlefield Bhajans

By Partha Sarathi Dasa on 23 Apr 2008

US Military Base, Iraq, April 17, 2008 – It’s my fifth year on active duty as a sergeant here in Iraq, and I’m back doing missions, which means long days. But I still rise early, worship my salagram sila deities of the Lord, and chant Hare Krishna as if I can die at any moment – which, here, is a reality. Twenty-two soldiers now come for the mangal arati service I hold in the dorms, and we hold other Krishna conscious programs too.

During one of these, the incoming alert system suddenly blasted into our ears. A second later, a rocket impacted one hundred feet from our “ashram.” I directed everyone to run to the bunker, grabbing my salagram silas and mrdanga drum as I dashed after them. I knew that I might be waiting in the cramped little bunker for a long time. That’s how rocket and mortar attacks are. Sometimes there’s only one rocket – but sometimes there’s five or six.

Everyone in the bunker stared at me as I ran in with the Lord and my weird-looking drum. I placed the silas down on a box, and slowly people started coming up to me to ask questions. I explained how the Lord comes in His deity form, and told them about the Holy Name. They listened with rapt attention. As I taught them how to chant the Maha-mantra, I could see that their minds were gradually becoming fixed on it.

They asked if I could play the drum, and I showed them a little. I suggested we all sing to pass the time. One man disagreed and had some negative comments to offer, but he was far outnumbered and everyone began singing, nervously at first, but loosing their inhibitions as time went on and giving their hearts to the Holy Name. Some closed their eyes and strained with concentration, while others wore huge smiles – but all were chanting as loud as they could.

We chanted on and on, not even hearing the announcement that all was clear. Soon others from outside heard the bhajans (devotional songs) and joined us in the bunker. When we finished, I looked at my watch. Two hours had passed. As we left the bunker, one girl and a few boys talked with me and asked if they could come chant with me everyday.

Once again here in Iraq, we experienced the mercy and compassion that Srila Prabhupada has given us. We saw through his eyes the happiness that the Holy Name brings. And in a place where people see death everyday, they managed to forget about it for once and instead focus on their relationship with the Lord.