The anti-war association Iraq Veterans Against the War has been staging guerrilla theatre warfare in cities all over the U.S. for the past year. They call it Operation First Casualty…and they most recently brought the battle to the streets of Denver, CO, where the Democratic National Convention is meeting this week. This video is of one of their earlier operations in Chicago, but it shows the strange juxtaposition of everyday American life in “wartime” with the everyday life of Iraqis in wartime. Same war, very different experiences. It’s funny watching people lined up for the bus - because gas is so expensive - and seeing their day interrupted by the reason for the gas and food price hike. At least you are not being tackled at gunpoint in your own home before you even leave the house to catch the bus!
The veterans who form I.V.A.W. set an example for all of us - they have committed acts of violence and murder that most of us never will, and they are taking responsibility for their actions, even though the government tells them they are wrong for doing so. In fact, even Obama, who has repeatedly, if unconvincingly, claimed he will withdraw all troops from Iraq, won’t meet with them. Check out www.democracynow.org for more details about IVAW, footage from the recent Operation Casualty in Denver, and their request to meet with Obama and other major Democrat representatives.
ACCORDING TO Jamaican police, there are now 500 suspected Jamaican criminals operating in Britain, running a drug trade that brings about 200 pounds of cocaine from Jamaica into Britain each week with a street value of more than £4.5m.
The flow has accelerated sharply in the past 18 months, largely as a result of tougher immigration controls by the United States. Yardie gangsters find it not only easier to enter Britain but can also make bigger profits than in the US, where the street price of cocaine has slumped.
“More and more of the criminals of the Jamaican gangs are going to the UK,” said Tony Hewitt, a senior superintendent with Jamaica’s Special Branch. “It seems that every time you search for a man, you hear that he is in England.”
The consequences can increasingly be seen on Britain’s streets. Incidents involving Yardie-style gangs in London more than doubled in January, compared with the same month last year. In England and Wales, a significant proportion of the 9 per cent rise in gun crime last year to a record 4,019 incidents is attributed to Yardie gun culture.
So engrained are the Yardies in London that part of Brixton in the south of the capital is known as Little Tivoli, named after Tivoli Gardens.
However, it is not just London where the Yardies have established strongholds. Seven police forces covering cities from Leeds and Leicester to Southampton and Plymouth have now launched operations similar to the Metropolitan police’s Operation Trident, set up five years ago to tackle black-on-black gun crime.
Detective Inspector Bruce Ballagher, who runs Operation Atrium in Bristol, said: “We believe the major part of the crack supply revolves around Jamaican organised crime groups. They drive their drugs trade dealing by fear, intimidation and violence.”
Operation Stirrup, run against Yardies in Leeds last year, led to 160 arrests and 57 people being deported to Jamaica. A new initiative, Operation Safeguard, led to 30 more arrests in a six-day clampdown earlier this month; two have already been deported.
Detective Chief Superintendent Andy Brown, who is heading the Leeds operation, said it was meant to send a strong message to the Yardies.
Jamaican police estimate there are 30 Yardie gangs operating in Britain. Some, like the Black Roses, which they claim to have smashed in Jamaica, operate in Bristol and Brixton. One of the most powerful is known as the President’s Click, which was formed out of the notorious Shower Posse. It is headed by Christopher Lloyd Coke, also known as Dudas.
The cocaine is grown by the drug cartels of Colombia and shipped to Jamaica in fast boats that can do the journey across the Caribbean in 16 hours. The Jamaican coastguard, with one patrol boat capable of 12 knots, is powerless to stop the trade.
The cocaine is worth £1,000 per pound in Jamaica. A mule, often a prostitute working her passage, is paid a similar sum for swallowing a pound wrapped in condoms or in pellet form and flying to London. Customs officials at Heathrow and Gatwick suspect that at least one in 10 passengers from Jamaica are drug “mules.”
The Yardies use false passports. A British “red book” costs £150 in Jamaica to enter Britain. Some pay £10,000 for marriages of convenience to British girls. Others enrol at bogus colleges so that their six-month visas are extended to two years. Police believe there may be 400 such colleges operating in Britain.
Six men from Jamaica’s most wanted list are believed to be living in Britain. They are Donnovan Bennett, 38, nicknamed “Bulbie,” the “don” of a drug trafficking gang called Clans Massive based in Spanish Town, west of Kingston, who is blamed for at least 20 murders; Kemar “Natty Patch” Jarrett, 20, alleged to have gunned down a magistrate in Kingston; Mark Bromley, alias “Shotty Mark,” a member of the President’s Click thought to be in Brixton; scar-faced Glenford Spencer, seen recently in Bristol; Daniel Lowe, nicknamed “Gun Power,” wanted for shooting dead a 17-year-old boy who argued with him; and Andrew Meade, known as “Dread”, who is alleged to have shot dead his own brother and a girlfriend.
Jamaican police believe they have had some success in tackling the “mule” trade. Carl Williams, the senior superintendent in charge of drugs, said: We did fairly well last year helping our counterparts make arrests overseas. But there is nothing we can do about the demand.
“We would much rather the British population started craving bananas and yams, then we Jamaicans would be rich. But, alas, it is cocaine they want.” STORY.via.THE.B.O.E.BLOG!!!
Street Carnage is going on tour from May 22- 25, 2008 with ISLANDS. That’s right we are going to be live, in person, in the flesh, waging war against frowns and bummers, bringing you the best in laughs, laughter and laughing So, don’t be afraid, a scared or a pussy. Come see us and then if you want, you can stick around for the ISLANDS. At that point we could give a crap. I mean they are really, really good and all but they are not US!
Oh, Street Carnage will also have t-shirts and DVDs and all sorts of bobbles and trinkets on sale too.
Saturday March 15th, 2008, marks the 5th anniversary of the US occupation of Iraq! A time to celebrate the despicable violence perpetrated against the Iraqi people on a daily basis for the past five years. A time to celebrate the lies we were told then, and the lies we are told today, about the US mission to bring “freedom” and “democracy” to Iraq.
FREEDOM, AS BROUGHT TO IRAQ BY THE US MILITARY.
Whatever the “good intentions” at the time, I think we can all agree that it hasn’t exactly turned out as planned. G.W.B. said in May 2003 that “in this battle, we have fought for the cause of liberty, and for the peace of the world…our nation is more secure…the tyrant has fallen, and Iraq is free” (1). Yet here we are, five years later, still killing and being killed in the newly improved democratic Iraq.
US SOLDIERS IN IRAQ
The beauty of a democracy is that we have a voice. In the US, we pride ourselves on being free to express our political opinions - but how can we be proud when so many of us don’t use that freedom? The mantra behind most of this century’s crusades has been to bring our free and democratic way of life to others. While this is definitely not the bottom line for the many military occupations in Latin America, Asia, and the Middle East, it is still a noble thought. However, the best way to do this is not by military force, but by example.
PROTESTERS IN THE PHILLIPPINES
Democracy means speaking out against injustices, especially when they are perpetrated by your own government and military. It means taking the power away from a corrupt leader and government, and putting it in the hands of the people. Truly democratic actions happen in places that the White House tells us are dictatorships - for example, the mass protests in Venezuela that brought Chavez back into power after the US backed a military coup in 2004.
Let’s follow this example this Saturday the 15th, and leave our comfy homes & routines for a couple of hours to express our opinions. In cities all across the US and the world, there will be demonstrations against the continued occupation of Iraq. If you believe there’s something wrong with the 1,185,800 Iraqi children & adults that have been murdered and the 3,987 American soldiers that have been killed since the war began (2), then go out and do something about it tomorrow!!!!!!
If you are STILL not convinced you need to act, take 5 minutes to watch this: OCCUPIED
