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Nassau County will construct a memorial honoring residents who died serving the United States in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, officials said Monday.

Officials said they will break ground in the fall, nearly two decades since the start of the Afghanistan conflict. The monument will be located in Eisenhower Park in East Meadow, near the Veterans Memorial, officials said. It will join the memorial honoring the veterans who served in World War II, the Korean War and Vietnam along with the memorial that honors all the armed forces in Eisenhower Park.

Nassau County Executive Laura Curran said the decision to construct the monument was made primarily to honor those from Nassau who served their nation oversees and to educate younger and future generations.

We must ensure that present and future generations continue to appreciate the sacrifice that our veterans in all wars have made to protect our freedoms, our very precious freedoms, that when you consider them are very rare throughout the course of human history, Curran said.

The county, Curran said, entered into a public-private partnership with Heroes Among Us, a non-for-profit organization based in Nassau County, to aid in erecting the monument. The organization already committed $10,000 of the roughly $100,000 needed for the memorial, Curran said.

Heroes Among Us was started by Virginia Cervasio after her 24-year-old son, Angelo, took his life in 2006 after battling post-traumatic stress disorder from serving the Air Force in Saudi Arabia and the Persian Gulf in the communications management field.

Cervasio told Newsday, This memorial has a very special place in our hearts, acknowledging that veterans who died from suicide after returning home will also be included in the monument.

According to U.S. census statistics, more than 4,200 Nassau County residents served in the Iraq or Afghanistan wars since Sept. 11, 2001. According to Newsday statistics, 16 county residents died in Iraq and five died in Afghanistan.

Curran said roughly 50,000 military veterans reside in Nassau County.

Originally posted here:
Nassau plans memorial honoring those who served in Iraq, Afghanistan - The Island Now

As seenrecently,intermittentaltercationspersistin Iraqand Syriabetween American forces and various Iran-backed militias. These, however,stem from, andare a continuation of,a fundamental error in the design of the war. Thisshould have beenapparentto its instigators even beforethe warwas launched in 2003,andit isalmost breath-taking in its naivet.

An extensive U.S.Armystudyof the warcontendsthat the overwhelming majority of decisions in the Iraq War were made by highly intelligent, highly experienced, leaders. However, it concludesthat the failure to achieve our strategic objectivesderived from reasoning that contained systemic failures, and high among these was that U.S. leaders seemed to believe that other regional nations would not react.

In the wake of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States,President GeorgeW. Bush, whohadcome into office proposing a humble foreign policy,abruptlyreversed course. He nowproclaimedthat the countrys responsibility to history wasnowto rid the world of evilquite the boast given human history.

Then, a few months later, Bush specified ina major speech that, while evil presumablylurkedeverywhere,a special axis of evil existed,and it wasprimarily located inNorth Korea, Iran, and Iraq.

Iranfully realized it was in trouble, as didSyria,which alsosometimesappearedon the target listprovided almost daily by Bush and his coterie of cheer-leadingneoconservatives.If they needed further confirmation,defense advisorRichardPerle exultantlysuggestednot longafter the invasion of Iraq that a short messageshould now bedeliveredto other hostile regimes in the area: Youre next.

It was accordinglyclearly in the best, even supreme,interest of theregimes running North Korea and Syriatowork closely with, andtoprovide sanctuary for, friendlyShiasinIraq to make the American tenure inIraq as miserable as possible.Meanwhile, similarly threatenedNorth Koreaformally withdrew from the Non-Proliferation Treaty andworkeddedicatedly to obtain nuclear weaponsto deter an American attack.

In addition to Iran and Syria, otheroutsiders weredrawn to Iraq anddedicated to sabotaging theoccupierspeace and to killingitsoccupyingforces.Inparticular,a Jordanian,Abu Musab al-Zarqawi,a Sunniwho sympathized with al-Qaedas ideology and agenda,becamethe leader of a small army of dedicated and brutal terrorists numbering perhaps in the thousands.

Zarqawisconnection toal-Qaeda may have helpedtoattract recruitsandtogeneratefinancial and logistical support, andhe wasfurther benefited by the tendency of the Americans to credithis forceswith a far larger portion of the violence inIraq than they probably committed,a process that also helped to burnish Zarqawis image in much of the Muslimworld as a resistance hero.

However,themindless brutalitiesof Zarqawis forcesstaging beheadings at mosques, bombing playgrounds, taking over hospitals,executing ordinary citizens, performing forced marriageseventually provedto be self-destructive, turning Iraqis against them, including many of thosewho had previously been fighting the American occupation either on theirown or in connection with Zarqawi.

Helped enormously by the alienation between jihadist marauders and Iraqitribes, the U.S.military was ableto bring civil warfare under somedegree of control in Iraq by 2009. However, the campaign to do sothe surge,it was calledcostover 1,000 American lives, seven times greaterthanthe United Stateshad lost in the 2003 invasion.

Zarqawis Sunni forces were thus eventually defeated,butthis came aboutonly aftertheyhad visited considerable destruction upon the occupiers.

On the other hand, Iran continued, and continues, to be a harassing element,impelled as wellnowbyresentment overthe sanctions leveled against it. Indeed, the Army study strikingly, if dismally,concludes in its assessment of the warin Iraqthat Iran appears to be the only victor.

In2010,brieferspointedoutto topAmericangeneralsin Afghanistanthat no counterinsurgencyefforton record had succeededwhen the insurgents had access to adeep cross-border sanctuary.Although they added thatthattheyhopedthe situation inAfghanistan would prove to be an exception, it has not proven to beonemore thana decade later.

The related experience in Iraq suggests that the briefers had it essentially right. Unless the United States wants directly to go to all-out war with Irancreating yet another disaster in the Middle Eastthe Iranians can keep this up forever.

John Mueller is a political scientist at Ohio State University and a Senior Fellow at the Cato Institute. His book, The Stupidity of War: American Foreign Policy and the Case forComplacency,has justbeen publishedby Cambridge University Press.

Image: Reuters.

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The War in Iraq Exposed Huge Flaws in American Strategic Thinking - The National Interest

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) Black Lives Matter 757 held a protest Saturday night regarding the recent officer-involved shooting at the Virginia Beach Oceanfront.

The protest began at 19th Street after members of the group attended the Virginia Beach Police press conference.

The march was held to protest the officer-involved shooting and death of Donovon Lynch, who was shot and killed Friday night.

Members of the group chanted Lynchs name at their protest as well as Black Lives Matter. BLM 757 told 10 On Your Side they wanted the officer involved in the shooting to be arrested like the others who were arrested for the shootings that took place Friday evening.

The group also raised concerns about police conducting an internal investigation and want Virginia State Police to take over.

I dont understand how this officer didnt have their body cameras on just conveniently during the time of firing on this young Black king. But we need to make sure that all officers have body cameras functioning at all times, said Japharii Jones, with Black Lives Matter 757.

Jones also said that investigators should also be required to wear body cameras and brought up Virginia Beachs City Councils decision to not allow citizens on their Investigative Review Panel the right to investigate and discipline officers.

The group says they will continue to protest at the Oceanfront most weekends and on major holidays until their is justice.

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BLM protest officer-involved shooting at Virginia Beach Oceanfront - WAVY.com

By PETER WOLF

(re: Looking at Black Lives Matter from one Jewish perspective, March 4)

Its hard to know what to make of Alvin Gordons Point of View. It is a mixture of falsehoods, bizarre distortions, irrational fears and rage at Black people, Black communities and Black leaders.

But when I cant make rational sense out of someones viewpoint, as a psychologist, I look for the psychological sense of it.

Mr. Gordon starts with some hypothetical situation of whether you would save an anonymous Black person versus a loved one if both were drowning. Of course you would save the loved one. Thats the way it actually is in real life, he says.

But you would also save your loved one before a stranger who is white, purple, whatever. And he ignored the situation where the Black person is your loved one, as is the case for me.

His hypothetical makes no rational sense to me. To me, it seems Mr. Gordon is conveying the thought, Come on, you are just as against Blacks as I am. Their lives matter less to you than white lives, dont they? Many of us dont belong to that club.

Then he attacks the slogan Black lives matter because all lives matter. Having watched and participated in Black Lives Matter protests, I have never heard anyone say other peoples lives dont matter. The Black Lives Matter movement came about because it seemed that, to some portion of the police, Black lives dont matter as much as white lives.

One of the beautiful things about the movement is that it is interracial. But when a particular group is having a problem, you focus on that problem.

If there were a Jewish Lives Matter movement in the 1930s, I dont think Mr. Gordon would condemn it for not dissolving that message into an all humans platitude.

Next he goes on about how the Black Lives Matter movement is not doing a damn thing about Black-on-Black crime. But Black Lives Matter has a different focus: police brutality. Would you attack a Jewish group supporting research on, say, Tay-Sachs disease for not dealing with anti-Semitism?

What is not known by many is the work of numerous groups dealing with inner-city violence. The right especially since the rise of Trump doesnt want to talk about it because Black lives dont matter that much to them.

The left, unfortunately, is afraid of acknowledging problems in the Black community for fear of attacks like Mr. Gordon offers. But 400 years of trauma, of being seen as being less than fully human, is going to be traumatizing.

To quote James Baldwin back in 1961, To be a Negro in this country and to be relatively conscious is to be in a state of rage almost, almost all of the time.

For an example of one New York City group dealing with inner-city violence, there is Street Corner Resources, led by Iesha Sekou. It offers a variety of services, including violence interruption, working with neighborhood gangs. If this Black-on-Black violence concerns you beyond finger-pointing, look it up and make a donation.

There are many such groups, operating under the radar.

Mr, Gordon goes on to talk about local disputes decades ago. When there are real conflicts between competing groups which rub up against each other, there will be friction and, sadly, prejudice. On both sides.

Back in the day when I worked with inner-city kids, the Puerto Rican gangs would do battle with the Dominican gangs. In many parts of the world, this leads to inter-ethnic slaughter. (Remember what happened in the Balkans?)

What about today? Where are the Blacks attacking Jews? And I dont mean criticizing Israel, which many Jews also criticize. Of course today in, for example, Borough Park where there are turf battles there are Blacks who hate their Jewish neighbors, and Jews who hate their Black neighbors.

One of the things that I am most proud of as a Jew is our willingness to fight for the well-being of our fellow human beings, as exemplified during the civil rights movement by Mickey Schwerner and Andrew Goodman who gave their lives. As the people of HIAS, who work with Latin Americans at our southern border (and other refugees), put it, We used to take refugees because they were Jewish. Now we take them because were Jewish.

A poll by the Jewish Electorate Institute last September found 66 percent of Jews had a favorable impression of Black Lives Matter, with 28 percent negative. Mr. Gordon is in the minority.

I have noticed that in the anti-Black Lives Matter, anti-Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, anti-left diatribes that I had read in these pages not blaming The Riverdale Press, which also has printed the opposite view, including from me they get more hysterical as they go on. Mr. Gordon goes on to attack a bunch of Black people.

He claims Louis Farrakhan, who actually is anti-Semitic, is a friend of Obama. Really? Yes, they were once in a photo together at a meeting of Black leaders. Im sure there are pictures of him with devout Zionists.

He attacks Black anti-Semites, including U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib who isnt Black, but is of Palestinian descent. (The same for Mr. Gordon?)

How can a rational person (Im being generous) especially after the attack on the Capitol by right-wing white supremacist groups with a guy happily wandering around with a Camp Aushwitz shirt look at Black people and the left as being the source of danger to Jews?

And dont forget the synagogue in Pittsburgh. Or the Jews will not replace us march in Charlottesville. And their anti-Black plus anti-Semitic ancestor, the KKK.

It makes no rational sense. Never a mention of the actual people who hate and kill Jews, and who mixed in with armed white supremacist militias are a genuine threat.

There is only one answer, and I dont use such a word lightly. Racism. To play off Mr. Gordons ending (to the haters, a Jew is a Jew is a Jew) To the haters, a Black is a Black is a Black.

Why the racism? Why the fear and loathing of Black people?

Hey, Im a psychologist. But I am not Mr. Gordons psychologist.

Continue reading here:
Is there any other way to describe it than racism? - The Riverdale Press

More than a dozen cities have reviewed the police response to Black Lives Matter protests and the reports show poorly trained, over-militarized, and stunningly unprepared police forces across the country.

According to the New York Times, the missteps transcended staffing levels and financial resources meaning police departments from New Yorkto Indianapoliswere unprepared to deal with the protests. That includes everyone from top commanders to beat officers were not only unprepared and untrained to deal with the protests, but many of their actions did the exact opposite of what was intended.

The Times analyzed reports across the country by watchdog organizations and outside investigators in nine major cities and post-action examinations by police in five other large cities. One of the conclusions drawn from almost every report was that officers need more training when dealing with large, organized protests.

They also offered a range of proposals to improve and lessen the number of incidents between protestors and police. Those include entire departments working with community organizers and consulting with civil rights attorneys on protest-management solutions. Police leaders developing more restrictive guidelines for tear gas, rubber bullets, and other crowd-controlling weapons. The suggestions also include officers receiving more training to control their emotions and aggression in the moment.

The resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement began last summer after the death of George Floyd. More than 100 cities across the nation began marching and protesting against police brutality and called to defund police budgets and put more money into social services such as drug addiction and prevention, mental health services, and youth education and sports.

The overwhelming majority of those protests were peaceful, especially during the day. However, many were escalated by police actions. In New York, one officer shoved a woman violently to the ground. In Florida, a White cop shoved a Black woman kneeling in front of him and had to be removed from the area by a Black female officer.

In some incidents, the police themselves were under attack and forced to respond to buildings being burned stores being looted, and police being ambushed by protestors including one incident where a woman threw a Molotov cocktail at a police vehicle.

Amnesty International has logged more than 120 incidents of violence by police in 40 different states during the summer of protests.

In the aftermath, more than a dozen cities cut their police budgets, redistributing their funds to various social services and introducing programs where social service officers will respond to non-emergency calls including mental health calls.

Read the rest here:
Police Mishandled Black Lives Matter Protests In Multiple Cities, Study Shows What We Already Know - Black Enterprise