On Sunday, Israeli soldiers demolished a concrete wall surrounding a Palestinian agricultural land in Azzoun Atma village, south of Qalqilia, in the northwestern part of the occupied West Bank.
Abdul-Karim Ayyoub, a member of Azzoun Atma Village Council, said Abdul-Rahim Sheikh owns the land.
Ayyoub added that the soldiers demolished the 100 meters long and 3 meters high wall for being built without a license from the so-called “Civil Administration Office,” the administrative branch of the illegal Israeli occupation, because it is local in Area C of the occupied West Bank.
Only 30 percent of Area C land is designated for development by Palestinians. The remaining 70 percent is classified as closed military zones that are off-limits to Palestinians unless they obtain special permits from Israeli authorities.
These stringent restrictions on Palestinians’ spatial development continue to intensify even though a Palestinian state is inconceivable without Area C. Indeed, Area C holds valuable natural resources and a rich cultural heritage and represents the bulk of available areas for the spatial development of a future Palestinian state.
In the face of criticism that China’s government was overreacting by launching a criminal investigation into comedian Li Haoshi for telling a joke about the Chinese military, a pro-government Chinese blogger has defended Beijing’s actions. The blogger, who calls herself Guyan Muchan, compared the case to that of an American stand-up comedian who joked about a U.S. military veteran.
Asia Fact Check Lab (AFCL) found Guyan Muchan’s comparison misleading. The U.S. comedian she mentioned aroused controversy, criticism and public discussion by joking about U.S. military personnel. But unlike Li and the production company that employs him, that U.S. comedian was not fined and did not face criminal investigation.
In depth
After receiving a public complaint, the Beijing municipal culture and tourism authority announced on May 17 that jokes told at performances by Li Haoshi on the afternoon and evening of May 13 had caused “negative social influence” by “seriously insulting the PLA,” or People’s Liberation Army. A separate investigation into Li’s employer, the Shanghai Xiaoguo Culture Media Company, cited violations of Regulations on the Administration of Commercial Performances. The bureau confiscated from the company 1.32 million yuan ($187,000) of “illegal” income made from the performances, and fined it 13.35 million yuan ($1.89 million).
On May 17, the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau also announced that it had launched a case against Li to determine if his actions constituted a criminally liable offense.
“We picked up two wild dogs from a mountain near our home. I wouldn’t say rescue, because on that mountain those two were really at the top of the food chain and didn’t need our help at all. The first time I saw them it didn’t even really feel like watching two dogs, but was more like a scene from some animal film set, with two cannonball-like dogs chasing a squirrel. Now normally when you see dogs, you think ‘cute’, ‘cuddly’ and all that; but when I saw these two, the only eight characters that came to my mind were ‘Zuo feng guo ying, neng da sheng zhang’ (‘Maintain exemplary conduct, fight to win.’)Classic. People are in awe when I walk those two dogs through Shanghai.”
In this undated screenshot, stand-up comic Li Haoshi performs. His employer, a Chinese comedy agency, suspended Li after he sparked public ire with a joke which some said likened feral dogs to soldiers of the People’s Liberation Army. Credit: Screenshot from Tencent Video Talk show
The authorities who took up Li’s case didn’t specify the legal justification. But Article 32 of China’s Law on the Status and Protection of Rights and Interests of Military Personnel explicitly states that no organization or individual shall defame, insult or slander the honor of military personnel. Article 65 further decrees that if military personnel are intentionally defamed, insulted or slandered through mass media, relevant government departments can order the offensive content to be corrected.
Xiaoguo Culture Media rushed out an apology admitting that the joke was an “inappropriate comparison” and terminated Li’s work agreement. Comedy performances by the company were also suspended across many parts of China.
What did Guyan Muchan claim about such cases in the U.S.?
Even as voices in China and abroad criticized China’s government for overreacting to Li’s joke, influential public supporters defended the government’s handling of the situation.
Guyan Muchan, a pro-Beijing Weibo blogger with nearly 7 million followers, stated in posts on Twitter and the popular Chinese social media site Weibo on May 17 that even in the U.S. there exists a red line that military personnel cannot be insulted.
Guyan Muchan cited a controversy resulting from a 2018 Saturday Night Live (SNL) episode in which cast member Pete Davidson mocked Republican congressman Dan Crenshaw – a former U.S. Navy SEAL who lost his right eye while serving in Afghanistan – as resembling “a hitman in a porno movie.”
Guyan Muchan’s post sparked discussion amongst Chinese netizens, with one user commenting that “people who praise American freedom never mention America’s red line.”
AFCL identified another case in which a U.S. stand-up comedian stoked controversy with a joke about the U.S military. The comedian, Bill Burr, was performing in Reno, in the western U.S. state of Nevada, when he said that calling catapult officers on aircraft carriers heroes was a bit of a stretch, given that they often are doing nothing more than “warrior one” yoga poses.
Are the situations faced by Davidson or Burr comparable to that of Li?
AFCL found that although both Davidson or Burr faced criticism and stirred controversy for joking about the U.S. military, neither encountered the kind of punishment faced by Li.
Davidson’s joke prompted some netizens to boycott SNL. Democrat and Republican officials condemned the remarks as inappropriate and the then-White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer publicly called for SNL producer Lorne Michaels to be fired.
Stand-up comedian Bill Burr [right] joked in 2018 that calling U.S. Navy catapult officers [left] on aircraft carriers heroes is a bit of a stretch, given that they often are doing nothing more than “warrior one” yoga poses. Credit: Associated Press [right]; AFP
But Davidson was not fired and did not face any legal consequences, and in fact the controversy had an uplifting ending. Rep. Crenshaw himself appeared in an SNL skit one week later. In the skit, Crenshaw was given an opportunity to mock pictures of Davidson before delivering a short monologue about the importance of forgiveness and the need for solidarity amongst American civilians and veterans. In that monologue, Crenshaw called Davidson’s father – a New York firefighter who died in the first wave of responders to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks – a hero. The two men ended the skit by shaking hands in mutual respect.
In the case of Burr, an audience member did express anger at his comments and asked him to show more respect toward the military. Other audience members who were veterans supported letting Burr finish his skit.
Burr didn’t apologize. In fact, he publicly berated his critics several times for trying to use the banner of patriotism to accuse him of hating America. Despite his unapologetic stance and controversial statements on other sensitive topics, Burr continues to host a podcast and perform stand-up gigs.
The fundamental reason why neither of the comedians faced legal consequences is that the First Amendment to the United States Constitution defends the right of free speech. That makes it highly unlikely that a U.S. government agency would attempt to press charges against a comic or satirist for comments made during a performance. Any ‘red lines’ that exist in humor are shaped by public opinion, not determined by law.
In conclusion
Guyan Muchan’s reference to U.S public opposition to stand-up comedians joking about the military appears to be based on an invalid comparison between the U.S. and China, where there is far less tolerance of criticism of state institutions. It fails to mention the key difference between the two systems: The U.S. government lacks the authority to punish comedians for the content of their performances, let alone launch a judicial investigation against them.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By Rita Cheng.
The Department of Defence is ramping up investment in training army personnel in SAP software over the next 18 months, as hundreds of its business processes are consolidated on the German giant’s technology in the largest government enterprise resource planning project in Australian history. Defence is currently in the middle of the Enterprise Resource Planning…
The Department of Defence has called in US consultants to develop a digital twin of its ‘future Army’, which it intends to use for cost, personnel and equipment decisions and risk management. But only 2 per cent of the $9.8 million contract will go towards skill transfer programs for ongoing delivery and operation. The initiative…
North Korean soldiers must complete an educational course lionizing the country’s previous leaders ahead of the national founder’s birthday celebration, prompting complaints from some military members already exhausted by extensive winter training, sources in the military told RFA.
Kim Il Sung (1912-1994), the grandfather of current leader Kim Jong Un, was born on April 15, a major holiday now known as the “Day of the Sun.” His son and successor, Kim Jong Il (1942-2011), was born on Feb. 16, the “Day of the Shining Star.”
The two holidays solidify the cult of personality surrounding the Kim family, which has now ruled North Korea for three generations.
RFA reported in late January that citizens nationwide were forced to attend propaganda lectures ahead of the 80th Day of the Shining Star this year. Ahead of the 110th Day of the Sun, the focus is on solidifying loyalty among members of the armed forces, but the soldiers are complaining that they are overworked and need food and rest.
The new educational plan is the brainchild of the General Political Bureau. It seeks to underscore the achievements of the two late leaders, as well as draw upon them for martial inspiration, a military source in the northwestern province of North Pyongan told RFA’s Korean Service Feb. 23.
“The timing of the project will differ slightly depending on the circumstances of each unit but starting from the end of February until the Day of the Sun, lecture sessions, presentation sessions, exhibitions of publications and documentary film study sessions will be conducted in every unit with the aim of recognizing the greatness and immortal achievements of the predecessors,” said the source, who requested anonymity to speak freely.
“In addition, various idolization books such as ‘The Great Appearance of General Kim Il Sung,’ ‘Great Steps,’ and ‘Anecdote of Military-First Revolution’ were distributed to each unit,” he said.
The soldiers will also be made to update statues and portrait shrines dedicated to the two late leaders in each unit.
“A project to replace the figures of the Sun with new statues and portraits, and to replace older revolutionary history catalogs with newer ones … must be displayed before the Day of the Sun in the education room in each battalion and company,” the source said.
“The soldiers are really unhappy with this new ideological education plan. They say that what they desperately need right now is not a new catalog of revolutionary history or education about the previous leaders’ greatness. They need to eat well and have a day of rest,” he said.
The education plan asks the entire army to throw away illusions of peace and be ready for battle at any time, a military-related source in the northeastern province of North Hamgyong told RFA.
“They instructed the soldiers to … welcome the Day of the Sun while successfully completing their ongoing winter training and preparing for battle mobilization,” said the second source, who requested anonymity to speak freely.
“The soldiers have been suffering from nonstop training without proper rest since the start of the year. They have been forced to participate in various events since the beginning of the year for the Day of the Shining Star, so the officers and soldiers are exhausted,” he said.
The soldiers want to get through the Day of the Sun events quickly and hopefully rest for the remainder of the day, the second source said.
“Perhaps because this year marks the 110th anniversary of the Day of the Sun, [the authorities] are strongly pushing forward the political ideology education project. The soldiers are complaining of fatigue as they are pushing the officers and soldiers to prepare in advance.”
Translated by Leejin Jun. Written in English by Eugene Whong.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By Myung Chul Lee.
In the meantime, the country has embarked on an often haphazard reform programme of its military which has made it — while still vulnerable in many vital respects — a rather more formidable force.
Since 2014-15, Ukraine has tripled its defence budget and attempted to modernise its forces — not only to defend themselves against Russia, but to comply with the standards demanded by Nato as an entry requirement.
The results have been mixed. On paper their army looks impressive — with 800 or so heavy tanks and thousands of other armoured vehicles protecting and transporting a regular force of about 200,000.
These are far better trained troops than in 2014. They have good leadership, especially in the crucial non-commissioned officer cadre — the backbone of any army. Vitally, most observers report high morale and motivation.
But this is only part of the story. Most of their armour and equipment is relatively old and, although factories have been turning out modernised versions of old models such as the T72 tank, these provide little in the way of effective opposition to the far more modern Russian tanks and armoured vehicles — some of which are equal or superior to the best Nato stock.
A Russian armoured personnel carrier crippled in the opening exchanges of the invasion. Image: Ukrainian Defence Ministry handout/EPA-EFE/
Further, the Ukrainian army is vulnerable both to Russian artillery, traditionally the Red Army’s most formidable arm, and the threat posed by Russian strike aircraft.
Ukraine’s air force possesses a considerable fleet of Cold War-era aircraft and personnel are well-organised and trained. But Russia has configured its “aerospace forces” to gain and maintain crucial control of the air using, among other systems, the fearsome S400 long-range anti-aircraft missiles.
These systems give the most advanced Nato air forces serious pause for thought, let alone the 1990s vintage fighters and bombers of Ukraine.
Advanced Russian fighters and missiles will dominate the sky in due course although the Ukrainians have achieved some successes against the expectations of many.
There are credible reports that Ukrainian fighters are still flying and remarkably have shot down several Russian jets. Their old — but in the right hands still effective — anti-aircraft missiles have also caused Russian losses, according to Ukrainian sources.
The navy is now militarily insignificant — the more so since much of it appears to have been sunk in harbour within 24 hours of the beginning of hostilities.
Strengths and weaknesses But this is not a foregone conclusion. Ukrainian generals are highly unlikely to play to Russian strengths and deploy forces to be obliterated by their artillery or air power.
They have seen all too much of that in the past. In July 2014 a formation of Ukrainian troops was destroyed by a rocket artillery strike in eastern Ukraine.
What was notable was the way the rockets were guided to their targets by drones operated by Russian-supported separatist troops.
Focusing on equipment quality or quantity alone is always a big mistake. In the UK, military thinking outlines “three components of fighting power”. These are the moral (morale, cohesion, motivation), conceptual (strategy, innovation and military “doctine”) and material (weaponry).
It is one thing having the advantage in the material component of war, it is quite another to turn it into success. The Ukrainians will try to exploit Russia’s vulnerability to having to wage a lengthy military campaign with the potential to sustain politically damaging heavy casualties.
Many Ukrainians have a basic awareness of weapon handling — the several hundred thousand reservists called up as Russia invaded certainly do. They may be light on modern tanks and sophisticated weaponry, but may well have the edge in the moral and conceptual domains.
There is a strong tradition of partisan warfare in Ukraine where ideas of “territorial defence” — insurgent groups fighting small actions on ground they know well backed up, where possible, by regular army units — are deeply ingrained.
In the early days of the Cold War after the country had been liberated from German occupation, the anti-Soviet “Insurgent Army” was only finally defeated in 1953. During this time they caused tens of thousands of casualties.
It may have been largely forgotten by the rest of the world, but this conflict is well remembered in Ukraine.
The vaunted Russian armed forces have already deployed a large proportion of their ground troops, and have a very limited capability either to occupy ground contested by insurgents or — even more importantly — to sustain operations beyond the first “break-in” phase of the war.
The last thing Putin wants is a protracted war, with bloody urban combat and echoes of Chechnya — which is what Ukrainian forces are likely to give him.
War takes its own course, but the likely and sensible Ukrainian approach will be to trade land for time. They will hope to inflict casualties and draw Russian forces into urban areas where their advantages are less pronounced.
In the event of defeat in the field, Ukraine’s defenders could well default to a well-armed, highly-motivated and protracted insurgency, probably supported by the West. This is Putin’s nightmare.
The other side of that particular coin is that Western support of such “terrorism” could attract an unpredictable and highly dangerous response.
In his “declaration of war” speech, Putin threatened “such consequences as you have never encountered in your history” to those who “try to hinder us”, clearly referencing Russia’s vast nuclear arsenal. In the face of defeat or humiliation rationality may be in short supply.
More deployments, a more aggressive approach, and more intense state vs state conflict. This is the dystopian vision laid out by the new head of the British military admiral Tony Radakin. He’s the man who just replaced general Nick Carter as chief of the defence staff.
In a speech at the Royal United Service Institute, Radakin said “British national interest” should become a guiding principle once again. He added that preparing for state-on-state conflict and competition were the order of the day.
More deployments
One of his top priorities, Radakin said, is more military deployments:
It is about having formations, units, platforms, systems and people that are both more deployable and deployed more, whether at home or abroad. This follows from our conclusions about constant strategic competition. We need to be more active and engaged to achieve the deterrence, stability and prosperity at the heart of our national strategy.
He added that he didn’t want troops frustrated in barracks but out in the world acting as ambassadors:
Our forces need to be out in the world supporting British interests, deterring and shaping on a continuous basis. This is what our politicians demand, and it gets after the frustrations felt by our people when they find themselves stuck in barracks or delayed by training or equipment when they should be deployed as ambassadors for Global Britain – shaping, training and influencing.
Industry
Military forces were a key part of British life, he said. Referring to the military as central to communities around the UK.
Our air stations and garrisons, our dockyards and training schools, are the life blood of so many communities. We invest billions into aviation, shipbuilding and other high-tech industries, in every region and every community across all of these islands. We’re the experts at levelling up. We’ve been doing it for centuries and we’ll be doing it long into the future.
And it must be recognised that our interests at home and abroad are linked. Global Britain. Levelling Up. Strengthening the Union. These aren’t campaign slogans or catch phrases. They are the policy of the Government and are bound up with our defence and security.
Powerful?
Radakin also veered into a rather fantastic vision of Britain as a serious global power. He hyped the country’s alliances and lauded it’s supposed values:
The rest of the world see us for who we are. A permanent member of the UN Security Council. A nuclear power. A trading power. The world’s fifth largest economy. A strong, powerful country but outward looking, cooperative and generous too.
The speech overlooked the increased aggression of the UK and her allies in, for example, the Indo-Pacific region. It also overlooked the role of the UK media in the project. For example, this BBC report uncritically hyping the UK foreign policy position which was spotted by investigative journalist John Pilger:
I post this as a striking example of the kind of 'journalism' the BBC dispense as unabashed PR. This monstrous, dated warship has been sent to provoke China, which is not our enemy but is nuclear armed. Not a single challenge to the 'commodore' as he rattles off his nonsense. https://t.co/Ejv7Nfxzg0
Radakin’s vision is meant to be optimistic. In truth, it looks rather dystopian. It seems to spell more overseas operations despite failure in recent ones like Afghanistan. The arms trade is presented as a point of national pride. A deeper integration of the military into our communities is proposed as a bid to hold a creaking union together. And, above all, it forwards a plan for interacting with the world that’s based on a fantasy vision of British global power.
The Bloody Sunday murder trial, which the Public Prosecution Service (PPS) dropped last week, may not be over quite yet. A court ruling means that the brother of one Bloody Sunday victim can contest the decision to drop charges.
The accused, known as Soldier F, was being tried for the 1972 Derry killings until last week. The Northern Ireland PPS judged that certain evidence was likely inadmissible following a ruling in another case. It decided not to proceed with the case.
A brother of one of those shot dead on Bloody Sunday has secured High Court permission to challenge the decision to drop murder charges against Soldier F. Michael McKinney was granted leave to seek a judicial review of the PPS determination that the soldier should not stand trial
William McKinney died during the massacre in Derry in 1972. And his brother Micheal has now won the right to challenge the judge’s decision. On the same day, 13 people died when paratroopers opened fire on civil rights protestors in the Irish city. Another died later. Many more were wounded.
In 2010, following years of investigations, the UK government apologised for the killings. Then-PM David Cameron said at the time:
The conclusions of this report are absolutely clear. There is no doubt, there is nothing equivocal, there are no ambiguities. What happened on Bloody Sunday was both unjustified and unjustifiable. It was wrong.
Legal challenge
Soldier F had been charged for the murders of William McKinney and a second man James Wray. But the PPS dropped the case after evidence in an earlier, similar trial was ruled out. Proceedings against Soldier F were expected to be fully dismissed at a Derry court on 9 July.
Meanwhile, Irish Newsreported that the judicial review Michael McKinney had pushed for would be held in September.
The PPS should not have contemplated discharging Soldier F in circumstances where the High Court is already actively considering the decision making surrounding decisions not to prosecute F for his involvement in two further murders.
On securing the challenge from the High Court, Michael McKinney said:
The position it adopted was a source of great distress to our family. This represents a victory for us and Jim Wray’s family and those wounded by Soldier F.
Soldier F was the only paratrooper expected to face trial over the events of Bloody Sunday.
The collapse of the case against him means it is now likely that nobody will ever face charges over the events in 1972. https://t.co/OkNgJQDXsc
The UK military must stop recruiting under 18s, a coalition of human rights groups has urged. An open letter to defence secretary Ben Wallace said the military should change its recruiting policy. Human rights organisations such as Liberty, Medact, Amnesty, War Child, and Amnesty International UK signed the letter.
The letter highlights that while “most states worldwide now allow only adults to be recruited”, the British Army “still recruits more soldiers at 16 than any other age”. And they said this was especially true for combat infantry roles.
The letter rejected the military’s claim that joining up helps kids:
The army argues that it provides underprivileged teenagers with a route out of unemployment, but since four-fifths of disadvantaged teenagers now continue in school or college from age 16, their enlistment typically brings their full-time education to an early end.
Incompatible with child rights
The signatories warned that:
the evidence now clearly shows that recruiting from age 16 draws them into the armed forces prematurely.
They added:
The risks and legal obligations involved are unambiguously incompatible with their rights and welfare.
They said the problem is fixable:
just a small increase in adult recruitment would facilitate transition to all-adult armed forces.
New resources
CRIN (Child Rights International Network) coordinated the letter. CRIN also worked with poet Potent Whisper to produce resources like a rhyming guide which challenges potential young recruits to reflect on what they might give up by joining.
CRIN PRESENTS: The Rhyming Guide to Joining the Army, a creative piece responding to the issue of military recruitment of young people, with words by @PotentOfficial, animation by Neda Ahmadi and sound by Torch and Compass. Watch the full piece at https://t.co/RipKIVAWrQpic.twitter.com/DwbFNJjfL6
— CRIN – Child Rights International Network (@CRINwire) June 24, 2021
Other resources available on CRIN’s website include:
A briefing paper on why a minimum age of 18 should be introduced.
Outcomes
Researcher David Gee has previously worked on the issue of under 18s recruitment He tweeted that very young recruits are vulnerable on several metrics:
Time to stop stuffing @BritishArmy with 16-year-olds, which leads to:
– worse mental health – high trainee drop-out / unemployment – poor education outcomes – 'lock-in' for four years from age 18 – high rates of bullying/harassment – v low job satisfaction, vs civilian jobs https://t.co/fvndvlwHmH
In a bid to stop the recruitment of 16 and 17 year olds, CRIN urged people to write to their MP and lobby for the minimum age to be raised to 18.
Armed Forces Bill
MPs debated a new Armed Forces Bill on 23 June. On 22 June, Labour announced a review into veterans care. And using language previously espoused by a Tory minister, Keir Starmer said:
I want Britain to be the best place in the world to serve and be a veteran.
It’s not clear if the new consultation means 2019 Manifesto pledges will be abandoned. These included better military pay and housing, and a federation-style body for troops. That body would effectively be a union without the right to strike.
Whether we are dealing with very young recruits, or soldiers leaving the military, there’s clearly a long way to go on human rights and proper aftercare.
16 military personnel were referred to the Prevent scheme in the last two and a half years, records show. Of these, 11 concerned far-right politics. Investigations involved all three military services.
The Prevent scheme is a controversial government-run anti-extremism body which, on paper, aims to intervene in radicalisation. The problem of far-right extremism in the ranks has become an issue not just for the UK, but for several major allies.
Hope Not Hate chief executive Nick Lowles told the Guardian:
The referrals of so many serving military personnel to Prevent, and the general rise in violent far-right extremism in society as a whole, should act as a reminder of the ever present threat of [far-right] extremism and the need for the MoD to increase its internal education and enforcement of its publicly stated rules.
Nuclear submariner
Investigations included two serving sailors. One was a nuclear submariner. The individual had links to the far-right Identarian Movement. In 2018, a soldier was jailed after he was found to be a member of the fascist group National Action. Army and air force cadets were also referred to Prevent.
International problem
The problem of far-right soldiers is international. The US, German, and French governments have all had to deal with the far-right inside military communities.
Trump supporters raided Capitol Hill in January 2021. They wanted to stop the transition of power to president-elect Joe Biden. NPRreported that 1 in 5 defendants in legal cases brought after the riot had served in the military.
In France, serving and former generals clashed with the government over an open letter warning of civil war unless immigration was checked. They said “Islamism and the hordes of the banlieue [impoverished suburbs]” could damage national unity.
An SS Songbook
Police raided a German special forces soldier’s home in 2020. According to the New York Times, officers found:
two kilograms of PETN plastic explosives, a detonator, a fuse, an AK-47, a silencer, two knives, a crossbow and thousands of rounds of ammunition. They also found an SS songbook, 14 editions of a magazine for former members of the Waffen SS and a host of other Nazi memorabilia.
In 2020, the Spanish military had a similar problem. Leaked online chats showed retired officers praising the Franco regime. They discussed shooting left-wing politicians. The head of the military dismissed the issue.
Unimpeachable?
The army takes criticism badly. Yet something is wrong inside the military. There must be more education and accountability, and this is increasingly a matter of public safety. When cases like these emerge in the UK forces, the term ‘a few bad apples’ is usually thrown around. This is no longer enough. A proper investigation needs to be carried out to find out the extent of far-right activity.
For years, the Pentagon mishandled sexual assault cases involving kids living on military bases, until an Associated Press investigation jolted lawmakers into action.
Reporter Holly McDede brings us to Berkeley High School in California, where students were fed up with what they saw as a culture of sexual harassment and assault among their peers.
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A Royal Navy veteran has called for all servicemen and women kicked out of the armed forces because of their sexuality to be given a pardon and to have their full pensions restored.
Joe Ousalice, 70, made the call after the Ministry of Defence (MoD) announced that veterans who were dismissed in this way can now reclaim the medals that were stripped from them.
Gay people and other members of the LGBTQI+ community were not allowed to serve in the military until a rule change in 2000.
The MoD’s announcement came after Ousalice, from Southampton, Hampshire, successfully took the department to court to have his medal returned.
He was presented with his medal by defence secretary Ben Wallace in January 2020.
The MoD said it wanted to address a “historical wrong” with the launch of the scheme.
But Ousalice, whose 18-year naval career included six tours of the north of Ireland, the Falklands War and the Middle East, said the government should go further by issuing pardons and ensuring those affected receive their full pension.
The former radio operator said: “It really does make my blood boil to think of the way I was treated, it had such an adverse effect on my life for 10 years.
“I would like a pardon from Her Majesty the Queen and for all the others who have been discharged because of their sexuality.
“They have been kicked out because they are gay or bisexual, they have not done anything wrong.”
He called for full pensions to be reinstated, explaining that his discharge meant he received £100 less per month.
He added he was prepared to return to court if the government failed to act.
Joe Ousalice had six six tours of duty (Joe Ousalice/PA)
Ousalice said he was left destitute after he was court-martialled in November 1993.
He said he was acquitted of being found in bed with a rating but found guilty of a second charge of “conduct prejudicial to good order and naval discipline” for his sexuality.
Ousalice added: “I was left worse than penniless, I lost my home as I had no money to pay the mortgage, I lost my girlfriend, my family disowned me.
“I had no food, I had to get food from the farmers’ fields just to survive.
“I even went to the Tamar Bridge and tried to jump off – that’s the effect it had on me. It took 10 years to get my bank balance up to scratch.”
A statement on the gov.uk website says: “Prior to 2000, a number of armed forces personnel were discharged from service on the basis of their sexuality.
Joe Ousalice receives his medal from Defence Secretary Ben Wallace (Liberty/PA)
“Some received convictions under specified legislation for homosexual behaviour that has now been decriminalised, while others were discharged solely on the basis of their sexuality, without any conviction.
“In the course of their discharge, some personnel either forfeited medals directly, or were prevented from continuing to serve and thus denied the ability to regain medals that might previously have been forfeited for unrelated reasons.
“The MoD is committed to addressing this historical wrong and is introducing a policy which enables individuals to apply to have their medals restored.”
Former personnel can apply to have their case reviewed by the defence council, with successful applicants receiving a new medal from the MoD’s Medal Office.
Relatives of affected ex-military members who have since died are also able to apply for a review.
Caroline Page and Craig Jones, joint chief executives of Fighting With Pride, a charity for LGBT+ veterans, welcomed the move but said they are working with the Office for Veterans’ Affairs (OVA) for reparations for those affected.
We are delighted that the @VeteransGovUK is making this announcement today. The return of medals to those unfairly dismissed from service is a huge first step in addressing the wrongs endured by the LGBT+ Veterans community. #veterans#lgbt#Militaryhttps://t.co/55PxT35kMh
They said in a statement: “Today, LGBT+ veterans are finally beginning their journey back to the military family.
“Fighting With Pride looks forward to a better future for them, where they are recognised for their service, their health needs are supported and they are recompensed for the wrongs of the past.
“We are also pleased to see the Government’s further commitment to investigate the long-term impact of being dismissed from our armed forces, particularly in regard to the health, housing and employment of LGBT+ veterans, many of whom today still live in poverty and beyond the protections of the Armed Forces Covenant.”
A new viral video calling on liberals to form “an army of citizen detectives” to gather information on Trump supporters and report their activities to the authorities has racked up thousands of shares and millions of views in just a few hours.
The hashtag #TrumpsNewArmy is trending on Twitter as of this writing due to the release of a horrifying video with that title from successful author and virulent Russiagater Don Winslow. As of this writing it has some 20 thousand shares and 2.6 million views, and the comments and quote-retweets are predominantly supportive.
“On or before January 20th, Donald Trump will no longer be the Commander-in-Chief: he will lose control of the Army, Navy, Airforce, Marines, Special Forces and America’s nuclear arsenal,” Winslow’s voice begins ominously. “On January 20th Donald Trump will become Commander-in-Chief of a different army: this army.”
Viewers are then shown footage from Trump rallies while being told that they are looking at “radical extreme conservatives, also known as domestic terrorists”.
“They are hidden among us, disguised behind regular jobs,” Winslow warns. “They are your children’s teachers. They work at supermarkets, malls, doctor’s offices, and many are police officers and soldiers.”
Winslow talks about white supremacists and the Capitol riot, warning that Trump will continue escalating violence and fomenting a civil war in America.
“We have to fight back,” Winslow declares. “In this new war, the battlefield has changes. Computers can be more valuable than guns. And this is what we need now more than ever: an army of citizen detectives. I’m proposing we form a citizen army. Our weapons will be computers and cellphones. We, who are monitoring extremists on the internet and reporting our findings to authorities. Remember, before the Navy Seals killed Osama Bin Laden, he had to be found. He was found by a CIA analyst working on a computer thousands of miles away. It’s up to you.”
The viral video is being loudly amplified by popular #Resistance accounts like Majid M Padellan (better known as Brooklyn Dad Defiant) with frighteningly paranoid and HUAC-like rhetoric.
“#TrumpsNewArmy is VILE,” one of Padellan’s Twitter shares of the video reads. “And we KNOW who they are. They are our teachers. They are our neighbors. They are our police officers. They are EVERYWHERE. EXPOSE THEIR TREASON.”
“Donald trump is on his way out,” reads another. “Good riddance. But his ‘army’ is still here, hiding amongst us. They are traitors. They are evil. And they MUST be rooted OUT.”
“I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America,” reads yet another. “But SOME people… they pledged their allegiance ONLY to trump. These are dangerous traitors.”
“After 9/11, we were told: If you see something, say something,” reads still another. “We have TERRORISTS in our midst. Some of us KNOW these people. It is our patriotic DUTY to expose them.”
So if you were hoping that maybe liberals would chill out and get a little less crazy with Trump out of the White House, I am sorry to be the bearer of bad news.
This is as insane and scary as I have ever seen these people get, and I was in the thick of peak Russiagate hysteria. An aggressively manufactured push to get an army of citizens spying on each other calls to mind the Stasi informants of East Germany, the patriotism-fueled digital “digging” of the QAnon psyop, and the NatSec LARPing of Louise Mensch Twitter, all rolled into one great big ball of crazy.
Veteran CIA officer and former deputy DNI Sue Gordon calls for a "9/11 Commission kind of activity" to apply "lessons that we learned in the fight against foreign terrorism" to battle domestic extremism https://t.co/Dor0GMZmfmpic.twitter.com/MGmdNoMZ1f
This comes out as we are being bombarded with mass media punditry from literal CIA veterans like Sue Gordon and Elissa Slotkin forcefully hammering home the message that domestic terror is the new frontier for combating violent extremism, meaning of course that new Patriot Act-like solutions will be needed. Winslow himself spent six years traveling and doing research for a novel about a former CIA operative, and if some government agency didn’t recruit him during that period they clearly should have.
This will get frightening if it keeps up. Just as a relatively low-profile lefty blogger I routinely get liberals online falsely claiming I’m a Russian agent and saying they’ll report me to the FBI, and that’s without an aggressive campaign urging them to join a powerful digital army. The fact that Winslow stays very vague about what he means by “Trump’s new army” and constantly conflates rank-and-file Trump supporters with white supremacist terrorists means people are effectively being pointed at all Trump supporters, especially when normal Trump rallies are what he points to in the video. If this takes off it can very quickly lead to a volunteer army of power-worshipping snitches against literally anyone who is critical of US foreign policy or the Democratic Party, whether they actually support Trump or not.
In fact just following the trending hashtag I’m noticing Twitter users saying this means targeting all Trump supporters, so clearly that is the message that’s being absorbed.
That #TrumpsNewArmy video is making people crazy and scary. I've been in the thick of liberal insanity right through peak Russiagate, and I don't think I've ever seen anything like this. pic.twitter.com/X1kSnCg4ao
“Trumpers are pushing back so hard against this video because so many of them live in the dark, cloaked behind normal jobs and seemingly normal lives,” Winslow tweeted in promotion of his project.
Well maybe that’s because they are half the voting public, Don?
Winslow mixes in these generic comments about “Trumpers” with comments about “white supremacists”, about whom he tweets “1. We expose them. 2. We identify them. 3. We notify law enforcement. 4. We notify their employers.”
Their employers.
This is just liberals being pushed toward targeting anyone who isn’t ideologically aligned with them for destruction. I really, really hope it doesn’t take off, because it is profoundly ugly. Please don’t let the manipulators trick you into ripping each other to pieces, America. They’re only pointing you at each other so you don’t look at them.
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