Yearly Archives: 2011

U.S. soldier charged with rape, transferred to South Korean custody

Stars and Stripes reports that a U.S. Soldier charged with rape was transferred to South Korean custody: South Korean police charged a U.S. soldier Tuesday with rape and larceny for allegedly attacking a 17-year-old South Korean girl in her residence on Sept. 17, following a night of drinking in Seoul. Pvt. Kevin Robinson, 21, who… Read more »

U.S. and Japan may cut funding for base relocation in Okinawa and Guam

There’s been a lot happening related to the Defense Authorization Act.  The fiscal crisis is finally resulting in some cuts to the military budget.   But the Senate approved inclusion of language authorizing the detention of U.S. citizens. However, regarding the military base realignment in Okinawa and Guam, there have been some positive developments.  It looks… Read more »

Court to military rape survivors: “relief…is unavailable in these circumstances”

The Daily Beast reports:     On Tuesday, attorneys arguing for Kori Cioca and the 27 other plaintiffs represented in Cioca v. Rumsfeld learned that U.S. District Judge Liam O’Grady had ruled against them, granting the motion to dismiss filed by Department of Justice attorneys on behalf of the Department of Defense. […] “Notwithstanding the… Read more »

Did the Pentagon Help Strangle the Arab Spring?

Nick Turse wrote a great article exposing U.S. military aid to repressive governments in Africa and the Middle East where some “Arab Spring” protests have been crushed by violence: As the Arab Spring blossomed and President Obama hesitated about whether to speak out in favor of protesters seeking democratic change in the Greater Middle East,… Read more »

Paramilitary Policing From Seattle to Occupy Wall Street

Previously I shared several articles describing how the militaristic response to Occupy protests are indicative of a growing militarization of the police in the U.S.   In “Paramilitary Policing from Seattle to Occupy Wall Street,” Norm Stamper, former Seattle Police Chief who was responsible for the “battle in Seattle” criticizes this trend.  He wrote an amazing… Read more »

Obama Channels Teddy Roosevelt

Last week, President Obama delivered a speech in Osawatomie, Kansas, the same town where Theodore Roosevelt gave his “New Nationalism” speech in 1910.   New Yorker columnist John Cassidy described this speech as Obama finding his voice and defining his theme for the 2012 election: This is Obama seeking to define the themes he intends to… Read more »

Rape in the US military: America’s dirty little secret secret

The Guardian published an excellent article on the epidemic of rape in the U.S. military. Here are some astounding facts: Rape within the US military has become so widespread that it is estimated that a female soldier in Iraq is more likely to be attacked by a fellow soldier than killed by enemy fire. So… Read more »

The China “Threat” Rises Again

In “The China ‘Treat’ Rises Again,” Franklin Spinney, a former Pentagon analyst who exposed corruption within the Pentagon has written an analysis of the U.S. policy ‘pivot’ to Asia as driven by the interests of the Military Industrial Congressional Complex (MICC): When the Cold War ended in 1991, the Military – Industrial – Congressional Complex… Read more »

Moana Nui 2011 conference videos are online!

Videos of the Moana Nui 2011 conference are now online.   Of particular interest for the DMZ-Hawai’i / Aloha ‘Aina site is the panel on Militarization and Resistance in the Pacific. Walden Bello, keynote speech NATIVE RIGHTS, ECONOMIES, GOVERNANCE–RESISTING GLOBAL POWERS Passage of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (2007), coupled with advancing… Read more »

I ka wā ma mua, ka wā ma hope: Exploring Pearl Harbor’s present pasts

Here’s an article I wrote for the Hawaii Independent reflecting on a recent school excursion to Ke Awalau o Pu’uloa / Pearl Harbor, and contemporary meanings of Pearl Harbor as national myth: I ka wā ma mua, ka wā ma hope: Exploring Pearl Harbor’s present pasts By Kyle Kajihiro HONOLULU—On the eve of the 70th… Read more »