JUST the Stolen Documents/Mar-A-Lago/"Judge" Cannon Trial

[Brooklyn]

government of Afghanistan giving weapons to Taliban:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEKBhBtzkvs



A Wave of Afghan Surrenders to the Taliban Picks Up Speed
Dozens of besieged outposts or bases, and four district centers, have given up to the insurgents this month, in an accelerating rural collapse as American troops leave.


https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/27/worl ... liban.html



Updated June 20, 2021
MEHTARLAM, Afghanistan — Ammunition was depleted inside the bedraggled outposts in Laghman Province. Food was scarce. Some police officers hadn’t been paid in five months.

Then, just as American troops began leaving the country in early May, Taliban fighters besieged seven rural Afghan military outposts across the wheat fields and onion patches of the province, in eastern Afghanistan.

The insurgents enlisted village elders to visit the outposts bearing a message: Surrender or die.

By mid-month, security forces had surrendered all seven outposts after extended negotiations, according to village elders. At least 120 soldiers and police were given safe passage to the government-held provincial center in return for handing over weapons and equipment.

“We told them, ‘Look, your situation is bad — reinforcements aren’t coming,’” said Nabi Sarwar Khadim, 53, one of several elders who negotiated the surrenders.


Since May 1, at least 26 outposts and bases in just four provinces — Laghman, Baghlan, Wardak and Ghazni — have surrendered after such negotiations, according to village elders and government officials. With morale diving as American troops leave, and the Taliban seizing on each surrender as a propaganda victory, each collapse feeds the next in the Afghan countryside.

U.S. Speeds WithdrawalAll troops are now expected to be out of Afghanistan in July.
Among the negotiated surrenders were four district centers, which house local governors, police and intelligence chiefs — effectively handing the government facilities to Taliban control and scattering the officials there, at least temporarily.




more ....



https://abcnews.go.com/International/wi ... s-78400688


Taliban take key Afghan district, adding to string of gains
Local police say Taliban fighters have taken control of a key district in Afghanistan’s northern Kunduz province and encircled the provincial capital


Taliban fighters took control of a key district in Afghanistan's northern Kunduz province Monday and encircled the provincial capital, police said, as the insurgent group added to its recent battlefield victories while peace talks have stalemated.

The Taliban's gains came as the Pentagon reaffirmed the U.S. troop withdrawal was still on pace to conclude by early September.

Fighting around Imam Sahib district began late Sunday and by midday Monday the Taliban had overrun the district headquarters and were in control of police headquarters, said Inamuddin Rahmani, provincial police spokesman said.


more ....





Now that the USA has retreated, oops, I mean advanced away from Kabul, the Taliban which represents the MAJORITY of Afghans is slowly taking over again.

Unfortunately, the USA did not learn from the imperialistic war of colonialist terrorism in Vietnam, and in Iraq, and in Afghanistan that the only way to win a war is to get majority support from a nation's population. None of these imperialist wars were for the advancement of democracy as the pro war traitors pretended. They were always about war profits. You paid, they profited. And now the Taliban is making a big comeback.

Told ya so!

[old salt]

The final judgement on our intervention in Afghanistan has yet to be determined. It will depend on how things evolve in the future. Will the Taliban moderate somewhat or revert to their full primitive extremism ? Will the Taliban retake the entire country, including Kabul ? Will Afghanistan become a haven for AQ to reconstitute, or for IS to grow, to the point that they are once again a threat to the US ? Will the Taliban be able to roll back all the advancements & freedoms the Afghan people have gained in the past 20 years ? Much like our interventions in Iraq, dating back to 1991, it will take decades for history to reach a fair verdict. Life is much better today for Iraqis, especially the Kurds, than it is for their neighbors in Syria, Libya & Yemen, where the US stayed out.

[Peter Brown]

The final judgement on our intervention in Afghanistan has yet to be determined. It will depend on how things evolve in the future. Will the Taliban moderate somewhat or revert to their full primitive extremism ? Will the Taliban retake the entire country, including Kabul ? Will Afghanistan become a haven for AQ to reconstitute, or for IS to grow, to the point that they are once again a threat to the US ? Will the Taliban be able to roll back all the advancements & freedoms the Afghan people have gained in the past 20 years ? Much like our interventions in Iraq, dating back to 1991, it will take decades for history to reach a fair verdict. Life is much better today for Iraqis, especially the Kurds, than it is for their neighbors in Syria, Libya & Yemen, where the US stayed out.

I tend to side with Brooklyn on this issue.

[youthathletics]

The final judgement on our intervention in Afghanistan has yet to be determined. It will depend on how things evolve in the future. Will the Taliban moderate somewhat or revert to their full primitive extremism ? Will the Taliban retake the entire country, including Kabul ? Will Afghanistan become a haven for AQ to reconstitute, or for IS to grow, to the point that they are once again a threat to the US ? Will the Taliban be able to roll back all the advancements & freedoms the Afghan people have gained in the past 20 years ? Much like our interventions in Iraq, dating back to 1991, it will take decades for history to reach a fair verdict. Life is much better today for Iraqis, especially the Kurds, than it is for their neighbors in Syria, Libya & Yemen, where the US stayed out.

I tend to side with Brooklyn on this issue.

For the immediate future, I agree PB. It'll take generations to change 'culture' in this region. One can only hope that the labor and livelihood poured in to this region over the decades by our military, secures fruit. It is certainly clear, we either have to stay forever or just hope that we left a positive impression on the younger generation, enough so, that change takes place.

[Peter Brown]

The final judgement on our intervention in Afghanistan has yet to be determined. It will depend on how things evolve in the future. Will the Taliban moderate somewhat or revert to their full primitive extremism ? Will the Taliban retake the entire country, including Kabul ? Will Afghanistan become a haven for AQ to reconstitute, or for IS to grow, to the point that they are once again a threat to the US ? Will the Taliban be able to roll back all the advancements & freedoms the Afghan people have gained in the past 20 years ? Much like our interventions in Iraq, dating back to 1991, it will take decades for history to reach a fair verdict. Life is much better today for Iraqis, especially the Kurds, than it is for their neighbors in Syria, Libya & Yemen, where the US stayed out.

I tend to side with Brooklyn on this issue.

For the immediate future, I agree PB. It'll take generations to change 'culture' in this region. One can only hope that the labor and livelihood poured in to this region over the decades by our military, secures fruit. It is certainly clear, we either have to stay forever or just hope that we left a positive impression on the younger generation, enough so, that change takes place.

Like Brook,I tend to be very anti war. What Brook can’t comprehend is that his party is now the war party. All of the pro war neocons are Democrats, and the Democratic Party can’t help but advocate now for war since all of the NSA, FBI, DOJ, and CIA jagoffs are paid propagandists today on liberal stations like MSNBC and CNN.

[jhu72]

The House has voted to retire the AUMF. Republican Senators are holding it up. Yeah, its the democrats that like endless stupid wars.

A little AUMF history. Republicans have a history of loving them some war. They killed repeal as recently as 2019.

[Brooklyn]

Like Brook,I tend to be very anti war. What Brook can’t comprehend is that his party is now the war party. All of the pro war neocons are Democrats, and the Democratic Party can’t help but advocate now for war since all of the NSA, FBI, DOJ, and CIA jagoffs are paid propagandists today on liberal stations like MSNBC and CNN.

The AUMF was pushed for by Republican traitor Bush.

As for Iraq, like I said all the way back to the early 2000's, the only WMD that would be found were those in Bush's drugged up imagination. Everyone knows nobody pushed for the two wars in Iraq and Afghanistan more than did the Fo卐 network.

[Brooklyn]

The final judgement on our intervention in Afghanistan has yet to be determined. It will depend on how things evolve in the future. Will the Taliban moderate somewhat or revert to their full primitive extremism ? Will the Taliban retake the entire country, including Kabul ? Will Afghanistan become a haven for AQ to reconstitute, or for IS to grow, to the point that they are once again a threat to the US ? Will the Taliban be able to roll back all the advancements & freedoms the Afghan people have gained in the past 20 years ? Much like our interventions in Iraq, dating back to 1991, it will take decades for history to reach a fair verdict. Life is much better today for Iraqis, especially the Kurds, than it is for their neighbors in Syria, Libya & Yemen, where the US stayed out.

Life may be better for the Kurds but it certainly is not so for the vast majority of Iraqis. Iraq had a high standard of living until the imperialistic invasion. Buildings were levelled by bombs, electricity and water service disrupted, and food markets were closed. Over a million Iraqis were killed, hundreds of thousands injured, hospitals were fully occupied with injured victims, productivity reduced, highways damaged, and the country reduced to a hell hole. All thanks to Republican Bush's imperialism.

Same with Afghanistan.

Not a shred of good came to either country because of the USA led Republican imperialistic terrorism.

[old salt]

False argument Brook -- I said things are better for the Iraqis NOW than they are for Syrians, Yemini & Libyans NOW.

I disagree with your rosy assessment of Iraq under Saddam, particularly for the Kurds, Marsh Arabs & other non-Baathist Shia.
Blame the neo-con Bushies, if it makes you feel better, but it was a bipartisan decision to go to war in '91 & again in "03, AND things had improved so much after the surge that by 2010, Obama was able to make the unilateral decision to withdraw, leaving the door open for ISIS & the even greater destruction in Iraq AND Syria which that premature withdrawal unleashed.

I've always maintained that our mistake was going ashore in '91 to drive the Iraqis out of Kuwait. When we left, with Saddam still in power, our return was inevitable. Our staying to enforce the UN no-fly zones & ongoing presence to protect Saudi Arabia, inspired Bin Laden (then with AQ in Afghanistan) to plan & execute the 9-11 attack.

Do you disagree with our post 9-11 attack of Afghanistan in 2001, which toppled the Taliban in a few weeks ? Would you have left AQ & Bin Laden undisturbed to continue their efforts under the protection of the Taliban ?

All the above, flowed from our decision to go ashore in '91. Jim Webb was right when he counseled against it, in spite of the unprecedented global coalition which Bush, Baker & Cheney had assembled.

After our Cold War victory, we thought we were invincible. I disagreed with going to war in Kuwait in 91 & expanding NATO beyond the reunification of Germany. I thought we overreached with NATO expansion & the forced independence of all the Soviet republics. We gave a future Putin a cause to rally Russian nationalism & resentment. I preferred an armed neutrality, Finland-ization for the Warsaw Pact & the preservation of Russia's imperial borders ...but I'm an isolationist &/or Russian sympathizer, or so I've been told here.

[Brooklyn]

quoting salty,

~ rosy assessment of Iraq under Saddam, particularly for the Kurds, Marsh Arabs & other non-Baathist Shia ~

No one said Iraq was Paradise under Saddam. But then, Java, Bali, and Sumatra were hardly paradisic under Republican pal Suharto. Nobody gave a flying shttt about the million or more killed under that fascist bassturd. Instead of invading that land to stop his tyranny, the Pukies gave him plenty of $$$.


~ bipartisan decision to go to war ~

Of course it was. But on both occasions the treasonous Bush's lied about how it was ever so critical to the vital interests of the USA to do so. Recall how the pro war media portrayed Saddam as the Antichrist forecasted in the New Testament and that stopping him would prevent Armageddon. Had those two traitors spoken the truth we would have had peace.

What goes on in those countries is their business, not ours. Ditto for Syria, Libya, and Yemen.



~ post 9-11 attack of Afghanistan in 2001, which toppled the Taliban in a few weeks ? Would you have left AQ & Bin Laden undisturbed to continue their efforts under the protection of the Taliban ? ~

I have said enough times on this forum that preventive medicine is best. As bin Laden said, his actions were in response to USA interventionism in the Middle East. The USA should never have been in the ME in the first place but if we had retreated when the Beirut barracks were attacked in 1983 he would never have targeted us.




Stay the hell out of the region and none of these things would have occurred. It's what I've been saying for more than half a century. History has proven me correct.

[old salt]

Evade the question about what we should have done after 9-11 ? Just say - no problem AQ, it was our fault for being in the ME. We're even now.

[PizzaSnake]

Evade the question about what we should have done after 9-11 ? Just say - no problem AQ, it was our fault for being in the ME. We're even now.

Even-handed police actions, not brutal, intemperate wars which gained little but cost immeasurably.

Oh, and offered every woman and their minor children in Afghanistan a green card with a path to citizenship -- right about now we wouldn't have a problem because they'd be running a little short on young men. Sort of a "natural" solution...

Play the g-d long game for once instead of a constant rush for ... success?

[old salt]

Evade the question about what we should have done after 9-11 ? Just say - no problem AQ, it was our fault for being in the ME. We're even now.

Even-handed police actions, not brutal, intemperate wars which gained little but cost immeasurably.

Oh, and offered every woman and their minor children in Afghanistan a green card with a path to citizenship -- right about now we wouldn't have a problem because they'd be running a little short on young men. Sort of a "natural" solution...

Play the g-d long game for once instead of a constant rush for ... success?

Had we done what Charlie Wilson recommended when the Russians pulled out, the Afghan Muj would now be our Gurkhas.

[PizzaSnake]

Evade the question about what we should have done after 9-11 ? Just say - no problem AQ, it was our fault for being in the ME. We're even now.

Even-handed police actions, not brutal, intemperate wars which gained little but cost immeasurably.

Oh, and offered every woman and their minor children in Afghanistan a green card with a path to citizenship -- right about now we wouldn't have a problem because they'd be running a little short on young men. Sort of a "natural" solution...

Play the g-d long game for once instead of a constant rush for ... success?

Had we done what Charlie Wilson recommended when the Russians pulled out, the Afghan Muj would now be our Gurkhas.

Maybe. But a whole lot of things are going to start changing in ways that are going to be unimaginable. Flexibility will be at a premium.

[old salt]

Evade the question about what we should have done after 9-11 ? Just say - no problem AQ, it was our fault for being in the ME. We're even now.

Even-handed police actions, not brutal, intemperate wars which gained little but cost immeasurably.

Oh, and offered every woman and their minor children in Afghanistan a green card with a path to citizenship -- right about now we wouldn't have a problem because they'd be running a little short on young men. Sort of a "natural" solution...

Play the g-d long game for once instead of a constant rush for ... success?

Had we done what Charlie Wilson recommended when the Russians pulled out, the Afghan Muj would now be our Gurkhas.

Maybe. But a whole lot of things are going to start changing in ways that are going to be unimaginable. Flexibility will be at a premium.

It will be our Chinese overlords problems, not ours. We'll be happy citizens, after re-education camp.

[PizzaSnake]

Evade the question about what we should have done after 9-11 ? Just say - no problem AQ, it was our fault for being in the ME. We're even now.

Even-handed police actions, not brutal, intemperate wars which gained little but cost immeasurably.

Oh, and offered every woman and their minor children in Afghanistan a green card with a path to citizenship -- right about now we wouldn't have a problem because they'd be running a little short on young men. Sort of a "natural" solution...

Play the g-d long game for once instead of a constant rush for ... success?

Had we done what Charlie Wilson recommended when the Russians pulled out, the Afghan Muj would now be our Gurkhas.

Maybe. But a whole lot of things are going to start changing in ways that are going to be unimaginable. Flexibility will be at a premium.

It will be our Chinese overlords problems, not ours. We'll be happy citizens, after re-education camp.

Don't know about that, but China will be a Arctic nation for sure, after they roll through Siberia.

"In central China and central Asia, meanwhile, "extreme wet-bulb temperatures are expected to approach and possibly exceed physiological thresholds for human adaptability", the IPCC warns."

Read more at: https://www.deccanherald.com/science-an ... 00507.html

And Salt, you and I will be good and dead by then. Our progeny, now, we've forked them but good.

[old salt]

Evade the question about what we should have done after 9-11 ? Just say - no problem AQ, it was our fault for being in the ME. We're even now.

Even-handed police actions, not brutal, intemperate wars which gained little but cost immeasurably.

Oh, and offered every woman and their minor children in Afghanistan a green card with a path to citizenship -- right about now we wouldn't have a problem because they'd be running a little short on young men. Sort of a "natural" solution...

Play the g-d long game for once instead of a constant rush for ... success?

Had we done what Charlie Wilson recommended when the Russians pulled out, the Afghan Muj would now be our Gurkhas.

Maybe. But a whole lot of things are going to start changing in ways that are going to be unimaginable. Flexibility will be at a premium.

It will be our Chinese overlords problems, not ours. We'll be happy citizens, after re-education camp.

Don't know about that, but China will be a Arctic nation for sure, after they roll through Siberia.

"In central China and central Asia, meanwhile, "extreme wet-bulb temperatures are expected to approach and possibly exceed physiological thresholds for human adaptability", the IPCC warns."

Read more at: https://www.deccanherald.com/science-an ... 00507.html

And Salt, you and I will be good and dead by then. Our progeny, now, we've forked them but good.

At the rate China's opening coal fired power plants, they'll need the genetically altered super-race they're developing at the Wuhan chocolate factory.

[PizzaSnake]

Evade the question about what we should have done after 9-11 ? Just say - no problem AQ, it was our fault for being in the ME. We're even now.

Even-handed police actions, not brutal, intemperate wars which gained little but cost immeasurably.

Oh, and offered every woman and their minor children in Afghanistan a green card with a path to citizenship -- right about now we wouldn't have a problem because they'd be running a little short on young men. Sort of a "natural" solution...

Play the g-d long game for once instead of a constant rush for ... success?

Had we done what Charlie Wilson recommended when the Russians pulled out, the Afghan Muj would now be our Gurkhas.

Maybe. But a whole lot of things are going to start changing in ways that are going to be unimaginable. Flexibility will be at a premium.

It will be our Chinese overlords problems, not ours. We'll be happy citizens, after re-education camp.

Don't know about that, but China will be a Arctic nation for sure, after they roll through Siberia.

"In central China and central Asia, meanwhile, "extreme wet-bulb temperatures are expected to approach and possibly exceed physiological thresholds for human adaptability", the IPCC warns."

Read more at: https://www.deccanherald.com/science-an ... 00507.html

And Salt, you and I will be good and dead by then. Our progeny, now, we've forked them but good.

At the rate China's opening coal fired power plants, they'll need the genetically altered super-race they're developing at the Wuhan chocolate factory.

I'm betting on subterranean development. Surface abandoned. Probably a lot of nuclear reactors spewing fallout all over in the dead zones.

[old salt]

National Guard & Reserves : overused & underpaid.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business ... -reserves/

The rising cost of being in the National Guard: Reservists and guardsmen are twice as likely to be hungry as other American groups

Civil unrest and pandemic deployments have led to extreme food insecurity among National Guard and Reserves

National Guard and reserve soldiers are having trouble feeding their families due to a year of record deployments.

Hunger among Guard members and reservists is more than double the national rate, according to U.S. Census Bureau data from mid-April through early June.

They report more food insecurity than nearly any other group, regardless of household income, education, age or race. Nearly one in five Guard members report sometimes or often not having enough to eat. And a third of those with a spouse serving in the National Guard or reserves report not having enough to eat. The numbers are even more troubling for National Guard and reserve families with children.

In an ordinary year, when they’re not activated or deployed, most reservists and Guard members spend one weekend a month running drills and two weeks a year, often during the summer, training. This schedule allows most of them to work civilian jobs or get an education as well. It’s a similar work schedule for reservists, who work for different branches of the military.

Over the pandemic the National Guard has faced longer deployments and periods of activation. They’ve overseen coronavirus testing, distributed food at the nation’s food banks, quelled civil unrest and more recently helped to administer vaccines, said John Goheen, spokesman for the National Guard Association of the United States, an advocacy group. This is in addition to responding to more natural disasters such as wildfires and flood.

The National Guard has declared 2020 “the Year of the Guard.” Last year, the National Guard was activated for 11 million “man days,” the highest number since World War II, Goheen said. By comparison, in 2019 there were only 2 million man days.

Wayne Hall, a spokesman for the National Guard, said he is skeptical about the food insecurity census data. He said that between the Army and Air National Guard and the different branches of the reserves, there are 1.2 million service members but the census data only accounts for under 400,000 of them. He said he has not encountered service members who have complained of household hunger.

“These figures are an underrepresentation of the full force,” Hall said. “And almost a quarter surveyed didn’t report.”

Yet several military advocacy groups said they are seeing rising problems with food insecurity, and suggest such problems might be invisible to military leadership. Jennifer Davis, lobbyist for the National Military Family Association, said hungry Guard members and reservists are motivated to seem “fine" and are hesitant to seek help or reveal financial hardship.

“A service member has to consider promotability and clearances: You can’t afford to struggle too badly; you have to keep your bills paid,” she said. “You can lose your clearance if your finances are in a shambles, we’re talking even a bounced check. If it comes between paying the bills and keeping food on the table, there’s pressure to pay those bills. And there are concerns about sharing with your leadership that you’re struggling to take care of your family, because you never want that to come back and haunt you when you’re up for promotion.”

One National Guard member in Georgia said he lost his job as a schoolteacher last spring, as the pandemic began, because of his stepped-up Guard schedule. He asked to speak anonymously, because his termination is under investigation.

“Why are we activating more National Guard troops than at the height of the war in Afghanistan?” the guard member said. “You’re taking these people away from their families, and for what reason? There is no reason. This is becoming a problem for civilian employers.”

Another National Guard officer who has spent seven months in uniform since the start of the pandemic, who also asked not to be identified for fear of losing his job, said a full 25 percent of the National Guard was on active duty last June, dealing with the pandemic and civil unrest.

“The shadow issue that affects Guard troops right now is the ludicrous tempo at which they’ve been activated over the past year. It’s hard to find Guard members who have not been told to report in the past year, everyone has been pulled away from their regular lives,” he said.

If called up to active duty, low-ranking Guard members and reservists make a base pay of around $3,000 per month. When not on active duty, Guard members get around $200 for a weekend of drills, which is why most have other civilian jobs.

The spike in days worked takes Guard members and reservists away from their jobs, with many soldiers not drawing that income if they’re away on military duty.

Even in normal times, military spouses have higher levels of unemployment or underemployment than civilian populations, citing factors like job scarcity near military bases and frequent moves. Moving around can leave military families far from their extended families and increase a nonmilitary partner’s child care burden. Before the pandemic, 22 percent of military spouses reported being unemployed, according to a large Pentagon survey.

Advocacy groups, including the National Military Family Association and Blue Star Families, said they are seeing larger numbers of unemployment among military spouses due to the pandemic.

In some cases military families don’t take advantage of food assistance programs. Even before the pandemic, perceived stigma deterred military families who qualified for free or reduced-price school meals from taking advantage of such programs, said Josh Protas, vice president of public policy for MAZON, a Jewish hunger organization that works with military families. The past year exacerbated the problem, he said, with many low-income military families not availing themselves of, or even aware of, Pandemic EBT, a debit card system that replaced school meals when schools went remote.

Another problem involves housing costs, said Matt Pelak, a Guard member in New York City. Usually, a basic allowance for housing doesn’t kick in until a deployment is more than 30 days. Many of these deployments are fewer than 30 days, so the military doesn’t have to pay the housing allowance, putting an additional financial burden on low-wage soldiers. That means soldiers are paying for their rent or mortgage back home, plus wherever they are living while deployed.

Some states are cutting off emergency food-assistance programs and making it harder to qualify

Medical insurance often works the same way, adding to the financial squeeze, Goheen said. When guard members are mobilized or deployed at home, the only time they have medical coverage is if their order is 31 days or longer, he said. Guard members and reservists would then be eligible for the same medical coverage as active-duty troops. But those service members activated for less than a month have fewer options, and must obtain their own health care coverage.

Many Guard members and reservists’ military pay is not commensurate with their civilian salary, according to Protas, and many civilian jobs are not required to pay Guard members their wages during absences or even to keep the civilian jobs open for their return.

For the teacher in Georgia, the protracted nature of deployments in 2020 took a toll on his standing at work. He said the current level of financial instability and food insecurity had “everything to do with civilian employers and underpaid Guard members.”

He said things seemed to be going well at his school, but something changed. He said the administration began asking him to persuade his unit to change his drill dates and bombarding him with “questions that weren’t appropriate.” His teaching contract was not renewed.

The irony, according to Goheen, is that many of the covid missions for the Guard were working at American food banks, helping to feed the needy. And while the nation is increasingly vaccinated and signs point to economic recovery, Guard members and reservists continue to struggle.

Some of Guard members and reservists’ financial precariousness is because employers are tired of giving them the time off. All those absences put extra pressure on other workers and bosses, said the Guard officer who spent seven months in uniform.

“Back in the spring of 2020, employers were saying, ‘Yes, go, fight the pandemic. But as time goes on they’re less enthusiastic,” he said. “The cracks take time to show with these kinds of things.”

[PizzaSnake]

National Guard & Reserves : overused & underpaid.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business ... -reserves/

The rising cost of being in the National Guard: Reservists and guardsmen are twice as likely to be hungry as other American groups

Civil unrest and pandemic deployments have led to extreme food insecurity among National Guard and Reserves

National Guard and reserve soldiers are having trouble feeding their families due to a year of record deployments.

Hunger among Guard members and reservists is more than double the national rate, according to U.S. Census Bureau data from mid-April through early June.

They report more food insecurity than nearly any other group, regardless of household income, education, age or race. Nearly one in five Guard members report sometimes or often not having enough to eat. And a third of those with a spouse serving in the National Guard or reserves report not having enough to eat. The numbers are even more troubling for National Guard and reserve families with children.

In an ordinary year, when they’re not activated or deployed, most reservists and Guard members spend one weekend a month running drills and two weeks a year, often during the summer, training. This schedule allows most of them to work civilian jobs or get an education as well. It’s a similar work schedule for reservists, who work for different branches of the military.

Over the pandemic the National Guard has faced longer deployments and periods of activation. They’ve overseen coronavirus testing, distributed food at the nation’s food banks, quelled civil unrest and more recently helped to administer vaccines, said John Goheen, spokesman for the National Guard Association of the United States, an advocacy group. This is in addition to responding to more natural disasters such as wildfires and flood.

The National Guard has declared 2020 “the Year of the Guard.” Last year, the National Guard was activated for 11 million “man days,” the highest number since World War II, Goheen said. By comparison, in 2019 there were only 2 million man days.

Wayne Hall, a spokesman for the National Guard, said he is skeptical about the food insecurity census data. He said that between the Army and Air National Guard and the different branches of the reserves, there are 1.2 million service members but the census data only accounts for under 400,000 of them. He said he has not encountered service members who have complained of household hunger.

“These figures are an underrepresentation of the full force,” Hall said. “And almost a quarter surveyed didn’t report.”

Yet several military advocacy groups said they are seeing rising problems with food insecurity, and suggest such problems might be invisible to military leadership. Jennifer Davis, lobbyist for the National Military Family Association, said hungry Guard members and reservists are motivated to seem “fine" and are hesitant to seek help or reveal financial hardship.

“A service member has to consider promotability and clearances: You can’t afford to struggle too badly; you have to keep your bills paid,” she said. “You can lose your clearance if your finances are in a shambles, we’re talking even a bounced check. If it comes between paying the bills and keeping food on the table, there’s pressure to pay those bills. And there are concerns about sharing with your leadership that you’re struggling to take care of your family, because you never want that to come back and haunt you when you’re up for promotion.”

One National Guard member in Georgia said he lost his job as a schoolteacher last spring, as the pandemic began, because of his stepped-up Guard schedule. He asked to speak anonymously, because his termination is under investigation.

“Why are we activating more National Guard troops than at the height of the war in Afghanistan?” the guard member said. “You’re taking these people away from their families, and for what reason? There is no reason. This is becoming a problem for civilian employers.”

Another National Guard officer who has spent seven months in uniform since the start of the pandemic, who also asked not to be identified for fear of losing his job, said a full 25 percent of the National Guard was on active duty last June, dealing with the pandemic and civil unrest.

“The shadow issue that affects Guard troops right now is the ludicrous tempo at which they’ve been activated over the past year. It’s hard to find Guard members who have not been told to report in the past year, everyone has been pulled away from their regular lives,” he said.

If called up to active duty, low-ranking Guard members and reservists make a base pay of around $3,000 per month. When not on active duty, Guard members get around $200 for a weekend of drills, which is why most have other civilian jobs.

The spike in days worked takes Guard members and reservists away from their jobs, with many soldiers not drawing that income if they’re away on military duty.

Even in normal times, military spouses have higher levels of unemployment or underemployment than civilian populations, citing factors like job scarcity near military bases and frequent moves. Moving around can leave military families far from their extended families and increase a nonmilitary partner’s child care burden. Before the pandemic, 22 percent of military spouses reported being unemployed, according to a large Pentagon survey.

Advocacy groups, including the National Military Family Association and Blue Star Families, said they are seeing larger numbers of unemployment among military spouses due to the pandemic.

In some cases military families don’t take advantage of food assistance programs. Even before the pandemic, perceived stigma deterred military families who qualified for free or reduced-price school meals from taking advantage of such programs, said Josh Protas, vice president of public policy for MAZON, a Jewish hunger organization that works with military families. The past year exacerbated the problem, he said, with many low-income military families not availing themselves of, or even aware of, Pandemic EBT, a debit card system that replaced school meals when schools went remote.

Another problem involves housing costs, said Matt Pelak, a Guard member in New York City. Usually, a basic allowance for housing doesn’t kick in until a deployment is more than 30 days. Many of these deployments are fewer than 30 days, so the military doesn’t have to pay the housing allowance, putting an additional financial burden on low-wage soldiers. That means soldiers are paying for their rent or mortgage back home, plus wherever they are living while deployed.

Some states are cutting off emergency food-assistance programs and making it harder to qualify

Medical insurance often works the same way, adding to the financial squeeze, Goheen said. When guard members are mobilized or deployed at home, the only time they have medical coverage is if their order is 31 days or longer, he said. Guard members and reservists would then be eligible for the same medical coverage as active-duty troops. But those service members activated for less than a month have fewer options, and must obtain their own health care coverage.

Many Guard members and reservists’ military pay is not commensurate with their civilian salary, according to Protas, and many civilian jobs are not required to pay Guard members their wages during absences or even to keep the civilian jobs open for their return.

For the teacher in Georgia, the protracted nature of deployments in 2020 took a toll on his standing at work. He said the current level of financial instability and food insecurity had “everything to do with civilian employers and underpaid Guard members.”

He said things seemed to be going well at his school, but something changed. He said the administration began asking him to persuade his unit to change his drill dates and bombarding him with “questions that weren’t appropriate.” His teaching contract was not renewed.

The irony, according to Goheen, is that many of the covid missions for the Guard were working at American food banks, helping to feed the needy. And while the nation is increasingly vaccinated and signs point to economic recovery, Guard members and reservists continue to struggle.

Some of Guard members and reservists’ financial precariousness is because employers are tired of giving them the time off. All those absences put extra pressure on other workers and bosses, said the Guard officer who spent seven months in uniform.

“Back in the spring of 2020, employers were saying, ‘Yes, go, fight the pandemic. But as time goes on they’re less enthusiastic,” he said. “The cracks take time to show with these kinds of things.”

Wait until the climate-related events ramp up: forest fires, storms, flooding, etc.

How will the federal government provide aid? Using the National Guard has the same issues as using law enforcement as a catchall solution for community issues: wrong skill sets, propensity for violence, etc.

Trusty private sector? Regardless of who pays or administers, there will be a growing need for a large, highly mobile force to be dispatched to deal with this issues. FEMA can't do it. Impacted state governments can't either. Going to be a significant challenge which I imagine we will fail at miserably.