Boing Boing » war

Whale steak ad

Cory Doctorow — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 13:51:44 +0000

Here's a WWI-era advert for whale steaks. As Bruce Sterling notes, "There’s heaps of whale meat here in the First World War. So much we can’t swallow it all. Cheaper than tuna."

Prime Whale Steak

Documentary about US Army's WWII "tactical deception unit"

David Pescovitz — Tue, 04 Jun 2013 19:58:47 +0000

During World War II, the US Army deployed a "tactical deception unit" to Europe. The 23rd Headquarters Special Troops, aka the "Ghost Army," consisted of artists, ad directors, actors, and other creative folks who used inflatable tanks, sound effects trucks, and good ol' fashioned bullshit to trick the German forces. It included the likes of fashion designer Bill Blass, fine artist Elsworth Kelly, and photographer Art Kane. A documentary about the Ghost Army, directed by Rick Beyer, aired last month on PBS. You can watch it for free right here! The Ghost Army story would make for a great black comedy too! The Ghost Army (Thanks, Bob Pescovitz!)

Know your chemical weapons

Cory Doctorow — Tue, 28 May 2013 17:52:16 +0000

These know-your-chemical-weapon posters were produced by the Medical Training Replacement Center at Camp Barkeley near Abilene, Texas as training materials for soldiers being sent to fight in WWII. They're a weird mix of cheerfulness and atrocity:

Of the four chemicals mentioned here—phosgene, lewisite, mustard gas, and chlorpicrin—three were used in World War I. (Lewisite was produced beginning in 1918, but the war ended before it could be used.) Phosgene, which irritates the lungs and mucus membranes and causes a person to choke to death, caused the largest number of deaths among people killed by chemical weapons in the First World War. (Elsewhere on Slate: A firsthand account of what it felt like to be hit by mustard gas.)
The smells that these posters warn soldiers-in-training to be wary of are the everyday scents of home: flypaper, musty hay, green corn, geraniums, garlic. The choice of analogies seems particularly appropriate for soldiers raised on farms—a population that would become increasingly small in every war to follow.

Four WWII Posters That Taught Soldiers to Identify Chemical Weapons by Smell (via Kadrey)

(Images: National Museum of Health and Medicine)

Inflatable tanks tricked Hitler

Rob Beschizza — Thu, 23 May 2013 15:18:24 +0000

Megan Garber on how the Allies "saved thousands of lives by embracing the artistry of war." [The Atlantic]

Anatomical pinball table

Cory Doctorow — Thu, 23 May 2013 01:44:20 +0000

Canadian artist Howie Tsui redesigned a pinball machine to turn it into a crude simulation of a musket-ball rattling around a soldier's guts for a War of 1812-themed exhibition currently running at the Agnes Etherington Arts Centre at Queens University in Kingston. It's meant to demonstrate the way that repetition and concentration can inure you to the horrors of war:

The first part of his exhibition is a re-themed pinball machine, which now, having been Tsui-ed, is called Musketball! Tsui repainted the front glass panel and it now shows a British soldier reeling back as his guts explode from a musket shot (no rolling around inside for this one). The playing surface is painted with organs, tissue and bone, with the words “mangled viscera” at midfield. It would all be tame in a modern shooter video game, but it’s shockingly graphic on a vintage board.
I step up to the game and fire my first ball, which gets back in the gutter faster than I thought possible. I fire the second ball — which I note are gold, not silver, to which Tsui says, “I kind of blinged it up a little bit.” This ball stays in play just long enough to hit a few bumpers and set off sound effects of rifle shots and artillery blasts. I fire my remaining three balls, and my final score is slightly less than one-tenth of Tsui’s high score. “It’s your first time playing. I had to do a lot of testing,” Tsui says, showing he’s also talented in the art of diplomacy.
“After a while,” he says, “you sort of get hooked on the game, and the whole idea for me is that it distances the player from the idea of violence.”

Pinball, bones and animal skins: Howie Tsui’s wonderful horrors of the War of 1812 [Peter Simpson/Ottawa Citizen]

(via Kadrey)

Contest: design peaceful uses for 3D printers

Cory Doctorow — Wed, 22 May 2013 12:35:35 +0000

Bas writes,

3D printing is being condemned in the media because of the potential for printing guns. Engineers at Michigan Tech believe there is far more potential for 3D printers to make our lives better rather than killing one another. To encourage thinking about constructive uses of 3D printing technology Michigan Tech Open Sustainability Technology (MOST) Lab and Type A Machines is proud to sponsor the first 3-D Printers for Peace Contest.
A fully assembled Type A Machines Series 1 3D Printer goes to first place and a MOST RepRap 3D printer kit will go to the second prize winner who create designs that enable 3D printers to encourage peace. Winning open-source designs will discourage conflict (e.g. designs for appropriate technology in the developing world to reduce scarcity or designs that improve economic development -- see examples and pictures). Designers are encouraged to consider: If Mother Theresa of Ghandi had access to 3D printing what would they print? What kind of designs could help reduce military spending and conflict while making us all safer and more secure?
Michigan Tech has already saved tens of thousands of dollars using 3D printable scientific and engineering equipment and our labs have developed 3D printable tools to test water quality, recycle waste plastic and found that 3D printing consumer goods is better for the environment than shipping conventional goods from China. Jo
Anyone in the United States may enter and there is no cost to enter. Here's the guidelines. Deadline for submitting entries: September 1, 2013

Michigan Tech Launches 3D Printers for Peace Contest

US military continues to abuse and abandon wounded soldiers

Maggie Koerth-Baker — Mon, 20 May 2013 22:33:11 +0000

In 2010, The New York Times uncovered systemic abuse within units meant to help wounded Army soldiers transition through months-and-years-long treatment and rehabilitation. Today, The Colorado Springs Gazette has a profile about one of the soldiers who stood up for Warrior Transition Units back then. The abuses exposed by the Times weren't fixed and Jerrald Jensen ended up becoming a victim himself. After questioning the mistreatment in the system, he was nearly given a less-than-honorable discharge, which would have cost him long-term Veteran's benefits — a pattern that the Gazette has found happening over and over among the most-vulnerable wounded Army men and women who need the most care in order to rehabilitate from their service injuries. The treatment described here is disgusting, all the more so when you compare it to Jensen's service in Iraq and Afghanistan. Exposing this kind of crap is why journalism exists.

53 years of nuclear tests as electronic music

Maggie Koerth-Baker — Mon, 13 May 2013 15:53:56 +0000

I've seen this video described as a musical depiction of all the nuclear bombs ever detonated. But that sort of makes it sound like you're about to get a particularly bombastic version of the 1812 Overture. Instead, "1945-1998" by Isao Hashimoto is more like an infographic with sound effects — or, possibly, a mash-up of the games Simon and Global Thermonuclear War.

What you get is an interesting depiction of nuclear tests through time — 2053 of them (including the non-test explosions at Hiroshima and Nagasaki). I found it particularly interesting to watch the slow ramp up over the course of the late 1940s and early 1950s, when months or years would tick by between tests. After that, beginning in the late 1950s, you see these patterns of sudden flurries of explosions, usually happening in the US and the USSR almost simultaneously. The cultural sense of panic is almost palpable.

No internet for Syria

Rob Beschizza — Wed, 08 May 2013 14:51:19 +0000

Nicole Perlroth: "Syria’s access to the Internet was cut on Tuesday. The most likely culprit, security researchers said, was the Syrian government." [NYT]

Onion gets hacked by Syrian propagandists, responds with funny article

Cory Doctorow — Tue, 07 May 2013 22:00:13 +0000

The Onion got hacked by the Syrian Electronic Army, who proceeded to send out a bunch of tweets that could have been mistaken for actual Onion tweets making fun of the sort of thing that Syrian propagandists would tweet if they hacked the Onion's Twitter (see after the jump for the full list). But no, they actually did get hacked.

The Onion responded by putting up a post called Syrian Electronic Army Has A Little Fun Before Inevitable Upcoming Deaths At Hands Of Rebels, which matches the Assadists' bluster and is much funnier:

DAMASCUS, SYRIA—After hacking into The Onion’s Twitter account earlier today, members of the Syrian Electronic Army confirmed that the organization simply wanted to have a little fun before soon dying at the hands of rebel forces. “We figured that before they bust in here and execute every single one of us, we might as well have a good time and post some silly tweets about Israel from a major media outlet’s feed,” said a spokesperson from the pro-Assad group, adding that he and his cohorts “had a few good laughs” and are now fully prepared for their painful and undoubtedly horrific deaths in the coming days. “I mean, we definitely don’t have much time left, so we thought, hey, let’s just enjoy ourselves before getting blown away by rockets, decapitated, beaten to death, or hung during public executions. Why not, right?” At press time, violent screams and pleas for mercy were reportedly overheard as rebel troops broke into the Syrian Electronic Army’s hideout.

Boob-enhanced armor would have been deadly

Maggie Koerth-Baker — Mon, 06 May 2013 17:09:10 +0000

Here's a nice analysis of why, were you actually a female warrior of olden times, you would not have wanted to wear a breastplate that showed off your breasts. Shorter version: Room for boobs is good. But outlining each boob in steel could get you killed.

Necessary Evil - a triumphant end to the Milkweed Triptych where Nazi X-Men fight English warlocks

Cory Doctorow — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 13:01:44 +0000

With Necessary Evil, published today, Ian Tregillis triumphantly concludes his astonishing, brilliant, pulse-pounding debut trilogy, The Milkweed Triptych. Milkweed began in 2010 with Bitter Seeds, an alternate history WWII novel about a Nazi doctor who creates a race of twisted X-Men through a program of brutal experimentation; and of the British counter-strategy: calling up the British warlocks and paying the blood-price to the lurking elder gods who would change the very laws of physics in exchange for the blood of innocents. These elder gods, the Eidolons, hate humanity and wish to annihilate us, but we are so puny that they can only perceive us when we bleed for them. With each conjuration of the Eidolons on Britain's behalf, the warlocks bring closer the day when the Eidolons will break through and wipe humanity's stain off the universe.

Book two, The Coldest War, came out last summer -- a too-long hiatus! -- and jumped forward to the 1960s, where the struggle continued in a Europe divided among the Soviets -- who seized the Nazi technology at the end of the war and used it to breed their own supermen -- and the British, whose warlock reserves have become an everyday instrument of foreign policy. Coldest War was half James Bond, half Cthulhu, and was every bit as painstakingly researched, beautifully described, blisterlingly plotted and utterly engrossing as the first.

Now, with book three, Necessary Evil, Tregillis draws the series to a close with a time travel story that goes back to the beginning of the tale, a desperate mission to stop the use of magick and the use of the Nazi "Will to Power" from ever gaining hold, to keep the elder gods at bay. And in Evil, Tregillis is even more on form. This is a book that veers precipitously from unexpected and chilling ruminations on the inherent evil of precognition; to the questions of loyalty and betrayal so thorny that they need a time-travel loop to really be explored; to spy-thriller action sequences that will keep you up under the covers with a flashlight, turning pages and unable to sleep.

This is a remarkable set of books, and with all three in hand, would make a fabulous spring read.

Necessary Evil
It's also out in the UK.

Guatemala—Rios Montt genocide trial, Day 20. Will case be thrown out by Constitutional Court?

Xeni Jardin — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 14:43:15 +0000

Rios Montt, moments after his attorneys walked out in protest today, seated alone w/co-defendant Sanchez. Photo: @xeni.

I am blogging from inside the Guatemalan Supreme Court in Guatemala City this morning, on day 20 of the trial of former Guatemalan General and genocide and de factor dictator Rios Montt, and his then-head of intelligence Jose Mauricio Rodriguez Sanchez. Ríos Montt's 1982-1983 regime was supported by the United States; during this era many thousands of non-combatant civilians were killed.

UPDATE, 9:48am Guatemala time: Attorneys for Rios Montt just walked out of the courtroom in protest; they'd demanded the trial to be canceled. Ríos Montt's supporters stand and cheer. Judge Jazmin Barrios yells "Stop! Stop!" after them; demands that security follow defense lawyers and bring them back to the courtroom; her order met with massive screams and cheers and applause throughout courtroom. Ríos Montt speaks for the first time: I'm trying to call my attorneys, but they aren't answering. I have another lawyer, but he's busy with another case. Co-defendant Sanchez tells judge he lacks funds to hire a new lawyer. Barrios offers to provide them with public defenders. Follow this Twitter list for live tweets from the courtroom.

Today, the defense renewed their demands that the trial be shut down and annulled. Supreme Court Judge Jazmin Barrios has denied their request. Judge Carol Patricia Flores will convene the Constitutional Court of Guatemala at 2pm to consider suspending the trial, as the defense have demanded.

It's not clear what will happen today, but it seems the trial will likely come to some form of closure today or tomorrow.

Rios Montt's fate now essentially rests in the hands of 2 female judges. As one reporter said, “One gets the sense the shit is about to hit the fan.”

My report from Tuesday's proceedings is here; my post from Wednesday is here.

From a recap by Kate Doyle at www.riosmontt-trial.org:

Wednesday, April 17, was a chaotic and tense day in the courtroom. Judge Yassmin Barrios began by observing that once again only two defense witnesses were present to testify before the tribunal, while some ten witnesses remained to be heard. The judge ordered Ríos Montt’s counsel, Marco Antonio Cornejo, to leave the room and personally call each of them on the phone to advise them that they were legally required to attend. Before permitting Cornejo to exit, she called the first witness present, Gustavo Porras, into the chamber and asked him to take his place in the witness chair facing the tribunal. Porras and the entire courtroom of several hundred spectators then waited in silence until the lawyer returned some 15 minutes later.

Things became more dramatic as the day went on.

In the Guatemalan Supreme Court, reporters swarm as appeal introduced by Constitutional Court to throw out genocide trial. Photo: @xeni.

Judge Barrios ended the trial early at mid-day, because the defense lacked admissible evidence, nor were qualified witnesses present. And then, minutes after the court adjourned, a representative from Guatemala's Constitutional Court came in with a document, and approached the prosecution's table. A sudden rush of reporters swarmed the table; it was an "amparo," or appeal, proposing that the trial be thrown out.

The Constitutional Court is set to decide whether to annul the case at 2pm today. Meanwhile, the trial keeps moving forward in Judge Jazmin Barrios' courtroom, here inside the Supreme Court building.

The Constitutional Court has issued similar appeals to close down the tribunal multiple times (three, I believe?); none have succeeded. But that doesn't mean this new one won't.

The defense attorneys seemed calm, confident, and pleased when the Constitutional Court's appeal document was hand-delivered moments after court ended. And it's good news for the defense.

Speaking to a reporter moments after the "amparo" was delivered, defense Marco Antonio Rossell said the trial was unjust and must be suspended for its many faults. Rossell is best known in Guatemala for defending the man who was ultimately convicted of murdering Guatemalan Roman Catholic bishop and human rights defender Juan José Gerardi Conedera.

Represented in the courtroom throughout the trial: members of the Guatemalan Foundation Against Terrorism, who support Ríos Montt, condemn the trial, and who published a 20-page insert in the Sunday paper here.

The insert linked those supporting the existence of the genocide trial to the International Marxist Conspiracy, which they say was enabled by subversive members of the Catholic Church.

This trial is unprecedented: it is the first time any former head of state has been tried in a domestic court for genocide and crimes against humanity.

Kate Doyle wrote more here about the strong statements of concern, including from Guatemalan President Otto Perez Molina, polarizing public opinion in Guatemala around the trial.

The historic trial on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity of Efrain Ríos Montt, the former general who ruled Guatemala from 1982-3, has been ongoing since March 19. After nearly five weeks, the trial is expected to come to a close later this week.

However, in recent days there has been very strong pressure in opposition to the trial from prominent voices in Guatemala, and assertions that the trial is inconsistent with peace in the country—indeed that the trial is “betraying the peace and dividing Guatemala.” This statement was formally endorsed on Tuesday by Guatemala’s President Otto Perez Molina.

And since Monday, it has been clear that the environment both inside and outside of the Supreme Court's third floor courtroom has become very tense. And, all of this is taking place in a nation where political violence and common street violence are widespread. But there is a sense that this story is moving rapidly toward some form of closure.

Here's a Twitter list of observers who have been diligently live-tweeting from the trial. Among them: NISGUA Guate (Network in Solidarity with the People of Guatemala), Plaza Publica, and Rios Montt Trial (a project of the Open Society Initiative).

Many observers in Guatemala who are anti-Ríos Montt, pro-civilian-victims are tweeting with the hashtag #SiHuboGenocidio. A quick search of that hashtag is an interesting glimpse into one element of the Guatemalan zeitgeist.

Overhead snapshot of Guate Constitutional Court trial suspension amparo, moment was delivered to prosecution table. twitter.com/xeni/status/32…
— Xeni Jardin (@xeni) April 17, 2013

Constitutional Court rep with appeal document arguing for suspension of trial. Ríos Montt atty Cornejo speaking to TV. twitter.com/xeni/status/32…
— Xeni Jardin (@xeni) April 17, 2013

Constitutional Court rep with appeal document arguing for suspension of trial. Decision due tomorrow AM. twitter.com/xeni/status/32…
— Xeni Jardin (@xeni) April 17, 2013

Guatemala: Rios Montt genocide trial, Day 19

Xeni Jardin — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 15:09:08 +0000

Former General and dictator Rios Montt, in a crush of reporters in the Guatemalan Supreme Court. Photo: @xeni.

I am blogging from inside the Guatemalan Supreme Court in Guatemala City this morning, on day 19 of the trial of former Guatemalan General and genocide and de factor dictator Rios Montt, and his then-head of intelligence Jose Mauricio Rodriguez Sanchez. Montt's 1982-1983 regime was supported by the United States; during this era many thousands of non-combatant civilians were killed.

My report from yesterday's proceedings is here.

An excellent report from Kate Doyle is here at riosmontt-trial.org, a project of the Open Society Justice Initiative.

The court adjourned at mid-day yesterday, as Judge Jazmin Barrios scolded Ríos Montt's defense team for effectively delaying the judicial process by failing to have defense witnesses present.

This early closure of the trial followed a dramatic moment: the court played series of interviews with Ríos Montt and two senior Army figures, filmed in 1982 by American documentary filmmaker Pamela Yates (Granito, When the Mountains Tremble). The silent, 86 year old Ríos Montt leaned back in his chair and looked up at the younger version of himself at the height of his physical and political vigor; it was a surreal scene, here in the courtroom.

On screen, the former President spoke of being in control of the Army; here in court, his defenders have argued that he did not, and could therefore not be held responsible for atrocities that may have been committed by the Army during his rule. Ríos Montt's own words seemed to contradict that argument.

This trial is unprecedented: it is the first time any former head of state has been tried in a domestic court for genocide and crimes against humanity. Some of Ríos Montt's supporters argue that if he is being brought to trial, so should the American lawmakers who provided him with funds, military training, weapons, and helicopters under former US president Ronald Reagan.

They have a point.

Guatemala: Rios Montt genocide trial, day 18. "If I can't control the Army, then what am I doing here?"

Xeni Jardin — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 18:06:26 +0000

Rios Montt listens to a prosecution witness, during the tribunal.

I am blogging from inside the Supreme Court in Guatemala City, where the trial of former Guatemalan Army General and US-backed dictator Guatemalan José Efrain Rios Montt and his then chief of intelligence Jose Mauricio Rodriguez Sanchez has reconvened for the 18th day. Here's a good recap of Monday's proceedings, and here's another.

For the past two weeks, I have been here in Guatemala with Miles O'Brien, observing the trial in court and interviewing people involved in the story for a forthcoming report on PBS NewsHour. We have interviewed Rios Montt's daughter, Zury Rios, who is her father's most diligent defender. We have interviewed scientists whose work is entered as evidence in the trial. We traveled to the Ixil area where the conflict at the center of this trial took place, and we interviewed Ixil Maya survivors about their experiences in the US-backed counterinsurgency attacks. We interviewed government officials who worked closely with Ríos Montt, who believe that what happened was not genocide, but the unfortunate collateral damage of a just war against "International Communism."

As covered in previous Boing Boing posts, the past few weeks of the trial have included personal testimonies from dozens of Ixil Maya survivors of mass killings, rapes, torture, forced adoption, and displacement. More than two dozen forensic anthropologists from the Forensic Anthropology Foundation of Guatemala (FAFG) have testified about human remains exhumed and analyzed from mass graves. Many other expert witnesses, or "peritos," have testified: among them, Patrick Ball of hrdag.org, who analyzed data of deaths during the armed conflict, to help judges make their decision about whether the mass killings constituted a focused attack by the Guatemalan Army, led by Ríos Montt, against the Ixil Maya ethnic group.

In other words: Was this genocide?

Not according to "The Foundation Against Terrorism," which published a 20-page paid newspaper supplement over the weekend here in Guatemala. "The Farce of Genocide in Guatemala: a conspiracy perpetrated by the Marxists with the Catholic Church." It's an interesting read.

The 18th day of the tribunal began this morning with defense witnesses for Ríos Montt and Sanchez.

The first witness to be called by the defense today was General Mauricio Illescas García, a lieutenant during Rios Montt's regime. Garcia's testimony focused on the notion that Ríos Montt wasn't in the know about everything troops were during his 1982-1983 regime, nor did he know at the time about damning Army documents which have been leaked in recent years.

The second witness called by the defense today is Alfred Antonio Kallschmit Luhan, the executive director of FUNDAPI (Foundation to Help Indigenous People). As the internal armed conflict ravaged Ixil communities during Ríos Montt's rule, the Guatemalan state implemented various programs in cooperation with international evangelical Christian groups. Ríos Montt's "Frijoles y Fusiles" (beans and bullets) program was implemented first, then "Techo, Trabajo, and Tortillas" (roofs, work, and tortillas) to rebuild razed villages. These programs were officially overseen by the state organization known as the National Reconstruction Committee (CRN), originally created to rebuild after the 1976 earthquake that devastated Guatemala. But much of the state's programs in the Ixil region during Ríos Montt's rule were driven by FUNDAPI, which was a state-sanctioned NGO operated by evangelical Christian and church groups. Most prominent among them was Ríos Montt's own "El Verbo" evangelical church, which had interesting origins in Eureka, California, and was supported by American evangelical leaders such as Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell, as well as members of the Reagan administration such as Ed Meese III and James Watt.

During Ríos Montt's rule, El Verbo operated an "emergency aid group" known as the International Love Lift, which was supported with funds from evangelical Christian groups in the United States.

Virginia Garrard-Burnet's "Terror in the Land of the Holy Spirit: Guatemala Under General Efrain Rios Montt," includes a section detailing FUNDAPI's structure and relationship with the US government and evangelical groups.

The short version: FUNDAPI was formed by El Verbo, and inextricably linked with El Verbo. FUDAPI operated, effectively, as a "humanitarian Christian extension" of the Guatemalan Army under Ríos Montt.

In Thomas R. Melville's "Through a Glass Darkly," this section details how Christian groups in the US organized "Love Lifts" to Guatemala during the armed conflict. They raised millions of dollars and successfully lobbied for support of then-US President Ronald Reagan's policies supporting the Ríos Montt regime.

In his court testimony today, Kaltschmitt argued that the "model villages" in the Chajul/Cotzal/Nebaj area into which Ixiles were forcibly relocated in 1982-1983 were aid camps to help victims of guerrilla aggression. "They weren't concentration camps, that was a hoax invented by who knows who."

"There was so much hunger in the countryside," he added; "Crops were pulled up and destroyed by one side or the other, or stolen, because hunger was so great; this was the greatest sin during the war... The policy of the state was to help and assist the civil population and end the conflict."

"This was the army's best moment," said Kaltschmitt. "History was fixed for the Ixils, the region was pacified." He testified that Ixil people could enter and leave at free will, when they pleased, in contradiction to testimony by witnesses and experts for the prosecution. "It is clear that there was no genocide."

Kaltschmitt further explained that the civil patrols into which Mayan people were forcibly recruited "restored people's dignity."

After Kaltschmitt completed his testimony, something even more interesting happened in court.

The judge called for footage from Pamela Yates "Granito" documentary production to be played in court. Yates directed two films about Guatemala: her first, "When the Mountains Tremble," was released in the mid-1980s and amplified global attention toward Guatemala and Rigoberta Menchu, the film's narrator and central character. Yates' second film, Granito, was released in 2011 and revisits the conflict and the decades-long struggle over justice, reparations, and impunity.

The first video clip presented in court today from Yates' 1982 footage was an interview with General Jose Efrain Rios Montt.

Here in the courtroom, one could feel great tension and excitement as the video began.

On screen, a Guatemalan Army general at the height of his potency and confidence smiled, spoke rapidly, leaned towards the camera at times; his dark brown eyes glistened with conviction and force. Immediately below the screen, a grey-haired 86-year-old man leaned back, silent and expressionless.

They are the same person.

The defense of Ríos Montt in this trial has focused largely on the argument that while he was in power, he could not and did not have control of everything the Army did; he could not know everything that was going on in the remote, rural Ixil region, and cannot be held responsible for any atrocities committed by rogue soldiers.

But the video played in court seemed to contradict this argument.

"If I can't control the Army," 1982 Ríos Montt said on screen, "Then what am I doing here?"

In the interview, he effectively claimed to have total control over the Guatemalan military; they were proudly fighting a just counterinsurgency war against the threat of international Communism that was aided by the USSR, Cuba, and Nicaragua. This subversive Communist menace, he said, said threatened to destroy Guatemala.

In the 1982 footage, Ríos Montt smiles and laughs, punctuating briskly-delivered answers with a wide grin. When annoyed or emphasizing a point, he raises his voice. His posture, voice, and words reflected confidence.

Below that image in the courtroom today, Ríos Montt was not smiling.

Since the trial began on March 19, Ríos Montt has maintained silence during court sessions as an act of protest against what he believes is an unjust trial.

He said in the 1982 interview that behind every one guerrilla, there are 10 guerrilla supporters. "If people go to another country, it's because they have committed crimes," the man on screen says when asked about the thousands of indigenous refugees streaming into Mexico.

"I'll shoot anyone who doesn't turn himself in."

Is there repression against the civilian population, filmmaker Pamela Yates asked him in the film? "There is no repression being committed on the part of the Army," he replies.

As the Ríos Montt footage played, the two defense attorneys at his side appeared bored and tired. By the end of the clip, attorney César Calderón was leaning on the table, head resting on his fists, elbows on the table, periodically massaging his furrowed brow.

“Muchissimas gracias,” Pamela Yates says to Rios Ríos Montt at the end of the 1982 footage playing on-screen in court.

No, thank *you*, Ríos Montt replies to her.

End tape.

The court then screened two more interviews conducted by Yates with two other Guatemalan Army leaders in 1982: General Francisco Luis Gordillo, and Horacio Egberto Maldonado.

"Water is to the fish as people are to the guerrilla," Gordillo said during his interview, echoing a line repeated by a number of military leaders in interviews and public appearances during this era.

"A fish without water dies; a guerrilla without people dies."

And indeed, in the Guatemalan Army's attempt to wipe out the insurgency, many people died.

"The Army is fighting against subversives," Gordillo says on-screen. "Not only domestic subversives but also international subversives."

Yates: "Is it true the Army is attacking people in rural areas?"

Gordillo: "Yes, the Army is attacking the elements of International Communism."

The Gordillo interview ended, and then the court played Yates' 1982 interview with Maldonado.

"The U.S. has proven to be open to our needs," says Maldonaldo, "They are completely willing to collaborate with us."

In this footage, he, Ríos Montt, and Gordillo each emphasized how important the US-provided helicopters were in their fight against "subversives," and how valuable they were in the state-run programs that provided "aid and assistance" to devastated communities.

"The Army is no longer just to be spreading lead in these communities," he says.

"Many priests were guerrillas," Maldonado added in the 1982 footage. "I call them ungrateful. They used the indigenous as cannon fodder."

Towards the end of the clip with Maldonado, Yates asks him if he has any final comments.

"A big brotherly hug to the people and government of the United States, to thank them for their ongoing support, which we need so much now to fight this battle."

Judge Jazmin Barrios ended the court session prematurely today, because Ríos Montt's defense team did not have additional witnesses ready and present to testify. Court will reconvene tomorrow, presumably with more witnesses for the defense. Judge Barrios scolded them for not having more witnesses; you should have a dozen a day, she said. And indeed, it seems odd that the defense isn't doing more to defend.

The sense among people close to the process here is that those in charge want it to end soon. It is possible that the trial will end as early as tomorrow or Thursday; a verdict could be delivered by the end of this week, or next Monday.

(This post was prepared in part with references to live-tweets in the courtroom from @pzPenVivo and @NISGUA_Guate.)

Laotian all-women bomb clearance team, "most dangerous job in world," to speak in U.S.

Xeni Jardin — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 14:44:33 +0000

In the photo above: "Manixia Thor (left) and a member of her all women’s bomb clearance team head into the field to clear unexploded ordnance in the Lao countryside." In April, Manixia is on a speakers' tour in the US, focused on the urgent need for funding of bomb clearance and survivor assistance efforts in Laos.

As a bomb clearance technician and the leader of an all-women’s bomb clearance team in Laos, Manixia Thor has one of the most dangerous jobs in the world. Unexploded ordnance removal is perilous and the days are long, but she knows that her work clearing bombs will make Laos safer for her two-year-old son and for future generations. For nearly ten years, millions of bombs rained down on the tiny country of Laos, making it the most heavily bombed country per capita in history. The bombings ended 40 years ago this year, but more than 20,000 Laotians have been killed or injured by decades-old ordnance that litter the otherwise beautiful landscape. With support from the U.S. Department of State, Manixia and Thoummy Silamphan, a Laotian bomb accident survivor and victim assistance advocate, will be touring the United States on a speakers tour with the U.S.-based group LEGACIES OF WAR to raise awareness about the unexploded ordnance issue in Laos and the urgent need for further funding of clearance and survivor assistance efforts.

Dates and details here.

(thanks, James Hathaway)

NYT op-ed: "On the Brink of Justice in Guatemala"

Xeni Jardin — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 13:10:53 +0000

Anita Isaacs, in a NYT op-ed: "I have spent the past 15 years researching and writing about postwar justice in Guatemala. I am encouraged that, a decade and a half after peace accords ended 36 years of civil war, Guatemala is being given a chance to show the world how much progress it has made in building democracy. The trial gives the Guatemalan state a chance to prove that it can uphold the rule of law and grant its indigenous Mayan people, who suffered greatly under Mr. Ríos Montt, the same respectful treatment, freedoms and rights the rest of its citizens enjoy." [NYTimes.com]

Controversy over Esquire profile of the SEAL who shot bin Laden (or maybe didn't)

Xeni Jardin — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 13:25:27 +0000

Was Phil Bronstein's 15,000-word Esquire profile of the SEAL Team 6 member who killed Osama bin Laden, a Navy SEAL who is "now retired and struggling to make ends meet while dealing with the psychological and physical scars of war," a bunch of “Complete B-S”? That's what some of "The Shooter's" fellow SEALs told CNN's Peter Bergen.

Adrian Chen tries to figure it out. Esquire stands by the story. [Gawker]

CIA director promotes woman who approved destruction of CIA "harsh interrogation" videos

Xeni Jardin — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 13:05:31 +0000

A woman has been placed in charge of the CIA’s clandestine service for the first time in the agency’s history, reports the Washington Post. She's a veteran officer whom many in the agency support, and the high-level appointment is seen as a step forward for women in Washington. That's the good news! The bad news is...

[S]he also helped run the CIA’s detention and interrogation program after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and signed off on the 2005 decision to destroy videotapes of prisoners being subjected to treatment critics have called torture. The woman, who remains undercover and cannot be named, was put in the top position on an acting basis when the previous chief retired last month. The question of whether to give her the job permanently poses an early quandary for [CIA Director John] Brennan, who is already struggling to distance the agency from the decade-old controversies.

More: "CIA director faces a quandary over clandestine service appointment". [The Washington Post, via @dabeard]

There's some speculation it's this person. [Gawker]

CNN's coverage of the 2003 Iraq invasion, time-lapsed

David Pescovitz — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 15:59:49 +0000

Ten years ago this week, the US invaded Iraq and experimental filmmaker Bob Jaroc started a month-long recording of CNN that he later time-lapsed. The resulting stream of past current events, seen above, appeared on the 2006 collaborative album/DVD Jaroc released with electronic music duo Plain, titled "Greedy Baby," and in Plaid's live shows.

Kickstarting a deep-sea documentary on the nuclear wrecks of the Bikini Atoll

Cory Doctorow — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 22:50:59 +0000

Steven Boyett sez, "Wreck diver and videographer Adrian Smith has launched a Kickstarter project to fund an expedition to document the forgotten wrecks sunken by the Bikini Atoll atomic explosion in 1946. No video record exists of these historic wrecks (many of them captured German and Japanese warships), and they are quickly eroding."

The naval vessels exposed to close-range atomic blast at Bikini Atoll represent the three major Pacific combatants of World War II. They are the only vessels ever sunk through the detonation of atomic weapons. These unique ships and submarines lie almost two hundred feet underwater, and are rapidly deteriorating. No comprehensive visual record exists to document their current state or unique reactions to their exposure to close-range atomic detonation. Soon it will be too late.
The ships themselves lie in waters from 40 ft (12 m) to 185 ft (56 m), deep but diveable with the correct equipment and training.
The “Baker” blast at Bikini Atoll was global front-page news when it occurred — so well-known that a French designer scandalized the world by introducing a line of two-piece swimsuits a mere four days after the Baker blast. The name of this new fashion? The bikini.

The Atomic Armada - The Forgotten Wrecks of Bikini Atoll by Adrian Smith (Thanks, Steven!)

Biggest threat in the Pacific, according to top U.S. Admiral? Climate Change.

Xeni Jardin — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 22:24:10 +0000

Adm. Samuel J. Locklear III, "no smelly hippie," according to Wired News, believes the consequences of a warming planet are likely to “cripple the security environment, probably more likely than the other scenarios we all often talk about.” According to Danger Room, he said, “You have the real potential here in the not-too-distant future of nations displaced by rising sea level. Certainly weather patterns are more severe than they have been in the past. We are on super typhoon 27 or 28 this year in the Western Pacific. The average is about 17.” [Danger Room | Wired.com]

Slinkachu's "War Child" photos

David Pescovitz — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 17:13:53 +0000

More "tiny people" installation photos by Slinkachu, whose work is compiled in several books including the recent Global Model Village. The pieces featured above and below were commissions for "20 Years of War Child," an exhibition at the British Music Experience museum running until March 28.

Bradley Manning military trial updates: live-blogs, who to follow on Twitter, and analysis

Xeni Jardin — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 22:29:05 +0000

Army private Bradley Manning pleaded guilty on Thursday to 10 of the 19 total charges made by the US that he leaked unprecedented amounts of classified material to Wikileaks, the anti-secrecy organization run by Julian Assange.

Manning entered a not guilty plea to the government's more serious charge of "aiding the enemy," which carries a possible maximum sentence of life in prison. In a statement before the military court today, Manning said he leaked the classified information to "spark a domestic debate."

Liveblog coverage of his trial: Mother Jones, Reuters.

Ed Pilkington at the Guardian reports Manning first contacted the Washington Post about providing them with some of the classified material while he was on leave in January 2010; the the woman who answered the phone said the "paper would only be interested [in the documents] subjected to vetting by senior editors."

Kevin Gosztola has an analysis here of Manning's claims that he first attempted to leak the material to WaPo and the New York Times, before connecting with Wikileaks. A related article at Huffpo explores this further.

At New York magazine, a roundup of tweeted coverage from the courtroom. The New York Times told them they have no record of having been contacted by Manning before he reached out to Wikileaks.

Times spokesperson Eileen Murphy told Daily Intelligencer, "This is the first we're hearing of it. We have no record of Manning contacting The Times in advance of WikiLeaks."

It appears Manning uploaded many of the classified documents from a Barnes and Noble location near Rockville, Maryland.

Matthew Keys has a curated list of who to follow for live coverage from the courtroom in Fort Meade, Maryland.

Bradley Manning's statement before the court today has not been published online in entirety, but here's a Storified series of tweets from trial observer Alexa O'Brien.

#Manning corrected Judge Lind on the correct pronunciation of the Tor anonymizer. It was awesome.
— Andrew Panda Blake (@apblake) February 28, 2013

DIY weaponry of Syria's rebels

David Pescovitz — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 17:18:31 +0000

The Atlantic has a fascinating photo gallery about the DIY Weapons of the Syrian Rebels. Homebrew explosives are the norm, as are catapults (Reuters photo above) and tele-operated machine guns controlled with scavenged video game controllers.

Army releases some documents on Bradley Manning case

Xeni Jardin — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 18:05:25 +0000

In response to Freedom of Information Act requests, the military today released 84 court documents related to the case of Bradley Manning. As is routine, many of the documents are redacted.

The Army private is charged with being the source of classified documents published by WikiLeaks, the anti-secrecy organization headed by Julian Assange.

The documents released today include court orders, and various rulings read aloud in court. The DoD says more documents will be released, pending review and redaction.

WikiLeaks and various journalists and pro-transparency advocates are suing for timely public access to all relevant Manning documents, in a case pending before the military's highest court. Manning has been held for more than a thousand days, already; if convicted of "aiding the enemy," a possible life sentence applies.

Sources told NBC News this week that Manning will attempt to plead guilty to some of the lesser charges at a military court martial hearing this Thursday.

Manning will also attempt to read a 35-page statement at the hearing at Fort Meade, Maryland, explaining his conduct. But prosecutors have objected to Manning reading the statement, leaving it up the judge in his case, Col. Denise Lind, to decide whether he will be allowed to do so. Manning's efforts to plead guilty to some of the minor charges against him -- such as misue of government computers -- is not part of a plea bargain, said Kevin Zeese, one of the organizers of the Bradley Manning Support Network.

(thanks, Aileen Graef)

Stealth fighter pilots' planes making them sick. Air Force to pilots: Get over it.

Xeni Jardin — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 22:48:47 +0000

Pilots of the US Air Force's F-22 Raptor stealth fighters are experiencing choking, coughing, memory loss, confusion, and blackouts (hypoxia) because of the way the planes are designed. At least one fatal crash is blamed on the phenomenon, and even ground crews have been sickened while working on F-22s when engines are running. The Air Force says there's nothing that can be done.

Obama vows more transparency on drones. What we get: more secrecy.

Xeni Jardin — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 19:10:31 +0000

Trevor Timm at Freedom of the Press Foundation: "In the wake of the government's secret legal rationale for the targeted killing of American citizens leaking to the press, President Obama has now twice vowed to bring more transparency to national security issues, and in particular, drone strikes. Yet since his two statements, his administration has instead moved to prevent more information from reaching Congress, the courts, and the public."

For sale: no-name Chinese attack drones

Cory Doctorow — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 21:24:06 +0000

Jeffrey sez,

The algorithmic overlords of Alibaba are sending me astonishing stuff via their "suggested crapgadgets you might be interested in" hourly email. Wireless car key duplicators and GPS jammers came first. But today they have truly outdone themselves, suggesting that I might be interested in a "small attack UAV". Yes, you heard right.
This actually does claim to be the real deal. From the page: "ball tripod head freely rotates to guide the UAV attacking targets. Engine uses mechanical and electronic three grades insurance with high security. The UAV is mainly used in the mountains, hills and complex terrain conditions; does effective short-range real-time attack to the fixed ground target or slowly move targets, such as artillery hole, command post, communication station, radar station, oil truck, oil depot and other small and temporary goals."
They state a production capability of ten pieces per month. I am tempted to ask for a price quote, if only to nudge the Alibaba Algorithm into sending me even more offers from the cloak and dagger side of the Crapgadget Universe....

SKY-02 small attack UAV (Thanks, Jeffrey!)

Twitter suspends account of Somali Islamist militants linked to Al-Qaeda

Xeni Jardin — Sat, 26 Jan 2013 04:50:01 +0000

Two days after a group of Somali islamist militants vowed to execute Kenyan hostages, and tweeted a video of a captive pleading for the Kenyan government to help free them, the Al-Shabaab Twitter account @HSMPress was suspended. A Google cache is visible here. Warning: includes gruesome photos. The group took a French intelligence officer hostage, then apparently murdered him after an unsuccessful attempted raid by the French military which the US assisted). An @HSMPress press release about that killing is available on Twitlonger.

The Harakat Al-Shabaab Al Mujahideen Twitter account has been around since 2011, promoting the group's vision of strict sharia law in Somalia, 140 characters at a time. The US State Department was reportedly looking in to shutting it down ages ago. Wonder what took them so long?

For its part, Al Shabaab blames its "Christian enemies" for suspending its Twitter account. And they do sound rather miffed about being blocked on the popular social networking platform.

From Reuters:

"The enemies have shut down our Twitter account," al Shabaab's most senior media officer, who refused to be named, told Reuters. "They shut it down because our account overpowered all the Christians' mass media and they could not tolerate the grief and the failure of the Christians we always displayed (online)."

You know what's most surreal about their (now-suspended) account? Not the Christian infidel media stuff, or the terror-threat-y stuff, or the images of bloated corpses and prancing soldiers with Kalashnikovs. One expects all of that from an al Qaeda-linked Somalian terror organization.

No, what's weirdest are the tweets that sound like they were lifted from a j-school ethics debate.

How much of the gruesome details of war should be published without detracting from the accurancy and credibility of the event?

Why is it that questions and ethical concerns are usually raised only when the Mujahideen publish images of their enemy combatants?.

A photojournalist wins the Pulitzer Prize for a blood-spattered shot of an Afghan girl, but the fairly clean shot of the French is "graphic"

Noted.