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9.19.12

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Military Resistance 10I14

British Secretary Of State For Defence Admits That British And U.S. Forces Are Finding It Difficult To Defend Their Main Base In Afghanistans Helmand Province From Taliban Attack:
Camp Bastion Is The Centre Of British Operations In Afghanistan, And Also Host To A Large US Marine Corp Presence

People Living In Several Villages And Settlement Close To The Bases Fence Line Have Been Told They Must Move
17 September 2012 By James Kirkup, Telegraph Media Group Limited Philip Hammond [Secretary of State for Defence] has admitted that NATO forces are finding it difficult to defend their main base in Afghanistans Helmand province from Taliban attack. Mr Hammond, speaking in the Commons after a weekend attack on Camp Bastion, told MPs that securing a base with an area similar to that of Reading, was inevitably a struggle. British and American troops on Friday night had to fight off a significant Taliban force which breached security at Camp Bastion, where Prince Harry is stationed. A number of aircraft, hangars and other buildings at the base were hit and badly damaged by insurgent fire during the attack. Camp Bastion is the centre of British operations in Afghanistan, and also host to a large US Marine Corp presence. Despite its extensive garrison, numerous fences and remote location, Mr Hammond admitted that defending the base is highly challenging. It is difficult to defend a site of this size, particularly when faced with a suicidal attack, he said. Mr Hammond told MPs that a number of improvements have been made in base security since the attack, including an increase in perimeter patrols People living in several villages and settlement close to the bases fence line have been told they must move so that we will have a clearer field of fire, Mr Hammond said.

AFGHANISTAN WAR REPORTS

U.S. Foreign Fighters Suffered 54 Combat Casualties In The Week Ending

September 18, Raising The Total To 35,930

Sep 18, 2012 www.michaelmunk.com [Excerpts] AFGHANISTAN THEATER: US foreign fighters suffered 54 combat casualties in the week ending September 18, raising the total to 35,930. This includes 19,288 dead and wounded from what the Pentagon classifies as hostile causes and 16,642 dead or medically evacuated (as of May 7) from what it calls nonhostile causes. US media divert attention from the actual cost in American life and limb by reporting regularly only the total killed (6,604: 4,489 in Iraq, 2,115 in Afghanistan) but rarely mentioning those wounded in action (49,864: 32,227 in Iraq, 17,619 in Afghanistan). They ignore the 58,955 (42,752 in Iraq, 16,204 in AfPak (as of May 7!) military casualties injured and ill seriously enough to be medevacd out of theater, even though the 6,604 total dead include 1,408 (962 in Iraq, 446 in Afghanistan) who died from those same non hostile causes, including 314 suicides (as of May 7) and at least 18 in Iraq from faulty KBR electrical work. NOTE: The Pentagon has stopped its monthly reports on non hostile injured and ill. Its previous website was changed to www.dmdc.osd.mil/dcas/pages/report_sum_reason.xhtml The last total was as of May 7, 2012.

Claremore Soldier Killed In Afghanistan

Jon Townsend was a 2011 graduate of Sequoyah High School in Claremore

9/17/2012 By JERRY WOFFORD, Tulsa World Staff Writer

A Claremore soldier was killed while fighting in Afghanistan last weekend, family told the Tulsa World on Monday. Jon Townsend, 19, had been in Afghanistan since December, said his mother, Karen Nelson The circumstances surrounding his death have not been released by the Department of Defense He was a young man, wasnt afraid to say I love you or hug you, she said. He never, ever failed when he walked out that door to say, I love you. Townsend was a 2011 graduate of Sequoyah High School in Claremore. Sequoyah High School Principal Steve Johnson said Townsend was well liked at the school. Good kid, good student, Johnson said. He was a yes, sir no, sir kind of kid anyway, so Im sure he was a good soldier. Johnson said Townsend was determined and excited to serve his country. Jon made up his mind that he was going to go to the service, so he spent all year getting ready, Johnson said. He really believed in the cause and wanted to be soldier. Many people at the school in the community knew Townsend as a student, and his death comes as a shock. This kind of stuff always happens somewhere else, Johnson said. It hits close to home when its one of your own.

POLITICIANS REFUSE TO HALT THE BLOODSHED THE TROOPS HAVE THE POWER TO STOP THE WAR

Eight South African Aviation Consultants Killed In Kabul

September 18, 2012 AP JOHANNESBURG The International Affairs Ministry says eight South African citizens were killed in a bomb blast in Afghanistan.

Spokesman Nelson Kgwete told The Associated Press that the victims are believed to have been employed by a South African aviation company based at Rand Airport in Johannesburg. The bomber rammed a car packed with explosives into a mini-bus carrying foreign aviation workers to the airport in Kabul early Tuesday, killing at least nine people Kabul police chief Gen. Mohammad Ayub Salangi said Tuesdays explosion took place near an avenue northwest of the city center near Kabul International Airport, and the force of the blast hurled the mini-bus at least 50 meters (yards). An eyewitness at the scene said he was waiting at a bus stop along the road when he saw a small white sedan ram into the mini-bus. The explosion was so powerful and loud that I could not hear anything for 10 minutes, said Abdullah Shah, a teacher. It was early and there wasnt much traffic or there would have been many more casualties. Haroon Zarghoon, a spokesman for the Islamist militant group Hizb-i-Islami, claimed responsibility for the dawn attack in telephone call to The Associated Press. Foreign troops are fighting against Afghans and foreign civilians are tasked to spy for them. They all are our enemy and will be our target, Zarghoon told AP from an unknown location.

Afghan Soldier Shoots Occupation Contract Workers At Camp Garmsir

September 17 By Associated Press & The Washington Post KABUL An Afghan soldier opened fire on six Lebanese civilian contractors working for U.S.-led NATO forces in southern Afghanistan on Sunday night, causing minor injuries, coalition officials said Monday. The attack was the third by rogue Afghan security personnel over the weekend, when six foreign troops were killed. The member of the Afghan National Army fired shots at six contractors riding in a vehicle near Camp Garmsir, a shared base in southern Helmand province, said Lt. Col. Hagen Messer, a coalition spokesman. Some of them were wounded, but Messer said he could not provide a specific number. The assailant told interrogators he had thought he was targeting troops, Wojack said.

Death To America
2,000 People Came To The Streets
The Demonstration Erupted On Jalalabad Road, Home To NATO And US Military Bases
Angry Protestors Attacked The Camp Phoenix And Pelted Stones At Guard Towers
17 September 2012 by Sonil Haidari, Wali Arian, TOLOnews & IANS [Excerpts] Afghan protesters Monday started demonstrating over an anti-Islamic film in east of Kabul, chanting slogans and clashing with Afghan security forces, local officials said. The demonstration erupted on Jalalabad Road, home to NATO and US military bases in the eastern part of the Afghan capital, with two police cars among those set ablaze, Kabul police chief Mohammad Ayoub Salangi told AFP. More than 2,000 people came to the streets to register their protest that began around 7.30 a.m. Nearly 50 police were injured, Kabul police chief Ayub Salangi said. The angry protestors also attacked the Camp Phoenix, a foreign military installation in the area and pelted stones at guard towers. Police drove them back from areas round the base. Additional police force were deployed to stop the demonstrators from trying to break through the barricades on the road leading to the US embassy and several Afghan ministries. During the protests in the Hotkhil area of Pul-e-Charkhi in Kabuls east, gun shots could be heard and protesters threw stones at security forces. The protesters were shouting death to America and death to infidels. The demonstration became violent by the people -- up to 40 to 50 policemen were injured after the protesters threw stones at the forces, Salangi said.

The demonstration started about 07:00AM and ended 10:30AM after more security forces arrived in the area. Protestors set on fire two police vehicles, a private foreign company building, and a police checkpoint and damaged several shops besides attacking police with stones. Officials said the most of the protesters were students and young people, adding that the exact number of casualties is not clear. Meanwhile, there have been reports of more protests against the film in other provinces. The US Embassy in Kabul said that they received reports of multiple protests in different locations of the city, including 200 to 300 demonstrators on Jalalabad road. We wish to remind US citizens that past demonstrations in Afghanistan have escalated into violent attacks on Western targets.

WELCOME TO OBAMAWORLD: WHERE EVERY KIA ACCOMPLISHES NOTHING AT ALL

Aug. 25, 2011: A U.S. Marine mans a small checkpoint near in Afghanistans Helmand province. (Brennan Linsley/Associated Press)

Resistance Action
September 17 By Associated Press & 18 September 2012 TOLOnews.com

In the city of Tirin Kot, capital of the southern Uruzgan province, a roadside bomb struck a police truck, killing one officer and wounding two others, provincial spokesman Abdullah Himmat said. Four Afghan National Army (ANA) soldiers were killed in a roadside bomb in western Herat province, a local official said. The ANA vehicle was hit by the blast while it was patrolling Monday afternoon, killing its four occupants. He said the incident happened in the Chesht district of the province.

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MILITARY NEWS

Iraq War Veteran Wins First-Ever Jeff Sharlet Memorial Award From The Iowa Review:
The Award Is Named In Honor Of Jeff Sharlet, A Vietnam Veteran And Antiwar Writer And Activist Who Died In 1969, And Is Funded Through A Gift From His Family

Hugh Martin

Jeff Sharlet [Thanks Robert Sharlet, brother of Jeff Sharlet, who sent this in. [He writes: The Iowa Review announced the first winner of the Jeff Sharlet Literary Prize last week, an ex-Iraq GI poet, Hugh Martin. PBS covered the event on its web site, see the link below. Many thanks for helping us publicize the competition. I feel its now well launched for the future.] **************************************************************************** September 11, 2012 Posted by Beth Garbitelli, PBS.org

Iraq War veteran Hugh Martin has won the first-ever Jeff Sharlet Memorial Award from The Iowa Review, the literary journal announced Tuesday. The Iowa Review received 265 entries for the prize, which is only open to active duty military personnel and veterans and includes an $1,000 award and publication in the journal. Pulitzer Prize-winner Robert Olen Butler was this years judge. Martin, a poet and author who served in the Ohio Army National Guard from 2001 to 2007 and spent 11 months in Iraq, submitted a collection of poems about his war experience and his return to civilian life. He has an MFA from Arizona State and is currently a Stegner Fellow at Stanford. Martins first book, The Stick Soldiers, recently won the A. Poulin Jr. First Book Prize from BOA Editions and will be published in March. Heres a poem by Martin:

Intravenous
--Jalula, Iraq A rope of black smoke above the city. Police sirens. The feet of the crowd over pavement. We dont know who she is: barely a year alive, her blue leggings wet, stuck to the skin with her own blood. Doc Johnson holds her head like an orange in his open hand. He kneels beside the white Opel while Kenson aims the mounted light from his M4 through the shattered window to her face, the glass spread around her like rock salt on the brown seat cushions. Doc scissors her cotton sleeve, pushes his thumb to her arm for a vein--nothing... He finds one, eye to hairline, pulsing with her screams; he wipes the skin with antiseptic, and with one hand, steadies her head as an Imams voice blankets the night in waves; cars filled with wounded weave around us with the dust. Doc lowers the needle to this girls blue vein, and it touches her skin like pricking the Tigris on a smooth map of the earth.

According to Russell Valentino, editor-in-chief of The Iowa Review, the somber and profound themes in Martins poems were frequently present in the other submissions. Some of the stories were...very raw, Valentino said. You could really tell (a) person was writing from a first-person perspective. The quality was very high because of that sort of authentic voice, Valentino said. Yet writing about war represented only a portion of the topics covered by entrants. Its not for writing about war. Its for writing by veterans, Valentino said of the prize. The award is named in honor of Jeff Sharlet, a Vietnam veteran and antiwar writer and activist who died in 1969, and is funded through a gift from his family. [See below for Jeff Sharlets Newspaper: Vietnam GI.] Most writers who are veterans dont have access to the same kind of literary ladders, said Sharlets nephew, Jeff Sharlet, who carries his uncles name. Here was a guy who, its become such a terrible cliche, but really did write truth to power, Sharlet said of his namesake. An award like the one his family has endowed might be a step toward changing knee jerk assumptions about what veterans believe or dont believe, write about or dont write about, said Sharlet, an assistant professor of English at Dartmouth College, a contributing editor to Harpers Magazine and the author of several books. Martin kept track of his experiences in a journal but never wrote poems while in Iraq. I knew when I came back from Iraq, Id write about it in some way, Martin said. He also threw himself into reading, citing authors like Don DeLillo, Robert Penn Warren and John Updike as influences, in addition to other veteran writers like Bruce Weigl. Its very strange and you dont really know how to talk about it and its hard to find people to discuss the experience with, Martin said. So you can write about your experiences and get it off your chest that way. Writing isnt just therapeutic for Martin, however. As a student of literature, he said he always keeps literary context in mind, looking back to veteran writers who came before him like Wilfred Owen and Robert Graves. (S)hedding away the layers and the rhetoric of warfare is one of his goals in writing about the military. All I can really do is write about it, Martin said, because I want to and because I want to show people who werent there what it really was like.

MORE:

Vietnam GI:
Jeff Sharlet, Creator And Editor

Vietnam GI Reprints Available:

Vietnam: They Stopped An Imperial War

Edited by Vietnam Veteran Jeff Sharlet from 1968 until his death, this newspaper rocked the world, attracting attention even from Time Magazine, and extremely hostile attention from the chain of command. The pages and pages of letters in the paper from troops in Vietnam condemning the war are lost to history, but you can find them here. Military Resistance has copied complete sets of Vietnam GI. The originals were a bit rough, but every page is there. Over 100 pages, full 11x17 size. Free on request to active duty members of the armed forces. Cost for others: $15 if picked up in New York City. For mailing inside USA add $5 for bubble bag and postage. For outside USA, include extra for mailing 2.5 pounds to wherever you are. Checks, money orders payable to: The Military Project Orders to: Military Resistance Box 126 2576 Broadway New York, N.Y. 10025-5657 All proceeds are used for projects giving aid and comfort to members of the armed forces organizing to resist todays Imperial wars.

Senior Officials Misconduct Cases On The Rise:

Allegations Of Abuse Of Authority, Wrongful Use Of Government Credit Cards And Using GovernmentSponsored Travel For Personal Activities
Sep 17, 2012 By Andrew Tilghman, Army Times [Excerpts] Allegations of misconduct by senior military officials have risen steadily in recent years, prompting the Defense Department Inspector General to beef up staffing to help handle the rising caseload. The IG ended fiscal 2011 with nearly 600 open investigations of senior officials officers in the paygrade of O-6 and promotable or higher. That is up about 47 percent since 2007, according to Pentagon data. Many of those cases involve allegations of abuse of authority, wrongful use of government credit cards and using government-sponsored travel for personal activities, officials said. Among the latest examples is Army Gen. William Kip Ward, former head of U.S. Africa Command, who stands accused of misusing thousands of dollars in government money, borrowing military aircraft for personal use, and asking staff members to perform personal services for him, according to an IG report released in August. Investigators have struggled to keep up with the caseload. Last year, the deputy IG for administrative investigations, retired Army Col. Marguerite Garrison, requested an expansion of her staff to reduce the delays in resolving those cases. As a result, her office is slated to grow from 55 people last year to 88 by the end of this year. The office, now halfway through its expansion with about 70 staffers, also handles complaints of whistle-blower retaliation, which have also risen in recent years.

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FORWARD OBSERVATIONS

At a time like this, scorching irony, not convincing argument, is needed. Oh had I the ability, and could reach the nations ear, I would, pour out a fiery stream of biting ridicule, blasting reproach, withering sarcasm, and stern rebuke. For it is not light that is needed, but fire; it is not the gentle shower, but thunder. We need the storm, the whirlwind, and the earthquake. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppose. Frederick Douglass, 1852

One day while I was in a bunker in Vietnam, a sniper round went over my head. The person who fired that weapon was not a terrorist, a rebel, an extremist, or a so-called insurgent. The Vietnamese individual who tried to kill me was a citizen of Vietnam, who did not want me in his country. This truth escapes millions. Mike Hastie U.S. Army Medic Vietnam 1970-71 December 13, 2004

Army Struggles To Respond To Epidemic Of Suicides During Suicide Prevention Briefs

August 20, 2012 by Paul, The Duffle Blog. About The Author: Paul is a former Marine grunt with eight years of experience -- specializing in snapping necks and cashing checks. He enjoys blowing things up, making people laugh, and hardcore gangster rap music ******************************************************************************** Washington, DC - A spokesman for the U.S. Army announced today that top leadership was struggling to respond to what he called a suicide epidemic taking place during suicide prevention training. Spokesman George Wright revealed that 62 soldiers had taken their own lives during the mandatory training curriculum in the past month alone. We knew we had a problem on our hands with the rise in suicides. Its a real crisis and the media kept hammering us on it, said Wright. So we felt that giving a PowerPoint briefing would solve the problem. The mandatory suicide prevention program instituted Army-wide includes suicide prevention video vignettes paired with a 2700-slide PowerPoint presentation. The class is usually taught by a therapist, the unit Chaplain, or some poor bastard NCO that was forced into being a certified suicide prevention instructor. The briefs, given at the Battalion level, also require each Commander to give a personalized talk on the issue. With at least a tear in the eye and calculated amount of emotion in their voice to satisfy Officer Evaluation Report (OER) requirements, Wright added.

Despite the new training, Commanders have reported troubling incidents during the briefs. During one of the breaks during hour 7 or 8, one soldier actually removed his reflective belt and hung himself with it from a door, said Captain Steven Riggs. How the hell am I supposed to tell my soldiers that reflective belts save lives from now on? A separate class at Fort Dix resulted in 6 soldiers in the audience taking their lives, along with the instructor of the brief who jumped off the stage head first at slide 2403 of the PowerPoint. That one was particularly tragic, said Captain Justin Bergant. Not only did I have 6 soldiers who hadnt signed the attendance roster, but the instructor wasnt able to sign off on the rest of the sheets, making them all useless. Not one single certificate of completion could be issued and now the Colonel says my OER will reflect the failure to hit our 100% goal. As a temporary measure, the Army no longer allows soldiers to wear dog tags, boot laces, or reflective belts during the briefings quite often confusing troops who are used to relying on the PT belts for keeping them alive in combat and in garrison. Despite the tragedy, Wright says they already have plans in place to fix the problems. Well obviously were not doing enough, so we know that we need to add an additional 400-500 slides to really hammer home the message, said Wright. Wright also says they have received good feedback on the latest guidance memo to Army leaders. Were now requiring all Training NCOs to maintain a unit roster which all soldiers need to sign before the briefs, saying that they promise not to kill or hurt themselves. The Army Chief of Staff also weighed in on the issue, saying that he had his Plan E ready to go in case the already used plans A, B, C, and D fail. The other plans, according to Odierno, include ignoring the problem and hoping it will just go away (Plans A and B), telling soldiers to take motrin, drink water, and suck it the fuck up (Plan C), and finally, giving them an anti-suicide nasal spray (Plan D). We certainly feel that soldiers should be able to police themselves and take care of each other on this issue, but if all else fails, well have to trust in the UCMJ, said General Ray Odierno. Any soldier that commits suicide will be punished accordingly. That will include courtmartial and possible bad conduct discharge. Odierno added, This is a failure in PowerPoint, not leadership.

ANNIVERSARIES

September 20, 1830: Honorable Anniversary:

A Group Of 38 Free Black Americans From Eight States, Met In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, With The Express Purpose Of Abolishing Slavery

Richard Allen Carl Bunin Peace History September 17-23 The National Negro Convention, a group of 38 free black Americans from eight states, met in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with the express purpose of abolishing slavery and improving the social status of African Americans. They elected Richard Allen president and agreed to boycott slave-produced goods and encourage free-produce organizations. The most active would be the Colored Female Free Produce Society, which urged the boycott of all slave-produced goods. *************************************** The Encyclopedia of African-American Heritage, by Susan Altman, Copyright 1997, Facts on File, Inc. New York [Excerpt] September 20, 1830

On this date in 1830, the National Negro Convention met in Philadelphia, PA. This group gathered for the express purpose of abolishing slavery and improving the status of African Americans. This first meeting of the National Negro Convention would initiate a trend that would continue for the next three decades. The formation of another organization had been recommended one which would be called the American Society of Free Persons of Labor. This group would branch out to several states and hold their own conventions. These, in turn, would lead to the formation of other organizations. The number of conventions, held at local, state, and national levels, blossomed to such a level that, in 1859, one paper would report that colored conventions are almost as frequent as church meetings.

OCCUPATION PALESTINE

The Syrian Army Has Attacked AlYarmouk Palestinian Refugee Camp In Damascus, Killing Two Refugees And A Syrian, And Wounding A Child
17 September 2012 The Middle East Monitor The Syrian army has attacked Al-Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp in Damascus, killing two refugees and a Syrian, and wounding a child. Many checkpoints were set up at the entrances of Al-Yarmouk and 30 tanks entered the camp. Abdul-Basit al-Bitar was killed when an artillery shell landed on his house in Al-Hajar AlAswad suburb; the explosion also killed Yahya Yassin as he was walking next to the house. A five-year-old Palestinian child was admitted to hospital after being targeted by a sniper in the same area, while Syrian citizen Montaser al-Maqdisi was pronounced dead on arrival at the camp hospital after being shot by the army nearby. Several sources reported that Haifa Street, Al-Yarmouk Street, Holwat Zeidan area, AlOroobeh area and other places in the refugee camps were targets for the Syrian army on Saturday. Many checkpoints were set up at the entrances of Al-Yarmouk and 30 tanks entered the camp.

Thousands of refugees have fled from the deteriorating situation in the camps, the Hamas statement said. More than 400 Palestinians have been killed so far, most of them drowned when their vessel capsized off the coast of Turkey. [To check out what life is like under a murderous military occupation commanded by foreign terrorists, go to: www.rafahtoday.org The occupied nation is Palestine. The foreign terrorists call themselves Israeli.]

DANGER: POLITICIANS AT WORK

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CLASS WAR REPORTS

A New Poll Showed Majority Of Parents And Taxpayers Approved Of Chicago Teachers Union Strike:
CTU Support Jumped To 66 Percent Among Parents Of Public School Children
09/13/2012 Ctunet.com/ [Excerpts] According to Capitol Fax, an influential political report that covers state politics, Chicago teachers have a strong majority of Chicagoans behind them, according to a new poll. Also, an overwhelming majority of Chicago parents with public school students support the strike, the poll found. And strong pluralities blame Mayor Rahm Emanuel. Conducted by We Ask America, the poll of 1,344 voting Chicago households asked, In general, do you approve or disapprove of the Chicago Teachers Unions decision to go on strike?

55.5 percent said they approved and 40 percent disapproved. Another 4 percent had no opinion. The poll has a margin of error of +/- 2.8 percent, according to Rich Miller, the reports publisher. CTU support jumped to 66 percent among parents of public school children. Less than a third of those parents, 31 percent, disapproved of the strike, according to the poll.

Troops Invited:
Comments, arguments, articles, and letters from service men and women, and veterans, are especially welcome. Write to Box 126, 2576 Broadway, New York, N.Y. 10025-5657 or email contact@militaryproject.org: Name, I.D., withheld unless you request publication. Same address to unsubscribe.

South African Dictatorship Orders Police To Attack Striking Mine Workers Again, As Usual:
Mr. Radebe Said The Government Is Intervening Now Because The Strikes Have Put South Africas Economy At Risk
Tens Of Thousands Of Miners Remain On Strike
Police Barged Into A Hostel Early Saturday Morning Where Lonmin Workers Stay, Breaking Windows And Pointing Guns At Those Asleep

Police arrest a miner Saturday at Lonmins Marikana mine. Agence FrancePresse/Getty Images

[Thanks to Alan Stolzer, Military Resistance Organization, who sent this in.] September 16, 2012 By DEVON MAYLIE and PETER WONACOTT, Wall Street Journal & 9.17.12 Al Jazeera [Excerpts]

JOHANNESBURGOne month after South African police killed protesters near a platinum mine in a clash that inflamed national tensions, police have stepped in again to try to end the turmoil in the countrys mining sector. Tens of thousands of miners remain on strike, and many are critical of the close ties between the main labour unions and the ruling ANC party. Police blocked expelled youth league leader of the countrys leading African National Congress (ANC) from addressing about 3,000 strikers at a stadium near the Marikana mine in South Africa after they tried to march despite a governmentordered clampdown to halt illegal protests. Al Jazeeras Haru Mutasa, reporting from the mine, said that former ANC youth league leader Julius Malema tried to come in, to what he says, was try to speak to miners. People thought that Malema was being arrested and started throwing stones at the police cars. She said that although most people had gone home the situation was still very tense and that the police were on high alert. Elsewhere in the North West region, 42 people were arrested on Monday for public violence after illegally gathering, at the Robega Village, near the Rasimone North mine shaft. On Sunday, police stopped hundreds of demonstrators employed at the worlds largest platinum producer, Anglo American Platinum Ltd., from marching to a police station in nearby Rustenburg to protest a security clampdown that began Friday. Those arrested were scheduled to appear Monday at a local Rustenburg court, he said. Meanwhile, at the third-biggest platinum miner, Lonmin, protesters used rocks and dirt mounds to block roads and prevent police from entering an informal settlement where strike leaders were hiding. At one point, nine police trucks attempted to dislodge the barriers before turning back. The miners on the road here are defying government orders not to assemble and they are quite defiant now. They are saying that if the police come back, there will be war. The day before, police fired rubber bullets at protesters, raided homes of miners for weapons and arrested more than 38 people, according to a local police officer who was part of the operations. The presence of 1,000 soldiers brought into the platinum belt, 100km northwest of Johannesburg, has escalated tensions over union rivalries and higher pay demands that have stopped work at one gold and six platinum mines.

The moves follow weeks of strikes that have paralyzed platinum production in South Africa, which accounts for 80% of the metals global output, and hit the countrys major goldmines. The wildcat strikes erupted after police on Aug. 16 gunned down 34 people who refused to disperse during a wage protest at Lonmins Marikana mine. In all, 45 people have died in the strike violence. President Jacob Zuma has resisted calls to take disciplinary action against those involved in the police shootings before a judicial committee that he set up releases its findings. State prosecutors fueled a public outcry after they used an apartheid-era law to formally charge protesters with the murder of the 34 people that police shot, on the basis that they had incited the violence. Prosecutors later dropped the murder charges following the public uproar. But the Marikana incident has put a fresh spotlight on a chronic problem with policing and public order, says Gareth Newham, head of the Crime and Justice Program at the Institute of Security Studies, a Pretoria-based think tank. Either the police dont act quickly enough before situations go out of control, as in the case of the 2008 riots that targeted African migrants, or overzealous actions deepen conflicts, he says. Police are supposed to de-escalate violence, Mr. Newham says. In the past few years, theyve escalated conflicts. The number of police-related deaths last year reached 797, more than double a decade earlier, according to figures from the Independent Police Investigative Directorate, a government arm that investigates potential criminal offenses by police. Between 1997 and 2010, 5,820 people died as a result of police action or during police custody, according to the IPID figures. On Friday, the South African government signaled a shift. The countrys justice minister, Jeff Radebe, told reporters that law-enforcement agencies wont tolerate individuals inciting violence and would arrest those engaged in illegal gatherings or carrying weapons. Mr. Radebe said the government is intervening now because the strikes have put South Africas economy at risk. As part of the governments renewed efforts to stop the protests, police barged into a hostel early Saturday morning where Lonmin workers stay, breaking windows and pointing guns at those asleep, the workers said. Miners in a nearby informal settlement said police also started firing rubber bullets around women and children who werent part of the protest.

A defense department spokesman said around 150 soldiers have been deployed in the area and are assisting police in their raids to contain those they believe to be leading the protests. Behind the strikes are demands for higher wages by workers frustrated at the slow pace of change since the end of apartheid 18 years ago. Many workers have rejected representation of the National Union of Mineworkers, the countrys biggest union and an ally of the ruling African National Congress. The upstart Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union has been actively recruiting, spurring intra-union clashes as the two unions battle for membership. Some miners also say they are striking on their own initiative, outside of all union leadership. Anglo American said Sunday that it plans to reopen the mines Tuesday following the police efforts. We commend the government and our key local stakeholders in helping to restore calm to the Rustenburg area, said Chris Griffith, the companys chief executive. Lonmin has offered an increase far below the 12,500 rand (US$1,522) a month that the miners are demanding. On Sunday, they said they cannot afford the miners demands.

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