I'm so angry that I can't be sure I'm not also being foolish. If I am, please forgive me. -------- Original Message -------- Subject: Another story out of Iraq Date: Mon, 13 Oct 2003 23:04:23 -0500 From: [name withheld to protect the soldier] To: Jerry Avins <jya@ieee.org> Jerry, I just got this e-mail from XXX. Is there anything we can do to get some attention paid to this? Or do we just chalk it off to more of Bush's boys getting their pockets filled at our soldiers' expense? xxxxx From: [name withheld to protect the soldier] Date: Mon Oct 13, 2003 2:49:02 AM US/Central To: "[name withheld to protect the soldier] Subject: Spoke to XXXXXXX Hello XXXXX, Hope this e-mail finds you well recovered from your illness. Has your hearing improved? I hope so! I'm writing this letter to see if we cant get something done on a very alarming development in Iraq. The troops woke one morning to discover that they could no longer call their families from the unit cell phones issued to them. Someone higher than Fifth Corps pulled the plug. Even the Division commanders were caught unaware. The interesting thing is this happened right after the AT&T kiosk opened at the BIAP (Baghdad International Airport) XXXXX smells a rat-the calling cards the troops were using previously were MCI, and cheaper! He thinks AAFES and AT&T have a deal going. A soldier could purchase a 40 unit calling card and get 20 minutes to Germany. It's now 200 units for 20 minutes! Meanwhile the poor troops who can't get to the BIAP have now lost the ability to communicate with their families. Profiteering from soldiers during a combat situation, isn't this illegal? How do you think Americans would feel about their sons and daughters being extorted this way? What can we do? How can we get this to the press? What would 60 Minutes do with this story? Help! Love, XXXXXX -- Engineering is the art of making what you want from things you can get. �����������������������������������������������������������������������
An Off-topic comms story
Started by ●October 14, 2003
Reply by ●October 14, 20032003-10-14
I'm so angry that I can't be sure I'm not also being foolish. If I am, please forgive me. -------- Original Message -------- Subject: Another story out of Iraq Date: Mon, 13 Oct 2003 23:04:23 -0500 From: [name withheld to protect the soldier] To: Jerry Avins <jya@ieee.org> Jerry, I just got this e-mail from XXX. Is there anything we can do to get some attention paid to this? Or do we just chalk it off to more of Bush's boys getting their pockets filled at our soldiers' expense? xxxxx From: [name withheld to protect the soldier] Date: Mon Oct 13, 2003 2:49:02 AM US/Central To: "[name withheld to protect the soldier] Subject: Spoke to XXXXXXX Hello XXXXX, Hope this e-mail finds you well recovered from your illness. Has your hearing improved? I hope so! I'm writing this letter to see if we cant get something done on a very alarming development in Iraq. The troops woke one morning to discover that they could no longer call their families from the unit cell phones issued to them. Someone higher than Fifth Corps pulled the plug. Even the Division commanders were caught unaware. The interesting thing is this happened right after the AT&T kiosk opened at the BIAP (Baghdad International Airport) XXXXX smells a rat-the calling cards the troops were using previously were MCI, and cheaper! He thinks AAFES and AT&T have a deal going. A soldier could purchase a 40 unit calling card and get 20 minutes to Germany. It's now 200 units for 20 minutes! Meanwhile the poor troops who can't get to the BIAP have now lost the ability to communicate with their families. Profiteering from soldiers during a combat situation, isn't this illegal? How do you think Americans would feel about their sons and daughters being extorted this way? What can we do? How can we get this to the press? What would 60 Minutes do with this story? Help! Love, XXXXXX -- Engineering is the art of making what you want from things you can get. �����������������������������������������������������������������������
Reply by ●October 14, 20032003-10-14
Mike Rosing wrote:> Jerry Avins wrote: > >> I'm so angry that I can't be sure I'm not also being foolish. >> If I am, please forgive me. >> >> -------- Original Message -------- >> Subject: Another story out of Iraq >> Date: Mon, 13 Oct 2003 23:04:23 -0500 >> From: [name withheld to protect the soldier] >> To: Jerry Avins <jya@ieee.org> >> >> Jerry, >> I just got this e-mail from XXX. Is there anything we can do to get >> some attention paid to this? Or do we just chalk it off to more of >> Bush's boys getting their pockets filled at our soldiers' expense? >> xxxxx > > First, can you verify it's true? If you can, then the best > thing to do is "get even" not "get mad". There must be a few > thousand people who can verify it, and that makes it a big > story. Especially for the "hidden" press, like "Democracy Now" > and those sort of outlets. > > I hope it's a hoax. > > Patience, persistence, truth, > Dr. mike >It's no hoax. It's from a Bagdhad-based soldier I know to his wife. She forwarded it to his mother -- a close friend of mine, and from there to me. I Xed out the names. I'll give them to any newsman who agrees to protect his sources. Jerry -- Engineering is the art of making what you want from things you can get. �����������������������������������������������������������������������
Reply by ●October 14, 20032003-10-14
Mike Rosing wrote: ...> > First, can you verify it's true? If you can, then the best > thing to do is "get even" not "get mad". There must be a few > thousand people who can verify it, and that makes it a big > story. Especially for the "hidden" press, like "Democracy Now" > and those sort of outlets. > > I hope it's a hoax. > > Patience, persistence, truth, > Dr. mike >I should have added that I sent copies to Ted Koppel and to the guy who runs http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=1175360&l=6225 Jerry -- Engineering is the art of making what you want from things you can get. �����������������������������������������������������������������������
Reply by ●October 14, 20032003-10-14
I wonder if this is related:- http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3168106.stm Could be that the system is being changed from CDMA to GSM, which is why the phones stopped working, rather than anything more underhand. Syms. Jerry Avins <jya@ieee.org> wrote in message news:<bmhf3o$hjr$1@bob.news.rcn.net>...> Mike Rosing wrote: > > ... > > > > First, can you verify it's true? If you can, then the best > > thing to do is "get even" not "get mad". There must be a few > > thousand people who can verify it, and that makes it a big > > story. Especially for the "hidden" press, like "Democracy Now" > > and those sort of outlets. > > > > I hope it's a hoax. > > > > Patience, persistence, truth, > > Dr. mike > > > I should have added that I sent copies to Ted Koppel and to the guy who > runs http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=1175360&l=6225 > > Jerry
Reply by ●October 15, 20032003-10-15
Symon wrote:> I wonder if this is related:- > http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3168106.stm > Could be that the system is being changed from CDMA to GSM, which is > why the phones stopped working, rather than anything more underhand. > Syms. >I doubt it, considering the cavalier way that the troops were abused, and AT&T's not being one of the contractors for the new Iraq-wide network. Still, it's possible. Thanks for the URL. Jerry -- Engineering is the art of making what you want from things you can get. �����������������������������������������������������������������������
Reply by ●October 15, 20032003-10-15
WAAAAW! Phones are a privilege, not a right! I don't know anyone who is over there who isn't a volunteer. What about all those submarine sailors (of which I was one) who are out to sea for 3+ months, in peace time as well as this "conflict", who can not make calls to their family at all? "Jerry Avins" <jya@ieee.org> wrote in message news:bmh2at$ese$1@bob.news.rcn.net...> I'm so angry that I can't be sure I'm not also being foolish. > If I am, please forgive me. > > -------- Original Message -------- > Subject: Another story out of Iraq > Date: Mon, 13 Oct 2003 23:04:23 -0500 > From: [name withheld to protect the soldier] > To: Jerry Avins <jya@ieee.org> > > Jerry, > I just got this e-mail from XXX. Is there anything we can do to get > some attention paid to this? Or do we just chalk it off to more of > Bush's boys getting their pockets filled at our soldiers' expense? > xxxxx > > From: [name withheld to protect the soldier] > Date: Mon Oct 13, 2003 2:49:02 AM US/Central > To: "[name withheld to protect the soldier] > Subject: Spoke to XXXXXXX > > Hello XXXXX, > Hope this e-mail finds you well recovered from your > illness. Has your hearing improved? I hope so! > I'm writing this letter to see if we cant get > something done on a very alarming development in Iraq. > The troops woke one morning to discover that they > could no longer call their families from the unit cell > phones issued to them. Someone higher than Fifth Corps > pulled the plug. Even the Division commanders were > caught unaware. The interesting thing is this happened > right after the AT&T kiosk opened at the BIAP (Baghdad > International Airport) XXXXX smells a rat-the > calling cards the troops were using previously were > MCI, and cheaper! He thinks AAFES and AT&T have a deal > going. A soldier could purchase a 40 unit calling card > and get 20 minutes to Germany. It's now 200 units for > 20 minutes! Meanwhile the poor troops who can't get to > the BIAP have now lost the ability to communicate with > their families. Profiteering from soldiers during a > combat situation, isn't this illegal? How do you think > Americans would feel about their sons and daughters > being extorted this way? > What can we do? How can we get this to the press? > What would 60 Minutes do with this story? > Help! > Love, XXXXXX > > > -- > Engineering is the art of making what you want from things you can get. > ����������������������������������������������������������������������� >
Reply by ●October 15, 20032003-10-15
On Wed, 15 Oct 2003 13:55:45 -0400, Jerry Avins <jya@ieee.org> wrote:>Symon wrote: > >> I wonder if this is related:- >> http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3168106.stm >> Could be that the system is being changed from CDMA to GSM, which is >> why the phones stopped working, rather than anything more underhand. >> Syms. > >I doubt it, considering the cavalier way that the troops were abused, >and AT&T's not being one of the contractors for the new Iraq-wide >network. Still, it's possible. Thanks for the URL. > >JerryIt'd be interesting to know what standard AT&T was using there. I was pretty horrified when the whole "CDMA into Iraq" thing was being pushed right at the beginning of the war. I'm glad to see from Symon's BBC link that they'll get GSM. If the GSM system is coming on that shouldn't knock the AT&T system off unless they have some real spectrum crowding in Iraq (and I can't imagine why they would). The politics around this whole Iraq rebuilding thing is pretty seriously disappointing, to say the least. Eric Jacobsen Minister of Algorithms, Intel Corp. My opinions may not be Intel's opinions. http://www.ericjacobsen.org
Reply by ●October 15, 20032003-10-15
KG7HF wrote:> WAAAAW! > > Phones are a privilege, not a right! I don't know anyone who is over there > who isn't a volunteer. > > What about all those submarine sailors (of which I was one) who are out to > sea for 3+ months, in peace time as well as this "conflict", who can not > make calls to their family at all? >You're right, of course, about rights and priveleges. That doesn't square depriving the men of a privilege for someone else's profit. As far back as the Civil War, war profiteers were jailed. Why not now? Jerry -- Engineering is the art of making what you want from things you can get. �����������������������������������������������������������������������
Reply by ●October 16, 20032003-10-16
Jerry Avins wrote:> KG7HF wrote: > >> WAAAAW! >> >> Phones are a privilege, not a right! I don't know anyone who is over >> there >> who isn't a volunteer. >> >> What about all those submarine sailors (of which I was one) who are >> out to >> sea for 3+ months, in peace time as well as this "conflict", who can not >> make calls to their family at all? >> > > You're right, of course, about rights and priveleges. That doesn't > square depriving the men of a privilege for someone else's profit. As > far back as the Civil War, war profiteers were jailed. Why not now? > > JerryIs this news story relevant? Veterans Relieved Military Communications Unaffected by Government Action on MCI CHARLESTON, W. Va., Jul. 31 /PRNewswire/ -- CHARLESTON, W. Va., July 31 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, the federal government announced that it is proposing to temporarily block MCI, the telephone company, from getting new government contracts. However, MCI is currently one of the largest providers of communications services to the U.S. military, and to security-related agencies such as the CIA, FBI and Department of Homeland Security and the decision does not affect existing government contracts held by the company. John Payne, Chairman of the Veterans Rights Coalition (VRC), issued the following statement in response to today's decision: "MCI plays a major role in maintaining critical pieces of our national security system, including the Pentagon's Command and Control network, military air traffic control systems, and the Department of Homeland Security. We are relieved that today's decision means the communications systems that our armed forces and security agencies rely on to keep America safe and free remain intact and uninterrupted. Our soldiers in Iraq and other hotspots around the world have a tough enough job already. They don't need communications disruptions that could complicate their mission or even put them in danger. The government was right to put national security interests and the lives of American troops first." The Veterans Rights Coalition is a national organization of all-volunteer veterans concerned about the well being of their nation and their fellow veterans. Veterans Rights Coalition CONTACT: John Payne of Veterans Rights Coalition, +1-304-548-8195, or veteransrights@aol.com Jerry -- Engineering is the art of making what you want from things you can get. �����������������������������������������������������������������������
