WOW !!! - 'Portuguese Army Joins Protesters' - Economico

[WillyT]

Portuguese army joins protesters
door een van onze correspondenten op okt.20, 2011, onder Engels

<snip>

Confrontation with police

The National Association of sergeants (ANS) in Portugal has stated that if massive riots broke out in Portugal, they will choose sides with the protesters. They said that it is possible it will come to a confrontation with security forces.

This was reported by the Portuguese newspaper Economico: http://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?hl=nl&ie=UTF8&prev=_t&rurl=translate.google.com&sl=nl&tl=en&twu=1&u=http://economico.sapo.pt/noticias/militares-avisam-governo-que-estao-com-a-populacao-contra-a-austeridade_129069.html&usg=ALkJrhgczt76MOhbAIp-nvPOzsLAtMQrVw

Role of the Army: Protecting Portuguese people

The military expressed their dissatisfaction with the new cost-cutting operations, the Portuguese government has announced. These cuts mainly affect the people who are already in a very difficult position and therefore will come in even greater, insurmountable problems. They find this unacceptable and indicate that the soldiers have the right to demonstrate. They point out that Prime Minister Coelho said: “Portuguese soldiers have no right to strike, but they have the right to demonstrate.” They do not exclude these possible demonstrations can result in a direct confrontation with the police. A spokesman from ANS indicated that the Portuguese army has a duty to protect its people. It can not be expected, the army will serve private financial intstitutions. “Let no one imagine the army can be used to clamp down on riots caused by these measures,” the spokesman said. In case of this new round of spending cuts the government of Prime Minister Passos Coelho violates the constitutional rights of sovereignity of the country. Politicians held hostage by international financial institutions such as rating agencies, hedge funds and speculators. They speculate on a large scale on ‘bankruptcy’ of countries with the intention to make huge profits.

<snip>

Link: http://www.gewoon-nieuws.nl/2011/10/portuguese-army-joins-protesters/#.TqHIuWwh9M8.twitter

:wow:

:kick:

[Sanity Claws]

1. This is a huge tipping point.

[defendandprotect]

2. kr

[valerief]

3. Wow, I wish our army would do that. nt

[jwirr]

9. They did they sent the Marines! Sargent Shamar Thomas. Didn't

need anyone else. :loveya:

[valerief]

12. A soldier did that on his own, because he has a conscience.

It wasn't an official statement from the "gimme all your money so I can play with it" military.

[jwirr]

19. The statement was made tongue in cheek. Sorry.

[valerief]

23. Don't be sorry!

:hi:

[wryter2000]

4. Like Egypt

That's major. :wow:

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

5. Will NATO set up a No-Fly-Zone to protect the demonstrators?

[Kaleko]

6. Heh! Good point.

[sibelian]

7. Ah HA!

I wonder if we will now see a short flurry of heads of other armies emerging with their "positions", the vast majority of which will have been written and handed to them.

I hope we see something else.

[hifiguy]

8. Oh my stars and garters. This is something

that no one saw coming. I wonder what will happen in Greece after this remarkable statement.

[dixiegrrrrl]

13. I have not heard that expression for too long of a time! LOL.

and the news is indeed a stars and garters moment.

[hifiguy]

15. The Beast used to say it in the first generation X-Men

comics. That was the first place I ever saw/heard it and it made me LOL even as a kid.

[nadinbrzezinski]

10. Sergeants...aka the backbone of any military

We call this tipping. And last time the army left barracks it was a violent coup.

[PETRUS]

11. Holy crap! K&R

[socialist_n_TN]

14. Solidarity Protuguese Army sergeants...........

American Army sergeants? And corporals and most especially privates? Will you fire on your own brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, grandparents? Or will you stand with them? Do you work for Wall Street or the people? Whose side are you on?

[hifiguy]

16. I don't think they would fire on US civilians.

I really don't. Which is why Blackwater/Xe mercenaries (possibly the only people lower on the moral scale than the plutocrats and their Repiglican enablers/apologists) are doubtless armed to the teeth and ready to clear the streets if the 99% start getting too insistent about the notion that this is their country too. The cops will probably want to get in on the "fun" too. But the uniformed military? I can't see it.

[socialist_n_TN]

18. Then maybe my post should be amended to ask

if the EMs will DEFEND the people against those mercs. However, it's still, "Whose side are you on?"

We're armed (well a lot of us are) and there's more of us, but Xe is WELL armed and there's a lot of them. We'd need some help.

[rhett o rick]

20. I am not a big fan of where the police are today, and a lot of them

get too much pleasure out of bashing heads or macing the helpless, but if it comes to shooting, I think most police will balk at shooting protesters.

[Raksha]

17. K & R - The whole world is watching...and taking notes.

[WillyT]

21. Kick !!!

:kick:

[Fire Walk With Me]

22. K&R!

[whirlygigspin]

24. remember, remember the 25th of April

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsJpeR2K-is

[newspeak]

27. well, if they keep cutting firefighters, police, teachers

especially police, who will protect the aristocracy? Cut pay, cut pensions--don't the police know that they are public servants and they are in the same boat? If the 1% hire mercenaries, especially corporations that can hire any thug in the world, they could wind up igniting something they might not want to deal with.

[Dawson Leery]

25. The local coppers will lose their battle to protect the one percent.

[WillyT]

26. Kick !!!

:kick:

[xchrom]

28. ...

:applause: :patriot:

[AntiFascist]

29. Excellent! n/t