Not only are our often-gullible young people faced with dishonest and unconscionable recruiting practices, if our soldiers are lucky enough to not be killed in Iraq, they return to a VA system that is broken and many cannot find help or hope for their physical and/or emotional wounds. The incidences of suicide among our veterans are appalling (but at least they get a parade once a year) and now if our kids are wounded and unable to return to the front lines before their enlistment periods are up our soulless government is asking them to repay their enlistment bonuses! I am surprised we didn’t get a bill for Casey’s re-enlistment bonus since he was killed 3 years before his enlistment was over.We as a peace movement need to support the Iraq war resisters (I would also add Afghanistan, but that’s a little more controversial in the movement).If we are pro-peace and anti-war, if our children slip through the cracks and are successfully preyed upon by recruiters, then we must support their decisions to not be used as cannon fodder for maniacal BushCo. Not all of our young people who enlist are stone-cold killers, but most see little choice in today’s economy that is bereft of opportunity and where university is prohibitively high.
Action items:Write to Canadian officials to request that they accept our war resisters as refugees.Send money to organizations that support war resisters.
Support actual war resisters in Canada by sending them expense money. From my friend Ryan (I gave him and his wife money to get to Canada over two years ago):
In light of the recent Supreme Court denial in Canada, I (Ryan Johnson), My wife (Jen Johnson) and Brandon Hughey need help raising funds to travel to Ottawa to attend hearings before the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration, where War Resisters will be giving Testimony to the committee. At these hearings the committee will be deciding on whether or not to make a provision to allow war resisters to stay in Canada. This is one of our last chances to be able to continue living in Canada. We will be leaving December 7th because the hearings are December 11th, 2007 so we need to act fast. They may try to send guys back soon and we need to have a strong War Resister Presence. We appreciate all of the support and Want to thank all of you who can help.
Checks/money orders can be sent for Ryan, Jen and Brandon to:312 Tower RdNelson, BC V1L3K6
The above is from Cindy Sheehan's "Uh, Oh Canada!" (OpEdNews). Since we're on the topic of war resisters . . .
A number of e-mails reflect the feelings of Kat and Rebecca. For those looking for other things to stream online today, Matthew Rothschild interview Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie on this week's Progressive Radio -- you can also check out his interview of Susan Faludi last week. You can check out this week's Law and Disorder, PBS' Bill Moyers Journal, Expose', NOW with David Brancaccio, NPR's The Diane Rehm Show, The Bat Segundo Show, The Randi Rhodes Show and those are only some of the things you can find online to stream. And for those wanting to hear war resisters, Courage to Resist now has an online section that contains interviews with them (Ryan Johnson, Brad McCall and Nathen Burden so far). You can go to Art of Mental Warfare and check out Trent Reznor's new video. Tina Richards' Grassroots America has many videos dealing with the illegal war, resistance and peace.
What you listen to, watch or stream is your business but -- as is pointed out in the posts and in this morning's e-mails that I've been able to read -- Ava and I did end "TV: The either or" with this paragraph:
As far as we know, there is, however, no strike preventing coverage of Iraq. In the biggest truth spoken on the latest Washington Week, Raddatz declared, "Every day that Iraq is not in the news is a good day for the president." We've explained why we will not be covering entertainment television, maybe it's time for people to ask independent media outlets why they aren't covering Iraq?
If you feel someone's actions are making it a good day for the Bully Boy, you have no obligation to watch, listen or stream them.
Meanwhile Al Jazeera reports:
Four bank employees have been killed as they travelled to work after American troops opened fired on their minibus at a roadblock in Baghdad, police and hospital officials say.
The shooting, which killed three women and one man, took place in the Al-Shaab neighbourhood on Tuesday.
The minibus driver was collecting employees to go to work at Rasheed bank in the area, which is known to be a Shia militia stronghold.
US troops opened fire when the bus reached the US roadblock and tried to drive through, police and hospital officials said.
The dead and another man and woman that were injured were taken to Baghdad's Al-Kindi Hospital, a medical source said.
And Reuters notes:
U.S. soldiers killed two men and a child when they opened fire on a vehicle which approached a roadblock at high speed near Baiji, 180 km (110 miles) north of Baghdad on Monday, the U.S. military said. The incident happened during raids targeting al Qaeda in which two suspected insurgents were also killed.
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matthew rothschild
susan faludi
cindy sheehan
