"I actually thought we were good guys, helping the world," he said. "I learned early on that the truth is never afraid of honest inquiry."
Wiley came to Toronto last February and continues to wait for a decision on his refugee claim.
The above is from Jenny Yuen's "'I was trained to be desensitized'" (Toronto Sun) which is noted in Third's "Editorial: War resistance and war resisters matter" (crossposted here) but we focused on Jeremy Hinzman and Marcia asked if we could note the section on Wiley. Friday was when actions took place in the United States to show support for war resisters and Saturday was when actions took place in Canada (and more actions will continue in Canada). Although the demonstrations have already taken place, you can still make your voice heard and the War Resisters Support Campaign and Courage to Resist offer information on how (the latter even provides you with an online contact form).
At The War Comes Home, Aaron Glantz offers an audio report and speaks with Iraq Veterans Against the War Geoff Millard. On IVAW, Marcus e-mails to remind me that their event was not noted yesterday. My apologies. We'll include it now. IVAW is organizing a March 2008 DC event:
In 1971, over one hundred members of Vietnam Veterans Against the War gathered in Detroit to share their stories with America. Atrocities like the My Lai massacre had ignited popular opposition to the war, but political and military leaders insisted that such crimes were isolated exceptions. The members of VVAW knew differently.
Over three days in January, these soldiers testified on the systematic brutality they had seen visited upon the people of Vietnam. They called it the Winter Soldier investigation, after Thomas Paine's famous admonishing of the "summer soldier" who shirks his duty during difficult times. In a time of war and lies, the veterans who gathered in Detroit knew it was their duty to tell the truth.
Over thirty years later, we find ourselves faced with a new war. But the lies are the same. Once again, American troops are sinking into increasingly bloody occupations. Once again, war crimes in places like Haditha, Fallujah, and Abu Ghraib have turned the public against the war. Once again, politicians and generals are blaming "a few bad apples" instead of examining the military policies that have destroyed Iraq and Afghanistan.
Once again, our country needs Winter Soldiers.
In March of 2008, Iraq Veterans Against the War will gather in our nation's capital to break the silence and hold our leaders accountable for these wars. We hope you'll join us, because yours is a story that every American needs to hear.
Click here to sign a statement of support for Winter Soldier: Iraq & Afghanistan
March 13th through 16th are the dates for the Winter Soldier Iraq & Afghanistan Investigation. Dee Knight (Workers World) notes, "IVAW wants as many people as possible to attend the event. It is planning to provide live broadcasting of the sessions for those who cannot hear the testimony firsthand. 'We have been inspired by the tremendous support the movement has shown us,' IVAW says. 'We believe the success of Winter Soldier will ultimately depend on the support of our allies and the hard work of our members'."
A visitor "can't believe" we're not noting the 935 lies. We linked to it in a snaphot last week and the snapshot the day before that had three paragraphs on it. I think this community is well aware of the lies used to promote the illegal war in the lead up (and more focused on today and on the lies that continue the illegal war) but it's equally true that if you go back to 2005, we gave substantial attention to that project . . . when Mother Jones did it. Go to Mother Jones and you should be able to find their work on this from several years back. (I don't have time this morning to look it up but I will try to link to it in the snapshot today.)
** Correction, 2006. Billie e-mailed with the link to MJ's "Lie By Lie" and notes that MJ is doing an update. **
Isaiah's The World Today Just Nuts "Caroline Speaks" went up yesterday as did, thanks to Kat, Ruth's Report. (Bonnie e-mailed to remind me to note those for members who aren't able to check in on the weekends.)
The e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com.
aaron glantz
chuck wileyiraq veterans against the war
jenny yuenruths report
the world today just nuts
