Saturday, March 15, 2008

Saturday's Winter Soldier Investigation

Iraq Veterans Against the War Winter Soldiers Investigation continues today. The hearings opened Thursday, continued all day yesterday and are airing today and tomorrow. You can stream at the IVAW website or cath the broadcast n KPFA with Aimee Allison (co-host of the station's The Morning Show and co-author with David Solnit of Army Of None) and Aaron Glantz hosting and the KPFA live stream will also be available at Glantz' War Comes Home as well as on KPFK, WBAI and at the Pacifica Radio homepage. The times are nine in the morning until seven at night for Saturday and ten in the morning until four in the afternoon on Sunday that should apply to all Pacifica stations that are broadcasting the hearings. Viewing options and meet ups can be found at Iraq Veterans Against the War. (Dish Network is airing it on satellite TV as is Link TV today). Today's testimonies will cover discussions on gender and sexuality, racism and the 'other' to dehumanize the enemy and various costs of the illegal war. Sunday will cover how the US military is breaking under the strain of the wars and on the GI resistance. (Click here for a schedule.)

If you're not following the hearings, you're missing out on a lot. A soldier ripped apart the commendation David Petraeus gave him declaring, "General Petraeus, you pinned this on me in Babylon . . . I will no longer be a puppet for your personal gain and your political career."

You missed, on Friday, a young man tossing his dog tags and declaring, "F.U. I don't work for you no more." In yesterday's snapshot that's noted and a few e-mails came in asking if my comments about where they were thrown (out to the audience) and noting that they could be recovered if the man wanted to recover them was my say it was no big deal? No.

I was thinking of John Kerry who tossed medals and later asserted that they weren't his own medals. A lot of people who weren't there were just convinced they had to be his medals. The young man may, like Kerry, have some change of heart. If he ever does, we noted that they could be retrieved if he wanted to at a later time.

Hopefully he'll never want to. But John Kerry used to act brave and these days? In the latest of his long list of embarrassments, he refused to attend or even comment on the Iraq Veterans Against the War.

Maybe he had to do that. Maybe any kind of a reflection on his part would bring home to him just how damn little he's done to end this illegal war and how greatly he has betrayed the young man he once was?

If you're not following the hearings (and can -- if you don't have Dish TV, I don't believe closed caption is an option), you missed Camilo Mejia speaking on dehumanization, of how, "You remove the humanity from them to basically repress them, to beat them; and, doing so, you remove the humanity from yourself." Mejia shared the "blank spaces" that now exist in his memory such as the face of a child whose father had been decapitated with US machine gun fire.

"I remember," he declared, "seeing this young person standing next to the body of the father that was decapitated and, when I think about it, I cannot remember the expression on this child's face."

He stated he only knew about it "because people told me later that was the man's son."

He explained how you "erase certin memories that are too overwhelming, too painful to deal with. He called for the withdrawal of all foreign troops from Iraq and noted that war was destroying "the humanity of US soldiers . . . and destroying the Iraqi people."

"The rules of engagment we operated under were very strict," Michael Leduc testified but then came the impending second slaughter of Falluja and "and this was all about to change." He saw the head of corpses be used by US service members to "sharpen the sights" of their rifles. Brian Casler discussed the negative pressure and the lack of positive pressure, the value placed on US lives and not on Iraqi lives.

You heard about Iraqi prisoners being beaten, being mocked, a US marine grabbing a hat off one, shoving it down the back of his pants and wiping himself with it, and then trying to feed it to the Iraqi.

Christopher Arendt testified about being stationed at the prison on Guantanamo Bay. Geoff Millard testified about generals using derogatory terms for Iraqis (the h-word) all the way up to General George Casey. If you're following the hearings, you're learning a lot. If you're not, why aren't you listening.

(For community members who are hearing disabled, Friday's transcription of most panels runs in Polly's Brew tomorrow, El Espirito will have the transcription of Saturday's panels.)

The New York Times not only doesn't cover it, they don't even offer a report filed from Iraq.
The Washington Post offers a read/watch option for their report. From the text report by Steve Vogel:

For some of the veterans speaking yesterday, the experience was catharsis.
Former Marine Jon Turner began his presentation by ripping his service medals off his shirt and tossing them into the first row. He then narrated a series of graphic photographs showing bloody victims and destruction, bringing gasps from the audience. In a matter-of-fact voice, he described episodes in which he and fellow Marines shot people out of fear or retribution.
"I'm sorry for the hate and destruction I've inflicted upon innocent people," Turner said. "Until people hear about what is happening in this war, it will continue."
Winter Soldier is modeled after a well-known and controversial 1971 gathering of the same name at which veterans of the Vietnam War gathered to describe alleged atrocities. John Kerry, then a young veteran, spoke at the Detroit event, which brought him to prominence. The soldiers' claims sparked lasting enmity, which resurfaced during Kerry's run for president in 2004.
The 2008 Winter Soldier will probably be no different. The event drew dozens of counter-protesters who were kept from the conference site at the National Labor College by a contingent of Montgomery County police. Although entrance to the event was limited to participants and the media, one protester managed to slip in and walked toward the stage, interrupting a speaker.

Added: The following community sites have updated since yesterday morning:

Rebecca's Sex and Politics and Screeds and Attitude;
Cedric's Cedric's Big Mix;
Kat's Kat's Korner;
Betty's Thomas Friedman is a Great Man;
Mike's Mikey Likes It!;
Elaine's Like Maria Said Paz;
Wally's The Daily Jot;
Trina's Trina's Kitchen;
Ruth's Ruth's Report;
and Marcia's SICKOFITRADLZ

All comment on the Winter Soldiers Investigation in their posts.

The e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com.






aaron glantz
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For Those Who Care, IVAW's action continues

Today, presumably, Americans went to work and they came home looking forward to a weekend doing what they do on the weekend. Work probably did not permit many Americans to tune in on their computers to the testimony of Iraq Veterans Against the War and others who support their efforts. Thankfully, I was able to tune in for a significant chunk of the hearings and will post bits and pieces that caught my attention.
I ask that others on OpEdNews treat this as an open thread and add comments on what they heard. Or, I ask that others write articles that talk about some of the testimony I missed so I can become informed of what was said.
As I tuned in to the hearings in the morning while I was on break during class, I heard a terrible story of suicide being told by two parents of the soldier that had died. They described his mental state with detail. Their faces were of anguish.
When they went to play a song to highlight their son's last days, the music played without words. The malfunction---the technical difficulty---was tough to handle when considering that it seems ever since their son came home from war nothing has gone right.

The above is from Kevin Gosztola's "The Irony and Absurdity of Occupation (Winter Soldier Day 2)" (OpEdNews). OpEdNews has been covering it. Others can't make the same claim. Nothing up at The Progressive, no column at Common Dreams (they have a news headline), nothing up at CounterPunch, Mother Jones has nothing up, In These Times has nothing up.

BuzzFlash finally offers something but nothing in their link headlines (one to War Comes Home, one to an Amy Goodman story from Friday) that says, "Click here to listen because this is happening now." The links are also buried far down in the page, not even making the top fifty of the page. It's embarrassing and shameful.

Aimee Allison and Aaron Glantz have been interviewing guests during testimony breaks and we've been told that the MSM is not covering it but no one seems to be noticing just how AWOL the beggars of 'independent media' are. Where are they? They want your money, they beg for your money, they tell you 'we can't do this without you, only with you.' They say you need them because they're the only ones who will cover these important stories. Those stories don't, apparently, include US service members sharing what they saw, what they took part in while serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.

They're really good about asking for your money and they're real good about pretending they want to end the illegal war. But where the hell are they?

And have you checked the websites of so-called peace groups? It's not suprise that WalkOn.org (aka MoveOn) is doing nothing to promote the Winter Solider Investigation but have you checked, for example, CODEPINK which allegedly was started to stop the Iraq War and yet focuses on so many things that it may need to call itself CODEPINK Global Exchange shortly. Though they offer nothing on their front page about IVAW's action, they have plenty of time for impeachment, Hurricane Katrina and Luis Posada Carriles.

It was a CODEPEACE member -- tossing the organization's name around -- who felt the need to write this site and whine about the way I'd written of someone who was attacking IVAW at the time or I never would have mentioned his name. I had pointed out that he was going to wake up to find a lot of the 'anti-war' groups he was active with weren't about ending the illegal war -- and, to his credit, he publicly called them out when he did find that out months later) but a long comes a CODESTINKER up in arms and also wanting to promote the propangda film No Exit Out (or whatever Charlie Ferguson's War was). I think they may need to do some regrouping. No Exit exists to sell the lie that the problem with the Iraq War was that it was planned -- Naomi Klein and Antonia Juhasz, among others, have documented that it was indeed planned. No Exit -- made by a war supporter who supported it from the start, supported it while making the war and supported while promoting the bad film -- got picked up by a lot of alleged 'anti-war' types. Either they don't want to end the illegal war or they're too stupid to grasp what they allegedy watched.

The thing was planned and listen to the testimony offered by service members in the panel on corruption Friday and there's a plan -- a plan for corporations to rake in the dough.

"I guess in times like these, you know who your friends are," sings Tori Amos ("Taxi Ride," Scarlett's Walk). Never forget it. People are revealing themselves.

They've got a full plate and don't have time for ending the Iraq War but watch the same do-nothings trot themselves out to indymedia next week for interviews where they claim that ending the illegal war is their number one priority. Watch 'em flock to the stage of Take Back America next week -- liars, not leaders. A few who crave power (that they will never have) so madly they'll say anything. A few who are communists and treat that as if it's something to hide in a closet so they're lying as well. And always the centrists.

Heaven forbid anyone get serious about ending the illegal war from those ranks.

As long as I'm calling out CODEPINK, and hoping I never need to do so again, let me state something for the record. I promoted (with cautionary notes of check with a doctor first) and took part in the fast for peace action they had in the summer of 2006. NEVER AGAIN. Never again does an organization for and by women need to promote the idea that WOMEN SHOULD STARVE THEMSELVES. Not for peace, not for anything. Eating disorders are rampant in the United States. What idiot thought a fast was the way to go?

And, you'll note, the fast was dropped by most quickly as they rushed out of the country to hop around Lebanon while Iraq fell off the radar. Starving for Attention was what Cherry Boone O'Neill called her autobiography and, if nothing else, that should have made someone think, "Do we want to do a fast? Do we realize how easily we could be ridiculed?" No one thought that which shows a huge lack of planning and insight. They're very lucky the right-wing ignored them instead of using that book title to mock them.

If they call another fast, I'll be the first from the left to mock them because women do not need to starve for attention, women do not need to be weakend (which is what a fast does physically) in order to get their way. We don't trade our health and straggle around meekly hoping pity ends the illegal war. Yes, the suffragettes used the method (effectively) but that was many, many years ago and a women's organization today -- knowing full well the eating disorders in this country -- should NEVER promote an ongoing fast as a political action. Not only can it be seen as encouraging eating disorders (and encouraging the notion that when we go weak, we get what we want), it also eliminates a number of women from participating because they are in recovery for eating disorders.

Starving for attention? Foreign Policy in Focus offers nothing and IPS (organization, not journalistic website) offers Phyllis Bennis determined to embarrass herself with a piece entitled
"Iraq War Entering Year Six: Multiple Crises Rising in Middle East" whose opening statement is,
"Gaza is under murderous assault and the United States is escalating regional threats while pushing new sanctions against Iran." Gee, Phyl, looks like you forgot Iraq before you even started. What it reads like is "Oh my, the fifth anniversary of the Iraq War is coming up! Let me dash off a column but Iraq's not really interesting enough to me for a full column so let me promote my pet causes." Yeah, that's ending the illegal war. Some 'leaders' need to step off stage quickly.

Phyllis Bennis then offers six bulletin points. One is about Iraq. She might claim two are, but the first one is not about Iraq, it just uses the Iraq war to promote her pet causes, "As the fifth anniversary of the Iraq War approaches amid a renewed rise in violence, claimed U.S. regional goals of 'democratization,' 'stability,' 'freedom' are overwhelmed by violent, anti-democratic, unilateral and militaristic U.S. actions across the beleaguered Middle East." From that point, it's everything but Iraq until point six when she again offers a shout-out and nothing more than a shout-out: "In Baghdad, even as violence once again begins to climb upwards, Iranian President Ahmadinejad paid a high-profile, walk-the-streets-in-safety visit under the noses of the U.S. occupation." Phyll, your teachers may have waded through that garbage but people who care about Iraq are going to be scratching their heads by that point (if not sooner) and bailing on your column which isn't even started. The Iraq War's fifth anniverary is in your title, try writing about it.

For those who care, Iraq Veterans Against the War Winter Soldiers Investigation continues today. The hearings opened Thursday, continued all day yesterday and are airing today and tomorrow. You can stream at the IVAW website or cath the broadcast n KPFA with Aimee Allison (co-host of the station's The Morning Show and co-author with David Solnit of Army Of None) and Aaron Glantz hosting and the KPFA live stream will also be available at Glantz' War Comes Home as well as on KPFK, WBAI and at the Pacifica Radio homepage. The times are nine in the morning until seven at night for Saturday and ten in the morning until four in the afternoon on Sunday that should apply to all Pacifica stations that are broadcasting the hearings. Viewing options and meet ups can be found at Iraq Veterans Against the War. (Dish Network is airing it on satellite TV today). Today's testimonies will cover discussions on gender and sexuality, racism and the 'other' to dehumanize the enemy and various costs of the illegal war. Sunday will cover how the US military is breaking under the strain of the wars and on the GI resistance. (Click here for a schedule.)

The e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com.




aaron glantz

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IVAW's Winter Soldiers Investigation continues

 Iraq Veterans Against the War Winter Soldiers Investigation continues today.  The hearings opened Thursday, continued all day yesterday and are airing today and tomorrow.  You can stream at the IVAW website or cath the broadcast n KPFA with Aimee Allison (co-host of the station's The Morning Show and co-author with David Solnit of Army Of None) and Aaron Glantz hosting and the KPFA live stream will also be available at Glantz' War Comes Home as well as on KPFK, WBAI and at the Pacifica Radio homepage.  The times are nine in the morning until seven at night for Saturday and ten in the morning until four in the afternoon on Sunday that should apply to all Pacifica stations that are broadcasting the hearings. Viewing options and meet ups can be found at Iraq Veterans Against the War. (Dish Network is airing it on satellite TV as is Link TV today). Today's testimonies will cover  discussions on gender and sexuality, racism and the 'other' to dehumanize the enemy and various costs of the illegal war. Sunday will cover how the US military is breaking under the strain of the wars and  on the GI resistance. (Click here for a schedule.)
 



Aimee Allison and Aaron Glantz anchor the second day of a historic three day broadcast of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans speaking out against the US occupations of those countries.

On-Air Studio Line: 510-848-4425

Winter Soldier: Iraq & Afghanistan continues
(12pm)
Aimee Allison and Aaron Glantz anchor the second day of a historic three day broadcast of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans speaking out against the US occupations of those countries.
 
 
 
The e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com.
 

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Friday, March 14, 2008

Iraq snapshot

Friday, March 14, 2008.  Chaos and violence continues, IVAW continues their Winter Soldiers Investigation, the Pentagon thought they were keeping a report offline, John McCain makes plans with a travel buddy, and more.
 
 
Starting with war resisters.  Judith Scherr (Berkeley Daily Planet) reports the Berkeley's City Council was set to adopt the measure of sending Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper a letter in support of war resisters; however, Council member Gordon Wozniak demanded a full discussion (in what was a big whiney move on Wozniak's part).  The discussion took place Wednesday night. Kriss Worthington and Max Anderson recommended the letter to Harper, Diane Finley (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration) and Stephane Dion (Liberal Party leader).  The [PDF format warning] text of the recommendation notes the request would be "that the government of Canada establish provisions to provide sanctuary for U.S. military service members who are living in Canada to resist fighting in the Iraq War."  [PDF format warning] The proposal notes:
 
Throughout the Vietnam War era, Canada provided a place of refuge for United States citizens seeking to resist the war.  Because of Canada's rich tradition of being a refuge from militarism, approximately 200 U.S. military service people have moved to Canada to resist fighting in the Iraq War.   
However, it has become more difficult to immigrate to Canada and these war resisters are seeking refugee status in accord with United Nations guidelins.  Unfortunately, their requests for refugee status have been rejected by the Canadian Refugee Board.  Several resisters have appealed the Refugee Board decisions to the Supreme Court of Canada.  While a court decision is pending these resisters are vulnerable to deportation back to the United States where they may face years of incarceration or even worst penalties.
 
In November  the Canadian Supreme Court refused to hear the appeals of Jeremy Hinzman and Brandon Hughey. Today, Canada's Parliament remaining the best hope for safe harbor war resisters have, you can make your voice heard by the Canadian parliament which has the ability to pass legislation to grant war resisters the right to remain in Canada. Three e-mails addresses to focus on are: Prime Minister Stephen Harper (pm@pm.gc.ca -- that's pm at gc.ca) who is with the Conservative party and these two Liberals, Stephane Dion (Dion.S@parl.gc.ca -- that's Dion.S at parl.gc.ca) who is the leader of the Liberal Party and Maurizio Bevilacqua (Bevilacqua.M@parl.gc.ca -- that's Bevilacqua.M at parl.gc.ca) who is the Liberal Party's Critic for Citizenship and Immigration. A few more can be found here at War Resisters Support Campaign. For those in the US, Courage to Resist has an online form that's very easy to use. That is the sort of thing that should receive attention but instead it's ignored.           

There is a growing movement of resistance within the US military which includes Matt Mishler, Josh Randall, Robby Keller, Justiniano Rodrigues, Chuck Wiley, James Stepp, Rodney Watson, Michael Espinal, Matthew Lowell, Derek Hess, Diedra Cobb, Brad McCall, Justin Cliburn, Timothy Richard, Robert Weiss, Phil McDowell, Steve Yoczik, Ross Spears, Peter Brown, Bethany "Skylar" James, Zamesha Dominique, Chrisopther Scott Magaoay, Jared Hood, James Burmeister, Eli Israel, Joshua Key, Ehren Watada, Terri Johnson, Clara Gomez, Luke Kamunen, Leif Kamunen, Leo Kamunen, Camilo Mejia, Kimberly Rivera, Dean Walcott, Linjamin Mull, Agustin Aguayo, Justin Colby, Marc Train, Abdullah Webster, Robert Zabala, Darrell Anderson, Kyle Snyder, Corey Glass, Jeremy Hinzman, Kevin Lee, Mark Wilkerson, Patrick Hart, Ricky Clousing, Ivan Brobeck, Aidan Delgado, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Stephen Funk, Blake LeMoine, Clifton Hicks, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Joshua Casteel, Katherine Jashinski, Dale Bartell, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Chris Capps, Tim Richard, Hart Viges, Michael Blake, Christopher Mogwai, Christian Kjar, Kyle Huwer, Wilfredo Torres, Michael Sudbury, Ghanim Khalil, Vincent La Volpa, DeShawn Reed and Kevin Benderman. In total, at least fifty US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum. 

Information on war resistance within the military can be found at The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline [(877) 447-4487], Iraq Veterans Against the War and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters. Tom Joad maintains a list of known war resisters. In addition, VETWOW is an organization that assists those suffering from MST (Military Sexual Trauma).    

 
 Iraq Veterans Against the War Winter Soldiers Investigation which began last night and continues through Sunday and the hearings will be broadcast at the Iraq Veterans Against the War home page an on KPFA with Aimee Allison (co-host of the station's The Morning Show and co-author with David Solnit of Army Of None) and Aaron Glantz hosting and the KPFA live stream will also be available at Glantz' War Comes Home as well as on KPFK, WBAI and at the Pacifica Radio homepage which notes its live coverage will be from (EST times) 10 in the morning to seven at night on Friday, nine in the morning until seven at night on Saturday and ten in the morning until four in the afternoon on Sunday that should apply to all Pacifica stations that are broadcasting the hearings. Viewing options and meet ups can be found at Iraq Veterans Against the War. (Dish Network is airing it on satellite TV -- today and Saturday). Today's testimonies will cover rules of engagment, healthcare, contractors and war profiteering and the aims of the wars (Iraq and Afghanistan). Tomorrow will kick off with discussions on gender and sexuality, racism and the 'other' to dehumanize the enemy and various costs of the illegal war. Sunday will cover how the US military is breaking under the strain of the wars and GI resistance. (Click here for a schedule.)
 
The IVAW website was overwhelmed with visitors today so, should you have trouble streaming, remember the other streaming alternatives.  The first panel was moderated by Jose Vasquez who explained the rules which included that after someone testified, they would then have a decomposing support session and should not be approached by the press or anyone else until that was taken care of.  In addition, unlike the VA, they have set up support groups and systems to ensure that all witnesses offering testimony had support for the next few days.  The basic pattern was that each veteran would give their name, explain when they served (in either Iraq or Afghanistan) and then share their testimony.  Some non-veterans testified as well on areas of corruption and war profiteering.
 
There were many strong highlights.  This is not an exhaustive list.  Other community sites will be posting (Trina's called dibs on Adam Kokesh) and we'll be covering this at The Third Estate Sunday Review (Sunday's hearings will be covered in Monday's snapshot).  Hart Viges spoke of his time serving in Iraq and how he would go on round-ups and think the guilty and innocent were sorted quickly.  Only later did he find out that "people being detained are being detained for years -- their parents don't even know where they are."  Jason Washburn discussed how you could shoot an Iraqi civilian and get away with it -- by his third tour he noticed that they were unofficially (wink-nod) allowed by the command to have shovels and "if we accidentally did kill a civilian we could just drop a shovel" which would indicate -- under the US military command's screwed up understanding -- that the person shot must have been digging a hole to plant a roadside bomb, in which case, the killing was a-okay.  John Michael Turner began his testimony by tossing his dog tags to the audience (IVAW members were in the front rows, so they caught them and can return to them to him if he wants them back) declaring, "F.U. I don't work for you no more."  He spoke of the damage done in Iraq and spoke so clearly that the damage the illegal war had done to him was audible.  He declared, "I am sorry for the hate and destruction that I have inflicted on innocent people" and noted that "until people hear the truth about what is going on in this war, people will continue to die."  That really is the point of the hearings and various witnesses made it very clear that they were not attacking those they had served with, that this was not about finger-pointing at US service members, this was about the policies in place and the orders being given by higher ups through the chain of command.
 
The healthcare issue was addressed as well.  Eli Wright spoke of how "military healthcare doesn't get enough attention" and advised service members struggling to get the medical care they have been promised, "Don't keep it quiet and, unfortunately, in many cases you can't rely on your command" to do the job for you.  He noted how difficult it could be, while you serving, to speak out for your healthcare needs but that it's often the only way to receive treatment. In Monday's snapshot, we will note the veteran by name but I didn't know him and if we wait to find out who he was the snapshot will never go up.  A veteran discussed how he was told repeatedly about the benefits he would have.  How it would apply to his family.  Reality was the military provided nothing. (His last name may have been Peterson.)  He was serving in Iraq and his wife began to miscarry.  She phoned and was told that she was probably miscarrying.  Could she get an ambulance?  Did she have $1500?  The wife ended up hunting down a friend to take her to the facitilities.  They arrived at 4:00 pm.  She was miscarrying but they closed at 4:30 and couldn't see her.  The woman was miscarrying and the US military was refusing treatment.  They wouldn't even request an ambulance.  Her friend drove her over 20 miles to another facility where she miscarried.  Eric Estenzo spoke of injuring his back in Iraq and getting wonderful care -- while enlisted.  As soon as he was discharged, he found a different life.  He suffered from PTSD, he had trouble readjusting which made keeping a civilian job very difficult.  He felt on top of the world, with $17,000 in cash, and quickly found himself homeless though he didn't realize it then and was, in fact, "house surfing" before he realized what was happening.  He was in Hollywood, attempting to stay with a friend, and saw some people giving out food to the homeless.  He was hungry and thought it would be fine to grab some food.  Eating it, he realized he was homeless.  It took a support network of other veterans and his own courage and strength to fight the VA system and demand the care he needed.
 
Corruption and war profiteering was another panel.  KBR was the focus of Kelly Dougherty's testimony.  She discussed how she and others serving in Iraq assigned to protect convoys were repeatedly put at risk when a KBR vehicle broke down, how they were told it was an asset to be protected even if that meant killing someone and then they would be told to forget it, to destroy the vehicle and move out.  Iraqis desperate for fuel or the contents of the truck were not a concern and, if pressed, the US military command would instruct service members that distributing something in the trucks (before destroying them) could cause a riot.  All of which goes to Doughtery's statement of Iraqis, "I'm looking at people I can't even look in the eye."  Moving to Kuwait after serving in Iraq and while waiting to be sent back homes, service members were living in a KBR tent city.  Doughtery explained, "When we were leaving . . . we were put in these tent cities.  Our tents were completely covered with mold on the inside."  The tents had bunk beds and not cots so service members were not allowed to (as some wanted) sleep outside the tents to avoid what appeared to be Black Mold.  Instead, they suffered from respitory infections.  Dougherty noted "this living condition where we couldn't even be in the place were we were supposed to live without getting sick."  KBR made a big profit of the illegal war.  KBR provided the troops with tents that made them sick.  Where's the audit on that?  Non-veteran  Antonia Juhasz spoke about the realities that some (including some in the peace movement) forget, "the very extensive pre-planning."  [Me: Because of that really bad 'documentary' (No End In Sight) some have yet again forgotten reality and claim that there should have been planning or better planning.  What's taking place in Iraq was planned.]  Juhasz went over how this was planned in depth, how Paul Bremer continued to the plan with his Bremer laws and how the Iraqi people are the ones suffering and there is no 'win' to be found.  The only answer is for foreign troops to leave Iraq and allow "Iraqis to sort it out."  Juhasz has documented this at length in her writing (including her book The BU$H Agenda).
 
Veteran Adrienne Kinne, speaking on healthcare, offered this reality, "The best preventative healthcare for our soldiers in uniform is to not use them to fight illegal wars."  The hearings continue Saturday and Sunday.  [Again, that is not everyone who poke and today and early tomorrow you will find more at the community sites -- Rebecca's Sex and Politics and Screeds and Attitude; Cedric's Cedric's Big Mix; Kat's Kat's Korner; Betty's Thomas Friedman is a Great Man; Mike's Mikey Likes It!; Elaine's Like Maria Said Paz;
Wally's The Daily Jot; Trina's Trina's Kitchen; Ruth's Ruth's Report; and Marcia's SICKOFITRADLZ.]
 
At McClatchy Newspapers' Inside Iraq, an Iraqi correspondent expresses disgust with the ongoing lying and shares, "I will tell a story of a friend who is in Sweden who had the residency card by a lie he had made.  He is a Shiite but he claimed that he is a Sunni and the Mahdi army threatened him and his family to levae the Shiite neighborhood he used to live giving him hours otherwise the whole family would be killed.  As a result of this lie, this man had got a warning from his wife to get divorce if he doesn't tell the Swedish authorities the whole truth that he is a Shiite Iraqi who left Iraq to live his life as it is a disaster to live there for all Iraqis whether he is a Sunni or a Shiite."
 
Meanwhile Erica Goode (New York Times) reports on the death of Iraqi journalist Qassim Abdul-Hussein al-Iqabi who was 35-years old and working for The Citizen before he was shot dead yesterday while en route to work in Baghdad.  The Committee to Protect Journalists' Joel Simon states, "We offer our deepest condolences to Qassim Abdul Hussein al-Iqabi's family and colleagues.  His death serves as a stark reminder of the dangers journalists face daily in Iraq and of the urgent need for their protection as they work to bring the news of the conflict to the world."  Cameron W. Barr (Washington Post) notes the journalist had been "walking in Baghdad's largely Shiite Karrada neighborhood" when he was shot dead.
 
Yesterday, Archibishop Paulos Faraj Rahho's corpse was found in Mosul. On He was leaving the Catholic Church in Mosul when he, his driver and two others were stopped on February 29th, while leaving the Catholic Church in Mosul with three other people, he was kidnapped (the other three people were shot dead.  Today he was buried in Mosul and Ned Parker (Los Angeles Times)  describes the scene: "Hundreds gathered at the church in the village of Kramleis on the plains of northern Nineveh province to memorialize the most senior Christian clergyman targeted by armed groups in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion five years ago" and quotes Cardinal Emmanuel III Delly explaining to the mourners, "I ask the people of the church to be steadfast and patient.  He became a martyr because of his great faith, and his love for his service."  Parker notes the ransom the kidnappers had requested at one point was at least one-million dollars.  Ryan Lenz (AP) also describes the funeral, "Carrying flowers and olive branches, mourners wept and wailed as they carried a wooden coffin holding the body of one of Iraq's most senior Chaldean Catholic clerics for a proper burial in northern Iraq on Friday.  Leading the procession down the streets of a village outside Mosul was a church official who held a wooden cross with Archbishop Paulos Faraj Rahho's picture."  Borzou Daragahi (LA Times) explains, "Chaldeans are part of the Catholic Church.  Chaldean parishes around the world grieved the loss of Rahho."
 
 
Turning to the US.  Senator Crazy's campaign slogan is "VOTE INSANE! VOTE JOHN MCCAIN!" and Alex Spillius (Telegraph of London) reports John Mccain has declared that Iraq must be a "success" (no chance) and quotes him declaring, "One of the debates of this election will be if the American people want a candidate who wants to get out [of Iraq] as quickly as possible.  If we do that then al-Qa'eda wins, we have chaos and genocide throughout the region and they will follow us home.  That's been my position -- forever."  Forever?  If true, that would mean he's been wrong "forever."  Jesse A. Hamilton (Hartford Courant) reports that Senator Crazy will team up with The Senator With No Part for a joint-visit to Iraq -- in other words, back off girls and boys, Joe Lieberman's got him all next week. 
 
Turning to some of today's reported violence . . .
 
Bombings?
 
Sahar Issa (McClatchy Newspapers) reports a Baghdad roadside bombing that wounded a garbage truck driver today and 2 car bombings in Nineveh that claimed the lives of 3 Iraqi soldiers and leaving ten more people wounded.  Reuters notes a motorcylce bombing in Kut that claimed 1 life and left six more wounded.
 
Shootings?
 
Sahar Issa (McClatchy Newspapers) reports an ongoing armed clash in Rabi'a district.  Reuters notes that yesterday Iraqi police shot at a car in Samarra and killed a 15-year-old female while a police officer was shot dead in Najaf on Thursday.
 
Corpses?
 
Sahar Issa (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 2 corpses were discovered in Baghdad today.
 
 
On Sunday, the death toll for US soldiers since the start of the illegal war stood at 3975.  Currently, the toll stands at 3987 -- thirteen away from the 4,000 mark.  As noted earlier this week, PEW Research Center revealed, "Public awareness of the number of American military fatalities in Iraq has declined sharply since last August.  Today, just 28% of audlts are able to say that approximately 4,000 Americans have died in the Iraq war. . . .  In August 2007, 54% correctly identified the fatality level at that time (about 3,5000 deaths).  In previous polls going back to the spring of 2004, about, half of respondents could correctly estimate the number of U.S. fatalities around the time of the survey."  As Antonia Juhasz noted in her testimony at Winter Soldiers Investigation today, Iraq War coverage has fallen off the radar.  The Project for Excellence in Journalism (PEJ) noted in December that, "Through June [2007], more than half of all stories [for 2007] were about violent incidents, but that number fell to roughly one third in September and October."  November 28's snapshot discussed the Project for Excellence in Journalism's   [PDF format warning] "Journalists in Iraq: A survey of reporters on the front lines" and we noted, "In other findings, 62 percent say that their 'editors back home' have lost interest in reports of day-to-day violence (no kidding) and the only significant increases have been in reports on contractors (79%) and 'U.S. military strategy' (67%)."  It was and is a big point.  It was a big point before you could see the impact -- the survey was conducted in August and September.  Knowing that the "number fell to roughly one third in September and October" from the December study and noting that during that time period, American correspondents in Iraq were stating that their "editors back home" have lost interest in reports of day-to-day violence, let's not pretend the message was sent out clearly to journalists in Iraq that the brass didn't want to know about violence.  Of course this was when David Petraeus was attempting to sell another wave of Operation Happy Talk -- but that's just a coincidence, right?
 
General Petraeus returns to Congress next month.  Cameron W. Barr (Washington Post) reports that "Petraues, who is preparing to testify to Congress next month on the Iraq war, said in an interview that 'no one' in the U.S. and Iraqi governments 'feels that there has been sufficient progress by any means in the area of national reconciliation' or in the provision of basic public services."  He apparently is attempting to soften up the media for more rah-rah coverage next month.  He shouldn't worry so hard.  A10 is where the New York Times runs "Study Finds No Qaeda-Hussein Tie" in today's paper.  The four-tiny paragraphs are in stark contrast to the paper's repeatedly pushing the false link in the lead up to the illegal war.  (And, since some 'voices' are too stupid or too chicken, let's note Judith Miller wasn't the first in the 'news' section to make that false link. Chris Hedges wrote the first article making that link and it ran on the front page in October of 2001.)  At the start of the work week, Warren P. Strobel (McClatchy Newspapers) reported on a "Pentagon-sponsored study, scheduled for release later this week" that reviewed "more than 600,000 Iraqi documents" and "found no evidence that Saddam Hussein's regime had any operational links with Osama bin Laden's al Qaida terrorist network."  On Thursday, Strobel reported that things had changed: "Rather than posting the report online and making officials available to discuss it, as had been planned, the U.S. Joint Forces Command said it would mail copies of the document to reporters -- if they asked for it.  The report won't be posted on the Internet."  Well, not posted online by the government anyway.  Click on "Saddam and Terrorism Pentagon Report Online" to read the report the government thought they could downplay.
 
 
Final section, independent journalist David Bacon (he can honestly be called that) offers "Black and Brown Together" in the new issue of The American Prospect:
 
In big U.S. cities African Americans and immigrants, especially Latinos, often are divided by fears that any gain in jobs or political clout by one group can only come at the expense of the other.  In Mississippi, African American political leaders and immigrant organizers favor a different calculation: Blacks plus immigrants plus unions equals power.   
Since 2000, all three have cooperated in organizing one of the country's most active immigrants' rights coalitions, the MIRA. "You will always find folks reluctant to get involved, who say, it's not part of our mission, that immigrangs are taking our jobs," [Jim] Evans says.  "But we all have the same rights and justice cause."  
Evans, whose boombing basso profundo comes straight out of the pulpit, remembers his father riding shotgun for Medgar Evers, the NAACP leader slain by racists in 1963.  He believes organizing immigrants is a direct continuation of Mississippi Freedom Summer and the Poor People's March on Washington.  "To get to peace and freedom," Evans says, "you must come through the door of truth and justice."
 
PBS Roundup Bill Moyers Journal  Ellen Spiro and Phil Donahue on their documentary Body of War.  NOW on PBS will feature Mark Klein being interviewed about illegal wiretapping and Wynona Ward on stopping domestic violence. Washington Week will feature Martha Raddatz and Todd S. Purdum on the gas bag panel.  All can air as early as Friday night but local stations may carry them at various times -- especially with some PBS stations being in pledge drive mode.  All programs can be streamed online.  Moyers will have full transcript up this evening after the program airs.  Washington Week posts their transcripts on Mondays -- so both of those programs are accesible to all.  (Washington Week will be added to the links for that reason as soon as I find the time to add it.)
 
 

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In 1971 there was an event called "Winter Soldier.'' It was Vietnam vets gathering together to tell the truth about that war.
They testified about the war crimes - the burning of villages, free fire zones, forced relocation of villagers, mistreatment of civilians, electrical torture, mutilation of bodies - that were de facto policy of our military.
It was an extraordinary attempt to speak truth to power.
That power, of course, did not want to hear, and those voices were only minimally heard and their message went largely unheeded.
So now, more than 30 years later, another generation of young soldiers must gather to tell their truth to a power structure once more engaged in an unnecessary, illegal and immoral war.
On March 13-15, Iraq and Afghanistan vets will gather together near Washington, D.C., to testify from their knowledge and experience.
And, of course, the power structure will do all in its power to mute their voices.
The mainstream media will do what they always do to underplay such an event to the vanishing point.
But if our nation chooses to send its young people to do its dirty work, then it has a solemn duty to listen to their voices when they get home.
Please let the media hear from you. Let them know you want these voices heard. Let them know you want them to do their jobs.
Maybe if they heard from enough of us, some of them would prove worthy of the title "journalist.''
At stake is the country's soul and its future.
The hope would be that another generation will not have to follow in these young soldiers' tragic footprints.
The event is sponsored by Iraq Veterans Against the War.
A local participant will be Jason Wallace, Green Party candidate for Congress from the 11th District.
Gregg Brown
Bloomington

The above letter to the editor is entitled "Listen to war veterans; nation's sould at stake" (The Pantagraph). Iraq Veterans Against the War Winter Soldiers Investigation which began last night and continues through Sunday and the hearings will be broadcast at the Iraq Veterans Against the War home page an on KPFA with Aimee Allison (co-host of the station's The Morning Show and co-author with David Solnit of Army Of None) and Aaron Glantz hosting and the KPFA live stream will also be available at Glantz' War Comes Home as well as on KPFK, WBAI and at the Pacifica Radio homepage which notes its live coverage will be from (EST times) 10 in the morning to seven at night on Friday, nine in the morning until seven at night on Saturday and ten in the morning until four in the afternoon on Sunday that should apply to all Pacifica stations that are broadcasting the hearings. Viewing options and meet ups can be found at Iraq Veterans Against the War. (Dish Network is airing it on satellite TV -- today and Saturday). Today's testimonies will cover rules of engagment, healthcare, contractors and war profiteering and the aims of the wars (Iraq and Afghanistan). Tomorrow will kick off with discussions on gender and sexuality, racism and the 'other' to dehumanize the enemy and various costs of the illegal war. Sunday will cover how the US military is breaking under the strain of the wars and GI resistance. (Click here for a schedule.) On Milwaukee.com notes that Peace Action-Wisconsin is offering a meet-up where people can watch the hearings together:


Winter Soldier Live Broadcast
Peace Action Center, 1001 E Keefe Ave

Thursday, Mar 13, 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm
Friday, Mar 14, 08:00 am to 7:30 pm
Saturday, Mar 15, 3:00 pm to 7:30 pm
Sunday, Mar 16, 09:00 am to 2:00 pm

The University of Illinois is another location groups can gather to watch. We'll note this press release from Jason Wallace again:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 11, 2008

CONTACT: Tanya Austin, 831-917-5448, tanya.austin@tmo.blackberry.net

Emilie Surrusco, 202-253-7298, emilie@ivaw.org

Iraq Veterans' Winter Soldier: It's our turn to tell our stories

Central Illinois Chapter to send four members for testimony and participation

Champaign, IL -- For the first time since the U.S. invasion, hundreds of veterans of the occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan will be gathering in Washington to speak out and tell their stories. Local veterans will be joining the effort by showing a live feed of the Winter Soldier event at the University of Illinois Urbana/Champaign campus – and joining a nationwide network of veterans and service members committed to speaking out about a reality that, until now, has remained hidden.

From March 13-16 at the National Labor College just outside of Washington, D.C., veterans from across the country will be standing up to share their experiences at Winter Soldier: Iraq and Afghanistan. Their stories will show the human consequences of failed policy. Central Illinois Chapter members of Iraq Veterans Against the War that will be participating at the event include Martin Smith, Nathan Peld, Tanya Austin, and Jason Wallace the Green Party candidate Illinois' 11th Congressional District, .

"We've heard from the politicians, we've heard from the generals, we've heard from the media – now it's our turn," said Kelly Dougherty, executive director of IVAW and a former sergeant in the Colorado Army National Guard, who served in Iraq as a military police officer. "It's not going to be easy to hear what we have to say. It's not going to be easy for us to tell it. But we believe that the only way this war is going to end is if the American people truly understand what we have done in their name."

WHAT: Winter Soldier Testimony -- Live Feed

WHO: Central Illinois Chapter of IVAW

WHERE: University of Illinois, Lincoln Hall, Room 106. 702 S. Wright Street, Ave. Urbana, IL.

WHEN: Friday, March 14, 6:00-7:30pm

WHY: To give local veterans the opportunity to participate in this groundbreaking event
Iraq Veterans Against the War was founded in 2004 to give those who have served in the military since September 11, 2001 a way to come together and speak out against an unjust, illegal and unwinnable war. Today, IVAW has over 700 members in 49 states, Washington, D.C. and Canada and on military bases overseas.

For more information on Winter Soldier: www.ivaw.org/wintersoldier/media

--
Jason Wallace, Candidate
U.S. House of Representatives
Illinois 11th Congressional District
PO Box 708
Bloomington, IL 61702-0708
Office 309.532.3446
Cell 309.826.5290
Fax: 1.866.554.3176
jason@electwallace.us
http://www.electwallace.us

Paid for by the Committee to Elect Jason Wallace

There are a variety of options to follow the hearings and they are important. Pay attention to who gives them the time they deserve and who doesn't and remember that when they're next asking for money or asking you to renew your subscription or support their foundation or blah, blah, blah. Next week the illegal war hits the five-year-mark. Silence isn't ending it.

But the 'cakewalk' is such a success! Lloyd notes Cameron W. Barr's "Petraeus: Iraqi Leaders Not Making 'Sufficient Progress'" (Washington Post):

Iraqi leaders have failed to take advantage of a reduction in violence to make adequate progress toward resolving their political differences, Gen. David H. Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, said Thursday.
Petraeus, who is preparing to testify to Congress next month on the Iraq war, said in an interview that "no one" in the U.S. and Iraqi governments "feels that there has been sufficient progress by any means in the area of national reconciliation," or in the provision of basic public services.
The general's comments appeared to be his sternest to date on Iraqis' failure to achieve political reconciliation. In February, following the passage of laws on the budget, provincial elections and an amnesty for certain detainees, Petraeus was more encouraging. "The passage of the three laws today showed that the Iraqi leaders are now taking advantage of the opportunity that coalition and Iraqi troopers fought so hard to provide," he said at the time.

I wouldn't get too excited about the above. Petraeus is stating the extreme obvious and since his last testimony was demonstrated to be a joke (demonstrated by reality), he has to offer something in the build up to "Petraeus is coming!" April madness if he's expected to be believed by anyone.

Vic passes on this press release from Canada's Rabble.Ca:


On the 5th anniversary of the invasion of Iraq,
Canadian war protesters are taking their message to the world by partnering
with the online news source rabble.ca as it launches rabbletv. Between
1:00p.m. - 6p.m. EST on Saturday, March 15, rabble will place the rabbletv
video player on the home page of rabble.ca (http://rabble.ca). Visitors to the
page will be able to watch both live and recorded coverage without having to
download any special software. The official video channel for rabble.ca,
rabbletv is an interactive video platform that allows viewers to comment in
real time and discuss events as they are happening.
On March 15, the webcast will begin at 1:00p.m. EST. At 2:30p.m. EST
rabbletv will go live to Toronto to present the World Against the War rally
(see: www.nowar.ca/worldagainstwar.htm). The indoor rally, organized by the
Toronto Coalition to Stop the War, features music, local speakers and war
resisters. It takes place at 427 Bloor Street West, Toronto, Ontario.
Tarnjit Johal, rabbletv producer, said "rabbletv's role is not merely to
report on the event but to provide a dynamic space for debate, give insight
from the diverse communities affected by the war and to encourage grassroots
journalism."
"This anniversary is important because it marks the occasion 5 years ago
when hundreds of thousands of Canadians spoke up loudly against the invasion
of Iraq, directly influencing Canada's decision not to join the war," said
James Clark from the Toronto Coalition to Stop the War. "This is the time to
celebrate our resistance to the Bush-Harper agenda, and to send the message
that the anti-war movement will continue to organize until we bring all our
troops home."
rabble.ca is Canada's most popular online site for alternative news and
views. rabble features original articles and reprints along with a dynamic set
of Canadian podcasts, a book review section and a moderated discussion board
with thousands of registered users. rabble.ca is a non-profit, member
supported media outlet. Following the protest, rabbletv will feature a week of
programming on the war.
For further information: Tarnjit Johal, Producer, rabbletv cell: (416)
670-1790, email: tarnjit@rabble.ca

And staying with press releases, Amnesty International released this one today:

Press release
02:19 pm - Friday
Amnesty International: former detainee reveals details of secret CIA program
Rome, Italy - Regarding the secret detentions
(WAPA) -- "The cruelty and illegality of the US government’s program of secret detentions can be illustrated by one man’s story. It is the story of a man who was never charged with any crime, but who was held in secret CIA custody for nearly three years, becoming the victim of enforced disappearance.
This man is 31-year-old Yemeni national Khaled Abdu Ahmed Saleh al-Maqtari, one of the men most recently released from the CIA's secret detention program. In interviews with Amnesty International, he has given a full account of his ordeal since he was taken into custody by US forces in Iraq in January 2004.
Initially held in Abu Ghraib, Khaled al-Maqtari was transferred by airplane first to a CIA secret prison in Afghanistan, and then, in April 2004, to a second secret prison in an unidentified country -- possibly in Eastern Europe. He was held there in complete isolation for a further 28 months, before being sent to Yemen and eventually released in May 2007.
His account contains numerous allegations of torture and other ill-treatment in detention. These include prolonged isolation, repeating beatings, sleep deprivation, forced nudity, exposure to extremes of hot and cold, as well as sensory deprivation and overload with bright lighting and loud music or repeated sound effects.
The effects of torture
Khaled al-Maqtari is now a free man, but he suffers the effects of psychological and physical torture and other ill-treatment.
The abuses that have affected him most, he said, were the years of endless isolation, his total uncertainty about his future, the constant monitoring by cameras and his segregation from the outside world, particularly the lack of contact with his family.
'At no point during his 32-month confinement was Khaled al-Maqtari told where he was or why. He did not have access to lawyers, relatives or any person other than his interrogators and the personnel involved in his detention and transfers. This clearly violates the USA’s international obligations. The US government has a case to answer', said Anne FitzGerald, Senior Adviser at Amnesty International, who interviewed Khaled al-Maqtari.
Khaled al-Maqtari has not received any reparation from US authorities, who have yet to even acknowledge his detention.
Torture and enforced disappearance are both crimes under international law. They cannot be justified under any circumstances. Amnesty International has called on the US authorities to end these practices and bring those responsible for human rights violations to justice".

And we'll close with Dee Knight's "U.S. military morale and capacity plummet" (Workers World):


Long, unjust wars, like the one the U.S. fought in Vietnam and the ones it is fighting now in Iraq and Afghanistan, inflict enormous damage. Not only are the occupied countries affected, however, but also the U.S. soldiers forced to fight against them. Several mutinies have been reported in Iraq, and personal GI testimony suggests there have been many more.
A U.S. Army report released on March 6 said 27.2 percent of noncommissioned officers--the sergeants responsible for leading troops in combat--have mental health problems during their third or fourth tours of duty. A similar percentage of all soldiers on repeat tours of duty show severe anxiety, depression and other mental health problems. The report found a sharp increase in marital problems among GIs, an increased suicide rate and greater depression among soldiers in both Afghanistan and Iraq.
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has reached epidemic proportions among veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan as well as active duty GIs. But the brass remain coldly indifferent to it. Army Spec. Bryan Currie says commanding officers "disregarded and ridiculed the medical finding" that he is unfit for active duty and that he should receive a medical or honorable discharge. They told him they wanted to send him overseas again, for a second combat tour.
Currie was injured by a roadside bomb during his 2006 deployment to Afghanistan. He spent a month in a hospital recovering from a broken jaw, burns, shrapnel wounds and injuries to his knee and back, but he managed to complete his tour. He was awarded a Purple Heart and Army Commendation Medal of Valor. The 21-year-old was also recently diagnosed with PTSD, but he was rebuffed in his attempts to seek help for his anxiety, depression, nightmares and insomnia.
With assistance from attorneys Tod Ensign and Louis Font of Citizen Soldier, Specialist Currie has asked Army Secretary Pete Geren to convene a court of inquiry--a rarely used administrative fact-finding process—to investigate top generals at Fort Carson, Colo.; Fort Drum, N.Y.; and Fort Hood, Texas. The court should "investigate the extent to which the [generals] have been derelict in failing to provide for the health and welfare of wounded soldiers," Currie's request says.
Generals won't listen
The willful refusal of the generals to listen is paralleled by a dramatic increase in physical loss of hearing among GIs and veterans. The Associated Press on March 7 reported that new figures from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) show hearing damage is the number one disability from the Iraq war. Ambushes, bombs and firefights all cause violent changes in air pressure that can rupture the eardrum and break bones inside the ear. Some 60 percent of U.S. personnel exposed to blasts suffer from permanent hearing loss and 49 percent also suffer from tinnitus--ringing in the ears--according to military audiology reports.
For former Staff Sgt. Ryan Kelly, 27, of Austin, Texas, the noise of war is still with him more than four years after the simultaneous explosion of three roadside bombs near Baghdad. "It's funny, you know. When it happened, I didn't feel my leg gone. What I remember was my ears ringing," said Kelly, whose leg was blown off below the knee in 2003. Today, his leg has been replaced with a prosthetic. His ears are still ringing.
"It is constantly there," he said. "It constantly reminds me of getting hit. I don't want to sit here and think about getting blown up all the time. But that's what it does." (AP, March 7)
The suicide rate among returning GIs is high, according to the VA, which also found that more than half of all veterans who committed suicide after returning from the recent wars were members of the Guard or Reserves. That actually reflects the proportion of GIs in Iraq and Afghanistan from those reserve units, the VA reports.
Can't get recruits
The heavy use of the Guard and Reserve, of "stop loss" extensions of active duty, and of three and four combat tours all underscore the recruitment problem faced by today's military commanders. As the Army's official newspaper for the troops put it, "The military is spending a ton of money on recruiting enough troops to maintain the overall force. ... Yet it's doing so in a field that is increasingly difficult to plow--fewer eligible recruits, fewer parents willing to back a military career and a falling propensity to serve." (Army Times, March 10)
In other words, with more than two thirds of the population opposing the war, it has become harder and harder to convince troops to fight it or to motivate parents to encourage their children to join the military.
One major difference between the Vietnam era and the present has begun to be a significant factor. Unlike the Vietnam period, the U.S. is currently facing a gigantic economic crisis. Active duty GIs themselves, along with their families and parents, are suffering the ravages of mortgage foreclosures, loss of jobs and increasing worries about the future. These worries, combined with bitter disillusionment about politicians' invented reasons for the war, have stimulated a new level of opposition within the ranks of the military.
The White House, in the face of the current recruitment problem, along with extending combat tours and using the Guard and Reserve, has chosen to use mercenaries instead of instituting a draft. They have a very real fear of a mass rebellion of youth across the country, as well as an even more intense rebellion within the ranks of the military. This is part of the legacy of the resistance and rebellion that swept the country and the military during the U.S. war against Vietnam.
Appeal for Redress
Another legacy of the Vietnam era is the growing resistance among active duty GIs. The Appeal for a Redress of Grievances, initiated a year and a half ago by Navy Communications Spec. Jonathan Hutto and Marine Sgt. Liam Madden, has now been signed by more than 2,100 active duty troops. The long-term goal, says Hutto, is "to build permanence with the formation of an Active Duty Network that can advocate on behalf of active duty members on a range of issues to all levels of government."
That network is now forming and expanding very fast. The Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) has committed itself to encouraging resistance among active duty GIs. As IVAW has organized chapters at military bases across the country and around the world, it has in turn received strong and active support from Vietnam Veterans Against the War and Veterans For Peace—whose membership of thousands of Vietnam-era veterans has mobilized enthusiastically in support. Military Families Speak Out (MFSO) has also joined in, providing a strong voice from the families of active duty GIs in support of their resistance.
IVAW has been especially notable in the clarity of its goal of organizing active duty GIs to finally put a stop to the illegal U.S. war in Iraq. It has also undertaken a serious drive to educate its current and future members, and to actively train them in the skills necessary to reach out effectively to the GIs. The refusal of U.S. GIs to participate in U.S. imperialist wars is a crucial factor that can make all the difference.
Articles copyright 1995-2007 Workers World. Verbatim copying and distribution of this entire article is permitted in any medium without royalty provided this notice is preserved. Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011
Email: ww@workers.org
Subscribe wwnews-subscribe@workersworld.net
Support independent news http://www.workers.org/orders/donate.php

Lastly, this is a press release on a Noam Chomsky collection:


For the past fifty years, Noam Chomsky's writings on politics and
language have established him as a preeminent public intellectual and as one
of the most original and wide-ranging political and social critics of
our time. Among the most influential figures in linguistic theory over
the past century, since the 1960s Chomsky has also secured a place as
perhaps the leading dissident voice in the United States. Now, The New
Press has compiled selections of many of Chomsky's seminal works into a
single volume, THE ESSENTIAL CHOMSKY.
Chomsky's work has served as essential touchstone for dissidents,
activists, scholars, and concerned citizens on subjects ranging from the
media to human rights to intellectual freedom. His scathing critiques of
the U.S. wars in Vietnam, Central America, and the Middle East have
furnished an intellectual inspiration for antiwar movements for nearly four
decades, and are more relevant than ever.
THE ESSENTIAL CHOMSKY, edited by Anthony Arnove,
assembles the core of his most important writings over the past several
decades. It is an unprecedented, comprehensive overview of Chomsky's
thought -- and a vital component to any Chomsky collection.
The Essential Chomsky
by Noam Chomsky, Edited by Anthony Arnove
The New Press / January 30, 2008
Paperback / $19.95 / 528 pages
ISBN: 978-1-59558-189-1
Also available in a special jacketed hardcover edition:
Hardcover / $35.00 / 528 pages
For more information, please go [here]


Among many other fine books, The New Press also published Camilo Mejia's
Road from Ar Ramadi: The Private Rebellion of Staff Sergeant Mejia (Meija is chair of
IVAW). If you're listening or watching to the hearing, consider sharing them. Invite someone over, if you're at work, turn up the volume loud enough so that someone around you can hear. And be sure to get the word out. The hearings continue today, tomorrow and Sunday.


The e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com.

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Winter Soldiers Investigation continues

One particular reporter asked about IVAW's connection with CodePink and A.N.S.W.E.R. and if those particular organizations had sponsored the work of IVAW. Kelly Doherty, former MP in Iraq, and Executive Director of IVAW, stood up at the microphone with her serious stare, calm demeanor and beautiful porcelin skin and green eyes, and eloquently told the reporter that from the inception of the organization, VFP had helped support them in their fledging moments in 2004. She, along with 3 other Veterans, had stood on a stage in Boston, denouncing the war. Some members did protest alongside anti-war groups such as those mentioned, and many others, but their closest affiliation and allies were groups such as Veterans for Peace, Military Families and VVAW.
In the evening, live broadcasting took place and a panel discussion with some of the "oldies but goodies" took place. Barry Romo, original founder of VVAW and union organizer for the last 39 years, David Cortwright, author and historian of the GI resistance in Viet Nam, Tod Ensign, longtime veteran’s rights activist and Gerald Nicosia, friend of Ron Kovic, author of "Born on the 4th of July" and wounded in Viet Nam.
Ron Kovic's statement was read to the crowd and his passion for supporting this new group of resister's was overwhelming. He said that by stepping forward "they were not just saving lives, they were saving the life of our nation." Kovic expressed his disbelief that he is now seeing all over again what happened back when he was fighting an illegal and immoral war, and that the empire must be broken with this new generation of resistance fighters.
David Cortwright author of "Soldiers in Revolt," agreed that only with resistance from within the military who "listen to their conscience” would end this war, as this resistance ultimately did that in Viet Nam.
Tod Ensign, Director of Citizen Soldier, author and supporter of the Different Drummer Café (www.differentdrummer.com) in upstate New York formed to replicate the coffee houses of the 60’s, passionately spoke of the young breed of soldiers he is meeting who eerily remind him of the past. He spoke of the similiarities between the anti-war candidate Richard Nixon, and his "secret plan" to end the war and those 2 democratic candidates who also have a plan to end the occupation of Iraq, but he says "who the hell knows what that is!"


The above is from Elaine Brower's "Iraq and Afghanistan Soldiers Testify at "Winter Soldier 2008", Day One" (OpEdNews) about Iraq Veterans Against the War Winter Soldiers Investigation which began last night and continues through Sunday (details at the end of this entry). Pay attention to see who makes time for it and who doesn't and that will demonstrate who's against the illegal war and who just talks a game (let's not call it a 'good' game).


Meanwhile Erica Goode's "Kidnapped Iraqi Archbishop Is Dead" (New York Times) notes the passing of Archbishop Paulos Faraj Rahho:

The body of a Chaldean Catholic archbishop who was kidnapped in the northern city of Mosul last month as he drove home after afternoon Mass was discovered Thursday buried in a southeastern area of the city.
The death of Archbishop Paulos Faraj Rahho, leader of the Chaldean Catholic Church in Mosul, evoked expressions of grief and anger from the Vatican and world leaders, including Iraq’s president, Jalal Talabani.
Officials of the Chaldean Church in Iraq said they had received a call telling them where the body was buried. The cause of death was not clear. An official of the morgue in Mosul said the archbishop, who was 65 and had health problems, including high blood pressure and diabetes, might have died of natural causes.

In addition, Goode reports on the death of journalist Qassim Abdul-Hussein al-Iqabi who was 35-years-old and was working for The Citizen before being shot dead while en route to work in Baghdad yesterday becoming one of "at least 127 journalists and 50 technical and other media workers" killed in Iraq since the start of the illegal war.

As noted last night, Katrina and her wacky crowd threw all the weight behind "American tax dollars!" for their alleged Iraq coverage in the new issue of The Nation. Poor, pathetic Katrina. In the real world, Aseel Kami offers "Trauma, povert shred young Iraqis' dreams" (Reuters):

As a teenager, Mazin Tahir dreamt that the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq would bring new freedoms and democracy with the fall of Saddam Hussein.
As a young adult, his hopes have been replaced by despair after five years of unremitting violence.
"It's sad, or funny. The Iraqi dream has turned into a nightmare," said Tahir, who was 15 when the Americans came.
"When I was young I dreamt of getting rid of the dictatorship and replacing it with democracy. Saddam has gone but Iraq is in worse shape. There are killings every day, politicians are like thieves ... it's like a curse from God."
Tahir had his life before him when the invasion started and his heart was full of hope. Now, like many others who grew from teens to adults during the occupation, he just wants to get out.

Today, IVAW's hearings will be broadcast at the Iraq Veterans Against the War home page an on KPFA with Aimee Allison (co-host of the station's The Morning Show and co-author with David Solnit of Army Of None) and Aaron Glantz hosting and the KPFA live stream will also be available at Glantz' War Comes Home as well as on KPFK, WBAI and at the Pacifica Radio homepage which notes its live coverage will be from (EST times) 10 in the morning to seven at night on Friday, nine in the morning until seven at night on Saturday and ten in the morning until four in the afternoon on Sunday that should apply to all Pacifica stations that are broadcasting the hearings. Viewing options and meet ups can be found at Iraq Veterans Against the War.

The e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com.






aaron glantz
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