A 'TRUE AMERICAN HERO' Passes On!! [UPDATED]

Friday, January 6, 2006 · Last updated 3:00 p.m. PT

My Lai hero Hugh Thompson Jr. dies at 62

By JESSICA BUJOL
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER


Former helicopter pilot Hugh Thompson, Jr., left, and his gunner Lawrance Colburn leave the My Lai Memorial, in Quang Ngai, Vietnam, March 15, 1998 after a reunion with two female villagers they rescued during the massacre. Hugh Thompson Jr., a former U.S. Army helicopter pilot honored for rescuing Vietnamese civilians from being killed by fellow GIs during the My Lai massacre, died early Friday, Jan. 6, 2006. He was 62. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit, File)
NEW ORLEANS -- Hugh Thompson Jr., a former Army helicopter pilot honored for rescuing Vietnamese civilians from his fellow GIs during the My Lai massacre, died early Friday. He was 62.

Thompson, whose role in the 1968 massacre did not become widely known until decades later, died at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Alexandria, hospital spokesman Jay DeWorth said.


{Former helicopter pilot Hugh Thompson, Jr., left, and his gunner Lawrance Colburn leave the My Lai Memorial, in Quang Ngai, Vietnam, March 15, 1998 after a reunion with two female villagers they rescued during the massacre. Hugh Thompson Jr., a former U.S. Army helicopter pilot honored for rescuing Vietnamese civilians from being killed by fellow GIs during the My Lai massacre, died early Friday, Jan. 6, 2006. He was 62. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit, File)}

Trent Angers, Thompson's biographer and family friend, said Thompson died of cancer.

"These people were looking at me for help and there was no way I could turn my back on them," Thompson recalled in a 1998 Associated Press interview.

Early in the morning of March 16, 1968, Thompson, door-gunner Lawrence Colburn and crew chief Glenn Andreotta came upon U.S. ground troops killing Vietnamese civilians in and around the village of My Lai.

They landed the helicopter in the line of fire between American troops and fleeing Vietnamese civilians and pointed their own guns at the U.S. soldiers to prevent more killings.

Colburn and Andreotta had provided cover for Thompson as he went forward to confront the leader of the U.S. forces. Thompson later coaxed civilians out of a bunker so they could be evacuated, and then landed his helicopter again to pick up a wounded child they transported to a hospital. Their efforts led to the cease-fire order at My Lai.

In 1998, the Army honored the three men with the prestigious Soldier's Medal, the highest award for bravery not involving conflict with an enemy. It was a posthumous award for Andreotta, who had been killed in battle three weeks after My Lai.


"It was the ability to do the right thing even at the risk of their personal safety that guided these soldiers to do what they did," Army Maj. Gen. Michael Ackerman said at the 1998 ceremony. The three "set the standard for all soldiers to follow."

Lt. William L. Calley, a platoon leader, was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment for his role in the killings, but served just three years under house arrest when then-President Nixon reduced his sentence.

Author Seymour Hersh won the 1970 Pulitzer Prize for his expose of the massacre in 1969 while working as a freelance journalist. The massacre became one of the pivotal events as opposition to the war was growing in the United States.

Hersh called Thompson "one of the good guys."

"You can't imagine what courage it took to do what he did," Hersh said.

Although Thompson's story was a significant part of Hersh's reports, and Thompson testified before Congress, his role in ending My Lai wasn't widely known until the late 1980s, when David Egan, a professor emeritus at Clemson University, saw an interview in a documentary and launched a letter-writing campaign that eventually led to the awarding of the medals in 1998.

"He was the guy who by his heroic actions gave a morality and dignity to the American military effort," Tulane history professor Douglas Brinkley said.

For years Thompson suffered snubs and worse from those who considered him unpatriotic. He recalled a congressman angrily saying that Thompson himself was the only serviceman who should be punished because of My Lai.

As the years passed, Thompson became an example for future generations of soldiers, said Col. Tom Kolditz, head of the U.S. Military Academy's behavioral sciences and leadership department. Thompson went to West Point once a year to give a lecture on his experience, Kolditz said.

"There are so many people today walking around alive because of him, not only in Vietnam, but people who kept their units under control under other circumstances because they had heard his story. We may never know just how many lives he saved."

Just A Few Links...

Of Who Hugh was, along with his Crew!

Heroes: Hugh Thompson: Reviled, then honored, for his actions at ...


Heroes of My Lai


CNN - Cold War: Chat with Hugh Thompson


Thompson


60min. CBS News | An American Hero | May 9, 2004 18:52:03


He Personified what Most Military Personal Truly Are, no matter what you hear or see!

Visit This Posting!!!

A GENUINE Hero Has Died
by aybayb [Subscribe]
Sat Jan 07, 2006 at 01:14:51 AM EST


It's on the Passing of 'Hugh Thompson' A True American, and What We Should All Be, 'Humane'!!!

While it's a Simple Diary Posting, at the Daily KOS, the Many Links and Comments Posted should be Read and Visited about this Simple Man, and Chopper Crew, who Acted out of Courage and Humanity in the Inhumanity of Conflict!

As stated in an Article yesterday on his passing:
"There are so many people today walking around alive because of him, not only in Vietnam, but people who kept their units under control under other circumstances because they had heard his story. We may never know just how many lives he saved."

One of the Links posted is a Song Written About Hugh:
Song for Hugh Thompson


Lyrics

Visit Another Great Posting

The Swift-Boating of Hugh Thompson, Jr.
by jurassicpork

Iraq Soldier Describes War in Poetry

Cover of Brian Turner's book of Iraqi war poems.

{Click on Links or Graphic to visit site to hear the short interview on NPR's Morning Edition, 1-06-06, talking about his book of Iraq War Poetry and reading a few entry's posted below}


NPR Morning Edition, January 6, 2006 · Brian Turner is a soldier-poet who served for seven years in the U.S. Army. Beginning in November 2003, he was an infantry team leader in Iraq with the 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division.

His book, 'Here, Bullet', reflects his war-time experiences in graceful and unflinching poetry. Turner tells Steve Inskeep about the military tradition in his family and why he joined the Army when he was almost 30. He reads selected poems from his collection and reflects on what inspired them. One poem, Eulogy, was written to memorialize a soldier in his platoon who took his own life

Eulogy
It happens on a Monday, at 11:20 A.M.,
as tower guards eat sandwiches
and seagulls drift by on the Tigris River.
Prisoners tilt their heads to the west
though burlap sacks and duct tape blind them.
The sound reverberates down concertina coils
the way piano wire thrums when given slack.
And it happens like this, on a blue day of sun,
when Private Miller pulls the trigger
to take brass and fire into his mouth:
the sound lifts the birds up off the water,
a mongoose pauses under the orange trees,
and nothing can stop it now, no matter what
blur of motion surrounds him, no matter what voices
crackle over the radio in static confusion,
because if only for this moment the earth is stilled,
and Private Miller has found what low hush there is
down in the eucalyptus shade, there by the river.

PFC B. Miller
(1980-March 22, 2004)

Ashbah
Brian Turner reads "Ashbah"

The ghosts of American soldiers
wander the streets of Balad by night,
unsure of their way home, exhausted,
the desert wind blowing trash
down the narrow alleys as a voice
sounds from the minaret, a soulfull call
reminding them how alone they are,
how lost. And the Iraqi dead,
they watch in silence from rooftops
as date palms line the shore in silhouette,
leaning toward Mecca when the dawn wind blows.

Najaf 1820
Brian Turner reads "Najaf 1820"

Camel caravans transport the dead
from Persia and beyond, their bodies dried
and wrapped in carpets, their dying wishes
to be buried near Ali,
where the first camel
dragged Ali's body across the desert
tied to the fate of its exhaustion.
Najaf is where the dead naturally go,
where the gates of Paradise open before them
in unbanded light, the blood washed clean
from their bodies.
It is November,
the clouds made of gunpowder and rain,
the earth pregnant with the dead;
cemetary mounds stretching row by row
with room enough yet for what the years
will bring: the gravediggers need only dig,
shovel by shovel.

If interested you can purchase Brian's Book of Poetry HERE
I have also added it to my book section on the right.

Is Your Weekend Planned? Is NOW!

Out of Iraq Events Planned Nationwide on January 7th

Town Hall Meetings with Congress Members, Rallies, and Other Events Will Push for an End to the Iraq War

Local organizations have planned over 70 Out of Iraq events around the country on or about January 7th. (See list at bottom.) Most of the events are town hall forums, and several will feature members of Congress, including Bobby Scott, Diane Watson, Jim McDermott, Adam Smith, Bob Filner, Martin Sabo, Jim Moran, and John Murtha. Several other events will feature congressional staff, congressional and senatorial candidates, local elected officials, and leaders of the peace movement, including Gold Star Families for Peace founder Cindy Sheehan, and After Downing Street Co-Founder John Bonifaz.
While all of these events will focus on ending the war, many of them will also address Congressman John Conyers' new resolutions to censure President Bush and Vice President Cheney and to create a select committee to investigate and make recommendations on impeachment.

Organizations participating in Jan. 7 events include: Backbone Campaign, Progressive Democrats of America, After Downing Street, Democracy Cell Project, Cities for Peace, MilitaryFreeZone.Org & Operation Ceasefire, Montgomery County Progressive Alliance (Maryland), United for Peace and Justice, U.S. Tour of Duty, Hip Hop Caucus, Democracy Rising, World Can't Wait, WakeUpLaughing.com, Gold Star Families for Peace, PeaceMajority Report, Global Exchange, Bring Them Home Campaign, UP (United Progressives) for Democracy, 20 20 Vision, Impeach Bush Coalition, Peace Action, America in Solidarity

The events are listed below and can be found at AfterDowningStreet

Out of Iraq Events

Jan 3 Minneapolis, Minn.: Town Hall, DFL Progressive Caucus, Congressman Martin Sabo

Jan 5 Arlington, Va.: Town Hall, Congressmen Jim Moran and John Murtha, Democracy for America

Jan 6 Everett, Wash.: Vigil, Everett Peace Action

Charleston, W.Va.: Protest at office of Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, West Virginia Patriots for Peace

Kingsport, Tenn.: Protest at office of Rep. William Jenkins.

Cottage Grove, Ore.: Rally

Jan 7 Seattle: Town Hall, Progressive Democrats of America, Backbone Campaign, Congressman Jim McDermott

San Diego, Calif.: Town Hall, Congressman Bob Filner

Tacoma, Wash.: Town Hall, Congressman Adam Smith

Norfolk, Va.: Film and Town Hall, Congressman Bobby Scott , Mayor James Holley of Portsmouth

Norfolk, Va.: Town Hall, Progressive Democrats of America, Congressman Bobby Scott

Montgomery County, Penn.: Town Hall, U.S. Senate Candidate Chuck Pennachio

Asheville, N.C.: Town Hall, Clyde Michael Morgan, U.S. Congressional Candidate.

Murrieta, Calif.: Town Hall, Jeeni Criscenzo, U.S. Congressional Candidate

Courtland, N.Y.: Launch of the Les Roberts for Congress campaign

Santa Barbara, Calif.: Protest at office of Representative Lois Capps

Arlington, Texas: Protest at Congressman Joe Barton's office

Cambridge, Mass.: Town Hall, John Bonifaz, Co-Founder of After Downing Street

Sacramento, Calif.: Town Hall, Cindy Sheehan

Mount Shasta, Calif.: Peace Rally, Mount Shasta For Peace

Oklahoma City, Okla.: Peace Rally, Peace House OKC

Daytona Beach, Fla.: Town Hall, Central Florida/Central Florida East Veterans for Peace

Morristown, N.J.: Town Hall

Alice, Texas, Town Hall, Alice Peace And Justice Coalition

Kingston, NY: Code Pink, Event in front of US Army Recruiting Station

Worcester, Mass.: Concert and Discussion

San Anselmo, Calif.: Town Hall, Social Justice Center of Marin

West Palm Beach, Fla.: Rally Richmond, Ind.: Town Hall

Madison, Wis.: Town Hall, Veterans for Peace, South Central Labor Federation, Stoughton Area Peace Coalition.

Ramona, Calif.: Town Hall

Colorado Springs, Col.: Town Hall, Citizens for Peace in Space, Colorado Springs Action, Colorado Springs Camp Casey

Wilsonville, Ore.: Vigil, Oregon House District 26 Democrats

Owosso, Mich.: Town Hall, Shiawassee County Veterans For Peace

Denton, Texas: Film, Peace Action Denton

Montgomery County, Md.: Town Hall, Progressive Democrats of America, Montgomery County Peace Action, Democracy for America

Inverness, Fla.: Town Hall

Washington, D.C.: Town Hall

Libertyville, Ill.: Town Hall

Lakemoor, Ill.: House Party

Salida, Col.: Town Hall

Peoria, Ill.: Town Hall

Highland Park, Ill.: Town Hall, Tenth Congressional District Democrats, North Suburban Peace Initiative and The Democracy Cell Project.

Denver, Col.: Town Hall, Progressive Democrats of Colorado

Parkersburg, W.Va.: Rally on Wood County Court House steps

Maplewood, N.J.: Film and Discussion, South Mountain Peace Action

Charleston, S.C.: Rally

Lexington, Ken.: Town Hall, Peace Action Task Group of the Central Kentucky Council for Peace and Justice.

Kalamazoo, Mich.: Town Hall

Provo, Utah: Town Hall

Palm Beach, Fla.: Town Hall, The Palm Beach Democratic Club and The Progressive Leadership Council of Palm Beach County (Progressive Democrats of America)

Albuquerque, N.M.: Town Hall, Military Families Speak Out of New Mexico, Bring our Soldiers Home NOW, Veterans for Peace, Stop The War Machine, Albuquerque Center for Peace and Justice, Another Side, What If You Knew....

Anderson, Ind.: Rally

Corvallis, Ore.: Vigil

Orlando, Fla.: Rally, Code Pink

Rutland, Mass.: Town Hall

Hayward, Calif.: House Party

Napa, Calif.: Town Hall

Highland, Ind.: Rally, Northwest Indiana Coalition Against the Iraq War, Vietnam Veterans Against the War, Veterans for Peace

San Francisco, Calif.: Impeach Bush and Out of Iraq Protest

Brooklyn, N.Y.: Rally

Watertown, S.D.: Prayer Service for Peace in Iraq, The Sisters of Mother of God Monastery

Jan 8 Anaheim, Calif.: Town Hall, Patrick Henry Democratic Club

Ventura, Calif.: Town Hall, Citizens for Peaceful Resolutions

Watertown, S.D.: Rally and Discussion

Jan 9 Everett, Wash.: Meeting, Everett Peace Action

Jan. 10 Simsbury, Ct.: Town Hall

Arlington, Va.: Town Hall, Virginia Grassroots Coalition

Jan 13 Los Angeles, Calif.: Town Hall, Interfaith Communities United for Justice and Peace, Robert Blumenfield, District Director for Congressman Howard Berman.

Jan 14 Vancouver, Wash.: Democracy for Vancouver and Vancouver for Peace.

Toms River, N.J.: Rally, OCDFA and The Unitarian Church Jan 17 Los Angeles, Calif.: Town Hall, Democracy for America, SoCal Grassroots and Progressive Democrats of America, Congresswoman Diane Watson, Tom Hayden.

Jan. 24 West Hartford, Ct.: Town Hall, Scott Ritter

'Marlboro Man' in Iraq War Photo Suffers from PTSD

Thanks to the headsup of Steven D over at the 'Booman Tribune' for posting this up!
Article follows Steven's Booman Diary.

Fallujah's "Malboro Man" has PTSD

by Steven D
Wed Jan 4th, 2006 at 07:04:55 PM EST

Remember that iconic Marine from the time of the Battle for Fallujah? The picture of him smoking a cigarette during a moment of relative calm made the front pages of many newspapers (including the one on the cover of the New York Post to the left) and gave him instant fame as the new "Malboro Man".



Well it seems that since he's returned to the United States after his tour of duty he's had a little trouble adjusting to life outside a war zone. In fact, he's been honorably discharged for suffering from PTSD, or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Editor & Publisher (hat tip to Raw Story) has the details:

NEW YORK So whatever happened to Lance Cpl. Blake Miller -- the U.S. Marine pictured as a kind of war-weary "Marlboro Man" in one of the most widely published iconic images of the Iraq war?
The 2004 photograph by Luis Sinco of the Los Angeles Times showing Miller, face dirty under a helmet, a cigarette dangling from his lips, went around the world and back again, hitting front pages everywhere. Now Miller, of Jonancy, Ky., is a civilian "and is having trouble adjusting to civilian life," CBS News reports.


Back home, he got married in June, but on duty during the Hurricane Katrina relief effort, Miller suffered from symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and was granted an honorable discharge from the Marines in November.

Miller told CBS this morning, "For the most part, I mean, it was a big adjustment [when I got home] just trying to get in that mindset of being able to just roam, run around without fear of being shot at or where to look for danger. ... It's unexplainable. I mean, just to go from that mindset to being able to walk around freely and just enjoy it."


He goes on to describe an incident during his duty on the USS Iwo Jima during the Katrina relief effort of reacting to a sailor mimicking the sound of a rocket propelled grenade this way:

"For anybody to duplicate that sound," Miller said, "they've had to hear it. Without even knowing what I'd done until after it was over, I snatched him up, I slammed him against the bulkhead, the wall, and took him to the floor, and I was on top of him."

Miller told CBS that he's gone into therapy (good for him!) and that he knows there are many more soldiers who are suffering from PTSD as a result of their Iraq service. He's to be commended for going public and making a point about his therapy, which is just as heroic a deed as any he did in Iraq. Hopefully the publicity generated by his story, and his interview with CBS, will encourage other service members to seek help for their own afflictions.

The Article:

'Marlboro Man' in Iraq War Photo Suffers from PTSD

Lance Cpl. Blake Miller appeared in numerous newspapers as the "Marlboro Man," including this cover of the New York Post.





By E&P Staff

Published: January 03, 2006 5:40 PM ET

NEW YORK So whatever happened to Lance Cpl. Blake Miller -- the U.S. Marine pictured as a kind of war-weary "Marlboro Man" in one of the most widely published iconic images of the Iraq war?

The 2004 photograph by Luis Sinco of the Los Angeles Times showing Miller, face dirty under a helmet, a cigarette dangling from his lips, went around the world and back again, hitting front pages everywhere. Now Miller, of Jonancy, Ky., is a civilian "and is having trouble adjusting to civilian life," CBS News reports.

Back home, he got married in June, but on duty during the Hurricane Katrina relief effort, Miller suffered from symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and was granted an honorable discharge from the Marines in November.

Miller told CBS this morning, "For the most part, I mean, it was a big adjustment [when I got home] just trying to get in that mindset of being able to just roam, run around without fear of being shot at or where to look for danger. ... It's unexplainable. I mean, just to go from that mindset to being able to walk around freely and just enjoy it."

He said during his Katrina duties, while on the USS Iwo Jima, a sailor mimicked the whistle of a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG).

"For anybody to duplicate that sound," Miller said, "they've had to hear it. Without even knowing what I'd done until after it was over, I snatched him up, I slammed him against the bulkhead, the wall, and took him to the floor, and I was on top of him."

Miller went into therapy, but knows he is not alone. "A lot of guys have had way worse incidents from being in Iraq," he said. "And I guess it just -- it troubled me due to the fact that their incidents may have been more severe, and they weren't suffering from the same things I was. I just didn't understand how it could affect me so dramatically and not affect some of these guys. But a lot of them deal with different ways.

"The more and more I talk to [other guys], the more I found out there were a lot of Marines that are going through same or similar emotions. It's tough to deal with. Being in Iraq is something no one wants to talk about."



-----------
E&P Staff (letters@editorandpublisher.com)

-----------
On the right hand side I have a few Recommended Books, one of them is the Following:

War and the Soul:Healing Our Nation's Veterans from Post-traumatic Stress Disorder

by Edward Tick



I Highly Recommend This Recent Book On PTSD, Especially That Which Is Suffered By Far Too Many Combat Veterans Of All Wars!!
The Suffering is also Extremely High amoung the Innocents of these Conflicts!!

People of 2005 - OneWorld

As we forge ahead into 2006, OneWorld's editors take a look back at the people who made a difference in our world in 2005. Discover their stories, and let us know who you think we should all know about.





The Trailblazers
Powerful women crashed the all-boys clubs in Latin America and Africa last year while some corporations and local governments took the lead in promoting environmental stewardship...




The Movements
Colombians "opted out" of war; Hiroshima survivors, American youths, and weapons experts demanded a nuclear-free world; indigenous groups proved their values may be different, but not better or worse...




Disaster Responders
2005 has been called "the year of disasters." It was also the year that individuals, organizations, corporations, and governments gave their time, talents, and money to help those whose lives were turned upside-down...




Local People Making a Global Difference
Ordinary people are making change happen everyday in their communities and around the globe. Here are some of the stories OneWorld brought to you in 2005...




Those Who Spoke Truth to Power
Consumers brandished their power over multinational corporations, students stood up to university officials, and the world's superpower seemingly heard it from everybody...




In Memoriam
They were peace activists and human rights workers and political leaders and husbands and brothers and sisters. They will be missed, but not forgotten....



Many Embedded Links with each Subject.

As Nixon, So Bush

Pass It On:

As Nixon, So Bush
by the ACLU
A new ad in The New York Times connects the dots between Bush, Nixon and government spying.

Check out the ACLU's new New York Times ad about government spying.

Citizens Impeachment Commission - Formed

ImpeachPAC Forms Citizens Impeachment Commission

ImpeachPAC today announced the formation of a Citizens Impeachment Commission to make 2006 the "Year of Impeachment."

"We are honored by the broad support for impeachment from this distinguished group of true American patriots," said Bob Fertik, President of ImpeachPAC. "Impeachment is not a 'fringe' position, as the Bush Administration would like Americans to believe. With a recent Zogby poll showing Americans support impeachment hearings by a solid majority of 53%-42%, there is far more support for impeachment than there is for the War in Iraq," Fertik said.

"Despite three rounds of Iraqi elections, 845 brave young Americans died in Iraq in 2005, only 3 fewer than the 848 lost in 2004. Also 30,000 to 100,000 innocent Iraqis have been killed in the wake of the U.S. invasion. George Bush and Dick Cheney are personally responsible for each of those deaths, because they deliberately lied to Congress and the American people to start this disastrous and never-ending war," Fertik added.

ImpeachPAC is a political action committee that supports Democratic candidates for Congress who support the immediate and simultaneous impeachment of George Bush and Dick Cheney for their Iraq War lies. In less than two months, ImpeachPAC has raised nearly $50,000 and endorsed its first candidate, Tony Trupiano of Michigan.

ImpeachPAC's efforts have forced the Washington establishment to admit that the many misdeeds of the Bush administration - including the latest revelation of warantless wiretapping of American citizens - are valid grounds for impeachment. The question now facing Washington is not whether Bush and Cheney committed impeachable crimes, but whether Democrats and Republicans in Congress will fulfill their solemn Constitutional duty to investigate and prosecute those crimes, as proposed in December by Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) in H.Res.635.

The goals of the Citizens Impeachment Commission are:

To put impeachment firmly "on the map" of national politics by demonstrating broad and significant support for the impeachment of George Bush and Dick Cheney for lying about Iraq.
To lobby Members of Congress to introduce Articles of Impeachment immediately.
To campaign for pro-impeachment candidates and elect a pro-impeachment majority to Congress in November.
Members of the commission (listed below and updated at ImpeachPAC ) include national activists, business leaders, former government officials, historians and legal scholars, and talk show hosts, editors, bloggers, pundits, and authors. The commission will expand beyond the initial membership below. (# indicates membership on the steering committee; organizations are listed for identification only.)

Activists

Medea Benjamin: CODE PINK and Global Exchange
Gene Bruskin: labor organizer
Tim Carpenter: Progressive Democrats of America
David Cline: Veterans For Peace
Steve Cobble: After Downing Street, Progressive Democrats of America
#Karen Dolan: Cities for Peace
#Ronnie Dugger: Alliance for Democracy
Jodie Evans: CODE PINK
Mike Ferner: Veterans For Peace
#Bob Fertik: ImpeachPAC
Kim Gandy: National Organization for Women
#Doris "Granny D" Haddock: activist
Tom Hayden Progressive Democrats of America
Bill Mitchell: Gold Star Families for Peace
#Bill Moyer: The Backbone Campaign
#Jeff Norman: U.S. Tour of Duty
Michael Rectenwald: Citizens for Legitimate Government
Cindy Sheehan: Gold Star Families for Peace
#David Swanson: ImpeachPAC
Jonathan Tasini: labor organizer, candidate for U.S. Senate
Kevin Zeese: Democracy Rising

Business Leaders

Doug Kreeger: Air America Radio

Former Government Officials

Elizabeth de la Vega: former federal prosecutor
#Larry Johnson: formerly of the CIA and the Dept. of State
Philip Vargas: federal whistleblower
Ann Wright: US Army Colonel (Reserves)(Retired) and US Diplomat who resigned
in opposition to the war on Iraq

Historians and Legal Scholars

John Bonifaz: After Downing Street
#Lawrence R. Velvel: VelvelOnNationalAffairs.Com
Howard Zinn: historian, playwright, and social activist

Talk Show Hosts/Editors/Bloggers/Pundits/Authors

David Allen: DemocraticUnderground.com
Dave Allsopp: DemocraticUnderground.com
#Bulldog: The Bulldog Manifesto
Tom Engelhardt: blogger
Thom Hartmann: The Thom Hartmann Show
Laura Flanders: Air America Radio
Jeffrey Fox: journalist
Justin Frank: author
Susan Griffin: author
Doug Ireland: DIRELAND
Rob Kall: OpEdNews.com
#Susie Madrak: Suburban Guerrilla
#Mark Crispin Miller: author
Brad Newsham: author
#Liza Sabater: CultureKitchen.com
#Jeff Tiedrich: SmirkingChimp.com
Harvey Wasserman: The Free Press
Bernie Weiner: The Crisis Papers

» bob fertik's blog

Understanding Muslims - Read/Listen

The following site alt.muslim was found when someone posted an Article from it on one of the few Yahoo Group boards I belong to.

The Article was:

Beyond "Munich": The Ten Movies Steven Spielberg Has Yet To Make

Imagine if we were in a parallel universe in which Hollywood gave Arabs and Muslims a fair shake. Here are ten films (all based on true stories) that are just waiting for Spielberg's magic.

{by the way; on #9, as I know the Corries my picks for Rachels Parents would be the Newman's}

I have since been visiting and reading the writings posted there which just enhances that which I already knew about the Muslim Religion and those who believe in it's teachings, especially those, who like in any Religious Ideology, are not Fundamentalists but truely trying to live by their Religious Teachings and Beliefs!

A more recent Addition is this:

Finding Wisdom In A Christina Aguilera Song
By Hesham Hassaballa, January 1, 2006


Some may object that I find such solace from the song of an American female singer. They may say that the only sources of solace should be God's Word and the Prophet's hadith. Of course this is true. God's word and His Prophet's wisdom is supreme. But the Prophet has also taught us that "Wisdom is the 'lost animal' of the believer. Wherever it may be, the believer belongs to it." This means that we must find the wisdom to live our lives in accordance with God's will wherever it may reside. And I found such wisdom in a song by Christina Aguilera.

As this is Jan 2nd and we got rained out of work, I just visited the site, thanks to Sharon's Diary HERE putting the thought in my head to visit.

What follows is Good News reflection on 2005.




The Top Ten Good News Stories for 2005

2005 rode in on a deadly monster wave whose devastating power dwarfed humankind's petty triflings. We also witnessed the wholesale destruction of an American city and a remote region of South Asia as well as the unraveling of the American presidency (and the Constitution). We contended with the enduring ravages of industrial society (global warming & other ecological disasters), disease (AIDS, tuberculosis, the avian flu) and war (Iraq, the "global war on terror", Chechnya, Congo, Colombia, Sudan, et. al.). Only time will make sense of a year in which the Chinese juggernaut began to mint one million engineers a year, Dave Chapelle fled to South Africa, and Muhammad became one of the most popular names in England. Despite all that happened in 2005, we were inspired and infused with hope and strength we drew from transformative events and people - whose stories we call good news. Muslims celebrated their long history of cultural and economic contributions in China and Russia, and made moves towards peace in Aceh, neutralizing extremism in Yemen, and struggling for (non-violent) justice among China's Uighurs. The media began to improve their portrayal of Muslims (albeit slightly) and emerge from the dense fog surrounding the war in Iraq. Also, the generous Muslim reaction to Hurricane Katrina put to rest the notion of a Muslim world that hates America (or so we hope). After another year of blood-soaked headlines, we present to you our annual Top Ten Good News Stories of 2005. (See past year's editions for 2004, 2003, and 2002) (More here)

Following you will find the 10 News Stories listed, visit site/link to read what's below the header and the embedded links within each.

1. Tatars celebrate 1000 years of capital city Kazan



2. China bases its foreign policy on the spirit of Muslim admiral Zheng He

3. Aceh Rebels & Indonesian Government agree to peace accord

4. Cool heads prevail: Yemen dialogues with jailed extremists



5. The truth about Iraq and other Bush shenanigans emerges



6. Hollywood smells a little better

7. International effort to save the manuscripts of Mali

8. Bangladesh sends aid to USA: the Muslim response to Katrina & Kashmir



9. For ten years now, Kenya's camel libraries bring books to the rural poor

10. A woman continues her struggle with a superpower

As you can see I've added the header embeds but again visit the site URL to read those below the header as well as any of the other writings that may be of interest.

At the very top you will find a few more links to sites of this Muslim Community effort. A couple look as though they are in the building process, on quick review.
Learn More about others for Better Understanding, for in the End 'We Are All The Same!'

Iraqi's Words/Thoughts - What The MSM Won't Report

A family in Baghdad

A British radio station called me yesterday, asking my opinion about the Saddam trial, if it is an indication of justice in the new Iraq, and if it is an indication that the Iraqis regained the rights for the victims of the former regime?
I laughed... by GOD, these people are living in another world...
I said to her- my dear, who cares now about the story of Saddam's trial? People are cursed by poverty, unemployment, the lack of security and settlement, the results of the forged elections, and the increase in the fuel prices, Saddam Hussein became an object from the past, we are busy with the present problems, and we think how shall the future be....
She said- but the settlement of Saddam's story is a leap from the past to the future...
I said - yes, that would have been true if we had a real sovereignty in Iraq, a state and a government about which the people are content, and then, yes, perhaps after 4 or 5 years of settlement, then the trial of Saddam could be an important issue in the lives of the Iraqis, with lessons and examples for those who rule after him, but now, what does it signify? Do you think it signifies justice? Are we taking the rights of the Saddam's regime victims who were imprisoned, tortured, and killed? And who shall take the rights for the victims of the present regime, the detained, tortured, and assassinated?
We understand right and justice as being balanced principals, not exclusive for some people, while others are exempted from them...
We see this trial as a mere silly play, meaningless... perhaps the occupation and the Parties in the present government see it as a victory, and a political gain, but for the ordinary Iraqi on the street, it is a silly story, and meaningless.

*************

Baghdad Dweller

What was the most important event in 2005?
With many websites and newspapers write about the events of 2005, I think the best event is the defeat of Bush's war-machine, a humiliating defeat by a handful of men with primitive guns.
I don't think 2006 will be much different from the last years under the occupation. The occupiers will not leave, they insist to stay even with all the resistance operations against them...
...Bush thought exporting democracy is just like exporting potatoes, he thought by spreading poisonous cheap American culture (Britney Spears, Paris Hilton...etc) among the Arabs is the easiest way to wins their hearts and minds...
In 2006 we will hear more on this defeat...

**************

An average Iraqi

Just a few days after the elections, the government decided to partially stop supporting the prices of oil. So the prices of benzene, gasoline and gas has went up 300%, tripled. This has left the Iraqi street in anger. So far, I have not seen a single Iraqi who had liked this decision. Although the price of Oil was very low in Iraq, cheapest than water to be frank, but the Average Iraqi has been used to this prices from the eighties. So the sudden rise in prices has left him raged. Some of the southern militia controlled provinces has even refused to implicate these prices. But I don't think they are going to last much, because the only big refineries capable of handling such massive amounts of oil, are only found in Baghdad, and Beji.

**************

Emotions, the diary of a young mother in Mosul

These days the weather became very cold, the temperature is 2-3 degrees under zero ... this cold weather synchronize with not only the raise in the oil, fuel prices but with its exiguity....yesterday my baby (20 months old) cried freezing at night, we have oil storage but we tried to sleep without (soba) an oil heater, to save it for the rest of winter. We get the electricity for ONLY 2 hours a day now, we also don't have hot water!. Since a week now the gas stations in Mosul are shut down , therefore the gasoline in the black market is very expensive, going to my job plus my two daughters'& husband's transportation expense is at least 170000 ID whereas our income together ( my husband & I) is 501000ID !!!We also buy gasoline for the generator!!...
About the safety situation these days while we are waiting for the elections results ,we witness every day the violence in the streets , today I was in my way back from work when suddenly the driver stopped and shouted "disembark quickly" ,as soon as I did a bullet flapped the pavement just beside my foot , I did not feel that, I was shocked , but we ran to a storage a cross the street , the storage owner kept saying 'Thank god you are ok ",I did not get that ',then the driver( who could not make it & follow us to the storage )came after things calm down with some people were in the street telling me that they got terrified to see what happened & show me the bullet....
When sunshine phoned her friend to wish her a merry Christmas, her friend was not happy at all, they could not leave the house because it's dangerous to go out & because they don't have gasoline. Some of our friends did not even go to the church because of the fear of bombing the church ....(I think you can see we are too busy with our life struggles to think about the elections results!)....
Happy New Year, may peace be all over the world ...

Happy New Year? Think Again!

Light A Candle For
Peace, Tolerance, Understanding
and For The Children - Innocence Lost!



Israel: Likud members: Bomb Iran:

About 400 Likud members, who took part Saturday evening in a conference
organized by Agriculture Minister Yisrael Katz in the town of Hod Hasharon,
voted by a large majority to "bomb Iran's nuclear reactor before it is too
late," in the words of Likud member





Terrorists in High Places:

Wars are not waged by those who have to fight them. Those who fight wars know
too well their terrible costs. Wars are waged by those who profit from them with
minimal or no risk to themselves. War is big business and it is immensely
profitable for a select few who are insulated from the effects of war’s
environmental impacts and social costs.




A Call For Help And Justice - Massacre of Tel Afar.

We lay before the international public opinion and international human rights
organisations the truth of what is happening in Tel Afar of the extreme use of
force and the use of internationally forbidden weapons of poison gases, cluster,
microwave and napalm bombs, we demand autopsies be carried out on the corpses of
our sons who fell in the barbaric aggression by international medical bodies to
verify the inhuman practices carried out by the American forces of occupation
and to expose the stooge militias that participated in the massacre of Tel Afar.


^^^^^^^^^^^^^^


Beyond "Munich": The Ten Movies Steven Spielberg Has Yet To Make

Imagine if we were in a parallel universe in which Hollywood gave Arabs and Muslims a fair shake. Here are ten films (all based on true stories) that are just waiting for Spielberg's magic.

By Mas'ood Cajee, December 8, 2005

Bush Impeachment Inquiry Has 8 House Co-Sponsors

By Matthew Cardinale, Atlanta Progressive News

A total of eight US House members have co-sponsored Resolution 635 to create a select committee to investigate the grounds for impeaching President Bush, Atlanta Progressive News has learned.

The co-sponsors are Rep. Lois Capps (D-CA), Rep. John Conyers (D-MI), Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-TX), Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), Rep. Donald Payne (D-NJ), Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY), Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), and Rep. Lynn Woolsey (C-CA), according to the US Congressional website Thomas.loc.gov

HR 635 reads as its official title: "Creating a select committee to investigate the Administration's intent to go to war before congressional authorization, manipulation of pre-war intelligence, encouraging and countenancing torture, retaliating against critics, and to make recommendations regarding grounds for possible impeachment."

The bill was initially proposed by Rep. Conyers on 12/18/2005. The 7 other co-sponsors added their names on 12/22/05.

"In brief, we have found that there is substantial evidence the President, the Vice-President and other high ranking members of the Bush Administration misled Congress and the American people regarding the decision to go to war in Iraq; misstated and manipulated intelligence information regarding the justification for such war; countenanced torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment in Iraq; and permitted inappropriate retaliation against critics of their Administration. There is at least a prima facie case that these actions that federal laws have been violated – from false statements to Congress to retaliating against Administration critics," Rep. Conyers said in a press release on 12/20/05.

As reported last week in Atlanta Progressive News, US Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) stated in a radio program that he would sign a bill of impeachment of President Bush if it were drafted on account of Bush’s approval of illegal domestic wiretapping. US Senator Barbara Boxer has also requested a report by legal scholars regarding the grounds for the Bush’s impeachment for the same reason. The article regarding the statements by Rep. Lewis and Sen. Boxer is available HERE


Meanwhile, a current pageview of an MSNBC.com poll as of 01/01/06, shows 86% of 185,673 total respondents believe President Bush should be impeached. The poll is available here and has been active online for several days:

Matthew Cardinale is the Editor of Atlanta Progressive News. He may be reached at matthew@atlantaprogressivenews.com

Molly Ivins Calls for Impeachment

Molly Ivins:

"Either the president of the United States is going to have to understand and admit he has done something very wrong, or he will have to be Impeached."

AUSTIN, Texas -- The first time as tragedy, the second time as farce. Thirty-five years ago, Richard Milhous Nixon, who was crazy as a bullbat, and J. Edgar Hoover, who wore women's underwear, decided some Americans had unacceptable political opinions. So they set our government to spying on its own citizens, basically those who were deemed insufficiently like Crazy Richard Milhous.


For those of you who have forgotten just what a stonewall paranoid Nixon was, the poor man used to stalk around the White House demanding that his political enemies be killed. Many still believe there was a certain Richard III grandeur to Nixon's collapse because he was also a man of notable talents. There is neither grandeur nor tragedy in watching this president, the Testy Kid, violate his oath to uphold the laws and Constitution of our country.


The Testy Kid wants to do what he wants to do when he wants to do it because he is the president, and he considers that sufficient justification for whatever he wants. He even finds lawyers like John Yoo, who tell him that whatever he wants to do is legal.


The creepy part is the overlap. Damned if they aren't still here, after all these years, the old Nixon hands -- Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld, the whole gang whose yearning for authoritarian government rose like a stink over the Nixon years. Imperial executive. Bring back those special White House guard uniforms. Cheney, like some malignancy that cannot be killed off, back at the same old stand, pushing the same old crap.


Of course, they tell us we have to be spied on for our own safety, so they can catch the terrorists who threaten us all. Thirty-five years ago, they nabbed a film star named Jean Seberg and a bunch of people running a free breakfast program for poor kids in Chicago. This time, they're onto the Quakers. We are not safer.


We would be safer, as the 9-11 commission has so recently reminded us, if some obvious and necessary precautions were taken at both nuclear and chemical plants -- but that is not happening because those industries contribute to Republican candidates. Republicans do not ask their contributors to spend a lot of money on obvious and necessary steps to protect public safety. They wiretap, instead.


You will be unsurprised to learn that, first, they lied. They didn't do it. Well, OK, they did it, but not very much at all. Well, OK, more than that. A lot more than that. OK, millions of private e-mail and telephone calls every hour, and all medical and financial records.


You may recall in 2002 it was revealed that the Pentagon had started a giant data-mining program called Total Information Awareness (TIA), intended to search through vast databases "to increase information coverage by an order of magnitude."


From credit cards to vet reports, Big Brother would be watching us. This dandy program was under the control of Adm. John Poindexter, convicted of five felonies during Iran-Contra, all overturned on a technicality. This administration really knows where to go for good help -- it ought to bring back Brownie.


Everybody decided that TIA was a terrible idea, and the program was theoretically shut down. As often happens with this administration, it turned out they just changed the name and made the program less visible. Data-mining was a popular buzzword at the time, and the administration was obviously hot to have it. Bush established a secret program under which the National Security Agency could bypass the FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act) court and begin eavesdropping on Americans without warrants.


As many have patiently pointed out, the entire program was unnecessary, since the FISA court is both prompt and accommodating. There is virtually no possible scenario that would make it difficult or impossible to get a FISA warrant -- it has granted 19,000 warrants and rejected only a handful.


I don't like to play scary games where we all stay awake late at night, telling each other scary stories -- but there's a reason we have never given our government this kind of power. As the late Sen. Frank Church said, "That capability could at any time be turned around on the American people, and no American would have any privacy left, such is the capacity to monitor everything: telephone conversations, telegrams, it doesn't matter. There would be no place to hide." And if a dictator took over, the NSA "could enable it to impose total tyranny."


Then we always get that dreadful goody-two-shoes response, "Well, if you aren't doing anything wrong, you don't have anything to worry about, do you?"


Folks, we KNOW this program is being and will be misused. We know it from the past record and current reporting. The program has already targeted vegans and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals -- and, boy, if those aren't outposts of al-Qaida, what is? Could this be more pathetic?


This could scarcely be clearer. Either the president of the United States is going to have to understand and admit he has done something very wrong, or he will have to be impeached. The first time this happened, the institutional response was magnificent. The courts, the press, the Congress all functioned superbly. Anyone think we're up to that again? Then whom do we blame when we lose the republic?


To find out more about Molly Ivins and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate web page at Creators Syndicate.



Saddam killed his own people
just like general Pinochet
and once upon a time both these evil men
were supported by the U.S.A.
and whisper it, even Bin Laden
once drank from America’s cup
just like that election down in Florida
this shit doesn’t all add up

Billy Brag The Price Of Oil{song and lyrics}