Latino Activists Will Lead A 241 Mile March Against Iraq War
Main Contacts:
Primara: Pablo Paredes (619) 857-4947
pablopare@gmail.com
Victor Paredes (917) 864-9179
vicparedes@msn.com
On March 12, 2006 Fernando Suarez del Solar, Pablo Paredes, Camilo Mejia and Aidan Delgado will lead a coalition of the willing across a 241 mile quest for peace that aims at raising Latino voice of opposition to the War in Iraq.
The March will run from Tijuana, Mexico all the way to The Mission district of San Francisco making strategic, symbolic and ceremonial stops along the way. The 241 mile march is inspired by Gandhi’s 1930 Salt March protesting British imperialism and will serve as a loud cry for an end to the bloodshed in Iraq.
Latinos represent nearly 15% of the US population, 11% of the US military and an estimated 20% of the fallen service members in Iraq. The Latino population is a growing force in the US and their voice must be an active part of the more than 60% of US citizens that oppose the war in Iraq.
That’s why on March 12th, 4 Latinos of different ages, nationalities and hometowns will come together to lead the Latino community in a loud and definitive call for an end to the war in Iraq. Because of their unique experiences with this war; Fernando, Pablo, Camilo and Aidan are dedicated to working to end the bloodshed in Iraq.
Fernando Suarez del Solar is the father of one of the first Latinos to die in Iraq: Jesus Suarez del Solar.
Fernando discovered that Jesus was the victim of an illegal US cluster bomb through a well know recent victim of the war, (co-anchor of ABC’s World News Tonight) Bob Woodruff.
Pablo Paredes is a Navy war resister who refused boarding an Iraq bound ship on Dec. 6th 2004. He was court martialed, sentenced and eventually discharged.
Camilo Mejia served one tour in Iraq and then became a National Guard war resister. He was jailed for nine months for his opposition to the war.
Aidan Delgado is a Conscientious Objector of the Iraq war. He served at Abu Gharib and now tours the country with slide shows of the prison abuses.
These 4 men will lead a 241 mile march that will begin at the birth place of Jesus Suarez del Solar, Tijuana, Mexico, as a symbolic call for peace beyond borders.
The march route is designed to follow Jesus’ footsteps whiling stopping at places with symbolic or historical significance. After departing from Tijuana, the march will head towards Escondido, CA where Jesus was first recruited by the US military and where his body currently rests.
The next major stop will be at the Marine Corps depot from where Jesus and many others have been deployed to Iraq: Camp Pendleton. The intention is to present a symbolic redeployment to peace; therefore the marching caravan will be led from Camp Pendleton to La Paz, CA. La Paz means “peace” in English and is the resting place of a revered Latino leader, Cesar Chavez.
This group of dedicated Latinos will end the march on March 26 at the Mission District of San Francisco with a blood drive to benefit those in need in Iraq (civilian and Military) and a memorial service for Jesus. The blood drive will serve to demonstrate that despite their opposition to the war, they do support our troops and wish for them to come home now and end the bloodshed.
Gandhi’s 241 mile Salt March is one of the most impactful non-violent acts of protest and civil disobedience in pursuit of social justice in history. This legacy has been vibrant in all Latino Social Justice movements such as those led by Cesar Chavez. Fernando, Pablo, Camilo and Aidan wish to rekindle this tradition and put Gandhi’s spirit into practice in search for peace.
All four leaders of this march are available for interviews and all press is invited to cover this historic march for peace.
If it were proved to me that in making war, my ideal had a chance of being realized, I would still say "No" to war. For one does not create human society on mounds of corpses. Louis Lecoin - French pacifist leader
Thanks to Thomas at G.I.Special/Military Project, of which I can't give a URL to as the site's been Pulled, wonder why, but Thomas does still manage to get us the NewsLetter, for Passing on this Extremely Important 'Breaking Story'!!
HALLIBURTON WINS CONTRACT TO RECONSTRUCT CHENEY'S REPUTATION:
At $42 Billion, Largest Contract of its Kind, Company Says
February 16, 2006 The Borowitz Report
The Halliburton Company announced today that it had won a $42 billion no-bid contract from the U.S. government to reconstruct the reputation of Vice President Dick Cheney.
While Halliburton has been known for massive reconstruction projects in such war-torn nations as Iraq, the $42 billion contract represents the first time that the company has been employed to put its reconstruction expertise to work on one embattled human being.
At the White House, spokesman Scott McClellan defended the $42 billion price tag for the reconstruction effort, telling reporters, "Given how much work Dick Cheney's reputation is going to take to rebuild, at the end of the day that $42 billion contract is going to look like a bargain."
Mr. McClellan likened the state of Mr. Cheney's reputation to conditions on the ground in Iraq, "only worse."
But even as Halliburton began gearing up for the daunting task of reconstructing the vice president's reputation, an unlikely critic of the plan, Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert (R-Ill), questioned the wisdom of even attempting to rebuild Dick Cheney.
Rep. Hastert said that based on what he had seen of Dick Cheney's reputation in recent days, it reminded him of the city of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, making him wonder whether the vice president could be rebuilt at all.
"It looks like a lot of Dick Cheney could be bulldozed," Rep. Hastert said.
by ilona Fri Feb 17, 2006 at 05:19:26 PM EST [Is PTSD as radioactive to the Bush administration as AIDS was to Reagan's?] Republicans may be silent on post-traumatic stress disorder [PTSD] -- all the way up to the President and Vice President -- but our Democratic officials aren't. They know that supporting the troops means taking care of every single one of them -- even those who are hurting the most. Democrats don't treat PTSD like AIDS in the Reagan era. They know it's not a dirty word. Hear how Democrats walk the walk vs. just talking the talk when it comes to supporting the troops...
Sen. John Kerry and Rep. Lane Evans, 02/05/06:
Veterans still must suffer a Republican-controlled Congress and an administration that likes to use veterans as backdrops for speeches but fails to deliver in substance time and again. Unfortunately, just like "Groundhog Day," we have witnessed example after example of the failure by both the White House and the Congress to address the needs of veterans - from providing assured funding for health care to helping veterans affected by Hurricane Katrina to comprehensively addressing issues relating to the diagnosis and treatment of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, an illness that may affect nearly one-in-four veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. [ source ]
Rep. John Murtha, 12/15/05:
Murtha is no liberal, which makes his turn against the war all the more significant. Many long-time observers of military affairs believe that Murtha was stating positions that he had heard from enlisted personnel and military officers, who by virtue of their positions in the armed forces are not allowed to express their opinions on the war. As he put it in the close of his speech, "Because we in Congress are charged with sending our sons and daughters into battle, we have the responsibility, the OBLIGATION, to speak for them." One of Murtha's biggest motivations for speaking out has been the lives lost and shattered by the war in Iraq. As he noted, at the time of his speech there were over 2,079 American deaths in Iraq, over 15,500 seriously wounded and over 50,000 suffering from battle fatigue (often referred to in technical parlance as post-traumatic stress disorder). [ source ]
Sen. Barack Obama, 08/10/05:
In a letter to Veterans' Affairs Secretary Jim Nicholson, U.S. Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) today criticized the VA's decision to review more than 70,000 cases where veterans were awarded full benefits for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) cases, while not reviewing any cases where veterans may have been denied benefits they earned. "In order to truly create fairness in the claims system, the VA should concentrate its efforts on reviewing denials of PTSD claims," said Obama. "Without assessing why some PTSD claims are denied, it will be impossible to fully understand how the VA's PTSD rating system can be improved." "The process of gathering evidence to prove PTSD disability is extremely time-consuming," said Obama. "It requires the compilation of medical records, military service records, and testimony from other veterans who can attest to a person's combat exposure. I cannot fathom why VA would require veterans to go through this emotionally painful process for a second time." [ source ]
Sen. Dick Durbin, 01/12/06:
U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., will introduce a bill in the coming weeks requiring the VA to immediately strengthen its PTSD services for veterans and their families. ... Durbin's proposed bill will require every VA medical center to establish a "Post Traumatic Stress Disorder clinical team" of medical professionals trained to deal with PTSD. It also directs the VA to include a family therapist at every vet center and a coordinator for PTSD in every VA region. "PTSD can happen to the bravest warriors. It can and does happen to the toughest warriors. PTSD is also not new. In the Civil War, it was called `soldier's heart.' In World War II, they called it `shell shock.' Today we know what PTSD is and how to treat it," Durbin said. "Some of the deepest wounds suffered in war are not visible. And some of those who suffer the deepest losses never step onto a battlefield. They are the spouses and children who are left behind. As the war in Iraq enters its third year, we must care for all the families who have borne the most terrible cost of this war." [ source ]
Sens. Harry Reid, Daniel Akaka, Barbara Mikulski, 12/28/04:
Three Democratic Senators have politely, but bluntly, blasted the Bush Administration's funding of the VA. More importantly, they have drawn the battle lines that may decide the future of veteran's healthcare and other benefits for years to come. In the letter, dated December 16, 2004, Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid, Committee on Veterans Affairs Ranking Member Daniel Akaka, and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Subcommittee Ranking Member Barbara Mikulski urged President Bush to rethink the VA budgetary process and support programs for veteran's healthcare including special programs to ease the transition difficulties for troops returning from Iraq. The six-point letter says nothing most veterans don't know. The VA budget is in shambles. Veterans are being locked out. The waiting lists for surgeries and necessary diagnostic procedures mean months of delays for many veterans. Here are the six points in simplified form. I urge you to read the entire letter. 1. Fully fund and reopen the VA healthcare system for all veterans. Due to chronic under-funding of the VA hundreds of thousands of veterans are being denied the care they were promised and deserve. The VA health-care budget is short billions of dollars. Many veterans shut out of the system have no health insurance. It is a serious mistake to cut the VA budget at a time when we are creating a whole new generation of veterans. This is unfair to those who have bravely served our nation. 2. Create a seamless transition from active duty to veteran status. Many soldiers are being denied timely access to healthcare benefits and services when they transition. The archaic nature of the system leads to mistakes, backlogs, lost records and long waiting times. The VA and DoD must develop an electronic records system so that those who have served our country are not mired in bureaucracy. 3. Eliminate claims backlogs and reduce claims processing times. The backlog of VA claims continues to grow, yet the VA continues to reduce claims processing staff. 4. Increase education benefits. The GI bill meets only about 50 percent of higher education costs for a public college or university. 5. Increase burial benefits. Burial benefits for the families of our wounded or disabled veterans have not kept up with inflation and rising funeral costs. 6. Protect, expand and guard against any reduction in long-term care and mental health services. One in every six soldiers returning from Iraq suffers from post-traumatic stress disorders. [ source ]
Click on ilona's Name for more information on her, her PTSD blog link, and her Excelent Contribution to the PTSD Much Needed Discussion along with a Number of folks over at ePluibusMedia. Visit Blaming The Veteran - The Politics Of PTSD for links to their Excelent 3 Part Series with links to further studies!!
When you join that which you have Condemmed, and that is your Countries Reputation across this Planet on 'Human Rights' and 'Legality', Than You Have Become The Scurge Of The Rest Of The Peoples That Inhabit This Planet, and Justly So!!
When you do that, which you have Condemed, in Anothers Country, Surprise is not that the Anger and Hatred Grows, the Surprise is that We Have Sunk So Low On The Morality Of Man Towards Man!!!!!!
February 16, 2006, 3:08 AM EST BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Iraq's Interior Ministry has launched an investigation into claims that a police death squad has been operating in Iraq, a top official said Thursday. The probe was launched as police found the bodies of 10 more men who had been shot dead execution-style and dumped in three different areas of Baghdad's predominantly Shiite suburb of Shula.
By Nelson Hernandez and Bassam SebtiWashington Post Foreign Service Friday, February 17, 2006; Page A01
BAGHDAD, Feb. 16 -- U.S. and Iraqi authorities discovered an apparent death squad operating within the country's Interior Ministry last month when Iraqi troops prevented a group of highway patrol officers from killing a Sunni Arab man the officers had arrested, an American military spokesman said Thursday.
What shall we say when history asks how such crimes came to be committed in the name of America? Will we say that we stood silently by, shrugging our shoulders, filling our bellies, closing our eyes? Or will we be able to say: We saw. We dissented. We resisted. We condemned.
British Judge's anger at US torture Stinging comments come as America dismisses UN report on Guantánamo by Richard Norton-Taylor and Suzanne Goldenberg in Washington The Guardian - Friday February 17, 2006
A high court judge yesterday delivered a stinging attack on America, saying its idea of what constituted torture was out of step with that of "most civilised nations".
The criticism, directed at the Bush administration's approach to human rights, was made by Mr Justice Collins during a hearing over the refusal by ministers to request the release of three British residents held at Guantánamo Bay.
The judge said: "America's idea of what is torture is not the same as ours and does not appear to coincide with that of most civilised nations." He made his comments, he said, after learning of the UN report that said Guantánamo should be shut down without delay because torture was still being carried out there.
Never-published photos, and an internal Army report, show more Iraqi prisoner abuse -- evidence the government is fighting to hide
=====
Video: Abu Ghraib - The Sequel
By Olivia Rousset Broadcast By SBS - Australia - Dateline - 02/15/06
These are the photos the American Government doesn't want you to see. While researching a story on guards at Abu Ghraib, I obtained a copy of the unreleased photographs and videos. Taken at the same time as the photos released in 2004 and often of the same abuses, this is the first time they have been shown to the public. Click here to watch the video
=====
New Images: Iraq:
Horrific New Torture Pictures Released
MORE photographs have been leaked of Iraqi citizens tortured by US soldiers at the notorious Abu Ghraib prison on the outskirts of Baghdad.
Warning These pictures should only be viewed by a mature AUDIENCE
The Pentagon has confirmed the authenticity of a set of photographs of prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib that were aired for the first time on Wednesday by Australian television, a defence official said.
The photographs illustrate in excruciating detail the commitment to physical coercion that the Bush administration has vigorously defended in its legal memoranda and justified in terms of its war on terrorism. The battered faces and hooded victims of American brutality attest to the shocking inhumanity of the present campaign.
New footage of British soldiers beating up young Iraqi men in Amarah city in 2003, and the release of more photographs of atrocities by U.S. soldiers against Iraqi detainees in Abu Ghraib prison has spread outrage across Iraq.
If it were proved to me that in making war, my ideal had a chance of being realized, I would still say "No" to war. For one does not create human society on mounds of corpses. Louis Lecoin - French pacifist leader
=====
The Right To Be Offended by Gary Younge, The Nation There is nothing courageous about using freedom of speech to ridicule one of the weakest segments of your society.
David Corn writes The Loyal Opposition twice a month for TomPaine.com. Corn is also the Washington editor of The Nation and is the author of The Lies of George W. Bush: Mastering the Politics of Deception (Crown Publishers). Read his blog at David Corn.
Mr. Paul Pillar, thanks for joining us today. After other members of the intelligence committee and I read your recent article in Foreign Affairs—in which you declared that the Bush administration had "misused" the prewar intelligence to justify the decision to go to war, had purposefully ignored intelligence analysis that did not fit its preconceived notions (such as the intelligence community's finding that Iraq was years away from developing a nuclear weapon), had created an environment in which intelligence analysts did not feel free to reach conclusions that clashed with White House assumptions, and had essentially perverted the intelligence process— we felt it was crucial for the security of the nation to hold a hearing that examined in public your profoundly troubling allegations. After all, you were the top intelligence officer dealing with Iraq before and after the invasion.
=====
Individualism, as a definition of holding to personal ideals, is classed as obstinacy and anti-social. Inevitably we run point blank into the evils of compromise. When compromise enters our moral fibre, it spreads like a cancerous growth. We think we plan adequate safeguards around areas in which we contemplate yielding our standards, but once we lower the fence and break our strong will to do right, come what may, we expose ourselves to forces that spread beyond control. Compromise always starts on some rather insignificant principle. The dangers of yielding seem negligible and we usually risk those things first where observation and detection by others is difficult. We thus seek to avoid censure and discipline. In a short time we find ourselves trading our principles for false values and doing it in the black market of human relationships. . . . Ralph W. Hardy
It is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped. Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance. Robert F. Kennedy US Attorney General 1961-64, assassinated in Los Angeles while campaigning
We, the people of the United States, despite our status as one of the most technologically advanced nations on the face of the earth, remain among the most ignorant about the world we live in. And yet we continue to hold forth that we have some sort of divine right of intervention, where a nation of some 300 million is self-empowered to dictate to billions of others the terms in which we all coexist on the planet.
===== {Torture, Atrosities, Killing of Innocents Especially Children&Women, Wide Spread Arrest Sweeps for No Reason, Targeting Innocents Homes in Bomb Raids, Backing Corrupt Local Officials and the List Goes On, Cause the Ranks of the Citizens of a Nation Invaded to Raise Up Against The Invaders/Occupiers in Greater and Greater Numbers!!!}
TV: New photos show Iraq jail abuse: The pictures showed one man covered in what appeared to be excrement, another with a gash in his throat and an alleged interrogation room covered in blood.
=====
Abu Ghraib: School for terrorists: American commanders in Iraq are expressing grave concerns that Abu Ghraib prison has become a breeding ground for extremist leaders and a school for terrorist foot soldiers
As you read this, think about the Author, many of us remember, think about the country he was from, many of us remember, think about What Is Happening Now Within Our Own Country as to Domestic and Foreign Policies quickly going the way of Alexander Solzhenitsyn's Country!!
I could add a looooong list of that which is going on, that which has taken place, that which we suspect and slowly the proofs are brought to light.
But why, many of us already know, or suspect, and are fighting to bring sanity back from the abyss before it completely disappears along with our freedoms and rights!! =======
Following is the full text of Alexander Solzhenitsyn's essay ``Live Not By Lies.'' It is perhaps the last thing he wrote on his native soil [before the collapse of the Soviet Union] and circulated among Moscow's intellectuals [at that time]. The essay is dated Feb. 12, the day that secret police broke into his apartment and arrested him. The next day he was exiled to West Germany.
As printed in The Washington Post, p. A26 Monday, February 18, 1974
At one time we dared not even to whisper. Now we write and read samizdat, and sometimes when we gather in the smoking room at the Science Institute we complain frankly to one another: What kind of tricks are they playing on us, and where are they dragging us? gratuitous boasting of cosmic achievements while there is poverty and destruction at home. Propping up remote, uncivilized regimes. Fanning up civil war. And we recklessly fostered Mao Tse-tung at our expense-- and it will be we who are sent to war against him, and will have to go. Is there any way out? And they put on trial anybody they want and they put sane people in asylums--always they, and we are powerless.
Things have almost reached rock bottom. A universal spiritual death has already touched us all, and physical death will soon flare up and consume us both and our children--but as before we still smile in a cowardly way and mumble without tounges tied. But what can we do to stop it? We haven't the strength?
We have been so hopelessly dehumanized that for today's modest ration of food we are willing to abandon all our principles, our souls, and all the efforts of our predecessors and all opportunities for our descendants--but just don't disturb our fragile existence. We lack staunchness, pride and enthusiasm. We don't even fear universal nuclear death, and we don't fear a third world war. We have already taken refuge in the crevices. We just fear acts of civil courage.
We fear only to lag behind the herd and to take a step alone-and suddenly find ourselves without white bread, without heating gas and without a Moscow registration.
We have been indoctrinated in political courses, and in just the same way was fostered the idea to live comfortably, and all will be well for the rest of our lives. You can't escape your environment and social conditions. Everyday life defines consciousness. What does it have to do with us? We can't do anything about it?
But we can--everything. But we lie to ourselves for assurance. And it is not they who are to blame for everything-we ourselves, only we. One can object: But actually toy can think anything you like. Gags have been stuffed into our mouths. Nobody wants to listen to us and nobody asks us. How can we force them to listen? It is impossible to change their minds.
It would be natural to vote them out of office-but there are not elections in our country. In the West people know about strikes and protest demonstrations-but we are too oppressed, and it is a horrible prospect for us: How can one suddenly renounce a job and take to the streets? Yet the other fatal paths probed during the past century by our bitter Russian history are, nevertheless, not for us, and truly we don't need them.
Now that the axes have done their work, when everything which was sown has sprouted anew, we can see that the young and presumptuous people who thought they would make out country just and happy through terror, bloody rebellion and civil war were themselves misled. No thanks, fathers of education! Now we know that infamous methods breed infamous results. Let our hands be clean!
The circle--is it closed? And is there really no way out? And is there only one thing left for us to do, to wait without taking action? Maybe something will happen by itself? It will never happen as long as we daily acknowledge, extol, and strengthen--and do not sever ourselves from--the most perceptible of its aspects: Lies.
When violence intrudes into peaceful life, its face glows with self-confidence, as if it were carrying a banner and shouting: ``I am violence. Run away, make way for me--I will crush you.'' But violence quickly grows old. And it has lost confidence in itself, and in order to maintain a respectable face it summons falsehood as its ally--since violence lays its ponderous paw not every day and not on every shoulder. It demands from us only obedience to lies and daily participation in lies--all loyalty lies in that.
And the simplest and most accessible key to our self-neglected liberation lies right here: Personal non-participation in lies. Though lies conceal everything, though lies embrace everything, but not with any help from me.
This opens a breach in the imaginary encirclement caused by our inaction. It is the easiest thing to do for us, but the most devastating for the lies. Because when people renounce lies it simply cuts short their existence. Like an infection, they can exist only in a living organism.
We do not exhort ourselves. We have not sufficiently matured to march into the squares and shout the truth our loud or to express aloud what we think. It's not necessary.
It's dangerous. But let us refuse to say that which we do not think.
This is our path, the easiest and most accessible one, which takes into account out inherent cowardice, already well rooted. And it is much easier--it's dangerous even to say this--than the sort of civil disobedience which Gandhi advocated.
Our path is to talk away fro the gangrenous boundary. If we did not paste together the dead bones and scales of ideology, if we did not sew together the rotting rags, we would be astonished how quickly the lies would be rendered helpless and subside.
That which should be naked would then really appear naked before the whole world.
So in our timidity, let each of us make a choice: Whether consciously, to remain a servant of falsehood--of course, it is not out of inclination, but to feed one's family, that one raises his children in the spirit of lies--or to shrug off the lies and become an honest man worthy of respect both by one's children and contemporaries.
And from that day onward he:
Will not henceforth write, sign, or print in any way a single phrase which in his opinion distorts the truth. Will utter such a phrase neither in private conversation not in the presence of many people, neither on his own behalf not at the prompting of someone else, either in the role of agitator, teacher, educator, not in a theatrical role. Will not depict, foster or broadcast a single idea which he can only see is false or a distortion of the truth whether it be in painting, sculpture, photography, technical science, or music. Will not cite out of context, either orally or written, a single quotation so as to please someone, to feather his own nest, to achieve success in his work, if he does not share completely the idea which is quoted, or if it does not accurately reflect the matter at issue. Will not allow himself to be compelled to attend demonstrations or meetings if they are contrary to his desire or will, will neither take into hand not raise into the air a poster or slogan which he does not completely accept. Will not raise his hand to vote for a proposal with which he does not sincerely sympathize, will vote neither openly nor secretly for a person whom he considers unworthy or of doubtful abilities. Will not allow himself to be dragged to a meeting where there can be expected a forced or distorted discussion of a question. Will immediately talk out of a meeting, session, lecture, performance or film showing if he hears a speaker tell lies, or purvey ideological nonsense or shameless propaganda. Will not subscribe to or buy a newspaper or magazine in which information is distorted and primary facts are concealed. Of course we have not listed all of the possible and necessary deviations from falsehood. But a person who purifies himself will easily distinguish other instances with his purified outlook.
No, it will not be the same for everybody at first. Some, at first, will lose their jobs. For young people who want to live with truth, this will, in the beginning, complicate their young lives very much, because the required recitations are stuffed with lies, and it is necessary to make a choice.
But there are no loopholes for anybody who wants to be honest. On any given day any one of us will be confronted with at least one of the above-mentioned choices even in the most secure of the technical sciences. Either truth or falsehood: Toward spiritual independence or toward spiritual servitude.
And he who is not sufficiently courageous even to defend his soul- don't let him be proud of his ``progressive'' views,a dn don't let him boast that he is an academician or a people's artist, a merited figure, or a general--let him say to himself: I am in the herd, and a coward. It's all the same to me as long as I'm fed and warm.
Even this path, which is the most modest of all paths of resistance, will not be easy for us. But it is much easier than self-immolation or a hunger strike: The flames will not envelope your body, your eyeballs, will not burst from the heat, and brown bread and clean water will always be available to your family.
A great people of Europe, the Czhechoslovaks, whom we betrayed and deceived: Haven't they shown us how a vulnerable breast can stand up even against tanks if there is a worthy heart within it?
You say it will not be easy? But it will be easiest of all possible resources. It will not be an easy choice for a body, but it is only one for a soul. Not, it is not an easy path. But there are already people, even dozens of them, who over the years have maintained all these points and live by the truth.
So you will not be the first to take this path, but will join those who have already taken it. This path will be easier and shorter for all of us if we take it by mutual efforts and in close rank. If there are thousands of us, they will not be able to do anything with us. If there are tens of thousands of us, then we would not even recognize our country.
If we are too frightened, then we should stop complaining that someone is suffocating us. We ourselves are doing it. let us then bow down even more, let us wail, and out brothers the biologists will help to bring nearer the day when they are able to read our thoughts are worthless and hopeless.
And if we get cold feet, even taking this step, then we are worthless and hopeless, and the scorn of Pushkin should be directed to us:
``Why should cattle have the gifts of freedom?
``Their heritage from generation to generation is the belled yoke and the lash.''
The real thing: Jackson Browne's Powerful Song written to protest the Contra War in Nicaragua, updated for today with tremendous new flash video. you gotta see this one and pass it on.
" The purpose of commercial [media] is to induce mass sales. For mass sales there must be a mass norm ... By suppressing the individual, the unique, the industry ... assures itself a standard product for mass consumption.": John Whiting, writer, commenting on the homogenization of corporate media program content
=====
Persecuted Rights Activists Get Global Recognition A coalition of human rights groups from around the world has named activists from Zimbabwe, Iran, and the Democratic Republic of Congo finalists for this year's Martin Ennals award. All four activists are in immediate need of protection, the groups say.
=====
Arms Embargo Violated in Sudan Arms are flowing into the conflict-ridden Darfur region from neighbouring Chad, Eritrea and Libya, according to a report by U.N. experts.
=====
"One of the intentions of corporate-controlled media is to instill in people a sense of disempowerment, of immobilization and paralysis. Its outcome is to turn you into good consumers. It is to keep people isolated, to feel that there is no possibility for social change.": David Barsamian, journalist and publisher
ROVE’S RESPONSE (AP) ”The White House has decided that the best way to deal with Vice President Dick Cheney's shooting accident is to joke about it. "President Bush's spokesman quipped Tuesday that the burnt orange school colors of the University of Texas championship football team that was visiting the White House shouldn't be confused for hunter's safety wear. "The orange that they're wearing is not because they're concerned that the vice president may be there," joked White House press secretary Scott McClellan, following the lead of late-night television comedians. "That's why I'm wearing it." “The president's brother, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, took a similar jab after slapping an orange sticker on his chest from the Florida Farm Bureau that read, "No Farmers, No Food." "I'm a little concerned that Dick Cheney is going to walk in," the governor cracked during an appearance in Tampa Monday. One joke the White House is not repeating is the one that says that Cheney tortured Henry Whittington before shooting him. Is it in bad taste? Before you respond, check these new pictures out--on Australian TV, not US TV.
The White House decided that he they couldn’t fight the comics so they made a feeble effort to join them until Henry Whittington, 78, the lawyer shot by Cheney suffered a heart attack and went back into intensive care. Suddenly, this incident was no longer so funny.
=====
" When everyone is thinking the same, no one is thinking.": John Wooden
=====
Next Steps In Iraq Here's a final angle on this one. In my experience, U.S. soldiers don't mind a fight when they are being led competently, they know they are allowed to succeed in their mission and that mission is critical to U.S. national security. Right now, this is not the case and as we know, soldiers are voting with their feet. A political-military strategy, supported by the neighbors and backed by the U.N. has the possibility of fixing this mess.
=====
Bush Budget Puts Our Public Lands on Blue-Light Special Peddling Americans' birthright aims to raise $1 billion for U.S. Treasury As much as 800,000 acres of Americans' public land would be sold into private hands under one egregious provision of President Bush's proposed budget. Astonishingly, less than two months ago, bipartisan opposition in the Congress defeated a similar scheme. This absurd proposal deserves the same reaction from all of us. Please send that message to your Members of Congress! You can take action immediately by clicking here.
Afghanistan: The End Of NATO's Honeymoon? The fact that the attack against a NATO base -- in what is one of the safer areas of Afghanistan -- was carried out not by a band of insurgents or terrorists but rather the local population should bring the countries contributing troops to the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) back to the drawing board regarding their long-term plans for Afghanistan
=====
A Trust, By Any Other Name by Barry Lynn, TomPaine.com Soon America will realize that to save our free market system, we will need to roll back the power of oligopolies.
=====
"Corporations have been enthroned An era of corruption in high places will follow and the money power will endeavor to prolong its reign by working on the prejudices of the people . . until wealth is aggregated in a few hands . . . and the Republic is destroyed." Abraham Lincoln
Los Angeles -- Falluja will go down in history as a cauldron of chaos. On March 31st, 2004, four American contractors were killed and dragged from their cars near the bridge spanning the Euphrates River. The assembled crowd then burned their bodies and hacked them to pieces hoisting their blackened body parts into the air for the world to see. The U.S. Military reacted with two separate sieges of the city of Falluja, one in April and a second, more deadly attack in November, labeled Operation Phantom Fury. With Caught in the Crossfire, the Untold Story of Falluja, Independent Filmmaker Mark Manning turns his lens on Falluja and drives a stake through the heart of the Administration’s assertion that America is not at war with the Iraqi people. Caught in the Crossfire brings to light the most compelling story of the Iraq war: the plight of civilians suffering due to U.S. military operations in Iraq. By working with Iraqi film producer, journalist and humanitarian aid worker Rana Al-Aiouby, Manning was able to enter Falluja and move un-embedded through the Iraqi landscape as one of the Iraqi people. Together they filmed and documented the horrors of war from the perspective of the Iraqi civilians. Through Caught in the Crossfire, Manning provides a searing eyewitness account as the only Western civilian to actually live with the people of Falluja and enter the city following the siege. This film exposes the devastating humanitarian disaster that is the result of American foreign policy in Iraq. In one city alone, the film shows that hundreds of thousands of lives have been destroyed by one American Military action that spanned the course of only 8 days. Prior to the siege, there were at least 350,000 people living in the farming community of Falluja, a city comparable in size to Cincinnati, Ohio. Most of those civilians were evacuated before the siege without any clear idea of where to go. In the middle of winter, they found themselves living in cars, abandoned chicken coups, and storage shelters. Many are still sick, hungry and living in desperate conditions without humanitarian aid from the outside world. If a child is sick in Falluja, a child dies in Falluja. Nothing is whitewashed in Manning's film. Accompanied by a beautiful and compelling soundtrack, the screen is filled with images of burnt buildings, dead animals, twisted metal, heaps of rubble. And children. A Greek chorus of Fallujan kids, bearing not so much silent witness as unspoken accusation. The filmmaker is an unlikely hero in a time of war. American born and bred, Mark Manning is coming up fast in the Hollywood Documentary firmament. Possessed, obsessed, tenacious and courageous, he is a man that thrives on drive. A former deep sea oil rig diver turned documentary filmmaker, Manning left sunny Santa Barbara in January of 2003 on a journey that took him across America. Tall, dark, and ruggedly handsome, Manning set out to hear what real Americans had to say about the impending war. What he found was a country that had chosen to change the course of the world whose population was largely uninformed and apathetic, fearful and confused. Realizing his own responsibilities as a U.S. citizen Manning decided to explore the consequences of his government’s actions. When the president aimed our military sword at Iraq, Manning found himself riding a wave of destiny that eventually took him to the Middle East, where he met his co-producer and guide Rana Al- Aiouby. Together they formed a bond and journeyed into Falluja where they lived with the refugees and experienced life from their point of view. They walked alongside the farmers, the women and the children to see their destroyed city after the siege. The people in Falluja befriended Manning, telling him if Americans knew the truth of what their government was doing, the American people would work to stop the killing and destruction.
Unknown to any American or Iraqi authorities, Manning recorded on film what life is like now for the people of Falluja. He went through the danger and humiliation of checkpoints, witnessed the devastation of thousands of homes, shops and mosques. He documented the horrors of the siege as recounted by those who survived inside the city during the battles. The people of Falluja asked him to tell their story to the world. Manning is now fulfilling that promise with the release of Caught in the Crossfire. Falluja is the city that time forgot. Located on one of the bends of the Euphrates that extends into the great Syrian Desert, the city is on an ancient trade route linking the oasis towns of the Nejd province of what is today Saudi Arabia with the great cities of Aleppo and Mosul to the north. Falluja is a crossroads, a seaport on that great desert, a place that binds together people in what are today Saudi Arabia, Syria, Iraq and Jordan. People in the city are linked by tribe, family or marriage to people in all these places. Falluja dates from Babylonian times and was host to important Jewish academies for many centuries. Within Iraq, it is known as the "City of Mosques" for the more than 200 mosques found in the city and surrounding villages. It is one of the most important places to Sunni Islam in the region. The city enjoyed a pre-war population of about 350,000 inhabitants in 2003. Now, after the siege, the current population is unknown but estimated at less than 100,000. Many of these people have been forced to return to Falluja despite the dismal humanitarian conditions. To this date, the majority of the city is in rubble; very little infrastructure has survived, and almost no aid is getting within the city walls. The war has reportedly damaged a majority of the city's buildings, including 60 of the city's mosques. The Sunni triangle has become so dangerous that independent journalism is out of the question. Thus, the absence of war images - apart from Pentagon propaganda videos and the limited viewpoint of embedded journalists. The city of Falluja has been deemed "pacified" and the battle of Falluja has been declared a victory by the American administration. Yet the American attack on Falluja was a major turning point in the rise of the resistance in Iraq. Prior to the siege, the Pentagon estimated the insurgency in Iraq to be in the thousands; after Falluja, that number rose to over 100,000. Falluja has become a battle cry of anti-American sentiment for a large part of the world. Caught in the Crossfire exposes the annihilation, not the liberation, of the Iraqi people. By detailing what is actually happening to these civilians, the film shows why the people of Iraq have lost faith in the stated American policy goals and why, with the loss of “hearts and minds” in Iraq, there is now no way for America to win this war. Caught in the Crossfire is a joint production between Iraqi and American filmmakers. The film was directed by Mark Manning and produced by Rana Al-Aiouby and Mark Manning. This documentary short was filmed inside Falluja during the height of the U.S. bombardment and its aftermath (November 2004 ~ April 2005). Manning's film details the conditions experienced by civilians as they endured the violent clashes and consequences of Operation Phantom Fury only to become refugees outside the eyes and care of the international community. Caught in the Crossfire was filmed entirely un-embedded, outside the protection or influence of the military or corporate media. It contains exclusive footage that has never before been seen in western media. Caught in the Crossfire captures the unique and honest perspective of the men and women of Falluja. But it is the children that haunt Manning. The searing looks from innocent eyes. "I traveled thousands of miles and risked my life to look at the war through their eyes,” Manning recounts, "But more than once, I had to look away. I felt responsible for the actions of my government and those actions are destroying these children’s lives.” *Manning's film company, ConceptionMedia, is donating 25% of the net profits from the sale of Caught in the Crossfire to relief efforts bringing medical and humanitarian aid to civilians who are suffering in combat zones in Iraq today.
=====
For anyone, reading this, in the Charlotte North Carolina area, or in NC and interested.
We are still working on the details of showing the film "Sir! No Sir!" and following with a discussion - on March 25 at the main library auditorium in Charlotte.
We have reserved the space and equipment we will need.
National Theatrical Release of "Sir! No Sir!" This Spring
I have purchased 'Caught In The Crossfire' and hope to add this documentary to the showing. I will have a more firmer idea of the showing soon and will pass this information on, for those interested. If you visit the 'Sir! No Sir! site, they have been rebuilding it, but do have up information of Pre-Release dates and places, some have already started. You may also want to set up a showing yourself, in your area, and also one of 'Caught In The Crossfire', visit the sites for further information!
"I hope we shall crush in its birth the aristocracy of our moneyed corporations, which dare already to challenge our government to a trial of strength and bid defiance to the laws of our country." : Thomas Jefferson (1812 )
=====
Outed CIA officer was working on Iran Mon, 13 Feb 2006 11:35:46 -0800 By Larisa Alexandrovna Republished from RAW STORY Valerie Plame was working Iranian WMDs; her outing was very damaging to national security interests. The unmasking of covert CIA officer Valerie Plame Wilson by White House officials in 2003 caused significant damage to U.S. national security and its ability to counter nuclear proliferation abroad, RAW STORY has learned. =====
War against a foreign country only happens when the moneyed classes think they are going to profit from it. – George Orwell
"We must make clear to the Germans that the wrong for which their fallen leaders are on trial is not that they lost the war, but that they started it. ": U.S. Supreme Court Justice Robert Jackson, U.S. representative to the International Conference on Military Trials, Aug. 12, 1945
=====
Hamas Will Compromise by Rami Khouri, TomPaine.com Hamas lives in the real world, not Bush's fantasyland. It will talk and it will compromise.
"They are the only Arabs who enjoy an authentic mandate from their people, genuinely manifested through victory in two free elections at the municipal and national levels." {That's Called Democracy!!!}
=====
To initiate a war of aggression, therefore, is not only an international crime; it is the supreme international crime differing only from other war crimes in that it contains within itself the accumulated evil of the whole: Nuremburg War Tribunal regarding wars of aggression
(14 feb 2006) Anwar Kahim Jawad and Vivian Salim Mati, who both lost their families during the Iraq War, were denied visa requests and the opportunity to travel to the U.S. to share their tragic stories and celebrate International Women’s Day on March 8th. Call the State Department or send a message to Condoleezza Rice asking the U.S. to grant them visas, urges Code Pink.
"A Society that is in its higher circles and middle levels widely believed to be a network of smart rackets does not produce men with an inner moral sense; a society that is merely expedient does not produce men of conscience. A society that narrows the meaning of "success" to the big money and in its terms condemns failure as the chief vice, raising money to the plane of absolute value, will produce the sharp operator and the shady deal. Blessed are the cynical, for only they have what it takes to succeed." --- The Power Elite by C. Wright Mills
(14 feb 2006) The Iraqi government called for an immediate investigation by the British Ministry of Defence following the release of video footage on Sunday showing UK soldiers beating Iraqi teenagers.
"Few are willing to brave the disapproval of their fellows, the censure of the colleagues, the wrath of their society. Moral courage is a rarer commodity than bravery in battle or great intelligence. Yet it is the one essential, vital quality for those who seek to change a world that yields most painfully to change. Each time a person stands up for an idea, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, (s)he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance." -- Robert F. Kennedy
=====
Afghan Bomb Kills Four U.S. Troops By DANIEL COONEY, Associated Press Writer Mon Feb 13, 12:36 PM ET KABUL, Afghanistan - A bomb hit a U.S. armored Humvee on patrol Monday in central Top of Form 1 Bottom of Form 1 Afghanistan, killing four American troops, the military said, the deadliest loss for U.S. forces here since September.
James Carroll | Misunderstanding Muslims When the Koran was said to have been denigrated by American guards at Guantanamo last year, Muslims reacted with rage, but most observers in the West misunderstood why. It was easy for Christians and Jews -- the other ''people of the Book" -- to think that such an insult to the Koran was like an insult to the Bible. That would be sacrilege enough, but it was worse than that. Drawing analogies between religions can mislead, but the Koran stands in Islamic belief more as Jesus does in Christian faith than as the Bible. As this Christian understands it, the Koran embodies the incarnational principle, with the chanting of the holy words that came from God to Mohammed as the way God's presence is experienced again.
=====
"Corporations have been enthroned An era of corruption in high places will follow and the money power will endeavor to prolong its reign by working on the prejudices of the people . . until wealth is aggregated in a few hands . . . and the Republic is destroyed." Abraham Lincoln
=====
"All experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for thir future security." : The Declaration of Independence (1776)
Not having the balls to blatantly stab Veterans in the back here in the United States, B.G. Burkett and his right-wing Tugboat crew of Veterans for Bush have taken their "Stolen Valor" views to turn back the clock on research and treatment of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) across the border to Canada for discussion.
In doing follow up research on the roll of toilet paper "Stolen Valor," I ran across this association to B.G. Burkett.
I give proper LINK to the article and paraphrase extracts from those parts that are of interest to Veterans and Military Families only. I had to rewrite it to translate the medical jargon.
What I wish to highlight is the fact that the same arguments and attacks made here are the same excuse made by Neo-Cons in the Congress, Bush appointees within the VA itself, plus anyone else who supports yet another look at (study of)PTSD. Folks it is all just more right-wing NEO-CON smoke and mirrors to DIVERT more money from the VA to pay for the War in Iraq without having to Repeal Tax Cuts for those not sacrificing anything for the War Effort.
The smoking gun: Check out who paid for this Guest Editorial to appear in a Foreign Journal? A grant from the National Institute of Mental Health (Grant Number MH 61268 to be exact) That is right U.S. taxpayer money is being used against America's Veterans. If that is not grounds enough for Veterans to raise Holy Hell, I don't know what else will get you off your feet to protect yourselves. If the right-wingers will go after PTSD using taxpayer money, what will be next Agent Orange?
Note also that the Department of Veterans Affairs has contracted with (you got it) the National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, MD to do yet another study on PTSD. How fair would any study be? Read on to find out. Bobby "Indy Thinker" Hanafin
Read Bobby's Post... But I'll leave you with a thought:
A recent Incident just may have the Detrimental Effects on a certain person to bring on a case of his own PTSD.
And that Certain Person is none other than big brave pRes. dick cheney, wonder if he's still sleeping soundly, this time he was Witness to what happens!!
I have been learning more and more about the challenges facing my fellow Veterans and I plan to expand this page as time permits.
Bottom Line:
They made a promise to protect all 300 million of us while we go about our freedom.
We owe them their health and security for covering our asses. Period!
Our Veterans are being squeezed out of their benefits and having personally visited dozens of VA Hospitals, the infrastructure is FRAGILE at best. I plan to devote more attention to this crisis and I thank you in advance for visiting the websites listed near the bottom of this page. I just completed a new song "Veteran" and I invite you to listen and share the song in support of our Veterans, our Heroes.
“The war against Iraq is as disastrous as it is unnecessary; perhaps in terms of its wisdom, purpose and motives, the worst war in American history…. Our military men and women…were not called to defend America but rather to attack Iraq. They were not called to die for, but rather to kill for, their country. What more unpatriotic thing could we have asked of our sons and daughters…?”: William Sloane Coffin Biography - Clergyman, Social Activist 1924-
=====
The Caliphate Myth by Tom Porteous, TomPaine.com A new bad idea is being used to justify the "long war" against terrorism: the revival of the Islamic caliphate.
=====
“After the invasion of Iraq, I again heard from Vietnamese the excuse that Americans were good people who happened to have bad leaders. I wondered how long we can get away with that one. My fear is that we are no longer a nation at war but have become a nation of war. My hope is that we will pull back from empire and once again embrace our republic.”: Peter Davis Biography - Filmmaker, Journalist, Writer, 1937-
=====
Frog-marching the Media to the Gallows By Mike Whitney The Times has proved once again that the elite-media is a steadfast partner in mobilizing the masses for unpopular wars. Despite the countless thousands of innocent people who have already been killed by the Time’s fear-mongering coverage of "imaginary" Iraqi WMD, the editors continue to use the corporate-bullhorn to call the nation to arms. =====
“Part of the main plan of imperialism… is that we will give you your history, we will write it for you, we will re-order the past…What’s more truly frightening is the defacement, the mutilation, and ultimately the eradication of history in order to create…an order that is favorable to the United States.” : Edward Said Biography - Palestinian Activist, Literary Critic, Writer, Musician, 1935-2003
=====
France Invades U.S. “Freedom Isn’t Free” By Jerry Ghinelli With the French occupation of the US now entering its third year, in a surprising new development, the government of Jacques Chirac today approved vast new economic measures needed to adequately finance the liberation of the US, commonly referred to as Operation American Freedom. Called the PetroEuro Transatlantic Oil Liberation Act (Petrol for short), effective immediately, all Americans must now convert their dollars into euros in order to purchase gasoline for their vehicles.
=====
“Kids don’t have a little brother working in the coal mine, they don’t have a little sister coughing her lungs out in the looms of the big mill towns of the Northeast. Why? Because we organized; we broke the back of the sweatshops in this country; we have child labor laws. Those were not benevolent gifts from enlightened management. They were fought for, they were bled for, they were died for by working people, by people like us. Kids ought to know that. ”: Bruce “Utah” Phillips Biography - Songwriter, Storyteller, Humorist, Philosopher, 1935
=====
Pass It On: Time To Hunt Bigger Game by CrooksAndLiars.com Two Republicans -- that's right, Republicans -- said on 'Fox News Sunday' yesterday that Vice President Cheney should be investigated for his connection to the Valerie Plame leak case.
Army of Iraq war veterans 'suffering brain damage' THE hardest part of Jason Poole’s day is his early morning confrontation with the face staring back at him from his bathroom mirror. In the past 18 months, plastic surgeons have rebuilt it five times.
=====
"All experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for thir future security." : The Declaration of Independence (1776)
======
ANYTIME THE VA WANTS ANOTHER STUDY OF PTSD - WE HAVE B.G. BURKETT'S "STOLEN VALOR" TO THANK! Not having the balls to blatantly stab Veterans in the back here in the United States, B.G. Burkett and his right-wing Tugboat crew of Veterans for Bush have taken their "Stolen Valor" views to turn back the clock on research and treatment of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) across the border to Canada for discussion. In doing follow up research on the roll of toilet paper "Stolen Valor," I ran across this association to B.G. Burkett. A 2005 Guest Editorial in the Canadian Journal of Psychiatry called "Troubles in Traumatology" in which Burkett is thanked for his contributions and comments, although B.G. Burkett is neither a Psychiatrist nor has a PhD in Psychology. What is wrong with this picture? CJ Publications-Guest Editorial
=====
"No, war is not Hell. War is worse than Hell. There are no innocent bystanders in Hell, but war is full of them." - CPT Benj. Franklin "Hawkeye" Pierce, 4077th M*A*S*H
===== What 'We're' Paying For The Propaganda - At Least Known!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The Bush administration began its assault on veterans by using operatives (who are also psychiatrists) of the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) to attack the very diagnosis of PSTD itself and malign the veterans afflicted with the disorder as "malingerers." As propagandists, public relations managers have been known to further a particular agenda by purchasing the services of academic and professional experts. In this vein, Cato Institute Senior Fellow Doug Bandow resigned on 12/15/05 after admitting receiving funds from indicted lobbyist, Jack Abramoff, in exchange for favorable op-ed pieces. He is a Christian libertarian whose writings frequently decry government transfers to "...greedy private groups that can't legally take other people's money directly."
By D.E. Ford, M.S.W., Commander Jeff Huber, U.S. Navy (Retired), and I.L. Meagher for ePluribus Media Site
Part 2- AGAINST OUR WILL: RATION & REDEFINE
This article is the second of three parts exploring the impact of politics on the funding, diagnosis and treatment of the combat damaged veteran suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome. This part 2 explores how institutional barriers prevent utilization despite the overwhelming public support for mandatory healthcare funding for our military and how a redefinition of medical disorders as "spiritual" may shift treatment for PTSD and substance abuse to faith based, non-medical providers.
"We, having dutifully served our nation, do hereby affirm our greater responsibility to serve the cause of world peace by applying the concept of engaging conflict peacefully, without violence." Veterans For Peace
VFP Takes Leading Role in Peace Movement As we approach the end of the third year of the war on and occupation of Iraq, several events are planned to resist the war and pressure the United States government to provide real support for our troops: Bring Them Home Now and Take Care of Them When They Get Here.
Our Strategy The anti war/peace movement is growing. Millions of people are planning hundreds of events across the country. Veterans For Peace is taking a leading role in this organizing. We have a three prong strategy for this time period:
1. Build solidarity with the economic and social justice movements here at home. Educate and raise awareness of the connection between the war in Iraq and the domestic war on the poor, the vulnerable, workers and middle class.
2. Hold Congress accountable. Pressure Senators and members of the House to speak out against the war, stopping funding the war and take immediate step to bring our service people home.
3. Local actions and vigils
March in March Veterans And Survivors March For Peace And Justice: From Mobile to New Orleans March 14-19, 2006 Support Americans in Iraq and the Gulf Coast—Bring Them Home NOW! March 19th: End of year three/ Start of year four.
March 19, 2006 marks the U.S. invasion of Iraq and the beginning of the fourth year of the war and occupation. Veterans For Peace is organizing a five-day march along Gulf Coast Highway 90 to demand the immediate return of our troops from Iraq, and to call for U.S. tax dollars to be spent on human priorities and rebuilding of the devastated Gulf Coast, instead of the illegal occupation of Iraq. The March will begin in Mobile, AL on March 14th and culminate in New Orleans, March 19th.
The U.S. government continues immoral and failed policies abroad and at home. Money was spent to invade and continues to be wasted on occupying and bombing Iraq, (a country that was never a threat to our nation) not for housing, education and healthcare in the U.S. Government policies are designed to meet the desires of corporate executives and not the needs of the Iraqis or U.S. citizens. Over 45 million U.S. citizens are without healthcare. Unemployment is falling, now at 4.7%. However, African Americans are being left behind, 8.9% jobless rate. There is no money for schools but plenty of money for prisons and tax breaks for the rich. The Bush administration has stopped asking for money to rebuild Iraq but has recently asked for $120 billion more (total cost of war nearly half a trillion dollars) to continue the war on its people. Meanwhile, Iraq war veterans return home to face PSTD, homelessness, unemployment, and transition into the civilian world alone. No real support, only parades, medals, high fives and slaps on the back.
The tragedies of Katrina, Rita and recent suicide of Iraq veteran Doug Barber are the most obvious and outrageous examples of the disregard our government has for the common person. Build solidarity in your community to strengthen the peace movement by making these connections.
Visit the March website Veterans Gulf March for more information on the March.
Hold Congress Accountable Hold Congress Accountable, Demand They Stop Funding The War and Take Immediate Action to Bring The Troops Home Now!
We are encouraging VFP members to coordinate with Military Families (MFSO & GSFP) and other veterans (IVAW & VVAW) to discuss setting up local meetings with your Senators and House Members around the 3rd commemoration of the beginning of the war in Iraq. Pressure these elected officials to speak out against the war, stop funding war and act to Bring Our Troops Home NOW and Take Care of Them When They Get Here. Most of our Senators and Members of Congress could do much more to make this happen.
Congress is out of session March 20-24 and many Senators and Members of Congress will be back in their districts. Some possibilities for pressuring them to SPEAK OUT, STOP THE FUNDING and ACT to end the war include:
- Coordinate and participate in Winter Of Our Discontent (WOOD), planned for Feb. 15 to March 19, in Washington, D.C. Voices for Creative Nonviolence, the group created after the dissolution of Voices in the Wilderness, is organizing this campaign to help strengthen grassroots opposition and nonviolent resistance to the continued war against the people of Iraq. A core group will journey to Washington, D.C. to organize a 33 day fast, vigils, lobbying and nonviolent civil disobedience during this period. Others will join the core group in D.C. for shorter periods of time. Still others will organize local actions in their home communities. VCNV invites you to join them in D.C. for part or all of the Winter of Our Discontent. If you are not able to travel to D.C., you are encouraged to organize actions in your local community. Visit , see Flyer
or call Mike Ferner, (419) 729-7273 for more information.
- Letters, petitions and letters to the editor (don't forget to send copies of your letters to SBC Global ) - Regular vigils outside of their office - Formal meetings arranged with the Congress member - Holding a press conference following those meetings - Showing up at meetings, forums and speaking engagements that they have already scheduled (this would involve getting their schedules and being a presence at as many of the events they go to as possible -- with our signs, pictures, etc.) - Sit-ins at local congressperson's office until they give you an answer or a plan for immediate withdrawal. - Holding demonstrations outside the homes of politicians - Creative activities to draw attention to the personal and financial cost of the war, such as reading the names of casualties in the offices of elected officials, bringing the boots of service members and asking elected officials to identify who they believe is worth sacrificing to the war, - See Bring Them Home Now for ideas.
All of these activities could be started right away, building toward events on or near the 3rd Commemoration of the War on March 19th. We'd love to hear about your plans and other suggestions you have for actions.
There are several local actions taking place around the country. Some are large, others small. All are important to resisting the war.
- Fayetteville, North Carolina Home of Fort Bragg, the 82nd Airborne, and Pope Air Force Base On March 18 & 19, 2006, the 3rd commemoration of the war in Iraq is a critical opportunity to show support for the men and women speaking out against the war from within the Armed Forces. Real support for the troops still means that we Bring Them Home Now! Visit NC Peace&Justice for more information.
- Check with other local peace organizations to see what they are planning and how you could work together. Check the UFPJ web site for information on local activities and organizations ( United For Peace ).
- There are many local and state campaigns to resist the war. They include: initiatives to bring home the National Guard, depleted uranium testing of returning troops, resistance to the Patriot Act, initiatives to impeach President Bush. This period is an opportune time to organize and agitate on these issues.
On Monday, February 13th, the New Orleans homeless population will skyrocket, and the survivors of Katrina will be victimized again. FEMA's short-term hotel program expires for most of the 26,000 displaced hurricane survivors and most of these evacuees have not been provided with long-term, or even transitional housing solutions. The National Guard is even on call to evict these survivors at gun point. ******
The National Guard is now being employed to assist the extremely sketchy New Orleans Police with these hotel evictions; and some of the troops don't like it a bit. Said this distressed young man on the telephone, "This is f***ing unbelievable. We were given an operations order to herd our fellow New Orleanians onto buses like cattle or convicts in the middle of the night. They weren't even allowed to pcik up their belongings. We [the National Guard] were responsible to inventory their stuff and bag it up." There is a really big New Orleans round-up scheduled, he advised me, on Monday night, February 13th. Happy Valentine's Day. ******
Far from the victims of Katrina for whom they are meant, legions of wide-bodied mobile homes sit empty at Hope's Municipal Airport, a sprawling former military base. After all these months, storm victims can't seem to get the trailers, which are proving a mixed blessing to Hope and Arkansas.
