From The 'Veterans For Peace' Convention

{For First Hand Reports Of VFP Convention Visit Peace Vets Starting Monday 8-14-06 At The Return Home From A Busy/Active Convention. From Veterans For Peace Chapter 72 Portland OR.}



Sow Justice - Reap Peace:

Strategies For Moving Beyond War

**As A Side Note: What started at last years convention, Camp Casey, Crawford TX, Cindy Sheehan Hospitalized in Crawford

Peace activist Cindy Sheehan has been taken to a hospital in Waco Texas. Sheehan who has been on a liquids-only fast for 37 days was suffering from dehydration and exhaustion. Sheehan is in Crawford, again pressuring George W. Bush to meet with her regarding the death of her son Casey Sheehan, a US soldier KIA in Iraq.

**






Veterans For Peace




Veterans For Peace Impeachment Petition and Charges


Veterans for Impeachment

By David Swanson

Remarks at Veterans for Peace convention, Seattle, Wash., Aug. 11, 2006

It's an honor to be speaking at a Veterans for Peace event. For as long as I've been working in the peace movement, VFP has been a powerful ally. To us nonveterans, veterans for war sometimes seem like a hostile and exclusive club. But veterans for peace have always treated me as a brother in the cause for peace. And I'm sorry that my brother Mike Ferner could not be here today. We'll be reading a letter from him, since he's under house arrest in the cause of justice.

By the way, if I stink it's because airport security took my deodorant. The guy who took it whispered that he loved my Impeach Bush and Cheney shirt. The pilots, flight attendants, and several of the passengers told me that as well. Sometimes I wonder whether I wear these shirts for all the compliments. But the compliments are usually accompanied by nervous laughter. People don't hear about impeachment on their televisions, and they don't think it can happen, much less that they themselves can help make it happen.

I spent several hours sitting in an airport catching up on Emails, and the loudspeakers kept playing a warning message over and over and over, a message that sounded to me like a Bush campaign ad aimed at instilling fear in people. The announcement went like this:

"Your attention please. Due to heightened security, please permit suspension of the Bill of Rights, the rule of law, and peace on earth. Your attention please...."

And on and on like that.

This message disturbed me, but the people around me did not seem to be hearing the same message I was. They mostly talked about how much they hated terrorists, and you could tell that they did not mean the world's top terrorists, George W. Bush and Dick Cheney.

Britain's Home Secretary says the toothpaste and deodorant terrorists would have caused death on an unprecedented scale. The fact that we have killed hundreds of thousands of Iraqis just does not exist for media outlets that report comments like that one.

I've even had my fellow activists tell me that the reason I don't believe a secret missile struck the Pentagon, the planes were fictional, the towers were blown up from inside, etc., is that I refuse to blame Bush for a crime as serious as 9-11. Bush has openly and proudly and illegally, fraudulently, brutally, and pointlessly slaughtered 300,000 Iraqis, and I'm supposed to be incapable of supposing he could kill 3,000 people?

Well, I haven't seen evidence that he did it, except through neglect, but I have seen incontrovertible evidence that he launched an illegal war on the basis of lies, detained people without charge or legal counsel, tortured people, and used illegal weapons - all actions that have endangered American service men and women. I've seen solid evidence, accompanied by public confessions, that Bush, Cheney, and gang have launched massive illegal operations to spy on Americans. I've seen Bush reverse 800 laws without signing statements.

And I heard two familiar lies escape Bush's lips yesterday, when he said our enemy was Islamic fascists, and when he said Americans are safer now than before 9-11. The origin of our danger lies not in the murderous intentions of a small number of Muslims, but in the massive crimes of the gang of thugs pushing our country in a fascist direction. And we are decidedly less safe with each passing year, our nation is more hated, terrorist incidents are more frequent.

Polls suggest that most of the U.S. troops in Iraq want to come home, but Bush says we should support the war to support the troops. Meanwhile it is the military holding the chickenhawks back from putting nuclear options on the table. Bush is using our troops for his power and profit. I've seen veterans for war make a point of pride out of being used. I recently spoke on a panel in San Diego and mentioned that Suzanne Swift had been lied to by recruiters. Paul Hackett was on the panel and said "You know, that's life."

Actually that's death for some of the young men and women who have been lied to and sent to Iraq. I'll tell you what's life. Life is doing what Ricky Cousing is doing, what Lt. Watada is doing, what everyone must summon the courage to do. And life is impeachment. This war cannot be ended except by removing Bush and Cheney from office.

So, we need to keep passing impeachment resolutions in towns and cities and pushing for passage of one in a state legislature. And we need to push impeachment if we are going to win. Beginning August this month.

We do not need to choose between impeachment and elections; we need to promote impeachment if we are going to win any elections.

We also need to take over our nation' capital. Beginning Sept. 5, we will establish Camp Democracy on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. This will be a camp for peace, justice, and impeachment. I'm happy to say that VFP will be part of Camp Democracy. Please join us:

Camp Democracy

*


I will add this following article not from the Convention but How The Recent Veterans Are Being Treated:

Bob Kerr: A cruel cut for those who face reality

01:00 AM EDT on Friday, August 11, 2006

It is the "signature wound" of the war in Iraq, the one that isn't immediately visible but the one that will probably have the longest, hardest impact on veterans and their families.

And it is being coldly pushed aside by Congress in one of those moves that makes all the lip service to the sacrifices of our men and women in combat ring just a little bit hollow.

Sen. Jack Reed has seen it in the hospitals. He has seen 18- and 19-year-olds with missing arms and legs. And he has seen that other wound, the one that makes it hard to put thoughts and words together.

It is the wound that comes with the explosions that often happen so anonymously and unexpectedly in Iraq. It is the wound that comes despite body armor and state-of-the-art weapons and incredibly fast battlefield medical treatment.

"You look at one of these kids, their families, and you know it's going to be a struggle their whole lives," Reed said yesterday.

The brain injury often comes home under cover of other, more visible wounds. The missing leg will get a lot of attention. The missing ability to express thoughts and emotions might not.

Reed says his Senate colleague Barack Obama is pushing for a more thorough assessment of returning veterans for brain injuries.

"There are some who have problems they don't even know about," said Reed.

You can read rest at link above or HERE

***


Although tyranny may successfully rule over foreign peoples, it can stay in power only if it first destroys the national institutions of its own people.

~ Hannah Arendt

"One has to stand up and speak out for one's convictions. Inaction at a time of conflagration is inexcusable." M. Gandhi

Silence is Permission! Wake Up and Speak Out.




Light A Candle For
Peace, Tolerance, Understanding
and For The Children - Innocence Lost,
And The Perpetual Conflict Future We Have Given Them!

Ahhhh, "Islamic fascists."

FOCUS | Marc Ash: Fascists of All Varieties

Marc Ash writes: "Since, Mr. Bush, you have chosen to put the issue of fascism before the public, it begs a broader dialog on fascism's role in our lives today. I accept the challenge to enter that dialog. Frankly Mr. Bush, many Americans refer to you as a fascist."

Fascists of All Varieties

By Marc Ash
t r u t h o u t | Perspective

Friday 11 August 2006

Reveling in yesterday's announcement that a plot to blow up American Airlines planes departing from British airports had been foiled by British authorities, George W. Bush leapt at the opportunity to sell his "war on terra" to whoever would listen. Using the best Madison Avenue technique money can buy, he was even ready to roll out a new slogan du jour on cue for the event. Today's phrase that pays: We are at war with "Islamic fascists."

First let me say that if British law enforcement did in fact do all of what the US mainstream press is implying they did, I thank them for finding an efficient, non-violent way to guard the public safety. "Efficient" and "non-violent" being the key words in the preceding sentence.

Efficiency and non-violence have been glaringly absent from US-British national security operations over the past five years. And that absence contributes greatly to the current atmosphere of conflict. War and a warlike mentality are espoused at every turn as the remedies of choice in dealing with all threats to Western security. As a result, Western security has suffered.

What worked in foiling the plot to destroy the airliners was good old fashioned police work and a solid investigation. Not military action. The tools used by British authorities are tools that were available on September 11th 2001. They were available the day the US invaded Iraq, and they are available today. We have always had good tools to safeguard our security. Launching massive invasions is not helping, it's adding to the rage that fuels the madness.

Fascism at Issue

Since, Mr. Bush, you have chosen to put the issue of fascism before the public, it begs a broader dialog on fascism's role in our lives today. I accept the challenge to enter that dialog. Frankly Mr. Bush, many Americans refer to you as a fascist. There really isn't any other way to state that than bluntly. Blowing up an airliner full of passengers is barbaric and completely unacceptable, regardless of the objectives of those involved, but it really doesn't fit the definition of fascism.

From Webster's New World Dictionary of the American Language:

FASCISM: A system of government characterized by rigid one party dictatorship, forcible suppression of opposition, private economic enterprise under centralized governmental control, belligerent nationalism, racism and militarism, etc.
That's really the heart of the matter now isn't it, Mr. Bush. One might wonder if you are troubled by by the specter of fascism in your inner thoughts when you cast the accusation wildly into the public discourse.

What would the people of Iraq say about fascism if asked? But then they haven't been asked, have they - they've been liberated, of course. What would our founding fathers say about detention without due process, without end? Electronic surveillance of all Americans, without regard for the law? What is democracy if the citizens have no confidence in the integrity of their elections? Our military hurls five-hundred pound bombs all day and all night. They land on whom they land on. It is not an isolated act of madness, it is a coordinated act of state. All the while private corporations profit wildly.

Fascism, Mr. Bush, is not your strongest card. You should change the subject again.



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You can send comments to t r u t h o u t Executive Director Marc Ash at: director@truthout.org.

The Future Is Now-As Forcast In '61

The Obsolete Man

“I Feel Like We're In A Nightmare

“I Feel Like We're In A Nightmare, And That Our Country Is Turning Into The Very Thing We Created It Against. I Feel Like Soon We Should Be Taking Up Arms Against It”

Bring Home Stryker 172nd

Submitted Thu 03 August , 1:15 AM CST
I got off of the phone today with my husband in the 172nd Stryker Brigade.
He says all of the soldiers he sees walking around are dazed and detached.
He himself is more depressed and listless than I have ever heard him be before.
It's not the extension, it's that our government led us all to believe they were coming home without a doubt. They got them ready, even sat them on their planes and then "whoops! We were shortsighted, you guys gotta pay for that now. Let's go to Baghdad!"
Our guys are in serious danger because they were literally traumatized, ALL of us were, and still are.
How can our military in this day and age, seriously reflect their lack of respect for our soldiers so blatantly?
You see it daily when you work for them, but this was just unbelievable and the last straw.
These men and women were moments from home. In fact, it was just a couple of days before the vast majority of them were to be home, when this news was sprung on all of us.
Our hearts were stomped on, their morale was sucked out like a black hole, and now, they question everything their government wants them to do.
Instead of being home with the people they love, the people they worked their butts off to come home to for roughly 365 days, they have to think, "Now I have another chance to die for Iraq, a country I want nothing more to do with."
This move was so careless, so thoughtless, and so painful.
I want to kill someone myself when I hear how sad and just overall beaten my husband sounds. It is my damn turn to take care of him! To make up for the neglect he and all of them have received!
The military was shortsighted and should not have turned to these guys, especially not for Iraq.
Iraq will never take care of itself until we tell it we're moving on.
I hear in the news George "desk jockey" Casey Jr. telling the media, not us, empty promises regarding our brigade. It's all a media show.
I also hear, and sadly it has manipulated some people, that our guys are just so good and that's why they are being punished. Is this brigade going to be called on every time something needs to be done? Yeah, they're good, but they are now DONE mentally and physically.
I just can't believe the awful life they have catapulted our guys into, when they thought they were finally free of it.
No, not only are we not free of it, but they have made it 100% worse by sending our precious guys to Baghdad of all places.
I have lost all faith in this government. I feel it is tyrannical, and it hides itself from our voices when it messes up.
Nothing could make up for the feeling they have put us through except for allowing our guys to come home.
The government better get that rotation going fast.
My husband says he can't even imagine putting his armor back on and going out there for missions again, for Iraq. But he has to.
I only hope the media helps us, instead of trying to make him feel guilty when he gets down there with all the havoc they are expected to wreak.
If he could be home, he would.
Damn our government, and damn our "desk jockey" military. They have no idea and I will not stop harassing them until my sweetheart is home.
Iraq is not worth anymore of us.
The biggest point of this outrage is, they were coming home the week they found out about this horrific plan.
They were packed, stored away important items that now they can't get to, they sold most of their equipment, they signed over their strykers (my husband still
hasn't gotten replacement strykers), they made plans with those of us that actually CARE for their well being.
We all finally started to relax, not suspecting AT ALL that the military would say "hang tight, you're going to Baghdad".
How sick and unhealthy this move is.
I only pray that the government gets heat for this move until they decide to expedite our soldier's returns.
All of my husband's superiors are also mad.
They need to put on happy faces for their jobs, but when there isn't a big whig to answer to, they are listless like the others.
My husband's platoon Sgt. said to them "make no mistake about it, this whole move is to save money".
While that sounds crazy given all the things they need to send back up, it shows the conspiracy theories about why something so ridiculous would happen. Meaning, yes, it is ridiculous. And they all feel that way.
I used to support this administration completely, now I just can't believe it.
Ever since my husband was first deployed, I would listen to Bush talk about caring for our soldiers and just laugh, a very sad laugh. I knew then and I, without a doubt, know now, that if he knew the pain and suffering he has caused for his agenda, he wouldn't be smiling. If he knew how irreplaceable each soldier he "owns" is to someone else in this world, he would not smile.
I feel like we're in a nightmare, and that our country is turning into the very thing we created it against. I feel like soon we should be taking up arms against it.
I feel betrayed and my husband is abused. All he and I want out of life is to be alive and together, everything else is cake.
Now he has been ripped away for nearly another deployment, to the most dangerous place in Iraq, to be the main assault against it, and to still have no commitment from the government of when he might come home. The military has made sure to leave every statement open ended so that they don't have to commit.
All of this, for Iraq. Not America anymore, but Iraq.
It is not our job to police their streets.
I'm ashamed of our government. No one is telling us what's going on, it's silent where my husband and I am.
The calm before the storm. The storm that they don't have much left to give to. I am scared for them. They are not ready, they are distraught and tired.
How careless our government was, and that is why we are outraged.
Bring them home if you have moral bones in your bodies! These are your SOLDIERS!

The Ground Truth - Documentary

Focus Features and AOL Partner to Create Powerful Web Outreach


Focus Features

Aug 08, 2006





NEW YORK, August 8, 2006 – As part of a multi-platform distribution and marketing effort for director/producer Patricia Foulkrod’s new documentary feature film The Ground Truth, Focus Features has entered into a partnership with AOL that will extend the film and its message to online audiences. The outreach leverages AOL’s programming expertise and community platforms in a unique extension of the Focus release through AIM Pages, AOL’s new social networking service. Focus CEO James Schamus made the announcement today.
As part of this initiative, AOL has created a customized AIM® Pages profile for The Ground Truth. The film’s featured American soldiers have blogs and exclusive on-demand video that include personal profiles, war testimonials and “vlogs” (video diary entries) uploaded during the film’s national promotional tour. The Ground Truth AIM Page expands the voices of these veterans through user-generated video, photos, blogs, and comments, providing a forum for debate and self-_expression. Comprehensive information about veterans services organizations and support groups are also available on the film’s AIM Pages profile.
The film (to which Focus acquired worldwide rights this past spring) will be released theatrically to Landmark Theatres cinemas in at least a half-dozen cities (including New York and Los Angeles), on Friday, September 15th for a minimum of one week. Universal Studios Home Entertainment will then issue a special edition DVD on Tuesday, September 26th.
Before, during, and after the initial theatrical release, Focus will aggressively promote the film and the AOL partnership by way of a full complement of marketing and field publicity and promotional efforts. A host of special screenings are planned; one was already held for Senators and Congresspeople in Washington, D.C. on July 26th.
Marking the four-year anniversary of the U.S. presence in Iraq, nationwide community screenings of The Ground Truth will be held in local churches, libraries, hospitals, recreational centers, and living rooms on Wednesday, October 11th. Discussion guides and resource guides will be distributed.
Mr. Schamus said, “We want as many people as possible to be able to see and hear The Ground Truth. AOL shares our commitment – and our priority – to get these American soldiers’ faces and voices out there. We are stepping outside the industry box for the release pattern on this movie, and with AOL’s help Patricia’s film will now reach the public it deserves.”
Jim Bankoff, Executive Vice President of Programming, Community and Messaging for AOL, added, “AOL is proud to partner with Focus Features to help engage audiences more deeply in The Ground Truth. There are large communities of people that are eager to share thoughts and feelings about these soldiers and their stories, and we look forward to enabling their participation.”
The subjects of The Ground Truth are patriotic young Americans – ordinary men and women who heeded the call for military service in Iraq – as they experience recruitment and training, combat, homecoming, and the struggle to reintegrate with families and communities. The terrible conflict in Iraq, depicted with ferocious honesty in the film, is a prelude for the even more challenging battles fought by the soldiers returning home – with personal demons, an uncomprehending public, and an indifferent government. As these battles take shape, each soldier becomes a new kind of hero, bearing witness and giving support to other veterans, and learning to fearlessly wield the most powerful weapon of all – the truth.
The Ground Truth stunned audiences at the 2006 Sundance and Nantucket Film Festivals. Hailed as “powerful” (David Ansen, newsweek.com) and “quietly unflinching” (Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times), “the message of Ground Truth cannot be dismissed.” (John Anderson, Variety) Ms. Foulkrod produced and directed the film, which is a Ground Truth production in association with Radioaktivefilm and Plum Pictures.
Focus Features is a motion picture production, financing, and worldwide distribution company committed to bringing moviegoers the most original stories from the world’s most innovative filmmakers.
In addition to The Ground Truth, current and upcoming Focus Features releases include Woody Allen’s Scoop, starring Allen, Hugh Jackman, Scarlett Johansson, and Ian McShane; Allen Coulter’s Hollywoodland, starring Adrien Brody, Diane Lane, Ben Affleck, and Bob Hoskins; Phillip Noyce’s Catch a Fire, starring Tim Robbins, Derek Luke, and Bonnie Henna; Kasi Lemmons’ Talk to Me, starring Don Cheadle and Chiwetel Ejiofor; Shane Acker’s animated fantasy epic 9, produced by Tim Burton and Timur Bekmambetov and Jim Lemley & Dana Ginsburg; Henry Selick’s stop-motion animated feature Coraline, starring Dakota Fanning and Teri Hatcher; Joe Wright’s Atonement, starring Keira Knightley, James McAvoy, and Romola Garai; David Cronenberg’s Eastern Promises, starring Viggo Mortensen and Naomi Watts; and Lust, Caution, the new film from Ang Lee, the Academy Award-winning director of Focus’ worldwide success Brokeback Mountain.
Focus Features and Universal Studios Home Entertainment are part of NBC Universal, one of the world’s leading media and entertainment companies in the development, production, and marketing of entertainment, news, and information to a global audience. Formed in May 2004 through the combining of NBC and Vivendi Universal Entertainment, NBC Universal owns and operates a valuable portfolio of news and entertainment networks, a premier motion picture company, significant television production operations, a leading television stations group, and world-renowned theme parks. NBC Universal is 80% owned by General Electric and 20% owned by Vivendi.
AOL’s AIM® Pages service, presently in public beta at Aim Pages, is an innovative social networking service that lets people connect with others to share content and experiences in new and exciting ways. Building on AOL’s popular AIM® service and iconic Buddy List® feature, the AIM Pages service lets users build personalized Web profiles for creative self-_expression and communication with friends around the world. Based on an open platform to encourage creativity and interaction, the AIM Pages service is an easy-to-use community platform that makes it simple to share hobbies, blog entries, photos and more.
AOL and its subsidiaries operate a leading network of Web brands and the largest Internet access subscription service in the United States. Web brands include the AOL.com® website, AIM®, MapQuest® and Netscape®. AOL offers a range of digital services in the areas of education, safety and security, communications, and music. The company also has operations in Europe and Canada. AOL LLC is a majority-owned subsidiary of Time Warner Inc., and is based in Dulles, Virginia.
###
Contact: Adriene Bowles FOCUS FEATURES/818-777-7499
Lori Dolginoff AOL CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS/212-652-6363
Donna Dickman; V.J. Carbone FOCUS FEATURES/212-539-4053; 212-539-4055
Bethan Dixon FOCUS FEATURES INTERNATIONAL/44-207-307-1389

Is family a Gulf War casualty?

FOCUS | William Rivers Pitt: It Wasn't About the War

William Rivers Pitt writes that it wasn't just the war. It was a long, slow slide that eventually tipped Lieberman's applecart. It was a process of insinuation into the cash-and-carry culture of Washington, DC. It was a series of astonishingly bad votes on incredibly important issues. It was, above all, political cowardice; Lieberman attached himself to Bush while Bush was riding high, and was unable to extract himself as Bush's popularity collapsed.

***
William Fisher | Birth Pangs of What?

"President Bush sees the Israel-Hezbollah conflict as 'an opportunity.' Condoleezza Rice calls it 'the birth pangs of a new Middle East.' These statements are likely to be remembered by history as even more iconically absurd than Vice President's Cheney's description of the Iraqi insurgency as being 'in its last throes,'" writes William Fisher, who suggests that "the real winner in this game of smoke and mirrors will be neither Israel nor Hezbollah."

***
Is family a Gulf War casualty?

Ruling lets ill widower propel lawsuit
SWARTZ CREEK --Nobody can say U.S. Army veteran Arvid Brown's Gulf War illness is all in his head. Brown's late wife, Janyce, caught leishmaniasis -- a sometimes deadly parasitic disease borne by sand flies that can attack the body's cells and internal organs -- a malady he brought home from Operation Desert Storm. So did the Swartz Creek couple's two young children.

***
Republicans Cut Budget of Center for War-Related Brain Injuries

Congress appears ready to slash funding for the research and treatment of brain injuries caused by bomb blasts, an injury that military scientists describe as a signature wound of the Iraq war ... "I find it basically unpardonable that Congress is not going to provide funds to take care of our soldiers and sailors who put their lives on the line for their country," says Martin Foil, a member of the center's board of directors. "It blows my imagination."

***
Greenwood chase looked familiar

Expert says Iraq vet's actions typical of post-traumatic stress. A combat veteran called it "Death by Cop."

***
101st soldiers among victims of war stress

Mental health issues often go unreported because of stigma

Iraqis routinely pelted Army National Guard Sgt. Dave Durman's truck with urine, feces and rocks. Mortar fire rained down on his camp on a regular basis.

***
'The closest thing to hell?

Mother copes with soldier-son’s suicide
“I have seen the closest thing to hell ... With everyday things such as death, destruction, fear and the nagging thought of ‘Is this the day I’m going to die?’ it’s hard for anyone back home to imagine what I’m talking about ...

Exclusive: HeartBreaking News For Iraq Troops

Just getting ready to redeploy back to the states ABC World News Tonight just had a short Exclusive Report as they were being told they Aren't Coming Home!!!


Soldiers in Iraq are told they must remain in country and fight for another four months. Another chapter in the reality of war.

If you didn't catch the ABC Report you can view it at link below or visit the ABC World News Tonight site.

Soldiers' Tour of Duty Extended


Martha Raddatz has been reporting from Baghdad for the last few days, this is her latest.
Here's part of the Written Report:

Bagdad: 'Defining Battle' in Iraq

BAGHDAD, Iraq, Aug. 8, 2006 — Lieutenant Gen. Peter Chiarelli, the commanding general of the multinational forces in Iraq, had the difficult duty today of telling 3,700 soldiers who had been expecting to be heading home that they were going to have to stay in Iraq a while longer.

ABC News correspondent Martha Raddatz, continuing her reports from Baghdad, was with the general when he broke the news to the troops.

Chiarelli is charged with carrying out the new, sweeping plan to regain control of Baghdad. It is considered one of the most critical missions ever undertaken by U.S. forces. This is so critical, 3,700 soldiers assigned to the Stryker Brigade were told just moments before heading home from a year in Iraq that they would have to remain in the region for up to four more months.

Today, Chiarelli met with some of the soldiers to explain. The following is a transcript of a portion of the meeting:

Visit site to read the rest!!!

In case we all forgot,

In case we all forgot, Americans are still dying in Iraq

Jimmy Breslin


August 6, 2006

By the way, there are many American soldiers fighting in the Middle East.

In case you haven't noticed, they get killed. A lot of them get killed.

I was watching the endless television coverage of Israel and Hezbollah/Lebanon killing women and children and then picking up the papers to read almost exclusively of the same thing. I found no picture on television and almost no mention in newspapers of Americans dying.

The dead babies of Lebanon and those dismembered by rockets in Israel are considered to be glorious distractions that allow our government to stroll the hallways that appear to have no blood on the floors.

I made a call to the Defense Department: "How are our soldiers doing lately?"

"We've had a bad month," the man responded.

"How bad?"

"Stay there and you'll see."

There now came faxes detailing American soldiers who died in Iraq since July 1. There have been 50 who died since then.

We list below who they are and where they are from, and the statistic that causes all to retch: the age.

We cannot list the entire number of dead in Iraq, for 2,583 Americans have been lost so far. And counting every day.

There also have been 19,270 wounded, with such injuries as legs blown off, young men with shattered backs being placed in wheelchairs for the rest of their lives, genitals lost, brains numbed by flying ball bearings, faces left in half by flames.

The television and newspaper coverage of this has been weak, lazy, fearful. What there is of it, you watch and read with clenched teeth.

Once, on HBO, they showed a young soldier on the table and the whine of a saw sounded as it went through the bone of his leg being amputated. This should be on day and night.

The obligation of reporting is to tell and tell and tell of the deaths and great injuries of young Americans sent to die by old draft dodgers in Washington.

How old was the kid on the table? What could he be? Twenty-two?

He stayed the course in Iraq.

What did it get him? He loses a leg.

Just as he was in his great college appearances, Bush is a cheerleader for any war that can be fought by somebody else's kids.

"I grieve for the children of Beirut."

"My heart truly goes out to the people of Haifa."

The vice president, Dick Cheney, is a serial draft dodger: five deferments, a national record.

The strategy for the Middle East is to keep Israel and Hezbollah/Lebanon fighting. Keep all attention on them. If they ever stop, then everybody would look at Americans dying.

"We didn't know," Erin Tinsley, 37, was saying late Friday. "We didn't know what they were here for. Two military women."

Erin was in the hot 10th-floor hallway of the Alfred E. Smith houses on the downtown East Side. Two doors down from her lived the parents of Haiming Hsia, an Army specialist who died Tuesday in an explosion in in Iraq.

"The father let the military women in and then when they came out, he stood there and seemed fine. I thought that they had brought an award for his son."

Erin said she didn't know how long afterward, an hour, maybe two, before the words of the Army officers exploded inside him. He collapsed, and on Friday, somebody from the family said that his wife, the soldier's mother, was unable to cope.

"President Bush took away my son, my only son," the mother had said.

Just this once, there was no poor, helpless family member saying that they were proud that their son had died in this war.

Don't ever say that the young man had died in vain, because that is the icy truth of Iraq that people often cannot handle.

"I grew up with him," Erin Tinsley was saying on Friday. "We went to PS 126 and IS 131. We used to run up and down the hall. Playing soldier. The last time I saw him was in April. He was home, but he said that he had to go back."

Spc. Hsia joined the Army because he couldn't make enough as a security guard to support a wife and baby. He spent three years in the Middle East and wanted to come home for good, but part of the secret of Iraq is that we don't have enough soldiers. He was ordered back.

This time Hsia was in Iraq for a month. Now he returns to the Alfred E. Smith houses in a box.

He is placed on the list with other U.S. soldiers who have died in Iraq since July 1.

CPL. PHILIP E. BAUCUS, 28, Wolf Creek, Mo. With 1st Marine Expeditionary Force. Died while conducting combat operations in Anbar province.

CPL. NATHANIEL S. BAUGHMAN, 23, Monticello, Ind. With 101st Airborne Division. Died of injuries sustained when his Humvee encountered enemy forces' rocket-propelled grenades during patrol operations in Bayji.

LANCE CPL. ANTHONY E. BUTTERFIELD, 19, Clovis, Calif. With 1st Marine Expeditionary Force. One of two Marines killed while conducting combat operations in Anbar province.

SPC. STEPHEN W. CASTNER, 27, Cedarburg, Wis. With Wisconsin Army National Guard. Died of injuries sustained when a roadside bomb detonated near his Humvee during combat operations in Tallil.

LANCE CPL. GEOFREY R. CAYER, 20, Fitchburg, Mass. With 1st Marine Expeditionary Force. Died in a nonhostile incident in Anbar province. The incident is under investigation.

SGT. ANDRES J. CONTRERAS, 23, Huntington Park, Calif. With 1st Combat Support Brigade. Died of injuries sustained when his vehicle encountered an improvised explosive device in Baghdad.

LANCE CPL. KURT E. DECHEN, 24, of Springfield, Vt. With I Marine Expeditionary Force. Died from wounds received while conducting combat operations in Anbar province.

STAFF SGT. MICHAEL A. DICKINSON III, 26, Battle Creek, Mich. With 4th Psychological Operations Group, U.S. Army Special Operations Command. Killed when his dismounted patrol encountered enemy forces' small-arms fire in Ramadi.

STAFF SGT. DUANE J. DREASKY, 31, Novi, Mich. With Michigan Army National Guard. Died at the Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio of injuries sustained when a roadside bomb detonated near his Humvee in Habbaniya.

STAFF SGT. JASON M. EVEY, 29, Stockton, Calif. With 2nd Brigade Combat Team. Died of injuries sustained when his Bradley Fighting Vehicle encountered an improvised explosive device during combat operations in Baghdad.

CPL. ADAM J. FARGO, 22, Ruckersville, Va. With 101st Airborne Division. Died of injuries sustained when his convoy encountered enemy forces' small-arms fire in Baghdad.

STAFF SGT. OMAR D. FLORES, 27, Mission, Texas. With 130th Engineer Brigade. One of three soldiers killed when a roadside bomb detonated near their Mine Protected Vehicle during combat operations in Ramadi.

SGT. ALKAILA T. FLOYD, 23, Grand Rapids, Mich. With 130th Engineer Brigade. Died at Landstuhl Medical Center in Landstuhl, Germany, of injuries sustained when a roadside bomb detonated near his Mine Protected Vehicle in Ramadi.

SGT. JOSHUA A. FORD, 20, Wayne, Neb. With the Army National Guard 485th Corps Support Battalion. Died during combat operations in Al Numaniyah.

SPC. JOSEPH A. GRAVES, 21, Discovery Bay, Calif. With the 89th Military Police Brigade. Killed in action while conducting combat operations north of Baghdad.

PFC. JASON HANSON, 21, Forks, Wash. With 1st Marine Expeditionary Force. Died while conducting combat operations in Anbar province.

SGT. IRVING HERNANDEZ JR., 28, Manhattan. With 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team. Killed when he encountered enemy small-arms fire during combat operations in Mosul.

LANCE CPL. JAMES W. HIGGINS, 22, Frederick, Md. With 1st Marine Expeditionary Force. Died of wounds received during combat in Anbar province.

SGT. MANUEL J. HOLGUIN, 21, Woodlake, Calif. With 1st Armored Division. Died of injuries sustained when his dismounted patrol encountered enemy small-arms fire and a roadside bomb in Baghdad.

SPC. HAIMING HSIA, 37, Manhattan. With 1st Armored Division. Died Aug. 1 during combat operations in Ramadi.

SGT. RYAN D. JOPEK, 20, Merrill, Wis. With Army National Guard's 127th Infantry Regiment. Died in Tikrit of injuries suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near his convoy.

PETTY OFFICER 2ND CLASS EDWARD A. KOTH, 30, Towson, Md. With Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit Eight. Died after ordnance exploded during a disposal operation at Camp Victory.

SGT. DUSTIN D. LAIRD, 23, Martin, Tenn. With the Army National Guard's 46th Engineer Battalion. Died in Al Qaim of injuries sustained when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle during combat operations in Rawah.

PETTY OFFICER 2ND CLASS MARC A. LEE, 28, of Hood River, Ore. Lee was an aviation ordnanceman and a member of a West Coast-based SEAL Team. He was killed during combat operations while on patrol in Ramadi.

SPC. TROY C. LINDEN, 22, Detroit Lakes, Minn. With 130th Engineer Brigade. One of three soldiers killed when a roadside bomb detonated near their Mine Protected Vehicle during combat operations in Ramadi.

PFC. COLLIN T. MASON, 20, Staten Island. With 4th Infantry Division. Killed after encountering direct fire while manning a checkpoint in his vehicle in Taji.

SPC. JOSEPH P. MICKS, 22, Rapid River, Mich. With 130th Engineer Brigade. One of three soldiers killed when a roadside bomb detonated near their Mine Protected Vehicle during combat operations in Ramadi.

SPC. DAMIEN M. MONTOYA, 23, Holbrook, Ariz. With 4th Infantry. Died from a non-combat-related cause in Baghdad.

LANCE CPL. ADAM R. MURRAY, 21, Cordova, Tenn. With 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force. Died while conducting combat operations in Anbar province.

SGT. JUSTIN L. NOYES, 23, Vinita, Okla. With 3rd Marine Expeditionary Force. Killed while conducting combat operations in Anbar province.

STAFF SGT. PAUL S. PABLA, 23, Fort Wayne, Ind. With Indiana Army National Guard. Killed by small arms fire during combat operations in Mosul.

CAPT. CHRISTOPHER T. PATE, 29, Hampstead, N.C. With 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force. Died while conducting combat operations in Anbar province.

PFC. DEREK J. PLOWMAN, 20, Everton, Ark. With Arkansas Army National Guard. Died from a gunshot wound in Baghdad.

STAFF SGT. KENNETH I. PUGH, 39, Houston. With 4th Infantry Division. Died of injuries sustained when his M1A1 Abrams tank encountered enemy forces small arms fire in Baghdad.

CPL. JULIAN A. RAMON, 22, Flushing. With 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force. Died during combat operations in Anbar province.

CPL. TIMOTHY ROOS, 21, Cincinnati. With 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force. Died of wounds received while conducting combat operations in Anbar province.

CAPT. BLAKE H. RUSSELL, 35, Fort Worth, Texas. With 101st Airborne Division. Died of injuries sustained from enemy forces munitions while investigating a possible mortar cache during combat operations in Baghdad.

SPC. DENNIS K. SAMSON JR., 24, Hesperia, Mich. With 101st Airborne Division. Died of injuries sustained when he came under enemy small-arms fire in Taqaddum.

PFC. ENRIQUE C. SANCHEZ, 21, Garner, N.C. With 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force. Died while conducting combat operations in Anbar province.

SGT. 1ST CLASS SCOTT R. SMITH, 34, Punxsutawney, Pa. With 52nd Ordnance Group. Died of injuries sustained when a roadside bomb detonated near a controlled ordnance clearing mission in Iskandariya.

STAFF. SGT. CHRISTOPHER W. SWANSON, 25, Rose Haven, Md. With 1st Armored Division. Died of injuries sustained when his patrol encountered enemy forces using small-arms fire in Ramadi.

PETTY OFFICER 1ST CLASS JERRY A. THARP, 44, Aledo, Ill. With Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 25. Killed when his dismounted patrol was struck by a roadside bomb while operating in Anbar province.

CPL. JOSEPH A. TOMCI, 21, Stow, Ohio. With II Marine Expeditionary Force. Died while conducting combat operations in Anbar province.

SGT. THOMAS B. TURNER JR., 31, Cottonwood, Calif. With 101st Airborne Division. Died at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Landstuhl, Germany, of injuries sustained when a roadside bomb detonated near his Bradley Fighting Vehicle in Muqdadiya.

SGT. GEORGE M. ULLOA JR., 23, of Austin, Texas. With II Marine Expeditionary Force. Died from wounds suffered while conducting combat operations in Anbar province.

SGT. MARK R. VECCHIONE, 25, Tucson, Ariz. With 1st Armored Division. Died of injuries sustained when a roadside bomb detonated near his M1A1 Abrams tank in Ramadi.

CPL. MATTHEW P. WALLACE, 22, Lexington Park, Md. With 4th Infantry Division. Died of injuries sustained when a roadside bomb detonated near his Bradley Fighting Vehicle during combat operations in Baghdad.

AIRMAN 1ST CLASS CARL JEROME WARE JR., 22, Glassboro, N.J. With 15th Security Forces Squadron. Died from a non-combat-related cause at Camp Bucca.

CAPT. JASON M. WEST, 28, Pittsburgh. With 1st Armored Division. Killed by enemy forces using small arms fire in Ramadi.

SGT. CHRISTIAN B. WILLIAMS, 27, Winter Haven, Fla. With 1st Marine Expeditionary Force. One of two Marines killed while conducting combat operations in Anbar province.

The Army Major Sees a PTSD Epidemic

The Army Major Sees a PTSD Epidemic

... Well, don't look now but the PTSD clinics at veterans' hospitals are filling up with people who are coming home to find that their war isn't even on the far edge of awareness for many Americans. They go through the hell of it and see the carnage and then come home to a "ho-hum, where ya been?" reaction. They've darn near died and had friends who did and not a lot of people seem to care.....

Bob Kerr: The major sees an epidemic on the way

01:00 AM EDT on Sunday, August 6, 2006

One of the best moments came after a firefight in Sadr City two years ago in which he and his men and their Iraqi counterparts had been hit hard with mortars and rocket-propelled grenades. He and three other Americans were wounded. Two Iraqi soldiers were killed.

"That was how we earned the respect of the Iraqis. My Iraqi executive officer came up to me and gave me the traditional kisses on each cheek and said, 'You are no longer Americans. You are Iraqi. You have spilled blood for Iraq.' "
It was possible to feel like a soldier that day. It was possible to feel that he would be able to do what he was sent there to do. He had gone to Iraq with a small unit to serve with and train the Iraqis. On that day, despite the losses, it seemed to come together.

Now, it is as if that intense, bloody battle never happened. It is as if he never was the citizen soldier who thought he was doing the right thing by going to war.
He thinks about it and tries to come to terms with the maddening, twisted aftermath. He is in a place where he meets every day with counselors and other soldiers who are also confronting this thing that has wrapped itself around them and won't let them come all the way home. It is the thing, he said, that has destroyed his life.
He hears about the people who volunteer to go back to Iraq for second and third tours. He thinks he knows why.

"It's a sign of PTSD [posttraumatic stress disorder]," he said during a phone conversation last week from Pennsylvania.

"That's the last place life made sense. Here, they don't fit in. They're not part of anything."

Sounds crazy, doesn't it? Iraq, with its treacherous uncertainty, its roadside bombs and maddeningly invisible enemy, makes more sense than the familiar things of home.
To understand, at least a little, consider the homecoming of this man, who is 44 and spent a lot of years as a cop and joined the military because he needed some direction in his life. He is a major in the Army reserve.

He left Iraq after nine hard months.
"We got back and nobody met us at the plane in Baltimore. I was carrying the bags of guys who had been sent home before us, and on the flight to Columbus, Ga., they wanted to charge us extra for the bags of the wounded. We ended up renting a U-Haul to drive it down."

At Fort Benning, there was no real welcome either.
"It's part of the PTSD problem," he said. "What I did didn't matter."
He took a day to go home and visit his children in another state and was berated for it by a superior officer.

So it happens again, only worse this time. Remember how we weren't going to repeat the mistake, how we were going to make sure that those coming home from Iraq were not met with the same cold, even scornful, rejection that awaited returning Vietnam veterans?

Well, don't look now but the PTSD clinics at veterans' hospitals are filling up with people who are coming home to find that their war isn't even on the far edge of awareness for many Americans. They go through the hell of it and see the carnage and then come home to a "ho-hum, where ya been?" reaction. They've darn near died and had friends who did and not a lot of people seem to care.

So life back home makes no sense at all. There's a disconnect.
The major started drinking. He had been a social drinker before. Now, he embraced it as a refuge.

"It was self-medication -- push back the night," he said. "If I slept, there were nightmares."

Soldiers call it "bunkering in."

He was feeling flat-out rage.
"Little things set me off," he said. "It got to the point where I'd become somebody I was not."

A 2 1/2-year relationship with a woman he had hoped to marry was one of the casualties of this dark, questioning time.

"I wasn't showing up for duty. I drank. I was curled up in bed for four days."
He bottomed out and made an appointment with a psychiatrist. He was sent to the psychiatric ward of a civilian hospital. His parents drove down from Rhode Island to visit. The search began for a veterans' hospital where he could be treated for his PTSD. Briefly, it appeared he would be able to come to the Department of Veterans Affairs hospital in Providence, but that didn't work out. He headed instead to Pennsylvania. He doesn't want to be too definite about location.

"It's a good place, a good program. But it's underfunded and they're planning to cut staff even more."

There is an epidemic coming, he warns.
"There are guys out there with PTSD and they don't even know it," he said. "The military needs to step up to the plate and admit this is an issue. There should be PTSD training before deployment. Soldiers and their family members should be able to see the signs."

The treatment program he is in runs for 12 weeks. He could sign up for another 12 weeks, but he doesn't think he will. He thinks instead he will head to Rhode Island to spend some time with his parents and maybe try to deal with his PTSD on an outpatient basis in Providence.

He is still putting his life back together and he isn't sure where he will go.
Could he be a cop again?

"I have no desire to carry a gun anymore," he said. "I want nothing to do with them."

bkerr@projo.com / (401) 277-7252

One More Hole In The 'swifties' Boat

As we all know the 'swifties' { They don't deserve a Capital at front } have serviced again, new name same faces, in their Slandering of their Fellow Veterans for Political purposes and reasons and Not for Reality and the Real Truth!

We all also know they are now going after Rep. Murtha with what they think they've got as to their patriotim{?} which we also know isn't the case, it's just plain BullShit!

Their first public action, which was written about by jimmydean201 Here, Here and Here, gave us a first hand account of what was happening and did happen, as well as this First Hand Account, by Garett Reppenhagen, who drove up to PA. from DC with another Vet to give support to Murtha.

Now we have, another of the extremely slow Investagative Reports, that should have surfaced years ago, coming to the front, while we have engaged this Nations Military, and Nation, in another Debacle of Major Proportions, this being Worse as to World Events than the Last.

We all know what the 'swifties' did to John Kerry in his run for the White House, the things they stated, the lack of proof to cover what was said, and the outright lies coming from nothing more than political hacks, Veterans Some, for Political Reasons. And the utter ignorance of many who actually believed them, as many did way back than.

Now we have this Report Vietnam: The War Crimes Files

Kill anything that moves.

The documents detail 320 alleged incidents that were substantiated by Army investigators — not including the most notorious U.S. atrocity, the 1968 My Lai massacre.
Though not a complete accounting of Vietnam war crimes, the archive is the largest such collection to surface to date. About 9,000 pages, it includes investigative files, sworn statements by witnesses and status reports for top military brass.
The records describe recurrent attacks on ordinary Vietnamese — families in their homes, farmers in rice paddies, teenagers out fishing. Hundreds of soldiers, in interviews with investigators and letters to commanders, described a violent minority who murdered, raped and tortured with impunity.

I don't care when one was over In-Country or where, everyone heard the stories of Atrosities, many were in close proximity, some even knew exactly what was happening. While the Great Majority, as is the case in Iraq, were trying to actually win the hearts and minds of the citizens of their country, which we invaded, the few were going over the edge, some willingly some because they just completely snapped as to their beliefs and humanity.

Early-Warning System

Over the next few years, members of the Vietnam War Crimes Working Group reviewed Army investigations and wrote reports and summaries for military brass and the White House.
The records were declassified in 1994, after 20 years as required by law, and moved to the National Archives in College Park, Md., where they went largely unnoticed.
The Times examined most of the files and obtained copies of about 3,000 pages — about a third of the total — before government officials removed them from the public shelves, saying they contained personal information that was exempt from the Freedom of Information Act.
In addition to the 320 substantiated incidents, the records contain material related to more than 500 alleged atrocities that Army investigators could not prove or that they discounted.
Johns says many war crimes did not make it into the archive. Some were prosecuted without being identified as war crimes, as required by military regulations. Others were never reported.

These are the lessons that should hav been taught, studied, and taken into the concious of this Nation instead of being swept under the rug to come out Way Too Late for another Generation of this country and the Worlds Peoples.

Pvt. Henry

In the fall of 1967, he was on his first patrol, marching along the edge of a rice paddy in Quang Nam province, when the soldiers encountered a teenage girl.
"The guy in the lead immediately stops her and puts his hand down her pants," Henry said. "I just thought, 'My God, what's going on?' "
A day or two later, he saw soldiers senselessly stabbing a pig.
"I talked to them about it, and they told me if I wanted to live very long, I should shut my mouth," he told Army investigators.

Tet Offensive

The next morning, the men packed up their gear and continued their sweep of the countryside. Soldiers discovered an unarmed man hiding in a hole and suspected that he had supported the enemy the previous day. A soldier pushed the man in front of an armored personnel carrier, Henry said in his statement.
"They drove over him forward which didn't kill him because he was squirming around, so the APC backed over him again," Henry's statement said.

Instead of tis country crawling into denial and apathy about Vietnam these were what we should have been debating, teaching, and coming to terms with!

Homecoming

The officer advised him to keep quiet until he got out of the Army, "because of the million and one charges you can be brought up on for blinking your eye," Henry says. Still, the legal officer sent him to see a Criminal Investigation Division agent.
The agent was not receptive, Henry recalls.
"He wanted to know what I was trying to pull, what I was trying to put over on people, and so I was just quiet. I told him I wouldn't tell him anything and I wouldn't say anything until I got out of the Army, and I left," Henry says.

The Investigation

Unknown to Henry, Army investigators pursued his allegations, tracking down members of his old unit over the next 3 1/2 years.
Witnesses described the killing of the young boy, the old man tossed over the cliff, the man used for target practice, the five unarmed women, the man thrown beneath the armored personnel carrier and other atrocities.
Their statements also provided vivid corroboration of the Feb. 8, 1968, massacre from men who had observed the day's events from various vantage points.

The Outcome

Evidence showed that the massacre did occur, the report said. The investigation also confirmed all but one of the other killings that Henry had described. The one exception was the elderly man thrown off a cliff. Coulson said it could not be determined whether the victim was alive when soldiers tossed him.

Years Later

He says he does not dispute that a massacre took place. "I don't doubt it, but I don't remember.... Sometimes people just snap."

"I was a wreck for a couple days," Henry, now 59, wrote later in an e-mail. "It was like a time warp that put me right back in the middle of that mess. Some things long forgotten came back to life. Some of them were good and some were not.
"Now that whole stinking war is back. After you left, I just sat in my chair and shook for a couple hours. A slight emotional stress fracture?? Don't know, but it soon passed and I decided to just keep going with this business. If it was right then, then it still is."

Kerry and the Winter Soldier Investigation were slammed than and continued to be, especially Kerry because of his public face than, as spokesperson for the Winter Soldiers at the Congressional Hearings and as a Senator, but especially as a candidate for President, being called lyers and worse.

This Winter Soldiers - The Film is a must see to better understand what was swept aside than and hidden since. You can view the Trailers in Windows Media Player or QuickTime Player.
There is alot of information that can be found on the internet as to Vietnam and alot of lessons that need to be learned, because as that Denial Continues the Lessons of the Present Day will Also Once Again Be Swept Aside but by the few!!!!!

For This Is what We've Become

And This Is The Present

More photo's of the New 'Camp Casey - Crawford' can be found HERE

Hey Joe, Why'd You Put that Gun in your Hand?

You can view Joseph A Palermo's post 'Hey Joe' - HERE

"Both Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr. argued that the goals of social reform at home died in the jungles of Vietnam. For every American in poverty, they said, the US government spent $52; and for every "Vietcong" killed, over $120,000. Today, the spilling of American blood and treasure in Iraq is not an "issue" that can be shunted aside so we can indulge in cheery talk about health care, education, and the environment. As long as that occupation continues it will be a debilitating drain on scarce resources that we need to invest here at home; resources upon which any Democratic agenda worthy of the name depends."

40,000 US Troops Have Deserted Since 2000
July 05, 2006

Thousands of troops say they won’t fight
By Ana Radelat
Gannett News Service

Swept up by a wave of patriotism after the U.S. invasion of Iraq, Chris Magaoay joined the Marine Corps in November 2004.
The newly married Magaoay thought a military career would allow him to continue his college education, help his country and set his life on the right path.


Less than two years later, Magaoay became one of thousands of military deserters who have chosen a lifetime of exile or possible court-martial rather than fight in Iraq or Afghanistan.
“It wasn’t something I did on the spur of the moment,” said Magaoay, a native of Maui, Hawaii. “It took me a long time to realize what was going on. The war is illegal.”
Magaoay said his disillusionment with the military began in boot camp in Twentynine Palms, Calif., where a superior officer joked about killing and mistreating Iraqis. When his unit was deployed to Iraq in March, Magaoay and his wife drove to Canada, joining a small group of deserters who are trying to win permission from the Canadian government to stay.
“We’re like a tight-knit family,” Magaoay said.
The Pentagon says deserters like Magaoay represent a tiny fraction of the nation’s fighting forces.

You can read rest of report HERE-Air Force Times

Navy Petty officer held in secret for 4 months
Tim McGlone

Aug 04, 2006

NORFOLK, VIRGINIA — A petty officer has been in the Norfolk Naval Station brig for more than four months facing espionage, desertion and other charges, but the Navy has refused to release details of the case.
The case against Fire Control Technician 3rd Class Ariel J. Weinmann is indicative of the secrecy surrounding the Navy military court here, where public affairs and trial court officials have denied access to basic information including the court docket – a listing of cases to be heard.
After months of requests, the Navy this week provided The Virginian-Pilot with Weinmann’s name, rank and the charges he faces.
In an e-mail, Theodore Brown, a spokesman for Fleet Forces Command, said, “It is sometimes a challenge to balance the desires of the media, the public’s right to know, and the rights of an individual accused of a crime.”
“In this case,” he concluded, the command “is attempting to provide as much unclassified information as is reasonable, while maintaining an appropriate concern for the privacy of the individual involved. ”
A Pentagon spokesman declined to comment Thursday.

You can read rest of report HERE or HERE

More photo's of the New 'Camp Casey - Crawford' can be found HERE