12 Soldiers, some of them Served Together, 12 Soldiers who Died Together, 12 Soldiers who were Buried Together!
As a Nation only sees a few seconds of this Ceremony, and Rarely sees the Flag Draped Coffins or Funerals of The Fallen, and pays only passing attention, if any attention at all, to the names and profiles when they are rarely shown!
And Sacrifice Very Little or Nothing, as a Nation, themselves!
12 More Families Who Sacrificed All An Grieve Their Loss!
~~~~~~~~~~
What can one say to this, but Too Little - Too Late!
Tim Carpenter and Karen Bradley Present Spine Award to Mayor Rocky Anderson
"No more pre-emptive, illegal war, based on false information. No more God-is-on-our-side religious nonsense to justify this immoral, illegal war." ~ Mayor Rocky Anderson, Salt Lake City Aug. 30, 2006
The Spine Award recognizes Mayor Anderson for his outstanding progressive leadership. It was presented by PDA Executive Director and Backbone Campaign DC activist and blogger Karen Bradley. The inscription reads: "To the Honorable Ross C. "Rocky" Anderson, In Gratitude for Surprising the Nation with Your Bold, Pioneering, Progressive Leadership for Peace, Accountability, Equality, and Ecological Stewardship from an Unexpected Corner of the Country."
Rep. Barbara Lee
"However difficult this vote may be, some of us must urge the use of restraint. Our country is in a state of mourning. Let us think through the implications of our actions today so that this does not spiral out of control... 'As we act, let us not become the evil that we deplore.'" ~ Rep. Barbara Lee, Congress, Sept. 14, 2001
She gained national attention for her vote in 2001 as the only member of Congress to vote "no" on the Authorization for the Use of Military Force. Like Anderson, most of the response she received from her constituents was positive, but individuals from outside that area made death threats to her and her family resulting in Capitol Hill Police providing round the clock bodyguards. Backbone Awards are given to federal elected officials who take a strong progressive stand at "politically lonely moments." What could be more brave than her sole vote that September day six years ago?
The inscription on her Backbone Award reads:
To the Honorable and Courageous Rep. Barbara Lee, In Gratitude for Her Prophetic and Often Lonely Leadership for Humanity, Justice & Peace. "Let us not become the evil that we deplore."
Rep. Lee has continues to be a leader for peace, justice and humanity as Co-Chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and Lee is a member of the Congressional Black Caucus.
Lets watch once again Rep. Lee, on the floor of the House, put Truth to Words, and frankly now we know fore seeing what the near future, and for long after in others thoughts, would hold of what we've become "Let us not become the evil that we deplore.":
Barbara Lee
From the documentary:
War Made Easy - TRAILER
You can check out the great photos, extended article, & video at Their Website, and much more.
"Let us not become the evil that we deplore."
We have not only become that evil, we deplored and condemned and still do, in others. We as the supposedly most powerful nation on this planet have now placed ourselves at the Top of Any List that is compiled, in just a few short years, yet others have known this for a long time through the failed policies, kept hidden from us, that we've forced on others around this planet!
We sanction and cheer on Pre-Emptive Conflicts, than we Condemn others for doing, or threatening, the same!
We now Lead, as we've all found out, in grabbing others, no matter where they are, with no little or no substantial proof and whisk them away to secret, and not so secret, prisons Around The World, to be held with little or no Rights of Defense and above all either Torturing them ourselves or allowing others to do these Inhumane Acts which bring little or no substantial information and are Crimes against Human Rights and our own Laws as well as Established International Laws!
We have destroyed the tables of International Diplomatic Treaties and Talks on a whole host of Dangers to this Planet and the People that inhabit it!
We've picked up our marbles and just walked away from talks on the Enviroment and most importantly on the most dangerous of Weapons of Mass Destruction, Nuclear!
We condemn others, on a whole host of issues, than threaten to blow their peoples, and countries, to smithereens because they are trying to do exactly that which we are already doing. Building these Nuclear Weapons of Mass Destruction! as we use, in our War Theaters of Choice, Nuclear Laced Ordinance and Research New Uses of the Power of Nuclear in Destructive New Ordinance, stockpiling our already overwelming inventory of same!
We not only "Let us not become the evil that we deplore.", we are now the greatest examples of that Evil, and we're so Arrogant we call others Evil, all in, as 'Mayor Rocky' says, "No more pre-emptive, illegal war, based on false information. No more God-is-on-our-side religious nonsense to justify this immoral, illegal war."
And we not only condone what has been done, In Our Names, we show the rest of this planet of peoples and nations that We Refuse To Hold Accoutable Those Who Have Led This Charge Towards Self Destruction Of This Nation and Society!
~~~~~ If they were sent to fight, they are too few. If they were sent to die, they are too many!
Is 'Funding' Really For Troops?
What Happened To Funding and Oversite For Military/Veteran Care In Previous Congresses?
Book Description Across history, the condition has been called "soldier's heart," "shell shock," or "combat fatigue." It is now increasingly common as our service men and women return from Iraq, Afghanistan, and other ongoing combat zones. Since 1990, Veterans' centers here have treated more than 1.6 million affected men and women, including an estimated 100,000 from the Gulf War and an untallied total from the Iraq front and fighting in Afghanistan. The number also includes some 35,000 World War II veterans, because PTSD does not fade easily. Regardless of the months, years, and even decades that have passed, the traumatic events can flash back as seemingly real as they were when they occured.In Haunted by Combat Paulson and Krippner range across history and into current experiences and treatments for this haunting disorder. They take us into the minds of PTSD-affected veterans, as they struggle against the traumatic events lingering in their minds, sometimes exploding into violent behavior. The authors explain how and why PTSD develops--and how we can help service members take the steps to heal today.
The Center for Constitutional Rights is filing a lawsuit today under the Alien Tort Claims Act on behalf of the families of three of the Iraqis killed as well as another Iraqi who was injured when Blackwater guards shot dead 17 Iraqis and injured many more. We speak with CCR attorney Susan Burke and Democracy Now correspondent Jeremy Scahill, author of the best-selling book "Blackwater: the Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army."
The report from 'Democracy Now' can be viewed, or listened to, at the above site link.
We begin our show with a Democracy Now exclusive. A lawsuit is being filed today against the private military firm Blackwater USA over last month's shooting in Baghdad when Blackwater guards shot dead 17 Iraqis and injured many more. Earlier this week the Iraqi government called on the Bush administration to sever its ties with Blackwater in Iraq and for the company to pay $8 million dollars in compensation to each of the Iraqi families.
* Susan Burke. Attorney in Philadelphia who is working with the Center for Constitutional Rights on its suit against Blackwater.
* Jeremy Scahill. Independent journalist, Democracy Now! correspondent, author of "Blackwater: the Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army."
And from 'The Center for Constitutional Rights', they have the following up:
Blackwater USA yesterday pulled out of one of the few Washington-based industry associations for private security companies, a move that distances the embattled firm from one of its staunchest advocates.
It's about Damn Time, but the Damage is way beyond repair from the Blowback of the Actions these 'mercs' have all ready done, Putting ALL in Extreme Danger!!
As a recent report from the Government Accountability Office reveals, seven months have passed since the Walter Reed crisis and serious problems in veterans' care remain.
As of October 1, the veterans' budget is late. Until it is approved, the VA will be forced to ration care.
Now, it's up to the President and Congress to approve the budget. Add your name to the statement, and demand they take action.
NEW YORK -Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA), the nation's first and largest nonpartisan organization for veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, launched a gripping new TV ad today. "Demand Action" reminds Americans that seven months have passed since the Walter Reed scandal broke and serious problems in veterans' care remain. Furthermore, while consumed with the latest Rush Limbaugh comment and MoveOn.org ad, Congress has failed to pass the Veterans Affairs (VA) budget. "Demand Action," a national media buy which will run for a limited time, targets opinion leaders throughout the country. IAVA raised money from its grassroots supporters online to fund the ad and will continue to solicit donations to keep it on the air.
The ad can be viewed now at IAVA Action. An ad fact sheet is also available on the site.
"Demand Action" features Annette McLeod of Chesterfield, South Carolina, the courageous wife of an injured serviceman. Mrs. McLeod's husband, Specialist Wendell McLeod, sustained a traumatic brain injury and numerous other painful and debilitating injuries in an accident while he was serving in Iraq in 2004. "Demand Action" includes excerpts of Annette McLeod's Congressional testimony on the abhorrent care her husband received at Walter Reed. "This is how we treat our soldiers," she testifies, later declaring "my life was ripped apart" and "they're good enough to go and sacrifice their life and we give them nothing."
The ad also includes Staff Sergeant John Daniel Shannon bravely testifying before Congress that soldiers were treated "in my opinion, like a piece of dirt." Poignant photographs of wounded veterans are interspersed throughout the ad. A narrator reminds viewers that in the sevens months since the Walter Reed fiasco, little has been done and to make matters worse, the veterans budget is now late. Viewers are asked to urge Congress and the President to approve the VA budget and "demand action at IAVAaction.org." IAVAaction.org gives supporters the opportunity to sign an online petition urging Congress and the President to pass the VA budget immediately.
"Americans were rightly outraged when they first learned of the deplorable conditions at Walter Reed and many people assume that the problems have been fixed. As a recent GAO report revealed, it has been seven months and President Bush and the Congress still have not adequately improved care for wounded servicemembers," said Paul Rieckhoff, IAVA Executive Director. "To compound the problems, the VA budget is late. Congress is busy fighting about frivolous topics like Rush Limbaugh's comments or MoveOn.org's latest ad when there is real work to be done. It is critical that they take immediate action on issues that will substantially impact veterans' lives."
The delays in improving veterans' care may force other servicemembers and their loved ones to cope with the same hardships as Mrs. McLeod and her family. "Wendell's experience at Walter Reed was horrific. Our whole family suffered from the bureaucratic fiasco we encountered. I hope no one else ever has to cope with the heartache and frustration we faced," said Mrs. McLeod.
Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA) is the nation's first and largest group for veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. A non-profit and nonpartisan organization, IAVA represents more than 60,000 veteran members and civilian supporters in all 50 states. To arrange an interview with Annette McLeod or Paul Rieckhoff, please contact Michael Houston at (212)-982-9699, or email Michael at IAVA.
Through our community connections, our local VFP chapter has witnessed the devastation that many military families & returning veterans face because of George Bush’s Iraq fiasco. We support our military families and each other, and have a special respect for all those that have served, regardless of where they fall in the ideological spectrum.
So last week, when chicken hawk faker Rush Limbaugh criticized Iraq Veterans who disagreed with the mission and called them “phony soldiers”, we were outraged.
And John has a message on 'Real Heroes'
And also in response, one of our VFP family members, Amy, wrote a letter to Rush expressing her outrage, and explaining what it means to be a real hero.
Dear Mr. Limbaugh:
My son enlisted in the army in December of 2001, after graduating from college. He was in the 82nd Airborne for four years, during which time he served once in Iraq and twice in Afghanistan. During a practice jump at Pope Air Force Base about a year ago, he shattered his right ankle to the extent that it required surgery and physical therapy to heal. He is still undergoing the physical therapy while on duty at a non-infantry base. He is required to take part on in the early morning PT, although allowed some slack due to his injury.
He is a loyal soldier who loves his country and believes in his mission. He could have requested a medical discharge, but he chose to remain in the army. He also believes the war in Iraq is a strategic and military blunder. Perhaps you would like to inform him that, after scouring caves and weapons caches along the Pakistani border, after being away from his young family for a total of more than two years, after waking to the sound of rag’s being fired into his FOB, after losing three friends and fellow soldiers during his second tour in Afghanistan, and never once flinching from his duty, that he too is a phony soldier.
John Autry is running to bring an end the Iraq war, and to support our soldiers when they return. I’m sick and tired of being sick and tired of this endless war, and I want our troop’s home now!
"Soldiers of Conscience" includes several members of the U.S. Army and their moral concerns for what they are asked to do in the military. Every military personnel has some very hard questions they ask themselves.
The movie includes interviews with Aiden Delgado, Camilo Mejia, Kevin Benderman, and Joshua Casteel, as well as never before seen footage of Army bootcamp. You can see more information about "Soldiers of Conscience", as well as screening locations at SOC Film.
Their country asked them to kill. Their hearts asked them to stop.
From West Point grads to drill sergeants, from Abu Ghraib interrogators to low ranking reservist-mechanics; soldiers in the US Army today reveal their deepest moral concerns about what they are asked to do in war. Their message: every soldier wrestles with his conscience over killing. Although most decide to kill, some refuse. Soldiers of Conscience reveals that far more soldiers refuse to kill than we might expect. Made with official permission from the US Army, filmed in state-of-the-art High Definition video, Soldiers of Conscience includes never before seen footage of basic training and the war in Iraq, with an original soundtrack from an Academy Award winner and composer. Soldiers of Conscience is a realistic yet optimistic look at war, peace, and the power of the human conscience.
It will give space to more graves for the first time since the 60's!
Officials say the extra space will provide room for 14,000 ground burials and 22,000 inurnments in a large columbarium complex.
Looks like either they're getting the message about the BlowBack to come, from the recent past and present, or the Hawks have a firm grip on More Failed Policies!!!
Now this sounds very familiar, oh ya, tens of thousands of us, in this country, and millions more around the world were saying Very Similar as the War Drums started beating more rapidly, by the MSM and the administration, about Iraq, and frankly many thought that Afganistan would be heading in the same direction after it was invaded.
You see we have a history of Rhetoric that we don't follow through on, especially in Afganistan, anyone remember what happened after the Soviets were forced out.
Those of us who have the experiance of Invasions of little countries, whose people did nothing to deserve the death and destruction, understand what the invaded will do, and in Iraq it was written well before 'The Shock and Awe', and in Afganistan, if we followed our past policies, it was sure to develope!
Now in the short Reuters report above we find this:
A report by the Oxford Research Group (ORG) said a "fundamental re-think is required" if the global terrorist network is to be rendered ineffective.
What is the Oxford Research Group, ORG for short:
Oxford Research Group (ORG) works to promote a more sustainable approach to security for the UK and the world. We combine detailed knowledge of root causes of conflict with an understanding of political decision-making, and we build trust through facilitating constructive dialogue between policy-makers, academics, the military and civil society.
The report is written by Professor Paul Rogers and released this month. They have monthly reports that you can receive in your in-box if you sign up.
Who is Professor Paul Rogers,
Global Security Consultant to Oxford Research Group and Professor of Peace Studies at the University of Bradford, takes a step back from the heat of the moment to provide a concise monthly overview of the international security situation, focussing on the 'war on terror', the related conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the implications of US and UK foreign policy for the majority world.
These briefings are now published in English and Spanish, and you can subscribe below to receive these briefings by email as they are published each month.
You can purchase the most recent report at their online store, or read about what others will sure to be reporting, but probably not the Media here in the States.
In late 2006 the Baker-Hamilton Report recommended a change of policy for the Bush Administration over Iraq. The two main proposals were that the United States should work towards a large-scale military withdrawal from the country and that it should do so in parallel with an engagement with regional powers to ensure that a post-withdrawal Iraq would not degenerate into wholesale violence and civil war. Such a diplomatic engagement would necessarily include countries such as Saudi Arabia and Iran.
Now once again something sounds very familiar,
The two main proposals were that the United States should work towards a large-scale military withdrawal from the country and that it should do so in parallel with an engagement with regional powers to ensure that a post-withdrawal Iraq would not degenerate into wholesale violence and civil war.
Yep, the same tens of thousands here, and millions around the world, Focus Groups All, started saying similar, once again, after the big bad 'Shock and Awe' started destroying the Iraqi's Country as well as the Iraqi People!
Even before the Inevitable coming Guerilla/Insurgent War!!!
Many were saying it than, if you like the bush weren't listening! Many have been saying it since than, all these years now of Death and Destruction! And Sadly my thoughts are that we have passed the point of any reasonable outcome, with minimal BlowBack!
To many have been Killed and Maimed! To much has been Destroyed, especially the lives of the Iraqi's and their Children, the ones who will survive! To much Hatred has been added to that which already existed from our long time failed policies and backing of tyrants!
The hatreds will fuel the BlowBack now for decades, and it only takes a few to wage the coming destructive havic, and there's certainly much more than a few!
Oct. 15, 2007 issue - Kanan al-Sadid was not yet 10 years old on the afternoon that his father opened the trunk of the family car and Saddam Hussein popped out. It was the early 1960s, and the future dictator was hiding out from the Iraqi authorities, who accused him of plotting to assassinate the country's then strongman, Gen. Abdul Karim Qassim. Kanan's uncle was a member of Saddam's revolutionary Baath Party clique; when the conspirators needed to lie low, they would disappear to the Sadid family estate near the Syrian border. Once, when Syrian soldiers came looking for the men, Saddam and the boy's father ducked into a linen closet. Another time, as the family Volkswagen approached an Iraqi Army checkpoint, Saddam ordered all the children in the car to blow on the windows, steaming them up to conceal the fugitives. While visiting a family home in Baghdad one afternoon, Kanan's father told his sons to get into the car; they were going to a park to play. But after driving around for a while, the car stopped, the boy's father opened the trunk and Saddam Hussein—curled up and dressed in a dishdasha—stepped out and walked off. Kanan's father drove away in silence. "When are we going to the park?" the deflated boy asked. "Keep your mouth shut," his father replied.
A small country, loaded with historic value of the origins on Man, Destroyed and in Destructive Turmoil, threatening the whole region, while we threaten others in the region ourselves!
We have awakened long surpressed hostilities, started long ago by others, who tried to control the peoples of the region, dictating to them how they should exist, forcing through destructive violence the ideologies of those others who tried to control!
And all those who were at the helm of this destruction, preaching fear and lies, can think of is Their Legacy?????
This Washington Post article tells us all most of us already know An Exit Toward Soul-Searching As Bush Staffers Leave, Questions About Legacy Abound
and need to know about this incompetent administration, filled with lyers and frankly thieves!
It starts out with this:
It had been four days since Meghan O'Sullivan left her job at the White House. Just four days since she gave up her Secret Service pass, her classified hard drive and her entree to the president. Four days since she gave up any day-to-day responsibility for Iraq.
Too soon, evidently, for the dreams to end. "In fact, I was dreaming about Iraq last night," she said. "And I woke up and thought, 'When do you think this will stop?' "
Hey Meghan, "It Should Never Have Started!"!
And than a short distance down gives us this quote by one of the most destructive, criminal, political hacks, to inhabit the Peoples House, bringing shame and the downward spiral of this countries political process and stature in the world:
Karl Rove feels guilty for leaving in a time of war, yet he wants to reinvent himself as more than simply "the Bush guy."
So that's what the karl thinks about, reinvention!
While he's not the only one who has disgraced this Nation, and it's citizens, this administration and congresses are loaded with the Guilty, the karl's legacy will have two writes, one of fact the other of propaganda and double speak, as will all the others!
We have an opposition political party, and a large section of it's base, who don't see the real damage done to this countries ideology and fragility, the experiment of this type of Democracy is wavering towards destruction, if no one is held accountable for all that has taken place!
If there ever were a Real Reason for not only a real Impeachment, not only of a President but the removal of a whole administration, a coup if you will by the citizens, than Indictments and Trials, this is the time!
Yet all many think about, and are really worried about, is that if going after the Guilty, proof is already out there on a number of charges, they will severly damage their own chances of Control in Washington, their own legacies!
We, as responsible adults, have now left, for the coming generations, not a better world, but one of further destruction and turmoil. They will be cleaning up the mess we have left for decades, that is if they recognize that which we have done, and are not doing. Or they will take the same destructive ideologies as their own leaving those that follow them into an abyss of never ending hostilities of man and destruction of this planet, not by some spiritual being but by us so called intelligent beings!
“They had a GI coffeehouse at Fort Hood, a place called the Oleo Strut. ... The GI movement started at Fort Hood—the Fort Hood Three, three years before I got there, guys who refused to go to Vietnam. That began to plant the seed. The soil was fertile because the reality was that the government was lying to us. Most people are decent people. They don’t want to go kill people and engage in brutality.... I went down there and got involved in publishing an underground newspaper called the Fatigue Press. We were putting out literature against the war and against the military and for GI rights and against racism.”
Dave Cline, an anti-war soldier and military veteran activist, trade unionist and anti-racist, died at his Jersey City home on Sept. 15—another hidden casualty of the Vietnam War. He had been quite ill for the last few months but continued to organize for veterans’ rights, against the Iraq War and on behalf of Vietnamese victims of Agent Orange up until his death.
Dave grew up in a working class family in Buffalo, N.Y., and was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1967. Later that year, while serving with the 25th Infantry Division, he was wounded in a kill-or-be-killed situation near the Cambodian border and became permanently disabled. The incident affected him politically, physically and emotionally every day for the rest of his life.
In 1968 while on convalescent leave at home, Dave got involved with the Buffalo Draft Resistance Union and began speaking out publicly against the war. His political activism took off from there.
He helped run the Oleo Strut GI coffee house in Killeen, Texas, outside Fort Hood, which is still today a U.S. Army megabase. In 1970 he joined Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW) and became one of its early leaders. In the 1980s he helped resurrect the organization.
In the 1970s he worked at the Jersey City bulk mail facility of the U.S. Postal Service. Cline led a number of wildcat strikes as an elected shop steward of the New York Metro Local of the American Postal Workers Union, which led to his being fired. He also led co-workers in a militant confrontation with a racist Klan-type organization that was terrorizing people of color in Jersey City.
In the 1980s Dave was a vice president of Transportation Workers Union Local 600 while employed by the New York-New Jersey Port Authority.
He was president of Veterans for Peace when 9/11 happened and worked tirelessly against the wars and occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan that followed. He always pushed hard for diversity in the organization, especially encouraging African-American membership and leadership. Cline met with veterans of the current wars and assisted and encouraged them in their formation of Iraq Veterans Against the War.
In 2003 he led a delegation of military veterans to the island of Vieques, Puerto Rico, supporting the local struggle in actions that resulted in the U.S. Navy closing down its bombing range there.
In 2006 he traveled to Vietnam and took part in the historic International Agent Orange Conference. When a delegation of Vietnamese Agent Orange victims toured the U.S. earlier this year as part of a legal campaign for reparations, Cline gave his Purple Heart medal to one of the delegation’s members during a public meeting in New York City.
He was motivated by the struggle for peace and justice. He will be missed by all who worked with him, as evidenced by the overflow crowd that attended his funeral.
Michael Kramer is a member of Veterans For Peace, Chapter 021, in Jersey City. Articles copyright 1995-2007 Workers World. Verbatim copying and distribution of this entire article is permitted in any medium without royalty provided this notice is preserved.
