BILL MOYERS: One of my closest friends always watched your nightly sportscast. And he remembers to this day, just got a word from him this morning, he remembers your saying about hockey is the most boring sport he's ever seen. And you went on to say, "Nevertheless, here without further comment are the game results for whatever they're worth." But you don't do that with politics. You don't-- you don't just give the scores. You have some strong things to say about politics.
KEITH OLBERMANN: It became necessary.
BILL MOYERS: Why?
KEITH OLBERMANN: I was sitting on a plane in Los Angeles reading in August of 2006 about Don Rumsfeld talking to the veterans and talking about how every-- everyone who was in opposition to the Iraq War policy, the so-called war on terror, even to some degree the Bush administration, was the equivalent in his mind to the Nazi appeasers of the 1930s. And he went on at length about how, you know, here's the-- we're doing the Churchillian role. And I thought, you know, sir, I took history classes. Your group is not Churchill. Your group is Neville Chamberlain because Neville Chamberlain minimized and marginalized anybody who disagreed with him. Reading this ridiculous remark and waiting to see somebody respond to it. And no one did. I'm thinking, well, you know, somebody with a platform ought to be talking about this. Somebody with a-- with an avenue to respond should be-- oh, yeah, I have a platform.
Get rid of the Barbies and Kens, plastic faces and bodies with empty heads, get Back to Real Journalists, like the Two above, and Real Investigative Journalism!
* U.S. Soldiers Stage Mutiny, Refuse Orders in Iraq Fearing They Would Commit Massacre in Revenge for IED Attack *
We speak with a reporter from the Army Times who gives an inside account of how an army unit committed mutiny and refused to carry out orders in Iraq. After an IED attack killed five more members of Charlie 1-26, members of 2nd Platoon gathered for a meeting and determined they could no longer function professionally, several platoon members were afraid their anger could set loose a massacre.
* Forgotten Crises: The Top Ten Most Underreported Humanitarian Stories of 2007 *
The group Doctors Without Borders has released its list of the top ten most underreported humanitarian stories of 2007. The list highlights the plight of people in places races ranging from the Democratic Republic of Congo, to Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka, Chechnya and elsewhere. As we approach the end of 2007 we take a look back at these forgotten crises with Nicolas de Torrente, executive director of Doctors Without Borders-USA.
CONNOLLY'S 121 West 45 Street, New York NY 10036 (Between Broadway & Sixth Avenue) SUBWAY: #1, 2, 3, 7, N, Q, R, Shuttle to Times Square Station PARKING GARAGE: Manhattan Parking, 137 West 45 Street, 212-944-5118
DONATION SUGGESTED Donations to Veterans For Peace will go toward antiwar events in Dave's honor.
David Cline was a highly decorated, disabled Vietnam War combat veteran. A leading member of Vietnam Veterans Against the War, Dave is prominently featured in 'Sir, No Sir!,' an award-winning documentary about GI resistance. As President of Veterans For Peace, Dave oversaw tremendous growth in membership and helped found Iraq Veterans Against the War. A true humanitarian, Dave Cline was a co-founder of the Vietnam Agent Orange Relief & Responsibility Campaign.
Veterans For Peace, founded in 1985, is a 501(c)3 national membership organization and an official NGO represented at the United Nations. Veterans For Peace
“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.”
"Our military families deserve better," President Bush declared in October as he sent a proposed bill to Congress. The legislation, he said, would make it easier for our troops to receive care for PTSD, "and it will help affected service members to move forward with their lives."
Down aways and also on the audio we get this:
"I think it's an outrage that we have not taken proper care of them," said Sen. Christopher "Kit" Bond (R-MO), one of the most influential voices on veterans' affairs. "Too many of these people have been kicked out because of the results of the stress they've been under."
Now the Question I keep asking is "Where were these voices of concern of Military Personal as Republicans, like the one above, were rubber stamping the Administrations rush into War with Iraq, once again For No Damn Reason!"!
Where have they been since, in the 109th Congress they had Total Control over the purse strings and oversite, their jobs! They had the power of investigation, non existed and they blocked or marginalized any wanted by the opposition!
In the present Congress they lost their Majority Power so now they've become Obstructionists to anything getting done and still showing little concern for the plight of the returning troops, only empty words No Actions!
NPR has tracked down dozens of vets across the U.S. to put a face on the problem.
You can read the NPR report at above link where you can also listen to it, or click here to listen now
And there are some other links at the report site page, as always.
To Allies of Iraq Veterans Against the War {IVAW} and Winter Soldiers
The United States has been occupying Iraq for nearly five years, and Afghanistan for over six. It often amazes us, as veterans and active duty troops, that we are engaged in two foreign occupations that continue to grind on with no end in sight. Some of us were in junior high or high school when these wars began, and now we have to watch as our peers continue to fight and die overseas while our politicians continue to refuse to bring our troops home. For many of us, the most frustrating, depressing thing is to see the level of detachment and apathy that is so common among the American people. The anti-war movement seems no closer to ending the occupation, and more and more people seem content to believe that things in Iraq are improving and they no longer need to bother themselves with worrying about it.
The voices of those who have been to war, have participated in occupation, and have been the victims and survivors of U.S. foreign aggression are not being heard. Those of us who know, first hand, the brutal realities of war have been ignored and marginalized, and it is well past time that we are given the space and opportunity to tell our stories. This is why Iraq Veterans Against the War is marking the fifth year of the Iraq invasion and occupation by holding Winter Soldier: Iraq and Afghanistan, March 13-16 in Washington, DC. We will offer first-hand, eyewitness accounts to tell the truth about these occupations; their impact on the troops, their families, our nation, and the people of Iraq and Afghanistan. Military resistance to the war in Iraq is just waiting to be organized and WS is an important action in IVAW's overall strategy to end the war and bring our troops home now.
We hope that you share our vision of the importance and significance of this momentous event. Winter Soldier provides a unique opportunity to reveal the reality of U.S. occupation, and our success will depend upon the hard work of our members and the support of our allies. In order to give our veterans the necessary space and attention we deserve to tell our stories, we are requesting that, during Winter Soldier, March 13-16, the larger anti-war movement calls no national mobilizations and that there are no local protests or civil disobedience actions in Washington DC. IVAW will not endorse any mass mobilizations or DC-based actions that conflict with Winter Soldier. We feel that large-scale activities will compete with Winter Soldier and dilute the voices of those testifying.
The success of Winter Soldier rests beyond IVAW and will ultimately depend on the support of our allies. We realize that ending the war will take more than any one single event or mobilization. However, Winter Soldier provides a venue like no other for those who experienced war on the ground to expose the truth and consequences of the "War on Terror" to the nation and the world. We hope that you share our vision.
Respectfully, Kelly Dougherty Executive Director, IVAW
DC Bloggers, mark the date, attend and report, but Keep the 'Winter Soldiers and the Others' Front and Center
As to the present, Remember who had Total Control of Washington and what they were passing and saying in the leadup to the 'Shock and Awe', leaving out the Most Important Legislation and Funding!!
Their excuse for Walter Reed, "Oh it's closing in a couple of years!", as they were rubber stamping a War of Choice knowing Reed would be where many would pass through, was/is a Total Disgrace, another Deja-Vu Vietnam Era!!
As you do your holiday shopping this year and think about a big turkey dinner and piles of gifts and the good life that most Americans enjoy, please spare a thought for those who made it all possible: Those who serve in our military and the veterans who've worn the uniform.
Be it in justifiable? conflicts or Wars of Choice, benefitting only a few in ways No One should Prosper!
Bullets:
* An average of 18 veterans commit suicide each and every day of the year, according to recent statistics from the Veterans Administration (VA). That’s 126 veterans who kill themselves every week. Or some 6,552 who take their own lives each year. Our veterans are killing themselves at twice the rate of other Americans. * One quarter of the homeless people in America are military veterans. That’s one in every four. Is that ragged man huddled on the steam grate in a brutal winter wind a Vietnam vet? Did that younger man panhandling for pocket change on the street corner fight in Kandahar or Fallujah?
Add to above All we've found out about, many of us already knew what was coming, these past six years!!
The next smarmy politician who shouts, “God bless our troops” ought to be tarred and feathered and ridden out of Washington on a rail for sheer hypocrisy.
As for the Greater Majority of this Country, the sheer numbers would leave the rails in total disrepair, but Shame should pass through All Our Thoughts, Shame at ourselves!
Twenty percent of the U.S. troops fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan come from the Army National Guard. Many are from small towns, and go to war alongside family and friends. This is Part One of a four-part story about one of those units, Bravo Battery of the Kansas National Guard's 161st Field Artillery, and one night in Iraq that changed many lives.
Oh ya, for those a little slow on the brain thrust or to involved arguing about who's the Bestest to lead this Troubled Nation, a lightbulb for you, Pass The Link To The Free Book Download On!!
Is 'Funding' Really For Troops?
What Happened To Funding and Oversite For Military/Veteran Care In Previous Congresses?
Well, as promised in another post, there is more to pass on about the Fort Drum - Watertown NY PTSD Forum which you will find below.
The Forum took place at the:
Differant Drummer Cafe - Watertown New York Our cafe is designed to provide active duty and reserve military personnel and families at Ft. Drum with an inviting, comfortable, and warm place to socialize, listen to music and enjoy other live entertainment. Soldiers will also have access to legal counselling, a bookstore, and a regular program of film showings and discussions on current issues.
And hosting the Forum were: *Dean Anthony, MSW and Trauma Therapist
*Joe Gregory, Mexico, N Y, father of an Iraq combat vet who was killed after returning home because the VA failed to treat his PTSD.
*Marty Webster, VVAW Natl. Coordinator, and a Vietnam vet who still suffers from PTSD.
*Tod Ensign, attorney for Sgt Brad Gaskins, arrested by Ft Drum police as he sought to return to Ft Drum for mental health care. A two tour Iraq combat vet, Gaskins went AWOL when he was refused treatment for his PTSD.
The video shows the four hosts, listed above, giving their opening statements. I haven't tried to contact Cris yet so don't know if a further video will be coming, do know he was one of two camera's filming the forum.
If you hear one complaint from soldiers about how the Army handles post-traumatic stress disorder, it’s about a bureaucracy that doesn’t seem to care. The military officially recognized PTSD as a medical illness almost 30 years ago. Yet soldiers still complain of not getting the help they need. Mountains of paperwork, a backlog of claims, a shortage of licensed psychologists, and a dearth of scientific research all get in the way. In part two of our series on treating PTSD at Fort Drum, David Sommerstein has the story of one soldier who says Fort Drum’s mental health system failed him again and again.
CORRECTION TO ORIGINAL STORY: This story first reported that the military requires three letters from commanders documenting that a soldier was in a traumatic combat situation. A Fort Drum spokesman e-mailed to say that one letter is required. The audio has been changed accordingly.
PTSD at Ft. Drum, pt.3: A cafe for dissent 12/13/07
This week we’ve been reporting on the struggles of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans in getting help with combat trauma. Today we get a window inside their world from one of the North Country’s most respected experts. Nellie Coakley is a Vietnam veteran. She relies on her own experience in her work as a war trauma counselor. She’s worked out the region’s Vet Center since the 1980s. Vet Centers were created to give an alternative to Vietnam vets who didn’t trust the standard VA channels. Coakley counsels an increasing number of Iraq and Afghanistan vets, and she sees a similar mistrust. She says the American public needs to do more to understand post-traumatic stress disorder and help veterans re-enter society. The trouble is, soldiers coming home with PTSD find they can’t leave their warrior training behind. For them, Coakley told David Sommerstein, combat is life-changing.
North Country Public Radio comes to you from: St. Lawrence University, Canton, New York 13617-1475
Child beggars are a common sight in the streets of Baghdad
Ahmed said he would rather beg than steal and that he had started begging before his parents died because they were a poor family. He said his mother died in Fallujah in August 2004. She was visiting her parents when their house was bombed by US-led coalition forces.
His father fell ill and could not work so he sent his children out to beg. If they did not come home with enough money, he would beat them, Ahmed said. His father died of kidney failure in April 2005
Only four years ago, the vast majority of these children were living at home with their families.
Many of those we are have been fighting, since we invaded, are the children who have grown since the first Gulf War and through the years of Sanctions, the ones who survived!
Azhar al Haidari, 47, center, is an Iraqi refugee in Damascus, Syria. While her two daughters, Inam, left, and Mary, are excelling in school, their older brothers are illiterate because they've been out of class for so long
Illiteracy is spreading rapidly among refugee children from Iraq, with at least 300,000 young Iraqis not attending school in the countries where their families have sought safety.
"The last time my kids were in school was 2003, right before the American invasion," said Hanaa Majeed, 32, an Iraqi refugee in Damascus who can't afford to send her two sons to school. "They can barely read. I buy books and try to teach them at home, but it's not the same. My boys see other kids with backpacks on, going off to school, and they ask why they can't go, too." Education is a point of pride for Iraqis, the descendants of civilizations that invented cuneiform, one of the world's first writing systems.
Over 1.6 million children under the age of 12 have become homeless in Iraq, according to the country's Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs. That's almost 70 percent of the estimated 2.5 million Iraqis who are homeless inside the country.
"There are no reliable estimates of how many orphans and abandoned children are in Iraq today but we believe, according to some data collected by local NGOs, that over 8,000 children are in the same or a similar situation to that of Faleh," Mayada said.
Since the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, more than two million Iraqis have fled to neighbouring countries, with Jordan (500,000-750,000) and Syria (1.2-1.4 million) hosting the greatest numbers.
Demanding of our attention and action today is the terrible plight of Iraqi refugees, both those outside the country and internally displaced persons (IDPs). They number to date a fifth of the Iraqi population.
This tragic human dislocation has been created by the active violation of the UN Charter and other aspects of international law. This violation was demonstrated during the American terrorism of "Shock and Awe", and the invasion of sovereignty, disruption of culture, destruction of civilian infrastructure that it entailed and epitomised. Irreparable damage to society and fundamental human rights has ensued. This outrageous unprovoked act of aggression brought to Iraq yet again the horrors of war. Bush and Blair's pre-emptive strike has led to the deaths of many hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians. Current credible estimations put the figure at over one million since 2003.
Over and above massive loss of civilian life, is the tragic consequence of refugees. It is estimated some 4.7 million children, women and men have been forced from their homes and have fled -- some displaced within and some outside Iraq. More that 20 per cent of the entire population have been brutally uprooted by the violence of this war of aggression -- a war crime for which the US-UK, along with others, must be held responsible.
Of these refugees, and those who haven't fled, many are the children, the children who we have stripped of their childhood! Those that are still in the War Ravaged Country of Iraq will try and maintain some semblance of chilhood activities, but their games of pretend are carried out amoung the devestation and destruction around them. And much of their pretend activities are the acting out of the forces of destruction they have witnessed, the only thing they know.
The Iraqi government, eager to claim credit for the decline in violence, offers returnees free transportation to Iraq, provides protection to the bus convoys and gives families $800 each to help with resettling.
But American and U.N. officials warn that a big return of refugees could rekindle sectarian violence between Sunnis and Shiites and that some returnees have found their homes occupied by members of the other Muslim sect. Even the Iraqi government acknowledges it cannot handle a huge influx.
Most returnees did so because they were running out of money or because their visas had expired, states the report, with less than 15 per cent found to be returning because they believed the security situation had improved.
Recent visa restrictions in both Syria and Jordan have made it virtually impossible for new refugees to gain access to either country, and in Syria in particular, Iraqi refugees now find it hard to remain. By being denied work permits, Iraqis across the region are rapidly depleting their savings and are facing ever-worsening economic conditions.
More than 4.5 million Iraqis — a fifth of the population — have been displaced inside and outside their country due to the sectarian policies of the occupation and the governments it has installed since the illegal invasion of Iraq in 2003
The international community, the occupation powers, and the government in Iraq are legally required to support and protect Iraqi refugees
Iraqi refugees are Iraqi citizens who have a full right to live in dignity, a right to benefit equally from national resources, and a right to return to their homes
The UN Security Council, as the highest body of the UN, has the power and legal duty to ensure that the needs of Iraqi refugees are met by passing a resolution to require that the Iraqi state allocate proportionate revenue to responsible agencies and hosting countries
Visit above site and sign their Petition: Humanity is in distress in Iraq. Our moral responsibility is to save it. Join us.
Most of those who led the charge to War, and their supporters, try and lay the blame for what some of these children will, or already have, do on others who they say entice these children into violence and violent acts. These children don't need to be pushed nor taught, their anger and the life forced on them shapes what many will become, and it only takes a few, but there will be more than just a few. Those who lay the blame on others fear their own guilt that eventually will catch up to them!
And this is only about the Children of Iraq. How about the Children of Afganistan, or Darfur, or Palestine, or the many many other troubled spots on this planet! The disenfranchised have been rising up from the failed policies practiced by the powerful, leaving legacies of destruction to come!
