photo from Tony Teolis
Washington – On Saturday, November 15, at 8:00 am, at the National Archives Building on Connecticut Ave., eight military veterans and a military mother climbed a 9-foot retaining fence and occupied a ninety-foot high scaffolding to raise two 450 square foot banners stating, “DEFEND OUR CONSTITUTION. ARREST BUSH AND CHENEY: WAR CRIMINALS!" and "WE WILL NOT BE SILENT.” The same message will also be displayed at demonstrations in Santa Monica and Long Beach, California on Saturday.
UPDATE 4 p.m. Saturday: Activists plan to remain through Monday morning at least, if not longer. They lost the really big "Arrest Bush and Cheney" banner to wind but have a smaller version and still have the "We Will Not Be Silent" Banner. The Archives security chief, Mr. Adams, spoke with Elliott Adams of Veterans for Peace and offered to not press charges if they left and threatened to have arrest warrants issued for them all in 2 or 3 weeks if they did not get down immediately. The chose to stay, and Elaine Brower of Military Families Speak Out got on the PA system to announce their intention to make sure that Bush and Cheney are arrested for murder. She told her son's story and began reading the names of the dead. Also, the similar action in Santa Monica is going well.
According to Tarak Kauff, a VFP member, "People say Bush and Cheney will be gone soon so what’s the point? The point is, there is no statute of limitations on war crimes, and if not held accountable, criminality will continue regardless of who is in office. We either are or we are not a nation of law."
These individuals took part:
• Elliott Adams VFP: 61, Sharon Springs, NY, VFP President and former Army
paratrooper, Viet Nam
• Ellen Barfield VFP: 52, Baltimore, MD, former Army Sgt.
• Kim Carlyle VFP: 61, Buncombe County, NC, former Army Spec 5
• Doug Zachary VFP: 58, Austin, TX, VFP staff, former USMC Lance Cpl.
• Tarak Kauff VFP: 67, Woodstock, NY, former PFC, Army Airborne
• Will Covert VFP: 63, San Diego, CA, VFP lifetime member, former E4 Navy
• Elaine Brower MFSO: 54, Staten Island, NY, Military Families Speak Out, National Steering Committee, mother of USMC Sgt. James Brower on third tour in Iraq
• Matthis Chiroux IVAW: 24, Army Sergeant, served in Afghanistan, refused deployment to Iraq
And these people provided support on the ground:
• Mike Ferner VFP: 57, Toledo, OH, former Navy corpsman
• Debbie Tolson VFP: 52, Potomac, MD, associate member of VFP
• Michelle White MFSO: 24, Clarksville, TN, Military Families Speak Out, wife of Iraq war vet currently serving in Afghanistan
• Michael Marceau VFP: 59, Rockville, MD, VP VFP Chapter 16, former Army, Viet Nam
• Bruce Berry VFP: 62, Minneapolis, MN, former SPC 4 Army, Viet Nam
• Fred Nagel VFP: 65, Rhinebeck, NY, former SPC 4 Army
• Jay Wenk VFP: 82, Woodstock, NY, former rifleman, 90th Infantry Div., WWII
• Tony Teolis VFP
Hanging The Banner
PHOTOS WILL BE POSTED AT AfterDowning Street.org
"that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic"
Honoring the Fallen at Arlington West On Memorial Day 2008
Just north of the Santa Monica pier the Veterans For Peace erect a memorial to the fallen troops every Sunday. On Memorial Day weekend, it remains up overnight. Each white cross represents one American life lost in Iraq. Each red cross represents ten American lives lost in Iraq.
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