Labor Day: Real Labor {Responsibility} for Peace

As Battlefields Shift, Old Warrior for Peace Pursues the Same Enemy

The Rev. Carl Kabat inside the fence at a Colorado missile site before his recent arrest.

GREELEY, Colo. — It had been nearly 30 years since the Rev. Carl Kabat and a group of peace activists, including his fellow Catholic priests Daniel and Philip Berrigan, barged into a General Electric weapons plant outside Philadelphia. Known as the Plowshares Eight, they battered missile nose cones with hammers in an effort to disable some of the world’s most fearsome weapons, and sprinkled blood on classified documents to protest the cold war, before they were arrested.

Snip

“I thought, ‘What a beautiful place this is except for this damnable thing in the ground that could kill two or three million people,’ ” Father Kabat said later in an interview at the Weld County Jail, where he is being held on misdemeanor criminal mischief and trespassing charges. “It’s insane.”

Snip

“You can’t just kill babies and children and old people indiscriminately,” he said. “It should be unreasonable for every human person to accept nuclear weapons............

The Hell of War Comes Home:

Newspaper Series Documents Murder, Suicide, Kidnappings by Iraq Vets

A startling two-part series published in the Gazette newspaper of Colorado Springs titled "Casualties of War" examines a part of war seldom discussed by the media or government officials: the difficulty of returning to civilian life after being trained to be a killer. The story focuses on a single battalion based at Fort Carson in Colorado Springs, the 2nd Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment. Soldiers from the brigade have have been involved in brawls, beatings, rapes, drunk driving, drug deals, domestic violence, shootings, stabbings, kidnapping and suicides. The Army unit's murder rate is 114 times the rate for Colorado Springs. We speak with the reporter who broke the story and get the Army's response.

Listen/Watch/Read

My previous post on this report only a few days back.

Casualties of War

Last week the Colorado Springs 'The Gazette' had another very disturbing report, in two parts, following up previous reports of soldiers of OIF and OEF who committed murders. These, from all I can find out, were just regular teens, no trouble out of the ordinary prior to their military service. But once sent to these occupations, sometimes more then once, they returned like many of our brother 'Nam Vets, very troubled and not getting the help needed or not seeking because of the nature of military service, added to their situations of multiple tours, longer tours then we served and little down time between, their nightmares caught up to them by abusing drugs and alcohol, by acting out in rage, by loosing control.

Are they guilty? If they committed these crimes yes they are, we are a Nation of Law, though some seem to be able to not only ignore that or be above that they actually have supporters that will argue about holding them accountable. But we as a society have a share in their guilt, we sent them into these hells on earth when other options should have and could have been followed, sent on failed policies and then having more failed policies stack on to create long running occupations of death and destruction.

This first link is a more recent report a few days following the Gazette report.

Soldiers in Colorado slayings tell of Iraq horrors

Sun Jul 26 COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Soldiers from an Army unit that had 10 infantrymen accused of murder, attempted murder or manslaughter after returning to civilian life described a breakdown in discipline during their Iraq deployment in which troops murdered civilians, a newspaper reported Sunday.........

Snip

Several soldiers said unit discipline deteriorated while in Iraq.

"Toward the end, we were so mad and tired and frustrated," said Daniel Freeman. "You came too close, we lit you up. You didn't stop, we ran your car over with the Bradley," an armored fighting vehicle..............Rest Here

And these two reports are so disturbing that the Editor gives a lead in warning about the content and reason for.

Colorado Springs: The Gazette

EDITOR'S NOTE: A note of caution about the Lethal Warriors package

For as long as wars have been waged, soldiers have been sent to kill or be killed. The lucky ones survive. Some return home unscathed; others are shell-shocked and emotionally scarred for life.

That’s been true forever. But something changed in Iraq. Thanks to modern medicine, transportation and gear, soldiers survived injuries that would have killed yesterday’s troops. They patrolled streets without battle lines, where smiling civilians waved one day and silently watched ambushes the next. Multiple deployments moved soldiers from war to home and back, again and again.

Snip

A word of caution: The details of battle are graphic, and the language of soldiers is, at times, profane.........

And a few of the reports snippets with links follow:

July 24, 2009 Part I: The hell of war comes home

Before the murders started, Anthony Marquez’s mom dialed his sergeant at Fort Carson to warn that her son was poised to kill.

It was February 2006, and the 21-year-old soldier had not been the same since being wounded and coming home from Iraq eight months before. He had violent outbursts and thrashing nightmares. He was devouring pain pills and drinking too much. He always packed a gun.

Snip

Marquez was the first infantry soldier in his brigade to murder someone after returning from Iraq. But he wasn’t the last.

This month, Fort Carson released a 126-page report {pdf} by a task force of behavioral-health and Army professionals who looked for common threads in the soldiers’ crimes. They concluded that the intensity of battle, the long-standing stigma against seeking help, and shortcomings in substance-abuse and mental-health treatment may have converged with “negative outcomes,” but more study was needed.

Marquez, who was arrested before the latest programs were created, said he would never have pulled the trigger if he had not gone to Iraq.

“If I was just a guy off the street, I might have hesitated to shoot,” Marquez said this spring as he sat in the Bent County Correctional Facility, where he is serving 30 years. “But after Iraq, it was just natural.”

In August 2007, Louis Bressler, 24, robbed and shot a soldier he picked up on a street in Colorado Springs.

In December 2007, Bressler and fellow soldiers Bruce Bastien Jr., 21, and Kenneth Eastridge, 24, left the bullet-riddled body of a soldier from their unit on a west-side street.

{ Hear the prison interviews with Kenneth Eastridge }

In May and June 2008, police say Rudolfo Torres-Gandarilla, 20, and Jomar Falu-Vives, 23, drove around with an assault rifle, randomly shooting people.

In September 2008, police say John Needham, 25, beat a former girlfriend to death...............The Rest of Part 1 Here

This video isn't a part of the two part report but is about the contents of.



July 24, 2009 Part II: Warning signs

After coming home from Iraq, 21-year-old medic Bruce Bastien was driving with his Army buddy Louis Bressler, 24, when they spotted a woman walking to work on a Colorado Springs street.

Bressler swerved and hit the woman with the car, according to police, then Bastien jumped out and stabbed her over and over.

(A word of caution about the language and content of this story: Please see Editor's Note)

It was October 2007. A fellow soldier, Kenneth Eastridge, 24, watched it all from the passenger seat.

Many of the soldiers behind bars and their family members say the violence at home is a consequence of the violence in Iraq. They came home angry, confused, paranoid and depressed. They had trouble getting effective mental heath care. Most buried their symptoms in drugs and alcohol until they exploded.

The Army is seeking new ways to care for returning soldiers and keep the violence from returning — crucial now, because the unit shipped out in May to Afghanistan, where the monthly coalition casualty rate has doubled since the beginning of the year. Soldiers are scheduled to return to Colorado Springs in spring 2010.

The first step toward solving the problem, the post’s most recent commander said, is to understand it.

Graham, who had one son killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq a year after his other son committed suicide while training to be an officer, made mental health a focus after taking command of Fort Carson.

He said suicide and homicide are “different reactions to the same or similar problem. You treat both in the same way.”

This video also isn't in these reports, it's a previous ABC News Video of Maj. Gen. Mark Graham:

After two tours in Iraq, Eastridge was depressed, paranoid, violent, abusing drugs and haunted by nightmares. But because he was other-than-honorably discharged, he said, he was ineligible for benefits or health care. He was no longer Uncle Sam’s problem. He was on his own.

“I had no job training,” he said. “All I know how to do is kill people.”............The Rest of Part 2 Here

Once again these and all those we've sent into long running occupations are this Countries responsibility, a Country that quickly, seems like we're repeating again, forgets that simple fact! Our policies are done in our names, we send military troops to occupy others it's in our names!

And we readily forget those we occupy, the deaths, the destruction they now live in, the trauma's they suffer, the refugee's we've created, and in the world that's been, for the last few decades, the few lash out in retaliation for the policies done in our names! Now we've created much more hatreds, we have children that have grown up in the death and destruction, that's been their childhood, and we are reporting on what's happening to our own who served in these theaters of conflict, what has happened within those we've invaded and occupied!

Legacy of Wars............

Special Initiative on Agent Orange/Dioxin

Backround
From 1961 to 1971, U.S. military forces sprayed more than 20 million gallons of Agent Orange and other herbicides on forests and crops in southern and central Vietnam. The campaign had both human and environmental consequences. The immediate effect was to defoliate and destroy vegetation over wide areas. The delayed impact came from dioxin, a highly toxic chemical in Agent Orange that is critically harmful to humans................

Above comes from an embedded link in an article found at Mother Jones Agent Orange: Treatment For Vets Still Lagging, Says Report

The Ford Foundation will release a report Tuesday calling for continued study of the environmental and health effects of Agent Orange, as well as for stepped-up diagnosis and treatment of US veterans exposed to it. Used as a defoliant in Vietnam to destroy vegetation used as food and cover for the Viet Cong, the dioixn--named for the orange stripe on its label--has been the subject of controversy ever since its first use in 1962. Over the ensuing ten years of hard combat, some 20 million gallons of Agent Orange and other toxic herbicides were sprayed over six million acres of Vietnamese jungle. (See the box below for a selection of Mother Jones' earlier coverage of Agent Orange and the federal government's history of inadequate response to veterans' complaints.).............the rest found here

With linkbacks to a couple of previous articles on our subject of 'Agent Orange' and the other Defoliants used than.

Back to the Ford Foundation site link at the top you'll find the video above along with links to their strategy and those partnering with them, the members of the U.S.-Vietnam Dialogue Group, and finally the grant program totals so far and more.

I've done a few posts on Agent Orange and Defoliants from the occupation many many many of us served in, one just recently. All of them, in these last couple of years of renewed discussion by just a few, lead to this site Vietnam Agent Orange Relief & Responsibility Campaign - VAORRC and were posted leading up to and following a Vietnamese delagation that traveled to the U.S. on their court case against the United States and the Chemical manufacturing companies, loosing again. But we did have abit of good news just recently, US Doubles Funds for Agent Orange Cleanup, it's a drop in the bucket of what we owe to those who've suffered all these years since, as well as those of our brothers, many now gone from the results of their contamination and suffering!

Wars Don't End, what is done, especially in these Wars of Choice that become more of testing grounds for the billions of dollars spent on extremely high priced weapons of mass destruction, is leaving behind for those that fight them and especially those that live in these occupied countries lifetime suffering, some of that carried into further generations!

We've now had, since Vietnam, Gulf War Syndrome still not resolved as those exposed are suffering from a variety of ailments, many having died already, and births of their children with physical problems!

There are many questions about our use of Depleted Uranium, nuking others, in our artillery and use in the vehicle armor. We have some soldiers returning that are now suffering ailments. some devastating and life threatening, from possible exposure to a whole host of chemicals and contaminants from the burn pits at bases in Iraq and Afghanistan.

These aren't the only problems of aftermath of these occupation, there's land mines, cluster bombs that didn't explode, and a whole host of other dangers right along with the trauma that's been caused!

Tens of thousands are killed, they don't suffer the after! Do you think those that survive will forget, or how about the young and those newborn during that grew up these years, that's all they know!

Wars Don't End!!

Another Loooong Battle Getting Attention/Action

Kudo's Barrack, Kudo's, But Much More Still Needed!

US Doubles Funds for Agent Orange Cleanup

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — The United States government has doubled its funding for dealing with the environmental and health consequences of its wartime use in Vietnam of the toxic herbicide Agent Orange, the embassy said Friday.

President Barack Obama recently signed a bill increasing the funding from $3 million to $6 million, embassy officials said. Most of the money is being used in Danang, where U.S. troops used to mix and store Agent Orange at an Air Force base before loading it onto planes.

More Of The Change We Can Believe In!!

Many U.S. soldiers, my brothers of the Vietnam War, have been not only trying to help the Vietnamese in their struggle with this countries poisoning of their lands but have opened up and support places like Vietnam Friendship Village, as well as care facilities and orphanages for those still being born and have since we left.

Vietnam believes as many as 4 million people have suffered serious health problems from the herbicide, such as cancer, spina bifida and other birth defects. The U.S. says the actual number is probably far lower and that further scientific study is needed to understand the health impact. The U.S. and Vietnam only began working together in 2007 to address the consequences of Agent Orange after years of disagreement.

The embassy said in a statement that one third of the $6 million is being used for health programs to serve people in the Danang area. The rest will be used to remove dioxin from the soil and sediment near Danang airport.

Much more is needed especially if we're not going to compensate the families of the victims, as noted with this:

Friday's People's Army newspaper quoted Lai Minh Hien, a Vietnamese environmental official in charge of Agent Orange issues, as saying that Vietnam needs additional 1 trillion dong ($57 million) to clean up dioxin in Danang as well as at former U.S. air bases in Bien Hoa and Phu Cat.

Agent Orange devastates generations of Vietnamese


Justice for Victims of Agent Orange


Vietnam Agent Orange Relief & Responsibility Campaign - VAORRC

Brother Dave Cline has widened his smile some, my guess is, and he still watches over the Vietnamese people we fought but he fell in love with, and they him, and worked tirelessly to help, Rip Brother RIP, your work is hopefully finally paying off!

Bush's War Totals

Iraq's Shocking Human Toll: About 1 Million Killed, 4.5 Million Displaced, 1-2 Million Widows, 5 Million Orphans

Now that Bush is gone, perhaps we can honestly face the damage we have wrought and the responsibilities we must accept from it.

Justice for Vietnamese Agent Orange Victims: 2008

Again this year Vietnamesse Agent Orange victims are touring the United States seeking justice, Our Responsibility, for the long term damage done to their countries citizens from our occupation of their country not so long ago.


Delegation of Vietnamese Women Agent Orange Victims Visit 10 US Cities, Sept 28–Oct 31, 2008


Co-sponsors: Veterans For Peace, Vietnam Veterans Against the War, National Lawyers Guild & United For Peace & Justice





Organizing groups for the delegation have formed & are planning events in 9/28 - 10/5:


New York City, New Jersey & New Haven, Welcoming reception (9/30), meeting with lawyers (10/1), Columbia U Law School (10/2), Dominican community (10/3 at 2005 Amsterdam Ave. 7pm), public event at Musician's Union Local 803, 322 West 48th St. Manhattan (10/04 6:30pm), churches, contact us


10/6 - 10/8: Washington DC, press conference at the Supreme Court, meetings with Congress representatives, contact us


10/9 - 10/12: Birmingham AL, meetings with lawyers, contact us


10/12 - 10/14: Pittsburgh PA, Reconciliation & Healing: Remembering Vietnam, La Roche College, contact us


10/15 - 10/18: Detroit MI, National Lawyers Guild, Law for the People Convention, Friday 10/17


10/19 - 10/21: Chicago IL, NPR Worldview, Roosevelt University, Hull House, U of Illinois at Chicago


10/22 - 10/25: Portland & Eugene OR, 10/22 Knight Law School, 7pm (Eugene).


10/26 - 10/28: Los Angeles CA, Reception by CHEER, UCLA Labor Center, Strategy Center & SoCA for Youth, contact us


10/28 - 10/31: Bay Area CA, events in Laney College, Eastside Arts Alliance (Oakland, 10/28), Glasner Center (Santa Rosa, 10/29), and at Veterans Building (San Francisco, 10/30 7pm), contact us


The Delegation: Both women are Agent Orange victims.

Ms. TRẦN THỊ HOAN (age 21), was born on December 16, 1986 in Đức Linh district of Bình Thuận province in Central Vietnam. She is a second generation victim of Agent Orange. Her mother was exposed to Agent Orange as a result of the war. She was born without two legs and one hand is seriously atrophied.

From the time she was12 years old, Hoan has lived in Peace Village II, the Agent Orange center at Từ Dũ Hospital, Ho Chi Minh City.
Hoan is now a college student in computer science in Ho Chi Minh City and is fluent in English. This is her first visit to the U.S. See video with Hoan.

Mrs. ĐẶNG HỒNG NHỰT was born on December 12, 1936, married in 1959 and gave birth to a healthy son in 1960.
Between 1961 and 1966 she joined the resistance forces in the Southeastern region of Vietnam (included Tây Ninh, Bình Dương, Củ Chi), which was heavily sprayed with Agent Orange. She was directly exposed to Agent Orange and suffered from skin rashes and diarrhea. Between 1966 and 1972 she was arrested and imprisoned by the US-supported government.
In 1973 and again in 1975 Ms. Nhut suffered miscarriages early in her pregnancy. In 1975, she again suffered a miscarriage. In 1977, she gave birth to a congenitally deformed still-born child. In 1980, she had another miscarriage. In 2002, she had surgery to remove an intestinal tumor. In 2003, she underwent another operation to remove a tumor from her thyroid. She now has cancer.

Ms. Nhut’s husband was a resistance fighter in the same region between 1960 and 1975 and was also exposed to Agent Orange. He was later diagnosed with intestinal cancer, metastasizing to the lung and the liver. He died in May, 1999. Vietnamese Struggle with Agent Orange

Lastly, Ms. ĐINH THỊ MINH HUYỀN is accompanying as an Interpreter. Ms. Huyen is from the Vietnam Peace & Development Foundation and Vietnam Association for Protection of Children’s Rights.

Visit Vietnam Agent Orange Relief & Responsibility Campaign site to find out much more and to help if you feel there is a responsibility we should embrace for our actions as a society and country against others, especially those that have done nothing to us!


Last year I did a few posts about their Visit to the United States seeking Justice for what we had done during our occupation of their country in the Courts here as to the use of Defoliants {WMD's} especially Agent Orange which still poisons their country. You can visit Here, as well as Here and Here and finally Here.


In that last link I have a Video I put together of a song, written by a Vietnamesse Artist, about Defoliants in Vietnam, and was Linked to for Worldwide listening connected to the Agent Orange Justice Movement, this is that Video:

"They are monsters and devils wearing human clothes,"

They Didn't Hate Us Before!

Just One Of Tens of Thousands, NOW!!

Um Saad, a middle-aged woman living in the Sunni district of Khadra in west Baghdad, blames the Americans for the death of her husband and two of her sons and threatens revenge.

We Invaded
Based on Lies and Cherrypicked Intelligence!

We Occupy

One of the reason given, Saddam was Evil and he Tortured, he was all ours for years! We installed him, we welcomed him, we supported him, and We All Know Now, We Torture, just like Saddam, even in his old prisons!

"One day I will put on an explosive belt under my clothes and then blow myself up among the Americans. I will get revenge against them for my husband and sons and I will go to paradise."

As long as We Stay we are Responsible

Everything that happens within a Country we destroyed, and Occupy, driven Millions from their homes, killed and maimed untold numbers of Innocent Human Beings, We Are Responsible!

Not just the military we sent, But this Entire Nation!

The misery of people like Um Saad is the cumulative result of years of war. Dressed in dark robes, sitting in the bare sitting room of her modest house in al-Khadra, this 49-year-old woman tells how her family was slowly destroyed.

Bereaved Iraqi mother vows revenge on US

As you Don't Think about what we've done, the Conflict in Iraq, along with the rest of of the 72% that don't care about the Military personal Killed, 3,987 you probably won't care about the Hatreds we've created on a people that most certainly didn't do a Damn Thing to deserve these past Five Years we've given them!!

Still think there might be waves and waves of Flowers for us, for our Victory, Think Again

Place yourself, especially your Children, in place of the Iraqi's, How Would You Feel and What Would You Do!!

Mission Accomplished

The Responsibility

Now, is for All the Deaths and Destruction!!

The Responsibility, long into the Future, is to Finance the Rebuilding of what We've Destroyed, Lives and a Country!!

Yesterday's Lies

By John Cory
t r u t h o u t | Perspective

Tuesday 08 January 2008

War is a waltz,
A dance with the Devil
On the bones of Angels.
- John Cory

On September 21, 2007, Sgt. Gerald Cassidy died - alone and forgotten in all the body counts and statistics of war, political polls and campaign strategies. He was unconscious for perhaps days before passing away like crumpled and discarded newsprint, barely noticed, simply brushed aside with yesterday's lies.

Sergeant Cassidy did not die in Iraq or Afghanistan. He died in America, at a new medical unit in Fort Knox - in America - where we support the troops, according to every single lapel-flag-pin-wearing politician and pundit on the airwaves, and yet, Sgt. Gerald Cassidy died neglected and unnoticed.

Shame on us.

Among headlines for that week were these gems: (taken from democracynow.org)

*"Report: Telecoms, White House Lobbying Congress to Dismiss Wiretap Suits"
*"Senate Rejects Anti-War Measure, Condemns MoveOn.org"
*"Bush Vows Child Health Insurance Bill Veto"

Our Senate was too busy creating more veterans and condemning free speech to notice Sgt. Gerald Cassidy. And our president was too busy stealing healthcare from children to have time for someone like Gerald Cassidy. It takes a lot of concentration to rob a child. Adults are easy.

My friend Remy at Welcome Home Soldier does tireless work on behalf of veterans, and she was so pained by the story about Sgt. Cassidy and this article VA Reports up to 30 Percent of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans Suffer From TBIYesterday's Lies , she sent them to me and asked, "Why do we allow this kind of thing?" And being a true Louisiana belle, she began taking action. If you're looking for something to do about this issue - go join her.

A group of Vietnam vets from Charlie Company, 1/52nd 198th, posted talk on their forum about the January 2008 article in GQ magazine about PTSD. The article covers Vietnam, 9/11 and all that has followed in Iraq and Afghanistan and PTSD. The article is titled, "The Long Shadow of War" by Kathy Dobie.

And there it is - all the pain and death of yesterday's lies coming down hard in the winter storms of today.

As I browse through old pictures of my days in war, I find myself wanting to crawl inside a photograph or two just to touch and smell those wonderful faces and hear their voices again. And sometimes when I rub my fingers over a particular photo, I'm never sure which side of the picture I'm on. Am I looking in or looking out?

When Sergeant Cassidy died, he took another piece of America with him. How many more pieces can we lose before we become totally lost ourselves?

Yesterday's lies kill and wound our troops, and yet Congress, afraid to face the truth, continues to fund and support the great lie of war. So look closely, my friends, and ask yourselves, how it is that we manage to find increasing amounts of money for war but continue to reduce funds for the care of our wounded and suffering troops?

Shame on us.

Have we forgotten our promise to veterans, in Lincoln's words, "to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow, and his orphan?" Are we so penny wise and pound foolish as to begrudgingly buy the bullets yet refuse to pay for the bread and bandages needed for the survivors? Or have we become so jaded that we view the flood of returning wounded as a burgeoning market in the for-profit healthcare industry with war as the ultimate profit generator?

In his farewell address, Gen. Douglas MacArthur spoke these words: "Duty, honor, country: Those three hallowed words reverently dictate what you ought to be, what you can be, what you will be. They are your rallying point to build courage when courage seems to fail, to regain faith when there seems to be little cause for faith, to create hope when hope becomes forlorn."

Those words were spoken to the cadets at West Point. But they are for us - the citizens of this great experiment in democracy. We should be equally obsessed with duty, honor and country not as a slogan, but as a call to action. There is no "us" or "them" - as though our troops are not part of our daily fabric of American life. It is and was from the beginning, "We the people." There is no differentiation between civilian and soldier.

Yes, it's election season and the race is capturing all the ink and airtime. I've said it before and I'll say it again - if you Democratic presidential candidates want my vote, then here is what you do:

Go to Dover AFB and don't tell me they won't let you in - you're Congressional members elected by "We the people," for cripes sake! Go to Dover and meet a plane of caskets and serve as pallbearers for the entire load. Carry them gently and with love for the price they have paid and send them home to their loved ones with a tear and a kiss.

Open your home or a community center somewhere and prepare a meal for several families who have lost their loved ones in this war, or who have wounded to tend to, and feed them the fresh baked bread of compassion and a warm supper of empathy and recognition for their fulfillment of duty, honor, country. Take their children in your arms and listen to them tell you how much they loved their daddy or mommy or uncle. And weep for yourselves that you never met them.

And do this all without cameras, campaign advisers and media consultants. We'll know about it - trust me. We will know. And if you're afraid, remember duty, honor, country as defined by General MacArthur, because it applies to you as well.

And then, by God, if you truly want my vote, you will go to Westfield, Indiana, and you will embrace the loved ones of Sgt. Gerald Cassidy and ask for their forgiveness on behalf of a grateful nation. And you will listen as they tell you all about him and show you their family photo album - not just the ones of him in uniform, but the boy and teenager, and the man who lived duty, honor, country. Then you will go to his graveside and place a wreath with the promise that you will never forget him. And on the ride back across the Indiana snow, you will write the beginning legislation that will never let this happen again: The Gerald Cassidy Veterans Bill.

That night as you drift off to sleep, you will hear the whispered lullaby: "War is a waltz, a dance with the Devil on the bones of Angels." And you will understand.

Then you can sleep the good sleep, knowing you have begun to put an end to yesterday's lies.



-----------------------
John Cory is a Vietnam Veteran. He received the Purple Heart and Bronze Star with V device, 1969 - 1970.

Soldier of Conscience {Updated}

Truth has consequences for soldier of conscience

It is a sad day in American jurisprudence when a soldier of conscience is court-martialed not for lying but for telling the truth, not for breaking a covenant with the military but for upholding the rule of law in wartime.

Army 1st Lt. Ehren K. Watada was out of uniform on leave over a year ago when he delivered a moving address to a Veterans for Peace convention.

1st Lt. Ehren Watada at the 2006 {Video} Veterans For Peace National Convention in Seattle

Lt Watada was joined onstage by about 50 Iraq war veterans and other members of Iraq Veterans Against the War.


Video was taken with a digital camera by VFP Greater Atlanta Chapter 125 member, Debbie Clark, 'not a professional filmmaker, and is not of professional quality' {Debbies words}. Video was unfortunately taken in segments due to the limitations of the digital camera and cut a little short due to the memory card getting full before the end of the speech. However, most of the speech is there and the full text of the speech can be read HERE

All the major issues of imperial occupation - the fraudulent basis for the war, the absence of a formal declaration from Congress, the systematic nature of war crimes in Iraq, the flagrant violations of international treaties such as the U.N. Charter - are coming to a head in this historic battle between a soldier of conscience and an Army whose Abu Ghraib scandals shocked the world.

The legality of Lieutenant Watada's orders pursuant to a "war of choice" is the central issue of the trial.
No American soldier has any obligation to participate in military aggression, in "crimes against peace," or in any operations that violate the Geneva Conventions. Under constitutional government, the authority of military command derives not from one person alone but from the rule of law itself.
There are only two conditions in which a war is legal under international law: when force is authorized by the U.N. Security Council, or when the use of force is an act of national self-defense and survival. Apart from these conditions, war is an act of aggression. The U.N. Charter, based on the Nuremberg Conventions, prohibits war "as an instrument of policy." And the war in Iraq is just that - a war of choice.

Article VI, of the Constitution, states:

"All treaties made, or which shall be made, under the authority of the United States, shall be the supreme law of the land, and the judges in every state shall be bound thereby."
There is no exception for the military, no wall between domestic and international law.

U.S. Army Field Manual

"Treaties relating to the law of war have a force equal to that of laws enacted by Congress. Their provisions must be observed by both military and civilian personnel with the same strict regard for both the letter and spirit of the law which is required with respect to the Constitution and statutes."

Oath of Enlistment
Military Oath: In the Armed Forces EXCEPT the National Guard (Army or Air)

I, (NAME), do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
So help me God.

In the National Guard (Army or Air)

I, (NAME), do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States and the State of (STATE NAME) against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the Governor of (STATE NAME) and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to law and regulations.
So help me God.

More information on the Oath and other Military related topics can be found at HERE

Lieutenant Watada is being persecuted because he is challenging the legality, not the political wisdom, of the war. The commander in chief is the final arbiter in foreign policy, but only so long as policies are in accordance with the law. Law trumps politics, not the other way around. The "political question doctrine," as attorneys call it, is nothing more than judicial abdication.

Lt. Watada is not the only one speaking out, but is the officer facing a Courts Martial and Prison time for doing so, a Soldier of Concious, understanding his role as a Leader, for the troops under him, as to the U. S. Military.

Thank You Lt Watada Website
This testimony is from the hearing regarding LT WATADA - Iraq War Tribunal: Iraq Veterans Against the War.

Darrell Anderson (purple heart, '04)- MP3 Download

and

Chanan Suarez-Diaz - MP3 Download


Appeal for Redress
Now with over 1200 signatures of Active Duty Military Personal!
The wording of the Appeal for Redress is short and simple. It is patriotic and respectful in tone.
As a patriotic American proud to serve the nation in uniform, I respectfully urge my political leaders in Congress to support the prompt withdrawal of all American military forces and bases from Iraq . Staying in Iraq will not work and is not worth the price. It is time for U.S. troops to come home.


Feb 5 National Day of Action
On Monday, February 5, 2007, when Lt. Watada goes on trial, supporters will rally outside the gates of Fort Lewis, Washington for a peaceful, non-violent demonstration.
Monday, February 5, 2007
9am - Lt. Watada’s Military Court Martial begins
11:30am - Student Rally with Iraq Veterans Against the War
1pm - Political Art Performance
3pm Rally and Vigil
Fort Lewis, WA. Exit 119, off I-5

National Event Listing
Transportation to Fort Lewis – Buses, Carpools and more!
Attend Lt. Watada’s Court Martial
Travel and Housing Information
Welcome Event Feb 4, 2007

This was just sent to me by a KOS reader:
Update:

The Citizens Hearing on the Legality of the Iraq War issued findings today. The Hearing Panel found the Iraq War to be illegal in both national and international law. In the findings the Panel has issued a Call to Conscience for Congress to hold hearings on the legality of both the war itself and the ways that the war is being conducted.”

In regards to Lt. Watada, the report presents findings on Disobeying Illegal Orders, in which they state:“The oath to support and defend the Constitution implies that if in conscience a person believes an order to be illegal, he or she has an obligation to refuse the order.” The panel was explicit in its support for Lt. Ehren Watada, the Army’s first commissioned officer to refuse deployment to Iraq based on his assertion that because the Iraq War is illegal, it is his duty to refuse orders to deploy.

Contact your Senators and Representatives Today and let them know you support Lt. Ehren Watada’s right to stand up and speak out for his principles and for the rule of international law and the U.S. Constitution. Call Congress to hold hearing on the legality of both the war itself and the ways the war is being conducted.

PRESS RELEASE
Subject: Preceding Watada Court Martial: Citizens’ Hearing Panel Declares Iraq War Illegal
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 2, 2007
War Tribunal

TRIBUNAL REPORT:
War Tribunal Report - PDF (65 pages; 31 MB)


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The Failed Policies will Haunt Us and the World for Decades!

The Nation is Failing its Mentally Wounded

It sends them into emotional danger, then disdains their injuries.

This Op Ed at the Star Tribune could have been extended and filled the whole paper on what this Nation does, and has done throughout it's history, as to those it sends to Wars, and frankly it isn't only this Nation.

But I happen to have been born here and served it in another total Debacle, watching many of those who served there as well be Totally Destroyed Mentally as this Apathedic Country turn their backs on them, those who Don't Serve and even a few who do!

It starts out with this:

There is something truly grotesque about urging that the United States take better care of the mentally wounded men and women who come home from Iraq. Mental wounds are a given of any war, which is why Americans should be absolutely sure war is necessary before they ever agree to put the lives of U.S. troops on the line.

It isn't only those who are ignored, especially as time passes, as to the Mental Destruction, but also All who have been maimed or developed desvestating physical ailments due to that which this Nations Military and Civilian Leadership use in Theaters of War to fight the Enemies we keep making because of our actions and policies, or that which might already exist in the little countries we invade that our bodies were foreign to.

But no one disputes this much: Schulze took his life after he was turned away from two VA hospitals -- in Minneapolis and St. Cloud -- because their psychiatric units were full.

I watched, and fought with, my fellow 'Nam Vets trying to wake an Apathedic Society to the effects of 'Agent Orange', as they were dying, and being told the ailments had nothing to do with the Defoliants used there!
I've watched, and tried to do what I can, since the First Gulf War, along with those who served there, trying Once Again to Wake this Apathedic Society as to the ailments being suffered by what has been labeled 'Gulf War Syndrom'. And as those who have been suffering from, and many dying to soon, once again watched the collective apathy and another brush off, by those we hire to lead, as to the Syndrom even existing.

I don't give a Damn what so called Political Party you label yourself with, each is Exactly the same in it's Apathy for those this Country sends into Conflicts and in what you do as to those who represent you, because no matter what political party affiliation they are They Represent You, Your Community, Your District, and they follow these failed policies over and over!

There are many Professional, Activists, Deeply Concerned Citizens, Volunteers who have been there throughout, helping these Veterans, hell one of the main reasons many Va Hospitals and Clinics function at all is because of the above people. But they are the Minority, and also are ignored by those who just plain don't want to hear it. They Know Who They Are, as do those who receive their Help and Support.
The Apathedic also know who they are, and their in the Majority, some not doing a Damn Thing others using only Words and Phrases hoping others think they are involved and concerned, but in most cases it's only their own lives that worry them.


The way to short, but Right On, Op Ed ends with this:

What kind of nation would put men and women in the Iraq hellhole and then treat them with such disdain when they come home wounded? The answers that come to mind aren't very nice.

There is only One Way to end this current, Extremely Failed U.S. Policy, Debacle. As it turns out the next Generations of 'enemies{?]', and it already has. That's for the Guilty, Us in this country the United States{?}, to Force our Representatives to sit down with All in the Region of the Persion Gulf and start Acting as we like to think of ourselves as, and To Stop The Rethoric Of Hatreds and Propaganda, Stop acting like those we Label as being Evil, for we only need look in a mirror to see the Evil!

WHERE THE HELL ARE THE BILLIONS SPENT!!!

The Battle to Save Iraq's Children

The desperate plight of children who are dying in Iraqi hospitals for the lack of simple equipment that in some cases can cost as little as 95p is revealed today in a letter signed by nearly 100 eminent doctors.
They are backed by a group of international lawyers, who say the conditions in hospitals revealed in their letter amount to a breach of the Geneva conventions that require Britain and the US as occupying forces to protect human life.
In a direct appeal to Tony Blair, the doctors describe desperate shortages causing "hundreds" of children to die in hospitals. The signatories include Iraqi doctors, British doctors who have worked in Iraqi hospitals, and leading UK consultants and GPs.
"Sick or injured children who could otherwise be treated by simple means are left to die in hundreds because they do not have access to basic medicines or other resources," the doctors say. "Children who have lost hands, feet and limbs are left without prostheses. Children with grave psychological distress are left untreated," they add.
They say babies are being ventilated with a plastic tube in their noses and dying for want of an oxygen mask, while other babies are dying because of the lack of a phial of vitamin K or sterile needles, all costing about 95p. Hospitals have little hope of stopping fatal infections spreading from baby to baby because of the lack of surgical gloves, which cost about 3.5p a pair.

WHERE THE HELL ARE THE BILLIONS SPENT!!!

Amin had to be fed powdered milk, diluted with tap water. There wasn't enough money to buy expensive formula milk or bottled water - their price had risen above the increase in wages since 2003. The problems with the intermittent electricity and gas supply meant regular boiled water could not be guaranteed. With the dormant waste and sewage disposal systems, drinking-water is more likely to be contaminated," he said.

WHERE THE HELL ARE THE BILLIONS SPENT!!!

The doctors say the UK, as one of the occupying powers under UN resolution 1483, has to comply with the Geneva and Hague conventions that require the UK and the US to "maintain order and to look after the medical needs of the population". But, the doctors say: "This they failed to do and the knock-on effect of this failure is affecting Iraqi children's hospitals with increasing ferocity."

WHERE THE HELL ARE THE BILLIONS SPENT!!!

They call on the UK to account properly for the $33bn (£16.7bn) in the development fund for Iraq which should have supplied the means for hospitals to treat children properly. They say more than half of the money - $14bn - is believed to have vanished through corruption, theft and payments to mercenaries.

WHERE THE HELL ARE THE BILLIONS SPENT!!

A system in meltdown

* Save the Children estimate that 59 in 1,000 newborn babies are dying in Iraq, one of the highest mortality rates in the world. Thousands of infants are dying because of the lack of basic cheap equipment. In Diwaniyah hospital, south of Baghdad, one doctor had to try to ventilate a baby with a plastic tube in its nose because he lacked an oxygen mask costing just 95p. The baby died.
* In the same hospital, a baby with a rare illness causing internal bleeding died due to lack of a phial of vitamin K, which would have cost less than £1.
* One doctor in a Baghdad hospital recently tried to save the life of a child with a drip, but he lacked a sterile needle for a child and the child died. The lack of rubber surgical gloves, which cost 3.5p a pair, has hugely increased the risk of infections.
* Premature babies are crammed three to an incubator, when an incubator can be found. An incubator costs about £5,000.
* Only 50 per cent of the pre-war total of doctors remain in Iraq. The US clearout of Ba'ath party members sympathetic to Saddam Hussein after the invasion has led to a breakdown of health administration.
* The British doctors are calling for guarantees of safety to be given to all medical staff in Iraq by the US and British forces. Above all there is a need to stop the militias killing doctors and nurses.
* Hospitals have been bombed and ambulances shot at. Helicopters could be laid on by the US and UK to ferry cases to Jordan, Syria, Iran and Saudi Arabia for treatment of acute trauma and disease.
* Doctors are calling on Britain and America to restore at least $2bn (£1bn) of $14bn that has gone missing since the invasion. Part of this sum, lost in corruption or to militias, was earmarked for hospitals.
* Up to 260,000 children may have died since the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

WHERE THE HELL ARE THE BILLIONS SPENT!!!

And more importantly WHERE ARE THE DOCTORS AND LAWYERS IN THIS COUNTRY, i.e. THE UNITED STATES!!

Not to mention The Representatives We Hire!!

This has Got To Stop and Stop NOW!!!!

Read the following if you haven't already. The Survivors, if there are any, will be coming after the Kids Here and around the World, and those kids children!
The Next Jihadists: Iraq’s Lost Children

We are the Occupying Power, We hold the Responsibility, We must bring those in Direct Responsibility of Starting All This into Accountibility, We must Rebuild what We Destroyed, We must Finally Understand The Extreme Tragedy We have Wrought!!!!!!!!!!

"I think the Iraqi people owe the American people a huge debt of
gratitude" - The pResident {Yep up to 655,000 are really Grateful, many in
their Mass Graves, as are their Survivors}

"I think once they get in harm's way, Congress's tradition is to
support those troops," Mr. Hadley said. {Harms Way, shows what the
administration thinks of the Troops, it's called a Strong Defense!}

The Failed Policies will Haunt Us and the World for Decades!