Category: Iraq

Yesterday I got an e-newsletter about the same time I caught this post. The e covered what prompted the post by ScottyUrb.

Today, the 4th of July, we here in the States celebrate our “Independence”, no need to go into an explanation, or give a link to read about, we’re all supposed to know and understand what that means, and so are others who think they’ve achieved that.

This year there’ll be alot less traveling to a further destination for relaxation or whatever, more home bodies, we all know the reasons, or we should.

Yesterday, as Meteor Blades reminded us, is the fifth anniversary of a George Bush quote so spectacularly dumb that it will make any greatest hits collection–no need to buy the box set.

“There are some who feel like that conditions are such that they can attack us there,” Bush told reporters at the White House. “My answer is bring them on.”

When Bush’s interview was carried on the news, a retired Special Forces non-com named Stan Goff in Raleigh, NC went into a white-hot rage. He sat down at his keyboard and ripped out a response entitled “Bring ‘Em On?” You may well remember it, although it was five years ago today. Within hours it swept across the Internet like a prairie fire.

Sparked by the letter’s urgency and the response it triggered, a group of veterans and military family members made contact with one another and assembled the Bring Them Home Now! campaign. BTHN! kept the “Now” to the fore in the anti-war movement and coordinated a strong presence for forces from what some called the “military community.” Stan not only took a central part in the campaign, but went on to act as adviser to the just-born Iraq Veterans Against the War in their crucial first year.

A Nation that sends its Sons and Daughters into Occupations?

A C-17 Airforce Transport plane arrives in Kandahar, Afghanistan to receive the bodies of five U.S. service members killed. Though more than 1,000 US and coalition forces were on hand to participate in the “ramp ceremony,” a Los Angeles Times reporter and photographer were asked to leave the area by a military public affairs officer. A Pentagon policy banning coverage of this particular event was cited as the reason. [Photo: Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times]

Have you ever wondered why…

… it has been the practice of the major media to avoid mentioning oil in connection with military activity in Iraq; something also common in the Congress, all following the lead of the Bush administration.

UPI.com

Shouldn’t we all be shocked then? Shouldn’t we be shocked to learn, after the US – British led invasion of Iraq to save the world from the dangers of Saddam’s non-existant WMDs, struck Iraq with a shock and awe which was to have become the centerpiece for a GWOT, that as Reuters reported on Tuesday:

Iraq opened its giant oilfields to foreign firms on Monday, putting British and U.S. companies in pole position five years after U.S.-led troops invaded the country to oust Saddam Hussein.

I just received, as I’m sure many others have, an E-Mail about a Live Online Broadcast premiering tonight 7-02-08

From ‘Brave New Films’

That I’m going to share with those who may not receive their News Letters.

Follow Me:

On June 14th, President Bush while discussing a “status of forces” agreement said that he is confident the United States can reach a long term security agreement with Iraq, one that will not establish permanent U.S. bases there.

That is the first step in understanding that Bushie and his neo-con minions are sweating the Security Pact agreement with Iraq that they SO want completed in the very near future.  Prior to June 14, there was no real substantive information from the administration regarding NOT having permanent U.S. Military bases in Iraq via this agreement.  

In Bush’s exact words: “Whatever we agree to, it will not commit future presidents to troop levels, nor will it establish permanent bases.”

The second reason to believe Bush and Company are getting nervous is on that same date, an aide for Iraqi P.M. Al-Malaki said that Iraqi officials are frustrated by the lack of progress in negotiations, so they are contemplating developing legislation to dictate the shape of the American military presence in Iraq.  Al-Malaki himself stated that the first drafts of the agreement that were proposed had reached a deadlock in negotiations.

Again, ol’ never-give-in-never-say-you-were-wrong-never-take-NO-for-an-answer Bushie is giving up something that originally was very important to him (permanent bases) because the Iraqi’s aren’t rolling over and playing dead for him (unlike a certain group of Congressional Democrats who will remain nameless….)

The beginning of this is an attempt to bring you up to speed on what has been going on this past year leading up to the purpose of this post, a New Investigation on Veterans Care, and the request for those listed in the subject title to get involved with, especially the Veterans having their troubles with the VA and their Care.

More Iraq Moratorium #10 reports.  Meg Oldman of Point Arena CA checks in:

Friday, June 20, 2008  was a warm, sunny day; the best kind for protest.  

I represented Iraq Moratorium, and Women in Black by myself, this time.  A good number of people stopped and talked with me about the war, elections coming up later in the fall, and the economy. Drivers going by(more than usual due to being the first day of Summer) honked, whistled and raised their fists high in solidarity.

Overall, I feel that one person DOES make a difference, as witnessed above.  I am excited to sense the populace taking a deep breath and preparing to change the paradigm from one of fear and apathy, to one of focus and and unity.  I am fulfilling my role to facilitate standing together, all over the world, one the same day, at the same time.

From Lutz, Florida:

The Veterans For Peace contingent was led by retired USAF Maj. Debra Hedding, who controlled combat aircraft over Laos and Cambodia during Vietnam and served as a Public Affairs Officer under Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf during Operation Desert Storm. (She is also a Political Action Coordinator for MoveOn.org’s Tampa Council.) My own father, Commander U.S.N. (Ret.) John W. Palm wore his “USS Yorktown CV-5” hat–as communications watch officer aboard the carrier USS Yorktown on December 7, 1941, he relayed the devastating news of Pearl Harbor to the ship’s crew.

From Cornwall, Connecticut:

In addition to attending the Iraq Moratorium observation in Cornwall, CT, I wore two buttons all day–the big white-on-black Iraq Moratorium pin and one that has two soldiers comforting on another and says “Support the Troops. Bring Them Home Now,” and got in one or two brief discussions as a result.

I woke up on Saturday and put them on again and headed for a lovely outdoor wedding.

Right before the ceremony, the grandfather of the bride, a tall lean Jewish gent in his 90s who is not too mobile, spotted the Iraq Moratorium pin as I walked past the front row of chairs. “What’s that about?” he asked. When I explained, he propelled himself to his feet and thanked me, grabbing my hand and shaking it vigorously.

I resolved on the spot to wear an anti-war button every time I go out until the next Moratorium and have put a couple hanging on a cloth strip by my front door to remind me.

Every month the Moratorium learns about other events across the country that have never been listed on the national website, which had 110 events posted for June.  The latest to surface is in Silverton, Oregon:

The Silverton People for Peace have been holding monthly vigils since the invasion. These were on the third Mondays, but we switched to Third Fridays last winter to be part of the Iraq Moratorium. Our turnout varies from several people to dozens depending on schedules, weather and other factors. But we ALWAYS have someone on the side of the street. The vigil is at 6 p.m. at Town Square Park on West Main Street, Silverton,OR. The Silverton group is affiliated with the Oregon Fellowship of Reconciliation.

So it goes, and so it grows. More reports here.

It’s only three weeks until the next Moratorium observance, on July 18.  Do something.

Veterans vs Veterans Administration Case UpDate 6-25-08

Yesterday, the 25th, a ruling came down from the judge hearing the case, in San Francisco, 82 pages long, and not a surprise to this Vet. In the ruling the judge sided with the Veterans but had to push it to where it belongs, In Congress. Only Congress and the Excutive Branch, of the Peoples Government, can bring about the way to long overhall of the Veterans Administration. Everything that is being reported about the care to the returning Veterans, of the Wars and Occupations of Choice, is actually Old News, just ask the thousands of my brother, and sister, Veterans of Korea and Vietnam, and it’s happening once again while these conflicts rage as it did back than. We call the present Military the Professional Military yet we continue the foulups that take place within the Government Agencies, Veterans Administration and DoD Health, that are charged with it’s care, especially the Mental Trauma War brings on in the Soldiers and the Civilians in these Theaters of Occupation.

Every month’s Iraq Moratorium action in Milwaukee seems to have a special moment. In May it was a thumbs-up from a passing Army recruiter. This month, it was when a woman stopped to tell a leafleter handing out information about the Moratorium that her son is in Iraq. So tearful and emotional she had difficulty speaking, she said he was on his second tour there as a National Guardsman. “Thank you for what you’re doing,” she said. “I just want him home.”

Cornwall, Connecticut held its first outdoor vigil and reported an “overwhelmingly positive response from people driving by, with at least one local resident, Suzanne, who hadn’t heard about the doings on the Green in advance pulling her car over and jumping aboard for the rest of the vigil.”  Maybe it was the horn trio (two trombones and a sax) that got her attention. (Photo above.)

Once again, Washington, DC SDS and a mass of young activists hit the pavement in a “Funk the War 4” action. A major destination for the raucous street action with mobile musical backing was a military Recruiting Center.

You’ll find more reports, still coming in from around the country after Friday’s action, at the Moratorium website.

Does it all matter?

The NY Times asked Pete Seeger, who stands with his banjo, a sign and a small group of antiwar protesters every Saturday in the Hudson Valley:

Asked whether he thought that protesting by the side of the road would help end the war, he said: “I don’t think that big things are as effective as people think they are. The last time there was an antiwar demonstration in New York City I said, ‘Why not have a hundred little ones?’ ”

He said that working for peace was like adding sand to a basket on one side of a large scale, trying to tip it one way despite enormous weight on the opposite side.

“Some of us try to add more sand by teaspoons,” he explained. “It’s leaking out as fast as it goes in and they’re all laughing at us. But we’re still getting people with teaspoons. I get letters from people saying, ‘I’m still on the teaspoon brigade.’ “

We need the Civilian population Now to come to the Aid of this Countries Veterans and start a Hard Lobby, to their Representatives, in Support of it’s Veterans!

Especially for these Veterans of todays Conflicts, Support from the Country that was Overwelming, over 70%, in Favor of Invasion and Occupation and now Pays Little Heed to!

(Once again Jeri Reed has forwarded me an important article, like the one she wrote here a few months ago. Once again she has pulled my coattail to something by Casey J. Porter, the Iraq Veteran Against the War member who has been vlogging from outside of Baghdad. This time it’s just words, but what powerful words!)

By Casey J. Porter

I feel pretty lousy as a human being today. I had to turn away this Iraqi man at our gate here at the outpost. At some point the army took over this factory in the industrial part of Baghdad and we’ve been here ever since. He was an older man, diabetic, with multiple folders of paper work to show. He didn’t speak any English and wished to talk to an interpreter. I was guarding the gate and was the one to call it in. So they send out the “Terp” as we call them. This older man was not looking for a handout. He was the former owner of a paint shop that is built right up the building we now occupy. He was asking for compensation for his workers because they are no longer able to work now that we are here.

Why can’t they work? Because they are terrified of us. Also, when we get rocket or mortar attacks, they don’t always land where the insurgents want them to. Sometimes they fall short or overshoot their target. So when we set up shop, the people that can afford to leave, do.

He wasn’t like the younger Iraqi Police Force guys. They get so much free stuff from you, the taxpayer, that it’s insane. Then they always ask us to give them stuff. They are like children with AK-47s. This man was not like that. He was looking out for his workers. The translator was telling me what he was saying when things got confusing. The Iraqi man was saying: “You are the United States, human rights for all, etc., etc.”

I’m not sure what else he said after that since it was clear that the Terp changed gears right after that. But that older gentleman wasn’t being hostile about what he was saying, and I was all ears. Within his paper work he had forms and documents that proved he was the owner and operator, among other aspects of his business I’m sure. With the exception of the language, it looked a lot like the paperwork my father had for his business.

I called it up to the commander and the reply was to tell him to fuck off. He couldn’t hear any of this because we keep the radio in the truck. I wasn’t going to do that to this man. We screwed him over, and he was just looking out for his people. I told the Terp to translate the following:

“I can not authorize any money to be given to you. I also can not promise that anyone will see you. All I can tell you is to keep coming back until someone takes care of your needs.”

He finally said that he would come back in about a week or so. Before he left I had the Terp translate one more thing before he left.

“I’m sorry for what we’ve done to your country.”

The man said “Thank You” in English to me. I hope that even though we had to talk through an interpreter that he understood that I felt for him, and was not blowing him off.

Either way I felt, and still feel, pretty rotten about the whole thing. I’m not supposed to be the bad guy.

Crossposted from Fire on the Mountain.