BULLY BOY PRESS & CEDRIC'S BIX MIX -- DC.
TODAY, AS THESE REPORTERS LISTENED TO THE BULLY BOY OF THE UNITED STATES ADDRESS THE AMERICAN LEGION, OUR CELL PHONES WENT OFF. IT WAS A FORMER WHITE HOUSE INSIDER TELLING US, IF WE'D MEET WITH HIM, HE COULD REVEAL THE WHITE HOUSE'S PLAN FOR ADDRESSING THE WALTER REED ARMY MEDICAL CENTER SCANDAL.
MEETING AT THE LINCOLN MONUMENT AT EXACTLY 4:30 P.M. TODAY, OUR SOURCE, WHO ASKED THAT HE BE CALLED "ARI FLY-FLY" INFORMED US THAT THE PLAN WAS TO MAKE THE SPEECH TODAY AND THEN . . . DO NOTHING.
"DON'T YOU GET IT?" ASKED ARI FLY-FLY. "HE'S NOT GOING TO ADDRESS IT AGAIN UNTIL SEPTEMBER 2, 2008."
THESE REPORTERS LOOKS PUZZLED.
"IT'S JUST LIKE WITH HURRICANE KATRINA!" ARI FLY-FLY EXCLAIMED. "HE'LL WAIT A YEAR AND 6 MONTHS AND THEN SHOW UP AND SAY 'YOU HAVE NOT BEEN FORGOTTEN'."
ARI FLY-FLY THEN HANDED US A FOLDER MARKED "FOR KARL'S EYES ONLY" AND ENTITLED "HOW TO MAKE IT LOOK LIKE YOU'RE DOING SOMETHING." THE 5 POINT MEMO INSIDE BACKED ARI FLY-FLY UP. BUT BEFORE WE COULD QUESTION HIM FURTHER, HE WAS OFF. SAID HE HAD TO HELP SCOOTER PLAN FOR HIS BIG BLOW OUT BASH BEFORE HE GOT SENT TO THE BIG HOUSE.
FROM THE TCI WIRE:
Starting with war resistance, today, in Germany Agustin Aguayo's court-martial began.
Ashraf Khalil (Los Angeles Times) reports that Courage to Resist's Jeff Paterson expects "Aguayo will get up to a year in jail followed by a less than honorable or bad conduct discharge." Agustin Aguayo faces charges of missing movement and desertion. And Paterson made a strong guess. Catherine Hornby (Reuters) reports that Aguayo was convicted of the charges: "Aguayo, 35, pleaded guilty to going absent without leave and missing his deployment, but denied charges of full desertion. But Colonel Peter Masterton, the judge at the court-martial in southern Germany, said the court had found Aguayo guilty as charged and sentenced him to eight months in prison." AP notes that with the 161 days already served, Aguayo "could be free within a few weeks" and quotes Aguayo: "I respect everyone's views and your decision. I understand that people don't undestand me. I tried my best, but I couldn't bear weapons and I could never point weapons at someone. . . . The words of Martin Luther come to mind, 'Here I stand, I can do more'."
Agustin Aguayo did enough. He stood up and he was counted. The father of two eleven-year-old girls, husband of Helga, used his voice and refused to take part in an illegal war. As his two daughters wrote in a letter to him, which Helga spoke about in a video posted at Courage to Resist, that said "We are strong. We will get through this. Never forget that." Aguayo reasons may not be understood by all (and some pretend not to understand them) but he made his point and he stood up. That's a lot more than many do.
Yesterday on KPFA's Flashpoints, Dennis Bernstein and Nora Barrows-Friedman hosted a speak out on the war. Of course some speak out and some whimper. The whimpers came first. Yes, it's the e-activists, the WalkOn kids, doing nothing but eating up air time. Listen, if you dare, to hear statments glorifying following orders (even when you think the war is illegal and/or immoral), statements of "I do the job I was hired for," statements of wimpering little children who take swipes at Ehren Watada more and more. As though their bended knee plea to a Congress shows any strength or has made a damn bit of difference.
Jonathan Hutto "But at the same time we have to make it clear that we're not" a long list of nots -- things they are not. And they're not smart and they're not accomplishing anything and they need to find a better use for the time. Hutto on Watada: "I personally don't believe that individual acts of refusal or desertion is what's going to change the actual culture of our country, the actual mission of the military."
"Is"? I guess the revision/recast of Hutto is so out of control that now he isn't even a college graduate who grasps subject-verb agreement? It is honestly hilarious to watch Hutto come off less and less educated with each interview. And you have to wonder what anyone thinks that will accomplish? (Or if they believe that past interviews aren't archived for those who want to seek them out?)
The e-activists aren't accomplishing anything. How many, Dennis Bernstein asked, Congress members had signed up to their plea? There was a long list of ones who had handed out 'atta boys, but in terms of actual support? Ten? Beg on your bended knees, boys and girls, but don't kid yourself that you're accomplishing anything with your anonymous activism (which applies not just to the signature but the marketing as well). You've been ignored by Congress, you've been brushed off. A few patted you on the head and that's it. Aguayo stood out, as have others, they wait on bended knee.
The e-activists were supposed to produce a petition and supposed to deliver it to Congress on MLK day but someone in the brain trust was too stupid to grasp that MLK Day is a holiday and Congress would be out of session. So they delivered it on the 16th of January. Why are they still boring everyone with their petition?
Is it 200 more signatures to a useless petition since then? "Patriotic!" they keep insisting! "Wouldn't want to do anything that wasn't okay with the military!" they brag. Is that really something to brag about, 200 more? Almost two months later? Does the toothless, symbolic petition have a point because most points have an ending but this is never ending -- or maybe the egos are just too mighty to nah-nah-nah-good-bye already. "I support continuing to do the mission," an e-activst with Appeal to Whimper told Dennis Bernstein. That would be the illegal war. It's past time that the peace movement and the anti-war movement stopped promoting those people who can't call the war out. Patrick Buchanan showed more bravery than these supposed anti-war activists. Dennis Bernstein attempted to bring up the issue of the principles outlined in the Nuremberg Trials. And the response?
"I chose to wear this uniform and I'm going to continue to do what I'm paid to do. But at the same time, I don't think there's anything wrong with petitioning Congress in this appeal for redress to say 'Hey, we could use a little help over here.' So that's my thing, I think that we should be able to appeal for redresses and at the same time getting on with the business of what we volunteered and are paid to do and that's uh go where we're told and do what we're told" at which point Jonathan Hutto tries to rescue his pro-war buddy. It's too late for a rescue. And it's past time that the left leave the nonsense e-activism to the 'left'.
Segment one plays out like a joke. Segment two is worth hearing (featuring Iraq War Veterans Against the War) as Garrett Reppenhagen, Prentice Reid and Jason Lemieux speak strongly (no whimpers in this segment). (This is the section Elaine chose to start with when she wrote about the broadcast last night.) Reid spoke of participating in a protest in support of Mark Wilkerson because he feels the war is wrong. He feels the war is wrong. It's not that difficult to say -- unless, like the Hutto crowd, you've attempted to pass yourself off as something you're not and surrounded yourself with War Hawks just to get a electronic signature on your petition. (What might you do for a wet signature!) Reid's not been polished and doesn't have a crew of advisors, but he can speak proudly and strongly. Garrett spoke of his service and how Iraq was different from the way it was sold, "I think that the administration bascially abused our sense of patriotism our sense of courage and our sense of values to motivate this nation to back the war.
And I wasn't happy about it. So the people I killed in Iraq and the missions I went on I don't feel supported American security, I don't think that it was very moral and just what we did,
and it went against what I was actually being trained for, as far as army values,
and as far as the characteristics of what a soldier represents and the values of the country."
Segment three features a heartbreaking story told by Tina Richards about the struggles her son Cloy had after returning from Iraq: "When he got back from Falluja he was completely broken, he suffered severe PTSD. He often called me where he was doing his MP duty at Camp Pendleton to tell me he had a gun in his mouth, he had to pull the trigger, he could no longer live with all of the innocent women and children he killed over in Iraq and that he didn't deserve to have a mother and a sister. And that is . . . It just, as a mother, tears you apart.
and you don't know what to do. And when he was deployed I was torn apart because I felt so helpless. And when I was trying to get him help through the VA system which, first the military and then the VA system which completely failed him I finally started getting involved with varioius activist groups such as Veterans for Peace , Military Families Speak Out."
Then a speech by Cloy Richards was played where he discussed being told that they were shooting advancing insurgents and, looking at the bodies later, it was "women and children, elderly," about how his brother served in Iraq and has been torn apart by it (and is now headed to Afghanistan).
Jeff Paterson pointed out that Courage to Resist is a resource for everyone -- it provides information, it raises money, it provides support. Most of all, Jeff Paterson pointed out,
"We heard a soldier earlier speak saying individual resistance doesn't matter. It doesn't
matter unless there's a community, a movement, backing them up. That they're part of something, that they're part of stopping a war. And that's what Courage to Resist is dedicated to." Ramon Leal (Iraq Veterans Against the War) spoke of how the war was illegal and how "now that we know it's illegal, what to do about it?"
Amnesty International had an observer in the court room where Agustin Aguayo's court-martial took place today and they have issued a statement:
Agustin Aguayo is a legitimate conscientious objector who should not be imprisoned for his beliefs, Amnesty International said today after Aguayo, a U.S. Army medic, was sentenced by U.S. court martial to eight months in prison for his refusal to participate in the war in Iraq. The organization considers Aguayo to be a "prisoner of conscince" and calls for his immediate and unconditional release.
"Refusing military service for reasons of conscience isn't a luxury -- it's a right protected under international human rights law," said Larry Cox, executive director of Amnesty International USA. "Agustin Aguayo wasn't just complaining about his assignment -- he clearly made the case that he objects to war itself. He should be released."
It is evident from the statements made by Aguayo and members of his family that he is a legitimate conscientious objector whose opposition to war developed over the course of time and evolved further in response to his experiences in Iraq. Amnesty International believes that he took reasonable steps to secure release from the army through applying for conscientious objector status.
Aguayo stood strong and stood up today. He didn't whimper. He didn't say, "Give me my orders." He didn't, as an e-mail activist told Bernstein, say of course the war is illegal but he's happy to serve in it. Aguayo is part of a movement of resistance with the military that includes others such as Ehren Watada, Kyle Snyder, Mark Wilkerson, Camilo Mejia, Patrick Hart, Joshua Key, Ivan Brobeck, Darrell Anderson, Ricky Clousing, Aidan Delgado, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Jeremy Hinzman, Stephen Funk, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Corey Glass, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Katherine Jashinski, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Tim Richard, Hart Viges, Michael Blake and Kevin Benderman. In total, thirty-eight US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.
Information on war resistance within the military can be found at Center on Conscience & War, The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline, and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters.
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Tuesday, March 06, 2007
Monday, March 05, 2007
"Joshua Generation"?
BULLY BOY PRESS & CEDRIC'S BIX MIX -- DC.
IN WHAT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE THE BIG MATCH UP WHERE U.S. SENATOR BARACK OBAMA WAS SUPPOSED TO SHOW HIS STAR SPARKLE -- WHILE MOST OF THE PRESS PRETENDED AS THOUGH U.S. SENATOR HILLARY CLINTON HAD NONE --
THINGS DIDN'T GO QUITE THE WAY OBAMA-MANIA MIGHT HAVE LIKED.
THE SETTING WAS SELMA, THE MISTAKES WERE OBAMA'S.
SPEAKING TO A BLACK AUDIENCE MAY HAVE THROWN THE BI-RACIAL OBAMA OFF. OR MAYBE HE WAS JUST STROKING HIS INNER BLAME-THE-VICTIM?
SPEAKING TO THE ASSEMBLED, HE DECLARED: "GOVERNMENT ALONE CAN'T SOLVE ALL THOSE PROBLEMS. BUT GOVERNMENT CAN HELP. . . . IT'S NOT ENOUGH JUST TO ASK WHAT THE GOVERNMENT CAN DO FOR US. IT'S IMPORTANT FOR US TO ASK WHAT WE CAN DO FOR OURSELVES."
OBAMA, ASSOCIATED WITH THE D.L.C. SOMETIMES AND SOMETIMES NOT, APPEARED TO BE OFFERING THE "IT'S BECAUSE YOU'RE LAZY" MESSAGE IN THE USUAL D.L.C. CODE.
BY CONTRAST, CLINTON APPEARED TO GET IT DECLARING: "HOW DO WE SAY EVERYTHING IS FINE, BLOODY SUNDAY IS FOR THE HISTORY BOOKS, WHEN OVER 96,000 OF OUR CITIZENS, THE VICTIMS OF HURRICANE KATRINA ARE STILL LIVING IN TRAILERS AND MOBIL HOMES WHICH IS A NATIONAL DISGRACE TO EVERYTHING WE STAND FOR IN AMERICA."
OBAMA, ACTING AS THOUGH HE WAS DETERMINED TO ASSURE WHITE VOTERS THAT HE WAS ONLY HALF-BLACK, TOSSED GOVERNMENTAL PROBLEMS OFF AS 'PERSONAL ONES' ASKING THAT PEOPLE TAKE RESPONSIBILITES FOR THE GOVERNMENT'S FAILURES. CLINTON, BY CONTRAST, CAME OUT LAYING THE BLAME NOT ON PEOPLE BUT ON A NON-RESPONSIVE GOVERNMENT.
WHEN NOT TRACKING IN RACIST CODE, OBAMA ALSO COULDN'T SHUT UP ABOUT "THE JOSHUA GENERATION." APPARENTLY THE WHITE PRESS LOVES IT WHEN AN AFRICAN-AMERICAN (OR EVEN HALF-BLACK) TALKS RELIGION AND DOESN'T FEEL THE NEED TO EXAMINE IT?
HE REPEATEDLY ADDRESSED THOSE ASSEMBLED AS THE "JOSHUA GENERATION" AND THOSE WHO BOTHERED TO COMMENT TOLD YOU TALES OF WHAT JOSHUA DID IN THE BIBLE.
APPARENTLY, AS USUAL, THEY DON'T KNOW THEIR ILL THOUGHT OPINIONS FROM THEIR ASSES.
THE JOSHUA GENERATION IS AN EXISTING ORGANIZATION KNOWN AS "JOSHUA GENERATION MINISTRIES" WHICH, AMONG OTHER THINGS, BELIEVES PEOPLE WILL BE PULLED UP INTO THE CLOUDS.
THEN THERE IS GENERATION JOSHUA WHICH APPEARS TO BE MADE UP MAINLY OF WHITE CHILDREN.
AND THEN, OF COURSE, THERE IS MICHAEL FARRIS' THE JOSHUA GENERATION. FARRIS WROTE A BOOK ENTITLED JOSHUA GENERATION WHICH APPEALS TO KARL ROVE, RIGHT-WING THINK TANKS AND CHRISTIAN DOMINISTS. JESUS POLITICS WRITES:
. . . "GENERATION JOSHUA" IS LOOSE IN OUR COUNTRY. HAVE YOU HEARD OF "GENERATION JOSHUA?" IT IS AN EFFORT BY MICHAEL FARRIS, FOUNDER OF PATRICK HENRY COLLEGE, TO TURN CHRISTIAN, HOME-SCHOOLED STUDENTS INTO POLITICAL FOOT SOLDIERS TO GAIN POLITICAL PWOER IN ORDER SUBSUME EVERYTHING -- ENTERTAINMENT, LAW, GOVERNMENT, AND EDUCATION -- UNDER THEIR RIGHT WING VERSION OF CHRISTIANITY. LIKE JOSHUA OF THE HEBREW BIBLE, GENERATION JOSHUA'S JOB IS TO POSSESS THE LAND, TO CONQUER THE LAND, OR, IN THE WORDS OF THE RELIGIOUS RIGHT, "TO TAKE BACK THE LAND." AND ACCORDING TO MICHAEL HARRIS, IN THE SPRING SEMESTER OF 2004, PATRICKY HENRY COLLEGE HAD MORE INTERNS IN THE WHITE HOUSE THAN ANY OTHER COLLEGE IN THE NATION.
FOR THOSE PAYING ATTENTION IT MAY HAVE REMINDED THEM OF OBAMA'S OVERLY PRAISED 2004 DNC SPEECH WHERE, FOR THOSE PAYING ATTENTION, HE LAUNCHED AN ATTACK ON GOVERNMENTAL ASSISTANCE ("THEY DON'T WANT THEIR TAX MONEY WASTED BY A WELFARE AGENCY")
FROM THE TCI WIRE:
Starting with war resistance. Tomorrow Agustin Aguayo's court-martial begins in Germany. He is charged with missing movement and desertion which, if convicted of both charges, could mean being senteced to seven years in military prison. President of the National Lawyers Guild Marjorie Cohn (writing at CounterPunch) reviews the basics of Aguayo's case noting that what was happening to Aguayo during training was a phase he couldn't name until he and his wife Helga learned of US war resister Stephen Funk and realized the term for those opposed to war is conscientious objector. Cohn also notes, "Agustin Aguayo is represented by National Lawyers Guild lawyers James Klimaski, Peter Goldberger, and James Feldman." Amnesty International announced last week that they would have "a delegate to observe the court-martial proceeedings . . . and asses whether Agustin Aguayo would be a prisoner of conscience if convicted and imprisoned." In addition, as El Universal reported previously, Aguayo, who holds dual citizenship (Mexico and United States), will receive some form of consular assistance as a result of Susana Aguayo's request. (Susana is Agustin's mother.) Bertrand Benoit (Financial Times of London) notes that the court-martial "will cast some light on what non-governmental ogranisations claim is a serious drop in troop spirits in Germany" and notes Michael Sharp (Military Counseling Network) stating: "We normally get an average of eight calls a month. In January alone, we got 30 calls."
Courage to Resist has posted video (by Jeff Paterson) of Agustin Aguayo and others speaking in Los Angeles at his press conference on September 26th La Placita Olivera including Father Steve Niskanen, Father Richard Estrada and Fernando Suarez del Solar (whose son Jesus A. Suarez Del Solar died in Iraq on March 27, 2003).
Agustin Aguayo notes, in the video, that he is both an Iraq war veteran and a
Conscientious Objector and "I believe it is one of the greatest tragedies of our lifetime that we use war in an attempt to solve problems." His wife Helga noted that their twin daughters prepared a letter for their father: "They wrote him a letter and at the bottom of the letter they wrote: 'We are strong, we will get through this. Never forget that.' and they're only eleven" years-old. Helga also noted her pride in her husband "because he has been fighting" for c.o. status non-stop, for two years, within the military and within the US civilian courts.
The Center on Conscience & War notes that the civilian courts have not provided the oversight or recourse that they are supposed to and quotes attorney Peter Golberg stating, "The decision, in the wake of [Ehren] Watada outcome, makes the court martial of Aguayo all the more urgent as a focus of support." CCW further notes: "Had Aguayo gone AWOL 3 years ago, he may have been out of the Army two and a half years ago -- as happened to someone else in his unit. As a person of conscience, he played by the rules, trusting that the law would work as it should. It is unconsioable that Aguayo is still in the Army and facing court-martial 3 years after he first applied for conscientious objector discharge."
Turning to US war resister Ehren Watada who, in June 2006, became the first officer to publicly refuse to deploy to Iraq, Jim Borg (Honolulu Star-Bulletin) profiled Eric Seitz, Watada's civilian attorney who noted several things. On the issue of the legality of Watada's stand: "Treaties, when they are properly adopted by this country, become part and parcel of American law. The president cannot select which treaties he is going to implement and ingore others. And his selective enforcement of the provisions of the law . . . frankly, in my view, should subject him to a war crimes trial -- and, in fact, to the ultimate punishment which the statute requires, which is death. And if you want to quote me, you can say that. I am more than happy to see President Bush and Vice President Cheney and Secretary Rumsfeld tried for war crimes. And I would be the first one to stand up and clap if they were punished as a consequence." A court-martial for Watada has been scheduled for July. This would be the second court-martial. The first of last month saw three days of a court-martial that ended in a mistrial when Judge Toilet (aka John Head) repeatedly prompted the prosecution to ask for a mistrial which they finally did. Judge Toilet granted a mistrial over the defense's objection. Seitz tells Borg: "If it's going badly for the prosecutor, the prosecution can't abort the case and then start over. Nor can a judge abort the case for the prosecutor because the judge thinks it's going badly. When you have a mistrial in a criminal case, you always have a double jeopardy issue because jeopardy has attached as soon as the jury has been sworn in or the first witness testifies. And then you try and figure out whether by conduct or by some statement the defendant has caused the mistrial. . . . I'm thinking to myself, 'My God, this is a defense's lawyer's dream!' We didn't create this mistrial, we didn't agree to it, we didn't approve it. Jeopardy is attached. And I don't think either the judge or the military lawyers had any inkling that that was going to be the bottom line."
Aguayo and Watada are part of a movement of resistance with the military that includes others such as Kyle Snyder, Mark Wilkerson, Camilo Mejia, Patrick Hart, Joshua Key, Ivan Brobeck, Darrell Anderson, Ricky Clousing, Aidan Delgado, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Jeremy Hinzman, Stephen Funk, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Corey Glass, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Katherine Jashinski, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Tim Richard, Hart Viges, Michael Blake and Kevin Benderman. In total, thirty-eight US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.
Information on war resistance within the military can be found at Center on Conscience & War, The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline, and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters.
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"Highlights"
IN WHAT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE THE BIG MATCH UP WHERE U.S. SENATOR BARACK OBAMA WAS SUPPOSED TO SHOW HIS STAR SPARKLE -- WHILE MOST OF THE PRESS PRETENDED AS THOUGH U.S. SENATOR HILLARY CLINTON HAD NONE --
THINGS DIDN'T GO QUITE THE WAY OBAMA-MANIA MIGHT HAVE LIKED.
THE SETTING WAS SELMA, THE MISTAKES WERE OBAMA'S.
SPEAKING TO A BLACK AUDIENCE MAY HAVE THROWN THE BI-RACIAL OBAMA OFF. OR MAYBE HE WAS JUST STROKING HIS INNER BLAME-THE-VICTIM?
SPEAKING TO THE ASSEMBLED, HE DECLARED: "GOVERNMENT ALONE CAN'T SOLVE ALL THOSE PROBLEMS. BUT GOVERNMENT CAN HELP. . . . IT'S NOT ENOUGH JUST TO ASK WHAT THE GOVERNMENT CAN DO FOR US. IT'S IMPORTANT FOR US TO ASK WHAT WE CAN DO FOR OURSELVES."
OBAMA, ASSOCIATED WITH THE D.L.C. SOMETIMES AND SOMETIMES NOT, APPEARED TO BE OFFERING THE "IT'S BECAUSE YOU'RE LAZY" MESSAGE IN THE USUAL D.L.C. CODE.
BY CONTRAST, CLINTON APPEARED TO GET IT DECLARING: "HOW DO WE SAY EVERYTHING IS FINE, BLOODY SUNDAY IS FOR THE HISTORY BOOKS, WHEN OVER 96,000 OF OUR CITIZENS, THE VICTIMS OF HURRICANE KATRINA ARE STILL LIVING IN TRAILERS AND MOBIL HOMES WHICH IS A NATIONAL DISGRACE TO EVERYTHING WE STAND FOR IN AMERICA."
OBAMA, ACTING AS THOUGH HE WAS DETERMINED TO ASSURE WHITE VOTERS THAT HE WAS ONLY HALF-BLACK, TOSSED GOVERNMENTAL PROBLEMS OFF AS 'PERSONAL ONES' ASKING THAT PEOPLE TAKE RESPONSIBILITES FOR THE GOVERNMENT'S FAILURES. CLINTON, BY CONTRAST, CAME OUT LAYING THE BLAME NOT ON PEOPLE BUT ON A NON-RESPONSIVE GOVERNMENT.
WHEN NOT TRACKING IN RACIST CODE, OBAMA ALSO COULDN'T SHUT UP ABOUT "THE JOSHUA GENERATION." APPARENTLY THE WHITE PRESS LOVES IT WHEN AN AFRICAN-AMERICAN (OR EVEN HALF-BLACK) TALKS RELIGION AND DOESN'T FEEL THE NEED TO EXAMINE IT?
HE REPEATEDLY ADDRESSED THOSE ASSEMBLED AS THE "JOSHUA GENERATION" AND THOSE WHO BOTHERED TO COMMENT TOLD YOU TALES OF WHAT JOSHUA DID IN THE BIBLE.
APPARENTLY, AS USUAL, THEY DON'T KNOW THEIR ILL THOUGHT OPINIONS FROM THEIR ASSES.
THE JOSHUA GENERATION IS AN EXISTING ORGANIZATION KNOWN AS "JOSHUA GENERATION MINISTRIES" WHICH, AMONG OTHER THINGS, BELIEVES PEOPLE WILL BE PULLED UP INTO THE CLOUDS.
THEN THERE IS GENERATION JOSHUA WHICH APPEARS TO BE MADE UP MAINLY OF WHITE CHILDREN.
AND THEN, OF COURSE, THERE IS MICHAEL FARRIS' THE JOSHUA GENERATION. FARRIS WROTE A BOOK ENTITLED JOSHUA GENERATION WHICH APPEALS TO KARL ROVE, RIGHT-WING THINK TANKS AND CHRISTIAN DOMINISTS. JESUS POLITICS WRITES:
. . . "GENERATION JOSHUA" IS LOOSE IN OUR COUNTRY. HAVE YOU HEARD OF "GENERATION JOSHUA?" IT IS AN EFFORT BY MICHAEL FARRIS, FOUNDER OF PATRICK HENRY COLLEGE, TO TURN CHRISTIAN, HOME-SCHOOLED STUDENTS INTO POLITICAL FOOT SOLDIERS TO GAIN POLITICAL PWOER IN ORDER SUBSUME EVERYTHING -- ENTERTAINMENT, LAW, GOVERNMENT, AND EDUCATION -- UNDER THEIR RIGHT WING VERSION OF CHRISTIANITY. LIKE JOSHUA OF THE HEBREW BIBLE, GENERATION JOSHUA'S JOB IS TO POSSESS THE LAND, TO CONQUER THE LAND, OR, IN THE WORDS OF THE RELIGIOUS RIGHT, "TO TAKE BACK THE LAND." AND ACCORDING TO MICHAEL HARRIS, IN THE SPRING SEMESTER OF 2004, PATRICKY HENRY COLLEGE HAD MORE INTERNS IN THE WHITE HOUSE THAN ANY OTHER COLLEGE IN THE NATION.
FOR THOSE PAYING ATTENTION IT MAY HAVE REMINDED THEM OF OBAMA'S OVERLY PRAISED 2004 DNC SPEECH WHERE, FOR THOSE PAYING ATTENTION, HE LAUNCHED AN ATTACK ON GOVERNMENTAL ASSISTANCE ("THEY DON'T WANT THEIR TAX MONEY WASTED BY A WELFARE AGENCY")
FROM THE TCI WIRE:
Starting with war resistance. Tomorrow Agustin Aguayo's court-martial begins in Germany. He is charged with missing movement and desertion which, if convicted of both charges, could mean being senteced to seven years in military prison. President of the National Lawyers Guild Marjorie Cohn (writing at CounterPunch) reviews the basics of Aguayo's case noting that what was happening to Aguayo during training was a phase he couldn't name until he and his wife Helga learned of US war resister Stephen Funk and realized the term for those opposed to war is conscientious objector. Cohn also notes, "Agustin Aguayo is represented by National Lawyers Guild lawyers James Klimaski, Peter Goldberger, and James Feldman." Amnesty International announced last week that they would have "a delegate to observe the court-martial proceeedings . . . and asses whether Agustin Aguayo would be a prisoner of conscience if convicted and imprisoned." In addition, as El Universal reported previously, Aguayo, who holds dual citizenship (Mexico and United States), will receive some form of consular assistance as a result of Susana Aguayo's request. (Susana is Agustin's mother.) Bertrand Benoit (Financial Times of London) notes that the court-martial "will cast some light on what non-governmental ogranisations claim is a serious drop in troop spirits in Germany" and notes Michael Sharp (Military Counseling Network) stating: "We normally get an average of eight calls a month. In January alone, we got 30 calls."
Courage to Resist has posted video (by Jeff Paterson) of Agustin Aguayo and others speaking in Los Angeles at his press conference on September 26th La Placita Olivera including Father Steve Niskanen, Father Richard Estrada and Fernando Suarez del Solar (whose son Jesus A. Suarez Del Solar died in Iraq on March 27, 2003).
Agustin Aguayo notes, in the video, that he is both an Iraq war veteran and a
Conscientious Objector and "I believe it is one of the greatest tragedies of our lifetime that we use war in an attempt to solve problems." His wife Helga noted that their twin daughters prepared a letter for their father: "They wrote him a letter and at the bottom of the letter they wrote: 'We are strong, we will get through this. Never forget that.' and they're only eleven" years-old. Helga also noted her pride in her husband "because he has been fighting" for c.o. status non-stop, for two years, within the military and within the US civilian courts.
The Center on Conscience & War notes that the civilian courts have not provided the oversight or recourse that they are supposed to and quotes attorney Peter Golberg stating, "The decision, in the wake of [Ehren] Watada outcome, makes the court martial of Aguayo all the more urgent as a focus of support." CCW further notes: "Had Aguayo gone AWOL 3 years ago, he may have been out of the Army two and a half years ago -- as happened to someone else in his unit. As a person of conscience, he played by the rules, trusting that the law would work as it should. It is unconsioable that Aguayo is still in the Army and facing court-martial 3 years after he first applied for conscientious objector discharge."
Turning to US war resister Ehren Watada who, in June 2006, became the first officer to publicly refuse to deploy to Iraq, Jim Borg (Honolulu Star-Bulletin) profiled Eric Seitz, Watada's civilian attorney who noted several things. On the issue of the legality of Watada's stand: "Treaties, when they are properly adopted by this country, become part and parcel of American law. The president cannot select which treaties he is going to implement and ingore others. And his selective enforcement of the provisions of the law . . . frankly, in my view, should subject him to a war crimes trial -- and, in fact, to the ultimate punishment which the statute requires, which is death. And if you want to quote me, you can say that. I am more than happy to see President Bush and Vice President Cheney and Secretary Rumsfeld tried for war crimes. And I would be the first one to stand up and clap if they were punished as a consequence." A court-martial for Watada has been scheduled for July. This would be the second court-martial. The first of last month saw three days of a court-martial that ended in a mistrial when Judge Toilet (aka John Head) repeatedly prompted the prosecution to ask for a mistrial which they finally did. Judge Toilet granted a mistrial over the defense's objection. Seitz tells Borg: "If it's going badly for the prosecutor, the prosecution can't abort the case and then start over. Nor can a judge abort the case for the prosecutor because the judge thinks it's going badly. When you have a mistrial in a criminal case, you always have a double jeopardy issue because jeopardy has attached as soon as the jury has been sworn in or the first witness testifies. And then you try and figure out whether by conduct or by some statement the defendant has caused the mistrial. . . . I'm thinking to myself, 'My God, this is a defense's lawyer's dream!' We didn't create this mistrial, we didn't agree to it, we didn't approve it. Jeopardy is attached. And I don't think either the judge or the military lawyers had any inkling that that was going to be the bottom line."
Aguayo and Watada are part of a movement of resistance with the military that includes others such as Kyle Snyder, Mark Wilkerson, Camilo Mejia, Patrick Hart, Joshua Key, Ivan Brobeck, Darrell Anderson, Ricky Clousing, Aidan Delgado, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Jeremy Hinzman, Stephen Funk, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Corey Glass, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Katherine Jashinski, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Tim Richard, Hart Viges, Michael Blake and Kevin Benderman. In total, thirty-eight US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.
Information on war resistance within the military can be found at Center on Conscience & War, The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline, and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters.
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Friday, March 02, 2007
Proscrastinator-in-Chief
BULLY BOY PRESS & CEDRIC'S BIX MIX -- DC.
AUGUST 29, 2005, HURRICANE KATRINA HIT. THURSDAY, MARCH 1ST, BULLY BOY VISITED SOME OF THE SCENES OF DEVESTATION.
ONE YEAR AND SIX MONTHS LATER, BULLY BOY ANNOUNCED HE WAS THERE "TO TELL PEOPLE HERE IN THE GULF COAST THAT WE STILL THINK ABOUT THEM".
APPARENTLY THAT'S "STILL THINK ABOUT THEM EVERY NOW AND THEN" SINCE HE FORGOT TO MENTION HURRICANE KATRINA VICTIMS IN HIS JANUARY 2007 STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS.
WHEN ASKED ABOUT THAT BY THESE REPORTERS, WHITE HOUSE FLACK TONY SNOWJOBS DISAGREED.
"THE BULLY BOY OF THE UNITED STATES IS A BUSY MAN," SNOWJOBS INSISTED. "HE HAS A LOT ON HIS PLATE BUT HE TAKES ALL HIS OBLIGATIONS SERIOUSLY."
TELL IT TO THE NATIONAL GUARD. BUT SNOWJOBS PAINTED A PICTURE OF A GIANT TO DO LIST THAT BULLY BOY WORKS ON IN BETWEEN AFTERNOON NAPS AND LENGTHY VACATIONS. TRANSLATION, BULLY BOY'S NOT ABOUT TO BREAK A SWEAT ON ANYTHING HAVING GONE THROUGH LIFE WITH THE SOFTEST HANDS EVER FOUND ON ANY MAN.
FROM THE TCI WIRE:
Starting with war resisters, Agustin Aguayo faces a court martial in Germany Tuesday, March 6th. Amenesty International has released a statement:
Amnesty International is closely monitoring the case of Agustin Aguayo, a US army medic who is scheduled to face a US court-martial on 6 and 7 March in Wurzburg, Germany, for his refusal to deploy to Iraq. In February 2004, Agustin Aguayo applied for conscientious objector status. He says that he began developing doubts about war shortly after enlisting in the army and that he now feels that he cannot participate in any war based on his moral objections to hurting, killing or injuring another person. Whilst his application was being considered, Agustin Aguayo was order to deploy to Iraq where he received formal notification in July 2004 that his application had been turned down. The army's Conscientious Objector Review Board had found that he did not present clear and convincing evidence of his beliefs. Agustin Aguayo served a year in Iraq where he says he refused to carry a loaded gun. He says that "I witnessed how soldiers dehumanize the Iraqi people with words and actions. I saw countless lives which were shortened due to the war. I still struggle with the senselessness of it all . . ."When Agustin Aguayo's unit was ordered to redeploy to Iraq in September 2006, he did not report to duty and went absent without leave (AWOL). He has been charged with desertion and missing movement and is currently held in pre-trial detention at a US military base in Mannheim, Germany. If convicted on both these charges he could be sentenced to up to 7 years in prison.Lawyers for Agustin Aguayo filed a write of habeas corpus in US federal court in August 2005, asking for his honourable discharge from the army as a conscientious objector. This request was denied and a subsequent appeal turned down. The judge wrote that "Though Aguayo stated that his Army training caused him anguish and guilt, we find little indication that his beliefs were accompanied by study or contemplation, whether before or after he joined the Army." Amnesty International is sending a delegate to observe the court-martial proceedings in Germany next week to learn further details about the case and assess whether Agustin Aguayo would be a prisoner of conscience if convicted and imprisoned.
Speaking with Gillian Russom (Socialist Worker), Helga Aguayo, Agustin's wife, stated the following on war resisters: "They're important because they're taking a stand that all the Americans who are against the war can't really take. They're making it difficult for the Army to continue their mission. My husband's a paramedic, and medics are needed desperately in Iraq. I think that these soldiers who stand up and say, "I won't do it," are frustrating the plans of these particular units. It's important for the antiwar movement to adopt these soldiers and say that this guy has taken a remarkable step. We need to support him because he's doing what we would do if we were in his position."
Meanwhile, US war resister Kyle Snyder was arrested last Friday at the request of the US military who have no jurisidiction in Canada. Snyder served in Iraq, then self-checked out of the US military and went to Canada. In October of 2006, he returned to the United States to and on October 31st, he turned himself in at Fort Knox only to self-check out again the same day (no, AP, he did not turn himself in during the month of November -- AP seems to have confused Snyder with Ivan Brobeck who turned himself in November 7, 2006 -- election day). Snyder was arrested the day before his planned wedding ceremony (the wedding has been rescheduled for this month). The British Columbia police, at the US military's request, at the residence he shares with Maleah Friesen (the woman he'll be marrying this month) and US war resister Ryan Johnson and Johnson's wife Jenna. As Sara Newman (Canada's Globe & Mail) reported, the police showed up at the door, asked for Kyle and when he came to the door in his boxer shorts and robe, they grabbed him and refused to let him either change into some clothes or bring any along with him. Snyder told Vancouver News: "I couldn't believe it could happen that way. The only thought that was going through my head was I thought Canada was a completely separate country, thought it was a sovereign nation. I didn't know they took orders from the United States." ForLawyers Against the War's statement click here. Snyder tells Newman: "Basically the next step is to keep doing what I'm doing, go on with my life. I'm planning on getting married to a very wonderful woman, and I am planning on trying to find the best way to move on with my life." Before he decided to return to the US, Kyle enjoyed working with disabled children.
Another US war resister in Canada is Joshua Key (as his wife Brandi and their children) and he's put his story down on paper in The Deserter's Tale. Reviewing the book, Martin Rubin (Los Angeles Times) quotes Key: "I never thought I would lose my country, and I never dreamed that it would lose me. I was raised as a patriotic American, taught to respect my government and to believe in my president. Just a decade ago, I was playing high school football, living in a trailer with my mom and step dad, working at Kentucky Fried Chicken, and hoping to raise a family one day in the only town I knew. . . . Back then, I would have laughed out loud if somebody had predicted that I would become a wanted criminal, live as a fugitive in my own country, and turn my wife and children into refugees as I fled with them across the border." Rubin observes, "One of the book's great pleasures is in seeing the author's personal development, the journey he has taken, turning away from violence and destruction to become more humane. 'One's first obligation, Key says, 'is to the moral truth buried deep inside our own souls.' He understands a soldier's obligations under the Geneva Conventions and the Nuremberg doctrine not to participate in atrocities. He has pad a stiff price for his desertion: exiled in Canada (where he may not be able to remain) and shunned by much of his family. Near the end of his tale, Key insists that he is 'neither a coward or a traitor.' He is believable, as he has been from the outset, and through his words and the actions he describes, he conveys hard-earned honesty and integrity. In this testament of his experience in military service in Iraq he is making a substantial contribution to history."
Aguayo, Snyder and Key are part of a movement of resistance with the military that includes others such as Ehren Watada, Mark Wilkerson, Camilo Mejia, Patrick Hart, Ivan Brobeck, Darrell Anderson, Ricky Clousing, Aidan Delgado, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Jeremy Hinzman, Stephen Funk, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Corey Glass, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Katherine Jashinski, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Tim Richard, Hart Viges, and Kevin Benderman. In total, thirty-eight US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.
Information on war resistance within the military can be found at Center on Conscience & War, The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline, and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters.
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"THIS JUST IN! CAVIN' & CRAVEN HARRY REID!"
AUGUST 29, 2005, HURRICANE KATRINA HIT. THURSDAY, MARCH 1ST, BULLY BOY VISITED SOME OF THE SCENES OF DEVESTATION.
ONE YEAR AND SIX MONTHS LATER, BULLY BOY ANNOUNCED HE WAS THERE "TO TELL PEOPLE HERE IN THE GULF COAST THAT WE STILL THINK ABOUT THEM".
APPARENTLY THAT'S "STILL THINK ABOUT THEM EVERY NOW AND THEN" SINCE HE FORGOT TO MENTION HURRICANE KATRINA VICTIMS IN HIS JANUARY 2007 STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS.
WHEN ASKED ABOUT THAT BY THESE REPORTERS, WHITE HOUSE FLACK TONY SNOWJOBS DISAGREED.
"THE BULLY BOY OF THE UNITED STATES IS A BUSY MAN," SNOWJOBS INSISTED. "HE HAS A LOT ON HIS PLATE BUT HE TAKES ALL HIS OBLIGATIONS SERIOUSLY."
TELL IT TO THE NATIONAL GUARD. BUT SNOWJOBS PAINTED A PICTURE OF A GIANT TO DO LIST THAT BULLY BOY WORKS ON IN BETWEEN AFTERNOON NAPS AND LENGTHY VACATIONS. TRANSLATION, BULLY BOY'S NOT ABOUT TO BREAK A SWEAT ON ANYTHING HAVING GONE THROUGH LIFE WITH THE SOFTEST HANDS EVER FOUND ON ANY MAN.
FROM THE TCI WIRE:
Starting with war resisters, Agustin Aguayo faces a court martial in Germany Tuesday, March 6th. Amenesty International has released a statement:
Amnesty International is closely monitoring the case of Agustin Aguayo, a US army medic who is scheduled to face a US court-martial on 6 and 7 March in Wurzburg, Germany, for his refusal to deploy to Iraq. In February 2004, Agustin Aguayo applied for conscientious objector status. He says that he began developing doubts about war shortly after enlisting in the army and that he now feels that he cannot participate in any war based on his moral objections to hurting, killing or injuring another person. Whilst his application was being considered, Agustin Aguayo was order to deploy to Iraq where he received formal notification in July 2004 that his application had been turned down. The army's Conscientious Objector Review Board had found that he did not present clear and convincing evidence of his beliefs. Agustin Aguayo served a year in Iraq where he says he refused to carry a loaded gun. He says that "I witnessed how soldiers dehumanize the Iraqi people with words and actions. I saw countless lives which were shortened due to the war. I still struggle with the senselessness of it all . . ."When Agustin Aguayo's unit was ordered to redeploy to Iraq in September 2006, he did not report to duty and went absent without leave (AWOL). He has been charged with desertion and missing movement and is currently held in pre-trial detention at a US military base in Mannheim, Germany. If convicted on both these charges he could be sentenced to up to 7 years in prison.Lawyers for Agustin Aguayo filed a write of habeas corpus in US federal court in August 2005, asking for his honourable discharge from the army as a conscientious objector. This request was denied and a subsequent appeal turned down. The judge wrote that "Though Aguayo stated that his Army training caused him anguish and guilt, we find little indication that his beliefs were accompanied by study or contemplation, whether before or after he joined the Army." Amnesty International is sending a delegate to observe the court-martial proceedings in Germany next week to learn further details about the case and assess whether Agustin Aguayo would be a prisoner of conscience if convicted and imprisoned.
Speaking with Gillian Russom (Socialist Worker), Helga Aguayo, Agustin's wife, stated the following on war resisters: "They're important because they're taking a stand that all the Americans who are against the war can't really take. They're making it difficult for the Army to continue their mission. My husband's a paramedic, and medics are needed desperately in Iraq. I think that these soldiers who stand up and say, "I won't do it," are frustrating the plans of these particular units. It's important for the antiwar movement to adopt these soldiers and say that this guy has taken a remarkable step. We need to support him because he's doing what we would do if we were in his position."
Meanwhile, US war resister Kyle Snyder was arrested last Friday at the request of the US military who have no jurisidiction in Canada. Snyder served in Iraq, then self-checked out of the US military and went to Canada. In October of 2006, he returned to the United States to and on October 31st, he turned himself in at Fort Knox only to self-check out again the same day (no, AP, he did not turn himself in during the month of November -- AP seems to have confused Snyder with Ivan Brobeck who turned himself in November 7, 2006 -- election day). Snyder was arrested the day before his planned wedding ceremony (the wedding has been rescheduled for this month). The British Columbia police, at the US military's request, at the residence he shares with Maleah Friesen (the woman he'll be marrying this month) and US war resister Ryan Johnson and Johnson's wife Jenna. As Sara Newman (Canada's Globe & Mail) reported, the police showed up at the door, asked for Kyle and when he came to the door in his boxer shorts and robe, they grabbed him and refused to let him either change into some clothes or bring any along with him. Snyder told Vancouver News: "I couldn't believe it could happen that way. The only thought that was going through my head was I thought Canada was a completely separate country, thought it was a sovereign nation. I didn't know they took orders from the United States." ForLawyers Against the War's statement click here. Snyder tells Newman: "Basically the next step is to keep doing what I'm doing, go on with my life. I'm planning on getting married to a very wonderful woman, and I am planning on trying to find the best way to move on with my life." Before he decided to return to the US, Kyle enjoyed working with disabled children.
Another US war resister in Canada is Joshua Key (as his wife Brandi and their children) and he's put his story down on paper in The Deserter's Tale. Reviewing the book, Martin Rubin (Los Angeles Times) quotes Key: "I never thought I would lose my country, and I never dreamed that it would lose me. I was raised as a patriotic American, taught to respect my government and to believe in my president. Just a decade ago, I was playing high school football, living in a trailer with my mom and step dad, working at Kentucky Fried Chicken, and hoping to raise a family one day in the only town I knew. . . . Back then, I would have laughed out loud if somebody had predicted that I would become a wanted criminal, live as a fugitive in my own country, and turn my wife and children into refugees as I fled with them across the border." Rubin observes, "One of the book's great pleasures is in seeing the author's personal development, the journey he has taken, turning away from violence and destruction to become more humane. 'One's first obligation, Key says, 'is to the moral truth buried deep inside our own souls.' He understands a soldier's obligations under the Geneva Conventions and the Nuremberg doctrine not to participate in atrocities. He has pad a stiff price for his desertion: exiled in Canada (where he may not be able to remain) and shunned by much of his family. Near the end of his tale, Key insists that he is 'neither a coward or a traitor.' He is believable, as he has been from the outset, and through his words and the actions he describes, he conveys hard-earned honesty and integrity. In this testament of his experience in military service in Iraq he is making a substantial contribution to history."
Aguayo, Snyder and Key are part of a movement of resistance with the military that includes others such as Ehren Watada, Mark Wilkerson, Camilo Mejia, Patrick Hart, Ivan Brobeck, Darrell Anderson, Ricky Clousing, Aidan Delgado, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Jeremy Hinzman, Stephen Funk, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Corey Glass, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Katherine Jashinski, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Tim Richard, Hart Viges, and Kevin Benderman. In total, thirty-eight US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.
Information on war resistance within the military can be found at Center on Conscience & War, The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline, and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters.
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"Dem's new strategy -- no brainer!"
"THIS JUST IN! CAVIN' & CRAVEN HARRY REID!"
Thursday, March 01, 2007
Dem's new strategy -- no brainer!
BULLY BOY PRESS & CEDRIC'S BIX MIX -- DC.
SENATE MAJORITY LEADER HARRY REID ANNOUNCED TODAY, "IT'S NOTHING THAT ANY OF US ARE CONSIDERING" THEREBY EXPLAINING THAT THE BRAIN DEATH OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY.
HOWEVER, REID WAS SPEAKING OF THE SMACKDOWN TO SENATOR KENT CONRAD'S PLAN TO TRIM $20 BILLION FROM THE MILITARY WISH LIST BULLY BOY JUST SUBMITTED.
REID SAID THAT AMERICA WAS WITNESSING THE DEMOCRAT'S STRATEGY FOR "RULING" WHILE IN POWER AND THAT THE STRATEGY APPLIED TO ALL ISSUES.
HOW WILL AMERICA'S SCHOOL SYSTEM BE FIXED?
REID: "IT'S NOTHING THAT ANY OF US ARE CONSIDERING."
WILL CHECKS AND BALANCES BE RESTORED?
REID: "IT'S NOTHING THAT ANY OF US ARE CONSIDERING."
WILL THE ILLEGAL WAR EVER END?
REID: "IT'S NOTHING THAT ANY OF US ARE CONSIDERING."
WILL THE DEMOCRATS KEEP THEIR CONGRESSIONAL MAJORITIES IN BOTH HOUSES IN THE 2008 ELECTIONS?
REID: "IT'S NOTHING THAT ANY OF US ARE CONSIDERING."
FROM THE TCI WIRE:
Turning to the topic of war resisters, Jessica Hegdahl (UCD Advocate) references MLK ("War is a poor chisel for carving out a peaceful future.") and sees the continuation of peace in Ehren Watada: "There's a radical solution to the problem of Iraq. It lies in the simple observation that 'to stop an illegal and unjust war, the soldiers can choose to stop fighting it.' These words were spoken by Lt. Ehren Watada, the first commissioned officer to resist deployment to Iraq, facing up to four years in jail. Every soldier, commissioned or enlisted, who opposes the war in Iraq must eventually decide between his conscience and his orders. When your country is ordering you to complete an illegal and immoral act, are you not obliged to refuse? It would be far better for the members of our military to refuse to deploy, face imprisonment or other punishment, than to obey their contracts with the United States military, which allow for the killing of innocent Iraqis."
Ehren Watada, in June of last year, became the first officer to refuse to deploy to Iraq. A three-day court-martial took place at the start of this month but Judge Toilet called a mistrial over the objections of the defense and, last Friday, the military refiled charges against him. Gregg K. Kakesako (Honolulu Star-Bulletin) reports that the pretrial motions are currently set for May 20th with the court-martial scheduled "for July 16-20." Justin Ward (Austin Chronicle) weighs in on war resister Mark Wilkerson who was court-martialed and sentenced last Thursday (to seven months in prison) and notes that Ann Wright ("a former Army colonel and State Department official who resigned in protest of the Iraq war") spoke to a gathering of Wilkerson supporters the Wednesday before his court-martial: "They are the ones that are willing to put their bodies on the line -- not on the line for murdering or criminal activity but on the line for conscience and morality and to hold accountable an administration that is putting our nation at risk."
Watada and Wilkerson are part of a movement of resistance with the military that includes others such as Kyle Snyder, Agustin Aguayo (who will be court-martialed in Germany, Tuesday, March 6th), Camilo Mejia, Patrick Hart, Ivan Brobeck, Darrell Anderson, Ricky Clousing, Aidan Delgado, Joshua Key, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Jeremy Hinzman, Stephen Funk, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Corey Glass, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Katherine Jashinski, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Tim Richard, Hart Viges, and Kevin Benderman. In total, thirty-eight US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.
Information on war resistance within the military can be found at Center on Conscience & War, The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline, and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters.
Today, GlobalResearch.ca reports that "U.S. war resister Kyle Snyder was arrested in British Columbia for unspecified immigration violations. Police in Nelson, BC barged into Snyder's home, handcuffed him, and hauled him off to jail. The police had no warrant. Snyder, who was wearing only a robe and boxer shorts at the time, was not allowed to put on clothes or shoes. He was not read his rights or allowed to call his lawyer. Nelson police told him he would be deported to the U.S., where he is wanted for unahtorized absence from the U.S. Army." Snyder is sharing a house with US war resister Ryan Johnson and his wife Jenna who immediately began making calls. The article notes: "Joci Peri, an Immigration official in Vancouver, later told Snyder he had been arrested at the request of the U.S. Army. Being AWOL from another country's military is not an extraditable offense in Canada, nor does it have any bearing on immigration to Canada, according to Vancouver lawyer Daniel McLeod, who is representing Snyder. 'And the U.S. Army is not the boss of the Canadian police,' says Gerry Condon of Project Safe Haven."
Now let's be really clear, the US military has thought from day one they could screw with Snyder. They thought that when returned to the US in October of last year and turned himself in only to find the military throw out the agreement the second his previous lawyer left the base. When Snyder was still in the US and traveling around speaking out against the war, the military began alerting the police to his appearances in the hopes that they would arrest him. (Which really isn't the way it works in the US. When a service member self-checks out, he or she is more likely to be arrested while being stopped on a traffic violation than via some 'manhunt.') Kyle finished his speaking tour and he returned to Candada. Now the US military is targeting him still. As shameful as it is that the police of British Columbia were willing to break the law and follow orders from another nation's military, it's just as shameful that the US military appeared to think they could illegally extract someone from a country.
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SENATE MAJORITY LEADER HARRY REID ANNOUNCED TODAY, "IT'S NOTHING THAT ANY OF US ARE CONSIDERING" THEREBY EXPLAINING THAT THE BRAIN DEATH OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY.
HOWEVER, REID WAS SPEAKING OF THE SMACKDOWN TO SENATOR KENT CONRAD'S PLAN TO TRIM $20 BILLION FROM THE MILITARY WISH LIST BULLY BOY JUST SUBMITTED.
REID SAID THAT AMERICA WAS WITNESSING THE DEMOCRAT'S STRATEGY FOR "RULING" WHILE IN POWER AND THAT THE STRATEGY APPLIED TO ALL ISSUES.
HOW WILL AMERICA'S SCHOOL SYSTEM BE FIXED?
REID: "IT'S NOTHING THAT ANY OF US ARE CONSIDERING."
WILL CHECKS AND BALANCES BE RESTORED?
REID: "IT'S NOTHING THAT ANY OF US ARE CONSIDERING."
WILL THE ILLEGAL WAR EVER END?
REID: "IT'S NOTHING THAT ANY OF US ARE CONSIDERING."
WILL THE DEMOCRATS KEEP THEIR CONGRESSIONAL MAJORITIES IN BOTH HOUSES IN THE 2008 ELECTIONS?
REID: "IT'S NOTHING THAT ANY OF US ARE CONSIDERING."
FROM THE TCI WIRE:
Turning to the topic of war resisters, Jessica Hegdahl (UCD Advocate) references MLK ("War is a poor chisel for carving out a peaceful future.") and sees the continuation of peace in Ehren Watada: "There's a radical solution to the problem of Iraq. It lies in the simple observation that 'to stop an illegal and unjust war, the soldiers can choose to stop fighting it.' These words were spoken by Lt. Ehren Watada, the first commissioned officer to resist deployment to Iraq, facing up to four years in jail. Every soldier, commissioned or enlisted, who opposes the war in Iraq must eventually decide between his conscience and his orders. When your country is ordering you to complete an illegal and immoral act, are you not obliged to refuse? It would be far better for the members of our military to refuse to deploy, face imprisonment or other punishment, than to obey their contracts with the United States military, which allow for the killing of innocent Iraqis."
Ehren Watada, in June of last year, became the first officer to refuse to deploy to Iraq. A three-day court-martial took place at the start of this month but Judge Toilet called a mistrial over the objections of the defense and, last Friday, the military refiled charges against him. Gregg K. Kakesako (Honolulu Star-Bulletin) reports that the pretrial motions are currently set for May 20th with the court-martial scheduled "for July 16-20." Justin Ward (Austin Chronicle) weighs in on war resister Mark Wilkerson who was court-martialed and sentenced last Thursday (to seven months in prison) and notes that Ann Wright ("a former Army colonel and State Department official who resigned in protest of the Iraq war") spoke to a gathering of Wilkerson supporters the Wednesday before his court-martial: "They are the ones that are willing to put their bodies on the line -- not on the line for murdering or criminal activity but on the line for conscience and morality and to hold accountable an administration that is putting our nation at risk."
Watada and Wilkerson are part of a movement of resistance with the military that includes others such as Kyle Snyder, Agustin Aguayo (who will be court-martialed in Germany, Tuesday, March 6th), Camilo Mejia, Patrick Hart, Ivan Brobeck, Darrell Anderson, Ricky Clousing, Aidan Delgado, Joshua Key, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Jeremy Hinzman, Stephen Funk, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Corey Glass, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Katherine Jashinski, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Tim Richard, Hart Viges, and Kevin Benderman. In total, thirty-eight US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.
Information on war resistance within the military can be found at Center on Conscience & War, The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline, and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters.
Today, GlobalResearch.ca reports that "U.S. war resister Kyle Snyder was arrested in British Columbia for unspecified immigration violations. Police in Nelson, BC barged into Snyder's home, handcuffed him, and hauled him off to jail. The police had no warrant. Snyder, who was wearing only a robe and boxer shorts at the time, was not allowed to put on clothes or shoes. He was not read his rights or allowed to call his lawyer. Nelson police told him he would be deported to the U.S., where he is wanted for unahtorized absence from the U.S. Army." Snyder is sharing a house with US war resister Ryan Johnson and his wife Jenna who immediately began making calls. The article notes: "Joci Peri, an Immigration official in Vancouver, later told Snyder he had been arrested at the request of the U.S. Army. Being AWOL from another country's military is not an extraditable offense in Canada, nor does it have any bearing on immigration to Canada, according to Vancouver lawyer Daniel McLeod, who is representing Snyder. 'And the U.S. Army is not the boss of the Canadian police,' says Gerry Condon of Project Safe Haven."
Now let's be really clear, the US military has thought from day one they could screw with Snyder. They thought that when returned to the US in October of last year and turned himself in only to find the military throw out the agreement the second his previous lawyer left the base. When Snyder was still in the US and traveling around speaking out against the war, the military began alerting the police to his appearances in the hopes that they would arrest him. (Which really isn't the way it works in the US. When a service member self-checks out, he or she is more likely to be arrested while being stopped on a traffic violation than via some 'manhunt.') Kyle finished his speaking tour and he returned to Candada. Now the US military is targeting him still. As shameful as it is that the police of British Columbia were willing to break the law and follow orders from another nation's military, it's just as shameful that the US military appeared to think they could illegally extract someone from a country.
RECOMMENDED: "Iraq snapshot""Other Items""End of story says the military and look who rushes to agree""sara rich, suzanne swift, jane fonda""Susan Van Haitsma, BuzzFlash""Elizabeth de la Vega, Marjorie Cohn, more""Steven F. Freeman, Guns & Butter, work""Wrong Bill!""THIS JUST IN! THE SINKING CAMPAIGN!"
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Wrong Bill!
BULLY BOY PRESS & CEDRIC'S BIX MIX -- DC.
HUSKY TOUGH SKINS MODEL AND 2008 PRESIDENTIAL WANNA BE BILL RICHARDSON IS SO DESPERATE FOR ATTENTION, HE CONSIDERED POSING TOPLESS.
INSTEAD HE'S ISSUED THE "PLAY NICE" EDICT.
WHEN ASKED ABOUT IT AND HOW IT COMES OFF AS SCOLDING, A CAMPAIGN STAFFER EXPLAINED TO THESE REPORTERS THAT RICHARDSON IS ATTEMPTING TO GET THE "SCHOOL MARM VOTE."
HE'S ALSO REFUSED TO DIET WITH HOPES THAT HE CAN GET SOME SYMPATHY VOTES "AND THAT," THE CAMPAIGN STAFFER ADDED, "ALSO EXPLAINS THAT HAIR!"
ASKED IF RICHARDSON REALLY BELIEVED THAT GETTING ATTENTION BY TALKING ABOUT HIS RIVALS WAS BETTER THAN NO ATTENTION AT ALL, THE STAFFER SIGHED AND SAID, "LOOK, IF WE CAN MAKE IT THROUGH THIS CAMPAIGN WITHOUT THE PRESS ASKING US ABOUT WEN HO LEE, WE'LL CONSIDER IT A VICTORY."
FROM THE TCI WIRE:
Starting with news of petty retaliation which, after all, is the Bully Boy's M.O. as demonstrated for the last seven years (if not sooner.) As noted by Aaron Glants today on KPFA's The Morning Show, Kelly Kennedy (Army Times) is reporting that Walter Reed Army Medical Center's Medical Hold Unit patients are being "told they will wake up at 6 a.m. every morning and have their rooms ready for inspection at 7 a.m., and that they must not speak to the media" in what is widely seen as a punishment for the recent Washington Post expose on the deplorable conditions at what is supposed to be the United States top facility for military medical care. In addition, Kennedy reports, the soldiers receiving medical care were informed that will move from Building 18 into Building 14 and, just happenstance -- surely, unlike Building 18, Building 14 requires that "reporters must be escorted by public affairs personnel."
In a series of articles that concluded last week, Dana Priest and Anne Hull (Washington Post) examined the realities behind the image of the 'premier medical center' -- focusing largely on Building 18, and revealed problems such as cockroach infestation, lack of heat, lack of water, mice and black mold, clerks that were overworked or didn't care. The answer for the US administration when confronted with reality is apparently the same answer they always reach for "DESTROY." Joe Wilson goes public about Niger, out Valerie Plame (his deep cover CIA wife). Soldiers talk to the press about the deplorable conditions that the administration is fine with them living in? Punish the soldiers.
The Bully Boy who loves strut around in uniforms (with or without codpieces) is far less willing to do anything to actually help the soldiers wounded in his illegal war and the administration's answer to the Walter Reed scandal is to punish the troops with daily inspections and other idiotic chores WHILE THEY ARE SUPPOSED TO BE RECEIVING MEDICAL CARE FOR THEIR WOUNDS.
Turning to news of war resisters, Tina Chau (Hawaii's KMGB9) reports that Ehren Watada's court-martil has been set for July 16-20 and that the "pre-trial motions are to be heard on May 20 and 21." In June, Watada became the first officer to publicly refuse to deploy to Iraq. In August of last year, the military held an Article 32 hearing at Fort Lewis to determine whether or not to go forward with a court-martial. At the start of this month, the court-martial of Watada began and ran for three days -- on the third day, Judge Toilet (aka John Head) ruled a mistrial over the objections of the defense (and initially without even the prosecution in support of a mistrial). Eric Seitz, Watada's civilian attorney, has maintained that the double-jeopardy clause of the Constitution now applies and that he will appeal any attempts to court-martial on that basis.
Lehia Apana (The Maui News) reports that Ehren Watada's father Bob and his step-mother Rosa Sakanishi were at the Maui Community College Library on Monday where Bob spoke to "an energetic crowd" of at least 75 people about his son and how "he believes the judge realized his son had a chance of being acquitted of the charges and therefore forced the prosecution to request a mistrial."
Last Friday the military re-filed charges against Watada, the day prior, as Conor Reed and Steve Leigh (Socialist Worker) observe was Mark Wilkerson's court-martial and that he issued a statement, "My Conscience is Clear," at his website:
I am now a twenty three year old man. When I made the decision to join the Army, I was a boy. When I made the decision to go AWOL I was still in many ways a boy.I realize in retrospect that going AWOL may not have been the right decision for me to make, but given the circumstances I found myself in at that time, I felt it was the only logical decision for me. I felt as though I wasn't being taken seriously by my chain-of-command. I was crushed when my conscientious objector application was denied. I had failed somehow in conveying in words just what I felt in my head and heart, and that was that I could not, in good conscience, serve as a soldier in the United States Army. I could not deploy to a foreign land with a weapon in my hand, representing my government. I am not willing to kill, or be killed for my government. When I enlisted in the Army, I thought I would be able to, but after Iraq, my beliefs became such that I could no longer participate.This was what I told my chain-of-command. I felt they didn't care what I said or believed. So I fled. I quit my job. No other occupation in the United States punishes you as badly as what the military does for quitting your job. But that's ok. I'm willing to face whatever punishment the government deems appropriate.In my Battalion's Retention Office, there is a quote by Retired Army General Bernard Rogers, and it states "This is a volunteer force. Soldiers volunteer to meet our standards. If they don't meet them, we should thank them for trying and send them home." Well, I enlisted into the Army with the best intentions. I had other options. But I wanted to serve my country. And when I felt my country was doing the very thing we pretend to condone, I took a stand. And to me that is the core of democracy. If the Army feels as though I didn't meet the standards, they should thank me for trying and send me home. There's no lesson prison can teach me. Prison is established for criminals who committed crimes that the majority of our society can say in morally wrong. And with this crime, I don't know if that can be said. Even though I committed a crime, I'm no criminal. And even if I do go to prison, I'm no longer a prisoner. My conscience is clear. I'm no menace to society. I have stayed true to myself and my moral code throughout my life, and that will never change. Just let me live my life, and I know I will live it well.
Susan Van Haitsma (CounterPunch) shares some of her encounters with Wilkerson and observations before concluding: "Mark wanted to help his country, but his country betrayed him. His country capitalized on his honorable intentions, gave him false promises, fed him misinformation, used him to carry out inhumane missions, caused him psychological injury and then punished him by making him an object lesson for his fellow GI's. In fact, Mark is an example of the best kind, for all of us. In the same courtroom where soldiers were sentenced for harming Abu Ghraib prisoners, Mark was sentenced for refusing to harm."
Wilkerson is scheduled to be released in September; however, the judge could release him earlier. Going before a judge Tuesday, March 6th in Germany is war resister Agustin Aguayo. Workers World notes that he is "charged with desertion and missing movement because of his refusal to go to Iraq." Though not etched in stone, the military has generally attempted to use desertion charges for those who were absent without leave for a month or more. In Aguayo's case, they've elected to toss that (Aguayo was gone from September 2nd through September 26th). Gillian Russom (Socialist Worker) spoke with Helga Aguayo, Agustin's wife, about his case, his feelings about the war, her own and much more. Agustin was a medica and he joined the military to support his family and to help people (he and his wife have two young daughters). Helga explained to Russom that, for her, it was seeing the experiences of military families that made her start questioning the war -- the creation of "geographical single mothers" -- and that for her husband, a book on Iraq's history took him from conscientious objector to the belief "that the war in Iraq has essentially been created of the personal gain of a few people." Helga also notes that her husband saw Sir! No Sir! and "it just revved him up for what he knew he might have to face." He's facing? Agustin Aguayo could be sentenced to as many as seven years in prison if convicted during his court-martial because the military is going for desertion. Why go for desertion?
Aguayo and Kyle Snyder both were screwed over by the military in different ways and they were among the last ones going public. (Snyder is back in Canada.) Tossing aside the rule of thumb re: desertion to charge Aguayo with that is considered as part of an effort by the military to clamp down on the growing movement.
Aguayo, Watada, Wilkerson and Snyder are part of a movement of resistance with the military that includes others such as Camilo Mejia, Patrick Hart, Ivan Brobeck, Darrell Anderson, Ricky Clousing, Aidan Delgado, Joshua Key, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Jeremy Hinzman, Stephen Funk, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Corey Glass, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Katherine Jashinski, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Tim Richard and Kevin Benderman. In total, thirty-eight US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.Information on war resistance within the military can be found at Center on Conscience & War, The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline, and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters.
Joshua Key, war resister and author of the new book The Deserter's Tale, speaks with Christina Leadlay (Canada's Embassy Book Review) and notes that the passport requirement for travel back and forth between the US and Canada "would deter a lot of people [who] don't have passports, and if you're on the run and a deserter from the military, you're not going to be able to gain that passport." Joshua, his wife Brandi and their children went to Canada after Key returned from Iraq. There, he has sought refugee status and is currently appealing the denial of asylum. Key describes his decision to join the military as part of "the military's poverty draft" telling Leadlay: "You're stuck. You have no money. There is no other choice. If you want health care, if you want steady pay, and if you're even considering going to college, the [military] billboards pretty well offer it to you. When I joined there was not a wealthy person in the entire operation. I'd never seen a rich person in the military. I'd never seen a politican's son; I'd never seen anybody with any stature. We were all the same . . . coming from places that most people wouldn't even hear of, small towns, farms boys, and you're just looking for a way out."
Key's statements jibe with the study Kimberly Hefling (AP) reported on last week -- the communities in America that are most directly effected by the US military death toll in Iraq -- almost half of the dead are "from towns . . . where fewer than 25,000 people live" and that "nearly three quarters of those killed in Iraq came from towns where the per capita income was below the national average. More than half came from towns where the percentage of people living in poverty topped the national average."
Sir! No Sir!, noted above, is a study of resistance within the military during the Vietnam era. The amazing documentary, directed by David Zeiger, was recently re-released in a special director's cut version with additional bonus features. In addition, (audio link) DJ Dave Rabbitt interviews Jane Fonda here. DJ Dave Rabbitt, along with Pete Sadler and Nguyen, operated an underground radio station (Radio First Termer) while serving in Vietnam. (He also acts as the dee jay for the soundtrack to Sir! No Sir!)
RECOMMENDED: "Iraq snapshot"
"Other Items""Watada's court-martial set for July 16-20""dahr jamail, plamegate & more""Grab bag""Scary realities""Walter Cronkite, Tariq Ali""THIS JUST IN! BULLY BOY MEETS MR. HECKLES!""Bully Boy works a tough room (humor)"
HUSKY TOUGH SKINS MODEL AND 2008 PRESIDENTIAL WANNA BE BILL RICHARDSON IS SO DESPERATE FOR ATTENTION, HE CONSIDERED POSING TOPLESS.
INSTEAD HE'S ISSUED THE "PLAY NICE" EDICT.
WHEN ASKED ABOUT IT AND HOW IT COMES OFF AS SCOLDING, A CAMPAIGN STAFFER EXPLAINED TO THESE REPORTERS THAT RICHARDSON IS ATTEMPTING TO GET THE "SCHOOL MARM VOTE."
HE'S ALSO REFUSED TO DIET WITH HOPES THAT HE CAN GET SOME SYMPATHY VOTES "AND THAT," THE CAMPAIGN STAFFER ADDED, "ALSO EXPLAINS THAT HAIR!"
ASKED IF RICHARDSON REALLY BELIEVED THAT GETTING ATTENTION BY TALKING ABOUT HIS RIVALS WAS BETTER THAN NO ATTENTION AT ALL, THE STAFFER SIGHED AND SAID, "LOOK, IF WE CAN MAKE IT THROUGH THIS CAMPAIGN WITHOUT THE PRESS ASKING US ABOUT WEN HO LEE, WE'LL CONSIDER IT A VICTORY."
FROM THE TCI WIRE:
Starting with news of petty retaliation which, after all, is the Bully Boy's M.O. as demonstrated for the last seven years (if not sooner.) As noted by Aaron Glants today on KPFA's The Morning Show, Kelly Kennedy (Army Times) is reporting that Walter Reed Army Medical Center's Medical Hold Unit patients are being "told they will wake up at 6 a.m. every morning and have their rooms ready for inspection at 7 a.m., and that they must not speak to the media" in what is widely seen as a punishment for the recent Washington Post expose on the deplorable conditions at what is supposed to be the United States top facility for military medical care. In addition, Kennedy reports, the soldiers receiving medical care were informed that will move from Building 18 into Building 14 and, just happenstance -- surely, unlike Building 18, Building 14 requires that "reporters must be escorted by public affairs personnel."
In a series of articles that concluded last week, Dana Priest and Anne Hull (Washington Post) examined the realities behind the image of the 'premier medical center' -- focusing largely on Building 18, and revealed problems such as cockroach infestation, lack of heat, lack of water, mice and black mold, clerks that were overworked or didn't care. The answer for the US administration when confronted with reality is apparently the same answer they always reach for "DESTROY." Joe Wilson goes public about Niger, out Valerie Plame (his deep cover CIA wife). Soldiers talk to the press about the deplorable conditions that the administration is fine with them living in? Punish the soldiers.
The Bully Boy who loves strut around in uniforms (with or without codpieces) is far less willing to do anything to actually help the soldiers wounded in his illegal war and the administration's answer to the Walter Reed scandal is to punish the troops with daily inspections and other idiotic chores WHILE THEY ARE SUPPOSED TO BE RECEIVING MEDICAL CARE FOR THEIR WOUNDS.
Turning to news of war resisters, Tina Chau (Hawaii's KMGB9) reports that Ehren Watada's court-martil has been set for July 16-20 and that the "pre-trial motions are to be heard on May 20 and 21." In June, Watada became the first officer to publicly refuse to deploy to Iraq. In August of last year, the military held an Article 32 hearing at Fort Lewis to determine whether or not to go forward with a court-martial. At the start of this month, the court-martial of Watada began and ran for three days -- on the third day, Judge Toilet (aka John Head) ruled a mistrial over the objections of the defense (and initially without even the prosecution in support of a mistrial). Eric Seitz, Watada's civilian attorney, has maintained that the double-jeopardy clause of the Constitution now applies and that he will appeal any attempts to court-martial on that basis.
Lehia Apana (The Maui News) reports that Ehren Watada's father Bob and his step-mother Rosa Sakanishi were at the Maui Community College Library on Monday where Bob spoke to "an energetic crowd" of at least 75 people about his son and how "he believes the judge realized his son had a chance of being acquitted of the charges and therefore forced the prosecution to request a mistrial."
Last Friday the military re-filed charges against Watada, the day prior, as Conor Reed and Steve Leigh (Socialist Worker) observe was Mark Wilkerson's court-martial and that he issued a statement, "My Conscience is Clear," at his website:
I am now a twenty three year old man. When I made the decision to join the Army, I was a boy. When I made the decision to go AWOL I was still in many ways a boy.I realize in retrospect that going AWOL may not have been the right decision for me to make, but given the circumstances I found myself in at that time, I felt it was the only logical decision for me. I felt as though I wasn't being taken seriously by my chain-of-command. I was crushed when my conscientious objector application was denied. I had failed somehow in conveying in words just what I felt in my head and heart, and that was that I could not, in good conscience, serve as a soldier in the United States Army. I could not deploy to a foreign land with a weapon in my hand, representing my government. I am not willing to kill, or be killed for my government. When I enlisted in the Army, I thought I would be able to, but after Iraq, my beliefs became such that I could no longer participate.This was what I told my chain-of-command. I felt they didn't care what I said or believed. So I fled. I quit my job. No other occupation in the United States punishes you as badly as what the military does for quitting your job. But that's ok. I'm willing to face whatever punishment the government deems appropriate.In my Battalion's Retention Office, there is a quote by Retired Army General Bernard Rogers, and it states "This is a volunteer force. Soldiers volunteer to meet our standards. If they don't meet them, we should thank them for trying and send them home." Well, I enlisted into the Army with the best intentions. I had other options. But I wanted to serve my country. And when I felt my country was doing the very thing we pretend to condone, I took a stand. And to me that is the core of democracy. If the Army feels as though I didn't meet the standards, they should thank me for trying and send me home. There's no lesson prison can teach me. Prison is established for criminals who committed crimes that the majority of our society can say in morally wrong. And with this crime, I don't know if that can be said. Even though I committed a crime, I'm no criminal. And even if I do go to prison, I'm no longer a prisoner. My conscience is clear. I'm no menace to society. I have stayed true to myself and my moral code throughout my life, and that will never change. Just let me live my life, and I know I will live it well.
Susan Van Haitsma (CounterPunch) shares some of her encounters with Wilkerson and observations before concluding: "Mark wanted to help his country, but his country betrayed him. His country capitalized on his honorable intentions, gave him false promises, fed him misinformation, used him to carry out inhumane missions, caused him psychological injury and then punished him by making him an object lesson for his fellow GI's. In fact, Mark is an example of the best kind, for all of us. In the same courtroom where soldiers were sentenced for harming Abu Ghraib prisoners, Mark was sentenced for refusing to harm."
Wilkerson is scheduled to be released in September; however, the judge could release him earlier. Going before a judge Tuesday, March 6th in Germany is war resister Agustin Aguayo. Workers World notes that he is "charged with desertion and missing movement because of his refusal to go to Iraq." Though not etched in stone, the military has generally attempted to use desertion charges for those who were absent without leave for a month or more. In Aguayo's case, they've elected to toss that (Aguayo was gone from September 2nd through September 26th). Gillian Russom (Socialist Worker) spoke with Helga Aguayo, Agustin's wife, about his case, his feelings about the war, her own and much more. Agustin was a medica and he joined the military to support his family and to help people (he and his wife have two young daughters). Helga explained to Russom that, for her, it was seeing the experiences of military families that made her start questioning the war -- the creation of "geographical single mothers" -- and that for her husband, a book on Iraq's history took him from conscientious objector to the belief "that the war in Iraq has essentially been created of the personal gain of a few people." Helga also notes that her husband saw Sir! No Sir! and "it just revved him up for what he knew he might have to face." He's facing? Agustin Aguayo could be sentenced to as many as seven years in prison if convicted during his court-martial because the military is going for desertion. Why go for desertion?
Aguayo and Kyle Snyder both were screwed over by the military in different ways and they were among the last ones going public. (Snyder is back in Canada.) Tossing aside the rule of thumb re: desertion to charge Aguayo with that is considered as part of an effort by the military to clamp down on the growing movement.
Aguayo, Watada, Wilkerson and Snyder are part of a movement of resistance with the military that includes others such as Camilo Mejia, Patrick Hart, Ivan Brobeck, Darrell Anderson, Ricky Clousing, Aidan Delgado, Joshua Key, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Jeremy Hinzman, Stephen Funk, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Corey Glass, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Katherine Jashinski, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Tim Richard and Kevin Benderman. In total, thirty-eight US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.Information on war resistance within the military can be found at Center on Conscience & War, The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline, and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters.
Joshua Key, war resister and author of the new book The Deserter's Tale, speaks with Christina Leadlay (Canada's Embassy Book Review) and notes that the passport requirement for travel back and forth between the US and Canada "would deter a lot of people [who] don't have passports, and if you're on the run and a deserter from the military, you're not going to be able to gain that passport." Joshua, his wife Brandi and their children went to Canada after Key returned from Iraq. There, he has sought refugee status and is currently appealing the denial of asylum. Key describes his decision to join the military as part of "the military's poverty draft" telling Leadlay: "You're stuck. You have no money. There is no other choice. If you want health care, if you want steady pay, and if you're even considering going to college, the [military] billboards pretty well offer it to you. When I joined there was not a wealthy person in the entire operation. I'd never seen a rich person in the military. I'd never seen a politican's son; I'd never seen anybody with any stature. We were all the same . . . coming from places that most people wouldn't even hear of, small towns, farms boys, and you're just looking for a way out."
Key's statements jibe with the study Kimberly Hefling (AP) reported on last week -- the communities in America that are most directly effected by the US military death toll in Iraq -- almost half of the dead are "from towns . . . where fewer than 25,000 people live" and that "nearly three quarters of those killed in Iraq came from towns where the per capita income was below the national average. More than half came from towns where the percentage of people living in poverty topped the national average."
Sir! No Sir!, noted above, is a study of resistance within the military during the Vietnam era. The amazing documentary, directed by David Zeiger, was recently re-released in a special director's cut version with additional bonus features. In addition, (audio link) DJ Dave Rabbitt interviews Jane Fonda here. DJ Dave Rabbitt, along with Pete Sadler and Nguyen, operated an underground radio station (Radio First Termer) while serving in Vietnam. (He also acts as the dee jay for the soundtrack to Sir! No Sir!)
RECOMMENDED: "Iraq snapshot"
"Other Items""Watada's court-martial set for July 16-20""dahr jamail, plamegate & more""Grab bag""Scary realities""Walter Cronkite, Tariq Ali""THIS JUST IN! BULLY BOY MEETS MR. HECKLES!""Bully Boy works a tough room (humor)"
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Bully Boy works a tough room (humor)
BULLY BOY PRESS & CEDRIC'S BIX MIX -- DC.
SECRETARY OF STATE AND ANGER CONDI RICE WARNED US, "HE IS IN A MOOD!"
AND BOY WAS HE.
TODAY BULLY BOY HAD TO GIVE A MEDAL OF HONOR TO AN ARMY HELICOPTER PILOT, LT. COL. BRUCE CRANDALL.
HE DIDN'T LIKE THE SPEECH THAT WAS WRITTEN FOR HIM: "THE SUFFERING AND GRIEF COULD HAVE BEEN FAR WORSE. ONE OF THE REASONS IT WAS NOT WAS BECAUSE OF THE MAN WE HONOR TODAY. FOR THE SOLDIERS RESCUED, FOR THE MEN THAT CAME HOME, FOR THE CHILDREN THEY HAD AND THE LIVES THEY MADE, AMERICA IS IN DEBT TO BRUCE CRANDALL."
COLLIE POWELL, FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE, ATTENDED THE CEREMONIES AND MADE CAT CALLS THROUGHOUT.
"WHAT WAR WAS THAT?"
AFTER POWELL SHOUTED THAT OUT FOR THE SIXTH TIME, A TICKED OFF BULLY BOY RESPONDED, "VIETNAM!"
SILENCE FOLLOWED AND BULLY BOY SEEMED TO RELAX.
THEN POWELL POPPED OFF ANOTHER, "AND WHERE WERE YOU?"
ANGRY, BULLY BOY STORMED OUT OF THE CEREMONY WHILE POWELL WAS SEEN CHUCKLING WITH A LARGE NUMBER OF EX-GENERALS.
FROM THE TCI WIRE:
Starting with the subject of war resisters. Agustin Aguayo was the topic today on KPFA's The Morning Show and Philip Maldari spoke with Jeff Englehart and Tom Cassidy of Iraq Veterans Against the War. Pointing to the common thread between Aguayo, Mark Wilkerson and Ehren Watada, Englehart observed: "These guys have basically opted not to go based on the illegality of the war and the criminality of it." They then addressed Aguayo's case specifically noting that he was "a medic who actually signed up to help people, not to take lives," that he refused to load his weapon while serving in Iraq (Cassidy: "I'd say that more than anything validates his conscientious objector status."), and how being in Germany added a physical distance (his wife Helga is attempting to raise money to travel to the court-martial). They discussed how the AWOL process varies from case to case (Cassidy: "It seems like no two AWOL cases are the same" Englehart: "Military justice is an oxymoron."), and how those serving on Aguayo's jury will be "guys who are lifers," "serious hardliners basically determining the fate of his life." The also addressed the war.
Engelhart: Jeff: Generally I kind of questioned the war from the very outset and I went into Iraq very skeptical. But it was while I was there I saw some things that really solidified in my mind what I would consider an anti-war sentiment. . . The most important thing I saw that really turned me against the war was the, uh, well two things really. A lot of the civilian deaths. Basically the way I saw a lot of the civilians deaths, and there were many, they were caused because of our complicit involvement in the occupation.
Maldari: . . . Complicity with who was killing whom and why?
Jeff: Well anytime you have an occupying force and the strongest military in the world occupying heavily populated urban areas, civilian deaths occur on any given second in response to small arms attacks from insurgents. We have to understand, we're using some of the most advanced weaponary in the world, like 50 caliber machine guns, . . . grenade launchers, you know, 500 lb bombs, 1000 lb bombs, depleted uranium, white phosphorus . . . All these things take into account. And you're dropping them essentially on civilian neighborhoods and you're using them in civilian neighborhoods. And a lot of those civilians deaths I saw were the result of sectarian differences basically what I viewed as our US forces pitting ethnic groups against each other to establish a subservient ethnicity to govern the Iraqis but a lot of those car bombs and suicide bombs that killed a lot of civilians was internal, it was in fact internal, but what I viewed as basically our own involvement was causing it. And a lot of times in any kind of urban strife just our own sheer power would destroy, you know, vast amounts of urban neighborhoods. And that's one thing I think we really lost the war in the fact that we lost the hearts and minds and you really can't win the hearts and minds with shock & awe.
Maldari: Well I interrupted you. You said you had a second reason as well.
Englehart: Just the dehumanization of Arab culture. As opposed to what the West would like to view the Arabs as backwards people who need our help. And . .. . Just scratch the surface of any kind of knowledge you would want to gain from the Arab world, you'd find that they are peaceful people, who are very intelligent and can govern themselves without any help.
Cassidy spoke of the derogatory words "used on a lot of official documents as a term to describe the Iraqi people which is sad because we had a civil rights movement like forty or fifty years ago and we still haven't gotten over just blatantly being racist to other cultures."
Elsa Rassbach (American Voices Abroad Military Projects) joined them in the last five minutes. And, FYI, re: Thomas Cassidy and Jeff Englehart. They have been speaking on campuses [AnnMarie Cornejo (San Luis Obispo Tribune) reported on a high school appearance last Thursday] and they and other members of Iraq Veterans Against the War are very interested in discussing their experiences. If you'd like to request a speaker, click here.
To clear up some confusion. Mark Wilkerson was sentenced to seven months as part of a plea agreement. Mark Wilkerson was also charged with being AWOL. Though he was not gone a full month (he was gone September 2nd through September 26th), Agustin Aguayo has been charged with desertion. Desertion charges come with longer potential sentences than do charges of AWOL. Aguayo is facing a maximum of seven years imprisonment if he is found guilty in the March 6th court-martial and if he receives the maximum sentence.
Maldari noted these upcoming events for Aguayo:
*6:30 War Memorial Building in San Francisco tonight. (401 Van Ness). This is a fundraising dinner.
*Tomorrow (Tuesday) 10 to noon City College of San Francisco Diego Rivera Theater, Ocean Campus, presentation of Iraq: The Case For Immediate Withdrawal and The Growing Military Resistance to the War.
* Saturday, in Oakland, 7pm to 2 am a party benefit that will include dee jays and performers (Taiko Ren, Qeen Deelah & Cov Records Artists, ICAF-Oakland, Zazous, Fuga, DJ Zahkee and Qbug.
For more information on the above, click here.
An article in Germany's Der Spiegel, by Mary Wiltenburg, mentions Aguayo but it is not about Aguayo. (About a fifth of the article covers Aguayo.) Wiltenburg looks at the growing resistance "[o]n military bases across Germany" and, noting there are "no guarantees," reports: In practice, many soldiers who go AWOL overseas follow the advice of the Army's deserter hotline and quietly turn themselves in to Ft. Sill or Ft. Knox. Ft. Knox spokeswoman Gini Sinclair says most of the 14,000-plus troops who have been processed through the two centers since the invasion of Aghanistan were discharged within two weeks." Wiltenburg speaks with Michael Sharp ("director of the Military Counseling Network, a non-profitogranisation near Heidelberg that helps American soldiers who are considering leaving the service") and reports: "Last month the group took on 30 new clients, three times its previous average."
Meanwhile, Carolyn Tate and Maizie Harris Jesse (Nevada Appeal) note: "Thirty-nine years ago in March, the horrible incident at Mai Lai in Vietnam occurred. When Lt. William Calley was court martialed, he insisted he was just following orders. Remarks were made at the time that he should have disobeyed and refused to kill civilians. Now they are trying to court martial Lt. Ehren Watada for refusing to deploy to Iraq. Lt. Watada has said he will go to Afghanistan and fight, but not Iraq, because he believes it to be an 'illegal' war (we agree). Double standard? Is it his Mai Lai? Or is he derelict for not following orders? Think about it."
Yesterday on The KPFA Evening News, Aaron Glantz reported on the army's decision to refile charges against Ehren Watada last Friday. Eric Seitz, Watada's civilian attorney, stated, "It is my professional opinion that Lt. Watada cannot be tried again because of the effects of double-jeopardy. . . . Once jeopardy has attached and it clearly did attach in this case when the jury panel was sworn in and when the first witness testified the protection against double-jeopardy applies as a Constitutional matter."
Jeff Paterson (Courage to Resist, Not In Our Name) told Glantz: "The military wanted to avoid showing to all the other people, all the other troops who are facing 2nd and 3rd and 4th deployments to Iraq is that if you don't go to Iraq and you speak out, you'll have a thousand people rally to your defense, pay all your legal bills, Sean Penn will hang out with you and [you will] go to prison for a few months or do you go to Iraq? And I think some people would go for that deal of the public support and spending a few months in prison instead of Iraq."
Glantz also noted that Mark Wilkerson was sentenced to seven months last Thursday and that he will be imprisoned until September (unless he is released early).(Glantz' report also aired on yesterday's Free Speech Radio News).
This month is an anniversary as well. First Coast News' Shannon Ogden noted: "This month is also the anniversary of Camilo Mejia's release from military prison." Mejia was released on February 15, 2005. Mejia self-checked out of the military after serving in Iraq and received a one-year sentence. Odgen spoke with Camilo Mejia who states, "You know, I couldn't really justify, I'd say, 90 percent of the things we did in Iraq." He also offers that "the entire invasion lacked authority . . . it was not in response to an attack on the US." Echoing the issue Tate and Harris Jesse raised above, Mejia noted, "In the military, we have a duty to refuse an order that we know is illegal." He also notes, "Absolutley. And I do feel like a coward but not for not going back but for going in the first place. Because I knew the war was wrong from the beginning." Odgen mentioned that Mejia will soon begin a lecture tour behind his upcoming autobiography. That book is Road from ar Ramadi: The Prviate Rebellion of Staff Sergeant Camilo Mejia -- due out May 1st, from The New Press, with an afterword written by Chris Hedges.
Aguayo, Watada, Wilkerson and Mejia are part of a movement of resistance with the military that includes others such as Kyle Snyder, Patrick Hart, Ivan Brobeck, Darrell Anderson, Ricky Clousing, Aidan Delgado, Joshua Key, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Jeremy Hinzman, Stephen Funk, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Corey Glass, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Katherine Jashinski, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Tim Richard and Kevin Benderman. In total, thirty-eight US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.Information on war resistance within the military can be found at Center on Conscience & War, The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline, and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters.
RECOMMENDED: "Iraq snapshot""Iraqi oil law and look who discovered weapons""Other Items""women and owning power while you have it""It's a democracy, not a junta""Feminist Wire Daily, Danny Schechter, etc.""Third, Ralph Nader""THIS JUST IN! MEAN GIRL IN CHIEF SAYS 'BRING IT!'""Everything he knows he learned in cheerleading camp"
SECRETARY OF STATE AND ANGER CONDI RICE WARNED US, "HE IS IN A MOOD!"
AND BOY WAS HE.
TODAY BULLY BOY HAD TO GIVE A MEDAL OF HONOR TO AN ARMY HELICOPTER PILOT, LT. COL. BRUCE CRANDALL.
HE DIDN'T LIKE THE SPEECH THAT WAS WRITTEN FOR HIM: "THE SUFFERING AND GRIEF COULD HAVE BEEN FAR WORSE. ONE OF THE REASONS IT WAS NOT WAS BECAUSE OF THE MAN WE HONOR TODAY. FOR THE SOLDIERS RESCUED, FOR THE MEN THAT CAME HOME, FOR THE CHILDREN THEY HAD AND THE LIVES THEY MADE, AMERICA IS IN DEBT TO BRUCE CRANDALL."
COLLIE POWELL, FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE, ATTENDED THE CEREMONIES AND MADE CAT CALLS THROUGHOUT.
"WHAT WAR WAS THAT?"
AFTER POWELL SHOUTED THAT OUT FOR THE SIXTH TIME, A TICKED OFF BULLY BOY RESPONDED, "VIETNAM!"
SILENCE FOLLOWED AND BULLY BOY SEEMED TO RELAX.
THEN POWELL POPPED OFF ANOTHER, "AND WHERE WERE YOU?"
ANGRY, BULLY BOY STORMED OUT OF THE CEREMONY WHILE POWELL WAS SEEN CHUCKLING WITH A LARGE NUMBER OF EX-GENERALS.
FROM THE TCI WIRE:
Starting with the subject of war resisters. Agustin Aguayo was the topic today on KPFA's The Morning Show and Philip Maldari spoke with Jeff Englehart and Tom Cassidy of Iraq Veterans Against the War. Pointing to the common thread between Aguayo, Mark Wilkerson and Ehren Watada, Englehart observed: "These guys have basically opted not to go based on the illegality of the war and the criminality of it." They then addressed Aguayo's case specifically noting that he was "a medic who actually signed up to help people, not to take lives," that he refused to load his weapon while serving in Iraq (Cassidy: "I'd say that more than anything validates his conscientious objector status."), and how being in Germany added a physical distance (his wife Helga is attempting to raise money to travel to the court-martial). They discussed how the AWOL process varies from case to case (Cassidy: "It seems like no two AWOL cases are the same" Englehart: "Military justice is an oxymoron."), and how those serving on Aguayo's jury will be "guys who are lifers," "serious hardliners basically determining the fate of his life." The also addressed the war.
Engelhart: Jeff: Generally I kind of questioned the war from the very outset and I went into Iraq very skeptical. But it was while I was there I saw some things that really solidified in my mind what I would consider an anti-war sentiment. . . The most important thing I saw that really turned me against the war was the, uh, well two things really. A lot of the civilian deaths. Basically the way I saw a lot of the civilians deaths, and there were many, they were caused because of our complicit involvement in the occupation.
Maldari: . . . Complicity with who was killing whom and why?
Jeff: Well anytime you have an occupying force and the strongest military in the world occupying heavily populated urban areas, civilian deaths occur on any given second in response to small arms attacks from insurgents. We have to understand, we're using some of the most advanced weaponary in the world, like 50 caliber machine guns, . . . grenade launchers, you know, 500 lb bombs, 1000 lb bombs, depleted uranium, white phosphorus . . . All these things take into account. And you're dropping them essentially on civilian neighborhoods and you're using them in civilian neighborhoods. And a lot of those civilians deaths I saw were the result of sectarian differences basically what I viewed as our US forces pitting ethnic groups against each other to establish a subservient ethnicity to govern the Iraqis but a lot of those car bombs and suicide bombs that killed a lot of civilians was internal, it was in fact internal, but what I viewed as basically our own involvement was causing it. And a lot of times in any kind of urban strife just our own sheer power would destroy, you know, vast amounts of urban neighborhoods. And that's one thing I think we really lost the war in the fact that we lost the hearts and minds and you really can't win the hearts and minds with shock & awe.
Maldari: Well I interrupted you. You said you had a second reason as well.
Englehart: Just the dehumanization of Arab culture. As opposed to what the West would like to view the Arabs as backwards people who need our help. And . .. . Just scratch the surface of any kind of knowledge you would want to gain from the Arab world, you'd find that they are peaceful people, who are very intelligent and can govern themselves without any help.
Cassidy spoke of the derogatory words "used on a lot of official documents as a term to describe the Iraqi people which is sad because we had a civil rights movement like forty or fifty years ago and we still haven't gotten over just blatantly being racist to other cultures."
Elsa Rassbach (American Voices Abroad Military Projects) joined them in the last five minutes. And, FYI, re: Thomas Cassidy and Jeff Englehart. They have been speaking on campuses [AnnMarie Cornejo (San Luis Obispo Tribune) reported on a high school appearance last Thursday] and they and other members of Iraq Veterans Against the War are very interested in discussing their experiences. If you'd like to request a speaker, click here.
To clear up some confusion. Mark Wilkerson was sentenced to seven months as part of a plea agreement. Mark Wilkerson was also charged with being AWOL. Though he was not gone a full month (he was gone September 2nd through September 26th), Agustin Aguayo has been charged with desertion. Desertion charges come with longer potential sentences than do charges of AWOL. Aguayo is facing a maximum of seven years imprisonment if he is found guilty in the March 6th court-martial and if he receives the maximum sentence.
Maldari noted these upcoming events for Aguayo:
*6:30 War Memorial Building in San Francisco tonight. (401 Van Ness). This is a fundraising dinner.
*Tomorrow (Tuesday) 10 to noon City College of San Francisco Diego Rivera Theater, Ocean Campus, presentation of Iraq: The Case For Immediate Withdrawal and The Growing Military Resistance to the War.
* Saturday, in Oakland, 7pm to 2 am a party benefit that will include dee jays and performers (Taiko Ren, Qeen Deelah & Cov Records Artists, ICAF-Oakland, Zazous, Fuga, DJ Zahkee and Qbug.
For more information on the above, click here.
An article in Germany's Der Spiegel, by Mary Wiltenburg, mentions Aguayo but it is not about Aguayo. (About a fifth of the article covers Aguayo.) Wiltenburg looks at the growing resistance "[o]n military bases across Germany" and, noting there are "no guarantees," reports: In practice, many soldiers who go AWOL overseas follow the advice of the Army's deserter hotline and quietly turn themselves in to Ft. Sill or Ft. Knox. Ft. Knox spokeswoman Gini Sinclair says most of the 14,000-plus troops who have been processed through the two centers since the invasion of Aghanistan were discharged within two weeks." Wiltenburg speaks with Michael Sharp ("director of the Military Counseling Network, a non-profitogranisation near Heidelberg that helps American soldiers who are considering leaving the service") and reports: "Last month the group took on 30 new clients, three times its previous average."
Meanwhile, Carolyn Tate and Maizie Harris Jesse (Nevada Appeal) note: "Thirty-nine years ago in March, the horrible incident at Mai Lai in Vietnam occurred. When Lt. William Calley was court martialed, he insisted he was just following orders. Remarks were made at the time that he should have disobeyed and refused to kill civilians. Now they are trying to court martial Lt. Ehren Watada for refusing to deploy to Iraq. Lt. Watada has said he will go to Afghanistan and fight, but not Iraq, because he believes it to be an 'illegal' war (we agree). Double standard? Is it his Mai Lai? Or is he derelict for not following orders? Think about it."
Yesterday on The KPFA Evening News, Aaron Glantz reported on the army's decision to refile charges against Ehren Watada last Friday. Eric Seitz, Watada's civilian attorney, stated, "It is my professional opinion that Lt. Watada cannot be tried again because of the effects of double-jeopardy. . . . Once jeopardy has attached and it clearly did attach in this case when the jury panel was sworn in and when the first witness testified the protection against double-jeopardy applies as a Constitutional matter."
Jeff Paterson (Courage to Resist, Not In Our Name) told Glantz: "The military wanted to avoid showing to all the other people, all the other troops who are facing 2nd and 3rd and 4th deployments to Iraq is that if you don't go to Iraq and you speak out, you'll have a thousand people rally to your defense, pay all your legal bills, Sean Penn will hang out with you and [you will] go to prison for a few months or do you go to Iraq? And I think some people would go for that deal of the public support and spending a few months in prison instead of Iraq."
Glantz also noted that Mark Wilkerson was sentenced to seven months last Thursday and that he will be imprisoned until September (unless he is released early).(Glantz' report also aired on yesterday's Free Speech Radio News).
This month is an anniversary as well. First Coast News' Shannon Ogden noted: "This month is also the anniversary of Camilo Mejia's release from military prison." Mejia was released on February 15, 2005. Mejia self-checked out of the military after serving in Iraq and received a one-year sentence. Odgen spoke with Camilo Mejia who states, "You know, I couldn't really justify, I'd say, 90 percent of the things we did in Iraq." He also offers that "the entire invasion lacked authority . . . it was not in response to an attack on the US." Echoing the issue Tate and Harris Jesse raised above, Mejia noted, "In the military, we have a duty to refuse an order that we know is illegal." He also notes, "Absolutley. And I do feel like a coward but not for not going back but for going in the first place. Because I knew the war was wrong from the beginning." Odgen mentioned that Mejia will soon begin a lecture tour behind his upcoming autobiography. That book is Road from ar Ramadi: The Prviate Rebellion of Staff Sergeant Camilo Mejia -- due out May 1st, from The New Press, with an afterword written by Chris Hedges.
Aguayo, Watada, Wilkerson and Mejia are part of a movement of resistance with the military that includes others such as Kyle Snyder, Patrick Hart, Ivan Brobeck, Darrell Anderson, Ricky Clousing, Aidan Delgado, Joshua Key, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Jeremy Hinzman, Stephen Funk, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Corey Glass, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Katherine Jashinski, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Tim Richard and Kevin Benderman. In total, thirty-eight US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.Information on war resistance within the military can be found at Center on Conscience & War, The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline, and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters.
RECOMMENDED: "Iraq snapshot""Iraqi oil law and look who discovered weapons""Other Items""women and owning power while you have it""It's a democracy, not a junta""Feminist Wire Daily, Danny Schechter, etc.""Third, Ralph Nader""THIS JUST IN! MEAN GIRL IN CHIEF SAYS 'BRING IT!'""Everything he knows he learned in cheerleading camp"
Monday, February 26, 2007
Everything he knows he learned in cheerleading camp
BULLY BOY PRESS & CEDRIC'S BIX MIX -- DC.
BULLY BOY HAD A BIG CHUCKLE TODAY AS DEMOCRATS WHO HAVE WASTED 4 YEARS REFUSING TO CALL OUT THE ILLEGAL WAR NOW FIND THEMSELVES
IN A STARING MATCH WITH A VILLAGE IDIOT.
"THEY'LL BLINK FIRST," BULLY BOY CONFIDED TO THESE REPORTERS. "I DON'T BACK DOWN. I LEARNED ALL ABOUT THAT IN CHEERLEADING CAMP. I LEARNED CHEERS AND COOL SAYINGS LIKE 'BRING IT ON.' I LEARNED JUST HOW FAR TO GO ON A DATE WITHOUT BEING CONSIDERED A SLUT. AND I LEARNED THAT THE MEANEST OF THE MEAN GIRLS ALWAYS RULES! YOU GOT TO BE TOUGH AND CATTY TO MAKE HEAD CHEERLEADER AND MY MOMMA TAUGHT ME HOW TO PLAY TO WIN!"
FROM THE TCI WIRE:
Starting with news of war resistance. Friday, the US military decided to charge Ehren Watada again. In June of last year, Watada became the first officer to publicly refuse to deploy to Iraq. At the start of this month, he was court-martialed for his stand. Over defense objection, and only after repeatedly hinting to the prosecution that they should request a mistrial, Judge Toilet (John Head) declared the court-martial a mistrial. The US military is attempting to maintain that the double-jeopardy clause doesn't apply. Peter Boylan (Honolulu Advertiser) reported Saturday that Eric Seitz, Watada's civilian attorney, was "surprised" by the decision to refile the charges and that he believes "the Army has made so many bad mistakes in this case that the chances of them having a successful outcome are very slim." Tuesday, The Honolulu Advertiser notes, Eric Seitz will debate Michael Lewis at the William S. Richardson School of Law at the University of Hawaii at Manoa -- the debate is billed as "Lt. Watada's Case and the Legality of the War in Iraq" (12:40 pm to 1:25 pm).
Ehren Watada is part of a movement of resistance with the military that includes others such as Kyle Snyder, Patrick Hart, Agustin Aguayo (scheduled to be court-martialed in Germany beginning March 6th), Ivan Brobeck, Mark Wilkerson, Darrell Anderson, Ricky Clousing, Aidan Delgado, Joshua Key, Camilo Meija, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Jeremy Hinzman, Stephen Funk, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Corey Glass, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Katherine Jashinski, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Tim Richard and Kevin Benderman. In total, thirty-eight US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.
Information on war resistance within the military can be found at Center on Conscience & War, The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline, and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters.
In addition CBS' Lara Logan spoke with a group of people who have signed a petition that states: "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." But, as demonstrated in statements to Logan for the piece that aired Sunday on CBS' 60 Minutes, the war not being "worth the price" doesn't mean that any signer won't go. The speakers took great stride to point out that they were good soldiers who would obey every order. Maybe next time they can be ordered not to sign petitions? Coming off less than appealing (Ronn Cantu: "By volunteering we've done more than about 99 percent of the population"), they (or their egos) may have finally buried their own timid action. Putting out the weakest and most rah-rah voices didn't help. Playing politically stupid didn't help. A smart group of service members put the project together and in the weeks since it's been repeatedly dumbed down for public consumption. As Mike noted Friday, The Pooper was crowing about how he was the first to cover the timid group -- as though that's something to be proud of? -- but the reality is many others (including Nora Barrows-Friedman, that's Law & Disorder) had covered it long before the Pooper did.
Today, Jon Cohen (Washington Post) reports on the paper's most recent joint-poll (with ABC) which found that respondes favored "Congressional Democrats over Bush to handle the situation in Iraq by a 54 percent to 34 percent margine"; however, there was also "a five-point increase in the number who trust neither the Democrats in Congress nor the President on the issue". This as Jeff Leys (CounterPunch) reports on how Dems in Congress "are buying the Iraq war lock, stock and barrel. Indeed, fewer votes may be cast against continuing Iraq war funding this year than last". The five-point increase in the Washington Post - ABC poll could increase next go round if Democrats do not start recognizing what's gone on around the country. As Amy Goodman (Democracy Now!) noted, "In Election news, five peace activists were arrested on Friday at a fundraiser for Hillary Clinton in San Francisco. They held banners that said 'We Need a Peace Presidet' and 'Hillary, Stop Funding War'." The Occupation Project -- where citizens visit and sit in at the offices of their elected representiatives -- is currently going on throughout the country and you can click here for more information. Meanwhile Margaret Taley (AP) reports that Dems in the US Congress are feeling boxed in by the meaningless, marketed phrase that was created to clampdown on dissent but silly fools thought that adding "We" in front of it would 'frame' it.
RECOMMENDED: "Iraq snapshot"
"Other Items"
"Iraq's president in Jordan receiving treatment, vp injured in Baghdad"
"And the war drags on . . ."
"Isaiah's The World Today Just Nuts "Talking Dick""
"NYT: Whispers echo in the Cave"
"Ruth's Report"
"Kat's Korner: Air kisses from Diana Ross"
"Iraq quickly"
"The dirty joke that is military "justice""
"Truest statement of the week"
"A Note to Our Readers"
"Editorial: Watada, they go after, Watada"
"TV: Aftermath leaves an aftertaste"
"The Weeping Rapist"
"Talking artistic representation with The Common Ills' Isaiah"
"Mailbag"
"If he exceeds his reach, you must impeach"
"The Nation Stats"
"All is revealed"
"Highlights"
"THIS JUST IN! THE SAD DICK! "
"No climax for Cheney (humor) "
BULLY BOY HAD A BIG CHUCKLE TODAY AS DEMOCRATS WHO HAVE WASTED 4 YEARS REFUSING TO CALL OUT THE ILLEGAL WAR NOW FIND THEMSELVES
IN A STARING MATCH WITH A VILLAGE IDIOT.
"THEY'LL BLINK FIRST," BULLY BOY CONFIDED TO THESE REPORTERS. "I DON'T BACK DOWN. I LEARNED ALL ABOUT THAT IN CHEERLEADING CAMP. I LEARNED CHEERS AND COOL SAYINGS LIKE 'BRING IT ON.' I LEARNED JUST HOW FAR TO GO ON A DATE WITHOUT BEING CONSIDERED A SLUT. AND I LEARNED THAT THE MEANEST OF THE MEAN GIRLS ALWAYS RULES! YOU GOT TO BE TOUGH AND CATTY TO MAKE HEAD CHEERLEADER AND MY MOMMA TAUGHT ME HOW TO PLAY TO WIN!"
FROM THE TCI WIRE:
Starting with news of war resistance. Friday, the US military decided to charge Ehren Watada again. In June of last year, Watada became the first officer to publicly refuse to deploy to Iraq. At the start of this month, he was court-martialed for his stand. Over defense objection, and only after repeatedly hinting to the prosecution that they should request a mistrial, Judge Toilet (John Head) declared the court-martial a mistrial. The US military is attempting to maintain that the double-jeopardy clause doesn't apply. Peter Boylan (Honolulu Advertiser) reported Saturday that Eric Seitz, Watada's civilian attorney, was "surprised" by the decision to refile the charges and that he believes "the Army has made so many bad mistakes in this case that the chances of them having a successful outcome are very slim." Tuesday, The Honolulu Advertiser notes, Eric Seitz will debate Michael Lewis at the William S. Richardson School of Law at the University of Hawaii at Manoa -- the debate is billed as "Lt. Watada's Case and the Legality of the War in Iraq" (12:40 pm to 1:25 pm).
Ehren Watada is part of a movement of resistance with the military that includes others such as Kyle Snyder, Patrick Hart, Agustin Aguayo (scheduled to be court-martialed in Germany beginning March 6th), Ivan Brobeck, Mark Wilkerson, Darrell Anderson, Ricky Clousing, Aidan Delgado, Joshua Key, Camilo Meija, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Jeremy Hinzman, Stephen Funk, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Corey Glass, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Katherine Jashinski, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Tim Richard and Kevin Benderman. In total, thirty-eight US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.
Information on war resistance within the military can be found at Center on Conscience & War, The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline, and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters.
In addition CBS' Lara Logan spoke with a group of people who have signed a petition that states: "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." But, as demonstrated in statements to Logan for the piece that aired Sunday on CBS' 60 Minutes, the war not being "worth the price" doesn't mean that any signer won't go. The speakers took great stride to point out that they were good soldiers who would obey every order. Maybe next time they can be ordered not to sign petitions? Coming off less than appealing (Ronn Cantu: "By volunteering we've done more than about 99 percent of the population"), they (or their egos) may have finally buried their own timid action. Putting out the weakest and most rah-rah voices didn't help. Playing politically stupid didn't help. A smart group of service members put the project together and in the weeks since it's been repeatedly dumbed down for public consumption. As Mike noted Friday, The Pooper was crowing about how he was the first to cover the timid group -- as though that's something to be proud of? -- but the reality is many others (including Nora Barrows-Friedman, that's Law & Disorder) had covered it long before the Pooper did.
Today, Jon Cohen (Washington Post) reports on the paper's most recent joint-poll (with ABC) which found that respondes favored "Congressional Democrats over Bush to handle the situation in Iraq by a 54 percent to 34 percent margine"; however, there was also "a five-point increase in the number who trust neither the Democrats in Congress nor the President on the issue". This as Jeff Leys (CounterPunch) reports on how Dems in Congress "are buying the Iraq war lock, stock and barrel. Indeed, fewer votes may be cast against continuing Iraq war funding this year than last". The five-point increase in the Washington Post - ABC poll could increase next go round if Democrats do not start recognizing what's gone on around the country. As Amy Goodman (Democracy Now!) noted, "In Election news, five peace activists were arrested on Friday at a fundraiser for Hillary Clinton in San Francisco. They held banners that said 'We Need a Peace Presidet' and 'Hillary, Stop Funding War'." The Occupation Project -- where citizens visit and sit in at the offices of their elected representiatives -- is currently going on throughout the country and you can click here for more information. Meanwhile Margaret Taley (AP) reports that Dems in the US Congress are feeling boxed in by the meaningless, marketed phrase that was created to clampdown on dissent but silly fools thought that adding "We" in front of it would 'frame' it.
RECOMMENDED: "Iraq snapshot"
"Other Items"
"Iraq's president in Jordan receiving treatment, vp injured in Baghdad"
"And the war drags on . . ."
"Isaiah's The World Today Just Nuts "Talking Dick""
"NYT: Whispers echo in the Cave"
"Ruth's Report"
"Kat's Korner: Air kisses from Diana Ross"
"Iraq quickly"
"The dirty joke that is military "justice""
"Truest statement of the week"
"A Note to Our Readers"
"Editorial: Watada, they go after, Watada"
"TV: Aftermath leaves an aftertaste"
"The Weeping Rapist"
"Talking artistic representation with The Common Ills' Isaiah"
"Mailbag"
"If he exceeds his reach, you must impeach"
"The Nation Stats"
"All is revealed"
"Highlights"
"THIS JUST IN! THE SAD DICK! "
"No climax for Cheney (humor) "
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