Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Cheery pick the truth - His testimony was omitted from the 9/11 Commission

The last man out of the World Trade Center will share his harrowing story of courage, strength and hope on Friday, August 17th at the Immanuel Presbyterian Church in Los Angeles. Actor Ed Asner along with 'Peace Mom' Cindy Sheehan are scheduled to appear.

Los Angeles, CA (PRWEB) July 31, 2007 -- Declared a hero for saving numerous lives at Ground Zero, William Rodriguez was the janitor on duty the morning of 9/11 who heard and felt explosions rock the basement sub-levels of the north tower just seconds before the jetliner struck the top floors. His testimony, which was omitted from the 9/11 Commission, destroys the government's official story because it means there is a possibility explosives were placed in the buildings. Several eyewitnesses also claim they heard multiple explosions before the buildings collapsed.

At great risk to his own life, William re-entered the Towers three times after the first, North Tower impact and is believed to be the last person to exit the North Tower alive, surviving the building's collapse by diving beneath a fire truck. After receiving medical attention at the site for his injuries, he then spent the rest of the day a volunteer in the rescue efforts, and at dawn the following morning, was back continuing his heroic efforts.

In addition to being a spokesperson for the New York City first responders (leading the cause for compensation issues and rights) William is also active in the movement for immigrant rights. When Latino survivors and relatives of victims of the attacks were not receiving adequate attention from support groups or relief programs, he helped form a group just for them. He was also a major force behind the campaign to encourage non-documented survivors and relatives of victims to come forward for help without fear of deportation. The group raised funds for scholarships for children of immigrants killed or maimed in the attacks.

William believes that now is the time for all people to stand up for truth, even if it means personal sacrifice. In addition to testifying in front of the 9/11 Commission, he is also the lead plaintiff in a federal RICO lawsuit filed against President Bush and others, alleging conspiracy to commit murder and other crimes in the deaths of more than 3,000 people at the WTC.

William Rodriguez tells his story live Friday August 17, 2007 at the Immanuel Presbyterian Church located at 3300 Wilshire Blvd in Los Angeles. The program begins at 7pm and there will be a donation request of $10. To view the trailer from William's new film The Last Man Out visit http://youtube.com/watch?v=0DEUzuzqSLQ

For more info or media inquiries please call Good Karma PR at 805-653-1588 or email GoodKarma @ GoodKarmaPR.com. You can also visit http://www.GoodKarmaPR.com.

Sponsored By: The Institute of Popular Education of Southern California (IDEPSCA) -- Physics Professor Steven Jones of Scholars for 9/11 Truth and Justice -- 911Truth.org -- 911WeKnow.com -- 911ShareTheTruth.com-- LooseChange911.com -- Professor James Fetzer of Scholars for 9/11 Truth -- 911TruthLA.us -- San Diegans for 9/11 Truth -- Pilots for 9/11 Truth --The Northern California 9/11 Truth Alliance -- Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth -- TruthAction.org -- WeAreChange.org -- H2Om Water

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Sunday, July 29, 2007

The Arredondo's whose son died in Iraq , criticize military recruitment


Conference at UR on immigrant solidarity
Parents whose son died in Iraq attend, criticize military recruitment
By MARGARET MATRAY
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER

Carlos Arredondo's son, Alexander Scott Arredondo, was 14 the first time he was approached by a military recruiter.

Alex joined the Marines when he was 17.

And he died in Iraq in 2004 when he was 20.

Arredondo travels the country to tell his story and warn parents about what he says are methods recruiters use to enlist young people and "seduce the immigrants."

Arredondo and his wife, Melida, were among a group of about 75 immigrant, labor and human-rights activists that gathered yesterday at the University of Richmond as part of a three-day conference hosted by the National Immigrant Solidarity Network.

The grass-roots conference was meant to create an open dialogue about immigration issues and link different activist groups to form a unified movement, said Lee Siu Hin, coordinator for the network, to the crowd inside the university's law school building.

The Arredondos, who are from Roslindale, Mass., said they believe certain military recruiting campaigns target young immigrants and Latino families. Recruiters appeal to the audience by saying that enlisting can help immigrants reach the "American dream," Melida Arredondo said.

She said she remembers finding gifts -- CDs, knapsacks, cigarettes and lighters -- in her son's room when she was tidying up one day before he was deployed. Alex also was given $10,000 as a sign-up bonus when he enlisted.

"I'm speaking out as much as I can," Carlos Arredondo said. Arredondo wore his son's dogtags around his neck and a black T-shirt that read: "No nos quedaremos callados -- We will not be silent." Arredondo received national attention after his son's death when he doused a government van with gasoline, climbed inside and set it on fire.

The speeches and meetings yesterday were peaceful. Hin said he was told by UR police officers that demonstrators might show up to protest the conference, but the hallways of the law school were quiet throughout the day.

In the late morning, activists and Virginia activist organizations met to talk about a state-wide solidarity movement. The activists discussed possibly starting a Dreams Across America Tour specific to Virginia. Dreams Across America sends immigrants throughout the U.S. to tell their stories and help dispel myths about immigration.

Cristina Rebeil, an attorney with Virginia Poverty Law Center, said putting a face on the immigrant population is vital.

"We need to work cross-culturally. Nothing is going to change until we share our stories," she said. "We need to come together and tell people who we all are."

Richmond resident Ben Ragsdale attended the conference because he was "appalled at the way we're treating the immigrant issue." Ragsdale was an activist in the civil-rights and anti-war movements more than 40 years ago, and said he thinks people are trying to "demonize" immigrants today.

"I'm glad to see some diverse groups come together," he said. "We need to be much more immigrant-friendly."

**********************************************

llegal Immigrants: Uncle Sam Wants You

Latino teenagers, including illegal immigrants are being recruited into the military with false promises.

By Deborah Davis July 25, 2007
Richmond, Virginia - Counter recruitment activists require tools. Carlos and Mélida Arredondo know this. It is far more difficult to find tools pertaining to how the US military has launched a full blown recruitment campaign on Latino immigrants in an effort to maintain troop numbers during the war on terrorism.
This is why both are so grateful that Deborah Davis has written the recently published article "Illegal Immigrants: Uncle Sam Wants You".
According to Mélida Arredondo, the article includes important information on the "Army's marketing campaign, created by Cartel Impacto, a cutting-edge firm from San Antonio, uses the firm's proprietary "barrio anthropology" and grassroots "viral and guerilla marketing" techniques to "go deep into the neighborhoods and barrios" ".
"Immigrants and specifically Latinos do not realize how calculated the techniques are that the military uses to get recruits. Deborah Davis provides important insights into the situation." states Arredondo.
Deborah Davis is a journalist who has published articles in the New York Times, Village Voice and Ramparts. In 1979 Davis published a book about Katharine Graham (Katharine the Great). The book also looked at the connections between Philip Graham and the Central Intelligence Agency. According to Davis the owner of the Washington Post was a key figure in Operation Mockingbird, a CIA program to influence the American media. According to Davis, Cord Meyer was Mockingbird's "principal operative".
When the book was originally published in 1979 Katharine Graham (probably under instructions from the CIA) persuaded the publishers William Jovanovich, to pulp 20,000 copies of the book. Davis filed a breach-of- contract and damage-to-reputation suit against Jovanovich, who settled out of court with her in 1983.

IN THESE TIMES

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Illegal Immigrants: Uncle Sam Wants You

Latino teenagers, including illegal immigrants are being recruited into the military with false promises.

By Deborah Davis July 25, 2007
In 1996, Jesus Alberto Suarez del Solar was a 13-year-old boy, up from Tijuana on a family shopping trip, when he stopped at a Marine Corps recruiting table at an open-air mall in Chula Vista, Calif.
Jesus had been an easy mark for the recruiter--a boy who fantasized that by joining the powerful, heroic U.S. Marines, he could help his own country fight drug lords. He gave the recruiter his address and phone number in Mexico, and the recruiter called him twice a week for the next two years, until he had talked Jesus into convincing his parents to move to California. Fernando and Rose Suarez sold their home and their laundry business and immigrated with their children to Escondido, where Jesus enrolled at a high school known for academic achievement. But the recruiter wanted him to transfer to a school for problem teenagers, since its requirements for graduation were lower and Jesus would be able to finish sooner. He was 17 and a half when he graduated from that school, still too young to enlist on his own, so his father co-signed the enlistment form, as the military requires for underage recruits.
Three years later, at the age of 20, his body was torn apart in Iraq by an American-made fragmentation grenade during the first week of the invasion. In the Pentagon's official Iraq casualty database, his death is number 74.
Now Jesus is in a cemetery in Escondido, and his parents, who blame each other for his death, are painfully and bitterly divorced. While his mother bears her loss as a private tragedy, Fernando, who has dual Mexican and American citizenship, is working tirelessly to protect other young immigrants from being manipulated by U.S. military recruiters--the way he wishes he had protected his son.
In the Iraq war, citizenship is being used as a recruiting tool aimed specifically at young immigrants, who are told that by enlisting, they will be able to quickly get citizenship for themselves (sometimes true, depending on what the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) branch of the Department of Homeland Security finds) and their entire families (not true; each family member has to go through a separate application process). Nevertheless, with the political pressures on Latino families growing daily under this administration, many young Latinos are unable to resist the offer, which immigrants' rights activists see as blatant exploitation of a vulnerable population.
From African American to Latino
Jesus, like the large majority of new military recruits, was signed up through the Delayed Entry Program (DEP), which operates in high schools, GED programs and home-schooling networks across the nation. The well-crafted messages on the DEP website have been in development ever since the draft ended and the all-volunteer military was initiated after Vietnam. The DEP's persuasion campaigns originally targeted black teenagers with the message that military service equaled jobs that promised equal treatment regardless of race. DEP recruiters were able to easily meet their quotas until the early '80s, when enlistment rates of young African Americans began to decline and the rates for Latinos began to rise for reasons the military did not understand. A 1995 article in Marketing Science, "The Navy Enlistment Marketing Experiment," noted that "a surprising development was the emergence of the Hispanic population as an important variable contributing to the pool of ... contracts. Further investigation of the phenomenon is warranted."
Over the next decade, the military commissioned a number of studies on the relationship between race and ethnicity and the "propensity to enlist." For example, the Youth Attitude Tracking Survey, conducted between 1975 and 1999 and published by the Defense Technical Information Center, found a correlation between the rising educational achievement of blacks and lower enlistment rates; and between the low educational achievement of Latinos (particularly if their first language was not English) and rising enlistment rates. As Latinos became a more important source of recruits, the Pentagon hired market research firms to design advertising campaigns that addressed the issues they cared most about--pride in family, children in school and citizenship.
Today, the Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force recruitment campaigns focus largely on education and benefits to families. The Army's campaign, created by Cartel Impacto, a cutting-edge firm from San Antonio, uses the firm's proprietary "barrio anthropology" and grassroots "viral and guerilla marketing" techniques to "go deep into the neighborhoods and barrios" in order to tell Latino families how the military can help them have the kind of life they want in America. "We address the core issues of why they left their country in the first place," says a Cartel Impacto spokesperson, who did not want her name published. "You have to conduct your outreach carefully," she says, "using PTAs as an entry point," as well as "local Hispanic groups that the newly arrived would look to."
Recruit friends, earn bucks
These marketing campaigns support the work of recruiters who--as mandated by the No Child Left Behind Act--must have free access to students in every one of the country's public schools. Recruiters operating in high schools try to get children as young as 14 to sign up for the military's DEP, which allows them to finish high school before going on active duty. Under the program, these young "men and women," as recruiters are trained to call them, are targeted, tested, gifted, video-gamed, recruitment-faired and career-counseled into enlisting before they turn 18. They are also paid $2,000 for every friend they talk into signing up with them, and, until recently, were paid $50 for every name they brought in to a recruiter. The DEP website provides tips on how students can assist recruiters in signing up their friends. The student can:
  • · Provide your recruiter with names and numbers of anyone you know who is considering joining the military.
  • · Obtain the names and numbers of people who work with you or attend places you frequent and the best time to talk to them.
  • · Obtain the names and numbers of friends or acquaintances who sit with you in classes.
  • · Help your recruiter by screening his/her lists.
  • · Accompany your recruiter to places your friends normally hang out and make introductions.
In addition to cash, students who help recruiters to enlist their friends are promoted to a higher military rank, from Private E-1 to Private E-2, even before they are out of high school. The rewards are commensurate with the quality of the friends they recruit, as measured by their friends' ASVAB (Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery) scores. "You will get promoted to Private E-2," promises the DEP website, if your referrals lead to the enlistment of "one soldier who scores 50 or higher on the ASVAB," or "two soldiers who score 31-49." Private E-1s are paid $1,301 a month, while E-2s earn $1,458 per month. Further, getting a second high-scoring friend or two more low-scoring friends to enlist earns the student another promotion, to Private E-3, and kicks the entry pay up to $1,534 per month.
Another way DEPs can earn extra money is to volunteer for hazardous duty. Students who sign up to be in a combat unit, or to dismantle explosives, or to handle toxic chemicals, get an additional $150 per month on top of their basic pay. Volunteering for hazardous duty, however, is a relative concept. Since DEP recruits do not, by definition, have a college education, there are few other military occupations open to them, except if their ASVAB scores are high enough for them to qualify for advanced training. But with the greatest need in this war being combat soldiers--so much so that even highly trained Air Force personnel are being sent to work with Army ground troop units--the chances of any DEP recruit getting out of combat duty and its attendant hazards are slim. The ASVAB is also administered only in English; and any job requiring even a security clearance cannot be held by a non-citizen. The implications of these conditions for young immigrants can be deadly.
The Department of Defense's casualty database (http://icasualties.org) doesn't publicly break down the dead and injured by ethnic group, but a tally of Latino surnames found that between January 10 when the surge began and July 1, 20 percent of the 174 young people (aged 18-21) who died were likely to have been Latino (the military does not keep public data on the race or ethnicity of casualties). With the intensification of DEP recruiting efforts in largely Latino high schools since the invasion began, this is no surprise.
Legal illegals vs. illegal illegals
How many of these young Latino recruits are illegal immigrants? "Nobody knows," says Flavia Jimenez, an immigration policy analyst at the National Council of La Raza. "But what we do know is that recruiters may not be up to speed on everybody's legal status. ... We also know that a significant number of [illegals] have died in Iraq." The recruitment of illegal immigrants is particularly intense in Los Angeles, where 75 percent of the high school students are Latino. "A lot of our students are undocumented," says Arlene Inouye, a teacher at Garfield High School in East Los Angeles, "and it's common knowledge that recruiters offer green cards." Inouye is the coordinator and founder of the Coalition Against Militarism in Our Schools (CAMS), a counter-recruitment organization that educates teenagers about deceptive recruiting practices. "The practice is pretty widespread all over the nation," she says, "especially in California and Texas. ... The recruiters tell them, 'you'll be helping your family.' "
Inouye referred me to Salvador Garcia, a student whose father had been deported, and who had been approached by a recruiter when he was a freshman at Garfield (He is now a senior). Garcia says the recruiter told him: "If you need papers, come and fight for us and we can get you some, and then you'll never have to mess with immigration." When he told the recruiter that he was born in this country, the recruiter responded, "Do you have anybody in your family that needs a green card, needs papers?" Salvador told him that his father, who had entered the country illegally from Mexico, had recently been deported. "If you join the military you can get your father back," the recruiter said. "It's not a problem, we can get him his papers and nobody will ever bother him again." Salvador almost signed the enlistment form right then, but says he was stopped by the realization of "how it's all connected--the war and Mexico and immigration." He is now active in the counter-recruitment movement.
Recruiters in other parts of the country are making the same promises. In Chicago, for example, Jorge, whose entire family was illegal, joined the military because a high school recruiter promised that he and every member of his family would get a green card. Jorge actually did get a green card while he was in Iraq, but he became so angry and disillusioned when the military did nothing for his family that he went AWOL.
He is now back in Chicago, where a counter-recruitment activist named Juan Torres, whose only son was killed in Afghanistan, is working on getting him discharged from the military. Torres works with a number of counter-recruitment groups, including Gold Star Families for Peace and Military Families Speak Out, but mostly he works on his own, speaking at churches and schools around the country. He estimates that in the past year, close to 200 students have told him that they have been offered green cards for enlisting, and he says he personally knows of "five or six illegal families who have kids without papers in Iraq." Torres talked one teenage girl into changing her mind just as she was about the sign the enlistment papers. He says that the recruiter told her, "Now you're in trouble, you and your family, you will have to leave." And Torres says he once asked a recruiter, the son of one of his friends, "How can you lie to the kids like that?" The recruiter told him, "Sorry, it's my job, and I don't want to go back to Iraq."
Despite the mounting evidence of these recruitment practices, the Pentagon denies that illegal immigrants are in the military. "If there are any," says Pentagon spokesman Joseph Burlas, "then they have fraudulently enlisted, and when they're caught, they are discharged."
That is what happened to Army Pvt Juan Escalante, whose illegal status was discovered while he was serving in Iraq. He was discharged and shipped home, and ICE began deportation proceedings against him and his parents, who had smuggled him into the United States from Mexico when he was four years old. However, Escalante's unit commander wrote a letter on his behalf, saying he had served with distinction, so ICE reversed its decision and accepted his citizenship application. The deportation case against his parents, who also have two U.S.-born children, is still pending.
Another illegal immigrant serving in Iraq, Jose Gutierrez, was not so lucky. He was one of the first members of the U.S. armed forces to die during the invasion. Gutierrez had made his way to this country from Guatemala in 1996, at the age of 15, to escape the violence perpetrated by the death squads, only to be killed in Iraq by friendly fire. When the Pentagon announced his death, it came in the form of a carefully managed PR campaign that included a posthumous award of citizenship for Gutierrez, presumably to show that if an illegal immigrant manages to enlist and make it to Iraq, he will be rewarded. However, Gutierrez remains the only illegal alien on the U.S. casualty rolls whose real hometown is listed, while others who die are reported to be from Boston or Los Angeles, or wherever a recruiter finds them. In New York City, according to counter-recruitment activist Melida Arredondo, whose young stepson was killed in Iraq, DEP recruiters instruct illegal immigrants to write "New York City" as their "home of record address" on the enlistment form, and to write "pending" for their Social Security number.
Non-citizen soldiers
Why is all of this happening, when the enlistment and expedited naturalization of illegal immigrants serving in the armed forces is specifically authorized in U.S. law? An Executive Order signed by President Bush on July 3, 2002, provided for the "expedited naturalization for aliens and noncitizen nationals serving in an active-duty status in the Armed Forces of the United States during the period of the war against terrorists of global reach." Under this order, any noncitizen in the military can apply for expedited citizenship on his first day of active duty. Not only is this order still in effect, but it has been codified in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) of 2006, that authorizes the enlistment of (1) nationals of the United States; (2) aliens who have been lawfully admitted for permanent residence (green card); (3) residents of several former U.S. territories; and (4) any other person "if the Secretary of Defense determines that such enlistment is vital to the national interest."
With the law so clear on this issue, the treatment of illegal immigrants in the military, both by the Pentagon and by ICE, is difficult to understand. "Apparently," says Lt. Col. Margaret Stock, a nationally known immigration attorney and professor of military law at West Point, "nobody at the Pentagon reviewed the [regulations] on immigrants when the war started." She adds, "If the Pentagon has any immigration attorneys, I haven't met them."
Stock speculates that if the Pentagon is aware of the law, it might be "afraid there would be a political backlash" if the use of immigrant labor for the war were discussed openly. In a later e-mail, she added, "And by the way, the Pentagon has ALWAYS had the authority to recruit foreigners in wartime. ... The only thing that changed in January 2006 [when Bush signed the NDAA] was that Congress made it HARDER for the Pentagon to recruit foreigners who are not Lawful Permanent Residents. It used to be that ANYONE could join the military in wartime--even undocumented immigrants--but now the Service Secretaries have to find that an undocumented person's enlistment is 'in the vital interest' of the United States."
To illustrate her point, Stock noted that a section of the 2006 Immigration and Nationalization Law locates the naturalization of immigrants serving in Iraq firmly in the tradition of naturalizations "during World War I, World War II, Korean hostilities, Vietnam hostilities, [and] other periods of military hostilities." During these wars, citizenship was granted solely on the basis of three years of honorable service or honorable separation from service (discharge), whether or not the person ever lived in the United States."
"Recruiters trying to fill slots have historically pressed vulnerable people into service," says Dan Kesselbrenner, director of the National Immigration Project, a program of the National Lawyers Guild. "But for some people it's the only way they are ever going to get citizenship."
What recruiters do not tell their targets, however, is that the military itself has no authority to grant citizenship. It forwards their citizenship applications to ICE, which will then scrutinize them and their entire families for up to a year. Created under the Homeland Security Act of 2002 as the successor to the law enforcement arms of both the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) and the U.S. Customs Service, ICE has been tasked "to more effectively enforce our immigration and customs laws and protect the United States against terrorist attacks." ICE does this, as its website explains, "by targeting illegal immigrants: the people, money and materials that support terrorism and other criminal activities."
Recruiters also do not tell their targets that citizenship can be denied for the very same past criminal offenses that the military may have overlooked when admitting them--such as being in the country illegally. Nor do they tell recruits that citizenship can be denied for any kind of dishonorable behavior, which includes refusing to participate in combat. The immigrant law that provides for the naturalization of illegal immigrants in the military clearly states, "No person who ... was a conscientious objector who performed no military, air, or naval duty ... or refused to wear the uniform, shall be regarded as having served honorably or having been separated under honorable conditions." This means, according to Stock and other military law experts, that while applying for conscientious objector status is not, by itself, grounds for a dishonorable discharge, attempting to act on one's beliefs by refusing to fight, wear a uniform or carry a weapon, constitutes disobeying an order, which is dishonorable behavior.
As the war in Iraq drags on and recruiters step up their efforts to enlist high school students--even demanding the right to come into classrooms--teachers, parents, and students themselves are doing what they can to slow the rate of enlistment of young immigrants who believe that military service is their path to citizenship. But as long as American citizenship remains a kind of salvation myth for the Latino community, military recruiters will be able to exploit their longing for it.
The Comprehensive Immigration Reform Bill (S 1639), which failed to pass the Senate in June, proposed to give legal permanent residency to any "alien who has served in the uniformed services for at least 2 years and, if discharged, has received an honorable discharge." In other words, illegal immigrants have been in the military all along, and the government was getting ready to admit it. Now, with the bill's defeat, they will be forced to remain hidden, and the sacrifices they have made for this country will continue to go unacknowledged.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I would like to thank Melida Arredondo for her assistance to this article.

Friday, July 27, 2007

What life is like in Iraq - Video

And here we fight to bring them home
GOD, may we find peace!
Bring them home now damnit!

IMPEACH THE WHITE HOUSE FOR WAR CRIMES

What life is like in Iraq video

Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Carlos Arredondo joins Cindy Sheehan on her walk

"Give War a Chance" ...by Cindy Sheehan

Journey for Humanity and Accountability - Day 9

Being in the deep south has been a very interesting experience. As George's approval numbers hover down somewhere in Congress's range and approval for their war is shrinking, we have encountered very little opposition to our message, but the opposition we have encountered has been vile, abusive and potentially dangerous.

In Houston, one of the more active kingdoms of war profiteering, we encountered no protest. As a matter of fact, while we were stationed on a bridge over I-10 holding our "Impeach Bush and Cheney" and "Troops home now" signs, we had almost 100% approval. People were actually stopping their cars to applaud us and in some cases, join us.

Our next stop was New Orleans where the policies of BushCo are still harming our brothers and sisters. The various governments are gobbling up land in poor, but hard-working class areas to be used for upscale housing and/or casinos. We met with several grass-roots organizations who are feeding people, helping them find homes and jobs. There was also not one peep of opposition to our message because the people of New Orleans intimately understand the reasons that BushCo should be impeached.

The fun started, however when we got to Montgomery, AL where right off the bat, the Secretary of the Montgomery Repugs confronted me and displayed his ignorance by stating that he loves George Bush and that George had "nothing" to do with the war in Iraq. When some Veterans for Peace confronted him and asked him why he didn't enlist to go to Iraq if he was such a strong supporter of the mayhem, he let us know that he was "courageously" supporting the war effort by staying in America, working and "paying his taxes." Now that the encounter with this brave patriot has been shown all over cable news, every pipsqueak repug with a bad toupe will be confronting me to get his 15 minutes of fame.

In Montgomery, our Caravan met with many nice folks who were on the side of impeachment and ending the war with us, but we also ran into a couple of people who were upset with BushCo for different reasons. On a beautiful, magnolia tree lined street where our group was hosted for a pot-luck, a home had the sign: "Give War a Chance." The homeowner and father of five told us that George Bush "is a pu**y" and that if he were President, he would "wipe out" the entire Middle East with nukes. He has a service age daughter whom he said he would be proud for her to go to Iraq and he would be thrilled if she got some "confirmed kills." Another gentleman driving down the street didn't know why we were so upset because America had a "civil war" so why can't Iraq "have one?" We all needed to be decontaminated on that visit!

At the School of the Assassins in Columbus, GA and in Charlotte, NC, we ran into similar problems: police presence that seemed to be there to foster violence At both places the neo-Nazi, pro-war fascist group "Gathering of Eagles" came out to mostly try to intimidate us from our mission. At Ft. Benning, after we complained, the police kept them separate from us, but in Charlotte, the police refused saying that the Eagles had their rights to "freedom of speech." But the Eagles' freedom of speech has included physical threats against me and actual physical force against kids and women. When the Charlotte police were told this, they said that they couldn't keep them apart from our group until the Eagles actually did something. So I chose to stay away from the rally then go and perhaps cause them to hurt someone else because of my presence. Freedom of speech is one thing, but I don't believe that the First Amendment protects violent speech, especially if it is one of the neocons or their media supporters calling for increased violence in the Middle East. Nothing about our movement promotes or calls for violence and it would be swell if the CPD protected everyone's First Amendment rights, not just people whom they agree with. Gold Star Father, Carlos Arredondo, joined us in Charlotte with his display about the personal cost of war which doesn't affect the "Gathering of Chickenhawks" at all, in fact we believe that they are the ones who disgrace our children's memories and the memories of the fallen in Vietnam by supporting another 'Nam like quagmire.

It is my belief that for all human history, we have been giving "war a chance" and it has never worked. There has never been a "war to end all wars." No matter how much BushCo blather, peace cannot be spread by the use of force and democracy cannot be forced on a people at the end of a M-16. Congressional Democrats are busy throwing up smokescreens...or bones...to their "anti-war" left by their meaningless bills after they gave George 120 billion more dollars to wage these wars of aggression and potentially invade Iran.

As one of my peace idols, John Lennon said let's "give peace a chance."

For more information about the Journey for Humanity and Accountability, or to donate to help defray expenses, please go to www.thecampcaseypeaceinstitute.org.

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

IMPEACH THE WHITE HOUSE

I haven't had time to blog. Believe me I've seen enough out there to share it plenty of times but never had the time to sit down and do a blog. If there was one thing I would want would be to have more hours in a day. Day's go by like hours.

Cindy Sheehan has returned to the fight for our freedom. There are so many people who stand up for our rights, our freedom here by standing up to the people who took over our government. The other side of the divide is afraid what will happen if there are more Cindy Sheehans - thats why they dog her so much. To try and make others who want to do what she is doing to shut up and go home. I am thankful for the people who are able to give of themselves to us here at home. We all have a role to play. Some have bigger parts than others. Cindy is playing a very big role. The Arredondo's give of themselves as much as Cindy but don't get the attention. They want to dog Cindy :)

We have laws. Most of us live by the laws set up for us to survive in society. When laws are broken society will run a muck. No one is above the law. We are at a tipping point. If we don't hold this White House accountable for their actions there really isn't any hope for my children's future. We must stand up and fight for what we have.

IMPEACH

You do good - you get good. You do bad - you get bad. In one way or another these people who have do so much wrong to other people will be getting their bad.....in one way or another.

May peace be inside all of us,
Cindy



A11forum17

Sheehan's anti-war crusade picks the wrong target

By DeWayne Wickham

As bad ideas go, this one is a real loser.

Cindy Sheehan, the anti-war mom of an American soldier who was killed in Iraq, is threatening to challenge the re-election of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Sheehan says she'll mount a third party campaign to unseat the California Democrat if Pelosi doesn't move quickly to impeach President Bush.

(Photo -- Sheehan: Has set July 23 as deadline for Pelosi. / AP)

"I really am challenging Nancy Pelosi and the Democratic Party to be different," Sheehan said last week during a call-in to the MSNBC show Morning Joe, which is hosted by former Republican congressman Joe Scarborough. "If she hasn't put impeachment on the table by July 23, then I will run against her."

Like Pelosi — and just about every other Democrat in the House of Representatives — Sheehan wants Bush to withdraw American forces from the sectarian quagmire that rages in Iraq. But unlike Pelosi, Sheehan doesn't seem to understand the politics of impeachment.

While Democrats have the simple majority that is needed to adopt articles of impeachment against Bush, assuming the vast majority of House Democrats would support such a move, the 49 Senate Democrats and the two independents who are aligned with them fall far short of the 67 votes needed in that body to convict Bush of an impeachable offense. In fact, not a single Republican senator has shown any willingness to support a move to impeach Bush, the GOP's titular head.

If Pelosi did push the House to impeach the president, Congress would plunge into an even deeper partisan divide and there would be little hope of a significant withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq before the president's fate is decided.

Remember Clinton mess?

The Republican effort to impeach President Clinton dragged on for four months from October 1998 to February 1999 — a time during which much of Congress' other business virtually came to a halt.

So why should Pelosi lead House Democrats into that political bog?

If Sheehan's goal is to end the war, and not just drag Bush into an impeachment process that he would likely win, she should set her sights on the House and Senate Republicans who are thwarting the efforts of Democrats to enact legislation that would force the president to accept a timetable for withdrawing U.S. forces from Iraq.

If it's an election fight she wants, Sheehan and her supporters should take on those Republicans. But, instead, Sheehan threatens to rain friendly fire down upon Pelosi, a leader of the anti-war forces on Capitol Hill.

That doesn't make sense.

Long shot candidate

Of course, Sheehan doesn't have a chance of unseating Pelosi. Two years ago, the San Francisco Democrat scored a landslide victory for an 11th term in Congress. She got 80% of the vote in that contest, which pitted her against a Republican and two third-party challengers.

But while Sheehan has no chance of beating the House speaker, she might be able to inflict some serious damage on the Democratic Party. As the leading voice of a nationwide anti-war movement, Sheehan has become a darling of more than a few left-wing liberals — a core voting bloc for Democrats. If she takes on Pelosi, Sheehan could cause a splintering among party liberals that might spread across the nation.

Impeachment should be treated as a serious matter — and not a means of settling political scores. It shouldn't be used to resolve a policy dispute. As misguided as I think the president was in ordering an invasion of Iraq — and as wrong as I think he is to keep U.S. troops immersed in Iraq's civil war — I don't think his bad acts rise to the level of an impeachable offense.

The war in Iraq has caused this nation enough needless suffering. Trying to impeach Bush, with what we currently know about his actions, would be an unnecessary act of national self-flagellation.

If she wants to be a serious actor in the effort to end the Iraq war, Cindy Sheehan has to do a better job of picking her targets — and focusing her rage.

DeWayne Wickham writes on Tuesdays for USA TODAY.


omegis13 wrote: 6h 21m ago
Settling political scores!? You would actually think that impeachment of Bush would simply be done in retaliation for impeaching Clinton!? And your article was actually posted in a serious, national news journal? What planet are you from, honestly? Trying to compare the reasons behind Clinton's impeachment and the reasons Bush should be impeached are like comparing apples and oranges. One was based on the idea that the personal (and sexual) life of the POUSA was of any concern to the American people, while the other stands accused of lying to the country and fabricating evidence to rally support for an aggressive war (and yes, pre-emptive defense is aggression, no matter who it is applied to), trampling the Bill of Rights, and cronyism that has not only been obsurd, but has actually cost people their lives. The grounds for investigation (which is all that impeachment really ammounts to) into Bush's "possible" wrong-doing's are a matter of national concern, unlike wondering what the definition of sex is. Even if Bush was not removed from office by impeachment, impeaching him is EXACTLY what needs to happen! It is the way the process was designed to proceed! Even if he isn't removed from office, the process must be allowed to work as designed! The Constitution was not intended to create a system for parties to act based on what would gain popularity in the next elections. It was designed to function in the present. If our commander in chief stands accused of such blatant and inflamitory acts of corruption and warmongering from a considerable number of people from all parts of the country, I do believe investigation is meritted, even if only to satisfy the curiousity of the nation.

GH

us constitution wrote: 6h 11m ago
Wow. Mr. Wickham must have been sleeping in civics class when they talked about the constitution and most days today. I am against the war, but asserting the constitution is much more important in my opinion. Pelosi and every other member in congress took an oath to the constitution, not political expediency and gamesmanship.

By remaining silent, Pelosi and others accept the unitary executive theory, the right for the president to determine what is torture and when it can be used (read the recent interview with Gen. Taguba please Mr. Wickham), the right of the president to abduct and hold people in secret prisons with no accountability, the right of the president's counsel to refuse a congressional subpeona (Nixon wouldn't even do this--remember John Dean--you might have to google that episode Mr. Wickham) etc. etc. According to the constitution NO PRESIDENT has those rights. As someone who served in the military took and administered an oath to the constitution many times and someone who typically votes GOP more than any other party, I applaud Cindy Sheehan and hope others like her come forward and challenge the mindless political/media cabal that is destroying our country and repeating the fall of Rome.

SJB325 wrote: 1h 45m ago
It seem's that those who support Bill Clinton forget that lying under oath is a crime just a reminder. As for Sheehan let her run , let her push for impeachment, let the Dem's debate each other.My feeling is this the more liberal's show their true self the better for the country, as more people will relize that these people want nothing less than total control ,free speech out freedom of religon out , and any other personal choice that they don't agree with so let her run and show the people these things so we will know who the enemies of freedom and it's allies are Sgt Steven Boucher Iraq


Cindy Sheehan's March from Texas to Arrive in D.C. on July 23

Cindy Sheehan is leading a march/drive from Crawford, Texas, to New York City. Participants in this Journey for Humanity share the goals of ending the occupation of Iraq, impeaching Cheney and Bush, restoring New Orleans, and funding human needs at home and in Iraq and Afghanistan. The march has already made big news in several states. Watch this video of a heated discussion between Cindy and an Alabama chickenhawk.

The march will include stops at the district offices of House Judiciary Committee Members Mel Watt, Howard Coble, and Bobby Scott along the way, before arriving in Washington, D.C., on July 23rd. Below is the route and a link for more information and to get involved.

July 17 Charlotte NC noon rally at Rep. Watt's office, 5 p.m. at Bryant Park
July 18 Greensboro NC 2:30 p.m. at Rep. Watt's office, 3:30 p.m. at Rep. Coble's office, 6 p.m. at Bennett College
July 19 Lynchburg VA 6 p.m. meet downtown at base of Monument Terrace, march to Riverfront Park
July 20
Charlottesville VA rally at 6 p.m. at Downtown Mall
July 21 Richmond VA
July 22 Arlington VA
July 23
Washington D.C. 10 a.m. at Arlington Cemetery, march to U.S. Capitol
July 24 Philadelphia PA
July 25 Allentown PA
July 26 New York NY
July 27 United Nations Action
July 29 Gathering of Hearts Fest, location to be announced
http://www.thecampcaseypeaceinstitute.org

The Orange Revolution Begins July 23

On July 23, 2002, the head of British intelligence reported that Bush and Cheney were intent on invading Iraq and planned to "fix the intelligence and facts around the policy". Five years later a million people have died in Iraq as a direct result of these lies with no end in sight. Torture has been institutionalized, habeas corpus eviscerated, and illegal spying made routine. New Orleans lies devastated along with the Constitution and the rule of law. And Bush and Cheney are making a mockery of the Democrats' feeble gestures towards accountability.

Enough is enough, and this July 23rd we will launch a new phase in the movement for peace and justice. We call it the Orange Revolution because starting that day wearing orange will signify that you want Congress to START IMPEACHMENT and STOP THE WAR. The majority of Americans, who want to see Bush and Cheney impeached and want an immediate end to this war, are made effectively invisible by a complicit media. Wearing orange will be our signal to each other, and to the world, about where we stand. Anything orange will do: a t-shirt, a wristband, your shoelaces. Get creative and send us your ideas. Here are a couple of great items you can wear designed specifically for the Orange Revolution:

Orange "Drive out the Bush Regime" bandanas.

Orange "Impeach Bush and Cheney" t-shirts:

http://www.beachblogger.net/barbara

The Orange Revolution will be launched with acts of civil disobedience in Washington, D.C., and elsewhere to show Congress that we are serious.

In Washington, D.C. on July 23, Cindy Sheehan, Ray McGovern, Rev. Lennox Yearwood, Ann Wright, Debra Sweet, Dave Lindorff, David Swanson, Jodie Evans, Medea Benjamin, Kevin Zeese, Tina Richards, and others will march from Arlington National Cemetery to the office of Congressman John Conyers. They will sit in Conyers' office reciting the U.S. Constitution until they are either arrested or he agrees to start impeachment. You can also come and choose not to risk arrest. Meet at 10 a.m. outside the Arlington National Cemetery Metro stop: http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/sit

Similiar actions will take place the same day in the offices of Rep. Howard Berman in California and Rep. Pete Visclosky in Indiana, and at Rep. Conyers' district offices in Detroit. If you are willing to go to jail for justice, you are encouraged to come to Washington to participate in the civil disobedience, or to stage a sit-in at your congress member's district office, either on the 23rd or another day. Using our new tool, you can pledge to take part only if 20 others do the same: http://www.democrats.com/sit

If you cannot join in on the 23rd, please wear orange in solidarity, and please phone Congressman Conyers' office that day asking him to please move forward on impeachment: (202) 225-5126.

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Get Presidential

Also on July 23rd, the Democratic presidential candidates will take part in an evening debate run by CNN, Google, and Youtube. People are submitting their own questions through Youtube, and currently the fourth most popular topic is impeachment. You can submit questions and vote on them here:
http://www.communitycounts.us/cgi/demdebateVIEW.cgi

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Cheney Is Pushing Bush to Attack Iran

The latest disturbing news on the Vice President's push for another aggressive war is here:
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/taxonomy/term/51

The third article of impeachment against Cheney contained in H. Res. 333 charges him with threatening an aggressive war on Iran. Impeachment can prevent Cheney from acting on his threat. Watch Robert Greenwald's video and sign the petition:
http://www.impeachcheney.org

Learn more about this bill and what you can do to impeach Dick Cheney:
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/cheney

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Join People of Iraq in Opposing Theft of Oil

Today, July 16, Iraqis took to the streets of Basra, Iraq, in opposition to the Oil Law that the US government is pressuring the Iraqi Parliament to pass. See video. Led by the Iraqi Federation of Oil Unions (IFOU), this demonstration charged that the proposed Oil Law surrenders Iraq’s economic sovereignty to multinational oil companies and demanded that the Iraqi Parliament reject it.

The people of Iraq are united in opposition to the Oil Law, but the Iraqi Parliament continues to face intense pressure from the Bush Administration. The law would open two thirds of Iraq’s oil to foreign control through contracts that could last as long as 30 years. Originally written with the assistance of US officials and contractors, the law is also one the benchmarks imposed by the US that the Iraqis must meet in order to receive continued reconstruction aid.

Drop the Benchmark! Take action in solidarity with the people of Iraq!

If you live in the United States, please call or write to your elected officials today and tell them to drop the oil law benchmark and cease all U.S. pressure on the Iraqis to pass the Oil Law. Tell them it is unacceptable that the US has any role in determining the future of Iraq’s oil industry, especially when it is being written to primarily benefit US companies. Use this link to email your members of Congress, or reach your members by calling the Congressional Switchboard at 202-224-3121 and asking for your member’s office.

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Bill Moyers Airs One-Hour Impeachment Special on PBS

On Friday, PBS aired a one-hour special on impeachment featuring Bruce Fein, Deputy Attorney General under Ronald Reagan and well-known Republican, and John Nichols, author of "The Genius of Impeachment" and well-known Democrat, both arguing for impeachment. Watch it here.

Use this and other videos to organize events in your town or your house:
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/eventresources

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Cities for Peace Day and Concert for Impeachment

July 31, 2007, is Cities for Peace Day in Washington DC! Come, March, Hold Your City's Sign! Cities for Peace is a campaign that has helped people all over the country persuade 255 city and state governments to pass resolutions calling for an end to the occupation of Iraq.

AfterDowningStreet.org and Democrats.com ask you to help us speed up the end of the Iraq occupation by participating on July 31 in DC. Please come and hold Cities for Peace signs for your community or your neighbors' community! We will march to the White House and deliver resolutions, petitions, and referenda. And we will accompany locally-elected officials to Capitol Hill where they will give testimony on the Local Costs of the Iraq War.

We are endorsing, promoting and participating in this exciting event and we need your participation as well: http://www.citiesforpeace.org

The day's events will be followed by a concert for impeachment at the 9:30 Club in Washington, D.C.