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.
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.
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.
When I resorted to Mark Twain’s writings I attempted to escape, at least temporarily from my often distressing readings on war, politics and terror. But his “The Mysterious Stranger,” although published 1916, still left me with an eerie feel. The imaginative story calls into question beliefs that we hold as a “matter of course” -- a favorite phrase of his. It summons the awful tendencies of “our race”: our irrational drive for violence, be it burning ‘witches’ at the stake or engaging in wars that only serve the “little monarchs and the nobilities.”Thank you Ramzy for writing this and sharing with all of us. Our lessons will keep repeating themselves until we learn what is being taught to us.
As the Iraq war rages on, Twain's words ring truer by the day. "The loud little handful will shout for war ... Then the handful will shout louder. A few fair men on the other side will argue and reason against the war with speech and pen, and at first will have hearing and be applauded; but it will not last long; those others will out shout them and presently the anti-war audiences will thin and lose popularity. Before long you will see the most curious thing: the speakers stoned from the platform, and free speech strangled by hordes of furious men. And now the whole nation will take up the war-cry, and shout itself hoarse, and mob any honest man who ventures to open his mouth; and presently such mouths will cease to open.
"Next the statesmen will invent cheap lies, putting the blame upon the nation that is attacked, and every man will be glad of those conscience-soothing falsities, and will diligently study them and refuse to examine any refutations of them; and thus he will by and by convince himself that the war is just, and will thank God for the better sleep he enjoys after the process of grotesque self-deception."
READ MORE
Turn up the Heat Campaign
George Bush can't hide from anti-war protests
Secret Service tries to run interference for Bush
New London, CT - Wed, May 23 - Be at Tampa & Mohegan Ave. by 9:00 am!
Momentum is building for the Wednesday, May 23 Protest Bush Rally at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut, where President Bush is the commencement speaker. People will be gathering at 9:00 am at the main gate at Tampa and Mohegan Ave.
Contingents are coming from Hartford, New Haven, New York City, Willimantic, Mystic, Boston, Cape Cod, New Paltz, NY, Portland, ME, and many other cities and towns. Iraq war veterans, military & family members, other veterans, the Arab American & Muslim community, students & youth, and many others will be speaking at the rally (see below for a partial speakers list).
Today (Monday), the ImpeachBush.org movement led by former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark ran an ad in the Hartford Courant announcing that the impeachment and anti-war movements have joined forces for the May 23 Protest Bush Rally. The Courant is read by more than 200,000 people throughout Connecticut and New England.
This has been a tremendous mobilization. We couldn't have done it without your help. If you cannot attend but can help by making a financial contribution, click this link to make a tax-deductible donation or learn how to send a check.
Knowing full well that opposition to the war is increasing and that many organizations and communities are coming to New London, Connecticut on May 23, the Bush administration is hoping to sanitize the area so that anti-Bush, anti-war and pro-impeachment signs are not visible. The Secret Service is functioning as the private political security for the Bush administration and using "national security" as the pretext once again to attempt to banish dissent from the USCGA.
We have seen the Bush administration use this tactic before. During the 2004 election campaign, security was used as a pretext to evict anyone with anti-Bush buttons, t-shirts or signs from campaign rallies. At the Republican National Convention in August 2004, the government attempted to banish mass protest from midtown Manhattan. And then at the inauguration in January 2005, the Bush administration tried to keep dissent off of the inaugural route.
But on all of these occasions we challenged violations of our First Amendment rights, and we succeeded. Protests were held along the campaign trail, right outside of the RNC and on the inaugural route. In every instance, "security" is used to cover the reality: Bush is afraid of the political embarrassment of anti-war protesters being everywhere that he is because he knows that opposition to the war only continues to grow.
Now, the government is attempting to use national security as a pretext to avoid the political embarrassment of large numbers of people holding up antiwar signs and banners directly in front of the Coast Guard Academy grounds. On Friday, the Secret Service decided that the area that has a direct view of the USCGA would be off limits to anti-war demonstrators. They also announced that roads throughout the area - including the I-95 Gold Star bridge used to travel into New London from the north and the I-95 north route over the bridge - will be shut down mid-morning, thus trying to limit people's ability to access the other permitted area by car and possibly by foot.
The government would happily give people a permit to be anywhere other than right outside of the USCGA. We must not be diverted. We can defeat their attempt to banish visible dissent because we know their tactic well.
The best way to do that is to be at Tampa and Mohegan Ave. at 9:00 am with your friends, family, co-workers and fellow students. We have a permit for this area. This is where the local, national and international media will be. This is where anti-war activists from throughout Connecticut, New England and the Mid-Atlantic will be. If you come directly to the main gate of the USCGA by 9:00 am you will be able to access it before roads are closed.
This week, we will be waging a challenge that asserts the right of the people to rally in all of the areas in front of the USCGA. The street in front of the Coast Guard Academy is not the exclusive, private property of Bush administration or government officials.
We want to make it clear to everyone that we have obtained permitted space on the side of the USCGA along Mohegan Ave. between Tampa and Williams. You have the lawful right to come to Coast Guard Academy to make your views known, seen and heard. We will continue to fight restrictions on the other permitted areas - and work to ensure that everyone can access the areas for which we definitely have permits.
Please make sure you spread the message far and wide that anyone who wants to protest Bush and show the world that the people of the U.S. are against this war should come right to the USCGA by 9:00 am on Wednesday to ensure that you don't miss this important event and that you are right there when he gives his commencement address.
Speakers at the 9:00 am rally at the main gate of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy (Tampa and Mohegan Ave.) will include military families who have lost children in Iraq, veterans, anti-war and student movement leaders and more.
Speakers will include:
- Carlos and Melida Arredondo, whose son, a U.S. marine, was killed in Iraq in 2004
- Elliot Adams, President of Veterans for Peace
- Ted Goodnight, US Army veteran of the Afghanistan war who served in 2003 and 2004
- The College Faculty, organizer of a large contingent of Connecticut college faculty mobilizing for the protest
- Representatives of Veterans for Peace chapters from throughout the region
- Brian Becker, National Coordinator of the ANSWER Coalition
- Eugene Puryear, National Organizer of Youth and Student ANSWER
- Connecticut Student Movement leaders
- Statements from Iraq Veterans Against the War and active duty soldiers organizing for withdrawal of American forces and bases from Iraq.
New London, CT - Wed, May 23
Be at Tampa & Mohegan Ave. by 9:00 am!Logistical information: maps, directions & more.
Take the time to honor the heroes in military
Memorial Day is a celebration of those who have sacrificed for us and a show of appreciation to their families
People like Cindy Sheehan and the self-serving politicians are always with us. They are self-absorbed attention seekers. How would Sheehan’s son feel to see his mother dishonor his memory?
We firmly believe if these heroes had not volunteered to serve our country, another tragedy bigger than 9/11 would have already been delivered. We probably cannot escape the madness of those who want to destroy us. That we have escaped so far is due to the efforts of these heroes.
A death by friendly fire is a wartime risk and, sad as it is, it is an honorable sacrifice.
Patriotism is a blessing; take time to think of and pray for our military personnel. Let their families know they are appreciated and remembered always.
Tobi & Marion Cantwell
Poughkeepsie
The U.S. military is redeploying seriously injured soldiers to fight in Iraq. Mark Benjamin of Salon.com relates what he witnessed at the Army's Third Infantry division in Fort Benning, Georgia.
Soldier’s wife censoredElizabeth Verbich-Britton doesn’t think for a minute that her opinion on the Iraq war is any more valuable than any other American’s. But because her husband is a soldier in Iraq, it’s a bit more personal for her.
So, when her landlord forced her to remove her “U.S. Out of Iraq Now!” poster from her bedroom window, she was incensed.
“The sign was up for about a month,” she said during an interview at her apartment on East 10th Street. “I heard nothing from anyone about it, and then all of a sudden I got a letter from Woodbridge management saying I had to take the sign out of my window. And of course I was angry right away.”
From an Angry Soldier
Date: 2007-04-10, 1:00PM PDT
I'm having the worst damn week of my whole damn life so I'm going to write this while I'm pissed off enough to do it right.
I am SICK of all this bullshit people are writing about the Iraq war. I am abso-fucking-lutely sick to death of it. What the fuck do most of you know about it? You watch it on TV and read the commentaries in the newspaper or Newsweek or whatever god damn yuppie news rag you subscribe to and think you're all such fucking experts that you can scream at each other like five year old about whether you're right or not. Let me tell you something: unless you've been there, you don't know a god damn thing about it. It you haven't been shot at in that fucking hell hole, SHUT THE FUCK UP!
How do I dare say this to you moronic war supporters who are "Supporting our Troops" and waving the flag and all that happy horse shit? I'll tell you why. I'm a Marine and I served my tour in Iraq. My husband, also a Marine, served several. I left the service six months ago because I got pregnant while he was home on leave and three days ago I get a visit from two men in uniform who hand me a letter and tell me my husband died in that fucking festering sand-pit. He should have been home a month ago but they extended his tour and now he's coming home in a box.
You fuckers and that god-damn lying sack of shit they call a president are the reason my husband will never see his baby and my kid will never meet his dad.
And you know what the most fucked up thing about this Iraq shit is? They don't want us there. They're not happy we came and they want us out NOW. We fucked up their lives even worse than they already were and they're pissed off. We didn't help them and we're not helping them now. That's what our soldiers are dying for.
Oh while I'm good and worked up, the government doesn't even have the decency to help out the soldiers whos lives they ruined. If you really believe the military and the government had no idea the veterans' hospitals were so fucked up, you are a god-damn retard. They don't care about us. We're disposable. We're numbers on a page and they'd rather forget we exist so they don't have to be reminded about the families and lives they ruined while they're sipping their cocktails at another fund raiser dinner. If they were really concerned about supporting the troops, they'd bring them home so their families wouldn't have to cry at a graveside and explain to their children why mommy or daddy isn't coming home. Because you can't explain it. We're not fighting for our country, we're not fighting for the good of Iraq's people, we're fighting for Bush's personal agenda. Patriotism my ass. You know what? My dad served in Vietnam and NOTHING HAS CHANGED.
So I'm pissed. I'm beyond pissed. And I'm going to go to my husband funeral and recieve that flag and hang it up on the wall for my baby to see when he's older. But I'm not going to tell him that his father died for the stupidty of the American government. I'm going to tell him that his father was a hero and the best man I ever met and that he loved his country enough to die for it, because that's all true and nothing will be solved by telling my son that his father was sent to die by people who didn't care about him at all.
Fuck you, war supporters, George W. Bush, and all the god damn mother fuckers who made the war possible. I hope you burn in hell.
Despite Sen. Harry Reid's determination that the United States has lost the war in Iraq, our troops are still dug in like there's real hope. What are these guys thinking? Do they believe America, the world's only super power, has a real chance to beat a rag-tag group of terrorists who hide in caves and use cell-phone batteries and children's toys in their high-tech war on the West?
......
Many pro-troop, pro-American and pro-defense groups are still very much alive and thriving, but the liberal media are largely ignoring our efforts. They pretend our voices don't matter because the polls say we are in the minority. Despite their phony claims of giving voice to minority opinions, the media have turned their backs on any idea that doesn't fit their template of this "lost" war.
Anti-War coalition winning fight
A group of former military leaders who have lost faith in President Bush's war leadership launched their second round of television advertisements this week targeting House and Senate Republicans whose 2008 reelections could hinge on the public's view of Iraq.
To fight back, a pro-war group plans to post an Internet ad on Thursday accusing Democratic leaders of abandoning the war on terrorism. If they can raise enough money on the Internet, the ad could air on television later.
The striking imbalance of power between the competing Iraq advocacy teams offers a stark illustration of how isolated President Bush and his White House team have become on the signature issue of his administration.
Bush's weakened position explains why Congress has been willing to repeatedly challenge the White House on paying for the war.
In previous showdowns with Democrats, the White House could count on a united Republican caucus to rally around its position, deep-pocketed allies to finance attacks against critics and closely coordinated grass-roots lobbying efforts with friendly outside organizations.
Now divisions over future Iraq policy and distraction caused by the early start of the 2008 presidential campaign appear to have broken what once was the Bush White House juggernaut.
The president is on defense, trying to avoid making major concessions to an undaunted Democratic Congress. The White House's most effective communicator on Capitol Hill hails from the Pentagon, not the West Wing.
The formidable network of talk show hosts and conservative grass-roots organizations that once could bully opponents into silence are now either no-shows or not effective. And the party's congressional campaign committees charged with protecting House and Senate incumbents are either too badly in debt or too pressed to save campaign cash to put up a defense.
The upshot is an extraordinarily uneven competition for public opinion that has put Republican members of Congress on the run and boosted Democratic hopes of broadening their majorities in the House and Senate and capturing the White House in 2008.
According to a recent Associated Press-Ipsos poll, 64 percent of Americans disapprove of President Bush's handling of the war while just 33 percent approve of it. The president's overall job approval rating, meanwhile, hovers around 35 percent in a variety of polls.
"We are creating a toxic environment for Republicans and the war. They can choose between ending the war and political extinction," said Tom Matzzie, Washington director for the liberal online group MoveOn.org, who is now helping to coordinate the anti-war coalition's tactical efforts.
Certainly, the president is not without his own weapons -- most notably the veto pen. And despite growing misgivings among Republicans on Capitol Hill, the majority of the party's base remains supportive of the war effort.
But a close look at the tactics each side is using to press their case on the supplemental spending bill highlights the lopsided nature of the Iraq lobbying campaign that would define the debate for the 2008 elections.
In the White House's corner is Move America Forward, a California-based organization formed in 2004 by Republican political consultant Sal Russo and former Republican state Assemblyman Howard Kaloogian, both of whom were key players in the 2003 recall of former Gov. Gray Davis, a Democrat.
According to Robert Dixon, the organization's executive director, Move America has an e-mail list of slightly fewer than a million people and counts "a few hundred thousand" small donors. Internal Revenue Service records show that the organization raised $647,000 in 2006.
The group fought against the distribution of Michael Moore's anti-war film "Fahrenheit 9/11" and launched the "You Don't Speak for Me, Cindy!" campaign countering the war protests of Cindy Sheehan, whose son was killed in Iraq.
Recently, Move America Forward sponsored a pro-war, cross-country caravan that ended with a modest rally in Washington. On Thursday, it plans to launch its second Internet ad, which criticizes House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid for holding up funding for the war.
It's also calling on members to send white feathers to the Democratic leaders and for protesters carrying white flags to gather outside their offices in California and Nevada, respectively.
Dixon said the West Coast organization is developing its projects without guidance from the White House. For its first round of advertising, the group managed to collect enough money to put a commercial on cable stations.
"It's very rare when we hear from anybody in the White House," he said. "They've been largely silent." As for his adversaries, he concedes: "They are a tightly knit group that seems to have their act together."
In addition to Move America Forward, established veterans' organizations and several groups founded by military families are also trying to rally support for the president's war policies.
But those groups are tiny and have mostly a symbolic impact. House Minority Leader John A. Boehner of Ohio recently touted receipt of a petition from a new group called Appeal for Courage that was signed by about 3,000 pro-Bush soldiers, most serving in Iraq; MoveOn.org needed just a week to gather 167,000 signatures on a petition opposing the president.
About 14 anti-war groups have organized as Americans Against Escalation in Iraq and raised $7 million toward their budget of $12 million. Combined, they represent millions of activists, including the 3.3 million members of MoveOn.org, nearly 2 million labor union members and thousands of clergy, veterans, students and even musicians who have joined the movement.
They've held hundreds of rallies and candlelight vigils protesting the war at virtually every stage. Since the November elections, in which anti-war candidates scored surprising upsets over incumbent Republicans, they've sharpened their attacks to target specific Republicans.
VoteVets.org, a group of retired military leaders who oppose the war, aired its first ad a week ago in the home states of Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, John Sununu of New Hampshire and Norm Coleman of Minnesota.
The commercial, fueled with a half-million dollars' worth of ad time, also was broadcast in the districts of House Reps. Jim Walsh of New York, Mary Bono of California, Mike Castle of Delaware, Phil English of Pennsylvania and many others. VoteVets' second commercial began airing this week. It accuses the president of refusing to listen to his military commanders and urges Congress to stand tough.
The anti-war coalition is also running national ads. MoveOn paid for the cable news airing of one produced by Oliver Stone.
It also has tapped labor's vast telephone banking resources, calling tens of thousands of constituents in targeted districts and informing them of how their representative voted on war issues. When they reach a receptive listener, they can patch the local voter straight through to the member's office to register a complaint.
The tactics have rattled the entire GOP caucus and help explain why about a dozen House moderates recently told Bush that his Iraq policy was damaging the Republican Party and threatening any possible comeback in 2008. Among the early-warning crew in the White House meeting were four targets of the VoteVets ad campaigns.
Defense Department blocks some Web sitesBy Robert Weller / Associated Press
DENVER - Soldiers serving overseas will lose some of their online links to friends and loved ones back home under a Department of Defense policy that a high-ranking Army official said would take effect Monday.
The Defense Department will begin blocking access "worldwide" to YouTube, MySpace and 11 other popular Web sites on its computers and networks, according to a memo sent Friday by Gen. B.B. Bell, the U.S. Forces Korea commander.
The policy is being implemented to protect information and reduce drag on the department's networks, according to Bell.
"This recreational traffic impacts our official DoD network and bandwidth ability, while posing a significant operational security challenge," the memo said.
The armed services have long barred members of the military from sharing information that could jeopardize their missions or safety, whether electronically or by other means.
The new policy is different because it creates a blanket ban on several sites used by military personnel to exchange messages, pictures, video and audio with family and friends.
Members of the military can still access the sites on their own computers and networks, but Defense Department computers and networks are the only ones available to many soldiers and sailors in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Iraqi insurgents or their supporters have been posting videos on YouTube at least since last fall. The Army recently began posting videos on YouTube showing soldiers defeating insurgents and befriending Iraqis.
But the new rules mean many military personnel won't be able to watch those achievements — at least not on military computers.
If the restrictions are intended to prevent soldiers from giving or receiving bad news, they could also prevent them from providing positive reports from the field, said Noah Shachtman, who runs a national security blog for Wired Magazine.
"This is as much an information war as it is bombs and bullets," he said. "And they are muzzling their best voices."
The sites covered by the ban are the video-sharing sites YouTube, Metacafe, IFilm, StupidVideos, and FileCabi, the social networking sites MySpace, BlackPlanet and Hi5, music sites Pandora, MTV, and 1.fm, and live365, and the photo-sharing site Photobucket.
Several companies have instituted similar bans, saying recreational sites drain productivity.
Iran lawmakers seek U.S. friendship
By ALI AKBAR DAREINI, Associated Press
Iranian deputies were gathering signatures to try and form an Iranian-U.S. friendship committee in parliament to hold contacts with the U.S. Congress, legislators involved in the effort said Tuesday.
It was the first effort organized by parliament to find a way to bridge nearly three decades of estrangement between the U.S. and Iran. It comes days after the governments of the two countries agreed to hold direct talks on one of the main issues dividing them — the conflict in Iraq.
Darioush Ghanbari, one of at least 10 deputies who has signed the document calling for the establishment of the committee, said Iranian parliamentarians were seeking to reduce tensions with America and "explain Iran's realities to the U.S. Congress."
The document had signatures from both conservatives and reformists and more signatures from the 290-member legislature were expected by the end of the day, Ghanbari said.
"In the absence of formal diplomatic relations, we seek to establish a parliamentary relationship with the U.S. Congress and fill the existing gap of contacts between the two nations," Ghanbari, a pro-reform lawmaker, told The Associated Press.
No specific number of deputies is required to form such a committee. The document signed by lawmakers will be presented to the parliament's speaker, who has the right to accept or reject it.
It was unclear what he would do. The speaker is Gholam Ali Haddad Adel, a close associate of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who holds final say in all matters in Iran. Haddad Adel is considered a relative moderate among the conservatives and hard-liners who make up Iran's top leadership, and it is likely he would consult with Khamenei before taking any decision.
Washington severed diplomatic ties with Tehran after Iranian militant students stormed its embassy in Tehran in 1979, to protest America's refusal to hand over Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi for trial.
Ever since, talk of ties with the United States has long been a taboo among Iran's hard-line clerical leadership. Hard-liners stymied cautious efforts by reformists in the late 1990s to open up contacts with Americans — though the leadership has condoned occasional talks on specific issues with Washington.
One hard-line lawmaker, Saeed Aboutaleb, denounced the effort to create the friendship committee, saying Tuesday, "the nation will strike the mouth of these lawmakers."
Khamenei's stance on the committee was not known. But Iran's acceptance of ambassador-level talks with the U.S. on improving Iraq's security could be a sign the supreme leader sees the need for contact with the United States amid the two countries' escalating tensions.
The United States accuses Iran of fueling Iraq's violence by backing militants there, a charge Iran denies. Tehran, in turn, says the U.S. troop presence in Iraq is the cause of the country's turmoil. Washington and its allies also accuse Iran of seeking to build nuclear weapons — a charge Iran also denies — and the United Nations has imposed limited sanctions on Iran for refusing to suspend uranium enrichment.
The Iraqi government — which is backed by the United States but also close to Iran — has pushed for the two countries to end their disputes.
Proponents of the friendship committee said it could help avert anti-Iranian legislation by the U.S. Congress.
"If (Iranian) government officials are reconciling with Americans, why can't the Iranian nation reconcile with the American people?" said Jalal Hosseini, another Iranian reformist lawmaker who signed the petition.
"We are seeking to form this friendship committee to undermine anti-Iran policies of the Bush administration and show our good will and our peace-loving spirits," he said.
This is the keynote address Cindy gave on May 04, 2007, at the commemoration of the Kent State Massacre.
First of all, I would just like to say that I am not only in favor of impeaching George Bush and Dick Cheney, but of trying them for war crimes and locking them both up in Guantánamo for the rest of their lives! I also agree with Tom (Hayden) that an "anti-war" movement is basically a self-destructive movement, because when our objectives are achieved, the movement is over. That is why we must call ourselves a "peace" movement so our movement will never end. There will always be a need for people who commit their lives to peace as strenuously as they commit their lives to the anti-war movement.
I can't begin to tell you how honored I am to have been invited here to speak on this historic occasion with the other speakers who have also felt the sting of war and the pain of loss and lingering regrets. I am indescribably moved to be adopted into the Kent State family and invite you all down to Camp Casey in Crawford this August to join our family!
Before the program started I took the chance to climb the hill and spend time at the places where Allison Krauss, Jeff Miller, Bill Schroeder and Sandy Scheuer each fell and I would like to share some thoughts that I had up there with you.
My first thought was of the randomness of violence. The four students who were killed that day just happened to occupy the same space as a National Guard bullet at the same time. Unlike those wounded, some pretty badly, those that perished that awful day were struck by the bullets in vitally important parts of their bodies. The places where the four fell, never to get up again, are marked in memoriam to the stupidity and permanence of violence. One day, I hope to travel to Sadr City, Baghdad to see and stand in the spot where my son, Casey's, brain collided with an insurgent's bullet, taking his life by the same shapeless and dark entity that stole the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, on the same day: April 04.
This same entity took the lives of the young people here thirty-seven years ago, and at: Jackson State a few days later, Virginia Tech, Columbine High School, Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan and the myriad of South American countries that the USA has violently intruded in over the years. This thing, this force is hatred fueled by ignorance; hatred exploited by the corporate war machine and hatred perpetuated by the corporate prostitutes that run our government. Hatred that is systemic and endemic in our society because we don't see the other side as human—or we see our "enemies" as less human than ourselves. Kent State is not the first place that bottles, sticks, and rocks have been met with bullets and tear gas---it happens still notably to our Palestinian brothers and sisters and before in Northern Ireland among other places where people are oppressed.
I am sure when the students at Kent State were met with the Ohio National Guard many years ago they only saw riot gear and the faces of "the man." I just hung up the phone with a Vietnam combat veteran who at the time had just returned from a tour of duty in 'Nam. He recalled being ashamed and disgusted that he wore the same uniform as the National Guard who slaughtered the students. Soldiers do have hearts and souls and especially during the Vietnam quagmire many of them understood that their government was, as Martin Luther King Jr had said three years and one month before the slaughter here, "the biggest perpetrator of violence."
I am also equally sure that the National Guard troops did not see the students who were their age, their color, their nationality, as their brothers and sisters. Being so far away they could not look in the eyes of the young people they were about to murder and see the heart-light there that matched their own.
Just as in My Lai, Haditha, Fallujah, etc, no one was ever punished for the crimes against humanity that were perpetrated here on this sacred ground thirty-seven years ago today. If there is one lesson we failed to learn in 1970 that we must learn today, it's that wearing a uniform, badge, or a five-thousand dollar suit does not give a person the right or authority to kill another human being.
1970 was a very turbulent time for this nation and our world, but people, especially you young people, you need to realize that in this age of corporate control of the media and the corporate fascism that rules America, it is more urgent than ever that we put warm bodies on the streets to stop BushCo and the war machine.
I was 12 years old thirty-seven years ago today. I was aware of the news, but I was probably more concerned about my softball batting average and eagerly awaiting the end of another boring school year. Little did I know, suspect or even fear that I would give birth to a wonderful baby boy named Casey in nine years and 25 days. If I thought about it, I would hope that my children would grow up in a country that rejected war and violence---but not only did I not think of those things, I didn't plan for a future without war or violence. This is why it is so urgent to do it now for your children and my own unborn grandchildren that are already so precious to me.
I was honored with the opportunity to stand vigil in the spot where Allison Krauss fell. I thought of her mother and the pain she felt when she heard the news and her pain every day since May 04, 1970. I thought of another life uselessly, tragically, violently, randomly and stupidly cut short. I thought of the hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqis who do not have memorials to their Bush-wasted lives. I renewed my vow to work for peace for Allison for the rest of my life. Because in the great tradition of Rosa Parks, Harriet Tubman, St. Joan of Arc, Rachel Corrie and Marla Rudzicka, Allison stood her ground against injustice and for her sacrifice we will all be richer.
Before we can purge our country of the hatred that is fed by greed, we must purge our own hearts of the hatred that is fueled by bitterness. Let's stand peacefully, yet firmly and fearlessly in the face of the war machine that devours our children with their blood soaked hatred.
One speaker before me said that Jesus never started a war. Well Jesus never started a religion either, no matter what the Catholics or Baptists think; but what Jesus did start was a non-violent revolution that has been bastardized by the religious right. Gandhi said, "I like your Christ, but not your Christians, they are nothing like your Christ!" It was proved here and elsewhere during the Vietnam anti-war movement that we cannot fight wars using their tactics or methods: we don't have the firepower that they do and we have no soldiers or generals. Our country fights wars against drugs, poverty and terror and our struggle is technically a war against war but we are humans, as are the people we allow our government to kill in our names using our tax money. We need to forge a non-violent revolution for peace and struggle to see the heart-lights in the eyes of our enemies so eventually we will prevail.
Buddhists have a saying that people die twice: once when there bodies die and once when the last person who remembers them dies. We must not allow our nation to forget the sacrifices of Casey and Augie (Shroeder, KIA 08/03/06, whose mom, Rosemary Palmer spoke) and the lessons of Iraq and the criminal Bush regime as we apparently forgot the lessons of Kent State, Vietnam, and the criminal Nixon regime. However as long as there is one of us still standing, shining our heart-lights and working for peace: Allison, Jeff, Bill, Sandy, Augie and Casey will live forever!
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