Saturday, October 27, 2007

THIS JUST IN! RUDY G DECLARES "CLAYTON SPEAKS FOR ME!"

 
FAILED NYC MAYOR AND 2008 GOP PRESIDENTIAL HOPEFUL RUDY G WENT TO TEXAS WITH NARY A GAY ROOMMATE IN SIGHT BUT HE DID LATCH ON TO FORMER TEXAS GOVERNOR CLAYTON WILLIAMS WHO ENDORSED HIM.
 
RUDY G EXPLAINED TO THESE REPORTERS THAT HE WAS NOW ATTEMPTING TO COURT THE PREPPY RAPIST AND MUDRERER ROBERT CHAMBERS VOTE.  RUDY G DECLARED, "CLAYTON SPEAKS FOR ME."
 
CLAYTON WILLIAMS LOST THE 1990 GOVERNOR'S RACE TO ANN RICHARDS.  THIS FOLLOWED WILLIAMS DECLARING OF RAPE THAT RAPE VICTIMS "MIGHT AS WELL LIE BACK AND ENJOY IT."
 
RUDY G SAID THOSE WERE "WISE WORDS" AND ONES HE'S PROVIDED TO "MANY FEMALE COMPANIONS OVER THE YEARS."
 
 
 
Starting with war resisters.  Agustin Aguayo will be taking part in an Impeach Bush and Cheney Meetup with Ann Wright and David Swanson on November 2nd (6:30 pm) at the Veteran's Memorial Building in Santa Barbara (112 West Cabrillo Boulevard).  That's next Friday, November 2nd.  In other war resister news, Ontario's OPIRG Brock notes that war resister Michael Espinal and his partner Jennifer Harrison spoke at Brock University on Tuesday: "Michael put a very real human face on the horrors that are being committed everyday in Iraq. He spent 14 months as an explosives expert doing house raids, disarming landmines, and other explosives.  Michael was reprimanded for breaking military procedure for only placing enough explosives on the doors to open them, rather than blowing the entire door and frame in the houses.  If you use the amount of explosives the military states you should in its procedurces, "anyone within 5 feet of the door would be killed instantly."  According to Michael most of the intelligence they relied on was from other Iraqi's who told US forces of locations where 'bad' people were.  Those informants were paid about $5.00 'In all the raids I found only two grenades, and a few guns . . . if you were a male over 5 feet you were bound and taken away.'  Michael said.  Bibles were regularly shoved in the pockets of Iraqi's as soldiers would taunt them and tell them their religion was wrong.  We constantly hear on the news of deaths and injuries of Coalition Forces in Iraq due to roadside bombs.  From Michael's experience 'Most of the IED's (Improvised Explosive Device), I found were unexploded US ordinance,' or US placed landmines.  When convoys would drive near the ordinance sometimes the vibration of vehicles passing would be enough to detonate it.  Regardless of the source of the explosive, it is always blamed on 'terrorists'."
 
Meanwhile, Iraq Veterans Against the War is taking part in an event on Saturday, October 27th:
 
If you are a soldier or veteran who has served on active duty or in the Reserves or National Guard since 9/11, and your are frustrated and angry with the way our military has been used and abused to wage an occupation against the people of Iraq, then know that you are not alone.  On October 27th, veterans, soldiers, and citizens will gather in 11 cities around this country in a national expression of the breadth and depth of antiwar sentiment in this nation.  One of the biggest gatherings of IVAW members will be in Boston, where IVAW members from across the Northeast will come together for a fundraiser on Friday night, the march on Saturday, and a regional meeting immediately following the march.  If you area aveteran or active duty person interested in meeting IVAW members in Boston, please e-mail newengland [at] ivaw.org or boston [at] ivaw.org.  The seattle chapter has also been integral in the planning of their regional march, please contact seattle [at] ivaw.org to connect with fellow veterans in the Northwest.  For additional information on regions and chapters participating in the October 27 marches and demos, including those in NYC, LA, and Orlando, please contact the regional coordinator or chapter in your area, http://www.ivaw.org/chaptersandregions.  Check www.Oct27.org for directions to the events and addtional information.
 
Also, Wally has discussed  how he made his own support IVAW t-shirt to wear on campus.  IVAW now has t-shirts that read "I SUPPORT IRAQ VETERANS AGAINST THE WAR." 
 
There is a growing movement of resistance within the US military which includes James Stepp, Michael Espinal, Matthew Lowell, Derek Hess, Diedra Cobb, Brad McCall, Justin Cliburn, Timothy Richard, Robert Weiss, Phil McDowell, Steve Yoczik, Ross Spears, Peter Brown, Bethany "Skylar" James, Zamesha Dominique, Chrisopther Scott Magaoay, Jared Hood, James Burmeister, Eli Israel, Joshua Key, Ehren Watada, Terri Johnson, Carla Gomez, Luke Kamunen, Leif Kamunen, Leo Kamunen, Camilo Mejia, Kimberly Rivera, Dean Walcott, Linjamin Mull, Agustin Aguayo, Justin Colby, Marc Train, Abdullah Webster, Robert Zabala, Darrell Anderson, Kyle Snyder, Corey Glass, Jeremy Hinzman, Kevin Lee, Mark Wilkerson, Patrick Hart, Ricky Clousing, Ivan Brobeck, Aidan Delgado, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Stephen Funk, Blake LeMoine, Clifton Hicks, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Joshua Casteel, Katherine Jashinski, Dale Bartell, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Chris Capps, Tim Richard, Hart Viges, Michael Blake, Christopher Mogwai, Christian Kjar, Kyle Huwer, Wilfredo Torres, Michael Sudbury, Ghanim Khalil, Vincent La Volpa, DeShawn Reed and Kevin Benderman. In total, at least fifty US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.


Information on war resistance within the military can be found at The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline [(877) 447-4487], Iraq Veterans Against the War and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters. Tom Joad maintains a list of known war resisters.
 
 
The National Lawyers Guild's convention begins shortly: The Military Law Task Force and the Center on Conscience & War are sponsoring a Continuing Legal Education seminar -- Representing Conscientious Objectors in Habeas Corpus Proceedings -- as part of the National Lawyers Guild National Convention in Washington, D.C.  The half-day seminar will be held on Thursday, November 1st, from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., at the convention site, the Holiday Inn on the Hill in D.C.  This is a must-attend seminar, with excelent speakers and a wealth of information.  The seminar will be moderated by the Military Law Task Force's co-chair Kathleen Gilberd and scheduled speakers are NYC Bar Association's Committee on Military Affairs and Justice's Deborah Karpatkin, the Center on Conscience & War's J.E. McNeil, the National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee's Peter Goldberger, Louis Font who has represented Camilo Mejia, Dr. Mary Hanna and others, and the Central Committee for Conscientious Objector's James Feldman.  The fee is $60 for attorneys; $25 for non-profit attorneys, students and legal workers; and you can also enquire about scholarships or reduced fees.  The convention itself will run from October 31st through November 4th and it's full circle on the 70th anniversary of NLG since they "began in Washington, D.C." where "the founding convention took place in the District at the height of the New Deal in 1937,  Activist, progressive lawyers, tired of butting heads with the reactionary white male lawyers then comprising the American Bar Association, formed the nucleus of the Guild." 
 
From the National Lawyers Guild to the Center for Constitutional Rights.  On October 11th, CCR filed suit against Blackwater over the September 16th slaughter of civilians in Baghdad by Blackwater USA on behalf of the families of Himoud Saed Atban, Usama Fadhil Abbas and Oday Ismail Ibraheem (all three killed in the slaughter) and Talib Mutlaq Deewan who was wounded in the attack.  Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez (Democracy Now!) broke the news that day and interviewed CCR's Susan Burke who explained, "We were approached by the families of three gentlemen who were shot and killed, as well as a gentleman who was very seriously injured.  They came to us because they know of our work representing the torture victims at Abu Ghraib, and they asked us whether it would be possible to try to get some form of justice, some form of accountability, against this rogue corporation."  CCR continues to pursue the issue of torture.  Today Juan Gonzalez (Democracy Now!) interviewed CCR president Michael Ratner and Jeanne Sulzer of the International Federation of Human Rights about the lawsuit filed by CCR and IFHR
 
JUAN GONZALEZ: Jeanne, I'd like to ask you, what happened this morning in France?
 
JEANNE SULZER: Well, the complaint was filed yesterday before the Paris prosecutor around 5:00 p.m. Paris time. This morning, Rumsfeld was present at the conference where he was scheduled. So what we are awaiting now is signs from the prosecutor to know whether an investigation has been opened or not. So what we needed here in France was to make sure that Rumsfeld was actually present on the French territory, which is the case. He's still here in Paris.
 
JUAN GONZALEZ: And now, was he actually served with any papers there, or what happened when he actually spoke?
 
JEANNE SULZER: Well, actually, the information we have is that the complaint has not been served on him. He has not been yet asked to account for the accusations in the complaint. So, as of now, again, we are waiting to see whether the prosecutor is still reviewing the complaint, and hopefully he will not wait too long, because our fears are that Rumsfeld will escape as soon as he can. So now the big issue is the pressure on the prosecutor and, of course, the higher-ups of the French authorities to take a decision on the complaint. But France has a very clear obligation to investigate and prosecute into this case under the torture convention, as Rumsfeld is present on the French territory.
 
Gonzalez noted that this is case number five against Rumsfeld.
 
MICHAEL RATNER: The big difference with this case and the other cases is Rumsfeld is actually in France. And when an alleged torturer goes into a country, but particularly France, the obligation on the prosecutor to begin an investigation is much stronger than in other cases of so-called universal jurisdiction. We brought two cases in Germany; one of those is still on appeal. There's a case in Argentina, and there's a case in Sweden.
I think the point of all of this is to really give Rumsfeld no place to hide. And the French case, really, because he is there, is extraordinary. I mean, that he was, in my -- in a sense, Juan, dumb enough to go to France, knowing that they have this kind of jurisdiction, is shocking. And, you know, I think one of the things that people can do right now is to put pressure on the French prosecutor to make sure he opens an investigation. We're going to have that fax number, etc., on our website, which the Center has a new website now: ccrjustice.org, ccrjustice.org, which in a couple of hours you can go to to fax materials. So this is a very, very exciting effort, and I think we're going to really pin Rumsfeld in in this.
I have a question, Jeanne: if they somehow don't open the prosecution and he leaves, do they still have an obligation to open the prosecution, even after he's gone?
 
JEANNE SULZER: In theory, there is, because what you need is, when the complaint is being filed, that the person, the alleged person, is present on the territory, and he was when the complaint was filed. So, yes, but they could, of course, say that now that he is not present on the territory anymore, there is no jurisdiction. But, yes, they should -- actually, the investigation should be opened now. If he escapes today, there is still basis for the French jurisdiction.
 
 
CCR notes that they and IFHR have joined with the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR) and the French League for Human Rights in the filing "charging former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld with ordering and authorizing torture. . . .  The criminal complaint states that because of the failure of authorities in the United States and Iraq to launch any independent investigation into the responsibility of Rumsfeld and other high-level U.S. officials for torture despite a documented paper trail and government memos implicating them in direct as well as command responsibility for torture -- and because the U.S. has refused to join the International Criminal Court -- it is the legal obligation of states such as France to take up the case.  In this case, charges are brought under the 1984 Convention against Torture, ratified by both the United States and France, which has been used in France in previous torture cases. . . . Former U.S. Army Brigadier General Janis Karpinski, former commander of Abu Ghraib and other U.S.-run prisons in Iraq, submitted written testimony to the Paris Prosecutor for the plaintiffs' case on Rumsfeld's responsibility for the abuse of detainees." 
 
 
Dorren Carvajal (International Herald Tribune) notes Karpinski "contended that the abuses started after the appearance of Major General Geoffrey Miller, who was sent as an emissary by Rumsfeld to assist military intelligence interrogators.  Miller crticized the interrogators for 'being too nice to the prisoners,' she said, and promised more resources.  In her statement, Karpinski said he summed up the new approach in two sentences: 'Look, you have to treat them like dogs.  If they ever felt like anything more than dogs, you have effectively lost control of the interrogation.'  Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, said in a statement that the aim of the latest legal complaint was to demonstrate 'that we will not rest until those U.S. officials involved in the torture program are brought to justice'."   
 
Karpinski (PDF format warning) notes, "MG Miller was working almost exclusively with the military intelligence people and the military intelligence interrogators during the course of his visit.  He was not interested in assisting with detention operations; rather he was focusing on interrogation operations and teaching interrogators harsher techniques as a means to obtain more actionable intelligence.  MG Miller was spending almost all of his time with the Military Intelligence Officers (J2) BG Barbara Fast and the Commander of the Military Intelligence Brigade, Colonel Pappas.  During his in-brief, his introduction when he first arrived there with his team, he responded to a military interrogator's question. . . .  Then MG Miller said, 'My first observation is you are not in charge of the interrogations.'  He said they were being too nice to the prsioners.  MG Miller said they the interrogators were not being aggressive enough.  He used an example from Guantanamo Bay."  In addition, Karpinski notes the Rumsfeld Memo -- "a memo posted on a column just outside of their small administrative office.  The memorandum was signed by the Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld, and it discussed Authorized Interrogation techniques including use of loud music and prolonged standing postions, amongst several other techniques.  It was one page.  It mentioned stress positions, noise and light discipline, the use of music, disrupting sleep patterns, those types of techniques.  There was also a handwritten note out to the side in the same ink and in the same script as the signature of the Secretary of Defense.  The notation written in the margin said 'Make sure this happens!'  And people understood it to be from Rumsfeld.  This memorandum was a copy; a photocopy of the original, I would imagine.  I thought it was unusual for an interrogation memorandum to be posted inside of a dtention cell block, because interrogations were not conducted in the cell block, at least to my understanding and knowledge." 
 
Rumsfeld served as Secretary of the Defense under both Gerald Ford and the Bully Boy.   On May 7, 2004 Rumsfeld testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee then examining the Abu Ghraib torture and declared, "Mr. Chairman, members of the committee, in recent days there has been a good deal of discussion about who bears responsibility for the terrible activities that took place at Abu Ghraib.  These events occurred on my watch.  As secretary of defense, I am accountable for them and I take full responsibility."  Rumsfeld was replaced with Robert Gates on December 18, 2006.  There was not and has not been any accountability. [FYI, Ratner is also a co-host -- along with Heidi Boghosian, Dalia Hashad and Michael Smith -- of WBAI's Law and Disorder -- which also airs online and on other radio stations across the US.]
 
 
 
 

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Thursday, October 25, 2007

THIS JUST IN! NEW DEM STRATEGY!

 
 
 
JOHN EDWARDS, WHO VOTED FOR WAR WITH IRAQ, SAYS HE HAS LEARNED HIS LESSON.  IF HE WERE IN THE SENATE TODAY, WHICH HE IS NOT, HE WOULD NOT HAVE VOTED FOR THE KYL-LIEBERMAN AMENDMENT.
 
BARACK OBAMA, WHO IS IN THE SENATE TODAY, SAYS HE WOULD NOT HAVE VOTED FOR THE KYL-LIEBERMAN AMENDMENT EITHER . . . IF HE HAD SHOWN UP FOR THE VOTE.
 
ONE WANTS TO BE PRESIDENT ON THE ISSUE OF "I HAVE LEARNED!"
 
THE OTHER WANTS TO BE PRESIDENT ON THE ISSUE OF "I MISSED A VOTE I WON'T SHUT UP ABOUT SO I OBVIOUSLY THINK IT IS IMPORTANT BUT I AM TOO BUSY CAMPAIGNING TO DO THE JOB I WAS ELECTED TO IN NOVEMBER OF 2004 SO VOTE FOR ME FOR PRESIDENT AND MAYBE I'LL FINALLY GET DOWN TO DOING THE JOB PEOPLE EXPECT FROM ME!"
 
WHEN CALLED FOR COMMENTS, JOHN EDWARDS BEGAN EXPLAINING TO THESE REPORTERS ALL THE THINGS HE HAS LEARNED THE HARD WAY BUT THESE REPORTERS SAT THE PHONE DOWN AFTER 20 MINUTES.
 
WHILE EDWARDS CONTINUED SPEAKING, WE CONTACTED BARCK OBAMA WHO EXPLAINED, "CAMPAIGNING FOR PRESIDENT IS HARD.  REAL HARD."
 
HARDER THAN BEING A SENATOR?
 
"OH, THAT'S EASY," LAUGHED BAMBI.  "THEY PAY ME WHETHER I SHOW UP OR NOT!"
 
BOTH CANDIDATES IT WAS EASIER TO CAMPAIGN ON A WAR THAT HADN'T STARTED THAN ON HOW THEY WOULD END THE ONGOING ILLEGAL WAR.
 
 
 
Starting with war resistance.  Ted Rall (Rall.com) offers his reflections on resistance during Vietnam and resistance today: "Soldiers who want antiwar Americans to march to demand that they be brought home should take a cue from Vietnam veterans.  They marched with peace protesters and threw their medals at the Capitol.  Soldiers serving on the front refused orders.  Some fragged their officers.  Vietnam Veterans Against the War claimed more than 50,000 members by 1971.  That year saw numerous dramatic acts of dissent by U.S. troops, including 50 veterans who marched to the Pentagon and demanded that they be arrested as war criminals.  Fifteen vets took over and barricaded the Statue of Liberty for two days.  These acts swayed opinions and helped convince lawmakers it was time to withdraw.  Some soldiers in Iraq have offered resistance.  After being denied conscientious objector status, Petty Officer Third Class Pablo Paredes went AWOL in 2004.  He was sentenced to two months in the brig and three months hard labor.  Army First Lieutenant Ehren Watada refused to be sent to Iraq in 2006, telling the media that the war's illegality would make him a party to war crimes.  Army Specialist Darrell Anderson, faced with a second tour of duty after being wounded by a roadside bomb deserted and fled to Canada.  'I went to Iraq willingly,' said Anderson. 'I wanted to die for my country.  I thought I was going to go there and protect my family back home.  All I was doing was killing other families there.'  The Army decided not to prosecute him.  Several other deserters have applied for political asylum in Canada, but they're only a fraction of the thousands who went there during the 1960s and 1970s."
 
In the October 18th snapshot, we noted someone considered AWOL (and noted he "may or may not be a war resister"):  "Robert Przybyski" -- the last name is missing an "l" (my fault) Przybylski.  John Vandiver (Stars and Stripes) provides an update, "Capt. Robert Przbylski, the Baumholder-based officer who has been absent without leave since Oct. 10, remains missing but does not appear to be in any danger, authorities reported Wednesday. . . .  Army officials remain tight-lipped about the circumstances involving the captain's disappearance."
 
 
There is a growing movement of resistance within the US military which includes James Stepp, Michael Espinal, Matthew Lowell, Derek Hess, Diedra Cobb, Brad McCall, Justin Cliburn, Timothy Richard, Robert Weiss, Phil McDowell, Steve Yoczik, Ross Spears, Peter Brown, Bethany "Skylar" James, Zamesha Dominique, Chrisopther Scott Magaoay, Jared Hood, James Burmeister, Eli Israel, Joshua Key, Ehren Watada, Terri Johnson, Carla Gomez, Luke Kamunen, Leif Kamunen, Leo Kamunen, Camilo Mejia, Kimberly Rivera, Dean Walcott, Linjamin Mull, Agustin Aguayo, Justin Colby, Marc Train, Abdullah Webster, Robert Zabala, Darrell Anderson, Kyle Snyder, Corey Glass, Jeremy Hinzman, Kevin Lee, Mark Wilkerson, Patrick Hart, Ricky Clousing, Ivan Brobeck, Aidan Delgado, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Stephen Funk, Blake LeMoine, Clifton Hicks, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Joshua Casteel, Katherine Jashinski, Dale Bartell, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Chris Capps, Tim Richard, Hart Viges, Michael Blake, Christopher Mogwai, Christian Kjar, Kyle Huwer, Wilfredo Torres, Michael Sudbury, Ghanim Khalil, Vincent La Volpa, DeShawn Reed and Kevin Benderman. In total, at least fifty US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.


Information on war resistance within the military can be found at The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline [(877) 447-4487], Iraq Veterans Against the War and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters. Tom Joad maintains a list of known war resisters.
 
 
The National Lawyers Guild's convention begins shortly: The Military Law Task Force and the Center on Conscience & War are sponsoring a Continuing Legal Education seminar -- Representing Conscientious Objectors in Habeas Corpus Proceedings -- as part of the National Lawyers Guild National Convention in Washington, D.C.  The half-day seminar will be held on Thursday, November 1st, from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., at the convention site, the Holiday Inn on the Hill in D.C.  This is a must-attend seminar, with excelent speakers and a wealth of information.  The seminar will be moderated by the Military Law Task Force's co-chair Kathleen Gilberd and scheduled speakers are NYC Bar Association's Committee on Military Affairs and Justice's Deborah Karpatkin, the Center on Conscience & War's J.E. McNeil, the National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee's Peter Goldberger, Louis Font who has represented Camilo Mejia, Dr. Mary Hanna and others, and the Central Committee for Conscientious Objector's James Feldman.  The fee is $60 for attorneys; $25 for non-profit attorneys, students and legal workers; and you can also enquire about scholarships or reduced fees.  The convention itself will run from October 31st through November 4th and it's full circle on the 70th anniversary of NLG since they "began in Washington, D.C." where "the founding convention took place in the District at the height of the New Deal in 1937,  Activist, progressive lawyers, tired of butting heads with the reactionary white male lawyers then comprising the American Bar Association, formed the nucleus of the Guild." 
 
Turning to the US where there is an opposition party in Congress: CODEPINK.  The only voice of sanity in the halls of Congress attended the House Foreign Relations Committe hearing yesterday as Secretary of State and Anger Condi Rice prepared to deliver her usual non-performance as Congress delivered their own.  The Let's All Pretend It's Still A Democracy road show was interrupted by CODEPINK's Desiree Anita Ali-Fairooz who, with red pain on her hands, spoke the truth no one elected can or will, "You've got the blood of millions of Iraqis on your hands."  (See As Cedric and Wally's joint-post yesterday.)  "Stylish" Condi pretended not to notice. White House flack Dana Perino pronounced it "despicable.  And unfortunately, it seems that increasingly Congress is being run by CODEPINK."  Oh, if only.  Instead War Hawk Tom Lantos had all of CODEPINK kicked out of the hearing and Congress returned to its usual ineffective posture. CODEPINK's Desiree Fairooz, Lis Hourican, Lori Purdue, Medea Benjamin and Zool Zulkowitz were arrested but "The Deputy Chief of Staff of the House Foreign Relations Committee contacted the Capitol Police later in the day to again relay that their is a policy of that committee to not arrest Citizen protesters but to instead escort them out of the room."  The arrest of Benjamim effected a planned action today.
 
Staying with CODEPINK, Tuesday Karen Miller (Free Speech Radio News) reported, "The original purpose of the database was to share information about dangerous criminals, sex offenders, fugitives and members of terrorist organizations among different levels of law enforcement. It has since become apparent that peace activists have been added to the watch list. Medea Benjamin of the anti-war group, Code Pink, was recently refused entry into Canada when she was on her way to attend a peace rally. That's why Code Pink members decided to protest today in front of the Canadian embassy in Washington DC. Benjamin has been arrested a number of times for anti-war actions, but she says Canada's decision to bar entrance to some activists is troubling: 'One, the FBI should never be putting non-violent misdemeanor offenses on a criminal database. Second, Canada should not be using a US database to say who can come into a country.' At today's protest, Code Pink delivered over 20,000 petitions from US and Canadian citizens collected over the last 2 weeks urging Canada to change its policy."  From the October 4th snapshot:
 
Yesterday, Wright and CODEPINK's Medea Benjamin attempted to enter Canada "crossing near Buffalo to attend a conference sponsored by a Canadian peace coalition in Toronto."  As CODEPINK notes, "At the Buaffalo-Niagara Falls Bridge they were detained, questioned and denied entry. . . .  The women were questioned at Canadian customs about their participation in anti-war efforts and informed that they had an FBI file indicating they had been arrested in acts of non-violent civil disobedience."  Benjamin explains, "In my case, the border guard pulled up a file showing that I had been arrested at the US Mission to the UN where, on International Women's Day, a group of us had tried to deliver a peace petition signed by 152,000 women around the world.  For this, the Canadians labeled me a criminal and refused to allow me in the country."  Wright declares, "The FBI's placing of peace activists on an international criminal database is blatant political intimidation of US citizens opposed to Bush administration policies.  The Canadian government should certainly not accept this FBI database as the criteria for entering the country." 
 
AP reported yesterday that Ann Wright and Medea Benjamin "plan to fly to Ottowa on Thursday at the invitation of several members of Parliament."  Due to the arrest, Medea Benjamin was not able to fly to Ottawa.  Ann Wright did.  The Canadian Press reports that Wright "is being detained at Ottawa airport" and that "while other passengers passed through Customs, Wright was held back."  AP quotes CODEPINK's Dana Balicki stating, "She's being turned away from the border and she's being banned from Canada for the next year."
 
 
RECOMMENDED: "Iraq snapshot"
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Wednesday, October 24, 2007

THIS JUST IN! COWARDLY DEMS!

BULLY BOY PRESS & CEDRIC'S BIX MIX -- SOUTH CAROLINA.
 
 
 
BUT WHILE THE DEMOCRATICALLY CONGRESS CAN'T STAND UP TO HOMOPHOBIC, RACIST JUDICIAL NOMINEES, THEY CAN STAND UP TO CODEPINK.  WITH READ PAINT ON HER HANDS, CODEPINK'S DESIREE ANITA ALI-FAIROOZ CONFRONTED CONDI RICE, ANNOUNCING THE TRUTH, "THE BLOOD OF MILLIONS OF IRAQIS IS ON YOUR HANDS!"  FOR THIS ACTION, NOT ONLY WAS SHE ARRESTED BUT WAR HAWK TOM LANTOS HAD ALL MEMBERS OF CODEPINK KICKED OUT AFTER WHICH HE PUT HIS HEAD BACK IN HIS ASS AND USED HIS TONGUE IN AN ATTEMPT TO DISLODGE AN OBJECT.  ASKED WHY, HE RESPONDED IT WAS THAT "OR RUN OVER ANOTHER KID'S FOOT!  WOO HOO!"
 
WHEN REACHED FOR COMMENT SECRETARY OF STATE AND ANGER CONDI RICE SEEMED UNAWARE THAT THE CODEPINK ACTIVIST WAS PROTESTING HER.
 
"I WORE MY BLOOD FUR TO THE HEARING," EXPLAINED RICE PICTURED BELOW, "I THOUGHT SHE WAS APPLAUDING MY FUR AS WELL AS CONGRATULATING ME FOR ALL THE BLOOD ON MY HANDS.  YOU MEAN SHE WAS TRYING TO INSULT ME?"
 
 
 
 
Starting with war resisters.  Judge Benjamin Settle has extended Ehren Watada's stay.  Watada  is the first officer to publicly refuse to deploy to Iraq.  His reasons for that are because the war is illegal.  He attempted to work through this matter with the military but when it became obvious they were stringing him along he made the decision to go public -- and went public in June 2006.  In February 2006, Judge Toilet (aka John Head) presided over a rigged hearing that was supposed to pass for a court-martial despite the fact that Watada was not allowed to explain why he'd chosen to do what he did -- refuse to deploy.  Judge Toilet tried real hard to rig the perfect frame up and when it didn't go the way he wanted, Judge Toilet flushed the court-martial, declaring a mistrial over defense objection and despite the fact that double-jeopardy had attached.  Judge Toilet immediately scheduled a court-martial for March and then someone tutored Toilet a little on the law.  The court-martial was supposed to begin the first week of this month; however, federal judge Settle issued a stay through October 26th.  On Friday, Settle extended the stay through November 9th.  Mike Barber (Seattle Post-Intelligencer) noted on Friday, "Seattle decided he had jurisdiction to hear arguments that Watada would be subject to double jeopardy, since his first trial in February ended in a mistrial, over his objections, after testimony had been heard by a panel of officers."  The panel was the jury -- Watada wisely decided to go with a jury for the court-martial and not allow a judge (in this case Judge Toilet) to make the ruling. 
 
Meanwhile on the subject of war resisters in Canada, Free Speech Radio News noted yesterday, "Canada has, in the past, been a destination for conscientious objectors to US wars. But some anti-war activists have found out from experience that Canada is using the FBI's National Crime Information Center database to stop war resisters at the border."  Brad McCall was the first to go public with the new system and how he was handcuffed while attempting to enter Canada September 19th of this year.  He was followed by others making reporting similar incidents at the border.  A number of actions are ongoing regarding US war resisters in Canada.  Citizens of Canada can sign the War Resisters Support Campaign petition as well as refer to this action page of the War Resisters Support Campaign.  In the United States, Courage to Resist has a letter you can sign to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Minister of Citizenship & Immigration Diane Finley and Stephane Dion of the Liberal Party.  If you click here you can sign electronically.  If you need a physical copy, you can go to "Supporting War Resisters" and print up a scan of the letter.
 
Tonight the War Resisters Support Campaign has an event, Michelle Mason's breakthrough documentary . Breaking Ranks will be screened at the University of Toronto's Claude Bissell Building from six to eight p.m. followed by a question and answer session with war resisters.
 
There is a growing movement of resistance within the US military which includes James Stepp, Michael Espinal, Matthew Lowell, Derek Hess, Diedra Cobb, Brad McCall, Justin Cliburn, Timothy Richard, Robert Weiss, Phil McDowell, Steve Yoczik, Ross Spears, Peter Brown, Bethany "Skylar" James, Zamesha Dominique, Chrisopther Scott Magaoay, Jared Hood, James Burmeister, Eli Israel, Joshua Key, Ehren Watada, Terri Johnson, Carla Gomez, Luke Kamunen, Leif Kamunen, Leo Kamunen, Camilo Mejia, Kimberly Rivera, Dean Walcott, Linjamin Mull, Agustin Aguayo, Justin Colby, Marc Train, Abdullah Webster, Robert Zabala, Darrell Anderson, Kyle Snyder, Corey Glass, Jeremy Hinzman, Kevin Lee, Mark Wilkerson, Patrick Hart, Ricky Clousing, Ivan Brobeck, Aidan Delgado, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Stephen Funk, Blake LeMoine, Clifton Hicks, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Joshua Casteel, Katherine Jashinski, Dale Bartell, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Chris Capps, Tim Richard, Hart Viges, Michael Blake, Christopher Mogwai, Christian Kjar, Kyle Huwer, Wilfredo Torres, Michael Sudbury, Ghanim Khalil, Vincent La Volpa, DeShawn Reed and Kevin Benderman. In total, at least fifty US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.


Information on war resistance within the military can be found at The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline [(877) 447-4487], Iraq Veterans Against the War and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters. Tom Joad maintains a list of known war resisters.
 
 
The National Lawyers Guild's convention begins shortly: The Military Law Task Force and the Center on Conscience & War are sponsoring a Continuing Legal Education seminar -- Representing Conscientious Objectors in Habeas Corpus Proceedings -- as part of the National Lawyers Guild National Convention in Washington, D.C.  The half-day seminar will be held on Thursday, November 1st, from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., at the convention site, the Holiday Inn on the Hill in D.C.  This is a must-attend seminar, with excelent speakers and a wealth of information.  The seminar will be moderated by the Military Law Task Force's co-chair Kathleen Gilberd and scheduled speakers are NYC Bar Association's Committee on Military Affairs and Justice's Deborah Karpatkin, the Center on Conscience & War's J.E. McNeil, the National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee's Peter Goldberger, Louis Font who has represented Camilo Mejia, Dr. Mary Hanna and others, and the Central Committee for Conscientious Objector's James Feldman.  The fee is $60 for attorneys; $25 for non-profit attorneys, students and legal workers; and you can also enquire about scholarships or reduced fees.  The convention itself will run from October 31st through November 4th and it's full circle on the 70th anniversary of NLG since they "began in Washington, D.C." where "the founding convention took place in the District at the height of the New Deal in 1937,  Activist, progressive lawyers, tired of butting heads with the reactionary white male lawyers then comprising the American Bar Association, formed the nucleus of the Guild." 
 
Turning to Iraq and starting with the refugee crisis which Prensa Latina reports the United Nations says is increasing "due to the border conflict with Turkey" with refugees already constituting 4.7 million Iraqis -- 2.3 million displaced internally, 2.4 million displaced externally.  Among the externally displaced is Riverbend and her family who have settled in Syria. Riverbend (Baghdad Burning) reports, "By the time we had reentered the Syrian border and were headed back to the cab ready to take us into Kameshli, I had resigned myself to the fact that we were refugees.  I read about refugees on the Internet daily. . .  in the newspapers . .  . hear about them on TV.  I heard about the estimated 1.5 million plus Iraqi refugees in Syria and shake my head, never really considering myself or my family as one of them.  After all, refugees are people who sleep in tents and have no potable water or plumbing, right?  Refugees carry their belongins in bags instead of suitcases and they don't have cell phones or Internet acess, right?  Grasping my passport in my hand like my life depended on it, with two extra months in Syria stamped inside, it hit me how wrong I was.  We were all refugees.  I was suddenly a number.  No matter how wealthy or educated or comfortable, a refugee is a refugee.  A refugee is someone who isn't really welcome in any country -- including their own . . . especially their own.  . . . The first evening we arrived, exhausted, dragging suitcases behind us, morale a little bit bruised, the Kurdish family sent over their representative -- a 9 year old boy missing two front teeth, holding a lopsided cake, 'We're Abu Mohammed's house -- across from you -- mama says if you need anything, just ask -- this is our number.  Abu Dalia's family lives upstairs, this is their number.  We're all Iraqi too . . .  Welcome to the building.'  I cried that night because for the first time in a long time, so far away from home, I felt the unity that had been stolen from us in 2003."  Yesterday, the United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees spokesperson Ron Redmond spoke to the press declaring that Syria continues to receive refugees but "in much smaller numbers than before" due to the new visa regulations Syria has imposed (obtain visa in Baghdad -- the Syrian embassy is located in a very violent neighborhood -- etc.) and that the UN estimates northern Iraq to now be "home to over 800,000 internally displaced Iraqis."  Peter Apps (Reuters) notes that more violence in northern Iraq "could further increase the number of people fleeing their homes and cut off one of the remaining ways out for refugees desperate to leave Iraq, aid workers say."  The tensions between the regions go far back.  In yesterday's press briefing, US State Department flack Sean McCormack declared of the tensions, "It's not something that was invented over the past four years.  But we now have an opportunity with an Iraqi Government that has an interest in playing a positive role in the region, an opportunity to arrive at a solution."  Now the US State Department thinks there is "an opportunity" to address the situation?  and what were they thinking in 2004?  The War Comes Home's Aaron Glantz reported on the situation for Pacifica in April of 2004 noting a meet up in DC between the Turkish government and the US government when then US Joint Chiefs of Staff Richard Meyers stated, "This is an issue the coalition forces inside Iraq take very seriously.  Let me assure you that there is very close collaboration with Turkey and that they [the PKK] will be dealt with appropriately." 
.
 
RECOMMENDED: "Iraq snapshot"

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Tuesday, October 23, 2007

THIS JUST IN! IS IT JUST STUPIDITY?

BULLY BOY PRESS & CEDRIC'S BIX MIX -- SOUTH CAROLINA.
 
MITT ROMNEY IS EITHER A GUTTER CANDIDATE OR HE IS JUST THAT STUPID.
 
IN THE MIDST OF TRASHING DEMOCRATS TODAY, HE DECLARED, "ACTUALLY, JUST LOOK AT WHAT OSAM -- BARACK OBAMA -- SAID JUST YESTERDAY.  BARACK OBAMA, CALLING ON RADICALS, JIHADISTS OF ALL DIFFERENT TYPES, TO COME TOGETHER IN IRAQ.  THIS IS THE BATTLEFIELD.  IT'S ALMOST AS IF THE DEMOCRATIC CONTENDERS FOR PRESIDENT ARE LIVING IN FANTASYLAND.  THEIR IDEA FOR JIHAD IS TO RETREAT, AND THEIR IDEA FOR THE ECONOMY IS TO ALSO RETREAT."
 
HAIR CLUB FOR MEN ROMNEY'S CAMPAIGN IS CALLING IT AN HONEST MIX-UP AND SAYING THAT ROMNEY MEANT TO SAY "OSAMA BIN LADEN."  THIS IS NOT A SLIP OF A TONGUE WHERE YOU GET A NAME WRONG, ROMNEY WAS TALKING DEMOCRATS.  HE ATTRIBUTED OSAMA'S REMARKS TO A DEMOCRAT AND HE COMPARED IT TO HIS VIEW OF ACTUAL DEMOCRATIC PLAN.  INSERTING "OSAMA" INTO THE SPEECH DOES NOT FIX IT. 
 
ROMNEY EITHER MEANT TO SLIME OBAMA OR ROMNEY IS REALLY SO STUPID THAT HE DOES NOT KNOW THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A DEMOCRATIC SENATOR AND A SOMEONE DECLARED A TERRORIST AROUND THE WORLD.  IF HE IS THAT STUPID, AMERICANS NEED TO KNOW.
 
IF THIS IS A TACTIC THE REPUBLICANS INTEND TO USE, OBAMA SHOULD CONSIDER CLOSING THE DOORS ON HIS LOSING CAMPAIGN ALREADY.  IN HIS FIRST NATIONAL INTERVIEW -- ON AIR AMERICA RADIO -- AS A CANDIDATE FOR SENATOR, EVEN THE LEFT HOSTS CALLED HIM "OBAMA."  THE DEMOCRATS REALLY DON'T NEED THE BAGGAGE AND SINCE HIS CAMPAIGN HAS MADE NO WAVES OUTSIDE THE MEDIA, THE BEST THING HE CAN DO FOR THE PARTY IS ANNOUNCE HE'S DROPPING OUT.  REFUSAL TO DO SO MEANS REPUBLICANS WILL CONTINUE TO MAKE "MISTAKES" IN ATTEMPTS TO SMEAR THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY.  THE "ROCKSTAR" WHOSE CAMPAIGN NEVER GOT OFF THE GROUND NEEDS TO GRASP THAT HE'S DRAGGING DOWN THE PARTY AND CONSIDER SERVING OUT HIS FIRST TERM IN THE SENATE  -- THE SIX YEAR TERM HE WAS JUST SWORN IN FOR IN JANUARY OF 2005.
 
 
Starting with war resisters.  Ehren Watada  is the first US officer to refuse to deploy to Iraq.  After months of hearing from the military brass that they wanted to work towards a solution (they were just delaying -- thinking if they could delay until deployment, Watada would go to Iraq), he went public in June of 2006.  In February of this year, Judge Toilet (aka John Head) rigged a kangaroo court where Watada would be court-martialed for refusing to deploy but would not be allowed to explain to a jury (Watada chose to go with a jury of his peers) why he made the decision he had.  Despite the rigged court-martial, the third day (when Watada would take the stand for the defense) found Judge Toilet calling a mistrial over defense objections to provide the prosecution with a do-over even though the Constitution forbids double-jeopardy."  The Watada National Steering Committee has a message at Courage to Resist:
 
On the weekend of Oct. 26 - 27, we will be participating in or holding demonstrations in support of Lt. Watada. This is the weekend of the Oct. 27 nationwide day of action called jointly by United for Peace & Justice and International A.N.S.W.E.R. We will be reaching out to them to work jointly where we can, or to have local events in cities and towns where they are not having an event.
For more information, please go to our website , contact us online , or phone us at 877-689-4162.
Local groups who wish to support Lt. Watada can help by holding events or speaking about his case at events you are already planning, holding press conferences, writing articles in the media, or writing letters to the editor of your local media. In newspapers, the letters to the editor sections are among the most widely read sections of the paper. Letters must be short or they will not be published due to space; see the length of letters currently published in your local paper for examples.
 
That is this weekend.  Watada is first Iraq War officer to resist.  Stephen Funk is the first public resister of the illegal war.  Iraq Veterans Against the War's chair Camilo Mejia is the first Iraq veteran to publicly resist the illegal war.  From November 10 through December 16th, his voice will be featured in a new play at Culture Project as it presents Rebel Voices the new play which is based on Howard Zinn and Anthony Arnove's best-selling book Voices of a People's History of the United States.  Along with Mejia, the voices of Sojourner Truth, Frederick Douglass, Malcom X and others will be featured.  Zinn will take part in the November 18th presentation (opening night) and poet Staceyann Chinn and musician Allison Mooerer will hed the permanent cast while those confirmed to be performing on selected nights are Ally Sheedy (actress and poet, best known for films such as High Art, The Breakfast Club, Maid to Order, the two Short Circuit films, St. Elmo's Fire, War Games, and, along with Nicky Katt, has good buzz on the forthcoming Harold),  Eve Ensler who wrote the theater classic The Vagina Monologues (no, it's not too soon to call that a classic), actor David Strathaim (L.A. Confidential, The Firm, Bob Roberts, Dolores Claiborne and The Bourne Ultimatum) and actor and playwright Wallace Shawn (The Princess Bride, Clueless -- film and TV series, Gregory and Chicken Little).  The directors are Will Pomerantz and Rob Urbinati with Urbinati collaborating with Zinn and Arnove on the play.  Tickets are $21 for previews and $41 for regular performances (beginning with the Nov. 18th opening night).  The theater is located at 55 Mercer Street and tickets can be purchased there, over the phone (212-352-3101) or online here and here.  More information can be found at Culture Project. 
 
Turning to war resisters who have gone to Canada.  Last week Bethany "Skyler" James and Michael Espinal went public about their decision to relocate to Canada.  Going public makes the US nervous, hence the need for spin. Over the weekend  Harold Carmichael (Sudbury Star) reported on the statements issued by John Nay, United States Counsul General to Canada, who insists that there's nothing any war resister needs to fear about America. His spinning also revealed an ignorance of the official US policies on COs which Nay (National War College graduate) insisted was "hard" for anyone signing up to claim afterwards that they were.  It was one joke out of another from Nay -- certainly the most laughs he's ever gotten outside of his comb-over.  In the Canadian parliament, Alex Atamenko delivered another appeal that the government begin granting asylum to war resisters in a speech that many see as a response to some of Nay's ridiculous claims (Atamenko specifically mentioned the glossy ads that gloss over the realities of war) and a speech that was warmly received.  Meanwhile the War Resisters Support Campaign is staging an event tonight and tomorrow.  First up, a Halloween Masquerade ball at the Budda Bar tonight, in Toronto, with doors opening at eight p.m.  Tomorrow night Michelle Mason's breakthrough documentary . Breaking Ranks will be screened at the University of Toronto's Claude Bissell Building from six to eight p.m. followed by a question and answer session with war resisters.
 
There is a growing movement of resistance within the US military which includes James Stepp, Michael Espinal, Matthew Lowell, Derek Hess, Diedra Cobb, Brad McCall, Justin Cliburn, Timothy Richard, Robert Weiss, Phil McDowell, Steve Yoczik, Ross Spears, Peter Brown, Bethany "Skylar" James, Zamesha Dominique, Chrisopther Scott Magaoay, Jared Hood, James Burmeister, Eli Israel, Joshua Key, Ehren Watada, Terri Johnson, Carla Gomez, Luke Kamunen, Leif Kamunen, Leo Kamunen, Camilo Mejia, Kimberly Rivera, Dean Walcott, Linjamin Mull, Agustin Aguayo, Justin Colby, Marc Train, Abdullah Webster, Robert Zabala, Darrell Anderson, Kyle Snyder, Corey Glass, Jeremy Hinzman, Kevin Lee, Mark Wilkerson, Patrick Hart, Ricky Clousing, Ivan Brobeck, Aidan Delgado, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Stephen Funk, Blake LeMoine, Clifton Hicks, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Joshua Casteel, Katherine Jashinski, Dale Bartell, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Chris Capps, Tim Richard, Hart Viges, Michael Blake, Christopher Mogwai, Christian Kjar, Kyle Huwer, Wilfredo Torres, Michael Sudbury, Ghanim Khalil, Vincent La Volpa, DeShawn Reed and Kevin Benderman. In total, at least fifty US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.


Information on war resistance within the military can be found at The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline [(877) 447-4487], Iraq Veterans Against the War and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters. Tom Joad maintains a list of known war resisters.
 
The National Lawyers Guild's convention begins shortly: The Military Law Task Force and the Center on Conscience & War are sponsoring a Continuing Legal Education seminar -- Representing Conscientious Objectors in Habeas Corpus Proceedings -- as part of the National Lawyers Guild National Convention in Washington, D.C.  The half-day seminar will be held on Thursday, November 1st, from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., at the convention site, the Holiday Inn on the Hill in D.C.  This is a must-attend seminar, with excelent speakers and a wealth of information.  The seminar will be moderated by the Military Law Task Force's co-chair Kathleen Gilberd and scheduled speakers are NYC Bar Association's Committee on Military Affairs and Justice's Deborah Karpatkin, the Center on Conscience & War's J.E. McNeil, the National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee's Peter Goldberger, Louis Font who has represented Camilo Mejia, Dr. Mary Hanna and others, and the Central Committee for Conscientious Objector's James Feldman.  The fee is $60 for attorneys; $25 for non-profit attorneys, students and legal workers; and you can also enquire about scholarships or reduced fees.  The convention itself will run from October 31st through November 4th and it's full circle on the 70th anniversary of NLG since they "began in Washington, D.C." where "the founding convention took place in the District at the height of the New Deal in 1937,  Activist, progressive lawyers, tired of butting heads with the reactionary white male lawyers then comprising the American Bar Association, formed the nucleus of the Guild." 
 
 

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THIS JUST IN! BULLY BOY SCOWLS!

 
U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE AND ANGER CONDI RICE PHONED THESE REPORTERS THIS EVENING INSISTING THAT WE IMMEDIATELY REPORT TO THE OVAL OFFICE OF THE WHITE HOUSE BECAUSE THE BULLY BOY HAD SOME EXCITING NEWS.
 
WHEN THESE REPORTERS WERE USHERED IN, A GLEEFUL BULLY BOY HOPPED FROM FOOT TO FOOT AND EXPLAINED HE WAS SO EXCITED THAT HE WAS "PEEING MYSELF A LITTLE."
 
THINKING THAT SOMEONE HAD FINALLY TALKED SOME SENSE INTO HIM, WE WAITED FOR HIM TO EXPLAIN THAT HE WAS ANNOUNCING THE WITHDRAWAL OF ALL U.S. TROOPS FROM IRAQ.
 
INSTEAD, HE EXPLAINED HE WAS PLANNING "THE ULTIMATE PARTY."  ADVISING US TO KEEP IT ON "THE LOW DOWN," HE EXPLAINED THE "SUPREMELY AWESOME PAR-TAY" WOULD TAKE PLACE SHORTLY AND HE HAD FIGURED OUT A WAY TO GET CONGRESS TO PAY FOR IT.
 
HE INSISTED IT WOULD BE LIKE HIS DAYS IN THE EARLY 70S AND NO EXPENSE WOULD BE SPARED. 
 
"I'M GOING TO SPEND 1.4 MILLION DOLLARS JUST ON 'FEEL GOODS' FROM MEXICO, IF YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN."
 
THESE REPORTERS DID KNOW WHAT HE MEANT BUT WONDERED IF HE KNEW WHAT THE 1.4 MILLION DOLLARS WAS ACTUALLY FOR?  THE WHITE HOUSE HAS INSISTED CONGRESS PONY UP 1.4 MILLION OF TAX PAYER DOLLARS NOT TO STOCK A MAD BASH FOR THE BULLY BOY BUT TO COMBAT DRUG TRAFFIC IN MEXICO.
 
"WHAT!" HOWLED THE BULLY BOY BEFORE HE STORMED OFF MUTTERING THAT ORIGINAL GANSTA DICK CHENCY, PRESIDENT OF VICE, HAD "PUNKED ME AGAIN!"
 
 
 
Starting with war resisters, Laura Rumpf (The Stanford Daily) reports on Stephen Funk, the first public war resister of the Iraq War who singed up with "the Marine Corps in 2002 at age 19" and "realized almost immediately after starting boot camp in Afghanistan that he opposed the war and could not morally be a part of violence he did not condone" so he filed for CO status.  Where did Funk go for information?  As most other war resisters have cited, Funk declares that "I had no idea about conscientious objection as an option until I researched my military rights online."  Ordered to deploy to Iraq in 2003, Funk assumed his CO application was being processed and handled the issue.  Rumpf reports, "On Sept. 1, 2004, Funk became the first known soldier to be jauiled for refusing to serve in Iraq.  In a victory for anti-war activists helping his cause, he was acquitted of desertion charges, but he received a six-month sentence in a military brig at Camp Lejune, N.C., for unauthorized absence."   In the time since, Stephen Funk has continued to be active in the peace movement and Rumpf notes, "On campus [Stanford], Funk is active in the LGBT community and at the Native American Cultural Center.  He serves as chapter president of the San Francisco Iraq Veterans Against the War organization, which helps raise enlistees' awareness about their rights among other activities."
 
Iraq Veterans Against the War's chair Camilo Mejia is the first Iraq veteran to publicly resist the illegal war. On Saturday he spoke at the national conference of the Campus Antiwar Network held at the University of Wisconsin Madison. Pedro Oliveira Jr. (Badger Herald) reports that the conference had a turn out of "nearly 100 students from CAN chapters across the nation this weekend. During the conference, students had a chance to hear Iraq Veterans Against the War founder Camilo Mejia speak about his experiences in Iraq."
 
There is a growing movement of resistance within the US military which includes James Stepp, Matthew Lowell, Derek Hess, Diedra Cobb, Brad McCall, Justin Cliburn, Timothy Richard, Robert Weiss, Phil McDowell, Steve Yoczik, Ross Spears, Peter Brown, Bethany "Skylar" James, Zamesha Dominique, Chrisopther Scott Magaoay, Jared Hood, James Burmeister, Eli Israel, Joshua Key, Ehren Watada, Terri Johnson, Carla Gomez, Luke Kamunen, Leif Kamunen, Leo Kamunen, Camilo Mejia, Kimberly Rivera, Dean Walcott, Linjamin Mull, Agustin Aguayo, Justin Colby, Marc Train, Abdullah Webster, Robert Zabala, Darrell Anderson, Kyle Snyder, Corey Glass, Jeremy Hinzman, Kevin Lee, Mark Wilkerson, Patrick Hart, Ricky Clousing, Ivan Brobeck, Aidan Delgado, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Stephen Funk, Blake LeMoine, Clifton Hicks, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Joshua Casteel, Katherine Jashinski, Dale Bartell, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Chris Capps, Tim Richard, Hart Viges, Michael Blake, Christopher Mogwai, Christian Kjar, Kyle Huwer, Wilfredo Torres, Michael Sudbury, Ghanim Khalil, Vincent La Volpa, DeShawn Reed and Kevin Benderman. In total, at least fifty US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.


Information on war resistance within the military can be found at The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline [(877) 447-4487], Iraq Veterans Against the War and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters. Tom Joad maintains a list of known war resisters.
 
The National Lawyers Guild's convention begins shortly: The Military Law Task Force and the Center on Conscience & War are sponsoring a Continuing Legal Education seminar -- Representing Conscientious Objectors in Habeas Corpus Proceedings -- as part of the National Lawyers Guild National Convention in Washington, D.C.  The half-day seminar will be held on Thursday, November 1st, from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., at the convention site, the Holiday Inn on the Hill in D.C.  This is a must-attend seminar, with excelent speakers and a wealth of information.  The seminar will be moderated by the Military Law Task Force's co-chair Kathleen Gilberd and scheduled speakers are NYC Bar Association's Committee on Military Affairs and Justice's Deborah Karpatkin, the Center on Conscience & War's J.E. McNeil, the National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee's Peter Goldberger, Louis Font who has represented Camilo Mejia, Dr. Mary Hanna and others, and the Central Committee for Conscientious Objector's James Feldman.  The fee is $60 for attorneys; $25 for non-profit attorneys, students and legal workers; and you can also enquire about scholarships or reduced fees.  The convention itself will run from October 31st through November 4th and it's full circle on the 70th anniversary of NLG since they "began in Washington, D.C." where "the founding convention took place in the District at the height of the New Deal in 1937,  Activist, progressive lawyers, tired of butting heads with the reactionary white male lawyers then comprising the American Bar Association, formed the nucleus of the Guild." 
 
[. . .]
 
Sunday on CBS' 60 Minutes, Valerie Plame discussed with Katie Couric how her husband, former ambassador Joe Wilson, calling out Bully Boy's lies of war led to covert CIA agent Plame being outed by the US government.  Plame declared, "When I was outed on July 14th, 2003, I was, until that moment, covert. . . .We understood that he would be criticized deeply. I never once considered that in fact this administration would betray my identity as payback for his criticism."  For those late to the party or who have swallowed GOP talking points, Plame was an undercover CIA agent. Her husband Joe Wilson was sent to Niger to see if Saddam Hussein was attempting to purchase yellow cake uranium from Niger. Wilson knew the country well and also knew Hussein well (stood up to him during Poppy Bush's presidency). Wilson went to Niger to check out the rumors and found there was no truth to them. In the 2003 State of the Union speech -- the only speech a president is Constitutionally mandated to deliver and, therefore, the only one that the oath applies to without any doubts or quibbles -- Bully Boy declared his 16-word lie about Saddam seeking yellow cake from Africa. Lie and the White House eventually (long after the illegal war started) had to retract it. In his 2003 performance for the United Nations, Collie Powell would make clear what country Bully Boy was referring to. Lies, lies, lies.

Joe Wilson would go public with "What I Didn't Find In Africa" in the New York Times. The White House would immediately respond by leaking the fact that Valerie Plame was CIA. Robert Nov-a-hack would be the first to run with it. Valerie Plame would be outed, her career destroyed, by the US government -- the same government she worked for. 
 

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