BULLY BOY PRESS & CEDRIC'S BIG MIX -- CAMPAIGN TRAIL.
"EVERYTHING IS RIDING ON THIS!" SCREAMED THE BIG O, OPRAH WINFREY, AT SENATOR BAMBI OBAMA.
THESE REPORTERS WERE BEGINNING TO WORRY THAT WE'D SHORTLY BE JAMES HATFIELD-ED. WHY ELSE DID THE OBAMA CAMPAIGN CONTINUE GIVING US SUCH ACCESS?
OPRAH HAD INSISTED EVERY ONE ELSE LEAVE THE ROOM AS SHE COACHED BAMBI FOR THE DEBATE TONIGHT.
"YOU HAVE TO CROWD HER!" THE BIG O YELLED AT TOP VOLUME. "CROWD!"
BAMBI BEGAN TO WHIMPER AS THE BIG O ADVANCED.
"B-B-B-UT BIG O, I DON'T KNOW IF I CAN . . ."
"YES YOU CAN! YES YOU WILL!" THE BIG O INSISTED. "IT ALWAYS WORKS ON GAYLE! YOU WILL DO IT! YOU WILL NOT DISGRACE ME OUT THERE! SAY YOU WILL DO IT! SAY YOU WILL DO IT YOU LITTLE PANTY WAIST!"
"I WILL DO IT."
"LOUDER! LIFT UP YOUR SKIRT AND YELL, YOU LITTLE GIRL!"
"I WILL DO IT!"
"CAN YOU DO IT?"
"YES, I CAN!"
THE BIG O TURNED TO THESE REPORTERS AND SMILED.
"MY WORK HERE IS DONE," SHE SAID GLIDING OFF IN SEARCH OF GAL PAL GAYLE.
Starting with war resistance. Joshua Key's The Deserter's Tale and Camilo Mejia's Road from Ar Ramaid: The Private Rebellion of Staff Sergeant Mejia are two books where war resisters tell their stories. They are also two books reviewed by Dee Knight (Workers World) who notes:
Both Mejía and Key had sufficient direct experience of being ordered to commit war crimes in Iraq that they had enough. As soon as they were allowed out of Iraq on leave, they decided not to come back. Mejía chose to refuse publicly and apply for conscientious objector status. He was rejected, and was sentenced to a year in military prison and a bad conduct discharge.
Key just left. He rejoined his wife and their then three small children, and went underground for over a year. Finally, after "googling" the Internet with "deserter needs help," he got in touch with the War Resisters Support Campaign in Toronto.
"Sucking up the courage to drive to the border of my own country was the hardest thing I had ever done," he said.
Key just left. He rejoined his wife and their then three small children, and went underground for over a year. Finally, after "googling" the Internet with "deserter needs help," he got in touch with the War Resisters Support Campaign in Toronto.
"Sucking up the courage to drive to the border of my own country was the hardest thing I had ever done," he said.
Knight notes those who have followed Key and Mejia (and the other early war resisters of the Iraq War) including Lt. Ehren Watada and Pablo Paredes and the effects, "The GIs who have refused made their choices. And they have begun to change history."
Joshua Key and other war resisters who have moved to Canada were dealt a serious set-back when the Canadian Supreme Court refused to hear the appeals of Jeremy Hinzman and Brandon Hughey. Today, Canada's Parliament remaining the best hope for safe harbor war resisters have, you can make your voice heard by the Canadian parliament which has the ability to pass legislation to grant war resisters the right to remain in Canada. Three e-mails addresses to focus on are: Prime Minister Stephen Harper (pm@pm.gc.ca -- that's pm at gc.ca) who is with the Conservative party and these two Liberals, Stephane Dion (Dion.S@parl.gc.ca -- that's Dion.S at parl.gc.ca) who is the leader of the Liberal Party and Maurizio Bevilacqua (Bevilacqua.M@parl.gc.ca -- that's Bevilacqua.M at parl.gc.ca) who is the Liberal Party's Critic for Citizenship and Immigration. A few more can be found here at War Resisters Support Campaign. For those in the US, Courage to Resist has an online form that's very easy to use. That is the sort of thing that should receive attention but instead it's ignored.
There is a growing movement of resistance within the US military which includes Matt Mishler, Josh Randall, Robby Keller, Justiniano Rodrigues, Chuck Wiley, James Stepp, Rodney Watson, 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, Clara 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. In addition, VETWOW is an organization that assists those suffering from MST (Military Sexual Trauma).
Meanwhile IVAW is organizing a March 2008 DC action:
In 1971, over one hundred members of Vietnam Veterans Against the War gathered in Detroit to share their stories with America. Atrocities like the My Lai massacre had ignited popular opposition to the war, but political and military leaders insisted that such crimes were isolated exceptions. The members of VVAW knew differently.
Over three days in January, these soldiers testified on the systematic brutality they had seen visited upon the people of Vietnam. They called it the Winter Soldier investigation, after Thomas Paine's famous admonishing of the "summer soldier" who shirks his duty during difficult times. In a time of war and lies, the veterans who gathered in Detroit knew it was their duty to tell the truth.
Over thirty years later, we find ourselves faced with a new war. But the lies are the same. Once again, American troops are sinking into increasingly bloody occupations. Once again, war crimes in places like Haditha, Fallujah, and Abu Ghraib have turned the public against the war. Once again, politicians and generals are blaming "a few bad apples" instead of examining the military policies that have destroyed Iraq and Afghanistan.
Once again, our country needs Winter Soldiers.
In March of 2008, Iraq Veterans Against the War will gather in our nation's capital to break the silence and hold our leaders accountable for these wars. We hope you'll join us, because yours is a story that every American needs to hear.
March 13th through 16th are the dates for the Winter Soldier Iraq & Afghanistan Investigation. Dee Knight (Workers World) notes, "IVAW wants as many people as possible to attend the event. It is planning to provide live broadcasting of the sessions for those who cannot hear the testimony firsthand. 'We have been inspired by the tremendous support the movement has shown us,' IVAW says. 'We believe the success of Winter Soldier will ultimately depend on the support of our allies and the hard work of our members'." As part of their fundraising efforts for the event, they are holding houseparties and a recent one in Boston featured both IVAW's Liam Madden and the incomprable Howard Zinn as speakers. IVAW's co-chair Adam Kokesh will, of course, be participating and he explains why at his site, "But out of a strong sense of duty, some of us are trying to put our experiences to use for a good cause. Some of us couldn't live with ourselves if weren't doing everything we could to bring our brothers and sisters home as soon as possible. The environment may be unking, but that is why I will be testifying to shooting at civilians as a result of changing Rules of Engagement, abuse of detainees, and desecration of Iraqi bodies. It won't be easy but it must be done. Some of the stories are things that are difficult to admit that I was a part of, but if one more veteran realizes that they are not alone because of my testimony it will be worth it."
This morning the US Senate Armed Services Committee held a hearing on the Defense Authorization Request for Fiscal Year 2009 and the Future Years Defense Program. Offering testimony were Pete Geren, Secretary of the Army, and Gen. George W. Casey, Chief of Staff Army. In a prepared joint-statement given to the committee in writing before the hearing began, Geren and Casey note:
The likelihood of instability will increase as populations of several less-developed countries will almost double in size by 2020 -- most notably in Africa, the Middle East, and South and Southeast Asia. The "youth bulge" created by this growth will be vulnerable to anti-government and radical ideologies and will threaten government stability. This situation will be especially true in urban areas in which populations have more than doubled over the last 50 years.
By 2025, urban areas with concentrations of poverty will contain almost 60 percent of the world's population.
Competition for water, energy, goods, services, and food to meet the needs of growing populations will increase the potential for conflict. Demand for water is projected to double every 20 years. By 2015, 40 percent of the world's population will live in "water-stressed" countries. By 2025, global energy demands are expected to increase by 40 percent, threatening supplies to poor and developing nations.
In the above statements you'll not only find where the US headed in the near future but the same sort of thinking that led to destabilization efforts in Greece, et al in the 1960s. "Young" populations have "worried" US planners for well over sixty years now. [PDF format warning, click here for the 24-page statement.] CNN reduces the hearing to troops stationed in Iraq or Afghanistan will drop from fifteen months to twelve month tours. That's rather skimpy for what was a very lively hearing. In regards to the issue of the months involved in a tour, the committee chair, Carl Levin, had to be rather specific repeatedly finally asking "shorthand, you have to drawdown to what level?" Levin also had to pin Casey and Geren down regarding stop-loss. Beaming, Geren declared that the Army will get the number of stop-lossed soldiers down to "a little less than 8,000 today" and insisted -- at length -- that the Army wanted to "move away from" using stop-loss. Stop-loss is the backdoor draft. It's when you're service contract is ending and you're told, "Forget what your contract says, you're staying." Pressed by Levin about the decrease in the number of soldiers stop-lossed that Geren was so optimistic about, the Secretary of the Army swallowed and stated, "It might get to 7,000." Wow. It might drop to 7,000. To hear him spin and spin before Levin pinned him down you would have thought the figure was going to be significantly below 5,000. Geren insisted, "We're growing this Army faster than we planned."
US Senator Bill Nelson wanted to know about the RAND Study. That's a study commissioned by the Army, conducted by RAND which reportedly found that the illegal war was not well planned for. "The chairman has already asked you to release" the report to the committee, Nelson pointed out and added, "I would like to additionally ask that the RAND study be sent to the intelligence committee." He addressed that topic quickly and moved to an issue he's been working on, "It has come to my attention from women in my state [Florida] about the rapes that have occurred in Afghanistan and Iraq. I have been after this to try to get information." But what he's getting is regarding the US military and what he's been asking for information on was the number of rapes among the contractors. He has asked for that information repeatedly and still has not received it. "What we're finding is incomplete information and also this never-never land of not knowing what to do and what the law is to apply and who's going to enforce it?"
Nelson went on to list what is needed. For Iraq, the information needs to start in March 2003 when the Iraq War started and needs to include:
*What are the service components and government agencies involved in each investigation?
*What is the status for the person involved in each investigation?
*Who has the jurisdiction or investigative authority?
*In writing a list of rules, regulations and policies governing these issues.
Nelson repeated that it's been a struggle to get any information at all and noted that one of the women assaulted is a Tampa constituent. The two witnesses assured it was possible for the information to be passed on. But these assurances have been coming since the end of the last year. And that is the point where the hearing (not dull before) really came to life.
"What law applied when you were commanding troops over there?" Senator Jim Webb wanted Gen. Casey to answer. UCMJ was Casey's reply, the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Webb asked if Casey was stating that "UCMJ applied to contractors?" Casey nodded and added it applied -- when he was commander of Iraq -- to those working for the Department of Defense. Webb wanted to know how many contractors this would have applied to and the number 20,000 was casually tossed around by Casey.
Webb: You had 20,000 contractors subject to the UCMJ?
Casey: I don't recall the number. . . . I want to say the number was around 7,000 to 8,000.
Webb wanted to know if any contractors "were discharged under UCMJ" and Casey replied, "I have vague recollections of a couple of cases, but I can't say for certain." The exchange between the two was an important moment and the press should pick up on it. Webb's face was pure disbelief in the comments Casey was making, the testimony Casey was offering. Webb declaed, "I'm not even sure how you could have a proper court under the UCMJ" for contractors since UCMJ applies to the military. Webb noted that when he started out on the Armed Services committee lat year, he was told that was a proposal -- UCMJ being used for contractors -- and now here was Casey before the Senate today "saying that it was being used?"
""I am not 100%" certain, Casey said attempting to beg off from his public statements. Webb responded, "I would think, quite frankly, if you were commanding you would know that. . . . It's not a difficult concept." Casey's command of Iraq (Commanding General of M-NF) began in June 2004 and lasted through the start of February 2007. For three years, Gen. George Casey was the top commander and a year after his command ended, he's stumbling around in public, making assertions and then attempting to withdraw them? While this exchange took place, Geren was attempting to intercede but would have to wait a bit longer.
Casey said that UCMJ was being applied to contractors of the Defense Department when he was commander in Iraq, Webb noted, "This came up in the personnell subcommittee last year as a proposal and I'm not aware of anyone, any civilian who was subject to the UCMJ." In addition, serious crimes have been committed by contractors and Webb would assume that if UCMJ applied -- as Casey was maintaining it did -- that there would have been something to pass on to the Senate sometime ago.
Again, it was the moment to follow in the hearing. Levin would later ask for all information regarding that and other issues of contractors breaking the law including "any understandings or agreements which have been reached between American or Iraqi authorities." Webb would ask Geren about modernizing the GI Bill to have something similar to what followed WII for those serving today and Geren would maintain everyone was all on board and for it which the Senate's heard before (repeatedly) leading Webb to ask, "Where's the hold up?" and "Does the administration oppose expanding GI benefits?" It was Geren's turn in the hot seat. He squirmed a little but fell back on US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and stated that Gates was reviewing recommendations currently.
Ted Kennedy would emphasize the Army's suicide rate which "was the highest it had ever been" in 2007 with 121 soldiers committing suicide "more than double the number reported in 2001 before we sent troops into Iraq." Kennedy would also note that that there has been a "24% increase in felony moral waivers" among recruits and that "only 79%" of recruits now have high school diplomas; furthermore he noted the shortage among officers which was 3,000 lower than the amount the Army stated they needed. All of this led Kennedy to ask about "a perfect storm": "It seems we're reaching a perfect storm here both in therms of young people going in" and those already serving in terms of retention, "is this the perfect storm that's happening in terms of the military? How serious should we be concerned about it?" Casey agreed ("You are right") and said this was an indication of "the signs of a force that is stretched and under stress."
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