Saturday, February 23, 2008

THIS JUST IN! BAMBI REALLY MEANS "CHANGE"!

BULLY BOY PRESS & CEDRIC'S BIG MIX -- CAMPAIGN TRAIL.
 
"CHANGE!" SENATOR BARACK OBAMA WAS CRYING OUT.  HOLLERING, REALLY AS WE TRAVELED ALONG IN THE BARAKA-BUS..
 
THERE WERE GROANS AROUND THE BUS AND BAMBI HOPPED UP ONTO A TABLE WITH HIS LEGS IN THE AIR.
 
"THIS IS THE WORST PART OF THE JOB," DECLARED ONE STAFFER IN A SOTTO VOICE HEAVE. 
 
AS WE LOOKED ON, A MINI-PIT-CREW GATHERED ROUND AND BEGAN REMOVING OBAMA'S PANTS EXPOSING THE ADULT SIZE PAMPERS HE WAS WEARING.
 
"CHANGE!  CHANGE!" HOLLERED BAMI AS THE STAFF BUSIED THEMSELVES WITH APPLYING WET ONES TO THE REGION.
 
"IF YOU TOLD ME A YEAR AGO," EXPLAINED ONE STAFFER,  "THAT I'D BE DIAPERING A MEMBER OF CONGRESS, I WOULD HAVE TOLD YOU ROBERT BYRD CAN HOLD HIS OWN.  BUT THIS HAS BEEN A LEARNING EXPERIENCE.  HOPEFULLY."
 
"CHANGE IS GOOD!  MY NAME IS BARACK OBAMA AND I APPROVED THIS DIAPER CHANGE."
 
 
Starting with war resistance.  Courage to Resist interviews 24-year-old marine reservist Matt Mishler who has applied for CO (conscientious objector) status. Mishler had a religious awakening and is against wars now.  He cites the Sermon on the Mount in explaining how he realized he was a CO: "I don't see serving my God --as doing God's word -- as  . . . picking up a rifle and slinging it over my shoulder and walking through Iraq or Afghanistan and shooting other people with rifles and guns that are there."  He explains that his beliefs mean he will go to jail before he will deploy.  "If they tell me I'm not a conscientious objector it does not make me not a conscientious objector in my mind because that's a decision you make deep down inside yourself.  It's not a decision that's up to someone else outside of you.  It is a decision that you have to make and believe for yourself.  And if you believe in it strong enough and if that is truly your beliefs than just by someone telling you that you're not a conscientious objector does not make you a conscientious objector."
 
Also interviewed is war resister Robin Long who went to Canada to seek aslyum.  "I have no second thoughts at all.  This is totally better than having to go to that war torn country and participate in the indiscriminate killing of the Arab people.  It saddens me how so many people have been snowballed by it.  They just . . .  They don't, they don't realize that these people have brothers, they have sisters, they have kids, they have mothers and fathers just like us.  And . . . I wouldn't have it any other way.  This is -- I made the best decision, I know that.  And regardless of what hardships I go through I could have easily put a family or someone else in that country through way more hardships.  So I have no regrets."  We'll note more from the interview next week but Long, like the other war resisters in Canada, was dealt a 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.
 
There is a growing movement of resistance within the US military which includes Josh Randall, Robby Keller, 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).

 

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."
 
Son of gun.  Cue the double pianos from Carly Simon's "You're So Vain."  "Awakening" Councils are no more.  The official US term now is "Sons Of Iraq."  That was made clear in Col. Tom James' press briefing (via videolink) today at the Pentagon where he repeatedly used the terms "Sons Of Iraq" and "SOIs" repatedly.  As to the "DOIs" -- or "Daughters Of Iraq" -- like every other Iraqi woman, they are ignored by the US.  When asked about the continued reluctance of the central, puppet government in Baghdad to deal with the "Sons Of Iraq," James explaing the he is "dealing with the SOI program.  We have just under 8,000" and he refers ("screened") them to "the Iraqi government and Iraqi security forces . . . for potential employment".  So, in other words, the puppet government doesn't want them but the US is adament about forcing them to take them.  James claims 'progress' and "positive momentum" on that front.  Whether or not the Iraqi government would at some point pay the SOIs is side-stepped by James who only acknowled "that we have paid" their salaries why swearing that that the US would soon "transition them to government institutions".
 
Meanwhile, Camilla Hall (Bloomberg News) reports Moqtada al-Sadr has extended the truce/cease-fire for another six months today (taking it through August 15th).  At his briefing today, James was very 'up' on this news, stating it was "very positive to the security situation. . . this is a very positive situation because al-Sadr understands that a peace and establishing peace in the future is the way to success in Iraq, not violence.  And with the senior position that he holds, that will influence an enormous amount of the Shi'a population in AO Vanguard, and we see that as a being a very positive step in securing the security situation that we have now so that we can continue to exploit other things."  "Exploit" may be the key word there from the US military's view.  But there's also reality. Alexandra Zavis and Tina Susman (Los Angeles Times) note, "But in recent days, Sadr's followers, including loyalists in the national Parliament, have complained that their foes have used the cease-fire to try to crush his movement politically and militarily. Until the last minute, they had held out the possibility that Sadr might order his militia back into action."  So the real issue isn't al-Sadr now.  Having agreed to an extension, he is now out of the picture.  He is also out of Baghdad and whether or not the Mahdi Army will continue to listen to him from out of town, while he labors away as a hotel clerk and busies himself with studies, is the real issue at this point.  The anger and resentment that has been breeding in the Sadr City section of Baghdad has been doing so without al-Sadr's oversight.  How much pull he will have, how much control, is in doubt.  Residents of Sadr City have complained of mistreatment and abuses (including raids) throughout the truce/cease-fire and many noises were made by "aides" and "loyalists" throughout (made publicly to the press) that there was no way al-Sadr would renew the truce/cease-fire.  He has now done that and how much weight he will have now as someone not living in Sadr City is up in the air.  Deborah Haynes (Times of London) reports that his supporters are in the "thousands" and can al-Sadr control "thousands" via communiques he has delivered to mosques?  Is he the remote-control leader?  Haynes quotes Abu Zahra'a al-Saadi complaining of the cease-fire, "We decided on peace and they decided to put us in jail."  "They" refers to "US and Iraqi forces".  Despite the reports of al-Sadr being in Najaf (and working a hotel there), AFP notes, "Sadr did not appear publicly at Friday prayers" in Sadr City "and it is not clear where he is now based. Some reports have suggested that he has crossed the border into Iraq's neighbour Iran, but his group would not confirm this."  AFP further notes that his announcement "was not universally welcomed by Sadr's supporters" and that goes to the issue that they're living in Sadr City and he isn't.  Is he really going to be able to control the area from outside of it?  Will a new leader emerge?  Will it faction off instead with some following his latest decree and others ignoring it?  Those are valid options under any study of resistance or rebellion. Mark Kukis (Time magazine) offers another, "Sadr could just as easily be simply biding his time until surge troops leave in July."  At the White House today, flack Scott Stanzel held a press gaggle and declared of the cease-fire/truce, "We welcome any move that forswears violence and encourages peaceful participation.  To the extent the announcement today serves to further isolate the groups that are engaging in violence, and to the extent that it helps enhance our intelligence to root out those groups, it's a positive development."
 

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