tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-164391342024-03-13T17:13:12.382-07:00Soldier Say No!THIS WEBSITE is dedicated to those Soldiers, Marines, Sailors and Airpersons who refuse to fight in illegal wars or to commit war crimes. These young men and women face persecution because they are following their consciences and obeying international law. They need and deserve our support, and we need them. When even more soldiers say no, the wars will be over.Soldier Say No!http://www.blogger.com/profile/04662414091130928025noreply@blogger.comBlogger88125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16439134.post-76968166295592768172012-04-27T09:01:00.000-07:002012-04-27T09:01:25.695-07:00Bradley Manning Supporters Fill Courtroom<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b><span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;">I was among several members of Veterans For Peace who attended the pre-trial hearing for Bradley Manning</span></b><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;"> this week. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;">We were part of a group of 25 supporters who filled the court room each day of the three-day hearing. We all wore black t-shirts emblazoned on the front in white with only one word, TRUTH.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;">Bradley looked good - healthy, relaxed, fully engaged</span></b><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;"> with his civilian and military lawyers, occasionally offering an observation with a smile.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;">At the end of the hearing today, many of us shouted out greetings to Bradley, and one person said, "Aiding the public is not aiding the enemy." </span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;">David Coombs, Bradley's lead lawyer, put up a brilliant full-court press,</span></b><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;"> submitting well argued motions for dismissing all charges, dismissing the most serious Aiding the Enemy charge, dismissing unreasonably multiplied charges, compelling testimony from the secret Grand Jury hearings against Wikileaks, and requesting access to Defense and State Dept. "damage assessments" that reportedly show little to no serious damage from the Wikileaks releases.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;">The military judge denied all defense motions but did make some clarifications and concessions that may be helpful. Most significantly, perhaps, she said that the prosecution would have to prove that Bradley intended to release classified information to "the enemy," which the government has defined as <i>Al Quaida in the Arabian Peninsula.</i></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;">See news reports and commentary, below.</span></i><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;"></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;">The Bradley Manning Support Network put up ads in 21 metro stations in Washington, DC </span></b><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;">this week, after raising $14,000 dollars from 400 to do so. They can now be seen by tens of thousands of DC commuters, including employees of the Defense and State departments, among others. </span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;">The ad defines the word, "Whistle-blower" as <i>"noun, a person who tells the people</i></span></b><i><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;"> what the government does not want them to know. See also, Hero, Patriot, Bradley Manning."</span></i><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;"> with Bradley's photo. </span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #c00000; font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;">Check out the following three articles on Bradley Manning's pre-trial hearing this week. </span></b><span style="color: #c00000; font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;"> </span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;"></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;">David House was interviewed today on MSNBC.</span></b><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;"> <i>See below.</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 21px;">Bradley Manning judge warns military prosecutors in WikiLeaks case</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 21px;"><br /><i>UK Guardian</i></span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; line-height: 41px;"></span></h1>
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<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;"><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/apr/26/bradley-manning-judge-warns-prosecutors?newsfeed=true" style="color: purple; cursor: pointer;" target="_blank">http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/apr/26/bradley-manning-judge-warns-prosecutors?newsfeed=true</a></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">The Government's Warning To Bradley Manning and Others: Tell On Us and We Will Put You Behind Bars for the Rest of Your Life</span></b><b><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"><br /><i>by Ann Wright</i></span></b><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;"><a href="http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/mike-friends-blog/governments-warning-bradley-manning-and-others-tell-us-and-we-will-put-you-behind-bars-rest-your-life" style="color: purple; cursor: pointer;" target="_blank">http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/mike-friends-blog/governments-warning-bradley-manning-and-others-tell-us-and-we-will-put-you-behind-bars-rest-your-life</a></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 21px;">Bradley Manning: a show trial of state secrecy"</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; line-height: 41px;"></span></h1>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">by Michael Ratner</span></i></b><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;"><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2012/apr/24/bradley-manning-show-trial-state-secrecy" style="color: purple; cursor: pointer;" target="_blank">http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2012/apr/24/bradley-manning-show-trial-state-secrecy</a></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #c00000; font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">David House</span></b><span style="color: #c00000; font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">, of the Bradley Manning Support Network,<b> Interviewed on MSNBC today.</b></span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;"><a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31510813/#47195232" style="color: purple; cursor: pointer;" target="_blank"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; color: #0068cf; font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif;">http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31510813/#47195232</span></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;">=======================================================</span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;">Veterans For Peace is proud to be an active supporting organization of the Bradley Manning Support Network.</span></i><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 21px;">The Bradley Manning Support Network has tons</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 18px;"> of useful updates and action alerts on its excellent website. </span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; line-height: 41px;"></span></h1>
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<b><span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;">www.bradleymanning.org</span></b><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;"></span></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;">Join our facebook page: <u><a href="http://www.facebook.com/savebradley" style="color: purple; cursor: pointer; font-weight: inherit;" target="_blank">savebradley</a></u> 37,186 followers, and growing</span></i></b><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;"></span></div>
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<b><i><span style="color: #974806; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;">“God knows what happens now. Hopefully worldwide discussion, debates, and reforms… I want people to see the truth... because without information, you cannot make informed decisions as a public.” </span></i></b><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;"></span></div>
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<b><i><span style="color: #974806; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></i></b><b><i><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;">-from Bradley's alleged chat with Adrian Lamo</span></i></b><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;"></span></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;">________________________________________________________________</span></i></b><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Gerry Condon</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;"></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;">Board Member / GI Resistance Co-Chair / Veterans For Peace</span></i><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;"></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;">projectsafehaven@hotmail.com, </span></i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;">202-534-9829</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;"></span></div>
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</div>Soldier Say No!http://www.blogger.com/profile/04662414091130928025noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16439134.post-22790839282077910772012-04-12T18:26:00.000-07:002012-04-12T18:26:01.437-07:00UK Veterans Launch VFP Chapter<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxOCesvtbyAAOLMZp7pyd3PJn1Ic7wzNqfYXXeczfMEwzcswMYPXB3x-lCUvQu-aaX9B6ulmQ3ZqHo5KQl6Iez2FV-___V9V0xBzul8ZEqM7_u2XjLAwbt3Z1A6F5u5dZArV8U/s1600/IMG_9138++Ben+on+stage+at+VFP+UK+Public+Launch.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxOCesvtbyAAOLMZp7pyd3PJn1Ic7wzNqfYXXeczfMEwzcswMYPXB3x-lCUvQu-aaX9B6ulmQ3ZqHo5KQl6Iez2FV-___V9V0xBzul8ZEqM7_u2XjLAwbt3Z1A6F5u5dZArV8U/s320/IMG_9138++Ben+on+stage+at+VFP+UK+Public+Launch.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i> SAS Veteran Ben Griffin Addresses Inaugural Event of VFP UK</i></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><i><br />
</i></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>by Helen Jaccard and Gerry Condon</i></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The first chapter of Veterans For Peace in the United Kingdom is now a reality. On a dreary “Easter Monday” afternoon in a working class section of London, England, veterans, allies, friends and families gathered for the inaugural event of Veterans For Peace UK. </span></span> </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The Guiseppe Conlon Catholic Worker House hosted the event in the sanctuary of an old church draped with banners proclaiming peace and justice. British and Scottish veterans, young and old, fresh from their first official meeting as a VFP chapter, testified in word and song that they will go to war no more.</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Ben Griffin, a former self-described “gung-ho” SAS soldier who deployed to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but then refused to deploy again, took the lead in pulling together a diverse group of veterans. He and several of the veterans have already been active for months, participating in Occupy London, and demonstrating solidarity with Wikilieaks founder Julian Assange and alleged Wikileaks whistle-blower, PFC Bradley Manning. </span></span> </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">With the help of Ciaron O'Reilly of the Catholic Worker, they reached out to other veterans, including Bruce Kent, a Catholic priest, and John Lynes, both longtime peace activists whose military service was in the mid-1940's.</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Folksinger and activist Jim Radford, a founding member of Ex-Service's Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament in the 1960's, sang a beautiful but sobering version of “Waltzin' Matilda,” the classic antiwar song from Australia.</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Barry Ladendorf, president of the VFP chapter in San Diego, California, flew a very long way to be present on this historic occasion. When Barry was in London last year, he had attended a public meeting where he heard Ben Griffin speak about countering the influence of the military in British schools. Barry told Ben, “Hey, you ought to think about forming a Veterans For Peace chapter.” The seed was planted.</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">A large good-looking banner reading “Veterans For Peace UK, Established 2012” graced the altar of the church. Decorated with the VFP dove-on-helmet logo, the banner was sent by Gene Marx, VFP National Membership Coordinator, and a member of the Bellingham, Washington chapter. Gene had been maintaining regular communication with Ben leading up to the London launch. Ben and other veterans repeatedly said how much it meant to them to receive so much support and guidance from VFP members in the U.S. </span></span> </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Helen Jaccard and Gerry Condon of Veterans For Peace in the U.S. were also present at the festive launch of Veterans For Peace UK. London was the last stop on their seven-month journey around Europe, where they have networked with peace activists in many countries. </span></span> </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Gerry was invited to address the gathering about the importance of supporting Bradley Manning and all GI resisters. The UK VFP chapter doesn't need any nudging in this regard. Several of the founding members, including Ben Griffin and Michael Lyons, have resisted illegal wars and occupations while in the military.</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">“<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">I was 18 years old when I joined the Navy,” said Michael Lyons. “It was economic conscription. I was told I could give medical aid. I spent about five years in Diego Garcia in the middle of the Indian Ocean. I started questioning the government, wondering, are we really the good guys? I learned Diego Garcia history and decided that I'm the bad guy here, supporting B-52 bombings and torture. I'm part of this.”</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">“<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">I was told to go to Afghanistan,” continued Lyons. “I didn't buy the lies. Wikileaks came out and I knew that I couldn't be part of that.” Lyons applied for Conscientious Objector status but was sentenced to prison for seven months.</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">“<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Military prison was tough,” said Lyons. “I got support from Ben, Ciaron, my family, and strangers who sent my wife money and wrote to me every day.”</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">VFP UK is planning a vigil outside the U.S. Embassy in London on Tuesday, April 24, the beginning of three days of pre-trial hearings for Bradley Manning at Fort Meade, Maryland.</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Gerry Condon said it was also important to remember and support U.S. war resisters who are underground in the U.S., or seeking sanctuary abroad, including Rodney Watson in Vancouver, BC, Kimberly Rivera in Toronto, Ontario, and André Shepherd in Munich, Germany.</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">At its first official chapter meeting, the UK veterans agreed to pursue three priorities; Nonviolent resistance to war; supporting war resisters, and countering militarism in society, including in schools and on Armistice Day.</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">“<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The military indoctrination of our youth begins long before the recruiter appears,” said Ben Griffin.</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">It looks like the first VFP chapter in the UK will do us all proud.</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>You can check out their website and say hello at </i></span></span><span style="color: navy;"><span lang="zxx"><u><a href="http://www.veteransforpeace.org.uk/"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>www.veteransforpeace.org.uk</i></span></span></a></u></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div></div>Soldier Say No!http://www.blogger.com/profile/04662414091130928025noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16439134.post-7219797133674014102012-03-25T12:30:00.000-07:002012-03-25T12:30:22.435-07:00First GI Cafe in Germany Opens Its Doors<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt; line-height: 115%;">by Helen Jaccard and Gerry Condon</span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt; line-height: 115%;"> Kaiserslatern, Germany, March 25, 2012<br />
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<o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt; line-height: 115%;">U.S. soldiers in Germany now have a GI coffeehouse. <a href="http://www.theclearingbarrel.blogspot.com/">The Clearing Barrel</a> Bar and Café opened Saturday, March 24, in Kaiserslautern, Germany, home to Ramstein Air Base and Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, among a constellation of U.S. bases, with 50,000 U.S. military and civilian personnel living in the area.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt; line-height: 115%;">The grand opening was a big success, with over 60 people in attendance. Well-wishers enjoyed good food and drink, and marveled at the large beautifully remodeled space, with couches, tables, chairs, a bar and barstools, his and hers bathrooms, and a full kitchen.<br />
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<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Beautifully printed posters from the “War Is Trauma” art exhibit were displayed on spacious white walls. “War Is Trauma,”a collaboration between <a href="http://www.justseeds.org/">Just Seeds</a>, an art collective from Brooklyn, New York, and <a href="http://www.ivaw.org/">Iraq Veterans Against the War</a> (IVAW), is about “Operation Recovery”, a campaign to stop the deployment of traumatized troops and to focus public attention towards Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Traumatic Brain Injury and Military Sexual Trauma. <br />
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<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Neighbors, friends, and activists convened from far and near, including Germans and U.S. citizens living in Germany. Nathan Peld, an IVAW member, arrived after a long train ride from Vienna, Austria, where he is working with the United Nation’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).<br />
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<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Young German women and men mixed easily with Vietnam-era friends. Political discussions were lively and interesting. Live music was provided by two young men, one German and one American, who sang and played guitars and were joined by guests in a sing-along.<br />
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<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Chris Capps-Schubert, an Iraq veteran and war resister, and his German wife Meike, an organizer-extraordinaire and member of <a href="http://www.mfso.org/">Military Families Speak Out</a>, have been working very hard for the past two years to make their dream of opening a GI coffeehouse in Germany a reality. Their efforts have been supported by the Military Counseling Network, Connection-EV, the Center on Conscience and War, the German Mennonite Peace Committee, members of IVAW and Veterans For Peace, and many other German and American friends and activists.<br />
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<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Meike and Chris are both counselors with the <a href="http://www.mc-network.de/">Military Counseling Network</a>, the European branch of the GI Rights Hotline. Chris has been a member of IVAW for several years and went on a speaking tour around Germany to gain support for The Clearing Barrel project. Chris and Meike and other counselors will be available to help soldiers who are seeking to be discharged from the military, facing other difficulties with the military, or seeking help dealing with military trauma.<br />
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<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Meike said, “Having this space available allows us to bring together in one place what we do personally, socially, culturally, and politically. I am very grateful for all of the help and support that we have received from the peace community and we hope that they will continue to support us.”<br />
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<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Helen Jaccard and Gerry Condon representing <a href="http://www.veteransforpeace.org/">Veterans For Peace</a> spoke of the importance of supporting alleged Wikileaks whistleblower Bradley Manning, and GI resisters like André Shepherd, an Iraq veteran who refused to redeploy to Iraq and is seeking political asylum in Germany. Dave Blalock, a Vietnam-era GI organizer who lives in Heidelberg, Germany, said “This is the beginning of resistance.”<br />
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<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt; line-height: 115%;">GI coffeehouses were a mainstay of GI resistance in the Vietnam era, providing safe, alternative spaces for soldiers to socialize, learn about their rights in the military, receive counseling, engage one another in political discussions, and organize themselves to resist illegal wars and occupations. The coffeehouse movement grew throughout the 60sand 70s. Today’s veterans have revived the coffeehouse tradition in order to build community and resistance. There are two successful GI coffeehouses in the U.S., <i>Coffee Strong </i>just outside the gates of Joint Base Lewis McCord in Washington State, and <i>Under the Hood </i>at Fort Hood, Texas.<br />
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<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt; line-height: 115%;">You can find out more about The Clearing Barrel on their Facebook page, <i>GI Café Germany, </i>and on their website, <a href="http://www.gicafegermany.com/">www.GICafeGermany.com</a>. Donations are still very much needed, so it’s not too late to contribute to this important new resource for our GIs in Germany.<o:p></o:p></span></div></div>Soldier Say No!http://www.blogger.com/profile/04662414091130928025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16439134.post-18617711449058930152012-02-05T16:46:00.000-08:002012-02-05T16:46:39.725-08:00In Munich with Malalai Joya and GI Resister André Shepherd<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px; text-align: left;">My partner Helen Jaccard and I are in Munich now, where we marched yesterday with Malalai Joya of Afghanistan and Iraq veteran / GI resister André Shepherd, who is seeking political asylum in Germany. Today I had the honor of representing Veterans For Peace in a press conference where the main speakers were Malalai Joya, André Shepherd and me. </span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px; text-align: left;">Malalai Joya was great. Of course, she called for al</span><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; display: inline; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px; text-align: left;">l foreign troops to withdraw from Afghanistan. She also expressed her sympathy for US and NATO soldiers who "are also victims of their governments' war policies." She thanked soldiers who are resisting illegal wars and occupations and she gave encouragement to GIs who are revealing the reality of war crimes.<br />
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<a avglsprocessed="1" href="http://www.malalaijoya.com/dcmj/" rel="nofollow nofollow" style="color: #3b5998; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">http://www.malalaijoya.com/<wbr></wbr><span class="word_break" style="display: inline-block;"></span>dcmj/</a></span> <div><br />
</div>Soldier Say No!http://www.blogger.com/profile/04662414091130928025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16439134.post-29991474028382671942011-07-14T11:58:00.000-07:002011-07-14T11:58:06.660-07:00Building the Campaign to Defend GI Resisters<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><i>Is It Time To Call for Amnesty?</i></b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><b><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75;"> by Gerry Condon</span><br />
</b></i></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>This article was published in the June 2011 issue of </i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">ON WATCH</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>, the newsletter of the Military Law Task Force of the National Lawyers Guild. It continues the discussion of GI resistance in recent On Watch articles concerning AWOLs, the Coffeehouse movement and the case of Bradley Manning. Further articles and letters on the topic are welcome.<br />
</i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br />
</i><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;">U.S. OCCUPATIONS WINDING DOWN?</span><br />
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</b>Ten years after the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan, nearly 100,000 U.S. troops remain there, with a roughly equal number of “contractors,” or mercenaries. The Taliban insurgency has grown, along with broad, diverse resistance to the U.S./NATO occupation, and large majorities of people in Afghanistan, the U.S. and Europe think it is time for all foreign troops to leave. In Canada, popular opposition has forced the hawkish Conservative prime minister, Stephen Harper, to pledge that all Canadian combat troops will soon be withdrawn. The same goes for Britain, where another Conservative prime minister has promised to withdraw British troops. Similar pressures are being felt by all the European governments that have contributed troops to the occupation of Afghanistan.<br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Responding to strong public opposition to the costly U.S. occupation of Iraq, President Obama, who campaigned for the presidency on a platform of ending the U.S. war there, has committed himself to withdraw all but a small residual force from Iraq by the end of 2011. However, sustained insurgencies in both Afghanistan and Iraq are giving the U.S. security establishment pause – and/or an excuse – to extend the timetable for withdrawal. Furthermore, the construction of large permanent U.S. military bases in both Iraq and Afghanistan have raised doubts about the ultimate intentions of the U.S. Nonetheless, a variety of external and internal </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">pressures – including the pending U.S. presidential election in 2012 – may lead to an actual winding down of both U.S. occupations.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>In the wake of the U.S. assassination of Osama bin Laden, 52% of adults in the U.S. believe it is time to pull out of Afghanistan, per a June 8, 2011 BBC World News America poll (35% believe the US should stay according to exiting plans, but only 14% are confident that U.S. policies in Afghanistan will be successful, per the same poll). </i><br />
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The White House and Pentagon are now involved in a very public debate about just how fast to draw down troops. President Obama has pledged to begin a gradual withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan beginning in July of this year (2011), with all troops to be withdrawn by the end of 2014. The President is said to be considering deeper cuts, but Defense Secretary Gates is publicly calling for a more gradual reduction, so as not to lose the very tenuous gains that the U.S. military is claiming.<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>TOLL ON TROOPS: 6,400 DEAD; 40,000 WOUNDED; 330,000 VETERANS WITH</b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;"> PTSD</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">These unpopular U.S. occupations have taken a heavy toll on the U.S. military, particularly on the largely working class men and women who have been sent to fight against entrenched resistance movements. Over 6,400 U.S. troops have been killed and well over 40,000 have been wounded, many with critical, life-altering losses of multiple limbs, eye-sight, and hearing, as well as serious brain damage.<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">These numbers do not include hundreds of thousands of active duty GIs and veterans who suffer from the psychological trauma of the violence of war and/or undetected brain injuries from the explosion of Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), the weapon of choice of anti-occupation resistance fighters. According to the RAND Corporation, over 330,000 veterans of the U.S. occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan suffer from seri-ous Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). <br />
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Roughly an equal number suffer from Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), with a large number suffering from a combination of the two, many of whose symptoms are similar. It is widely understood that neither the U.S. military nor the Veterans Administration is providing adequate care to these wounded troops and veterans, and that the social conse-quences of alcohol and drug abuse, broken families, violence and suicide are rampant.<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;">RESISTANCE IN THE MILITARY</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Acts of antiwar resistance within the military have been widespread, if not necessarily reaching the levels that were seen during the Vietnam War. The military has been careful to hide this resistance and much of it also covert in its nature, so it may well be years before we know its extent. What we do know from talking to veterans of these occupations is that many GIs, after experiencing the vio-lence and futility of war, have sought to minimize their contact with the armed resistance by refusing to carry out dangerous missions, by refusing to kill innocent civilians, by refusing to go “outside the wire” (leaving the relative safety of their fortified bases), and by purposefully carrying out safe patrols, what soldiers in Vietnam called “search and avoid” missions. The primary motivation of the GIs in these occupations – why they fight and why they avoid fighting – is often stated as getting them-selves and their buddies home safe.</span><br />
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Returning veterans, disgusted by U.S. military operations in Iraq and Af-ghanistan, have been organizing to oppose these occupations and to help address the unmet needs of active duty GIs and veterans. In 2004, some of these veterans founded Iraq Veterans Against the War, with assistance from Veterans For Peace and others. GI coffeehouses have been established near several military bases, most notably Fort Lewis, Washington (Coffee Strong) and Fort Hood, Texas (Under the Hood), two of the largest Army bases from which tens of thousands of troops have de-ployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. Iraq Veterans Against the War is now conducting Operation Recovery, a “campaign to stop the deployment of traumatized troops.”<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Many GI’s, having witnessed the horrible violence of modern warfare, including the routine killing of civil-ians – men, women and children – have declared themselves to be Conscientious Objectors and sought discharges or re-classification to non-combat duties. Many other GIs have sought medical discharges due to their PTSD or other physical injuries. The U.S. military, desperate for warm bodies to staff multiple occupations, has been very stingy about granting such discharges, leading many GIs to leave the military of their own volition and without official permission (AWOL from the Army: “Away Without Official Leave,” UA from the Marines: “Unauthorized Absence”).<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Since the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in October 2001, tens of thousands of U.S. troops have gone AWOL or UA. This has been the most visible and quantifiable form of resistance. While perhaps the majority of these AWOL troops have returned to military con-trol, it is safe to say that thousands remain at large and in legal jeopardy.<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thousands of AWOL troops are liv-ing “underground” in the United States, some of them quite openly. Generally speaking, the policy of the Army and the Marines is not to aggressively pursue them. Many have been captured after being stopped by the police for routine traffic viola-tions, and many more have chosen to turn themselves in to the military to get their situations resolved. The first choice of the Army and Marines has been to re-integrate returning </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">AWOL’s into their units and to return them to war. If that is not feasible, the military’s second choice has been to administratively discharge the returning AWOL’s with punitive “other than honorable” discharges.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
But returning AWOL GIs who left the military when facing orders to deploy or re-deploy to war, or who have spoken publicly against the occupations, have been court-martialed for desertion and refusing orders, and given prison sentences ranging from six months to two years.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;">U.S. WAR RESISTERS SEEK SANCTUARY IN CANADA</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Beginning with the January 2004 arri-val in Toronto of conscientious objector Jeremy Hinzman, hundreds of AWOL troops have fled to Canada. A popular campaign calling on the Canadian government to grant sanctuary to Iraq war resisters has won majority popular support among Canadians (64%). But the Conservative government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper, which is particularly hostile to U.S. war resisters, has refused to do so. Immigration Minister Jason Kenney has publicly called them “phony refugees.” The Conservative government has succeeded in deporting several war resisters back to the U.S., where they have been court-martialed for desertion and imprisoned for up to two years.<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The War Resisters Support Campaign in Toronto estimates that be-tween 200 and 300 GIs, mostly young men and a few young women, are currently seeking sanctuary in Canada. More than fifty have applied for political asylum. None has yet to win this status, but their legal appeals continue, including attempts to re-main in Canada on “humanitarian and compassionate” grounds. In the meantime, a number of the war re-sisters are successfully immigrating to Canada via marriage.<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Conservative government of Canada has now won three consecutive national elections, and recently achieved a majority government for the first time, leading to fears of accelerated attempts to deport U.S. war resisters. However, the New Democratic Party (NDP), which has given solid support to U.S. war resisters, tripled its seats in the Parliament in the recent election, and has for the first time become the official opposition. It is hoped that the NDP will be an effective counter-balance to the Conservatives and will continue to fight effectively for sanctuary for U.S. war resisters, but the Conservative majority will be in power for the next four years.<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While the Conservatives have been unfriendly to U.S. war resisters, the Canadian people have been providing them with sanctuary. The War Resisters Support Campaign has provided the resisters with material support, including housing and modest weekly allowances, as well as legal, political and moral support. Many war resisters have been empowered to speak out publicly against the wars and on behalf of their own sanctuary. As mentioned above, some resisters have been able to gain residency through marriage. Others have found at least a temporary haven in Canada – several months or years when they were neither at war nor in prison. This has been especially valuable to those who are raising young families.<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Many of the resisters are combat veterans – they were deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan and went AWOL only after being ordered back to war. Thus, many war resisters are also suffering from PTSD.<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Rodney Watson, an African American veteran of the Iraq occupation, was ordered deported from Canada in September 2009. In an extraordinary act of resistance, he sought sanctuary in the First United Church in downtown Vancouver, BC, where he has been living, along with his wife and young son, for almost two years. Rodney, who converses online with his many Canadian and U.S. supporters, can be contacted at his Facebook page, <i>War Resister in Sanctuary.</i><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It should be mentioned that the Canadian sanctuary campaign is specifically for Iraq war resisters, and not for GIs who refused to deploy to Afghanistan. This reflects the political reality in Canada, which still has its own troops in Afghanistan, despite the steady opposition of most of the Canadian people. Nonetheless, several Afghanistan war resisters are known to be living in Canada, and legal help is available to them as well.<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;">MORE SUPPORT NEEDED FOR GI RESISTERS</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Many U.S. peace groups have provided legal and political support to war resisters, especially AWOL GIs and those seeking discharge from the military. Oakland, California-based Courage To Resist has done an outstanding job publicizing the struggles of GI resisters and providing them with political and material support (see www.couragetoresist.org).<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Courage To Resist is currently spearheading a remarkable campaign in support of Bradley Manning, an Army intelligence analyst who is accused of releasing classified information to Wikileaks. Manning is charged with releasing an Army video showing U.S. soldiers in an Apache helicopter gunning down unarmed civilians, including two Reuters reporters and two young children, in Baghdad, Iraq. The infamous Collateral Murder video has been viewed over 11 million times on YouTube. Army prosecutors have also charged Manning with releasing U.S. military diaries of the Iraq and Afghanistan occupations, and thousands of cables from U.S. embassies around the world.<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Many thousands of individuals in the U.S. and around the world have contributed funds for the legal and political defense of Bradley Manning, and also have demonstrated their support in the streets. Veterans For Peace and Iraq Veterans Against the War have rallied in support of Manning. Civil disobedience actions at the White House and at the Marine Corps Brig at Quantico, Virginia, were instrumental in Manning’s transfer from Quantico, where he had endured near-torturous conditions. Manning is now being held at the military prison at Leavenworth, Kansas, where his treat-ment is reported to be more humane.<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The charges against Manning include “Aiding the Enemy,” a capital offense that can be punished by life in prison or even the death penalty. His court martial is expected to take place in </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">December of this year, by which time he will already have been imprisoned for 19 months.<br />
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</span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0b5394;">For information on how you can join the campaign to support Bradley Manning, contact the Bradley Manning Support Network at www.bradleymanning.org.</span><br />
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</i>Less dramatic but also very impressive is the longstanding counseling support that the GI Rights Hotline has provided to GIs who are AWOL, who wish to be discharged from the military, or who have other griev-ances with the military – such as sexual harassment and assault. Leading groups in this effort include the Center on Conscience and War, the Military Law Task Force of the National Lawyers Guild and the War Resisters League, among many others</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Legal resources for returning or captured AWOL GIs are scarce, however, or prohibitively expensive. There is a great need for qualified lawyers who are willing to work for not much more than their expenses. There is also a great need for a more muscular political campaign to support GIs who are facing court martial. As more AWOL GIs return from Canada or surface from underground in the U.S., the current level of legal and political support will need to be substantially increased.<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;">TIME TO CALL FOR AMNESTY?</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As President Nixon began to withdraw U.S. troops from Vietnam in 1972 and 1973, a campaign was launched calling for unconditional amnesty for all Vietnam war resisters, including draft resisters, deserters, veterans with less-than-honorable discharges and all those who had been arrested for pro-testing against the war. National and local peace groups, churches, civil liberties organizations and veterans groups (e.g. Vietnam Veterans Against the War), joined together to form a broad coalition, the National Council for Universal and Unconditional Amnesty (NCUUA). <br />
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After several years of persistent organizing, the amnesty campaigners won widespread support, including from mainstream, grassroots Democrats. In 1976, Jimmy Carter ran for president on a platform of pardon-ing draft resisters, and he fulfilled this pledge as his very first act as president in January 1977. President Carter then ordered the military to establish a program that would allow AWOL GI’s to voluntarily return to military control and to be discharged in an atmosphere of leniency. Carter even ordered a case-by-case review of Vietnam-era less-than-honorable discharges.<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While Carter’s program fell far short of the movement’s demand for “universal, unconditional amnesty,” it was still a remarkable achievement that allowed many resisters to legalize their status and normalize their lives. Might this be the right time for the peace movement to launch a similar campaign?<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Because there is no draft, and the lives of middle class sons and daughters are not on the line, we would expect less support for amnesty from middle class America and the Democratic Party. We could probably expect a less broad and less muscular campaign. Nonetheless, the Vietnam amnesty movement and the Carter pardon are strong precedents for us to call upon, and many progressive organizations would likely rally to the cause.<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">An amnesty campaign could bring further awareness of the plight of our GI resisters and more legal and political resources would become available to them. It would also provide a contextual framework for all the work that is being done on behalf of GI resisters.<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Different political approaches would probably exist side by side, as they did during the Vietnam amnesty move-ment. Some of us would take the moral high ground and argue that it is right – and legal – to resist an unjust war, as thousands of GIs have done. While others would say it is time to get these wars behind us and to reconcile the nation. But we would all be calling for an end to the punishment of war resisters. This could create a climate once again of treating returning AWOLs leniently, with or without an order from the president to do so.<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Much more discussion is needed of this and other possible approaches to supporting our GI resisters. We can also tap into the impressively broad support that is being manifested for Bradley Manning, the accused Wikileaks whistleblower. We can appeal to people to show the same concern, to take the same kind of political action, and to give the same kind of generous contributions.<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We must also continue reaching out to active duty service members, reservists, and National Guard troops with much needed information and support. Nobody can do this better than veterans, especially recent veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan occupations.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
Arguably, we could send no stronger message to would-be GI resisters than to mount a campaign for amnesty for all those who are currently in jeopardy for resisting unjust wars and occupations.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>In 1968, Gerry Condon refused Army orders to deploy to Vietnam, for which he was court-martialed and sentenced to 10 years in prison and a Dishonorable Discharge. But Gerry was able to escape from Fort Bragg, North Carolina and leave the U.S. For six years he lived in Sweden and Canada, where he organized against the war and for amnesty for all war resisters. Gerry is an active member of Veterans For Peace and co-chair of its GI Resistance Working Group. He serves on the steering committee of the Bradley Manning Support Network.</i></span><br />
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</span>Soldier Say No!http://www.blogger.com/profile/04662414091130928025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16439134.post-6709593597271901132010-08-03T13:40:00.000-07:002010-08-03T13:40:50.552-07:00Ottawa moves to make Canada less inviting to U.S. military deserters - Winnipeg Free Press<div><br /></div><div>Here is the latest outrage from Stephen Harper's Conservative, pro-war, anti-immigrant government in Canada.</div><div><br /></div><a href="http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/canada/breakingnews/ottawa-moves-to-make-canada-less-inviting-to-us-military-deserters-99868564.html">Ottawa moves to make Canada less inviting to U.S. military deserters - Winnipeg Free Press</a>Soldier Say No!http://www.blogger.com/profile/04662414091130928025noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16439134.post-21950151144486745302010-05-27T18:46:00.000-07:002010-05-27T18:50:37.796-07:00Fateful Day for U.S. War Resisters in Canada<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><em>by Gerry Condon</em></strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Tuesday, May 25, was a very important day for the 200 U.S. war resisters who are seeking sanctuary in Canada. The case of Jeremy Hinzman, the first to do so, was argued in Canada’s Federal Court of Appeals. The outcome may decide the fate of Jeremy, his wife Nga Nguyen and their two young children. The court's decision, expected to take several months, may also determine the fate of other young men and women who are facing deportation to the U.S., followed by courts martial and imprisonment. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><em>Also on Tuesday, May 25,, the Canadian Parliament held a debate</em></strong> on a bill that would allow Iraq War resisters to remain in Canada. The House of Commons is expected to vote on the bill, C-440, in September.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">According to several polls, nearly two-thirds of Canadians want their government to allow U.S. war resisters to have legal status in Canada. But Prime Minister Stephen Harper, leader of the Conservative Party, does not agree. The Conservative government has already deported several war resisters and is aggressively pursuing the deportation of others.</span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em><strong>Last weekend, USA Today published an excellent article on U.S. war resisters</strong></em> in Canada, including Vietnam War resisters. It is very much worth reading. There is also a short video on the USA Today website.</span><br />
<a href="http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2010-05-23-war-resisters_N.htm?csp=hf"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2010-05-23-war-resisters_N.htm?csp=hf</span></a><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ3uazWj8Qh2AOhVoW_rngqzJ-T9C3FJl8xt9woFUaKZWVbSYTKdmh6-x8YuxnWN7veJPhGAs7R4Ks58XAB_1_uYOYYc_2Ph1CoQMCX1Sfd8625x9ybK4CBmKhxDv7kLwog-zN/s1600/Grossman's.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gu="true" height="221" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ3uazWj8Qh2AOhVoW_rngqzJ-T9C3FJl8xt9woFUaKZWVbSYTKdmh6-x8YuxnWN7veJPhGAs7R4Ks58XAB_1_uYOYYc_2Ph1CoQMCX1Sfd8625x9ybK4CBmKhxDv7kLwog-zN/s400/Grossman's.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><strong><em>Vietnam war resisters and Iraq war resisters toast </em><em>one another</em></strong></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><strong><em> </em><em>at Grossman's Tavern in Toronto.</em></strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
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<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>YOU CAN SUPPORT OUR WAR RESISTERS IN CANADA</strong></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><em><a href="http://resisters.ca/">The War Resisters Support Campaign</a></em></strong> in Canada is a national network of churches, labor unions, activists and artists, including Vietnam War resisters who are now Canadian citizens. The War Resisters Support Campaign has been supporting our war resisters ever since early 2004, when Jeremy Hinzman arrived in Toronto. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><em>The Campaign is very much in need of donations at this moment,</em></strong> so that they can continue their legal defense of war resisters facing deportation. We recommend that you send them a note at this time thanking them for taking care of U.S. war resisters. And give them a donation while you are at it. It is very much needed and will be very well spent. Please visit their website and make a donation today.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><em>For more information on Rodney Watson,</em></strong> an Iraq War Resister who has taken refuge in a church in Vancovuer, British Columbia, you can visit the website of the <strong><em><span style="color: #cc0000;"><a href="http://vancouverwarresisters.org/">Vancouver War Resisters Support Campaign,</a></span></em></strong></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><em><span style="color: #cc0000;">Check out Rodney Watson's interview with me below on this blog.</span></em></strong></span></div></div>Soldier Say No!http://www.blogger.com/profile/04662414091130928025noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16439134.post-709226176596366532010-04-22T13:49:00.000-07:002010-04-22T13:49:36.231-07:00GI Resister Marc Hall Is a Free Man!<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>VFP and IVAW helped to anchor successful campaign</strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">GI resister Marc Hall is now a free man. Under pressure from his supporters, the U.S. Army has backed down from their plans to give him a kangaroo court martial in Iraq. Instead they have granted him a discharge. Marc Hall is known as the GI “rapper” who recorded a song against the Army’s “Stop-Loss” policy last July. But his real troubles began in December when he filed a formal complaint with the Army’s Inspector General about the poor quality of the Army’s evaluation and treatment of his PTSD. Five days later, the Army arrested the Iraq veteran and charged him with 11 counts of violating the good order of the Army (Article 134), including “threatening violence against fellow soldiers.”</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The GI resister support group Courage To Resist found him a lawyer near his base, Fort Stewart, Georgia, and the Army sent him 8,000 miles away to a prison in Kuwait. Marc’s mother worked with Courage To Resist and members of VFP and IVAW to form the Family and Friends of Marc Hall, which rallied political support and raised funds to send a lawyer and doctor to the Middle East. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The presiding military officer at Marc Hall’s arraignment (Article 32 hearing), threw out 5 of the 11 charges against Hall, finding them totally without basis or evidence to support them. She recommended that Spc. Hall be given a Special Court Martial, which can give a maximum sentence of 1 year in prison and a Bad Conduct Discharge. But the Army command, clearly wanting to make an example of Marc Hall, insisted it would give him a General Court Martial. Marc Hall was facing a sentence of up to 6 years in prison and a Dishonorable Discharge. Finally, though, the Army appears to have come to its senses. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Veterans For Peace played a significant role in supporting Marc Hall. When VFP called for emails to be sent to the Army on behalf of Spc. Hall, 643 members of VFP did so. One hundred and ten VFP members forwarded the action alert to friends, and 113 contacted newspapers on behalf of Hall. Iraq Veterans Against the War also mobilized its members in support of Marc Hall.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">VFP members Russell Brown, of Buffalo, New York, and Gerry Condon, of Seattle, Washington, participated in weekly strategy sessions of the Family and Friends of Marc Hall, along with Jeff Paterson, a VFP member who heads up Courage To Resist. Courage To Resist raised and spent $7,100 for Marc Hall’s defense fund, and has another $1,500 of outstanding expenses at this time.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Marc Hall’s lawyer, David Gespass, who is president of the National Lawyers Guild, will now work to get Hall’s Other Than Honorable discharge upgraded, and to insure that Hall, who saw 14 months of combat in Iraq, will get treatment for his PTSD from the Veterans Administration.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Veterans For Peace has supported GI resisters for several years, and will soon be launching a GI Resistance Working Group, in order to provide timely information to VFP members about how they can support GI resisters in their time of need.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Read Dahr Jamail’s excellent article on the Marc Hall case at <a href="http://www.couragetoresist.org/">http://www.couragetoresist.org/</a>, and find out about another GI resister, Eric Jasinsky, whom the Army has jailed with untreated PTSD. </span>Soldier Say No!http://www.blogger.com/profile/04662414091130928025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16439134.post-12899523362984332422010-04-13T10:56:00.000-07:002010-04-13T10:57:30.790-07:00Iraq Vets: Coverage of Atrocities is Too Little, Too Late<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><em>by Dahr Jamail</em></strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The WikiLeaks video footage from Iraq taken from an Apache helicopter in July 2007 showing soldiers killing 12 people and wounding two children has caused an explosion of media coverage. But many Iraq vets feel it is too little and too late.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In contrast to most of the coverage that favors the military's stated position of forgiving the soldiers responsible and citing that they followed the Rules of Engagement (ROE), Iraq war veterans who have spoken to the media previously about atrocities carried out against innocent Iraqis have largely been ignored by the mainstream media in the United States.</span>Soldier Say No!http://www.blogger.com/profile/04662414091130928025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16439134.post-17717334471014006952010-04-07T10:23:00.000-07:002010-04-07T10:35:01.108-07:00GI Resistance - Then and NowCheck out this story and discussion on the Daily Kos, with a link to a great newsletter by the Washington Peace Center.Soldier Say No!http://www.blogger.com/profile/04662414091130928025noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16439134.post-84088658460409856392010-04-01T10:50:00.000-07:002010-04-01T10:54:59.561-07:00Berkeley Calls for War Resister AmnestyFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE<br /><br />March 30, 2010<br /><br />Berkeley City Council Recommends Universal And Unconditional Amnesty For<br />Iraq, Afghanistan, And Pakistan War Military Resisters And Veterans<br /><br />Contact: Bob Meola (510) 644-1102 ; bob@couragetoresist .org<br /><br />On Tuesday, March 9, 2010, the Berkeley (California) City Council passed Resolution No. 64,803 N.S. recommending "Universal and Unconditional Amnesty for Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan War Military Resisters and Veterans Who Acted In Opposition to the War for Matters of Conscience." It was adapted, with some changes, from the original resolution passed by the Berkeley Peace and Justice Commission on November 2, 2009.<br /><br />The resolution recommends that all military personnel, serving since October 7, 2001, be granted Universal and Unconditional Amnesty amounting to forgiveness for all convictions or pending charges of desertion or Absence Without Leave (AWOL) or Unauthorized Absence (UA) if such leave or absence is determined to be caused by matters of personal conscience in opposition to the illegal wars in Iraq and/or Afghanistan and/or Pakistan.<br /><br />It also recommends that military personnel who have been convicted of charges stemming from their exercise of free speech regarding their opposition to the wars in Iraq and /or Pakistan since October 7, 2001 be granted amnesty for those convictions.<br /><br />And it supports granting amnesty for all veterans with less than honorable discharges for absence offenses determined to be due to personal conscience regarding opposition to the wars commencing on or after October 7, 2001 and that those veterans have their discharges automatically upgraded to honorable discharges or to general under honorable conditions and that those veterans be granted all benefits otherwise due to them.<br /><br />This is the first time the subject of Universal Unconditional Amnesty has been brought up since President Jimmy Carter granted Unconditional Amnesty amounting to "full, complete and unconditional pardon" to draft resisters following the Vietnam War. Universal Unconditional Amnesty had been the demand of Vietnam Veterans Against the War.<br /><br />Berkeley's resolution called for copies of it to be sent to President Obama, Senators Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein, Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi, and Congressperson Barbara Lee.<br /><br />Bob Meola, Berkeley Peace and Justice Commissioner and immediate past Commission Chairperson, who wrote the original draft of the resolution, stated,<br /><br />"I hope this resolution will serve as a model and inspire cities and towns across the United States to pass similar resolutions and ignite a movement which will result in Universal and Unconditional Amnesty for Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan war resisters and veterans. The troops who have had the courage to resist have been traumatized enough. They have followed their consciences and deserve healing and support and appreciation from people everywhere. The GI Resistance movement is growing. Its members are heroes and sheroes and should be treated as heroes as they are welcomed backinto civilian society."<br /><br />Berkeley has been a sanctuary city for conscientious objectors since 1991. In 2007, it became a sanctuary city for military resisters to immoral and illegal wars, even if those resisters were not traditional conscientious objectors, and for draft registration resisters and for draft resisters if the draft should be reinstituted. May 15th is International Conscientious Objectors Day. In 2007, Berkeley also proclaimed May 15th of every year as Berkeley CO and War Resisters Day.Soldier Say No!http://www.blogger.com/profile/04662414091130928025noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16439134.post-26136156578275540012009-12-23T10:37:00.000-08:002009-12-23T12:05:42.949-08:00Iraq Veteran Finds Sanctuary In Canadian Church<span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;"><strong>Rodney Watson Tells Why He Would Not Be </strong></span>
<br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><strong>"Stop-Lossed" Back to Iraq</strong>
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<br /><strong><em>by Gerry Condon</em></strong>
<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDcxOHbOom7zedbbk8uf-QwTtJ3ZemU0mRFIVnqYDGnrO4T9rbJ8_So4sqk2V1GOwevRbi1Xgr-Z2I1vhS_-4ga3RyVZGw56ooGJxdEAS2dnC377Rxd3eD_xNMYlGFPUEqeJ0d/s1600-h/Rodney+Watson.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 237px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 176px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5418516118495430002" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDcxOHbOom7zedbbk8uf-QwTtJ3ZemU0mRFIVnqYDGnrO4T9rbJ8_So4sqk2V1GOwevRbi1Xgr-Z2I1vhS_-4ga3RyVZGw56ooGJxdEAS2dnC377Rxd3eD_xNMYlGFPUEqeJ0d/s400/Rodney+Watson.jpg" /></a>
<br />Rodney Watson is one of the bravest and nicest men I have had the pleasure of meeting. He is an African American from Kansas City, Kansas. He is a very religious young man, 32 years old. His dream was to one day have his own restaurant. In 2004, when an Army recruiter told him he would be trained as a cook, he signed up for a three year hitch.
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<br />When Watson was deployed to Iraq in October 2005, his superiors told him he would be supervising the dining facility. Instead, he was given an M16 rifle and told to search for explosives on the perimeter of his base in Mosul.
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<br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;"><strong><em>The Army had not trained Watson to inspect or detonate explosives,</em></strong> so he was unhappy with this assignment. But this was not all that was bothering him. He was appalled at the blatant racism of some of his fellow soldiers in Iraq. He saw U.S. soldiers spitting upon and kicking the Koran and beating Iraqi, even civilians. “I had to sit there and watch it,” he told the Vancouver Courier, “and my hands were tied.” He did not report the abuses. “I didn’t want to be labeled a snitch – not with people walking around with machine guns.”</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Watson finished his twelve-month tour of duty in October 2006 and returned home, only to be told he would be going right back to Iraq. His three-year contract with the Army would have ended in the spring of 2007, but the Army was unilaterally extending it so that he could complete another tour of Iraq. Rodney Watson was being “stop-lossed.”
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<br /><strong><em>On a two-week leave, Watson pondered his situation</em></strong> and decided he would not be a slave to the U.S. Army or cannon fodder for the war in Iraq. Instead, he left a goodbye note in his father’s bible and made his way to Vancouver on the west coast of Canada. The Army has since charged him with desertion.
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<br />With the aid of the War Resisters Support Campaign in Vancouver, Rodney Watson sought sanctuary in Canada as a political refugee who would be persecuted for his beliefs if he were forced to return to the U.S. Despite widespread support in Canada for U.S. war resisters, Watson was denied refugee status and the Conservative government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper ordered him deported.
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<br /><strong><em>The Canadian people have been much more welcoming</em></strong> than the Canadian government. So Rodney spoke with the Ric Matthews, the pastor of the First United Church in downtown Vancouver, a progressive congregation that opens its doors every night to homeless people who would otherwise be sleeping on the streets.
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<br />Canadian churches have a long tradition of granting sanctuary to refugees who are rejected by the politicized refugee board but who truly do face persecution in their homelands. Two U.S. war resisters who have been deported from Canada, Robin Long and Clifford Cornell, were court-martialed by the U.S. Army, convicted of desertion, and sentenced, to 15 months and 12 months in prison, respectively, as well as dishonorable discharges.
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<br /><strong><em>Pastor Matthews spoke with his congregation</em></strong> and they agreed to provide Watson with sanctuary, the first time a Canadian church has done so for a U.S. war resister. Since mid-September, Watson has been living in a custodial apartment in the church, where he has received a steady flow of supporters, journalists, and even Members of Parliament. So far the Canadian government has respected his church sanctuary.
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<br />Last week Gerard Kennedy, a Liberal MP from Toronto, flew to Vancouver to meet with Watson. Kennedy has introduced a bill in the House of Commons that would grant sanctuary to U.S. war resisters who would not fight in the illegal U.S. war and occupation of Iraq. If his bill passes, it will be legally binding, unlike two similar parliamentary motions that the Conservative government has chosen to ignore.
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<br />Watson’s Canadian fiance and their one-year old son are joining him for the holidays and beyond.
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<br />I have had the good fortune of visiting Rodney Watson several times in Vancouver, and I spoke with him recently to see how he is doing. Although many Canadians know his story, very few people in the U.S. are aware of the stand that Rodney Watson is taking on behalf of all war resisters. I asked Rodney if he would elaborate his story for an American audience and he graciously agreed to do so.
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<br /><strong>Rodney, as an African American man, you certainly recognize racist behavior when you see it. How were you affected by the racism you witnessed in Iraq?
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<br /></strong><strong>"</strong><em>The racism I witnessed in Iraq was something that really angered me – the mistreatment and abuse that some racist soldiers or civilian contractors would afflict upon the Iraqi civilians. The Army is full of good soldiers but, as we all know, there are some that just don't deserve to wear the uniform because of their racial hatred.
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<br /></em><em>At the same time as I was witnessing these crimes in Iraq, my fellow Americans were still suffering from the effects of Hurricane Katrina – mostly poor black people. As I watched the military spend millions of U.S. dollars in a country that had no weapons of mass destruction, people back home were begging for help after the storm from a government that moved very slowly to aid those in need.
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<br /></em><em>I now wish that President Obama, being African American, will help the youth that are killing each other every day in the streets of America and concentrate on helping the American people that are in need of jobs, housing, food, and health care. Because I think these problems are more important right now than WAR!
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<br /></em><em>I pray that God will direct the steps of the President and change his mind on certain issues and for him to use the Love and popularity he has received to rebuild America instead of “nation building” in the Middle East.</em>
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<br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;"><strong>What part of your story are the media not telling?</strong>
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<br /><em>The media is not telling the story of the racism that I witnessed directly. There was a soldier in my unit in Iraq who was caught dealing drugs to an undercover military C.I.D. agent and the result was that every BLACK soldier in my unit had to report to a formation to be questioned and finger printed by the FBI. Why didn't they just detain him when the deal went down instead of treating all the Black men in my unit like potential CRIMINALS!!!!!!!!!</em>
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<br /><strong>What would you like to say to the American people?
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<br /></strong><em>My message of PEACE to the people of the U.S. is that we can achieve Peace if we truly reach out to our enemies with diplomacy and stop fighting, instead of risking the lives of these Brave Men and Women to fight low level fighters who attack and then run and hide.
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<br /></em><em>To take the notion that America is ONE NATION UNDER GOD seriously and rebuild the U.S. into a land of equal treatment among all of the different races of America with Love and true unity. In all honesty, the KKK are Terrorist. Those who would kill their fellow man over money or drugs are Terrorist. The people in power who sit in their big fancy houses and just watch black youth kill each other are Terrorist. What I'm saying is that we have a lot of problems in our own country that are of a GREAT EMERGENCY. The people are crying out for HELP!!!</em>
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<br /><strong>Do you have a message for your fellow soldiers?</strong>
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<br /><em>My message to the soldiers is that I pray for your safety, even the ones who might think I'm some kind of coward or traitor. I pray that the Lord of Lords and King of Kings Jesus Christ will keep you all under his protection and your families as well. It has been an honor to serve along side of most of you that I have encountered in the Army. And I know the bad apples will have to answer to God one day. Even the ones in high places who led us into battle based on lies will answer to God almighty for their LIES. Last but not least I pray that the Lamb of God will put an end to wars that you all are involved in, for JESUS is the Prince of Peace and not The Prince of War!!</em>
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<br /><strong>What kind of support are you receiving and what are your immediate needs?</strong>
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<br /><em>I have the basics here living in Sanctuary, but if any creative minds can and want to help me, I would highly appreciate it. I have a son who is one-year-old. He and his mother are my heart and soul and they are put before any of my needs. It is hard for me to ask for help when I know there are many people in the U.S. who are in greater need than I. But if there are those who wish to give a helping hand, I would be ever so grateful.</em>
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<br /><strong>What would you like for Christmas?
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<br /></strong><em>All I want for Christmas is to turn on the T.V. after helping my son open his gifts, to be joined together by his mother on the sofa with maybe some hot cocoa, and see President Obama say that he changed his mind and that he is bringing our men and women HOME!!!!!!</em>
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<br /><strong>Is there anything else you would like to say?</strong>
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<br /><em>I signed up for three years in the Army and served over two-and-a-half years and completed a one-year tour in Iraq. When I returned to Ft. Hood, Texas my unit was informed that we were to redeploy again to Iraq or Afghanistan within four months. I must say that I was upset about risking my life again for a war I did not understand or agree with, especially after seeing the things I saw over in Iraq. I am not a coward, I would not have a problem fighting a war against anyone who is a direct threat to our borders or who could harm my family or fellow Americans. I would be on the front lines for that.</em>
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<br /><em><strong>My prayers go out to the soldier who is now imprisoned for a rap song</strong> that he made that expresses his anger about being stop-lossed, because just like him, I signed up for three years and I left before the military could stop-loss me. I feel his pain because while at Ft. Hood I would see young men and women whose dreams of being civilians again were stolen from them when they were ordered to redeploy. Some took it with stride while many others talked about suicide because they wanted out that badly.</em>
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<br /><em>I have laid down my sword and I have taken up my cross. Now my fight is for Love, Peace, and Freedom. I no longer walk by sight but by Faith and I Know God is the only one who can truly Judge me.<strong>"</strong></em>
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<br /><div><strong>Rodney Watson is one courageous man, indeed.</strong> But none of us can make it alone. He and all the war resisters need and deserve our active support. By supporting war resisters we can also speed the end of the illegal wars and occupations being pursued by the U.S. government and military and their corporate sponsors. And we begin to heal the wounds of war that are affecting our entire society.
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<br /><strong><em>Please send Rodney Watson a Christmas or New Years card</em></strong> and maybe a gift for his son.
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<br /><em><strong>His mailing address is</strong></em>: Rodney Watson, c/o First United Church, 320 East Hastings St., Vancouver, BC V6A 1P4, CANADA. You can also say hi to Rodney on his Facebook page, War Resister in Sanctuary.
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<br /><strong><em>The War Resisters Support Campaign</em></strong> is providing legal, moral and material support for Rodney Watson, even as they continue to mobilize political support for the estimated 300 U.S. war resisters in Canada. Please consider making a special holiday donation toward their vital work on behalf of our war resisters.
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<br /><strong><em>Checks can be made</em></strong> out to the War Resisters Support Campaign and mailed to: 1143 E Pender St. Vancouver BC V6A 1W6.
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<br /><em><strong>Or you can donate online at</strong> <u><a href="http://www.vancouverwarresisters.org/">http://www.vancouverwarresisters.org/</a></u></em></div><div><em><u></u></em>
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<br /><em><strong>Gerry Condon</strong> is a writer and activist based in Seattle, Washington, where he directs <strong>Project Safe Haven,</strong> a war resister advocacy project, and serves as president of the Seattle area chapter of <strong>Veterans For Peace.</strong> In 1968, he refused Army orders to deploy to the Vietnam War and fled to Canada and Sweden, where he spent six years organizing against the war and for amnesty for all war resisters. Gerry Condon can be reached by email at <u>projectsafehaven@hotmail.com</u>.</em>
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<br />Soldier Say No!http://www.blogger.com/profile/04662414091130928025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16439134.post-35190293049580586022009-06-12T09:10:00.000-07:002009-06-12T09:35:13.826-07:00We Won't Go Back<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikbnMaijtEPM7w4RRx_14AqQ5ByYTAW9qWrWPToQ96s1laGlr4SSB___yXf0IOfR4nbfExGNMvBUHimxeRDoeAsVsQUaQG8jQdqrstK3ZJ9KKovHPPZqbjEv1PgLK2gGV91LuG/s1600-h/chuck_wiley_thmb.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 100px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 100px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5346477305948964194" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikbnMaijtEPM7w4RRx_14AqQ5ByYTAW9qWrWPToQ96s1laGlr4SSB___yXf0IOfR4nbfExGNMvBUHimxeRDoeAsVsQUaQG8jQdqrstK3ZJ9KKovHPPZqbjEv1PgLK2gGV91LuG/s400/chuck_wiley_thmb.jpg" /></a><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivbgbqVcfz30sU8Q_KBf3JNu9BtYp50U5PPFp-J6nnmhh0yb6TfpDhKHAoQqfJ2St9TTlGTXeTLMb8_h4gDIgT1XrMPJosC9BWpsw7HNLgnHT1xO9MtIbzv4CulR5NmGGlQq0v/s1600-h/patrick_hart_thmb.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 100px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 100px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5346477144909716450" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivbgbqVcfz30sU8Q_KBf3JNu9BtYp50U5PPFp-J6nnmhh0yb6TfpDhKHAoQqfJ2St9TTlGTXeTLMb8_h4gDIgT1XrMPJosC9BWpsw7HNLgnHT1xO9MtIbzv4CulR5NmGGlQq0v/s400/patrick_hart_thmb.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk16PJyj0BFwaGT9UGIfxn6C3bzmSc8Zr79xyD1YkHB9fzkOllLaBAw2qy-2ouyCU9oPw-A4XUDLKebhNODnNwqsBOoJjK2WyOD5M6-Pa4gTMyG8T0mYOS85FHBEWYxqS-jNpI/s1600-h/kimberly_rivera_thmb.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 100px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 100px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5346476994740559826" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk16PJyj0BFwaGT9UGIfxn6C3bzmSc8Zr79xyD1YkHB9fzkOllLaBAw2qy-2ouyCU9oPw-A4XUDLKebhNODnNwqsBOoJjK2WyOD5M6-Pa4gTMyG8T0mYOS85FHBEWYxqS-jNpI/s400/kimberly_rivera_thmb.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk6wE_o3lJo8-2PMxpLERthUtjEs_m9f1uB_hPffx3AOLaapLUs5aqAIVUxL2K0zDzS82RaywlT2Ytl2d6E5P0CP-GB0j5_J0xe3xTdSiI7v0zH-47Jp-4jHNbhSpy9jzwym0Q/s1600-h/dean_wilcott_thmb.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 100px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 100px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5346476737251277954" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk6wE_o3lJo8-2PMxpLERthUtjEs_m9f1uB_hPffx3AOLaapLUs5aqAIVUxL2K0zDzS82RaywlT2Ytl2d6E5P0CP-GB0j5_J0xe3xTdSiI7v0zH-47Jp-4jHNbhSpy9jzwym0Q/s400/dean_wilcott_thmb.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG_VeelpFDT-8VS-uRUtFk5YxrYCl2h9xC6DQS9heoSoLvf69hrg_SXLNavVx0mSxKA56R4JfoGq0xmCNgOabrJuZF5jxjI3PD9mIHTwjMjxiwpYzJmIJE0Ao9zDN9MFY_4uFq/s1600-h/phil_mcdowell_thmb.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 100px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 100px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5346476140103539426" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG_VeelpFDT-8VS-uRUtFk5YxrYCl2h9xC6DQS9heoSoLvf69hrg_SXLNavVx0mSxKA56R4JfoGq0xmCNgOabrJuZF5jxjI3PD9mIHTwjMjxiwpYzJmIJE0Ao9zDN9MFY_4uFq/s400/phil_mcdowell_thmb.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div>___________________________________</div><div></div><div></div><div><span style="font-family:arial;"><strong>By Maggie Gilmour, </strong><em><strong>Toronto Life</strong></em></span></div><div><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /></div></span><div><span style="font-family:arial;"><strong><span style="font-size:130%;color:#006600;">To avoid serving in Iraq, 300 American soldiers have left their homes</span></strong> and families and fled to Canada, 75 of them to Toronto. Many assumed they’d get a visa, settle down and live a normal life. But the federal government has rejected their refugee claims and ordered them deported. Some go into hiding; others wait for appeals and judicial reviews of their cases. In the meantime, they’ve put down roots, taking temp jobs and raising children, nostalgic for a time when Canada was a haven for conscientious objectors.</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:arial;"><strong><em>See Full Story</em></strong></span></div><div><a href="http://www.torontolife.com/features/we-wont-go-back/"><span style="font-family:arial;"><strong><em>http://www.torontolife.com/features/we-wont-go-back/</em></strong></span></a></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Soldier Say No!http://www.blogger.com/profile/04662414091130928025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16439134.post-72152893028213915872009-06-05T14:58:00.000-07:002009-06-05T16:40:25.082-07:00Canada Reconsiders Iraq War Veteran's Plea For Political Asylum<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXB8rmaIfbWgAUEr0BKuonYrRW38-xXdOZLaZPpWK3SgVjVf_9SzvKW28QKPgx63CqXC7TsHhlEUaPF-Ep1IQG3PI6S6sV4XjL6S2WG_Ko6dr32HBC9ZTfGlKCB6FwbABTQ1Xu/s1600-h/Deserters+Tale+cover.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 160px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5343971535622938226" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXB8rmaIfbWgAUEr0BKuonYrRW38-xXdOZLaZPpWK3SgVjVf_9SzvKW28QKPgx63CqXC7TsHhlEUaPF-Ep1IQG3PI6S6sV4XjL6S2WG_Ko6dr32HBC9ZTfGlKCB6FwbABTQ1Xu/s400/Deserters+Tale+cover.jpg" /></a><br /><div><br /><br /><div><br /><div><br /><div><span style="font-family:arial;">Like other U.S. war resisters seeking sanctuary in Canada, Joshua Key was wrongfully denied refugee status. But in his case, a Federal Court agreed with him and ordered the Immigration and Refugee Board to give him a new hearing. The hearing took place this Wednesday in Toronto. </span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:arial;"></span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:arial;">With Canadian author Lawrence Hill, Joshua wrote a best-selling book, The Deserters Tale, in which he details the systematic abuse of Iraqi civilians by the U.S. military.</span></div><br /><div><a href="http://www.groveatlantic.com/grove/bin/wc.dll?groveproc~genauth~5230"><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">http://www.groveatlantic.com/grove/bin/wc.dll?groveproc~genauth~5230</span></a></div><br /><br /><div><span style="font-family:arial;">Follow this link to a detailed report on Joshua Key's new refugee hearing, written by Laura Kaminker, "L-Girl," in her award-winning blog, "We Move To Canada."</span></div><br /><div><a href="http://wmtc.blogspot.com/2009/06/joshua-key-irb-hearing-part-one.html"><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">http://wmtc.blogspot.com/2009/06/joshua-key-irb-hearing-part-one.html</span></a></div></div></div></div>Soldier Say No!http://www.blogger.com/profile/04662414091130928025noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16439134.post-6114426675832490042009-04-29T09:22:00.000-07:002009-04-29T10:19:31.060-07:00You Can Help to Free Lt. Ehren Watada<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDs5WAHiL_sKGY-i_CbhWfhevrysVm-hHogaS4SnTvZJu5EpJ6MuEGreHbngGTBPq4IacjEUq8BkDGyvCC1iD9jWsHB-vi07yC49bEQue-K-9523yMPNXxNrjql3nYj7K1rX8R/s1600-h/ew3-150.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5330162189368237634" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 150px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 113px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDs5WAHiL_sKGY-i_CbhWfhevrysVm-hHogaS4SnTvZJu5EpJ6MuEGreHbngGTBPq4IacjEUq8BkDGyvCC1iD9jWsHB-vi07yC49bEQue-K-9523yMPNXxNrjql3nYj7K1rX8R/s400/ew3-150.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH0zfS-1mDT4qb_0IdkbsxcQIyDAJxXfXcYZ1k41vzRd1lS1KbLUrUUu3e5w5IMyE8SQcXsbZM37B-dBTAa5aNzT1uwib3QyNbrCRWdhR2eKVU9SBEnk-aCutO2jR2UPg_iQ5E/s1600-h/ew3-150.jpg"></a><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-CQu_FXhA7d4Y-NK4W7f2gGlvj8WgUGoGFhrDI4l1Fd49lfYqnZJLQY6Jp9NVFM6LMLcIYjVCjVYvyGTWd9o6v172t_2WBguEK92uTQFfKchLbfyPKJFuTdcX9zOKkm9y5mrx/s1600-h/ew3-150.jpg"></a><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-CQu_FXhA7d4Y-NK4W7f2gGlvj8WgUGoGFhrDI4l1Fd49lfYqnZJLQY6Jp9NVFM6LMLcIYjVCjVYvyGTWd9o6v172t_2WBguEK92uTQFfKchLbfyPKJFuTdcX9zOKkm9y5mrx/s1600-h/ew3-150.jpg"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-CQu_FXhA7d4Y-NK4W7f2gGlvj8WgUGoGFhrDI4l1Fd49lfYqnZJLQY6Jp9NVFM6LMLcIYjVCjVYvyGTWd9o6v172t_2WBguEK92uTQFfKchLbfyPKJFuTdcX9zOKkm9y5mrx/s1600-h/ew3-150.jpg"></a><br /><br /><div align="left"><strong></strong></div><div align="left"><strong></strong></div><div align="left"><strong><span style="font-size:130%;">End the U.S. Army’s Prosecution of Lt. Ehren Watada</span></strong></div><br /><div align="left"><em><strong><span style="font-size:130%;">The Justice Department Can Say No to Army’s Legal Appeal</span></strong></em></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><em><strong><br /><div align="left"></strong></em></span>In June 2006, U.S. Army 1st Lt. Ehren Watada refused orders to Iraq on the grounds that the war was illegal and immoral. His court martial in February 2007 ended in an Army-contrived mistrial. In October 2007, the Army attempt to have a second court martial was stopped by a Federal judge who ruled that a second court martial would be double jeopardy. But the Army has not allowed Lt. Watada to leave military service. Instead, they have notified the U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit of their plans to appeal the double jeopardy ruling. The Army has also threatened to revive old charges stemming from Lt. Watada’s speech in Seattle to the 2006 convention of Veterans For Peace. </div><br /><div><strong>Justice Department to Decide If Army Will Appeal Double Jeopardy Ruling</strong><br /></div><div>The U.S. Solicitor General’s office in the Department of Justice will soon decide whether the Army can go ahead with its plans to appeal Federal Court rulings in Lt. Watada’s favor.</div><br /><div>A campaign of public pressure is being called by Lt. Watada’s supporters in the peace movement. The ad hoc campaign is being spearheaded by two Vietnam War resisters, Mike Wong and Gerry Condon, who are active members of Veterans for Peace in San Francisco and Seattle. The Call to Action is being issued in the name of Asian Americans for Peace and Justice, formerly the Watada Support Committee, in the San Francisco Bay Area, and Project Safe Haven, a war resister support group.</div><br /><div>We are sending out this email alert to all our contacts and organizations - including Veterans for Peace, Iraq Veterans Against the War, Military Families Speak Out, United For Peace and Justice, ANSWER, Code Pink, American Friends Service Committee and others. We ask you all to phone, write, and email Solicitor General Elena Kagan and Deputy Attorney General Neal Katyal immediately.<br /></div><div><br /><strong>1. Ask the Solicitor General: Tell the Army to drop the appeal and any other charges against Lt. Watada, and to release him from the Army with an honorable discharge.</strong> </div><div><br />If we all act quickly, we can flood the Solicitor General’s office with hundreds of phone calls, letters and emails, which could tip the balance in Ehren Watada’s favor.</div><div><br /><strong>Solicitor General Elena Kagan, 202-514-2201<br />Deputy Solicitor General Neal Katyal, 202-514-2206</strong> </div><div><br />Send letters to: U.S. Department of Justice, 950 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20530. </div><div><br /><strong>E-mails to </strong></span></div><a href="mailto:AskDOJ@usdoj.gov" rel="nofollow"><span style="font-family:arial;"><strong>AskDOJ@usdoj.gov</strong></span></a><span style="font-family:arial;"> will reach the Solicitor General and Attorney General Eric Holder. </span><br /><br /><div><span style="font-family:arial;"><strong><em><u>A sample letter is included below. Feel free to edit as you wish, or to write your own</u>.</em></strong></span></div><span style="font-family:arial;"><div><br />It is possible that both the Solicitor General and her Deputy may be open to our plea. Please be respectful and polite in all your communications with these Obama appointees. </div><div><br />2. Please forward this alert to all activists, friends, and organizations you know that would be supportive. If you are involved in an organization, please ask that it forward this alert to its entire membership..</div><div><br />3. We will approach the friendliest of our allies in Congress and ask them to make inquiries to the Justice Department. If you or your organization has contact with any members of Congress, please email Gerry Condon at </span></div><a href="mailto:projectsafehaven@hotmail.com" rel="nofollow"><span style="font-family:arial;">projectsafehaven@hotmail.com</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;"> so we can coordinate our Congressional outreach.</span><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><div><br />4. Various groups may also wish to mount demonstrations, press conferences, lobby, or use other means of peaceful political pressure. You may also call for an end to the persecution of all war resisters.</div><br /><div><br /><strong><em>Mike Wong,</em></strong> Vice President, SF Bay Area Veterans For Peace; Asian Americans for Peace and Justice</div><br /><div><em><strong>Gerry Condon,</strong></em> Greater Seattle Veterans For Peace; Project Safe Haven<br /></div><br /><br /><div><u><strong>Sample letter:</strong></u> </div><br /><br /><div>Date</div><br /><div>Solicitor General Elena Kagan</div><div>Deputy Solicitor General Neal Katyal</div><div>U.S. Department of Justice</div><div>950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW,</div><div>Washington, DC 20530-0001<br /><br /></div><div>Dear Solicitor General Kagan and Deputy Solicitor General Katyal,</div><br /><div>I am writing to urge you to direct the U.S. Army to drop its appeal and any other charges in the case of 1st Lt. Ehren Watada, and to release him from the Army with an Honorable Discharge. Lt. Watada was the first Army officer to publicly refuse to deploy to Iraq, because he believes the U.S. war in Iraq is illegal and immoral, and that orders to participate in it are therefore also illegal and immoral.</div><br /><div></div><div>(See </span><a title="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ehren_Watada" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ehren_Watada"><span style="font-family:arial;">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ehren_Watada</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;">). </span><span style="font-family:arial;"></div><div><br />Lt. Watada’s Army court martial in February 2007 ended in a mistrial that was illegally construed by the Army judge, Lt. Col. John Head. When the Army then attempted a second court martial in October 2007, U.S. District Court Judge Benjamin Settle halted the proceedings on double jeopardy grounds. Judge Settle had just been appointed to his position by George W. Bush and was a former Army JAG lawyer. I urge you to uphold U.S. and international law by directing the Army to end its prolonged prosecution of Lt. Ehren Watada. Thank you very much.</div><br /><div>Sincerely yours,<br />Mike Wong<br /></div><br /><div><strong>For more background on Lt. Ehren Watada, go to info: </strong></span></div><a title="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ehren_Watada" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ehren_Watada"><span style="font-family:arial;"><strong>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ehren_Watada</strong></span></a>.<br /><br /><div><span style="font-family:arial;"><strong>For updates on the Campaign to Free Ehren Watada, go to </strong></span><a title="www.SoldierSayNo.blogspot.com" href="http://www.soldiersayno.blogspot.com/"><span style="font-family:arial;"><strong>www.SoldierSayNo.blogspot.com</strong></span></a></div><br /><div></div><div><strong><em><u>or you can:</u></em></strong></div><br /><div></div><div><strong>Email Mike Wong at </strong><a href="mailto:mlwong@jps.net"><strong>mlwong@jps.net</strong></a><br /></div><br /><div><strong>Email Gerry Condon at </strong><a href="mailto:projectsafehaven@hotmail.com"><strong>projectsafehaven@hotmail.com</strong></a><strong> </strong></div><br /><div><strong>or call Gerry at 206-499-1220.</strong></div><br /><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><br /><div></div></div></div>Soldier Say No!http://www.blogger.com/profile/04662414091130928025noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16439134.post-60903015647861679822009-03-20T12:36:00.000-07:002009-03-20T13:02:11.511-07:00The Contract<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqdaXpLc941DcLmRpE8c_v4cjIcePPNBHSpInmHwOHiKRlokJpB1VKPdKoRMgflons0hVNjk0QmUX3gONNKoZoB-U7_JJBzZUxeW2DAlYJwFzNwXddJw4sfc6ancKp08YQlmEZ/s1600-h/Robin+Long.jpg"><span style="font-size:130%;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5315357700619425298" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 150px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 148px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqdaXpLc941DcLmRpE8c_v4cjIcePPNBHSpInmHwOHiKRlokJpB1VKPdKoRMgflons0hVNjk0QmUX3gONNKoZoB-U7_JJBzZUxeW2DAlYJwFzNwXddJw4sfc6ancKp08YQlmEZ/s400/Robin+Long.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-family:arial;"><strong><em><span style="font-size:130%;">by Robin Long</span> </em></strong></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><strong><em>from inside the Miramar Brig</em></strong></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">March 12, 2009<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;"></span><span style="font-family:arial;">IN 2004, when military resister Jeremy Hinzman applied for refugee status in Canada, the Conservative government stepped in to his Refugee hearing and stated evidence challenging the legality of the War in Iraq can’t be used in his case. However, the U.N Handbook for Refugee’s and the Nuremburg Principles states: a soldier of an Army that is involved in an illegal war of aggression has a higher international duty to refuse service. Said soldier also has the right to seek refugee protection in any country that is signatory to the Geneva Convention. By refusing to allow him- and by precedent ALL other claimants the right to use that argument, they closed the door on that legal avenue for refugee protection.</span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">THE US invasion of Iraq was clearly an illegal war of aggression. The US was not under attack, or the immanent threat of attack from the nation of Iraq, nor was the war approved by the UN Security Council. By taking the stance it did, the Canadian Government implicitly condoned the invasion & continuing occupation of Iraq. Is that what Canadians want? A majority of Americans want it to end and have come to realize it a mistake, at best. Canadians have long known it to be wrong. Why is the minority Conservative government still holding on to the idea, and still deporting war resisters? Why are they separating families and aiding in the imprisonment of morally strong men and women? </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />IN JUNE 2007, Canada’s Parliament voted on a non- binding resolution to allow war resisters and their families permanent resident status. That vote passed, and in agreement with that vote, a poll of Canadian opinion showed overwhelming support for the resolution. In defiance of parliaments intent and the will of the people, the Conservative minority government, led by Prime Minister Steven Harper and Immigration Minister Diane Finley ignored the bill. The Government stated: All refugee claimants are given a fair chance to plead their case before the Refugee Board, and special treatment to these Iraq resisters were unfair to other claimants. Further, they stated that we are not legitimate claimants because we are from the US, and that the US has a fair and transparent justice system, and that we wouldn’t be singled out for being political.<br /><br /><br />ON JULY 14th, 2008, in my final attempt to stay in Canada, where my son and community is, Federal Judge Ann Mactavish stated that I didn’t prove I would be treated harshly by the US military for being a politically outspoken opponent to the War in Iraq and Bush Administration policy. She predicted my punishment would be minimal, 30 days in the brig, perhaps. She then cleared the way for my deportation/extradition. She noted only10% of these cases go to Court Martial.<br /><br /><br />A MONTH later, I was tried in a Court Martial presided over by a judge, a Colonel in the US Army, who has President Bush in her chain-of-command. (She was later appointed by Bush to oversee trials at Guantanamo Bay, no doubt because of her political credentials.<br /><br /><br />THE ONLY aggravating evidence the Prosecution presented was a 6 minute video of me stating, among other things, that I believed my President lied to me. A political statement. The fact that this was found admissible in court for the charge of Desertion is beyond me. There were no character witnesses brought against me. The ONLY factors the Prosecution wanted shown in determining my sentence was the fact I was political and exercising my freedom of speech in criticizing my Commander-in-Chief.<br /><br />IT SEEMS like a conflict of interest to have a judge determine my fate when she has to ultimately answer to the President, while I was claiming that same President was a domestic enemy, who used any reason, and manufactured reasons, to invade and wreak havoc in Iraq.<br /><br />THE JUDGE came back with 30 months- that’s two and a half years for not showing up for work that I believed to be morally objectionable, criminal, and its by far the harshest sentence given to a resister/deserter of the Iraq War.<br /><br /><br />I was saved from that by a plea bargain that got me 15 months. I STILL get a Dishonorable Discharge (DD). A DD will keep me from many fields of employment, from any Government position to the civilian world. It will make getting home loans all the harder. This is a FELONY CONVICTION- which will make it very hard, perhaps impossible to return to Canada to be with my young family. It is the worst grade of discharge there is.<br /><br /><br />PEOPLE THAT committed far worse crimes have been getting off with lighter sentences than me. 1st Infantry Division soldier Spec. Belmor Ramos was sentenced to only 7 months after being convicted of conspiracy to commit murder- 4 Iraqi men. I refused to participate in killings, he stood guard while others executed four unidentified Iraqi men, afterwards dumping their bodies in a Baghdad canal on ’07. During his court martial Ramos admitted his guilt, stating: “I wanted them dead. I had no legal justification to do this.”<br /><br />WHERE IS THE JUSTICE? The system is neither fair nor impartial. Can it really be transparent when you don’t know who is influencing the judge from up the chain of command? Do you see how the military justice system works? – Condone killings with light sentences, but God forbid someone should call President Bush a liar and a war monger. A persons words and political opinion must be far more damaging to the good order of the military if they are anti war and critical of the President, than a soldiers criminal actions in an occupied foreign nation…..<br /><br /><br />PEOPLE HAVE used the argument that I signed a contract, quite often. I’d like to quote from a letter one o the Founders of our United States wrote to General Washington concerning his thoughts on contracts in April, 1793: “When performance, for instance, becomes impossible, non performance is not immoral. So if performance becomes destructive to the Party, the law of self-preservation overrules the laws of obligations to others. For the reality of these principals I appeal to the true fountains of evidence: the head and heart of every rational honest man.”- Thomas Jefferson. For me to continue in my military contract would have been destructive to me as a person with my views, morals and ideals. Let alone the Iraqi’s, who have died in the hundreds of thousands ….<br /><br /><br />THE CONTRACT I signed was to support and defend the Constitution of the United States, from all enemies, foreign and domestic, and to obey the LAWFUL orders of the President and those officers over me. I did not sign to be a strong arm for corporate interests or oil. The so called Liberation of Iraq has turned into nothing more than a constant and protracted struggle by the people of Iraq, against forces, seen and unseen, that are trying to impose their will on them in a public war for private power and profit. True freedom is the ultimate expression and condition of a people to control their OWN destiny, not the manufactured variety being offered here. True democracy is not found at the point of a gun. It rises up from within the mass of the people.<br /><br />IT WASN’T about WMD’s, or we would have found some. It wasn’t about “regime change” or we would have been in Darfur, or Indonesia, or a dozen other countries. It wasn’t about 9/11 because they were from Saudi Arabia. It dosn’t say anywhere in my contract that I would be going to foreign soil, half way around the world, to invade a country that was of no threat to the United States.<br /><br />TO RISK MY LIFE, not in defending the people or Constitution of the United States but creating more enemies for them by being in an occupying force. Iraq, however unhappy under our former ally/client Hussein, was never a real threat. The destabilized nation of Iraq has become a breeding ground and awesome recruiting tool for Al Queda. It has cost the American people an enormous price. Im not talking just te trillion dollar financial burden, but the human cost of the war. The deaths of so many of our brave youth, the missing limbs, the PTSD, the suicides. The invasion has made far more enemies for the United States and made the world a far more dangerous place.<br /><br /><br />THE ORDER to go to Iraq was not a lawful one. It violates our Constitution. Article IV states that ANY treaty the US is signatory to shall be the supreme law of the land. Last time I checked, the US is signatory to the Geneva Conventions. There are certain laws in that treaty for declaring war, last time I checked, “regime change” wasn’t one of them. A country must be under attack or immanent treat of attack. Neither was true in the case of Iraq. President Bush had no right to interpret the Constitution as he saw fit, on the grounds it was a new world after 9/11, and the 107th Congress had no right to pass HJ Res. 114, which “allowed” the President to invade Iraq. The Constitution was being ignored by the whole lot of them and they were derelict in their duty to uphold it.<br /><br />THE STAND that the Conservative government of Canada has taken has separated a family, an act totally un-Canadian. I have a young son, a Canadian citizen, and a Canadian partner with MS, left to raise our son while I’m locked in a brig for refusing to participate in a war Canada , in 2003, under a different Government, wouldn’t send troops to. Back then, they saw the holes in Bush’s “intelligence”. By deporting me, and not giving me a chance to leave willingly, I have been barred from entering Canada for at least 10 years. My flesh and blood is there!<br /><br /><br />THE CONSERVATIVES are destroying Canada’s tradition of being a refuge from militarism and an asylum from injustices that goes back to the times of slavery. Are they truly representing the people? Who are they working for, really?<br /><br /><br />THE DAYS of Bush have ended. This new Obama administration has a different view and a different policy. Its now time for Mr Harper to change his view. He should listen to Parliament and the solid majority of his citizens!<br /><br /><br />PLEASE SUPPORT the movement to allow War Resisters to stay in Canada and pardon the ones in the US. I ask anyone who reads this: please!<br /><br />HELP ME return to Canada to be with my partner and son. I want only to live in peace and be in his life.<br /><br /><br />STOP THE WAR.<br /><br />Peace, love, light,<br />Robin Long<br />Incarcerated Prisoner of the US Military<br />PO BOX 452136, San Diego, CA, 92145 </span><br /><br /></span>Soldier Say No!http://www.blogger.com/profile/04662414091130928025noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16439134.post-23987306815530821312009-03-03T16:15:00.000-08:002009-03-03T16:28:37.489-08:00Army Charges Cliff Cornell with Desertion<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc_RRRZ6yWKN2fdEJk5-oTnKZC6ZCR7s4dafIHLVuRFiMZolcSFoDW-PmvPP5gHemtfTq-PZuOIvp7rspScgO3ooCfQNYNBCpNgJoi_zuTFqbNQqdhh2P7MemPKS-BKtLj3agu/s1600-h/cornell-hero250.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5309121480037623074" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 250px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 223px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc_RRRZ6yWKN2fdEJk5-oTnKZC6ZCR7s4dafIHLVuRFiMZolcSFoDW-PmvPP5gHemtfTq-PZuOIvp7rspScgO3ooCfQNYNBCpNgJoi_zuTFqbNQqdhh2P7MemPKS-BKtLj3agu/s400/cornell-hero250.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibGW9ksykqgf3NK2VOXt7frCZ4cmq0QEKcZXz3Y6zNzf_kSRukJqd2FPH5-hazA7ZNwT3reU429aJzndkoLREjWCgqBDKh2g6Hg5kyn7D70kWSoUi_3gzOxJ1hdS0xVnM5Nr4G/s1600-h/cornell-hero250.jpg"></a><br /><br /><div><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;"><strong>AWOL GI Was Denied Sanctuary in Canada</strong></span></div><br /><br /><div><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">The U.S. Army has charged war resister Clifford Cornell with desertion. Specialist Cornell, 28, surrendered himself to authorities at Fort Stewart, Georgia on February 17, after being denied refugee status in Canada. The Arkansas native left Fort Stewart four years ago, when his artillery unit was ordered to Iraq. According to family and friends, Cornell did not want to kill civilians, and said that Army trainers told him he must shoot any Iraqi who came near his vehicle.<br /><br /><strong><em>Cornell’s attorney and supporters believe the Army’s charges are excessive. </em></strong></span><span style="font-family:arial;">“Cliff Cornell is a conscientious objector who voluntarily turned himself in to Army authorities,” said attorney James Branum.. “The Army is engaging in overkill in order to make an example of my client.”<br /><br /><strong><em>Fort Stewart spokesman Kevin Larson disputed Spc. Cornell's claims</em></strong> that he would have been expected to kill civilians. ''Indiscriminately shooting people is not what the Army does,” Larson told the New York Times. “That's not how we train and not how we fight.” The Army is leaning toward trying Cornell in a General Court Martial, which could sentence him to years in prison.<br /><br />“This is outrageous,” said Jeff Paterson of Courage To Resist, a war resister support group that has established a legal defense fund for Cornell. “The U.S. war against the Iraqi people remains illegal today, just as when George Bush and Dick Cheney started it,” said Paterson. “President Obama should bring all our troops home now. And he should grant amnesty to Cliff Cornell and hundreds of GI’s who refused to take part in an occupation that has killed untold tens of thousands of men, women and children.”<br /><br /><strong><em>U.S. war resisters in Canada were distressed</em></strong> to hear of the serious charges against Cornell, as were many Canadians who have been pressing their government to provide sanctuary to the war resisters. “Cliff Cornell is a very gentle man who made many friends in Canada,” said Michelle Robidoux of the War Resisters Support Campaign in Toronto. “Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government is absolutely wrong to claim that war resisters do not face persecution in the United States.”<br /><br />A large majority of Canadians, 64% according to several polls, want to provide a safe haven for soldiers who refused to fight in the Iraq War, just as Canada itself refused to do. Most Members of Parliament also support the resisters. In June of last year, the House of Commons passed a motion calling on their government to provide sanctuary to “conscientious objectors who refuse to fight in wars not sanctioned by the United Nations.” But the minority Conservative government ignored the non-binding motion and began to deport war resisters.<br /><br />War resister Robin Long was the first to be deported last July, and is now serving a 15-month prison sentence in the Miramar Naval Consolidated Brig near San Diego. Cliff Cornell was being threatened with deportation when he left Canada. Several other AWOL soldiers and their families are appealing their deportation orders in Canada’s Federal Courts.<br /><br /><strong><em>“Cliff Cornell should not be the one who is going to jail,”</em></strong> said Gerry Condon of Veterans For Peace. “He had the guts to follow his conscience, and unlike President Bush, he obeyed international law.”<br /><br />An estimated 250 U.S. war resisters are now living in Canada, and AWOL GI’s continue to arrive there. “You can still apply for refugee status and expect to remain legally in Canada for at least one year,” said Condon. “It may not be easy, but it beats going to war or going to jail.”<br /><br /><strong>CONTACT:<br /></strong><br />James Branum, GI Right Lawyer, 866-933-2769, </span><a href="http://www.girightslawyer.com/"><span style="font-family:arial;">www.girightslawyer.com</span></a></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:arial;">Jeff Paterson, Courage To Resist, 415-279-9697, </span><a href="http://www.couragetoresist.org/"><span style="font-family:arial;">www.couragetoresist.org</span></a></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:arial;">Michelle Robidoux, War Resisters Support Campaign, 416-856-5008, </span><a href="http://www.resisters.ca/"><span style="font-family:arial;">www.resisters.ca</span></a></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:arial;">Gerry Condon, Veterans For Peace, 206-499-1220, </span><a href="http://www.soldiersayno.blogspot.com/"><span style="font-family:arial;">www.SoldierSayNo.blogspot.com</span></a></div><br /><br /><div></div></div>Soldier Say No!http://www.blogger.com/profile/04662414091130928025noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16439134.post-41825172538036654802009-02-13T16:21:00.000-08:002009-02-14T13:09:48.812-08:00A "People's Amnesty" for War Resisters<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIrZewepUJ6P90rWc-E3bVrqSU43pOUcVVBz3mxADProWJOfMgLFgMtwgZEX3e8gkM6GGV4VdCKIxdZIF7seqZtxG3AVd5AUZPgEKBW-2yAneCZkaWVnguN7kNW7MEqwfP3S1v/s1600-h/cornell550.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5302763125183431570" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 231px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIrZewepUJ6P90rWc-E3bVrqSU43pOUcVVBz3mxADProWJOfMgLFgMtwgZEX3e8gkM6GGV4VdCKIxdZIF7seqZtxG3AVd5AUZPgEKBW-2yAneCZkaWVnguN7kNW7MEqwfP3S1v/s400/cornell550.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><strong><em>by Gerry Condon</em><br /></strong><br />Last week the Customs and Border Police in Blaine arrested a young American who was returning home from Canada. Cliff Cornell, 28, was arrested because he is AWOL from the U.S. Army. He fled to Canada four years ago after realizing he had been lied to when he joined the military. The Army recruiter lied to him when he said he would never be deployed overseas. And President Bush lied to him when he said Iraq was connected to the terror of 9-11. The next thing Cornell knew, he had orders to deploy to Iraq and “shoot to kill anyone who gets near your vehicle.”<br /><br />In 2002, Cliff Cornell raised his right hand and swore to uphold the U.S. Constitution. He swore to defend the U.S. from all enemies, foreign and domestic. He didn’t swear to invade other peoples’ countries on behalf of Exxon Mobil or Halliburton. “He signed a contract,” some people declaim emphatically. But it was President Bush who broke that contract when he lied to the American people about why he was sending their sons and daughters into harm’s way. And it is Cliff Cornell who is being punished.<br /><br />After spending the night in the Whatcom County Jail, Cornell was released on his own recognizance on Thursday . He then hopped on a Greyhound bus for a sleepless, three-day ride across the U.S. On Tuesday, he surrendered himself to Army authorities at Fort Stewart, Georgia. Cornell hopes the Army will just discharge him “for the good of the service,” as they do to many returning AWOLs. But Cliff Cornell has been a vocal opponent of the Iraq War. The Army will likely court-martial and imprison him, as it did Robin Long, another Iraq War resister who was deported from Canada in July. Long was convicted of desertion and is serving a 15-month prison sentence.<br /><br />The American people became disenchanted with the U.S. war in Iraq a long time ago. Almost everyone knows the war was based on lies. Candidate Obama called it a “dumb war” and promised to end it promptly. But the dictates of empire may see U.S. troops fighting and dying in Iraq for years to come. President Obama will attempt to manage a gradual draw-down of U.S. troops in Iraq, while simultaneously escalating the U.S. war in Afghanistan. Obama inherited these twin wars from George Bush, but they could easily drag down his own presidency.<br /><br /><strong><em>President Obama should immediately withdraw all U.S. troops,</em></strong> mercenaries and contractors from both Iraq and Afghanistan. Both wars are unjust and un-winnable. Both wars target civilians with weapons of mass destruction. The U.S. military is torturing prisoners and violating human rights in both wars. And the vast majority of the people in both countries want U.S. troops to leave.<br /><br />Uncle Sam has also failed on a massive scale to care for his own soldiers who have been physically and psychologically wounded, and are now caught up in an epidemic of suicide, murder and spousal abuse. President Obama must act to ensure adequate medical care and benefits for all veterans.<br /><br />President Obama should also do the right thing by those troops who refused to be part of this madness. With the stroke of a pen, he can grant amnesty to Cliff Cornell and thousands of young men and women who are fugitives from injustice. Presidents Ford and Carter granted measures of pardon and leniency to Vietnam draft resisters and deserters. President Obama can do the same.<br /><br />And the American people should not be lulled into passivity by the changing of the guard at the White House. We must continue to demand that our leaders end these horrible wars immediately. Not one more day of war will undo the damage we have already done.<br /><br /><strong><em>There will be no amnesty until the troops come home.</em></strong> In the meantime, we must provide sanctuary for war resisters in our own communities. The people of Bellingham, Washington, near the U.S.-Canada border, are providing a perfect example. Their proposed Sanctuary City ordinance would not only welcome war resisters to Bellingham, it would bar the use of city resources for the apprehension of GIs who refuse to fight. <em>See <a href="http://www.sanctuary-city.org/">http://www.sanctuary-city.org/</a>.</em> Similar efforts are taking place in several cities around the country, including Portland, Oregon. Ithaca, New York has already declared itself a Sanctuary City for soldiers who are speaking out against war.<br /><br />Veterans For Peace is one of several organizations that are helping war resisters find housing, jobs, and treatment for PTSD. Many of these young GI’s are suffering from the wounds of war; they do not need to return to the scene of the crime. We owe them our understanding and our help.<br /><br />President Obama may not be ready to act, but We The People can show compassion for our young soldiers of conscience. George Bush may never have to answer for his treason or the massacre of hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians. But Cliff Cornell should not be the one who is imprisoned.<br />__________________________________________<br /><br />You can contribute to Cliff Cornell's legal defense fund at <a href="http://www.couragetoresist.org/">http://www.couragetoresist.org/</a>.<br /><em></em><br /><em>Gerry Condon lived in Sweden and Canada for six years after refusing Army orders to deploy to the U.S. war against the people of Vietnam. He now lives in Seattle and serves as director of Project Safe Haven, a war resister advocacy group.</em></span><br /><br /><br /></span></div>Soldier Say No!http://www.blogger.com/profile/04662414091130928025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16439134.post-60950927398824277092009-01-21T18:38:00.000-08:002009-01-22T10:53:41.788-08:00President Obama: Grant Amnesty to All War Resisters<span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;"><strong>War Resister Group Calls on Obama to Grant Amnesty</strong></span><br /><a href="http://www.fsrn.org/headlines">http://www.fsrn.org/headlines</a><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Free Speech Radio News<br />Headlines for Wednesday, January 21, 2009<br /></span><a title="Free Speech Radio News daily headlines" href="http://www.fsrn.org/headlines" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:arial;">Headlines</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;"><br />· Length: 5:20 minutes (4.89 MB)<br />· Format: MP3 Mono 44kHz 128Kbps (CBR)<br /><br />* Israel Out of Gaza, Investigates Use of White Phosphorous<br />* UK Unemployment Rate Hits 12 Year High<br />* Mexican Tycoon Bails out NY Times<br />* Supreme Court Declines to Review Online Porn Law<br /><strong>* War Resister Group Calls on Obama to Grant Amnesty</strong></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">On Barack Obama's first day in office, a war resisters support group based in Seattle is calling on the president to grant amnesty to US soldiers who refuse to fight in Iraq. </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><em>Mark Taylor-Canfield has more from Seattle.</em><br /><br />Hundreds of US soldiers have relocated to Canada, Europe or LatinAmerica after choosing not to serve in the US war and occupation in Iraq. Many of the soldiers have gone into Canada by crossing the border between Washington State and British Columbia, which also served as a point of entry for conscientious objectors escaping toCanada during the US war in Vietnam. </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Now Project Safe Haven is calling on President Barack Obama to grant immediate amnesty to all US war resisters who have refused to serve in Iraq. </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">The group is also calling for the immediate withdrawal of all US troops from Iraq and an end to the war in Afghanistan. Other demands include reparations for the people of Iraq and Afghanistan and full benefits and healthcare for US military veterans. </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">According to Project Safe Haven organizer Gerry Condon, the petition was circulated among national anti-war and veterans groups and was delivered to the President-elect's transition team. </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><em>This is Mark Taylor-Canfield for Free Speech Radio News in Seattle.</em></span><br /><br /><p><strong><em>Click here for audio, <a href="http://www.fsrn.org/headlines">http://www.fsrn.org/headlines</a></em></strong></p><p><strong><em></em></strong></p>Soldier Say No!http://www.blogger.com/profile/04662414091130928025noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16439134.post-74291768845330097542009-01-21T10:34:00.000-08:002009-01-21T12:59:29.060-08:00Coalition Government Would Not Deport U.S. War Resisters<span style="font-family:arial;"><strong><span style="font-size:130%;">MPs Say Canada Should be a Refuge from Militarism</span></strong> </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">January 21, 2009</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><br />The Canadian Press<br /><br />TORONTO — Liberal and New Democrat MPs pledged Wednesday that U.S. war resisters would not be deported under a coalition government.<br /><br />Five Americans could face deportation by the end of the month unless there's a last-minute court reprieve or an unexpected policy change by the federal government.<br /><br />Liberal Mario Silva and New Democrat Olivia Chow said their parties would protect war resisters if Stephen Harper's government were to fall after next week's budget.<br /><br />Silva invoked the words of former prime minister Pierre Trudeau, who during the Vietnam War said "Canada should be a refuge from militarism."<br /><br />"To all those brave men and women who have in fact objected to (the Iraq) war we say, bravo. We say welcome, you should be here in Canada," Silva said at a news conference in Toronto, which was attended by several war resisters and their young families.<br /><br />The House of Commons passed a motion last June 3 calling for a stop to deportations of war resisters and Silva urged the government to respect that vote.<br /><br />One war resister, Robin Long, has been deported since the vote and was separated from his Canadian partner and infant son. He was sentenced to 15 months in prison in the U.S.<br />New Democrat Olivia Chow said Canada must stop deporting war resisters and breaking up families.<br /><br />"We are a nation of compassion and of peace," she said. "We really should not deport war resisters into American jails."<br /><br />This week, Christopher Teske, 27, lost his last court bid to stay in the country and faces deportation within days.<br /><br />Teske, who has been living in British Columbia for two years, said in a statement that he's proud of his decision not to take part in the war in Iraq and wishes he could stay in Canada permanently.<br /><br />Writer Mary Jo Leddy, a member of the Order of Canada, said the trials in Nuremberg after the Second World War established that soldiers are responsible for their actions, and should be allowed to opt out of conflict if they don't believe in the mission.<br /><br />"The argument that one must follow orders in all circumstances is no longer justified," she said.<br />"Following orders is no longer the ultimate test of patriotism."<br /><br /></span>Soldier Say No!http://www.blogger.com/profile/04662414091130928025noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16439134.post-21452554572002222312009-01-19T18:37:00.000-08:002009-01-19T18:40:04.654-08:00Island Community Supports Cliff Cornell<span style="font-family:arial;"><strong>Islanders off Coast of British Columbia Show Love for War Resister</strong></span>Soldier Say No!http://www.blogger.com/profile/04662414091130928025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16439134.post-63593394696562003202009-01-19T08:09:00.000-08:002009-01-19T08:17:03.294-08:00Chris Teske Faces Deportation on Inauguration Day<span style="font-family:arial;">1.19.2009</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><br />Chris Teske, a war resister who lives in BC, is scheduled to be thrown out of Canada and sent back to the US tomorrow. Chris and his lawyer will be in federal court today, asking for a stay of deportation.<br /><br /><strong><span style="font-size:130%;color:#990000;">Here's Chris's story in his own words.</span></strong> </span><br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span><a href="http://www.kootenayactivist.ca/Chris_Teske.pdf"><span style="font-family:arial;">January 4th, 2009</span></a><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Hello,My name is Christopher John Teske. I am a former paratrooper and infantryman in the United States Army. I enlisted prior to the September 11th attacks on the world trade center for patriotic reasons and to fund the completion of my college education.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">As I finished my training as a soldier, my country was attacked on September 11th, 2001. I was deeply upset that that civilians were specifically targeted. Shortly after the events of 9/11 I volunteered for combat assignment and was immediately deployed to Afghanistan with the 10th Mountain Division.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">While there I took part in the largest ground offensive of the war: "Operation Anaconda". When I returned from my deployment I was deeply troubled with the morality of armed conflict. I was also not convinced that the US Military's objectives and long term goals in Afghanistan were transparent, honest, or even attainable. Before I was able to personally sort out my feelings I was redeployed to Afghanistan, this time to the Waziristan Region to conduct counter insurgency operations.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Deciding to return to Afghanistan for a second tour of duty was the hardest decision of my life. And now, in retrospect was wrong. I based my decision to deploy based on fear. I failed to listen to my conscience because I was scared of what the Army would do to me if I did not follow orders.Ultimately, I was more scared of official punishment than I was of losing my life in combat. I have always paid deeply for that decision. I am haunted by that decision.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">After my second tour of duty, I was honorably discharged from the Military and tried to move on with my life. I continue to be haunted by my military experiences in Afghanistan. I am very guarded about discussing what has happened to me and what I have seen. For me it was a time best left forgotten. To make peace with myself I decided I would never repeat what I had been through with the Army and I would never try to harm anyone, anyone ever again.I was unaware that the Army had placed me into the "Inactive Ready Reserve" until two years after my discharge from Afghanistan, when they ordered me to report for a physical exam as I was to be reactivated for combat service, this time in Iraq. I had already made the personal decision to not participate in any armed conflict based on my personal belief that it is immoral.It soon became apparent that I was trapped in the Army, escape was impossible and my only intended purpose was to “engage and destroy the enemy”, IE: kill. Period.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">At this point I made the only decision that seemed logical. I researched desertion and stumbled across the War Resisters here in Canada. In a sea of madness I made the only sane choice available. I deserted my unit and came to Canada.I have lived and worked in Canada for over 2 years now. I call the Kootenays my home. I came here to start fresh and make a new life for myself. I do not discuss my military past with anyone, most people I know or work with have no idea I am from the United States, was in the Military, or served in a War.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">As I said, for me it was a time best left forgotten.However, it seems as hard as I try to forget the institution which enslaved me, they have not forgotten about me. I have been denied at every turn in my immigration process. I have now been ordered to leave Canada and I am about to be turned over to the American Government and in turn the US Army.I face a multitude of charges: The first is desertion max time 4 years. The second: failure to deploy with my unit to Iraq with a max time of 3 years. (All felony charges) And the last, is desertion in time of war. Which if they choose is punishable by death. I also face possible redeployment to Iraq.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">I am proud of my decision to come to Canada. It is the first of my adult life which I can say that about. Looking back I would do it all over again. I believe it was the only correct choice I had at the time. I am proud I had the courage to follow my conscience.I am going to fight to protect the life I have started here in Canada. I love Canada and have found a certain peace in the mountains of the Kootenays that I have never before experienced in my life. I appreciate the support and understanding from all the Canadians I have met. Canada is my home and in these final days I intend to fight to maintain the legal right to remain here with the people that I love so much.I would appreciate anything that you can do to assist me in that endeavor.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Christopher John Teske</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Former Specialist, US Army</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Chris' friends and supporters are </span><a href="http://www.kootenayactivist.ca/Chris_Teske.htm"><span style="font-family:arial;">holding a pot-luck tonight</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;">, so they can be together when they get word that the deportation has been stayed. Local people have been very supportive, and </span><a href="http://atamanenko.ndp.ca/"><span style="font-family:arial;">Member of Parliament Alex Atamanenko</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;"> (NDP, BC Southern Interior), a strong supporter of war resisters in Canada, has been speaking out on Chris' behalf.We'll be holding our breath all day. More later. Now please </span><a href="http://wmtc.blogspot.com/2009/01/let-stay-week-day-one-write-letter-to.html"><span style="font-family:arial;">go write your letters</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;">!</span>Soldier Say No!http://www.blogger.com/profile/04662414091130928025noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16439134.post-59573697528353874902009-01-13T11:39:00.000-08:002009-01-13T15:39:38.203-08:00Vietnam, Afghanistan, and GI Resistance<span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><strong>RESIST HOW YOU WILL - BUT RESIST</strong><br /></span><br />One of the lessons of the Vietnam antiwar movement is this: ALL forms of resistance are valid. It’s okay to advocate one or another form of resistance, as long as you understand that ALL forms of resistance WILL take place. It is a big mistake to play one form of resistance off against another form of resistance. Resisting deployment orders and/or going AWOL, for example, should not be played off against joining the military to organize soldiers against the war. Even if one chooses to re-deploy to Iraq and document the war, some good may well come from that action.<br /><br />We should especially try to avoid getting too moralistic about individual choices. There is no “pure” or “correct” form of resistance. There is only resistance. Furthermore, the various forms of resistance will form the whole of a multi-faceted resistance movement.<br /><br />Having said that, I too have been concerned about a culture within the GI resistance movement that says it’s fine to remain part of the war machine. Should we be telling antiwar soldiers they can resist illegal wars while following military orders? Can soldiers resist war while protecting their military careers and their prospects in civilian life? Hmmm...<br /><br />Resistance generally means taking some risks and dealing with some consequences. It means going AGAINST, not going WITH. In the context of soldiers of imperialism, it generally means withdrawing their participation from, and/or acting against military missions.<br /><br />What can be more powerful than a soldier saying, “NO, I will NOT participate in this illegal slaughter and oppression of entire peoples.” To roughly paraphrase Arlo Guthrie in his epic anti-draft song, Alice’s Restaurant: If one person does, it, they’ll think he’s crazy, or a coward, or a hero. If two people do it together, they’ll think they are gay. And if three, four, five, twenty or one hundred people do it together, they’ll think it’s a movement. And that’s what it will be – a real resistance movement strong enough, along with the ferocious resistance of the Iraqis, the Afghans, and the Palestinians, to frighten the imperialists into pulling back.<br /><br />The incoming administration is signaling a HUGE, LONG-TERM commitment to war and occupation in Afghanistan and the surrounding countries. This is a recipe for ongoing death and destruction on a massive scale. What would be a quicker, more effective way to pour water on this dubious mission than the public refusal of U.S. soldiers to deploy to that war? What a strategic victory that would be to build upon!<br /><br />How many GIs are ready to publicly refuse to go to Afghanistan, individually or together? Maybe only a few at this point. But if they are encouraged, (de-) mobilized and supported, others will follow their example.<br /><br />I hope I am not guilty of wishful thinking. I know I am impatient. But I think one of our biggest moral failings as an antiwar movement is that we have been way too patient. If organizations can help build the resistance, then we should build those organizations. But the main thing is to build the resistance.<br /><br />Most of us are not in the shoes of the GIs or even in a position to take their pulse. So, clearly, we must be somewhat humble with our advice. But there are a number of ways that we can demonstrate our support for GI resistance. We can defend every GI resister in every way we can – with money, with publicity, with legal support, political support, and moral support. We can advocate for GIs who are seeking sanctuary in Canada, Germany and elsewhere. We can build communities of sanctuary in the United States that can shelter AWOL GI’s. We can build a political movement that demands amnesty for all war resisters. Soldiers should not be punished for following their own consciences and obeying international law.<br /><br />Finally, we cannot expect anything approaching massive resistance within the military if there is no massive resistance taking place outside the military, among civilians who have fewer constraints upon them than GI’s, and, generally, less to lose. Are we willing to fully express our right to free speech? Are we willing to take risks for peace and justice? Only when thousands of us are demonstrating our own resistance on a regular basis, will that resistance be reflected within the military.<br /><br />ALL of us have the responsibility to build an effective movement of resistance to war and imperialism. NONE of us has all the answers, yet TOGETHER we may succeed in building effective resistance. We have all, every one of us, erred by being too cautious. Now, perhaps, we will dare to be bold. The hour is getting late.</span><br /><br /><br /></span></span></span>Soldier Say No!http://www.blogger.com/profile/04662414091130928025noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16439134.post-28176044593225572102009-01-09T16:32:00.000-08:002009-01-09T16:40:00.830-08:00Canadian Council for Refugees Rebukes Immigration Minister's Prejudicial Remarks about U.S. War Resisters<a href="http://www.ccrweb.ca/documents/warresistersjan09.htm">http://www.ccrweb.ca/documents/warresistersjan09.htm</a>Soldier Say No!http://www.blogger.com/profile/04662414091130928025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16439134.post-32702399830092846292009-01-08T09:43:00.000-08:002009-01-08T09:43:29.585-08:00january 19 - 24: let them stay week<a href="http://wmtc.blogspot.com/2009/01/january-19-24-let-them-stay-week.html">we move to canada: january 19 - 24: let them stay week</a>Soldier Say No!http://www.blogger.com/profile/04662414091130928025noreply@blogger.com0