Iraq war veterans charged with ‘DisCon’

Iraq war veterans charged with 'DisCon'

http://www.workers.org/2008/us/iraq_war_veterans_1120/

By Dee Knight
Published Nov 14, 2008

Fourteen members of the Iraq Veterans Against the War attempted to
present questions to presidential candidates Barack Obama and John
McCain at their final debate in Hempstead, Long Island, N.Y., on Oct.
15. Instead of being ushered into the debate site as they requested,
they were assaulted by riot police on horseback.

One veteran, Nick Morgan, was trampled when a cop provoked his horse
to spin, knocking Morgan down and trampling his face. Morgan
sustained a crushing blow to his head­a cheek bone was broken in
three places, and his eye socket was shattered.

Morgan was dumped in a police wagon with the other vets, until they
badgered the cops to rush him to a hospital, then sent to jail. They
were arraigned for "disorderly conduct" on Nov. 10 at the Nassau
County District Court.

In its coverage of the Hempstead events, the New York City
Independent Media Center reported on Oct. 16 that "Speakers included
a member of the New York Civil Liberties Union, a local civil rights
advocate, a Military Families Speak Out activist and a member of the
May 1st Coalition for Immigrant and Worker Rights. As more activists
from the NYC area poured in, the march to the campus of Hofstra
started, with defiant chants of 'Stop the torture, stop the war, this
is what we're fighting for,' and 'They're our brothers, they're our
sisters, we support war resisters!' filling the streets of Hempstead.
With IVAW members at the front, the crowd swelled to around 400
demonstrators. Members of the local Planned Parenthood joined in
along the way."

IVAW members, backed by a crowd of anti-war protesters, were allowed
to pass through one line of police before they were met with lines of
Nassau County riot police and cops on horses. IVAW members Matthis
Chiroux and Kris Goldsmith, who organized the protest, tried to enter
the Hofstra University campus and were promptly arrested. At least
three other veterans and four civilians followed and were arrested as well.

As the crowd chanted, "Let them in!" the police on horses pushed back
against the crowd, which was led by a group of about 15 Iraq veterans
in fatigue uniforms. After a tense standoff for several minutes, four
people were knocked over by riot police and horses. It was during
this fracas that Morgan was injured. After the police assault, a
standoff between the cops and demonstrators occurred for more than an hour.
A couple of questions

Chiroux, who last May publicly declared his intent to refuse to
deploy to Iraq, had sent a letter to debate moderator Bob Scheiffer
demanding that two IVAW members be allowed to ask the candidates one
question each.

"My question is, as President of the United States of America, are
you prepared to back up your own words [about the illegality of the
Iraq War] and the U.S. Constitution by supporting service members
refusing to participate in what you describe as an illegal occupation?"

They also wanted to ask McCain a question about his lack of support
for veterans. "What promises are you willing to make, as a veteran,
as a senator, as a presidential candidate, to the veterans of the
United States, to prove that you will ensure the V.A. is fully
funded, staffed and capable of preventing troops from suffering as
they are now?"

A petition launched the day following the Hempstead incident says in part:

"We, the undersigned, denounce and condemn the violent actions and
gross misconduct of the Nassau County Police Department in Hempstead,
Long Island. Specifically, we are citing the unprovoked attack
unleashed upon a member of Iraq Veterans Against the War, who was
acting within the First Amendment right to peacefully assemble on the
evening of October 15, 2008 at Hofstra University, the site of the
last presidential debate. ...

"We urge that all charges against the Iraq veterans and the other
people arrested be dropped. ... All charges against [Morgan] must be
dropped immediately, and a public apology be given by not only the
Nassau County Police Department but the Mayor of Hempstead."

To sign the petition, go to www.ipetitions.com.

At the arraignment, Chiroux said, "We were charged with disorderly
conduct, to which we all plead not guilty." But, he adds, "Here's the
dirty thing. The cops scheduled our court appearances on different
days to break us up and make demonstrations that much more
complicated." What the cops did not take into account is that more
demonstrations help the movement­not them.

No reports were available regarding possible civil action against the
police for damages.

.

Ex-US soldier battles deportation order

Ex-US soldier battles deportation order

http://www.thebulletin.ca/cbulletin/content.jsp?sid=16584240031721476700737631802&ctid=1000136&cnid=1001935

By Anisa Lancione
2008-11-03

Iraq war resister and Bathurst Quay resident Patrick Hart, his wife
Jill, and his son Rian have received a deferral of the deportation
order that would have had them leave Canada by Oct. 30.

The family had been notified on Oct. 8 that they had to voluntarily
leave the country by the end of the month. On Oct. 10, they were
notified that their departure date had been pushed back to Jan. 15.

Hart is a former sergeant and a nine-year veteran of the US military.
He served one tour of duty in the Middle East as part of Operation
Iraqi Freedom. After that experience, he made the decision that he
could no longer take part in what he felt was illegal and unwarranted
military occupation.

Hart and his family moved to Toronto in August 2005. Since then, they
have been struggling to gain official status in Canada.

They have also been building a life in their new home, making friends
and getting involved in the community. Jill Hart has volunteered on
the board and even served as president of Windward Co-op.

Despite her involvement, few community members and neighbours are
aware of their plight. Friend and neighbour Jessica Polley states
that the Harts have been "very low-key about why they were in Canada."

Polley met the Harts when her daughter became friends with their son.

"I knew they were American and I asked Pat one day why they had moved
to Canada," Polley recalls. "He told me that he was a soldier who had
been to the Middle East and was supposed to go back again and
couldn't. I didn't ask any more questions, as we had just met, but
over the years I heard a story that surprised and shocked me."

Hart's story drew the notice of the War Resisters Support Campaign
(resisters.ca), which provides advocacy and even financial support to
resisters living in Canada. But while some resisters rely on the
group to help defray the legal costs involved in the fight to remain
in Canada, so far, the Harts are paying their own way, says Michelle
Robidoux, a member of the campaign.

MP Olivia Chow has also stepped in to support the Hart's application
to remain in Canada.

"He is a wonderful person," she describes.

Chow has followed the Harts' story since they arrived in Canada.
First, they applied for refugee status, followed by their first hearing.

"The Harts were turned down," she states. "There is no appeal in the
refugee determination process. Then they give you a deportation
order. Prior to deportation there is a pre-removal risk assessment
(or PRA) to see if you will face problems when you return home."

The Harts' PRA was rejected. They then put in an application for
consideration to seek permanent resident status on humanitarian and
compassionate grounds. Despite strong community support, the whole
family was declined.

At this point, Chow explains, "Stephen Harper can create a program to
allow them to stay. The federal court twice now said that the
negative decision on the refugee board is wrong. The court has
determined that the refugee determination process is flawed and have
asked for another hearing [for two other resisters]."

Chow continues, "The court and the people both said 'Let the war
resisters stay.' Now the court is saying that deporting them is the
wrong decision. It's time for Stephen Harper to do the right thing."

,

Celebrating Resisters on Veterans' Day

Celebrating Resisters on Veterans' Day

http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/80564

David Swanson
November 07, 2008

November 11th is Veterans' Day in the United States and Remembrance
Day, Armistice Day, or Poppy Day in various other countries. It was
on a November 11th that World War I ended. But November 11th is also
a Catholic holiday that long predates World War I: the Feast of Saint
Martin, celebrated in honor of a man who supposedly died on November
11, in the year 397.

The two holidays seem to have merged into one militaristic
glorification of warfare. Saint Martin is considered a military man.
The military order of Saint Martin is a medal awarded by the U.S.
Army Quartermasters Corps. As a military hero and a saint, one might
easily assume that Martin was killed on that long past November 11th.
In reality, Martin was the first non-martyr to be made a Catholic
saint. But by making him a saint, the church was able to make us
assume he was a martyr. Martyrs and veterans can be celebrated to
glorify wars and are therefore quite valuable, whether real or not.

In reality we tend to neglect veterans, deny them health care and
education, refuse them the treatment they need to deal with the hell
they´ve been through, and walk well clear of them when we see them
living homeless in the park. But in our collective imagination, we
love to glorify veterans, and even more so those who die in war.

The odd thing about St. Martin is that he had a much better chance
than most to die in war. He refused to carry a weapon and commited
himself to walking into battle unarmed. His life was spared only
because of a truce between the opposing armies. Martin died a natural
death at age 81. Martin was not a veteran, not a follower of
generals, not a supporter of a nation right-or-wrong, not a man
willing to kill or injure other men in war. Martin was a
conscientious objector, a war resister.

This Tuesday we should celebrate those who resist. Here are some of
their stories:

http://couragetoresist.org/x/content/blogcategory/39/86

This Tuesday we should listen to real veterans telling us what they
have been through and why nobody should ever be put through it again.
Here are some of their stories:

http://ivaw.org/wintersoldier

This Tuesday we should all, every single one of us, ask our newly
elected congress members to swiftly and fully end the occupation of Iraq.

This Tuesday we should ask president-elect Barack Obama to include in
his cabinet men and women who, unlike Joe Biden and Rahm Emanuel,
were wise enough to oppose the invasion of Iraq:

http://change.gov/page/s/contact

This Tuesday we should visit our local recruiting stations and block
their doors with signs that read "When every veteran has a job, a
home, and health care, you can have another recruit, but not a moment sooner."

Martin is the patron saint of beggars, appropriately enough. But how
appropriate is it that we leave poor and desperate so many whom we
have earlier subjected to the worst possible abuses, even while
glorifying their caricatures in order to entice more young men and
women to participate in the absolutely senseless creation of hell on earth?

Read about Martin in "Nonviolence: Twenty-Five Lessons from a
Dangerous Idea," by Mark Kurlansky.

Sing this November 11th:

If you love this land of the free

Bring 'em home, bring 'em home

Bring them back from overseas

Bring 'em home, bring 'em home

It will make the politicians sad, I know

Bring 'em home, bring 'em home

They wanna tangle with their foe

Bring 'em home, bring 'em home

They wanna test their grand theories

Bring 'em home, bring 'em home

With the blood of you and me

Bring 'em home, bring 'em home

Now we'll give no more brave young lives

Bring 'em home, bring 'em home

For the gleam in someone's eyes

Bring 'em home, bring 'em home

.

This Veterans Day, U.S. Soldiers Say 'Stop the War'

This Veterans Day, U.S. Soldiers Say 'Stop the War'

http://www.alternet.org/story/106404/

By Benjamin Lewis and Brandon Neely
November 11, 2008.

An open letter from war resisters calls for an end to the wars in
Iraq and Afghanistan.
--

On this day, Veteran's Day, we would like to express to the American
public why we, veterans of the Global War on Terror, have chosen to
refuse orders to reactivate into military service. We are direct
witnesses to the horrors of this war, having experienced its
atrocities at their source, and we have decided that we can no longer
carry out these illegal and immoral policies.

We believe that veterans and active-duty GIs are in a key position to
stop illegal and unjust war, and we are inspired by the resistance of
troops who stood against the war in Vietnam. One of the preeminent
reasons for the U.S. withdrawal from Vietnam was increasing dissent
among the active-duty troops stationed abroad and at home. By the end
of the war, there were entire units refusing to participate in
combat, many going as far as outright mutiny.

The United States learned a lesson from the Vietnam War: that it is
unlikely, except in the event of self-defense, that regular civilians
will execute the life-threatening orders that are given to them by
military authority. The solution of policy makers was to create an
all-volunteer force that negated the need for a draft. This
translates into a mercenary force composed of America's
disadvantaged: a sector of the U.S. demographic that is particularly
susceptible to military recruitment for lack of other options and
finding themselves with deployment orders again and again.

To compensate for huge pitfalls in recruitment since the invasion of
Iraq, the military has resorted to recalling former service members.
This policy is known as "involuntary activation" and utilizes
deactivated service members who still have time on their contracts in
the Individual Ready Reserves (IRR) to fill shortcomings in specific
job specialties. The abuse and misuse of this policy has escalated
under the current administration to such a degree that it can now
only be viewed as a "backdoor draft" that targets the same
disadvantaged individuals the military sought out for enlistment,
namely because they are better at not questioning orders.

However, we have now begun to question these orders. We are veterans
of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and members of the IRR who have
refused or will refuse any activation orders that would lead to us
serving an unjust and imperial U.S. foreign policy. It is a
prevailing notion that this refusal is unpatriotic, but we consider
our actions the only choice. Not only did the U.S. invasions of Iraq
and Afghanistan do great harm to the people of those countries, but
it undermined the ostensible goal with which the wars were begun:
Instead of stopping terrorism, it has proliferated terrorism, an
expectation that was predicted well before the war started.

By refusing activation, we are refusing to participate in wars that
serve the purposes of furthering the careers of politicians and
high-ranking officers. We openly support other IRR members who follow
in these footsteps. The military is a force that rules through fear
of retribution for disobeying its will. In reality, more than a third
of IRRs simply refuse to report to duty. Most of the rest report out
of fear that the military will change their discharge status or
prosecute them for desertion, but up to this point, prosecution has
been rare. Members of the IRR are not under the Uniform Code of
Military Justice (UCMJ), and thus far, the military has had a
practice of not prosecuting them with criminal charges unless they
report in some form or function to activate. Very few willingly
volunteer for activation.

There can be no promise that President-Elect Barack Obama will stop
the stressful and unfair techniques of back-to-back deployments,
"stop-loss" or the "backdoor draft" that are damaging the psychology
of veterans in irreparable ways. Nor that he will stop encouraging
global violence by unlawful uses of force. It is in this vein that we
turn to organizations like Courage to Resist, Iraq Veterans Against
the War and many other large-scale and grassroots organizations to
solicit change in a largely unrepresentative democracy, and to allow
the voices of the people to ring through the halls of the Capital.

Benjamin Lewis, former Marine Corps mortarman, Iraq veteran, IRR
recall resister, peace activist

Brandon Neely, former U.S. Army Military police officer, Iraq
veteran, IRR recall refuser

.

Battling for peace: Iraq vet speaks out

[2 articles]

Battling for peace: Camilo Mejia lectures at UMASS today

http://media.www.smithsophian.com/media/storage/paper587/news/2008/11/06/Features/Battling.For.Peace.Camilo.Mejia.Lectures.At.Umass.Today-3530600.shtml

Elizabeth Tuttle
Issue date: 11/6/0

Thousands of college students throughout the Pioneer Valley shout
Camilo's, but few of them even know his full story. The protest and
imprisonment of Camilo Mejía, the first conscientious objector to the
Iraq War, has gained attention from advocacy groups like Democracy
Now! as well as from State Radio, a popular, socially-aware band
whose song "Camilo" narrates the ex-soldier's difficult and
thought-provoking journey to justice.

Today, Five College students will have another opportunity to hear
Mejía's account - this time, sans guitar and drums. At 7PM, Mejía
will speak in the UMass Student Union Ballroom as a part of a book
tour for his memoir, "The Road from Ar Ramadi: The Private Rebellion
of Staff Sergeant Mejía."

Mejía's story began at the University of Miami in Florida, where he
studied on a military scholarship until he was deployed to Iraq for
six months. Upon returning home for a short furlough, he realized
that he could no longer fight in a war that he so adamantly opposed
and refused to return to battle. In 2004, he was convicted of
desertion and was imprisoned until early 2005.

Since his release, Mejía has actively shared his story and propagated
his ideas via peace rallies, lectures and, most recently, his memoir.
He helped to form the influential organization Iraq Veterans Against
the War and now serves as the chair of its board of directors.

According to Christopher Appy, a professor in the history department
at UMass who will be introducing Mejía this afternoon, anti-war
veterans "are crucial to public debates about foreign policy, not
because their views about Iraq should automatically be given more
credence than those of other citizens, but because their testimony is
grounded in the kind of concrete realities so often missing from
policymakers who speak in abstractions about the 'global war on terror.'"

As Mejía says in a letter written from prison, "Coming home gave me
the clarity to see the line between military duty and moral
obligation. I realized that I was part of a war that I believed was
immoral and criminal, a war of aggression, a war of imperial
domination… By putting my weapon down, I chose to reassert myself
as a human being."

While serving in Iraq in 2003, Mejía was assigned to a detention
center in which American troops systematically employed brutal
torture strategies against Iraqi detainees.

As he was the first soldier who refused to return to combat in the
Iraq war, his case raised questions about the role of contemporary
soldiers. While imprisoned, he was recognized by Amnesty
International as a "prisoner of conscience," and his case began to
receive major attention.

"An empire cannot survive without an imperial military, a military
whose members do not question the orders of their superiors, a
military whose members who choose to refuse, do so quietly to save
their skins, a military whose members would rather die and kill
against their moral judgments than question the authority of their
command," reflects Mejía in another essay written from prison.

In his book, Mejía addresses these points in further detail.
According to Appy, his book "illuminates the moral challenges of
resistance to authority, how difficult it is to take a position in
defiance of the state and the military, not only because, as in
Mejía's case, it can put you in prison, but because it makes you the
target of every imaginable condemnation, even from people whose
friendship had once helped to keep you silent."

According to a press release, the book "makes a powerful argument
about the truth of the occupation of Iraq, the need for its end, and
the nature of resistance… A new resistance needs to be built from
the ground up. To build it, we need to hear the stories the
mainstream media refuse to tell: the stories of war resisters…and
activists. Resisting Empire starts with us."

-------

Iraq vet speaks out

http://media.www.dailycollegian.com/media/storage/paper874/news/2008/11/07/News/Iraq-Vet.Speaks.Out-3531567.shtml

Former soldier discusses desertion

Matt Rocheleau, Collegian Staff
Issue date: 11/7/08

"We were killing mostly civilians," said 33-year-old Iraq veteran
Camilo Mejía during a speech at the Student Union Ballroom Wednesday
night. "We killed people caught in the crossfire, in the wrong place
at the wrong time."

After a six-month tour in Iraq, Mejía was the first U.S. soldier to
refuse deployment in October 2003, filing for conscientious objector
status and going absent without leave (AWOL). He was convicted on a
charge of desertion and served nine months in military prison.

Since his release in February 2005, Mejía has spoken out against the
occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan.

In his first visit to the University of Massachusetts, Mejía
described a story which he said became one of a collection of reasons
in developing his anti-war sentiments during his time in Iraq as a
staff-sergeant in the U.S. Army.

Mejía's lieutenant wanted to punish a young Iraqi boy, who Mejía said
looked to be around eight years old, for throwing a rock at the lieutenant.

Mejía said he remembers the lieutenant saying, "I'm going to get this
mother [expletive] and teach him a lesson."

The lieutenant wanted to put the boy in custody at the U.S. base
several miles away. A crowd of Iraqis formed as the lieutenant
grabbed the boy, Mejía said. The Iraqis and several sergeants pleaded
with the lieutenant to change his mind.

An Iraqi man, who Mejía said looked to be in his 50s or 60s, could
not convince the lieutenant with what little English he knew, so he
slapped the boy several times to show there was no need for any other
punishment.

However, the lieutenant was not convinced. As a result, the Iraqi
man, while weeping, proceeded to publicly beat the child until the
lieutenant agreed not to take the boy away, Mejía said.

At the time, Mejía said he tried to tell himself what the lieutenant
had done was permissible because the boy learned not to antagonize
U.S. soldiers, but later realized there was no justification for what
had happened.

"[Instances like this] destroy the moral fabric of a society," said
Mejía. "These are the things we, as soldiers, don't think about until
we come home. You don't have the luxury to think morally about
things. It's too intense. It's too dangerous."

When he returned home for a two-week leave, Mejía said he had time to
discover how he truly felt about the war.

"It became clear to me that I had to make a decision to follow my
idea of right versus wrong or to follow my military commands," he said.

Mejía said his decision not to return to service after his leave was
not easy and he was afraid.

"I didn't have the courage to speak out," he said. "I simply didn't
get back on the plane."

Eventually, Mejía said he felt he could not remain silent. He said
the hypocrisy of the "support the troops" motto was one reason he
began talking to the media.

Soldiers were not being adequately supplied on the battlefield or
treated properly when their service ended, Mejía said.

Meanwhile, "these billions of dollars a week were basically lining
the pockets of corporate CEOs," he said.

In March 2004, Mejía surrendered to being AWOL at the Army Air Force
base in Lexington. He was court-martialed and convicted of desertion
by a military jury who sentenced him to a year in military prison and
gave him a bad conduct discharge.

A desertion conviction during wartime can result in a death sentence,
under Article 85 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

While in prison, Mejía said he enjoyed the time he had to reflect on
his service in Iraq and plan for what he wanted to do after his release.

"Being a deserter or conscientious objector in military prison is
like being a bank robber in civilian jail," said Mejía. "The other
inmates gave me mad respect."

After the talks, Mejía signed copies of his memoir, "Road from ar
Ramadi: the Private Rebellion of Staff Sergeant Camilo," which he has
been promoting on his national "Resisting Empire" tour.

"I would find myself riding in the back of a truck through the dusty
streets of war-torn ar Ramadi," said a passage from the memoir. "I
was supposed to be giving all my attention to watching out for the
insurgents...But then I would catch sight of the children running to
the front gates of their homes to watch our vehicles rolling by and
they would remind me of the children I had seen back in Nicaragua."
Mejía lived in Nicaragua before moving to the U.S. with his family in 1991.

Zurima Cisneros, a junior sociology major at UMass, bought a copy of
Mejía's book.

"I thought it was very inspirational," she said. "It's really
significant for people to be hearing about what it means to speak
independently and conscientiously. It takes a lot of power from within."

Greenfield resident Beth Adams agreed.

"I admire his courage and conviction to walk this risky life of
non-violence," Adams said.

Mejía serves as the board chair of Iraq Veterans Against the War
(IVAW), who aim to give a voice to active duty service people and
veterans who are against the War on Terror, but feel pressured to stay silent.

The event featured introductions by IVAW member Mike VanValkenburg
and UMass history professor and author Christian Appy.

More information on Mejía's tour, sponsored nationally by Haymarket
Books, Center for Economic Research and Social Change, Iraq Veterans
Against the War, Alternet.org and Nation Books is available at
Resistingempire.org.
--

Matt Rocheleau can be reached at mrochele@student.umass.edu.

.

Winter Soldier: Domingo Rosas

Winter Soldier: Domingo Rosas

http://www.fpif.org/fpiftxt/5653

Domingo Rosas
November 6, 2008

(Editor's note: This is an excerpt from the book Winter Soldier: Iraq
and Afghanistan, Eyewitness Accounts of the Occupations, by Iraq
Veterans Against the War and Aaron Glantz. For more about the Winter
Soldier hearings, read this FPIF commentary by Glantz, an FPIF
contributor. You can also watch Rosas' testimony.)
--

We occupied a local train station in an area called al-Qaim near the
Syrian border. We called it Tiger Base. I was put in charge of the
detainee site, which consisted of a shipping container and a single
building surrounded by barbed wire. I had two soldiers to back me up
when I was handling the detainees. I was briefed by the sergeant I
relieved that the men in the shipping container were captured
combatants, and I was to deprive them of sleep. So I had them stand
inside the shipping container, face to the walls, no talking. I let
them have blankets because it was cold, but they were not allowed to
sit or lie down. When they started falling or dozing off, they put
their heads on the wall.

I was outside the shipping container and just smacked it with a
pickax handle to keep them awake. The men in the building were
noncombatant detainees being held for questioning. There were 93 men,
altogether. Using one of them to translate, I told them that they had
a clean slate with me. If they didn't give me any trouble, then the
next 24 hours would pass calmly. If they did, I told them it would be
a long 24 hours. I just prayed that they didn't give me any trouble
because I didn't know what I would have had to do. They even told me
I was a good man while I was in charge of them.

One day a body bag was dropped off to me. When the soldiers came to
retrieve it the next morning, they threw it on top of some junk in
the back of a truck, but rigor mortis had already set in and it
wouldn't fit inside the truck. So the solder started stomping on it,
I mean, really stomping it. I couldn't imagine ­ I was like, "How can
you do that?"

I also had a former Iraqi general, Major General Abed Hamed Mowhoush,
who was taken from my custody. I was told to keep him separated from
the other noncombatants and give him everything he needed: "If he
asks for anything, hook him up, take care of him, and don't harass
him." I was like, "Well, I don't need somebody to tell me to not
harass somebody."

A soldier told me later, "Hey, he died during questioning, during his
interrogation."

I thought to myself, "How tough does a question have to be to kill?"
I don't know exactly what went on during his interrogation, but he
was fine when I had him.

Days after he was taken from my custody, I had his 14-year-old son,
who was a very bright child and spoke four languages. He was supposed
to be taken to his father. I was told that would get him to talk a
little more. Instead, the boy was being taken to identify his
father's body. Now, I'm not sure, but if that child was pro-American
or one of our friends and allies, I'm pretty sure he is not an ally
of ours anymore.

Sometime later the detainee site was taken over and rebuilt by men
called OGAs, which stood for Other Governmental Agency. That's a
pretty vague term. They built high walls around the detainee center.
I figured, "Well, yeah, they're terrorists. You don't want them
seeing out. You want to contain them, deny them any information that
they could use to escape."

Later on I realized it was also so we couldn't see in. One night I
was told to bring a message down to the detainee site. I knocked on
the door, and when they opened it, I witnessed one detainee being
kicked around on the ground in the mud, rolled over again and again.
The agent was just kicking him with his foot, rolling him over in the
mud, pouring water on his face, the whole waterboarding thing.
Another detainee was standing there with a bag over his head and was
forced to carry a huge rock until he just physically couldn't do it
anymore and just collapsed. That image seared itself into my mind's
eye, and I can't forget it.

I won't forget it. (Rosas cried after he said this.)

As I wrap this up, I just want to say two things. The longer we live
as a human race, we're supposed to be getting smarter and wiser and
better. To the vets that we're trying to bring home alive, decades
from now, when you've got your grandchild sitting on your knee,
bouncing in front of you, just try to remember what we did here
today, under the flag, IVAW.
--

Domingo Rosas, a former U.S. Army sergeant, served as a member of the
Third Armored Cavalry Regiment in Iraq's Anbar province from April
2003 until April 2004. A member of Iraq Veterans Against the War
(IVAW), he testified about his deployment during the Winter Soldier
hearings outside Washington, DC in March 2008.

.

Refuse Reactivation

Refuse Reactivation

http://www.zmag.org/znet/viewArticle/19353

November 05, 2008
By Benjamin Lewis

Marine Benjamin "Benji" Lewis served two tours in Iraq and was
honorably discharged in 2007. Recently, he received notification that
he was a candidate to be recalled to active duty. Last week at a
Winter Soldier event in Portland, Oregon, Lewis publicly announced
his intention to refuse reactivation from the Inactive Ready Reserve (IRR).
--

An imperative exists within United States Marine Corps dogma that
states it is necessary to win the 'hearts and minds' of the
indigenous population. Though seemingly amicable, the rationale for
this statement translates into control through direct influence. For
the Corps, this is parallel rhetoric: to accomplish this goal it is
first necessary to control the minds of the Marines that are chosen
to execute this task, an indoctrination that goes to the very roots
of American society.

This information isn't taught in public schools and isn't attacked by
mainstream media, or even usually discussed around the dinner table,
which is perhaps why I found myself in March 2003, at the age of
seventeen, in a large auditorium studying Marine Corps history at the
Marine Corps Recruiting Depot in San Diego, CA. At this time I knew
very little about the war in Iraq, except that someday after my
training I may be 'fortunate' enough to serve my country in a war zone.

After all, that is what Marines were born to do. Boot Camp is full of
this unwavering devotion to Flag, God, and Corps. Often we would
start boot camp classes by watching footage of Iraqi buildings and
people being destroyed to the tune of Drowning Pool's 'Let the Bodies
hit the Floor.'

Immediately after the longest basic training of all the military
branches, where drill instructors broke me down in order to build me
back up, the Marine Corps way, I found myself in Camp Pendleton, CA,
at the School of Infantry (SOI). Here sleep was rare, though at least
we weren't ordered to put all our tent stakes into the squad bay's
running laundry dryers and sleep at attention on top of our blankets.
Order was still strictly enforced. Inspections of all our personal
belongings were common, and reprimands were more severe under the
citation that our disobedience would not get us killed in Iraq, but
by the persons to our right and to our left.

By now, unwavering obedience to the orders of our superiors, for fear
of retribution, was by far commonplace. And weekends off, our only
salvation, was just the first of many things jeopardized as a
consequence of insubordination.

After hearing that we would probably all go to Hawaii I found myself
with orders to report to 3rd Battalion 4th Infantry, 29 Palms, CA, as
a mortar man. I had no idea what 29 Palms was, but ¾ had a reputation
of being one of the best and most active battalions, translating into
less time off and more time over seas. Bummer.

Still, either exhausted, punished for god knows what, completing one
menial task or another, or enjoying a comforting bottle of bourbon, I
had never given much thought to Iraq. Now, six months into the Marine
Corps' system of indoctrination, all I knew of Iraq was that Saddam
was evil and participated in the 9/11 attacks, the U.S. was righteous
and bringing peace to the world, and that the enemy was killing my
Marine Corps brothers who needed to be avenged. All lies.

Upon arriving at 29 Palms, I had already developed a significant
dislike for the Corps, which I thought encouraged stupidity and blind
obedience on all levels to accomplish tasks which were trivial at
best. Over the next three and a half years these sentiments would do
nothing but become reinforced.

Our first steps off of the bus were greeted by a corpsman who let us
know that any adverse reaction to the extreme desert climate should
quickly dissipate. It was a desert so akin to Iraq that in the near
future I would cease to delineate the two as separate and simply
consider one an extension of the other.

Reporting to a new unit as a 'boot' is not an experience anticipated
by a new guy. Still, it was better than the constant pressures
applied to us in boot camp and SOI. My 'generation' of eight or so
proved to be significantly above average in our respective military
skill sets, if not in military regulation, to keep us from most of
the heartache. Time dragged, but soon enough we were told that we
would be deploying to Okinawa, Japan and not to Iraq. Typical of
military procedure, most likely due to our battalion or base command,
the order was fought, and we received orders to Iraq while overseas already.

I was sent home with a few other marines, all of whom significantly
outranked me, to attended language training, thanks to my perfect
score on the ASVAB. Two months later I continued my training in the
Haditha Dam completely voluntarily, my resolve being that if I was
going to help anybody in anyway this was to be my tool. It was with
these translators that I began to take an interest in Iraqi culture
and customs. Being someone prone to read and write, I was
particularly impressed with their language. But, my education was
soon cut short.

After a short time operating as a provisional rifle squad in Haditha,
where we accomplished nothing but getting hit by an IED on our first
patrol injuring a couple marines and reservists, we received orders
to break out our mortars and head to Falluja in retaliation for the
hanging of four U.S. contractors. This was it, we were mortar men and
this was going to be what we were trained for!

Few were excited, save for some officers and higher-ranking enlisted.
Most looked at this as just another way we were getting screwed over
by the "green weenie" as we affectionately referred to our beloved corps.

What we were not told was that the four U.S. contractors were hung in
retaliation for an assassination of a quadriplegic Cleric named Ahmed
Yassin by Israel utilizing an American attack helicopter in the Gaza
Strip. The Marine Corps does not find this information pertinent to
disseminate to us lowly grunts. This attack was sadly just a prelude
to the bloody future of Falluja. In which I would be back in the next
year following the aftermath of the attacks against the city in
November by the Marine Corps which were in stark violation of the
Geneva Convention's laws of war.

The rest of my time overseas was just like that. Go here, go there,
no sleep, mail's late. Between training and deployments we never
really thought about Iraq, we simply did. If a reporter was around we
were giving a quasi-skeleton script to blurt out. Something along the
lines of: I love the Corps, we are freeing Iraqis and they are glad
we're here, God bless America. It made it easier to be told what to
think, that way we could concentrate on not thinking about it.

It wasn't until after my second deployment (in barely missing the cut
off for a third) that I started thinking about my time in the
service. I transferred out of my platoon to a unit called Mojave
Viper were I became an instructor of Urban Combat. In my crude
reflections at that time it did dawn on me that one, marines are
dumb, including myself, and two, far too many Iraqis die because of
this. Being a naturally gifted instructor I was given a pick of the
classes I wanted to teach. I stuck with what I was teaching, Vehicle
Check Points and Escalation of Force. Still vainly thinking that I
could help some Iraqis out in this manner.

After leaving the service entirely I finally realized that know
matter what I did in the Marine Corps, just by affiliation, I caused
harm and mayhem to thousands of people around the world. The Marine
Corps is merely a small cog in a very big political/military system
that uses words not common to popular vernacular, words like
geostrategic positioning and acceptable losses.

Many people join the military for some noble gesture of another. I
joined because I wanted to help people. At the time I didn't
understand that the sole function of the military is the utter
destruction of the individual. Furthermore, the fact that one is more
likely to be punished than rewarded is a thick woolen blanket of
oppression that stifles all humanitarianism, all creativity, and all
individual thought. Because of the way individuals are chastised in
the military it makes it all but impossible to stand against the stream.

That is the monster of the projected framework. No matter how hard
you try to make a difference within it, it can only be changed from
operating outside the constraints of the framework. This is evident
with the amount of former military that find themselves in activism
work within months of their discharges. Many find that at this
juncture the sheep's wool is merely voluntary.

We are misled into thinking that the military was formed on noble
intent. Indeed, the infrastructure of the military is inherently
corrupted by the politics it works for. Like a rusty bucket full of
holes an inherently corrupt system still leaks, regardless of
patchwork. The foundations must be swept away and laid anew.

.

Canada stays deportation of Army deserter

Canada stays deportation of Army deserter

http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/10/cp_warresister_102808/

The Canadian Press
Posted : Thursday Oct 30, 2008

TORONTO ­ The Federal Court of Canada has stayed the deportation of
U.S. war resister Matt Lowell, according to a war resisters support
group. Lowell's deportation had been scheduled for Tuesday.

The group says the stay will give the court time to consider whether
Lowell's appeal of his negative pre-removal risk assessment will be heard.

Lowell fled to Ontario in 2005 and could face seven years in prison
on charges of desertion.

He works in computer technology support and has lived with friends in
London, Ontario.

His stay follows similar delays granted to war resisters Corey Glass
and Jeremy Hinzman.

"We are delighted that the Federal Court has again granted a stay of
deportation for a war resister," said Lee Zaslofsky, coordinator of
the War Resisters Support Campaign. "Hopefully, the Court will now
hear Matt's appeal."

Lowell enlisted in the U.S. Army in 2002. He said what changed his
mind was a letter from a friend who joined the military at the same
time he did and went to Iraq.

The friend reported having to shoot a child because the child had
picked up a gun.

.

Iraq Veterans and Journalist Speak at Kennesaw State

Iraq Veterans and Journalist Speak at Kennesaw State

http://www.atlantaprogressivenews.com/news/0394.html

By Gloria Tatum, Special to The Atlanta Progressive News
(October 31, 2008)

On Saturday, October 24, 2008, Kennesaw State University hosted Iraq
Veterans Against the War as well as Dahr Jamail, a North American
Correspondent for Inter-Press Service and author of the book, Beyond
the Green Zone.

The panel of Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) members included
Chris Raissi, Zach Choate, Jason Hurd, Maggie Martin and Phil Aliff.

In Jamail's book, he reported collateral damage far beyond what the
military or embedded journalists acknowledge.

Approximate 6 million Iraqis have been displaced and l.2 million
killed since the U.S. occupation began in March 2003, Jamail said.

Many people still do not have access to clean water or electricity,
and unemployment is high.

Iraqi companies can better restore their infrastructure and cheaper
than US corporations, and the majority of Iraqis want the US to leave
their county, Jamail said.

The invasion and occupation of Iraq is more about US corporate
profits than fighting terrorism or bringing democracy to Iraq, Jamail said.

Dick Cheney was CEO of Halliburton from 1995 until 2000 and only
resigned his position to become Vice President of the United States.

Kellogg, Brown and Root, a subsidiary of Cheney's old company,
Halliburton, overcharged Iraq for gasoline they imported from Kuwait
at $2.65 per gallon. Iraq companies could have done the job for under
$1.00 per gallon, Jamail said.

Jamail has watched Halliburton, KBR, Blackwater, Bechtel and many
other defense contractors rake in huge profits from the U.S.
occupation of Iraq.

The Bush Administration has misused the military and blurred the
lines between the military and corporations operating in Iraq in
their quest for global empire, Jamail said.

Central America "death squad" operatives John Negoponte and Col.
James Steele were back in the "death squad" business again, this time
operating in Iraq, Jamail said.

These death squads have helped to ethnic cleanse many Sunnis from the
Baghdad area, Jamail said. The ethnic cleansing is being supported by
our tax dollars.

Chris Raissi was US Marine from 2002 until May 2008. Raissi joined
the Marines because he was very patriotic and believed in the Iraq
War, he said.

He continued to be a true believer until the reality of war turned
him around and he began to question the government and the military, he said.

He started reading and learned the US invaded and occupied Iraq based
on fraudulent claims regarding weapons of mass destruction and
alleged ties between Iraq and terrorists.

As a recruiter in Macon, Georgia, he witnessed recruiters lying and
manipulating young people into joining the service, he said.

Recruiters told kids they probably would not go to Iraq when they
knew everyone was going to Iraq. Chris now believes our young people
should not sacrifice their lives for empire building and corporate profit.

Zach Choate had one tour in Iraq and this was his first time to speak
out against the invasion in public.

Most soldiers are afraid to speak out about what they see and do in
Iraq, Choate said. The military guilt trips the soldiers to stay in
Iraq, he said.

"Our missions in Iraq were not planned out and we usually received
bad intelligence," he said, adding the soldiers who come home with
Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome (PTSD) are medicated and some overdose
on the medication.

Jason Hurd had 10 years of service in both the U.S. Army and
Tennessee Army National Guard. From November 2004 to November 2005,
Jason served in central Baghdad as a medic.

Hurd did not believe in the war but thought maybe they could do some
good for the Iraqis.

He witnessed his unit do morally wrong actions against the Iraqis, he
said. As the occupation dragged on, some soldiers took out their
stress and frustration on innocent Iraqi people.

They acted like cowboys in the wild west, Hurd said. He wants the US
public to hold the politicians accountable for the crimes and
atrocities committed against the Iraqi people.

Maggie Martin, a former Sargent, served in the Army from 2001 to 2006.

She was stopped lossed and had 3 deployments to Iraq in 5 years. She
said the Iraqis were treated like animals. "Who benefits from the
war? Not the soldiers and not the Iraqi people," she said.

Phil Aliff served in Iraq August 2005 to July 2006 Aliff helped start
the first active duty chapter of IVAW and he is a member of the IVAW
Board ff Directors.

Aliff wants our representatives to bring all the troops home now,
health care for all veterans, and reparations for the Iraqi people.
--

About the author:

Gloria Tatum is a special contributor to The Atlanta Progressive News
and is a publicist for the Georgia Peace and Justice Coalition,
Atlanta. She is reachable is glt33@comcast.net

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