Anti-War
Malachi Ritschler burned himself alive earlier this month to protest the war in Iraq, here are some links and more articles that are deciphering this act of a martyr for peace.
Either way you look at it we have to get this story out there, the mainstream press wants this to just look like the act of a mentally ill person and not a political act.
Even though it is sad and a loss for the anti-war and artist community that he chose to give up his life for the cause of peace, it appeared that he thought this out and knew what his actions meant in much the same way that Buddist monks did this during the Viet Nam war. His mission statement can be read at:
http://cleveland.indymedia.org/news/2006/11/23624.php
Another World Is Possible
Either way you look at it we have to get this story out there, the mainstream press wants this to just look like the act of a mentally ill person and not a political act.
Even though it is sad and a loss for the anti-war and artist community that he chose to give up his life for the cause of peace, it appeared that he thought this out and knew what his actions meant in much the same way that Buddist monks did this during the Viet Nam war. His mission statement can be read at:
http://cleveland.indymedia.org/news/2006/11/23624.php
Another World Is Possible
“The illegal we do immediately. The unconstitutional takes a little longer.”
---Henry Kissinger, New York Times, October 28, 1973
Baghdad’s kangaroo court has issued a verdict that virtually guarantees that Saddam Hussein will launch his journey into the hereafter from the platform of a gallows. Convicted of “revenge killings of 148 people, deportation of 400, and razing of orchards,” (1), and still facing a charge of genocide that resulted in the deaths of 180,000 Kurds, Hussein is undoubtedly a malevolent individual.
Yet to ensure public furor against Hussein (and to distract the hoi polloi from focusing upon those guilty of similar crimes), the corporate media have conveniently jettisoned several important aspects of history down the Memory Hole:
1. Hussein committed his crimes with the tacit approval and complicity of the United States government because he was waging a war against their enemy, Iran.
2. Numerous members of our own power elite (Democrat and Republican alike) share responsibility for an ongoing United States genocide against the Iraqi people that began with the Gulf War (2).
---Henry Kissinger, New York Times, October 28, 1973
Baghdad’s kangaroo court has issued a verdict that virtually guarantees that Saddam Hussein will launch his journey into the hereafter from the platform of a gallows. Convicted of “revenge killings of 148 people, deportation of 400, and razing of orchards,” (1), and still facing a charge of genocide that resulted in the deaths of 180,000 Kurds, Hussein is undoubtedly a malevolent individual.
Yet to ensure public furor against Hussein (and to distract the hoi polloi from focusing upon those guilty of similar crimes), the corporate media have conveniently jettisoned several important aspects of history down the Memory Hole:
1. Hussein committed his crimes with the tacit approval and complicity of the United States government because he was waging a war against their enemy, Iran.
2. Numerous members of our own power elite (Democrat and Republican alike) share responsibility for an ongoing United States genocide against the Iraqi people that began with the Gulf War (2).
"A time comes when silence is betrayal".
-Martin Luther King Jr., April 4, 1967
It all begins somewhere, the questioning, the doubting, the feeling that something’s not right; like that day the captain set fire to the Vietnamese woman’s hooch, or the night we shot those women and children by mistake. It’s all got to start somewhere. For them it might have been the innocent civilians killed that day at the checkpoint just north of Baghdad or the dead children lying in the road in Kirkuk, or that night in Nasiriyah when they kicked in the front door of that house, screaming and cursing at the children as they threw their father to the floor, tying his hands behind his back and putting a hood over his head, but you remain silent, you say nothing. You’ve been taught to follow orders, to obey and not question, to go along with the program and do exactly what you’re told. You learned that in boot camp.
Like many Americans who served in Vietnam and those now serving in Iraq, and countless other human beings throughout history, I had been willing to give my life for my country with little knowledge or awareness of what that really meant.
-Martin Luther King Jr., April 4, 1967
It all begins somewhere, the questioning, the doubting, the feeling that something’s not right; like that day the captain set fire to the Vietnamese woman’s hooch, or the night we shot those women and children by mistake. It’s all got to start somewhere. For them it might have been the innocent civilians killed that day at the checkpoint just north of Baghdad or the dead children lying in the road in Kirkuk, or that night in Nasiriyah when they kicked in the front door of that house, screaming and cursing at the children as they threw their father to the floor, tying his hands behind his back and putting a hood over his head, but you remain silent, you say nothing. You’ve been taught to follow orders, to obey and not question, to go along with the program and do exactly what you’re told. You learned that in boot camp.
Like many Americans who served in Vietnam and those now serving in Iraq, and countless other human beings throughout history, I had been willing to give my life for my country with little knowledge or awareness of what that really meant.
Reporting from the Veterans For Peace convention in Seattle last weekend, Dahr Jamail reprints a speech by Lt. Ehren Watada, the first commissioned U.S. Army officer to publicly refuse orders to Iraq, stating on June 22, “As the order to take part in an illegal act is ultimately unlawful as well, I must refuse that order.”
In his speech to the VFP members, Watada lays down the most critical challenge to the antiwar movement yet: will we show soldiers that if they quit fighting this insane, criminal war and go to jail that we will provide for their families as long as necessary?
Watada’s challenge should be placed on the agenda of every peace group in the land – from national coalitions to grassroots groups in every city and village. Adopt a soldier's family, plan how to do it, and announce that decision publicly to create growing list of those ready to cease business as usual and end this war.
In his speech to the VFP members, Watada lays down the most critical challenge to the antiwar movement yet: will we show soldiers that if they quit fighting this insane, criminal war and go to jail that we will provide for their families as long as necessary?
Watada’s challenge should be placed on the agenda of every peace group in the land – from national coalitions to grassroots groups in every city and village. Adopt a soldier's family, plan how to do it, and announce that decision publicly to create growing list of those ready to cease business as usual and end this war.
"This war in Iraq has been the best thing in the world for Big Oil and OPEC. They've made the largest profits in the history of the world. The interesting thing about your book is you show how it was all planned from the beginning. The story is like a spy thriller." -- Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Listen to RFK and Greg Palast on Iraq, a 20-minute conversation about blood and oil, the podcast of 'Ring of Fire' from Air America.
The following is part of the story referenced in their discussion:
THE JERK: WHY SADDAM HAD TO GO
by Greg Palast
Excerpt from 'Armed Madhouse'
The 323-page multi-volume "Options for Iraqi Oil" begins with the expected dungeons-and-dragons warning:
The report is submitted on the understanding that [the State Department] will maintain the contents confidential.
For two years, the State Department (and Defense and the White House) denied there were secret plans for Iraq's oil. They told us so in writing. That was the first indication the plan existed. Proving that, and getting a copy, became the near-to-pathologic obsession of our team.
Listen to RFK and Greg Palast on Iraq, a 20-minute conversation about blood and oil, the podcast of 'Ring of Fire' from Air America.
The following is part of the story referenced in their discussion:
THE JERK: WHY SADDAM HAD TO GO
by Greg Palast
Excerpt from 'Armed Madhouse'
The 323-page multi-volume "Options for Iraqi Oil" begins with the expected dungeons-and-dragons warning:
The report is submitted on the understanding that [the State Department] will maintain the contents confidential.
For two years, the State Department (and Defense and the White House) denied there were secret plans for Iraq's oil. They told us so in writing. That was the first indication the plan existed. Proving that, and getting a copy, became the near-to-pathologic obsession of our team.
Last week the Government Accountability Office (GAO), the investigative unit of Congress, released a report indicating that the Pentagon has been calling up reserve soldiers who are ill or medically unfit to serve. The reservists are serving primarily in Iraq and Afghanistan. Although the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness is responsible for managing medical and physical fitness policy and procedures, the report determined that this office has no way to determine if reserve soldiers are fit to serve or have pre-existing medical conditions prior to deployment.
Consequently, the GAO found that the Pentagon couldn’t confirm to the Secretary of Defense or Congress that reserve forces are medically and physically fit when they are called to active duty. Yet under federal law reserve forces are required to have a medical exam every five years and an annual review of their medical status.
Consequently, the GAO found that the Pentagon couldn’t confirm to the Secretary of Defense or Congress that reserve forces are medically and physically fit when they are called to active duty. Yet under federal law reserve forces are required to have a medical exam every five years and an annual review of their medical status.
NOTICE!!! Wounded Veterans and family members of Veterans who were killed as a result of injuries sustained in the Iraq War –
1. If you disagree with the Iraq War, and
2. If you believe that the Iraq War was illegal, and
3. If you believe that you or a beloved family member was placed in harms way without legal or just cause and
4. This deployment was the actual cause of your loved one’s death or of your injuries as a survivor,
JOIN CLASS ACTION SIGN UP
CASU Is registering injured Veterans and Family members of deceased Veterans for a Class Action Lawsuit against the President, Vice President and other members of their Administration for the Wrongful Death, Injuries, and Deprivation of Civil Rights related to the deaths and injuries of the deceased or injured Veterans.
To sign up as a Class Member, email: classaction99@nowaybush.info or visit www.nowaybush.info and click on link for “Class Action Sign-Up”
1. If you disagree with the Iraq War, and
2. If you believe that the Iraq War was illegal, and
3. If you believe that you or a beloved family member was placed in harms way without legal or just cause and
4. This deployment was the actual cause of your loved one’s death or of your injuries as a survivor,
JOIN CLASS ACTION SIGN UP
CASU Is registering injured Veterans and Family members of deceased Veterans for a Class Action Lawsuit against the President, Vice President and other members of their Administration for the Wrongful Death, Injuries, and Deprivation of Civil Rights related to the deaths and injuries of the deceased or injured Veterans.
To sign up as a Class Member, email: classaction99@nowaybush.info or visit www.nowaybush.info and click on link for “Class Action Sign-Up”
First commissioned officer to refuse deployment to unlawful Iraq war officially charged by U.S. Army
Ft. Lewis, WA-Today, July 5, 2006, First Lieutenant Ehren K. Watada
was formally charged with three articles of the Uniform Code of
Military Justice: missing movement (Article 87), contempt towards
officials (Article 88), and conduct unbecoming an officer and a
gentleman (Article 133). If convicted of all charges by a general
court-martial, Lt. Watada could be sentenced to four years in a
military prison.
Lt. Watada's lawyer, Eric Seitz, said this morning: "We expected the missing movement charge, but we are somewhat astounded by the contempt and conduct unbecoming charges. These additional charges open up the substance of Lt. Watada's statements for review and raise important First Amendment issues. We are delighted that the Army has given us the opportunity to litigate these questions." Most previous prosecutions of Article 88 took place during the Civil War and World War I, and the last known prosecution was in 1965 (Howe vs. U.S.). Lt. Howe was protesting the Vietnam War.
Lt. Watada's lawyer, Eric Seitz, said this morning: "We expected the missing movement charge, but we are somewhat astounded by the contempt and conduct unbecoming charges. These additional charges open up the substance of Lt. Watada's statements for review and raise important First Amendment issues. We are delighted that the Army has given us the opportunity to litigate these questions." Most previous prosecutions of Article 88 took place during the Civil War and World War I, and the last known prosecution was in 1965 (Howe vs. U.S.). Lt. Howe was protesting the Vietnam War.
Dotty Lynch's May 30th editorial on the CBS News web site asks the plaintive question, “Where are all the young people?” who should be protesting this ugly war. The question ought to be, “Where was Dotty Lynch and the rest of corporate-controlled media in 2003?”
Her column ends with the statement that people at CBS News were touched personally when 2 correspondents were killed Monday. The rest of us are sad too, but explain to us why the deaths of 2 correspondents are center headline news when tens of thousands have died before them. Did “we” not care until somebody “we knew” got killed?
Let's take a trip back to when Dotty might have done something about this war other than wish those lazy college students would stir themselves to action. Just check the CBS News archives if you think I'm being unfair.
Her column ends with the statement that people at CBS News were touched personally when 2 correspondents were killed Monday. The rest of us are sad too, but explain to us why the deaths of 2 correspondents are center headline news when tens of thousands have died before them. Did “we” not care until somebody “we knew” got killed?
Let's take a trip back to when Dotty might have done something about this war other than wish those lazy college students would stir themselves to action. Just check the CBS News archives if you think I'm being unfair.
Iraq. For those of us steeped in fighting our government's occupation of Iraq, the list of descriptors for the war roll off our tongue in our debates on subways and in supermarket lines: illegal, immoral, unjust, unnecessary... Visual representations of the horrors in Iraq flash through our minds daily, fill up our email in-boxes: civilians being tortured, parents holding dead or dying babies, children with missing limbs, battered faces, screaming in pain. We see soldiers and Marines kicking down doors, parents cowering over their children in feeble attempts to shield them. We see men shackled, in hoods, dressed in orange if dressed at all, attack dogs lunging at them.
And then we hear of the activism of ordinary people nationwide, who are demanding that the billions -- no, the trillions -- of dollars being poured into the coffers of Halliburton, Raytheon, Northrup Grumman, and the like be instead invested into maintaining a healthy society here: into our crumbling schools, our failing health care system, pension plans for our elders, and job training for our youth.
And then we hear of the activism of ordinary people nationwide, who are demanding that the billions -- no, the trillions -- of dollars being poured into the coffers of Halliburton, Raytheon, Northrup Grumman, and the like be instead invested into maintaining a healthy society here: into our crumbling schools, our failing health care system, pension plans for our elders, and job training for our youth.