End the war in Iraq

Wednesday evening in his State of the Union address, President Obama pledged to have our combat troops home by the end of August. I am really looking forward to marking this goal as done.

In the wake of last week’s violence, please come out to share and support the Fort Hood IVAW Chapter on Veterans Day, or consider sending letters of support to Fort Hood. Here are some of the details about this week’s events:

FORT HOOD LIVING MEMORIAL
Veterans Day Veterans Speak & Silent Processional
At Under the Hood Cafe: 17 S. College St. Killeen, TX 76541

Veterans Day, November 11, 2009
GI and Veteran Writing Workshop 4 – 7PM
Open mic and Memorial 8 – 9PM
A silent Processional (Candle light vigil)

November 12, 2009
Extended writing workshop for veterans 4 – 8PM

The Warrior Writers Project is going to Fort Hood to heal, to listen, to build, to support. To stand by, to depend upon. To be there.

Warrior Writers and Iraq Veterans Against the War knows too well the violence and pain of surviving times like these. Our intentions are deep and our hope is growing. While the world around us spins around in violence, in greed, in destruction, – we build. we create. we grow. please join us. Please send letters of support to IVAW Fort Hood.

Warrior Writers
c/o Under the Hood
17 S. College St.
Killeen, TX 76540

The Warrior Writers Project brings together recent veterans and current service members to be in creative community and utilize art-making processes to express themselves. There is a deep necessity for veterans to create when so much has been shattered and stolen. A profound sense of hope comes from the ability to rebuild and transform. Our workshops and events utilize (but are not limited to) writing, drawing, photography, papermaking and music. We also compile artwork into books, performances and exhibits so civilians can begin to better understand veterans’ experiences.

www.warriorwriters.org

www.underthehoodcafe.org

www.ivaw.org

This Is Where We Take Our Stand is a web documentary about the IVAW Winter Soldier Project, where soldiers came to DC to share their experiences in war. Some courageous men and women were speaking out for the first time. Their testimony is very moving, very powerful. The raw footage is available at the IVAW website above.

I am extremely grateful to have been able to contribute to this project. I wrote a little about it back when we were organizing in spring ‘08. Since I got to be an organizer working with the national level, at pretty intense meetings… you can play seven exciting minutes of “I Spy Wembleyheads” in Episode Three: Why We Fight:

Flashback to January, three months before Winter Soldier. How do you bring hundreds of veterans to Washington DC, to tell their stories? An IVAW national planning meeting reveals sharp differences among the members. Is the point of Winter Soldier to show how these wars are hurting America, or the destruction America is bringing to the people of Iraq and Afghanistan? Is the goal to strengthen the military, or weaken it? Despite the differences, a deep unity is built because, as Geoff Millard declares, the bottom line is “No one can hear our stories and still support this shit.”

Well, while I a may be a moviestar now ::bats eyelashes:: I am actually hoping that you get intrigued and completely hooked and watch the first two episodes, and stay tuned for future episodes… and eventually feature length film… :D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6N_tnsvmeAo&feature=related

Maliki Calls for Timetable for US Troop Withdrawal

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has for the first time publicly called for a timetable for the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq. The Bush administration has been secretly negotiating a long-term agreement with Iraq that would allow the US to keep permanent military bases in Iraq. But al-Maliki said Iraq only wants to sign a short-term agreement that includes a withdrawal timetable. Al-Maliki said, “The goal is to end the presence of foreign troops.” In Washington, the Bush administration rebuffed Maliki’s request. Pentagon spokesperson Bryan Whitman criticized timelines as “artificial.” State Department spokesperson Sean McCormack questioned whether Maliki might have been misquoted.

Obama’s Comments on Iraq Scrutinized

Senator Barack Obama has suggested he is willing to refine his campaign promise to remove all combat troops within sixteen months of becoming president. On Thursday morning, Senator Obama discussed his views on Iraq in Fargo, North Dakota.

Sen. Barack Obama: When I go to Iraq and I have a chance to talk to some of the commanders on the ground, I’m sure I’ll have more information and will continue to refine my policies.

Hours later, Obama held an impromptu press conference to insist that his statement did not reflect a change in policy.

Sen. Barack Obama: That position has not changed. I have not equivocated on that position. I am not searching for maneuvering room with respect to that position.

Bottom line: now is not the time for complacency!

That is how much the occupation is costing.
Could you spend that money better?

The New York Times has revealed new details on how the Pentagon recruited more than seventy-five retired military officers to appear on TV outlets as so-called military analysts ahead of the Iraq war to portray Iraq as an urgent threat. The Times reports the Pentagon continues to use the analysts in a propaganda campaign to generate favorable news coverage of the administration’s wartime performance. Internal Pentagon documents repeatedly refer to the military analysts as “message force multipliers” or “surrogates” who could be counted on to deliver administration themes and messages to millions of Americans in the form of their own opinions. Reporter David Barstow called the program “a symbiotic relationship where the usual dividing lines between government and journalism have been obliterated.” The so-called analysts were given classified Pentagon briefings, provided with Pentagon-approved talking points and given free trips to Iraq and other sites paid for by the Pentagon. The propaganda campaign also extended into the nation’s newspapers. Nine of the Pentagon-connected analysts wrote op-ed articles for the New York Times, and the Pentagon helped two retired military officers write a piece for the Wall Street Journal. Many of the same retired military officers also have ties to military contractors vested in the very war policies they were asked to assess on air.

http://www.democracynow.org/2008/4/21/headlines#3

The war is still with us. There has been no victory. There has only been death. Yet some voices are now urging us beyond Iraq… to Iran. It’s shameful. It’s deplorable. It has to end.

So tomorrow, I’ll once again join my pro-peace friends and raise a protest sign to call for an end to the madness. And this time, we are taking the the rally to very heart of our local economy. Watch for us on the Las Vegas Strip at 1pm tomorrow, March 22 (or perhaps on your six o’clock news, if there’s trouble – which we’ll be doing our best to avoid).

We hear about the war. We hear from tv, from politicians, from generals. Do we ever hear from the soldiers who were actually on the ground? Do we hear from the people who live there? Who better to talk about what is really happening?

From Thursday through Sunday, soldiers and veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan are gathering in Washington DC to tell their side of the story.

The name Winter Soldier draws upon a Thomas Paine quote:
“These are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.”

In this crisis, these men and women are anything but shrinking. They believe it is their duty to speak out and witness. It is our duty to listen.

To support the troops:

Do them the service of listening to what they have to say. You can watch streaming video online, listen to KPFA (Pacifica radio), or see it on Dish Network channel 9415. Details here.

Check out the preview video.

You could support in other ways by getting the word out to other veterans, organizing in your own community, and more.

I’m really fortunate to be working at this event.
Please make the time to tune in for a moment.

Peace,
wembles