"Winter Soldier: Iraq Afghanistan" March 13 - 16 / DC, E-mail from a friend Options

[painter]

The below is from a Vietnam War Vet friend of mine:

Hello,

There's an historic gathering in Washington D.C. March 13 to 16th and I wanted you to know about it. It's Winter Soldier Iraq Afghanistan and will have veterans from these ongoing wars reporting on what they've experienced. No matter where you stand on our foreign policy I think it's important to hear our returning veterans. I have a vested interest because I too have testified about war after I returned from Vietnam. I have been asked to be a member of the security team and will be flying to Washington on March 12.

Please help get these PSA's, below, on the air and forward/use this information freely

Winter Soldier Iraq and Afghanistan My Perspective

There will be an historic gathering at the National Labor College near Washington D.C. March 13 to 16th, “Winter Soldier Iraq and Afghanistan”. Veterans from these ongoing wars will report on what they've experienced. It is anticipated to be the largest gathering of Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) to date. No matter where you stand on American foreign policy I think it's important to hear what these returning veterans have to say.

I have a vested interest because I too have testified about another war. Long ago, I was inducted into the US Army. We were at War. We were at War with a tiny country no one in my neighborhood would have regarded as significant. That is, until we became the pawns of war. We were part of those lower classes that carried the burden – first as soldiers – then amputees, KIA’s, MIA’s and all the others that would forever be changed by the culture of war. The privililedged classes always had deferments or other ways to dodge the bullet.

I knew freedom wasn’t free. I knew my country had saved the world in the big one, WWII. I was willing to do my duty for God and my country. As long as I was going, I decided to join an elite unit so I could better save the world. I became a paratrooper and served with the 173rd Airborne Brigade in Vietnam during 1968/1969. It was the Tet Offensive.

Ironically, there are treaties like the Geneva Convention that would attempt to make the most barbaric of human endeavors more civilized. As I look back, I realize there was something very basic missing from my training. I don’t recall ever really being told about war crimes - what they were; what I could and could not do. I remember the mantra of kill, kill, kill and, of course, “All’s fair in love and war”. It’s the pawns that end up being charged with misconduct. Now, we are at a point in history where our leaders, all the way to the top - the Attorney General of the United States, can’t even decide whether a reprehensible practice like water boarding is torture. How can we expect our soldiers to know when they’ve crossed a line?

In the 1971 Winter Soldier Investigation, Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW) gathered in a Detroit hotel room to tell the stories that weren’t being told by the administration and the press. They were often ostracized and sometimes called traitors because the truth often hurts. I am a Minnesota contact for VVAW and have been asked to be a member of the security team in Washington D.C. We plan to give our brothers and sisters all the support humanly possible to ease the burden of telling their truth. These will be stories from the front; not the front office. Stories from those who’ve been; not those who’ve sent them. And finally, it will be stories from our sisters and brothers and fathers and mothers; not the optimists, political hacks, war profiteers, summer soldiers and sunshine patriots.

Veterans participating and attending the upcoming WSI will undoubtedly receive backlash similar to VVAW members in 1971. Since IVAW's inception, it has been a concern of VVAW to provide support. VVAW understands the needs of veterans and veterans speaking out against war. VVAW will participate and provide support IVAW deems necessary for this event including: financial, logistical and emotional. If you are interested in supporting these efforts or for more information go to http://www.vvaw.org or http://www.ivaw.org

PSA's...PSA's...PSA's...PSA's

WMBR radio host Linda Pinkow in Boston, and WS Media Team member Suren Moodliar, graciously donated their time to put together three radio public service announcements for Winter Soldier.

They are now ready to be downloaded and played by stations across the country! Please forward the links to stations, and call and ask for them to be played in the next two weeks. You can grab them off the IVAW website at: http://www.ivaw.org/wintersoldier/resources

The first two PSAs are read by IVAW Boston chapter members, Carlos Harris and Ian LaVallee. Ryan Harvey and SON of Nun were cool enough to lend songs too. Carlos and Ian's PSAs feature the songs "Tear This Place Apart" and "Long War" by Ryan.

The third PSA features "My City" by SON. We thought it was important to have a woman reading as well, but were unable to coordinate an IVAW member to get to the studios in time, so the third PSA was read by Susie Husted.

Each PSA is about 1 minute long.

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Here is the "Winter Soldier: Iraq Afghanistan" Schedule.

Go to http://www.ivaw.org and click on how to watch to find media outlets streaming audio, satellite feeds, live radio broadcasts etc.

“Winter Soldier Iraq and Afghanistan”
National Labor College March 13 to 16th

All times Eastern:
Thursday March 13 Streaming video only
7:00 - 9:00 PM Winter Soldier and the Legacy of GI Resistance

Friday March 14 Satellite TV, internet video, internet audio, radio
9:00 am - 10: 45 am Rules of Engagement Part: One
11:00 AM - 12:30 PM The Crisis in Veteran's Health Care
2:00 PM - 3:30 PM Corporate Pillaging and military Contractors
4:00 PM - 6:00 PM Rules of Engagement Part: Two
7:00 PM - 8:30 PM Aims of the Global War on Terror: The Political, Legal and Economic Context of Iraq and Afghanistan

Saturday March 15 Satellite TV, internet video, internet audio, radio
9:00 AM - 10:30 AM Divide to Conquer: Gender and Sexuality in the Military
11:00 AM - 1:00 PM Racism and War: The Dehumanization of the Enemy: Part One
2:00 PM - 3:30 PM Racism and War: The Dehumanization of the Enemy: Part Two
4:00 PM - 6:00 PM Civilian Testimony: The Cost of War in Iraq and Afghanistan
7:00 PM - 8:30 PM The Cost of War at Home

Sunday March 16 Internet video, internet audio, radio
10:00 AM - 1:00 PM The Breakdown of the Military
2:00 PM - 3:15 PM The Future of GI Resistance

There are flyers, press releases and other documents to help organize local screenings of Winter Soldier at the web address.

Remember:
This is an historic gathering. Veterans from our ongoing wars will report on what they've experienced. It is anticipated to be the largest gathering of Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) to date. No matter where you stand on American foreign policy I think it's important to hear what these returning veterans have to say.

[albertchampion]

it will be interesting to see if the fascist bastids[reptillians/demtillians] allow this to occur.

[amazed!]

Well I think it's going to happen, the question is what kind of coverage will it receive? The MSM will pass on it. Maybe CSPAN ???

[painter]

So far as I know, the event is a done deal. Like everything important now-a-days, it will probably be up to us to make sure the info presented gets out to the people.

This has now become our 'job' -- as if we didn't all have enough to do already.

[albertchampion]

you know, i went way beyond cynicism decades ago.

i don't recall that the previous winter soldier events had much influence on curtailing the usa's homicidal ways in seasia.

and i shall leave it at that. were i to say much more, i think that i would be banned from this site.

[painter]

you know, i went way beyond cynicism decades ago.

i don't recall that the previous winter soldier events had much influence on curtailing the usa's homicidal ways in seasia.

and i shall leave it at that. were i to say much more, i think that i would be banned from this site.

Curious why you'd say that, albert. You are a regular member here and have been around quite a long time. Now you've made me very curious what your thinking is.

Something did happen back in those days. The war did come to an end, possibly for many reasons but I do think, even if all the protests, civil unrest and dissension with the ranks, wasn't the primary reason, all taken together they did serve some purpose. At least for a time some people were organized in opposition to this beast. For a brief moment in history, at least for a few of us, there was the belief that something could be changed for the better.

Here's a quote from that era I've always admired:

Most of us grew up thinking that the United States was a great and humble nation that only involved itself in the affairs of other countries reluctantly and as a last and final resort. But now the war in Vietnam has provided the incredibly sharp razor that has finely separated thousands and thousands of people from their illusions about the morality and integrity of this country’s purposes internationally. Never again will this self-righteous saccharine moralism of promising a billion dollars of economic aid while we spend billions and billions of dollars to destroy them, never again will that moralism have the power to persuade people of the essential decency of this country’s aims. What kind of a system is it that allows decent men, good men, to make the decisions that have led to the thousands and thousands of deaths that have happened in Vietnam? What kind of a system is it that justifies the United States seizing the destinies of other people and using them callously for our own ends? We must name that system, and we must change it and control it, else it will destroy us.”

[albertchampion]

actually, i think the record is very clear....the invasion[s] of seasia were never terminated by any actions of the electorate. i think that the record is that the amerikan electorate still thinks that the invasion of vietnam could have become successful.

as you should recall, these invasions ended when the nva captured saigon, kicking the usa out of seasia. and to this day, i would wager that the majority of the amerikan populace still thinks that the vietnam invasion went unwon because of a contradictory press, a bunch of fifth-columnist residents[best exemplified by the vilifications targeted at the ww2 B24 hero, george mcgovern].

in a very real sense, the amerikan electorate has never renounced the idea of invading other countries. it is the character of amerika - amerikans care to commit mass murder. perhaps you have missed that chapter.

the vietnam era winter soldier demonstrations had no effect.

and i think that these forthcoming winter soldier events will have no salutary effect.

i think that there will be nothing that will arrest the depredations of the fascist state, now. the electorate has become convinced that it should surrender its constitutional rights so as to protect itself from ghosts.

be seeing you in the camps.

[painter]

<s>
i think that there will be nothing that will arrest the depredations of the fascist state, now. the electorate has become convinced that it should surrender its constitutional rights so as to protect itself from ghosts.

be seeing you in the camps.

You may be right. Although despite all the evidence in favor of it I don't share your abject cynicism, the expression of which is hardly anything that would get you banned. But, then, "life" to me is more than flesh and blood or what becomes of it. What is really at stake here, to me, is something far more fundamental and powerful than we currently realize and the struggle for it has gone on far longer than we know. Societies, nations, hell, whole civilizations come and go -- but there is a bigger picture, a deeper contextual matrix.