IVAW Members Arrested While Attempting to Present Questions to Obama and McCain

One hour before the final presidential debate of the 2008 campaign, fourteen members of IVAW marched in formation to Hofstra University to present questions for the candidates concerning the occupation of Iraq and the treatment of returning veterans. IVAW had requested permission from debate moderator Bob Schieffer to ask their questions during the debate but got no response.

The contingent of veterans in dress uniforms and combat uniforms attempted to enter the building where the debate was to be held in order to ask their questions but were turned back by police. The ten IVAW members at the front of the formation were immediately arrested, and others were pushed back into the crowd by police on horseback. Several members were injured, including former Army Sergeant Nick Morgan who suffered a broken cheekbone when he was trampled by police horses before being arrested.

"Neither of the candidates has shown real support for service members and veterans. We came here to try and have serious questions answered, questions that we as veterans of the Iraq war have a right to ask, but instead we were arrested. We will continue to ask these questions no matter who is elected. We believe that the time has come to end this war and bring our troops home" said Jason Lemieux, a former Sergeant in the US Marine Corps who served three tours in Iraq, and member of IVAW.

The questions that are important to Iraq Veterans Against the War

1. The invasion and occupation of Iraq is illegal based on criteria in our own Constitution, as well as international law and the Geneva Conventions. Sen. Obama, is it not the right of service members to refuse deployment and participation in the occupation of Iraq? As President, will you support the rights of service men and women who refuse participation in this criminal war?

1. Sen. McCain, we currently have thousands of veterans returning from combat in Iraq and Afghanistan, many of them with severe injuries. The rate of suicide attempts among veterans is at the shocking rate of up to 1,000 per month. Sen. McCain, you have consistently voted against an increase in VA funding and other legislation that would take care of veterans. As President, will you be prepared to fully fund and staff the VA system and how will you address your poor voting record on veteran’s issues?

IVAW needs your support today

The ten IVAW members who were arrested will be arraigned on November 10, and we will be building support for them in the coming weeks. Former Army sergeant Nick Morgan is currently seeking additional medical help and recovering from his head injury. Please consider making a donation today to IVAW’s legal defense fund, or specifically for Nick Morgan’s medical bills. Please make a donation to IVAW today.

Peace,
Kelly Dougherty
Former Sergeant, Army National Guard
Executive Director
Iraq Veterans Against the War

CITIZEN'S UNITE!! defend the citizen's arrest warrants in DC !!!

September 23, 2008

CONTACT: Elliot Adams 518-441-2697, Ellen Barfield 410-948-8023, Tarak Kauff 845 249-9489

IRAQ AND VIETNAM WAR VETERANS OCCUPY NATIONAL ARCHIVES BUILDING

"Arresting Bush and Cheney for war crimes will honor our oath to the Constitution," vets say.

On Tuesday morning, September 23, 7:30am, at the front of the National Archives Building on Constitution Ave. in Washington, D.C., five military veterans will risk arrest as they climb a 9-foot retaining fence and occupy a 35-foot high ledge to raise a 22x8 foot banner stating, "DEFEND OUR CONSTITUTION. ARREST BUSH AND CHENEY: WAR CRIMINALS!"

The group, which includes Vietnam and Iraq War veterans, has declared its intention to stay on the ledge, fasting for 24 hours

"in remembrance of those who have perished and those still suffering from the crimes of the Bush administration,"

according to a written statement. With a portable PA system, they will broadcast recorded statements from prominent Americans for the impeachment and/or arrest of George W. Bush and Richard Cheney.

"Citizens Arrest Warrants" will be distributed to people waiting in line to enter the National Archives.

The veterans emphasized they are taking this action because "Bush and Cheney's serial abuse of the Law of the Land clearly marks them as domestic enemies of the Constitution. They have illegally invaded and occupied Iraq, deliberately destroyed civilian infrastructure, authorized torture, and unlawfully detained prisoners. These actions clearly mark them as war criminals. Accountability extends beyond impeachment to prosecution for war crimes even after their terms of office expire."

"We take this action as a last resort," their statement added. "For years we have pursued every avenue open to good, vigilant citizens to bring these men to justice, to re-establish the rule of law, and to restore the balance of power described in our Constitution. We are not disturbing the peace; we are attempting to restore the peace. We are not conducting ourselves in a disorderly manner; our action is well-ordered and well-considered. We are not trespassing; we have come to the home of our Constitution to honor our oath to defend it."

Those participating are all members of Veterans For Peace and include Elliott Adams: 61, NY, VFP President and former Army paratrooper in Viet Nam; Ellen Barfield: 52, MD, former U.S. Army Sgt., full-time peace and justice advocate; Kim Carlyle: 61, NC, mountain homesteader, former Army Spec 5, 828-626-2572; Diane Wilson: 59, TX, shrimp boat captain, former Army medic, 361-785-4680; Doug Zachary: 58, TX, VFP staff, former USMC LCpl discharged as a conscientious objector, 512-791-9824; and Tarak Kauff (ground support) 67, NY, painting contractor, former U.S. Army Airborne.

Founded in 1985, VFP has 120 chapters throughout the country and has actively protested the Afghanistan and Iraq wars since their inception. Membership includes men and women veterans of all eras and duty stations spanning the Spanish Civil War, WWII, Korea, Vietnam and Iraq. VFP is an official Non Governmental Organization (NGO) represented at
the UN.

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A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition
http://www.answercoalition.org/
info@internationalanswer.org
National Office in Washington DC: 202-544-3389
New York City: 212-694-8720
Los Angeles: 213-251-1025
San Francisco: 415-821-6545
Chicago: 773-463-0311

On March 19, 2008, in front of the White House, anti-war activist Adam Kokesh, of the IVAW, demanded the impeachment of President George W. Bush and V.P. Dick Cheney. He accused the duo of engaging in "criminal" conduct in violation of their respective oaths of office. He was joined at the spirited rally by fellow members and supporters of the IVAW, and other veteran groups as well. For background, see http://ivaw.org/index.html.

Backstage at the Rally, Rachel ambushed Adam for a few minutes to talk about the war, the movement, and tatoos.

America First Party supports Matthis Chiroux 

Boulder, CO - Soldiers who object to the Iraq war on constitutional grounds, and yet are ordered to deploy there, are quickly confronted with the reality that being true to their conscience could lead to their arrest, imprisonment, and dishonorable discharge. This is, in some respects, difficult to face. Many admire people who are willing to not compromise principle for principle’s sake, but when faced with the stark consequences, it is easy to buckle.


Recently, a young soldier did not buckle. Sergeant Matthis Chiroux, a 4-year veteran from Alabama, who served in Afghanistan as a photojournalist, made his announcement at the capitol: He would not report for Iraq duty for constitutional reasons, and he would remain in the U.S. and face any charges the government would make against him. Bolstered by support from fellow veterans, he made a statement which should inspire all who value the constitution and principles of our nation’s founders.

“This occupation is unconstitutional and illegal,” stated Chiroux, “and I hereby lawfully refuse to participate as I will surely be a party to war crimes. Furthermore, deployment in support of illegal war violates all of my core values as a human being, but in keeping with those values, I choose to remain in the United States to defend myself from charges brought by the Army if they so wish to pursue them. I refuse to participate in the occupation of Iraq.”

National Chairman Jonathan Hill stated, “Sgt. Chiroux is upholding the highest standards of patriotism and is a great credit to our nation. The reality that many so-called conservatives fail to see is that continuing this war helps perpetuate unconstitutional practices at the federal level — the Iraq War Resolution is beyond doubt unconstitutional. Chiroux is truly defending our nation by his refusal to disobey our nation’s basic law.”

The America First Party condemns the Iraq War as “unnecessary, improper, illegal, unconstitutional, and immoral” and the party Platform calls for the United States military to be used only “to protect U.S. citizens, U.S. property and U.S. border integrity,” and for no other purpose.

Viewing Iraq Winter Soldier testimony; Jeff Cohen

Editor’s Note: Nearing the fifth anniversary of the Iraq War, veterans from that conflict -- as well as the one in Afghanistan -- gathered to give first-hand testimony of the routine brutality that is being inflicted on the people of those two countries.

These new "Winter Soldier" hearings -- like their predecessors during the Vietnam War -- were shunned by the mainstream U.S. news media. But, as media critic Jeff Cohen notes in this guest essay, there were independent ways for Americans to get the story:

In 1971 at age 19, I had a life-changing experience when I met dozens of Vietnam veterans who’d descended on my hometown of Detroit to testify at the “Winter Soldier” hearings organized by Vietnam Veterans Against the War.

In anguished presentations, the vets painstakingly described the horrors against Vietnamese they’d seen or taken part in. And the attitudes of racism and bloodlust that motored the war.

Many vets blamed the lies in mainstream media for convincing them to go to Vietnam in the first place.

Virtually every soul in that Detroit hotel banquet hall wept openly at the heartfelt, bone-chilling revelations pouring out of the Vietnam vets struggling with bloody memories and post-traumatic stress.

But no one outside that hall could see or hear the proceedings. No TV or radio networks covered the event.

This weekend at the National Labor College near Washington D.C., a new generation of vets convened by Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) presented powerful hearings – “Winter Soldier: Iraq & Afghanistan” – that were more extensive and perhaps even more emotional.

Thirty-seven years later, I again found myself sobbing at testimony from solemn young Americans returned from needless war, grappling with shattered lives over brutalities against civilians and prisoners they’d witnessed or participated in.

But I was nowhere near D.C.

This time, I watched the dramatic testimony – often buttressed by photographic and video evidence – live online at www.IVAW.org.

This time, I caught hours of coverage on [http://www.freespeech.org Free Speech TV], the national satellite network that broadcast the panels of testimony and featured interviews with vets and their families in between panels.

This time, I received regular video news feeds in my email inbox from [http://therealnews.com The Real News Network]. (The hearings were also televised on 20 public access channels from Fayetteville to Palo Alto, and in public gatherings from Florida to Alaska.)

On my car radio, I listened to the proceedings live on [http://www.pacifica.org/ the Pacifica network,] which broadcast the hearings to affiliates nationwide – along with call-ins and e-mail from listeners, including Iraq vets and soldiers not as critical of the war.

The four days of vets’ testimony revealed the struggle these young Americans are waging to regain their humanity and morality after having been transformed into callous war-fighters who largely dehumanized Iraqis as a people – not just “the enemy” or combatants.

An objective observer hearing the testimony would have good reason to wonder if U.S. troops – given the often gratuitous and racist brutality, and the mistreatment of women, children and the elderly – can ever be a solution in Iraq.

On panel after panel, the veterans offered heartfelt “apologies to the Iraqi people” for what our country has done to their country.

I saw a vet rip up the commendation he’d received from Gen. David Petraeus, denouncing the general as a cheerleader who put his own ambitions above his duty to the troops and to the truth.

Many vets called for rapid withdrawal from Iraq and criticized Democratic leaders for prolonging and funding the endless occupation.

Ex-Marine Jon Turner, who served two tours in Iraq, ripped his medals from his shirt and threw them on the ground, concluding: “I’m sorry for the hate and destruction I and others have inflicted upon innocent people… Until people hear what is going on, this is going to continue. I am no longer the monster that I once was.”

Such powerful first-hand accounts – if heard by the American public – would threaten continued funding of the Iraq occupation. But national mainstream outlets in our country, unlike big foreign outlets, largely ignored this weekend’s proceedings.

Not surprisingly, these Iraq veterans had little but scorn for U.S. corporate media whose journalistic failures helped sell the war five years ago, and whose sanitized coverage helps sell the troop “surge” today.

But thanks to the Internet and the growing capacity of independent TV, radio and Web outlets, a significant minority of Americans had access to these proceedings. And the archived hearings are now available to anyone anytime with computer access.

In Detroit in 1971, I remember what happened when one of the rare mainstream camera crews showed up at Winter Soldier. . .and then abruptly packed up to leave in the middle of particularly gripping testimony.

A roomful of Vietnam vets booed and jeered. It was the moment I became a media critic.

Winter Soldier II shows that it’s not enough to criticize corporate media. Even more important is to take advantage of new technologies to keep building independent media.

Jeff Cohen is the founding director of Ithaca College’s new center for independent media. He founded the media watch group [http://www.fair.org FAIR] in 1986.

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ACTIVISM: Winter soldier in Boston

Testimony from vets in D.C. fires up local protesters

By Renee Nadeau | Sunday, March 16, 2008 |

Photo by Faith Ninivaggi

A dozen Massachusetts veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars piled into a van bound for Washington, D.C., on Friday or traveled by other means to spend the weekend testifying about their experiences overseas and to protest the five-year war in Iraq.

A portion of the four-day “Winter Soldier: Iraq and Afghanistan” public testimony at the National Labor College, just outside the capital in Silver Springs, Md., was shown at the First Parish Church in Harvard Square yesterday.

“I feel it’s not just something we should be against but we should actively work to end,” said Liam Madden, a Northeastern University sophomore and ex-Marine sergeant. “Our presence there could not fix the harm we had done.”

Madden served in Haditha, Iraq, from September 2004 to February 2005. He is on the board of directors of Iraq Veterans Against the War and helped organize the events. He did not give testimony.

“Over the last five years, many peole have expressed that they want to support the troops. This gives an opportunity to listen to the troops,” said Angela Kelly, outreach coordinator of Massachusetts Peace Action, one of the groups that sponsored the Cambridge event under the name New England United.

“Hearing the testimonies puts a real human face on the experience that has gone on for the last five years.”

Some 250 people packed the Cambridge church for the eight-hour live broadcast. Kelly said more and more chairs had to be brought in to accommodate viewers.

The term “winter soldier” pays homage to the similar event held by Veterans of Vietnam Against the War, at which Sen. John Kerry spoke, and a play on the words of Thomas Paine.

The Founding Father stated that winter soldiers will stand up for the soul of their country, even in its darkest hours, while summer soldiers will turn their backs, according to IVAW.

The group plans to release a documentary in the coming months.

Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/general/view.bg?articleid=1080667

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