Hi folks! Fort Hood Action went great!!! Here is the press release, as well attached bios of the vets and military family member involved. Hope you can send it out to your press lists as soon as you can! This was a very important and moving action. So much more to follow. Photo ID is at the very bottom for picture of blockade participants. No arrests, and we actually halted the buses!!!! Hope folks can help us get it the coverage it deserves! Hit me up with any questions.
Peace,
Matthis
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Aug. 23, 2010 (KILLEEN, TX) – Five peace activists successfully blockaded six buses carrying Fort Hood Soldiers deploying to Iraq outside Fort Hood’s Clarke gate this morning at around 4 a.m. While the activists took the width of Clarke Rd. and slowed the buses to a halt, police made no arrests, but instead beat the activists out of the streets using automatic weapons and police dogs so the deploying Soldiers could proceed.
Among those blockading were three veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and one military spouse. (See attached bios) The action, organized by a group calling themselves “Fort Hood Disobeys,” was aimed at preventing the deployment of the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment Soldiers to what the veterans termed an illegal and immoral occupation.
While standing in the street, the activists held banners reading “Occupation is a Crime” and “Please Don’t Make the Same Mistake We Did. RESIST NOW.” From the TX HW-190 overpass, additional supporters attempted to hang larger banners that read, “Tell the Brass: ‘KISS MY ASS’ Your family needs you more” “Sick of Fighting Your Wars” and “Col. Allen [3 ACR Commander]: Do not deploy wounded Soldiers.”
This latest deployment comes less than two weeks after President Obama announced the second end to combat operations in Iraq. FHD organizers denounced this as a lie, and pointed to the deployment of the 3rd ACR, a combat regiment, to Iraq as clear proof. They have stated they will continue to organize direct action in the Fort Hood community to oppose the wars as long as troops continue to deploy.
The action organizers have established a website at forthooddisobeys.blogspot.com where they will be posting statements, photographs and video from the actions as they become available during the next 48 hours. As well, for the length of the day, FHD ran live webcasts updating their supporters and depicting portions of the direct action. All live broadcasts from the day are archived at http://bit.ly/b1WEyv.
For more information or to arrange coverage of today’s events, call 347-613-8964 or write to forthooddisobeys@hushmail.com. See attached bios for more information on those who participated in today’s action.
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Participant Bios:
I am Bobby Whittenberg-James, a Marine veteran of the war against the people of Iraq, a Purple Heart recipient and a third generation military service member. I joined the Marines in June of 2003, believing the lies about weapons of mass destruction and an imminent threat to our safety. I have since come to learn that these wars and occupations do not keep the people of the United States or the Middle East safe, but instead serve the interests of politicians, capitalists and corporations; the ruling elite.
These unjust wars and occupations rob the people of Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Yemen of their dignity and their right to self-determination and serve to make the people of both the Middle East and the United States less safe. They also serve to further destabilize a region that has suffered under the boot-heel of western colonialism for over a century. The US Empire also supports both financially and militarily the brutal apartheid regime that occupies Palestine. All of this is done in our name with our money, and I am here to say “Not in my name!”
The recent information leaks about the US Empire’s wars lay bare their war crimes and crimes against humanity. We must face the truth, even if it makes us uncomfortable or shows us something about ourselves that we don’t want to see. When we find the truth, we must respond accordingly. I will not be complicit in the killing of people. Since I do not believe that the government or the capitalists will end these wars, I will vote with my body.
Bobby Whittenberg-James
Disobedient
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I am Crystal Colon. I was a sergeant in the Army for five years, stationed at Fort Hood the entire time, save two deployments to Iraq totaling 26 months. I was a Signal Support Systems Noncommissioned Officer, coordinating communications for various commands. I was honorably discharged in Jan., 2010, and have been organizing in the veterans peace movement ever since.
I first began to question the war in Iraq during my first deployment in ‘05-’06. After my friend Robbie was killed, I was very deeply affected. I started questioning why we were in Iraq. It felt like he had died for nothing. After returning from Iraq, I planned to leave the military. I was stop-lossed and forced to return to Iraq for 15 months, in total held beyond the length of my enlistment more than 450 days. Since leaving the military, I have been active with the veterans peace movement, speaking out about my experiences and supporting troops who refuse to fight.
I am doing this today because I can’t allow this war in which I have fought to continue. I can’t allow other Soldiers to make the same mistake I did, deploying in support of a war crime. As a veteran of Iraq, how could I not do this today? For the people I helped occupy, for the friends I lost and stilI have over there, for the Soldiers on those buses. How could I not do this today? I should have disobeyed. I should have never boarded those buses to Iraq. I wish someone had tried to stop me.
Crystal Colon
Disobedient
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I am Matthis Chiroux, former Army sergeant and War Resister. I was press-ganged into the Army by the Alabama Juvenile “Justice” System in 2002. While in the military, I occupied the nations of Japan and Germany for more than four years, with shorter tours in the Philippines and Afghanistan. I was a Public Affairs Noncommissioned Officer specializing in strategic communications. In reality, I was a propaganda artist. I was discharged honorably to the Individual Ready Reserve in 2007.
While I have always been against the war in Iraq, I began resisting it actively in 2008, after I received mobilization orders for a year-long deployment to Iraq. I refused those orders in Congress in May of 2008, calling my orders illegal and unconstitutional. I believed appealing to Congress would end the war. When 13 Members signed a letter of support for my decision and sent it to Bush, I thought we had won a victory for peace. This was more than two years ago. The president has changed, and the wars and destruction drag on.
Today, I am blocking the deployment of the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment with my fellow vets and military family members because the wars will continue to victimize our communities until we halt this bloody machine from within. I am putting my body on the line in solidarity with the people of the Middle East, whose bodies have been shot, burned, tortured, raped and violated by our men and women in and out of uniform. I cannot willfully allow Americans in uniform to put their lives and the lives of Iraqis in jeopardy for a crime. We are here because we have a responsibility to ourselves as veterans and as humans of the world. I will not rest until my people, ALL PEOPLE, are free.
In Struggle and Solidarity,
Matthis Chiroux
Disobedient
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I am Cynthia Thomas, and I have been an Army Wife for 18 years. My husband has been deployed three times since the wars began. During his second deployment, he was severley wounded and medevaced to Walter Reed Army Hospital on Life Support. Even though he had Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Traumatic Brain Injury, suffered three fractures in his back, three fractures on his pelvis and countless other injuries, the Army deployed him a third time. This was devastating to our two daughters, our step-son and to me.
Three months after my husband deployed for the third time, our step-son called to inform me he was joining the Marines. That was the exact moment I realized that our children would be fighting these endless wars. I decided that I needed to start resisting.
The reason I am doing this today is because for the past 3 years that I have been speaking out and advocating for Soldiers, things have only gotten worse. I have heard countless stories from Vets and Active Duty Soldiers that give people nightmares. I have heard stories from family members that would shock people awake if they would just listen! Our military community is being destroyed!
If these wars are destroying our Soldiers and military families with 12 to 15-month, often repeat deployments, how do you think the Iraqi and Afghan people doing? They have been living these wars 24/7, 365 days a year for nearly a decade! My youngest daughter is an Operation Iraqi Freedom baby. She was less than one-year-old when her father left to invade Iraq. I look at her, and I see an Iraqi or Afghan child having to live in constant fear with no end in sight! I am doing this for our community, for my girls, for my husband and our Marine. I am doing this for the Iraqi and Afghan People. Enough is enough. If Soldiers really want to go fight, they’ll have to go through me.
Cynthia Thomas
Disobedient
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Photograph ID: All five participants in the blockade action. From left to right are Iraq Veterans Bobby Whittenberg-James and Crystal Colon, Jeff Grant, Military Spouse Cynthia Thomas and Afghanistan Veteran Matthis Chiroux.
The life of a social activist is one of peace, pain, and protest. Through the trials and tribulations of fighting for what they believe in, a community of passionate and highly mo-tivated individuals emerges. Elaine Brower is no stranger to this community of social protesters. Her involvement in the anti-war movement grew rapidly in 2003. Now, she joins thousands of people in the fight against war, with one person in mind—her son.
This is a documentary produced by Rowan University students from November 2007 to May 2008.
Editor’s Note – on July 15, radical lawyer and War Criminals Watch Advisory Board member Lynne Stewart was sentenced to 10 years in prison. In February 2005, Lynne had been convicted on 7 counts of “conspiracy, providing material support to terrorists, and defrauding the U.S. government”.
The government had alleged that Lynne had facilitated communication between a man she was defending in court, fundamentalist Islamic cleric Omar Abdel Rahman, and people in Egypt.
The judge in Lynne’s trial sentenced her to 28 months in prison. An appeal to the conviction and sentencing resulted in a different judge upholding the conviction, while ordering a re-sentencing that was not “trivial”, since Lynne had “indicated a lack of remorse”. After her sentencing, her prosecutor praised the work of the FBI’s New York Joint Terrorism Task Force for its role in the persecution of Lynne Stewart, and thanked U.S. Bureau of Prisons for its assistance.
Words Lynne Stewart spoke after her original conviction still ring true: “I see myself as being a symbol of what the people rail against when they say our civil liberties are eroded. This case could be, I hope it will be, a wakeup call to all of the citizens of this country and all of the people who live here that you can’t lock up the lawyers. You can’t tell the lawyers how to do their job. You’ve got to let them operate. And I will fight on. I am not giving up. I know I commited no crime. I know what I did was right.”
Today, Thursday, July 15, at United States District Court in downtown Manhattan, around the corner from where I work, I witnessed the sentencing hearing of attorney Lynne Stewart. I only had the pleasure of meeting Ms. Stewart five years ago, along with Ralph, her jovial and loving husband. I never had the honor of her defending me, but during the course of the last 5 years, I met many people who did. The courtroom today was packed, leaving 2 overflow rooms, which were also filled to capacity.
Walking into the marble and mahogany building, which I am no stranger to since I work next door, gave me a never before eerie feeling. A bronze “Lady Justice” 2 story high statue sat in the main entrance way, greeting everyone who entered. But it did not give me comfort, it only once again reminded me of the many icons of worship this country erects to deflect the true nature of the beast underneath. I thought to myself “I’d love to hang a huge banner right in the middle of her 2 story chest with a big $ sign!”
Sitting in the elaborate overflow room, with all of Lynn’s supporters, then gave me comfort. Watching Lynne on the 2 screens in front of the room was very sad. She looked weak, pale and broken. She pleaded for the court’s mercy by presenting her statement to the judge. In it, she declared that she no longer had a relationship with her grandson, who could not visit her any longer in the horrible prison. She said she felt alone, and withdrawn. Only when her friends and family came to visit for one hour a week did she rejuvenate for a short period, but then would retreat back into somberness and sadness. At one point she choked up when saying that if the court decided to sentence her to anytime longer than the original 28 months, it would be a like imposing the “death sentence”. She reiterated that many times, in so many different ways. She threw herself at the “mercy” of the judge.
I thought to myself this is not the Lynne Stewart that I knew, if only for a short time. She was always vibrant and unafraid. She stood for true justice for the people who went unrepresented in a system that would make every attempt to smash them. Why was she begging for mercy? It broke my heart.
Then the US Attorney stood up and for 30 minutes recounted the details of the entire trial, repeating hundreds of times “we were attacked on 9/11”, and “Ms. Stewart gave comfort to Islamic terrorists.” These references were the cornerstone of the prosecution’s argument, and he couldn’t say it enough. In every way, he connected Lynne with the terrorist “murder groups”, and in reality made her the real terrorist. He said “the government trusted her as a lawyer, and she shouldn’t have been trusted.” He referred endless times to the DVD of her press conference prior to her remand to prison in 2009, and referenced her statements that she had “no remorse.”
Lucky for me I was in an overflow room. I commented, loudly, how I hoped this guy would get the pox, and I wasn’t alone. People booed, and said he better not come into their neighborhoods. How could he sleep at night? I would be embarrassed to be in his shoes. Is there no dignity?
Well, I will answer my own rhetorical questions. There is no dignity in this system. There is no justice in this system. There never was, and never will be. There is only hatred, fear, and an elite system of injustice. The judge is only a puppet of the state and did what he was told to do. The prosecutor is a prostitute and regurgitates enough bullshit to make people afraid enough to go home and lock their doors so they too won’t wind up like Lynne Stewart. When she was wrongfully sentenced to 10 years behind bars, there should have been a riot in the courtroom. Instead, everyone left.
Folks, it has always been like this. I didn’t live through the McCarthy era, and was happy I didn’t. I am a child of the 60’s and the radicalness of the 70’s. I thought, in my naiveté, that this country stood for something good, and protected freedom of speech, the rights of people of color to live and work without the threat of police oppression, and most of all, it was a nation that was accepting and tolerant of those who came here from all over the world to experience the “American dream.”
What a bunch of crap. It has always been a bad system. Sometimes there would be breakthroughs in civil rights, or women’s rights, but those where aberrations. Not the norm. The system would again rise up to take it all away, because it wasn’t meant to be fair and just for all people, only those who are the elite in this society. It always brings me back to how this country was founded, on the blood of those who already lived here.
And so it goes, we see the true face of American justice. Take a good look while the veil is lifted, because it will be dropped again, and you will be fooled into thinking if only we had more hope.
Army announcement made just days before planned protest. Several large demonstrations, non-violent civil resistance and regular vigils contributed to its demise.
Franklin Mills Mall, Philadelphia, PA – A coalition of thirty peace groups has proven triumphant in their goal of forever shutting down the “Army Experience Center” in a suburban shopping mall in Philadelphia. The Philadelphia Inquirer reported today that the Army plans to permanently close the facility. http://www.philly.com/philly/news/local/96031939.html
After almost two years of glorifying the “Army experience” and U.S. wars through video and war games, the Army Experience Center at Franklin Mills Malls announced it will shut down on July 31, 2010. The $13 million, 14,500 square foot Army Experience Center at Franklin Mills Mall boasts dozens of video game computers and X-Box video game consoles with various interactive, military-style shooting games. The facility has sophisticated Apache helicopter and Humvee simulators that allow teens to simulate the killing of Arabs and Afghans. Philadelphia Inquirer reporter Rob Watson compared the Army Experience Center to “a heavy dose of candy cigarettes.”
Dozens of local and national peace groups joined the “Shut Down the Army Experience Center” effort in January 2009, soon after the heavily marketed Center got national press coverage. The mall was the site of several protests of hundreds of people, with more than a dozen arrests.
Six of those arrested were acquitted by a Philadelphia trial judge on May 24, 2010, and prior to that at a trial last year, six arrested were also acquitted.
Elaine Brower, one of those arrested twice, whose son joined the Marines at age 17 and served three tours in Afghanistan & Iraq, became a vocal opponent of the AEC. She said today, “This is a victory for the entire peace and anti-war movement. The team work and coalition building that was accomplished led to our success. We were relentless in our struggle to shut this center down, and we did it strategically. As they say, a people united will never be defeated!”
When the center opened the Army announced it was designed as a pilot program and would decide whether to launch them nationally. As recently as August 2009, however, Jared Auchey, Company Commander at Franklin Mills, was boasting of the center’s “success” and claiming others were being planned.
Former US Army SSgt. Jesse Hamilton, now a member of Iraq Veterans Against the War, stated today, “By portraying war as a game, the AEC glorified violence to our children and disrespected those soldiers who gave their lives in combat. As a combat veteran, nothing makes me happier than to know that the AEC will no longer have the ability to corrupt our children’s minds and disrespect our deceased war heroes.”
Bill Deckhart, Coordinator of the BuxMont Coalition for Peace Action stated, “I am just elated. Being a peace activist we don’t get a lot of wins so we must savor this victory. There’s still lots of work to do and we need to help create a world that can be peaceful and does not need to think about military recruiters and sending people to kill or be killed for corporate profits.”
The Army is planning an official announcement today and a news conference tomorrow, before another large demonstration planned for Saturday.
The coalition to Shut Down the Army Experience Center involved BuxMont Coalition for Peace Action, Veterans for Peace, Brandywine Peace Community, Iraq Veterans Against the War, CodePink, Granny Peace Brigade, Peace Action Montgomery, Peace Action National, NorthWest Greens, Woodstock Peace and Justice, Pax Christi Long Island & Pennsylvania, Military Families Speak Out/NYC, Delaware Valley Veterans For America and World Can’t Wait.
Yesterday, a website noted for releasing classified and hard to get damning material about what the military and the Pentagon is up to, WikiLeaks, put up a video of an airstrike in Iraq in 2007 where people were gunned down from above. Two of those killed in the first round of the attack were Reuters journalists, and as the strike continued, two children were gunned down from above.
This morning on Democracy Now! the headline reads “Massacre caught on Tape: US Military Confirms Authenticity of Their Own Chilling Video Showing Killing of Journalists.” On the show was the co-founder of WikiLeaks, Julian Assange, and Glenn Greenwald, Salon.com blogger and author. The release of this video caused quite a stir on the internet blogs and left-wing websites yesterday. People who have been anti-war advocates argued in real time as to the horror of this attack, the atrocity that was committed and were in total “shock” over the fact that these soldiers could possibly do something like this. WikiLeaks posted the military “Rules of Engagement” supposedly used in battle. Phrases were uttered such as “we are dismayed” “this shouldn’t happen” “what did these guys think they were doing” and just overall outrage and disbelief surfaced everywhere.
There was also lots of chatter about the “coverup of a botched raid” in Gardez, Afghanistan, where soldiers killed two pregnant women, dug the bullets out of their bodies and claimed that they found them that way before their night raid. Again, shockwaves went through the internet community of left wing spots questioning this “atrocity.”
So I ask, do we have short term memory loss? Why are these occurrences such a “shock” to those who are paying attention? Does anyone really think that these are unusual circumstances? I read one email that said this is similar to the “Mai Li Massacre” in Viet Nam. Of course the US military is going to “confirm the authenticity of the video killing journalists” they are proud of it, and support it. Why would they deny it. Those guys are trained killers, and we paid a lot of money to make them that way.
Folks, this is war, American style. The purpose of war is to kill people, anyway they can. The soldiers, marines and airmen do it because they want to, are trained to and they like it. Yes, you may think this is disgusting and I shouldn’t be uttering these words, but THEY LIKE IT. After nine years of wars, and military recruitment and retention on the upswing, what else can we attribute it to.
Our children know nothing else in their lives but violence. They are surrounded by high tech military recruiters and war games from the time they are in kindergarten, and are encouraged to be a card carrying patriot by their families, media, schools and society. Killing is engrained in the American psyche. So why is everyone so dismayed and upset every single time one of these videos gets “released.”
I watch them all the time on military websites, and if you just hunt around the internet for a quick second you will find them posted by combat troops all over the war zones. They have their own blogs dedicated to “shock and awe” videos and photos. This is nothing new, and it will continue as long as we have troops in battle.
Case in point. My son came home from his tour in Fallujah, brandishing photos and videos of his “kills”. I immediately threw him out of the house and destroyed the camera. He managed to upload some onto his computer, and we battled about it for weeks, until he realized I wouldn’t relent. This is what they do. They count their “kills”. They honor each other by them, and soldiers wear it as a badge of honor and courage. People thank these killers for their service when they come home, and wave the flag for them. So why wouldn’t they be excited to kill from the sky, or on the ground for that matter. They get away with it, it’s sanctioned, it gives them a feeling of being godlike, and it’s a damn rush! Ask any combat soldier.
Whether they are firing machine guns from Apache or Cobra helicopters, or using 50 cal. machine guns from the turrets of a Bradley Fighting Vehicle or Humvee, there is no stopping the massacre of people. I won’t say innocent civilians because as far as I am concerned they are all innocent. This Country attacks the people who are in their own neighborhoods, sleeping or eating, driving, or going to school, and justifies it by saying that the shooter had every right to kill.
I just can’t believe the conversations I am still hearing. Pundits and talk show hosts arguing whether the killing was within the ROE or “Rules of Engagement”, or did the victim have an AK-47 or RPG. What the hell are we talking about. Is any of this justified or warranted? Is any video that is taken from planes, drones, helicopters or by amateur troop photographers showing you that they had the right to go ahead and massacre people?
And that is why we are still at war. Those of us on the so-called left, or who belong to the anti-war movement don’t really get it. We cannot honor the warriors under ANY circumstances. It is an oxymoron to say “honor the warrior and not the war.” No such thing exists. The warriors are the war, they choose to fight and kill people, with much fervor I might add. They like it, they get a kick out of it, and then get away with it because it is jusitified genocide.
And America justifies it every single day by waving the flag and supporting the troops. So you may as well get used to these videos, unless you have plans to stop the wars.
Saturday, March 20, 2010, thousands showed up in Washington, D.C. to express their anger, disgust, and horror at the continuation of the wars and occupations in Iraq and Afghanistan by the US empire. We protested the drone bombings of innocent people in those countries as well as Yemen, Pakistan and Somalia. We have had enough of the killing of humanity for the hegemony of the US and the wealth of the war profiteers. We marched and rallied. I spoke with Matthis Chiroux and Robyn Murray at the rally, where we burned the american flag, to the excitement of the crowd. As we spoke of the US empire and what that flag represents to not only civilians but to those who had to serve under it to commit war crimes and crimes against humanity, people in the crowd yelled in agreement. Once the flag was lit, the shouts and screams of agreement grew to a roar. It energized the crowd, because we all felt the same way. Enough killing, fear mongering, hatred and we want it to end now. It is way past time we are radicalized and make sure we go up against this empire by putting our bodies, beliefs and whatever else we can on the line and in the cogs of the wheels that want to destroy humanity. Some didn’t agree with burning the flag, so they need to get out of the way. We are serious now. We mean business. We then got arrested on the sidewalk in front of the White House, our sidewalk, the sidewalk that we are supposed to be able to express our freedome of speech on, but this president and this empire won’t allow that to happen. If we don’t demand our rights, we will lose them as we are, very rapidly. Police are given orders to immediately arrest us, hurt us, scare us, and lock us up for days so we are discouraged. Not me! Not Matthis! It only cements my willingness to fight back with everything I can.
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