Anticipating a Pentagon request for more troops there, antiwar leaders have engaged in a flurry of meetings to discuss a month of demonstrations, lobbying, teach-ins and memorials in October to publicize the casualty count, raise concerns about the cost of the war and pressure Congress to demand an exit strategy.
But they face a starkly changed political climate from just a year ago, when President George W. Bush provided a lightning rod for protests. The health care battle is consuming the resources of labor unions and other core Democratic groups.
It seems that Cindy Sheehan and Matthis Chiroux met at Martha’s Vineyard this week and while no one was paying attention, they made a video together. Whoever took the video should have adjusted the audio – old guys like me can’t hear what they’re saying. Probably lucky for them. Here’s the video – I’ll leave the comments to you guys;
This is a real smoldering turd of a video starring TSO’s favorite journalist, Dahr Jamail, and my new penpal, Jose Vasquez, the Executive Director of Iraq Veterans Against the War. To Vasquez’ credit, when the reporter introduces him as an Iraq veteran, he admits that he never served in the war. Like Carl Webb, Matthis Chiroux and and endless list of (IV)AW members who aren’t Iraqi Veterans. But certainly we can understand her confusion – he’s wearing a T-shirt that says “Iraq Veterans” and he’s the Executive Director of an organization that calls itself “Iraq Veterans Against the War”. Many of us would automatically think he’s an Iraq veteran.
The video is 14 minutes long, and I’ve watched it five times, so you don’t have to;
To begin with, Jamail states that there have been 50,000 soldiers who have deserted since 2001. To understand the statement, you first have to understand the terms. A soldier has to be Absent Without Leave (AWOL) for 30 days before he’s considered a deserter. LTC Nathan Banks, our new friend at the Army’s Pentagon Public Affairs Office claims that they have apprehended 29,926 deserters since 2001 and that there are 2442 outstanding warrants.
So how does that compare with peacetime years;
There were 3687 desertions in 2000 which was .7% of the total force. In 2007, 4698 desertions which was .9% of the force – statistically, yes desertions were on the rise in 2007, a minuscule number when we’re talking about more than a half million people. In 2006, it was .6% (one of the bloodiest years in Iraq) and in 2003, (when the Iraq began) it was .5%. We haven’t seen the data for 2008 and 2009 yet. The fact remains that over 99% of the total force don’t desert, so I don’t know what Jamail is trying to say.
Jamail claims that the military is taking steps to prevent dissent in their ranks. “They” stopped the draft. Um, “they” didn’t stop the draft, it was ended decades ago, not part of some Bush conspiracy. He also claims that the military is blocking access to social networking media (Facebook, Twitter, etc…). That’s just false. The military is blocking access to social media ON THEIR OWN internet access points – just like every other employer. Doesn’t it make sense that only military business is conducted on military computers? Soldiers are still able to use those media on their own computers.
Vasquez claims that the only people who can’t find jobs are joining the military. The proof of that is National Guard recruiters at his college – I guess that’s why I was involved in recruiting on campus back in 1988. It was just a Bush plot for this war. I guess recruiters should recruit in nursing homes and not among the their target market. More than likely, the people who volunteer to go in the Army are the types of motivated people that any employer would love to have in their business rather than some slovenly, shitdick peacenik. Jose says it’s because recruiters know the economy is bad – or maybe they know where to find smart, motivated recruits.
Retention and recruiting has been successful through out the period since 9-11-01. All of the branches of service have met their goals nearly every year of the Bush boom. Yes, the economy has some effect periodically, but there’s no real evidence that the troops are reenlisting and joining JUST because of the economy. Vasquez makes it sound like they have no choice but to die for their country, for Pete’s sake.
Vasquez continues the myth that Pat Tilman was killed by some government plot to silence his dissent against the war. In other words, he thinks that the soldiers he says that he loves so much would treacherously kill one of their own on the order of Darth Cheney. Way to support the troops, there, Jose.
Vasquez also claims that in his 14 years in the Army Reserves, he never got any counter-terrorism training. He was a medic. What part of his job would change in a counter-terrorism environment? Think they have some ninja bandaids or self-propelled stretchers for terrorist operations?
Vasquez, Chiroux, Webb all had no problem drawing their paychecks until they were about to be deployed to war – yet we’re supposed to believe that their motivations were completely altruistic. I’ve told Vasquez that if he was as truly dedicated to his military profession as he’s claimed, the politics wouldn’t have prevented him from deploying and doing his job as a medic.
Vasquez was a medic, Chiroux was a journalist, Webb was a generator operator, Agosto and Bishop repaired radios, Andre Shepherd handed out volleyballs in Iraq because he was too incompetent to repair Apaches. I’m just sayin’….
Jamail claims that because he found some soldiers five years ago that sandbagged on their patrols in Iraq (Jamail uses the “Search and Avoid” term from Vietnam), he claims avoidance of their duties is “widespread” throughout the military. I’d like to see some proof of that – proof beyond a few IVAW members who claim it. We’ve already seen how he falsifies the desertion rates to suit his reportage, we have to assume he does the same in this instance.
By the way, one of Jamail sources in his book for the origins of sandbagged patrols is Geoff “Stolen Valor” Millard.
Jamail also claims that new Private Travis Bishop was jailed for “resisting” despite the fact that he filed for conscientious objector status. He fails to mention that Bishop went AWOL for a week before he filed for CO – that’s why he got a year in jail.
So there’s your introduction to the “new” (IV)AW Executive Director. Pretty much the same as the old director. Still willing to smear the troops, still advocating for desertion, still just another (IV)AW member who hasn’t been to Iraq, yet wears the T-shirt.
Sporkmaster sent us a link to some folks who must’ve got into that bad LSD at Woodstock and who are still suffering from it’s ill effects;
The world needs to find trust and hope again.
The world needs a concrete, visible solidarity for peace.
Troopers with guns (now more than 100,000 and ‘surging’ ) from NATO and other countries have come together for the Afg/Pak War in the mountains and valleys of Afghanistan.
Peacemakers from NATO and other countries should come together for Peace in the mountains and valleys of Afghanistan.
The world needs to witness humanity’s unity with respect to non-violence and peace, in contrast to witnessing humanity’s coalition with respect to violence and war.
I guess they want to go to the mountain regions of Afghanistan and stick daisies in the barrels of NATO troops’ rifles. I hope our forces aren’t traumatized when they come across their rank, headless bodies that will no doubt be strewn about the mountain trails. I also hope our President won’t further strain our treasury by paying out ransoms to get these bozos out of their inevitable predicaments.
Yesterday, I wrote that Admiral Mullen’s statement athat the public support for the war in Afghanistan slipping was actually the White House putting out feelers for a chance to abandon Afghanistan to the Taliban. Last night, Greyhawk sent along a link to the latest proof that Democrats are walking back from the war;
Sen. Russ Feingold, D-WI, called on President Obama to announce a timetable for withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan. “This is a strategy that is not likely to succeed,” Sen. Feingold said about the troop buildup in Afghanistan.
“After eight years, I am not convinced that pouring more and more troops into Afghanistan is a well thought out policy,” said Feingold. The liberal Democrat said he has expressed his reservations with President Obama, Admiral Mullen, and others inside the administration and he says he has “never been convinced they have a good answer.”
“I think it is time we start discussing a flexible timetable so that people around the world can see when we are going to bring our troops out,” said Feingold. “Showing the people there and here that we have a sense about when it is time to leave is one of the best things we can do,” he added.
Yeah, a flexible timeline for withdrawal from Iraq has worked so well, hasn’t it? I guess they can just dust off their old Iraq timeline speeches and change the place names.
It’s all because they’re losing their base on their domestic agenda and the Democrats want to appease the intellectually vacant MoveOn crowd – with lives. al Qaeda lost Iraq in a humiliating defeat, and I guess the Obama Administration wants to give them a morale raising victory in Afghanistan. All so we can have socialized healthcare. Sweet.
Yes, Chris, there is a leak. In fact it’s more like a wide-open floodgate. There are people in IVAW that aren’t happy with the direction you’re taking the organization. In fact, I noticed that half of the members at the Houston Chapter have had their profiles removed. The most prominent being Brandon Neely who was pretty popular with the media back in February when I wrote about him. In fact I found his testimony to be fairly forthright, a bit overstated and dramatic, but truthful nonetheless – that’s more than I can say about new board members Buonomo and Chiroux.
I noticed another member is missing a profile, too – another actual veteran of the war against terror. One I’d never written about because he’d behaved himself.
Not only is information leaking out of IVAW, it’s bleeding membership.
And, oh, don’t flatter yourself – this isn’t a military counterintelligence operation against IVAW – I’m just a guy sitting in my La-Z-Boy with a couple of laptops.
Lennox Yearwood, Jr. calls himself “Reverend” but I can’t find a church where he ministers. He calls himself a Second Lieutenant in the Air Force Reserve, but I can’t find a record. There are volumes about him on the internet, for example, on Wikipedia, that wax endlessly about his “activism”, but hardly mention his military service. When it suits him, he mentions it, but only as a shield. Here’s his profile at IVAW; (more…)
I don’t know what I can say about this photograph of Congressional candidate who is still an IVAW member, Adam Kokesh, so I’ll let my readers provide the commentary;
The Santa Fe Reporter has already decided who they want to represent them, I guess;
