This ain't Hell, but you can see it from here

Category: Iraq Veterans Against the War

  • Preliminary information on the IVAW Board election

    We’ve been getting some early results of the IVAW Board election which took place this weekend. One of our IVAW refugees reports that Matthis Chiroux is now on the board along with Michael Kindlinger and Seth Manzel.

    That’s half of them – by the way, none of those three were endorsed by This Ain’t Hell, which probably helped them. We can speculate on the other three, but we’ll wait to see who are the actual choices.

    We still don’t know who the new ED is, yet. Judging by their last selection, it could be anyone. Literally. It might be you.

    Added: By special request from one of our refugees;
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  • Ackerman; Too bad Agosto wasn’t a birther

    Spencer Ackerman, who has been fired from nearly every Leftist rag on the East Coast, takes up for Victor Agosto at his latest employment venture, the Washington Independent;

    agostoackerman

    Ackerman probably doesn’t understand the difference between a Reserve Officer who volunteered for duty, then changed his mind and a Regular Army soldier who was ordered and then refused to report for duty. Of course Ackerman sees political expediency as the reason that Cook didn’t go to jail and ignores the rules that govern personnel issues of military members.

    Yeah, Ackerman put a partial explanation in parenthesis, but it’s all secondary to the point he wanted to make that birthers get a pass with Obama administration pulling strings to hide their boss’ deep dark secret.

    That’s probably why Ackerman can’t keep a job.

  • Agosto is just like Ali – only completely different

    I know it’s rough for a journalist to write something that everyone else has written about and give it a new twist – I try to do that every day here – but this is just poor research. Todd Wright at the NBC bureau in Miami wrote this yesterday; Miami Soldier Headed to Jail for Ali Stance;

    Spc. Victor Agosto might not be the greatest but he appears to have the same views as Muhammad Ali when it comes to war. And now he will serve jail time just like the former heavyweight champ.

    That was his whole point – Agosto is like Muhammed Ali. Yeah, well that’s not exactly true – in fact it’s not even broadly true. For starters, Agosto isn’t a famous 6’3″ black boxer.

    Muhammad Ali was sentenced to five years in prison, but he never served a day. On the other hand, Victor Agosto will do his whole thirty days in prison. Muhammad Ali didn’t refuse to go to war – he refused to be drafted. He probably would not have gone to Vietnam if he’d joined because of his fame and ability to draw a crowd. He would have been more valuable as a recruiting tool than a fighting soldier in the jungle.

    Muhammad Ali declared himself a conscientious objector, Victor Agosto has declared that he’s NOT a conscientious objector. Muhammad Ali refused the draft because of his religious beliefs, Victor Agosto refused to be sent to war because he thinks somehow the war in Afghanistan is illegal.

    So how is Victor Agosto like Muhammed Ali? Well, they both went to court once – so he’s just exactly like Muhammed Ali – only completely different.

    Below the fold is a screenshot of the article in case it gets yanked.
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  • IVAW; the peace movement’s stalking horse

    All week we’ve been running a series about the prospective Board of Directors of the IVAW. As we documented, the IVAW is more interested in being a band of peace activists than a veterans’ organization like Vote Vets worries more about Democrat legislative priorities than veterans’ issue. Well, here’s something I found last night in my usual perusal of the lunatic Left;

    call-for-action

    Notice were it says “Endorsers (list in formation)”? IVAW is the first organization listed – that means they’ll be in the front of the protest march. Why? What does the G-20 conference have to do with veterans? Are they withholding some benefits? Closing veterans facilities? The IVAW refugees who hang out here have told us that the third plank of their platform (Full benefits, adequate healthcare (including mental health), and other support for returning servicemen and women) was more of an after thought than a real goal.

    In an interview last year, Medea Benjamin said that IVAW gives the peace movement it’s “street creds”, that’s why whenever you see Medea in DC, her poodle Geoffrey [Stolen Valor] Millard is near. That’s all that matters to the peace movement, using the IVAW for a stalking horse.

  • The IVAW Board Series: S. Brian Reinhold

    This is the final installment of the seven part series on the prospective IVAW Board of Directors – unless TSO decides to do an installment on Selena Coppa. We’ve seen four members of six who are more concerned with fund raising and being an activist anti-war organization than they are with being a veterans organization. Mr. Reinhold, however is so squishy that it’s difficult to tell what he thinks.

    He gives no definitive answers to any questions. For example when asked where he sees IVAW in 2,5 and 10 years, he writes;

    In two years the organization will still be pushing for an immediate withdraw from Iraq. Membership will grow based on this position.

    In five years the organization will be pushing for direct withdraw from Afghanistan. Membership will grow based on this position. The inclusion of Afghanistan veterans will have to be reflected in the organization or will need a branch off organization to meet this need.

    In ten years the IVAW will be large enough to support a possible merger with small organizations that will help us meet our collective goals without compromising our moral and just positions.

    Huh? That’s pretty vacuous. But then he’s a teacher, what would you expect? Without the answer key, I’m sure he has difficulty with any questions. To his credit, he actually served in the military and served in Iraq;

    My service time in OIF III consisted of Apache maintenance and logistic support without, thankfully, direct engagement. My civilian background is in the visual arts and education.

    He mentions outreach, but I suspect he means to build the number of activists and not to help veterans with their problems;

    The most pressing issues facing the organization are:
    1) Membership: more outreach on bases, pr to active duty and reserves.
    2) Creating a national bond between locals and members: time and action.
    3) Political action: whether it be working with or deposing of politicians, IVAW should lead the way as an organization made up of people with national ties as strong as the military.

    He lists membership in countless unions along with VFP and ANSWER (yep, that ought to make the parents of his students feel better) so we can only guess at his intentions on the IVAW Board.

  • World Can’t Wait protests NAACP

    It seems that the World Can’t Wait and their attendant affiliates got angry at the NAACP “Diversity Career Fair” at their annual convention earlier this month. In the post-racial era, the Left decided that people of color shouldn’t be allowed the opportunity to serve their country and reap the benefits of the service. And who is surprised that Matthis Chiroux was on hand;

    The demonstration was a follow up to a press conference held on Saturday July 11th, the opening day of the convention where Benjamin Jealous, CEO and President of the NAACP, was asked by a high school student and a military mother why military recruiters were invited to recruit, given that the NAACP had come out against the Iraq war. Benjamin Jealous refused to disinvite the Army Strong Recruitment Tour and said that the recruiters would not be recruiting.

    At the press conference this afternoon Debra Sweet, representatives of the Ya Ya Youth Network, revolution youth, war resister Mathis Chiroux, and Barbara Harris all spoke very eloquently as to why the NAACP should not allow military recruiters into its convention. The main points driven home were that the wars/occupations decided to go inside the convention to see what the Army Strong Tour was doing. What we found was appalling. Over 60% over the Diversity Career Fair was military.

    That’s horrible – unless you factor in that the military is the most color-blind facet of our society and has been for decades. In fact, one Black recruiter got a first hand look of the racist attitude of the writer of this piece;

    The recruiter tried to defend recruitment by going into what the navy had done for her. My activist friend began to tell her she understood that this recruiter felt that the navy had done a lot for her but … This was when the conversation was cut short by another Black male recruiter approaching us and demanding to know what we were doing there. He demanded that we leave and that if we didn’t we would be escorted out. My friend asked why. We were told we were being loud and disruptive.

    The Black female was obviously so stupid that she didn’t realize that the Navy had abused her somehow and it took a white loudmouthed Leftist to tell her how her life wasn’t really better.

    All WCW and the others will accomplish is convince more impoverished Blacks to be left out of the economy. According to the Stars and Stripes this morning, the basic training stations are jam-packed with new recruits;

    A sagging economy, declining casualty rate in Iraq and a resurgence in the U.S. military’s popularity appear to have contributed to a strong recruiting year, Army leaders said.

    And the steady training schedule at Fort Jackson is likely to continue into next year as recruits find themselves on a waiting list to report for duty.

    “Shipping dates are anywhere from six weeks to two to three months out,” said Sgt. 1st Class Jay Jenkins, who works at the Army’s downtown Columbia recruiting station.

    So instead of helping minorities out their poverty, WCW and Matthis Chiroux are content to leave them mired in their unfortunate circumstances. Oh, and here’s a little bit about World Can’t Wait from Discover the Networks;

    Founded in June 2005 by Charles Clark Kissinger, a longtime leader of the Revolutionary Communist Party, World Can’t Wait (WCW) is a direct action movement seeking to organize “people living in the United States to take responsibility to stop the whole disastrous course led by the Bush administration.”

    I guess that’s where the money is, huh, Matthis? Did it suddenly dry up in Alabama?

    Thanks to Navy Brat for the link.

  • The IVAW Board Series: Joe Kurtenbach

    I guess the best way to keep a fella from getting a seat on the board is for us to endorse him. I tried really hard to find reasons for IVAW mermbers to vote against Kurtenbach, but I can’t. He actually served in Iraq and he was an infantryman. He’s disabled and so that comes through on his bio;

    The VA is not going looking for you to make sure your back is still feeling O.K or if you are drinking yourself to sleep every night, it might be a sign your holding a lot in. They have little concern due to the fact the burden is on you. They put letters out there in fine print, and if you don’t read or respond, you can lose benefits that WE all deserve. They have the programs. It is a bad deal, but you do have to jump through hoops for your benefits and claims. We all knew the GOVT was slow when we were in, but it is slow when you get out it is slow as well so a lot patience is needed. I think the IVAW should have a hand in helping some of these Veterans know that everything will be fine.

    Most of his bio is about helping the returning veterans, not about the fundraising and protests and organizing. I almost hated writing this about Kutenbach, because it’ll probably damage his chances of sitting on the board.

    To be sure, he still has some pretty radical thoughts on the war. He supports Victor Agosto, the guy who refuses to deploy from Fort Hood, TX and is awaiting a court martial, according to Joe’s website, which also has some pretty strange cartoons that I don’t understand.

    Given that Joe is one of the few candidates that actually thinks about returning veterans, and given the alternatives, TAH heartily endorses Joe Kurtenbach for the IVAW Board of Directors.

    Sorry, Joe.

  • IVAW’s mixed message

    The IVAW board has decided to take action against Carl Webb, but not how you might think. Webb has advocated for soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan to sabotage equipment and hinder our efforts there, putting the troops in more danger. But the IVAW says that’s not against it’s rules. The Board has warned Webb against trying to drive IVAW membership away, instead. This is from a letter the Board sent to several members who complained about Webb;
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