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

Category: Veterans For Peace/VVAW

  • Hal Muskat: don’t thank me

    Yes, there are 363 days every year to express your personal disrespect for soldiers. Just like a black person thinks he has a right to call other black people the “n” word, some veterans think they can use Veterans’ Day to call other veterans vile names. Hal Muskat, one of the original zombies of the VVAW, is just like that. He begins his Veterans Day rant by trying to undo all of the work veterans and their service organizations have accomplished over the last thirty years;

    hal-muskat

    Every time I hear, “Thank-you for serving!” I want to reply, “Fuck You!”

    For which of the following are you thanking me:
    a) learning how to do field abortions on “pregnant gook girls”;
    b) Being part of a military that is responsible for millions of deaths in Vietnam;
    c) Refusing orders to Vietnam;
    d) Participating in the GI Movement;
    e) Thinking for myself;
    f) Not thinking for myself;
    g) Following or not following orders?

    Now, if I read that correctly, and in reverse order, Muskat never went to Vietnam, but somehow performed “field abortions” on Vietnamese women? I guess he’s another Doug Zachary and Ward Reilly who want you to think he went to Vietnam, but didn’t.

    Then he establishes his right to call veterans names on their day;

    As a member of the United States Army from 1965 – 1970, I was NOT defending America, our allies, your families or friends. America was NOT being attacked by the Vietnamese, much in the same way that America is NOT being attacked by Iraqis.

    I for one, do NOT thank current soldiers for their service in Iraq or Afghanistan! I thank and honor those who repudiate this nation’s militarism. I thank Iraq Veterans Against the War for their thought, action and lives. I thank those veterans who organized and testified at the IVAW Winter Soldier Hearings last year and who continue to give witness to atrocity and mayhem.

    On Veteran’s Day, I salute, in addition to IVAW, Vietnam Veterans Against the War, Veterans For Peace, The National Liberation Front of Vietnam, WWII Allied Forces led by General Dwight Eisenhower; I salute Resistance Fighters against the nazi’s throughout Europe; Resistance movements from South Africa to South Harlem, from Philadelphia to Nicaragua where my government spent millions attempting to overthrow a democratic government who’s president had the nerve to be critical of the United States.

    This level of ignorance and stupidity has only one cure – a swift kick in the ‘nads. Repeatedly. He was a failure, so he thinks that, because you’re not a failure like him, you don’t have the right to be credited for your faithful service to the nation.

    Yeah, Hal, I’m guessing not too many people have thanked you for your level of service to your country. No wonder you’re bitter.

  • Politicizing Veterans Day

    Zedechek sent us a link to this article in the Burlington Free Press this morning about some dick by the name of Jon Hausrath who the mayor of Burlington, VT, Bob Kiss, allowed to speak for him at the local VFW yesterday;

    The event began at 11 a.m. and was organized by VFW Howard Plant Post 782 in Burlington. Post Commander Bob Colby said Wednesday after the event that he and many others were offended by Hausrath’s remarks.

    “He was basically saying that you shouldn’t serve your country; you should avoid being in the service; and there’s agencies and people out there that will help you dodge the draft or whatever,” Colby said. “It wasn’t an honorable position to be a veteran, I guess was pretty much what he was saying.”

    The remarks had no place at a Veterans Day event, Colby said. “It was terrible. It was very bad.”

    When I worked in Burlington, Bernie Sanders was the mayor. Apparently, it’s gone even further downhill there in the 18 years since I left. Mayor Kiss claims that he didn’t know that Jon Hausrath would crap all over a non-politcal event like Veterans Day, but he admits he knows that Hausrath was a local peace activist. Well, what did he think the pinhead say?

    Hausrath stood by his comments late Wednesday. “I was commemorating the conscientious objectors of the past, veterans who have resisted war and pretty much gone unspoken.”

    “Gone unspoken”? WTF does that mean? Did the illiterate bumpkin mean “unheard”? Because that’s a lie – it’s all we’ve heard in the last four decades. And if he meant unspoken, tell when they’ve ever shut up?

    Ask the people who emailed me tips yesterday how I thanked them for their tips but explained that I was keeping politics out of Veterans Day. But, the Vets For Peace can’t have the same consideration with their annual whine fest about not being allowed to march in veterans’ parades with their anti-war banners, and now this draft-dodging, hippie, flatlander mayor lets some other hippie speak for him at a VFW event. From Wikipedia about Kiss;

    Although called up by a draft board for military service, he was granted conscientious objector status and performed alternative service at a hospital in Boston.

    And then joined the Peace Corps. Although Jon Hausrath doesn’t appear in the members list of IVAW, a Google search turned up his participation in their “Combat Paper” project.

    Poor judgment all around. If I were the post commander, and I’m not, I would never invite another Burlington mayor to a Veterans Day or Memorial Day event. At least until the voters of Burlington quit electing flatlanders.

    Zedechek wrote that he saw some IVAW T-shirts in the crowd – I’d guess that Jan Michael Turner was one of them. Turner was the Vermonter who, at Winter Soldier II, tore off us medals and tossed them on the floor and proudly announced that his left hand wasn’t his “choking hand” anymore.

  • (IV)AW-TX weighs in on Fort Hood shootings

    Our reportage on the Fort Hood shootings wouldn’t complete if we excluded the (IV)AW view. The Under the Hood Cafe crowd takes Doug Zachary‘s advice and uses the incident as an excuse to raise money – and completely ignore the facts of the shooter;

    under-the-hood-hasan

    Now, the part that I would point out as patently false is this;

    …this shooting does not come as a shock. Eight years of senseless wars have taken a huge toll on our troops and their families. It’s time to admit that the wars in southwest Asia are in no one’s best interests. Bring the troops home now!

    The Army has also repeatedly demonstrated that it is more interested in making soldiers “deployable” than it is in helping them fully recover from PTSD and other mental health issues. This often leaves soldiers with few options other than to self-medicate with drugs and alcohol.

    Yes, we’re not shocked because we’ve always fully expected that a doctor who had never been to the war, who didn’t “self-medicate with drugs and alcohol” would go berserk and it’s Bush’s fault. None of those soldiers who went to the war, have real PTSD as a result have gone berserk and shot scores of other soldiers – but we expected this. That’s what happens when you let Doug Zachary write your press releases. You’re all willing to perpetuate the “vet as a lunatic” image for own little selfish purposes – irrespective of the facts.

    Of course, Texas’ own Carl Webb who sees racism behind every scrub oak doesn’t blame Hasan either – it’s you white people (who by the way persecute poor Carl Webb, who also fully supports Hasan’s murder of American soldiers as a means of resistance);

    webb-hasan

    Now, I know of one instance of Hasan being persecuted a few months back, but it was off-base and being handled by local authorities.

    John Van de Walker, allegedly keyed Hasan’s car and also removed and tore up a bumper sticker that read “Allah is Love.” Thompson said Van de Walker had been in Iraq and was upset to learn that Hasan was Muslim.

    A report filed with Killeen police on Aug. 16 indicates that Hasan’s vehicle, a 2006 Honda Civic, had been scratched by an unknown object causing an estimated $1,000 worth of damage. The report indicates that Van de Walker, 30, was arrested on Oct. 21 and charged with criminal mischief. The matter has been referred for prosecution, according to the report.

    It certainly doesn’t explain why Hasan went on-base and shot 40 people. But, then Carl Webb likes to blame all of his problems on racism, too. He called the IVAW decision to curb his verbal support of violent action against soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan racist, too. He tried to call us racists. It was probably racist of the Texas National Guard to expect him to deploy with them. TXNG sure dodged that bullet.

  • Making excuses

    So now we’re left to clean up behind Nidal Hasan – and everybody wants to be an expert. He did it because he is an Arab, he did it because the Army trained him to do it, he did it because of his long hours of listening to disturbing stories from his patients, he did it because George Bush destroyed the military, he did it because Barack Obama destroyed the military.

    The Washington Post calls him a devout Muslim.

    He prayed every day at the Muslim Community Center in Silver Spring, a devout Muslim who, despite asking to be discharged from the U.S. Army, was on the eve of his first deployment to war.

    His aunt told the Post that he was picked upon by his peers for his ethnicity;

    In an interview, his aunt, Noel Hasan of Falls Church, said he had endured name-calling and harassment about his Muslim faith for years after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and had sought for several years to be discharged from the military.

    CAIR rushed out a statement that they condemn Hasan’s crime;

    A prominent national Muslim civil rights and advocacy group tonight condemned an attack on Fort Hood military base in Texas that left at least 12 people dead.

    In a statement, the Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said:

    “We condemn this cowardly attack in the strongest terms possible and ask that the perpetrators be punished to the full extent of the law. No religious or political ideology could ever justify or excuse such wanton and indiscriminate violence. The attack was particularly heinous in that it targeted the all-volunteer army that protects our nation. American Muslims stand with our fellow citizens in offering both prayers for the victims and sincere condolences to the families of those killed or injured.”

    Veterans with PTSD are more than willing to use this case to prove their own short fuses and the media is more than willing to make it about Hasan being a veteran – more than they’re willing to make it about him being a Muslim (Thanks to Just A Grunt for the video);

    ADDED: One of those studs at Fort Bragg sent us a link to the transcript if you can’t watch the video.

    The IVAW offers “heartfelt condolences” even though until just a few weeks ago, they harbored members who publicly encouraged these types of attacks (Carl Webb). Doug Zachary, a VVAW/VFP member says those murdered soldiers had it coming and that Hasan didn’t kill enough of his fellow soldiers. Dahr Jamail blames the military itself.

    Here’s a theory I have, that won’t be very popular; Hasan was/is a cheesy pogue pussy. He liked the amenities of being stationed near his home and living in the big city with a Major’s salary and suddenly he found himself at nasty-ass Fort Hood (I spent two years there and every minute trying to leave) looking at a deployment to a nastier place.

    I don’t think he did it because of his faith (but he’ll use it as an excuse), or because of PTSD (ditto). The Army doesn’t train their psychiatrists to shoot rooms full of people, so it’s not the Army’s fault. It’s this spoiled little rich kid (by the way, he ignored his father’s advice when he joined the Army – listen to your father), who couldn’t stand the thought of being uncomfortable.

    What? Too simple? No room for anyone to use him as their poster boy?

    Exactly.

  • Doug Zachary smells a fund raising opportunity

    Doug Zachary is another one of those Vietnam Veterans Against the War who never went to Vietnam – he got booted from the Marines for being a derelict. Now he’s an IVAW straphanger – he hangs out where he smells money. Here’s the email he sent out to friends to raise money for “Under the Hood Cafe”, the anti-war coffee house in Killeeen, TX outside the Fort Hood gate;

    Really … ?!? … you don’t say!

    There has always been “something very bad afoot at Fort Hood”.

    Fort Hood is a place where people are taught to kill and to believe in killing.

    In the context of what Ft Hood has meant to innocent people around the planet, this is no mass killing.

    Donate to Under the Hood, a place where such brainwashing is deconstructed.

    doug

    Yeah, the psychiatrist who did the killing wasn’t trained by the Army to kill, so what’s your point, Doug? Are you saying that those folks who were shot deserved it? That’s how it reads to me.

  • Milwaukee disses Geezers for Sitting on Our Hands

    Every year, the Geezers for Sitting on Our Hands (in some circles known as Veterans For Peace) get mad because someone won’t let them march in a local parade on Veterans Day. This year it’s Milwaukee;

    Members of Veterans for Peace have again been barred from participation in Milwaukee’s Veterans Day Parade.

    Although the parade website says the event is “Honoring all Americans who have served,” it has refused to allow Veterans for Peace members – many of whom are combat veterans with Purple Hearts – from taking part in the observance on Saturday, Nov. 7.

    The parade committee said Veterans for Peace is “a politically motivated group,” and therefore not welcome to be in the parade.

    So much for “honoring all Americans who have served.”

    Yeah, I’m heartbroken. This is from the Milwaukee Veterans For Peace website (excuse the all caps – they’re a rowdy bunch, apparently);

    MILWAUKEE VFP MEMBERS PLEDGE TO RESTRAIN OUR GOVERNMENT FROM USING WAR AS A FOREIGN POLICY. THROUGH OUR COLLECTIVE EXPERIENCE WE SEEK TO BRING A PUBLIC AWARENESS OF THE REAL COSTS OF WAR. WITH JUSTICE AND HUMAN COMPASSION WE CAN LEARN TO LIVE IN A RESPONSIBLE AND NON-DESTRUCTIVE MANNER WITH OUR PLANET. OUR PURPOSE, GOALS AND WAY OF LIFE ARE DEDICATED TO ACHIEVING THIS.

    Now what that says to me is that they are necessarily a group that honors veterans, but rather a group of (dubious) veterans who want to use that status for political gain. Is that what Veterans Day is all about?

    According to reports, Chairman of the Milwaukee Veterans Day Committee, David Drent, answered VFP’s application for participation with this;

    “There is no doubt that your organization is a politically motivated group. One visit to the organization’s website makes your views perfectly clear.

    “We don’t make judgment on your purpose. End the war or escalate it carries the same weight with the board. A political statement is being made and there is no room in the parade for it.”

    “We thank you for your service in our Armed Forces, but our goal has always been to have a day of honor that is 100% politically free.”

    So VFP is outraged that other veterans groups are allowed to participate;

    Yet the Veterans of Foreign Wars is welcome to march in the parade, even though its commander, Thomas Tradewell of Sussex, WI, recently called on President Obama to “heed the assessment and advice of his military leaders” and send 40,000 more troops to Afghanistan, suggesting that as commander-in-chief Obama’s job is to do what the generals recommend.

    And politicians, some of whom are not even veterans, are invited to participate in the parade.

    Apparently the parade committee doesn’t consider pro-escalation positions or even politicians to be “political.” Veterans for Peace is in a class by itself.

    Yes, VFP is in a class by itself in this case. And that bonehead response proves it. The VFW commander doesn’t support the troops for political reasons – only VFP does that. The other VSOs that are participating in the parade support the troops using political means.

    VFP uses troops to support their politics. See the difference, Gomer?

    In addition to the official Veterans Day parade, a peace-focused event is being organized by Veterans for Peace, Iraq Veterans Against the War and Vietnam Veterans Against the War. Organizers say it will revive the traditional spirit of Veterans Day and the Armistice Day celebrations following World War I. The event will be held at 7 p.m. Nov. 11 in the City Hall Rotunda.

    Then what the hell are you bitching about?

  • Military Rape Awareness Week

    The Veterans for Peace have declared this “Military Rape Awareness Week” and announce that they’re so enlightened, that they actually oppose rape in the military.

    Actually, I oppose rape, too. But can anyone doubt that Veterans For Peace oppose rape because they can use it to smear the troops? In, fact, if you heard that this crowd of anti-troops organizations were protesting at a military recruiting station in Times Square, would you really think they were protesting rape?

    In New York City on Tuesday, October 13th members of VFP, Iraq Veterans against the War, Granny Peace Brigade, Codepink: Women for Peace, World Can’t Wait, Artists Response Team, We will not be Silent, and V-Day will gather at the Armed Forces Recruiting Station in Times Square to warn potential women recruits about the alarming rates of sexual assault and rape of women in the military.

    Of course, they really had to dig to find a “scientific” study (link is to a .pdf file) that would back their charge that 1-in-3 women in the military are raped. If you look at the sampling for the “study”, the “researchers” sent out questionnaires to more than 2100 women and less than a third replied. I guess it never entered their pointy heads that women who had suffered rape while in the military would be more likely to reply, huh?

    I don’t doubt that rape is a problem in the military – even if there was only one rape in twenty years, it’s a problem. But 1-in-3 women? Of course, the study further prostitutes itself by pointing out that 75% of the victims never report those rapes. Oh, and did I mention that the report was done in 1996 and the women were in the military in the previous twenty years?

    But no corrupted study will prevent the forces of peace and enlightenment from standing their unwashed asses in front of a recruiting station and accusing recruiters of facilitating rape.

    The other day, we saw a video of Matthis Chiroux who charged the military with “dehumanizing” foreigners. The anti-war crowd “dehumanizes” the entire military by making specious charges like this. This is the 21st Century version of spitting on the troops.

    I remember the anti-war protests ended during the Vietnam War when once, in New York City, construction workers got tired of the hippies protesting one day. The construction workers climbed down off of their steel perches and proceeded to pound the protesters.

    I’m just sayin’….

  • IVAW: October is Afghanistan Awareness Month

    I really don’t know what their point is, but the IVAW has named October Afghanistan Awareness Month. Their stated goal;

    We hope to bury the myth, once-and-for-all, that Afghanistan is “the Good War,” because too many Amercans are still on the fence about it.

    Now is the time to sharpen debate and broaden consensus that the U.S. must get out of Afghanistan.

    That’s funny because even the Executive Director, Jose Vasquez, has said that he wouldn’t have filed conscientious objector paperwork if only the Army had decided to send him to Afghanistan instead of Iraq. I guess he’s had a reawakening since then.

    IVAW chapters around the country also will be holding college teach-ins and other educational events to share what they know about the Afghanistan occupation.

    “…to share what they know”? Based on things like Matthis Chiroux’s six days inside the wire at Bagram? Actual Afghanistan veterans must be few and far between at this point in their organizational history. “What they know” must be limited to things they’ve read in Facebook. In fact, their knowledge base is so narrow these days, Dahr Jamail, journalist to the fakers, is forced to write books with interviews he obtained five or six years ago and reports it as today’s news.

    I’m sure that VFP will be able to find one of their members who served with Rudyard Kipling to round out the analysis, though.