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…)
Category: Veterans For Peace/VVAW
-
IVAW in Stars and Stripes
For some reason, the Stars and Stripes thinks the opinion of 70 people who call themselves “Iraq Veterans Against the War” (in my opinion, they should change the name to “Random People Off the Street Who Want You to Think They Are Iraq Veterans Against the War“) is important enough to report to our troops overseas;
At its annual convention in College Park, Md., earlier this month, members of Iraq Veterans Against the War vigorously debated what the group’s stance should be on Afghanistan, according to some participants. Opposition to the war quietly became official policy earlier this year following an online membership poll. The vote was said to be close, though no details were publicly released.
“A decision has been made in terms of our position, which is we are against it,” said Jose Vasquez, executive director of IVAW and co-founder of the New York City chapter.
Jose Vasquez, the new Executive Director of RPOSWWYTTAIVAW, decided after 13 years of service as a medic that he was a conscientious objector right before he was supposed to deploy to Iraq (yet claimed he would have gone to Afghanistan).
As is the case with Iraq, the existing IVAW resolution advocates “the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of all occupying forces in Afghanistan and reparations for the Afghan people, and support (for) all troops and veterans working toward those ends.”
The third plank is the least important, of course. You can bet the debate over whether to include Afghanistan as something they oppose included a big discussion over how much money they could make. But who is surprised that a “majority” of members of the RPOSWWYTTAIVAW would vote for this? After all, a “majority” voted to protect Carl Webb’s right to preach sabotaging and killing US forces in theater. A “majority” voted to make Matthis Chiroux, self-admitted rapist who calls himself an Afghanistan veteran, a member of their leadership.
And this so-called “majority” was 70 members of a supposedly 1700-member organization. And did the International Socialist Organization members of RPOSWWYTTAIVAW stack attendance at College Park in their favor? They paid for Carl Webb to attend – how many others’ travel did they pay? And how many of those who got free travel were members aligned with the ISO?
How do I know Carl Webb got a free trip to College Park? He told me.
That was right before his profile disappeared from Facebook.
Not all of the members of RPOSWWYTTAIVAW approve of their new stance against the war in Afghanistan;
One of the members who supports the war in Afghanistan is Army Sgt. Selena Coppa, an active-duty military intelligence specialist based at Wiesbaden, Germany.
“The organization is kind of split on that,” Coppa said.
At times, she added, the issue of whether to oppose the war in Afghanistan “ran the risk of tearing us apart. IVAW is like a family. You don’t want members leaving.”
Well, it looks like you can’t stop that, Selena. I’m hearing rumors that an entire chapter resigned this weekend and some actual veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan from some other important chapters resigned as well. I hope you’re loving your new ISO overlords.
-
IVAW gives advice to State Dept. then promptly ignored
Yes, according to junior space cadet, and newly-elected board member TJ Buonomo, he tried to give advice to the State Department earlier this month. Keep in mind that Buonomo spent a few months in the Army as a second louie (after soaking the US tax payers for an Air Force Academy education), so he introduces himself to a State Department “official” as a “former US Army Intelligence Officer”.
Buonomo, in his own words, “I was discharged from the Army for vocally supporting the impeachment of Vice President Dick Cheney and for denouncing American imperialism as a betrayal of our revolutionary principles”. But he sure throws around that “US Army Intelligence Officer” around like he’s proud of it. And he writes like he’s in high school.
So anyway, after he cleared up his status to the State Department “official” he pretty much got a “no comment” answer. “Numerous attempts to contact the State Department’s Office of International Labor and Corporate Social Responsibility by phone and email have not been responded to.”
Probably because the State Department doesn’t answer letters from pseudo-experts who end their sentences with prepositions. It makes them sound like cranks.
But Buonomo’s whole schtick is that he went to an Iraqi labor conference, well, once the shooting stopped. So he thinks that short stay makes him an expert on labor relations in Iraq – such an expert that he presumes he can advise the State Department.
Of course, to someone who spent 14 months in uniform and calls himself a “former US Army Intelligence Officer” I’m sure a week or so in Iraq seems like time enough to know every thing.
So let’s hear one more time how significant it was that Obama’s veteran adviser met with IVAW at the Democrat National Committee.
-
32 orgs plan assault on Army Experience Center
There’s a plot afoot in Philly by 32 Leftist organizations to assault the Army Experience Center at Franklin Mills Mall near Philadelphia. One of my countless moles forwarded this notice to me;
Activists affiliated with several dozen groups on the east coast will again descend on the Army Experience Center at Franklin Mills Mall in Philadelphia at 2:00 pm on Saturday, September 12, 2009.
A protest on May 2, 2009 at the Army’s interactive video recruiting center was attended by 250 people and saw 7 arrests, but failed to generate mainstream print media coverage.
This time, demonstrators are being encouraged to form small affinity groups and enter the mall through one of several locations. Protesters are encouraged to express their outrage in creative, nonviolent ways.
(more…) -
Matthis Chiroux engaged
I know you’ve been missing our “all-Matthis, all-the-time” format of recent months. We’ve had our highly-compensated staff of reporters and photographers following him day-in and day-out, waiting for something to report. Until now, there’s been nothing.
Finally, from their bunker in Manhattan, our crew reports that Matthis is engaged. A photo of Matthis and the comely lass that we here at This Ain’t Hell agree he richly deserves is below the fold.
-
The IVAW Board Series; Michael Kindlinger
In our continuing series of the prospective members of the IVAW Board of Directors, I’d like you to meet Michael “Trey” Kindlinger. For military service, Kindlinger says he spent nine years in the Navy. Then, suddenly, in 2003 (after said nine years) he discovered he’s a conscientious objector – he claims it’s because of his faith. I can accept that.
Kindinger gets out of the Navy – but his wife is still on active duty. So, he can’t serve because of his faith, but he doesn’t mind living off the money that comes from his wife’s service. I don’t know, to me that seems a bit hypocritical.
In the bio, he lists other organizations to which he belongs;
9. Other organizations in which you have membership: VFP, MFSO, ISO,
Geezers for Sitting on our Hands, that Military Families Speak Out organization which was founded by Charley Richardson and Nancy Lessen, both former members of the Revolutionary Communist Party, and the International Socialist Organization. According to Discover the Network, this is the ISO, which we’ve mentioned often in regards to IVAW;
Evoking the Communist tradition of Karl Marx, Leon Trotsky and Vladimir Lenin, the Chicago-based International Socialist Organization (ISO) aspires to “organize activists in workplaces and communities and on campuses in order to mobilize opposition to all forms of oppression and exploitation.” The chief source of this oppression and exploitation, in ISO’s view, is capitalism — whose inevitable by-products are poverty, environmental degradation, war, famine, and most other ills that plague humanity. ISO places the blame for international strife largely on the United States, and more specifically the Republican Party….
Oh, not coincidently, the VFP and MFSO are also planning assemblies in College Park, MD the same weekend as the IVAW Convention.
But back to Kindlinger, here’s his vision of the organization;
We are an effective organization in organizing the antiwar community; I feel that we’ve been afraid to seize that mantle and should now take that burden and help reinvigorate the antiwar movement.
We MUST help end the illegal and immoral occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan. If necessary, we then must take up the issues of Iran, Palestine, and Pakistan. These, I believe, are all inter-connected and must be dealt with if we have any hope of effecting change we can ALL believe in.
I went through his entire application, and that pretty much sums up the whole thing. Nothing about outreach to help veterans of the wars, nothing about helping members – it’s all about organizing and fund raising. Another member of the IVAW, candidate for the board who never saw Iraq or Afghanistan who is a member of the ISO and is more worried about the “Against the War” part more than the “Iraq Veterans” part.
-
The drama over Peskoff’s resignation
Jeff Peskoff, the member of our little community here at TAH who resigned from IVAW this morning “friended” me at Facebook so I could witness the drama over there as another valued IVAW member left the fold. It’s instructive to read what influence the old VFP/VVAW members hold over the younger members. After the letter that I posted this morning, Jeff wrote;
Tomorrow I will burn my f***in T-shirts. Hopefully someday this war will end or we (the intellectually effective) anti-Iraq War vets will come together to bring it to an end.
To the point that Jeff made in regards to Carl Webb, Ward Reilly, our own phony Ranger, replied;
“The Right Wingers”. That’s us, I’m so proud. But now two months after I wrote the post about Webb, they begin to ask each other if he belongs with them. Little late? This is the third or fourth member to leave (that I know of) because of Webb, not to mention Chiroux.
Reilly admits that he’d rather keep Peskoff than Webb, though, but not before he claims that everyone who went to the war in Iraq is a criminal – including himself because he didn’t stop Peskoff from going. Notice Army Sergeant in there swinging for the honorable service of those who answered their nation’s call;
Reilly goes on to justify Webb’s contention that Iraqis are right to kill Americans. Set aside the fact that mostly we’re killing Al Qaeda at this point.
That comment from Peskoff about the oath of enlistment came from TSO’s post yesterday. I’m so proud.
I’m just sitting here waiting for the day I can post Army Sergeant’s resignation letter, but I’ll probably have to wait until after the IVAW convention next month.
Here’s a question for John Grant; why are you over here defending the “honor” of your organization when it looks like IVAW is falling apart at the seams. You and Reilly should be calling the IVAW board and convince them to kick Carl Webb and Matthis Chiroux to the curb before some more members bolt.
