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

Category: Veterans For Peace/VVAW

  • Hippies are sissies

    The above picture is of Doug Zachary handing a check to a member of the Geezers for Sitting on Our Hands. Doug was busted for skimming money from the Austin Chapter of VfP and booted from the chapter. That was stuff I dug up on him last year while we were trying to put the hammer down on a Zachary acolyte you may remember; Carl Webb.

    Zachary was in the Marines in the late sixties and got bounced before he could be deployed to Vietnam, so he fits right in with the IVAW in that regard. He tells the media that he was bounced because of his anti-war views, but he tells friends that he was tossed because he was a gen-you-eye-n shitbird.

    Lately, he’s been the inspiration of one Bobby Whittenberg, head buccaneer at Under The Hood and chief server at the Hu-Man Chinese restaurant (I think…maybe the tattoo means something else).

    Well, anyway, about the picture; the VfP convention is being held this week in Portland, Maine, so that picture was taken this week (and smuggled out to me) and it shows Dougie attending and in good standing, even though he absconded with charitable donations intended for the Austin Chapter.

    I’m confused…are hippie geezers really so stupid that they’ll let thieves near their money again? Such sissies that they’ll let Zachary back in their number without so much as a stern warning?

  • Responses to the Fort Hood Protests.

    Some of the responses to the Fort Hood protest Fail are worth looking at.

    This was posted over on the Rag Blog, a site I have been following for sometime now. So I wanted to highlight two posts there.

    Great story, Al, and three cheers for these courageous war resisters! This is how the war in Viet Nam was finally brought home, by the active participation and leadership from veterans and now, as significantly, from active duty family members.

    I also remember the Oakland draft protests that stopped the troop trains in, I think, 1965 Based, as are these present protests, in total solidarity with the soldiers who are being sent to die in the meat grinder of capitalism.

    We know why kids enlist. Fun, travel, adventure — and now, promises of relevant training and education in a tight, competitive employment market. For working single parents, it can be the only way to support a family. And certainly, the courts continue to channel youthful offenders to the military to get some “discipline”.

    But the so-called all-volunteer military is no more voluntary than it has ever been. In times of economic prosperity, a draft is needed to support the personnel requirements of war. In times of recession or depression, it isn’t. But we don’t have to send our military off to fight and die as oppressors. Can’t we think of useful, peaceful work that can be done here?

    Besides the obvious, has anyone even heard of these Oakland protests? If they did happen in 1965 you can see how much of a impact they really had. Very similar to the Fort Hood protests.

    The second was was to me.

    I say RIGHT ON to the veterans & military family members who took part in this blockade/protest action!!!

    @ masterspork who suggests we should be “looking into Matthis Chiroux past” I have this to say:

    In March 2008 Matthis was a soldier at the US Army’s 5 Corps in Heidelberg Germany when myself and another Vietnam vet named Darnell Summers addressed the troops during a 24 protest at the entrance to this base. I ended my speech saying:

    “To you other men and women on guard duty or listening out of the barracks windows I have this to ask: Are you going to be a sucker for the lying politicians? Are you going to be a mindless fool and obediently march off to take part in the murderous occupation of people in a foreign land who never did you any harm? Or are you going to follow the great traditions of GIs during the Vietnam War by Refusing, Resisting and Rebelling against this unjust war? The choice is your’s. Do the right thing!”

    I first directly met Matthis in April 2009 immediately following the mass anti NATO protests in France which I also took part in.

    To see a news article about his role during this 4 day protest action see:

    From these past actions; through his flag burning back in March of this year; up to his present work supporting GI Resistance Matthis appears to be following the slogan of the GI Movement during Vietnam: “MAKE YOU OWN HISTORY–OR THE MAN WILL MAKE IT FOR YOU!!”

    So once again it is more important about what he is supporting then who he is. Also this person goes by the name Dave. Does that ring a bell about who this person is?

    Also with this in mind I found a article that states that the “anti-Troop” message of the Vietnam era protesters was just a myth of the media. I wonder if when they will do that for the OIF/OEF.

  • Code Pink Protest at Quantico for Manning

    Several of you have sent me notification of Code Pink’s planned protest Sunday noon at Quantico Marine base where Bradley Manning, the Wikileaks, butt-bandit is currently incarcerated. Code Pink and the Left are all calling Manning a “whistleblower”. Although the second half of that phrase might be accurate, I’m pretty sure that it wasn’t a whistle. In the current usage of the word, I guess the Rosenbergs and Alger Hiss were whistleblowers, too. So was Benedict Arnold, I suppose.

    Anyway, for those of you who plan to be in the Metro DC area, there’s a counter-protest being sponsored by Free Republic;

    All patriots are urged to stand up for the Marine Corps and the United States this Sunday, August 8, 2010, from mid-morning to as long as needed as the terrorist support group Code Pink descends on the Quantico Marine Corps Base in Virginia to give aid and comfort to accused Wikileaks traitor Bradley Manning. From the Code Pink website: CODEPINK, Veterans for Peace, Courage to Resist and others will be holding a rally at Quantico Base to support whistleblower Bradley Manning. We will be delivering Bradley Manning letters of support to the base. To submit a letter to be delivered please email it to medea@globalexchange.org and we’ll print it out and hand deliver. If you live in the DC area please join us at the rally. When: Sunday, August 8, noon Where: Quantico Marine Corps Base, VA where Manning is being held in pre-trial confinement Private First Class Bradley Manning, a 22-year-old intelligence analyst stationed in Iraq, stands accused of disclosing a classified video depicting American troops in Iraq shooting civilians from an Apache helicopter in 2007. Eleven people were killed, including two Reuters employees, and two children were critically injured. No charges have been filed against the soldiers who did the killing. News sources have also speculated about Manning’s involvement in the leak of over 90,000 secret documents (collectively known as the Afghanistan “war logs”) made public by WikiLeaks on July 25. RSVP to tell us your coming at medea@globalexchange.org / 415.235.6517 (carpool available). Thank you for turning this leak into a tsunami of anti-war pressure, Bonnie, Dana, Farida, Gael, Gayle, Joan, Jodie, Medea, Nancy, Rae,Victoria and Valerie

    The ‘Jodie’ in the list above is Jodie Evans. She funded Barack Obama’s presidential campaign and works with his administration to undermine Obama’s official war policies. Jodie Evans and Code Pink also work with terrorists and state sponsors of terrorism against the United States. Jodie Evans and Code Pink also act as couriers between terrorists and Obama. Many Freepers remember that Code Pink delivered $650,000 in cash and humanitarian aid to what Code Pink called “the other side” in Fallujah as the Marines were clearing that Iraqi city of al Qaeda and other Sunni terrorists in late 2004. Jodie Evans and Code Pink also publicly endorsed the terrorists in Iraq. Lately Code Pink has been working with Hamas, the Taliban and the Muslim Brotherhood. Code Pink’s treasonous ties to terrorists and Obama has been extensively reported at Big Government and of course here at Free Republic. Code Pink also waged a campaign against the Marine Corps officer recruiting center in Berkeley. Mapquest link for Quantico. Basically, it is off I-95 just south of Dumfries. Afterward, you may want to take the time to visit the nearby National Museum of the Marine Corps. Details as to where to meet in Quantico on Sunday morning will be added to this thread, but plan to arrive around 10 a.m. As always, the D.C. Chapter of FreeRepublic.com’s rules for demonstrating will be in effect. Briefly, they are: No violence, no profanity, no racism, no provocations, obey the law and treat all law enforcement officers with respect.

    Times like this, I miss DC.

    By the way, that MOTHAX guy (whoever he is) has more at The Burnpit.

  • Under the Hood rubs egos in Killeen

    Fort Hood Protest (32)
    So here’s the massive protest the gang from Under the Hood cafe staged at Fort Hood to protest the deployment of 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment’s deployment next month. I don’t know who sent me the pictures, they just fell into my inbox this afternoon.

    Here’s Under the Hood’s press release;

    Attending the rally will be Veterans of the occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan, military family members, active-duty servicemembers and other local activists. Bobby Whittenberg, former Marine, Purple Heart recipient and an organizer of the rally said marchers are standing in solidarity with the people of Iraq and Afghanistan, and troops being deployed against their wills.

    “We need to send a strong message that these wars and occupations are wrong, and that officers sending Soldiers in need of medical care into combat is wrong, too,” said Whittenberg. “Unfortunately in the military, this is standard operating procedure.”

    This latest demonstration comes less than a month after a prior demonstration at the East Gate of Fort Hood opposing the wars. As the latest outrage unfolds in response to the 91,000 documents leaked by Wikileaks detailing numerous human rights violations in Afghanistan, activity in the local peace community is surging, with similar demonstrations planned for the near future.

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  • Har-dee-har-har

    Like two-year-olds;

    I held my thoughts on Mike Kern for more than a year because someone told me he needs help. He doesn’t need help…he needs a playpen and a rattle. ANd this isn’t free speech…it’s grade school playground talk about pee-pee and wee-wee.

    Yeah, I’m not stalking anyone. Concerned people send me this stuff.

  • The IVAW coffee house dilemma

    The poor IVAW folks who are trying to influence the “GI resistance movement” have hit a brickwall called “the reality of operating socialist endeavors in a capitalist environment” – you have to make money;

    My name is Seth Manzel. I am the Executive Director of COFFEE STRONG, a GI coffee house located outside of Fort Lewis. I am sure you are familiar with the coffee house movement of the 1960’s and 70’s, that helped to foster GI resistance against the Vietnam War. You may also be familiar with the modern manifestations of those coffee houses that attempt to promote resistance amongst today’s soldiers.

    COFFEE STRONG at Fort Lewis, Different Drummer near Fort Drum, Under the Hood at Fort Hood and Off Base in Norfolk, VA were all created with a common goal; to end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan by fostering GI resistance. While we all operate independent of each other, and we all have different approaches to what we do, we all provide a comfortable atmosphere for soldiers to speak out against these wars.

    A couple of years ago The Different Drummer closed down for lack of support. Right now, we are in jeopardy of loosing Under the Hood for the same reason. We are all fund intensive operations, but we all work in a field that can’t be done from anywhere else. GI resistance can only be effectively promoted at military bases. It is not something that can be done from Manhattan or LA as effectively as it can from the depressed neighborhoods that surround military bases.

    This is what you can do. You can become a sustaining donor and support one or more of these coffee houses (especially Under the Hood). If you don’t have money, you can repost this and encourage others to do the same. If you live around these bases, donate your time. We all need experienced grant writers.

    There is something very rewarding in seeing the political consciousness of soldiers develop. When they relate the deaths of their brother and sister soldiers, not with the peoples of Iraq and Afghanistan but with the corporate greed that drives American politics, it is clear that our efforts are not wasted. We are all working every day to help these soldiers end the wars. These are the trenches that our movement can directly engaging the military from.

    Yeah, so trying to operate their cafes where they’re not welcomed is confusing for the hippies.

    Ya know what though? These were supposed to places from which they could help soldiers at Forts Hood and Drum. But since they turned them into meeting places for covens of socialists and anarchists, the money and support dried up. Wonder why? Might be because socialist and anarchists really don’t want to help anyone but them-damn-selves.

    Adios, Under The Hood. Better luck next time.

  • Water, Water Everywhere.

    Normally what we have seen from the VFP is annoying antics and pointless protests. So this is why this is very interesting for me. It seems that there is a water project that is trying to get several treatment plants up and working and VFP seems to be running it. See for yourself.

    Veterans for Peace managed to raise close to $200,000 to repair six water treatment facilities which serve a population of more than 85,000 people. Plus, in a public display exhibiting support for the civilian population of Iraq, three teams of US service veterans traveled to Iraq on their own expenses and worked alongside the Iraqi laborers who are fixing the water facilities.

    I mean if this project is actually works it is a good thing, yet if they are running things like this then why are they bothering with useless actions like posting a banner on a empty building with a photo op?

  • IVAW Losing focus

    If you go to the IVAW website and go to the “about” page, you’ll see a list of their goals;

    * Immediate withdrawal of all occupying forces in Iraq;
    * Reparations for the human and structural damages Iraq has suffered, and stopping the corporate pillaging of Iraq so that their people can control their own lives and future; and
    * Full benefits, adequate healthcare (including mental health), and other supports for returning servicemen and women.

    I guess IVAW wike up the other morning and discovered that they were totally irrelevant, and although those goals were worthy and admirable, it’s not enough to raise the vast quantities of money to keep Matthis’ nose full of coke. So this weekend, they took up a couple of other causes that are not related at all to the three listed above.

    Since IVAW blocks TAH from their sight the two irrelevant resolutions are below the jump in their entirety;
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