Preventive war was an invention of Hitler. Frankly, I would not even listen to anyone seriously that came and talked about such a thing.
--Dwight D. Eisenhower
Under no circumstances should the U.S. again go to war as the result of a resolution that comes from an unelected, foreign body, such as the United Nations.
War is sometimes necessary, and when it is, it should be declared by Congress, as required by the U.S. Constitution. Amazingly, however, Congress has not declared war since World War II.
"The Congress shall have power...
To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal,
and make rules concerning captures on land and water;"
-U.S. Constitution, Article I, Section 8
http://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/constitution.articlei.html
Iraq War resister Cliff Cornell deported from Canada
By Courage to Resist and friends. Updated February 10, 2009
Reports to Fort Stewart today, court martial expected
U.S. war resister Cliff Cornell surrendered himself to U.S. border police on February 4 after being ordered to leave Canada. He was promptly arrested for being AWOL from the U.S. Army, and taken to the Whatcom County Jail in Bellingham, Washington. During a vigil by local supporters the next day (photo below), Cliff was released! Upon release he was ordered to travel on his own to Fort Stewart, Georgia. This morning Cliff surrendered to the AWOL Apprehension Unit at Fort Stewart.
http://www.couragetoresist.org/x/content/view/662/1/
Ron Paul Leads Military Donations Race
James Joyner | Thursday, October 18, 2007 Ron Paul is leading all candidates in donations from “current military employees,” the Houston Chronicle reports.
Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul, the congressman from the Houston area who opposes the Iraq war, has gotten more contributions than any other White House contender from donors identified as affiliated with the military. According to a Houston Chronicle analysis of campaign records from January through September, Paul received $63,440 in donations from current military employees and several retired military personnel.
Democrat Barack Obama, another war critic, was second in military giving. The Illinois senator got $53,968 during the nine months.
He was followed by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz, a decorated Navy pilot and former Vietnam prisoner of war, who received $48,208 in military-related giving. McCain has been one of the most vigorous defenders of President Bush’s decision this year to increase U.S. troops in Iraq.
http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/archives/ron_paul_leads_military_donations_race/
Iraq vets and post-traumatic stress: No easy answers
Story Highlights Study shows 1 in 5 U.S. veterans of Iraq, Afghanistan has PTSD, depression
One study found about half seek treatment; other study, less than 40 percent do
Kris Goldsmith returned from Iraq depressed, angry and profoundly changed
Today Goldsmith works with veterans' rights groups and anti-war movement
By A. Chris Gajilan CNN Senior Producer BELLMORE, New York (CNN) -- Walking through a crowded shopping mall can bring back memories of war. The shifting crowds, the jostle of passers-by and the din can all trigger Army Sgt. Kristofer Goldsmith's post-traumatic stress disorder.
READ WHOLE ARTICLE:
http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/conditions/10/24/ptsd.struggle/index.html
Veterans make up 1 in 4 homeless
WASHINGTON (AP) — Veterans make up one in four homeless people in the United States, though they are only 11% of the general adult population, according to a report to be released Thursday. And homelessness is not just a problem among middle-age and elderly veterans. Younger veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan are trickling into shelters and soup kitchens seeking services, treatment or help with finding a job.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-11-07-homeless-veterans_N.htm
U.S. Army recruiting at the mall with videogames
By Jon Hurdle
PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - The U.S. Army, struggling to ensure it has enough manpower as it fights wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, is wooing young Americans with videogames, Google maps and simulated attacks on enemy positions from an Apache helicopter.
Departing from the recruiting environment of metal tables and uniformed soldiers in a drab military building, the Army has invested $12 million in a facility that looks like a cross between a hotel lobby and a video arcade.
The U.S. Army Experience Center at the Franklin Mills shopping mall in northeast Philadelphia has 60 personal computers loaded with military videogames, 19 Xbox 360 video game controllers and a series of interactive screens describing military bases and career options in great detail.
Potential recruits can hang out on couches and listen to rock music that fills the space.
http://www.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUSTRE50819H20090110
Lt. Watada - pledge to refuse deployment to an "illegal war" in Iraq. http://www.couragetoresist.org/x/
GI RESISTANCE
Iraq Vet Speaks Out
Veterans Speak Out
TROOPS MEDICAL CARE & OTHER
SOLDIER SUICIDE EPIDEMIC
GANGS IN THE MILITARY
From an Angry Soldier
LETTER FROM AN ANGRY SOLDIER
Letter placed on craigslist by former soldier. Even if her language offends you, it is understandable. You should be able to understand her anger and frustration in what she has written. Very powerful. Source
I'm having the worst damn week of my whole damn life so I'm going to write this while I'm pissed off enough to do it right.
I am SICK of all this bullshit people are writing about the Iraq war. I am abso-fucking-lutely sick to death of it. What the fuck do most of you know about it? You watch it on TV and read the commentaries in the newspaper or Newsweek or whatever god damn yuppie news rag you subscribe to and think you're all such fucking experts that you can scream at each other like five year old about whether you're right or not. Let me tell you something: unless you've been there, you don't know a god damn thing about it. It you haven't been shot at in that fucking hell hole, SHUT THE FUCK UP!
How do I dare say this to you moronic war supporters who are "Supporting our Troops" and waving the flag and all that happy horse shit? I'll tell you why. I'm a Marine and I served my tour in Iraq. My husband, also a Marine, served several. I left the service six months ago because I got pregnant while he was home on leave and three days ago I get a visit from two men in uniform who hand me a letter and tell me my husband died in that fucking festering sand-pit. He should have been home a month ago but they extended his tour and now he's coming home in a box.
You fuckers and that god-damn lying sack of shit they call a president are the reason my husband will never see his baby and my kid will never meet his dad.
And you know what the most fucked up thing about this Iraq shit is? They don't want us there. They're not happy we came and they want us out NOW. We fucked up their lives even worse than they already were and they're pissed off. We didn't help them and we're not helping them now. That's what our soldiers are dying for.
Oh while I'm good and worked up, the government doesn't even have the decency to help out the soldiers whos lives they ruined. If you really believe the military and the government had no idea the veterans' hospitals were so fucked up, you are a god-damn retard. They don't care about us. We're disposable. We're numbers on a page and they'd rather forget we exist so they don't have to be reminded about the families and lives they ruined while they're sipping their cocktails at another fund raiser dinner. If they were really concerned about supporting the troops, they'd bring them home so their families wouldn't have to cry at a graveside and explain to their children why mommy or daddy isn't coming home. Because you can't explain it. We're not fighting for our country, we're not fighting for the good of Iraq's people, we're fighting for Bush's personal agenda. Patriotism my ass. You know what? My dad served in Vietnam and NOTHING HAS CHANGED.
So I'm pissed. I'm beyond pissed. And I'm going to go to my husband funeral and recieve that flag and hang it up on the wall for my baby to see when he's older. But I'm not going to tell him that his father died for the stupidty of the American government. I'm going to tell him that his father was a hero and the best man I ever met and that he loved his country enough to die for it, because that's all true and nothing will be solved by telling my son that his father was sent to die by people who didn't care about him at all.
Fuck you, war supporters, George W. Bush, and all the god damn mother fuckers who made the war possible. I hope you burn in hell.
http://www.craigslist.org/about/best/sfo/309485032.html
The U.S. has now been fighting two wars for nearly eight years and its impact on soldiers is staggering. As Katie Couric reports, sometimes soldiers direct their anger at their loved ones.
