Code Pink Stands Firm At Berkeley Recruiting Station
Berkeley - Dozens of flag-waving military supporters squared off boisterously with peace activists Wednesday in the first major showdown over a U.S. Marine Corps recruiting station that until recently had been operating below the radar in downtown Berkeley.
Demonstrators led by conservative radio talk-show host Melanie Morgan shouted down members of Code Pink, a group created by Bay Area women, and other peace and social justice groups. The two sides stood on Shattuck Avenue near Addison Street just outside the recruiting station, which was closed Wednesday.
Shortly before noon, there was some pushing and shoving between at least two people, which prompted Berkeley police Sgt. Randy Files to bellow at the anti-war protesters to “move back,” forcing them to gather across the street.
“I determined for everyone’s safety to separate the two groups,” Files said.
Several police officers stood watch, including Berkeley Police Chief Doug Hambleton at one point. There were no arrests, but one protester affiliated with the group The World Can’t Wait was cited for burning an American flag, in violation of a city law banning possession of flaming substances in public. The World Can’t Wait is opposed to President Bush’s policies and wants him out of office.
Members of the two camps shouted at each other and at times yelled the same slogans, including “Support the troops.”
“USA,” one group chanted. “Out of Iraq,” responded the others, who said they were angry that the recruiting station, which relocated from Alameda, is in proximity to Berkeley High School, UC Berkeley and Berkeley City College.
Some demonstrators squared off individually.
“None of us is pro-war! I’m pro-defense,” Kevin Graves, 50, of Discovery Bay shouted at one protester. Graves, whose son Army Spc. Joseph Graves was killed in Baghdad in July 2006, continued, “My son died so you and I can stand here and disagree.”
In an interview, Graves said, “I think they’re misguided,” referring to Code Pink.
But David Santos, 15, of Oakland, said the conservative element was on the wrong side of the issue.
“They represent the social base that’s giving rise to this imperialistic war. Their so-called patriotic attitude,” he said, “just shows their blatant disregard for humanity and what the flag stands for. The very fact that they’re holding it up is enough for us to be out here.”
Graves yelled at another protester, Pablo Paredes, 26, of Oakland and mocked him for his long hair. “Are you a soldier? They wouldn’t let you looking like that,” he said.
Paredes said later that he had served five years in the Navy and that people of color like himself bore the brunt of military service.
“I think the color of my skin shouldn’t make me be on the front line,” Paredes said, adding that he left the Navy because he refused orders and opposed the war in Iraq.
Addressing the crowd, Morgan, a KSFO morning show personality, said, “How much do we have to put up with this, people? They don’t understand that we have a volunteer Army. Why don’t you guys go bother Nancy Pelosi and Hillary Clinton?”
Georgann Seavey, 63, of San Ramon said she was a flight attendant who shuttled troops back and forth from Vietnam.
“I just don’t want to go down that road again, where they’re disrespected,” she said. “We need to support the troops.” Asked for her thoughts on Code Pink, Seavey demurred, saying, “I don’t want to give them any publicity.”
Roberta Allen, 63, wore contact lenses featuring the U.S. flag.
“Number one, I love my country. Number two, I love our troops. I’m here to defend our defenders.”
But a pink-clad Carly Hue, 26, of Berkeley said, “I think you can’t make sense out of people who don’t make sense. You can’t talk to people who won’t listen.”
Medea Benjamin, a co-founder of Code Pink, said members plan to return to the recruiting station each week to protest. “We feel that it’s our obligation because of this war to shut down the recruiting station,” she said.
© 2007 The San Francisco Chronicle
Protesters of voluntary military recruitment in Berkeley (of all places)? Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh must have written early letters to Santa and begged hard for such a gift.
I cannot knock anyone for their well-meant effort to promote peace. I just hope that other issues will overcome the very negative energy that talk radio and others can gin up about military protests at Berkeley.
The goal of the 2008 election is to get some past Republicans to change their votes to Democratic. Every time conservative media is given an excuse to play the patriotism card–and make cruel fun of liberals to their base– that goal is made harder. In other words, fair or not, a well-meant protest in one place CAN have unintended effects, possibly of a greater counter-weight somewhere else. Let’s hope this one gets a pass in rural-land.
With all due respect Daniel David, that is hogwash! Real patriotism is having the guts to question authority at all times, no matter who is in the leadership. If we are continuously afraid of challenging the notion of patriotism - as meaningless flag waving and making our soldiers poster children for imperial uses of our armed forces - put forward by the right in this country, the right will continue own patriotism. Republicans change their votes to democratic because they look around and realize that the tide is changing in another direction. When that tide of anger and resentment is strong enough, the R’s will have to work with the D’s in order to keep their leadership positions.
Good work Medea! Stay in their face! Stare down the dogs of war!
This is exactly what needs to happen. The only way to stop the military machine is to encourage people to not sign up for it. I might prefer an approach such as offering alternatives to over recruited high school seniors, but recruitment is where the action needs to be.
Nationalism and religion, tools of the oligarchy.
Furthermore, we should be taking it a step further by causing these recruitment centers to cease their operations, by placing our bodies between them and their potential recruits! The time to be afraid is over. We absolutely must have the guts to challenge the machine.
Daniel David, you’re right. Pick your battles to be most effective. Don’t back down when challenged, exercise your right to dissent - but when you are deciding where to take your efforts, decide wisely. Make a difference.
I love Medea and Code Pink. They have had an effect, a positive effect. BTW, they have also protested Pelosi and Feinstein. But sometimes, it seems, their targets could have been chosen with more discernment.
“But ultimately, as in any insurgency, war opponents have to re-mobilize the widespread popular support for withdrawal into a broad-based and assertive movement that makes its own realities, and doesn’t rely upon Congressional Democrats but rather gives them no place to hide if they continue to support the Iraq occupation, in any form.”
Steve Niva is a professor of Middle East Studies and International Politics at The Evergreen State College in Olympia, WA
There should be a good answer for “Graves, whose son Army Spc. Joseph Graves was killed in Baghdad in July 2006, continued, “My son died so you and I can stand here and disagree.”
Like “Your son died needlessly then because We have been disagreeing about the Crimes of war before your son was born”.
Like “We are defending freedom which your son’s commander is suppressing here at home so that when other soldiers who live to come home can tell the truth about the kind of freedom they gave Iraq after they destroyed Iraq!”
Maybe next time?
I am glad no body was hurt.
2 images from earlier ‘Nam protests come to mind:
1. An anti-war demonstrator beating a policeman/soldier over the head with a sign reading “Make Love, Not War - Peace Now”.
2. A young woman placing a daisy in the barrel of a national guardsman’s rifle.
The people of the Bay area have to come to terms with the vested interest of their community in the military industrial complex. Bay area activists need not travel to Washington to protest. They can instead show up at the headquarters of one of the MIC’s many mission critical corporations in their area, such as Intel.
They may thank Intel for its great economic contributions to their community and then serve notice that the contributions will from now on be accepted only with very specific conditions, such as a wholesale rejection of the current establishment status quo that has turned a once great democracy into a quasi-fascist quasi-police state.
Even more of us would be here, including Kevin Graves’ son, if the U.S. had not invaded Iraq. Kevin Graves’ son died for nothing. He certainly did not stop George Bush from taking away our freedom of speech.
If you’re a Kucinich supporter I urge you to go to http://democracyforamerica.com/pulsepoll and vote for DFA to support Kucinich for president. Sorry for the cross posting.
You go ladies!
You also seem to be seriously getting under Ms. Pelosi’s skin. Damn fine job there too!
I had some sympathy for people who had joined the military pre-9/11, and then suddenly found themselves fighting wars they never expected to be in. You heard lots of comments in those years about how they had joined the military for the jobs and opportunities and educational benefits, and instead found themselves in Afghanistan.
I know it isn’t politically correct these days, but I have very little sympathy for people who volunteer to join the military post-9/11 or post-Iraq-invasion. For them, it should be plainly obvious that they are volunteering to be a war criminal.
If someone obviously volunteers to join in a criminal enterprise, do I have to ’support them’? When the tasks that they are volunteering to perform create in me a stark moral revulsion, do I still have to ’support them’?
To put it another way, if we were in Moscow in 1968, would we all have to ’support the troops’ that were sent to Czechoslovakia to crush the desire for freedom there? At least that was a conscript army so you could feel some sympathy for someone who was drafted and was forced into that role. What do you feel for people who volunteer for such work.
I do realize that many of the people who volunteer are not as well-read and educated as myself. Because of that, I’m extremely proud of what CodePink is doing in that to me it seems as though they are there to help educate the potential volunteers a bit about what it is they are really volunteering for. I consider that a vital and patriotic service being performed for our democracy.
And its interesting that any such efforts draw such a vigorous response. Why would providing some information beyond what the recruiters are saying be controversial? Especially when the same right-wingers who object to this believe in doing exactly the same thing outside an abortion clinic?
I’m not sure what CodePink is telling potential recruits, but I can guess. At least I can guess at what I hope they are saying.
The fascinating point to me was that this corporate media article manages to completely avoid any discussion of that. It instead focuses on the conflict between CodePink and the fascists. To become an educated reader of the corporate propaganda that passes for news, its important to note how little this article tells you about what CodePink is saying beyond the obvious fact that they oppose the war. Subtle censorship at work.
Demonstrators led by conservative radio talk-show host Melanie Morgan shouted down members of Code Pink, a group created by Bay Area women, and other peace and social justice groups. The two sides stood on Shattuck Avenue near Addison Street just outside the recruiting station, which was closed Wednesday.
____________________
The recruiting station was closed on a regular “business day”, score one for the Code Pink ladies! Their “rope a dope” enticement of the neocon crowd did the trick–may the vitriol continue and the recruiting stop! All the Code Pink ladies deserve a nice quiet meal ready at their request and warm relaxing soak in the tub after such a good day’s work.
Instead of organizing large peace marches around the national mall every couple of years, United for Peace and Justice and other peace groups should organize peaceful permanent manned vigils outside most of the armed forces recruiting stations and high school recruiters’ visists accross the country. These vigils could include one or more people each every single day that the recruiters are in operation. The vigils could use creative signs and exhibits, such as the Abu Graib man with electrodes, statements by officials that the war is about oil, the toll (tens of thounsands) of US soldiers brain damaged or otherwise permanently disabled in Iraq/Afghanistan, etc.
The basic idea is that given the limited extent to which the democratic institutions of our country provide anything like a real democracy, we have to try to shut down the flow of able bodies into the military. We’ve got to throw our bodies unto the gears of the apparatus and shut it down. We’ve got to deprive the system of the fresh cannon fodder on which it depends for its daily human sacrifices.
I am led to a very different conclusion than that of Graves, who lost his son in Iraq, and who stated, “My son died so you and I can stand here and disagree.” I believe that our right to disagree publicly over issues of war and peace (or any other issues for that matter) is a freedom that we Americans awarded to ourselves after the revolutionary war. I also believe that that freedom is not under threat today by any foreign power. We did not invade Iraq because that country was a threat to our freedom of speech. Do you really think anyone in Iraq cared about what you and I argue about on our city sidewalks? No, we invaded Iraq to gain control of their oil. It was not because of 9/11 because by President Bush’s own admision, Iraq had absolutely nothing to do with that. It was not for weapons of mass destruction because Iraq had none and our government knew that. And it certainly was not to free the Iraqi people from an evil dictator for the simple reason that our invasion has caused many more civilian Iraqi deaths than Saddam Hussein ever did. Iraq is a far worse place today as a direct result of our invasion.
In my heart of hearts, I don’t believe the invasion of Iraq was even due to any threat. Rather, it was due to the opportunity of financial profits for oil companies and various corporations that together form the military industrial complex.
I do not believe that soldiers who die in Iraq are protecting our freedom in any way. Rather, I believe they are helping to destroy our freedoms by supporting an out of control fascist government that is more and more taking our freedoms away from us in order that it can continue its imperialist military and corporate policies, policies that are motivated by greed for power and profit, policies that are destroying our own country as we destroy others, policies that as an American I am deeply ashamed of.
I mourn the loss of any American lost in Iraq. However, I do not view that loss as contributing to our freedoms. Rather I see it as a trajic consequence to a young person being recuited into the service of our country under the false pretenses that they will be protecting it. Unfortuanatly, by following orders that person will most likely endanger our country by taking part in immoral wars of agression, which inevitably risk retaliation being eventually taken against us. Remember, every bully eventually getS beat up.
But it does not have to be that way. Why don’t we simply elect politicians who are truly opposed to all premptive wars for profit. Please support Dennis Cucinich, Cindy Sheehan, or anyone like them who has demonstrated genuine opposition to war. Do not vote for anyone who has voted to approve the Iraq war or any funding of it after it started. Also, in order to send a strong message to our future politicians, please support impeachment of Bush, Cheney, and Rice and put them on trial in international courts for war crimes.
I’ll be wearing pink Oct. 27th in Seattle, in solidarity with Codepink against the Bush regime and the illegal occupation of Irak.
Vietnam War vet and member, Veterans for Peace
It’s sad that simians like Melanie Morgan run this country.
“Dissent is the highest form of patriotism.” –Thomas Jefferon
Today, would Jefferson be considered an enemy combatant?
Simians?
I thought humans were running the country. Why insult other species–they dont do anything wrong. Humans cause all the problems.
As Twain said: humans are the only animals that blush-or need to.
“My son died so you and I can stand here and disagree.”
***yeah and who was repressing those monks in Burma-ice cream vendors?
The anti-war people should ask why the pro war demonstrators arent joining the military.
Code Pink, good but not button-pushing good, How about a bizarre scene in front of GE in NYC, or the legal stalking of housewife propagandist Matt Lauer? Go after the mafia, right where their offices are!
It blows my mind how thoughtless the people who shout empty patriotic slogans are. Take the guy who said that his son was fighting so that people here in the US could protest/debate in public over it. What on earth does invading Iraq have to do with “defending freedom” or preserving my rights? Moreover, we can attribute many of our rights to the brave actions of labor and other activist movements through our short history; not soldiers, and certainly not the government from which we stole them.
The fact that these blindly nationalistic idiots have never even thought that cliche through and figure out that it literally makes no sense in this war is pretty illustrative of their indoctrination.
Citizens are remiss in their duties if the do not check on their employees in the government.
A family member and his wife just got home and are now awaiting orders to go back.
Nothing the media does accomplishes anything. If we can have large numbers risk their lives and show up in Jena, that says something.
Read your laws/city ordinances before you venture. We are no longer a nation of people. We are a nation of laws that continue to get broken. If you got the dough or know someone, you’ll be fine…
I take offense at calling the pro-war faction in this article, pro-military, as if to say that the peace demonstrators are anti-military. Truth is we all love our soldiers, but we are not for war, and others are!
So please call a spade, a spade: Pro-War and Anti-WAr.
“Berkeley - Dozens of flag-waving military supporters squared off boisterously with peace activists Wednesday in the first major showdown over a U.S. Marine Corps recruiting station that until recently had been operating below the radar in downtown Berkeley.”
People are sick of the war and watching themselves slide down economically.
It is almost like terrorists have taken hold of the country.
Bottom line is americans are not used to working harder for less.
We have lost the war and the country does not have our interests at heart. All they care about is making money off of us. Time for all of us to move on.
“We are sick and tired of being sick and tired.”
Another Perspective
a play of several parts
Did I miss something?
I swear I only nodded-off, in my arm-chair here about ten minutes, with this half finished Mac & Cheese MRE.
I’m testing all the varieties I can find, for my son, to make sure he stays healthy ‘over-there’.
And if nothing happens to me, I can send him a case of what-ever it is, with his bottled water. I think we all have to do what we can.
I hate to say it, but with all the supply side scandals going down, from Beruit to Bathsheba, I just don’t trust the government contractors, or their foreign drivers, who may be at risk.
They are probaly not paid too much and therefore could become corrupt, but I don’t even want to think about politics right now.
Anyway, they may not even have a map, or, if they do, it may be written in another language, although all the numbers would be the same.. I just hope my son’s with somebody who can speak english, and read too.
To tell you the truth I don’t know where my son is, how he got there, or where he may be going, but I don’t care.
I just want him to be safe and come home sound, although I know some don’t, even if they can’t talk about it.
I voted for Bush but I don’t think he’s in the food loop, right now.
Did some part of Iraq invade us, again?
Is that why what the pro-defense Dad in Berkeley is talking about?
What’s wrong with our Early Warning System?
Was it some extremist-group? The Kurds maybe? Didn’t they say we betrayed them to the Turks?
And after we tried to help them, when they were fighting with Sadaam. Where’s the love in that?
Peace
Thanks for some intelligent comments here folks, including yours COMarc, and Josh, and especially yours OREZ_ENO.
We certainly have our work cut out, to try to *help* those whom someone above called, ‘blindly nationalistic idiots’.
I fully understand the frustration behind such a comment as that, and _do_ have empathy with that point of view,
…and… if we are very committed to trying to *help* those who have been so sadly, terribly brainwashed, we may find that we have more success in helping them to ’see the light’ if we don’t call them idiots, or whatever, [-certainly not to their face!]
This is not to criticize anyone here, but is a practical point concerning basic human psychology.
~ When someone, eg: a right-winger, feels antagonised and has their (defensive, angry) heckles up, they shut down, and are not *receptive* to what we may be trying to say to them.
Put yourself in their shiny shoes for a moment, and you’ll see the point I’m trying to make - how do YOU react if someone is ‘in your face’ and yelling abuse, calling you names, etc?
I’ve often asked my students, “What is good communication all about?” I go round the class and get lots of different answers, and then I go on to explain that one of the things usually not mentioned, is the skill of LISTENING.
When there is no *listening*, there is no real communication going on, and that leads to a breakdown of relationship. This is as true in our marriages, -or in parenting, as it is when relating to those who have diametrically opposed views to us.
If we approach people in a different way, - by not insulting them, and by trying to genuinely *hear* what they are saying, we ‘get in under their radar’ and when communicating with them, we are then a lot more likely to affect a real and lasting change in their consciousness.
And is that not the whole object of the exercise?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Okay, in the short-term, this may be less cathartic
- but in the longer term it is actually more effective, -and gets results!
If you need to ‘cathart’, maybe beat the stuffing out of a cushion or your teddy bear, prior to embarking on a discussion with those you disagree with?
(-sorry, it’s the therapist in me talking there!)
Michael Moore (who’s quite good at getting his points across to a wide swathe of people) acknowledges this very factor, when he speaks of how he relates to his ‘right-wing brother-in-law’ or some such.
I hope this helps a little, and, never give up folks, we WILL get there in the end, ~ just because we HAVE to! The survival of peace and sanity on this planet is a cause very much worth striving for…
[With love to the valiant Ladies in Pink],
UCD
xx
Josh said: “Instead of organizing large peace marches around the national mall every couple of years, United for Peace and Justice and other peace groups should organize peaceful permanent manned vigils outside most of the armed forces recruiting stations and high school recruiters’ visists accross the country.”
tenzing said: “I’ll be wearing pink Oct. 27th in Seattle, in solidarity with Codepink against the Bush regime and the illegal occupation of Irak.”
I fear Josh really needs to be better informed - United for Peace & Justice and “other peace groups” do a lot more than march “around the national mall every couple of years.”
It really is not his fault as the mainstream media does such a poor job of reporting on the realities of the opposition to the Iraq war. There are daily and weekly vigils in many places at recruiting stations. Check out: www.themmob.org for the “Leave My Child Alone” Campaign.
Tenzing mentions wearing pink in Seattle on October 27th.
Seattle is just one of many cities across this country that will be holding large events on Saturday, October 27th. This mobilization is sponsored by UFPJ as an alternative to marching in DC. We need (must have) all the people who are opposed to this war and the disastrous course our nation is on to stand up and speak out. Please go to Seattle or Boston or San Franscisco or Philadelphia or New York or Jonesborough, Tennessee or Smithfield, North Carolina or Orlando or New Orleans or . . . . Please go to www.unitedforpeace.org or www.oct27.org for more information. Now is the time to do something! Thanks for listening!
Angela Helwig
United for Peace & Justice Steering Committee
Let’s get something straight here, just for the record:
We have thousands and thousands of volunteer firefighters.
These are men and women of all descriptions who give freely of their time and energy, often at great peril to themselves, in order to protect and preserve lives and property in their communities. (Only about a quarter of the one million firefighters in the US are paid professionals. )
Every year about a hundred of them even give their lives.
We do NOT have a “volunteer” army.
They all get paid.
What we DO have is an economic draft.
sj
www.spartacusjones.com
UN-common-dreams,
While I don’t necessarily disagree with your reasoning, I don’t think that’s a productive focus. What I mean is, if you’re going to do organizing of any sort you are much better off talking with the apathetic and sympathetic and not the opposition. I know very well that most of these people are often fine people who are just simply confused - but why start there? Generally speaking, they are a minority in our society and happen to be the most difficult to “convert”, if you will. Having done plenty of local organizing myself I know this first hand. Even if you disarm people and get them to actually talk with you like a human being, often times they still don’t care what you say - they’re right.
There is also a difference between people actively opposing the anti-war movement (hitting the streets to counter-demonstrate) v. those who are on the fence or aren’t as vocal. Those that are more active are probably the last people you want to talk to for the obvious reasons. In fact, they’re the type of people that will be the last, if ever, to oppose the war. Is it totally uniform? No, of course, not, but it’s pretty close.
On top of that, I don’t really care for people - confused or not - that support war. I’m not going to fight them (unless necessary for some reason), but I’m certainly not going to run over and preach to them or handle them with kid gloves. They’re adults and there is enough mainstream information about this war for any sensible person to oppose it. You can see that as a majority of people already agree with the anti-war sentiment in the country - we should be talking with them and get them in the streets.
People who volunteer get various incentives that go unrecorded or reported.
I’m confused, what exactly are we accomplishing in Iraq? Well, get a lot more bullet stoppers signed up they will be needed when the dear leader decides to start bombing Iran. Yup, war is good bizness, invest your child. Gotta love corporate america.
Fedayeen: “I’m confused, what exactly are we accomplishing in Iraq?”
Exactly what we should be getting accomplished here. Local governments are working together to build a better life. Marines and Soldiers and a spattering of State Department USAID folks are rebuilding the country destroyed by years of economic sanctions (just as Cuba - this only breeds resentment from the populace, the dictator stays in power and enjoys spoils while the rest of the country falls apart).
Things you never hear - A school is rebuilt only to be destroyed after the dedication ceremony because it will be educating women. Rebuilding powerplants and other infrastructure. Handing out food and backpacks collected from big hearted American donors and handed out by patriotic Marines, not self serving Ivy-League state department weenies. American soldiers in full battle gear playing soccer with the children of Ramadi, Fallujah, and Tikrit.
What are we doing in Iraq. You are not doing anything in Iraq. According to statistics, the people doing things in Iraq have higher IQ’s and greater success opportunities than the average American. What they are doing in Iraq is of course things that they did not sign up for - to protect this country from enemies foreign and domestic. Of course, when they actually try to do their job - i.e. protect our border and Coastline from invading forces - YOU do nothing but protest that action.
I can guarantee you would be protesting military action even when the state of California is taken over by agents of a foreign country (as it is now), “peacefully” takes over the legislature then advocates succeeding from the Union to “reunite” California with its pre-revolutionary country.
Thank you Ralph Nader and Nader voters. I am sure that Al Gore would have gone to war in Iraq just like the Commander ‘n Chimp has. Way to go.
Sweet Mythical Jesus commander_n_chimp! I didn’t vote for Bush, Gore or Nader. Is it my fault too? And how can you be sure that Gore would not have invaded Iraq?
Reading some of these posts, like constitutiondefender, proves to me that the alternate universe theory is most probably valid.
“Marines and Soldiers and a spattering of State Department USAID folks are rebuilding the country destroyed by years of economic sanctions ”
First of all, the attempt at rebuilding was given up long ago when Halliburton and the rest of that crew went home leaving the mercenaries behind. Second, the country was destroyed by an illegal invasion. Prior to that the Iraqis themselves had done a pretty good job of rebuilding after the first invasion, much better than what is happening now. The embargo hadn’t helped anything, but the Oil for Food program had slightly mitigated the hardship. For the Bushies to jail activists who were taking medicine to Iraq as they did on at least several occasions prior to the invasion is unforgiveable.
“A school is rebuilt…”
Putting on a coat of paint does not count as “rebuilt.” You need to replace the electrical system, the plumbing system and the windows that were destroyed by the aforementioned invasion.
“American soldiers in full battle gear playing soccer with the children of Ramadi, Fallujah, and Tikrit.”
I can’t believe this! The Americans have all but destroyed these three places (haven’t you seen the pictures?!) killing hundreds if not thousands of Iraqi civilians in the process, and now we are supposed to believe that American soldiers in full battle gear no less have made up for that by playing soccer with some kids?! Possibly this is one of the things that you don’t hear about because it never happened!!
“Of course, when they actually try to do their job - i.e. protect our border and Coastline from invading forces ”
The last force to invade our border was Pancho Villa in the early 1900’s. He got about one county into Texas. What has the military been doing in the meantime to “protect our borders from invading forces?”
” to protect this country from enemies foreign and domestic.”
If the military were serious about their oath to protect this country (sic) (the oath is to protect the Constitution) from enemies foreign and domestic, why isn’t the Bush administration in jail?
Thanks DKM.
constanntdefwhatever
—”According to statistics, the people doing things in Iraq have higher IQ’s and greater success opportunities than the average American.”
This is probably a reflection of your own IQ that you can believe or spew out this crap. Are you stupid or something …
—”I can guarantee you would be protesting military action even when the state of California is taken over by agents of a foreign country (as it is now), “peacefully” takes over the legislature then advocates succeeding from the Union to “reunite” California with its pre-revolutionary country.”
I think most Californians, myself included, currently feel we would be better off if we are not part of the Union !! By the way … there was no revolution here in California. There was peace and then the gringos came and raped the state in search of gold and the rest is history.
I think this statement:
“American soldiers in full battle gear playing soccer with the children of Ramadi, Fallujah, and Tikrit”
should have read something like this:
American Soldiers in full battle gear locking down Fallujah, not letting people out, leveling the city, killing innocents, stoping aid organizations such as Iraqi Red Crescen, destroying health centers and hospitals.
YAY!!! LET’S PLAY SOCCER FOR FREEDOM!!!
More on Fallujah: http://globalpolicy.igc.org/security/issues/iraq/fallujah/2006/0404scene.htm
“By the way … there was no revolution here in California. There was peace and then the gringos came and raped the state in search of gold and the rest is history.”
Actually, Mexico lost California to the US during the war (1846-1848) which predated the discovery of gold. Nice though the illusion of the peaceful California when the Mexicans and Spanish before them were working hard to destroy the Native American culture for centuries before any Gringo ever showed up on the scene.
To MR Graves whose son was killed in Iraq.
First I want to give you my heartfelt sympathy. However I have to disagree with you. Your son did not die for our freedom. Your son died as part of the US mission to invade and occupy Iraq in order to steal their oil. Your son died as part of a mission to enrich Haliburton and the private defense contractors. This is a harsh fact, but it is true.
And this is why it is important to oppose further recruiting for this war for profit.
Mr Graves, you are on the wrong side of this demonstration.
Those of you surprised by the willfully ignorant and gleefully belligerent right-wing commenters here must not get out much in the US. The proportion of right-wingers to Code Pink members in this demonstration is about what it’s like out among the general US public, and that may be an understatement.
As far as whether or not the “troops” and the US occupation are having a beneficial or baleful effect on Iraq, I’ll just quote myself from a recent conversation I had with a right-winger:
Claims that having the US occupy Iraq is better than having Hussein in power can only be maintained if you overlook the fact that Hussein maintained the infrastructure of the country while the US has destroyed it and refuses to restore it; that Hussein killed, tortured, and imprisoned far fewer people far less brutally than the US has while in Iraq; that Hussein did not sow his country with cluster bombs, depleted uranium, brutal trigger-happy soldiers, US military bases, and civil war plots; and that Hussein did not trigger the largest refugee flight in the history of the Middle East. All these things that Hussein did not do the US has done. No wonder most Iraqis (those still alive) want the US out. It would help if the US would undo some of the the damage they’ve done to Iraq, pay reparations, and remove their military bases.
I would now add that I hope people of the world will do all they can to stop, by any means necessary, the kinds of US right-wingers witnessed in this demonstration. They are endangering not just Iraq and the US but the entire world.
The article doesn’t mention the chopper-riding goons who rode by flipping the bird at the Code Pink women. The fact that corporate media is having to drum up phony pro-war groups must mean that anti-war sentiment is growing. Otherwise, they’d just ignore it.
“Gathering of Eagnorance” and “Move America Fascist” - products of Klear Khannel Kommunication (KKK) and Faux News.
Code Pink, good old fashion American decent.
Checks and balances is not lost here.
I am a member of CodePink and I am also a Vet for Peace. On June 27th we are going to be counter-protested by Gathering of Eagles and every other persons of hate they can gather. We now have to worry about being assaulted by cowards that like to intimidate women that not just protest, we call our reps. and Senators, Cheney, Pelosi. Start petitions to stop injustices of many sorts, we are relentless, we will never give up. I have my own chapter and it consists of ME, only me. I will patiently wait arrivals of others that want to show what refusing to allow this corrupt gov’t to get away with anything and try to provoke another war. Until that time, I will help other groups, volunteer, call my Rep. daily, hourly if I need to, I will go wherever there is a need because I choose to care about stopping this shit and no one, NO ONE will stop me. It’s not like I am 21, I’m 52 and I get tired easily now, compared to being a teen and protesing Vietnam, but I have that much more stubbornness and determination for those that are young and have a right to be part of a civilized gov’t. Sorry for rambling.