Winter Soldiers Move Toward GI Resistance
SILVER SPRING, Maryland - Hundreds of veterans who gathered outside Washington last weekend to testify about their experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan are returning to their communities across the country with the goal of stoking resistance to the Iraq war from inside the U.S. military.
The so-called Winter Soldier gathering organised by Iraq Veterans Against the War was designed to demonstrate that well-publicised incidents of U.S. brutality, including the Abu Ghraib prison scandal and the massacre of an entire family of Iraqis in the town of Haditha, are not isolated incidents perpetrated by “a few bad apples,” as many politicians and military leaders have claimed. They are part of a pattern, the organisers said, of “an increasingly bloody occupation”.
“We have the power to bring the troops home, when they throw down their weapons and refuse to fight,” said Phil Aliff, a recently discharged combat veteran, who helped start the first active duty chapter of Iraq Veterans Against the War at Fort Drum in upstate New York.
Aliff founded that chapter after serving a year in Iraq from August 2005 to July 2006, a tour that included stints in Abu Ghraib and Fallujah, some of the most dangerous parts of Iraq for a U.S. soldier. He participated in roughly 300 patrols and was hit by so many roadside bombs that the entire unit became demoralised and started to seek out ways to avoid combat.
In April 2007, after returning home, Aliff began talking to other soldiers at Fort Drum who shared his opposition to the war. He refused a second deployment to Iraq, noting he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder from his first tour, and started organising with other soldiers on the base.
“Instead of relying on media exposure as a quick fix to gaining members, we began weekly face to face meetings as a way to create transparency from the chain of command,” he said. “We had two main tasks: to educate our fellow soldiers and win victories for them. And we did win victories.”
For example, Aliff noted, one of their members, Specialist Eugene Cherry, was discharged without a court martial even though he had gone Absent Without Leave (AWOL) for 16 months after being refused treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder.
Other veterans at Winter Soldier noted that soldiers seeking to oppose the war from inside the ranks need not break Pentagon regulations to do so.
Garret Rappenhangen, a former U.S. Army scout sniper, who served in Baquba near the Iranian border from 2004 to 2005, helped found a military blog called Fight to Survive, which he and other like-minded soldiers posted to throughout their deployments.
“When you’re in the military, you are a citizen soldier,” Rappenhagen said. “You still retain your rights as a citizen and you’re able to use those rights.”
To critics of his activities, Rappenhagen said: “It’ll be a shame if the actual use of your first amendment right [to freedom of speech] becomes unpatriotic.”
These increasing calls for GI resistance came amid an almost complete media blackout from the large U.S. news organisations.
Though the gathering was timed to coincide with the fifth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq and was held in Silver Spring, Maryland less than 10 miles from the White House, the personal testimonies of hundreds of Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans garnered only a small article in the metro section of the Washington Post. The New York Times¸ CNN, ABC, NBC, and CBS ignored it completely.
Five years into the war, the country appears to be back where it started in terms of media coverage. A study by the Pew Research Centre last week revealed only 28 percent of respondents correctly said about 4,000 U.S. citizens have died in the war. Most thought the number was closer to 2,000 or 3,000.
According to the same survey, overall media coverage of the war dropped from an average of 15 percent of stories in July 2007 to just 3 percent in February 2008.
But the Iraq and Afghanistan veterans who spoke at Winter Soldier could take heart in another survey released Wednesday by the Wall Street Journal and NBC News which found 53 percent of respondents think the U.S. goal of achieving victory in Iraq is not possible.
Many members of Iraq Veterans Against the War see a parallel between that kind of polling and the history of GI resistance during the Vietnam war. They note that when Vietnam veterans held a similar forum on war crimes in 1971 it was also roundly ignored by the mainstream press. But that did not cause the story to go away, because word got out through military and veteran circles that resistance within the ranks was building — a development most members of Iraq Veterans Against the War see as even more important than mainstream media coverage and lobbying on Capital Hill.
“We may be smaller in number than the Vietnam Veterans Against the War were,” Rappenhagen said, “but when they held their Winter Soldier event in 1971 it was three years after the Tet Offensive. Hopefully, by speaking here today we can end this war before there is a Tet Offensive in Iraq.”
IPS correspondent Aaron Glantz co-anchored Pacifica Radio’s live coverage of Winter Soldier 2008. You can find audio and images from the event online at the website www.warcomeshome.org.
Copyright © 2008 IPS-Inter Press Service.
Not enough media are covering this. Call your local paper and ask why not. Print someof their testimony from www.demcoracynow.org and put it under the windshields of cars with support our troup stickers. email copies to your sentators.
Corporate media doesn’t cover it because they support the corporate regime’s foreign policy: remorseless, lawless militarism. Calling the media “mainstream” is to use the corporate regime’s own propaganda words.
Since corporate media doesn’t cover the news that we deem important, we should not be patronizing it or the corporations that sponsor them. When we cancel our subscriptions we should let them know why. We should also contact the sponsors of media that we don’t think is performing the function they are charged with and let them know that we will not buy their product and why. Whenever possible, we should be buying locally and not be buying from corporations.
It would appear as if history is finally beginning to repeat itself. Towards the end of the Vietnam nightmare, the “Sir, No Sir” movement manifested itself. Of course, the corporate media was and is all but silent about this, as it was a serious insurrection in the ranks of the draftees who refused to be thrown into the meat grinder. Try to find a mention of it now and you would have to search out alternative documentaries on such channels as Link TV. What is also important is to not let the public memory be obfuscated by the corporate media, who put out the “spit on upon returning home” myth as a cover to what actually happened: near revolt in the ranks & returning soldiers joining the anti-war movement in droves and leading the marches & being clubbed by police for their troubles.
As a Vet I say no more wars for empire or for Israel. Say no out loud now. Say no to the draft board. Say no the the economic elites who can’t believe that you’ve been sucked into fighting for their narrow interests. No more war now!
“The New York Times¸ CNN, ABC, NBC, and CBS ignored it completely.”
Of course they did; they always do what they are told. I agree with mudman, we should write or call these MSM outlets and tell them we are not watching, listening, reading their propaganda anymore.
I caught the top story the other morning when Matt Lauer’s program announced something like - Wives of governors who cheat on them. I thought this was saved for shows like FOX or Jerry Springer. No more.
When we cancel our subscriptions we should let them know why.
Thank you mudman : I’ve been saying this for months and finally another lone voice crying in the wilderness . Voting with a closed wallet is only vote you can trust will not be tampered with .
If we want to go the extra step and write to the editor of NYT or WP and tell them why we cancelled our subscriptions that’s a bonus but a mysterious drop of a million readers would send a loud message .
Now if Americans could tough-out withdrawl symptoms brought on by “addiction” to american idolatry long enough to turn the TV off then CBS , ABC , FOX… and their sponsors may get the boycotting message .
If sleeping Americans reluctantly switch to PBS or local TV like addicts switch to methadone and watch IVAW in action there
may be some ground-swell support for Rappenhagen and others . If Rip Van Winkle-Americans choose to stay asleep , then like Martin Luther , Harriet Tubman , John the Baptizer and you , a voice crying in the wilderness , speaking truth to power
CNN found it more important to cover new fashions coming out of Baghdad, complete with the reporter wearing a Babylonian tunic or something (caught that the other day when I was in the gym…don’t have a TV at home). It’s always moments like that that make me think we are living “1984,” only worse (in terms of total media distortion of reality).
For years I have had a Kill Your Television bumper sticker. As long as most Amerikans get their info from television, the right wing will have its 51% majority. The owners of our corporate media also own most of everything else, including our government. As a vet, and a member of Veterans For Peace, I am furious at the apathy among Amerikans which has allowed this fall into fascism. This is no longer the country I carried arms to protect. These fine young men and women of Winter Soldier so very much deserve our respect, our support, our praise. Their leaders deserve all the castigation we can muster.
Must it come to revolution to get our country back? We MUST get rid of NAFTA, GATT, and rebuild our industry to put decent jobs back here. We MUST get rid of the health insurance mobsters and put in the universal health care that the vast majority of citizens want. And we MUST get our soldiers home from the MidEast and begin to help those people rebuild what we have destroyed to protect the oil company profits. We ALL know these things. Begin by destroying the propaganda base. Kill your television.
I got rid of the LA Times years ago, along with all network tv (except for sports). I get my news from the internet from a variety of sources, to try to get a broad picture. I do read the OC Weekly, an alternative paper here in Southern California, which played a part in getting rid of the allegedly corrupt sheriff. It has news I can use, such as about the fat lawyer pig who ran a fake democrat that ended up with a repugly victory in a stolen election. I didn’t let him forget his deeds when he was elected to the local city council.
I was appalled to learn that no major papers or tv had reported on the Winter Soldiers. I intend to write the NYT today to protest that and I hope many of you reading this will too. I also intend to write MSNBC (home of Kieth Olberman and one or two others who are actually trying to bring us news) and protest. I’ve missed the Daily Show this past week so I don’t know if Jon covered it, but I rather doubt he did. If you watch him and he didn’t , then he should be notified too.
As Obama has pointed out, it’s up to us to do something. We are the citizens we have been waiting for. If you just complain on this web site and not to MSM then you are not doing all you can. Hey folks, let’s have 100’s of letters to the NYT and to all the other major papers - LA Times, Chicago Tribune, Sun Times etc. etc. especially if you live in any area that is covered by a major paper. It’s the least we can do.
why dont these kids show some real balls and refuse to deploy? A short stint in Levenworth for refusing an illegal order (to occupy Iraq) would express their commitment a lot better than these crockodile tears now.
NPR finally covered this story yesterday on The World segment. I had written them with links to www.warcomeshome.org and KPFA.org and admonished them for failure to cover it initially. I got a reply and now they actually coverd it.
I agree with others to stop your Corp Media subscriptions. I have not had one for years, and get most of my news here and from Pacifica Radio. I visit Salon.com, but am very disappointed in their slide to the right and avoidance of the major issues, except with snarky comments about CodePink and the true heroes of our nation, the Winter Soldiers. That is all changing as consciousness is raised with Truth and Love.
I am committed to Oneness through Justice and Transformation
peace,
st john
“George Orwell offerred us a grim vision of the future, a future in which an “All Powerful Party” working through aan “All-Seeing Ministry of Truth” manipulates and intimidates the public by pelñting it with an endless series of distorted and fabricated messages.”
“The Official Version of 9/11″ was created by Philip Zelikow on of the leaders of the Modern Day Neo-Conservatives. He was the Director of the 9/11 Commission and was recently found to have been in contact with the White House Staff while preparing the “Final Report”.
World Trade Center #7 was a demolition!
The Winter Soldiers should be asking — publicly — why there has been a media blackout on their efforts.
dlnelson7 March 22nd, 2008 10:13 am
I have been advocating pamphleting, similar to what yu suggest for some time now. With computers and printers we are better equipped even than Thomas Paine.
Speaking as a vet of the late 60’s, it is damn near impossible to refuse participation in an illegal, unjust, immoral war ……… so, good luck.
Canuckchuck- A little reality check. The chief prosecutor at Neuremberg said those testifying at Winter Soldier should not be prosecuted.
Strange how those calling for prosecution of war resisters don’t hold George W. Bush to the same standard- “To defend the Consititution against all enemies, foreign or domestic…”
Silly me. He and his regime are the enemy.
As long as you support the “volunteer” troops you are supporting the war. You have blood on your hands…. you are complicit in war crimes.
For the purpose of what has come to mind and which I’ll now commit to a posting, instead of ending up forgetting to ever mention this thought I have, I’ll begin with excerpting from a couple of the above reader posts.
” dlnelson7 March 22nd, 2008 10:13 am
Not enough media are covering this. …
Earthian March 22nd, 2008 10:20 am
Corporate media doesn’t cover it because they support the corporate regime’s foreign policy: remorseless, lawless militarism. …”
HINT: U.S. N.E.D. and CIA, covert ops.
What’s come to mind is the combination of the following:
a) All of the western “news” media coverage of the Tibetan protests and the Chinese govt’s crackdown;
b) From what I’ve gathered so far since yesterday, the Tibetan protests occurred March 14-17, 2008;
c) The ‘Winter Soldier’ testimonies events were from March 13-16, 2008; and,
d) There’s been almost NO mention at all of the ‘Winter Soldier’ event in western “news” media.
One thing we can be perhaps not 100% absolutely certain about, but probably 98-99% certain, is that the U.S. N.E.D., National Endowment for “Democracy”, a concept of which the USA is the greatest enemy in the world too, is involved in funding groups of the likes that have include ‘Free Tibet’ in their titles or names.
The N.E.D., which is of the U.S. govt, which in turn is the indisputably greatest enemy of democracy in the world, that is, on planet Earth, has been long involved against Venezuela and Cuba, f.e. So the likelihood that the N.E.D. is very involved, behind the scenes, in the Tibetan matters is definitely high; a quasi-absolute certainty. It’s extremely unlikely that the N.E.D. is not involved covertly; unless it is, but overtly, which I haven’t yet heard or read of it being.
Militarism, how does that tie in? Most readers here already know what I have in mind, but I’ll state it for the sake of “formality”, say.
The U.S. govt and its real, but hidden ruling elites knew as of WWII that the USA was the military superpower of the world, and the long Cold War with or against Russia had its purpose, the covert one being that which I’m referring to. They have been wanting to, as much as possible, destroy the military might that Russia and China had, and the U.S., if we read from enough [good], respectable analysts, is still aiming to try to do what it can to achieve this now long agenda or project, which of course is not something that can be accomplished overnight, over a short period; it’s a progressive effort and involves mostly hypocrisy and hegemony, and of course covert operations.
The USA does not have 700 or more military bases around the whole planet Earth for nothing, and definitely not for any reasons related to [defence]; and this is the officially acknowledged number of bases. Unofficially, it is believed by serious experts that the USA has around 1,000 or more such bases around planet Earth; and plenty are strategically located when we consider Asia, and Russia.
With the Clinton and now Bush-Cheney administrations, we have U.S.A. and NATO military build-up in Eastern Europe and Central Asia; quite some very serious [encroachment], to say the least … of truth on what this build-up consists of and signifies.
They, these FIENDS of the supreme crime and repeated many times, while never getting involved in terms of [defence], so defending human rights and dignity, and the UN charter, intl laws, etc.; well, they strategically need serious basing in the Middle East too. Voila, the purpose of the [permanent] U.S. military bases criminally established in Iraq during the present and [ongoing] war on Iraq.
And by the credible “looks of it”, the U.S. seems to surely still be planning for attacking Iran, which has been entirely within its legitimate rights on the present nuclear programmes issue; only an issue due to the hypocrisy and hegemony of the USA and its controlled UNSC, along with its ‘dumb animal’ hypocrite European allies. The only issue involved is all of this imperialist West HYPOCRISY and HEGEMONY, and criminal as hell it is.
We get a flood of western “news” media and associated or related bla bla bla about the Tibetan matter, while receiving virtually nothing of value for reporting on these above matters, starting with the ‘Winter Soldier’ event onward, down to this point, here.
We also get NOTHING on the situation in Haiti, for news coverage; and evidently no efforts at all from the hell’s-making US, Canadian, and French govts to correct their hellbent crime against Haiti, except for its spoiled, brat elites “benefiting” and continuing to do so, “of course”.
U.S. “news” media on Venezuela and the recent criminal aggression or invasion by Colombia against Ecuardorian sovereignty. And so on; etcetera.
“Funny”, how much western “news” media reports on the Tibetan matter, a case in which only or mostly only the govt of the People’s Republic of China is being blamed for human rights oppression, etc.; while there’s NO real, truthful, professionally ethical reporting on the west’s crimes, which are the worst of all on this whole planet.
And we know that ‘Winter Soldier’ was precisely against the USA’s crimes.
It would be very much the nature of the NED and CIA to covertly orchestrate the Tibetan protests so that they would very much coincide with the ‘Winter Soldier’ testimonies. These types of US operators and Washington would definitely know that the U.S. “news” media would or could certainly be made to focus reporting on the event in Tibet, while not mentioning ‘Winter Soldier’. They’d know that many “Americans” are still paying a lot of attention to the msm US “news” media, so doing as I’m describing would be a way to minimally try to get a considerable number of “Americans” to not pay attention to the ‘WS’ event, or to be even aware of it happening.
This [is] the or an M.O., modus operandi, of the NED and CIA (hell’s-making operations branch).
And this is one reason for appreciating what the following article is about.
“Military veterans to deliver citizen arrest warrants for Bush and Cheney
by Kathlyn Stone
Global Research, March 20, 2008
OpEdNews - 2008-03-18″
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=8401
QUOTE:
Backed by family members and supporters all across the nation, U.S. military veterans will serve citizen arrest warrants for George Bush and Dick Cheney tomorrow in Washington, D.C.
The warrants are “for multiple violations of the Constitution and international war crimes,” according to a statement issued by Veterans for Peace, ….
“It has long been apparent that our Constitution is under attack and has been deliberately and relentlessly undermined by domestic enemies — indeed, by our highest government officials — who took the same oath we did and have violated it by waging a war of aggression and committing war crimes in Iraq,” according to Veterans for Peace president, Elliott Adams in explaining the warrants.
The warrants will be delivered to the National Archives which houses the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution.
The patriots will also retake their military oath, which includes the words: “I do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.”
The military veterans will hold a rally at the National Mall and lead a march for peace that includes stops at other sites including the Museum of Native Americans, where they will be joined by musician Buffy St. Marie in a ceremony honoring Native Americans, ….
…
END QUOTE.
The rest of the article is good, though not much left; and there’s an excellent picture of a group of VFP members in a protest demonstration.
I wonder, while guessing to know what the answer is, how much U.S. “news” media reporting there is on what these VFP members greatly said they’d be doing; delivering [arrest warrants] for Bush and Cheney. Surely little, and likely NO such reporting.
Oddly, the Tibetan protests occur at a time coinciding very closely with this latter, above, action in the USA, TOO. The VFP action is in good timing with ‘Winter Soldier’, totally fitting coincidence; YES, definitely. The Tibetan …? [Suspect timing]; particularly with all of the ‘Free Tibet’ NED-backed (covertly) noise making.
May seem like “conspiracy theory”, but the NED and (operations) CIA, as well as the US State Dept do operate in these ways, and they surely have en masse ability to fund movements like the ‘Free Tibet’ one; sometimes not only funding, but also orchestrating them. And USAID is in the same sort of “game”; criminally, very, even hellishly, provides cover for US crimes against humanity.
Imperialist (and corporatist) West! The greatest ENEMY of democracy on Earth!
Since when do we ask our greatest of enemies for help on causes that they are vehemently and [firmly] opposed to; except when accepting paper formalities. The like to accept ‘democracy’ is official on paper, but [only] on paper, and for the purpose of [deception]. They have NO intention of backing [real] democracy. They will oppose it to their fullest abilities.
Quoting from Aaron Glantz’s article:
“…
“We have the power to bring the troops home, when they throw down their weapons and refuse to fight,” said Phil Aliff, a recently discharged combat veteran, who helped start the first active duty chapter of Iraq Veterans Against the War at Fort Drum in upstate New York.
…”
YES! And it’s something the real, but too hidden ruling elites of imperialist West can’t win against; when ALL soldiers do as Francis of Assisi did after his third tour in the Crusades (I believe all were in the Crusades anyway) for the Roman [Empire], when he finally realised what the whole reality of this warring (of aggression) really was about and threw down his sword, vowing ‘NEVER AGAIN!’.
Only one or a few soldiers doing that won’t stop the agendas of the real ruling and imperialist elites from progressing, but many soldiers doing so? YES.
Without them, Kissinger and ilk would have to go to the battle fields and do the fighting themselves, which they’re obviously not about to ever do. And they could not get the police state of the USA to force conscientious soldiers to do what their consciences tell them clearly is to NOT be done. Police state could try all it wanted to, but wouldn’t be able to succeed.
Yellow-spined “news” media work for yellow-spined elites. And they’re presently using a form of Yellow Journalism in the Tibetan matter; they’re flaming up many people against the govt of the PRC.
That the ‘Free Tibet’ movement people do NOT see the above makes their ability to judge world affairs very questionable. But surely many of them are aware of the above, and if that’s true, then they are guilty of contributing to the imperialist West’s criminal wars of aggression, criminal militarisation around planet Earth, and other crimes against humanity; the most criminal and rogue state apparatus in the world, that is, on planet Earth.
I respect the rights and dignity of the Tibetans, the Falun Gong, and of ALL people on Earth; well, with some real exception made with regards to the yellow-spined schmucks, as per above, for their crimes are far too wittingly committed and covered up, for their human rights and dignity to be noteworthily existent, IMHO. They do all have the right to be incarcerated for the rest of their earthly lives, instead of treated to the death penalty, though; okay. But I won’t recognise more than that; little more, anyway.
Jesus of Nazareth said to do for others what we’d want done for ourselves, and one example of this applies with human rights and dignity. If we want our rights and dignity to be [respected], then we must treat others in the very same manner. Deny others their rights and dignity, and I figure “bye-bye” to yours too, flushingly “bye-bye”.
Confucius said very similar words, only somewhat in reverse; to not do to others what we don’t want done to ourselves. And the above example herein and again applies.
Two VERY WISE men; yes.
There are some “typos” in the above and I tried editing to correct these, but the timer elapsed, so … swoosh, flush; they’re gone. I’m not going to bother using this post to state what any of the corrections are.
Actually, I will say that one modification was the addition of the US State Dept, USAID, CFR, AEI, and ‘among more’. That’s in addition to whichever of these that I did not mention along with the NED and CIA (ops) in the above post.
I suppose that those are not always all involved on the same projects, but, and from what I’ve read from certainly respectable sources, all of these US ruling elites’ organisations are used for covert operations; in some cases only in terms of planning phases, but while those still are part of the overall operations, imo. How each of these is involved differs, but they are all utilised for covertly planning and carrying out criminal operations suiting the perverted interests of the imperialist-West’s ruling elites.
Oh, also are they used as funding channel(er)s.
They’re believed, if not having been proven to be very much behind the ‘coloured revolutions’. I just did a Web search on this latter topic and the following article, which I’ve only read the start of, opens well.
” Roses, oranges… and coca
What remains of revolutions in the globalized world?”,
Published 2006-02-23
http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-02-23-zhurzhenko-en.html
QUOTE:
Why has no one called the victory of Bolivian president Evo Morales a “revolution”, despite it sharing some of the characteristics of the “coloured revolutions” in post-Soviet countries? Because unlike the politics of the coloured revolutionaries, which has been about complying with Western norms and values, the leftist nationalism of Morales challenges the established hierarchy of the global order, says Tatiana Zhurzhenko. …
…
As a Ukrainian, I had a feeling of déjà vu watching these television images from Bolivia. Just over a year ago the same joy and enthusiasm was witnessed on the streets of Kiev. … Like the Bolivians, they also believed that they had finally elected a “people’s president”, one who was truly Ukrainian.
I will not touch upon the painful question of what remains of these hopes today. Rather, my considerations emerge from another kind of discomfort, one that has to do with the power of the dominant discourse and the authority of the political expertise that puts labels such as “authoritarian regime”, “democratic opposition”, and “peaceful revolution” on contemporary politics in order to sell it to the public. Compare events in Ukraine and Bolivia and you will understand what I mean.
Who owns the brand?
No commentator or journalist has used the word “revolution” to describe the events in Bolivia, let alone adjectives such as “velvet” or “peaceful”. Why not? we might ask naively. What happened in Bolivia could not have been more “velvet”: …. And what better example of a “civil society” could there be than the peasants’ movement and the trade unions that ensured Evo Morales’s victory? Unlike the Ukrainian opposition, however, they have probably not been trained in NGO management by Western instructors and did not receive Western grants. …
Unlike the leaders of the Orange Revolution, the new Bolivian president received no congratulations from the White House. On the contrary, the US Secretary of State expressed her concern about the “recent developments” in Latin America. And she has reason to be concerned. Unlike the Orange Revolution, which was about complying with Western norms and values, the leftist, defensive nationalism of Evo Morales challenges the “universal rules” of the global order, its established hierarchy of values and priorities. …
…
END QUOTE/EXCERPT.
That’s as much as I’ve read of the article so far, but, and from it, I notice two things:
a) It is much enough what I’m referring to with my criticisms of how the Tibetan matter is being covered in imperialist-West’s msm “news” media, as well as the ‘Free Tibet’ movement’s members; and,
b) ‘NGOs’ should be added when reading my references to the NED, CIA (ops), and so on.
COVERTLY, much happens, and of course we do not see it with our own eyes. We can, however, SEE it very well, when applying critical thinking or analyses along with enough relevant data.
And it is FACT that imperialist-West’s msm “news” media has extremely disregarded Winter Soldier, all while they had to certainly be aware of this event, so wittingly and therefore criminally disregarding WS.
Very peculiar coincidence is the timing of the protests in Tibet and the related and much imperialist-West’s “news” media coverage of this event, and the dates during which WS was held. Very, very peculiar, that is, [suspect]; because it is fact that the NED and so on do operate as I’m saying.
We can legitimately enough say:
USA => super-military-power => super-military-power’ised organised crime.
And ‘=>’ means ‘implies’, btw.
And GLOBAL SPANNING they want to achieve for conquest(s) and domination. It’s very obvious, just that they will not come out and admit that they aim to achieve this.
I’m “sorry”, BUT since when do criminals go around telling the public about intended crimes?!
That the US is an intent financial, military & political supporter of Isreal is without dispute. This administration very obviously lends its unquestionable support to that country, despite a miniscule percentage of our population being Jewish. Could this be, as researched & reported, because about 200 high placed members of it (this administration) hold dual US-Isreali citizenship? Included on this list is Michael Chertoff, head of DHS (Department of Homeland Security), a serious threat to our security because the idiom, “No man can serve two masters” still rings of truth.
On the issue of MSM coverage of events against the war 2 + 2= 4 also. Through advertising dollars the MSM is sustained, and these dollars come primarily from a corporate America making out like bandits from starting & continuing this war. “If it bleeds it leads” is an accepted media rule, and corporate backed military ventures have provided enough blood over the past several decades for a millenium of headlines.
Who owns the media you might ask? It turns out a number of the largest elements are those same corporations making the weapons of war. Some might call it a symbiotic relationship between the MSM & Corporate America, since both gain by the actions of the other. What it actually is is a parasitic relationship from a collusion of those two elements against Americans and other peoples of the world.
Who owns the media you might ask? The following link might give a good indication of why the US blindly supports Isreal, and will bludgeon any nation failing to allow Isreali dominance of the Middle-East:
http://www.natvan.com/who-rules-america/wra.pdf
Let’s see, we have an administration highly infiltrated by people with dual US-Isreali citizenship, corporate America in collusion with a heavily Zionist/Jewish controlled MSM (and of course the fact most Isrealis are Jewish is something the MSM conveiently ignores and anyone stating the fact is immediately labeled by Zionists as anti-Semitic), so perhaps the term ‘United States of Isreal’ might be closer to truth than many would imagine.
Is it any wonder the MSM does not cover any story that could upset their applecart? A parasite might eat its host, but will not turn on itself.
Solutions:
1)Withdraw from Iraq (and for damned sure don’t even think about going into Iran), and spend those wasted funds making the US energy green & independent of foreign energy sources.
2) Quit subsidizing Isreal and let them stand on their own two feet. This would very rapidly solve the Isreali/Palestinian impasse, and force Isreal into REAL progressive negotiations with their neighbors.
3) RE-regulate the communications industry in the US allowing for greater diversity of the airwaves that are property of our citizens. We don’t have a ‘free’ press, but we could if we break the information stranglehold of corporate dominance. Perhaps, even the head of the FCC should become an elected post rather than a political appointment.
PaulMagillSmith, good proposals but those will bounce off because the US government is currently hijacked by capitalists. For those proposals to stick, we have to first purge the capitalists, which requires a cultural change among the people. There’s a slim chance a messiah can get into the white house and lead the sheep to the promised land. Much more likely a devastation will be necessary to shatter the sheep’s opiate-fed loyalty to the capitalist establishment. Progressives can “be the change they wish to see”, by refusing the opiates to start.
“The policies of the U.S., since the end of the Cold War are complicated and vast. They invlolve an intent to dominate and the use of international organizations to advance U.S. economic and geopolitical interests. They also include the conversion of NATO into a surrogate military police force for globalization and U.S. world econimic domination.” - Ramsey Clark, former U.S. Attorney General
U.S. Foreign Policy is based on U.S. economic interests. Our military men/women are the puppets being used to enforce the economic interests of a “few” beneficiaries of this psycopathic mission to dominate the world.
I stopped watching the mainstream media news on television years ago. It was when Clinton was in office and being constantly harassed by the sore loser Republican’s. Where is the point in watching it when all you get is the Republican line of propaganda. Most of what I know. And I consider myself to be informed. I have gotten off of the Internet. I used to listen to PBS radio. I feel that they have an extremely good news source. But, I am retired now so I don’t listen to that anymore. I think there is a lot that goes on in Iraq that the public never hears about. That people should be tried for war crimes over too!
Again, I and every other American should support “Iraq Vets Against The War”……
What Americans should now “Fear” and have yet to hear about was the 385 Million Dollar Contract announced by KBR Corporation, a subsidiary of Halliburton. KBR announced the contract on January 24, 2006. The “Contract” is to build “Detention Centers” (Concentration Camps) around the United States, since Bush/Cheney granted themselves extra powers in case of emergencies or “Demonstrations”.
Remember, no one has shut down Guantanamo !!!!!!
Who is KBR? Kellog,Brown, and Root is a subsidiary of Halliburton and was found to be committing a federal crime by setting up its offices outside the United States and then hiring American employees without paying U.S. employee taxes. Of course no prosecutions and no cancellation of any contracts….
Lots of people write wonderful commentaries to the original articles and provide additional information.
The “Media” has collaborated with the the “Cover-Up” of the murder of almost three thousand people in New York. Many people now know that World Trade Center #7 was an obvious demolition job. Eyewitness accounts of explosives were not allowed in the “Official Version”. The NIST has been unable to explain the demolition without dealing with explosives. With that building´s destruction, the whole 9/11 Operation must then be questioned. Philip Zelikow, a neoconservative guru, was the Director of the 9/11 Commission and was in contact with the White House. That, in and of itself,was a “Conflict of Interest”.
Yet, “The Media” remains silent! Silent about the lies that led up to the Invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq! Silent about “Operation Cyclone” and the development of a Militant Islamic Army paid for by the United States and Saudi Arabia! Silent about the “Obscene” profits of the Oil Companies! Silent about the real reasons for being in Iraq! Silent about as many as 1.2 million Iraqis dead! Silent about as many as 4 million Iraqis living in refugee camps in and outside of Iraq! Silent about over 4,000 American Dead! Silent about a 6 trillion dollar war (3 trillion dollars worth of arms and supplies lost according to Donald Rumsfeld in 2002 and the GAO in 2003).
Silent because “The Media” is controlled by the very same people who said in 1997,”What this country needs is a Pearl Harbor type attack!”
I just checked the ABC website and didn’t find anything recent about Winter Soldier, and only found a comment from a viewer addressed to Bill Moyers on PBS. You guys are might be right. At best they are ducking the controversy. At worst its obscurantism trying to help the neocons continue to sell their agenda.
Lets hope there is enough resistance from the commanders to stall bombing Iraq until the neocons go home next year.
Never Trust Corporate Media!
They are hand fed information to be disseminated.
The entire Winter Soldier hearings were broadcast on FSTV, which is on DISH network. This is about the only station I watch, except for the comedy channel with John Stewart and Stephen Colbert.
Yesterday, we had an antiwar rally and there were two member of IVAW there and they both had watched the hearings. So it is good to have alternative media to help these kids network. They are so brainwashed that it is difficult for them to break free.
And, yes, the Tibet and Darfur media fests are suspicious. Why are 300,000 dead in Darfur a genocide and 1.2 million dead Iraqis, with 3 or 4 million refugees and the rest ethnically cleansed not a genocide? Why is supporting the return of a theocracy in Tibet supporting democracy when elections in Latin America bringing populists to power are called suspect? Why are exit polls so reliable in the Ukraine and so unreliable in the US in 2004?
We are so propagandized it’s almost unbelievable.
Go for it! Bring this war to an end!
The White House should take heed; protesters brought a war to an end in the 1960’s-and protesters will bring this war to an end, as well! Coordinate! Correlate and march! Shut this war down!