October, 06 2010, 07:00am EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Maggie Martin, IVAW Media Coordinator: 912.596.8484, maggiemartin1@gmail.com
Ethan McCord, IVAW/ Wikileaks Video: 316.285.6849, navyallday@yahoo.com
Zach Choate, IVAW: 678.986.0617, zach.choate@hotmail.com
Afghanistan & Iraq Vets Call for End to Deployment of Traumatized Troops
Veterans launch historic campaign on 9-year anniversary of Afghanistan War
WASHINGTON
On October 7th, the 9-year anniversary of the Afghanistan War, Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) will launch a national veteran-led campaign to end the military's widespread practice of deploying wounded troops into war zones. Operation Recovery: Stop the Deployment of Traumatized Troops will focus on ending the practice of deploying service members suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), and Military Sexual Trauma (MST).
Veterans from both the Afghanistan and Iraq Wars, including many with personal experience being deployed while wounded, will participate in the campaign launch Thursday. Starting at Walter Reed Army Medical Center (9:15am across from 7123 Georgia Ave.) veterans will hold a ceremony for all those wounded in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, to be followed by a six-mile march to Capitol Hill. (1:30pm at Russell Senate Office Building, Constitution Ave NE, and Delaware Ave. NE) Veterans will testify about their experiences with redeployment and announce the launch of Operation Recovery. A letter will be read aloud before being delivered to military and government officials demanding an end to the practice of deploying traumatized service members. In the upcoming weeks, IVAW plans to publicly identify and target responsible officials.
"As a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom, I was redeployed into combat while still recovering from an IED explosion," said Zach Choate, an Army veteran who was wounded in Iraq in October of 2006. "It is absolutely unacceptable for the government to keep redeploying wounded and traumatized troops and we will make sure that this egregious practice stops." Choate will be traveling from Georgia to participate in the campaign launch.
The war in Afghanistan is the longest ongoing war in U.S. history, and as it enters its ninth year, the military is exhausted from fighting two ongoing occupations. Many of those being deployed to Afghanistan in President Obama's latest surge have already seen combat multiple times. Sgt. Lance Vogeler was killed in Afghanistan on Oct. 1st on his 12th combat tour of the War on Terror. Multiple deployments increase cases of PTSD, which makes veterans six times more likely to commit suicide. (i)
Last year, 239 soldiers killed themselves, and 1,713 soldiers survived suicide attempts,146 soldiers died from high-risk activities, including 74 drug overdoses. (ii) A third of returning troops report mental health problems, and 18.5 percent of all returning service members are battling either PTSD or depression, according to a study by the Rand Corporation. Recently, four decorated combat vets committed suicide in a single week at Ft. Hood, prompting Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to state the issue of soldier suicides is his top priority. (iii) IVAW asserts that those who are deploying troops with mental health issues are responsible for such alarming statistics.
"I was denied treatment for the mental and physical wounds I sustained in battle, like so many others," says Ethan McCord, a veteran whose unit was shown in the "Collateral Murder" video distributed by Wikileaks. "This campaign is critical for soldiers because we are asserting our right to heal. Now, the government has a choice - will it recognize our right to heal, or continue to deny it?"
Iraq Veterans Against the War intends to fight this battle until policy changes and veterans receive proper care. Operation Recovery supports service members pursuing their right to heal from trauma caused by military service. As the Afghanistan War stretches on and its objectives remain questionable to many, IVAW reflects a growing opposition to the war from within the ranks.
"The Afghanistan War is an abject failure, except to the corporations that profit from it. The trillions spent on these occupations could better be used to lift Americans out of a recession. These policies reflect bipartisan disregard for civilians and service members alike," says Maggie Martin, Iraq War Vet. "The best thing to do is bring the troops home now and start a process of healing our country."
***
(i) TIME article featuring IVAW member Ethan McCord: https://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2008886,00.html
(ii) Health Promotion, Risk Reduction, Suicide Prevention: https://usarmy.vo.llnwd.net/e1/HPRRSP/HP-RR-SPReport2010_v00.pdf
(iii) TIME Blog: https://swampland.blogs.time.com/2010/09/30/top-general-military-suicides-will-keep-rising/
Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) was founded by Iraq war veterans in July 2004 at the annual convention of Veterans for Peace (VFP) in Boston to give a voice to the large number of active duty service people and veterans who are against this war, but are under various pressures to remain silent. From its inception, IVAW has called for: 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. As of 5/2021, the IVAW website is offline.
LATEST NEWS
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is reportedly growing increasingly concerned that the International Criminal Court is preparing to issue arrest warrants for him and other top government officials for committing war crimes in the Gaza Strip.
The Times of Israelreported Sunday that the Israeli government, in partnership with the U.S., is "making a concerted effort to head off" possible arrest warrants from the ICC, which first launched its war crimes investigation in the occupied Palestinian territories in 2021.
Israel does not recognize the ICC's jurisdiction and has refused to cooperate with the probe. The ICC says it has jurisdiction over Gaza, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem.
Citing an unnamed Israeli government source, The Times of Israel reported that "a major focus of the ICC allegations will be that Israel 'deliberately starved Palestinians in Gaza.'" Other officials who could face arrest warrants are Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi.
The Times of Israel's reporting came shortly after Israeli journalist Ben Caspit wrote that Netanyahu is "under unusual stress" over the possibility of arrest warrants and is leading a "nonstop push over the telephone" to forestall ICC action.
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But the Biden administration vocally supported the ICC's decision to issue an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin over war crimes committed in Ukraine, even though neither Russia nor Ukraine are parties to the Rome Statute.
Seeing commentary that ICC arrest warrants against Israeli officials would create a dangerous precedent because Israel isn’t a party to the Rome Statute.
Guess who else isn’t a party to the Rome Statute?
Russia.
ICC already crossed that bridge with warrant for Putin.
— Brian Finucane (@BCFinucane) April 28, 2024
The Israeli government has been accused of committing numerous war crimes in Gaza since the October 7 Hamas-led attack, including genocide, ethnic cleansing, and using starvation as a weapon of war. Late last year, the human rights group Democracy for the Arab World Now submitted to the ICC the names of dozens of Israeli military commanders who are believed to have been directly involved in violations of international law.
Reports of potentially imminent ICC action have sparked alarm among conservatives in the United States.
U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) wrote on social media Friday that the court should "should stand down on this immediately."
In an
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The Times of Israelnoted Sunday that according to reports in several Israeli media outlets, the U.S. is "part of a last-ditch diplomatic effort to prevent the International Criminal Court from issuing arrest warrants against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli officials."
Trita Parsi, executive vice president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, argued Sunday that "there is absolutely no reason for Biden to be involved in this."
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"To sit and schmooze with the president while he sends billions of dollars in weapons to Israel to kill their colleagues in Gaza is unethical and immoral."
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On Saturday night, U.S. reporters and government officials—including President Joe Biden—will gather at the Washington Hilton Hotel for the annual White House Correspondents' Dinner, a glitzy, humor-filled affair that has faced mounting boycott calls in recent weeks as Palestinian journalists in Gaza are targeted and killed by the Israeli military in appalling numbers.
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But it remains to be seen whether the president will mention Gaza journalists specifically.
President Biden will address the White House Correspondents Dinner tonight. It’s expected that’ll he’ll mention threats to journalists around the world. Will he mention Israel’s murder of Shireen Abu Aqlah & the scores of Palestinian journalists murdered in Gaza? Probably not. pic.twitter.com/nA6M2t9nK9
— James J. Zogby (@jjz1600) April 27, 2024
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Sandra Tamari, executive director of the Adalah Justice Project, which helped organize the letter calling for a boycott of Saturday's dinner, said it's grotesque for reporters who claim to be committed to a free press to pal around with members of an administration that is aiding deadly attacks on journalists in Gaza.
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