Diatribune - Iraq - Comments

What say you? (n/t)

Mentarch — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 20:28:30 -0600

What say you? (n/t)

One Thing About the

jimstaro — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 09:33:04 -0600

One Thing About the Present

We didn't have the number of Documentaries about War and the Experiance as well as how we got here back in our day. To archive the lessons the Country said it would never Forget!

'Winter Soldier', 'Sir! No Sir!' were kept out of the Countries Concious on Purpose!

Hollywood, except for a few like 'Coming Home', painted a Much Differant Picture of War, as the Movies that preceded.

The Record Is Made, with more to come I'm sure, Learn The Lessons, The Real Lessons!!

Real HONOR, Right or Wrong

jimstaro — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 09:49:26 -0600

Real HONOR, Right or Wrong the Conflict

This is what the Country, the U.S., that Cheers on Invasions and Occupations, based on Lies, Doesn't Do!!

Real HONOR, Right or Wrong the Conflict

The bodies of five British soldiers from one regiment who were killed in Afghanistan have been flown to the UK.

They arrived at RAF Lyneham in Wiltshire for a repatriation ceremony.

With 'Independence Day'

jimstaro — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 07:55:40 -0600

With 'Independence Day' Weekend Coming

What do these three words now mean, 'Independence', 'Freedom', and 'Democray'?

And further this countries two names, 'America' and the 'United States'?

I don't know anymore, not what they are supposed to signify to us and the rest of this planet!

Anti-War Soldier Jonathan

jimstaro — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 07:18:32 -0600

Anti-War Soldier Jonathan Hutto:

People, Not Politicians, Will End the War in Iraq

In Too Deep: In Too Deep:

jimstaro — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 08:23:18 -0600

In Too Deep:

In Too Deep: 'He wasn't really all there,' his squad leader says, but the Army needed more scouts, so that's the job they sent him in to do IRAQ

He Should Never Have Gone to Iraq’
More borderline troops are being sent to the front, sometimes with tragic results.

By Dan Ephron | NEWSWEEK
Jun 30, 2008 Issue

Pvt. David Dietrich had a history of cognitive problems. He struggled in boot camp at Fort Knox, Ky., striking at least one of his superiors as unfit for the military. Dietrich was so slow at processing new things, some fellow soldiers called him Forrest Gump. His squad leader, Pfc. Matthew Berg, says Dietrich couldn't hit targets on the rifle range and had trouble retaining information. "He was very strong physically, but mentally he wasn't really all there," Berg says. Recruited as a cavalry scout, one of the toughest specialties in the Army, Dietrich seemed to lack the essential skills for the job: concentration, decisiveness and the ability to move around without being noticed. He was sent for psychological evaluations at least twice, yet somehow Dietrich advanced—from Fort Knox to Germany and on to Iraq in November 2006. Eight weeks later, at 21, Dietrich was killed by a sniper while conducting reconnaissance from an abandoned building in Ramadi.

NOT Winning 'Hearts and

jimstaro — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 06:19:18 -0600

NOT Winning 'Hearts and Minds', but Making Enemies!!

Haditha victims' kin outraged as Marines go free (McClatchy has the video at top of this report)

Eight Marines were charged in the case, but in the intervening years, criminal charges have been dismissed against six. A seventh Marine was acquitted. The residents of Haditha, after being told they could depend on U.S. justice, feel betrayed.

"We put our hopes in the law and in the courts and one after another they are found innocent," said Yousef Aid Ahmed, the lone surviving brother in the family. "This is an organized crime."

If nothing is brought into a Court of Accountibility, with evidence layed out for all to see, Guilt or Innocence means nothing, Hatreds and Blowback are created, Creating More 'Enemies' not Justice! That is Not bringing 'Freedom' and 'Democracy', it adds to the Destruction already created!

It is also obsolete thinking

Catzoned — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 06:45:29 -0600

It is also obsolete thinking to hold the Federal government responsible for elections that are conducted by the States.

Not voting would put me in the same position of those who are too apathetic to have a sense of civic duty and partipation! I will vote and it will not be for anyone who is for war.

I have to agree with some of

Catzoned — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 17:58:17 -0600

I have to agree with some of post that is anti-war. However, I strongly disagree with the NOT voting in November. This election is the time to make our voices heard.

If you are worried about a bad voting system then go to your Representatives in your state. Here is a link to states that have an accountable system:

Verified Voting Should Be Mandatory in Each and Every State of the Union.

I’m sure everyone has heard the horror stories of how susceptible the Diebold voting machines are to hackers and that they either need to be eliminated or at least produce a valid paper trail of each and every vote. What is absolutely pathetic is that after the scandalous Presidential election of 2004 – NOT every state has made the effort to rectify the situation. A paper trail should be mandatory in every state or we can just continue to deal with a broken election system and kiss our Democracy goodbye. The following information is from http://www.verifiedvoting.org. This web site has a map that shows if your state has a paper ballot system in place. It is very disturbing to see how many states still do not utilize the paper ballot. If yours does not, please email or call you’re your Representatives to correct this sad situation of our right to vote and be counted! Thanks.

I believe I would follow

wyll12 — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 17:58:42 -0600

I believe I would follow your movement and identify with your argument closer and more strongly if it wasn't based on your "any vote is a vote for war" mantra. It's oversimplifed, and I find it diluted to the point of being obsolete--a vote is only a vote for war if you, the voter, make it one. I'm not voting for war, I'm voting for a progressive step in health care, a withdrawal of a large majority of our military from Iraq, an end to the Bush tax cuts, and financial political moves benefitting Americans trying to pay for college. To say that all I'm voting for is War and a continuation of the Military Industrial Complex is just wrong. The movement you're calling for is noble, but I don't want to throw my vote away in November, and your argument doesn't really convince me that by not voting in the election, I'm saving my democratic voice.

This entry has also been

Mark E. Smith — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 16:25:45 -0600

This entry has also been posted on DailyKos, OpEdNews, SmirkingChimp, Care2, and TruthAwaits.

To see the source material, most of which is in the candidates' own words, Click here and then click on any statement in blue.

The No in November

Mark E. Smith — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 16:14:35 -0600

The No in November pledge:

The United States government has refused to ensure free, fair, honest, transparent elections, and has ignored clear, regular and widespread evidence of election fraud and deception--the political parties and candidates ask for my vote but cannot ensure that my vote is counted. Once elected, officials no longer take my vote into consideration and cannot be held accountable, so my vote is not a voice in government and therefore not a true vote.

The United States government is comprised of a President who is in breach of his Presidential oath and of legislators and officials who have passed unlawful and unconstitutional bills and who have placed themselves above the law.

I reaffirm the final authority of the people to grant or to withhold the mandate to govern or enact laws in our name and I withdraw my vote from these compromised and discredited elections. I do not delegate power to any representative to govern or enact laws in my name. I do not consent to unjust government in which I have no voice.

I am voting instead for true government of the people, by the people, and for the people, and to this end I pledge to work with everyone who joins this petition to establish citizen ownership of transparent, participatory democracy.

www.thepetitionsite.com/1/put-the-no-back-in-november

The Line I just added, at

jimstaro — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 16:18:08 -0600

The Line

I just added, at the end, goes for Wherever This Administration Has Placed Their Private Army, On Your Dime and In Your Names!!

Mine Too!!!!!!!!!

Maybe it would be a very

Jacob Freeze — Thu, 22 May 2008 04:45:19 -0600

Maybe it would be a very good thing if some of the Winter Soldiers emerged from the relatively limited visibility of hearings and testimony in committee rooms, and started appearing in uniform at campaign rallies for all the candidates who have voted to keep funding the obscene war in Iraq, beginning with McCain but not forgetting Hillary and Barack.

None of those three sold-out stooges deserves to be President of the United States!

It's only too late to find a decent candidate if everybody believes it's impossible. Democrats and Republicans have disgraced themselves just about equally in the genocidal war in Iraq, and it's time to consign both those collections of bagmen for the corporations to the garbage dump of history.

From the Transcript KWAME

jimstaro — Wed, 21 May 2008 19:24:32 -0600

From the Transcript

KWAME HOLMAN: Retired Marine Lieutenant Colonel Gary Solis is an attorney and expert on the law of armed conflict. He teaches at West Point. Before watching the televised "Winter Soldier" meeting at our request, he was skeptical about their claims. Afterward, he changed his mind.

LT. COL. GARY SOLIS: I was immediately impressed with the sincerity, the depth of feeling, the sense of wanting to right wrong.

What they had to say jibes with reports I've received from lieutenants who returned to West Point where I taught. My former students come back and tell me the same thing.