MGx - Musings, Essays & Ballads

The NY Times has an article up about Iraq war deserters. One of the complicating issues about filing for conscientious objector status is brought to light in this article. Many soldiers are not opposed to fighting a war if they believe the cause is just and therefore do not qualify as ‘objectors’ and […]

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A fellow peace activist wrote this and gave me permission to post it here. It is moving and thoughtful and attends to the too little attention given by the mainstream media upon these gut wrenching testimonies of our wounded warriors, our true winter patriots.
Editor:
As noted in The World (March 17, 2008), Sunshine Week is […]

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From the Washington Post
Former Marine Jon Turner began his presentation by ripping his service medals off his shirt and tossing them into the first row. He then narrated a series of graphic photographs showing bloody victims and destruction, bringing gasps from the audience. In a matter-of-fact voice, he described episodes in which he and fellow […]

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For more video from the protests ongoing in DC right now follow this link
Let’s bring our troops home where we need them, can take care of them and where we love them.

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One of the first conscientious objectors was Camilo Mejia who is now on the board of IVAW, Iraq Veterans Against the War. He has helped organize this Winter Soldier event because he feels it is his patriotic duty to defend the constitution.
Mejia was court martialed for refusing to redeploy to his unit after two […]

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Details here at Rawstory and watch live streaming video here

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There were about twenty local veterans from the Vietnam and Korea era attending this evening as Elliott Adams, president of Veterans for Peace visited with Chapter 141 for the first time. Many issues were discussed from furthering the peace movement, veterans health care. impeachment and the Winter Soldier event this month in DC. […]

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This month from the 13th to the 16th hundreds of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans will testify about what the war is really about.
This year, from March 13 to 16, about 300 veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan will follow in the footsteps of their predecessors, gathering for a second Winter Soldier conference, in […]

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This is just so sad. The article does not say how many tours he had served already but he was desperate not to return again.
A soldier trying to avoid redeployment to Iraq had a friend shoot him in the leg and then claimed he had been wounded in a holdup, authorities said.
The 20-year-old old […]

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The occupation of Iraq and the Bush adminstration have put to the test the mettle of many soldiers who swore first to uphold the constitution. Among them are several Asian American soldiers who have an interesting historical perspective on the use of torture.
“Torture is un-lawful”, are the first words of his keynote address, part […]

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Fort Hood soldiers are breaking the silence about the mission in Iraq
“The honest truth is that if the American people knew what was going on over there everyday, they would be raising their voices too. They would be saying, ‘Hey, bring those guys home,” Sgt. Selena Coppa said.
Coppa blames lawmakers in Washington for filtering the […]

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“These are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.” Thomas Paine, 1776

Visit the IVAW website for details and to support this campaign and […]

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Speaking in Baghdad during his first visit to Iraq this year, Gates backs away from earlier plans to start drawing down the troops.
In his remarks at this U.S. base in southern Baghdad, Gates said Petraeus had given him his view on the drawdown, which some fear could result in giving up some of the security […]

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Nothing in my life has been more frustrating than being led by incompetent leaders. This first part of a two part article from Asia Times illustrates just how maddening it is for the military to be bound to the will of an incompetent leader and how criminal it is that our fighting men and […]

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Army captains who penned Washington Post OP/Ed have been ridiculed for their candor.
The officers’ words have stirred controversy, with some critics calling them traitors. But that hasn’t stopped them from speaking out.
In the op-ed piece, published on the fifth anniversary of the authorization of military force in Iraq, the 12 captains wrote that they had […]

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