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Will the Winter Soldier testimony bring the true ugliness of this war to the public in the way the media brought Vietnam to our living rooms? Or will it be buried as has everything else about this war has been?
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Posts:
7,884
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8/24/06
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(25 of 25)
Re: Winter Soldier testimony
May 6, 2008 4:37 PM
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Thanks for the info Housebird. I'm not surprised a bit about malignancies. DU is used pretty frequently as I understand it. Pulverized Uranium introduced into the atmosphere and water and soil.
I had heard about the West Coast ports, but did not realize that it was union action against the war. That is good news indeed.
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1,895
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4/9/03
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(24 of 25)
Re: Winter Soldier testimony
May 5, 2008 9:58 PM
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The American Free Press (2005) reported that 40% of the soldiers in a unit that served in 2003 have developed malignancies in just 16 months.
Dr. Durakovic's UMRC (Uranium Medical Research Center) research team also conducted a 3 week trip to Iraq Oct/03 in 10 cities, including Baghdad, Basra and Najaf.
He said preliminary tests showed that the air, soil and water samples contained
?hundreds to thousands of times? the normal levels of radiation.
http://www.countercurrents.org/us-paulinson161106.htm
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1,895
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(23 of 25)
Re: Winter Soldier testimony
May 2, 2008 3:04 PM
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?Longshore workers standing down on the job but up for America?
Thousands of dockworkers at West Coast ports stayed off the job on Thursday in what their union said was a call for an end to the war in Iraq.
The International Longshore and Warehouse Union said more than 25,000 members in 29 ports stayed off the job. The action came despite an order issued Wednesday by an arbitrator directing the union to tell its members to report for work as usual in response to a request from employers.
?We?re supporting the troops and telling politicians in Washington that it?s time to end the war in Iraq.?
http://www.juancole.com/2008/05/10000-longshore-workers-strike-against.html
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Posts:
106
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2/22/08
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(22 of 25)
Re: Winter Soldier testimony
Mar 27, 2008 1:54 PM
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http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/80461/?page=entire
Pentagon Holds Thousands of Americans 'Prisoners of War'By Penny Coleman, AlterNet. Posted March 26, 2008.
There are at least 60,000 of them, but they're not on the DoD's list of soldiers missing in action.
..............................................................................................................................................................................
This compelling article by Coleman describes the story of one of the WINTER SOLDIER'S -a Sgt. Goldsmith... here are a few quotes from the article:
"The panel Goldsmith was on was called "The Breakdown of the U.S. Military," so he surprised the audience when he said that he was going to talk about prisoners of war.
He was not, however, going to talk about the three soldiers listed as missing in action on the Department of Defense website. He was referring to those who have been the victims of stop-loss, the device by which the president can, "in the event of war," choose to extend an enlistee's contract "until six months after the war ends." The "War on Terror" is this president's excuse for invoking that clause. Because that war will, by definition, continue as long as we insist that there is a difference between the terror inflicted on our innocents and the terror inflicted on theirs, American soldiers are effectively signing away their freedom indefinitely when they join the military. They are prisoners of an ill-defined and undeclared war on a tactic -- terrorism -- that dates back to Biblical times and will be with us indefinitely.
According to U.S. News and World Report, there are at least 60,000 of them.
When they wanted him [Goldsmith] to go back for more, he despaired and tried to kill the 21-year-old he had become. Nothing made sense anymore
In Iraq, he was stationed in Sadr City, one of the poorest and angriest of Baghdad's neighborhoods. Electricity was available for only 2-4 hours a day, sewage contaminated the water system, and the outside temperature often topped 130 degrees. American soldiers were charged with enforcing a curfew that kept locals locked inside their homes, away from the coffee shops or the rooftops or their neighbors' yards, for the only cool hours of the day.
Essentially rendering 3.2 million Iraqis prisoners of war. Goldsmith was among the prisoners guarding other prisoners.
"I find it so painfully ironic that as other excuses for the war have been proven false, (weapons of mass destruction, U.N. sanctions, ties to Al-Queda, etc.) the administration has fallen back on the most unbelievable of all: freedom. While George Bush insists that Iraqis accept freedom, American style, one out of every 100 of our own citizens are in prison. Almost twice as many as the runner-up, China. Iraq is 62 on the list, though it is unclear whether that includes those being held by Americans. In this country, there are 2,258,983 in prison. That figure does not include the 723,000 locked up in local jails. Or the 60,000 stop-lossed soldiers.
Pentagon studies have shown that each deployment leaves a soldier 60 percent more likely to suffer serious mental health problems. In support of that, as this president sends soldiers back into combat as many as five times in as many years, the U.S. Army Medical Command Suicide Prevention Action Plan acknowledges that suicides among active-duty soldiers in 2007 were up 20 percent from 2006, their highest level since the Army began keeping such records in 1980. And the number of suicide attempts has increased sixfold since the Iraq war began. There were several in the I-30 Infantry Battalion, and Goldsmith holds his sergeant major responsible. Like Goldsmith, these young soldiers are being told not only that they are prisoners, but that they are disposable. They are our children, and their deaths are on the hands of those who hold their freedom hostage.
Congress could put an end to this."
===========I SAY IT IS HIGH TIME THE AMERICAN PEOPLE DO WHAT WE CAN TO MAKE CONGRESS DO SOME REAL WORK ON OUR BEHALF!========"good luck with that!" eh?
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Posts:
577
Registered:
1/17/08
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(21 of 25)
Re: Winter Soldier testimony
Mar 22, 2008 2:59 PM
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> There is a book called Mind Manipulations, I read it
> in the 80's. It is fascinating, how many groups are
> brainwashing their followers.
>
Thanks for the tip Bunny, I'll look for it.
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Posts:
1,060
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10/21/07
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(20 of 25)
Re: Winter Soldier testimony
Mar 22, 2008 11:20 AM
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Correct the miltary uses brainwashing to control the troops.
There is a book called Mind Manipulations, I read it in the 80's. It is fascinating, how many groups are brainwashing their followers.
Read it, it is an interesting book
--
Can't we all... just... get along?
Rodney King, philosopher
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7,884
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(19 of 25)
Re: Winter Soldier testimony
Mar 22, 2008 10:18 AM
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PlanetPam
If the military is not about anything else, it is about propaganda and conditioned thinking. Before anything else, the young troop is taught to let the Army do his thinking for him.
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27,132
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12/1/04
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(18 of 25)
Re: Winter Soldier testimony
Mar 22, 2008 2:29 AM
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I checked to see if there's video coverage of the testimony on youtube, there are maybe an hours worth on IVAW's youtube site
http://www.youtube.com/user/ivaw
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106
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2/22/08
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(17 of 25)
Re: Winter Soldier testimony
Mar 22, 2008 12:31 AM
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I wept with their stories & felt even more ashamed of the 'leadership' that the Military Industrial Complex chose to conduct OPERATION IRAQI FREEDOM. They especially betrayed America & the soldiers under them, in my opinion.
Hillary's comment about giving the Iraqis "the precious gift of freedom" leaves a very bad taste in my mouth. Do you think the families of the Million Iraqis dead & the dead & wounded soldiers feel what we have done there is anything "precious"?
When my nephew got back from Iraq recently...he cleaned every gun in my house & continued the rhetoric we hear commonly here. "Better to fight them there instead of here".
He sleeps terribly & hasn't really opened up yet...and I worry about this 19 yr. old kid. He seemed so brainwashed.
If All Americans saw this compelling testimony...what kind of rating do you think the Bush Regime would still have?
We already know what Cheney would say..."So" and repeat his lies about the "consensus is" that we are winning.
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7,884
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(16 of 25)
Re: Winter Soldier testimony
Mar 21, 2008 10:39 PM
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Interesting story Gzn. I like the capitalized version! 
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Posts:
1,157
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3/21/08
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(15 of 25)
Re: Winter Soldier testimony
Mar 21, 2008 7:32 PM
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Great post, beansnrice. There were a slew of antiwar sentiment against WWII, but few dared speak it. Bravo to your grandfather. Advertisers glorify war with imagery, and famous people like Tom Hanks, Tom Brokaw, Tim Russert carry the torch.
Two WWII vets in my family never recovered, lived out their lives in some impenetrable private hell, and never uttered a single word about it. I think we're forever destined to be animals that evolve physically, with opposable thumbs and whatnot, but will always be imprisoned by the unenlightened and the sheep who follow them.
We only heard about anitwar sentiments in movies, years after the fact. But to what avail? Who learns anything? What did we learn from Vietnam? Zip.
I only know of one person in my community, he's 95 now, who was an outspoken antiwar civilian and labor organizer back then. That got him brought before McCarthy's House on Un-American Activities, and refusing to name names got him hounded by the FBI for the next 15 years. Now he's a local hero, and leads an incredibly active and productive life, all of his plays, fiction, memoirs and acting roles are based on that theme.
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748
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2/25/08
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(14 of 25)
Re: Winter Soldier testimony
Mar 21, 2008 1:40 PM
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This reminds me of my grandfather who served in the airforce in world war 2. He came back completely against war. This was WWII too! When I grew older he had me read the classic book, "War is a Racket" by Major General Smedley D. Butler. He wrote that coming out of WWI detailing the crimes of major corporations such as Dupont who would sell to both sides while powerful people in the media trumped up charges to go to war. There is an age old connection between the American powers that be and the military.
I certainly don't diminish the trials and effort of the young men and women who serve for our country but they are employed buy such a corrupt and morally bankrupt institution that it taints the very honor and pride of our nation. There is a classic notion that civilians don't have the fortitude for the needs of warfare and that people in high ranking government and military positions are duty bound to bully the country into conflict.
I think the tough and spirited soldiers who are able to show true honor in their rejection of the war are real heroes. In Iraq and our blatantly racist, arrogant, and criminal foreign policy we are never allowed to ask for honor and accountability. Civilian losses are acceptable casualties, as are our own soldiers and our economy.
The thought that Iraq, such a small country would pose any threat to the United states is a sorry thought. If we were attacked again like we were in 2001 do you think the world would come to our side the way they did then? Do you think we have used up all of our good will by showing no restraint and no respect for the citizens of Iraq? The final question is how much more damage are we going to do to ourselves until we just can't do any more? How many countries are we going to take down with us, kicking and screaming? I'm proud of my country for men and women like these. I am also sad for this country because those soldiers have caused so much wanton destructions that, like Lady Macbeth they may never be able to wash the blood from their hands. The loss of innocense in our soldiers lives is the greatest loss for our military. I couldn't imagine being ordered to kill civilians. I know I would lose my mind.
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865
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11/4/06
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(13 of 25)
Re: Winter Soldier testimony
Mar 21, 2008 7:59 AM
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Host Donna-- As to your question "...so how do we do it? Bookmarking, posting to video-sharing sites? How do we make it pop?"
A few items, and thinking out loud...
Here's an excerpt of a transcript from the Charlie Rose Show on 3/12 with Amy Goodman from Democracy Now! on the collaborative promotion of Winter Soldier...
"...we are now the largest public media collaboration in the country. We?re broadcasting on Pacifica Radio, Community Radio Stations, NPR stations around the country, and also on satellite television, on Free Speech TV, on public access TV stations around the country."
Also at IVAW, the general public is encouraged to host and/or attend community viewings.
C-SPAN on Sunday at 8 p.m., and tonight's Bill Moyers Journal will feature Phil Donahue and Ellen Spiro with their documentary "Body of War", a DVD that's promoted on the IVAW site.
I'd like to see Amy Goodman on Bill Maher via satellite; and these shows, which I'm in the process of checking out and emailing: Bill Moyers Journal, Jon Stewart, and Stephen Colbert.
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Posts:
2,941
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(12 of 25)
Re: Winter Soldier testimony
Mar 21, 2008 12:01 AM
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>
> TV? Ain't no way.
>
Well now that just doesn't jibe with the charge
that boob tube pundits are shilling for Barack Obama.
--
She was for the war before she was against the war.
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Posts:
7,884
Registered:
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(11 of 25)
Re: Winter Soldier testimony
Mar 20, 2008 10:35 PM
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Well, the cynical view is that the media are corporate controlled, and the various corporations are part of a group that prefers a state of war.
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