War

COMMENTS ON THE 3000TH MEMORIAL TO THE PEOPLE KILLED IN IRAQ
(Memorial Park, Houston, January 17, 2007)

The 3000th Memorial in Houston is very moving and I want to thank the people who created it - Veterans for Peace, Military Families Speak Out and others. The Memorial honors not only the 3000 plus U.S. military and contract personnel who have died in thie Iraq war, but also the thousands of Iraqi citizens who have died. We don't like to talk about the Iraqis who have died, but they are also our brothers and sisters.

Memorial for Casualties of the Iraq War
January 14, 2007

Thousands Dead, Thousands More Picking Up the Pieces

We are all here to honor these fallen U.S. Military Personnel, Iraqi and civilians from all over the world that have died as a result of the Iraq war. You may be wondering why we chose to honor ALL people who have died in this war. There are many reasons that this should be done. It’s important that as human beings we memorialize this great loss of humanity to the world. It is important that as human beings we realize the toll that war takes on this entire world for generations to come. It is important because until human beings acknowledge the total losses, we will continue to spend the lives of valuable human beings trying to conquer one another in a futile bid for everlasting power. It is important because histories of wars are often untold, rewritten, or forgotten, and so the lessons are not learned by future generations.

This article has links to speeches, photos, and the event description for the 3000th casualty memorial, at Memorial Park in Houston, Jan. 14-20, 2007. This event was held to memorialize the terrible loss of life, (US and Iraqi), that we have had so far during the Iraq invasion and occupation.

Kucinich to announce for President
‘Deeply concerned’ by failure of Democratic leadership to heed voters’ November call to end war

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Monday, December 11, 2006

Photo taken Nov. 15, 2006, evening rush hour
Southwest Freeway, Houston
Picture showing some of the signs in the "Stop Israel Agression/No war with Iran" theme
This theme is usually on Wednesdays.

Learn about Lt. Ehren Watada's war against the invasion and occupation of Iraq at two different events Saturday, Oct. 28.

FIRST COMMISSIONED OFFICER TO REFUSE DEPLOYMENT TO IRAQ

To get a copy of this resolution formatted for printing, so you can take it with you to your precinct convention, click on the link in the Attachment box below.

WHEREAS members of the U.S. military in Iraq have killed many thousands of Iraq civilians; and

To get a copy of this resolution formatted for printing, so you can take it with you to your precinct convention, click on the link in the Attachment box below.

WHEREAS, The Palestinian people participated in January 2006 in an election of the members of their parliament; and WHEREAS, The elections were internationally monitored and widely declared to be fair and clean; and WHEREAS, The result of the election was the ouster of the long-reigning Fatah faction and the induction of the Islamic Hamas faction; and WHEREAS, The only way to resolve a conflict is to negotiate directly with one's adversary, no matter how strongly contemned; and WHEREAS, A third party has no standing to name the representatives of a democratic government to which it is not a constituent; be it therefore RESOLVED, That the President of the United States, the Secretary of State, and all other officials duly appointed by our government negotiate directly, and without precondition, with the Palestinian counterparts appointed and empowered by the current democratically elected Hamas-led government of the Palestinian people.

The two flyers here (see attachments below) are the ones PAA produced for the 2006 and 2007 Martin Luther King, Jr. parades and related events in Houston.

They contrast King's ideas with Bush's policies -- on peace, diplomacy, nonviolence, racial equality, the environment, civil liberties. They explain how 3 more years of Bush in the White House will shatter King's dream of a just society, and why we should push for impeachment.

See below for more updates on last night's protest from John Cobarruvias of Bay Area New Democrats.  He was one of the organizers of the event.  BAND can be counted on to have a significant prescence whenever DeLay is in town, even (like last night) when the event isn't even in the Clear Lake area nor in DeLay's district.

John counted 287 protestors.  I think that's a fairly accurate number, although it was difficult to count because we were spread out over such a big area, some people came late, etc.  The Houston Chronicle said police estimated about 250.

• GI Hotline - a network of nonprofit, nongovernmental organizations who provide information to servicemembers about military discharges, grievance and complaint procedures, and other civil rights.
• Delayed enlistment programs
  
  

Democrats:

29 out of 31 Democrats have served this country in the US military 

• Richard Gephardt: Air National Guard, 1965-71.
• David Bonior: Staff Sgt., Air Force 1968-72.
• Tom Daschle: 1st Lt., Air Force SAC 1969-72.
• Al Gore: enlisted Aug. 1969; sent to Vietnam Jan. 1971 as an army  journalist in 20th Engineer Brigade.
• Bob Kerrey: Lt. j.g. Navy 1966-69; Medal of Honor, Vietnam.
• Daniel Inouye: Army 1943-'47; Medal of Honor, WWII.
• John Kerry: Lt., Navy 1966-70; Silver Star, Bronze Star with Combat V  Purple Hearts.
• John Edwards: did not serve.
• Charles Rangel: Staff Sgt., Army 1948-52; Bronze Star, Korea.
• Max Cleland: Captain, Army 1965-68; Silver Star & Bronze Star, Vietnam.
• Ted Kennedy: Army, 1951-1953.
• Tom Harkin: Lt., Navy, 1962-67; Naval Reserve, 1968-74.
• Jack Reed: Army Ranger, 1971-1979; Captain, Army Reserve 1979-91.
• Fritz Hollings: Army officer in WWII, receiving the Bronze Star and  seven campaign ribbons.
• Leonard Boswell: Lt. Col., Army 1956-76; Vietnam, DFCs, Bronze Stars,  and Soldier's Medal.
• Pete Peterson: Air Force Captain, POW. Purple Heart, Silver Star and  Legion of Merit.
• Mike Thompson: Staff sergeant, 173rd Airborne, Purple Heart.
• Bill McBride: Candidate for Fla. Governor. Marine in Vietnam; Bronze  Star with Combat V.
• Gray Davis: Army Captain in Vietnam, Bronze Star.
• Pete Stark: Air Force 1955-57
• Chuck Robb: Vietnam
• Howell Heflin: Silver Star
• George McGovern: Silver Star & DFC during WWII.
• Bill Clinton: Did not serve. Student deferments. Entered draft but  received 311.
• Jimmy Carter: Seven years in the Navy.
• Walter Mondale: Army 1951-1953
• John Glenn: WWII and Korea; six DFCs and Air Medal with 18 Clusters.
• Tom Lantos: Served in Hungarian underground in WWII. Saved by Raoul  Wallenberg.
• Wesley Clark: U.S. Army, 1966-2000, West Point, Vietnam, Purple Heart,  Silver Star. Retired 4-star general.
• John Dingell: WWII vet
• John Conyers: Army 1950-57, Korea

Republicans:

10 out of 40 Republicans have served this country in the US military

Sent by Rochelle Bracken
Referenced from The Nation

Here is an open letter from the poet Sharon Olds to Laura Bush declining the invitation to read and speak at the National Book Critics Circle Award in Washington, DC.  Forward it  along if  you feel more people should read it.

Sharon Olds is one of most widely read and critically acclaimed poets living in America today. Read to the end of  the letter to experience her restrained, chilling eloquence.

Peace call marks war anniversary - Houstonians protest the 2nd anniversary of occupation in Iraq 

By ANNE MARIE KILDAY and ZEKE MANAYA - Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle
March 20, 2005, 12:29AM
 
A day of peaceful protest marches and ceremonies, including a meditative walk, were held in Houston on Saturday to mark the second anniversary of the war in Iraq.
 

• Stop U.S. torture!
• Military recruiters out of our schools and communities!
• End the occupation of Afghanistan and Palestine!
• Stop the war on immigrants, communities of
  
  

• Stop U.S. torture!
• Military recruiters out of our schools and communities!
• End the occupation of Afghanistan and Palestine!
• Stop the war on immigrants, comm
  
  

Event Report March 19 Sing Peace Vigil ~ March 20, 2005
Yesterday evening's "Sing Peace" event to commemorate the 2nd anniversary of the invasion of Iraq was a success, despite light rain and severe thunderstorm warnings an hour before it started.  This event was covered by several media outlets.

• Houston CHRONICLE reports on M19 event ~ March 20
• Houston INDY-MEDIA report on M19 event ~ March 21
• Sherry Glover's speech
  
  

The Iraq Notebook is a collection of articles that give you an insight into what's really going on in Iraq, that you won't see on TV.
Download the 2005 edition of the Iraq Notebook (all in one file), or the 2006 edition (each file in a separate page) by clicking on the attachments below.