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| Open Letter to the Government from an AWOL Soldier
Posted: 11/11/2007 12:21:51 PM | Nonviolent Resistance
By James Circello, Iraq Veterans Against The War
To those Businessmen and women holding seats in Congress, To the Highest Court of America, To every Department within the U.S. government, To the President's Cabinet, To the Joint Chiefs of Staff, To the Vice President and President of the United States of America:
My name is James Circello. I am sure some of you already know who I am now that wiretaps and spying on American citizens has been approved.
Or maybe you've heard of me when you saw my name on a comprehensive list of Anti-War activists.
Or maybe you just know of me because I was a Sergeant in the United States Army and served as an Airborne Infantryman for six years, went to Iraq in March 2003 and served until March 2004, remained in the Army a little longer before refusing to take part in the Occupation of the Middle East and went AWOL.
I am writing you today, not asking for forgiveness for what I decided to do, but to give you an idea of what brought me to that decision to leave the Army and speak out against the Occupation. Though some will claim I left for other reasons and will try to force the discussion away from the facts and at the same time attempt to assassinate my character with half truths and out right lies, these are the facts. If later we wish to get into more of my personal life, we can do that: I have no fear of it.
I will first like to say that I am no longer a member of the United States Armed Forces. When I left the military on Easter morning, April 2007, I have officially resigned from service to that military. There are no ties between myself and an oppressive military regime set on occupying groups of impoverished indigenous people.
I am no longer a Sergeant or a paratrooper.
I will not respect an organization that can and does, at its own will, change entire enlistment contracts for the purpose of extending soldiers;
Gives quarterly sexual harassment courses and still allows roughly 30% of women to be sexually assaulted in some way, shape or form;
Openly discriminates against people based on homosexuality, race, gender and ethnic background;
Allows crimes against humanity and peace to occur and covers them up with internal investigations;
Actively recruits young boys and girls from low level income high schools and communities with false promises of health care, school and job experience and fails on all accounts;
Refuses to recognize conscientious objectors (C.O.), and when individuals apply for C.O. status that are administratively "punished" by their chain of command;
I refuse to be a part of a military and Administration that continue to abuse and torture, doesn't recognize the rights of detainees and allows them to be shipped to secret detention facilities for "National Security" purposes; a military that is illegally, based on all U.S. as well as International Law, inside of Iraq; a military that is over extended, under funded in a war with no foreseeable end (because time tables give our enemy a "sense of victory", but how can the enemy have victory when "Mission Accomplished" has been declared?); a military that watches billions of government contracts given to private military outfits, while they run through the streets of Iraq unchecked, and allows soldiers to be poorly equipped and the V.A. poorly funded.; the No Child Left Behind Act and it's policy of making it mandatory for schools to send out the information of all students attending the school to military recruiters, or they are threatened with being cut off from Federal funding (I thought school was a place of learning, not a place of turning our youth into the:" (insert Arabic country name here) Veterans Against The War".
This and many other reasons are why I tell you today, I do not recognize any of the warrants that may have been placed upon me. These warrants are merely a way to silence any opposition to this criminal war. I do not support the United States foreign policy and will not be the fool that enforces it.
The United States has a history of using the poor of this country to massacre and oppress the poor of other countries and I say to everyone that is able to read this - I am no longer a member of the United States Armed Forces.
I also say, this by no way makes me Un-American. I love this country and feel very strongly that it can be saved and that it must be saved.
I say this without a growing ego, but my acts as of now are what the Founding Fathers envisioned and wrote about. This is what Democracy looks like.
Dissent isn't Un-American, it is what Patriotism means.
Patriotism is not blindly following a Flag waver, it is Direct Action.
I joined the Army after the towers of New York fell. Swept up in the fervor, I left college to enlist. My country was attacked - I, like many, wanted to defend it.
But here is where a majority of Americans, as well as Politicians have made their largest mistake: Defending your country does not mean destroying other Nations out of and/or for Revenge. But the People bought into the outcry that we must kill to feel better, and the Politicians sang their songs and danced their dances, in an attempt to show who was the most Patriotic of them all!
America stayed fixed to the lies from Fox News (can it really be called "News"?) and we watched the towers fall so many thousands of times until we were all ready to go kill and die for the Eagle and Red, White and Blue.
Though, I will admit, I was angry and young but it didn't take me too long to see that this wasn't about defending America, but creating an entirely new enemy.
It was all there.
It was almost too perfect.
They are of different color.
They speak a different language.
They are a people that have been made to be poor - not a people that are poor; there is a difference.
They follow a strange religion that Americans don't understand! A religion so very similar to Christianity, that - get this - it recognizes almost the same individuals as being Prophets that the Bible does.
They "hate us (you) for our (your) freedom".
They will come here and kill our women and children if we do not go there (and kill their women and children first).
The Administration and all of Its men and women sold it and Americans bought it.
How many people got chills when the American flag was placed there at Ground Zero?
Remember when there were so many flags outside of houses, and flag stores ran out of them?
So I went to Iraq and I saw their faces. People that I thought wanted to kill me, and hated me because I was free, brought me into their homes, offered me food and something to drink.
Was the food poisoned? No.
Was it a poor family that could barely afford the food they were offering, but offered it to me without charge or regret? You bet.
I was quickly disillusioned by the military. Senators and Representatives from Congresswould come to visit us - and we would be told to get everything clean for the Dog and Pony Show.
We would up the security levels, to make everything look ship-shape. When it was time for the questions and answers portion, we would never be without a question, because the chain of command was always there for us - and thankfully they had come up with the questions we were allowed to ask our Representatives. This is what happens every time someone from D.C. came for a little sight seeing visit. I can only imagine what kinds of shows they put on now.
Long story short, I left Iraq feeling really uncomfortable with America's position in this entire conflict. It didn't feel right. It didn't look right.
And after much soul searching and researching, I discovered that it plain out just wasn't right.
It took me a while to finally decide to leave. I wanted to leave prior to invading Iraq, while witnessing the illegal "Shock and Awe" that killed so many innocent people and destroying the infrastructure of the country that we hadn't destroyed from the first bombings in the Gulf War and what wasn't antiquated and useless from the illegal sanctions held over the heads of the every day Iraqi citizen.
I fell for the trap of "don't let your buddies down". And what a well spun web it is. I can not control the conscience of another man. I can only follow mine. And after deciding what I believe in is not consistent with the United States military and learning that "don't let your buddies down" is just a form of domination through guilt, I left my post in Italy to return to America. I began speaking out against this Occupation. I do not fear arrest. I do not stay hidden. I go to all national events and travel the country at my own leisure.
I say this to you Congressional Democrats: you have failed us. I delayed my going AWOL, because when I learned both Houses of the Congress were controlled by Democrats I was confident that the war was finally over. You ran on the platform of ending the war. I told all of my friends to just hang on, it will be over very soon. You funded the war and you continue to fund it. By no means is my hostility solely directed towards the Republican bench of the government. You lied to the American people, and more so, you failed the American people. We are finally awake and more and more are realizing that we don't have a two party system in America, we have a single party that is not representing the will of the People.
Realize this Congressional Democrats, that when you agreed to continue funding the Occupation, this was no longer the President's war against the Arabs. You helped buy this Occupation and now you own it as well. And I will remind you every time that I see your faces.
The People say end the war. Stop funding the Occupation. The Soldiers want to come home. The insane idea of we must stay in Iraq and Afghanistan so that these thousands of soldiers will not have died in vain should never be said again! We tried saying that in Vietnam! The Iraqi people are strong and can defend themselves. They also want us out.
It took years for a G.I. Resistance to begin within the Military during Vietnam, but I am telling you right now - the feeling of resentment is there.
The feeling that Politicians and Businesses are profiting off of this Occupation while we suffer through extended tours and battle Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, depleted uranium, losing friends and family and losing our lives and limbs through wounds.
We come home and barely have time to adjust to being home before we begin training to leave again.
Families are falling apart.
Iraqis are dying.
For what?
A red, white and blue flag that says, "I'm a Patriot"?
Dissent is Patriotic.
Open discussion is Patriotic (this to Speaker of the House Pelosi who refuses to have an open forum with the people of her district. I believe it is going on just over 2 Years now.)
And I say to you dissent is filling the ranks of the military and it doesn't even need a charismatic figurehead to come forth and say "Dissent; Desert!".
They are doing it and will keep doing it.
And the military's attempt to censor free speech will not contain it. Blogs, Youtube, Myspace: these sights, and others, weren't blocked for any reason other than these are the most popular places to find out that the G.I.
Resistance Movement is growing daily.
So proud Patriots of America, I ask you today for nothing. You are my Employee, never forget that. My tax dollars pay your salary, never forget that.
I do however have demands for you:
-End the Occupation Now. Not tomorrow.
-Bring home all American troops. Replace them with a true international coalition designed specifically for peace keeping operations, NOT military operations.
-Remove all U.S. contractors from the Middle East that continue to benefit off of the death of the Iraqi and Afghan people and the destruction of their countries.
-Allow the Afghan and Iraq governments the freedom to decide what kind of country they want to be in, not what kind of country we want them to have.
-Allow the Afghan and Iraq governments freedom to choose who is given reconstruction contracts - which none should be American companies, for obvious reasons.
-Fund in full all reconstruction projects in Afghanistan and Iraq: We destroyed their countries, by International Law we must pay. By Moral virtue we must pay.
-Support the Troops means take care of them when they come home, not blindly fund their continued existence in a war zone - Completely fund the V.A.
Department!
-Fund the Levees; Do NOT allow another Hurricane Katrina or Rita.
-Oversight on Gulf Region reconstruction (where is it?) - I was just in New Orleans, it is still a disaster area two years later. Fix it now.
-Open Diplomatic negotiations with Iran - Do not allow another war to take place. We have Diplomats that are paid by taxpayers to do just that: to Talk and Discuss. Use Diplomats not Depleted Uranium and Cruise Missiles.
I also want to say this before I close, I wrote it in a letter, just yesterday, to the people of Italy that stand up and actively oppose more U.S.
military bases in their country. And it says:
The Iraq war is a War of Aggression, led by a cry of "We Will Never Forget"; the famous quote from September 11, 2001. Well, I have something to say for the people of the World and to the People of this Administration, as well as to the members of the U.S. Congress.
We WILL never forget.
We will never forget that the men who hijacked those aircraft on September 11,
2001 were not Iraqi.
We will never forget that Iraq had no Weapons of Mass Destruction (W.M.D) when we invaded.
We will never forget that the W.M.D's that Iraq did have years before, were sold to them by the U.S. Government.
We will never forget the millions of Iraqi men, women and children who have suffered through the Dictatorship of Saddam Hussein, The Iraq-Iran War, The Gulf War, Depleted Uranium, Years of Illegal Sanctions, Shock and Awe, "Liberation" from a Tyrant only to find a new Tyrant take his place.
We will never forget the 2 million of Iraqi men, women and children who are now displaced refugees within their own country.
We will never forget the 1.5 million refugees in Syria, the 775,000 refugees in Jordan and the nearly 200,000 refugees in Egypt.
We will never forget the 1 million dead Iraqi men, women and children since March 2003.
We will never forget that nearly 100,000 Iraqis flee the country each month since 2003.
We will never forget the widows, widowers and orphans of those dead.
We will never forget the effects of depleted uranium in American ammunition that litters the countries of the Middle East.
We will never forget the increased infant mortality rate. The sewage on the streets. The sectarian violence that was never in the streets of Iraq until we installed a Pro-U.S. Government.
We will never forget the destruction of Shock and Awe that destroyed Iraq's entire infrastructure.
We will never forget Abu Ghraib.
We will never forget the Lost men and women of Guantanamo Bay and other Secret U.S. Detention facilities.
We will never forget the every day Iraqi that is gunned down at a Traffic Control Point by a tired American teenager.
We will never forget the sounds of Improvised Explosive Devices (I.E.D) directed not at the American soldier, but at American Policy.
We will never forget the Women and Children gunned down at random after an I.E.D. explodes, because they were working the vegetable fields and were frightened and began to run.
We will never forget that War is, in fact, Terrorism. And America is the largest State Sponsor of Terrorism.
We will never forget that the Men, Women and Children of the Middle East may be of the same color as Saddam Hussein, but they do not have his face. They are not him. They do not deserve what they have been made to endure.
And we will never forget that corporations are profiting off of the death and destruction.
We will never forget that Blackwater and other private armies, which are in themselves illegal, are running around the Middle East killing at will - and are left unchecked.
We will never forget amazing photo opportunities with the soldiers, whether its walking through a market in Iraq with security all around you and Apaches in the air, or sitting on the deck of a ship under a "Mission Accomplished"
banner.
We will never forget that a majority of the American population want the Occupations to end and we will keep repeating it until you do what you are paid to do - and that is, Listen to the People.
The People are United and I know that attempts will be made to have me appear a fool and soon you will have my grade school photographs, my coloring books, a list of every library book I have ever checked out, and whatever other records these incredibly large and over-funded Secret Agencies compile on Activists in America, but I do not fear you.
You have no moral authority over me.
Or any authority at all.
I do not fear you.
Any of you.
We The People,
United within The Struggle,
James Circello; Iraq Veterans Against The War | |
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| Open Letter to the Government from an AWOL Soldier
Posted: 11/11/2007 9:41:03 PM | Thank you for posting that fine letter from the Soldier who has served our country and seen firsthand what the war in Iraq is really all about. Well said, and well written. I salute the soldier for being a true patriot--dissent is patriotic! Freedom of expression is something that must be protected, and he is now fighting a different, but just as important, war. Bravo!! | |
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| Open Letter to the Government from an AWOL Soldier
Posted: 11/12/2007 4:37:47 AM | The letter does not describe the personal reasons for going AWOL. He hit all the liberal talking points, but I want to know what did he see that he found was so abhorant that he broke his contract?
It is an all volunteer Army. If you don't want to serve then don't enlist. | |
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| Open Letter to the Government from an AWOL Soldier
Posted: 11/12/2007 6:56:56 AM | I am against going AWOL too.
Fight, or refuse to fight. Running away isn't a solution, especially for a soldier.
Another letter, in the same tone, is far more valid - imho.
After Pat’s Birthday
Posted on Oct 19, 2006
Pat and Kevin Tillman
Courtesy of the Tillman Family
By Kevin Tillman
Editor’s note: Kevin Tillman joined the Army with his brother Pat in 2002, and they served together in Iraq and Afghanistan. Pat was killed in Afghanistan on April 22, 2004. Kevin, who was discharged in 2005, has written a powerful, must-read document.
It is Pat’s birthday on November 6, and elections are the day after. It gets me thinking about a conversation I had with Pat before we joined the military. He spoke about the risks with signing the papers. How once we committed, we were at the mercy of the American leadership and the American people. How we could be thrown in a direction not of our volition. How fighting as a soldier would leave us without a voice… until we got out.
Much has happened since we handed over our voice:
Somehow we were sent to invade a nation because it was a direct threat to the American people, or to the world, or harbored terrorists, or was involved in the September 11 attacks, or received weapons-grade uranium from Niger, or had mobile weapons labs, or WMD, or had a need to be liberated, or we needed to establish a democracy, or stop an insurgency, or stop a civil war we created that can’t be called a civil war even though it is. Something like that.
Somehow our elected leaders were subverting international law and humanity by setting up secret prisons around the world, secretly kidnapping people, secretly holding them indefinitely, secretly not charging them with anything, secretly torturing them. Somehow that overt policy of torture became the fault of a few “bad apples” in the military.
Somehow back at home, support for the soldiers meant having a five-year-old kindergartener scribble a picture with crayons and send it overseas, or slapping stickers on cars, or lobbying Congress for an extra pad in a helmet. It’s interesting that a soldier on his third or fourth tour should care about a drawing from a five-year-old; or a faded sticker on a car as his friends die around him; or an extra pad in a helmet, as if it will protect him when an IED throws his vehicle 50 feet into the air as his body comes apart and his skin melts to the seat.
Somehow the more soldiers that die, the more legitimate the illegal invasion becomes.
Somehow American leadership, whose only credit is lying to its people and illegally invading a nation, has been allowed to steal the courage, virtue and honor of its soldiers on the ground.
Somehow those afraid to fight an illegal invasion decades ago are allowed to send soldiers to die for an illegal invasion they started.
Somehow faking character, virtue and strength is tolerated.
Somehow profiting from tragedy and horror is tolerated.
Somehow the death of tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of people is tolerated.
Somehow subversion of the Bill of Rights and The Constitution is tolerated.
Somehow suspension of Habeas Corpus is supposed to keep this country safe.
Somehow torture is tolerated.
Somehow lying is tolerated.
Somehow reason is being discarded for faith, dogma, and nonsense.
Somehow American leadership managed to create a more dangerous world.
Somehow a narrative is more important than reality.
Somehow America has become a country that projects everything that it is not and condemns everything that it is.
Somehow the most reasonable, trusted and respected country in the world has become one of the most irrational, belligerent, feared, and distrusted countries in the world.
Somehow being politically informed, diligent, and skeptical has been replaced by apathy through active ignorance.
Somehow the same incompetent, narcissistic, virtueless, vacuous, malicious criminals are still in charge of this country.
Somehow this is tolerated.
Somehow nobody is accountable for this.
In a democracy, the policy of the leaders is the policy of the people. So don’t be shocked when our grandkids bury much of this generation as traitors to the nation, to the world and to humanity. Most likely, they will come to know that “somehow” was nurtured by fear, insecurity and indifference, leaving the country vulnerable to unchecked, unchallenged parasites.
Luckily this country is still a democracy. People still have a voice. People still can take action. It can start after Pat’s birthday.
Brother and Friend of Pat Tillman,
Kevin Tillman
Pat Tillman is a true hero, and perhaps this war's only aristocrat to ever fall in battle.
He gave up a pro football career, and great riches, to serve his country, and asked for no favors in return.
That letter from his brother , who also served, is FAR more valid than a deserter's one is. | |
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| Open Letter to the Government from an AWOL Soldier
Posted: 11/12/2007 9:25:39 AM | Who Ordered the Execution of NFL/Army Hero Pat Tillman?
Who done it? - WonketteIt’s almost too depressing to mention again, but let’s recap the Pat Tillman revelations from Army medical examiners and internal Pentagon reports released last week and find out what happens when famous football stars turned Army Heroes become anti-war critics:
* He was shot three times in the forehead at close range with an American M-16.
* This was after he was shot in the chest, legs and hand.
* And this was after he screamed to the “friendlies” that he was Pat Tillman and please stop shooting him.
* But they didn’t; they executed him.
* They were Americans.
* There wasn’t even an “enemy” around; not only was nobody shot by “enemy fire,” no equipment was shot by “enemy fire.”
* “Members of Tillman’s unit burned his body armor and uniform in an apparent attempt to hide the fact that he was killed by friendly fire.”
* Army medical examiners tried to get a criminal investigation opened, but they were shut down.
* The Army brass who conspired to shut down any criminal investigation into the U.S. assassination of Pat Tillman sent “congratulatory e-mails” to each other after shutting down the snoops.
* The Pentagon heavily promoted Tillman’s enlistment and service as both a recruitment tool and a domestic propaganda tool.
* The Pentagon maintained for long after his murder that Tillman died in combat, finally admitting to his family that “friendly fire” killed him — which wasn’t exactly true, either.
* Lieutenant Colonel Ralph Kauzlarich, who commanded Tillman’s base in Afghanistan at the time of his assassination, dismissed Tillman’s family’s attempts to find out what happened. Why? Because Pat Tillman was an atheist, like his family, so they were having “a hard time letting it go.”
* In his writings — Tillman wrote constantly in letters and diaries and e-mails — the NFL star who became an Army Ranger after 9/11 had concluded the Afghanistan War was fake and the Iraq War was a criminal setup.
* The Pentagon still has his diary that he kept with him in Afghanistan, where he was killed, and they won’t release it to his family.
* Tillman had even arranged a meeting with anti-war icon Noam Chomsky about how to go public with a veterans-against-the-war movement.
* Such a movement would’ve had an interesting effect on the Iraq Occupation and the then-upcoming 2004 election; Tillman had already been encouraging his fellow soldiers to vote against Bush.
* Just today, Donald Rumsfeld refused to testify on the subject of Tillman’s assassination before Congress on Wednesday.
* White House Counsel Fred Fielding has, of course, already “refused to issue certain documents to the committee because of executive privilege.”
* What is the White House doing with “certain documents” about Pat Tillman’s murder?
* Says Pat Tillman Sr.: “The administration clearly was using this case for its own political reasons. This cover-up started within minutes of Pat’s death, and it started at high levels. This is not something that people in the field do.” | |
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| Open Letter to the Government from an AWOL Soldier
Posted: 11/12/2007 9:49:23 AM | I am not a fan of AWOL soldiers for the most part, but this man was eloquent in his reasoning for doing so. It seems he's more of a conscientious objector than anything else.
Bush went AWOL for less scrupulous reasons, and that is a complete turn-off to me. Going AWOL is a crime, and should be tried in court. If there's no conscientious objection situation, then the book should be thrown at the AWOL coward.
This soldier should be court martialed, and then the court can decide if he really should be considered a conscientious objector. They can consider his reasoning as to why he went AWOL.
Sometimes people start a career, only to find that it is completely different than expected. I think this is the case with this soldier. Change of heart can happen in people when they have life-altering experiences.
I do think that he could have tried for an early release as a conscientious objector. That would have been a better way to deal with this situation. However, we don't know what this man's thought process was when he made the decision or what his emotional state was. | |
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| Open Letter to the Government from an AWOL Soldier
Posted: 11/13/2007 5:59:34 AM | We do know the country was at war.
In that case, the war is either legal or illegal. Morally, fence sitting is not an option. The military is more that a "job". You swear an oath to serve the country, and you become part of a select band of brothers by performing that act, one that goes off into the past in a line to the first days of your country's freedom.
This leaves you with two choices, if not a coward - or perhaps psychologically damaged after a tour in country (another possible option).
You fight, either way.
You either pick up a weapon and join your brethren - or you (if you think it's an illegal war) fight the system without fear. Others will go in your place, and perhaps be injured or killed filling your slot in combat.
Morally, you are obliged to defend your convictions to the maximum - without middle ground, because of the enormity of that decision and it's implications.
In my view you have to take a position somewhat like Gandhi did at his 1929 trial. You proclaim your moral duty, go to trial , and then defend yourself to the maximum as per your beliefs.
When the time comes, before the sentence is about to be determined, you stand up and address the court, with total moral certainty that you are right and they are wrong.
If you are not at that point, then you should never have made this choice to begin with.
At that point, it's black and white.
Court : Mr. Gandhi, do you wish to make any statement on the question of sentence?
Gandhiji : I would like to make a statement.
I am here, therefore, to invite and submit cheerfully to the highest penalty that can be inflicted upon me for what in law is deliberate crime, and what appears to me to be the highest duty of a citizen. The only course open to you, the Judge and the assessors, is either to resign your posts and thus dissociate yourselves from evil, if you feel that the law you are called upon to administer is an evil, and that in reality I am innocent, or to inflict on me the severest penalty, if you believe that the system and the law you are assisting to administer are good for the people of this country, and that my activity is, therefore, injurious to the common weal.
http://www.mkgandhi.org/speeches/gto1922.htm
Quit your job, and stop assisting the immoral act - or sentence me to the maximum penalty possible that the court can impose, because I am totally in opposition to this immoral act, and deserve and expect that penalty totally. | |
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| Open Letter to the Government from an AWOL Soldier
Posted: 11/13/2007 3:50:29 PM |
Bush went AWOL for less scrupulous reasons, and that is a complete turn-off to me. Going AWOL is a crime, and should be tried in court.
People who are caught going AWOL are tried in court by the military. President Bush did not go AWOL. The phoney documents and recanted accusations aren't enough to convince the Bush haters, but the President has been tried in the Press and vindicated. He was not tried in a military court, because he was never AWOL. | |
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| Open Letter to the Government from an AWOL Soldier
Posted: 11/13/2007 4:20:04 PM | He was not tried in a military court because his Daddy was a congressman, and his Granddaddy had been a Senator.
There was one phony document, provided by the propoganda arm of the Rove White House. No recanted accusations. No explanations for the clear evidence that he went AWOL. | |
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| Open Letter to the Government from an AWOL Soldier
Posted: 11/13/2007 6:51:16 PM |
There was one phony document, provided by the propoganda arm of the Rove White House. No recanted accusations. No explanations for the clear evidence that he went AWOL.
There were at least four fake documents; none were provided by Karl Rove. We also have statements of Ben Barnes, proven to be false. Brigadier General William Turnipseed recanted his statement that he had no recollection of the President appearing at his unit. There is no clear evidence that he was AWOL.
Your statements are so factually inaccurate they are absurd. | |
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| Open Letter to the Government from an AWOL Soldier
Posted: 11/13/2007 7:58:02 PM | There's no clear evidence that he served that time, either.
Bush was a "fortunate son" who got away with going AWOL because his daddy was a congressman and his granddaddy a senator. He should have been court martialled and sent to Leavenworth Prison.
We don't know all of the facts with this soldier until he goes on trial, so I will not comment on this soldier until a verdict has been decided. | |
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| Open Letter to the Government from an AWOL Soldier
Posted: 11/13/2007 8:12:04 PM | | First of all, as a father with a son in Afghanistan, and a very proud parent of him, the letter from this so called soldier makes me laugh...First of all did he sign up for the military of too go too camp at Walt Disney...He knew full well that when he signed that dotted line that there was a chance that he would be in harms way not shaking mickey mouses hand....He deserves no respect he deserves a firing squad... There are kids like mine and millions of others in this country fighting that fight over there proudly, cause they were not forced into the military they freely joined.... Yeah i know tell me my son is blindly following a bad leader, but my son unlike many of you in here that do nothing but criticize everything about America, puts his ass on the line so you can say what you want too say.... | |
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| Open Letter to the Government from an AWOL Soldier
Posted: 11/13/2007 8:45:42 PM | The problem my dear Bush-loving brethren is not, I suspect, being "in harm's way", it is being "in harm's way" after examining even perfunctorily the legitimacy or more honestly LACK THEREOF of the Iraq conflict.
I'd bet money the AWOL/conscientious objector rates in Afghanistan are nearly zero... that is a legitimate conflict any soldier can be proud to fight for. Iraq has been proved time and again nothing more than an elective invasion of a country that could do us no harm... a la an unmitigated disaster for (insert today's justification here) by a moron who couldn't, even with substantial assistance fight his way out of a paper bag.
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puts his ass on the line so you can say what you want too say
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I call BS, that is utterly absurd! Your son's ass in Iraq has nothing to do with my ability to say what I want, one has sh!t to do with the other. Try again!
p.s. - While I hope your son's ass comes to no harm, if it does how will you live with yourself knowing in your heart of hearts he died for absolutely nothing, that's what I'd be concerned about were I you. | |
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| Open Letter to the Government from an AWOL Soldier
Posted: 11/13/2007 9:22:59 PM | | do what you have to do to face yourself in the mirror in the morning.... if you feel this is an immoral and illegal war, you have an obligation to speak out and if going AWOL is your only option.... it's yourself you have to live with, for the rest of your life | |
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| Open Letter to the Government from an AWOL Soldier
Posted: 11/14/2007 2:31:12 AM |
There's no clear evidence that he served that time, either.
LOL, So no evidence implies guilt. There are a lot of situations where this would be fun to play out. Toss out the Bill of Rights, there is a new standard for Republican guilt.
We have the fact that he was never charged with going AWOL. We have his pay records. We have dental records, we have witnesses who said he was there. We also have discredited statements and false documents from Democrats who put politics above the law and treat the Constitution like a door mat. Dan Rather is the one who should be charged with a crime, not the President. | |
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| Open Letter to the Government from an AWOL Soldier
Posted: 11/14/2007 11:29:18 AM | Bush should have been charged with going AWOL> before all the proof was destroyed!! Alot of those records were faked. Neocon Republicans put themselves above the law, which is far worse in my book!! | |
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| Open Letter to the Government from an AWOL Soldier
Posted: 11/14/2007 11:47:12 AM | 'It is an all volunteer Army. If you don't want to serve then don't enlist.'
The best point one can make. Im not a fan of the war but the Sgt DID indeed volunteer his service. Service to the country involves taking orders and following them without question.
His order to return to service does not constitute an unlawful order - contrary to public sentiment, our military does not afford you the ability or right to object to an order based on feelings. One can only object or disobey if indeed the order is unlawful.
His allegations of sexual assault and other crimes/violations - while they may be true, there is a chain of command designed to address these issues. While the wheels move slowly, they are moving nonetheless.
I respect his service, as I do any serviceman/woman serving under our flag. I cannot however condone his AWOL status, which I beleive invalidates each and every point he...or his handlers, may be seeking to make. | |
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| Open Letter to the Government from an AWOL Soldier
Posted: 11/14/2007 11:56:51 AM | Service to the country involves taking orders and following them without question.
A concept that found a few Germans who believed as you do swinging from ropes, after being tried, convicted, and hung as war criminals.
The Nuremberg Trials started almost exactly fifty two years ago today, let's not forget their importance to the matter at hand.  | |
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| Open Letter to the Government from an AWOL Soldier
Posted: 11/14/2007 12:01:30 PM | While I am cognizant of Nuremberg and its presnt day implications, orders without question to me, means within reason. US Military personnel, with the possible and I mean possible exception of Abu Gharab, are not being told to commit war crimes or in the case of the SS, genocide.
This Sgt, while he makes points, does not detail his rationale for disobeying orders. As such, its hard to give him a pass. | |
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| Open Letter to the Government from an AWOL Soldier
Posted: 11/14/2007 2:52:46 PM |
Bush should have been charged with going AWOL> before all the proof was destroyed!! Alot of those records were faked. Neocon Republicans put themselves above the law, which is far worse in my book!!
The proof was destroyed the records are fake??? I would like to see credible reference for that. As far as Republicans considering themselves above the law I don't know what you can be referring to. Bill Clinton on the other had certainly put himself above the law and certainly did use political favors to escape the draft. There is no refuting these facts. I like to deal in facts and verifiable evidence. | |
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| Open Letter to the Government from an AWOL Soldier
Posted: 11/14/2007 4:29:20 PM | Clinton didn't use any favors to get his deferrals during the time he was a Rhodes Scholar, and when he graduated, he registered but the draft number never came up, through no action on anyone's part. I agree that what Clinton did was wrong as far as the lying under oath about sex, but I also feel that the investigation was a waste of taxpayers' money. Forty million dollars that could have been spent building a new school instead of chasing after Clinton for what? Personal matters? Come on!
There are plenty of websites that discuss Bush being AWOL. I don't know how to paste and copy articles, but also feel that people are intelligent enough to look on their own to check out these sites to get another perspective on the issue rather than the one that the person is used to reading to the point of believing it to be fact. People need to read BOTH perspectives THEN make a decision. People who only listen to Fox News aren't getting the full picture. Listening to a variety of media sources, and studying the issues on the Internet give people a chance to have more informed opinions. And yes, I do read George Will, William Buckley and William Safire to pick up the more conservative perspective. I don't generally agree, but then again at least I look to see what they are saying--and I like George Will's commentary about movies and sports too.
The Bush and Cheney team are guilty of far worse than lying about sex. Their actions have caused us to lose standing in the global community, and that's not a good thing! Mind you I didn't like the lying about sex, and I dislike Hillary Clinton, so I am basically saying that what Bush and Cheney are up to is far worse!! | |
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