Opposing War in Iraq and Afghanistan
• March 13-16, Washington, D.C - Winter Soldier: Iraq & Afghanistan • Winter Soldier Schedule
• Opposing War in Iraq and Afghanistan
• Take Action in the Nation’s Capitol: End the War Now! All U.S. Troops Home Now! • Support the Troops Who Refuse to Fight
Winter Soldier: Iraq & Afghanistan
To mark five years of the U.S. occupation of Iraq, Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) will gather at the National Labor College near Washington, D.C. March 13-16 to disclose the realities of U.S. war policy in a public investigation called “Winter Soldier: Iraq and Afghanistan.” Veterans and civilian survivors of both conflicts will give public testimony and share the eyewitness stories that have been censored from the American public about the true human cost of these occupations. This testimony also will reveal how the Iraq occupation is tactically un-winnable, morally wrong, and has brought our military to its breaking point.
“Winter Soldier: Iraq & Afghanistan” aims to:
1) Motivate veterans and active duty service members to get involved in today’s growing GI resistance movement;
2) Awaken America to the real human costs of war that have not been exposed sufficiently by the American media; and
3) Hold both Democrats and Republicans accountable for the illegal Iraq occupation they have jointly kept going.
The term, Winter Soldier, is a play on the words of Thomas Paine who wrote in “The Crisis” (1776) that summer soldiers “shrink from the service of their country” in times of crisis. In contrast, Winter Soldiers are those who stand up for the soul of their nation in its darkest hours. America’s democracy is in crisis today, motivated by an economic addiction to oil and empire, engaged in ongoing illegal occupation that has cost the lives of hundreds of thousands, and stymied by a political process that values moneyed interests more than the majority of the American people. Over 35 years after the first Winter Soldier investigation conducted by Vietnam Veterans Against the War, America needs Winter Soldiers again. Continuing in this tradition, IVAW’s Winter Soldiers are performing a difficult but essential service to our country.
For the past five years, Americans have heard from generals, pundits, and politicians about the occupations in Iraq and Afghanistan, but they have not heard enough from those who have first-hand experience. IVAW believes that for our democracy to truly function, Americans must understand the reality of the wars our government is waging in our names. We know that veterans are most qualified to expose the true face of the Iraq and Afghanistan occupations because we are the ones who fought on the ground. And Iraqi and Afghan civilians who have survived these violent occupations have important stories to tell about whether or not they are better off with U.S. military intervention.
“Winter Soldier: Iraq & Afghanistan” testifiers will share their first-hand accounts of:
• Killing and injuring of innocent civilians, including children and women;
• Destruction of property, infrastructure, and natural resources;
• Racist dehumanization, torture, and abuse of civilians;
• Injured soldiers being forced back into combat before full recovery;
• Denial of medical treatment and health benefits for active duty troops and veterans;
• Waste, fraud, and abuse of private military contractors;
• Policies of discrimination against women, gays, and service members of different ethnic and religious backgrounds within the military; and
• The breakdown of the U.S. military due to prolonged occupations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
From incidents like Fallujah and Abu Ghraib to the awarding of no-bid contracts, Winter Soldier will show that wrongdoings and failures in Iraq and Afghanistan are part and parcel of war policy set at the highest levels of power. Troops are being ordered to do things that violate their conscience and the rules of war. Civilians that the U.S. purports to be helping are being violated causing anger and resentment. The U.S. military is being broken from the institutional level down to individual service members. And large companies are profiting greatly. Winter Soldier will place the blame of this failed war policy where it belongs — on our political leaders.
“Winter Soldier: Iraq & Afghanistan” will be the largest gathering of IVAW members to date and is the largest project IVAW has organized in its young three-and-a half year history. IVAW members and leaders are working diligently with thousands of allies around the country to prepare for this historic event. We are reaching out to our over 800 members to get them involved, and expect more than 200 of them to attend. Teams of interviewers are taking testimony from over 100 veterans about their experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan. Their testimony is being vetted and corroborated for accuracy and truth. Volunteer lawyers from the National Lawyers Guild are counseling testifiers, and mental health professionals have been made available around the country for emotional support before, during and after the event.
As hundreds gather to hear the Winter Soldier testimony in Silver Spring, Maryland, thousands will gather simultaneously in their homes, houses of worship, on college campuses, and on military bases around the globe to bear witness to these stories via live broadcast. The “Winter Soldier: Iraq & Afghanistan” proceedings will be carried via satellite on the Deep Dish network, Free Speech and Link T.V., public access television stations, the Pacifica Radio network, and via web streaming on www.ivaw.org. This unprecedented live broadcast provides the American public with a valuable opportunity for the kind of grassroots civic engagement required in any public debate and policy decisions about the occupations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
IVAW’s national Winter Soldier media team has developed a media strategy for the event, has trained spokespeople with talking points, and is registering the press to attend. We have already received commitments to cover Winter Soldier from CBS Evening News, Newsweek, the Washington Post, Associated Press, the Chicago Tribune, Cox Broadcasting, Gannett and several international outlets. Winter Soldier ads will be running in the military publications, Military Times and Stars and Stripes.
The Winter Soldier event in March will launch a yearlong public awareness and outreach effort by Iraq Veterans Against the War. No longer will public debate on the “Global War on Terror” be framed solely by politicians and pundits. Winter Soldier will inject a realism into the discussion of the occupations in Iraq and Afghanistan that only the voices of veterans and civilian survivors can bring. Winter Soldier will directly engage the American public, making them informed actors in our democracy. IVAW will use ongoing Winter Soldier events throughout the year to spread awareness of GI resistance among veterans and active duty troops and build strategic alliances with the labor and student movements to broaden and strengthen our strategy to end the Iraq occupation. On the eve of the sixth year of U.S. troops in Iraq, “Winter Soldier: Iraq & Afghanistan” represents a major expansion of IVAW’s critical work build a GI resistance movement. And it will be the turning point in a movement that will end the U.S. occupation of Iraq. (Significant financial support still is needed to make Winter Soldier a success. With less than four weeks until the event, we continue to try and raise the funds required to reach our goals. Please consider making a donation.)
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Thursday, March 13 - Streaming video only
7:00-9:00pm: Winter Soldier and the legacy of GI Resistance
Friday, March 14 - Satellite TV, internet video, internet audio, radio
9:00 – 10:45am: Rules of Engagement: Part One
11:00 – 12:30pm: The Crisis in Veterans’ Healthcare
2:00 – 3:30pm: Corporate Pillaging and Military Contractors
4:00 – 6:00pm: Rules of Engagement: Part Two
7:00 – 8:30pm: Aims of the Global War on Terror: the Political, Legal, and Economic Context of Iraq and Afghanistan
Saturday, March 15 - Satellite TV, internet video, internet audio, radio
9:00 – 10:30am: Divide To Conquer: Gender and Sexuality in the Military
11:00 – 1:00pm Racism and War: the Dehumanization of the Enemy: Part One
2:00 – 3:30pm: Racism and War: the Dehumanization of the Enemy: Part Two
4:00 – 6:00pm: Civilian Testimony: The Cost of War in Iraq and Afghanistan
7:00 – 8:30pm: The Cost of the War at Home
Sunday, March 16 - Internet video, internet audio, radio
10:00 – 1:00pm: The Breakdown of the Military
2:00 – 3:15pm: The Future of GI Resistance
(see ivaw.org for more information on how to hear and see Winter Soldier; all times listed are Eastern Standard Time)
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Opposing War in Iraq and Afghanistan
The ILWU Pacific Coast Longshore Caucus members have called for a work stoppage on May Day to oppose the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and demand that all troops come home now. At its annual Pacific Coast Longshore Caucus, January 28-February 8, 2008, an overwhelming majority of delegates called on longshore workers to stop work at every West Coast port during the day shift on Thursday, May 1, 2008. The union urged other unions to participate in similar events on May 1 to bring the Iraq and Afghanistan wars to an end and bring the troops home now.
Delegates called on unions to mobilize for a “No peace, no work!” holiday on May Day “to demand an immediate end to the war and occupation in Iraq and Afghanistan and the withdrawal of U.S. troops from the Middle East.” The union issued “an urgent appeal for unity of action to the AFL-CIO and the Change to Win Coalition...to bring an end to this bloody war once and for all.”
The Longshore Caucus, or convention, met in San Francisco January 28 - February 8 to bargain for a new contract for ILWU members in ports up and down the West Coast. The current contract expires on July 1, 2008.
The 2,700-member Letter Carriers Union in San Francisco responded to the ILWU call by voting to observe two minutes of silence in all carrier stations at 8:15 a.m. on May 1. The action is to honor May Day, and in solidarity with the ILWU stop-work action, “to express our opposition to the war in Iraq.”
ILWU resolution: For Workers’ Action to Stop the War
WHEREAS: On May 1, 2003, at the ILWU Convention in San Francisco resolutions were passed calling for an end to the war and occupation in Iraq; and
WHEREAS: ILWU took the lead among labor unions in opposing this bloody war and occupation for imperial domination; and
WHEREAS: Many unions and the overwhelming majority of the American people now oppose this bipartisan and unjustifiable war in Iraq and Afghanistan but the two major political parties, Democrats and Republicans continue to fund the war; and
WHEREAS: Millions worldwide have marched and demonstrated against the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan but have been unable to stop the wars; and
WHEREAS: ILWU’s historic dock actions, 1) like the refusal of Local 10 longshoremen to load bombs for the military dictatorship in Chile in 1978 and military cargo to the Salvadoran military dictatorship in 1981; and 2) the honoring of the Teachers Union antiwar picket May 19, 2007 against SSA in the port of Oakland — stand as a limited but shining example of how to oppose these wars; and
WHEREAS: The spread of war in the Middle East is threatened with U.S. air strikes in Iran or possible military intervention in Syria or the destabilized Pakistan; therefore be it
RESOLVED: That it is time to take labor’s protest to a more powerful level of struggle by calling on unions and working people in the U.S. and internationally to mobilize for a “No Peace, No Work Holiday” May 1, 2008 for 8 hours to demand an immediate end to the war and occupation in Iraq and Afghanistan and the withdrawal of U.S. troops from the Middle East; and further be it
RESOLVED: That a clarion call from the ILWU be sent with an urgent appeal for unity of action to the AFL-CIO, the Change to Win Coalition and all of the international labor organizations to which we are affiliated to bring an end to this bloody war once and for all.
Adopted by the ILWU Longshore Caucus, meeting in San Francisco, California, February 8, 2008
San Francisco Letter Carriers on May Day and the War
RESOLVED: That Branch 214 of the National Association of Letter Carriers, representing 2,700 letter carriers in the San Francisco Bay Area, request that carriers in all carrier stations observe 2 minutes of silence at 8:15 AM on May Day — May 1st, 2008 — in honor of International Workers Day and in solidarity with the ILWU longshore workers’ action in stopping work in all West Coast ports for 8 hours on May Day, to express our opposition to the war in Iraq.
Adopted by NALC Branch 214, meeting in San Francisco, March 5, 2008, by unanimous vote.
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Take Action in the Nation’s Capitol
End the War Now! All U.S. Troops Home Now!
March 19 will mark the beginning of the 6th year of the U.S. occupation of Iraq. Enough is enough! We are organizing creative, nonviolent acts of civil disobedience in Washington, DC to interrupt business as usual for those promoting and profiting from war and empire building. Focusing on the pillars of war, including the military, corporations, the security state and media, our actions will take place at multiple sites. We will be opposing the costs of war and offering visions for a more just and sustainable world, a world at peace.
Five years of war and occupation in Iraq…at what cost?
Iraq in shambles with 650,000 to 1 million Iraqis dead or wounded, 4,000,000 displaced, families and communities ripped apart. Nearly 4,000 U.S. service people killed and over 40,000 wounded, many then neglected by our government. All the while U.S. corporations reap huge profits as they plan to control Iraq’s oil.
More than $1.2 trillion spent on death and destruction while at home millions of uninsured have no access to affordable healthcare, public infrastructure is collapsing, the housing mortgage crisis is growing, unemployment is rising and the Gulf Coast has yet to be rebuilt.
Continued abuses on our natural environment with corporate greed protected. The Arctic and Greenland melting before our eyes, Indigenous cultures and peoples being destroyed, extreme climate events.
Torture, illegal surveillance, domestic spying, erosion of civil liberties. A criminal administration with a Congress and judiciary no longer offering adequate checks and balances. The Constitution, with its articles of impeachment, rendered irrelevant and disregarded.
And now threats of an attack on Iran and escalation of the U.S. military operation in Afghanistan. False claims of weapons of mass destruction, while all along the WMDs have been right here in the U.S.
These Are the Times in Which We Live. This Is Our Time to Respond. We Will Not Be Silent!
On March 19, Join the Nonviolent Action and Civil Disobedience in Washington, DC.
Blockade the IRS at 8 am with War Resisters League, CODEPINK and friends at 12th and Constitution Ave. Help expose the real cost of war by shutting down the IRS first thing in the morning and making a clear statement to stop FUNDING war!
Veterans March for Peace will gather on the Mall at 7th Street at 9 AM. They will begin their march around 10 am and proceed to the American Indian Museum, several sites on Capitol Hill, the National Archives, Justice department and more, culminating with creative acts of civil resistance at the White House and Veterans Administration.
Disrupt the War Profiteers with No War, No Warming, PeaceAction, Student Peace Action Network (SPAN), and a whole host of student groups who are planning a variety of creative actions using nonviolent civil disobedience, mobile teams and delegations to offices in the K St. Corridor.
Funk the War with Students for a Democratic Society, Baltimore Algebra Project, and Our Spring Break in a dance party in the streets, touring the war profiteers, recruiters and media sites in the K St corridor.
End Torture - Drive the War Criminals from Office! Join World Can’t Wait in acts of civil resistance. Gather in LafayettePark at 1:30 pm in an action against torture. Join with people in a sea of orange jumpsuits in solidarity with and representing those that are being tortured in Guantánamo Bay Prison, Abu Ghraib, Bagram in Afghanistan, and CIA “black sites” around the globe. A demonstration showing that waterboarding is torture is planned directly in front of the residence of the biggest war criminal in history.
Self-Guided Monopoly Board Walking Tour will provide opportunities to creatively communicate with the War Profiteers in the K St. Corridor including Exxon Mobil, Chevron, Shell, Halliburton, Lockheed Martin, Bechtel, the IMF/World Bank, the American Enterprise Institute, and lobbyists and lawyers for many, many more!
Separate Oil and State at the American Petroleum Institute (API) in the early morning with No War, No Warming. Help create a peoples green zone in front the API. Big Oil pours millions into political campaigns and lobbying, helped get us into Iraq, is keeping us there in a planned long-term occupation and is obstructing the shift to a clean energy economy. Our Green Zone will highlight our opposition but also our commitment to building a future built upon wind, solar and other urgently needed clean energy sources. Nonviolent civil disobedience, street theatre, creative props and leafleting and more!
Critical Mass: Kick the Oil Addiction that Fuels the War . We will ride around the city focusing on specific areas that support the war as well as riding by other actions to show our solidarity. We will meet in Dupont Circle at 8:30 am and leave around 9:00 am. Please come with costumes or signs about no oil.
Granny Peace Brigade Knit-In: The Grannies will knit stump socks for soldiers returning from Iraq & Afghanistan with amputated limbs to draw attention to this virtual epidemic among Iraq veterans and oppose the lack of care provided our veterans.
March of the Dead with Activist Response Team (A.R.T.) and other activists who join us will imagine what would happen if the dead, civilian and military, return to enter Washington to seek justice for the crimes committed in Iraq and Afghanistan because of U.S. foreign policy. In death masks, all in black, some wearing the name of someone killed, others with statistics measuring the scale of the tragedy, we will proceed through the city in small groups riding the metro, walking the streets and haunting the periphery of the other actions. We will then converge at a given time all together to make the long march for justice with stops at the State Department, Justice Department and Supreme Court culminating with acts of civil resistance. We want to make this a very powerful presence so we are encouraging large numbers of people to join us.
The Silenced Majority Speaks: Through a number of permitted sites including McPherson Square (15 & K Streets NW), Lafayette Park, Farragut West and other areas around the Capitol, as well as organized marches and creative affinity groups activities people express their desire for true democracy, liberation and justice. We will call for respect of our basic political freedoms and rights while we show our disdain for the state of our union.
Surprise Media Actions Coverage (or not) of actions earlier in the day will help determine our afternoon actions! The media has continued to stand by our warmongering president and Congress by refusing to conduct proper investigative reporting, withholding information, and giving scant coverage to voices opposed to the war. If they do not come to us, we will go to them. Check in at the Public Assembly in McPherson Sq.
March on the DNC Headquarters Gather at Reflecting Pool on the West side of the Capitol at 5:00 PM and march with pots and pans in a cacophony of resistance to the Democratic National Committee Headquarters. We want the Democrats to know — we hold them accountable for the death, destruction and lies, what kind of change and experience we want and that we will continue to take action and intervene in their business until our call for peace is honored and all of our troops come home.
There will be a permitted convergence site at McPherson Square, (15th and K St.) all day. Set-up will begin at 7:00 AM. There will be information, schedules, maps, food, medical and legal support and more. You can get up to the date information through out the day as well as orientation and mini-trainings. There will be opportunities for performance, speak-out, poetry and more throughout the day. Public Assemblies will also be held, most likely at 11 AM and 2 PM to brief everyone on action happenings and plans for what is ahead!
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Support the Troops Who Refuse to Fight
What is it going to take to end the illegal and unjust war and occupation of Iraq? I believe a critical part of the answer is support for the troops who refuse to fight. I served 29 years in the U.S. Army/Army Reserves. When my government attacked Iraq, I was one of three U.S. diplomats to resign in protest. I resigned my career on principle. Today, I fully support U.S. military personnel who, in acts of conscience, refuse to fight in wars of aggression.
As a retired U.S. Army Colonel, I know very well that the military depends on the obedience of its servicemembers. On the other hand, I have spoken with many international law professors, attorneys, and military personnel who have unequivocally concluded that our government’s attack on Iraq — an oil-rich, Arab, Muslim country that had not attacked the U.S. — was illegal and unjustified. I agree.
Last year I testified in Iraq War objector Army Lieutenant Ehren Watada’s Article 32 (pre-court-martial) proceeding. I explained to the military hearing officer that our soldiers do have a responsibility to refuse to participate in illegal actions, and a war of aggression is an illegal action — in fact, it is a war crime. Any soldier, sailor, airperson or marine who comes to this same conclusion most certainly should have the right to refuse. By law and military regulation, they are actually duty bound to refuse. It is this duty that is at the heart of the actions taken by most resisters.
Some generals on active duty during the Iraq invasion and occupation have spoken out publicly — but after their retirements. So far it has been our younger servicepersons who have risked their reputations, careers, and for some, their freedoms in challenging illegal orders and policy. Taking a stand of conscience while in the military requires courage and bravery. I believe we must uphold — and dare I say, encourage — these acts.
Some resisters are speaking the truth while remaining in the military. Others refuse to continue to participate in military service altogether and face the consequences of that decision, whether it be a court martial or living in another country away from family and friends.
I have traveled to Canada several times to meet with our war resisters who have sought sanctuary there. I know it means a lot to them knowing that people back home support them as well.
I hope everyone who is against this war will support all the men and women of our military who resist illegal war, while also organizing a powerful movement of civilian support for this resistance and to end the war now.
(Reprinted from Courage to Resist)
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