Vietnam Veterans Against the War VVAW - A PeaceAware.com Action Group
CONTACT US TO JOIN VVAW - Southern New Mexico Chapter & Affiliate of PeaceAware
24 Oct 2003 - Boje's 10 Ten Reasons Why Iraq War Veterans are Joining the Peace Movement.
Militiary Myths that Joe Six-Pack needs to read fact sheet
25 Oct 2003 - Boje's Play Script - "Bring It On and Bring Them Home - performed Oct 25th at Klein Park in Las Cruces NM Bring Troops Home banner
Nov 20 2003 - Thousands of women (spouses and soldiers) in the U.S. military sexually abused and told not to talk about it More...
Please sign this Petition: petition asking President Bush to honor fallen soldiers and attend at least one funeral or memorial for our soldiers killed in Iraq. Express that you are concerned about casualties in Iraq - As of November 17 2003, 422 American soldiers have been killed in Iraq, over 2,200 have been wounded and there are an average of 35 attacks on Americans every day, yet President Bush has not attended the funeral or memorial of a single American killed in action. Tell our Commander-in-Chief to honor our American servicemen and women who pay the ultimate price in the service of their country. It only took me a few seconds to sign the petition and I'm hoping you'll sign it, too. Click here to sign the petition.
Please sign up to be on your Local Selective Service DRAFT BOARD - Help 18 year olds not be drafted
Please print this 2 page handout - WHERE YOUR INCOME TAX MONEY RELLY GOES? 47% is for past or current military spending, yet many New Mexico veterans and their families get the run around when it comes to VA benefits.
Heard the latest, Monday September 22nd, 2003 Three American soldiers died in a mortar attack and a roadside bombing west of the capital. 304 U.S. troops dead, and 166 dead since Bush decalred victory on May 1st 2003. Iraq for sale on Ebay More... Doonesbury Toon "The National Guard is a Joke" says Bush Jr.
It is time for New Mexico Statue University to stop recruiting Latino
students to be cannon fodder in U.S. endless wars, promising them higher education
and opening their confidential records to military recruiters . See Boje, D.
M. (2003x) ROTC at
New Mexico State University Targets Latino Students, Giving Confidential Data
to Recruiters September 21 2003. Please print and
distribute this poster (The
Rich Aren't Like Us, Their Kids Do Not go to War).
What is the history of Veterans and Benefits? The following comes from PeaceAware investigations:
• In WWI, the total number of Civilian Casualties was 12,755, or 10.74% of the total casualties (106,000 GIs died; 8 million civilians died). After WWI veterans were promised a bonus (to be paid in the 1940s) and when they protested in D.C. for early payment during the depression, Col. Douglas McArthur and Major Dwight Eisenhower were ordered to drive them out.
• In WWII the civilian casualties were approximately 410,000, or 50.62% of the total (400,000 GIs died; add to the civilian total the 8 million Holocaust; and add 17 to 60 million civilian causality estimates worldwide). After WWII Troops were used as guinea pigs during nuclear blasts and biological warfare and other tests in the 1950s and 1960s. When they tried to claim service connected disabilities they were stonewalled.
• Vietnam War, civilian casualty estimate is 340,000, or 85.74% of total casualties (56,000 GIs died; 200,000 South Vietnamese soldiers died; 1,000,000 North Vietnamese soldiers died). Vietnam vets were denied help for Agent Orange (Blue & White) and PTSD until the vets forced recognition of the problems.
• Gulf War Syndrome – What is it? 696,778 U.S. troops served in Gulf War conflict (1990-1991); 436,000 were exposed to areas contaminated by 315 tons of Depleted Uranium waste lace by plutonium; 100,00 exposed to chemical weapon agents; 250,000 took Pyridositmine Bromide bills; 8,00 received the Botulinum Toxoid vaccine; 150,000 had Anthrax vaccine; 100,000 spent months near 700 oil well fires. Note: there were 5,000 Iraqi civilian casualties, or 92.89% dead and 383 GIs dead from accident or friendly fire during 1991-1992. Few people know that since the Gulf war, 10,324 deployed U.S. vets have died; 1.2 million Iraqi civilians (including 500,000 children under 12) died in 10 years on U.S. led sanctions.
• Iraq War Syndrome – Vaccines to soldiers not told what they are
for; 3,000 GIs evacuated with exposure to chemical, biological & Depleted
Uranium; Mysterious blood clots feeling Iraq GIs. Note, 393 U.S. GIs dead (as
of Nov 9); 7,780 Iraqi civilians, and 13,000 Iraqi soldiers are dead. As of
Aug 19 2004 953 U.S. GIs are dead & 13,603 Iraqi
dead. When will the madness stop?
URGENT ACTION NEEDED:Tell Congress to Vote NO! on $87 billion, and to BRING OUR TROOPS HOME NOW!!!! Right now polls show that 51% of America opposes additional money for Iraq, and 41% supports. This means the administration is weak on this. Now is the time to FLOOD Congress with the demand, NO money for continuing the occupation, and bring the troops home now. A loss of this money can not only lead to the end of the occupation a d return of troops. “Representative Steve Pearce, I am calling to register my most emphatic opposition to any additional money for the war in Iraq. I oppose $87 billion, and I also oppose any smaller amount. This war is a military, social, and political disaster, and it needs to simply end. We want Iraq to go back to the Iraqis, and for our troops to be sent home NOW." Go to http://www.bringthemhomenow.org/stand/pressure.html to get the correct contact information for your Reps and Senators (even though Senators aren’t voting yet, they need to know how you feel).
Boje Essay on Iraq War Syndrome Oct 2 2003 - It is time for New Mexico families and soldiers to speak out.
ACTION: BRING THEM HOME NOW! is a campaign of military families, veterans, active duty personnel, reservists and others opposed to the ongoing war in Iraq and galvanized to action by George W. Bush's inane and reckless challenge to armed Iraqis resisting occupation to "Bring 'em on." Original orders activated the 129th Combat HET Transportation Company Reserve unit from January 21, 2003 to January 21, 2004. On September 9th, 2003, our loved ones, currently serving in the Iraqi theater, were delivered orders extending their overseas stay. They have been told that there is a chance they could be home in May 2004 with the possibility of an extension to January 2005. May 2004 is a minimum 16 month deployment for this Reserve Unit. Leaders have notified our soldiers that their minimum continuous 12 month activation begins when they arrive in country (Iraq & Kuwait) and does not include the time they served after they left their homes in January of 2003 to report for active duty nor does it include the time they will be required to serve when they arrive home. Read plea by Mothers of soldiers in the Iraq Occupation Theatre: Bring Our Children Home Now by Nancy Lessin in AlterNet - Monday 22 September 2003; More... and More...
U.S. Troops Are Learning the Reality of War - Coalition Provisional Authority; the electricity is out half the time, and these folks hold meetings on how best to privatize state industries and end food rations. Meanwhile, the city seethes. The Pentagon, likewise, seems to have no clear plan; its troops are stretched thin, lied to and mistreated. The whole charade feels increasingly patched together, poorly improvised.... From - Stretched Thin, Lied to & Mistreated By Christian Parenti The Nation Monday 06 October 2003 More ...
NPR Special Report - Extended Deployment Policy – of National Guard and
Reserves -All active reservists in “Operation Iraqi Freedom, Rotation
One” were informed recently that they must spend 12 months in the theatre.
Since many spent months in the U.s. this time does not count, and means they
will not be coming home at end of the year. For example, the 129th Transportation
Company left for Iraq on April 27th and will not be coming home till April 2004.
This extended tour was signed into effect on Sept 5th 2003 by President Bush
Jr. Petition with 10,000 signatures from group of families in Kansas. Reservists
and National Guardsmen families all over the country are unhappy with the broken
promises. They are complaining to Army and Congress. Morale in national Guard
and the Reserve is low They want to know when their time ends. 80% of 300 soldiers
in 129th do not plan to reenlist when their time is up. Listen
to the NPR boradcast
Mission in Las Cruces PeaceAware: Reach out to New Mexico military families, veterans, ROTC, and GIs to demand: an end to the occupation of Iraq and return of all US troops. 146,000 still in Iraq and did you year the latest, Reservists are on 12 month rotation to Iraq. See Military Families Speak Out...
FACTS: 138 U.S. troops died in Iraq in the six weeks of aggression from March 19th to May 1st (when President Bush did his Top Gun landing), and the banner read:"Mission Accomplished." As of Sept 22 2003, an additional 166 U.S. service men died since the May 1st 2003 Top Gun spectacle; total as of aug 19 2004 is 953U.S. troop casualties plus 65UK. It is estimated that 632 US troops will be killed every year in Iraq (Source). It is time to Protect Our Troops, and pull them out now (pdf file of fatality list; Fatality details html).
Beyond fatalities, an average of eight American soldiers a day are wounded says Oct 1st 2003 Christian Science Monitor
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Military Fatalities: By
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The Wounded: US Military
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Click here to get map of the U.S. worldwide deployment of 357,100 of our young men and women.
PERSONAL STATEMENT:
America has been persuaded by the Bush theatre, by the spectacle theater, where people are shown sanitized digital images of war. During the Vietnam war, America saw the horror of war. Now they see a infomatic football match. The corporate media campaign was used by the Bush administration to switch America's attention from the search for Weapons of Mass Destruction to "Support Our Troops," and in the final days to "Support President Bush and Our Troops." When no WMD were found, the American public forgot about the reasons for war. The media campaign morphed Saddam into bin Ladden, and swallowed the lie that Iraqis hijacked the 9-11 planes and Saddam had planned it all. Americans have been seduced to believe that this was a war, when it was an invasion. Americans are drugged by their TV, and believe the images that empire puts there. We are living in the most Orwellian presidency of all time. Someday the American people will wake up and see that democracy was replaced with fascism in 2000. Corporations, not citizens elect politicians. Our nation is run with a fear campaign, with a campaign of dangerous nationalism. It is now patriotic to swallow lies, and when you speak out you are a traitor. On April 14th, I was arrested for Peace. I was arrested for speaking out at the university where I am a professor. I was handcuffed, confined, and leg-shackled for an hour, so that I would learn to be silent. I believe that only when Americans turn off the TV, and turn on alternative media will they be able to awaken from the nightmare of 1984. When they awaken, they will see the face of power snarling at them. Power will no go away quietly. Power wants to be elected in 2004. Power will sell whatever lie, make up whatever history is required to win. In Vietnam America woke up and demanded that war crimes be investigated. In 2003, American believes that any crime that stops anyone labeled evil is justified. America thirsts for revenge and believes anything their leader says. They believe that tax cuts are for the poor, that the Middle East is now a stable place, that corporations can be trusted. American is now part of the Matrix; it has swallowed the Blue pill. Those of us who are awake, are a minority, a minority that is considered a thereat to the majority, and a threat to power. I am an optimist. I believe that someday America will awaken from its illusion, and there will be a rebirth of democracy. It will require that corporate financing be removed from elections. It will require that we take back our government. Power has used spectacle theatre to seize control. Now that it has center stage is able to persuade the sleepwalkers, it will not leave the stage willingly. I think as more people awaken from the Matrix, we will be able to reclaim our government from corporate rule. David Boje, May 20, 2003.
Support the Troops - Bring Home the Occupation Force and put the U.S. Administration on Trial
July 17 2003- 146,000 U.S. troops remain in Iraq trading their lives to secure the oil fields for U.S. corporations. Our troops are now asakening to the fact that there are no wepons of mass destruction, and that the Iraqi people are not being liberated; rather, they are being colonized, and U.S. troops think they have been lied to. On Wednesday, July 16, 2003 Sue Pleming published an article, "U.S. Soldiers Complain of Low Morale in Iraq." She reports that our troops, are "Fed up with being in Iraq and demoralized by their role as peacekeepers in a risky place, a group of U.S. soldiers aired their plight on U.S. television on Wednesday and said they had lost faith in the Army." In interviews with the U.S. troops, Pleming gathers quotes that speak to a turning point:
Sept 22 2003 147,000 U.S. troops still in Iraq
Stop the needless killing of U.S. troops. Ask your congress person and senator to bring them home today! - D. Boje
PROTECT OUR TROOPS - Give Them their Benefits - Date: Thu, 25 Sep 2003 14:44:28 EDT
From: GwynWyatt@aol.com (Unedited letter follows): "I was in the 53rd signal corp, [Army] stationed at long Bien,in 1966 and 67 and I came down with emphyzema in 1996 ,But because I've not kept up with the news ,I didn't know about agent orange until I got in the VA. medical program in 2000. I have just recently filed a clame for the disability, I'm now on oxigen and totaly disabled,But VA. denied my clame because the private health care giver I used from 96-2000 has lost my medical records and VA. won't recognize my clame because I can't produce these records. I've tryed writing my congressmen,and some other things with no results,I need help with this, Do you have any suggestions?"
READING
Subscriber Buys FTW Full Page Ad in The Washington Post -Leaked Copy May Have Forced Resignation of Army Secretary. May 16, 2003, 0500 PDT (FTW) – From The Wilderness today ran a full-page ad in the front section of The Washington Post intended to educate the American people, support heroic leaders and promote a number of independent media outlets which have made important contributions since 9/11. The ad was the direct result of a donation from a subscriber who had recently viewed FTW Publisher Mike Ruppert's video "The Truth and Lies of 9-11". ... In two places the ad featured statements highly critical of now-former Secretary White. In her statement Fitts criticized White for his inability to balance the Army's books at a time when the Department of Defense has admittedly "misplaced" more that $3 trillion of taxpayer money. Ruppert observed, "White's claim that residual damage from the attacks of September 11th was the cause for unbalanced books in the Army was ludicrous. The attack of 9/11 hit the Navy Wing of the Pentagon. How could that affect the Army?" In the text of the ad itself White was also criticized for his role as an Enron executive which provided him with millions of dollars in income while stockholders were being defrauded. White was subsequently investigated for insider trading of Enron stock.
See the ad - see text of this story.
VVAW of PeaceAware are frequent speakers at community events, teach-ins, and marches. Please contact any of us if you want someone to speak at your event.
Websites:
United for Peace & Justice www.unitedforpeace.org
ANSWER www.internationalanswer.org
Bring Them Home Now www.bringthemhomenow.org
Military Families Speak Out www.mfso.org
Veterans For Peace www.veteransforpeace.org
Vietnam Veterans Against the War www.vvaw.org
Veterans Against Iraq War www.vaiw.org
Citiizen Soldier www.citizen-soldier.org
GI Rights Hotline http://girights.objector.org/
NLG Military Law Task Force www.nlg.org/mltf/
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