BS: Soldiers return from Iraq & speak out

Subject: BS: Soldiers return from Iraq & speak out
From: katlaughing
Date: 21 Sep 05 - 03:13 PM

(PRWEB) September 22, 2005 -- Antiwar statements from US Soldiers who have served in the Iraq War (OIF) appear online now at Video.Google.Com. Metropole Filmworx LLC choose Video.Google.Com as a distribution method for clips of soldier videos in order to insure they would be available on demand in time for the September 23, 2005 protest in Washington DC led by Cindy Sheehan.

Metropole Filmworx LLC has been recording interviews with soldiers who have returned from Iraq since March. The footage collected will be used in their documentary "BACK FROM IRAQ: The Citizen Soldier Speaks". They have posted clips from several interviews online at Video.Google.Com (video.google.com/videosearch?q=metropole&pl=1) in order to make sure that congressional representatives and the general public are aware that Cindy Sheehan speaks for many, many soldiers when she says the War in Iraq must be brought to a swift conclusion.

Here are a couple of excerpts:

In another clip, Patrick Resta, a Pennsylvania National Guardsman serving as US Army Medic, describes how he and fellow medics were prevented from providing medical care to desperate Iraqi civilians who approached them for help because their own hospitals had been devastated by the war. He also describes how, in violation of the Geneva Conventions regarding medics, he was required to carry a rifle. "I walked an oil pipeline for two days in a hundred and forty degree heat to keep it from being sabotaged and blown up . . . How dare you tell me this war isn't about oil."

n one clip, Marine Staff Sergeant Jimmy Massey (ret'd) describes the killing of more than twenty unarmed protesters in the first days after the initial assault on Iraq, and the subsequent killing of many more unarmed Iraqi's at a military check point. Jimmy Massey, previously a Parris Island Trainer and Recruiter for the US Marine Corp. describes how, when he told his commanding officer "Today's been a bad day sir, we've killed a lot of civilians," his commanding officer responded "No, today is a good day." Massey adds, "When he said that I realized I was in the wrong place. Maybe I wasn't cut out for the Marine Corp."

Here is another important website: Operation Truth: THE TRUTH ABOUT THE WAR ON TERROR FROM THOSE WHO SERVED

Operation Truth is America's first and largest nonprofit, non-partisan advocacy organization for veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

And, in the meantime, our Pentagon has been collecting data on our children in order to recruit them for more cannon fodder (my emphasis):

The Pentagon announced just this summer it has been collecting and using data—including such sensitive personal information as Social Security numbers, ethnicity, GPA, personal email addresses, height, weight, and even the cell phone numbers of kids, without their parent's permission. They had been keeping the database secret for more than three years—a violation of federal privacy laws and the privacy of tens of millions of young Americans. In addition, a little known provision in the federal No Child Left Behind Act is forcing public high schools to release the personal information of their students to local military recruiters, again without the consent of their families.

While law compels schools to violate the privacy of ordinary Americans, it also creates a way for families to "Opt Out" of both the local high school military recruitment lists, and the national Pentagon database. If you know someone between the ages of 16 and 25, spread the word: you can "Opt Out" to stop the Pentagon from using your data, and to prevent your high school from releasing it to recruiters, by clicking on the link below.

http://www.moveon.org/r?r=919

Working Assets, Mainstreet Moms (the MMOB) and ACORN have put together a useful website called LeaveMyChildAlone.org that helps you easily generate letters to both the Pentagon, and to your local high school district to opt-out of both databases. If you are a parent interested in protecting the privacy of your child or if you're between the ages of 16 and 25, this is an easy way to protect your privacy. (As with the national "Do Not Call" list, the Pentagon will retain your data in a "suppression file," but will no longer use it. The high schools, however, will remove your data before releasing lists to recruiters.)

Subject: RE: BS: Soldiers return from Iraq & speak out
From: dianavan
Date: 21 Sep 05 - 09:15 PM

Good links, Kat.

Responding to the needs of our Iraqi Vets should be a top priority and one of the things I read about is the shortfall of funds for their hospitals and PTSD programs. Good grief - isn't it enough that these soldiers have risked their lives? Why should they have to suffer once they get home? This is disgusting and only the tip of the iceberg. Most soldiers have been given extended tours of duty. How will they be cared for when they all return enmasse?

"According to documents released at recent meetings of the House and Senate Veterans Affairs committees, the VA hospital in White River Junction, Vt., was forced to shut its operating rooms temporarily because of a lack of maintenance funds to repair a broken heating, ventilation and air conditioning system. Hospitals in Arkansas, Oklahoma, Mississippi, Louisiana and eastern Texas stopped scheduling appointments for many veterans. The VA medical center in San Diego, with a waiting list of 750 veterans, diverted $3.5 million in maintenance funds to partially cover operating expenses and delayed filling 131 vacancies for three months to cover operating expenses. The Portland, Ore., hospital delayed non-emergency surgery for at least six months, and 7,000 veterans who use the VA facility in Bay Pines, Fla., are waiting longer than 30 days for a primary care appointment."

Subject: RE: BS: Soldiers return from Iraq & speak out
From: Bobert
Date: 21 Sep 05 - 09:41 PM

Now I ain't gonna get into one of my Bible thumpin' rants but there is a passage in Matthew where Jesus says to his disciples "There is nothing hidden that one day won't be found and nothing secret that won't one day be public knowledge"...

Yeah, even for the most barinwahed here in Mudville, there will come a time when they knew they lined up on the wrong side...

Oh, Karl Rove has certainly given them a life-saver to hang on to with the agree-to-diasagree crap that the Bush PR team has come up with but guess what???

Ain't about agreein' to disagree... Bout being on the wrong side...

Bobert

Subject: RE: BS: Soldiers return from Iraq & speak out
From: CarolC
Date: 22 Sep 05 - 01:35 AM

We watched a very good documentary film this evening called, "Gunner Palace".

This film documents the experiences of some of the US forces serving in Iraq... these particular servicemen and women living in one of Saddam's former palaces. I recommend this movie very highly.

Subject: RE: BS: Soldiers return from Iraq & speak out
From: katlaughing
Date: 22 Sep 05 - 07:48 PM

Thanks, folks.

When my brother went to the VA hospital, here, to make an appt. he was told "Sure, no problem. We can see you in eighteen months! THAT was their usual backlog. Some other vets filled him on how to get in, sooner, fake an emergency and demand to see a doctor.

This VA has also lost its spiritual counselor, the woman who held the hands of dying veterans and those of their families, in prayer, etc. to ease their journey. This woman is a great humanitarian, tried to accomodate all faiths/beliefs and spent many a time going in in the middle of the night to bring comfort. Now, the veterans have no one and it was because of a directive straight from Washington, DC. To this woman's immense credit, she still goes in as a volunteer to help those in need.

You KNOW the collection of data on our young people will be to facilitate a draft if the shrub's cadre stay in power. As was said, he's creating more and more need for services for veterans and taking away more and more funding. It is shameful and has to stop!

Subject: RE: BS: Soldiers return from Iraq & speak out
From: Sorcha
Date: 22 Sep 05 - 08:32 PM

So much sucks. My brother, Career Army, age 50 and in Iraq is beginning to notice. His wife is not.