I recieved this interesting email recently from someone at my old unit. Notice the last line in the first paragraph. I would translate it as, "volunteer now or get screwed later," or "If you don't volunteer now, you will have no control over 'what you may be doing' and will probably be burning shitters in Iraq for a year." I have deleted all the contact information for the good Colonel except for his email address. Feel free to contact him.
CAGster Alumi:
Myself and Col Latsko (on cc line with my personal email) have been assigned the critical IMEF recruiting mission. These jobs are MEF wide. Highest priority is IMEF recruiting for OIF. Deployment lengths range from a high of 12months and down, depending on billet need and availability of Marines willing to fill them. Contract lengths are between a high of 18mo-24month active duty contracts and down, again depending on billet and availability of Marines willing to take them. Active duty start times may also be flexible much depending if you are OIF full length, OIF tack 1 or tack 2. If you are interested, fill out the Reserve Qualification Summary (RQS) and forward it back to me with an explanation telling me what you would like to do and your preferred length of time you could go on orders and approximate start service date. Things are ramping up so if your interested or know you fall within an involuntary activation category, now is the time to move and take some control as to what you may be doing.
Even if your on active duty or retired and are looking for an adventure, just let me know and I will do what I can to match desires, times, and qualifications with billets to get you to the war. Everyone of you knows me or have worked with me, so if you have questions all you have to do is give me a call and I will provide you as much straight scoop as possible. If you know of some other hard charger that may be interested in coming on active duty let me know and/or forward the RQS to them and my contact information.
S/F
Col. Eric S. Erdmann
I MEF Training and Experimentation Group
eric.erdmann@usmc.mil
EDIT: Clarification: This email doesn't apply to me. It's interesting to note that they have not scrubbed their email list. Maybe they are hoping that guys who's IRR time has expired will be inspired to reenlist or something. Never mind that they could easily make four times as much money if they went to Iraq with a private security firm.
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
This is how the military convinces reservists and IRR members to go back to Iraq
Monday, August 6, 2007
Amazing! I'm on the Front Page of the New Mexican Again
This story appeared on the front page of today's Santa Fe New Mexican with the photo of the parachute that is featured on the website with a small headshot of me from my press conference in Kansas City. I was sitting at the breakfast table with my step-mom and asked her if she thought "An Iraq war veteran . . . said Sunday that Iraqis should use nonviolent tactics to block the gates of U.S. bases in their country," constituted front page news. She shrugged, "It's a small town." It was right below a much more relevant headline, "GAO: 190,000 firearms missing in Iraq."
Sunday, August 5, 2007
9th Annual Peace Day Santa Fe
I did get a chance to speak to the mayor after he spoke and told him about the “Truth in Recruiting” workshop that I’m planning and invited him to speak. Then we proceeded to “Socrates in the Trees,” or “Dialogue circles exploring the important questions related to ‘How can we transform our culture to a culture of peace and realize peace in our time?’” I’m not sure that they came up with an answer to the question. That’s a pretty tall order.
While I was there (wearing my IVAW t-shirt of course) I was approached by David Collins, a reporter from the Santa Fe New Mexican. He first wanted to talk about what I thought about the Peace Day, but quickly moved on to my case and I reminded him that I was on the front page of his publication just a couple months ago. I had to go into my whole back-story again, which I didn’t mind, except that I was eager to find out how we could realize peace in our time.
He interviewed me for a good thirty minutes and after I mentioned that I spoke Arabic, he asked me if I ever planned to go back to Iraq. I said I had no plans, but I would love to as a member of Iraq Veterans Against the War, maybe to organize a nonviolent resistance. I described my outlandish fantasy of seeing all of the Iraqis in the insurgency stop shooting at Americans and instead get all of the hundred of thousands (if not millions, cumulatively, since the invasion) of protestors that were marching in the streets and get them to sit in around US military bases in Iraq. They could fairly easily shut down the occupation without any violence much more effectively than shooting at US troops.
It was then that Collins found it necessary to remind me that when speaking to him, I was “really speaking to the world.” He seemed to think it was a very radical idea and something I was crazy to suggest. I told him that it doesn’t reflect any abnormal sentiment or crazy desire. I’m against the occupation of Iraq, pro-sovereignty and self-determination for all people especially Iraqis, and I’m a proponent of nonviolent resistance. By simply combining these concepts, you get Iraqis doing sit-ins all over Iraq. It’s just a novel tactic that no one has really talked about yet. I don’t actually plan to go to Iraq to try to organize this. The Iraqi people aren’t dumb, and I’m sure that someone there has had the same idea. I just think the resistance is too fractured, and led by too many violent men with a death wish to come together this way. I just hope it gets there soon.
I ended up in a very interesting discussion with a member of Senator Jeff Bingaman’s New Mexico staff hosted by Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety. Before leaving to take Alex to his polo game, I got a chance to speak to Sadaf Cameron of CCNS. Just as she was getting into certain futilities of the peace movement, I was able to whip out my letter about National Truth in Recruiting Day. (More on that coming soon.) When the conversation got a bit serious, I decided she was ready for The People’s Army of America. I can’t wait to see if she joins.
Saturday, August 4, 2007
The Bush Doctrine: Speak incoherently and hit someone with a stick.
And now, updates. Starting with the last part of the bus tour:
Fort Drum was, as anticipated, the best stop on the tour. Whenever we were down, or worrying that we weren’t being effective enough, it always cheered us up to think about how great the stop at Fort Drum was going to be. It did not disappoint.
Fort Drum was our first and only active duty chapter at the time, and it had already filled its ranks with fifteen active duty soldiers. They were planning on doubling that when we came to have our cook out and concert. The concert was held at the Different Drummer internet café in Watertown, not far from base, which is the unofficial home of the Fort Drum Chapter.
The Advanced Party (Jimmy Massey and myself) got there the afternoon of the day before and we met with a gentleman who was doing a documentary about Jimmy. I took a nap while he did the interview, but he ended up interviewing almost everyone on the bus eventually. Then we met the bus crew and a few of the active duty chapter members at the Different Drummer where everyone was staying the night. We strategized for a while and decided to promote the cook out at some local bars.
Somehow I ended up at a bar by myself talking to a couple of reservist soldiers who were in town for a couple weeks for their AT (Annual Training) and a bouncer who had been in the invasion, but gotten out soon after. Back at the Different Drummer, I rolled out my mattress pad and stayed up too late trying to respond to all of my emails.
The group of civilians that turned out to support us at the cook out was great, but we had to tell the woman with the rainbow pinwheel who was trying to start a drum circle to secure that shit or keep her distance. She chose to put her stuff away and pretended to not be a hippy for the duration of the afternoon. I had the opportunity to meet Michael Blake’s father and Nate Lewis’s twin brother, which was a trip because they both have the exact same very distinct rhythm of speech and accent.
Phil Ailif, President of the Fort Drum IVAW Chapter was there with his usual suspects, but decided that there were enough people who had promised to come that weren’t there to warrant making a few trips back to base to pick some of them up. Phil and Liam Madden took Liam’s car and parked in the guest area and got a one-day pass from the guard shack before proceeding to the gate.
Just then, I was pulling up with a soldier who was stationed at Fort Drum. We walked into the guard shack with my license, registration and proof of insurance. Before the guard (who was wearing a blue Department of the Army Police uniform underneath an orange reflective vest) even looked at my paperwork he said, “Good afternoon, Adam. How’s it going?” “Pretty good, yourself?” The bulletin board behind him was covered with mug shots of people who were barred from base with BOLO (Be On the Look Out) written over them. I scanned it for a photo of myself, and was somewhat disappointed that I hadn’t earned a place on their wall of fame. Apparently, I didn’t need it.
“How did you know my name?” “We all know who you are. I’ve been reading your blog actually. In fact, we saw your Bronco coming a mile away.” Meanwhile, Liam and Phil had been stopped at the gate and were told to pull to the side and standby until finally being asked to turn around. The guy in the orange vest told us to wait for someone else to come talk to us. A few minutes later two plain-clothes DoA Detectives came in from behind the guard shack. “You are not going to be allowed on base today.” I demanded to see some ID and to know what agency he was with. He flashed me his ID and I said I didn’t get his name. He said that was deliberate because he didn’t want to see his name on this blog in twelve hours. I later discovered his name but will allow him to remain anonymous out of respect. He and his partner complained that it was our fault that they had to come in on a day they would normally have off.
He asked that we step outside so we did and chatted for a while and allowed things to relax and even become friendly. I found out that the official reason we were not being allowed on base was, “Because it would not be in the best interest of the Army.” He remarked about some of the material on this blog. He said he actually “sympathized” with our point of view but had to do his job. I found myself making an appeal to conscience that has become a desperate refrain lately. It seems there are a lot of people who realize that they could be speaking out in a very powerful way but haven’t worked up the courage yet. (Just a few days ago I met a man who works for the Department of Defense in “foreign arms sales,” who hasn’t spoken out yet for fear of losing his job.)
On the way back I had Jimmy, Sholom, and Steve in the Bronco. Sholom had been invited to speak at the monthly meeting of the Manhattan Libertarian Party that Friday and invited us to share the stage with him. Then it was on to Philly to drop off Steve before getting in to DC at three in the morning. The next day we took to relax before the final leg of the journey.
Getting Marc Train to Fort Stewart was our last mission. I met him at the March 27th march on the Pentagon. After seeing the way he was dressed, I was shocked to see that he was carrying a military ID card. On his feet were the “rough-side-out” army boots that have become standard issue since the invasion of Iraq. He was wearing black gym pants and a white t-shirt covered in graffiti. He wore an “old-school” camouflage top with the sleeves ripped off mid-upper arm and a white, circled anarchy “A” spray-painted on the back. He wore a red bandana on his head and was waving a small, plain red flag held aloft by two tent stakes. It was that day that he decided to go AWOL.
From my understanding, there are two frames of mind one is in when they go AWOL. Either they flee and flee for good, or they stay AWOL long enough to become a deserter, turn themselves in, and pray for mercy. In the case of Chris Capps, that mercy was a three-day out-processing and an Other Than Honorable discharge. For him, it was a world better than being party to a war crime. Except for not being party to a war crime, Marc didn’t have much of a plan.
He was adopted by the peace movement in DC and taken care of, but needed direction. Everyone around him had come to the conclusion that he needed to turn himself in because he wanted to stay in America, eventually get a job and have a normal life. He had no desire or plan to leave the country. He was going to come on the bus tour and turn himself in halfway through, but it was decided by consensus at the last minute that he would be a liability to the tour.
I had hooked him up with my attorney, Mike Lebowitz, who had made arrangements with his command to make the out-processing as easy as possible and not charge him with anything other than desertion. He was afraid that certain comments he had made online may have been construed as “disloyal statements” and after the case of Liam Madden, this was not an unfounded concern. By the time we got to Fort Drum, he still hadn’t made plans to turn himself in and was staying with a friend of Tina Richards in Mt Rainier, MD. I called him (and gave him the appropriate kick in the ass) and told him that he was betraying everyone who had helped him on the premise that he was turning himself in, especially Mike, by not acting. I offered to give him a ride down to Fort Stewart, his former duty station after the bus tour.
We picked him up the next morning and took the straight shot down the 95 to Fayetteville to drop off Jimmy where we picked him and he had left his car. Then it was on to Fort Stewart. We got in late and spent the night at a Days Inn (free wireless) before actually going on base. When we got to the gate the next morning the guard asked me what my shirt said. “Iraq Veterans Against the War.” He collected our ID cards and then ran them down a list in a binder, handed them back to us, and waved us through. Maybe Fort Stewart hadn’t been alerted since it wasn’t a planned stop on the tour. We took Marc to the Legal Defense Council’s office and made sure he was comfortable with his situation before we took off. While we were waiting outside with his stuff, a Sergeant comes out with some paperwork under his arm and stern look on his face. He had a Third ID patch on his left shoulder and a 10th Mountain Division combat patch on his right. He passed us and just a step later turned back to Sholom. “What does your shirt say?” he demanded. Sholom turned and puffed out his chest: Iraq Veterans Against the War.” “Sweet. How do I join you guys?” I was flabbergasted, but Sholom turned on a dime and grabbed a packet out of my glove box to give the guy. Sometimes, it’s that easy.
Then it was back to DC for more random craziness. Sholom and I conducted Operation Yellow Elephant, but I’m still working on editing the video. Hopefully it will be on YouTube in a few days. Basically, we went to the College Republican National Convention to ask the future leaders of the party some tough questions. “If you think the occupation of Iraq is such a good idea, why don’t you go find out for yourself?” “Are you not joining the military because you are gay or because you don’t think you could hack it?” “Are you aware that because of the difficulty the Army has had in recruiting, they have drastically relaxed weight requirements?” “Do you feel like a hypocrite for supporting a war politically, and yet doing nothing of substance to support it? Or is that normal for Republicans?” We met a couple of vets, (one who had gotten out of the Army for medical reasons and one in the Air Guard) had some great conversations, and bagged us some yellow elephants. I gained a new appreciation for the deepening divides within the party over Iraq and Bush.
The DC Chapter of IVAW launched the FUNDING THE WAR IS KILLING THE TROOPS campaign.
I went to the planning meeting with the ANSWER Coalition for their next big mobilization on September 15th. We’ve got some very cool stuff in the works including an IVAW National Truth in Recruiting Day, (more info coming soon) and a mass die-in/civil disobedience. Basically, Brian Becker, National Coordinator of ANSWER, is allowing for a much more collaborative process in designing the march/rally. Together with ANSER, Tina Richards (Grassroots America) and I have made the theme, “Protesting is not enough. Come for the rally, stay for a week of direct action.” It’s going to be off of the hook. Seriously. All the way off.
Right now I’m in Santa Fe, visiting my folks and seeing old friends. I’m trying to raise enough money before I go back to DC to allow me to continue to do this full time. I’m also conspiring and making all sorts of devious plans to make the world a better place. Wish me luck.
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Robert Weiss, US Soldier Stationed in Germany Begins Personal Resistance
Dear Chris Capps,
Thank you for your concern. Mike Sharp has previously told me about IVAW. I would like to become a member I just haven't gotten around to do the paperwork for the application. I am pretty busy for the time being. My unit 4-2 CR in Vilseck, Germany is deploying to Iraq in August so there has been a lot of commotion. Despite the expectations of my unit I will not deploy with them. I have submitted my application for conscientious objector status and informed by chain of command that the only way I will go to Iraq is if they tranquilize me, cuff me, and throw me on a plane. That being the case I won't perform any duties or wear a uniform anyways. I don't plan on letting the situation progress that far. I am hopeful that I will be placed on rear detachment until the decision on my application comes in. When it becomes apparent that they won't do this I will simply refuse to follow any orders given to me or wear a uniform. This will surely result in some jail time but that doesn't deter me one bit. It makes more sense to me to resist the military now rather than in Iraq where the situation would be much more difficult. So far, my unit has yet to set up the mandatory chaplain and psychiatrist appointments or even to let me sign the necessary forms (privacy act, barred from VA, and so forth). So it seems like they have no intention of actually giving my application a chance. Nor do they take me seriously in my stated intentions to resist the army. So most likely I will end up in jail. I have considered going awol and than turning myself in but I think the best way is to flat out not comply with any orders given to me. Hopefully that would eliminate the more serious charge of desertion and give me a lesser one. A lawyer has told me that I might get something like 10-20 months for this but I really don't mind. We all have our own cross to carry. In case you are interested in my motivation for this decision; it is based on Christianity. A while ago an acquaintance of mine was killed in a fight. This caused me to reevaluate my life and to become a Christian again. From there I read a lot of books on Christianity and the bible itself. I eventually came to decide that God is against warfare and killing in any form. Jesus' teachings in the new testament reveal this commandment that we must love our enemies rather than to destroy them. Anyways thats basically my story. I am interested in hearing how your dealings with the army and subsequent discharge went if you would care to tell it. Also I think that publicity might help my case so perhaps that is an avenue to consider. Well, thanks again.
Sincerely,
Robert Weiss
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Rev. Yearwood's Air Force hearing has been delayed
Action Alert - Please Forward
Rev. Yearwood's Air Force hearing has been delayed
July 12th date postponed!
New Date to be set for mid to late August
My dear friends in the movement,
Thank you so much for such a wonderful outpouring of support. It has been incredible to hear that so many of you have made plans to come support me as I challenge the Air Force's attempt to discredit me and our work for peace.
My request for a delay has been granted so I may better prepare my case and raise funds for my legal defense. We will publish the new date as soon as it is determined and along with our plans for action.
For future generations,
Rev. Yearwood
Sunday, July 8, 2007
An Open Letter to America: "Now is the time for us to stand up and stand together" By Rev. Lennox Yearwood, Jr.
July 1, 2007
My Fellow Americans:
The power of our voices against the U.S. occupation of Iraq is reaching the top echelons of the military and the administration. Our government is persecuting Americans who speak out against the U.S. military presence in Iraq. The U.S. military has launched politicized attacks on its own military members and moral leaders who oppose the war to discredit their voices of dissent.
We have seen them target Cpl. Adam Kokesh to stop him from exercising his freedom of speech, after risking his life in Fallujah, Iraq. We have seen them threaten Sgt. Liam Madden for publicly stating the legal fact that the U.S. invasion is a war crime according to the Nuremberg principles. They have targeted Cpl. Cloy Richards, a soldier put in the media spotlight when his mother Tina Richards worked to get him the health care he needs after returning from Iraq eighty percent disabled. These are not happenstance targets. These young men are leaders of the Iraq Veterans Against the War and they are speaking out in a strong and coordinated way.
And now I have been targeted.
Who am I? Many of you know me as a reverend, an activist, an architect of Hip Hop politics and a freedom fighter, but I am also an Officer in the United States Air Force Reserve. I have long been in the struggle for peace and freedom and I serve proudly as a leader of faith. I joined the military as part of the "poor peoples draft" - to help pay for my education. In May 2000 I was commissioned as an Officer in the U.S. Air Force Reserve and was accepted into the Chaplain Candidates program. In 2002 I graduated from Howard University School of Divinity, Magna Cum Laude. I was ordained a Reverend and Elder in the Church of God in Christ shortly after my graduation and today I remain in good standing in the Church. In May 2003 I completed the Chaplain Candidates program, but I decided not to pursue a career as a Chaplain in the Air Force. I have been in the Air Force Reserve Individual Reserve program ever since.
On March 26th of this year I received notification from the Air Force that they are taking action to honorably discharge me on the basis of "behavior clearly inconsistent with the interest of national security." Ironically, this letter arrived six days after I announced the launching of a national "Make Hip Hop Not War" Tour at a press conference on Capitol Hill.
On July 12, 2007, when I leave Robbins Air Force Base after my discharge hearing, whether I remain an Officer or not, I will be a leader always, and a patriot evermore committed to ending this immoral war.
In February 2003 I felt the sense of urgency many felt in the lead up to the invasion of Iraq to speak out. Even though I was only a Chaplain Candidate and a 2nd Lieutenant, when I had the opportunity to preach at Andrews Air Force Base, the home of Air Force One, the message that I preached was "Who Would Jesus Bomb?" Since then hundreds of thousands of Iraqis and thousands of Americans have lost their lives and we now face a state of permanent warfare in our world.
This moment in history is our generation's lunch-counter moment - Iraq is our Vietnam and New Orleans is our Birmingham. Our generation could be the generation to defeat racism, poverty and war, but only if we come together as people of conscience. In the movements of the 60's, solidarity among the civil rights movement and the anti-war movement was never truly achieved. As the "Hip Hop generation" - a generation where the sons and daughters of former slaves work side by side with the sons and daughters of former slave owners - we have the ability to bridge the gap and link movements for peace, justice, civil rights and the environment in true solidarity.
We will not make the world safer - or achieve true national security - by starting wars that put our humanity at risk and we are certainly not making our country safer by intimidating veterans who courageously speak out. Policies that address the issues of poverty, racism, climate change, the economy and jobs are at the core of national security. I will continue to speak out against the war, seek justice for Katrina survivors, fight against racism, struggle for equality and advocate for a healthy planet. I hardly think that this sort of behavior is "inconsistent with the interest of national security."
My brothers and sisters, opposition to this illegal war and occupation is not a cause - it constitutes a response to a state of emergency. It is our urgent responsibility to stop this war. According to the Book of Psalms, "Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning." I know it looks bad now and our hope seems to wane and sometimes we want to give up. But, if we can all come together - black and white, brown and yellow, rich and poor, male and female, straight and gay, republican and democrat - whether you still love this country or are withdrawn in anger, not only can we defeat this war and restore justice and democracy, there will once again be joy in the morning.
My mother in the movement, Cindy Sheehan, will be with me on July 12th at Robins Air Force Base in Georgia and I urge you to join me on the 12th as well. I also urge you to continue to increase your activism. This is our lunch-counter moment.
For Future Generations,
Rev. Lennox Yearwood, Jr.
Rev. Lennox Yearwood, Jr. is President of the Hip Hop Caucus. Much needed donations to his legal defense fund can be made at:
Online donations:www.hiphopcaucus.org
Checks, money orders or cash can be sent to: Hip Hop Caucus
1112 16th St. NW, Suite 600,
Washington, DC 20036.
You can contact the Hip Hop Caucus at 202.787.5256 or at info@hiphopcaucus.org.
Please visit iraqmoratorium.org, ivaw.org, declarationofpeace.org, unitedforpeace.orggrassrootsamerica4us.org, worldcantwait.org, votersforpeace.org, democracyrising.us, and impeachcheney.org to find out what you can do.
Call to Action
When :
July 12, 2007 12:00 Noon Rally
Where:
Warner Robbins (100 miles south of Atlanta), GA Hwy 129 & Martin Luther King Blvd.
Why:
To stand in solidarity with Rev. Lennox Yearwood, Jr. as he faces his United States Air Force separation hearing.
What:
Rev. Lennox Yearwood, Jr. is facing discharge from the United States Air Force Reserve Individual Reserve as he is being charged that his behavior is "inconsistent with the interest of national security."
Rev. Lennox Yearwood, Jr. intends to hold a candle light vigil at Martin Luther King's tomb in Atlanta, GA on the evening before he returns to Washington DC. Time to be determined.
If you are unable to attend, please send much needed donations for Rev. Yearwood's Defense fund:
Online Donations: HipHopCaucus.org
Checks, Money Orders or Cash:
Hip Hop Caucus
1112 16th St NW Ste. 600
Washington, D.C. 20036
Friday, July 6, 2007
Three IVAW Members Arrested at Fort Benning Gate
On July 1st, members of the IVAW bus tour drove near the gate at Fort Benning, Georgia on the Yellow Rose of Texas Bus for Peace, which now says “IRAQ VETERANS AGAINST THE WAR” in large letters across the side. Fort Benning is an open post, and anyone with proper ID is allowed on base. They turned around and parked just outside the gate. As soon as they parked the bus, a Department of the Army police car pulled up behind the bus with its lights on and an officer warned Jim about bringing the bus on post.
Liam Madden and Nate Lewis decided that they would approach the gate on foot to enquire as to whether they would be allowed to enter on foot. It was at that point that two MPs came out from behind the fence and arrested them for “criminal trespassing.” Fort Benning is an open post, and right where these guys walked across is a highway that goes through base year round. They received no warning, and were not told why they were being detained. That was when I got the call in the Bronco while I was out running errands with Steve.
We raced to the gate and got there just in time to see Nate and Liam getting loaded into cruisers. One of the cops came out to where we were standing and explained that “they had been arrested for protesting,” and told us that if anyone crosses the line “in protest,” they will be arrested. We have this on tape. Then the press showed up and wanted a statement, so I waited until they were set up and put a mic on me, and gave a statement to them and for the record to the documentarians who were with us, and our own camera for safety. I changed my shirt so it would be clear I was not protesting and went across to ensure that Liam and Nate were, “afforded the full protection of the law.” You can see a video of that here.
Fortunately, Michael Blake stepped up and dealt with all of the press that came and really did a great job presenting our side of the story as opposed to the Army spokeswoman’s story, which only identified me as a “third unidentified protestor.” We’ve really seen some stupid coverage over this. (But that all pales in comparison to the lie the Marine Corps told about Liam Madden’s response to the plea bargain that, “they were dropping the case because they had ‘received sufficient indication’ from Madden that he would no longer wear his uniform when engaged in political activities. They also determined that his statements did not warrant further action.)
I gave them my driver’s license right away when asked and they immediately called it in and cuffed me. By the time we got to the station, one of the cops that had arrested Liam and Nate, was in their control room checking out my blog. His superior had to say, “Knock that shit off. This isn’t Larry King live.” Then I went to the back to answer questions for some paperwork. When the cop started with, “What is your social security number?” I said, “I prefer not to answer that question.” “What? These are just personal info questions. You have to answer them.” “Don’t I have the right to remain silent?” “But you haven’t been read your rights.” “So?” “Here’s how it works: You answer the personal info questions, then I read you your rights, see, here’s the acknowledgement, then I’ll ask questions about the incident and you can decline to answer them if you want.” I responded, “Are you telling me that I only have my rights after you read them to me? Let me tell you how it works. My rights come from the Constitution, not from you reading them to me. I don’t need to wait for you to give me my rights.”
While he left to finish the paperwork without me, one of the MP Sergeants was sitting in the area so we started chatting about Iraq. He said he pretty much agreed with me about things there, but said it didn’t really matter. I didn’t understand what he meant, but Nate explained to me that he had said something about there being a day of judgment coming and none of this mattered, not even our participation in it. But he was willing to listen with an open mind and think for himself. But then, he did tell me how he was such a big fan of O’Reilly, and he agreed to check out the documentary called Outfoxed, which I described to him as “making fun of O’Reilly especially for telling his guests to shut-up,” and explained how watching Fox News has been statistically proven to make you stupid.
They wouldn’t drop us off at the gate, but drove by it on the way to the official point of drop off for people who are detained on Fort Benning, namely a gas station down the road, that they said was technically on base property. They had forgotten to bring my umbrella, so one of the cops had to drive all the way back to the station and get it, then bring it back. The next day, the documentarians wanted to interview me outside the gate, so after the bus punched out, Steve and Liam (who needed to be advanced party for Philly) and I went to the gate with them in the Bronco. It was then that Liam got a call from an Army JAG saying that he needed to serve us papers for an arraignment the next day. So while I finished the interview, Liam got Nate off the bus and we met with the JAG.
Then we met with a Lawyer in Atlanta. Liam had talked to him earlier, and was waiting for a call back, but since we had nothing else to do, and Atlanta was on the way to Philly, we just went to his office unannounced. But he was happy to see us. He made a few phone calls and got the arraignment that the Army was trying to slap on us for the next day, “for our convenience” pushed back to the 27th so that we could continue with the tour and with the hope that the case might get dropped by then. We’ll see what happens, but as of right now, I plan on having to make another trip down to Georgia.
We still managed to pass the bus well before getting to Philly and started preparing for the fundraiser, which ended up going very well. The next day was supposed to be my day to relax, but the night before I agreed to speak at a press conference/panel talk at an anti-war coalition meeting. Very fun, but not very relaxing. Then we had our show at the Millcreek Tavern, and aside from Sun of None and Head Roc, I also had the pleasure of seeing Ryan Harvey perform a couple of songs.
Today, we had a barbecue at Dyker Beach Park where there were as many cops in attendance as invited guests. The Fort Hamilton Provost Marshal even came out to warn us against bringing the bus near base. The rest of the cops were pretty friendly, and some even partook when invited. When it was time to leave for the concert, they offered to give us a lights-on escort, but they only stayed with us until it was clear we were getting on the bridge and then ditched us. It would seem they are that scared of us talking to soldiers. But we still managed to get one new member and that makes it all worthwhile.
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Friday, June 29, 2007
FIVE IVAW MEMBERS ARRESTED AT FORT JACKSON FOR WEARING IVAW T-SHIRTS
The IVAW Bus Tour arrived in Columbia yesterday and got right to outreach before settling down at the Sesquicentennial Park. We canvassed a couple Wal-Marts near Fort Jackson and a couple other areas that looked like GI hangouts. Today we decided to step it up a notch and go on base to meet with the one active duty member that we already have there. We got in through the visitors entrance with our civilians IDs without incident and went to the PX where I thought we were meeting our soldier. It turns out we were at the wrong PX and went to the main one. We wandered around for a few minutes, then sat down to wait for our friend.
When he arrived, we proceeded to the ManchuWOK for some lunch. I was last in line, and while I was getting my drink and talking to a GI, Lt J O Smith of the Department of the Army Fort Jackson Police #008 told me to put my tray down and step towards the door. On the way he grabbed the rest of our group, Nate Lewis, Mike Blake, Sholom Keller, and Steve Mortillo, who were sitting down having lunch with our soldier. Mike was the only one who had the foresight to bring his food with him. When we got outside, we were surrounded by police, and there was a Park Ranger truck blocking in my car. They took our IDs and harassed us for a while with stupid questions, all the while refusing to tell us why we were being detained except for something about protesting on base.
They lined us up against a row of vending machines and told us to keep our hands at our sides. Sholom happened to have a copy of the Constitution on him and began quoting some craziness about rights, like “to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation.” One of the officers went to give him back his ID card. “Is this your ID card, brother?” “Yes it is, and I’m not your brother. Dr King was a brother, Malcom was a brother, Huey P Newton was a brother. You are a traitor and a sell-out.” Then one of the officers told me that because the base registration sticker on my Bronco was expired, he was going to have to scrape it off and he called me over to watch him do it. That was when I started taking pictures. Then the Lt started taking pictures of us with his phone.
They kept asking us questions and we generally refused to answer, while Sholom said something ridiculous about “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated.” One gentleman came up and asked us what was going on and praised us for standing up for our rights.
Our soldier passed us and winked and then disappeared. We later found out that he went back to his car so he could videotape the whole thing. Hopefully we’ll be able to get that up on YouTube later tonight. We stood around for another ten minutes or so while they radioed our information back and then out of the blue decided to cuff us and bring us in. It was just before the cuffing that Mike cracked open his fortune cookie, the contents of which read, "The course of life is uncertain. No one can write his autobiography in advance." We were frisked and loaded into their police cars. When we got to the station, we were put into interrogation rooms. We had to empty our pockets onto the table and then were frisked again. They confiscated my expired military ID, as they did with Sholom and Nate. Then an Army First Sergeant came in and started deleting the photos from my phone. Fortunately, I had a few of them “saved to my phone” and he only deleted the ones that were “In Camera.”
After a few minutes of random questioning, we were led into a larger room together and the First Sergeant told us we were going to be taken back to the Bronco and escorted off base. “If you should be seen again around the gate area, you will be arrested for criminal trespassing.” The Lt asked me my social security number for about the tenth time, and again I declined. Then they put a piece of paper on my lap that was a receipt for my ID card. It had my social on it, naturally.
EDIT: Just so it's perfectly clear, WE GOT ON BASE WITH OUR CIVILIAN IDS THROUGH THE VISITORS ENTRANCE. That means we went through the line for people without base registrations. We did not do anything fraudulent to get on base. Stop sending me stupid emails and posting irrelevant comments.
Bus Tour Update I
The IVAW bus tour kicked off on Saturday with a cookout at the Greenbelt Campground between Fort Meade and Andrews Air Force Base. Thanks to all of the help from local members like Tassi McKee, Garret Reppenhagen, and Geoff Millard, we had a great turnout of active duty troops and Veterans For Peace members. That day, IVAW grew by four active duty service members. While those of us who are out can be more effective in lobbying and reaching out to civilian supporters, active duty members are incalculably more valuable for recruiting more members, as they happen to be talking to soldiers all day. We also held our “Testimony to Incompetence” contest, and got about a dozen great entries. I told my “The Time I Almost Caught Al Zarqawi” story, but I disqualified myself and the prize went to one of our new members.
That night was the Tom Morello show and Liam Madden, Steve Mortillo and I spoke in front of a sold out crowd before introducing Tom. Except for one heckler, who I spoke to later, we were very well received and sold a lot of merchandise. That night we scattered around DC. The next morning I picked up Son of Nun at Union Station and we caught up to the bus at Norfolk. There I had the honor of meeting Jonathan Hutto, one of the co-founders of the Appeal for Redress. In the evening, Son of Nun performed a set for us downtown, and we met two new members on the street while promoting the event.
After a successful stop in Norfolk, the advanced party vehicle with Sholom Keller and myself punched out to Fayetteville to pick up Jimmy Massey on Sunday night. We met him at the America’s Best Value Inn around the block from the Catholic Workers’ house where he would be leaving his vehicle. The next morning, we all took much needed showers and got on the road to Jacksonville. We arrived at the Cabin Creek Campground in the afternoon and staked out a spot and an approach route for the bus. They were only about five hours behind us. It was a good thing the campground had wireless internet.
Before meeting us at the campground, the bus stopped for dinner at a small diner. When they got inside, a portly woman emerged from the kitchen. “Y’all ain’t gonna eat here, is ya?” “Yes, we were planning on it. What, you don’t serve veterans?” “How can y’all drive around with that there on your bus? My husband is in Iraq.” The guys did their best to win her over, but were not sure enough of their success to be fully confident in the contents of the food they were about to eat. A few of them ordered the clam chowder and immediately regretted it.
When the bus got in and situated, we made up a plan of attack for our promotional/outreach efforts. The next day we broke up into two teams. Team one consisted of the three Marines on the bus, Jimmy Massey, Liam Madden, and I. We decided that for outreach on base where things were most likely to be confrontational, it would be best to have Marines talking to Marines. We also decided that it might be dicey to be passing out fliers which could be construed as “subversive materials” or “propaganda” so we only carried business cards with the cookout info on the back and GI Rights cards.
We got on base with a one-day visitor’s pass and hit up the PX first. On the way in we gave cards to a couple of Marines outside and a couple coming out into the foyer. As we wandered into the PX, I thought we should have an excuse for being there so I directed the crew over to the sticker section. We were there for about two minutes when we were approached by security. The polite young woman asked us to not distribute any more “flyers.” We told her we didn’t have any flyers but had given business cards to a couple of Marines. She said ok, and we went about our business. As we were walking down the aisle a few minutes later, we were approached by the civilian manager of the store, who was accompanied by his posse of Marine employees. “You guys are going to have to leave. Your shirts are offensive. Plus, you can’t be flyering here.” “I had a few stickers in my hand and held them up. “We’re not flyering, we’re shopping.” “Well, you’re going to have to make your purchases and leave.” “OK, no problem.” So we leisurely made our way to the check out where we were approached by another manager. “You guys know why you’re being asked to leave, right? Your shirts are anti military.” “That’s not true. We’re actually pro-military. We happen to be all former Marines. You noticed the word veteran right?” “I don’t want to get into it with you. Just make your purchases and leave.” So we did.
Then we hit up the “Seven Day Store” and “Cash Sales.” When we first pulled up, we stopped to have a cigarette with a Marine outside, and had a great conversation with him. Inside the store we took our time purchasing a few cans of bug spray and a couple patches, talking to every Marine we passed. The worst response we got was, “No thanks, I’m not interested.” One of the Marines even recognized me and said, “Hey, aren’t you that guy who was on CNN?” “Yes I am.” “Damn. You’ve got some big balls comin’ on Camp Lejeune.” “Yes I do.”
As we left the Seven Day Store, a Marine in the passenger seat of his buddy’s truck leaned out as he was driving by and said, “I can’t believe you’re wearing those fucking shirts on base. That shit is fucking disrespectful.” “What do you mean?” “What do you think those young Marines are going to think? You’re not supporting them.” “We think the best way to support the troops is to bring them home safe and alive.” He gave us a little more shit before deciding it was a waste of time. As we were leaving, a Sergeant and Staff Sergeant approached us. The Sergeant started engaging us about how our t-shirts were “not supporting the troops.” His Staff Sergeant was backing him up, but seemed a little afraid to really engage us. Then the Sergeant listened to a bit about what we were all about and tried to be helpful. “Well then you need to incorporate something that says support the troops into your message.” We had a constructive conversation for a good twenty minutes or so and touched on a lot of good topics, but at the end he still didn’t take a business card when I offered him a chance to stay in touch. While we were talking a Sergeant Major was getting into his truck nearby and interjected, “You know, I’ve been over there twice and I’m getting ready to go back a third time. You know why? Because my troops are going. I respect your right to do what you’re doing, but you keep that shit away from my artillery area.” “Roger that, Sergeant Major.”
Then it was getting time for evening chow and we made our way to the nearest chow hall we could find. We got in as soon as it opened at 1630, and when we were done eating, the crowd was at its peak. I got up on a chair and made an announcement. “Listen up Marines! My name is Adam Kokesh and I’m a member of Iraq Veterans Against the War. We think the best way to support the troops is to bring them home now. Tomorrow, we will be hosting a BBQ and you’re all invited. It will be at 1900 at the Cabin Creek Campground. There will be free food and free beer. We look forward to chatting with you all and hearing what’s on your mind. For more info you can talk to Jimmy Massey or Liam Madden or myself. We’ll be right outside the hatch here.” This was particularly meaningful for me because at my separation hearing on June 4, the prosecutor said in his final statement that I had read the letter in the chow hall in Ansbach at an Army post because, “if he had tried to do that at Camp Lejeune or Camp Pendleton” he would have never gotten away with it.
Well, fuck you Captain Sibert, because I just did it at Camp Lejeune and I was greeted with a small chorus of “Hoorah” and “Semper Fi!” The ironic part about that is that afterwards as we were leaving and a Marine sitting down asked me for some info, a Gunny (an E-7, same level as the soldier who approached me in Germany) came up to me and very quietly said, “You guys need to leave now.” “Roger that, we were just on our way out, Gunny.” But this time, instead of getting off post right away like we did in Germany, we stood outside and spoke to every Marine who left the chow hall for the next half hour.
Team two consisted of all the former soldiers on the bus, Nate Lewis, Mike Blake, Sholom Keller, and Steve Mortillo. They hit up the strip by the base and distributed fliers to GIs while Jim guarded the bus. While parked in the lot next to the Kettle Diner where they had lunch, a biker driving by noticed the bus and was apparently upset by it. He pulled in, got off his bike, and started pounding on the locked door of the bus. Jim was inside having a coffee and ran out to talk to the guy. “Who are these veterans? I want to meet them!” Jim told them they would back soon and he could speak to them himself. “They’ve all been to Iraq.” The biker went inside to raise hell with the management for letting us park the bus there and recruited some other customers to his cause.
Just then Liam got the frantic call from Jim as we were on our way back from base. “Liam can you get back here.” “We’ll be there in ten minutes.” “Can you make it any sooner?” “We’ll get there when we can, Jim.” We picked up Steve and Nate and booked it back to the bus. I jumped a couple curbs to get the most direct route to the bus and zoomed in between the bus and the big black SUV next to it. Jim was talking to the driver, but it turned out to be the owner of the restaurant who was cool, said he was on our side but still wanted us to leave for the sake of his customers as long as we were done eating there. So Jim was just telling him we would be leaving soon when we pulled up. Then Jim took us inside to meet the biker who started to get into it in the restaurant, but then asked us to step outside like he wanted to fight. He spoke in a mostly exasperated fashion while we calmly explained our position.
For dinner we went to a Golden Corral where we had to park the bus in the Wal-Mart parking lot next door. As we were finishing up, Nate went outside to get some flyers off the bus and ran into a young former Marine who was screaming at the bus. It seemed like a PTSD moment, but this guy was seriously angry. Nate did his best to talk to him and his posse, who were lingering in the shadows a ways away. He went back into the restaurant to get everyone, and as we got back to the bus, the small crowd was still there. Jim noticed that the electrical panel on the side of the bus was cracked open, and we noticed that a few wires had been snipped. While Jim got the bus ready to roll and did a complete function check, Liam and I engaged this former Marine and got a bit of his story. He had been in Iraq and seen a number of his friends die. This was actually a bragging point for him. When he asked why we were doing this, Mike said, “So I don’t lose another friend like I did in February.” “You lost a friend? That’s great. Well I lost three!” “We don’t want to see that happen again.” He also had a leg full of shrapnel and a medical discharge. He had tried to reenlist but was denied. The bus was ready and pulled out while a few of us watched from the Bronco as the former Marine continued to cuss at it and his friends flipped it off. That night we pulled fire watch on our campsite, just to be safe.
The next morning we hit the streets and passed out flyers all along the strip in front of Camp Lejeune. We got our supplies for the Cookout and got back to the campground to set up. We put up signs for the parking area and set up the BBQ in the woods behind the campground. The first two Marine guests showed up early, and it turned out that for all the outreach we had done by foot, they found out about the event from the website. Both ended up joining. We were joined by a handful more throughout the evening with mixed results. The biker from the Kettle Diner showed up, but just rode through the parking lot, shook his head and took off.
It was that evening we had the pleasure of meeting April, who had been staying at the campground with her family. Apparently, since we had shown up she had wanted to talk with us, but was afraid to. Finally, at the prodding of her oldest daughter, she decided to introduce herself. I finally got to sit down with her towards the end of the event when I was on bus watch. Her brother had been in the Army. He did two tours in Iraq and was diagnosed with PTSD. His doctors had deemed him undeployable, but he was sent back for a third tour anyway. When he came back, after telling April of his plans many times, he killed himself. I sat and listened to her for hours about what she had been going through. Later that night she decided that she wanted to give us the flowers from his funeral that were wilting on her desk to take with us on the bus. The next morning, Jim was more than happy to properly enshrine them on the bus. Then it was back on the road.
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