War Is A Crime .org

By Kevin B. Zeese

On August 6, just after the Veterans for Peace conference in Dallas, Cindy Sheehan and a handful of veterans camped out in a ditch alongside of a road outside of President Bush's ranch in Crawford, TX. They came unprepared in an unplanned protest – their only light was a flashlight – their only place to go to the bathroom was a bucket. They slept in ant-filled ditches in one hundred degree heat and when it rained their tents and sleeping bags got soaked. Their simple request to the president – meet with us to explain the reason for the Iraq war.

When we visited her 21 days later there were approximately 3,500 people joining her vigil and 1,000 pro-war demonstrators trying to counter her. Her camp had been moved next to the entrance of the president's ranch – thanks to a neighbor who believes in free speech under a tent large enough for 2,000 people. Finally, a much-needed conversation was taking place in America: Should the U.S. have invaded in Iraq? Should we stay in Iraq? How does the United States end the Iraq occupation responsibly and get our troops home quickly?

Blogcritics.org

Posted by Balletshooz on August 29, 2005 06:21 PM (See all posts by Balletshooz)
Filed under: Politics - Scroll down to read comments on this story and/or add one of your own.

Hiram Lewis IV, GOP challenger for Robert Byrd's US Senate seat, is publicly embarrassing himself and/or disqualifying himself from becoming a serious contender to unseat Byrd in West Virginia. He has announced a new "Meet With Hiram" campaign targeting anti-Bush and anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan.

Together with the conservative activist organization RightMarch.com, he will travel to Crawford, Texas, to demand a meeting with Cindy Sheehan. "If she refuses to meet with me there, I will follow her on her bus tour and continue to demand a meeting until she agrees to talk with me face-to-face." said Lewis. He further pledged to "dog her steps" until she meets with him.

The Peaceful Occupation of Crawford - Day 21

A BUZZFLASH GUEST CONTRIBUTION
by Cindy Sheehan

A photographer friend of mine went down to Crawford to the Pro-War, Anti-Peace rally today. There were about 1500 people there he said. He also said that it was the most "third reich" spectacle that he had ever seen in America.

My friend said that the speakers were whipping up the crowd into a frenzy of hatred for me (like they already didn't hate me) and for the peace movement. My friend said that the entire theme of the rally was: "Cindy is killing American troops by her anti-American protest." Oh really, isn't George Bush killing innocent Americans and Iraqis by sending them to fight in an illegal and immoral war for power and greed? I think the real culprit is my neighbor: George.

Sign the Petition of Redress. Either the Bush Kids Put Their Lives on the Line for George's "Noble War" or the Troops Come Home.

A BUZZFLASH EDITORIAL

To forward this petition to all your friends, relatives and colleagues, Click Here.

Uncle Sam Wants You!

Sign this petition, demanding that the eligible children of the extended Bush family, including the twins, serve in George's "noble war for a noble cause" or Bush must bring the sons and daughters of America home now.

"I demand that George W. Bush's daughters, and his eligible nieces and nephews, serve in Iraq to prove their support of Bush's 'noble war for a noble cause.' If the Bush family does not believe in 'sacrificing' for the war and is not willing to put their lives on the line, then Bush must bring the troops of middle class and poor Americans home now."

By Larisa Alexandrovna

Every thing secret degenerates, even the administration of justice; nothing is safe that does not show how it can bear discussion and publicity.
-Lord Acton

The public demands accountability, as it should, and transparency, as it should, but forgets to participate in making either of those things possible.

For several years now, the ACLU has been fighting to have released the documents, photographs and videos, of detainee abuse under our misguided "noble cause."

Today, August 30 - the court will allow the "People" to hear the government's case on why the rape of children, for example - under Project Copper Green -

The Strike for Peace plan is going well, but I want to encourage everyone to spread word that this is all about connecting our 300-plus Pentagon-funded schools across the nation for a sustained information outreach campaign. By striking, I hope to help transfer the energy created by Cindy Sheehan's camp (and that of the national rallies planned for September 24-26) onto our campuses and into our communities from the first day of school, September 26, through the end of the academic year. Others need not strike -- indeed, I advise against it -- but please support this info-out campaign as powerfully as you can.

Seattle Post Intelligencer
By HELEN THOMAS
HEARST NEWSPAPERS

WASHINGTON -- It's time for the Democratic Party to take a courageous stand and call for the withdrawal of troops from the senseless war in Iraq.

Its human cost and the billion-dollars-a-week tab in Iraq should give all Americans pause.

Would the Republicans have hesitated to challenge the Democrats if the shoe were on the other foot? Did the opposition party give President Clinton any slack while he was in office?

What is the logic of Sens. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., Joseph Biden, D-Del., and other so-called moderate Democrats still backing the unprovoked war in Iraq when they know they were sold a bill of goods?

August 29, 2005
Antiwar.com
Notes on Camp Casey II

As I set out with my trusty tape recorder in hand (Thanks Mike (in Tokyo)!) among the supporters of Cindy Sheehan's effort to call Bush out on his lies at the new Camp Casey, I was floored by the scene. Having only been to the first camp on a Monday and Tuesday two weeks ago, I was amazed to see at least 1,500 people of all descriptions set up under giant tents with wi-fi, live radio broadcasts (bradblog was in his 38th hour of coverage when I met him) and professional catering. The protest has come along way in a very short time. Though I didn't get a chance to speak with Sheehan this time, IVAW, the Iraq Veterans Against the War, was there in force.

ANGELA K. BROWN
Associated Press

CRAWFORD, Texas - War protesters camping out near President Bush's ranch prepared Monday for a three-week bus tour to spread their anti-war message to people and lawmakers in 25 states.

Three buses were to depart Wednesday from the makeshift camp started by Cindy Sheehan along the main road leading to Bush's ranch, protesters said. Sheehan arrived Aug. 6, soon after his Texas vacation began, and vowed to stay until month's end unless he talked to her about the war that claimed her 24-year-old son Casey's life.

Since then, several thousand people have visited "Camp Casey" for a few hours, days or weeks.

Mon Aug 29, 2005 10:19 PM ET

By Jeremy Pelofsky

RANCHO CUCAMONGA, California (Reuters) - President George W. Bush was greeted by Iraq war supporters and protesters on Monday as he interrupted his Texas vacation to promote a new Medicare prescription drug program.

Hundreds of demonstrators for and against the Iraq war staged protests near Rancho Cucamonga, California, where Bush wove comments on Iraq into a Medicare speech to a group of senior citizens.

Bush said progress was being made in Iraq despite the ongoing attacks on U.S. and Iraqi security forces and Sunni opposition to the draft constitution.

George Bush may want to take a quick vacation somewhere, anywhere, from September 24-26, unless he wants to spend the weekend surrounded by what is shaping up to be the most important demonstration against the Iraq War since he launched the invasion.

The energy was almost palpable at tonight’s meeting of the United for Peace and Justice mobilization for September 24-26. More than two-thirds of the people present were there for the first time, ready to staff up a rich series of marches, concerts, rallies, festivals, and civil disobedience.

Former CIA analyst Ray McGovern and Gold Start Mother Tia Steele appeared as guest speakers to start off the evening, before getting down to business.

MUM'S VIGIL AT BUSH RANCH
The Daily Mirror (UK)
August 30, 2005
By Ryan Parry

AT FIRST she was alone. Sat beneath a tree in 100oF heat outside President Bush's Texas ranch, Cindy Sheehan demanded answers about the war that killed her son.

But she wasn't on her own for long. Hundreds have rallied to her side in Crawford - where George W is spending a five-week holiday - and people across America have taken up her call.

When last week she held a candlelit vigil in honour of those who have died in the Iraq war, 1,500 similar events were held around the country.

The quietly-spoken mother's campaign has forced the president on to the defensive and sparked a vicious right-wing backlash against her.

BY KIM NORTH SHINE
DETROIT FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER

Antiwar protesters have staked out a downtown Detroit street corner as an outpost of Camp Casey, the Crawford, Texas, protest site that ballooned from a grieving mother's demand for answers about her soldier son's death in Iraq into a springboard for a growing antiwar movement.

The Detroit version of Camp Casey on Woodward and Adams, is far more subdued than Crawford and its media circus.

At Camp Casey Detroit, where 25-30 volunteers chatted in lawn chairs, sang peace songs and held a picnic Sunday to celebrate seven days of round-the-clock protest, there is only an occasional TV camera and no feuding to speak of.

September 26, 2005

President George W. Bush, The White House
Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld, Department of Defense, The Pentagon
President Nils Hasselmo, Association of American Universities
Governor Ted Kulongoski, State of Oregon
President Dave Frohnmayer, University of Oregon

Dear Public Servants,

As University of Oregon's first graduate student in the field of Peace Studies, it is my responsibility to explore the role of the military in society and those conditions that most promote peace and human welfare. In so doing, I have come to understand the nature of America's war industry, and how that industry has flourished in the wake of the Cold War. I have come to find that more than 300 of our universities are developing weapons for the Department of Defense, and that these schools are increasingly reliant on the industry of war to sustain their education programs. Indeed, the Association of American Universities appears to be little more than a lobby for such funding.

ACLU reveals FBI labeled peace, affirmative action group 'terrorist'

The American Civil Liberties Union today released an FBI document that designates a Michigan-based peace group and an affirmative action advocacy group as potentially "involved in terrorist activities," RAW STORY has learned. The ACLU release follows.

#
The file was obtained through an ongoing nationwide ACLU effort seeking information on the FBI's use of Joint Terrorism Task Forces to engage in political surveillance.

"This document confirms our fears that federal and state counterterrorism officers have turned their attention to groups and individuals engaged in peaceful protest activities," said Ben Wizner, an ACLU staff attorney and counsel in a lawsuit seeking the release of additional FBI records. "When the FBI and local law enforcement identify affirmative action advocates as potential terrorists, every American has cause for concern."

A Christian Republican friend recently shared this parable gem,
written by Mark Twain in 1905. It gave him pause.

It seems important to share Twain's wisdom today.

LINK TO ORIGINAL

Mark Twain

The War Prayer

It was a time of great and exalting excitement. The country was up in arms, the war was on, in every breast burned the holy fire of patriotism; the drums were beating, the bands playing, the toy pistols popping, the bunched firecrackers hissing and sputtering; on every hand and far down the receding and fading spreads of roofs and balconies a fluttering wilderness of flags flashed in the sun; daily the young volunteers marched down the wide avenue gay and fine in their new uniforms, the proud fathers and mothers and sisters and sweethearts cheering them with voices choked with happy emotion as they swung by; nightly the packed mass meetings listened, panting, to patriot oratory which stirred the deepest deeps of their hearts and which they interrupted at briefest intervals with cyclones of applause, the tears running down their cheeks the while; in the churches the pastors preached devotion to flag and country and invoked the God of Battles, beseeching His aid in our good cause in outpouring of fervid eloquence which moved every listener.

It was indeed a glad and gracious time, and the half dozen rash spirits that ventured to disapprove of the war and cast a doubt upon its righteousness straightway got such a stern and angry warning that for their personal safety's sake they quickly shrank out of sight and offended no more in that way.

America
August 30, 2005
Anti-war band win MTV awards

From James Bonein New York

GREEN DAY, the anti-war punk rockers, swept the MTV Video Music Awards in a sign that American popular culture is turning against US presence in Iraq.
The Californian band won seven awards for their anti-war album American Idiot and the single The Boulevard of Broken Dreams, including Best Rock Video, Best Group Video, Video of the Year and the Viewer’s Choice Award.

Accepting the awards at the ceremony in Miami on Sunday night, the band members noted that they had been playing together for 16 years before the success of their latest album. “I think it struck a note right now,

Actions to “Stop the Worship of the Gods of War!

Monday 29 August 2005
12:52 PM

Cindy opened today's press conference by expressing her concern for the people affected by Hurricane Katrina. Cindy said that the people of Louisiana are in her prayers. Iraqi Veterans Against the War then called for veterans around the country to help with the disaster relief in the affected areas. It was announced that supplies donated to Camp Casey will be delivered to New Orleans when the camp is broken down on Wednesday.

Kelly Doherty, a veteran of the Iraq war, raised the issue of the National Guard being stretched thin at home. She said that with troops and equipment deployed in Iraq, the Guard will not be able to provide the resources they usually bring to disaster relief efforts.

The Lords of War

George Bush. "One dead American for every day in office".

By Mike Whitney

08/29/05 "ICH" -- -- President Bush's latest milestone in the war on terror has been predictably ignored in the mainstream media. Bush, who is now in the fifth year of his presidency, has served 1727 days in office. With the death toll in Iraq currently at 1873 servicemen, Bush can now boast that at least one American has died for every day he's been in office; a sobering tribute to a man who wants to be remembered "a war president".

Every day; another Casey Sheehan or some other faceless patriot dies in Bush's war of choice.

(Editor's note: aj posted this article from an Army Doc called "Bring Us Home." What a powerful and stirring plea this is! Because of that, we've decided to elevate it to a thread header.)

Army Doc: "Bring Us Home" Ca
Submitted by aj (not verified) on Mon, 2005-08-29 15:00.

Army Doc: "Bring Us Home"
Captain Daniel Green is an battlefield surgeon, treating soldiers and Iraqi civilians around Baghdad's Green Zone. He has seen more casualties -- and interacted with more Iraqis -- than the vast majority of GIs over there. And that has given the captain a different perspective on this war. He isn't happy with how it's being run. In an e-mail to friends and family back home, Green says that it's time for U.S. forces to get out of Iraq.

I don't rightly know what your US news is saying, but here are a few of my own observations... The US Army is putting forth its main effort to train Iraqi soldiers... It will realistically take years before their Army and police are sufficient to protect the people and resist internal corruption. The reports that the commands are making to the higher-ups are biased and sugar-coated. The corruption is underplayed and the achievements/milestones exaggerated. The results however, may convince Congress and that a successful pull-out is close.

After Downing Street Update

Resolution of Inquiry into Bush Lies Gains Momentum
There are now 53 co-sponsors on Barbara Lee's Resolution of Inquiry into the Downing Street Memos, including one Republican member of the International Relations Committee, Jim Leach. If your Representative isn't on this list yet, please call their D.C. office and ask to speak to the Legislative Director. Ask why they haven't cosponsored HRes375, and then report back to us. A vote in committee will come between Sept. 6 and Sept. 16.
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/?q=node/902

Bring the Troops Home Now Bus Tour Begins August 31

By Bob Fertik, President of Democrats.com

Dear Senator/Representative,

If you support the War in Iraq, why aren't you or your children or your
grandchildren fighting there?

The Army is short of soldiers because of the Iraq War disaster. This
shortage has put our national security in danger throughout the world.

Your family can help fix the problem that you created by supporting the
Iraq War disaster.

As your constituent, I will continue to ask this question until you call
for the withdrawal of America's children from Iraq.

http://www.democrats.com/peoplesemailnetwork/57

Democracy Now!

Cindy Sheehan and other military families spoke at a mass rally during the
last weekend of Bush's vacation - and the last weekend of Camp Casey. We
hear from Cindy, mothers Amy Branham and Jane Bright, and a Marine veteran.

Listen/Watch/Read
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/08/29/1452222

Published on Monday, August 29, 2005 by Reuters
By Matthew Robinson

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said on Sunday his government would take legal action against Pat Robertson and potentially seek his extradition after the U.S. evangelist called for Washington to assassinate the South American leader.

Robertson, who later apologized for the remark, said he was expressing his frustration with Chavez's constant accusations against the administration of President George W. Bush.

"I announce that my government is going to take legal action in the United States ... to call for the assassination of a head of state is an act of terrorism." Chavez said in a televised speech.

Did Time intentionally deceive its readers in Plame case?

For some time, the central mystery in the Valerie Plame saga was which members of the White House staff leaked the undercover CIA operative's identity to reporters. Although there are still many unanswered questions, at least part of the mystery has been solved: Time magazine correspondent Matthew Cooper has testified that he was told about Plame by White House senior adviser Karl Rove and I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff. Yet while Cooper and his editors at Time spent two years keeping Rove and Libby's -- and their own -- role a secret, they published articles that reported, without challenge, a statement from the White House that they knew to be false.

The issue of Time's actions over the past two years was revived by an August 25 Los Angeles Times article stating that the magazine did not pursue a waiver from Rove allowing Cooper to testify in part because "Time editors were concerned about becoming part of such an explosive story in an election year." While the favor this "concern" did for the Bush re-election effort has been criticized, Time's lack of disclosure about its own role in the affair has gone largely unnoticed.

(Editors note: Hiram Lewis is running against Senator Byrd. Could this be a publicity stunt? Could this be the "extreme rightests using and abusing Cindy Sheehan for political gain?)

Decorated Iraq War Veteran Challenges Cindy Sheehan

To: National Desk

Contact: Capt. Hiram Lewis, 304-692-1236; William Greene, President of RightMarch.com, 877-266-6596

CRAWFORD, Texas, August 29 /Christian Wire Service/ -- Hiram Lewis IV, currently a Captain and JAG officer in the West Virginia Army National Guard and a GOP candidate for the U.S. Senate from West Virginia, has announced the new "Meet With Hiram" campaign targeting anti-Bush and anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan.

"Together with the conservative activist organization RightMarch.com, I will be traveling to Crawford, Texas, to demand a meeting with Cindy Sheehan," said Lewis. "If she refuses to meet with me there, I will follow her on her bus tour and continue to demand a meeting until she agrees to talk with me face-to-face."

Iraq Worse Than Vietnam -- in Number of Journalists Killed

Published: August 28, 2005 6:30 PM ET

PARIS (Reuters) More journalists have been killed in Iraq since the war began in March 2003 than during the 20 years of conflict in Vietnam, media rights group Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said on Sunday.

Since U.S. forces and its allies launched their campaign in Iraq on March 20, 2003, 66 journalists and their assistants have been killed, RSF said.

The latest casualty was a Reuters Television soundman who was shot dead in Baghdad on Sunday while a cameraman with him was wounded and then detained by U.S. soldiers.

The death toll in Iraq compares with a total of 63 journalists in Vietnam, but which was over a period of 20 years from 1955 to 1975, the Paris-based organisation that campaigns to protect journalists said on its Web site.

During the fighting in the former Yugoslavia between 1991 and 1995, 49 journalists were killed doing their job, while 57 journalists and 20 media assistants were killed during a civil war in Algeria from 1993 to 1996.

RSF listed Iraq as the world's most dangerous place for journalists. In addition to those killed, 22 have been kidnapped. All but one was released. Italian journalist Enzo Baldoni was executed by his captors.

The media was targeted from the first days of the fighting, when cameraman Paul Moran, of the Australian TV network ABC, was killed by a car bomb on March 22, 2003, it added.

Two other journalists have been missing since March 2003 and August 2004.

LINK TO ORIGINAL

Across the tracks at Crawford, Texas, a divided nation bares its pain and fury
By Andrew Gumbel in Crawford, Texas
The Independent (UK)
Published: 29 August 2005

There could have been no starker symbol of the political divisions vexing George Bush's America this weekend than the railroad track running right through the heart of Crawford, home to the president's summer holiday ranch in the scorched plains of central Texas.

On one side of the tracks was the Crawford Peace House, base camp for the activists who have poured in to support Cindy Sheehan, the bereaved mother of one of America's Iraqi war dead who has become the political sensation - and lightning-rod - of the summer with her simple but powerful gesture of parking herself in front of the presidential ranch to demand an explanation for the death of her son, Casey.

Martin Sheen, Sharpton Visit Anti-War Camp

By ANGELA K. BROWN
The Associated Press
Monday, August 29, 2005; 6:37 AM

CRAWFORD, Texas -- Cindy Sheehan hasn't achieved a meeting with the president during her three-week war protest, but she met a man who plays one on TV. Martin Sheen, who portrays the president on NBC's "The West Wing," visited Sheehan's makeshift campsite Sunday.

"At least you've got the acting president of the United States," Sheen said as the crowd of more than 300 people cheered. "I think you know what I do for a living, but this is what I do to stay

Sheehan arrived in President Bush's adopted hometown Aug. 6 and promised to stay until she could question Bush about the war that has claimed more than 1,870 U.S. soldiers' lives _ including her son Casey. Bush's vacation ends Friday.