But a decision by a federal judge earlier this week to uphold a deportation order against Robin Long, an American soldier who fled to Canada after refusing to fight in Iraq, has stirred debate among many, including local politicians.
[...]
Michael Crawford, the NDP candidate for the riding, said it was unfortunate Immigration Canada and Canadian Border Services Agency decided to deport Long.
He said the refusal by the Conservative government to step in and stop the deportation goes against the will of Parliament.
In June, the House of Commons passed a non-binding motion to allow such individuals to become permanent residents in Canada and stop the deportation cases of those already in the country.
All three opposition parties supported the motion; the Tories did not.
Crawford said it's another example of how Prime Minister Stephen Harper cannot be trusted.
"We have a government in Canada hell-bent on pleasing the American administration," he said.
Crawford called on the ministers of public safety and immigration to order immigration and border services to stop exercising deportation orders.
He said war resisters like Long don't believe their county should be involved in Iraq, noting Canada also believes the war is illegal.
"If we believe it's an illegal war, why should we not give some form of sanctuary to people who are refusing to go and fight that war?" Crawford asked.
robin long's story is huge.
it's the sort of thing that will be in anthologies and alternative history books decades from now.
and while i know you are paying attention, grasp how many are not.
i'm not picking on citizens here. i'm talking about our 'media.' the wall st. journal, the new york times are among the big msm outlets that covered it in this country. and amy-i'm-useless-goodman thinks she can reduce it to a factually challenged headline?
what was she offering today? a broadway play?
i'm not joking.
she's got time for all things fluff and useless, doesn't she?
where's the news? where's the breaking of the sound barrier?
guess goody's all about bring in da funk, bring in da noise.
she really is that useless.
which is why today she couldn't even mention james burmeister. he was court-martialed yesterday at fort knox. and amy goodman had time for a broadway musical to receive a segment but no time for james to even be noted in headlines. she never noted james burmeister. i guess she plans to continue not noting him.
c.i. does a wonderful job of giving james some coverage in the snapshot. and c.i. always has done a wonderful job. i don't think james has been covered as much at any other site. and that was before today's snapshot. but c.i. really wanted to make it about james as much as possible because it was obvious that - yet again - he was going to be ignored by the bulk of our media.
funniest moment was when c.i. was dictating and said something like, 'okay 3rd sentence of larabee's 5th paragraph and - what!' the article wasn't up. it hadn't been up all day. c.i. gets on the phone and calls a friend to scream and say, 'you know this is kind of a groundbreaking article and you might want to inform the people working for you of that fact. it broke the news on the kill teams and it's not even up at the paper's site.'
by the end of dictating the snapshot, c.i. had a call saying the article was re-posted. i'm going to note it. this is from mark larabee's article and he broke the story of the kill-teams in iraq - broke the story in the united states - so he and the oregonian deserve huge credit. the story's called 'Soldiers still go over the hill even in an all-volunteer Army' and it was originally published july 16, 2007:
James Burmeister worked at Wal-Mart and in pizza joints in Eugene until he joined the U.S. Army 18 months ago because he wanted to make a difference.
His recruiter told him a tour in Iraq would give him the opportunity to build schools and support war-weary Iraqis, so against the advice of his parents, he signed up.
But once in Iraq, he was assigned to a "small kill" team that set traps for insurgents. They'd place a fake camera on a pole with a sign labeling it as U.S. property, giving the team the right to shoot anyone who messed with it. Burmeister, who provided perimeter security for the team, said he could never get over his distaste for the tactic.
After being wounded by a roadside bomb, he was sent to Germany to recover. In May, on the eve of being sent back to Iraq, Pfc. Burmeister went AWOL --absent without leave --taking his family to Ottawa.
The 22-year-old Oregon native is one of about three dozen U.S. soldiers who've applied to Canada for refugee status under the Geneva Conventions. Thousands have deserted since the war began, and many are believed to be living illegally in Canada, officials there said.
james burmeister came back to the u.s. and turned himself in back in march. he may as well have not bothered. i don't mean that in a mean way to him. i do mean the military screwed him over as much as they could get away with.
he was the victim of multiple bombings in iraq. he has ptsd and probably tbi but that's not anything the military gives a damn about. they made sure he would not qualify for treatment. i really don't think that's right.
i find it outrageous that some 1's sent to iraq where they are injured and then the government that sent them thinks they can deny them medical care. i don't care what the person does over there. i don't care if they're selling drugs or what have you. the government sent them so if they get injured - no matter what else ever happens - the government should be responsible for their health care.
c.i. has made the point repeatedly that the class of 2007 war resisters - those emerging in 2007, were pretty much completely ignored by our so-called 'independent' media.
c.i. was working from a list (scribble on the back of a receipt) and on it was james' name, robin long's name and the iraqi journalist that died. no matter what else got noted, those had to be noted.
and i really think c.i. gave a well rounded portrait of james. there was 1 section c.i. had to pull - the snapshot is way too long today and 1st attempts at e-mailing would not hit the website. that's going in tomorrow.
but that was really something to see as c.i. (from memory) referenced this and that, 'okay use the sentence [c.i. gives sentence] and check that the word is 'the,' it's quoted in the ___ snapshot.' i was just watching in awe as c.i. pulled (from memory) from all of these snapshots over the last 12 months.
i'm lucky if i can remember what i wrote a week ago!
but i have written about the nbc show medium and while i'm very sorry that patricia arquette did not get the emmy nod she deserved, i can take comfort in 2 things. she has won before. and? anjelica huston got nominated!
from ava and c.i.'s 'TV: A very strange week:'
This seaon, Medium's offered sparks between Patricia Arquette (who stars as Allison) and Academy Award winner Anjelica Huston. It's provided tension and levels that have taken the show in an entirely new direction and Huston's giving the best performance of any guest actor on a series this decade. That's a credit to both women but let's focus on Houston for a minute because her incredible performance has received very little attention.
Huston could be starring in Anjie! if she wanted. She's a big enough name that she could have her own sitcom. She could also plug herself easily into one of Dick Wolf's cookie-cutter roles by making one simple phone call. Instead, she's guest starring on Medium and playing a very complex role in terms of what we accept from TV dramas in that she's not going for likeable.
"Oh, she's the bitch," you say. No, she's not playing that role either. This isn't Huston does Joan Collins. She's playing a difficult, cantankerous person -- a role many men are allowed to essay on television but few women. And Cynthia, her character, is not suffering from a disorder which is the only way a female guest star gets offered the opportunity to show true range in most dramas. As if America needs that 'out' when a woman's not all smiles and sunshine.Cynthia's a missing persons investigator and she's sought out Allison for help.
Backstory, Medium wrapped up a multi-arc story last May which found Allison outed by the press (guest star Neve Campbell) as a pscyhic which led to her losing her job for the district attorney and district attorney Manuel Devalos (Miguel Sandoval) losing his job. That season also featured Allison's husband Joe as the victim of work place violence when a crazed former employee held employees hostage. Since the company was awarded government contracts and doing classified work, the fact that the work environment was not secured meant that Joe should be receiving much money in a lawsuit against his company. With the outing of his wife as a psychic, no one wanted to represent Joe after his attorney walked.
All of that's to explain that Allison and Joe, who have three daughters, need money. They are very much in debt with creditors hounding them constantly. So when Cynthia shows up with a job offer, it really didn't matter what she was like, Allison needed the money. That plot device has allowed Huston to really bring dark shades to Cynthia who frequently snaps at Allison, mocks Allison's abilities and provides new meaning to the term "prickly."
With Arquette, Huston has an actress every bit her equal and, as with Fonda and Bancroft, far less interesting are the numerous individual details they're bringing to the scenes. Those are important, no question. But what you watch instead is the powerful duo of actresses and how they mesh and how they clash. While Huston is easily giving the strongest guest performance of the decade, equally true is that the performances the two give as a duo should be legendary already.
i'm really pulling for anjelica huston to win. it would have been perfection if patricia had been nominated too. but at least 1 of them got recognized this year. and that moment, when anjelica's character calls patricia and they end up on the front porch together and anjelica's talking about how she failed her daughter susie and couldn't protect her, and starts talking about when susie was a little girl and then patricia asks, 'whose house is this?' that's got to be 1 of the most amazing moments on tv this year. anjelica really shaped an entire character. cynthia was a tough role and she handled it so well. i remember so many things she did that were non-verbal and she just really nailed it. she deserves the award. she earned it.
this was sent to my e-mail account from ETAN:
Joint NGO Statement on the Handover of the Report of the Commission of Truth and Friendship
July 15, 2008
This week the report of the bilateral Commission of Truth and Friendship (CTF) will be handed over to the presidents of Indonesia and Timor-Leste. The report concludes that crimes against humanity took place for which militia groups and the Indonesian military, police and civilian government bear institutional responsibility. The report should be made public as soon as possible, and must not be the end of efforts to assign responsibility for violence in 1999 and before.
While Indonesia bears most of the responsibility to respond to the challenges posed by the report, both countries and the international community must work together to ensure individual accountability for the past, and reform of these institutions in the future.
The Commission was formed by the two governments to “establish the conclusive truth” about the events of 1999 “with a view to further promoting reconciliation and friendship.” In 1999 militias created, trained, and directed by the Indonesian military carried out a terror campaign that left more than 1,400 dead, hundreds of thousands forcibly displaced, and much of the territory’s infrastructure destroyed. According to available information, the report has found that Indonesian security forces often directly participated in the violence.
Flaws in the Commission documented by our own groups and others include: a mandate that put a priority on rehabilitating the names of accused perpetrators over justice or compensation for victims; prohibitions on assigning individual responsibility or on recommending prosecutions or creation of judicial bodies; inadequate witness protection; and a narrow focus on events in 1999.
As a result, despite the intent of the two nations to find “definitive closure,” and a report that contributes to a better understanding of the violence, the Commission cannot be the last word on responsibility for past human rights violations in Timor-Leste. The body is by design inadequate for the task of identifying the truth or obtaining closure in any meaningful sense of the word.
However, despite its limitations, commissioners from both countries made an effort to sift through the information and produce meaningful conclusions. Notably, the Commission did not exercise its power to recommend amnesties for any individuals. The Commission has found that the Indonesian military, as an institution, was responsible for crimes against humanity. This finding leads our organizations to two inescapable conclusions:
An institution that was responsible for crimes against humanity remains a powerful and largely unreformed force within Indonesia. Despite a few important steps following the fall of President Soeharto, such as the separation of the police from the military and the loss of automatic seats in parliament, the military has made little progress in accepting civilian control, divesting of its massive empire of legal and illegal businesses, or holding its members accountable for human rights violations.
A further judicial mechanism is needed to assign individual responsibility for those crimes. Individual responsibility is a fundamental principle of international criminal law and an essential aspect of reconciliation. Some of those implicated in the violence maintain positions of influence in Indonesia, either within the military or as retired civilians active in politics.
It is also important to note that just as the Commission must not be the last word, neither was it the first. A 2000 report by an investigative team from Indonesia’s National Human Rights Commission identified serious violations and recommended investigation of numerous civilian and military officials. Timor-Leste’s Commission of Reception, Truth and Reconciliation (CAVR) produced a comprehensive 2,000 page report with recommendations on accountability and reparations that have been largely unimplemented. The U.N.-backed Serious Crimes Unit in Dili indicted numerous individuals for prosecution, most of whom remain at large in Indonesia. A U.N. Commission of Experts found that Indonesia’s efforts at accountability, the Jakarta ad hoc tribunals, were “manifestly inadequate.” The only defendant serving time for a conviction in those trials, militia leader Eurico Gutteres was recently acquitted on appeal. The CTF report notes serious shortcomings of the Jakarta trials.
Both the U.N. Commission of Experts and the CAVR urged that an international tribunal be formed if Indonesia did not promptly act to hold the perpetrators accountable. It is possible that the findings of the Commission of Truth and Friendship will spur further prosecutions in Indonesia, ideally in conjunction with the international community to ensure both credibility and resources. However, Indonesia’s record in this area is clear, and it is highly unlikely that the Indonesian government will act without clear signals from the international community that an international tribunal remains a credible option.
Those who committed crimes against humanity throughout Indonesia’s invasion and occupation of Timor-Leste must be identified and prosecuted, for the sake of justice for past victims in Timor-Leste and for a future in which human rights are respected in Indonesia. The international community and the government of Timor-Leste must play a role in ensuring both prosecutions and reparations to victims. As recommended by the Commission, Indonesia must comprehensively reform its armed forces.
If Indonesia truly wants closure and full acceptance by the international community as a rights-respecting nation, there is no alternative but an end to impunity through individual as well as institutional accountability.
Association HAK (Timor-Leste)
Australian Coalition for Transitional Justice in East Timor
East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (U.S.)
Human Rights First
International Center for Transitional Justice
The Commission for the Disappeared and the Victims of Violence (Kontras) (Indonesia)
Maria Afonso de Jesus, victims' families representative (Timor-Leste)
TAPOL (UK)
Timor-Leste University Students' Front
see also ETAN Renews Call for Meaningful Justice for Victims of Indonesian Occupation; International Tribunal Needed in Wake of Commission of Truth and Friendship Report
so we've had war resisters, tv talk and etan. let's close with c.i.'s 'Iraq snapshot:'
Thursday, July 17, 2008. Chaos and violence continue, James Burmeister is court-martialed and sentenced, John McCain appears to be saying "War is over," hotel construction and big business in northern Iraq, and more.
Starting with war resisters. US war resister James Burmeister was court-martialed yesterday. AP ridiculously offers, "Burmeister said he was disturbed by a military tactic of planting equipment to lure Iraqis -- presumably insurgents -- who American snipers could then kill." No, not insurgents. They can't even do their own reporting and they can't even the damn facts right. What took place at Fort Knox yesterday was "The court-martial of the kill-team whistle blower." Here's how Mark Larabee (The Oregonian) reported it, "But once in Iraq, he was assigned to a 'small kill' team that set traps for insurgents. They'd place a fake camera on a pole with a sign labeling it as US property, giving the team the right to shoot anyone who messed with it." [The Oregonian link does not currently work and the story does not show up via a search. The section quoted here was quoted here on July 16, 2007. The story ran that day and was entitled "Soldiers still go over the hill even in an all-vounteer Army."] [Add this anywhere, on the paper's blog, they've just reposted Larabee's story.] The CBC reported it June 29,2007 (link has text and also a listening option), "Instead he said he became part of a team that set up traps for Iraqis using an object such as a fake camera as a lure" and quotes James stating, "If the Iraqis would go and touch it they [the soldiers] could shoot 'em because if anyone messes with the U.S. government property, they're allowed to fire at 'em." It could have been news then -- the "kill teams." It should have been. But instead Panhandle Media chose to ignore reality. They're never very concerned with Iraq. Real Media got on the story in September, via Josh White and Ann Scott Tyson (Washington Post) reporting on Jorge Sandoval "As he and two other snipers face charges of killing Iraqis, legal experts are debating how large a role a classified program of "baiting" their targets played in the cases. The soldiers in the unit had the spool of wire, defense attorneys said, only because the Army's secretive Asymmetric Warfare Group had given it to them -- along with other items, such as plastic explosives and AK-47 rounds -- so the snipers could boost the number of suspected insurgents they killed by shooting whoever picked up the materials. . . Retired Maj. Gen. Thomas J. Romig, a former judge advocate general for the Army, said the group's baiting program, as described publicly, opens up the possibility for indiscriminate shootings -- based on little information -- that could lead to the death of scavengers or curious passersby. He said that when troops kill civilians by mistake, it can harm the war effort." Kim Sengupta (Independent of London) summarized it, "US soldiers are luring Iraqis to their deaths by scattering military equipment on the ground as "bait", and then shooting those who pick them up, it has been alleged at a court martial." Sengupta then quoted an unnamed "US military source" stating, "The guys picking them up are sometimes bad guys. But how do you know each time?" The difference should be very clear to the AP which, after all, reported of Sandoval September 28th, "He was found not guilty of the two murder charges, but the panel decided he had placed a detonation wire on one of the bodies to make it look as if the man was an insurgent." But today AP wants to say "presumably insurgents"?
August 24th Maria Hinojosa spoke with James Burmeister for NOW on PBS (she also spoke with Agustin Aguayo for the same segment)
HINOJOSA: During his many missions, James was caught in three road-side bombings... And amazingly, a fellow soldier caught one of the explosions on camera.
BURMEISTER: We were in a five humvee set. Rolling down a--down a main street in Baghdad in our sector. I'm the gunner on top of this humvee... Just a big bomb goes off. And it's so fast, you don't--you don't see the bomb. You're scared. You're checking your body parts to see if you're missing anything. A few days after that, I had actually passed out in my room. Passed out, just hit the floor.
HINOJOSA: James says that was the first sign of his post traumatic stress disorder. He says doctors thought he also may have sustained a traumatic brain injury, so he was sent to Germany on medical leave. Two months later, while still on medication, he was ordered back to Iraq.
BURMEISTER: They were desperate for people to get back there. They just needed people in Baghdad. They just need bodies to man the guns and the equipment.
HINOJOSA: James saw only two options: either go back to Iraq...or go AWOL, Absent Without Leave, a crime punishable by jail time and even court-martial.
BURMEISTER: I got back home--talked to my wife. You know, I said, "I think I'm gonna leave." It was like a 15 minute decision that I'm--I'm gonna leave--I'm gonna leave the Army.
HINOJOSA: On May 4th of this year James fled to Canada, a familiar haven for over 55,000 Americans during the Vietnam War. But times have changed and Canadian immigration laws are much stricter now. When James arrived in Ottawa he realized his only viable option to legally stay in Canada was to apply for refugee status. We were with him and his family the day they put in their application.
BURMEISTER: Today I am here at the immigration office to file my refugee claim, and starting the whole process today and hope everything goes well.
HINOJOSA: Up until now James and his family had been living underground. During this war about 300 U.S. soldiers are known to have fled to Canada and around 50 have applied for refugee status. None to this day have been granted but no one has been sent home either. They, along with James, wait to see if Canada will take them in permanently.
Speaking to the CBS June 29th, he explained: "Our platoon in particular would set up small groups called small kill teams maybe a group of four, five people, some snipers and we would set up fake cameras. We would put 'Property of US Government' in English and Arabic and we would wait for an Iraqi to come up and touch it because that gives the US the right to kill them, so they say. That would be the typical thing we'd do. . . . I didn't see how that was helping at all." Following the roadside bombing caught on tape (which wasn't the only bombing James endured), he was put on 'leave' when he should have been sent to a hospital. The military didn't want to take responsibility for that and expected him to get (apparently brief) medical treatment while he was on so-called 'leave.' Mina Al-Oraibi (Asharq Alawsat) reported, "Following three months of lengthy treatment and surgery for a head injury, the US Army issued an order to send Burmeister back to Iraq" and James explained to her, "They wanted to send me back there on crutches and taking anti-depressants." James told the CBC that he was being threatened and told to lie about his status because he was wanted back in Iraq which is when he made his decision:
Like I said, I was back on leave, just taking care of my hospital stuff. My commander of my company told me that I had two days to get ready to head back to Baghdad. They gave me 24-hours duty on the first day so I couldn't go home and tell my wife so I was -- when I got back after the 24-hours -- just was looking on the internet about Canada and I heard a lot of stories about Vietnam war resisters coming up to Canada so the idea just popped into my head to look on the -- look on the internet. And I also included 'refugee" in that search. Came across the website Resisters.ca and called them up and asked what kind of options I had. You know, they told me I should look at all my options before just running up to Canada but at that point I had already looked at a lot of them, I had already talked to my commander about consientious objector status and they just said no to that. So that day I bought the ticket and next day flew out from Nuremberg Germany to Toronto and made my way up here.
[The audio clip at CBC is an interview Burmeister did with Rob Benzie. More from the interview -- for those who can't stream online or with hearing disabilities -- can be found in the September 25th snapshot.]
Burmeister left Canada and returned to the US where he turned himself in on March 4th. Camilla Mortensen (Eugene Weekly) reported on his return and noted, "His father fears the Army wants to keep Burmeister quiet about the 'bait-and-kill' teams the he alleges have been used to kill Iraqi civilians. While James Burmeister awaits the Army's decision, his father [Erich Burmeister] is fighting to bring him home." In May, James Burmeister's father Erich wrote about his son at Courage to Resist:
He is not a kid anymore. When he joined the army, he was a typical poor kid, naive kid, painted himself in a corner kid. A typical young man high on testosterone low on common sense, he brought the recruiter's line of crap and fine-print flim flaw, and was coached on how to assure his induction despite medical conditions that would have disqualified him.
So the army trained him how to kill efficiently in urban warfare situations and shipped his naive butt over to Baghdad to carry out the orders of his commander and chief, the Warrior Prince Bush, our president, brave military veteran of Vietnam. So my son was forced to take part in and was witness to acts of human cruelty beyond his wildest imagination. He killed other young men just like him. In another place in another time, they could have been friends, they could have worked side by side and shared their dreams, now their ghosts will haunt his dreams, like the dreams of this brand new generation of "winter soldiers". For the matter of a few feet, or maybe even a few inches, my son's brains would have been spilled out on a Baghdad street. My nightmare of a soldier's dad, of cradling my son's blown up head in my lap while I try to put it back together, it would have become reality like the nightmares of the families of those soldiers who have already died, and those who will die next week, next month, and next year.
So now my son sits in Army custody, brain injured by a roadside bomb and struggling mightly with PTSD while he awaits court-martial for desertion, because he refused redepolyment to combat in Iraq in May 2007 in protest over the war crimes he was ordered to engage in. He married a fifty-caliber machine gun atop a hummer providing perimeter security for one of the now infamous small kill teams.
In June, his mother Helen Burmeister spoke at a rally outside Fort Knox.
Helen Burmeister: I'm Helen Burmeister and I'm here today to support my son Prviate 1st Class James Burmeister. My son is an Iraq War veteran and I'm very proud of him today. He fought bravely in Iraq. He followed orders. He was wounded in a roadside bomb and he's been diagnosed with PTSD and a possible brain injury. Our request today is that the army release James. We want James to be able to put this traumatic experience behind him so he can begin to heal -- both emotionally and physically. I believe my son has done his part. Now it's time for him to be given the recognition he deserves. Short of that, we are requesting that he be allowed to go home to Oregon. And thank you. Thank you to everyone for all your support today.
Chris Kenning (Courier-Journal) reported on Helen Burmeister's efforts and spoke with US war resister Darrell Anderson who also went to Canada. Anderson returned September 30, 2006 to turn himself in October 3rd. Like Burmeister, he suffers from PTSD and he also lost his benefits. He told Kenning, "It wasn't the easy choice, it was the hard choice. I lost my GI Bill, my veteran's benefits . . . but I did what's right, and I've still got my pride."
Today Chris Kenning (Courier-Journal) reports on James Burmeister's court-martial yesterday and the sentence of jail (six months), reduction in rank (busted down to private), dishonorable discharge (bad conduct) and "a loss of pay" and quotes Burmeister's military attorney, Captain Tyson McDonald, stating of the military, "They're not happy that dirty laundry was getting aired." Nick Kyonka (Toronto Star) quotes Vietnam vet and Vietnam Veterans Against the War's Carol Rawert-Trainer stating the court-martial took four hours and, "It's quite a shock to everybody. We all thought they were going to take it easy on him because he turned himself in, but it doesn't look that way." She also spoke at the rally last month to show support for James Burmeister:
Carol Rawert Trainer: I am a Vietnam Era veteran and my husband is a retired USAF officer and Vietnam Veteran. We belong to Lousiville Peace Action Community and Vietnam Veterans Against the War, two great organizations that work for peace and justice. I learned of PFC James Burmeister through my involvement with the GI Rights Hotline. We are disgusted at the way the government treats our returning war heroes and we will not sit by and watch it happen. You hear the slogan 'Support Our Troops.' Well that is why we have come here today. I have personally heard too many horror stories of veterans in the Lousiville area who return from war and do not receive proper medical care or benefits or counseling for PTSD which is all too prevalent in this war. The Army seems to care more about their retention at any cost to the soldier and family than they do about the care of the soldiers affected by this war. Too many soldiers are battling their physical and emotional problems alone. The suicide rates have risen dramatically. This is obscene. We are here today to demand that the army grant James a discharge in lieu of court-martial. We are watching what the army is doing. James served honorably in Iraq and carried out his duties as commanded. He received head injuries and shrapnel in his face in the 3rd attack on his convoy. He also has PTSD and seizures and is on many medications as a result of his experience. When he was recuperating in the hospital in Germany he realized that what he was commanded to do -- killing innocent people, sometimes in bait-and-switch schemes, was immoral. The army trains these troops from basic to kill, kill, kill and does not differentiate between innocent Iraqis or insurgents. James could not, would not, do it any longer. He had to live with himself and his actions for the rest of his life. The army does not care about the lifelong problems these honorable soldiers face. In fact they were going to send James back to Iraq even though he was on medications for high blood pressure, depression, sleep problems and more. At least James is one of the lucky ones who realized he needed help before it was too late. Going back to Iraq would be dangerous to his life as well as to those who served with him. We are here today to support James and his family in their struggle for justice! James' family has suffered through other family circumstances that dictate that James be home to help them. We hope the army will grant James an immediate discharge not only for his own personal needs but for his families' needs. Even though he would not receive medical benefits which he needs, he would be home in a safe and loving environment. This is what is fair. This is what is just. James was there when the army needed him. Now the army must be there for James and the countless other heroes who need assistance and support as they cope with their war-induced problems.
War Resisters Support Campaign Lee Zaslofsky tells Kyonka regarding the verdict, "In that case, his post-traumatic stress disorder and some of the other problems that he has won't be dealt with properly. I just hope this isn't an ill omen for some of the other (resisters)."
Turning to news of Robin Long. Or how about "Huh?" "The Morning Show discusses Canadian government's decision to expel an American war resistor, then Jane Mayer . . ." It does? No, KPFA's The Morning Show did not. Despite the summary and announcing it on air. Kind of like, as noted in yesterday's snapshot, "And US war resisters may see refuge in Canada." Which should have been noted as taking place on Tuesday. Or rather not taking place. Probably not a good idea to self-pat yourself on the shoulders, in the midst of your latest round of begging, when you're unable to deliver on what you have promised and appear to think that, as the program ends, you can just pretend you never promised the segment. Or if you let Aileen pimp the most embarrassing segment of the week as "independent, listener sponsored media," don't expect people to be in a hurry to toss a few coins at you -- not even to get you to be quiet.
Heath Druzin (Idaho Statesman) reports, "Long, who has a child with a Canadian woman, has been considered absent without leave since he fled the U.S. Commanders at Fort Carson will decide whether he should be discharged from the military, returned to duty, court marshaled or given a less severe punishment, Fort Carson spokeswoman Karen Linne said." Monique James (KTVB) notes, "He's been living in British Columbia for the past three years and has a two-year-old son there.Long's sister, Christine, says she fears for her brother now that he's back in the U.S. 'When I heard what was going on I'm kind of freaked out because he's my brother, I don't want anything to happen to him,' said Christine Long."
Robin is the father of a Canadian child. It's not a minor issue. It is, however, an issue that Judge Anne Mctavish should have to explain overlooking. Apparently dizzy from the high altitude of the bench, she forgot the law: Robin, as the father of a Canadian citizen, should not have been deported. It's not just the common sense that it splits up a family (which it does), it's also that the immigration policies are very clear regarding children and parents. Judge Mctavish needs to be asked what gave her the right to override precedent and law in making her decision to evict Robin from the country? Also covering Long? The Idaho Examiner runs a summary of the article here while The Seattle Times does so here. KBOI News files a brief summary. The Chicago Tribune files a small brief on Long here. Iran's Press TV covers his story here. And Susan Bourette (Christian Science Monitor) observes of the decision to deport Robin, "In a country that provided refuge to an estimated 90 percent of some 100,000 deserters and draft dodgers who went into exile during the Vietnam War, it's an unprecedented decision -- though perhaps not unexpected, given the political temper of the times in Canada."
Free Speech Radio News filed a report yesterday:
Aura Bogado: When more than 50,000 people made their way from the US to Canada to avoid fighting in the Viet Nam war, Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau welcomed them, declaring Canada a "refuge from militarism". Today, while much smaller in number and largely unnoticed in the US, a new generation of "deserters" are fighting for the same sanctuary -- including Robin Long, who came to Canada in 2005 seeking refugee status. But as FSRN's Sarah Olson reports, Canadian government officials have not extended the same welcome to these modern war resisters.
Sarah Olson: A federal judge in Vancouver ruled that Robin Long must go home, saying Monday that the 25-year-old had failed to provide clear and non-speculative evidence that he'd be singled out for harsh treatment if he returned to the United States. By Tuesday afternoon, despite two federal court victories, last month's Parliamentary resolution welcoming Iraq war resisters and the support nearly two-thirds of Canadians have shown for US war resisters, Long became the first Iraq Warwar resister to be deported from Canada. Bob Ages with the War Resisters Support Campaign in Vancouver.
Bob Ages: We think they have expedited what amounts to kidnapping and extraordinary rendition precisely to try to set a precedent to take the wind out of the sails of a campaign of support which has been growing in strength both in terms of our legal arguments and our political support.
Sarah Olson: To understand the legal landscape Long is navigating, one must examine three other cases. First, the Hinzman-Hughey case. Jeremy Hinzman and Brandon Hughey arrived in Canada in 2004 and in 2005 became the first US soldiers to petition for refugee status. They were denied but appealed all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada which declined to intervene in November of last year. Attorney Alyssa Manning represents deserters now living in Toronto. Her client, Corey Glass, won a stay of removal last week based largely on how dramatically Hinzman-Hughey changed things.
Alyssa Manning: We argued that it established new law in the area of Canadian refugee law and that is that if you are fearing the persecution of the state itself as opposed to some other actor in your country of origin then you have to seek protection from that state before you can get refugee protection. Before the Hinzman decision, it wasn't thought that you had to seek state protection if it was actually the state that was persecuting you.
Sarah Olson: The second case is army private Joshua Key. Unlike Hinzman and Hughey, Key was an Iraq veteran. In 2005, the refugee board found that although Key had received orders which violated the Geneva Convention disobeying these orders didn't entitle Key to refugee status. A federal court heare his appeal earlier this month. Key's attorney, Jeffry House.
Jeffry House: The federal court said that the right to refuse inappropriate orders is larger than what the refugee board had thought. It isn't simply that a soldier can refuse to commit war crimes, a soldier can also refuse to commit violations of the Geneva Convention if that's required of him or her on a systematic basis. The court held that if the United States were to prosecute Joshua Key for refusing to violate the Geneva Conventions then that would give rise to a refugee claim.
Sarah Olson: This July 4th decision was the first legal victory for Iraq War resisters and House says it could have substantial implications.
Jeffry House: Any case in which it was alleged by the person concerned that he or she was required to commit inappropriate acts on a systematic basis probably would have a right to have their case re-heard.
Sarah Olson: Finally there is national guard Sgt. Corey Glass. Glass arrived in Canada in 2006 after going AWOL while home on leave in the middle of an 18-month deployment. His bid for refuge was also rejected. His legal appeals unsuccessful. And his deportation seemed so likely he gave up his apartment and quit his job. But thanks in part to the Key decision the federal court stayed his removal last week while his legal team presents new evidence. Attorney Alyssa Manning.
Alyssa Manning: The really interesting thing about the reason coming down in Corey's case is that it will be the first decision that will consider all of the evidence that we gathered about what has happened to simarly situated individuals in the United States -- people like Stephen Funk or Camilo Mejia, people who spoke out against the war and then were court-martialed and imprisoned.
Sarah Olson: This makes Robin Long's removal yesterday all the more unfortunate. Long is expected to be sent to Fort Carson, Colorado where his tanker unit is based. Despite the Canadian court's assertion that most deserters don't even face a court-martial or prison time, the percentage of soldiers facing prosecution is much higher when the soldier is on record opposing the war. And this has Long's US supporters concerned. For Free Speech Radio News, I'm Sarah Olson, Oakland, California.
There is a growing movement of resistance within the US military which includes Megan Bean, Chris Bean, Matthis Chiroux, Richard Droste, Michael Barnes, Matt Mishler, Josh Randall, Robby Keller, Justiniano Rodrigues, Chuck Wiley, James Stepp, Rodney Watson, Michael Espinal, Matthew Lowell, Derek Hess, Diedra Cobb, Brad McCall, Justin Cliburn, Timothy Richard, Robert Weiss, Phil McDowell, Steve Yoczik, Ross Spears, Peter Brown, Bethany "Skylar" James, Zamesha Dominique, Chrisopther Scott Magaoay, Jared Hood, James Burmeister, Jose Vasquez, Eli Israel, Joshua Key, Ehren Watada, Terri Johnson, Clara Gomez, Luke Kamunen, Leif Kamunen, Leo Kamunen, Camilo Mejia, Kimberly Rivera, Dean Walcott, Linjamin Mull, Agustin Aguayo, Justin Colby, Marc Train, Abdullah Webster, Robert Zabala, Darrell Anderson, Kyle Snyder, Corey Glass, Jeremy Hinzman, Kevin Lee, Mark Wilkerson, Patrick Hart, Ricky Clousing, Ivan Brobeck, Aidan Delgado, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Stephen Funk, Blake LeMoine, Clifton Hicks, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Logan Laituri, Jason Marek, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Joshua Casteel, Katherine Jashinski, Dale Bartell, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Chris Capps, Tim Richard, Hart Viges, Michael Blake, Christopher Mogwai, Christian Kjar, Kyle Huwer, Wilfredo Torres, Michael Sudbury, Ghanim Khalil, Vincent La Volpa, DeShawn Reed and Kevin Benderman. In total, at least fifty US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.
Information on war resistance within the military can be found at The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline [(877) 447-4487], Iraq Veterans Against the War and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters. In addition, VETWOW is an organization that assists those suffering from MST (Military Sexual Trauma).
Turning to the MidEast where Deborah Haynes (Times of London) reports Lt Gen Ali al-Momen will become Kuwait's first ambassador to Iraq since 1991and notes, " His appointment will be issued in a decree by the emir. It is unclear when the new embassy will open but it is likely to be situated inside Baghdad's fortified Green Zone, home to other foreign embassies as well as Iraqi Government buildings." And Iran's Press TV reports that Lebanon's Parliamentarian leader Saad Hariri visited Iraq today for the first time since the start of the Iraq War. CNN calls it a diplomatic push that will include puppet of the occupation Nouri al-Maliki going to meet with "leaders of Germany and Italy and with the pope" next week. Strangely no one's talking about what the Kurdistan region of Iraq's President Massoud Barzani's doing. He was courting big business again today as ground was broken for construction of the a new hotel in Erbil and, among his notable guests, were "Joseph Sarkis, Lebanon's Minister for Tourism, Jacques Sarraf, President of Malia Group Holdings, Selim al-Zyr, President and CEO of Rotana Hotles, Andrea Dini, CEO Dama and Diva Companies." His speech is posted online here.
While some explore diplomacy, US Senator John McCain (presumptive GOP presidential nominee) makes a surprising statement in Kansas City. CNN reports that he stated "we have succeeded in Iraq. I repeat my statement that we have succeeded in Iraq. Not 'We are succeeding.' We have succeeded in Iraq." If McCain truly believes that, he should be able to speak of withdrawal and reporters shouldn't let him avoid the very serious issue by his stating he doesn't want to talk about 'timelines.' Forget timelines. If he believes what he says, he should be able to sketch out a specific plan for withdrawal. He can note qualifiers that things on the ground could change or whatever -- but if he truly meant what he said, he should be able to sketch a withdrawal. If he can't, he's honestly not up to the job of running for president. When you state, "We have succeeded," being asked, "Then how do we withdraw?" is not an unreasonable question.
Turning to some of today's reported violence . . .
Bombings?
Sahar Issa (McClatchy Newspapers) reports a Baghdad roadside bombing that wounded three people, a Diyala roadside bombing that killed 1 man and wounded his three sons. Reuters notes a Samarra roadside bombing that left seven "Awakening" Council members injured.
Shootings?
Reuters notes 1 person shot dead in Hilla.
Corpses?
Sahar Issa (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 2 corpses discovered in Baghdad. Reuters notes 1 corpse discovered in Hilla.
Before becoming McClatchy, it was Knight-Ridder Newspapers. Dr. Yasser Salihee was one of the Iraqis working as a correspondent. In June of 2005, Ron Brynaert (Why Are We Back In Iraq?) noted Yasser's final story: "The last story filed by Knight-Ridder special correspondent, Yasser Salihee appeared in the Philadelphia Inquirer on Tuesday but received little attention. "Campaign of executions feared in Iraq" was co-written by Tom Lasseter and it suggested that the Iraqi police may have been acting as executioners instead of policemen". James Cogan (WSWS) explained in July 2005, "Over the past month, Salihee had been gathering evidence that US-backed Iraqi forces have been carrying out extra-judicial killings of alleged members and supporters of the anti-occupation resistance. His investigation followed a feature in the New York Times magazine in May, detailing how the US military had modeled the Iraqi interior ministry police commandos, known as the Wolf Brigade, on the death squads unleashed in the 1980s to crush the left-wing insurgency in El Salvador." NPR's Jacki Lyden noted his death in 2005, "Yasser was part of the first story I reported for NPR after Saddam Hussein was deposed. We met in Baghdad, when he was a physician at Yarmouk Hospital's emergency room. He invited me home the next day and I met his beloved wife and child. . . . It was Friday, he was in his neighborhood on his day off, going to get gasoline and an oil change so that he could take his wife and daughter swimming. He was driving his car alone, when an American sniper from the 3rd Infantry apparently shot him at a check point. I say apparently because the cricumstances are somewhere unclear. He died of a single bullet to the brain, which pierced the car's windshield." As part of the Sacremento Bee's investigation into violence, Russell Carollo reports new details this week on the man who shot Yasser dead, "But a yearlong examination by the Sacramento Bee found that the shooter, Staff Sgt. Joseph J. Romero, brought a long, troubled past with him to Iraq, and the Guard unit Vige praised was riddled with misfits, drug users and soldiers with criminal records -- at least two of them former mental patients. At the time that he shot Salihee Romero was under investigation for selling cocaine, military records show. Days before the shooting, Romero threatened to kill a fellow soldier who reported him to the Army's Criminal Investigation Command or CID. Three weeks later, the drug allegations would prompt the Army to strip Romero of his leadership, bar him from missions and take away his large-caliber sniper rifle. And less than three months after the shooting, on Sept. 9, 2005, Romero was sentenced to 14 months' confinement and given a bad conduct discharge, convicted of selling cocaine, possessing other drugs, obstructing justice and communicating a threat." The Sacremento Bee editorializes on the topic of who is getting into the military on waivers today and notes:
Soldiers with criminal, drug and alcohol histories may represent just a tiny fraction of the 1.4 million who serve in the United States military. But Bee reporter Russell Carollo's stories show that these soldiers can wreak havoc within the military, at times seriously jeopardizing the country's mission in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Take one case examined by The Bee. As a young man, Staff Sgt. Joseph Romero was charged with assault and a string of residential burglaries, but most of the charges were dropped when he agreed to join the Army. During his problem-plagued first 10 years of Army service, he was investigated but not charged with selling drugs. He left the Army in 2001 and spent what those who knew him described as a drug-soaked few years before he joined the Louisiana National Guard and was deployed to Iraq.
While in Iraq, Romero was accused and later convicted of selling drugs to fellow soldiers. After he was accused, the Army required him to surrender his sniper rifle -- but only after he had used that rifle to kill Yasser Salihee, an Iraqi physician who was working as an interpreter. No criminal investigation of the shooting was ever conducted. Salihee's widow told The Bee, "Before the accident I loved the Americans … but after … I hate all the Army. All my neighbors were hating the Americans."
Meanwhile Andy Rowell (Oil Change) notes, "Four Democratic senators, including Senator Carl Levin have called on the State Department's inspector general to investigate whether the agency encouraged lucrative oil deals between Iraq and several Western companies." This as CBS and AP report that Iraq has decided that the no-bid contracts awarded to Big Oil would come with a one-year offer so as not "overlap with longer-term deals expected" next year. Meanwhile independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader issues an open letter to presumed GOP and Democratic presidential nominees McCain and Barack:
In the July 6, 2008 edition of the New York Times, the courageously peripatetic columnist, Nicolas D. Kristof urged the creation of a Truth Commission on torture and other war crimes. Here is Kristof in his words:
"When a distinguished American military commander accuses the United States of committing war crimes in its handling of detainees, you know that we need a new way forward.
"'There is no longer any doubt as to whether the current administration has committed war crimes,' Antonio Taguba, the retired major general who investigated abuses in Iraq, declares in a powerful new report on American torture from Physicians for Human Rights. "'The only question that remains to be answered is whether those who ordered the use of torture will be held to account.'
"[W]e need a national Truth Commission to lead a process of soul searching and national cleansing.
"That was what South Africa did after apartheid, with its Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and it is what the United States did with the Kerner Commission on race and the 1980s commission that examined the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II.
"Today, we need a similar Truth Commission, with subpoena power, to investigate the abuses in the aftermath of 9/11.
"It's a national disgrace that more than 100 inmates have died in American custody in Afghanistan, Iraq and Guantánamo. After two Afghan inmates were beaten to death by American soldiers, the American military investigator found that one of the men's legs had been 'pulpified.'
"Moreover, many of the people we tortured were innocent: the administration was as incompetent as it was immoral. The McClatchy newspaper group has just published a devastating series on torture and other abuses, and it quotes Thomas White, the former Army secretary, as saying that it was clear from the moment Guantánamo opened that one-third of the inmates didn't belong there.
"These abuses happened partly because, for several years after 9/11, many of our national institutions didn't do their jobs. The Democratic Party rolled over rather than serving as loyal opposition. We in the press were often lap dogs rather than watchdogs, and we let the public down.
"Yet there were heroes, including civil liberties groups and lawyers for detainees. Some judges bucked the mood, and a few conservatives inside the administration spoke out forcefully. The Times's Eric Lichtblau writes in his terrific new book, "Bush's Law," that the Immigration and Naturalization Service commissioner, James Ziglar, pushed back against plans for door-to-door sweeps of Arab-American neighborhoods.
"'The book recounts that in one meeting,' Mr. Ziglar bluntly declared, 'We do have this thing called the Constitution,' adding that such sweeps would be illegal and 'I'm not going to be part of it.'
"The Truth Commission investigating these issues ideally would be a non-partisan group heavily weighted with respected military and security officials, including generals, admirals and top intelligence figures. Such backgrounds would give their findings credibility across the political spectrum -- and I don't think they would pull punches. The military and intelligence officials I know are as appalled by our abuses as any other group, in part because they realize that if our people waterboard, then our people will also be waterboarded.
"Both Barack Obama and John McCain should commit to impaneling a Truth Commission early in the next administration. This commission would issue a report to help us absorb the lessons of our failings, the better to avoid them during the next crisis."
Mr. Kristof has put forth a strong case for a strong investigating Truth Commission. He asks for your commitment to establish such a commission should either of you become President. How do you respond to this prize-winning, eye witness-inclined journalist?
joshua key
mark larabee
chris kenning
corey glass
nick kyonka
pbs
