IVAW Adam Kokesh Delivers Congressional Stop Loss, Helps Bay Area Counter-Recruitment Groups

Winter Soldier Comes to Oakland and Marin:
Adam Kokesh of IVAW Speaks at the Oakland Federal Building and College of Marin; makes counter-recruitment visits to East Bay schools
WHEN/WHERE: Tuesday, May 6
12:00 noon: Oakland Federal Building, 1301 Clay St: weekly anti-war vigil
2:00 PM: Counter-Recruitment Visits to East Bay High Schools
5:00 PM LIVE on Flashpoints with Dennis Bernstein KPFA
7:00 PM College of Marin, Kentfield Campus– Student Center
WHAT: Iraq Veteran Reveals Truth About Iraq and Military Recruitment
Iraq war veteran and member of Iraq Veterans Against the War, Adam Kokesh, will speak at the weekly anti-war vigil at the Oakland Federal Building. This is the tenth year of the Tuesday vigil which was begun in early 1998 to oppose the genocidal sanctions imposed on Iraq which killed one and a half million Iraqis during the ten years they were in place. Now the vigil calls for and end to the murderous war and occupation on the people of Iraq. Kokesh will speak at noon.
Kokesh will also encourage students at East Bay high schools and the College of Marin not to enlist for military service. Thousands of service members are involuntarily having their tours of duty extended through the military’s stop loss program, keeping them in harms way and increasing the mental and emotional strain on each soldier. According to a study by the Rand Corporation, 1 in 5 U.S. soldiers who served in Iraq or Afghanistan – nearly 300,000 individuals – suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. And documents released in a San Francisco Federal class action lawsuit against the Department of Veterans Affairs reveal that 18 veterans kill themselves everyday. For the sake of the troops, and the people of Iraq, the war must end now.
Winter Soldier Comes to San Francisco: Adam Kokesh Delivers Stop-Loss Orders to Senators Feinstein and Boxer, and Speaker Pelosi
Congress Cannot Go Home Until All the Troops Come Home! Iraq War Veteran, Bay Area Residents, Demand Congress Do Their Duty: End the War
WHEN/WHERE: Wednesday, May 7, San Francisco:
12:00 noon: San Francisco State University, Rm 201 Hensill Hall
3:00 PM: Deliver Stop Loss Orders to Offices of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, 450 Golden Gate Ave then, Senator Barbara Boxer, 1700 Montgomery St.
5:00 PM: Deliver Stop Loss Orders to Senator Diane Feinstein’s office #1 post St. With Code Pink
7:00 PM: Veterans Memorial Building, 401 Van Ness Blvd.
WHAT: Iraq war veteran, Adam Kokesh, and Bay Area residents will deliver “official” stop-loss notices to the offices of the San Francisco Congressional delegation. These will notify them that all of their leaves, vacations, passes and home visits have been cancelled until further notice. Just as active-duty personnel endure involuntary extensions of their tours of duty, veterans and citizens are notifying our representatives that they, too, will have their “tours of duty” involuntarily extended until every soldier and mercenary is out of Iraq and brought home.
Addressed to the individual members of Congress, the order reads in part:

“…By Order of the People of the United States; You are officially informed that all leave, vacation, passes, and family visits are hereby CANCELLED. You are ordered to remain at your posts until all U.S. troops and “private contractors” are removed from Iraq and Afghanistan, and all the wars are ended. You may not go home until all the troops are home.”

After delivering the orders, Kokesh will address San Franciscans at the Veterans Memorial Building.
Adam’s activities in the San Francisco Bay Area are organized by the SF Coalition to Host Adam Kokesh and are co-sponsored by: Iraq Veterans Against the War, Veterans for Peace, American Friends Service Committee, U.S. Labor Against the War, United For Peace and Justice, Direct Action to Stop the War, Act Against Torture, the Ecumenical Peace Institute/CALC, the East Bay Coalition to Support Self-Rule for Iraqis, the Catalyst Project and the Marin Peace and Justice Center.
For more information see
http://kokesh.blogspot.com/2008/01/adam-kokesh-on-tour.html
http://www.kokesh.mpjc.org
http://www.stop-losscongress.org/
CONTACT:
David Rubinson, 415 441 7500
Michael Reagan, 510 846 0490
IVWA Adam Kokesh Demands Congress Stop Loss

Canadians Choose Compassion

Like Steve Earle says, they're just a bunch of poor boys fighting for the rich man's war, until they say "Hell NO! We Won't Go!" Thanks to Leslie Cagan and United for Peace & Justice, I learned about this upcoming event to let them know they won't be alone in resisting war. As the troops begin to mobilize for peace, we have to show up to support them and to ensure they will not be used by the corporate media as tools for propaganda. They'll have our backs but we have to cover them as well. Let's get a good turn out of this in NYC, Washington, DC, Seattle, Toronto.... You know the drill, do the dance!
January 25-26 U.S.-Canada actions to support war resisters
Help stop the war... support the troops who have the courage to resist!
Join and support January 25 vigils and delegations in support of U.S. war resisters currently seeking sanctuary Canada. Actions are being planned in Washington D.C., New York, Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Minneapolis. Supporters will meet with officials at Canadian Consulates across the United States in order underscore that many Americans hope that the Canadian Parliament votes (possible as early as February) in favor of a provision to allow war resisters to remain. Download and distribute Jan. 25-26 action leaflet (PDF).
Supporting the war resisters in Canada is a concrete way to demonstrate your support of the troops who refuse to fight. Help end the war by supporting the growing GI resistance movement today!
Details January 25-26 actions/events in support of U.S. war resisters.
Sign the letter “Dear Canada: Let U.S. War Resisters Stay!” and encourage others to sign.
Organize a delegation to a Canadian Consulate near you .
Host an event or house-party in support of war resisters.
NEW YORK
Consulate General of Canada
1251 Avenue of the Americas, NYC
Noon - 2 pm vigil
Sponsored by War Resisters League and Iraq Veterans Against the War-NYC
Info: youth@warresisters.orgThis e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it , 212-228-0450
http://www.couragetoresist.org/x/content/view/559/89/
Sign the appeal—we'll mail the letters for you
Significant win for US Iraq War resisters in Canada
US war resisters gather after hearing victory in Ottawa 12/6/07. Photo: Lori Hurlebaus
By Courage to Resist. December 11, 2007
On December 6, the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration of the House of Commons in Ottawa, Canada adopted a motion that was a critical victory for U.S. Iraq War resisters seeking sanctuary. Courage to Resist organizers Lori Hurlebaus and Jeff Paterson traveled to Ottawa for this hearing, along with supporters and resisters from across Canada, and have contributed to this report. In collaboration with the Toronto, Canada-based War Resisters Support Campaign (WRSC), Courage to Resist is calling for U.S.-Canada consulate delegations, vigils, and actions on January 25-26 to build momentum in the wake of this important first victory