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 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
May 2, 2008
IVAW Adam Kokesh Delivers Congressional Stop Loss, Helps Bay Area Counter-Recruitment Groups
March 12, 2008
Winter Soldier Begins--Feel Decent Again
Watch this video and for a few precious moments, forget about the scandals, the sleaze, the corrupt corporatists and rat faced repuglican war mongers and chickenhawks who throw our bravest into obscene conditions and battle as casually as they'd throw last year's cloths into the garbage.
Iraq Veterans Against the War march for Winter Soldier
Mar 10 2008
Video of the Philly chapter of Iraq Veterans Against the War to draw attention to the upcoming Winter Soldier: Iraq & Afghanistan events, March 13th-16th in Washington, DC.
http://ivaw.org/node/2798
February 18, 2008
Your Attendence Requested
Winter Soldier II Fundraiser
Thurs. Feb. 21st 7-9 PM (Doors Open 6:30)
NYC Society for Ethical Culture Society Auditorium
2 W. 64th St (at Central Park West)
.......Directions
A Greeting From Pete Seeger (Tape)
Panels will include:
Vietnam Veterans with/a segment of the
original Winter Soldier (Detroit 1971)
Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans
(looking forward to WSII in D.C. March 2008)
IVAW members in Canada (they refused to go back to Iraq)
MUSIC BY MEETLIAH
Iraq & Afghanistan Vets FREE
Students $5
Adult members of the peace Community $20
Reserve your tkts through your local peace group
(reserve a block of seats) or call:
212-228-0450 ext.104 (IVAW)
Lv Message at: 845-358-5709 or 212-678-7311
http://www.veteransforpeaceny.org/vfpnyevents.htm
All $$ goes to Winter Soldier II in D.C. Mar. 13-15…
http://ivaw.org/wintersoldier
February 16, 2008
Stop-Loss Congress in March!
This March will mark the beginning of the 6th year of the war and occupation of Iraq. I hope that you will join me on Capitol Hill for an action which will focus on the role which Congress has played in the continuation of the war.
On Monday, March 10th and Tuesday March 11th Iraq Veterans in uniform, Veterans for Peace, Students on Spring Break and citizens of conscience will be on Capitol Hill to deliver STOP-LOSS orders to Congress.
Just as Congress has condoned the involuntary extensions of the tours of duty (called stop-loss) to military personnel, resulting in physical and mental stress for soldiers and hardship to their families and the continuation of suffering, death and destruction in Iraq, WE THE PEOPLE, for whom Congress works, will notify them that their upcoming Spring Recess has been canceled. Congress will be ordered to stay at their posts (offices) until they perform the job we elected them to do, which is BRING OUR TROOPS HOME AND END THE WAR AND OCCUPATION NOW!!
On Wednesday, If Congress does not comply, we will confront them with peaceful, civil resistance. CONGRESS CANNOT GO HOME UNTIL THE TROOPS COME HOME! If Congress members attempt to leave Capitol Hill the CODE PINK POLICE will issue citizen citations, but others will form blockades.
However, if Congress members do manage to slither out of DC and make their way back to their districts the following week, we ask that you organize SIT-INS in their offices and DEMAND that they watch the footage of the WINTER SOLDIER testimony!
If you cannot make it to DC please visit the web site and sign the STOP-LOSS CONGRESS petition NOW in support of this action. www.stop-losscongress.org
also visit www.resistinmarch.org and STUDENTS check out www.ourspringbreak.org
Peace NOW!
Jamilla El-Shafei, co-organizer STOP-LOSS CONGRESS jamilla@stop-losscongress.org
January 13, 2008
Calling All Winter Soldiers!
Join members of Vietnam Veterans Against the War and Iraq Veterans Against the War in welcoming VVAW National Coordinator, Barry Romo, on Friday, January 25th at 6:00pm in Carrboro, North Carolina.Barry will be talking about the upcoming historic event organized by IVAW-- Winter Soldier: Iraq & Afghanistan. (http://www.ivaw.org/wintersold
ier)
In January 1971, VVAW held the Winter Soldier Investigation, where Vietnam Veterans testified about war crimes and atrocities they committed or witnessed in Vietnam. This action helped expose how atrocities committed during Vietnam were not the work of “a few bad apples”, but essentially military policy- a policy that continues in the current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Like the Vietnam Veterans who testified in the ‘70s, Iraq Veterans will provide first hand accounts of their experiences and reveal the reality of the occupation
We will discuss ways that members of VVAW, IVAW and others can support the upcoming event as well as show clips of the original Winter Soldier Investigation. We also hope some of the people who come will be interested in continuing to work locally to promote peace, justice, and the rights of all veterans. Afterwards, those that would like to continue the conversation and socialize may reconvene at a nearby restaurant.
Thomas Paine, writing during the Revolutionary War, said: “The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.”
Come out on Friday evening, January 25th, and support these true Winter Soldiers!
The Century Center is located at 100 N. Greensboro in Carrboro, North Carolina. Directions and information about nearby parking can be found at http://townofcarrboro.com/rp/ccdirections.htm
For more information about the North Carolina gathering, contact Buzz at (919) 265-7050 or buzzdaily@gmail.com
http://www.ivaw.org/wintersoldier
November 18, 2007
Winter Soldiers Will Defend Democracy
What kind o
f a society do we have when the people sent to "defend our liberty" are treated like criminals back home? It's the citizens who don't believe in an imperial America who know that war doesn't end on the battlefield or with the signing of treaties. Demand to know from the presidential candidates how they plan to help OUR RETURNING TROOPS when the war ends. DU, PTSD, suicide and traumatic, lifelong injuries will be the legacy of BushCo's disaster.
AWOL Soldier Seeking Treatment Arrested
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, November 14, 2007
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) -- A soldier who served two combat tours in Iraq was arrested Wednesday for leaving the Army without permission more than a year ago to seek treatment for post traumatic stress disorder.
At a news conference hours before his arrest, Sgt. Brad Gaskins said he left the base in August 2006 because the Army wasn't providing effective treatment after he was diagnosed with PTSD and severe depression.
…An eight-year Army veteran, Gaskins served two tours in Iraq and a peacekeeping tour in Kosovo. He said his mental health began deteriorating during his second tour in Iraq, which began in June 2005, when his job was to conduct road searches and locate improvised explosive devices.
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Troubled-Soldier.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
Statement of Support
On the weekend of 13-15 March, 2008 Iraq Veterans Against the War will assemble history's largest gathering of US veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan , as well as Iraqi and Afghan survivors. They will testify to their first hand experiences and reveal the truth of occupation.
Once again, our country needs Winter Soldiers.
In March of 2008, Iraq Veterans Against the War will gather in our nation's capital to break the silence and hold our leaders accountable for these wars. We hope you'll join us, because yours is a story that every American needs to hear.
Click here to sign a statement of support for Winter Soldier: Iraq & Afghanistan