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Jeff Kreisler
$14.99 NOW $10.19
 . '/' . substr('9780871404107',-6,3) . '/' . '9780871404107' . '.jpg'; ?>)
Edited by Peter Davison
$39.95
$13
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Copyright Eugene Richards, from War Is Personal
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By Alexander Reed Kelly — When he dies this spring, Iraq War veteran Tomas Young will have spent his final years struggling to expose the guilt of those who make a holiday of the deaths and suffering of the powerless.
Posted on Mar 23, 2013
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Things are looking up for two-tour Iraq War veteran Scott Olsen, who was injured Oct. 25 during a police raid on the Occupy Oakland encampment, where he was taking part in demonstrations against the corporatization of the American political system. (more)
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This disturbing video clip shows Occupy Oakland protester and three-tour Iraq War veteran Kayvan Sabehgi in an altercation with riot police Nov. 2. The Guardian posted the clip late last week and reported that Sabehgi suffered a ruptured spleen as a result of the beat-down captured here, and that Oakland police say they are looking into the incident.
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You may wonder what kind of goons Brookfield Properties—the owners of Zuccotti Park—hired to secure the area after Occupiers were evicted from the premises early Tuesday morning. At least one careless bigot numbered among the crowd.
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timothy.actwell (CC-BY)
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Three deaths in or near Occupy Wall Street encampments in different cities late last week have given authorities reason to insist that shutting the protests down is in the public’s best interest. (more)
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AP / Jay Finneburgh
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This week, Truthdig salutes Iraq War veteran Scott Olsen, who served his country abroad and at home within the Occupy Oakland movement, as our Truthdigger of the Week.
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Flickr / pweiskel08 (CC-BY)
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Some 100 people—around 65 men and 35 women—taking part in an Occupy Boston protest were arrested in the wee hours of Tuesday morning after they refused to leave a newly groomed section of the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway near Dewey Square. (more)
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On Oct. 1, Vietnam veteran, author and activist Ron Kovic gave a throng of Occupy L.A. protesters gathered near Los Angeles’ City Hall an enthused boost with this speech, in which he invokes the spirit of Martin Luther King Jr. and serves notice to President Obama by co-opting the president’s campaign slogan … (more)
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Here we have the commander in chief delivering solemn words at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery on Memorial Day. President Obama also took the opportunity to salute his outgoing defense secretary, Robert Gates ... (more)
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AP / Susan Walsh
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Two explosive devices embedded in pieces of mail detonated within minutes of each other in two government buildings in Maryland on Thursday, injuring two employees and leading local officials to believe that the incidents were related.
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Zuade Kaufman / Truthdig
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By Ron Kovic — As a former United States Marine Corps infantry sergeant who was shot and paralyzed from the mid-chest down on Jan. 20, 1968, during my second tour of duty in Vietnam, and as someone who has lived with the wounds of that war for over 40 years, I am writing this letter to ask you to join me as we begin a critical new phase in the growing anti-war movement.
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On Thursday, author, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and Truthdig columnist Chris Hedges and Pentagon Papers whistle-blower Daniel Ellsberg were among the 131 anti-war activists arrested during a nonviolent demonstration outside the White House ...
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AP / Charles Dharapak
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The term withdrawal seems a bit overstated when it comes to describing the changing U.S. military strategy in Iraq, but President Obama emphasized the thematic over the technical in a speech he delivered Monday ... (continued)
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Flickr / National Guard
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Nora Eisenberg / AlterNet —
According to Yale historian David Blight, Memorial Day got its start at the end of the Civil War. 145 years after the end of our Civil War, our nation is engaged in near civil wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, which we had a part in starting and no plans for ending.
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In November of 2008, U.S. Army soldier Corey Shea was killed while serving in Mosul, Iraq, shortly before he was due to return home to his mother, Denise Anderson, in Massachusetts. Now, Anderson is fighting for the right to be buried with her son in a veterans’ cemetery when she dies ... (continued)
Posted on Dec 28, 2009
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U.S. Air Force / Tech. Sgt. Cohen A. Young
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Penny Coleman, AlterNet —
It can be shown that the patterns of military sex crimes are old and widespread—for generations, military service has transformed large numbers of American boys into sexual predators. So it seems reasonable to ask whether perhaps there is something about military culture or training or experience that can be identified as causative, and then, perhaps, changed.
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AP photo / Charles Dharapak
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As he prepared to enter the White House the next day, President-elect Barack Obama observed Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday by lending a hand at a shelter for homeless teenagers and visiting wounded vets at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C.
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annenberg.usc.edu/guthman
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Truthdig tips its hat this week to Edwin O. Guthman, the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, World War II veteran, professor and former press secretary to Robert F. Kennedy. Guthman, who died Aug. 31, was a true class act, a mentor to many and, as the Los Angeles Times noted, a top-notch editor who earned the No. 3 spot on President Richard Nixon’s enemies list for what the Times called his “aggressive pursuit of Watergate stories.” Updated
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Barack Obama’s decision to forgo a visit with wounded U.S. troops in Germany during the European leg of his recent international sojourn gave John McCain’s camp the idea for a new advertisement criticizing the Illinois senator, although Obama’s team and Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel beg to differ with its premise.
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It seems a critique cannot be leveled against John McCain without first paying homage to his time as a prisoner of war. Even Barack Obama is careful not to offend. So it was somewhat surprising on Sunday to hear another veteran, Gen. Wesley Clark, rebuff McCain’s war heroism: “Well, I don’t think riding in a fighter plane and getting shot down is a qualification to be president.”
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AP Photo/Reed Saxon
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By Ron Kovic — As a former United States Marine Corps sergeant who was shot and paralyzed from my mid-chest down during my second tour of duty in Vietnam on Jan. 20, 1968, I am sending my complete support and admiration to all those now involved in the courageous struggle to stop military recruitment in Berkeley and across the country.
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Sen. John McCain spoke in Albuquerque, N.M., on Monday, defending his position against the Jim Webb GI bill, which offers college tuition coverage in exchange for three years of service in the U.S. military, and drawing distinctions between himself and his opponents in terms of plans for withdrawal from Iraq.
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breitbart.tv
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On Thursday, a group of U.S. soldiers spoke before members of Congress about the failings of the Iraq war and the immeasurable toll it has taken on Iraqis and American troops. Afterward, Sgt. Matthis Chiroux announced that he is refusing to serve in Iraq.
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Here’s a scenario George W. Bush surely didn’t foresee as he assumed the country’s highest office years ago: One day he’d be sharing prime-time screen time with Howie Mandel’s soul patch, a phalanx of prancy models and a decorated war veteran, joking about hosting “a $3 trillion ‘Deal or No Deal.’ ”
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businessandmedia.org
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It’s become a visual meme in our culture, but some World War II veterans don’t believe that Joe Rosenthal’s seminal image of Americans hoisting the flag on Mount Suribachi should be appropriated or altered in any way. In fact, some vets, like Donald Mates, believe repurposing the photo, as Time magazine has just done for an issue about global warming, is tantamount to blasphemy.
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AP photo / Gerald Herbert
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By Aaron Glantz — More than any other candidate for president, John McCain should know that peace talks can be stronger and smarter than bombs, that withdrawing American soldiers can be the best way to achieve stability, and that the best way to protect American troops is to bring them home from the war zone.
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By Aaron Glantz — When young American men and women sign up to serve in our military, the government makes them a basic promise: If they are wounded in the line of duty, they will get the care they need. But for far too many, that’s a promise that only exists on paper—even months after the news emerged about American vets’ shameful treatment at U.S. military facilities.
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KPFA Radio’s “The War Comes Home” series tells the story of Philippe Louis Jean, an Iraq war veteran whom the U.S. government shamefully tried to deport—once he came home. Louis Jean had a green card, but a previous adultery charge was enough for the government to throw him in prison for 10 months.
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AP Photo / Tony Gutierrez
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The family of Navy veteran Cecil Sinclair says it’s deeply insulted because a Dallas-area megachurch reneged on its offer to hold a memorial for the 46-year-old Gulf War serviceman just 24 hours before the service was to take place. The reason? Sinclair was gay—a fact that Sinclair’s sister insists High Point Church leaders already knew, despite their denials.
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Could the Bush administration be invoking the ominous specter of al-Qaida—and suggesting the extremist group is gathering strength and preparing to strike—for political reasons? CNN’s Baghdad correspondent Michael Ware says Americans should watch out for rhetorical sleight of hand from the White House concerning the current threat level and the newly unveiled National Intelligence Estimate.
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Aaron Glantz —
The Army has just launched a campaign to educate soldiers and officers about post-traumatic stress disorder and brain injuries. Unfortunately, this relatively minor gesture of recognition that these two debilitating conditions need major attention comes too late for veterans like Manny Babbitt, whose nightmares didn’t end—even long after his tour of duty did.
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AP Photo/ITAR-TASS, Presidential Press Service, Mikhail Klimentyev
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Russian President Vladimir Putin, awaiting a visit by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, compared U.S. foreign policy to that of the Nazis in the 1930s. Meanwhile, Rice criticized Putin’s administration for centralizing too much power at the Kremlin.
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foxnews.com
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Director Oliver Stone has announced the winning entry, chosen by voting members of MoveOn.org, from a series of videotaped interviews with Iraq war veterans and their families. Stone has cut the interview with former infantry Sgt. John Bruhns into a 30-second TV spot, ending with a voice-over by Vietnam vet Ron Kovic saying: “Support our troops. Bring them home.”
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nytimes.com
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A munitions explosion in Iraq took away Sam Ross’ eyesight, left leg and half of his ability to hear. That trauma would eventually lead to 17 suicide attempts and charges of arson and attempted homicide.
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news.aol.com
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Staff Sgt. Eric Alva, the first Marine to receive a critical injury in Iraq, has become a crusader for gay rights in the military, and he knows exactly how to handle critics: “OK buddy ... you pick up a gun and you go fight in Iraq or Afghanistan for a while, then you could come back and we can have a talk because I’ve actually sacrificed, I’ve actually done duty and served in this country for your rights and freedom.”
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On Veterans Day, read the compelling essays of Ron Kovic, Kevin Tillman and Stan Goff—all of whom have served in the United States military.
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Kyle Snyder fled to Canada when the Army threatened to send him back to Iraq, where he says he had been made to perform duties for which he was not trained. Snyder’s lawyer says the Army had agreed to discharge his client if he came home but now intends to return him to his original unit.
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AP / Reed Saxon
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By Ron Kovic — The author of “Born on the Fourth of July” recounts his personal journey from a gung-ho U.S. Marine in Vietnam to an outspoken critic of that war, and how that transformation paved the way for his current activism against America’s campaign in Iraq.
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The ex-Senate candidate and Iraq War vet Paul Hackett asked Stephen Colbert, “Do you really think we’re going to spread democracy with the business end of an M-16?” Colbert’s response was classic. Check it out.
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Courtesy Universal Pictures
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In connection with the new Colin Farrell / Jamie Foxx movie, the L.A. Times interviewed a real-life veteran of Miami’s vice, intelligence and narcotics squad. Interestingly, it seems the situations on the TV show weren’t that far off the mark.
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From crooksandliars.com
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Ray McGovern, a retired 27-year veteran of the CIA, leaves Donald Rumsfeld sputtering as he pulls apart the secretary of defense’s flawed rationale for the Iraq war—on live television.
Video
Bio of McGovern
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Tyler Hicks / The New York Times
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Finally, an in-depth report on Iraq’s forgotten wounded. | story and slideshow
Also, read Truthdig’s Ron Kovic on his personal journey as a wounded veteran. | report
Posted on Jan 22, 2006
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