Today is the anniversary of the beginning of the Iraq War, the night George W. Bush got on TV and told the American people that he was going to save us from Saddam Hussein’s plans to obliterate the US with his nuclear weapons and we had to stop him before he killed us all.

Let us not forget the lies we were told, the betrayal they represented, or the brave and selfless souls who (inadvertantly) gave their lives for those lies. Not to mention the over one million Iraqis who have died from our deeds and misdeeds.

And, unfortunately the losses continue. Just today came the news that another Oklahoma soldier was killed.

If you can, attend one of these local events to show your respect for all the tragic and senseless horror, and to continue the vigilance to end this war.

Iraq War 6th Year Memorials Planned in Oklahoma City

Two Oklahoma Fathers of Fallen Soldiers
Speak Out About Human Cost of War

The March 19, six-year anniversary of the start of the U.S. war in Iraq will be commemorated in Oklahoma City with memorial events, public vigils, and a silent memorial walk, according to planners. Peace House Director Nathaniel Batchelder said that the tone of events planned this year is more to seek higher wisdom to make the world less violent and more humane, and less to tell Washington, D.C., what to do.

Batchelder said, “We are hopeful that a new administration and Congress can resolve the Middle East conflicts with more diplomacy and less violence.”

On Saturday, March 21, a memorial vigil with activists holding signs calling for peace in the Middle East, will be held from 10 a.m. to noon on the northeast corner of the intersection of Meridian Avenue and Northwest Expressway. The public is invited to bring signs expressing their own hopes for peace, Batchelder said.

On Sunday, March 22, a silent memorial walk will begin at 2 p.m., from Civic Center Park, downtown Oklahoma City, at 201 N. Walker. Speakers will set the tone of the walk, and the route will encircle the Murrah Building National Memorial and return to the park. “In Oklahoma City, we know that one bomb is too many,” Batchelder said. A display of boots symbolizing the deaths of U.S. troops in Iraq will be part of the event, provided by members of the American Friends Service Committee. Speakers include John Scripsick and Warren Henthorn, who both lost their sons in the Iraq war, Daniel Sandate, Iraq veteran and Reggie Cervantes, 9/11 rescue worker, from Yukon. Rev Lance Schmitz, of the First Nazarene Church of Oklahoma City, will lead attendees in a reading of the names of Oklahomans fallen in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

On the following Tuesday, March 24th, Oklahoma City Community College has events planned after students return from spring break. Call Steve Morrow, OCCC Advocates for Peace, at (405) 682-1611 x 7350 for more information.

OCC is thrilled to be working with IVAW and the Oklahoma Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild to help organize and promote Winter Soldier Austin, hearings using testimony from soldiers to tell the realities of the war in Iraq. Several of our members will be participating, either by providing testimony, providing support services, or live-blogging the proceedings.

Background on Winter Soldier here.

We are outreaching to Iraq War vets in Oklahoma who would be willing to testify at the hearings. Please use the contact form on this site to email us.

if you can help us support these vets, and get them to Austin for testimony, donations would be much appreciated.

WINTER SOLDIER HEARINGS COME TO AUSTIN, TEXAS

WHAT: Winter Solder – South Central Region, Eyewitness Accounts by Iraq Veterans Against the War

WHO: Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW), with support from many local groups

WHEN: Saturday, February 28, 1PM-5PM

WHERE: Central Presbyterian Church, 200 E. 8th Street (Brazos & 8th), Austin, Texas

In March of 2008, Iraq Veterans Against the War held a national Winter Soldier event in Baltimore, Maryland. Winter Soldier: Iraq and Afghanistan featured testimony from U.S. veterans, giving accurate accounts of the true nature of those occupations. This four-day event brought together veterans from across the country to testify about their experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan - and present video and photographic evidence. In May of 2008, for the first time since the Iraq war began, boots-on-the-ground veterans testified under oath before Congress about the effects of the occupation. Members of Iraq Veterans Against the War presented their testimony to the Congressional Progressive Caucus.

Winter Soldier hearings continue to be held regionally across the U.S. Now Iraq Veterans Against the War, will bring Winter Soldier hearings to Austin. Veterans from New Mexico, Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas will join together to publicly share the experiences of war in Iraq and Afghanistan. In the tradition of other Winter Soldier events, live testimony, panel discussions, along with supporting video and photographic documentation, will focus on the human impact of war. This event is open to the public and all are encouraged to attend.

Winter soldiers, according to founding father Thomas Paine, are the people who stand up for the soul of their country, even in the darkest hours. The event was named Winter Soldier in honor of a similar gathering in 1971. The “Winter Soldier Investigation” was a media event sponsored by the Vietnam Veterans Against the War and was intended to publicize war crimes and atrocities by the United States Armed Forces and their allies in the Vietnam War. A complete transcript of those hearings was later entered into the Congressional Record by Senator Mark Hatfield, prompting the Fulbright Hearings in April and May 1973, convened by Senator J. William Fulbright, chair of the United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.

For more information, go to www.austinivaw.wordpress.com.

We are asking Oklahoma activists, veterans and family members to help promote the event by printing and distributing the flier among their networks.

Winter Soldier flier for Oklahoma, 2 up

Four civil rights groups are asking Obama to let them in to Guantánamo to survey the situation at the facility that is now a synonym for torture and report their findings, to open the infamous site to the light of truth, accountability and justice.

I know that I would trust the findings and recommendations of The American Civil Liberties Union, Amnesty International USA, Human Rights First and Human Rights Watch a lot more than that of the four Republican warmongers and torture apologists who will be on the site for a predictable partisan whitewashing on Monday: Senators Jim Inhofe (OK), Pat Roberts (KS), Mel Martinez(FL) and David Vitter (LA).

There is not enough whitewash in the world to cover over that mess. When are the Republicans going to realize that no one but the corporate media is buying their twisted worldview any more?

With his policies at Guantánamo, George Bush, Dick Cheney and Don Rumsfeld made Americans more hated and more at risk than we ever were before. We can never totally erase the damage, but the sooner we close the doors, apologize and begin to rectify the injustices, the better off we and the whole world will be.

When we return to using intelligence to find and the law to punish those who do wrong, then we will be the “good guys” again. Until then, visits by the four Senators are helpful only to their own propaganda campaigns to impede what the majority of the American people want..

I did my first interview with my new Flip camera on Thursday, talking to Daniel Sandate, who was just released from Ft. Sill on Tuesday. He was accompanied by James M. Branum, “G.I. Rights Lawyer,” who was co-counsel for Sandate’s court martial at Ft. Carson, and of course whom I work with at Oklahoma Center for Conscience.

My raw footage has been cut into four parts and posted on Youtube by James. Here are the links:

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

If you want to support Iraq War resisters, you could do worse than to donate at GI Rights Lawyer, or, for tax detectability, to Oklahoma Center for Conscience, marking your check for “legal support” on the note line.

I learned a couple of things about using the camera. The main one is, I need a tripod! I’m not a fan of that style of wobbling the camera around for no good reason, but if you are, you’ll love my freshman effort. Overall, I’m pretty impressed with the Flip Ultra. For a cheap camera, it does a great job.

I hope to edit the footage down to 10 or 12 minutes when I have time.

Join us to celebrate release of war resister Daniel Sandate on his release from Ft. Sill & welcome him to OKC, Thursday, Jan. 22 at 6 pm (after 5 pm press conference)

The Oklahoma Center for Conscience and Joy Mennonite Church would like to invite you to help us celebrate the release of war resister Daniel Sandate from military prison.

Daniel is a veteran of the Iraq War who came to see the war as wrong and to resist it. He fled to Canada after his first deployment to Iraq because his unit refused to give him treatment for his PTSD. Daniel lived underground in Canada until last year when he was deported to the US and sent to Fort Carson, CO. He was court martialed there, given an Other Than Honorable discharge, and sentenced to 8 months.

He was released from the brig at Ft. Sill this past Tuesday (in time to watch President Obama be inaugurated).

We are having this event to show Daniel and our community that we stand with him and support him. Please join us and welcome Daniel to Oklahoma City. Bring a dish of your favorite food, and your friends. We want to pack the house with supporters of Daniel!

OCC helped sponsor Daniel’s lead attorney, James M. Branum, in his case at Ft. Carson. OCC is supported by Joy MCC, Veterans for Peace, Oklahoma City Friends Meeting, Oklahoma Catholic Peace Fellowship and Tulsa Peace Fellowship.

The event is free, though we will gratefully accept donations so we may continue to provide legal support for Iraq war resisters and conscientious objectors seeking discharge from the military.

WHERE: Joy Mennonite Church, 504 NE 16th St, Oklahoma City, OK 73104

WHEN: Thursday, Jan. 22, 2009

SCHEDULE:

5 p.m. (press conference — if you can come for this to show support for any media attending, it would be great)

6 p.m. (potluck dinner)

6:30 p.m. (Daniel will speak and answer questions)

***

Handwritten statement by Daniel while in jail: http://centerforconscience.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/sandate_on_war.pdf

All sides should stop the violence and meet to work out a diplomatic and political compromise. But aggression, oppression, invasion, killing and wounding of civilians cannot be allowed and must be condemned.

Pray, if you pray. Contact your representatives, and especially President-Elect Obama. I’ll post analysis and action alerts later.

1.
Announcement: There will be a prayer vigil for peace in Gazaand the
world on Saturday evening, January 3, 2009, from 5-6 pm at the
Oklahoma Capitol building in Oklahoma City, OK. If you plan to attend,
you should bring blankets and a flash light, candles are not allowed.

Item 2:

CAIR-OK to Host Press Conference, Vigil for Middle East Peace

(OKLAHOMA CITY, OK – 12/31/08) ­ On Monday, January 5, the
Oklahomachapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-OK)
will hold apress conference and a “Peace Vigil for Gaza” at the state
Capitol building inOklahoma City.
Vigil participants will call on public officials to help stop Israeli
attacks onthe Gaza Strip, restore the cease-fire and promote peace
with justice in theMiddle East during the coming year.

WHAT: Press Conference on GazaWHEN: Monday, January 5, 2009, 11:30 a.m.
WHERE: Oklahoma State Capitol. 2300 N. Lincoln Blvd., Room 432 B.
OklahomaCity, OK

WHAT: Peace Vigil for GazaWHEN: Monday, January 5, 2009, Noon – 1 p.m.
(Please dress warmly and arriveby 11:30 a.m.)
WHERE: South Plaza of the Oklahoma State Capitol. 2300 N. Lincoln
Blvd.,Oklahoma City,
OKCONTACT: Razi Hashmi, CAIR-OK Executive Director,
405-415-6851,rhashmi@cair. com

Richard Falk, the UN special rapporteur for human rights in the
Palestinianterritories, told the BBC: “Israel is committing a shocking
series ofatrocities by using modern weaponry against a defenseless
population -attacking a population that has been enduring a severe
blockade for manymonths.”

SEE: Gaza Air Campaign ‘a First Stage’ (BBC)http://news. bbc.co.uk/
2/hi/middle_ east/7804218. stm east/7804218. stm>SEE ALSO: Family Mourns 5 Daughters as Civilian
Death Toll Mounts (Wash.Post)http://tinyurl. com/9ckcjo

CAIR, America’s largest Muslim civil liberties group, has 35 offices
andchapters nationwide and in Canada. Its mission is to enhance
understandingof Islam, encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties,
empower AmericanMuslims, and build coalitions that promote justice and
mutual understanding.

CONTACT: CAIR-OK Executive Director Razi Hashmi, E-Mail: rhashmi@cair.
com; CAIR-OK Chairperson Lobna Hewedi, E-Mail: lhewedi@cair. com

Razi HashmiExecutive DirectorCouncil on American-Islamic Relations
(CAIR)Oklahoma Chapter
CAIR National: http://www.cair. com

The following message comes from the attorney that works with Oklahoma Center for Conscience. He provides low-cost, and when possible through our support, no-cost legal services to active duty military seeking conscientious objector status and discharge.

We will shortly have a Paypal button on this site for easy donations using a credit/debit card. In the meantime, you can send a donation via Paypall using the address info - at - centerforconscience -dot- com. Note in the remarks field that your donation should be used for legal support.

For Joshua Key & Daniel Sandate

My name is James M. Branum. I am a solo-practice attorney working in the area of GI Rights law, meaning that I assist members of the U.S. military who want to be discharged early and/or who are facing a court-martial because of their acts of conscience while in the military.

I am working with the Oklahoma Center for Conscience (www.centerforconscience.org) to raise funds for two of my clients who are in serious situations and who are unable to pay for my expenses at time.

Donations can be made today at the OCC table of the OKC Peace Festival (just put your donations into the “Legal Support” bucket).

You can also donate later by sending a check or money order to: Oklahoma Center for Conscience, 504 NE 16th St., Oklahoma City, OK 73104.

The Case of Joshua Key – an Oklahoma Soldier who is seeking asylum status in Canada because of his refusal to return to Iraq

Joshua Key, was a poor kid from Guthrie, Oklahoma, who saw the U.S. army and its promised benefits — from free health care to career training — as the ticket to a better life. In 2002, not yet 24 but already married and the father of two, Key enlisted. He says his recruiting officer promised he’d never be deployed abroad, but a year later he was in Iraq.

Iraq was horrific experience which left him with a terrible case of PTSD (which he recounts in his book, The Deserter’s Tale: The account of an ordinary soldier who walked away from the war in Iraq), so when he came back home on leave, he knew he couldn’t go back. He and his family left Ft. Carson, Colorado and ended up living in their car in Philadelphia for about a year before they made their way to Canada. Since then, Joshua has been fighting in the Canadian Immigration system for the right to remain in Canada as an asylum seeker.

I have been asked to come to Canada to testify on Joshua’s behalf in January before the Canadian immigration courts as an expert witness on the subject of U.S. military law (I previously represented Robin Long, the first US soldier deported from Canada), but Joshua does not have the funds to pay my way up there.

I am asking Oklahomans to support one of our own by contributing to my travel expenses and time.

The Case of Daniel Sandate – a mentally ill US soldier facing a court-martial at Ft. Carson
I wanted to let everyone know about a case I am working on. The client will be pleading guilty to the charge of Desertion on Monday, November 17th at 1 p.m. at Ft. Carson, Colorado. I (along with an excellent attorney with the JAG’s trial defense services and local Colorado attorney Bill Durland) will be arguing to the court that Daniel Sandate should receive a lesser sentence due to his extreme mental health issues.

Daniel has asked me to share his story with the public. A longer version of this will be published at a later point, but this limited account is what Daniel has asked me to share at this time.

Daniel grew up with a horrific home life that is indescribable in nature, so understandably he grew up experiencing severe trauma and mental health issues. His adolescence and young adulthood were brutal but he hoped that joining the Army would give him a sense of purpose and a reason to live.

Sandate was a good soldier. He performed reasonably well in training and did ok in the Army until he deployed in Iraq. Like many soldiers, he was forced to see and participate in things that no human should ever have to go through. He came home from Iraq shook to the core and with a strong case of PTSD.

Daniel tried to get help from the Army but he was blown off, time and time again. His situation was quickly spiraling in a negative direction (he was very suicidal at this point, which was scary because he had tried to kill himself before even joining the Army), so when he met new friend online who lived in Canada, he thought it would be nice to take a break from the Army and hang out up there for awhile. He always wanted to come back at some point, but just needed a break and some time to recover his sanity.

However, while in Canada, Daniel was threatened severely by his old unit (he was even told by an NCO that he could be executed for going AWOL) so he ended up staying in Canada for several years.

While in Canada, he became very isolated and saw few people other than his girlfriend. When they broke up, things got really bad and he tried to kill himself. He was stopped (the police came after his downstairs neighbors reported blood dripping from their ceiling) and at first hospitalized and then later incarcerated. He was later released from jail but due to his suicidality he reported back to the police and told them he wanted to be deported to the US.

The Canadian authorities did take Daniel back into custody but wouldn’t release him due to their concerns over his safety, so Daniel called the US embassy and asked for their assistance. Daniel was then deported to the US, where he was immediately taken into custody and transported to Colorado. He has been sitting in the county jail in Colorado Springs ever since, and has been on suicide watch pretty much the whole time. Daniel is an intelligent, articulate man, but he is deeply troubled. Unfortunately the Army and the CJC (the county jail) have refused to give him the mental health care that he needs, so his mental health situation has declined.

For Daniel’s defense, I am raising funds to cover my expenses and those of Bill Durland’s (who has been invaluable to me as local counsel). At this point, we are short about $1000 of what is needed.

While in Crawford, I was introduced to an amazing musical duo, Pat Humphries and Sandy O, otherwise known as Emma’s Revolution. Their music is totally amazing, a blend of folk, pop, roots rock. The best way I can think to describe them is a mix of Pete Seeger and Sweet Honey and the Rock.

They seem to make it to every meaningful activist event, to offer their political support and musical contribution, which can raise the level of emotion and commitment to untold levels. I could go on, but you can read about them and all the events and projects they’ve been affiliated with, and all the accolades they’ve received, at their web site.

Because of their travels, their newsletter is a compendium of all the latest progressive political insider news. The latest issue is no exception. They just got back from the annual School of the Americas Watch demo at Ft. Benning, GA and here’s some of what they shared about the 19th (and hopefully last) SOA protest and its founder, Father Roy Bourgeois:

The weekend before Thanksgiving, we and 20,000 other folks gathered again outside the gates of Ft. Benning in Columbus, GA for the vigil to shut down the School of the Americas. Or, as activists call it, “The School of the Assassins.”

The SOA is a torture-training school-right here on US soil and funded by our tax dollars-where Latin America soldiers are taught counterinsurgency tactics, psychological warfare and Abu-Ghraib-style torture techniques. The School of the Americas Watch, a grassroots organization dedicated to closing the SOA and changing oppressive US foreign policy, has been holding these vigils for the past 18 years, the first one, with only 10 people. We wrote our song, “One by One” for this demonstration, which features spoken testimony from torture survivors, family members whose loved ones were killed by SOA graduates, the sole survivor of a massacre, elected officials, actors, and activists from around the world, all interspersed with the most music, spoken word and visual arts we’ve ever seen at a demonstration. (Thanks to Al Viola for this photo of the musicians’ collective at the 2007 Vigil!)

Sign the Petition to President- Elect Obama to End Torture and Close the SOA, and come next November!

Now, for the Pope part.

The Friday of this year’s vigil was also the day that SOAW founder, Fr. Roy Bourgeois, was to be excommunicated from the Catholic Church. Not for standing up to the military or to the US government, for that matter, but for participating in a Mass to ordain a woman priest.

Fr. Roy delivered the homily at that ceremony in August, saying:

“Sexism is a sin. . . The hierarchy will say, ‘It is the tradition of the church not to ordain women.’ I grew up in a small town in Louisiana and often heard, ‘It is the tradition of the South to have segregated schools.’ It was also ‘the tradition’ in our Catholic church to have the Black members seated in the last five pews of the church. No matter how hard we may try to justify discrimination, in the end, it is always wrong and immoral.”

In October, the church hierarchy sent Fr. Roy a letter demanding he recant his position or be excommunicated. But, Fr. Roy didn’t back down. He wrote a letter in response and he and others have pointed out the disturbing fact that, while it took the Vatican twelve years to begin to respond to the sexual abuse of nearly 5,000 children by US priests (with none of the priests, nor the bishops who remained silent about the abuse, being excommunicated) it took only three months for the Vatican to respond to Fr. Roy’s support of women’s ordination with the threat of excommunication.

(Did you know you can email the Pope? ) and the petitions are having an effect. We think the slogan of the Women’s Ordination Conference’s petition in support of Fr. Roy says it best:

“Break the Silence. Shatter the Stained Glass Ceiling.”

Emma’s Revolution will be playing at the Innaugural Peace Ball in DC on Jan. 20. But don’t plan on attending it unless you are one of the lucky 1000 who got tickets before it sold out in one day!

Their new album is called Roots, Rock, Revolution and you can listen and buy on the site. I’m ordering it and listening to their earlier album One while I wait for it to arrive.

Please be sure to sign the petition asking Obama to close the SOA using the linked image below.

Oh, and I’ll try to find my photos of Pat and Sandy from Crawford to add to this post.

Candace Richardson was one of the hardest workers for Obama in Oklahoma. Like many of us progressives, she’s a little concerned about what caused Oklahoma to buck the trend and move to the Right instead of the Left in the election.

She’s put out a call for others to join her in making some changes in the base of the Oklahoma Democratic Party.

On December 11, 2008, at 5:30pm, we will have a brief meeting in Oklahoma City at the upstairs conference room of Java Daves, 10 NE 10th (just west of the Broadway Extension on 10th St). It is time to stand up for our Democratic values. It is time to move this party in a new direction.

We invite you to join us and continue to work for change. Channel your hope, because WE KNOW what can be accomplished when people come together united by a common goal! Email me at crich1254 -at- yahoo -dot- com [altered for privacy] for more information and to RSVP for Dec. 11th.

And, yes, I know that if you are a conservative Republican, you are just cool about Oklahoma not voting for Obama and being the regressive joke of an America that is moving on and upward with or without us. We get it, really; you don’t have to explain it to us again here.