Monthly Archive

One of the highlights of last weekend’s celebration at Fort Drum included IVAW’s confrontation with Fort Drum’s Colonel Riddle. They demanded answers and his time to discuss the current veteran healthcare crisis and in particular that of the area. As Watertown, NY held their Armed Forces day parade, members of IVAW, VVAW, Veterans for Peace, and veterans from other past wars waited for it to be over to speak with him. His response could not have been any colder and its all been captured on video.

First Video is of IVAW confronting Colonel Riddle. The Second video is of IVAW members speaking in front of the news media and independent media.

Videos by Adriano Contreras

Confrontation

Speaking with the Media

For more info about Iraq Veterans Against the War visit IVAW.org

For more info on the two Iraq Vets being interviewed visit Rochester IVAW

This currently serving member of the military speaks of his healthcare horrors and some of his experiences. This is video we shot this past weekend and this is his first time speaking out. He is a member of Iraq Veterans Against the War.

Video by Adriano Contreras. Interview by Brian Lenzo.

For more information on Iraq Veterans Against the War visit, IVAW.org

In the coming days, I’ll have some exclusive interviews of members involved with Iraq Veterans Against the War and their supporters. The series of interviews were taped the weekend of May 16, 2008 when a March to Fort Drum, NY culminated in a festival in support of soldiers and their families. More details to come along with video footage of what took place… stay tuned.

Here’s the first of those videos. This is Bryan Casler a former US Marine and member of Iraq Veterans Against the War in Rochester, New York.

Video by Adriano Contreras. Interview by Brian Lenzo.

 

For more videos of Bryan’s testimonies check out the videos of him at the IVAW Winter Soldier this past March:

Part One

Part Two

Visit IVAW.org

From the IVAW Website:

IVAW member Matthis Chiroux announces his refusal to deploy to Iraq

Sgt. Matthis Chiroux, who served in the Army until being honorably discharged last summer after over four years of service in Afghanistan, Japan, Europe and the Phillipines, today publicly announced his intention to refuse orders to deploy to Iraq.

Sgt. Chiroux made made his announcement in the Cannon House Office Building Rotunda after members of Iraq Veterans Against the War testified before the Congressional Progressive Caucus during Winter Soldier on the Hill.

Sgt. Chiroux made the following statement to the press:

Good afternoon. My name is Sgt. Matthis Chiroux, and I served in the Army as a Photojournalist until being honorably discharged last summer after over four years of service in Afghanistan, Japan, Europe and the Phillipines. As an Army journalist whose job it was to collect and filter servicemember’s stories, I heard many stomach-churning testimonies of the horrors and crimes taking place in Iraq. For fear of retaliation from the military, I failed to report these crimes, but never again will I allow fear to silence me. Never again will I fail to stand.

In February, I received a letter from the Army ordering my return to active duty, for the purpose of mobilization for Operation Iraqi Freedom. Thanks in great part to the truths of war being fearlessly spoken by my fellow IVAW members, I stand before you today with the strength, clarity and resolve to declare to the military and the world that this Soldier will not be deploying to Iraq.

This occupation is unconstitutional and illegal and I hereby lawfully refuse to participate as I will surely be a party to war crimes. Furthermore, deployment in support of illegal war violates all of my core values as a human being, but in keeping with those values, I choose to remain in the United States to defend myself from charges brought by the Army if they so wish to pursue them. I refuse to participate in the occupation of Iraq.

To donate to IVAW’s Legal Fund to support Matthis and other servicemembers who are refusing to support the occupation of Iraq, use our online donation form and select “Legal Fund” under special projects.

If you would like to send a message of support to Sgt Matthis Chiroux, email thankyoumatthis@ivaw.org.

Adrienne Kinne Speaks Out

Check out this exclusive video interview and/or transcript on Democracy Now!, where Adrienne Kinne of Iraq Veterans Against the War details her experience as an intelligence officer.

http://www.democracynow.org/2008/5/13/fmr_military_intelligence_officer_reveals_us

When I first started the Sitch it aimed to just be a blog about whatever I wanted to talk about when I sat at the computer. Slowly I began to think about what I wanted to write about, so that when I got to the computer I can nail some solid reviews, critiques or whatever. My biggest realization, which should have just been a duh!, was that the Sitch was an opportunity to give voice to student activism and radical politics. I’m sure there are plenty of radical blogs out there but so few are devoted to student activism and even fewer to the politics I hold.

It was nice to see month-to-month growth. February saw my biggest day at 17 views!!! It was exciting. March came around and my biggest day was 23 views!! Fantastic. Then April hits and the Campus Antiwar Network East Coast Conference introduced so many new readers. April 8th was my biggest day ever… about 180 views. Today, the Sitch reached 1,000 views. In the last 6 weeks, of those 1,000, 700 people visited the Sitch.

I encourage people who do read the Sitch to give feedback and make comments on posts. The best way to keep this thing alive and interesting is to have some discussion on here. Tell other people about the Sitch. Keeping reading and if you haven’t done so already subscribe to the RSS feed of this blog.

Happy statistics aside, there are 1.2 million Iraqis dead and dying. 4,000+ soldiers dead and dying. Millions of Iraqis displaced. Millions around the world in starvation and dealing with the rise of food costs. Israel continues to hammer the Palestinians. At home, 50 bullets murdering an innocent isn’t enough to punish someone if you’re an arm of the government (NYPD). The Left in Latin America is growing, but so is the agenda of the US to destroy it. $126 for a barrel of oil. $4.00+ for a gallon of gas. Afghanistan is still occupied. The environment is shit and the biggest polluter in the world (us) isn’t doing jack shit about it. Obama, Hillary, McCain are offering the same if not better ways to keep the rich richer and the rest of us dying and broke.

We have a lot of work to do.

No justice. No peace.

Bill O’Reilly is an Asshole on FunnyOrDie.com

Update:

You know after posting this video I felt like watching other videos of O’Reilly. And if you surf YouTube you’ll find countless videos of O’Reilly’s logic and ideology being dismantled by the number of other shows he goes on and believes he’ll have the upper hand. Fox News, yes, is the worst of the corporate media outlets mainly because its the one that actually fabricates news and perpetuates ridiculous ideas that were no where close to their original meaning.

If you’d like to see one I thought was sweet, check out this one where David Letterman just sizes up O’Reilly in the end:

Yes I love super-hero movies. However I’m very picky with throwing around the word love. Batman Begins… loved. V for Vendetta… loved. X-Men 2… loved. Iron Man… loved.

Iron Man came out this Friday May 2nd, and it was actually a good movie. The trailer was less than stellar but the reviews for the film were drawing some nice comparisons, notably with Batman Begins. By no means is it of the caliber of Christopher Nolan’s reinvention of the dark knight, but it does stand on its own as a film with a good origin story, tight acting, and really flawless CGI.

I don’t want to give much away, but one of the contemporary issues the movie covers is war profiteering. Also stick around till the end of the credits. It is totally worth it if you understand your Marvel comics.

Highly recommended.

There’s no doubt in my mind that a person is entitled to determine where he or she ends up. This freedom to control one’s own destiny and make choices is what people in Iraq are fighting for everyday. When it comes to long term relationships (I know, what a jump), our culture has limited the ability for us to think that this idea of self-determination or actualization applies. In our society relationships are forged and come apart all the time. What I think is significantly interesting is this idea of investment and returns. A capitalist approach to relationships, that frankly is engraved in most of our heads based on the ideas of what a relationship should look like. Perhaps this is true for people, that they mutually agree on this idea of investments and return.

By investments and returns, the idea is that if you invest time, energy, or even resources into a relationship you should see some sort of reciprocal investment, or return. However, how do you deal with moments of conflict of interests? Does the investments/returns thing fail? Is it not significant? Yes and no. Of course if you mutually agree on something like monogamous relations or that what one puts into it should be mutually met, then you have your set of rules to go by. If from the beginning the idea is that relations are open to varying individuals, well… actually I don’t know what that would be like at all.

It usually gets to a point depending on the person and their needs, that requires them to either look else where or determine for themselves what’s really at stake. Is the investment made worth it? What are you getting out of it? Will it last and why should it? I mean these are just a few questions, but I’m sure depending on the couple the questions can be anything. So what do you do then? Investing in something gives you the idea that you own it. But no one really owns a person. People are free. They are free to be and do what they’d like. Of course, again, you determine a system of values and rules for yourself but eventually that systems needs to be checked.

So its during this system check up where things enter this stage of limbo. What if the way things have been working aren’t sufficient? All sorts of questions about how the relationship has been functioning enters the brain. What happens to this idea of love? Can you love someone and still need someone else? It seems far fetched. We have specific terms for that… slut, whore, player, and all sorts of others. How, as the person who is having to take a step back to allow for the other to determine their needs, does one deal with that? What if love is involved? Can love be sidelined?

Ultimately there’s nothing one can really do but sit around and wait. The reality is that fighting a decision that another makes based on their needs to better understand themselves is a lost battle. A person does not own the mind of another. A person cannot possibly understand or meet all the needs of another. One can only hope that at the end of the day, the investment is considered. That it is worth it. That it is worth fighting for and sticking to. That the cost of reinvesting in someone else would not be cost-effective, because with life there are no refunds.

May Day, celebrated on May 1st around the world is a celebration of worker’s rights and stems from the United States working class of the 19th century. They fought for shorter hours, most notably the 8 hour day, and this struggle sparked movements around the world in which workers demanded from their employers. Unfortunately the United States chooses to ignore May Day unlike the rest of the world. Today thousands march across the country for immigrant rights…some of the hardest working people in this country. And most notably the workers controlling the ports of Iraq, whom today issued a shut down of a number of ports in solidarity with a US labor union that was doing the same on the West Coast. Below is an email circulating in which the Iraqi workers union issued a statement of solidarity with the union in the US.

April 28, 2008

BREAKING NEWS: Members of the Port Workers Union of Iraq plan to shutdown the ports of Umm Qasr and Khor Alzubair for one hour on May Day in solidarity with the shutdown of all West Coast ports by members of ILWU in opposition to the occupation of Iraq.

The second message is a May Day greeting from a broad cross-section of union leaders from many different unions and labor federations in Iraq as an expression of their appreciation for the solidarity demonstrated by organized labor, working people and all peace-loving people of the world in support of their efforts to end the foreign occupation of Iraq and the sectarian violence that occupation has spawned.

[This statement continues to be circulated in Iraq and as additional signers become known, their names will be added to the copy posted on the USLAW website.]

May Day Message

From: The General Union of Port Workers in Iraq

To: The International Longshore and Warehouse Union in the United States

Dear Brothers and Sisters of ILWU in California:

The courageous decision you made to carry out a strike on May Day to protest against the war and occupation of Iraq advances our struggle against occupation to bring a better future for us and for the rest of the world as well.

We are certain that a better world will only be created by the workers and what you are doing is an example and proof of what we say. The labor movement is the only element in the society that is able to change the political equations for the benefit of mankind. We in Iraq are looking up to you and support you until the victory over the US administration’s barbarism is achieved.

Over the past five years the sectarian gangs who are the product of the occupation, have been trying to transfer their conflicts into our ranks. Targeting workers, including their residential and shopping areas, indiscriminately using all sorts of explosive devices, mortar shells, and random shooting, were part of a bigger scheme that was aiming to tear up the society but they miserably failed to achieve their hellish goal. We are struggling today to defeat both the occupation and sectarian militias’ agenda.

The pro-occupation government has been attempting to intervene into the workers affairs by imposing a single government-certified labor union. Furthermore it has been promoting privatization and an oil and gas law to use the occupation against the interests of the workers.

We the port workers view that our interests are inseparable from the interests of workers in Iraq and the world; therefore we are determined to continue our struggle to improve the living conditions of the workers and overpower all plots of the occupation, its economic and political projects.

Let us hold hands for the victory of our struggle.

Long live the port workers in California!

Long live May Day!

Long live International solidarity!

The General Union of Port Workers in Iraq An Affiliate Union with General Federation of Workers Councils and Unions in Iraq (GFWCUI)

28-4-2008 EMPHASIS ADDED

May Day 2008 Statement

From: The Iraqi Labour Movement

To: The Workers and All Peace Loving People of the World

On this day of international labour solidarity we call on our fellow trade unionists and all those worldwide who have stood against war and occupation to increase support for our struggle for freedom from occupation - both the military and economic.

We call upon the governments, corporations and institutions behind the ongoing occupation of Iraq to respond to our demands for real democracy, true sovereignty and self-determination free of all foreign interference.

Five years of invasion, war and occupation have brought nothing but death, destruction, misery and suffering to our people. In the name of our “liberation,” the invaders have destroyed our nation’s infrastructure, bombed our neighbourhoods, broken into our homes, traumatized our children, assaulted and arrested many of our family members and neighbours, permitted the looting of our national treasures, and turned nearly twenty percent of our people into refugees.

The invaders helped to foment and then exploit sectarian divisions and terror attacks where there had been none. Our union offices have been raided. Union property has been seized and destroyed. Our bank accounts have been frozen. Our leaders have been beaten, arrested, abducted and assassinated. Our rights as workers have been routinely violated.

The Ba’athist legislation of 1987, which banned trade unions in the public sector and public enterprises (80% of all workers), is still in effect, enforced by Paul Bremer’s post-invasion Occupation Authority and then by all subsequent Iraqi administrations. This is an attack on our rights and basic precepts of a democratic society, and is a grim reminder of the shadow of dictatorship still stalking our country.

Despite the horrific conditions in our country, we continue to organise and protest against the occupation, against workplaces abuses, and for better treatment and safer conditions.

Despite the sectarian plots around us, we believe in unity and solidarity and a common aim of public service, equality, and freedom to organise without external intrusions and coercion.

Our legitimacy comes from our members. Our principles of organisation are based on transparent and internationally recognised International Labour Organisation standards.

We call upon our allies and all the world’s peace-loving peoples to help us to end the nightmare of occupation and restore our sovereignty and national independence so that we can chart our own course to the future.

1) We demand an immediate withdrawal of all foreign troops from our country, and utterly reject the agreement being negotiated with the USA for long-term bases and a military presence. The continued occupation fuels the violence in Iraq rather than alleviating it. Iraq must be returned to full sovereignty.
2) We demand the passage of a labour law promised by our Constitution, which adheres to ILO principles and on which Iraqi trade unionists have been fully consulted, to protect the rights of workers to organize, bargain and strike, independent of state control and interference.

3) We demand an end to meddling in our sovereign economic affairs by the International Monetary Fund, USA and UK. We demand withdrawal of all economic conditionalities attached to the IMF’s agreements with Iraq, removal of US and UK economic “advisers” from the corridors of Iraqi government, and a recognition by those bodies that no major economic decisions concerning our services and resources can be made while foreign troops occupy the country.

4) We demand that the US government and others immediately cease lobbying for the oil law, which would fracture the country and hand control over our oil to multinational companies like Exxon, BP and Shell. We demand that all oil companies be prevented from entering into any long-term agreement concerning oil while Iraq remains occupied. We demand that the Iraqi government tear up the current draft of the oil law, and begin to develop a legitimate oil policy based on full and genuine consultation with the Iraqi people. Only after all occupation forces are gone should a long term plan for the development of our oil resources be adopted.

We seek your support and solidarity to help us end the military and economic occupation of our country. We ask for your solidarity for our right to organise and strike in defence of our interests as workers and of our public services and resources. Our public services are the legacy of generations before us and the inheritance of all future generations and must not be privatised.

We thank you for standing by us. We too stand with you in your own struggles for real democracy which we know you also struggle for, and against privatisation, exploitation and daily disempowerment in your workplaces and lives.

We commend those of you who have organised strikes and demonstrations to end the occupation in solidarity with us and we hope these actions will continue.

We look forward to the day when we have a world based on co-operation and solidarity. We look forward to a world free from war, sectarianism, competition and exploitation.

Endorsed by:

Hassan Juma’a Awad, President, Iraqi Federation of Oil Unions (IFOU)
Faleh Abood Umara, Deputy, Central Council, Iraqi Federation of Oil Unions (IFOU)
Falah Alwan, President, Federation of Workers Councils and Unions in Iraq (FWCUI)
Subhi Albadri, President, General Federation of Workers Councils and Unions in Iraq (GFWCUI)
Nathim Rathi, President, Iraqi Port Workers Trade Union
Samir Almuawi, President, Engineering Professionals Trade Union
Ghzi Mushatat, President, Mechanic and Print Shop Trade Union
Waleed Alamiri, President, Electricity Trade Union
Ilham Talabani, President, Banking Services Trade Union
Abdullah Ubaid, President, Railway Trade Union Ammar Ali, President, Transportation Trade Union
Abdalzahra Abdilhassan, President, Service Employees Trade Union
Sundus Sabeeh, President, Barber Shop Workers Trade Union
Kareem Lefta Sindan, President, Lumber and Construction Trade Union, General Federation of Iraqi Workers (GFIW)
Sabah Almusawi, President, Wasit Independent Trade Union
Shakir Hameed, President, Lumber And Construction Trade Union (GFWCUI)
Awad Ahmed, President, Teachers Federation of Salahideen Alaa
Ghazi Mushatat, President, Agricultural And Food Substance Industries Adnan
Rathi Shakir, President, Water Resources Trade Union
Nahrawan Yas, President, Woman Affairs Bureau
Sabah Alyasiri, President (GFWCUI) Babil
Ali Tahi, President (GFWCUI)
Najaf Ali Abbas, President (GFWCUI) Basra
Muhi Abdalhussien, President (GFWCUI), Wasit
Ali Hashim Abdilhussien, President (GFWCUI) Kerbala
Ali Hussien, President (GFWCUI) Anbar
Mustafa Ameen, President, Arab Workers Bureau (GFWCUI)
Thameer Mzeail, Health Services, Union Committee
Khadija Saeed Abdullah, Teachers Federation, Member
Asmahan, Khudair, Woman Affairs, Textile Trade Unions Adil
Aljabiri, Oil Workers Trade Union Executive Bureau Member
Muhi Abdalhussien, Nadia Flaih, Service Employees Trade Unions
Rawneq Mohammed, Member, Media and Print Shop Trade Union
Abdlakareem Abdalsada, Vice President (GFWCUI)
Saeed Nima, Vice President (GFWCUI)
Sabri Abdalkareem, Member, (GFWCUI) Babil
Amjad Aljawhary, Representative of GFWCUI in North America

The power to progressive and radical change for the benefit of human need and not profit lies in the hands of the working class. Today, the world and I celebrate in solidarity!

No justice. No Peace. US Out of the Middle East!

A month ago I wrote a report on here about the East Coast Campus Antiwar Network Conference. It got some positive buzz so I decided to submit it to Socialist Worker newspaper. It’s a newspaper I read on a weekly basis that publishes radical and revolutionary left and socialist commentary and analysis of different struggles across the globe. The newspaper is published by the International Socialist Organization. In an effort to expand its audience and provide a daily, rather than weekly, radical coverage of current events, the Socialist Worker website has been fully revamped and the newspaper will live on a bi-weekly schedule. My refined report of the conference can be found on the new website under Activist News. Check out the website.

Socialist Worker - newspaper of the International Socialist Organization (ISO)