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Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Wednesday,
August 13, 2008. Chaos and violence continue, Miss Iraq calls out the
sex trade, Jeremy Hinzman is told he's leaving, the US military
announces another death leading August's death toll so far to surpass
July's, and more. Yet
the arrival of Iraq War soldiers seeking refuge in Canada didn't sit
well with officials. Army Specialist Jeremy Hinzman's case was the
first to be adjudicated, after he became the first U.S. war resister
ever to apply for refugee status in Canada. The Immigriation and
Refugee Board denied his claim; appeals may drag on for years. While
his case is pending, Canada allows him to stay in the country and
provides him with a temporary work permit. The ruling from the Refugee
Protection Division of CIC insists Hinzman failed to mmake a case that
the Iraq War was illegal: "He has not shown that the U.S. has either as
a matter of deliberate policy or official indiffernce, required or
allowed its combatants to engage in widespread actions in violation of
humanitarian law." A veteran of the U.S.
action in Afghanistan, Hinzman took his wife and baby to Canada when he
received orders at Fort Bragg for a tour of duty in Iraq. "No matter
how much I wanted to, I could not convince myself that killing someone
was right," he said once he surfaced in Toronto. Hinzman had applied
to be discharged as a conscientious objector, requested noncombat
duties, and spent much of his time in Afghanistan performing kitchen
chores. His CO application was rejected after a hearing in
Afghanistan. Back in the States, when his orders for Iraq came,
Hinzman felt he had only two choices: disobey tem and risk prison, or
flee the country. Prison was not an
option. "I have already missed a large chunk of my young son's life
and I was willing to sacrifice any more lost time with him, especially
during his formative years," he said. Canada looked like a good bet,
given its policies toward deserters during the Vietnam War. Hinzman
expressed no regrets about his decision and is convince the Iraq War is
illegal.
"I object to the Iraqi war," he announced, "because it
is an act of aggression with no defensive basis. It has been supported
by pretenses that cannot withstand even elementary scrutiny. First,
before the U.S. dropped the first bomb, it was quite evident that Iraq
had no weapons of mass destruction. Second, the Bush administration
had the gall to exploit the American public's fear of terrorists by
making the absurd assertion that a secular Batthist government was
working with a fundamentalist terrorist group. There was nevery any
intelligence to substantiate this. Third, the notion that the U.S.
wants to export democracy to Iraq is laughable. Democracy is by the
people, not an appointed puppet theater." Peter
Laufer's book was published in 2006 and you might think the shelves
have filled up in the time since but you'd be wrong. A few war
resisters have movingly told their stories in book form and you have
Aimee Allison and David Solnit's wonderful Army Of None but that's really about all. Jeremy became a news topic in May 2004. May 26, 2004 was when CBS News noted,
"A U.S. soldier who deserted his Iraq-bound regiment and sought asylum
in Canada said the U.S. war in Iraq was illegal and he accused the
United States of committing war crimes. Pfc. Jeremy Hinzman, 25, is
believed to be the first U.S. soldier to apply for refugee status in
Canada after refusing combat duty in Iraq." In December of 2004, Jeremy told Scott Pelley (60 Minutes II, CBS),
"I was told in basic training that, if I'm given an illegal or immoral
order, it is my duty to disobey it." As to the myth of 'freedom' being
fought for in Iraq, Hinzman declared, "Whether a country lives under
freedom or tyranny or whatever else, that's the collective
responsibility of the people of that country." The day started with Michael Futch (Fayetteville Observer) reporting
that a decision was expected in Jeremy's status and that Fayetteville
Quaker House director Chuck Fager was at work make signs for a planned
demonstration supporting Hinzman -- "Shame, Canada, shame!" if the news
was bad or "Thanks Canada! Jeremy Hinzman: Soldier of Conscience" if
the news was good. Futch quotes Fager this afternoon explaining,
"This is a very disappointing decision. It puts Canada more fully in
complicity with an illegal and immoral war. Jeremy will probably end
up back here at Fort Bragg. That's usually what happens." Futch also
notes Hinzman and Nga added a daughter to their family in July, "Megan,
who has Canadian citizenship." U.S.
Iraq war resister Jeremy Hinzman was told today that his family's
application to stay in Canada has been rejected. Hinzman was told that
he does not qualify under Canada's Pre-Removal Risk Assessment (PRRA)
program following a review by a Citizenship and Immigration department
officer. Jeremy, his wife Nga Nguyen
and their son Liam were the first Iraq War resisters to come to Canada
to seek sanctuary. On July 21, their second child was born in
Toronto. If deported, they would be the first family sent to the U.S.
to face punishment. On July 15, the
Canadian government deported U.S. war resister Robin Long who is
currently awaiting court martial at Fort Carson, Colorado. Hinzman
served a tour in Afghanistan in a non-combat role after applying for
conscientious objector status. When his unit, the 82 Airborne
Division, was to be deployed to Iraq Hinzman and his family decided to
come to Canada. "I applied for
Conscientious Objector Status in the U.S. Army because I realized that
I cannot kill a fellow humna being. But my application was denied. I
knew that in Iraq I would be ordered to take part in combat operations,
or other actions that are against my principles," said Hinzman. "Nga
and I knew Canada had welcomed many Americans like us during the
Vietnam War, and we knew Canada had refused to join the invasion of
Iraq." "Sending Jeremy and his family
back to the U.S., where he would face harsh punishment, would be
cruel," said Lee Zaslofsky, coordinator of the War Resisters Support
Campaign. "It would fly in the face of the motion adopted by the House
of Commons on June 3, which called on the Harper government to stop all
deportation proceedings against these conscientious objectors." Recent
Federal Court of Canada decisions in the case of U.S. war resisters
Joshua Key and Corey Glass have indicated that the refugee process
which failed to grant protection to the Hinzman family may have been
seriously flawed. The War Resisters
Support Campaign is calling on the federal government and the Hon.
Diane Finley, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, to intervene to
prevent the Hinzman family from being sent to the U.S. to be punished. Nick Kyonka (Toronto Star) reports,
"Jeremy Hinzman, 29, had filed for a pre-removal risk assessment and
permanent residency on humanitarian and compassionate grounds with
Citizenship and Immigration Canada in January after several prior
failed attempts to gain refugee status. Today he was told that both of
those applications had been rejected and he must leave the country by
Sept. 23." Kyonka quotes Jeremy stating, "Obviously we're disappointed
but life goes on and we'll make the most of it wherever we end up." AP quotes
him stating, "I'm disappointed but I think that every soldier that has
refused to fight in Iraq has done a good thing and I'm not ashamed." Meagan Fitzpatrick (Canwest News Service) adds
that War Resisters Support Campaign's Michelle "Robidoux said Hinzman,
who lives in Toronto with his wife and two children, plans to take a
close look at the decisions before deciding how to proceed." The Canadian Press notes:
"Federal NDP Citizenship and Immigration Critic Olivia Chow, who put
foward the June [3rd Parliament] motion, called the decision [to expell
Jeremy] 'mean spirited.' She called on Citizenship and Immigration
Minister Diane Finley to hald the deporation of Hinzman and other
resisters immediately." Jeremy Hinzman and other war resisters in Canada need support and to pressure the Stephen Harper government to honor the House of Commons vote, Gerry Condon, War Resisters Support Campaign and Courage to Resist
all encourage contacting the Diane Finley (Minister of Citizenship and
Immigration -- 613.996.4974, phone; 613.996.9749, fax; e-mail finley.d@parl.gc.ca -- that's "finley.d" at "parl.gc.ca") and Stephen Harper (Prime Minister, 613.992.4211, phone; 613.941.6900, fax; e-mail pm@pm.gc.ca -- that's "pm" at "pm.gc.ca"). Courage to Resist collected more than 10,000 letters to send before the vote. Now they've started a new letter you can use online here. The War Resisters Support Campaign's petition can be found here.
Long expulsion does not change the need for action and the War
Resisters Support Campaign explains: "The War Resisters Support
Campaign is calling on supporters across Canada to urgently continue to
put pressure on the minority conservative government to immediately
cease deportation proceedings against other US war resisters and to
respect the will of Canadians and their elected representatives by
implementing the motion adopted by Parliament on June 3rd. Please see
the take action page for what you can do." There
is a growing movement of resistance within the US military which
includes Yovany Rivero, William Shearer, Michael Thurman, Andrei
Hurancyk, Megan Bean, Chris Bean, Matthis Chiroux, Richard Droste,
Michael Barnes, Matt Mishler, Josh Randall, Robby Keller, Justiniano
Rodrigues, Chuck Wiley, James Stepp, Rodney Watson, Michael Espinal,
Matthew Lowell, Derek Hess, Diedra Cobb, Brad McCall, Justin Cliburn,
Timothy Richard, Robert Weiss, Phil McDowell, Steve Yoczik, Ross
Spears, Peter Brown, Bethany "Skylar" James, Zamesha Dominique,
Chrisopther Scott Magaoay, Jared Hood, James Burmeister, Jose Vasquez,
Eli Israel, Joshua Key, Ehren Watada,
Terri Johnson, Clara Gomez, Luke Kamunen, Leif Kamunen, Leo Kamunen,
Camilo Mejia, Kimberly Rivera, Dean Walcott, Linjamin Mull, Agustin Aguayo, Justin Colby, Marc Train, Abdullah Webster, Robert Zabala, Darrell Anderson, Kyle Snyder, Corey Glass, Jeremy Hinzman,
Kevin Lee, Mark Wilkerson, Patrick Hart, Ricky Clousing, Ivan Brobeck,
Aidan Delgado, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Stephen Funk, Blake LeMoine,
Clifton Hicks, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey,
Logan Laituri, Jason Marek, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Joshua
Casteel, Katherine Jashinski, Dale Bartell, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell,
Jimmy Massey, Chris Capps, Tim Richard, Hart Viges, Michael Blake,
Christopher Mogwai, Christian Kjar, Kyle Huwer, Wilfredo Torres,
Michael Sudbury, Ghanim Khalil, Vincent La Volpa, DeShawn Reed and
Kevin Benderman. In total, at least fifty US war resisters in Canada
have applied for asylum. Crispin Thorold (BBC News) notes
King Abdullah II of Jordan's brief ("symoblic") visit to Iraq on Monday
and notes an estimated 750,000 Iraqi refugees in Jordan and that "these
refugees have an uncertain status. They are referred to as guests, not
refugees and year-long residency permits are hard to obtain. The vast
majority were granted short stays in the country, which since 2005 have
become virtually impossible to renew. Without official paperwork the
refugees are not allowed to work." Meanwhile Suki Falconberg (Women's Space) reports
on Iraqi female refugees in Syrica "are being sold for sex. There is a
large sex trade in young Iraqi girls in the nighclubs of Damascus.
Fourteen-and fifteen-year-olds -- literally girls -- not even women
yet, and even children, are being sold" and quotes Myra Adel, Miss
Iraq, explaining why her pagaent days are done, "They have been great
to me but I will no longer be involved with the Pageant, due to the
fact that I really couldn't take it when I saw all those refugees in
Syria being mistreated . . . seing these people suffer made me ashamed.
. . . I don't deserve to live in a classy apartment while other women
are selling themselves. . . . What kind of sick demented human being
would want to have sex with a 10-year-old?" Falconberg notes: She
says that the "annual government budget in Iraq exceeds 70 billion US
dollars. Where is that money going? Power cuts are long, people get
electricity for only an hour or two a day...water is cut off as well."
She would like to see some of the money going to fund the Iraqi women
and girls in Syria who are so desperate they must sell themselves to
survive. Ms. Adel brings up a great question--to repeat it--where is
the money in Iraq going? Is US and Iraqi corruption, combined, so
overwhelming that a few are getting enormously rich and the majority of
Iraqis are suffering terrible hardships, and in the case of the subject
of this article, the women in prostitution, those hardships mean bodies
and lives that will be nightmares forever from this degradation. Where does the money go? Why is the puppet allowed to sit on so much money? He can spend it on weapons (and does). Today Ernesto Londono (Washington Post) covers
the efforts to build Iraq's air force and notes, "U.S. lawmakers
appropriated $8.5 billion to train and equip Iraq's security forces in
2007 and 2008. Of that sum, roughly $457 million went to the Iraqi air
force." So the US is tossing out more money to prop up the brutal
puppet regime they installed. And who is helping the Iraqi peole? Myra Adel places blame at the United Nations High Commission for Refugees as well. Meanwhile Bernd Debusmann (Reuters) reports
that the tiny US target of accepting 12,000 Iraqi refugees for 2008
will be met by September 30 (end of fiscal year) but "[t]he bad news is
that 12,000 people represent a tiny fraction of the vast exodus of
Iraqis driven from their homes by the violence and ethnic cleansing
unleashed by the 2003 U.S. invasion. Estimates of their number vary.
The widely used figure of 5 million is about one in five. To get that
into context: relative to the size of the population, it would equal
the forced displacement of almost 60 million Americans." This comes as
Zvi Bare'el (Haaretz) reports
that Europe is no longer welcoming Iraqi refugees, "At the end of July,
European countries decided to halt the processing of accepting new
refugees and to postpone until September discussions about those who
submitted their requests for refugee status. The decision does not
stem only from concern over the growth in the number of Iraqis in
Europe and an increase in the 'Muslim element' on the continent, but
primarily against the backdrop of Iraqi Preime Minister Nuri al-Mliki's
request to stop absorbing refugees. Al-Maliki explained to European
heads of state and interior ministers he met with that the situation in
Iraq has improved and Iraq needs its refugees in order to rebuild the
state." What the puppet of the occupation, Nouri, really means is that
the refugee crisis makes it so very hard to sell that "turned corner"
nonsense and launch another wave of Operation Happy Talk. In November,
he preyed on the helpless -- helpless due to his own actions and his
own inactions -- and tried (with the help of the US government) to
jump-start The Myth of the Great Return.
Those refugees were not thrilled and eager to return to Iraq. They had
run out of money, they were bussed in and, upon arriving in Baghdad, a
number immediately were confronted with physical threats. Using the
same techniques as then, this week 250 Iraqis returned. al-Maliki
begged and whined to the Egyptian government that these pesky refugees
were just making him look so very, very bad. Couldn't they do Nouri a
solid? Help a puppet out? The refugees were near broke and that
combined with pressure from the Egyptian government created the
'returnees'. Possibly due to the strong work of Damien Cave and Cara
Buckley (New York Times) when the Myth of the Great Return was still
going on previously, the press was far less eager to hop on boogie
board and ride the latest wave of Operation Happy Talk. Equally true
is that NGOs continue to state that Iraq is not a safe region for
refugees to return to. Near Kirkuk today there's been an assassination attempt. Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) reports,
"The district commissioner of al Multaqa district abdul Kareem Ali
Nasif and three of his guards were wounded by a suicide car bomb that
targeted the convoy of Nasif while he was going to his office district
in al Multaqa district west of Kirkuk early morning." This continues a
long line of attacks on officials. It also continues a long line of
attacks on US collaborators. Aws Qusay (Reuters) reports
that "Abdul Karim al-Jubouri . . . also leads pro-U.S. security vonteer
forces in the area, was wounded along with three bodyguards." Most
recently, yesterday, Sahar Issa (McClatchy Newspapers) reported
a Baghdad roadside bombing that wounded three, a Diyala Province
assassination attempt on the Governor via a bomber who took his/her own
life apparently as well the lives of 3 civilians (seven people were
left wounded). Tina Susman (Los Angeles Times) reports
that Monday's bomber was "a man dressed as a woman" and she quotes Raad
Tamimi (the governor) explaining that, "He tried to head towards us but
we were careful, because suicidal attackers are common in Diyala." Turning to some of today's reported violence . . . Bombings? Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) reports
a Baghdad roadside bombing claimed 1 life, a Nineveh car bombing
claimed 2 lives (seven people wounded), a Mosul bombing left two people
wounded, another Mosul bombing ("suicide bomb") claimed the life of the
bomber and the lives of 2 Iraqi service members (sixteen people were
wounded), a Diyala Province roadside bombing claimed the life of 1
woman and left two more wounded, and another Diyala Province bombing
claimed the lives of 2 Iraqi police officers ("national police"). Shootings?
Corpses? Today the US military announced:
"A Multi-National Division - Baghdad Soldier and an Iraqi interpreter
were killed when the vehicle they were riding in was struck by an
improvised-explosive device in northwest Baghdad at approximately 10:10
a.m. Aug. 13." With that announced death, the month of August (not even
half over) has already passed the month of July for most US
fatalities. The monthly toll thus far is 14 with 4141 the number killed since the start of the illegal war. Non
Iraq related but also on the topic of immigration and refugees and the
way governments mistreat those most in need of help. Independent journalist David Bacon reports.
"Maria Rosala Mejia Mqarroquin and Anacleta Tajtaj, Guatemalan
immigrants, were arrested in an immigration raid at the agriprocessors
meatpacking plant in Postville on May 12. The raid was the largest
workplace raid in a single worksite in recent history. Both were
released to care of their children, but now have to wear ankle
bracelets to monitor their movments. They and 46 other women cannot
work or travel, and have been waiting for weeks for a hearing which
would result in their deporation. Most have husbands or brothers now
in Federal prison, forced to plead guilty to misusing a Social Security
number, as a result of the raid." David Bacon's latest book comes out
next month, Illegal People -- How Globalization Creates Migration and Criminalizes Immigrants (Beacon Press).
This
is Ralph Nader. The only time when tens of millions of Americans tune
in for a couple of hours and pay attention to politics is during the
prime time presidential debates. For our democracy to survive, prevail
and thrive, we must have an open debate about the challenges we face
and the solutions that we must apply. We really don't need
two-candidate debates that sound like canned interviews. We don't need
debaters prepped to look like a couple of game show contestants. We
don't need show business, we need serious debate.
A
2000 Zogby poll showed that nearly 52% of the people wanted other
candidates in the debates. In 2004, another Zogby poll showed 57% of
likely voters wanted the debates opened up. A July 2008 poll by Zogby
found that 44% of the public agreed that the American system is broken
and cannot be repaired by the traditional two party politics and
election. Another poll had 61% of the people saying both parties are
failing.
It's time
to open up the debates to third party candidates. I'm running for
president because our democracy has been the target of an accelerating
hostile corporate takeover. Control of our government by large
corporations results in huge corporate welfare payouts, mega-fraud by
military contractors, a pay or die system of health insurance,
continued man-made global climate change and a collapsing financial
system being propped up by the day on the backs of the American
taxpayer with no restrictions, guarantees or return on investment. This
and much more has happened with the craven complicity of both major
political parties and politicians in Washington.
Friends,
as things stand, the three debates run by the two parties through the
private Commission on Presidential Debates, a corporation, will exclude
critical discussion of the control of our democracy by large
corporations We need honest talk in this campaign. It's time to respect
the will of the American people, to expand their access to arguments
and facts that address issues central to their daily lives. It's time
for the American people to take control of the political system. We can
begin by opening up the presidential debates. I'm Ralph Nader.
Are you ready to rumble? If yes, make a contribution now to help fund our protest rallies in Denver (August 27) and Minneapolis (September 4). Thousands of Americans will be in Denver and Minneapolis to protest the pro-war corporate controlled Democrats and Republicans. Nader/Gonzalez
has rented arenas in both cities to rally Americans opposed to the Iraq
and Afghanistan wars and corporate control over all aspects of our
lives. And to lay down one simple demand - open the Presidential debates. As
Ralph put it the other day, if we are allowed into the debates - and
reach tens of millions of Americans with our message - it will be a
three-way race. Thanks to your help, we are on track to be on 45 states ballots by September 20 (Currently, we are on 31.) If we get into the debates, our six percent in the polls will jump to 15 percent or more. And the American people will sense a three-way race. Then everything is possible. But first, we have to pay for our up front costs in Denver and Minneapolis. And we need to raise $50,000 before August 20. To pay for sound, lights, office, arena, phone lines, staff, lodging, 100,000 handbills. We've
taken some of our best road-trippers and flown them into Denver to
promote the rally. We have also opened an office in downtown Denver.
(See today's Denver Post article here.) Our staff is lining everything up to make them memorable rallies. But we've got bills to pay now. Then watch your name go up in lights on our new super rallies widget. And see us move toward our goal of $50,000. Let's crank it up. And get it done. Thank you in advance. See you in Denver and Minneapolis. Onward to November |
Posted at 02:54 pm by thecommonills
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jeremy hinzman
michael futch
peter laufer
aimee allison
the los angeles times
tina susman
the washington post
ernesto londono
talk of the nation
npr
