ACTIVE-DUTY U.S. MILITARY MEMBERS SPEAK OUT AGAINST WAR ON '60 MINUTES'

Drudge Report ^ | 22 Feb 2007 | Matt Drudge

[OCCASparky]

ACTIVE-DUTY U.S. MILITARY MEMBERS SPEAK OUT AGAINST WAR ON '60 MINUTES'
Thu Feb 22 2007 15:21:11 ET

They say they are not disloyal. They say they are not shirking their duty and that they do not oppose war. But over 1,000 active-duty and reserve members of the U.S. military are against the war in Iraq and have said so in an unusually public way -- by petitioning Congress last month. Several of them appear to explain their actions in a Lara Logan report to be broadcast on 60 MINUTES Sunday Feb. 25 (7:00-8:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.

"I'm not anti-war. I'm not a pacifist. I'm not opposed to protecting our country and defending our principles," says Navy Petty Officer Jonathan Hutto, an Iraq war veteran who, along with another veteran, initiated the petition. A 1995 law called the Military Whistleblower act enables military personnel to express their own opinions about Iraq in protected communication directly to Congress. Hutto and others spoke with 60 MINUTES while off duty, off base and out of uniform as conscientious citizens. "But at the same time, as citizens, it's our obligation to have a questioning attitude... about policy," Hutto tells Logan.

Marine Sgt. Liam Madden, who helped Hutto to found the organization they call Appeal for Redress that has attracted 1,000 other military members, is more blunt. "Just because we volunteered for the military doesn't mean we volunteered to put our lives in unnecessary harm and to carry out missions that are illogical and immoral."

These GIs and others Logan spoke with expressed frustration with their efforts in Iraq and believe there is no end in sight to the war. Other Iraqi war veterans still on duty there believe Appeal for Redress misses a larger point. "As an American soldier, I feel like we took an oath to obey the orders of our commander-in-chief and officers appointed over us," says Army Spec. James Smauldon. Said another serviceman in Iraq, Army Capt. Lawrence Nunn, "I know what IÕm here fighting for, to give the Iraqi people some democracy and hope, so I am 100 percent behind this mission. You don't sign up to pick which war you go to."

Another Appeal for Redress member counters, "Our leadership gets to choose the mission. Congress gets to choose the mission," Staff Sgt. Matt Nuckolls says. He's loyally committed to whatever Congress wants him to do but savors the right to question it. "My Congressman is Lacy Clay. I would like to tell him as a constituent of his, 'Is the mission in Iraq really what you want us to be doing?' And then [if] he responds yes, okay, well, we go back to Iraq and keep doing what we're doing."

Developing...

[Grunthor]

"After 9/11, providing we could have got a declaration of war, who would it have been against?"


Um...Afganistan?

[OCCASparky]

Well, considering who sponsored them, it might be a good idea to find out just what they did when they were in Iraq.

Well, according to the WaPo story another poster linked to, they claim something on the order of 60 percent of the petition signers were Iraq vets. Then again, that story ALSO says Hutto is NOT (repeat: NOT!) an Iraq vet. (Note: the CBS media release may claim him as one based on his award of a SW Asia service medal, Iraq Campaign Medal, GWOT Expiditionary Medal, or GWOT service medal).

That being said, that's a pretty damned loose definition of "Iraq veteran".

[Chickenhawk Warmonger]

Here's a little background on Mr. Hutto but don't expect to hear this from 60 Minutes...

---

Then there is the issue of the spokeman for "Appeals for Redress" featured in the media reports. Jonathan Hutto is described as a Navy seaman based in Norfolk VA who set up the website a month ago. But the media failed to report on Mr. Hutto's less than pro-American background.

According to his own writings, Hutto "enlisted in the United States Navy in January of 2004" after "working at non-profit organizations and an unsuccessful stint at teaching 5th grade post graduating from Howard University in 1999." The non-profit organization Hutto worked for was Amnesty International - not your typical voluteer organization. In 2002, Hutto was Membership Program Coordinator for the Mid-Atlantic Region of Amnesty International.

In 2001, Hutto was a speaker at The Fight against Police Violence: from Cincinnati to PG County, Maryland. Hutto's co-speaker at the event was Glova Scott of the Socialist Workers Party. The speech was posted on The Militant website. Hutto’s article, Rebuilding the GI Movement, appeared in Thomas Barton’s GI Special on the alBasrah Iraqi Resistance website.

Hutto described the military as “an institutional culture laced with discriminatory behavior based on race, gender, sexual orientation and geography.” He lauds “the movement of soldiers and sailors against the occupation of Vietnam was pivotal in ending U.S. Imperialist aggression against the Vietnamese people.”

http://chickenhawkexpress.blogspot.com/2006/10/appeal-for-redress-and-jonathan-huttos.html

AND the group is sponsored by Military Families Speak Out, Iraq Veterans Against the War, Veterans for Peace and others. Fenton Communications handles their PR.

[facedown]

VVAW lives on.

[WhistlingPastTheGraveyard]

Discover the Networks: Fenton Communications

Biography: David Fenton

Fenton Communications (Official Site)

America's Red Army

[xmission]

I'd like to know if Hutto is a muslim...

[sergeantdave]

Veterans for Peace is a Marxist group that ditty-bops down to Cuba around November to honor communist veterans. It's a bunch of dirt bags that need a blanket party.

[frogjerk]

"After 9/11, providing we could have got a declaration of war, who would it have been against?"

Um...Afganistan?

???...Most of the hijackers were Saudi...

[Robert A Cook PE]

A typical response to 60 minutes "fishing" for stories and sympathetic "eyewitnesses" and "families" ....

Very, very often, you'll find web sites (sponsored by the 60 Minutes producers, or by anti-war groups linked to the 60 Minutes show and others like it, ADVERTISING for people who have a complaint, or fit the specific "profile" the producers wanted, to come to Hollywood/New York, Washington and audition for the show.

In this case, the advertisement would read " If you are active-duty military and oppose the Iraq war, contact xxxxx at 212-555-1212 about appearing on 60 Minutes (or, more often, "a national TV news show") in February, 2007. We will protect your identify if required, but want to show your name ...."

[cryptical]

Photographer's Mate? Well, I'll just bite my tongue here in deference to the Photographer's Mates who do their job and don't become antiwar treasonous traitors.

What I can't understand is what this guys chain of command is doing... I know if I'd have gotten out of line like this, my Chief would have taken a personal interest in my attitude re-adjustment...

[CharlesWayneCT]

If anybody has a right to be against the war, it's those who have fought it.

Still, only 1000? I know democrats are underrepresented in the military (I'd love to see some republican point THAT out next time the democrats make a stupid comment about the military being poor or stupid), but I'd be surprised if there weren't a lot more military members than that who oppose the war in Iraq, although maybe they wouldn't say so.

[Chances Are]

Gee, I wonder why they haven't interviewed any of the troops who support what we're doing there?

What would be the fun of that for CBS?

How about a little compassion, huh?

(Do I need a sarcasm tag?)

CA....

[freema]

Counter Protest here:

[CindyDawg]

Is it beyond possibility that activists can get recruits to enlist and be sleepers, for later stories like this? I know. I know. I'm unrolling the foil:')

[pctech]

I just clicked on their email address to let them know what I thought of their actions.

Guess they can't even have a factual website. The link on the webpage says info@appealforredress.org.

When the email window opens up it has this in the TO black, osokoni@mediumnews.net which is an african american website. What the devil are they trying to do?

[Chickenhawk Warmonger]

If anyone is interested, here's the email address for 60 Minutes. 60m@cbsnews.com

Of course the Appeals for Redress propaganda piece is being done by Lara Logan...

[oneamericanvoice]

ANSWER is going to use these people on March 17th, in DC. People won't do the math and see that these are 1,000 out of 160,000+ serving in theater or having served. This doesn't say that they are all Iraq war vets, so....Somebody needs to explain to these vets that no one needs to get their consent before issueing orders, because they signed the contract.

[oneamericanvoice]

God bless the Cpt!

[Grunthor]

"???...Most of the hijackers were Saudi..."

But the organization that they belonged to was in Afganistan and was supported by the former rulers of that nation. Supported so much so that they chose to fight rather than give up the leaders of that organization.

[gotribe]

Soldiers griping. What else is new.