Agents Provocateurs? Military personnel speaking out?

For what I think is the first time in our country's history, military personnel on active duty are speaking out against an ongoing war. The effort is led (supposedly) by a Navy seaman who is a Photographer's Mate Airman on the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt. Seaman Jonathan W. Hutto, Sr. says that he decided it was time to speak out against the war.

“We’ve given enough,” said Hutto, who joined the Navy almost three years ago. “We’ve sacrificed too much at this point.”

He said he is not a pacifist, but he has been skeptical about the reasons behind the invasion and occupation of Iraq.

“This is the crisis we have created,” Hutto said. “We’re not anti-war. But at this point, our position is anti-occupation.”

The sum total of Hutto's experiences of Iraq is one six month tour in the Persian Gulf taking photographs aboard the Theodore Roosevelt.

There are a lot of guys in the military that know a great deal more about sacrifice than Mr. Hutto. The vast majority of them still support the mission. Hutto's efforts, however, will get vastly more attention in the media.

Hutto, backed by all the major anti-war groups, is actively recruiting other active duty personnel to draft a letter to Congress asking them to remove our troops from Iraq. The letter states, in part, ""As a patriotic American proud to serve the nation in uniform, I respectfully urge my political leaders in Congress to support the prompt withdrawal of all American military forces and bases from Iraq."

The idea has its genesis in a lecture that two men, Jonathan Hutto and a US Marine, attended in Norfolk, Virginia.

Madden said he and Hutton (sic) met and learned of the vehicle for expressing their views to Congress when they attended a lecture at the YMCA in Norfolk by David Cortright, the author of "Soldiers in Revolt: GI Resistance During the Vietnam War."" Hutto claims he first heard of the book, Soldiers Revolt, from an old college professor who sent it to him to read. The author, David Cortright is a longtime peace activist and college professor who served in Vietnam.

In his book, Soldiers in Revolt: GI Resistance During the Vietnam War, Cortright argues that there was a active, organized revolt in the Army, by active duty enlisted personnel during the Vietnam war. Reviews have found his claims "exaggerated" and point out that it suffers from an "absence of subjective, first-hand accounts". (That's a eumphemistic way of saying, not based upon provable facts.)

The idea that an active duty sailor could independently decide to speak out, despite a military culture that considers it verboten to do so, is startling. So who is Jonathan Hutto? A courageous man standing against the machine?

Not exactly. Hutto is led, supported, financed and promoted by longtime anti-war activists, chief among them Mr. Cortright.

Furthermore, Hutto himself has a history of liberal activism. In 1996, Hutto enrolled in Howard University, choosing political science as his major. He quickly became close friends with a controversial classmate, Sinclair Skinner, who admits to being expelled from Tuskegee University for his activism. Together, they helped organize the Million Man March. In the summer of 1995, Skinner helped organize students nationally for the Million Man March. He, Eames, and Hutto came under the wing of civil-rights legend Lawrence Guyot, who helped all three get elected as advisory neighborhood commissioners. Skinner, who served six years on the U Street/Lower Georgia Avenue ANC, developed a following at Howard. He regularly brought a herd of Howard students with him to important community meetings. Along with his civil rights activism, Lawrence Guyot has compared the GOP to "Nazis" on national talk programs. Guyot himself has been an anti-war activist since the 1960s.

When Hutto graduated from Howard, he worked for the ACLU and then for Amnesty International. Hutto has expressed disdain for President Bush, stating "[Bush's] agenda is not only anti African/African American, but anti-labor, anti-woman, anti-environment and anti-human rights", has called the Iraq war "illegal" and the United States "imperialist".

According to Hutto, he joined the Navy (a very odd decision for a longtime anti-war activist) to start a new life.

After having worked at non-profit organizations and an unsuccessful stint at teaching 5th grade post graduating from Howard University in 1999, I was searching for a clean slate, a chance to repay my student loans and obtain a new lease on life.

Interesting how Hutto uses the phrase "non-profit organizations" to hide the radical nature of his activities. He also fails to mention his anti-war activities, in which he was engaged no more than one year before enlisting in the Navy!

Given his background, it's much more likely that he joined the Navy to stir up trouble; to act as a provocateur and further his anti-war agenda from within the service. Cortright's book seems to have been his inspiration for the present campaign. Unlike his previous political activities, this one may well run afoul of TITLE: DoD Directive 1344.10, "Political Activities by Members of the Armed Forces on Active Duty", 08/02/2004.

Because he chose to manipulate and embarrass the Navy for his personal agenda, Jonathan Hutto joins the Hall of Shame."

This section contains profiles of individuals affiliated with "anti-war" groups that have radical agendas. It also profiles prominent individuals who, though not formally associated with those groups, have lent support to their goals and activities.

Appeal for Redress and Jonathan Hutto's True Agenda http://chickenhawkexpress.blogspot.com/2006/10/appeal-for-redress-and-jonathan-huttos.html

SCROLL DOWN FOR UPDATES -Who else is behind this little publicity stunt? Chickenhawk Express calls for a release of the names of those that signed the "petition". *******************

A group of active duty soldiers, called a grassroots group by some in the media, is speaking out against the war in Iraq and calling on Congress to bring the troops home. Fine with me - the soldiers have served our country and have every right to speak their mind (I know nothing about the military rules - I'm speaking in the realm of First Amendment rights). Having the freedom to speak out is one of the great benefits of living in the United States of America.

BUT it is disconcerting and disingenuous to report this group as a simple grassroots group trying to get their voices heard. The "Appeal for Redress" group is sponsored by three of the most virulent anti-war groups that use their "desire for peace" as a cover for their blatant anti-Americanism. You've heard of these groups - Veterans for Peace, Military Families Speak Out and Iraq Veterans Against the War. Whenever you see Cindy Sheehan or any of her comrades, you will see members of these organizations. VFP and IVAW members include several deserters, conscientious objectors and some "soldiers" that turned out to not be what they portrayed. Some members claim to have witnessed war crimes including the wholesale slaughter of innocent Iraqi women and children. Some members traveled to Venezuela with CodePink to pay homage to Chavez. Some have testified at "global" forums against America, the terrorist state.

Take for instance the "talking points" on the Veterans for Peace website. The list includes war crimes, abuse at Abu Ghraib, Military Industrial Complex, Gitmo abuse, military suicide, military rape and other negative military presentations. VFP lists the grievances that accompany the petition touted on Appeals for Redress but do not appear on the petition website –

1. The fabricated justification for war (nonexistent weapons of mass destruction) 2. The failure to provide troops adequate protection and preparation for combat 3. The human cost in thousands of deaths and severe injuries among American service members and the suffering of the Iraqi people 4. The economic cost to American taxpayers and diversion of resources from other priorities (inadequate response to Katrina, etc.)

Or pop over to the FAQ's at the Iraq Veterans Against the War website. You can read why the do not support the war in Iraq. The reasons include corporate profiteering, against international law, diversion of funds from Katrina rebuilding, military racism and discrimination and civilian deaths. They support the Murtha plan of "cut and run". America is the bad guy - not the terrorists.

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.”

Jonathan Hutto and the members of VFP, MFSO and IVAW certainly have the right to speak out. But WE have the right to know what their underlying agenda is. After reading up on the backgrounds of the organizations and Mr. Hutto, it is hard to swallow the media’s portrayal of a simple non-partisan grassroots movement. The country deserves to hear the truth about the anti-American agenda of the so called “peace groups”.

UPDATE: The NY Sun is reporting on some other nasty little connections that this group has to other anti-American agenda driven organizations...

A staff member at Fenton Communications who requested anonymity said his company was approached last week by a longtime peace activist and former director of the anti-nuclear proliferation front known as SANE/Freeze, David Cortright, to publicize Appeal for Redress. Mr. Cortright is now president of an Indiana-based nonprofit group, the Fourth Freedom Forum, and his biography on the organization's Web site says he helped raise "more than $300,000 for the Win Without War coalition to avert a preemptive attack on Iraq in 2002–03."

Still, the counsel retained by Appeal for Redress, J.E. McNeil, runs the Center for Conscience and War, an organization whose mission is to defend the rights of conscientious objectors.

Ms. McNeil said yesterday that she first got in touch with some of the soldiers in Appeal for Redress through a military hotline the Center for Conscience and War runs for active-duty servicemen to find out what rights they have. According to the center's Web site, the group's lobbyist is Pat Elder, a co-founder of the D.C. Area Anti-War Network, which has organized civil disobedience demonstrations against military recruitment offices in shopping malls.

The Sun also has this little statement from Jonathan "Amnesty International" Hutto... Seaman Hutto said none of the members of Appeal for Redress were "pacifists, conscientious objectors, or anything that would go against the military contract." He does not discuss the new organization when he is on his base or in uniform, he added.

Seeing as the supporting organizations are VFP and IVAW which have been exposed above as including conscientious objectors and activists, I find Hutto's claims about as hard to believe as his non-partisan, non-agenda stance. The Appeal for Redress signers are not posted on the website so in the interest of full disclosure, I call on the organization to make the names public. They want to speak the truth - let's see if they can handle the truth. Release the names.

Ignoring has past activities, and looking at him merely as a Navy photographer, who did his deployment on a boat, I wouldn't listen to him anyways. Unless you have been on the ground and got some dust on your boots, been shot at a couple of times, run throw a couple IED's, and maybe even seen an Iraqi up close, what you say has nothing to back it up. My dad used to say that the guys that talk the most are the guys that saw the least, and using that as the litmus test, this guy definately saw nothing.

This is not about First Amendment rights, and the big cheeses had better send this lower than whale poop fool to Portsmouth, or wherever they send traitor sailers these days.

We are a long time military family, both retired and active duty.

An Appeal for Redress from the War in Iraq
1689
Active Duty, Reserve, and Guard personnel have now signed the appeal!
(Note: drive started in September)

This site is an Appeal For Courage in support of our mission in Iraq.
Site Launched: Monday, Feb. 12th
1499
Military members have signed, join us!

Damn when is our military going to shut this clown down.

I believe the fool is hoping that the brass will do something to give the anti-military press something to write about.

The cockroach joined of his own volition so he really does not have any reason to open his clap trap.

......Photographer's Mate Airman.....

well we'll see him on the DNC platform in a couple of years with 3 Purple Hearts and telling us about his Christmas in Iran ......

(shaking head) a f#*king squid yapping 'bout being in a "war zone" on a carrier. A PHOTOGRAPHERS MATE AIRMAN!....... bwahahahahahahahahaha.... just too funny.

Murtha, Bonior, Kerry (both of them) that idiot that blew himself up playing with grenades..... and now Hutto....

I'm waiting for all the "JAG" off's to show up like the little pr#ck did this last election cycle running for congress.

We should get rid of the JAGs in the Marine Corp and leave it to the Navy or even the Air Force..... to prosecute legal matters. Man I'm frustrated with the irony of this guy getting so much press, while heroes that fight the good fight, live and die with honor are shuffled off and ignored by Americans due to the collusion of the press with the liberal democrat party.

You know that a treason charge or something of that sort is just what the anti-war crowd is waiting for. Don't give them the attention they want. Like at the capital hill steps a couple months ago, where they vandalized the site. They wanted to be confronted and hoped to draw violence. Wanted to make people think they were Gandhi or something. Letting them make fools of themselves and not arresting them was the right thing to do. The only kind of news they'll make then is negative news.

Do you know what the history of soldiers who do what this guy is doing? During WWII or Korea? Usually they sent them to the front lines, right? Did they ever execute any of them?

My dad used to say that the guys that talk the most are the guys that saw the least, and using that as the litmus test, this guy definitely saw nothing.

Sounds like my dad, he never talked about the war (WW2) until his last couple of years, and then only if asked.
He was part of a different generation; they knew how to suffer in silence. To bear their burdens without complaint. Somehow the later generations have never been taught this.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.