Posted on 05/04/2016 10:53:29 AM PDT by seekthetruth
To all of you patriotic Americans out there who have supported our efforts to see our Sons in Leavenworth returned to their families, please read the email below from attorney Colby Vokey, LT COL USMC (Ret). Colby lays out all the reasons we have expressed over the years regarding the imprisonment of our Sons in Leavenworth.
I will spare you all my rage as you have heard it over and over again for what seems like a lifetime. Rather, I will quote Colby:
"What matters is that it's time to bring our warriors all the way home."
Please sign the petition (link contained in Colby's email below) and please, and this is so important, please pass this to ALL your lists. As the terrorists are released from Gitmo, so should America's Sons be released from Leavenworth. Please help us bring our Sons all the way home!
With A Mother's Heart,
Beverly Perlson The Band of Mothers http://www.thebandofmothers.com
Friends,
Soldiers need your help. We have just posted a whitehouse.gov petition to have the President review and respond to 7 clemency applications (pardons or sentence commutations) for soldiers who have been convicted of war crimes for combat actions in Iraq and Afghanistan. The seven are: Michael Williams, Corey Clagett, Derrick Miller, Franklin Dunn, Clint Lorance, Calvin Gibbs and Robert Bales. These seven soldiers put their lives on the line for us only to be convicted of murder for killing those they perceived to be the enemy in combat. There is no question that these soldiers killed or ordered the killing of either Iraqis or Afghans. But the killings were done in violation of restrictive rules of engagement, in the fog of war, or under extreme conditions of stress.
Signing the petition is really easy. Just go to the link and provide your name and email address. An email will be sent back to you for you to verify your signature. That's it. It takes about 30 seconds. But those 30 seconds will help send a strong message to our President. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are winding down. And we've been at war long enough. We have been returning Guantanamo Bay detainees to their homes. It's time to bring our boys home too.
Here's the "short" link: http://www.wh.gov/ioajn
Here's the full link: https://www.petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/review-combat-clemency-petitions-and-pursue-military-mental-health-reform
Our service members have had to fight in a complex war environment. The battlefield environment is unique. Our fighting men and women are trained to kill the enemy. They wake up every day in combat with the lawful intent to kill. That's why we've sent them there. They often had to fight in horrendous conditions. They operated with little rest and few comforts. They were asked to make life and death decisions in the blink of an eye and hope that the decision was the right one. They were exposed to death and destruction and killing and suffering. They have experienced situations in which most Americans only experience in nightmares. Some never came home. Many who did return came back wounded. And many came back with PTSD and/or Traumatic Brain Injury or other mental health issues. The seven soldiers in this petition have seen a great deal of combat. Some have had physical injuries. All have been affected by PTSD, TBI or combat stress. And no wonder. They have done or witnessed horrible things in war. That's the nature of war. They have received conflicting messages and signs while in combat. They were fighting a disguised enemy who used innocent people to accomplish their goals. An enemy who hid among the masses. An enemy not identifiable by dress or uniforms. And our soldiers had to decide each day who was the enemy. And whether those who supported the fighters were the enemy. Their killings were often accompanied by some amount of doubt and guilt as to how "bad" the person was that they killed. Combine that with incredibly restrictive rules of engagement and a COIN (counter insurgency) strategy in which our soldiers are supposed to win the hearts and minds of the people yet kill the "bad guys". The result is an incredibly complex combat environment where the lines of good and bad, right and wrong are always moving and often indistinguishable.
Pardon or clemency applications have already been submitted separately to the White House and the Army for the seven soldiers in this petition. We are not asking for a reversal of the convictions. We are asking that the President take into account the circumstances surrounding the convictions and grant some mercy and forgiveness. The "fog of war" plays a strong role in each of these cases and these pardon and sentence commutations requests are a way to recognize the difficulties our soldiers have had to endure. None of these seven are simply psychopaths who enjoy killing. Each was a healthy individual who voluntarily joined the Army and willingly entered into a combat environment full of fear, death and horror. We asked them to lay it on the line for us. As a result, they were convicted of murder for killing in a combat zone. This is not a partisan politics issue. Most of the convictions occurred during President George W. Bush's presidency. Some during President Obama's terms. What matters is that it's time to bring our warriors all the way home.
Please help by signing the whitehouse.gov petition now. And then forward this email and the link to as many others as you can. Post it on websites and list serves. We need to get 100,000 signatures in 30 days to guarantee that the President will give these requests a thorough review. It's our turn to truly support the troops. Please join me, the United American Patriots and the University of Chicago Law School in getting these soldiers back to their families.
Respectfully,
Colby C. Vokey LtCol USMC (Ret.)
Law Firm of Colby Vokey PC 6924 Spanky Branch Court Dallas, Texas 75248
Florida Freeper ping here.
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>> Our fighting men and women are trained to kill the enemy.
And too often suffer the consequences of the political correctness promoted by the lawmakers that sent them into battle.
Thanks for your reply.
It is true that our heroes are sent to war all to often with rules of engagement that are keeping them from victory.
It is a travesty that we have heroes in Levenworth for life for killing the enemy, while Obama continues to release the enemy from GITMO to go home to their families.
Agreed. The hypocrisy is gut-wrenching.
Is there any way to review what each individual in question is charged with before we sign the petition..?
Please provide a link...
I signed, but I’m not hopeful that Obama will do the right thing.
This is a big reason that we need Trump in office. He’s the kind of guy who WILL listen to pleas like these and will take hasty action. Not wait for his last day in office to avoid political backlash.
Signed.
Done, nice to see Derrick Miller is not forgotten.
I had wondered about him when the campaign for him was in full force. I got a nice reply.
Derrick Miller was charged for shooting FIRST. He saw an enemy about to attack an approaching group of our soldiers from behind a building. His angle was good to he took the enemy out...saving those who were about to come under fire...
How I remember it from a couple of years ago. All the team tried to testify for him but to no avail. They tried to help and lots of letters were sent.
Crazy that the enemy must fire first! Rules of engagement.
Agree all except for the psycho Robert Bales. I cant believe they included him on this list. He walked outside the wire and went terminator murdering 16 people randomly. This included 9 kids, some as young as 2 years old.
Keep him locked up.
Thanks..!
Yikes...
I wonder why they included him in the list..?
One could also make the same case about the Army accepting Bergdahl after he was kicked out of the Coast Guard due to his problems. The Army never should have accepted him!
I agree, but we might make a difference with a great number of signatures. Thanks for your help!
Doing a Tesas Freeper ping here. As always let me know through FreepMail if you wish to be removed from my ping list. Thanks!
Thank you my friend! Hope we get to meet up again soon. Been a long time!
I continue to pray for Derrick and the others at Leavenworth and more of our fellow Americans need to know about these heroes who even in prison are getting MUCH worse treatment then the terrorists at GITMO.
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