Posted on 10/17/2004 6:56:37 AM PDT by Phsstpok
The earlier thread about the October Surprise "Mutiny" hit piece on this mornings Today show prompted me to do some Googling to try to see if there were any connections of note. I felt that even the little evidence I found warranted a quick heads up and (forgive me) a separate thread as a call to action. I have no particular standing to do this, but this concerned me enough to fire off a flare.
It looks like the extreme left is orchestrating an October Surprise propaganda campaign against the war in Iraq and President Bush by staging a "mutiny" of reserve troops (appears to be 5 of 'em, when you get down to it) and playing it the way they played Abu Gharib.
First, the basic story. Reports surfaced on Friday, the 15th, that troops in Iraq had refused a "suicide mission" and were under arrest and held in close guard. A small handful of "frantic" family members began reporting "unfair practices" and "unsafe conditions," desperately calling on (the usual suspects) politicians to save their loved ones from cruel fate.
Some excerpts:
Daily News, October 17, 2004:
Calls, E-mails explain troops' alleged mutiny
The military has begun punishing some of the 19 Army reservists who balked at what they called a "suicide mission" and a "death sentence" in Iraq last week.
Some members of the South Carolina-based 343rd Quartermaster Company refused to transport fuel between the Iraqi cities of Tallil and Taji Wednesday morning, saying they had no protection for the dangerous trip.
now here's the kicker from the Daily News piece:
Citizen Soldier, a New York-based, nonprofit military rights group, has offered ... its help.
Citizen Soldier is not a "military rights group." It is a virulently anti-American and anti-Military extreme left front group. Their motto on their web site is: "Prepared to Challenge U.S. Militarism in the New Millenium."
Citizen Soldier also has close ties to John Kerry, as it's director Tod Ensign, was one of the organizers of Kerry's discredited Winter Soldier propaganda event in 1969, along with Jeremy Rifkin. This connection is the one that set off my alarm bells.
I couldn't figure the Mississippi angle till I found this in The Clarion-Ledger of Hattiesberg, Mississippi:
Platoon with Mississippi soldiers defies orders 17 soldiers placed under arrest in Iraq
A 17-member Army Reserve platoon with troops from Jackson and around the Southeast deployed to Iraq is under arrest for refusing a "suicide mission" to deliver fuel, the troops' relatives said Thursday. The soldiers refused an order on Wednesday to go to Taji, Iraq - north of Baghdad - because their vehicles were considered "deadlined" or extremely unsafe, said Patricia McCook of Jackson, wife of Sgt. Larry O. McCook.
and again, buried in the piece, is the clue to the source and spin:
U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson said he plans to submit a congressional inquiry today on behalf of the Mississippi soldiers to launch an investigation into whether they are being treated improperly.
Bennie Thompson is one of the more radical members of the Black Caucus. He is a leader in the "fair play for Fidel Castro" movement in Congress. He is often the designated "hit man" in attacking minority members of the Bush Administration, particularly Dr. Condoleezza Rice. He was a rabid Deaniac, but shifted his loyalty to Kerry when Dean fell on his own scream.
The Salon hit piece ties this squarely to the Washington/DNC/Carville slime machine:
The inside story of the Army platoon that refused to carry out a "death sentence" mission.
is by Mary Jocoby, Salon's Washington Correspondent. Jacoby is one of Salon's "reliable" writers who can always be counted on to spew hate at George Bush, in particular, and Republicans in general. She rates Seymour Hersh as a "crack investigative reporter" and has authored anti-Bush hit pieces such as "The Dunce," "George W. Bush's Missing Year" and "Swaggering toward Election Day."
What is truly amazing about these pieces on the "mutiny" is that they appear to have been ready to go before the incident took place. These folks had their stories straight and remarkably consistent in record time, even before the news had reached the regular news cycle on CNN, who jumped on this in record time.
Folks, this is a set up. But it's a set up that, like many of the Kerry camps dirty tricks, they've had to fire off prematurely to try to distract the news media from a Kerry gaffe. Pulling the trigger on this was timed to try and keep the disastrous Mary Cheney attack off of the Sunday morning talk shows. These soldiers are pawns who were told that they would be used to unseat a sitting President (with undoubted hints of vast rewards from a Kerry administration) but they are being sacrificed, just like pushing a pawn, to protect the dims' king.
More in Post #320.
Citizen Soldier Fund - Nonfederal Account: Contributors of at Least $10,000
Ferrell Schultz Carter Zumpano & Fertel $59,000
Clifford Law Offices $50,000
Verner, Liipfert, Bernhard, McPherson & Hand/Piper Rudnick $16,000
Aha! It helps when you mention names that are associated with the website too! Thanks! :) I really appreciate your efforts here.
Thank you! In a round about way I just found 3 parts of your series which is absolutely phenomenal! The amount of work you have put into this is amazing and I am going to be reading for quite some time to absorb it all.
Thank you! By now you must be considered an expert in this Kerry creature! I am really hoping you are writing a book about this!
Between you, me and the fencepost; I don't think this "event" has legs. These soldiers were OUT OF ORDER in how they handled the situation which has YET to be fully investigated (unarmored vehicles). Already dispelled with is that the fuel they were to be carrying was contaminated.
Again, I repeat: this group which is alleged to be "so noble" did NOT follow orders; they didn't even have the GUTS TO stand up and do the right thing at that 7am meeting. This is precisely the point at which the supposed "october surprise" falls apart. The fly in the ointment.
Had this group *really* wanted to be successful in getting their "stand-down" point across; they would have shown up at the lawfully ordered 7am meeting pre-convoy. When push came to shove they would have stood-fast. THAT'S the appropriate way. But they didn't.
They were therefore, AWOL.
There are indeed members inside the military who've been raised on the leftist notions of "civil disobedience" -- and which is stupidly enacted in the military.
In short sum, this group shot themselves in the foot by NOT standing their ground if in fact they were so cocksure about the deadlined vehicles. Adding to this "not showing up" -- they called home to engage their families. Certainly this aspect is their perfect right to do; but couple this with their NOT showing up at that 7am meeting -- shows a form of behavior generally not respected in civilian sectors NOR military.
If the NAACP plans to run with this, I say, have a ball.
Well, you certainly got the "emotionalism" aspects at Church; but not all the facts.
If they were held "under armed guard"; what's the surprise? They were AWOL, for cryin' out loud. This army reservist doesn't know military procedure?
But nor would I have assumed I was being given all the facts by my "loved one" as they are limited to a particular area of knowledge and pool of data. And I love my loved ones unconditionally. I would have done my best to get as much of the facts as I could, from all sides. I would not have run with only my "loved one's" word. And why? I got their back. That's why. I've no desire to embarass the military, become a celebrity star, or interfere with the WOT; furthermore I would not wish to add to my loved one's troubles.
Unfortunately, in this case, emotionalism seems to have run the day. Very sad.
Quite frankly, I don't see yet a "conspiracy" in the makes; outside of emotionalism running amok. That the troops did not show up for that 7am meeting means they were AWOL.
Will do.
I think they added the "tainted fuel" to make their refusal noble.
My guess is the ringleaders were being courted and sympathised with by someone in Mississippi eager to destroy morale and cause this kind of acting out. I am betting on the good congressman and some old left wing anti war folks just doing their thing.
I note it is not all over the news today. Perhaps the lefties got scared seeing as how the Kerry connection may go way back.
One might wonder; 'what did she expect. . .' and why? This story is still 'front and center' this morning; and seems Military is making serious effort to keep this story from getting out of control.
While his initial meetings with the V.C. in Paris were fresh in his memory, Kerry helped a small group of activists -- Jeremy Rifkin, Tod Ensign, Jane Fonda, Attorney Mark Lane and others -- set up "Winter Soldier" hearings in Detroit. By way of closed-circuit television via Windsor, Canada, these hearings featuring VVAW members told of the atrocities they had committed on their Vietnamese victims and spoke of their horror, shock and pain at what they had done while wearing Uncle Sam's uniform.
citizen-soldier.org/CS07-CamiloTestimony.html
Tod Ensign, director of Citizen Soldier, a non profit GI rights advocacy group, has provided two members of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Hilary Clinton (D-NY) and Carl Levin (ranking Democratic member from MI) with details about the nature of Mejia's testimony and requested that they arrange for him to be called as a witness to assist their committee's investigation.citizen-soldier.org/draftchatter.htmlFurther info contact: Tod Ensign, Dir., Citizen Soldier (212) 679-2250
Tod Ensign, director of Citizen Soldier, a GI/veterans rights advocacy group in New York, is author of America's Military Today, to be published by the New Press in November 2004.citizen-soldier.org/cs12-enlistment.html
For More details on recruitment see Military Life: The Insider's Guidecitizen-soldier.org/CS-END-year.PDF, page 2
by Tod Ensign, ARCO Press (1990) available in larger public libraries.
We work as part of the Bring Them Home Now Coalitionwhich has been organizing family members to speak out against Bush’s war in communities across the U.S.
Surrendering to the Military: Challenging the War
On March 15, 2004, Sgt. Mejia spoke at a public rally/press conference at the Peace Abbey, near Boston, MA and then surrendered to military authorities. Once he is assigned to a military base, the command will decide whether to prefer criminal charges or separate him administratively. Meija could be charged with both desertion and "missing a movement to avoid hazardous duty" Each carries a maximum prison term of five years. He could also be given a Dishonorable Discharge. If he is placed on trial, Citizen Soldier cooperating attorney Louis Font, of Boston, will offer expert witnesses to testify that the US invasion and occupation of Iraq violates international law, including the UN Charter. In addition, Meija will file an application for discharge as a Conscientious Objector (CO).
Phsstpok, This isn't a mutiny story, but it is worth looking at as well. ABCNews is trying to sway public opinion of the military and its Commander In Cheif with stories like this one...
http://abcnews.go.com/Primetime/IraqCoverage/story?id=163109&page=1
Worst quote in the story: "Well, in a way, I'm kind of lucky losing both arms because I've been told I'll probably get 100 percent disability," he said.
The media is trying hard to push the fence sitters to become Michael Moore-like antiwar, anti-American leftists. Thanks for your post here to motivate the Freepers to dig into these stories.
I can't wait until all this is behind us and the name John Kerry is used in sentences along with Michael Dukakis and Walter Mondale.
Keep up the good fight.
NYS Department of StateClear Actions , February 2004, Issue Number 16
Peace House, Since 1982
P.O. Box 524, Ashland OR 97520
(541) 482-9625(snip from page 3)
Citizen Soldier is a Project of Alternatives to Militarism, Inc., a tax exempt public foundation. Studs Terkel, Pete Seeger, and Nat Hentoff are three of their 21-person National Advisory Board. Since the Vietnam war they have been defending conscientious objectors who based their refusal on political, moral, and/or religious grounds. In Iraq, American troops without adequate training or equipment are being killed every day by a determined opposition. In Iraq, a third of the combat troops are reservists who’ve been activated for 12-18 month tours. Citizen Soldier says that today, reservists must fill a major hole left when the active military was cut to 1.4 million from 2.1 million just ten years ago.
President George H. Bush wrote in his memoir, "A World Transformed" that in Iraq "there was no viable ‘exit strategy’ we could see." He said "we had been consciously trying to set a pattern for handling aggression in the post Cold War world. Going in and occupying Iraq, thus unilaterally exceeding the UN’s mandate, would have destroyed the precedent of international response to aggression that we hoped to establish. Had we gone the invasion route, (we) could conceivably still be an occupying power in a bitterly hostile land."
Citizen Soldier says "the best way to support our troops is to bring them home now", a position they claim is steadily gaining support. To contact them, call 212/679-2250 or on the internet www.citizen-soldier.org.
Current Entity Name: ALTERNATIVES TO MILITARISM, INC.(CONSENT OF ED. DEPT.)Guidestar - Non Profit profile:
Initial DOS Filing Date: FEBRUARY 25, 1975
County: NEW YORK
Jurisdiction: NEW YORK
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Current Entity Status: ACTIVE
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NONE
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NONE
NOTE: New York State does not issue organizational identification numbers.
ALTERNATIVES TO MILITARISM INC
267 FIFTH AVE STE 901
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EDUCATION & ADVOCACY
EIN: 23-7456894
This organization files an IRS Form 990 or 990-EZ. It is a 501(c)(03) public charity. Information in this report is derived from IRS From 990, 990-EZ, or 990-PF, an annual report filed by nonprofit organizations.
Financial Snapshot for Fiscal Year Ending 2002
Revenue: $99,849
Expenses: $90,427
Assets: $9,249
Liabilities: $2,990
WEBSITE REGISTRATION (only primary info posted here):
http://www.checkdomain.com/cgi-bin/checkdomain.pl?domain=citizen-soldier.org
citizen-soldier.org (Organization)
Domain Name:CITIZEN-SOLDIER.ORG
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Sponsoring Registrar:Dotster Inc.
Registrant Name:Judith Rew
Registrant Organization:Judith Rew Graphic Design & Production
Registrant Address:7 Jefferson Place, Montclair, NJ 07042
Registrant Phone: 973 509-7461
Admin Name:Tod Ensign
Admin Organization:Alternatives to Militarism, Inc.
Admin Address:267 Fifth Ave. Suite 901, New York, NY 10016
Admin Phone: 212 679-2250
Admin FAX: 212 679-2252
Tech Name:Judith Rew
(detail same as above)
Name Server:NS1.HOSTLANE.NET, NS2.HOSTLANE.NET, NS3.HOSTLANE.NET
Thank you! Why am I not surprised to see Hitlery involved with this creep?
During the first Gulf War, family members played an important role in sparking opposition within the military's rank and file. Two families with children who've recently been sent to the Gulf war zone are leading efforts to establish a new anti war organization, Military Families Speak Out (MFSO).
Charley Richardson and Nancy Lessin, of Jamaica Plain, MA have a 25 year old son, Joe, who's been sent to the Gulf as an Arab language radio recon commando. Joe was able to spend a precious weekend with his parents on North Carolina's Outer Banks before he shipped out.
Real War Stories. Comic book about the work of Citizen Soldier. 48 pages. $5.00Metal of Dishonor. How the Pentagon Radiates Soldier and Civilians with Depleted Uranium Weapons. 240 pp. $10.00 plus $2.00 postage
Gassed in the Gulf: The Inside Story of the Pentagon-CIA Cover-Up of Gulf War Syndrome. $10.00 plus $2.00 postage
Against the Vietnam War: Writings by activists Dave Dellinger, Joan Baez, Eugene McCarthy, Noam Chomsky, Tod Ensign, etc. 317 pages. ($24.95 retail) $10.00 plus $2.00 postage
Video: No Longer Enemies: Healing Wounds in Vietnam. VHS color, 19:30 min. $14.95 plus $2.00 postage
How to Help Citizen Soldier
Please complete and print-out this form. Then return it along with a check made payable to Alternatives to Militarism, Inc. to:Citizen Soldier
267 Fifth Ave., Suite 901 · New York, NY 10016
Phone (212) 679-2250 Fax (212) 679-2252
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