Posted on 02/13/2007 11:51:47 PM PST by atomic conspiracy
MONTPELIER, Vt. -- Iraq war veterans Matt Howard and Drew Cameron of Burlington entered the Statehouse full of hope Tuesday.
State lawmakers were expected to take a strong stand demanding the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq.
By midway through the day, their hopes had turned to disillusionment after the House voted to delete language suggesting that the troops' presence in Iraq was contributing to its instability.
The veterans said their experience was that the American military is contributing to the violence.
"I'm very disappointed at the level of discussion," said Howard, 25, of Burlington, who served two tours in Iraq as a corporal in the U.S. Marine Corps. "All I've heard is empty rhetoric and emotional pleas. I've heard no actual debate about the situation on the ground."
Nonetheless, he was pleased that lawmakers clearly called for an end to the war.
Vermont's House and Senate became the first to adopt resolutions calling on the president and Congress "to commence immediately the orderly withdrawal of American military forces from Iraq."
The House voted 95-52 in favor of the resolution, with most Democrats supporting it and most Republicans opposing. The vote in the Senate was 24-5 in favor, with the opposition coming from the GOP.
Other state legislatures have considered nonbinding resolutions opposing President Bush's planned surge of troops into Iraq, as the Vermont versions also did. But according to a summary of resolutions compiled by the National Conference of State Legislatures, none called for an immediate withdrawal.
That idea proved contentious in the House, where Republicans complained it would send the wrong message to troops. They said the proposal suggested soldiers and Marines were the problem in Iraq.
"I know from personal experience the effect of a message like this on our armed forces," said Rep. Joseph Krawczyk, R-Bennington, a Vietnam veteran whose daughter is serving her third tour in Iraq. "I ask you before this vote, ask yourself, `Will this action bring our troops home any earlier?'"
The language that raised objections said that "the presence of American troops in Iraq has not, and will not, contribute to the stability of that nation, the region, or the security of Americans at home or abroad."
"To veterans of the Vietnam era, this is old wine in new bottles," said Rep. Leo Valliere, R-Barre, also a Vietnam vet.
In a bid to win broader support, Democrats agreed to a Republican proposal to strike that language, although it didn't do any good. The modified resolution passed 95-52 with most Democrats favoring it and most Republicans opposed.
The Iraq war veterans who showed up at the Statehouse said they preferred leaving the language intact because it was a central reason for bring their former colleagues home.
"It's lost a lot of its strength for me," said Drew Cameron, 24, of Burlington, who served four years in the U.S. Army, including time in Iraq. "For me, that is a truth that is so important in this debate. To avoid it is to be pro-war."
___
Obviously, if we get our troops out, Iraq will return to the idyllic, peaceful place it was before the evil Bushitler/helliburton invasion of 2003 and we will have seen the last of barbarian terrorism popular resistance from MichaelMoore freedom-fighters. /S
Do these moonbats really not understand that their vapid grandstanding incites the terrorists?
Does Vermont have a cut and run Teddy Bear?
I'm speechless. Will these two be staring in the remake of Winter Soldier?
"Zen and the Art of War Repair"
http://www.lacitybeat.com/article.php?id=4238&IssueNum=168
snip*
Matthew Howard, a 25-year-old from Boston who recently served with a Marines tank battalion, also finds it difficult to relate to those back home. Like Stinzo, he is suffering from symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder, which is commonly known as PTSD and affects as many as one in six Iraq War vets, according to a recent Defense Department study. In February, the Journal of the American Medical Association found an even more startling statistic — that 35 percent of Iraq veterans have already sought mental health services.
“You know, on TV, how you see the flashbacks and the nightmares? That is actually very real and it has happened. Mine is more like general sadness. My heart breaks every time I turn on the news. My eyes just water up,” says Howard.
FWIW...
On Drew Cameron...
Iraq Vet Student to Screen Film, Lead War Discussion
By Kevin Foley
URL: http://www.uvm.edu/theview/article.php?id=2182
snip*
How did your activism grow?
I didn't particularly seek any sort of contemporary news or literature before the Army and Iraq. I wasn't political. I had faith in my leadership and my government, faith that we were doing the correct thing. I wasn't super gung-ho about going to Iraq, but I was ready and prepared to do my job.
I didn't become active with Iraq Veterans Against the War until a couple years after I returned. I went to a rally in Montpelier and met some of the guys. My whole approach to dealing with it had been to not deal with it. I tried to swallow it, and get on with my life… It took time to gain confidence in my ability to say things about the war and actually begin approaching the memories I had been trying to ignore. The process has been exceptional — there is so much camaraderie with the other people in IVAW.
You're doing a lot of traveling to speak with students about your opposition to the war. How do they respond?
I'm a college student, this is the group I belong to. I try to communicate how this affects so many people. The majority of people fighting over there are in our age group. You can get bogged down with schoolwork or things on campus, and yet at the same time there's war — wars, actually — raging overseas.
What are people going to see if they come out to see The Ground Truth?
I think the most powerful thing one could take away from this film is first-hand knowledge. It's based on interviews with people who served over there. It's structured in three parts — recruitment, deployment, and coming home, which is obviously a big part of it… the war's not over when you're home. The biggest thing I've heard in terms of a reaction is that it solidifies peoples' opinions — a student might say they're against war, but they don't know how to respond when people say they have to support the war to support the troops. But here some of the troops are, saying we don't support this, this is wrong.
excerpt From the show:
FRONTLINE: The Iraqi Insurgency
NARRATOR: This is the 2nd Battalion of the Iraqi Army's 1st Brigade, commanded by Colonel Mohammed Faiq. Col. Mohammed is a Sunni, a war hero whose unit shot down an American bomber in the first Gulf war. Now he is known for his aggressive pursuit of insurgents in his area, but he doesn't think the Iraqis can go it alone.
Col. MOHAMMED FAIQ, Iraqi army 1st Brigade: [through interpreter] Thirty percent of the country is controlled by the Iraqi police and army, but seventy percent of the country they do not control. This is a very important point. If the coalition forces left Iraq, that would be the end of Iraq. You could forget about the country called Iraq. There would be massacres in the street. No one would be able to open the door of their houses and go outside because people will kill each other. Sunnis will kill Shi'ites and Shi'ites will kill Sunnis. The Muslim will kill the Christian, and the Christian will kill the Muslim. It is very, very important that the coalition forces stay in Iraq.
Read more here
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/insurgency/etc/script.html
Like any real vet would go Dem/
Greetings,
Vermont-Iraq Worker & Soldier 
1. NOT ONE MORE DOLLAR! NOT ONE MORE LIFE! BRING THE TROOPS HOME NOW!
March & Rally Sat., Jan. 20, Montpelier
10 am: Gather - south side of City Hall, Montpelier
10:30 am: March to the VT State House
11:00 am: Rally at the VT State House
1 pm: Showing of film 'Sir, No Sir!" with speaker Liam Madden (place to be announced)
Jan. 20th Join the Labor Contingent to March and Rally to "Bring Our Troops Home Now - Money for People's Needs, Not War - Solidarity with Iraqi Workers" Wear union jackets and hats.
We're holding the Vermont protest one week before the national protest. We are hoping thousands of working Vermonters will march as we call on our federal representatives, all of Congress and the Bush administration to de-fund the war, bring the troops home now, and take care of them when they get here.
Speakers include Marine Staff Sgt. Liam Madden (Appeal for Redress organizer), Iraqi Vet Drew Cameron, and Vermont Workers Center co-chair Dawn Stanger.
With their defeatist attitude, it's just a matter of time before they get there anyway.
" "I'm very disappointed at the level of discussion," said Howard, 25, of Burlington, who served two tours in Iraq as a corporal in the U.S. Marine Corps. "All I've heard is empty rhetoric and emotional pleas. I've heard no actual debate about the situation on the ground." "
Democrats would deny re-enforcements to the Military,
no matter what the 'situation on the ground' is.
Intersting! These Vermont freaks cant even write legistation to protect their own children from perverts and now they want to set National policy. Right!
(Could we sell VT and MA to CanaDuh?)
we call on our federal representatives, all of Congress and the Bush administration to de-fund the war, bring the troops home now, and take care of them when they get here.
When more terrorist 'get here' the war will be apparently 'here' too.
Standing Iraq up is a tough job the voluteers in our Military are currently doing.
I wish these anti-war Democrats would stop burning fossil fuels,
and invest in research for other alternatives,
something they could actually effect.
I'm boycotting anything made / sold in Vermont.
No maple syrup for me.
These are the same people that clog our arteries with cheddar cheese...
Probably JAG officers.
I call for Vermont to withdraw from the United States of America.
Copperheads.
I was trying for a little sarcasm suggesting that, other than maple syrup (and cheese) and Bernie Sanders, not much comes from Vermont.
Of course, I will continue to subscribe to Hemmings Motor News. It's the best antique car parts source on the planet.
And I have a few clients there who manufacture composites for military and commercial use.
But NO MAPLE SYRUP!
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