U.S. troops (200) on active duty call for Iraq withdrawal

[rodeodance]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061025/ts_nm/iraq_usa_campaign_dc

U.S. troops on active duty call for Iraq withdrawal

47 minutes ago

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - More than 200 active duty U.S. armed service members, fed up with the war in
Iraq, have joined an unusual protest calling for withdrawal of U.S. troops from the country, organizers said on Wednesday.

The campaign, called the Appeal for Redress from the War in Iraq, is the first of its kind in the Iraq war and takes advantage of Defense Department rules allowing active duty troops to express personal opinions to members of Congress without fear of retaliation, organizers said.

"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," states the appeal posted on the campaign's Web site at www.appealforredress.org.

"Staying in Iraq will not work and is not worth the price. It is time for U.S. troops to come home," it adds.

The Web site allows service members to sign the appeal that will be presented to members of Congress. Organizers said the number of signatories has climbed from 65 to 219 since the appeal was posted a few days ago and Wednesday when it was publicly launched. There are 140,000 U.S. troops in Iraq.

[blm]

1. Been waiting for this. DU - Please, RATE THE STORY UP and email around.

Send to your local newspapers, too.

[rodeodance]

6. send it far and wide.

[saltpoint]

2. Not a very encouraging sign for the Bush administration is it.

[rodeodance]

16. bush has all the optimism he needs.

[saltpoint]

18. The top Republicans sound cheerful on the surface. But my hunch is

that their internal polls say about the same as ours do, and without the slide in public confidence over Iraq, the polls would likely be different.

I think they're goin' down.

[rodeodance]

3. they had their press conf. that they said on Monday they would have:

In a conference call with reporters, a sailor, a Marine and a soldier who had served in the Iraq operation said American troops there have increasingly had difficulty seeing the purpose of lengthy and repeated tours of duty since the fall of
Saddam Hussein.

Their misgivings have intensified this year as the country has edged toward civil war, they said.

"The real grievances are: Why are we in Iraq if the weapons of mass destruction are not found, if the links to al Qaeda are not substantiated," said Marine Sgt. Liam Madden of Rockingham, Vermont, who was in Iraq from September 2004 to February 2005 and is based at Quantico, Virginia.

[rodeodance]

4. anyone hear any coverage of this?

[Cooley Hurd]

5. 65 to 219? Damn!

...it's a movement!!:wow::patriot:

[cui bono]

12. G.I. Joementum!!! n/t

[KansDem]

30. "No"mentum as in "No More!!!"

I hope this takes off like wildfire!

on edit: :rofl: "G.I. Joementum"--that's good!

[rodeodance]

7. they have 3 sponsers:

"The real grievances are: Why are we in Iraq if the weapons of mass destruction are not found, if the links to al Qaeda are not substantiated," said Marine Sgt. Liam Madden of Rockingham, Vermont, who was in Iraq from September 2004 to February 2005 and is based at Quantico, Virginia.

"The occupation is perpetuating more violence," he said. "It's costing way too many Iraqi civilian and American service member lives while it brings us no benefit."

The campaign's sponsoring committee includes the activist groups Iraq Veterans Against the War, Veterans for Peace and Military Families Speak Out.

Navy Seaman Jonathan Hutto of Atlanta, stationed at Norfolk, Virginia and the first service member to join the campaign, said a similar appeal during the Vietnam War drew support from over 250,000 active duty service members in the early 1970s.

[rodeodance]

8. 4.4 stars Average (146 votes)

RECOMMEND THIS STORY

Your Recommendation:

Average (146 votes)
4.4 stars

[rodeodance]

11. rate it up and EMAIL it from yahoo site also

[whistle]

9. How many of these US troops will be brought up for courts marshal?

[rodeodance]

14. they have rules. see here:

Active duty service members are restricted in expressing personal views publicly. But rules governed by the Military Whistleblower Protection Act give them the right to speak to a member of Congress respectfully while off-duty and out of uniform, making clear they do not speak for the military.

In a conference call with reporters, a sailor, a Marine and a soldier who had served in the Iraq operation said American troops there have increasingly had difficulty seeing the purpose of lengthy and repeated tours of duty since the fall of
Saddam Hussein.

Their misgivings have intensified this year as the country has edged toward civil war, they said.

"The real grievances are: Why are we in Iraq if the weapons of mass destruction are not found, if the links to al Qaeda are not substantiated," said Marine Sgt. Liam Madden of Rockingham, Vermont, who was in Iraq from September 2004 to February 2005 and is based at Quantico, Virginia.

"The occupation is perpetuating more violence," he said. "It's costing way too many Iraqi civilian and American service member lives while it brings us no benefit."

[Monkeyman]

20. Article 15

loss of pay, rank, and a hell of a lot of KP

[whistle]

22. So these courageous military people who are standing up for truth

...will need lots of help then

[rodeodance]

26. Lovely

[LynnTheDem]

43. No loss of pay, no loss of rank, no KP.

Protected statements.

[LynnTheDem]

42. None. Protected statements.

We gotta get outta this place...

[sabra]

10. and it was just a "coincidence" that Bush's conference was @ the same

time...

[rodeodance]

15. as Bush says-----he is not the scheduler in chief.

[sabra]

19. LOL - indeed

[democrank]

13. I`m filled with joy.

Best of luck to these brave, patriotic soldiers. I`m going to spread this far and wide. Can we he help them in any other way?

[rodeodance]

17. 4.3 stars 169 votes)

RECOMMEND THIS STORY

Your Recommendation:

Average (169 votes)
4.3 stars

[democrank]

21. Question....

The appeal for redress site is for service members only. Does anyone know where we can sends emails/ make calls of support?

[rodeodance]

33. the article has Groups that are supporting them.-----check it out.

[PegDAC]

56. Check Veterans for America.

I'm positive they are in support of the action.

[rodeodance]

23. k

[Fluffdaddy]

24. Those troops on active duty are in BAD TROUBLE

Anyone that been in the service knows going public against the commander in Chief is a BIG NO NO.\\

[bananas]

25. They were in BAD TROUBLE anyway - stuck in a perpetual war. nt

[Fluffdaddy]

29. Then Don't enlist in the military. When you do your life is no longer yours

[MGD]

38. They swore an oath to defend the Constitution against all enemies

both foreign and domestic and to bear true faith to the same. I think they're fulfilling their oaths. God bless them for it.

[Fluffdaddy]

40. Indeed they are. Proud of them I am

[blm]

27. They are allowed to appeal to congress. We'll see what happens.

.

[CJCRANE]

34. The Chief of the Army

in the UK disagreed publicly with Blair's Iraq policy and plenty of retired US Generals have called for Rummy to be fired (not to mention the official NIE which flatly contradicted the neocon's rhetoric).

If the C-in-C won't listen to sense then this kind of thing is going to happen more and more.

[MGD]

39. Yeah, there will be painful ramifications for any signers I'm sure.

I'm so glad I'm not dealing with that Army BS anymore.

[LynnTheDem]

44. No they are not.

Protected statements.

[rubberducky]

28. These people are real heros!!!

I`d like to know if they have a web site!

[shadowknows69]

31. Too bad that no one who gets their news from TV will see this

n/t

[rodeodance]

32. CNN ; Navy Seaman Jonathan Hutto on explaining why our

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=2479177&mesg_id=2479177

Wed Oct-25-06 03:11 PM
Original message

CNN ; Navy Seaman Jonathan Hutto on explaining why our
Edited on Wed Oct-25-06 03:14 PM by Alamom
service men & women are appealing to congress.

(anyone else see this ? I just caught the end about 15 minutes ago.)



Seaman Hutto was asking all military, active and retired to go to this site and join this appeal.


Appeal for Redress

http://www.appealforredress.org /



http://www.boston.com/news/local/vermont/articles/2006/... /


Service members press Congress to end occupation in Iraq
By Ed Shearer, Associated Press Writer | October 25, 2006

ATLANTA --Active duty service members, including one from Vermont, are using the military whistle-blower protection act to urge Congress to end the U.S. occupation of Iraq and bring American soldiers home.

Jonathan Hutto of Atlanta, a Navy seaman based in Norfolk, Va., said the idea to appeal for redress originated in January when he was deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom when one of his friends suggested he read the book "Soldiers in Revolt." It chronicled opposition to the Vietnam War by active duty military and how they appealed to their congressmen to end the conflict and bring the troops home.

"Many of us have to follow orders because we took an oath to defend the U.S.," Hutto said during a conference call with an attorney and two other active members of the military.

"Many of us have reservations about their orders and some feel compelled to let our feelings be known," Hutto said. "This occupation should come to an end right now."






edit to add link

[tblue]

35. My local paper described this group as a brainchild of liberal partisans

Another example of the r/w dismissing & dissing the troops.

Have you ever screamed at a newspaper? I just did.

[blm]

37. Hey - you did the right thing calling them - every BIT helps.

.

[NorthernSpy]

47. chickenhawks love the war, hate the troops...

Figures.

[Rose Siding]

36. Bless you, bless you, bless you and be safe, American patriots

:patriot:

"It's costing way too many Iraqi civilian and American service member lives while it brings us no benefit."

[Megahurtz]

41. YAY! There's more now!

:bounce:

[lonestarnot]

45. Kick'n ass and tak'n names!

[twaddler01]

46. Knew this would show here.. K&R

[NorthernSpy]

48. ... as Bushbots start plaiting yellow ribbons into 200 nooses...

How dare they not be grateful for the opportunity to die in our unConstitutional war?!?!

:nuke:

[spacemanspiff]

49. This number is up to 350 now!!!

Early last night, 350 servicemen and women had signed the appeal, according to organizers.

http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2006/102006/10262006/232208

[blm]

50. GREAT UPDATE.

Keeping this update kicked.

[Megahurtz]

51. Whoopee!

:woohoo:

[goforit]

53. God bless those whom stand up against tyrranny.

[PuraVidaDreamin]

54. Hot damn Woooo dammmmn wooooooo

This is the most freakin fantabulous news yet!

[bdamomma]

52. this is the only way when people will take notice that when

our troops start saying they want out, people will hopefully listen, but again our media is in the back pocket of bushie.

I am glad these soldiers are speaking up, it's about damn time, they get the truth, that Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11.

[DeeDeeNY]

55. These troops are true patriots in every sense of the word

For a long time a large percentage of the troops in Iraq honestly believed that Saddam had something to do with 9/11.
It must be beyond crushing to find out you've been fighting for a lie.
(How long before the whistleblower law for the military is changed?)