Friday, October 06, 2006

Jake Kovco (C.I.)

C.I. here, filling in for Kat on Fridays while she's in Ireland. Kat doesn't want anything too formal here while we're filling in so (in answer to an e-mailing visitor to The Common Ills), Betty can write about a TV show if she wants. In fact, as Rebecca would be the first to point out, by writing about a TV show in that entry, she may have attracted someone who read that and then went on to read about Darrell Anderson for the first time. (By the way, Betty's hoping to have something up at her site this evening.) Over a year ago, writing about Plamegate, I used Matt Damon as an example and there were people who actually found that entry and wrote in because Damon was mentioned in it. (Damon is not involved in Plamegate. The issue of public relations may have been what was being discussed and that's how he ended up used as an example in that entry.) You never know what will catch someone's eye. And obviously the visitor who was so bothered that Betty was writing about a TV show ended up learning about Darrell Anderson. (The visitor was outraged because he hadn't heard of Anderson before and because in the same entry he was learning of Darrell Anderson.)

Earlier this week, Rebecca's "iraq, iraq, iraq" resulted in some e-mails (I'm mentioned in it) and, first off, those are her takes on things. I'm not replying to everything but I have been wanting to write about one aspect. (I'm not offended by anything in Rebecca's post. Please, we've been friends for years. But our understanding is, write what you ever want but just be sure people know that's your take on it. I love Rebecca's site, I love what she writes and I love Rebecca.) The aspect she touched on was Jake Kovco and several times I alluded to a planned entry (alluded at The Common Ills) but never found a way to fit it in there and wasn't sure, if I had time, that it would be the sort of thing that would work there.

If you don't know of Jake Kovco, he died April 21st in Baghdad. He was Australia's first soldier to die in Iraq. At The Common Ills, we have a number of members who are Australian. Skip and Olive both noted his death when it happened in e-mails and other members followed. But we would have noted it because it mattered to members from that area.

I was honestly surprised by how little attention the story received from the mainstream media outside of Australia. To walk you through, the father of two children died of gunshot wounds to his head, in his barracks. No one saw the gun go off. There was no move to preserve the scene or the clothes he was wearing. His body was being sent to Australia and his family prepared to greet it, but it wasn't him. There was a mix up. Day after day, it was one heartache piled on another.

This summer, an inquiry was held into his death and the events surrounding it. The inquiry hasn't released their report yet. It's expected this month. But the inquiry was a joke. Judy Kovco, his mother, had to leave at one point because it was so ridiculous. And that's how it pretty much was day after day. People were allowed to testify about things that they hadn't witnessed. In one extreme case, Jake Kovco, who grew up with guns and knew how to handle them, was trumpeted in headlines as a "cowboy" who played with his gun. That came from his roommate who never saw it. But supposedly the roommate heard about it.

From who? He didn't want to say and the inquiry didn't compell him to. But on that non-observed incident, the press worked itself up into "Cowboy!" By the way, this isn't a complete history of the inquiry. There's really not time for that. Day after day, the inquiry showed little interest in demanding that people testify to what they had observed.

There was also not any accountability. Defense Minister (the equivalent of Secretary of State for those new to the story), Brendan Nelson couldn't stop going to the press. With one story after another, following Kovco's death. He repeatedly 'corrected' the story. In the hearing, it emerged that he was told, from the start, all the facts weren't in and not to say anything.

He showed no remorse for that. He did cry on the stand, about how hard it was for him. Yes, it's very hard for Brendan Nelson to be exposed as a gabby gossip who was instructed not to speak about things he didn't know. So he cried because he was humiliated. Jake Kovco didn't have the same opportunity to cry this summer because he was dead.

It was that sort of nonsense, Brendan Nelson's concern being Brendan Nelson and even referring to Jake Kovco as something to the equivalent of an "object" (prompting a deserved outcry from Judy Kovco), that just demonstrated how the whole thing was "Keystone Cops" time ("Keystone Cops" was a term Judy Kovco used early on to describe the hearings).

Near the end, it appeared that they were going to either blame Jake Kovco or rule it a sucide. There was no evidence of that and the outrage over such a finding forced the hearing to state they weren't considering either.

Someone who patrolled with Jake Kovco, but was not, supposedly, in the room when Kovco died, had DNA on Kovco's gun (the weapon that killed him). He offered a fanciful theory on how his DNA would have ended up on the gun. The press ran with it. It was ludicrous from the beginning. When the government's DNA expert testified, she noted that it couldn't have happened that way.

The "cowboy" testimony noted earlier, the man with the DNA on the gun spoke with the two roommates to 'figure' out what happened. That emerged during the end of the trial. The roommate making the 'cowboy' claim was not recalled and asked to say if one of the people he supposedly heard that claim from was the DNA guy.

It was so hideous to follow because there was no attempt by the inquiry to establish facts. People could say whatever they wanted and then march out of the hearing with few ever being recalled when later testimony called their own remarks into question.

It was all a very sad joke and I don't personally believe that the 'findings' will offer anything of use.

I don't know how the DNA got on the gun and there may be a perfectly innocent explanation. But they weren't interested ("they" being those in charge of the hearing) in pursuing that. Judy Kovco has stated she believes it's very likely that the finding will be a cover up. I'd agree with that because the hearing played out like a cover up.

Shelley Kovco is Jake Kovco's widow and for those wondering why she's not mentioned, she held a press conference after the hearing concluded explaining the pain everything had caused her and asking for her privacy. That's all we'll note on her to respect that request.

In terms of noting the events that happened, that was due to members raising the issue. It was also due to the fact that it didn't appear to be getting much (if any) coverage outside of Australia. (Deepa Fernandez did cover Jake Kovco's death and the issue of his body not being sent to Australia when the coffin was. Covered it on WBAI's Wakeup Call.) In the first few weeks, we were just noting the events. I don't believe the Iraq snapshot had started up yet. (Monday through Friday, there's an Iraq snapshot at The Common Ills.) Once the snapshot was started, the hearing was something Iraq related and something members were interested in (and interested in seeing it covered from outside their country -- they were very vocal about how insulting they found the lack of coverage from the American mainstream media).

But before the snapshot started, at some point, Olive sent a photo in an e-mail, a photo of Jake Kovco. I'd never noticed his picture in any of the stories we'd highlighted prior to that.

He had a goofy smile. I don't mean that in an insulting way. It wasn't a bad smile or a stupid smile. It was a goofy smile to me and I read that as he was a pretty easy going person, someone who enjoyed life and made it fun for people around him. And when you saw that smile and realized that this was one more person dead in Australia, for me, it just really brought home again the tragedy of this war. By all accounts, Jake Kovco believed in the war.

I obviously don't. But that was beside the point. He was someone who obviously touched a number of lives (as proven by his memorial service later on) and all of these people -- family, friends -- were never going to get to see that person they knew and his smile.

Those people deserved answers and when, day after day, it became obvious that the inquiry wasn't interested in finding answers, it just really upset me. I don't believe in the war. Presumably, the leadership in Australia does since they continue to be part of the so-called coalition of the willing. But they didn't appear to believe in it enough to honor Kovco's death by determing what happened.

His family fought very hard to get the truth. That includes his mother Judy, his father Martin and his step-brother Ben. (But it's not limited to them.) Despite this and despite the claims that the inquiry was interested in finding out the truth, the government happy to send him off to fight couldn't find the time and interest to determine how he died.

And maybe no one could. His room was cleaned, his clothes disposed of, statements not taken in real time after his death. But they could have conducted themselves in a manner that demonstrated they were interested in trying to determine the truth. Instead, they were joking and laughing on a shooting range one day as they were supposed to be learning about the gun that shot him.

I just found the whole thing sick and felt they went through the motions and not even in a serious manner. It says a great deal about how any soldier would be treated in Australia, my opinion. And it said a lot about a lack of compassion for the family, again, my opinion.

John Howard (their prime minister) appeared more interested in propping up Brendan Nelson. There's still been no disciplinary action taken against Nelson. John Howard talks of how 'just' and 'important' the Iraq war is but, if he really believed that, wouldn't he have done more to ensure that there was accountability?

Instead it was shift the buck, shift the buck. One of the problems, the mix up of Juso Sinanovic's body with Jake Kovco's, probably resulted (as witnesses pointed out) from the government playing it on the cheap, outsourcing the duties. The hearing heard (and accepted) a lot of "It's not my company's fault" nonsense. Juso Sinanovic's family didn't need their loved one traveling to Australia (he was from Bosnia). Two families were effected by this and all the hearing could do was parade a "It's not my fault" witness. No tough questions and no news that Howard's cancelled the contract.

If Howard believed in the war as much as he claims to, then he should also believe that Australians serving in it deserve to be treated with respect -- in life and in death. There has been no indication on the part of his administration that they're eager to change anything or that any other death would be treated any differently.

Everyone deserves better than that and Jake Kovco certainly did. Click here (and search after the image is no longer available) and I'm sure you'll find a better term than "goofy" (which isn't meant as an insult, I like these type of smiles). ("Sweet" smile also works but from remarks made to the press by friends and family, "sweet" would probably have received an eye roll from him.) No one should die in that war but for Australia to have one fatality and the government not be able to deal with or address that one fatality is really sad.

Shortly after the snapshot would go up during the hearing, Olive would always e-mail and say she was glad someone else was outraged by what was going on. I was outraged and I think a lot of other people who never knew him felt outraged by the Keystone Cops manner of dealing with his death and the events after.

So, point, that's why we covered it: Members wanted it covered from the start, the story wasn't getting the attention it deserved, his family and his memory were being, my opinion, disrespected and because of his smile.

And to answer the big question that e-mails from mebers asked after Rebecca's post went up, yes, I did tear up every day when writing about the hearing and I've teared up while writing this because everyone deserves better (and, again, this is the only death Australia's had to deal with, you'd think the government could have addressed it in a manner that honored the loss). I copied the snapshot before I started writing this and I'm glad because my eyes and eyelashes are all matted up from crying now.

But, to put a conclusion to this entry, he deserved better, his family deserved better and Australia deserved better. His death did effect a lot of people but the hearing appeared to exist only to say, "See, stuff happens." ("Stuff" may have been the term Brendan Nelson used to refer to Jake Kovco.) Jake Kovco's death wasn't "stuff." And it's bad enough that he died, the tragedy was made worse in all that came after -- not just the mix-up but the hearing itself.


Here's the "Iraq snapshot:"

Friday, October 6, 2006. Chaos and violence continue in Iraq, war resister Darrell Anderson is headed home (he returned to the United States, turned himself in at Fort Knox on Tuesday, now he's headed home), World Can't Wait staged protests across the United States on Thursday, the Danish military suffers a fatality in Iraq, the US military notes a death toll on Iraqi police officers but continues to look the other way with regards to violence toward Iraqi women, and Bob Watada, father of war resisterer Ehren Watada, continues his second speaking tour to raise awareness on his son.

Starting with war resister Darrell Anderson. In April of 2004, Anderson was injured by a roadside bomb in Iraq and awarded a Purple Heart. Returning to the US and learning he would be redeployed to Iraq, Anderson elected to self-check out of the military in January 2005 and move to Canada. Anderson spoke out publicly against the war while in Canada, attempted to win refugee status (something the Canadian government has refused all war resisters), met Gail Greer, married her in February 2006 but decided to return to the United States. On Saturday, he crossed the Peace Bridge back into the US and, on Tuesday, he turned himself in at Fort Knox. Jim Warren (Lexington Herald-Leader) reports that Jim Fennerty, Anderson's attorney, states Darrell Anderson "was released from Fort Knox this morning and is on his way home". AP reports that Anderson "is expected to be discharged without a court-martial".

While some resist war, US Secretary of State Condi Rice incites it. Rice was in Baghdad on Thursday where -- as Robin Wright (Washington Post), Philp Shenon (New York Times) and CBS and AP reported -- her plane had to circle the airport for approximately forty minutes due to mortar and rocket attacks. Not aimed at her, mind you, such is the state of Baghdad that Rice's unnannounced visit didn't effect what's become life as usual. From there, on Friday, Condi headed to the Kurdish region, which is oil rich, and, as AFP reports, made noises about sharing the wealth with Massud Barzani (regional president). She was so busy that the meeting in London among "world powers" had to be delayed two hours, Thomas Wagner (AP) reports which left "leaders little time to reach a consensus and making it unlikely." If the decision on sanctions has been delayed, a detour's been created in Bully Boy's march to war on Iran meaning, possibly, citizens around the world should pray that Condi has many more unexpected layovers. (Update on this by Sophie Walker of Reuters.)

As Wright (Washington Post) noted, Rice's visit began as the Kurdish parliamentarian Mohammed Ridah Sinkawi was assassinated. As Shenon (New York Times) noted, the visit with Iraqi president Jalal Talabani took place "in the dark" after "the lights went out . . . It was a reminder of the city's erratic -- and sometimes nonexistant -- electrical service." Along with electrical problems, Rice visit occurred as Xinhua reported that: "Toxic water in the Tigris river killed thousands of fish and birds in Iraq's Salahudin province . . . The provincial water directorate, which produces drinking water for people in this area, ordered all its projects to suspend working and wait for the tests' results". Three years after the illegal war began and they can't even keep the lights on the fortified Green Zone of Baghdad, nor can they address the issue of the Tigris which provides "drinking water supplies for millions of Iraqis."



Today, CNN reports Joseph Paterson ("commander in charge of police training in Iraq") announced that "Since September 2004 . . . about 4,000 [police] officers have been killed and 8,000 injured". And of course, as AFP reported earlier, between 800 and 1,200 police officers are being retrained after they were thought to be complicit in the mass kindappings from earlier this week. What the US military refuses to talk about is women in Iraq. Nabeel Ziriqi (Al Jazeera) reported earlier this week: "A recent spike in attacks on women has forced many in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul to retreat into their homes or resort to armed escort by relatives and tribal guards. In recent weeks, Mosul residents have witnessed an unprecedented rise in the number of female corpses found throughout the city. Alaa al-Badrani said her friend, a school principal, was kidnapped from her home in the Bakr district of the city by an armed gang."



Bombings?

Bahrain News Agency reports that a roadside bomb targeted "a US military patrol . . . passing by in Husaiba to the est of the Iraqi city of Ramadhi." No word on any casualities or fatalities. AFP reports mortar rounds wounded seven in Baghdad. Sameer N. Yacoub (AP) reports a "double bombing" that first "set the generator ablaze, then when firefighters and others rushed in, the second went off" resulting in one death and four injured.

Shootings?

KUNA reports that Denmark's 500 troops serving in Iraq are now 499 as a soldier, injured in an "armed confrontation" in southern Iraq, died as he was being transported to a hospital.


Corpses?

Sameer N. Yacoub (AP) reports seven corpses discovered "floating in the area of Suwayrah". AFP reports that Baghdad police discovered 35 corpses in the capital in the last 24 hours.

This comes as the puppet of the occupation, Nouri al-Malki's little examined 4-part 'peace' plan continues to be hailed by an unquestioning press. One not hailing it is Firas Al-Atraqchi (Al-Ahram Weekly) who notes of the first plank -- 'security committees': "The committees would monitor whether police and the Iraqi army effectively pursue militia fighters after an attack. But the plan falls far short of any significant effort to curb violence because it does not address the disarming of militias, which Maliki had promised in late May, and focuses entirely on Baghdad. The rest of the country, it seems, can go to hell."

Meanwhile IRIN reports a slight improvement for the life of prisoners in Iraqi prisons just as AP reports that: "Guards at Guantanamo Bay bragged about beating detainees and described it as common practice, a U.S. Marine sergeant said in a sworn statement". (If you're confused as to the connection between Guantanamo and Iraq, on today's KPFA's Living Room, Kris Welch presented some recorded footage of Janis Karpinski explaining the efforts to "Gitmo-ize" Abu Ghraib.)

In legal news, AP reports that the trial of Pendleton Eight, accused of shooting an unarmed Iraqi dead after dragging from his Hamdaniya home, included testimony today from one of the eight, Melson J. Bacos, who testified "he saw two Marines fire at least 10 rounds into 52-year-old Hashim Ibrahim Awad". AP reports that Bacos, a medic, "pleaded guilty to kidnapping and conspiracy charges" in the death of Awad.
Reuters reports that Bacos tetified Lawrence Hutchins III had devised a plan for another Iraqi (one who had been in and out of Abu Ghraib) but, when unable to locate that man, they went after Hashim Ibrahim Awad who happened to live next door to the Iraqi Hutchins had intended they kidnap and kill.

Meanwhile, in London, AFP reports that an inquest into the death of ITN reporter Terry Lloyd heard testimony from Nicholas Walshe who stated Lloyd "was shot in the head by US troops as he was driven away from a gunfight". As the BBC noted, March 23, 2003, Terry Lloyd "has not been seen since he and three colleagues came under fire as [they] were on the road to the city of Basra." The Guardian of London reports that, in addition, a British solider testified "he saw a US tank open fire on the ITN team's vehicles" and that this was "the first public acknowledgement that British forces witnessed the events of March 22, 2003, in which Mr. Lloyd and his interpreter Huseein Osman died and his French cameraman Fred Nerac went missing near Basra in southern Iraq."

Frederic Nerac remains missing and Reporters Without Borders notes that "British defence ministry opened an investigation in June 2003 into their [Nerac and Hussein Osman] disappearance at the insistence of Nerac's wife Fabienne and press freedom organisations including Reporters Without Borders."

Will Dunham (Reuters) reports that "signs of wear and tear on the U.S. military" has resulted from Iraq and Afghanistan and that "Many troops are facing second and third long combat tours and less time between overseas deployments." Or none at all. A point Laurie Loving makes very clear on page 2 of The Nation's October 16, 2006 issue. Loving, a member of Military Families Speak Out, opens her letter with the following: "My son is in the 172nd Stryker Brigade (Army). It recently had its one-year deployment to Iraq extended while in the midst of deploying back to the United States. He is one of the 400 soldiers who had made it back to Fairbanks, Alaska. A few days later he was informed that he was going to be sent back to Iraq. His brigade has been sent to Baghdad to save the occupation."

In US congressional news, John Nolen (CBS) covers Republican Senator John Warner's reaction to this week's visit to Iraq: "In two or three months, if this thing hasn't come to fruition and if this level of violence is not under control . . . I think it's the responsibility of our government, internally to determine: Is there a change in course that we should take? And I wouldn't take off the table any option at this time." This as AFP reports on Republican Senator Chuck Hagel's trip to Vietnam which found him drawing some comparisons to Iraq and Vietnam and declaring "War should always be a last resort." Reporting on the other side of the aisle, Gregg K. Kakesako (Honolulu Star-Bulletin) notes that Democratic "U.S. House Reps. Neil Abercrombie and John Murtha say President Bush will have to mobilize all members of the Army National Guard and Army Reserve -- including 3,000 Hawaii citizen soldiers -- for an indefinite period. There are not enough active-duty military to handle the current level of violence in Iraq, the two Democrats said yesterday. That would affect Army National Guard units like Hawaii's 29th Brigade Combat Team, which currently is not supposed to be mobilized for six years since returning from Iraq this year."

In peace news, across the United States people participated in demonstrations, rallies and marches as part of the World Can't Wait actions. Whethere the turnout was ten people or in the hundreds, all demonstrations made a difference, had an impact and was made up of people willing to stand up. We're going to note some of the events, not all. Over 200 locations took part and what follows is a sample of some events reported by the press.

The Reno Gazette-Journal reports that an estimated 40 people turned out in Reno, carrying signs that read "Vote for change," "I believe in our Constitution, why doesn't Bush?," "Where is the plan?" and U.S. Out of Iraq." Adam Leech (Portsmouth Herald) reports that at least fifty turned out in Portsmouth, Maine and he quotes Vietnam vet Brian Vawter saying, "I think we're all pretty fed up with what's going on iwth the decline of our rights and the direction this country is going. People have a need to express themselves directly because their view isn't being expressed by either partly in Washington right now." Sam Shawver (Marietta Times) reports that ten people turned out in Marietta, Ohio and quotes two: James Gawthrop stating, "I just learned about worldcantwait.net a few days ago, but my hands were shaking over the 'torture bill' Congress passed last Thursday. Now the Bush administration can detain anybody suspected of being a terrorist indefinitely. They can use secret evidence to hold you. They can even use torture"; and Janie Poe who wore a CODEPINK t-shirt to the demonstration stating, "I've been talking with many young people, and I'm impressed. Listen to young people. They're very concerned about their future, and they're very informed." [Poe urged people to support Amnesty USA and speak out against torture.] In the previous, that's a hundred people who stood up (more if press estimates are off).

In Florida, John Simpson (Bradenton Herald) reports that 150 people turned out in Sarasota to demonstrate and quotes Naomi Nye: "People are fed up. The tide is definitely turning." Simpson also notes 82-year-old Sara Dick who stated, "We're in even more danger (now). In some areas, there are more rights, but we're always slipping and sliding backwards." Christian Hill (The Olympian) reports that an estimated 300 people gathered in Olympia, Washington and quotes college student Brandon Franz stating, "The people of America are supposed to have the voice in what's done, not the ruling elite" and Kirsten Anderson who states, "I'm doing this for my grandchildren. I'm a little old to have it be for me, and it's the ones comping up that I care about. It's their country, too, especially now." Summer Banks (Yale Daily News) reports that an estimated 60 people participated near campus and notes one was "[l]ocal resident and self-proclaimed Republican housewife Monica McGovern" who stated, "I am calling for Bush to step down or for Congress to impeach him. I would like to see him indicted for war crimes." Beth Freed (Dallas Morning News) reports that an estimated forty people participated in Lewisville, Texas resulting in "slowed southbound traffic on Interstate 35E . . . . Many commuters honked in support of the peace demonstrators outside the office of U.S. Rep. Michael Burgess, while others slowed to express their disagreement" and quotes Nikki Henderson stating, "We as Americans should not tolerate decisions like last week's legislation. It allows Bush to interpret the Geneva Conventions on his own."

Big or small turnouts, people stood up. They stopped their normal day to speak out.
Louis Medina (The Bakersfield California) reports an estimated seventy-five activists were particiapting by the end of the events and quotes college student Araceli Aguilar stating, "I came here to protest the Bush administration. I don't agree with what they're doing. I don't agree with the war, which they said is over, yet we still have our troops there and they're dying." Melissa Nix (The Free Lance Star) reports that, in Fredericksburg, Virginia, an estimated two dozen students of the University of Mary Washington participated and quotes college student Jason Walsh who held 268 pages listing the names of American troops who had died in Iraq, "That's a small book. It's a waste, because no one's going to read it. No one cares about these soldiers except their families." OregonLive reports that a little less than 400 people participated in Portland's march. In Santa Fe, New Mexico, Lubna Takruri (AP) reports that "dozens" turned out and the mayor, David Coss, spoke to the group.

A mayor, students, retired people, those who work in the home, those who work outside it (and those working outside frequently also work inside), a wide range of people took part. Patrick Flanigan (Rochester Democrat and Chronicle) reports that an estimated "150 people gathered in downtown Rochester [New York] on Thursday to protest President Bush's handling of the war on terror and the mounting death toll in Iraq" and quotes Donna Mummery: "Our country is about to embark on a very dangerous course. By taking to the streets on a work day, you are saying enough is enough." Also in New York, Alice Hunt (Poughkeepsie Journal) reports that activists gathered in New Paltz and quotes Josh Schulman stating, "Our first step is to initiate that dialogue and permeat the mass media with the message Bush does not speak for many Americans." While in NYC, Chelsea Cooley (Washington Square News) reports: "Hundreds of protesters packed the streets yesterday, marching 33 blocks from the United Nations building at First Avenue and 47th Street to Union Square, chanting their message: 'Drive out the Bush regime!'"

In one of the largest reported turnouts, Emma Graves Fitzsimmons, Brendan McCarthy and Rudy Bush (Chicago Tribune) report that an estimated 1,500 people turned out in Chicago and quotes college student Rebecca Miller on skipping class to attend, "It's just one class. I can always make up the homework. This is more important." and Thyandrea Adams who shut down her business to be present, "I told them not to come into work today. This is a day that's important. It was worth it to show support from our community." In Seattle, Mike Barber (Seattle Post-Intelligencer) reports "several hundreds" turned out and Barber quotes Patricia Thompson who brought "her 82-year-old father" because, "He is horrified at the mess they made of Iraq. Weapons of mass destruction was a snow job. We never finished in Afghanistan. It's an absolute shambles of incompetency and profiteering."

In San Francisco, Dennis Bernstein and Nora Barrows Friedman covered the event for
KPFA's Flashpoints on Thursday (broadcast archived -- if you can listen online, you can hear it for free), Charles Slay (San Francisco Indybay Media) has created a photo essay, and John Koopman, Patrick Hoge and Marisa Lagos (San Francisco Chronicle) report on the "hundres" (it was well over a thousand) and notes 17-year-old Jessica Cussins, among the many who left campuses to attend, stating, "I felt that this was more useful. I wanted to be part of it. I think what we're doing (in Iraq) is wrong." Alice Walker is quoted stating: "I just want the children to know that some of the elders are with them, and that we're very happy they are speaking out and saving their own lives by resisting the Bush regime." [You can also check out Mike's "Blue Angels buzzing rally and power cut (San Francisco)" which relays Jess reporting via cellphone.]

Ehren Watada was not in Salem, Oregon yesterday but he was remembered. Tim King (Salem-News) reports that among those participating in their local World Can't Wait demonstrations ("between 75 and 100") was Reed Elder who urged that everyone check out Ehren Watada's website and that other "soldiers who also don't agree withe the direction of the nation" should be speaking out.

Bob Watada, Ehren's father, is now on his second speaking tour to raise awareness of his son who is the first US officer to publicly refuse to serve in the illegal war. Some of the upcoming events include:


Sat 10/7 2:00-4:00 pm Welcome Reception for Bob Watada
JACCC Garden Room, 244 S. San Pedro St., Los Angeles
Contact: NCRR 213-680-3484, email: ncrrla@yahoo.com.

Sun 10/8 2:00-5:00 pm Forum with Bob Watada
Nat'l Center for the Preservation of Democracy, 111 N. Central Ave., Los Angeles.
Contact Ellen Endo 213-629-2231 or Mo 323-371-4502

Sun 10/8 6:00-8:00 pm An Evening of Discussion and Learning hosted by Rev. Phyllis Tyler
11326 CherryLee Dr., El Monte (Rev. Tyler is Senior Pastor of Sage Granada Park United Methodist Church in Alhambra) Co-sponsored by NCRR and the National Japanese American United Methodist Church Caucus
Contact: NCRR 213-680-3484 email: ncrrla@yahoo.com

Mon 10/9 7:00pm Veterans for Peace (Chapter 112) and Citizens for Peaceful Resolution
E.P. Foster Library, Topping Rm. 651, E. Main St., Ventura
Contact: Michael Cervantes 805-486-2884 email: mcervant@mindspring.com

Wed 10/100 7:00-9:45 pm CSULB Asian American and Chicano & Latino Studies Classes
Dr. John Tsuchida and Dr. Juan Benitez
1250 Bellflower Bl, Long Beach

Thurs 10/12 6:00 pm Whittier Area Coalition for Peace & Justice, Mark Twain Club Potluck
($3 donations) Bob speaks at 7:00 pm. First Friends Church of Whittier, 12305 E. Philadelphia St., Whittier
Contact: Robin McLaren 562-943-4051 email: mclaren@charter.net


A full schedule, in PDF form, can be found here. More information on Ehren Watada can be found at ThankYouLt.org. and information on all known war resisters can be found at Courage to Resist.

















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