NOVEMBER 2005

US Army suffers 15220 wounded in Iraq Among whom 7100 shall never be able to resume service  

The Pentagon announced that the US army losses in Iraq are not limited to over 2000 soldiers killed in action, but it suffered 15220 wounded soldiers among whom 7100 shall not be able to resume service, this is besides the casualties in other non-combat incidents.

Military physicians said that America soldiers escape fatal wounds in war in Iraq that could have killed them in other wars, which is due to improvement in medical care and bullet proof jackets.

Had it not been for this improvement in medical care achieved after the Vietnam war fatal casualties could have doubled in Iraq more than what the army had already suffered to date. Three hundred operations were performed on soldiers to amputate one or more limbs. The majority of the incidents were due to the explosion of crude locally made bombs.

Lieutenant Colonel Basquinat chief of the department of physical therapy and rehabilitation at the Walters Reid Medical Center where more than 4400 American soldiers wounded in Iraq are being treated, said we sometimes look at those soldiers and feel that their survival was a miracle. Those who lost one limb faces a challenge to resume life in a reasonable manner, but what about those who lose three limbs in addition to other injuries such as broken parts of their bodies, wounds in the head or injuries in the spinal cord and paralysis.

Reuters 

Princeton Bows Bigtime to Washington:

Sat - 1 Oct -  With a big public relations blitz underway Washington's most presentable senior imperialist neocons found a suitable Ivy League university interlocutor at Princeton's Woodrow Wilson School this weekend; and they cashed in big time. 

The school's new dean, Anne- Marie Slaughter, is herself a kind of smiling stealth neocon -- though considerably more accomplished than former SAIS Johns Hopkins Dean Paul Wolfowitz at pretending otherwise.  Slaughter orchestrated and choreographed this Washington political rape of Princeton; and she did so so successfully that few of the gathered alumni even understood what was happening right in front of their eyes.  

In less than 24-hours Princeton provided a major P.R. coup to no less than Secretary of State Condi Rice, Homeland Security Secretary Mike Certoff, and top General David Petraeus -- recently of Fallajuh infamy -- each of whom spewed forth big-time with more polished than ever verbage and none of whom were challenged in any serious way, Slaughter personally making sure of that.   Worst of all, at one of America's major universities at this crucial time in history, not a single significant independent academic, journalist or historian -- or even a serious political analyst for that matter -- not one, was invited to speak at the Wilson School's 75th anniversary which featured this Rice-Chertoff-Petraeus trio. 

Said one of Princeton's tenured Professors about the intellectually sordid affair - "Slaughter is hopeless and what has happened to the Woodrow Wilson School is terribly tragic and maddening."   One long-time astute journalist commented upon hearing the line up:  "There's no other major university in the country, certainly not Harvard or Stanford or Berkeley, that would have allowed this kind of thing to happen as Princeton did - how shameful!".

Student Counter Recruitment

Campus Antiwar Network protests, announcements and educational programs

solidarity march with hcc anti-war students

October 4th, 2005

SOLIDARITY MARCH WITH HCC ANTI-WAR STUDENTS

Thursday, October 6, 11 am
Starts at G Building, Holyoke Community College, Holyoke, Massachusetts

March for Free Speech!
March Against the War in Iraq!
March for College, Not Combat!

The UMass-Amherst Anti-War coalition, in solidarity with HCC counter-recruitment students, has called for a peaceful mass march at Holyoke Community College in Holyoke, on Thursday, October 6 at 11am, to demonstrate our determination to preserve freedom of speech on our university and college campuses and resist police repression of anti-war students.

On Thursday, September 29, a peaceful group of approximately 30 counter-recruitment activists were attacked by members of the HCC College Republican Club and the Holyoke campus police. One anti-war activist, Charles Peterson, was maced by police and has since been banned from the HCC campus where he is a student and works.

For more information on the attack, see Campus Anti-War Network: www.campusantiwar.net

For more information, contact Justin (UMass) at (413) 320-9108 or jfjln@yahoo.com
or HCC Anti-War Coalition at info.hcc-awc@hotmail.com

HCC Anti-War coalition Press Conference

October 3rd, 2005

The following very powerful statement was read at the press conference. The member of the AWC who wrote this does not want to give her name at this time and so she wrote it in the “third person” and another student read it.

Shinah Santiago from the Steering Co. of the AWC read this statement at the press conference on behalf of the AWC

“We are protesting military recruiters for the same reason as students around the country are protesting recruiters on their campuses:  We reject the economic draft in this country that targets working class students for military recruitment because it’s the only way to get money for college. We have seen classmates, brothers, sisters, family and friends sent over to Iraq who have come back permanently injured in body and spirit—all to feed a war against the people of Iraq that has killed over 100,000 Iraqis and 2000 US soldiers. For What? We are also protesting  the fact that the military recruiter’s presence was a blatant violation of the campus anti-discrimination policy because of the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy towards gay and lesbian soldiers.    

Furthermore, the student government administration at HCC has passed a resolution banning military recruiters from the campus, which was summarily ignored by HCC president William Messner. Contrary to Messner’s claims, student financial aid funding cannot be revoked if such action were implemented. We students of Holyoke Community College demand an immediate end to military recruiters on campus.It is important for all concerned citizens to realize that this is not an isolated incident. On the same week as the event at Holyoke Community College there were two other acts of police brutality on peaceful protesters. At George Mason University a Pakistani-American veteran of the US Air Force was tackled, thrown to the ground and choked for protesting army recruiters on the campus by holding a sign reading, “The Military Lies.” At the University Wisconsin at Madison, campus police prevented students from protesting the presence of military recruiters on campus. This all comes on the heels of a national protest in Washington that drew 300,000 people and highlights the increasing inability of the armed forces to convince working-class youth to become cannon fodder for an illegal and immoral war.

Is it any coincidence that in the same week when there was an increase in repression against students protesting the military recruiters, the Army also released a report that it is facing its worst Recruiting Slump in Decades? The College is claiming that anti-war protesters started the melee at last Thursday’s protest. This is simply not true. The incident at Holyoke Community College was instigated by the president of the College Republicans chapter, Kevin Orzechowski, when he pushed and shoved protesters at which point Campus Security stepped in, ignoring Orzechowski’s assault and instead turning on us. After an extended period of time, in which the police grabbed and shoved students, the Director of Facilities,Peter Mascaro, ripped a handmade sign from a protester’s hand that read, “Cops are hypocrites.” After the protester attempted to reach for his sign,he was immediately restrained by campus security,though was not placed under arrest or told that he was being detained. Charles T. Peterson then tried to help the protester from being hauled off. The protester managed to free himself while two campus police officers held Peterson down, as a third officer, Scott Landry, maced him in the face. The next day, Peterson was served with a document from campus security stating that he is no longer “desired” on campus and was threatened with arrest and prosecution if he did not abide by the order. Without ANY due process, Peterson has now lost both his education and has been put an undue financial hardship because the college is his only place of employment.

  Charles T. Peterson has had no formal charges brought against him under the HCC disciplinary system or the Massachusetts legal system, making his summary banishment from campus both immoral and in violation of the established internal discipline system at HCC. He has thus been denied due process and the ability to defend himself. We’d also like to state that the  Peterson, is an outstanding member of the HCC community. In addition to being active in the Anti-war Coalition he is Vice President of academic affairs on the student senate, a member on the college’s learning community committee, a frequent contributor to the Phoenix Press, the student newspaper, and a tutor in the math center. He is also a recipient of the David James Taylor Excellence in Philosophy award. We’d like to thank the hundreds of people who have called the school to raise a complaint about this injustice. Please keep calling and keep the pressure on! And we’d like to read a few of the statements of support that have been sent to us from prominent citizens around the country.”

Tom Hayden demands full investigation

October 3rd, 2005

I am writing to demand a full investigation of the recent police assault on students on your campus. The students should not be repressed or punished for being ahead of their time. The use of any pepper spray or gas has far greater health effects than recognized officially, in part because studies by state health officials have been suppressed in my state, California. Its use for crowd control should be terminated. TOM HAYDEN

International Solidarity from the UK

October 3rd, 2005

Please convey our support and solidarity to the students who were attacked for protesting. The war criminals Bush and Blair are increasingly resorting to force to silence debate. Only last week an 82 year old Labour Party member _a founder member of CND and a current member of our steering committee_ was ejected from Labour’s conference for criticising policy on Iraq. New laws which restrict our civil liberties are being pushed through parliament. We send our best wishes to you all and assure you that many people in Britain know of and support your protests.

best wishes,
Lindsey German, convenor
Andrew Murray, chair Stop the War Coalition

“I am appalled that students exercising their (fully sanctioned) rights to free speech and to peaceably assemble were abused by law enforcement officials. The right to patriotically dissent from our government is a sacred right and these students should be given commendations, not
black eyes. They were claiming their places in our democracy. The people who mistreated them should be the ones who are being investigated for their brutality and heavy-handed over-reaction, not the students.”

–Cindy Sheehan
Peace Mom and Founder of Gold Star Families for Peace

For more background information on the HCC incident, go to campusantiwar.net

Student who was Maced by Police is now Banned from Campus

October 1st, 2005 - Follow developments here and at the Campus Antiwar Network site.

At approximately 1pm on Sept 30, Sgt. Richard H. Wheeler and State Trooper Vasquez delivered a notice to Charles T. Peterson at the doorstep of his home in Springfield, MA. The notice read: “Because of your conduct on the property of Holyoke Community College, your presence is no longer desired at Holyoke Community College, its property or buildings. Your failure to abide by said trespass notice will result in your arrest and court prosecution for trespassing. This notice will remain in effect untill [sic] revoked in writing by the Holyoke Community College Police Department.”This is in clear violation of the College’s own stated policy that students, “have the right to procedural due process in grievance and disciplinary hearings.” [Right #6, p22, HCC Policy Guide 05/06] As Charles is employed on campus, this restraining order will keep him not only from getting an education, but also from working.   Thus far, Charles has not been contacted by any member of the Administration, besides the campus police. So he has had his education and his job taken away from him with no explanation and no opportunity to appeal. The College Republicans were also present at the protest, chanting behind the police line to incite the police to attack students.  

On campus, the student body has become frighteningly polarized, and many students who were at the protest opted out of attending classes today for fear of harassment. Professor Mark Clinton, the faculty advisor to the Anti War Coalition has been summoned to see the Vice President of Academic Affairs on Monday afternoon. The Office of the Vice President would not inform Clinton’s dean of the agenda for the meeting. Yesterday, Professor Mark Clinton’s daughter was called an “ugly communist bitch” by a fellow student.

Amazingly enough, a George Mason University student was assaulted by police on the same day as the HCC protest. Tariq Khan, a Pakistani-American and Air Force Veteran, wore a sign reading, “Recruiters tell lies” while standing in front of a US Marine recruiting table. After being harassed by ROTC members, the JC Operations Representative told Tariq that he had no right to voice his opinion without a permit and to leave. When Tariq peaceably refused, campus police violently assaulted him—choking him, pushing him, and slamming him against a stage.  In Wisconsin, students at UW Madison were threatened with arrest and forced to dismantle their protest against the presence of the Air Force, CIA, and Marines at the College’s career fair. They were told that they were violating the Administration’s codes for protesting when in fact they were in no way breaching any part of it.

Signed: Members of the Anti War Coalition at Holyoke Community College. 
Please call Holyoke Community College to register you concerns.

President Messner                                                                   1-413-552-2222

Vivian Ostrowsky, Student Activities Coordinator             1-413-552-2418  

 Additional Statements from members of the Anti War Coalition at HCC

One leading member of the AWC, whose brother was permanently injured in Iraq last year, stated:

“I was there to speak for my brother. He was wounded in Iraq. He’s a different person since he came back, it’s a different person looking at me, more like my little brother than my big brother. He may never be the same, and he may never open up and tell me what happened in Iraq. But I believe he fought for lies, and I believe he was lied to when he joined the military. He was promised money for college and a chance to see the world. But he went to Iraq, and he wasn’t the same when he came back.”
Emails of support and solidarity can be sent to:
info.hcc-awc@hotmail.com 

HCC anti-War Coalition Letter to College President

September 29, 2005

To Dr. William Messner, President of Holyoke Community College:

We are writing to express our deep outrage at the events of September 29, when campus police assaulted peaceful student protesters and sprayed one student with mace.

Approximately thirty activists, many of them members of Holyoke Community College’s Anti War Coalition, exercising their First Amendment rights to “assemble and petition government for redress of grievances,” participated in a planned, peaceful picket of Army National Guard recruiters in the lobby of the college cafeteria. This was a diverse group of students, black, white, latino, gay, straight, men and women, united in peaceful and vocal opposition to US policy in Iraq, the spending priorities of the US political system, and the college’s hypocrisy in giving preferential, and we believe illegal, access to military recruiters whose enlistment policies bar gays and lesbians– in violation of the college’s own anti-discrimination policies. Furthermore, we believe that the college’s policies violate Massachusetts laws that prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.

Students at HCC are encouraged to voice their opinions, and yet in this case, when students did exactly that, they became the victims of police brutality. Students who had passed through the cafeteria at 7:30AM noted then that the police were already present —even though recruiters were not scheduled to begin tabling until 10AM.

The police assault on the students began when one student standing in front of Officer Landry held aloft with both hands a hand-lettered, poster board sign reading “Cops are hypocrites.” The sign had no stick attached to it. At that point, Peter Mascaro, head of Campus Security, reached over Officer Landry’s head, snatched the sign from the student’s hands, saying “That is inappropriate!” In surprise the student tried to reach for his sign. At this point the campus police, led by Officer Landry, assaulted the student. Mr. Mascaro ordered Officer Landry, “Let him go.” Officer Landry heatedly replied “Are you serious?” The police officer’s inappropriate grabbing of the sign constituted the battery.

Three other officers joined Officer Landry in grabbing each of the student’s limbs and hoisted him off the ground. Other students instinctively tried to protect the student being assaulted. When the officers lost their grip on the student, he backed away and raised his hands in the air indicating his non-violent posture. At approximately that moment, Officer Landry maced a different student, one who was not doing anything or making any gestures to do anything at the time.

Both of the students who were battered by campus police are upstanding members of the HCC community. One is a tutor in the CAPS Center. The other received the David James Taylor Excellence in Philosophy Award, is Vice President for Academic Affairs on the Student Senate, is a member of the College’s Learning Communities Committee, and is a frequent contributor to the student newspaper. Several of the activists involved observed that the student who was maced had consistently played a moderating role in the protest.

As the assault was taking place, approximately a dozen College Republicans were moving forward, pumping their fists in the air, shouting and encouraging the Officers on. Throughout the morning, the campus police force ignored the activities of the College Republicans and were only deployed against the protesters.

At approximately this time college officials appear to have called local and State Police, and at least twenty state police arrived in riot gear and gas masks. Officer Landry looked at one of the protesters and, observing that he was wearing a button reading “Lesbian and Gay Liberation,” loudly uttered an obviously homophobic taunt: “He’ll have fun in jail.” As Officer Landry is an employee of the college, we believe that his taunt constituted illegal and actionable discrimination under Massachusetts laws.

By this time, the protesting students were trying to peacefully disperse and attend to the traumatized students who had been battered by campus police. Riot police amassed in the cafeteria with boxes labeled “gas masks.”

We want to know the if the police were preparing to deploy gas in the cafeteria—a place where there were many students, cafeteria workers, and some children present.

With riot police threateningly lined up in the stairwell, groups of students hostile to the protesters surrounded and came close to rioting against the small crowd who had left the building and were trapped in the courtyard outside.

During this time, one student reports that he went to get a drink of water in the student lounge and ten to fifteen police in full riot gear pointed their guns at the student and said “we’re not letting anyone in or out of here.”

We demand 1) an immediate, unconditional public apology from the college; 2) a pledge of non-retaliation against the activists involved; 3) a thorough and impartial investigation into these incidents; and finally, 4) that the military recruiters not be allowed back to our college, as their actions and those of the military discriminate against people based on their sexual orientation, in violation of Massachusetts law and college policy. Furthermore, the military is engaging in an economic draft against working class and poor people in an attempt to buttress this nation’s illegal war against Iraq.

Thank You,

Members of the Anti War Coalition at Holyoke Community College

Please call Holyoke Community College to register your concerns.

President Messner 1-413-552-2222 or 2223

more info: charlest.peterson@gmail.com
http://www.campusantiwar.net

DID YOU KNOW ??

ALL  MEMBERS  OF THE  UNITED STATES MILITARY  HAVE A DECENT CHANCE AT  BECOMING CANADIAN  CITIZENS.

FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:  resisters@sympatico.ca

If you are united states military personnel and a conscientious objector to the war in Iraq, don’t wait any longer!  As soon as you get back to America, pack your bags and head north.

You can go to the Canadian embassy in Washington D.C. for more information however, in order to make a clean escape, it is recommended that you inform only those who are against the Iraq war, of what you are doing.

When you arrive in Canada, contact any of the numerous war resistors support groups, and explain to them that you are in the united states military, and would like to seek asylum in Canada.

Hundreds of united states soldiers have already been granted sanctuary from the good people of Canada - and they will continue to help you, until you are safe from danger.

Sure, if you immigrate to Canada or abide there too long, you won’t be allowed back into the united states for many years; if the united states government ever allows you back but, look at the bright side: What have those scum-bags ever done for you???!!! Screw them and their screwed up war! Your life is worth more to Canada than it is to the united states! What has the united states and their military done for you, other than pay you dirt for the bag of lies they threw at you.

Think of all of the flowery things your local military recruiter told you and look at how many of these things were true. Look at what you have already sacrificed for their lies - and now start making choices for a real future – while you still can.

CANADA IS STILL A GOOD CHOICE AND THIS IS WHY:

CANADA OFFERS:

       HIGH QUALITY OF LIFE. YOUR LIFE IN CANADA WILL BE JUST AS FUN AND EXCITING AS IT IS IN THE UNITED STATES; WITHOUT ALL THE HEADACHE!

      CANADIAN COLLEGES ARE TOP NOTCH AND THEY ARE FREE! NO INFLATED COST OF TUITION OR BOOKS - LIKE IN THE UNITED STATES.

       HEALTH CARE IN CANADA IS FREE! NO MORE HAVING TO PUT YOUR LIFE IN DANGER TO HAVE MEDICAL COVERAGE!

www.vaiw.org
www.mfso.org