Tompkins County Against War & Occupation

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Demand the Release of Rep. Cynthia McKinney, the SPIRIT OF HUMANITY, all aid workers and supplies NOW!

Last night, Israeli Occupation Forces attacked and boarded the Free Gaza Movement boat, the SPIRIT OF HUMANITY, abducting 21 human rights workers from 11 countries, including Noble laureate Mairead Maguire and former U.S. Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney. The passengers and crew are being forcibly dragged toward Israel. [Read more →]

I just spoke with Trevor this morning. The court-martial trial has been rescheduled for July 14th (Bastille Day). The sanity board which interviewd him and also heard from Dr. Oberen, has yet to issue their report, so there is still a chance that the charges could be dropped and he could be given an administrative discharge (we would hope with honorable conditions). If not –if the command seeks to make an example of him irrespective of his diagnosis of PTSD and severe depression — we need to be ready to travel to Ft. Drum for the special court-martial trial.

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 Reese Erlich on the real story of the Buena Vista Social Club, Critical Thinking with Andrew Patner, WFMT, Chicago, March 16, 2009 http://www.wfmt.com/main.taf?p=1,1,41,25,2 [57:41m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

download source video
Citizen Soldier held a press conference June 18, 2009 in Watertown, NY just prior to Specialist Trevor Loope’s appearance before a sanity board at Fort Drum later that morning. Sp/4 Trevor Loope is facing a possible court-martial trial for going AWOL. After returning to base from a combat tour in Afghanistan, he was unable to obtain needed treatment for PTSD with severe depression. He left the base for his home city of Austin, Tx. Eventually he was seen by Dr. David Ogren, a clinical psychologist from Houston who diagnosed Trevor as hsuffering from PTSD and severe depression. At the time of the press conference, it was uncertain whether Dr. Ogren would be allowed to address the sanity board. Tod Ensign, a lawyer and director of Citizen Soldier, spoke and introduced Dr. Ogren and Eric Werthman, a psychiatric social worker in NYC. A reporter from WWNY TV, the atertown CBS affiliate, posed questions. See http://www.wwnytv.com/news/local/48608527.html

Trevor Loope might be be facing a court-marshal proceeding on July 1. Or maybe the proceeding will be delayed. Or maybe (we hope) the charges against him will be dropped and he will be a favorable, non-punitive administrative separation –in effect acknowledging his PTSD and severe depression, and the failure of the military to provide the treatment that he requested upon his return from his combat tour in Afghanistan.

We need to be prepared to travel to Watertown and pack the observation boxes in the court room if indeed the command does decide to try to make an example of him and proceed with a punitive court marshal. That could be as early as July 1st. Are you ready to drop what you are doing for the day and join us? If so, please use the contact form to let us know that you will be there for Trevor.

The video above was taken outside the PX facility at Ft. Drum on June 18 after Trevor appeared before a sanity board. Trevor Loope is joined by, Dr. Ogren, the psychologist in Houston who diagnosed Trevor while he was AWOL in Texas, and Tod Ensign, a lawyer who directs Citizen soldier. Additional video from the press conference earlier in the day will follow, along with a summary of Trevors case. [Read more →]

The following excerpt is from an article “Telling the Oklahoma Story” posted June 20 on NewsOK.com, a website of “The Oklahoman”. I think this story has a lot of relevance for the Ithaca area as a sanctuary city. We need to consider how best we can honor our pledge to share the burden with returning soldiers, and this news brief suggests one way. Go to excerpt on newswire.

Last December, as reported in the Ithaca Journal, it looked like Pte. Trevor Loope was on track for an administrative discharge. AWOL soldier to receive administrative discharge, lawyer says. Instead, Trevor is now facing a “sanity board” where a panel of forensic psychologists will try to divine the state of his mind while he was in Afghanistan. The problem is that the psychologist who knows most about Trevor may not be allowed top testify. If things go badly, Trevor could face a full discharge hearing on July 1 where he could be punished by a military judge for being AWOL. I will be driving to Watertown leaving Ithaca at 5 am, Syracuse about 6 am. We cannot attend the hearing, but we may be allowed outside to lend our support. I will be videotaping the statement of Dr. David Ogren at the press conference. If you would like a ride, please call me today or tonight at 607-387-9830. –Cris

More info: Tod Ensign, Esq.
(917) 647-5676 (cell) (212) 679-2250 (O)

Psychologist Who Evaluated Mentally-Stressed Ft Drum Soldier Is Wrongfully Excluded as Witness from Army Sanity Board set for June 18th.

PRESS CONFERENCE, June 18, 2009 8:00 am sharp
Conference room, 4th Flr., Days Inn, 110 Commerce Park Dr Watertown, NY

Dr. David Ogren, a clinical psychologist from Houston, TX with fifteen years’ experience treating victims of mental trauma, spent hours examining and testing Specialist Trevor Loope, 23, of Austin TX. Loope, who spent fifteen months in Afghanistan with the 10th Mountain Division, left Ft Drum in late 2007 because he was unable to obtain therapy for his PTSD and depression at the base.

Dr. Ogren prepared a detailed eleven page psychiatric evaluation which concluded that Loope suffered from “severe Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and a Major Depression” Ft Drum commanders have scheduled a “sanity board” to assess Loope’s mental health status on Thursday, June 19th 10:00 am at Ft Drum’s Mental Health facility. They also preferred criminal charges against Loope for AWOL with trial by a Special Court Martial set for July 1st.

Two weeks ago, Dr. Ogren telephoned Ft Drum’s mental health chief, Dr.Todd Benham offering to serve as an expert witness before the sanity board.. Ogren’s offer involved no expense to the military, since he is willing to pay his own travel expenses from Houston. On Monday, June 15th, Dr. Benham finally returned Ogren’s call, asking him why he had phoned. When Ogren told him of his desire to testify at Loope’s hearing, Benham remarked that that this was “ridiculous” and that since it was a closed hearing, he didn’t think that Ogren would be allowed to testify.

Tod Ensign, Esq., Director, of Citizen Soldier, a GI advocacy group, and civilian attorney assisting Specialist Loope, will challenge the legality of this “sanity board” if Dr. Ogren is not allowed to testify. According to the Rules for Court Martial (706 (c)(2) which establishes the rules for these boards, one of the four key questions that a panel must answer is, “what is the clinical diagnosis” for the soldier being examined? Also, the sanity board is “required to fairly and impartially examine the accused.” Ensign will argue that Dr. Benham’s apparent bias against Dr. Ogren’s participation jeopardizes the panel’s ability to render a fair and dispassionate opinion in this case. Finally, Ensign will urge that Loope’s sanity board be dissolved and be reconstituted at Walter Reed Army Medical Center where objective panelists can be found.

The Bellingham Sanctuary Movement is facing a big challenge.   In her op-ed Sanctuary city Pro: Support for troops should mean all of them published June 13 in the Bellingham Herald, Marie Marchand, executive director of the Whatcom Peace and Justice Center, writes:

Given Bellingham’s reputation, it is an especially stinging affront that four AWOL soldiers of conscience have been housed in our jail. Most of us in this city consider people like Robin Long and Cliff Cornell heroes for their refusal to bear arms and kill. … As it stands, law enforcement is under no obligation to report AWOL soldiers to the military. We are asking our city to abstain from doing the military’s job. These individuals have broken no law. Our local resources should not be spent on their apprehension and detention.

On October 9, 2006, Bellingham became the first city in the state of Washington to pass a Troops Home! Resolution.  The issue now is a sanctuary resolution.  “The ordinance is not about adjudication” states Marie Marchand in her op-ed. “The Sanctuary City Movement … is not asking police to break the law.” Tim Carpenter, a Whatcom County resident and Vietnam veteran who wrote the opposing view Sanctuary city Con: Sanctuary idea would do more harm than good has a different take on the question of law:

Federal law provides, under the category of Treason, Sedition and Subversive Activities, that it is a crime for any person to advise, counsel or urge insubordination, disloyalty, mutiny or refusal of service; to conspire to commit those acts; or to harbor any person who commits such an act. Does the city council’s involvement facilitate and abet treason?

He attempts to paint proponents of the sanctuary resolution as “emotional rather than rational” and finds that their arguments “rely on unsubstantiated statistics, or attempt to reach a logical conclusion built upon an inherently false premise”.   He really doesn’t cite anything to support this, just innuendo.

On the issue of Free Speech (around which Ithaca’s Sanctuary Resolution turned) he writes that “This is not a ‘free speech’ issue. The right of free speech is not absolute. Speech that advocates the commission of a crime is not protected.”

The attendant legal questions appear to be the most productive ones to pursue, and it would be well worth the effort for sanctuary supporters in the Ithaca area to engage  in the debate in Bellingham not only out of solidarity, but also to hone our own arguments for what may lie ahead.  It is easy to imagine a similar scenario developing in Ithaca were war resisters jailed here, or were the city sanctuary resolution strengthened to explicitly instruct law enforcement not to arrest anyone on the basis of their military status when had not broken the law.   (As an aside, I recall that Trevor Loope was arrested in St. Lawrence County on bogus charges of bounced checks, not for being AWOL).  It would be really good to solicit wider legal opinion on this debate over what the law requires.

Wing-nuts seem to dominate the story chat on the Bellingham Herald (just like in Ithaca).  It only takes a few minutes to register in order to comment.  Pleasew consider doing so.

Russell Brown has been blogging on the situation in Bellingham on adoptresistance.org.  You can also follow posts on the website/blog of Veterans For Peace Corporal Jonathan Santos Memorial Chapter 111 in Bellingham. –Cris McConkey

This video was produced for Mondoweiss (www.philipweiss.org) after being nixed by the editorial authorities at The Daily Beast. A disturbing look at the connections of one American casino tycoon who sends millions to support the illegal settlements in the West Bank, this video report unveils the raw racism of the settler movement who is dragging Israel into further conflict. Frankness, honesty, and the resultant humor abound in this 5 minute short. Please forward widely. Thanks for your continued viewership and support! We are currently working on a centralized website on which all our reports will be hosted. Best, David

By Max Blumenthal

The Israeli government has repeatedly announced plans to forge ahead with plans to expand settlements in the occupied West Bank in direct opposition to President Barack Obama’s demand for an absolute settlement freeze. On May 27, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton leveled strong criticism at Israeli policy, telling reporters that President Barack Obama “wants to see a stop to settlements - not some settlements, not outposts, not ‘natural growth’ exceptions.” Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev responded by declaring that “normal life” in the settlements would continue, using a phrase that is code for continued construction.

Continue reading “Mondo Exclusive - Gambling with Conflict: How a neocon casino king from California funds the Israeli settler movement” »

Hello all - Please take a moment to watch a video I produced with two North American journalists in Israel. I’m currently filming, producing, and editing news shorts from the Middle East and hope to be releasing more on a regular basis. Please distribute the link widely! http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-05-21/how-i-got-gassed-in-the-west-bank/?cid=hp:beastoriginalsC2

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“Ithaca Veterans Peace Council” (new) will be tabling at Ithaca Fest. We are looking for all members of VFP, VVAW, IVAW and MFSO to stop by and sign a contact list. A chapter of VFP will be chartered this summer to compliment IVAW and MFSO. We are also looking for high school teachers, especially Sr. & Jr. years to sign in and discuss next year if you would consider having anti-war vets visit your classroom. In Peace, Jim Murphy, www.veteransforpeaceny.org

Last week we found out that Motorola has met our first boycott demand - they no longer sell the Israeli military bomb fuzes.  Instead of resting on our laurels, we need to seize this opportunity to push twice as hard on our other demands.  Now is the time to strengthen our campaign.

We want everyone to be able to help hang up on Motorola so we’ve come up with six different ways to take action - everything from creative arts, to public protest, to sustaining us financially, to just clicking a button will help us force Motorola’s hand at this crucial time. [Read more →]

Download source video (217.3 MB)

Dr. Ismail Mehr, an anesthesiologist and head of the department at St. James Hospital in Hornell, NY, organized and led a medical relief mission in Gaza just days following the attacks in Gaza last December and January which left upwards of 1,400-1,500 Palestinians dead and many more wounded, homeless, and without water. He was invited to Ithaca by Ithaca Unitarian-Universalists for Justice in the Middle East (Ithaca UUJME) and Ithaca College Students for a Just Peace. His presentation in the annex of the Ithaca Unitarian Church annex was recorded on April 15, 2009 and is offered here in two parts. In the first part above, Dr. Mehr gives an historical overview of the situation leading up to the assault of Gaza which Israel calls “Operation Cast Lead”. Below, his account of the delegation.

Download source video (645 MB)

The Flash web video is 1280 x 720 pixels in order to display more detail of the power point slides. If you have difficulty viewing, please let me know.

For all those interested, the News 10 coverage of today’s mock Israeli checkpoint on the academic quad is online. Here’s the link: http://tinyurl.com/ICheckpoint be sure to watch the video clip

Great job Brooke and Professor Wilcox!

http://socialistworker.org/2009/04/20/tenure-travesty-in-ithaca

By Troy Pasulka | April 20, 2009

ITHACA, N.Y.–Sixty people gathered April 16 at the Workers’ Center to hear Professor Margo Ramlal-Nankoe describe how she was denied tenure at Ithaca College due to her complaints about sexual harassment and her outspoken opposition to the Israel-U.S. war on Palestinians. She is reaching out to the public for support. [Read more →]

By Mary Anne Grady Flores

I was deeply saddened to see that it was our friend Bassam Abu Rahmah that was killed this past Friday, April 17th, 2009, in the village of Bil’in, Palestine. He was killed by an Israeli soldier firing a high velocity tear gas canister into his chest from only 100 feet away!  This happened during a non-violent protest at the illegal barrier fence which cut off Bassam’s village land by 60%, so that an Israeli settlement can be built on it. [Read more →]

• Dr. Ismail Mehr, the doctor form Hornell who led a medical delegation into Gaza just days after the Israeli bombing, will be interviewed at 6:45 am Wednesday morning on WHCU 870 AM.
• Dan Burgevin was interview on Tuesday on WHCU regarding the Obama administration’s easing of restriction on travel and remittances for Cuban American families and the upcoming Pastors for Peace Caravan to Cuba.

Podcasts are/will be available on the WHCU web site.

Indian Springs, NV – Late this afternoon, fourteen peace activists were arrested at Creech Air Force Base in Indian Springs, Nevada. The arrests occured during a ten day vigil which seeks to raise public awareness of the increasing use of unmanned drones in the war in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Air Force personnel based at Creech control the Predator and Reaper drones being used in Central Asia. [Read more →]

An Open Letter to the Peace/Anti-War Movement from
Iraq Veterans Against the War, Military Families Speak Out, and Veterans For Peace

After six years of war and the historic election of a new President, we as veterans, military and Gold Star families felt an urgent need to reach out to the larger peace/anti-war movements to make our position on Iraq clear during this time of political and economic uncertainty. Iraq Veterans Against the War, Military Families Speak Out and Veterans For Peace continue to stand together in our demand to Bring the Troops Home Now! We ask all those who have stood with us in the past to stay faithful to the cause. [Read more →]