After Action Report: March For Bradley Manning, and opening day of Bradley's Courts Martial at Front Gate of Ft Meade, Md., June 1-3, 2013

Perspectives on Pfc. Bradley Manning from an Anti-War Veteran

By

Jim Baldridge, 

VVAW/OSS & Baltimore VFP 

  L to R:  Dave Schott - USAF (VFP), Vietnam; Dr. Larry Egbert, US Army (VFP), WWII & Korea;  Jim Baldridge,- USN, Vietnam Era (VFP & VVAW/OSS)  Photo: Bill Perry 

Many came by bus. Photo: Bill Perry

As reported at www.bradleymanning.org , nearly 2,000 activists gathered outside the Main Gate at Ft. Meade Army Post on 1 June to show support for Pfc. Bradley Manning, whose court-martial  trial began on Monday, 3 June.  Veterans from WWII, Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq--and all times in between our many wars--were in attendance.  Veterans came from all points of the compass:  California, Michigan, New England, Florida, Louisiana, Washington DC, Maryland, states in between, and Canada.  Members of VVAW/OSS (Old School Sappers), VFP,  IVAW, VVAW, and even some who are members of VFW and the American Legion were there as well, as were  citizens of various political persuasions:  Socialists, Communists, Independents, Democrats, Greens, Anarchists and even a few Republicans.   The crowd included students and workers, union members and activists, labor supporters and retirees.  Many had been supporters of Daniel Ellsberg back in the day because of his release of the “Pentagon Papers,” my generation’s Bradley Manning and Wikileaks.  We still support Elsberg, and as the popular chant now goes, “WE ARE ALL BRADLEY MANNING.”

Photo: Bill Perry

My perspective on the Bradley Manning trial, as a Vietnam-era veteran, is that capitalism has once again turned TRUTH into a victim of imperialist war no matter how it lies to justify it.

 

Photo: Bill Perry

VVAW/OSS on the March For Bradley Manning
Photo: Bill Perry

The Manning court martial trial presents challenges to vets.  The massive government PR puts out allegations, disinformation and outright myths about what he is alleged to have done, and what he and his defense team are saying in response.   Too often veterans are expected to support the official government and Pentagon positions, no matter what, but it ain’t necessarily so!  Anti-war vets typically don’t fit this traditional mold, are outspoken, go against the grain and are demonstrative, as we’ve seen at Ft. Meade, Kent State, Chicago and across the country.

The main stream media (MSM) is putting out all the misinformation that the Administration and Pentagon can come up with, all to minimize support for Manning, but it isn’t working!  Aside from the myths and lies being told by the MSM about Bradley Manning and what he did or is alleged to have done, as a Vietnam-era vet I’ve seen the attacks before.  I got out in ’69, and the Pentagon Papers hit the streets 14 months later.  When I heard about the release of the Pentagon Papers I rushed to get to the newsstand because the Papers validated what I had known to be true for the second half of my four years in the service.

Dan'l Ellsberg of Pentagon papers Fame at Ft Meade for Bradley
Photo: Bill Perry

Many “myths” surround the whole Wikileaks/ Bradley Manning situation.  I’ll just discuss a few of them.  First, some say that Wikileaks and Manning are “anti-American.”  Wikileaks clearly disapproved of our invasion of Iraq, which is true of two thirds or more of Americans well before we officially “pulled out.” Does that make the U.S. majority “anti-American?

A second myth is that the information Pfc. Manning “leaked” to Wikileaks was Top Secret.  You wouldn’t know it from media coverage, but none of the information Manning has been accused of declassifying was Top Secret.  None.  Most of it wasn’t classified at all, just somewhat embarrassing when it was publicly revealed.  Even the helicopter gunship video, since called “Collateral Murder",  which has been highlighted at home and around the world. wasn’t classified.

Another “myth” that gets closer to allegations being made against Manning in the military courtroom is that his leaks have gotten people killed and have damaged U.S. “national interests.”  In the three years since the release of the Wikileaks documents, there has been no evidence that anyone other than America’s reputation has been harmed by the leaks.  But I doubt that’s what our government is talking about when it alleges damage to U.S. “national interests.”  Rather, the military would have us believe that in-the-know Americans are what put us at risk, and therefore our lack of knowledge provides us security.  It’s worth noting that while our government doesn’t want us to know what it’s doing, in many of these instances people in other countries already know because they are on the receiving end of it, like death by helicopter gunship, drone and IED’s.

Bradley Manning’s trial is expected to continue for twelve weeks, through the summer.  You can be sure that U. S. veterans will continue to protest at the Main Gate and be vigilant in the military courtroom to hear what the government and Pentagon are trying to do to Pfc. Bradley Manning.  As vets we object to what is so often done “in our name,” whether it is torture, invading countries that pose no threat to us, looking the other way when sexual assault and suicide decimate the ranks of veterans and active duty, or cover-ups, lies and distortions of truth.

49er Nicole Guiniling, fresh in from Toronto
Photo: Bill Perry

A group of 14 American expatriates from the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, known as the Toronto 49er's, was represented at Ft Meade by Nicole Guiniling, wife of 49er Jules Guiniling. They sent a letter to the VVAW/OSS participants.  It says, in part:

To the delegation of VVAW/OSS:

On behalf of my fellow war resisters in Canada, I would like to extend this formal greeting to all of you who are meeting here today. We are deeply thankful to VVAW/OSS and others involved for the thought they are putting toward the struggle of U.S Iraq and Afghanistan War Resisters in Canada. We are also honored to have one among you, a Vietnam veteran against the war and old school sapper, representing us at this gathering as he did at the medal returning ceremony (in Chicago) last Spring. It was an odd twist of fate that brought him to us but one that we are very grateful for. We have benefited from his friendship, experience, and knowledge of the G.I resistance movement.

Many of you might remember what it was like to be in our shoes, or at least under similar circumstances during the Vietnam War. Unfortunately, we are living proof that not much has changed since then. The imperialist war machine is still turning out young killers with factory-like efficiency. Nowadays at the crew-served weapons ranges at Ft. Benning, they teach you to hold the butterfly trigger for three words, four syllables “die-Hajji-die”. Since the start of these wars, thousands of U.S troops have deployed overseas to kill for and die for these scumbags who run the show: the profiteers and the zealots. But, just as in all wars that are unjust and based on false pretenses, there springs forth an organic resistance to the bullshit.

Young people like Camilo Mejia, Mike Prysner, Kelly Doherty, Jeremy Hinzman, and Bradley Manning. You can’t really fit us into one category. We are not all socialists; we are not all pacifists; not all of us began our resistance from a place of ideology. Some of us had to see and do the things we did to figure out that we didn’t want to do them anymore, and some of us figured it out right away. We here in Canada left our contracts early, while those resisters who chose to stay behind became outspoken while respecting their contracts. Resistance has been unique to each individual—as it should be. 

The Toronto 49er's Resisters Group


www.VetSpeak.org

Call To Action: June 1st Day of Action in Support of Bradley Manning, Ft Meade, Md.

Join IVAW for the June 1st Day of Action in support of Bradley Manning

June 1 marks the beginning of Bradley Manning’s fourth year in military prison awaiting trial with many violations of due process.  Bradley’s conditions in prison have been described by Amnesty International and the United Nations as torturous.

Join IVAW and others in a show of support before Bradley's court martial.

Whistleblowing should not be a crime.

The U.S. government is attempting to make an example out of Manning, to intimidate anyone who might blow the whistle on government wrong-doing in the future.

But like many of our members who have had the courage to speak out against what our military has done in Iraq and Afghanistan, Bradley Manning was moved to take action due to a crisis of conscience.

The information he made public via WikiLeaks has been an important affirmation of IVAW's work by exposing the atrocities and misconduct of the Iraq war, and supports the eye-witness experiences of many of our members:

●     Bradley released the Collateral Murder video that depicts a U.S. Army helicopter intentionally and illegally targeting Iraqi civilians. IVAW member Ethan McCord was there that day, witnessed the killing, and helped save the lives of Iraqi children who were severely injured.

●     The Iraq War logs Bradley released provided civilian death counts that the U.S. government was withholding.

●     Bradley's leak exposed the corporate interests behind a variety of U.S. armed conflicts worldwide. 

We strongly believe that Bradley Manning’s whistleblowing contributed to the declining public support for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Like Daniel Ellsberg, famed Pentagon Papers whistleblower, Manning should be honored as a person of conscience.

Join us at Fort Meade, Maryland to stand up for Bradley and all whistleblowers.

On June 1, rally and march with the Bradley Manning Support Network, IVAW, Veterans For Peace, and others in defense of Manning and all past, present, and future whistleblowers.

Join Daniel Ellsberg, LGBT activist U.S. Army Lt. Dan Choi, former U.S. diplomat Army Col. Ann Wright (ret.), and former soldier Ethan McCord at Fort Meade.

Buses will be leaving from New York City; Washington, DC; Philadelphia; New Brunswick, NJ; and Baltimore on June 1.  You can find more information about those buses and buy tickets here.  Additional information about travel and lodging can be found here. You can also organize a bus from your own local area.

At Fort Meade, the June 1 day of action will begin with a 1:00 PM gathering on Reese Road and US 175, followed by a march and rally.

The trial, U.S.  v. BRADLEY MANNING, begins on June 3 at 9:00 AM and is expected to last 6-12 weeks.  Supporters are encouraged to attend as many days of this trial as possible.

Can’t make it to Fort Meade on Saturday, June 1st?  Help sponsor travel for others. Each $20 will cover a bus ticket for someone who otherwise wouldn’t be able to come. Please note "Bus Sponsor" in the comments field when making your tax-deductible donation.

Thank you for your continued support                                                                                                                                                          

In Solidarity,

Maggie, Matt, Amadee, and Elly                                                                                                             

Iraq Veterans Against The War Staff

www.VetSpeak.org

Two Soldiers, Four Wars, One Name

by NMguiniling

It’s Guiniling. Pronounced “Gah-Kneeling,” it is my husband’s maternal last name, which traces back to the highlands of the Philippines.

It’s not that I find my own given name particularly un-likeable.  As a child of the modern-day ‘blended family’ (and one in which my mother kept her maiden name in marriage), I’ve contemplated the idea of name-changing, hyphenating, and all manner of Onomastics since I was pretty young. For instance, my maiden name, Burton, is of English origin and refers to one “residing near a fort or garrison,” whereas my maternal last name, “Wenger” refers to one’s German place of residence, “on a grassy hill”. But Guiniling is the name my husband and I have chosen for its ability to tell an important chapter of our family history.

It is now only heresay that Inting Guinling, my late grandfather-in-law, was born in August of the year 1900. That date comes from an approximation on his U.S. Army enlistment papers, which were filed some 18 years later. On the paper, Inting’s middle name is listed as “Igorot”, (pronounced Eee-Goo-Root), which refers to the Guiniling family’s tribe—somewhat similar to “Cherokee” or “Navajo”.

At the dawn of World War I, it was to the U.S. Army’s advantage to recruit these highland tribes who had eluded both Spanish and American colonial campaigns. In addition to having had little to no contact with Westerners, this meant the Igorot and other mountain folk knew little to nothing of the effects of the Philippine War of Independence, which took the lives of 600,000 of their countrymen at the hands of both Conquistadores and later, U.S. Marines

 Inting was recruited to the Philippine Scout (PS) special forces unit of the U.S. Army in 1919, and served until the end of the war. He was called back into service for World War II, where he fought in the Bataan Region with the 42^nd and 45^th Infantry regiments against Japanese soldiers. Jon, my uncle-in-law, explained to my husband and I in a recent e-mail:

“When the [U.S. Army in the Philippines] surrendered to the Japanese in 1942, Inting refused to surrender. Instead, he escaped and went back to the mountains and joined the guerrillas fighting the Japanese. He always eluded capture, even after his… units surrendered (Writer’s note: this surrender led to what is known as the ‘Bataan Death March.’ More than half of the P.S. died in battle or as POW’s of the Japanese in WWII). He finally rejoined the U.S. Army in 1944 when Gen. Douglas MacArthur returned to liberate the Philippines from the imperial forces of Japan. When Japan surrendered in 1945, he escorted surrendering Japanese soldiers to Manila to be shipped back to Japan. He was discharged from the U.S. Army in 1946 after 27 years of honorable military service. He earned the Silver Star, the Bronze Star with a combat V, Asiatic Pacific Campaign, World War II Victory Medal and many more. He died on Dec. 21, 1968"

Despite all this, and General MacArthur’s comments in a 1942 Time Magazine article that the Igorots were an important part of the war effort, the Philippine Scouts are still considered “Forgotten Soldiers,” overlooked and under-recognized for their sacrifice. Perhaps Inting’s long list of honours are a true testament to just how incredible his actions were.

There is no doubt in any of our minds that Inting Guiniling is a hero. It was because of him that his entire family was granted U.S. citizenship. He is the reason his daughter, my mother-in-law, was able to attend university tuition-free. He is the reason my husband was born in the United States. He is a hero simply for these gifts that gave his family the chance to have a better life. My husband and I certainly wouldn’t have met and fallen in love without him. (Thanks, Grandpa Inting!)

But war—as many people are touching on this year, as we enter the 11^th round of the Global War on Terror—is about more than heroes and their valiant deeds

My husband’s uncle is the oldest of his mother’s siblings—old enough to remember the war stories, and more..

One morning in the family hut (still, at this time, in the highlands of Mountain Province), Uncle Jon as a child tried to wake his father. Grandpa Inting awoke in a panic, and proceeded to beat his son into the wall of the hut. He would apologize some time later, explaining to Uncle Jon that he didn’t recognize his son—or where he was.

And then there were the times, my husband told me, when his Lola (Grandma) had to flee into the forest with her children, in order to hide from her husband—who would slip into fits of rage, would grab his gun out of the blue and put himself on “guard duty” outside of their home, for indefinite periods of time.

These used to be the things that every military family had a story about, but no one was allowed to speak of. Paranoia, unpredictable rage and violence, and ‘hyper-vigilance’— a term described by post-trauma psychiatrist Kathleen Whip as, “When you’re in a constant state of readiness, even when you don’t have to be”—are all the symptoms we know today associated with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD. Certainly, the word didn’t exist in Inting’s day—some refuse to believe it exists in 2012.

It was in part the acknowledgement of PTSD’s existence that my husband refused a second deployment. After 15 months in Afghanistan, he was unwilling to return there or go to Iraq. From the Panjwai Massacre to the torture of Afghan detainees; from Abu Ghraib to White Phosphorus, it has become clear that this decision may have saved his sanity.

He didn’t qualify for C.O. Status (a Conscientious Objector in the U.S. Army must categorically oppose all forms of violence, including self defense). A request of transfer to a non-combat role was ripped up by his commanding officer. Isolated, depressed, exhausted, trapped, and clearly suffering from PTSD, my husband did what was best for his own self-preservation: he went to Canada. He separated himself from his trauma, and sought to understand it and come to terms with it. He did not, as his grandfather and countless others did before him, resign to it as a “necessary evil” of man, of war, of life.

Soldiers today have more information about PTSD than any generation before them. Should we still be thinking of war the same way? Should my husband, for instance, have committed himself regardless, like his grandfather did–despite his knowledge of PTSD and things like international law?

Soldiers who leave the army, as my husband has, face courts-martial and jail time for refusing to destroy themselves and other people in the process. A jail sentence of one day over a year will brand you a felon for the rest of your life. Felons, in exchange for their crimes, forsake the right to vote and bear arms in all but two U.S. states.

 Former U.S. soldier Robin Long served a 15 month sentence in2008-2009 for going AWOL to Canada, refusing to fight in the Iraq War 

Where two U.S. wars gave one Guiniling citizenship for his family, two other wars may be what takes it away. 

As the notoriously anti-war veteran and writer Kurt Vonnegut would have said, “So it goes”.

Canada, since Vietnam, has changed its tone on the subject of War Resisters and Draft Dodgers (there is no “draft’ per se, but Stop-Loss legislation in the U.S. is a de-facto draft of servicemen and women, and it has led many to re-deploy indefinately—not disconnected from the greatest suicide epidemic that the country has ever seen). Whereas Pierre Trudeau’s Liberals welcomed them in the 1970s, Harper’s Conservatives find the cacophony of PTSD claims and human rights abuses—all the natural bi-products of war—to be highly inconvenient in a time they are trying to re-brand of Canada as a Warrior Nation.

Come what may, “Guiniling” is more than a name for my my husband and me. It is the story of a legacy and a family, born of war and its plurality of meaning.

I remain optimistic. After all, ‘Nicole’ means “Victory of the People”.

NMG

Related Articles:

http://vetspeakblog.blogspot.com/2008/12/robin-long-prisoner-of-conscience_17.html

http://vetspeakblog.blogspot.com/2009/04/us-iraq-war-resister-kimberly-rivera.html

http://vetspeakblog.blogspot.com/2009/08/vfp-shout-out-yo-robin-long-supporters.html

Ed Note: This piece was originally published on November 10th on Nicole's Blog. She has agreed to share it  here on VetSpeak in support of our mutual mission to put a human face on the Toronto Resisters (49ers), as we work torwards Amnesty for all Resisters and Deported Veterans.

www.VetSpeak.org

Veterans Day 2012: Still at War

Ed Note:  Thanks to Mike Hearington of VFP for sharing this piece with us. WH

Thoughts on Veterans Day

By John Cory

November 11, 2012

Veterans Day—A national Hallmark Card for war inked with survivor's guilt.

We have numbered wars like SuperBowls (WWI and WWII), marked them by time (the Hundred Years' War and the Thirty Years' War), masked them with a gentle oxymoron (the Civil War) and fogged their battles in terms of weather (Rolling Thunder and Desert Storm). War is a lesson in geography like the Spanish-American War, the Mexican-American War and the Vietnam War or, as the Vietnamese call it, the American War. Modern war is waged on an "ism" like Communism or Terrorism.

We never run out of names, terms or reasons for war. And there is always an anniversary for war or a battle or its start, a day of  red poppies and marketing to ensure romantic remembrance of death and destruction.

That is war after all - a marriage of violence and glory "until death do us part."

War is a true never-ending story. And when the shooting stops, we file the body parts and memory fragments on a bookshelf for later reference when we write about war, searching for Kevlar words to protect the troops as we recon the thesaurus of emotions and memories for the building blocks that frame a new rationalization for more war.

And everyone wants a good war story to lead the six o'clock news or top the bestseller charts. It has to be heroic and noble, a tale of sacrifice for the greater good or better yet, a battle of reluctance turned into righteous annihilation of the enemy. It has to be a story about us versus the faceless and godless enemy that leads to triumph and victory, albeit a world-weary victory, thrust upon us. We didn't want to destroy the village but we had to destroy the village in order to save the village. Like that ominous voice of movie previews, we utter the words: In a world of kill or be killed, there can be no doubt.

Of course we don't tell real war stories. We write recruiting posters. We have perfected the perverted normalcy of war and made it a family affair

In the recent election cycle only 3 percent of voters listed war as a topic of concern when voting for a candidate. 

The thing they never tell you, the lie of all lies, is that you can go to war and then come home.

You can't.

www.VetSpeak.org

Clock's ticking...Bring a Friend: Occupy Freedom Plaza, Washington D.C., Oct 6th - ?

OCTOBER2011 COALITION TO OCCUPY FREEDOM PLAZA
IN WASHINGTON, DC BEGINNING OCT 6^th

www.VetSpeak.org

Freedom Plaza Occupation: Oct 6, Washington D.C. Oct 6, 2011

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

xxxxxx

OCTOBER2011 COALITION TO OCCUPY FREEDOM PLAZA
IN WASHINGTON, DC BEGINNING OCT 6^th

DC Occupation Marks the 11^th Year of Afghan War, Austerity Budgets and Builds on
Arab Spring, European Summer, Madison and Occupation of Wall Street
x

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:

Kevin Zeese, 301-996-6582

Margaret Flowers, 443-759-4635

Maria Allwine, 443-762-0892

press@october2011.org

The People’s Uprisings seen around the world and in the United States come to Washington, DC’s Freedom Plaza beginning on Thursday, October 6 whenthousands will converge to begin a prolonged people's occupation of Freedom Plaza.  The October2011 Movement involves thousands of people and 150 organizations who have already signed. The DC occupation comes at a pivotal time: the beginning of the 11^th year of war in Afghanistan and a new federal fiscal year that promises austerity of everything except weapons and war.

The Freedom Plaza occupation occurs as activists in New York are occupying Wall Street and follows major protests across the Midwest against austerity budgets, the environmental protest of the Tar Sands Pipeline where more than 1,200 were arrested and protests throughout the United States on a wide range of issues.

The October2011 Movement demands that the government represent the people, not just the top 1%. The pledge signed on by thousands calls for using our resources on human needs and environmental protection, not for war and exploitation. October2011.org stands with super majorities of Americans on seven key issues:

• Tax the rich and corporations
• End the wars, bring the troops home, cut military spending
• Protect the social safety net, strengthen Social Security and improved Medicare for all
• End corporate welfare for oil companies and other big business interests
• Transition to a clean energy economy, reverse environmental degradation
• Protect worker rights including collective bargaining, create jobs and raise wages
• Get money out of politics

The Freedom Plaza occupation builds on the experiences of Egypt, Tunisia, Greece and Spain.  October2011 has joined with the Egyptian revolutionary movement in a solidarity statement based on four common principles:  seeking real democracy, an end to U.S. interventionist military policy, protection of human rights through the rule of law and developing a sustainable economy that meets human needs.  The Indignados of Spain have described our commonRoad to Dignity that includes the occupation of Wall Street and Freedom Plaza.

x

For more information visit FAQ  on http://october2011.org.

www.VetSpeak.org  

Reflections on the 10th Anniversary of the War in Afghanistan, and the Continuing War in Iraq

Ten Years and Counting in Afghanistan...

by Willie Hager

Ten Years and counting in Afghanistan, U.S. troops still bogged down in Iraq after eight years, and a country deeply divided politically, ideologically, and now, even religiously, as a result. What a cluster fuck!

How did we get here?  Well, it wasn't easy; we had to work at it in order to position ourselves to be right back where we were following the Gingrich Revolution in Congress in the early 80s; it isn't just happenstance that we here we are again, caught up in mix of a retro Gilded Age, and a painful re-emergence of Nixonian forces and money creeping back into the halls and back rooms of our government. Forces who still threaten our Bill of Rights and our Constitution. 

I suggest that we are here, back from the future, because we as political and social activists have became complacent and self indulgent following our major victories of the 60s and 70s, to name a just a few; the end of the Vietnam War, the breaking down of racial barriers to voting, and the other civil rights victories of the day, including the end of the Draft, the end of domestic spying and political disruption by the FBI COINTEL Program, the downfall of Nixon, and the imprisoning of some, but not all, of his thugs. We in fact, recovered our Constitution, and re-instated the proper application of the Bill of Rights to our society. For reflection on what I think happened, I make the case for how the left actually became complacent and politically self indulgent in a piece that I wrote in 2005 entitled "The Cracker Swamp Manifesto". 

But this discussion has more to do with the future, than with the past. We can't know where we're going, if we don't know where we've been;  so, a quick look back for reference at what has worked and what  has not is called for whenever doing any kind of strategical planning for the future, whether it is personal or political. None of what I describe above regarding our foreign policy, and the retaking of congress by the Repugs and NEOCONs could have happened, to my way of thinking, if the left hadn't of become a Babylon of minority interest groups fighting among themselves over political power and money....the spoils of victory.  They sold the power of their all important UNITY in exchange for organizational, political, and cause oriented agendas and political careers that ultimately positioned them into being as ineffective as they were prior to the American social and political revolution of the 60s and 70s, as the "whole" morphed into minority special interest groups of society.  The big losers? The American people.

To my way of thinking these groupings as a whole became so distracted and fragmented with politically correct self indulgence, that they lost the hearts and minds of the American people. The very hearts and minds (and votes) that that these groups, as a grand and unified coalition of ant-war and social and political justice activists, had fought so hard for so many years to win, back in the 60s and 70s. These fragmented groups, not unlike the Repugs and Neocons, and most recently the Teabaggers, ultimately came to turn their backs on all who disagreed with their particular doctrine, whether it be a racial, political, or religious platform, beginning in the 80s.  But most importantly, they turned their backs on the American people in favor of their particular constituencies and careers. This dynamic was the birth of political correctness as we have came know it in our country. Prior to this rebirth, here; political correctness had been a strategy of Mao's Red Guard in the Great Leap Forward in China. Here, it's re-birth ultimately became the death knell for all of our efforts and successes of the 60s and 70s.

In face of all of the above, it is my considered conclusion that this Administration's current strategies aren't going to change until we as a "movement" change our's. Collective GASP!!!  I know, I know, this is politically incorrect thinking.  But, it is my critical thinking assessment that the current, and now decades old, strategies of the left must take on a new profile. This has to happen if we are to have any hope of success in saving our nation from it's second post modern  political Dark Age and the continued decline of the age of free thinking, free speech, and Constitutional democracy. 

Here in the 21st century, we need to develop our own strategies that are more pragmatic in their direction and application. The 60s and 70s are now relegated to history.  We need to refresh and re-energize our approach to social and political revolution if we are to be effective in a 21st century social and political environment. In today's environment politics vs reality on the ground as a strategy, is a failed policy.  This was true for Vietnam, and it most certainly true for Iraq and Afghanistan. That dynamics won't change until our strategy is changed.

That is not to say that militancy, fiery rhetoric, and occasionally manning of the barricades, is not critical to this process; it is to say that our militancy has to be more pragmatic than symbolic, our rhetoric based in empirical thinking and objective truth, as well as documentable evidence of that truth. It needs to incorporate clearly defined and realistically achievable demands and goals. Most importantly, it must appeal to more than those of one's particular organization, race, religion, ideology, and/or political party affiliation. And, it must be designed to democratically find the core issues that are common to all of us and rally around them in unity, and leave the ideological, racial, organizational, religious, and personal differences at the door. The keys to success in my paradigm are Mutual Respect, Unity of Purpose, and Mission Focus.

We are after all, all in this together; and we cannot succeed without mutual support, and the support and votes of the American people, who (as evidenced by history) we are potentially able to educate to the truth of our anti-war social justice agenda, and how it applies to them as individuals, and as citizens. To my way of thinking; in today's world, this is best achieved by speaking with them, rather that at them.  They must be given a reason to want to join with us and take action, not be verbally bludgeoned or shamed into it. So it is our responsibility to educate them to the issues,sort out what they agree with us on and what they disagree with us on, and act accordingly in incorporating their energy and votes into our struggle. 

Another major consideration is the diminished impact of "mass" demonstrations where-ever they are called for to be held, or by whom. I can only conclude that the government actually welcomes this kind of activity anymore, since they are much more equipped to deal with then they were, forty years ago, when they worked, i.e. VVAW's 1971 Dewey Canyon III. These days they send everyone in the police approved and fenced off demonstration free speech areas home for the day, so that they can't be accessed or confronted by the revolutionary forces in the street. They reinforce the police ranks with crowd control trained riot police and ariel surveillance, and everyone gets overtime.  Then they work closely with civil disobedience organizers to arrange for the orchestrated "civil disobedience arrests", for which demonstration organizers have made prior arrangements to let ourselves be arrested, celebrities and authors first, in hope that someone out there in the hinterland will see how truly oppressive our government is to those who dare to speak truth to power, in spite of the fact that the buildings we are confronting are empty, and the mainstream media is in conspicuous absence, and as a result rise up in rage against the state.

Of course participants in these national confrontations are expected to be able to provide the 100 dollar bail that goes into the city coffers...let's see 130 demonstrators X 100 = a quick 13,000 dollars into the city coffers. So, the cops are getting overtime, and the city is profiting from the demonstrations at our expense. All very surreal to this old school anti-war and peace and justice activist and journalist. It's Kabuki Theater rather than Guerrilla Theater to me.  In spite of it's repetitiveness, nothing ever seems to come out of it all, except some great photos and action reports on  the underground internet activist blogs and in the foreign press. In addition, these events require a lot of personal expense and energy that could otherwise be better used in furthering our cause out in the grassroots, where our true constituency lives. Too often the issues and the demands become polluted with conflicted ideologies and messaging by participants, reflecting to the public more divisions than unity. And, of course, the mainstream media, whether under duress or lack of interest, ignores us. The most recent blatant example of this mainstream press black-out is the on-going Occupy Wall Street protests.

We need to recognize that there is not one among us who has all of the answers, whether it be as an individual, a celebrity, or as a representative of an organizational or ideological agenda. Each have specific resources and tactics to bring to the campaign, but that is only becomes  politically effective when rallied around in unity on mutually agreed upon specific demands; ones that are realistically attainable through pragmatic and unified message application.  I believe that this process best takes place out where we all started, at the grassroots. Not on the steps of monolithic institutions, where we now all occasionally gather to voice our displeasure with our government's failed policies, both foreign and domestic. They're on to that one these days, folks, and know how to deal with it effectively; containment and media black-out. Now, just as back in the day, the power lies with the people. Remember our rally cry back then; "Power To The People!"?  We meant ALL the people, not just a few politically correct ideologues and "radical fringe" dissenters from a particular group or class, as outlined in Marx's Dictatorship of The Proletariat.

There are, of course, many other opinions and choices of action, but here is what I have concluded to be essential ingredients as a result of my personal experiences and a studied review of our history, and of our current outdated paradigm for social and political action.  Here is a suggested  minimal guideline model that we as a "movement" can easily mobilize around and together and implement with our existing resources, in order to make a seamless paradigm shift into the 21st century world of effective social and political activism:

     I. Personal Contact

• First, and most important, make personal contact (no not on FB) by phone, or personal visits.  Get to know one another; what we believe in, where we've been, who do we know mutually, what do we have strong disagreement on, and what do we strongly agree on. We should be friends (real ones) as well as political compatriots.
• We must then agree to share resources and work together (personally and organizationally) to further the issues that we believe in, and agree to personally respectfully disagree on things that we disagree on, but keep those disagreements out of how we together, in unity, support the issue in question, publicly.

     

 II.  Prioritization of Issues

• When considering issues, we can all I am sure, agree to an anti-war/social peace & justice agenda, in general terms.  But we have all arrived at that agreement from diverse experiences. Those experiences all began somewhere locally, so it makes sense to consider the demographics of a locality when outreaching for recruits or volunteers, and begin by using our experience in rallying local folks around local issues that we can directly relate to the prior mentioned general agenda. 
• From these personal connections, build a 21st century style electronic national network of individuals, chapters, and organizations (much as we did back in the day with land-lines, and Rolodexes) that are all on the same page, and are ready and able to mobilize quickly around our agreed upon national campaign priority issues, right  there in Your City, USA. Grassroots coalition building vs organizational or cause chauvinism. That's how Joe Hill would do it.

     III. Modern Media Communications

• Just as IVAW is currently doing, we also need to educate ourselves to 21st century social and journalistic digital media. I attended two such workshops that IVAW presented at the VFP National Convention in Portland, OR, in August. The main theme of both of these workshops was messaging methodologies. They are ahead of the curve on this one.  We can learn from them.
• As we have seen with the Arab Spring up-risings, social media can have a profound impact on the ability to mobilize people quickly, and it can allow for a running account of events first hand.  From a journalistic point of view, the mainstream media, who never covers our events as we would like, are being sidelines, due to the ability of social media to get our message out quickly, and to be in instant communications with one another if need be. 
• We should all, individuals and organizations alike, learn how to use this powerful medium in a coordinated fashion to coordinate our activities in unison, at the grassroots, as well as in Washington D.C., when appropriate.

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