Israel Bombs Funeral Procession / Israeli Pilots Deliberately Missing Targets Over Concerns of Civilian Casualties

 

 Friends:

As most of you know, there is a national week of
nonviolent civil resistance to the war in Iraq planned
for September 21-28. Over 180 peace and justice
organizations have joined in this call. Events are
planned across the country.

Lawyers are needed to assist local groups in
evaluating action options and in assisting in the
event that anyone is arrested.

For More Information:
http://www.declarationofpeace.org
2501 Harrison St., Oakland, CA 94612
Phone: 773-777-7858
E-mail:info@declarationofpeace.org

Please join in.

Peace,love, justice,

Bill Quigley

 

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http://www.democracynow.org/index.pl

 

Democracy Now!

 

Funeral Mourners Among Victims of Latest Airstrikes

 

...In Ghaziyah, Israel bombed a funeral procession Tuesday for fourteen people killed just the day before. Six mourners died in the attack...

 

Fmr. Israeli Air Force Captain Reports Israeli Pilots Deliberately Missing Targets Over Concerns of Civilian Casualties

Former Israeli Air Force Captain Yonatan Shapira reports at least two Israeli fighter pilots have reportedly deliberately missed bombing targets in Lebanon because they were concerned they were being ordered to bomb civilians. Yonatan's brother refused to serve in Lebanon earlier this week, and was sent to jail.

 

also on Democracy Now! today - Lamont's Antiwar Win

 

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Civil Resistance in Lebanon

 

http://www.lebanonsolidarity.org/

 

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August 8, 2006

Half-Hour for Haiti: Insist on a Fair Trial for Annette Auguste and Her
Co-Defendants...

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...Haiti Debt Relief Bill in the U.S.: we do not know how many more co-sponsors
are on board, because Congress is out of session. But please take advantage
of your Representative's presence in your district throughout August to urge
her or him to co-sponsor the
<http://www.ijdh.org/articles/article_recent_news_6-22-06.html> Haiti Debt
Relief Bill, H.Res. 888.

 

At the request of grassroots groups planning to
attend community meetings with their Representatives, we have put together
an information packet for the Congressperson and a one-page summary for
other attendees. Let us know if you would like a copy...

 

to read more  see  - -   www.ijdh.org

 

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 http://www.airforcetimes.com/story.php?f=1-292925-1930387.php

 

 July 05, 2006

Thousands of troops say they won't fight

By Ana Radelat
Gannett News Service

Air Force Times

Swept up by a wave of patriotism after the U.S. invasion of Iraq, Chris Magaoay
joined the Marine Corps in November 2004.

The newly married Magaoay thought a military career would allow him to continue
his college education, help his country and set his life on the right path.

Less than two years later, Magaoay became one of thousands of military deserters
who have chosen a lifetime of exile or possible court-martial rather than fight
in Iraq or Afghanistan.

"It wasn't something I did on the spur of the moment," said Magaoay, a native of
Maui, Hawaii. "It took me a long time to realize what was going on. The war is
illegal."

Magaoay said his disillusionment with the military began in boot camp in
Twentynine Palms, Calif., where a superior officer joked about killing and
mistreating Iraqis. When his unit was deployed to Iraq in March, Magaoay and his

wife drove to Canada, joining a small group of deserters who are trying to win
permission from the Canadian government to stay.

"We're like a tight-knit family," Magaoay said.

The Pentagon says deserters like Magaoay represent a tiny fraction of the
nation's fighting forces.

"The vast majority of soldiers who desert do so for personal, family or
financial problems, not for political or conscientious objector purposes," said
Lt. Col. Bryan Hilferty, a spokesman for the Army.

Since 2000, about 40,000 troops from all branches of the military have deserted,
the Pentagon says. More than half served in the Army. But the Army says numbers
have decreased each year since the United States began its war on terror in
Afghanistan.

Those who help war resisters say desertion is more prevalent than the military
has admitted.

"They lied in Vietnam with the amount of opposition to the war and they're lying
now," said Eric Seitz, an attorney who represents Army Lt. Ehren Watada, the
first commissioned officer to refuse deployment to the war in Iraq.

Watada is under military custody in Fort Lewis, Wash., because he refused to
join his Stryker brigade when it was sent to Iraq last month.

Watada said he doesn't object to war but considers the conflict in Iraq illegal.
The Army has turned down his request to resign and plans to file charges against
him.

Critics of the Iraq war have demonstrated on the lieutenant's behalf.
Conservative bloggers call him a traitor and opportunist.

Joe Davis, spokesman for the Veterans of Foreign Wars, said deserters aren't
traitors because they've done nothing to help America's enemies. But he rejects
arguments that deserters have a moral right to refuse to fight wars they
consider unjust.

"None of us can choose our wars. They're always a political decision," Davis
said. "They're letting their buddies down and hurting morale - and morale is
everything on the battlefront."

Because today's military is an all-volunteer force, troops seeking objector
status must convince superior officers they've had an honest change of heart
about the morality of war.

The last time the U.S. military executed a deserter was World War II. But
hundreds face court-martials and imprisonment every year.

Members of the armed forces are considered absent without leave when they are
unaccounted for. They become deserters after they've been AWOL for 30 days.

A 2002 Army report says desertion is fairly constant but tends to worsen during
wartime, when there's an increased need for troops and enlistment standards are
more lax. They also say deserters tend to be less educated and more likely to
have engaged in delinquent behavior than other troops.

Army spokesman Hilferty said the Army doesn't try to find deserters. Instead,
their names are given to civilian law enforcement officers who often nab them
during routine traffic stops and turn them over to the military.

Commanders then decide whether to rehabilitate or court-martial the alleged
deserter. There's an incentive to rehabilitate because it costs the military an
average of $38,000 to recruit and train a replacement.

Jeffry House, an attorney in Toronto who represents Magaoay and other deserters,
said there are about 200 deserters living in Canada. They have decided not to
seek refugee status but instead are leading clandestine lives, he said.

Like many of the people helping today's war resisters, House fled to Canada to
avoid the Vietnam War. About 50,000 Americans sought legal residency in Canada
during the Vietnam era.

"You would apply at the border and if you didn't have a criminal record, you
were in," House said.

He said changes in Canadian law make it harder for resisters to flee north. Now,
potential immigrants must apply for Canadian residency in their home countries.
Resisters say that exposes them to U.S. prosecution.

 

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http://girights.objector.org/

 

The GI Rights Hotline 800 394 9544

 

Whether you are in the Army, Navy, Air Force or Marines, we can help with military discharges

 

Calls to the GI Rights Hotline are always free and confidential...

 

In Alaska: call 888-554-2822 or 374-2822 in Fairbanks.
Are you stationed in Germany? Click here.

 

¡Nuevo! ¡Información en español!