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Winter Soldier: Iraq & Afghanistan 2008
By Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans
War Comes Home
The horrible, honest reality of the American occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan like you haven’t heard it before.
Winter Soldier: Iraq and Afghanistan, features testimony from U.S. veterans who served in those occupations, giving an accurate account of what is really happening day in and day out, on the ground.
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Soldiers In Revolt
By David Cortright, Howard Zinn (introduction)
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US Deaths in the Iraq War
They shall grow not old,
as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them,
nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun
and in the morning
We will remember them.
--Laurence Binyon
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Your country needs you, again!
Big and small things, all important, that you can do, that we can do, to make a difference.
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To read why veterans and their families opposed this war, go to the Sound Off Board:
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Join our forum! Lots of discussions, facts, action alerts, etc...
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Cost of the War in Iraq
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In their youth Chickenhawks were extremely skillful at evading the military, while today they are fervent advocates for war.
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There has always been a higher percentage of veterans in Congress than in society as a whole, but not today.
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"Whatever our political persuasions, we all are patriots. We must rally around the flag to protect it from being stolen from us."
--Robert T. Flint, USN, 1954-1958
"If we have to go to war against Iraq because they are lying about their weapon systems, then we have to go to war against most countries, including the United States.
--Phil Hartman, USMC, 1966-1968
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"Kevin did speak out about the war. One time. Then said no more."
<font class=author>By Monica Benderman
VAIW, November 22, 2005
Kevin did speak out about the war. One time. Then said no more.Â
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Kevin did speak with Chaplain Temple back in the spring of 2004 about Conscientious Objection - due to his experiences in Iraq, and the fact that he would not participate in war crimes.Â
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We contacted GI Rights Hotline in Sept. for the first time, and spoke with many about the war and illegality issues throughout the fall, while Kevin continued to have email conversations about his concerns with Cpt. Temple - as well as continued to pursue access to the command to discuss his CO claim.Â
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When he received no assistance, no respect for his beliefs, none of the honorable treatment that a decorated combat veteran should expect from his command - he filed his CO claim through email and with a form in his commander's mailbox.
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His commander refused to accept the request - he was called a coward -- and his commander tried to charge him with disloyal statements for the one letter he wrote to G. Bush, as well as for the letter that I wrote and posted on the website, for which the commander hoped to charge Kevin with disrespecting a superior officer.
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Upon meeting with JAG, the commander realized that trying to charge Kevin with either of these offenses would result in a war crimes discussion at any court martial that ensued -- and no doubt JAG knew that the military was guilty of these. The commander also knew that he was guilty of the offenses mentioned without naming him, in the letter that I wrote - and so no charges were filed -- however the entire battalion command then participated in a set up of charges to find a way to put Kevin in jail because of his speaking the truth.
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There is no hard evidence that Kevin even missed movement -- so they fabricated some - and they lied in court to cover it up.
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Even the Installation Commander was involved as, before the Article 32 hearing, he told counsel and JAG that he wanted Kevin to go to jail for no less than 18 months - and while he should have recused himself from involvement in the second court martial, due to his involvement with the implied bias shown by the initial Investigating officer, he did not - and he was the one who made the final determination of Kevin's sentence and conviction.
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Throughout the process of their determining charges, filing them, and then setting out to attempt to prove them, not to mention discredit Kevin's outstanding military record, they used a misrepresentation of facts, and did not allow defense witnesses to testify on Kevin's behalf. They initially accused Kevin of making statements against the administration and the command, and then went out of their way during the Missing Movement court martial, to prevent Kevin from using his CO claim and his experiences in Iraq as a defense against their charges.
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What were they trying to hide??? The truth. Kevin told the truth in the one letter he wrote to GW Bush, and I told the truth in my letter describing activities of disrespect that occurred at Ft. Stewart. They knew we had the truth -- they put him in jail on a trumped up Missing Movement charge to keep him from talking.
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It is that clear -- it is that simple -- and the website has all the facts to prove it.
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Please visit their websites at:
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Kevin Benderman Defense Committee at -- http://www.topia.net/kevinbenderman.html
And the Benderman Timeline at -- http://bendermantimeline.com/index.html
 Monica and Kevin may be reached at mdawnb@coastalnow.net
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