April 3, 2008
On the Front Line
If folks missed it, PBS is running a multi-part series called "Bad Voodoo's War." It is available online at this PBS link. "Bad Voodoo" is a National Guard unit that has be deployed multiple times to Iraq. The program is...
January 20, 2008
The High Price of Talk
By: Monica Benderman of Benderman Defense and Benderman's Bridge "There was a consensus that last year was not productive...Our expectations were dashed," so John Isaacs was quoted as saying at a meeting of anti-war groups last week. One group alone...
January 15, 2008
Need for Support and A Watchful Eye
Mike Hastie, a member of Veterans for Peace, and a Bronze Star Army Medic from the Vietnam War, was arrested in November for protesting at a recruiting station in Tacoma, Washington. Everyone thought that the charges would be dropped, but...
November 26, 2007
What Do You Know of War?
By: Monica Benderman of Benderman Defense and Benderman's Bridge The doors have opened on another holiday season. Utility workers have spent hours hoisting holiday decorations to the tops of buildings and attaching lights to all the telephone poles in town....
November 25, 2007
The "War," Contractors, and Civilian Deaths
One of the things that has become increasingly evident is that private "security" firms are critical to the Bush "war on terrorism." The deaths (murder) of civilians in Iraq vaulted Blackwater into the spotlight. Given the news of private security...
November 21, 2007
Needing Peace
By: Monica Benderman of Benderman Defense and Benderman's Bridge I received an email last week. Almost two pages long and with only enough sentence breaks to count on one hand, it was coming from a place I knew all too...
November 11, 2007
Veterans and Reality
Today is Veterans Day, and tomorrow the official holiday. As with most, it is accompanied by sales, but I did not see one that gave a special discount to veterans. Odd don't you think? Though perhaps no odder than the...
August 31, 2007
An Acknowledgement of Resistance
September 1, 2007 marks the 20 year anniversary of an action of conscience and resistance by Vietnam War veteran S. Brian Willson. On September 1, 1987, Brian Willson placed himself on the tracks of a naval train out of Concord,...
August 20, 2007
Recommend Article: "The War As We Saw It "
I highly recommend an article published 8/19 in the NY Times and republished at TruthOut. The article is by seven soldiers from the 82nd Airborne serving in Iraq and is titled "The War As We Saw It." The honesty and...
August 12, 2007
Exhausted Troops
Peter Beaumont of the Guardian has an article that everyone should read - "Fatigue cripples US army in Iraq." It is a sad statement on those who planned and now direct the deployment of our troops. The article shares some...
May 28, 2007
The Long Memorial
In memory of those who have been lost and damaged in the endless war for power. Crazy Horse by John Trudell or http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8zRm2FMXCnA...
May 26, 2007
Human Lives - Collateral Damage to A Political Calculus
The Democrats caved in and supported the supplemental occupation funding demanded by the Bush Cabal. The arguments apparently being that they a) didn't have the votes to overcome a veto; b) they didn't want to be blamed for the...
May 18, 2007
War Without End & Now ... The Permanent Soldier
George Bush told us that the "War on Terrorism" would be a "generational" war. It seems clear that means "war without end" which brings to mind George Orwell's 1984. (Of course, there are a lot of things about the Bush...
May 9, 2007
Disinformation or Hypocrisy
The Mental Health Advisory Team (MHAT) IV Operation Iraqi Freedom 05-07 Final Report (17 November 2006) was released to the public this week. It is a damning report. It sites a number of mental health problems among the troops in...
March 13, 2007
Send in the Troops. What Troops?
Bush has decided to send and additional 8,200 troops in Afghanistan (3500) and Iraq (4700). This is in addition to the 21,500 troop "surge." I believe it is also in addition to Petraeus' call for 2200 more MP's and 7,000...
March 4, 2007
The Beginning of a MDR Epidemic?
I was listening to the Woodruffs on Larry King the other night when Mrs. Woodruff said that Bob had almost died of a antibiotic resistant pneumonia common the the wounded troops in Iraq. That got my attention. I vaguely remembered...
February 28, 2007
And More Disgrace
Well the situation of recovering troops as Walter Reed has gotten worse. According to an article by Kelly Kennedy in Army Times, recovering patients have been told they will get up at 6am every morning to have their rooms ready...
February 25, 2007
Disgarace of a Nation
On February 18,2007 the Washington Post published an article by Dana Priest and Anne Hull titled Soldiers Face Neglect, Frustration At Army's Top Medical Facility. The publication of that article created a white flash of light on yet another shame...
February 15, 2007
Hiding the Cost of War
Thanks to Mike for sharing this. Take a look at this article in the Boston Herald - Pentagon lies with stats. The number of U.S. troop casualties (and fatalities) are at least double that being reported. In part because the...
February 13, 2007
An Interrogator Speaks Out
There is a must read article from the Feb. 9th Washington Post. It is written by Eric Fair who is speaking out about his experience as a civilian contract interrogator attached to the 82nd Airborne Division at the detention facility...
January 7, 2007
Dustin Donica: Soldier 3000
The Independent's headline reads: Soldier 3,000: His name is Dustin Donica. His number haunts the US. My first response was - not if nobody knows about it. My second - who is talking about it?...
January 3, 2007
Troop "Surge" in Iraq?
Everyone is expecting for Bush's "new" strategy in Iraq to be a "surge" in the number of troops deployed there (CSM, BBC). While the "surge" plan is likely to not be popular on either side of the aisle, the plan...
December 20, 2006
Winning Iraq?
What does "winning" mean when it comes to Iraq? For that matter, failing "winning," what would "success" be? I must say, that as far as the United States goes, I have no idea what yardstick Bush and his politicos might...
November 10, 2006
Veterans: Harsh Reality and the Surreal
I recommend an article from today's NY Times by C.J. Chivers - Marines Get the News From an Iraqi Host: Rumsfeld's Out. 'Who's Rumsfeld?'. Political struggling and maneuverings at home have changed the political landscape. Hopefully in a manner that...
August 23, 2006
Iraq Occupation To Continue - More Troops Needed
Bush has changed direction on Iraq. He has moved from supporting a gradual withdrawal of U.S. troops, to recommitting himself to full engagement. Bush is on the campaign (money) trail, and rejecting any form of withdrawal from Iraq. Of course,...
July 7, 2006
Hate Groups and the Military
There seems to be an increasing number folks from white supremacist groups joining the military. The article is based on an investigation by the Southern Poverty Law Center titled "A Few Bad Men." The current increase seems to be driven...
May 10, 2006
Notice To Veterans - Possible Hepatitis or HIV Infection
Health Alert: Prostate Biopsy Devices Used By The VA May Have Been Contaminated This notice applies to all Veterans who may have received prostate biopsies at Veterans hospitals between 1997 and 2001. It is possible that you have been infected...
February 11, 2006
How to Stop a War - Iraq
BY: Monica Benderman Three years ago we were spending time together, every moment we could, building the type of relationship we would need to survive the unknown we were about to face. It was our choice - going to war....
January 18, 2006
How The Military Deals With Rape
BY: ROBIN WILDE Robin Wilde is a pseudonym. This woman is still serving and does not wish to jeopardize her career any further. She shared her story as a comment on the Jennifer Dyer story, and I asked her permission...
November 21, 2005
In Truth
By: Monica & Kevin Benderman From Kevin Benderman George W. Bush When are you going to tell the truth to the people of the United States? Why don't you tell them why you want to be in Iraq so bad?...
October 26, 2005
The Game Is Not Life
By Monica Benderman It's been two and a half years. There are almost 2000 soldiers deaths officially accounted for. How many family members does that come to? Is there a number? The war has cost billions. Where did it all...
September 5, 2005
Moral Courage
By: Kevin Benderman "I will not compromise my integrity, nor my moral courage." "These words come directly from the NCO creed, which I swore to uphold as a member of the US Army. When I filed for Conscientious Objector status,...
August 26, 2005
Where Is Peace?
By: Monica Benderman War is promoted. Anti-war responds. Anti-war protests. War counters. Somewhere in the middle is the truth. Peace. Freedom to make a choice....
August 19, 2005
The Bush/Cheney and V.A.'s War Against Veterans
By: Jack Dalton Jack's Straight-Speak Jim Nicholson, VA Secretary Republican political appointee; Steve Buyer, R-IN, chairman House VA Committee; Larry Craig, R-ID, chairman Senate VA Committee - these three men hold the lives of veterans in their "hands." These three...
August 17, 2005
There is no Glory in Dying
By Monica Benderman UTJ Note: There are actions happening across the U.S. today. You may find one near you at Moveon.org. There are a number of them in Portland, Oregon and the surrounding area which you can find here For...
August 11, 2005
Talk About Obscene - Rumsfeld's 9/11 Street Party
By: Jack Dalton - Jack's Straight-Speak If you want something absolutely obscene, here it is: Pentagon to Host 9/11 March, Show. This September 11th, will mark 4 years since that horrible mass murder took place. Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld and the rest of...
August 8, 2005
Sgt. Kevin Benderman
By: Monica Benderman MEMORANDUM TO: George W. Bush - President, United States of America Donald Rumsfeld - Secretary of Defense, United States of America RE: Sgt. Kevin Benderman Dear Sirs: As I am certain you are all aware, my husband,...
August 5, 2005
My Life Living With Depleted Uranium
By: Dawn Campbell On June 12th 1987, I was a junior in High School with a mindset of having a military career, when Ronald Reagan gave a speech at the Reichstag Gate of the Berlin Wall. The speech was delivered...
August 1, 2005
Jonathan Barriga - Conscientious Objector and His Fight with the Marine Corps
By: Jack Dalton Jonathan was a young man in high school when the Marine recruiter approached him about joining the Marines "Delayed Entry" program. That's where a young person under-age and still in school, with parents permission, can sign on...
July 29, 2005
Kevin Benderman Sentenced To 15 Months
It is with sadness that I report that Seargent Kevin Benderman has been sentenced to 15 months in prison for his refusal to return to Iraq after filing as a conscientious objector. Many of you have followed this story over...
July 27, 2005
Sgt Kevin Benderman Goes on Trial Tomorrow
By: Jack Dalton Kevin Benderman will face a General Courts Martial tomorrow for his refusal to deploy to Iraq a second time. It is the Army that should be on trial (as well as Bush & Co) and not Kevin!...
July 23, 2005
The Army Has Arrested the Wife of an Active-Duty War Resister
BY: Jack Dalton Three weeks ago, on July 1st I posted the story of a woman's aunt and uncle that were carted away by agents of the Bush & Co forces: Who Will Be Next? You, Me, Your Neighbor -...
July 3, 2005
A Lot of Talk While Veterans Continue to be Left Behind
By: Jack Dalton Every veteran's organization in the country has been disseminating information for the past 4 years about the V.A. being under funded (actually more than that, but since BushCo it has gotten substantially worse)....
June 25, 2005
We Make Databases But We Won't Use Them
Well, the news is out that the Department of Defense is gathering data on high school students. Excuse me, they are contracting with a private company (BeNow) to gather data on high school students. There is a concern that this...
June 20, 2005
Suicides in the Ranks - Something is Seriously Wrong in the Military
By: Jack Dalton "You're a f...ing faggot conscientious objector" was what young Trent Helpkamps company 1st Sgt told him - publicly, again. This took place at the Separation Barracks at the Marine Corps base Camp Geiger next to Camp Lejeune,...
June 8, 2005
Money, Money, Who's Got the Money? It Sure Isn't Veterans
By: Jack Dalton It was approximately three years ago the GAO (General Accounting Office) attempted to do what congress requested: an audit of the DoD/Pentagon. After a solid year, the GAO had to report back to congress that they could...
May 5, 2005
Open Letter From Monica Benderman
This is a letter from Monica Benderman. Their Website is Kevin Benderman Defense Committee. This letter is an ongoing part of the struggle of Kevin Benderman for Conscientious Objector status....
April 29, 2005
Reruiting Bonuses
As the Army's recruiting numbers have dropped and dropped again, incentives have gone up in an attempt to increase enlistment. There is an informative article by Emily Baker on mytexas.com about these bonuses. She notes that the bonuses for "high-priority...
Fall Out Or The Way Forward - Vietnam War 30 Years On
Saturday marks the 30 year anniversary of the ending of the Vietnam War. In Vietnam, it is called the American War. While the war may have ended, it has left its mark on both bodies and nations. Some wounds do...
March 3, 2005
Agent Orange, Depleted Uranium and "Eating Your Own"
By: Jack Dalton I've been thinking about the article I read about the lawsuit some Vietnamese people brought against the U.S. government for the use of Agent Orange during the 10 year American War in Vietnam - 20 million gallons...
February 26, 2005
Anti-Recruitment Efforts Needed Now More Than Ever
By: Jack Dalton This past week here in Portland, OR it was announced there are 8 more of Portland's schools on the chopping block to be closed. This is not isolated to just Portland, as every state in the nation...
February 24, 2005
Rape in the Military - A Women's Issue or A Man's Issue?
By: Jack Dalton Like most people in this country, men especially, I viewed rape, sexual assaults and acts against women as primarily a "women's" issue; at least until last August. But then I had as much knowledge about this as...
February 23, 2005
PFC Trent Helmkamp and the "Train Wreck" Headed His Way
By: Jack Dalton Recently, during one of his "staged" and "managed" so-called "press conferences," George W. Bush, while spinning his disinformation about social security, coined a phrase that has really stuck with me; "...when you see a train wreck coming...
February 19, 2005
Jennifer Dyer on 60 Minutes 2/20/05
By: Jack Dalton Just a reminder that this Sunday 60 minuets will be airing a program on the systemic problem of rape in the military, and how the military has pretty much done nothing to stop it. In fact the...
February 13, 2005
Benderman Update
By: Monica Benderman We have received tremendous support from readers who have learned of our situation through your website. Thank you for all the support you have given by providing a valuable forum in which my husband Kevin Benderman can...
February 8, 2005
Is the Army's Manpower Problem So Bad it Must Now Recall the Injured?
By: Jack Dalton Apparently - as that is what it has done to Adam Mowery. 23 year old Adam Mowery was discharged by the U.S. Army in May of 2003 from the 188th MP Company stationed in Taegu, South Korea...
February 6, 2005
I Do Not Understand (?)
By: Monica Benderman "Actually, it's quite fun to fight them ... it's a hell of a hoot." "It's fun to shoot some people." As the wife of a soldier who has sworn to "defend his country and its constitution against...
January 24, 2005
Right to life
By: Kevin Benderman I have come to the conclusion that the creator does not want us to fight wars or to leave our brothers to die in hunger or disease for we have been given the things we need to...
January 22, 2005
To War or Not to War, That is the Question
By: Jack Dalton If there is one thing I understand it is simply this, once one "sees" war up close and personal and you look into the abyss, that "Heart of Darkness" of war; you are forever changed--period. Some become...
January 19, 2005
The U.S. Army Has Formally Charged Sgt. Kevin Benderman
By: Jack Dalton Sgt. Kevin Benderman, who recently refused deployment a second time to Iraq and had filed Conscientious Objector status paperwork, has been today formally charged with violation of articles 85 and 87 of the Uniform Code of Military...
January 17, 2005
A Man of Integrity: Sgt. Kevin Benderman - "No To War"
By: Jack Dalton One can only imagine the struggle, the agonizing process Sgt Kevin Benderman has gone through which culminated in his decision to refuse orders for deployment to Iraq a little over a week ago - which would have...
One Man Has Stopped Killing: Hope for More to Do the Same
By Monica Benderman For the past two weeks, my husband Kevin and I have answered questions from reporters, journalists, interested citizens from almost every state in the union, and about 8 foreign countries. After all of these interviews, I have...
January 12, 2005
How Many More Will it Take - How Many More Will Have to Die?
By: Jack Dalton Andreas Raya, a Marine that had been to Iraq once, and was scheduled to go back to Iraq a second time, has committed suicide--by forcing the police to shoot him in front of a convenience store in...
December 26, 2004
Justice, Fair Play--Are They Just Words When Applied to Rape by U.S. Personnel and the Military?
By: Jack Dalton It's been common knowledge in this country for a very, very long time that if you want justice or fair play you had better have real deep pockets. One only need have a cursory look at the...
December 22, 2004
Death and Mayhem in Mosul
Yesterday, an apparent mortar attack on a US military camp in Mosul Killed 24 and wounded 64 people. Seventeen of the dead are from the 101st Airborne Division, at least four of the other seven dead were Halliburton employees. The...
December 16, 2004
Nathan Gale - PTSD?
Last week the big news was the on-stage murder of Dimebag Darrell Abbott of Damageplan and three others at a concert Alrosa Villa by Nathan Gale. It seemed more than random, but in what way. This week Nightline is running...
December 11, 2004
Mother's view of the war: Battle fatigue on the home front
By: Teri Wills Allison This was published in the 11/21/04 San Francisco Chronicle. I am not a pacifist. I am a mother. By nature, the two are incompatible, for even a cottontail rabbit will fight to protect her young....
November 12, 2004
Another Veterans Day
By: Jack Dalton Here we are again, another Veterans Day. There will be many parades and many speeches about the sacrifices of veterans and how the nation must honor veterans; Special days so people can feel good, and for the...
October 24, 2004
An Act of Betrayal: The Rape of 1st LT Jennifer Dyer
By: Jack Dalton Jack Daltion is a disabled Vietnam veteran and freelance writer that lives in Portland, Oregon and can be contacted thru his web site at http://www.ommp.org. His email address is jack_dalton@ommp.org On August 8th 1st LT Jennifer Dyer...
October 7, 2004
Bush, Republicans and No to Veterans
By: Jack Dalton Jack Daltion is a disabled Vietnam veteran and freelance writer that lives in Portland, Oregon and can be contacted thru his web site at http://www.ommp.org. His email address is jack_dalton@ommp.org Well, here we are again. Fiscal year...
September 18, 2004
Covert Conscription - Iteration Three
Well, everybody knows that the number of US troops in Iraq is inadequate. Everybody knows that enlistment is down. Everybody knows that US force deployments are nearing a breaking point. But it is an election year and the "D" word...
June 29, 2004
It's Not the Draft, but It Is Conscription
The Pentagon announced today that it was issuing an involuntary recall of 5600 retired and discharged soldiers for (possible) service in Iraq and Afghanistan. Those being recalled to duty are known as the Individual Ready Reserve (IRR). The IRR is...
May 19, 2004
Inactive Reserve Call-up - A mistake
Imagine my surprise after looking all over for information about the recall of the Inactive Reserve (and finding little), that the front page of the Oregonian has a top headline - Army does about-face on call-up readiness (UTJ permalink). The...
May 16, 2004
Wave of mental problems follows GIs home
The following is posted in its entirety by request . By Mark Benjamin United Press International Published 5/13/2004 9:51 AM COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo., May 13 (UPI) -- Soldiers at Fort Carson report a wave of serious mental problems among troops...
January 14, 2004
Another "brilliant" Pentagon decision
In another stroke of genius, the Pentagon Resumes Anthrax Vaccinations After Judge Lifts Restraint (AP, 1/08/04). Maybe they didn't get an early notice of a research Report linking vaccines to Gulf war syndrome (BBC, 1/12/04). A senior army doctor has...
Are we heading for even more violence in Iraq?
THe US has started a massive troop rotation in Iraq as noted in In a Logistical Ballet, U.S. Is Bringing In Fresh Forces to Iraq (Schmitt, NY Times, 1/11/04). According to the article, virtually all the troops currently in Iraq...
December 29, 2003
What to do about the thinning ranks?
Folks, myself included, have been speculating about how the US forces are stretched thin and that this will become a crisis in the near future (Spring 2004). There are speculations on the resumption of the draft, and some evidence that...
