Troops to Call for Independent Commission on Torture
This week a group of nearly 4,000 military veterans and family members published an open letter calling for the creation of an Independent Commission to investigate the torture scandal. Press Conference Friday, November 11, 2005 VETERANS DAY.
Nearly four years after the beginning of the War on Terror, the U.S. continues to struggle with the issue of torture. With the exception of the demotion of a Brigadier General, not a single investigation has had the scope to look beyond low ranking enlisted soldiers and junior officers.
Senate Republicans, led by Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham, have proposed legislation which would restrict the United States from the abuse of prisoners. This legislation, known as the “McCain Amendment,” currently faces a veto threat from the White House.
PRESS CONFERENCE DETAILS
CHARLES SHEEHAN-MILES; 1991 Gulf War veteran and executive director, Veterans for Common Sense.
[CONTACT: Charles Sheehan-Miles, 202-558-4553
INTERVIEWS AVAILABLE]
FRANK GREGORY FORD is an Iraq War veteran who will describe incidents of prisoner abuse he witnessed and attempted to report to the military chain of command.
DAVID DEBATTO is an Iraq War veteran and intelligence specialist who will discuss interrogation practices in Iraq.
GARRETT REPPENHAGEN is a recently returned Iraq War veteran and Army sniper who will discuss the impact of the Abu Ghraib on the Iraqi insurgency in the spring of 2004
COLONEL RICHARD KLASS is a Vietnam veteran and Silver Star winner who will discuss the role and responsibilities of combat commanders.
JEAN AYLWARD is a former Air Force Judge Advocate General officer and former attorney in the Office of Intelligence Policy Review at the U.S. Department of Justice, and currently serves as Senior Associate for Government Affairs at HUMAN RIGHTS FIRST.
ERIK K. GUSTAFSON is a 1991 Gulf War veteran and founded of the EDUCATION FOR PEACE IN IRAQ CENTER, an organization promoting human rights in Iraq since 1988.
INDIVIDUAL INTERVIEWS AVAILABLE
WHAT: Press Conference to release Open Letter for an Independent Commission on Torture
WHEN: November 11, 2005; 10 AM (Veterans Day)
WHERE: Edward R. Murrow Room at the National Press Club; 529 14th St. NW, 13th Floor – Washington, DC 20045
VETERANS FOR COMMON SENSE is an organization of 14,000 veterans from World War II to the War on Terror working to preserve American values and defend U.S. national security.
View the Congressional Quarterly advertisement (Acrobat PDF)
Read the Open Letter (Acrobat PDF)
Charles said that they wouldn’t know Untill the Day of the Conferance on wether C-Span might carry it.
But any who read the above I would Suggest that you can Call C-Span and Request it be televised:
C-SPAN TELEPHONE NUMBER
Main Number: (202) 737-3220
AnyOne In Geogia, As Posted On VFP Board
Veterans For Peace Chapter 125,
and the Georgia Coalition of Peace & Justice/Atlanta
Present
Iraq Veterans Against the War
IRAQ VETERANS FORUM:
VETS SAY NO TO WAR
Friday, Nov. 18, 2005, 8 pm
<strongGEORGIA TECH
Stamps Student Center
Student Center Complex Stage – Commons
350 Ferst Drive NW, Atlanta, GA, on the Georgia Tech campus
(See Directions copied below)
(Flyers attached)
IRAQ VETERAN SPEAKERS:
MICHAEL HOFFMAN
Marine lance corporal who served honorably
in the initial invasion of Iraq and later
co-founded Iraq Veterans Against the War.
ADAM REUTER
Trained in military intelligence and
sent to Iraq 3 days after his son was born;
served in the cavalry with no training for his job.
Was injured in war and medically discharged.
JUSTIN GORDON
West Point graduate who served honorably
as a field artillery captain in Iraq and
subsequently concluded that the war and
occupation of Iraq is counter-productive to
keeping America safe from terrorism.
CAMILO MEJIA
One of the first Iraq war resisters imprisoned –
former infantry Staff Sergeant who served in Iraq
and refused to return. Subsequently served
9 months in prison, released in Feb. 2005.
ALSO SPEAKING:
Evelyn Allen, mother of Sgt. Jonathan R. Shields,
killed in action (KIA) in Fallujah, Iraq 11/12/04.
“People join the military to defend their country, not lies”
– Adam Reuter, former Army specialist and Iraq veteran
“As a nation, we have to ask ourselves if what we’re doing is right.
Are we having a positive impact in Iraq? Is our presence there
protecting American citizens? The answers are overwhelmingly
no, and this is why I cannot support the war.”
– Captain Justin Gordon, West Point officer and Iraq veteran
DIRECTIONS TO THE STAMPS STUDENT CENTER ON THE GEORGIA TECH CAMPUS:
Coming from the South: Take I-75 North to Exit 250, turn left onto 10th St., left onto State Ave., right onto Ferst Ave., and go straight. Go over some speed bumps, then turn left into a pay parking lot at the Stamps Student Center at 350 Ferst Ave.
The Commons Stage is located on the 1st floor of the Stamps Student Center.
If coming from the North: Take I-75 South to Exit 250, turn right onto 10th St., then continue as above.
This forum on the Iraq war is sponsored by:
Georgia Tech Chapter of Amnesty International,
Veterans For Peace, Atlanta Chapter 125, http://www.veteransforpeace.org
Iraq Veterans Against the War, http://www.ivaw.net
and the Georgia Peace & Justice Coalition/Atlanta, http://www.georgiapeace.org
Media contact: Debbie Clark, Veterans For Peace, Greater Atlanta Chapter 125, 770-855-6163, dclark@antiwar.com.
LINKS TO ARTICLES:
MICHAEL HOFFMAN:
http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/2004/11/10_400.html
http://www.indybay.org/news/2005/03/1728893.php
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20050328/houppert
ADAM REUTER:
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0508/17/acd.01.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/24/AR2005092401615_2.html
http://www.commondreams.org/cgi-bin/print.cgi?file=/headlines05/0924-06.htm
http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=64439
JUSTIN GORDON:
http://www.antiwar.com/orig/jgordon.php?articleid=7277
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/_/id/7683877
CAMILO MEJIA:
http://www.freecamilo.org/
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/03/29/60II/main609216.shtml
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/03/28/1434222
http://www.globalexchange.org/getInvolved/speakers/132.html
http://www.antiwar.com/orig/ellsberg.php?articleid=2597
http://traprockpeace.org/camilo_mejia_28july05.html
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For Most Understand ‘What You Do You Receive In Return’!
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