Stop-loss Congress Mission
myspace.com/stoplosscongress
Mission Statement:We believe that Congress works for US, and that the time has come to TELL them what they must do. It is time to stop the corrupt and murderous business as usual in the Senate and House of Representatives.
On March 10, 11, and 12 we will participate in nonviolent direct actions that will deliver our official orders to Congress, and confront them peacefully if they refuse to comply. When we model this behavior to the citizens of the USA, and the world, we hope to inspire them to take similar actions, and take back control of Congress and the Government that is ours.
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Statements from Arrested Stop-Loss Congress Activists
These people speak for themselves, as they are arrested for protesting War Crimes committed by Congress.
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Stop Loss Congress March 12, 2008
Stop Loss Congress is a direct action taken largely on the part of students who are demanding of the US Congress that they apply the same standards to themselves that they are applying to military personnel through stop loss provisions that effectively extend tours of duty beyond the contractual length of service that service members signed up for, without the consent of the service member. Many have referred to this process as “an involuntary draft.” The action at Congress on Wednesday went a long way towards demonstrating that the torch is indeed being passed to a new generation of Americans who are young, bright, intelligent, dedicated to and respectful of the Constitution and the proper role of Congress in checking the President’s war powers.
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Updated: Mar 15, 2008
What does ‘Stop Loss’ Mean?
Jay Marx of the Washington Peace Center discusses the origins of the phrase “stop loss” and why it was applied this week in direct actions taken outside Congress to emphasize the complicity both houses and both parties have in the continued illegal occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan by the US military. The actions were staged to coincide with the Winter Soldier tribunals being held in Washington by Iraq Veterans Against the War and the growing resistance that is assembling to mark the 5th anniversary of America’s unprovoked attack of the sovereign nations of Iraq and Afghanistan. Many hold the view that for an administration that centered its rhetoric on comparisons of Sadaam Hussein to Adolf Hilter, its policies of aggression and the propaganda it uses to support those policies more closely resemble fascism than the government that is laid out in the American Constitution. Some have even gone so far as to compare “Shock & Awe,” the rallying cry of the American attack that killed thousands of innocent civilians, to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
The use of white phosphorous, depleted uranium and other weapons of mass destruction by American troops are widely regarded around the world to be brazen war crimes in violation of the Geneva Conventions, the US Constitution and Code of Conduct for American soldiers.
There are, not surprisingly, massive efforts underway in America at the grass roots level, in local municipalities and in state legislatures to impeach both President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney for their complicity in these crimes and for domestic spying, the systematic use of torture and other atrocities the Bush administration continues to inflict on the untold numbers of people it liberally calls “terrorists.” These extra-congressional measures are seen as necessary due to Congress’s complicity in the deception of the lead up to the aggressions. Several intelligence analysts, government insiders and weapons inspectors have said publicly that all of the arguments the Bush administration made during the lead up to the unprovoked attacks (i.e. that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, had attempted to acquire yellow cake uranium from Africa and that there was a connection between the attacks of 911 and Iraq), were fully understood to be without merit, but were used anyway to justify American and British designs to seize control of vast Middle Eastern oil reserves. To this day, the administration continues to invoke the discredited charges to justify its illegal policies.
Stop Loss Congress is a direct action taken largely on the part of students who are demanding that the US Congress apply the same standards to themselves that they are applying to military personnel through stop loss provisions that effectively extend tours of duty beyond the contractual length of service that military personnel signed up for, without the consent of the service member. This is often referred to as “an involuntary draft.” The action at Congress on Wednesday went a long way towards demonstrating that the torch is indeed being passed to a new generation of Americans who are young, bright, intelligent, dedicated to and respectful of the Constitution and the proper role of Congress in checking the President’s war powers. There is even some hope that the Congress, the President, Vice President and those who conspired with them, will ultimately be brought to justice, if not through impeachment, then through the World Court where many other war criminals have been tried for their atrocities.
see
Winter Soldier Hearings By Aaron Glantz (+ video; over 18 only)
Fort Hood soliders breaking the silence in war in Iraq (video link)
Anti-War Protest meets IRS protest at headquarters DC 03.19.08 + videos
Stop-loss Congress (video; over 18 only)
Take Action against the war March 19th, 2008 (video)
UPDATE Winter Soldier events in EUROPE
Dandelion Salad 