Dying to Preserve the Lies

Orders to deploy to Afghanistan - third combat deployment

2009-09-02T13:44:00.004-07:00

Son-in-law already has his orders for deployment to Afghanistan. He is home with his family for now - his year 'dwell time' at home. We work to try to forget it is only a year that will pass quickly and another deployment looms ahead. My daughter works (and I do mean Works) at trying to get the most out of their time home, arranging for the family to get everything they can out of each moment

Military Families Respond to Survey – Feel Disconnected

2009-05-06T08:56:00.001-07:00

Military families feel disconnected from the larger community, according to a poll commissioned by a military family advocacy group. According to the results of the poll, 94 percent feel that way. Blue Star Families released the results of the 3,000-person survey at a roundtable on Capitol Hill led by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. The roundtable -- meant as one way to bridge the gap -- included

Veterans expressions of pain are not necessarily a political expression of anti-war, pro-war or neutral…

2009-04-29T07:35:00.001-07:00

Thoughts expressed by this Marine Captain on the matter of veterans healing from their war experiences articulates much better than I some of the thoughts I have tried to express… I have taken exception to the activism among some of the anti-war groups that are too quick to usurp the veterans' expression of pain as an extension and endorsement of the group's own dissent message. citing

Shifting Direction for Dying to Preserve the Lies blog

2009-04-09T08:57:00.007-07:00

Our son-in-law is home now from his second 'stop-loss', 15 month deployment in Iraq. That means he has spent 30 months of his life, his wife's (our daughter) life, and their three children's (our grandchildren) lives .... away from them. Add to that the downfield trainings in preparation for deployments and debriefing from deployments and he has been away 40 months of their lives.Daughter and

Jon Soltz, Iraq War Veteran, guest on MSNBC discusses military suicides

2009-02-10T10:31:00.007-08:00

video - Jon Soltz, Iraq War Veteran and Chairman of VoteVets.org appears twice on MSNBC to discuss a new report on the alarming rate of suicides in the U.S. Army

Suicides, electrical shocks, deficient body armor plague U.S. troops

2009-01-29T08:46:00.001-08:00

GI Suicides in 2008 Highest on Record The Army is expected to release a report later today revealing the highest number of suicides among troops in nearly three decades, according to CNN. The network reported this morning that the Army will confirm 128 suicides in 2008, along with 15 suspected suicides currently under investigation among active-duty Soldiers and activated National Guard and

‘America’s Defense Meltdown’

2008-12-12T11:08:00.001-08:00

Check it out. I am saving to read later when I have more time; you might want to take a look and read it - very up to the minute. at CDI - Center for Defense Information; newly released to and for President-Elect Barack Obama’s consideration. "America's Defense Meltdown"? (pdf) What’s in "America's Defense Meltdown" is a new anthology that gives President-elect Obama and

My ‘morning reads’ are disturbing this morning

2008-12-12T11:01:00.001-08:00

Michael Ware, CNN Correspondent, six years in Iraq. At HuffPo the title is 'Michael Ware's Tortured World; I Am Not the Same F---g Person'...which links to the original article at Men's Journal titled ‘CNN's Prisoner of War'. Michael Ware speaks to what he has witnessed and experienced. He speaks to dehumanizing aspect of war, the war in Iraq in truth being now the war in Iran and was

First Lady (to be) Michelle Obama phoned me at my home!!

2008-11-12T10:04:00.002-08:00

She really did. She phoned on Veterans Day. I was sitting at my desk in my home in my lounge around the house clothes, working on my laptop. The dawning of the fullness of the recognition that I was on the phone listening to Michelle Obama, who will very soon be the First Lady hit me like a ton of bricks and blew me away. Wow, I'm on a phone call with the First Lady -- how cool is that!

One photo embraces Veteran’s Day

2008-11-12T08:43:00.001-08:00

Returning wounded Iraq veteran, and now Director of the Illinois Dept of Veteran’s Affairs, Tammy Duckworth who lost both legs in combat in Iraq war with President Elect, Barack Obama on Veteran’s Day 2008; ceremony of placing the wreath on Bronze Soldiers Memorial. link - more photos and article

‘Crawford’ – dvd feature film, when George W. Bush came to town

2008-11-10T11:45:00.001-08:00

Released in 2008, the film ‘Crawford’ produced/directed by David Modigliani is a documentary/biography of the small town of Crawford, Texas before George W. Bush arrived at their doorstep, during the time of his Presidency. (And now after as new President-Elect, Barack Obama, is preparing to assume the office of President of the United States). The film,’Crawford’ is put together in a way that

General Blackledge on Mental Health: Do What I Do ... AND What I Say!

2008-11-08T13:58:00.005-08:00

Via TBO.com Tampa Bay OnlineGeneral bucks culture of silence on mental healthWASHINGTON – It takes a brave soldier to do what Army Maj. Gen. David Blackledge did in Iraq.It takes as much bravery to do what he did when he got home.Blackledge got psychiatric counseling to deal with wartime trauma, and now he is defying the military's culture of silence on the subject of mental health problems and

'Body of War' on Veterans Day, Nov 11, 2008 to premier on Sundance channel

2008-11-08T11:27:00.011-08:00

Injured Iraq war veteran, Tomas Young, is the featured centerpiece of this documentary produced by well known talk show host, Phil Donahue, and Ellen Spiro. Songs by Eddy Vedder. The documentary has won National Board of Review award for Best Documentary. The documentary follows 3 years of the life of Tomas Young upon his return from Iraq after being injured. Tomas' spine was severed by a

Obama Victory Ushers in More Confident Tone for Iraq - U.S. Settlement

2008-11-07T08:11:00.001-08:00

Obama Victory Alters the Tenor of Iraqi Politics, title of article at NY Times; BAGHDAD — Barack Obama may have been elected only three days ago, but his victory is already beginning to shift the political ground in Iraq and the region. Iraqi Shiite politicians are indicating that they will move faster toward a new security agreement about American troops, and a Bush administration

Obama: 'New Mission in Iraq: Ending the War'

2008-11-07T07:27:00.001-08:00

Following through on his campaign promises, President Elect, Barack Obama and Vice President Elect, Joe Biden already have a strong sense of how they plan to end the war in Iraq. Read the entire article by Jason Leopold at The Public Record. also read it firsthand at and follow along at Barack Obama’s newly launched online ‘transition’ website change.gov – office of the President-Elect.

‘SOFA’ US-Iraq Troop Deal Unsteady – troops to leave Iraq or subject to Iraqi punishment for crimes

2008-10-28T14:28:00.001-07:00

As I understand the SOFA (status of forces agreement), the urgency now underway is to come to a mutual agreeable agreement before Dec 31, 2008 as that is when the ?? ‘legality’ ?? of U.S. troops in accordance with UN mandate ends. The Iraqi government has not reached agreement with President Bush, and speculation is that Iraqis know there will be a new Administration after U.S. November

Must our sons and daughters defends us by mindless killing?

2008-10-19T10:26:00.001-07:00

Excerpt from Article in Common Dreams: Soldiers of Conscience: Opposing the Iraq War by Jessica Mosby The new film Soldiers of Conscience documents soldiers who, during the middle of their deployments in Iraq, became conscientious objectors. The documentary, which premiers on PBS as part of thePoint of View series this week, is not 86 minutes of liberal-biased, anti-war propaganda; it is a

Photo of mother at gravesite referenced by Colin Powell endorsement of Barack Obama

2008-10-19T10:04:00.001-07:00

The photo Colin Powell referenced in his endorsement of Barack Obama. The photo of mother at her son's gravesite, a young man, 20 years old, killed in Iraq, awarded Bronze Star and Purple Heart. Emblem on his gravesite is not the Christian cross, the Jewish Star of David, but the Muslim Crescent and Star. Kareem Rashad Sultan Khan, Cpl., U.S. Army, Operation Iraqi Freedom, was an American who

Nixed - best plan to kill Bin Laden recalls Delta Force Commander; 60 Minutes Oct 2008

2008-10-09T12:12:00.003-07:00

Tora Bora - you've heard of it, right? No! Well I have heard it, remember it when the media was reporting on the war in Aghanistan to get the leader of Al Qaeda, Osama Bin Laden, believed to be the orchestrater of the attacks on the the twin towers of The World Trade Center in New York on September 11, 2001. I remember how it was more a 'blurb' in the media reporting and then media went onto

Casulties may never be known, as is the case in every conflict, especially an Invasion by another Country.

2008-10-06T18:43:00.005-07:00

Read the entire article by jimstaro at DocudharmaHONORING THE FALLEN: US Military KIA, Iraq/Afghanistan - September 2008IraqThere have been 4,491 coalition deaths -- 4,177 Americans, 2 Australians, 1 Azerbaijani, 176 Britons, 13 Bulgarians, 1 Czech, 7 Danes, 2 Dutch, 2 Estonians, 1 Fijian, 5 Georgians, 1 Hungarian, 33 Italians, 1 Kazakh, 1 Korean, 3 Latvian, 22 Poles, 3 Romanians, 5 Salvadoran, 4

Use of military in quelling domestic unrest a scary sign- Seattle PI reports

2008-10-02T09:28:00.006-07:00

A little-noticed story surfaced a couple of weeks ago in the Army Times newspaper about the 3rd Infantry Division's 1st Brigade Combat Team. "Beginning Oct. 1 for 12 months," reported Army Times staff writer Gina Cavallaro, "the 1st BCT will be under the day-to-day control of U.S. Army North, the Army service component of Northern Command, as an on-call federal response force for natural or

Bush Speech Invade Iraq 2003; his same speech for Financial Bailout 2008

2008-09-26T08:32:00.004-07:00

Bush 2003 Scares U.S. into Iraq invasion; Bush 2008 Scares U.S. into Financial Bailout -- Jon Stewart, The Daily Show shows the side by side almost exact speech of President Bush on Iraq 2003, President Bush on Financial Bailout 2008.

Rachel Maddow: Bush Admin wants Iraq war continued additional year - just because......

2008-09-24T08:00:00.004-07:00

Because why? 'due to political circumstances related to the U.S. domestic situation'Iraq Prime Minister Maliki suggested troop withdrawal by end of 2010 would work for them; Bush Admin comes back asking for troop withdrawal by end of 2011 'due to political circumstances related to the U.S. domestic situation'. In other words, it is good for U.S. politically -- why? You tell me!

McCain and the POW Cover-up

2008-09-22T06:27:00.001-07:00

McCain and the POW Cover-upThe "war hero" candidate buried information about POWs left behind in VietnamResearch support provided by the Investigative Fund of The Nation Institute. This is an expanded version, with primary documents attached, of a story that appears in the October 6, 2008 issue of The Nation. By Sydney H. SchanbergSeptember 18, 2008 Entire article can be read at The Nation

It Begins; Announced - Intentions to Prosecute President Bush

2008-09-16T09:30:00.005-07:00

Announcing Plans to Prosecute Bush in VermontRenowned Criminal Prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi Joins Vermont Attorney Charlotte Dennett To Announce Intentions To Bring Legal Proceedings Against President BushPress conference to be held at:Burlington City Hall. Contois Auditorium on September 18, 2008 at 10:30 a.m.Vincent Bugliosi, the legendary criminal prosecutor and bestselling author of 'The