Troops Invoke Whistleblower Act, Petition Congress for Pullout

A grassroots group of US troops have invoked the Military Whistleblower Protection Act to draft and gather signatures for a petition to Congress calling for a US pullout of troops from Iraq.

So far, more than 100 US military service members have signed "An Appeal for Redress from the War in Iraq."  They expect more than 2,000 signatures on the petition, which they plan to deliver to Congress in January 2007.

Their statement is short and to the point:

As a patriotic American proud to serve the nation in uniform, I respectfully urge my political leaders in Congress to support the prompt withdrawal of all American military forces and bases from Iraq . Staying in Iraq will not work and is not worth the price. It is time for U.S. troops to come home.

Their Web site, "An Appeal for Redress," features information on service members' rights under the law, including guidelines for proper conduct for protest and dissent.  The site also informs service members that legal assistance is available for anyone who suffers reprisals because of their speaking out.

The Appeal for Redress is sponsored by active-duty service members based in the Norfolk, Virginia, area and by a sponsoring committee of veterans and military family members. The petition drive is supported by Iraq Veterans against the War, Military Families Speak Out, and Veterans For Peace.

•  Takes bravery to make this stand

  I salute them.

  by OneCrankyDom on Wed Oct 25, 2006 at 08:30:15 AM PDT

•  Have you hugged a diary today?

  Give 'em some love: Appeal for Redress.org.

  by MsSpentyouth on Wed Oct 25, 2006 at 08:30:51 AM PDT

  •  Great diary

    and a great link. Did you see the military man on Countdown last night? I have always been proud of our military, but that guy had to have real guts!

    by SisTwo on Wed Oct 25, 2006 at 09:38:51 AM PDT

    •  I didn't see Sgt. Madden on television

      But I've been reading about his appearance today.  Honor and integrity are buzzwords for the military, but it's awesome (in the traditional sense of the word) to see those qualities personified by people willing to undertake great risks to speak the truth.

      by MsSpentyouth on Wed Oct 25, 2006 at 09:52:14 AM PDT

•  Very cool. Heroes, they be. (nt)

  by dov12348 on Wed Oct 25, 2006 at 08:32:14 AM PDT

•  This needs to be an action item!

  Thanks for brining it to our attention.

  by dotdot on Wed Oct 25, 2006 at 08:35:00 AM PDT

•  This is a really big move - so big that

  Bush did a press conference to shove the press conference by these brave troops out of the news. I hope this gets coverage on the national news.

  by paige on Wed Oct 25, 2006 at 08:37:28 AM PDT

•  I have faith in our military

  ...and if need be, I do think they would stage a coup if Bushco decides to invade another country....

  by DrKate on Wed Oct 25, 2006 at 08:39:06 AM PDT

•  The metric Khalilzad uses for success in Iraq

  Many of our US service members are seeing the day-to-day failure of the Bush strategy in Iraq, but the Bush administration and its minions uses a new metric to determine how successful the Iraq experiment is: Cell phones and satellite dishes.

  I kid you not.

  U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad insisted Tuesday that things are not all bad in Iraq, citing the growing number of satellite dishes on rooftops and consumers with cell phones as signs of economic progress.

  "Economically, I see an Iraq every day that I do not think the American people know about -- where cell phones and satellite dishes, once forbidden, are now common, where economic reform takes place on a regular basis, where agricultural production is rising dramatically, and where the overall economy and the consumer sector is growing," the American envoy told a Baghdad news conference.

  Some Iraqis saw things differently.

  "We'd prefer he take those back and return just 10 percent of our prewar life," said Mohammed Ibrahim, a 50-year-old government employee from Baghdad.

  Khalilzad, one of the original signatories on the Project for a New American Century's 1997 "Statement of Principles," which outlined the neoconservative leadership's intentions on reshaping the Middle East, and the 1998 letter to President Clinton calling for an invasion of Iraq, overlooked a few things in his zeal for the retail aspect of the Iraqi invasion and occupation:

  Without substantial economic activity, Iraqis continue to suffer 30 percent unemployment and double-digit inflation.

  The price of gasoline, which is often scarce, has increased 12-fold since 2003. Bread prices are up by nearly five-fold and fresh meat by more than 100 percent. Tenuous security means that less farm produce reaches retail markets, causing prices to rise.

  Most Iraqis continue to depend on their Saddam-era food ration cards, but many holders say key items like sugar and rice are sometimes unavailable for as long as three months.

  The wide access to satellite dishes and mobile phones also hold some unpleasant ironies.

  Mobile phones have been widely used to set off many of the bombs that kill and maim across much of the country, with U.S. and Iraqi forces their primary victims.

  by MsSpentyouth on Wed Oct 25, 2006 at 08:55:51 AM PDT

  •  Wow

    A diary in a diary. Very good information. Thank you.

    (I just gotta say, I love your nickname!)

    by SisTwo on Wed Oct 25, 2006 at 09:35:38 AM PDT

  •  2 *whole* weeks

    without electricity, 6 days without gasoline and a few days without a store open to buy anything after the hurricanes Jeanne/Francis [snip: add names at will] is BAD.  

    Our liberated citizens of Iraq are living that like it's a lifestyle.  In those few days described above anarchy quickly breaks out as people become desperate (katrina is the only example the nation has seen, but Floridians KNOW to lock and load).  

    Thinking about that prolonged agony consider Jerry Clower's comedy skit "Knock 'em out, John" where the punch line is "Just shoot up amonst us, one of use needs some relief."

    @#$@! Those people don't care who claims victory now, just as long as somebody wins somebody looses and the war ends.  Unfortunately, we (the US) are the attractors for the insurgents and we are the ones that can go home.  They ARE home.  For better or worse they are going to live in that manner for years.

    Ain't liberation a great thing?

    by FL16Dem on Wed Oct 25, 2006 at 11:34:02 AM PDT

•  Send this to Keith Olbermann & Chris Matthews...

  They will hit this bit of news HARD AND LOUD. Let's knock the smirking Chimp off of his bully pulpit.

  If he wants the war to go on so badly, then little Prince Charlemagne can hop on his horse, with the "heart challenged" Cheney and go fight it themselves.  The jerkoffs.

  by Eyes Wide Open on Wed Oct 25, 2006 at 08:56:47 PM PDT

•  Everyone who enlists takes an oath

  "To defend the Constitution of the United States of America against enemies both foreign and domestic."

      Being an honorably discharged vet (USN) I was never really able to understand the feeling held by many in the military that by pledging to defend the Constitution of the United States of America one gave up the rights granted by that Constitution?

      Why should Rush Limbaugh and Dennis Hastert posses rights that are somehow forbidden to those who have sworn to defend the Constitution from enemies both foreign and domestic?

      I'm 59 years old and I took that pledge when I was 19. My committment to that pledge still holds.

  America, America
  God shed his grace on thee
  And crown thy good, with brotherhood
  From Sea to shining Sea

  PEACE.

  by Easterling on Thu Oct 26, 2006 at 12:12:33 AM PDT

  •  Wish I could give you a 5 ... or a 100

    Thanks for reminding us why those men and women serve, and how their service is being bastardized.

    by MsSpentyouth on Thu Oct 26, 2006 at 12:46:15 AM PDT