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Mikael’s (of Impeach for Peace) Speech at the Veterans for Peace Convention:
I had the distinct privilege and honor, thanks to my friend and Impeach for Peach associate, Sgt. Daniel Fearn – self-proclaimed “Impeachment Grunt” – to be a speaker and a panelist on the Impeachment Panel at the Veterans for Peace annual Convention at the University of Washington in Seattle. Sgt. Fearn, David Swanson of AfterDowningStreet.org and Progressive Democrats of America and Bill Moyer of the Backbone Campaign were also panelists. Mike Ferner of Veterans for Peace was on house arrest for spray painting graffitti on freeway overpasses and couldn’t make it. It was an astounding experience to be there and to represent my fellow members of Impeach for Peace and World Can’t Wait. I met and had discussions with Iraqi War journalist Dahr Jamail, ex-CIA official and Rumsfeld antagonist Ray McGovern, Recent Conscientious Objector (C.O.) Sergeant Camilo Mejia, President-Elect of the National Lawyer’s Guild Professor Marjorie Cohn, and C.O. Army Lt. Ehren Watada, among others. Of course many of the most impressive people were just members I happened to strike up a conversation with, including a gentleman who hasn’t cut his beard since Bush re-assumed the ‘residency in the White House in November of 2004. A highlight was last night’s banquet at which Lt. Watada spoke. A full minute of applause followed his introduction, but before he could begin, the 30 or so members of Iraq Veterans Against the War silently walked onto the stage and stood behind him. I can barely hold back my own tears just thinking about it as I type. It was one of the greatest honors and privileges of my 48 years to be an invited guest and to speak at such a gathering, and an even greater privilege to be a witness to that simple act of solidarity. There is a rally in support of Lt. Watada at Fort Lewis this Wednesday which I hope to attend. His pre-trial hearing is the next day. Recreated from my notes and as best I remember, the following is what I said to an audience of about 50. There were about 500 registered for the convention, up from 350 last year. We were one of six simultaneous seminar options at 2 p.m. on Friday. Anyone who wishes to purchase a copy of the DVD of the session or any other sessions can do so by e-mailing: Veterans for Peace Convention. ~~~ I’d like to thank Veterans for Peace for inviting me to participate in this panel and Veterans for Peace Chapter #27, of which I am most proud to have recently become an associate member. I’d also like to thank the Vice President…… of chapter 27, Sgt. Daniel Fearn for inviting me, the other distinguished members of this panel and all of you in attendance. I could make an issue of all the empty chairs, but they don’t matter at all. It is those of you who are filling chairs here that matter. Thank you for coming. Who am I? I am just a guy. I am a citizen of the world and of the United States of America, of which I was never more ashamed than I was the day we invaded Iraq. I got sick to my stomach that day looking at an American flag for the first time in my life. Yet I have also never been more proud to be an American as I have in meeting the fellow citizens I have met recently in this struggle to retain and protect everything good about this country. … okay, great… Let’s get to the “how?”. Seriously, as David Swanson eloquently laid out just a moment ago, the reasons are abundant. Spying, lying, dying, not trying, hiding and tyranny. The spying and lying are clear. Those of you here need no clarification of the dying. The path to Peace runs through Justice. There is no avoiding it. The authors of the Project for a New American Century: Cheney, Rumsfeld, John Bolton, Perle, Wolfowicz, Jeb Bush and many other CEOs of defense contracting companies and now Bush cronie appointments made very clear years ago that they intended to gain a strategic economic “toehold” in the Middle East and that they only needed a “New Pearl Harbor” in order to get the American public to go along with their plan. Within the first year of Bush’s first term they conveniently got their “New Pearl Harbor” and now have invaded and occupied Afghanistan, Iraq and Lebanon by proxy. Iran and Syria are next and nukes are “on the table” according to the President. In recent, completely unrelated news, Ned Lamont beat Joe Lieberman in Vermont, Bush and Blair spoke, and then, completely unrelated mind you, a “terrorist attack” in England was thwarted, we moved to Terror Alert Level Orange and I had to move my toothpaste and hair gel from my carry on to my checked baggage, thus keeping America safe for Democracy. “How?” do we impeach them? For those of us who enjoy the distinct privilege of being U.S. citizens and choose to live under the Rule of Law, our forefathers left us a means and a procedure by which to hold Federal Officials (other than Congress) accountable and most specifically to protect “We the People” from the theocratic tyranny from which we escaped from under the rule of the first King George: King George of Great Britain. As Jodin has said, our victory will be one of “a thousand cuts”. It will take a combination of internal and external pressure. Outside pressure consists of protests and marches of which World Can’t Wait is at the cutting edge, letters to the editor, face-to-face and door-to-door meetings. I have a few copies of the Center for Constitutional Rights’ DVD for teach-ins, entitled “How to Impeach a President” for sale at my cost, less than you pay ordering them from the website. The blogosphere, chatrooms, MySpace, Forums, etc. Veterans for Peace has called for impeachment twice. Pressure from within: Financial and campaign support for those who support impeachment and calls to Congress – I have the Congressional Hotline on speed dial on my cell phone and can give it to you afterwards if you like. Call your Representative every time you get ticked off about anything. We in Minnesota have three Representatives who are signers of H.R. 635, including my Rep. Martin Sabo. Is yours onboard? Letters, e-mails, every bit of pressure is good pressure. Many of you know this already, but I traveled to Seattle this past week as in invited speaker at the Veterans for Peace National Convention and a member of a panel on the topic of Impeachment.
The American mainstream media has flat out rejected any interest in Dahr Jamail’s firsthand accounts of the truth of what actually has been happening in Iraq. Why? That is a question you’ll have to ask yourself. Please consider who owns the media giants in America and their simultaneous holdings in the Defense and Oil industries for starters. Lt. Watada has the courage to stand up for his oath as an officer of the U.S. Army, for the Rule of Law and out of his own personal conscience and integrity over and above what he strongly considers illegal orders to redeploy to Iraq. In making this stand of integrity, he is risking up to seven years in military prison – five years of which are for simply telling the truth according to the First Amendment rights he does not relinquish simply because he is serving in the military. I can’t tell you what to think, but I can encourage you to keep your eyes wide open and not to assume you are being told the truth by the mainstream American media nor by our national elected officials and their staffs. |
Impeachment at the Veterans for Peace National Conference
VFP National Conference