I've promised myself I'd post this article frequently as long as kids keep getting killed in our insane wars. I wrote it last year right before I went to Crawford, TX to join so many others in support of Cindy Sheehan.
I post it because American kids, Iraqi kids, Afghan kids, Lebanonese kids, Palestinian kids and Israeli kids still die today because of our failures to stop the violence.
My generation has the blood of these kids on our hands. We've been passive and ignored the culture of violence we've exposed our children to in their lives.
The parents of all the kids endangered know far too well the anguish I could only imagine one late night last August as I sat up trying to decide to go to Crawford. My heart and prayers go out to all of the parents.
Peace, pax, pace, shalom, la paz, He Ping, Dohiyi, sula, sipala, su thai binh, hau, ashtee, goom-jigi, paix....
Terry
Imagine (Written August 22 05)
Can you imagine what it would be like to see them come up to your door?
In uniforms and grim looks on their faces, and your child in the war.
Can you imagine how it must feel when they say those five words?
We regret to inform you…do you hear anything but those five words?
Can you imagine telling your husband or wife your child is gone?
Your child whose birth gave your greatest joy is gone.
I’m sitting here in the middle of the night wondering how someone could question a mother or father who lost a child to this war. How could someone in good conscience accuse a mother of politicizing the death of their child? Have we grown so disconnected with our humanity we can’t imagine the day a parent sees the dark colored car drive up to their street, up to their house and uniformed men emerge?
If you’re a parent, maybe you can imagine hearing those five words. It’s your greatest nightmare. You lie awake at night wondering where your child is at tonight.
You hate hearing the phone late at night. You hate seeing strange dark cars in your neighborhood. You can’t stand the newspaper or television news.
Then imagine the five words. Will you hear beyond them? Will you know before they say them?
Then there will be telling the rest of the family. You tell it over and over again…you child is gone. You want to scream out insanely. How can they be gone!!!!!?
Imagine the memories of your child first walking. The first words from their lips. The first worrisome cold. How can they be gone?
Imagine when you watched them swim, or skate or play baseball or football. Imagine playing basketball with them in the driveway in the fall as the leaves turned gold. Imagine the graduation and the joy in their face.
Imagine the day they leave your house to enter boot camp. The next time you see them their hair is short and they seem different and changed.
Imagine the last flight you see them off at the airport. The last phone call from the place of the war. The last letter.
Imagine the day when, with a broken heart and empty soul, you follow the dark hearse with your beloved child inside a casket. Imagine the numb feeling as you get out and see the burial plot where your child will be lowered into the earth. There will be words from the Bible, the Torah or Koran. They don’t bring your child alive.
There will be family all around you but you’ll be as lonely as you’ll ever be. They’ll hand you a triangle in red, white and blue like it will replace your child or there is something there to comfort you.
Imagine the final moments as the casket is lowered into the ground. The thought of your child leaving this earth before you rips at your heart. You hear over and over the words of sympathy and comfort and they are arrows that smash into your spirit in reminder of your child.
Then everybody leaves, you’re alone with only the terrible thoughts of the death of your child. You wonder how it really happened. You wonder if your child suffered. You wonder if they died alone. Death for you would be a welcome thing instead of these thoughts you have.
Imagine after the first month or so, everybody seems to think you’re able to be yourself again. They’ll never understand you’ll never be yourself again; you’ll never be whole again. Your child is gone and each day is a struggle to get up and each day the sorrow begins again.
Imagine returning to work and seeing the looks and the avoidance of some and the overbearing presence of others. They don’t know.
Imagine going to the grocery store and seeing a child with a smile like the smile of your child. You want to scream out your child is gone!! They’ll look the other way to avoid the sadness you hold in your heart.
Imagine the silence between you and other family members. You’re left to think of the moments of each day when your child would get up, go to school, return from school, go to a friends, eat dinner, go to practice, get ready for bed. Each moment so damn precious and you failed to recognize it at the time.
Imagine hearing a song and becoming tearful because it was your child’s favorite. Seeing a book and the memory of discussing the plot and characters with such joy.
That’s all I can do. Imagine it. My mom and dad feared it each day of 1968. They imagined it but they never heard those five words.
I imagined my sons being that dead child as I sat here this late, late night. My heart ached from just the thought of it. I had memories of them swimming and running. I remembered the day of each birth. I remembered reading Mark Twain or Watership Down to them.
All those memories of my children came flooding back to me and I couldn’t really imagine how gut wrenching awful it would be to hear those five fucking words!!!
“We regret to inform you….”
Wm. Terry Leichner, RN
VVAW - Denver
USMC combat veteran
Friday, August 25
Wednesday, August 23
Anger
In recent days I’ve had some grave misgivings about the peace and justice community here in Colorado and nation-wide. I’ve seemed to be on a path that was so much in conflict with the one the American peace movement is on I had to take a time out.
I find myself angry we privileged and entitled Americans seem to lack the awareness of urgency called for in ending the carnage in the Middle East.
I find myself angry we materially rich but morally impoverished Americans continue to consume, consume, consume while there are scores of our brothers and sisters in this country struggling to stay alive. We continue to ignore the survivors of Katrina except to throw money toward some charity in hopes someone else will do “the job” for us.
We continue to excuse gun-happy police who shoot first and investigate later.
We continue to overlook the huge numbers of young men of color who are imprisoned in our country. Many are there only because they lack resources to access “justice” and to access services that could prevent problems like addiction and joblessness.
We continue to label brothers and sisters who cross borders as illegals but ignore the corrupt and morally offensive actions of our government in regions of the world devastated by poverty and wars.
I find myself angry the veterans of Vietnam and other wars before the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have sometimes co-opted the voices of the younger veterans now returned or returning from a combat zone. Veteran leadership continues to dismiss or minimize the voices of the young.
I find myself angry the “movement” continues to use an organizational system that creates hierarchy and inhibits creativity of the quieter brothers and sisters. The same leadership style of the American government seems to be the rule of the day in peace and justice movements.
We create media “stars” and prostitute ourselves to the mainstream media to be heard. The mainstream media continues to skew the message to benefit the corrupted power-brokers.
I find myself angry we have some activists who can only see one side of the story when it comes to the wars. I have great compassion for the innocent of Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon, Palestine and all the other regions American foreign policy has inflicted death and destruction.
As a combat veteran, however, I have to strongly advocate for the young men and women used as pawns in the American military by evil and corrupt leaders. Most of these men and women have entered the military with “good” intentions. They wanted to serve their country. They wanted to serve their families. They wanted to better themselves.
The American military is the last resort for many to do any of this.
Universities and colleges have closed the doors to this group of men and women unless they can pay the bill. Menial jobs and a guaranteed life of poverty is the other option for many of the soldiers, Marines, sailors and airmen and women.
I have friends with great compassion toward the civilians killed and harmed in these wars. I rejoice they understand that need to care about this horrible crime against humanity. The same friends, however, have expressed an attitude of contempt and animus toward the troops being used and duped by the American government.
I’ve heard things like “they deserve what they get” or suggestions these young people should go to jail rather than go to Iraq or Afghanistan.
How easy it is to judge these young men and women! We can easily tell someone to go to jail but unless we’d be willing to do the same time, where do we get off with such statements? How many of the activists would have been willing to spend time in jail when in their twenties or early thirties?
It’s easy to say they deserve what they get. Like dying. Or losing limbs. Or having minds scarred forever. How compassionate and humane such a statement seems. We pick and choose which humans to care about in this travesty.
Followers of Christ, Buddha, Islam and all other spiritual realms should know better but they have made such statements.
If we want to lay blame on the troops sent to die and kill then we need to accept a good deal of the blame ourselves. These are our children, our brothers and sisters, our wives and husbands, fathers and mothers…..they are citizens of American life.
Why haven’t we stopped the young people of our nation from viewing violence and horrible images starting from the time they begin to walk?
Why haven’t we intervened with our babies and children in the playing of realistic and violent games?
Why have we continued to live in a culture of violence and hatred without intervention?
The men and women killing and being killed are products of our social structure. They learned violence from the culture they grew up with.
This is where the peace and justice folks typically say they didn’t go along with the violence. They aren’t responsible for the atrocities.
With few exceptions, I say they are responsible just like all the rest of us. Most have participated in the capitalistic system since birth and have refused to sacrifice a lifestyle of comfort and luxury.
Most have yards they spend great sums of money to keep green. Most drive alone rather than use public transportation. Most spend money at huge grocery chains and department stores rather than use collectives that are local. Most buy electronic equipment they have no real need to have but it entertains them.
I say if we fit in any of these situations we’re part of the problem. And I include myself.
I find myself angry with judgmental and selectively caring activists who fail to recognize the troops as victims of a system we’re all complicit in sustaining. As humans, we should have enough compassion to include these brothers and sisters in our hearts along with the innocent civilians of the nations devastated by our wars.
Anger is something most people abhor and try to avoid. Anger is dangerous and negative in the minds of most peace activists.
There are few humans like Gandhi and Thich Nhat Hanh able to reach a state of mind where anger is absent. We’re fond of reading the texts of these philosophers and spiritual men and women and holding everybody up to their standards.
I recently had someone suggest I should read Herman Hesse’s Siddhartha after he read my description of a rather disturbed man menacing my wife and me on a hiking trail with a knife. (Visions of Peace: A Combat Vet's Dream –The Presence of Evil.)
Well, I’ve read all of Herman Hesse, much of Thich and Gandhi and several others in my life. I aspire to have the control they talk about but I have the insight to know I’m not at that stage.
My description of the evil I felt was the internal struggle I went through to not give in to the violent thinking. I encountered a dangerous man who threatened my wife and didn’t kill him. I may have threatened him but the impulse to kill was controlled.
I don’t think Gandhi had much to do with the restraint I had that day. I think the experience of being in combat and killing another human was the key to resisting violent urges.
Losing our humanity in combat makes it difficult to get back to caring and compassion. Having peace activists condemn the individuals in the military who face difficult life choices makes the return to humanity even more difficult.
My personal reaction to individuals making such comments is one of sadness and anger. I take it personally. I participated in the violence of combat and I went to jail when I started resisting against the military. Unless you face the possibility of jail, you don’t know the difficulty these young people face.
For the older and mature activist it’s an easy choice. Our failure to remember the ages of those called upon to be in combat is a failure to understand the moral and ethical dilemma our young people are facing.
Condemnation of a choice to “honor” a commitment to a contract and the people the troops care about is an act of violence toward an already traumatized group of people. I believe we need to give our love and support to the veterans who return with the memories of horror.
I don’t believe in calling the troops heroes as some may do. I don’t believe in saying the service was honorable in an illegal war. I just believe we need to help the troops heal and hopefully their voices will join in the cause of peace.
Anger is part of life. We have to deal with it. We let it control us or we control it. We can use it as a force to fuel our actions for the cause of peace.
If we don’t get angry at the sight of children killed by bombs of an unseen plane, we have failed. If we don’t get angry at the youth of America being used as cannon fodder by a government of elite and wealth we’ve failed.
End of rant.
Wm. Terry Leichner, RN
VVAW – Denver
0311 – USMC “grunt”
I find myself angry we privileged and entitled Americans seem to lack the awareness of urgency called for in ending the carnage in the Middle East.
I find myself angry we materially rich but morally impoverished Americans continue to consume, consume, consume while there are scores of our brothers and sisters in this country struggling to stay alive. We continue to ignore the survivors of Katrina except to throw money toward some charity in hopes someone else will do “the job” for us.
We continue to excuse gun-happy police who shoot first and investigate later.
We continue to overlook the huge numbers of young men of color who are imprisoned in our country. Many are there only because they lack resources to access “justice” and to access services that could prevent problems like addiction and joblessness.
We continue to label brothers and sisters who cross borders as illegals but ignore the corrupt and morally offensive actions of our government in regions of the world devastated by poverty and wars.
I find myself angry the veterans of Vietnam and other wars before the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have sometimes co-opted the voices of the younger veterans now returned or returning from a combat zone. Veteran leadership continues to dismiss or minimize the voices of the young.
I find myself angry the “movement” continues to use an organizational system that creates hierarchy and inhibits creativity of the quieter brothers and sisters. The same leadership style of the American government seems to be the rule of the day in peace and justice movements.
We create media “stars” and prostitute ourselves to the mainstream media to be heard. The mainstream media continues to skew the message to benefit the corrupted power-brokers.
I find myself angry we have some activists who can only see one side of the story when it comes to the wars. I have great compassion for the innocent of Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon, Palestine and all the other regions American foreign policy has inflicted death and destruction.
As a combat veteran, however, I have to strongly advocate for the young men and women used as pawns in the American military by evil and corrupt leaders. Most of these men and women have entered the military with “good” intentions. They wanted to serve their country. They wanted to serve their families. They wanted to better themselves.
The American military is the last resort for many to do any of this.
Universities and colleges have closed the doors to this group of men and women unless they can pay the bill. Menial jobs and a guaranteed life of poverty is the other option for many of the soldiers, Marines, sailors and airmen and women.
I have friends with great compassion toward the civilians killed and harmed in these wars. I rejoice they understand that need to care about this horrible crime against humanity. The same friends, however, have expressed an attitude of contempt and animus toward the troops being used and duped by the American government.
I’ve heard things like “they deserve what they get” or suggestions these young people should go to jail rather than go to Iraq or Afghanistan.
How easy it is to judge these young men and women! We can easily tell someone to go to jail but unless we’d be willing to do the same time, where do we get off with such statements? How many of the activists would have been willing to spend time in jail when in their twenties or early thirties?
It’s easy to say they deserve what they get. Like dying. Or losing limbs. Or having minds scarred forever. How compassionate and humane such a statement seems. We pick and choose which humans to care about in this travesty.
Followers of Christ, Buddha, Islam and all other spiritual realms should know better but they have made such statements.
If we want to lay blame on the troops sent to die and kill then we need to accept a good deal of the blame ourselves. These are our children, our brothers and sisters, our wives and husbands, fathers and mothers…..they are citizens of American life.
Why haven’t we stopped the young people of our nation from viewing violence and horrible images starting from the time they begin to walk?
Why haven’t we intervened with our babies and children in the playing of realistic and violent games?
Why have we continued to live in a culture of violence and hatred without intervention?
The men and women killing and being killed are products of our social structure. They learned violence from the culture they grew up with.
This is where the peace and justice folks typically say they didn’t go along with the violence. They aren’t responsible for the atrocities.
With few exceptions, I say they are responsible just like all the rest of us. Most have participated in the capitalistic system since birth and have refused to sacrifice a lifestyle of comfort and luxury.
Most have yards they spend great sums of money to keep green. Most drive alone rather than use public transportation. Most spend money at huge grocery chains and department stores rather than use collectives that are local. Most buy electronic equipment they have no real need to have but it entertains them.
I say if we fit in any of these situations we’re part of the problem. And I include myself.
I find myself angry with judgmental and selectively caring activists who fail to recognize the troops as victims of a system we’re all complicit in sustaining. As humans, we should have enough compassion to include these brothers and sisters in our hearts along with the innocent civilians of the nations devastated by our wars.
Anger is something most people abhor and try to avoid. Anger is dangerous and negative in the minds of most peace activists.
There are few humans like Gandhi and Thich Nhat Hanh able to reach a state of mind where anger is absent. We’re fond of reading the texts of these philosophers and spiritual men and women and holding everybody up to their standards.
I recently had someone suggest I should read Herman Hesse’s Siddhartha after he read my description of a rather disturbed man menacing my wife and me on a hiking trail with a knife. (Visions of Peace: A Combat Vet's Dream –The Presence of Evil.)
Well, I’ve read all of Herman Hesse, much of Thich and Gandhi and several others in my life. I aspire to have the control they talk about but I have the insight to know I’m not at that stage.
My description of the evil I felt was the internal struggle I went through to not give in to the violent thinking. I encountered a dangerous man who threatened my wife and didn’t kill him. I may have threatened him but the impulse to kill was controlled.
I don’t think Gandhi had much to do with the restraint I had that day. I think the experience of being in combat and killing another human was the key to resisting violent urges.
Losing our humanity in combat makes it difficult to get back to caring and compassion. Having peace activists condemn the individuals in the military who face difficult life choices makes the return to humanity even more difficult.
My personal reaction to individuals making such comments is one of sadness and anger. I take it personally. I participated in the violence of combat and I went to jail when I started resisting against the military. Unless you face the possibility of jail, you don’t know the difficulty these young people face.
For the older and mature activist it’s an easy choice. Our failure to remember the ages of those called upon to be in combat is a failure to understand the moral and ethical dilemma our young people are facing.
Condemnation of a choice to “honor” a commitment to a contract and the people the troops care about is an act of violence toward an already traumatized group of people. I believe we need to give our love and support to the veterans who return with the memories of horror.
I don’t believe in calling the troops heroes as some may do. I don’t believe in saying the service was honorable in an illegal war. I just believe we need to help the troops heal and hopefully their voices will join in the cause of peace.
Anger is part of life. We have to deal with it. We let it control us or we control it. We can use it as a force to fuel our actions for the cause of peace.
If we don’t get angry at the sight of children killed by bombs of an unseen plane, we have failed. If we don’t get angry at the youth of America being used as cannon fodder by a government of elite and wealth we’ve failed.
End of rant.
Wm. Terry Leichner, RN
VVAW – Denver
0311 – USMC “grunt”
Monday, August 14
The Presence of Evil
Sunday, Aug 13, 2006
Sometimes there are moments in life when the presence of evil enters our lives and we don’t recognize it until too late. Other times it is all too obvious.
As a 17 year old I enlisted in the Marines thinking I would go to Vietnam and be part of an honorable endeavor to defeat the evil of communism. I trained to kill other humans and I somehow thought nothing was evil about such training.
I went to Vietnam in December 1967 thinking I was about to take part in an honorable act. By the end of January 1968, I realized I was in the presence of evil so dark and ghastly I couldn’t fathom ever returning to a state of goodness.
That darkness of war and killing still stains my soul to this date.
Even though I knew the evil by January, 1968 I continued as a participant until February 1969. I felt helpless to change my destiny or my life’s course despite realizations of the horrible path I was on. I only thought I could stay alive and help those around me stay alive.
Any consideration of standing up against the abstract evil seemed out of the question.
Once I had returned, I found the evil too much to bear and repeatedly walked away from the Marines rather than carry out my duties.
After more than one year of being absent without leave and being declared a deserter, I left the Marines with an Undesirable Discharge. It was by mutual agreement I left the Corps with the discharge that would leave me without VA benefits.
The Marines didn’t want a court martial of a combat veteran who had hired an ACLU lawyer. I didn’t want one more day or one more minute in the Marines. I didn't want one more visit to the brutal brigs of that time.
Leaving the Marines didn’t mean I left Vietnam. I still have the dark cloud of Vietnam on my soul 38 years since I first entered the country. I’ve come to realize I’ll never completely wash my hands of the evil of that time.
Since the end of Lyndon Johnson’s presidency and beginning of the presidency of Richard Nixon I’ve also known the evil of American politics. I’ve come to expect evil from our politicians from the way they’re elected to the ways they either cause or allow evil and suffering to happen.
No time have I felt more evil emanating from politicians than since George W. Bush took the office.
The presidency of Bush is without a doubt the most evil of times I’ve known in my life. The overt corruption is only outranked by the violence and death wrought by his regime.
Sometimes there are moments in life when the presence of evil enters our lives and we don’t recognize it until too late. Other times it is all too obvious.
As a 17 year old I enlisted in the Marines thinking I would go to Vietnam and be part of an honorable endeavor to defeat the evil of communism. I trained to kill other humans and I somehow thought nothing was evil about such training.
I went to Vietnam in December 1967 thinking I was about to take part in an honorable act. By the end of January 1968, I realized I was in the presence of evil so dark and ghastly I couldn’t fathom ever returning to a state of goodness.
That darkness of war and killing still stains my soul to this date.
Even though I knew the evil by January, 1968 I continued as a participant until February 1969. I felt helpless to change my destiny or my life’s course despite realizations of the horrible path I was on. I only thought I could stay alive and help those around me stay alive.
Any consideration of standing up against the abstract evil seemed out of the question.
Once I had returned, I found the evil too much to bear and repeatedly walked away from the Marines rather than carry out my duties.
After more than one year of being absent without leave and being declared a deserter, I left the Marines with an Undesirable Discharge. It was by mutual agreement I left the Corps with the discharge that would leave me without VA benefits.
The Marines didn’t want a court martial of a combat veteran who had hired an ACLU lawyer. I didn’t want one more day or one more minute in the Marines. I didn't want one more visit to the brutal brigs of that time.
Leaving the Marines didn’t mean I left Vietnam. I still have the dark cloud of Vietnam on my soul 38 years since I first entered the country. I’ve come to realize I’ll never completely wash my hands of the evil of that time.
Since the end of Lyndon Johnson’s presidency and beginning of the presidency of Richard Nixon I’ve also known the evil of American politics. I’ve come to expect evil from our politicians from the way they’re elected to the ways they either cause or allow evil and suffering to happen.
No time have I felt more evil emanating from politicians than since George W. Bush took the office.
The presidency of Bush is without a doubt the most evil of times I’ve known in my life. The overt corruption is only outranked by the violence and death wrought by his regime.
If any man could qualify as a candidate for the anti-Christ, it surely would be Bush or one of his cabinet. I try hard not to hate others but I fail in my efforts not to hate Bush and the people who surround him.
Today, on a hike with my wife, I came across the presence of evil once again.
This time it had little to do with politics or war but yet there was a connection. The irony was the trail we hiked was Hell’s Hole in the West Chicago Creek area of the Mt. Evans National Wilderness near Denver.
The area is pristine aspen groves, wild berries, wildflowers and rugged terrain. Our hike took us to a ridge above the Hell’s Hole where the mountains of Colorado were glorious and wild off in the not too far distance.
Hiking is a spiritual experience to us. The magnificence of God is clearly shown in special places such as the Rocky Mountains.
Today the joy of witnessing such beauty led us up the steep trail toward each new ridge and crest of hill where even more beauty could be seen. The green of the forest was breath taking; the flowers in full glory and huge mushrooms of wildly different colors dotted the landscape.
And in a brief moment of madness, the presence of evil entered into the spiritual world we had come to see and be part of.
As we reached a point near the final ridge of the trail, we were approached from the rear by an athletic man in his mid thirties or early forties. He seemed pleasant and harmless.
Since we were going at a slower pace than him, we stepped aside to allow him to pass.
Instead of passing, the man stopped and engaged us in talking about the hike and the weather.
His affect struck me as strange right from the beginning. He seemed to argue about the state of the weather forecast and he seemed unable to make adequate eye contact. But the conversation seemed appropriate for the setting.
Suddenly without any reasonable prompt, the man told us he talked with his pastor about heaven and hell. He said the pastor didn’t really give him much of an answer.
At first mention of religious matters I began to have more concern about this intruder into our spiritual time in the forest.
I had greater reason for concern when he told us he hadn’t gotten the answer from the pastor about going to hell if he were to kill somebody.
Seconds later he reached into a pocket of his hiking shorts and withdrew a knife. He quickly flicked the knife open to reveal a long slender blade. I realized he had just pulled a switchblade out.
He began tossing the knife in the air and letting it hit the ground. He bent down each time and picked it up.
He continued to talk about the question of going to hell for killing somebody and the sharpness of his knife.
I started to answer the man about the conversation with his pastor by telling him about one I had with a priest after my return from Vietnam.
I was going to tell him I’d asked the priest if killing in Vietnam would be considered breaking a commandment.
I was going to tell him the priest had answered me to say God wouldn’t hold me responsible for times of war.
I was going to tell him I told the priest I didn’t believe God wouldn’t hold me responsible.
The appearance of the switchblade and the man’s bizarre actions changed the conversation.
I knew I had entered into the presence of evil and a man was talking about killing and if he’d go to hell for killing. And he was brandishing a knife.
I began thinking I might have to kill again.
I began thinking about my wife. He was standing closer to her.
My mind was doing an inventory of what actions I needed to take to protect her and prevent him from killing us.
I asked him why he had a knife out in our presence.
He told me “because I like playing with it”.
He continued to talk about the sharpness of the knife and whether he’d go to hell for killing. He ran the knife blade across his forearm and acted as if he were going to cut his arms with his “sharp” knife.
I told him we needed to get going and moved over closer to my wife.
He suggested he would “hike up with you”.
We told him “no, we’re going down” but he continued asking us to go up with him. He cajoled us we were close to “the end”.
Before I could answer, my wife yelled out in frightened voice, “you need to back away from us; you’re freaking me out with that knife!”
I realized while I was trying to avoid the possible fight, my wife was seeing the evil threat of this man. He frightened her.
I was thinking of harming him if he moved toward her or me. I didn't feel fear. Only evil. I know evil.
The man continued to toss the knife around and stroke it across his forearm without heeding what my wife said.
My wife placed her hiking pole up in the air with the sharp end aimed at the man’s face.
I moved between my wife and the man and put my pole in his face and told him, “You need to get away from us and get up the trail!”
My wife told him he didn’t want to risk his life with me.
Still the man continued talking about his sharp knife and killing.
I knew I had to become aggressive toward him by moving forward with the sharp point of the pole at ready.
I knew I had to watch him for any aggressive move to grab the pole or lunge at me. I thought of the weak points of his body that I would have to strike to disable him.
I thought I might have to kill him to keep him from killing me or my wife.
I moved toward him. Again I yelled he needed to move away from us and go up the trail in the opposite direction. He argued I shouldn’t tell him what to do but he moved.
I angrily told him he needed to talk more with his pastor. He yelled back that I should mind my own business.
My wife started quickly down the trail away from him. I followed behind her turning my head to keep sight of the man.
We scrambled down the trail with continuous looks back to make sure the man didn’t come from behind us to attempt a violent act.
We encountered several groups of hikers and warned each of them of the man and told them of his threatening behaviors. Some continued up but all came back down before we reached the beginning of the trail.
We reported the events to the campground hosts and were given a phone to call the county sheriff.
While waiting for the sheriff to arrive at the remote camp site we found another hiker who had encountered the man.
He told us he felt strange about the man…like he was a “sort of Ted Bundy type”.
The name of Ted Bundy came up in the conversation my wife and I had as we descended the trail. Both of us are psychiatric RN’s and have dealt with psychotic and extremely mentally ill clients.
I’ve had extensive experience dealing with antisocial men and women who have killed. Very few ever frightened me.
This man frightened me in the sense I felt the evil and the possibility he would harm someone. I felt he was a predator. A predator like a Marine hunting down a Viet Cong in a violent war zone.
The presence of evil sometimes remains hidden to us until it’s too late and sometimes it becomes so obvious we can only revert to old habits to protect ourselves.
Sometimes we become the evil. Today I was ready to kill again to protect my wife and myself from evil.
Today, the world’s evil came from behind us on a beautiful and serene mountain trail. It interrupted our spiritual time in the most remote place. It reminded me there is no escape no matter how we try.
And my personal escape from evil reminded me of the daily struggles of others around the world to escape the evil brought down on them because of my government.
How do children escape the evil of the bombs and artillery rounds sent by adults?
While we all sometimes have to face evil in personal ways, we also need to face the evil we allow to happen, we take part in and we don’t care to know about.
Evil like George Bush has brought to our entire world.
Wm. Terry Leichner, RN
USMC combat veteran
VVAW Denver member
Wednesday, August 9
Disappearing Wars
"Stop the War" Rally
Defend the People of Palestine and Lebanon
Join a National Day of Action
Saturday, August 12, 2006
10:30 am
Denver City & County Building
1437 Bannonck St., Denver
10 am sign making (BYO supplies), 10:30 speakers, 11:00 am March
We will march down the 16th Street Mall and back to the City & County Building
(image placeholder)
In coordination with the National Emergency March in Washington DC
Initiated by ANSWER, National Council of Arab Americans (NCA), Muslim American Society Freedom Foundation
Local Organizer: Front Range Coalition
Monday, August 7, 2006 I went to a meeting concerning the rally advertised above. Once in the meeting I felt I must have entered a time warp in which a marvelous thing occurred. Apparently the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have ended! If you look above you’ll notice only the Israeli invasion of Lebanon and the continued occupation of Palestine are on the “Stop the War” flyer.
Since it was my first meeting with this particular group, I decided to remain quiet and just observe and listen to the proceedings. There was much talk about the situation in Lebanon and Palestine as well as the logistics of the upcoming rally. There was discussion about bringing flags to the rally; including the Israeli flag.
Several members of the Muslim and Arab communities objected to the Israeli flag being present at the rally. Members who weren’t associated with the Muslim and Arab community felt it wouldn’t be inappropriate to bring both American and Israeli flags.
One man in an emotional outburst wanted to know if he wasn’t allowed to bring the flag of his country if he’d be allowed to bring “his God”. I’m not sure exactly who “his God” is but hopefully his God isn’t swayed by the flag of any nation.
I found it a little disturbing when a young brother from the Muslim/Arab American community wanted some discussion about the issue of having the Israeli flag as part of the rally but was told the discussion had already taken place in a sub-committee. I kept wondering if the young brother had been African-American instead of Arab-American if he’d have been dismissed as he was by the facilitators of the meeting.
Later, thinking back on the scene, I wonder if the flag in question was a Confederate flag and the event was a civil rights rally and march whether a complete discussion could have been held? Or if any discussion would have been necessary?
I’m hopeful the facilitators and the mostly white group understood the inflammatory meaning of the Israeli flag for most Muslims and people of Middle East background. Somehow it didn’t seem they placed much importance on the objection of the brother to this flag. A friend whispered apparently the Nazi flag will be allowed at the next holocaust commemoration if this particular group was in charge.
I continued to find myself uncomfortable at the meeting without knowing exactly the reason so my writing is merely a gut reaction. Middle aged white men seemed to be in charge and the traditional hierarchy system implemented.
There was a particular interaction between one of the white men in charge telling one of the elders from the Muslim/Arab American community the “disappointment” he had because of some email exchanges initiated by this elder. When the elder attempted to rebut the white male’s remarks he was interrupted and told to hold his remarks until after the meeting.
I guess the dismissive attitude I witnessed twice in less than an hour toward Arab Americans is perceived differently for someone new. Perhaps if I’d been a consistent participant I could understand it. I couldn’t imagine I would feel different but the interaction seemed acceptable to the larger group.
And anyway, I’m writing this to celebrate the disappearance of Iraq and Afghanistan from the rolls of nations in need of help against wars perpetrated by the American government. Iraq was mentioned only once during the 1 ½ hours I was at the meeting. A local Imam from Iraq was mentioned as being a speaker at the August 12th rally.
Sadly, the next war, which is apparently going to be in Iran, was brought up. A campaign called “Don’t Do It” was mentioned a few times. This group seems convinced the U.S. will begin bombing Iran in the very near future. A military scholar named Stan Goff (The Feral Scholar; http://stangoff.com/) recently dismissed this idea as a ploy and diversion. I guess we’ll have to see how things work out and hope Stan’s better informed.
After attending this meeting and coming home to find email with the flyer above, I was confused. I tried calling my friends at Iraq Veterans Against the War. I couldn’t get through. My hopes soared. They must have disbanded now that the war has been resolved.
To be sure, however, I decided to discuss the meeting and flyer with my friend, “The Iraqi Woman”. I can’t identify her to protect her identity….but since she was once identified by a local investigative reporter as “the Iraqi woman”, I’ll use that.
We began the discussion with me reviewing her background:
“So, let me get this straight …..You’re Iraqi, correct?”
“No. You know I was born in America. My father is Iraqi.””
“So, you’re Muslim?”
“No! My father is Muslim and my mother is Jewish.”
“Ok, then you are Jewish?”
“No! You know I’m not Jewish”.
“Yeah, right…So if your father is Muslim and your mom is Jewish, you must be Protestant.”
“Smart ass”.
“Let me ask you about that meeting last night. Since Iraq wasn’t mentioned as part of the rally and the flyer doesn’t mention Iraq; is the war over?”
“No! I called my family yesterday and the war is far from over. It’s worse now than either time I’ve been back since the war started.”
“I don’t get it. No one mentioned the war in Iraq or Afghanistan last night. When I got home I had this nice flyer about stopping the war but Iraq and Afghanistan weren’t mentioned. I thought some miracle occurred and all that vanished. I mean there was a room full of activists we both know in that room last night and not once did they mention Iraq. Except when they mentioned the Imam as a speaker”
“I know but the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are still raging. In fact, its worse there right now than ever before. More people are getting killed than in Lebanon or Palestine.”
“No way! I’ve seen nothing but the tragedy of Lebanon’s civilians getting killed by American munitions to protect Israel’s homeland. Where did Iraq go?”
“You’re not listening! Iraq is totally destabilized and occupied by the U.S. and allies, including Britain. A conservative estimate of civilian dead since 2003 is 100,000. And that doesn’t account for the years of the sanction from 1991 until 2003.”
“Yeah, I heard about sanctions but no one here seemed to think it was a problem.”
“That’s part of the problem. The sanctions didn’t harm Saddam they harmed the civilian population of Iraq. The population at the time of the sanctions was 50% children. Some humanitarian groups estimate 2 million kids died during those years because of the sanctions. Most of the deaths could have been prevented with proper water and medical equipment.”
“So, how do you know so much?”
“I’ve been there twice”
“Iraq? You’re telling me you’ve been to Iraq twice?”
“Yes. I went once right after the war began and again this past Christmas. I just returned in the spring. I talk with my family there every week. There’s still rolling blackouts, gas lines and no potable water for most Iraqis.”
“Damn! Then I really can’t understand why Iraq is not mentioned in this upcoming rally’s flyer. Don’t we need to link the occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan with the Israeli invasion of Lebanon and the continued occupation of Palestine?”
“One would think so. We know AIPAC, the Israeli lobby in Congress, has great influence on the Bush Administration. In fact Bush has four members of his Administration now or in the past that were also cabinet members of the Israeli premier.
“Israeli troops have helped train Kurds in the North of Iraq. Israeli’s have helped train American interrogators in Iraq. Israel buys or is given American weapons that are used in Palestine and Lebanon. The occupation of Iraq by the U.S. is in the best interest of the Israeli government. The tactics and the plan of occupation in Iraq is very much a carbon copy of Palestine”.
“There are obvious links between what happens in Lebanon and Palestine and what happens in Iraq and Afghanistan. To have a rally without acknowledging and including Iraq and Afghanistan diverts attention from the atrocities that continue to occur and puts the focus on the actions of Israel. And truthfully….most Americans are sympathetic to the Zionists of the Israeli government.”
“But the American peace movement has never wanted to link the actions of the U.S. and Israel. Scott Ritter recently put out a piece saying there needs to be a singular focus on ending the Iraq war by the peace movement. Like Americans are too stupid to understand the tax dollars aren’t just going to Iraq and Afghanistan to bomb; they’re going to Israel to use in Lebanon and Gaza.”
“Yeah, I’m not an “expert” in the Middle East policies but I did see combat in Vietnam when I was 18 and 19. And I knew early on the war was wrong and there was a link between Vietnam and Laos and Cambodia. It was all one policy. “
“My dad was in WWII and Americans were able to follow there were two fronts of the war…..the Pacific and the European fronts.”
“Of course WWII was when the death camps occurred and the holocaust took place. That seemed to create the state of Israel. I read David Ben-Gurion actually said the holocaust was beneficial to the Zionist movement in the Palestine territories.”
“Right. And the Jewish faith is not Zionism. People need to keep that in mind. There’s a strong peace and justice movement in Israel we never hear about and in the American Jewish community. Remember the media is controlled in large part in both of these alleged model “democracies”. That is a powerful tool to use to have Americans exposed to only one side of things. The Zionist side.”
“We also have to understand there’s a mind set an American or Israeli death is exponentially ten times that of an Iraqi or Palestinian. To Americans and Israeli leaders a dead Iraqi child is no different than a dead Lebanese child. And that’s true but they see children dead and apologize that the deaths are part of war and quickly turn to their dead soldiers to compare.”
“Approximately 10% of the dead in Lebanon are combatants while the majority of Israeli dead are soldiers. This has been true in Iraq and Afghanistan. The governments of both countries will say the numbers are skewed because they only have soldiers in these places. They won’t say the ratio of the dead is 10:1 or more with 80% civilian casualties in Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon and Palestine. “
“And they won’t tell the public most of the deaths are caused by tactics in direct violation of the Geneva Convention and the Nuremberg agreements. Population centers are bombed and barraged with artillery. The munitions used often contain depleted uranium.”
“White phosphorous, a new generation of napalm and cluster bombs are all in violation of agreements mentioned but they are used daily by both Americans and Israelis.”
“We’re told we have to fight terror off our shores to protect our homeland. The Israelis are told “never again” and that all Muslim nations want to kill Jews. So, they too must protect their homeland. Only problem is both countries have committed the greatest acts of theft imaginable. They both took a land away from indigenous peoples and made it appear they were the victims when the indigenous people fought for their land.”
“They depersonalized the indigenous people to make it easier to slaughter them. When they succeeded in taking the land they created “reservations” and “territories” for the remaining indigenous people.”
“How can we exclude American policy in Iraq from Israeli policy in Palestine when we call for a rally and march against “the war”? Again, it just seems to divert attention away from the continued killing in Iraq and put it on the war in Lebanon and Palestine which is favorably viewed by most Americans.
I just have to think we’re playing into the neo-con plan at a time when national elections are coming up.”
“Well, what I know is my family is still under the guns of American occupation and they are at more risk than when Saddam was in power. I know I can’t tell the difference between the dead child under the rubble caused by American made bombs in Fallujah and American made bombs in Beirut.”
“I can only see true terrorists wearing American and Israeli uniforms carrying out the policies of white men seeking to rule the world. Which is more terrifying; a bomb dropped on a hospital or school or an IED on a road? Which is more terrifying; large armed men knocking down the door of a home with children and brutally throwing parents to the floor or rockets fired at military targets?”
“The American peace movement is so splintered and in denial they can never be effective.”
“I agree. So the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq haven’t disappeared except in the planning of some American peace groups. I don’t suppose we can ever get them to include the costs of war to the domestic needs of their own country. That, apparently, would be too much information and people might get upset.”
“I guess I’ll pass on the August 12th rally because I’m so outraged I feel like using the profanity of the Vietnam era peace movement. I don’t know at what point we quit worrying about upsetting people and authorities. When do we say,” enough!”? When do we show people they should be upset and outraged?”
“Good question but it seems the quest to always be “civil” and not upsetting takes precedence over the emotion of outrage.”
Defend the People of Palestine and Lebanon
Join a National Day of Action
Saturday, August 12, 2006
10:30 am
Denver City & County Building
1437 Bannonck St., Denver
10 am sign making (BYO supplies), 10:30 speakers, 11:00 am March
We will march down the 16th Street Mall and back to the City & County Building
(image placeholder)
In coordination with the National Emergency March in Washington DC
Initiated by ANSWER, National Council of Arab Americans (NCA), Muslim American Society Freedom Foundation
Local Organizer: Front Range Coalition
Monday, August 7, 2006 I went to a meeting concerning the rally advertised above. Once in the meeting I felt I must have entered a time warp in which a marvelous thing occurred. Apparently the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have ended! If you look above you’ll notice only the Israeli invasion of Lebanon and the continued occupation of Palestine are on the “Stop the War” flyer.
Since it was my first meeting with this particular group, I decided to remain quiet and just observe and listen to the proceedings. There was much talk about the situation in Lebanon and Palestine as well as the logistics of the upcoming rally. There was discussion about bringing flags to the rally; including the Israeli flag.
Several members of the Muslim and Arab communities objected to the Israeli flag being present at the rally. Members who weren’t associated with the Muslim and Arab community felt it wouldn’t be inappropriate to bring both American and Israeli flags.
One man in an emotional outburst wanted to know if he wasn’t allowed to bring the flag of his country if he’d be allowed to bring “his God”. I’m not sure exactly who “his God” is but hopefully his God isn’t swayed by the flag of any nation.
I found it a little disturbing when a young brother from the Muslim/Arab American community wanted some discussion about the issue of having the Israeli flag as part of the rally but was told the discussion had already taken place in a sub-committee. I kept wondering if the young brother had been African-American instead of Arab-American if he’d have been dismissed as he was by the facilitators of the meeting.
Later, thinking back on the scene, I wonder if the flag in question was a Confederate flag and the event was a civil rights rally and march whether a complete discussion could have been held? Or if any discussion would have been necessary?
I’m hopeful the facilitators and the mostly white group understood the inflammatory meaning of the Israeli flag for most Muslims and people of Middle East background. Somehow it didn’t seem they placed much importance on the objection of the brother to this flag. A friend whispered apparently the Nazi flag will be allowed at the next holocaust commemoration if this particular group was in charge.
I continued to find myself uncomfortable at the meeting without knowing exactly the reason so my writing is merely a gut reaction. Middle aged white men seemed to be in charge and the traditional hierarchy system implemented.
There was a particular interaction between one of the white men in charge telling one of the elders from the Muslim/Arab American community the “disappointment” he had because of some email exchanges initiated by this elder. When the elder attempted to rebut the white male’s remarks he was interrupted and told to hold his remarks until after the meeting.
I guess the dismissive attitude I witnessed twice in less than an hour toward Arab Americans is perceived differently for someone new. Perhaps if I’d been a consistent participant I could understand it. I couldn’t imagine I would feel different but the interaction seemed acceptable to the larger group.
And anyway, I’m writing this to celebrate the disappearance of Iraq and Afghanistan from the rolls of nations in need of help against wars perpetrated by the American government. Iraq was mentioned only once during the 1 ½ hours I was at the meeting. A local Imam from Iraq was mentioned as being a speaker at the August 12th rally.
Sadly, the next war, which is apparently going to be in Iran, was brought up. A campaign called “Don’t Do It” was mentioned a few times. This group seems convinced the U.S. will begin bombing Iran in the very near future. A military scholar named Stan Goff (The Feral Scholar; http://stangoff.com/) recently dismissed this idea as a ploy and diversion. I guess we’ll have to see how things work out and hope Stan’s better informed.
After attending this meeting and coming home to find email with the flyer above, I was confused. I tried calling my friends at Iraq Veterans Against the War. I couldn’t get through. My hopes soared. They must have disbanded now that the war has been resolved.
To be sure, however, I decided to discuss the meeting and flyer with my friend, “The Iraqi Woman”. I can’t identify her to protect her identity….but since she was once identified by a local investigative reporter as “the Iraqi woman”, I’ll use that.
We began the discussion with me reviewing her background:
“So, let me get this straight …..You’re Iraqi, correct?”
“No. You know I was born in America. My father is Iraqi.””
“So, you’re Muslim?”
“No! My father is Muslim and my mother is Jewish.”
“Ok, then you are Jewish?”
“No! You know I’m not Jewish”.
“Yeah, right…So if your father is Muslim and your mom is Jewish, you must be Protestant.”
“Smart ass”.
“Let me ask you about that meeting last night. Since Iraq wasn’t mentioned as part of the rally and the flyer doesn’t mention Iraq; is the war over?”
“No! I called my family yesterday and the war is far from over. It’s worse now than either time I’ve been back since the war started.”
“I don’t get it. No one mentioned the war in Iraq or Afghanistan last night. When I got home I had this nice flyer about stopping the war but Iraq and Afghanistan weren’t mentioned. I thought some miracle occurred and all that vanished. I mean there was a room full of activists we both know in that room last night and not once did they mention Iraq. Except when they mentioned the Imam as a speaker”
“I know but the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are still raging. In fact, its worse there right now than ever before. More people are getting killed than in Lebanon or Palestine.”
“No way! I’ve seen nothing but the tragedy of Lebanon’s civilians getting killed by American munitions to protect Israel’s homeland. Where did Iraq go?”
“You’re not listening! Iraq is totally destabilized and occupied by the U.S. and allies, including Britain. A conservative estimate of civilian dead since 2003 is 100,000. And that doesn’t account for the years of the sanction from 1991 until 2003.”
“Yeah, I heard about sanctions but no one here seemed to think it was a problem.”
“That’s part of the problem. The sanctions didn’t harm Saddam they harmed the civilian population of Iraq. The population at the time of the sanctions was 50% children. Some humanitarian groups estimate 2 million kids died during those years because of the sanctions. Most of the deaths could have been prevented with proper water and medical equipment.”
“So, how do you know so much?”
“I’ve been there twice”
“Iraq? You’re telling me you’ve been to Iraq twice?”
“Yes. I went once right after the war began and again this past Christmas. I just returned in the spring. I talk with my family there every week. There’s still rolling blackouts, gas lines and no potable water for most Iraqis.”
“Damn! Then I really can’t understand why Iraq is not mentioned in this upcoming rally’s flyer. Don’t we need to link the occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan with the Israeli invasion of Lebanon and the continued occupation of Palestine?”
“One would think so. We know AIPAC, the Israeli lobby in Congress, has great influence on the Bush Administration. In fact Bush has four members of his Administration now or in the past that were also cabinet members of the Israeli premier.
“Israeli troops have helped train Kurds in the North of Iraq. Israeli’s have helped train American interrogators in Iraq. Israel buys or is given American weapons that are used in Palestine and Lebanon. The occupation of Iraq by the U.S. is in the best interest of the Israeli government. The tactics and the plan of occupation in Iraq is very much a carbon copy of Palestine”.
“There are obvious links between what happens in Lebanon and Palestine and what happens in Iraq and Afghanistan. To have a rally without acknowledging and including Iraq and Afghanistan diverts attention from the atrocities that continue to occur and puts the focus on the actions of Israel. And truthfully….most Americans are sympathetic to the Zionists of the Israeli government.”
“But the American peace movement has never wanted to link the actions of the U.S. and Israel. Scott Ritter recently put out a piece saying there needs to be a singular focus on ending the Iraq war by the peace movement. Like Americans are too stupid to understand the tax dollars aren’t just going to Iraq and Afghanistan to bomb; they’re going to Israel to use in Lebanon and Gaza.”
“Yeah, I’m not an “expert” in the Middle East policies but I did see combat in Vietnam when I was 18 and 19. And I knew early on the war was wrong and there was a link between Vietnam and Laos and Cambodia. It was all one policy. “
“My dad was in WWII and Americans were able to follow there were two fronts of the war…..the Pacific and the European fronts.”
“Of course WWII was when the death camps occurred and the holocaust took place. That seemed to create the state of Israel. I read David Ben-Gurion actually said the holocaust was beneficial to the Zionist movement in the Palestine territories.”
“Right. And the Jewish faith is not Zionism. People need to keep that in mind. There’s a strong peace and justice movement in Israel we never hear about and in the American Jewish community. Remember the media is controlled in large part in both of these alleged model “democracies”. That is a powerful tool to use to have Americans exposed to only one side of things. The Zionist side.”
“We also have to understand there’s a mind set an American or Israeli death is exponentially ten times that of an Iraqi or Palestinian. To Americans and Israeli leaders a dead Iraqi child is no different than a dead Lebanese child. And that’s true but they see children dead and apologize that the deaths are part of war and quickly turn to their dead soldiers to compare.”
“Approximately 10% of the dead in Lebanon are combatants while the majority of Israeli dead are soldiers. This has been true in Iraq and Afghanistan. The governments of both countries will say the numbers are skewed because they only have soldiers in these places. They won’t say the ratio of the dead is 10:1 or more with 80% civilian casualties in Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon and Palestine. “
“And they won’t tell the public most of the deaths are caused by tactics in direct violation of the Geneva Convention and the Nuremberg agreements. Population centers are bombed and barraged with artillery. The munitions used often contain depleted uranium.”
“White phosphorous, a new generation of napalm and cluster bombs are all in violation of agreements mentioned but they are used daily by both Americans and Israelis.”
“We’re told we have to fight terror off our shores to protect our homeland. The Israelis are told “never again” and that all Muslim nations want to kill Jews. So, they too must protect their homeland. Only problem is both countries have committed the greatest acts of theft imaginable. They both took a land away from indigenous peoples and made it appear they were the victims when the indigenous people fought for their land.”
“They depersonalized the indigenous people to make it easier to slaughter them. When they succeeded in taking the land they created “reservations” and “territories” for the remaining indigenous people.”
“How can we exclude American policy in Iraq from Israeli policy in Palestine when we call for a rally and march against “the war”? Again, it just seems to divert attention away from the continued killing in Iraq and put it on the war in Lebanon and Palestine which is favorably viewed by most Americans.
I just have to think we’re playing into the neo-con plan at a time when national elections are coming up.”
“Well, what I know is my family is still under the guns of American occupation and they are at more risk than when Saddam was in power. I know I can’t tell the difference between the dead child under the rubble caused by American made bombs in Fallujah and American made bombs in Beirut.”
“I can only see true terrorists wearing American and Israeli uniforms carrying out the policies of white men seeking to rule the world. Which is more terrifying; a bomb dropped on a hospital or school or an IED on a road? Which is more terrifying; large armed men knocking down the door of a home with children and brutally throwing parents to the floor or rockets fired at military targets?”
“The American peace movement is so splintered and in denial they can never be effective.”
“I agree. So the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq haven’t disappeared except in the planning of some American peace groups. I don’t suppose we can ever get them to include the costs of war to the domestic needs of their own country. That, apparently, would be too much information and people might get upset.”
“I guess I’ll pass on the August 12th rally because I’m so outraged I feel like using the profanity of the Vietnam era peace movement. I don’t know at what point we quit worrying about upsetting people and authorities. When do we say,” enough!”? When do we show people they should be upset and outraged?”
“Good question but it seems the quest to always be “civil” and not upsetting takes precedence over the emotion of outrage.”
Many thanks to "Iraqi Woman" - her expert knowledge of the current situation has allowed me to see the human side of things. And if we're going to send our young out to hunt and kill other humans; we need them to know the human side. Maybe we should practice it more.
Sunday, August 6
Infiltrators, Self Inflicted Wounds and Youthful Wisdom
Infiltrators, Self Inflicted Wounds and Youthful Wisdom
Recent postings in internet groups I have membership in have caused me to think back to my days of organizing VVAW here in Denver. As we grew bigger on both a national and local level we started getting folks claiming to be vets coming to our meetings or activities talking about “the revolution” and putting it to “the man” or ‘the system”. They’d encourage members to confront “the pigs” in ways that obviously would create a violent response.
Even being a stupid 20 year old grunt, it didn’t take me being a brain surgeon to figure we probably had some infiltrators sent by J. Edgar and his bullies. The perfect way to discredit VVAW was to have the public perceive us as a violent fringe group not representing the welfare of our brothers and sisters still in a war. Much like they discredited a group of noble brothers in the Panthers.
With the more sophisticated methods of communications in the world today, the opportunities for infiltration seem much greater. The misinformation of certain individuals in a group or on a blog site of a peace and justice activist is most likely not some accident in many cases. Rumsfeld has made it clear the internet was something needing to be addressed in selling the current wars to the public. He suggested entering groups and blogs of well known activists to disrupt their message.
Personal attacks on individuals, innuendo of someone lacking solidarity and overt attempts to divide groups need to be viewed with caution and skepticism, I believe.
A recent attack on someone who marched from Mobile to New Orleans because they disputed an article claiming nonviolence will never win in Israel seems to be an example. Throwing out words like Zionist or Nazi toward an individual because they express a differing opinion doesn’t seem in keeping with the ideals and goals of a group seeking peace and justice.
I think we also have to look at self-inflicted wounds we all sometimes cause. Anyone who reads anything I write should know by now I’m provocative by design. That means questioning the values or directions of the group. It means stating a personal opinion. The groups I’ve been part of have tolerated my rants. Many individuals have been very supportive of what I’ve written. So, I can’t complain about personal attacks.
I do want to complain about a recent response to something a member of IVAW was alleged to have said about Code Pink. Since this Iraq vet is from my home state of Colorado and I’ve crossed his path a few times, I know him to be a thoughtful and concerned activist.
The vet’s comment about Code Pink was something like “the veterans and families will end this war, not Code Pink.’ The blowback toward him was totally out of proportion in my opinion. I find it difficult to understand why the Iraq vet was accused of misogyny because he expressed an opinion about which groups he felt would be more effective in changing public opinion against the war.
He rightfully questioned the action of Code Pink outside Walter Reed Hospital. I remember there were many vets I know who are either members of VFP or VVAW who questioned that action at the time also. Questioning the action wasn’t about whether Code Pink had good intentions or whether they were a righteous activist group. It was a question of how the wounded troops in Walter Reed would perceive things.
Since I’ve been involved in many of the national actions as a person just wanting to help and not necessarily wanting to “take charge” I have seen things I’ve disagreed with in tactics. I voiced an opinion about Camp Casey and the possibility organizers were “playing” to the mainstream media too much in my local peace and justice yahoo group. I was “flamed” as being a misogynist, being unable to accept strong women as leaders, being against Cindy Sheehan and on and on.
Working as a RN for 20 plus years has given me ample opportunity to work with very strong women. I’ve been very fortunate to have supervisors who were exceptional. My role models in nursing are all women. I’ve enjoyed and benefited being with most nurses I’ve worked with in my career. More than 90% of my colleagues have been women.
Outside of my career I’ve become close with members of the local Code Pink through the activism I do for veterans. I give presentations at colleges and have spoken at several rallies in the Denver area representing VVAW and veterans. I talk about heroes in every talk I give.
My heroes are three nuns, Jackie Hudson , Carol Gilbert and Ardeth Platte, who entered a nuke site, spread their own blood in the sign of a cross and beat on the canopy of the underground missile to represent beating swords into ploughshares. (See the movie Conviction released this year – website http://ztsp.org/).
Rather than compromise their values they went to Federal prisons. They easily could have accepted a plea bargain but it would have suggested guilt where there wasn’t anything to be guilty about. I make sure to mention them everywhere I go.
So, being attacked as I was for voicing an alternative opinion was a lesson in how far we still have to go within peace and justice organizations to adhere to our own values. I wasn’t the only one to have the opinion about tactics used at Camp Casey related to the press. Many veterans made similar comments. Many veteran peace activists made such comments.
The Iraq veteran’s comment about Code Pink was definitely not the first one that criticized or intimated disagreement with tactics. Several VFP members “chased” a Code Pink member from the veterans’ ranks at the September 25, 2005 rally in D.C... I know because the woman dressed in pink came over to the veterans’ area to talk to me and my wife. She was a friend I’d not seen in months and we’d arranged to meet at the rally.
She and a friend were explicitly told by prominent members of VFP they “didn’t belong here”…with the veterans. I lost a lot of respect for men I once felt to be righteous activists that day.
In Covington, Louisiana I was at a meeting of organizing members of relief efforts for Katrina survivors late one night. A photojournalist from Michael Moore’s organization was present and asked the group what they thought of Code Pink. Like so many “good ole boys” meetings I’ve been at, the response was predictable.
One member called pink the most dangerous and negative color known to “man”. The male photojournalist made disparaging remarks. Others also spoke out negatively. I wrote about both incidents of the bashing of Code Pink in the local Yahoo group. Still, today, there are members of that group that have quit communicating with me because I questioned things at Camp Casey.
I liken this relatively small slight to the labeling of members of the Jewish faith as being Zionists. Zionism isn’t about the practice of Judaism anymore than beheadings of innocent people is about Islam or dropping cluster bombs on civilian populations is about Christianity.
We in the peace and justice community call ourselves liberal or progressive but clearly some of us ….most of us….don‘t like opinions that may be critical of ourselves. Coloring outside the lines of the group is frowned upon. And I’m not talking about overt attacks, racist remarks or hateful remarks. I talking about sometimes having a differing opinion or disagreeing with leaders like Cindy and Medea or Stan and Dave.
We create celebrity and icons in this country which sometimes works to our disadvantage if we find ourselves in disagreement. It becomes a microcosm of the larger syndrome of “America, love it or leave it”. Sometimes the very concept we profess to hate and despise becomes what we practice.
One other thing occurred to me as I read the “flaming” of the Iraq vet who made the statement about Code Pink. I work with a lot of younger people and believe in them. I truly believe it’s time for Vietnam veterans to turn the leadership over to the “young bloods”. It’s the young who will pay the greatest price for our generation’s failures. Let them have their rightful role of leadership!
It seems we’ve taken a parental role towards the younger members of the peace and justice movement. Their absence clearly makes a statement about how they feel. I hear from them about being excluded and tired of hearing “We Shall Overcome” or “Imagine”. When I step outside the “movement” and go looking for the young people I find incredible slam poets, musicians and intellectual people.
I marvel at how we’ve wasted the potential of the young, the communities of color and the poor and disenfranchised. We keep hearing the same “old” voices saying the same things but fail too often to have voices of diversity, fresh voices, and voices of the young.
The Vietnam veterans and our generation aren’t the keepers of wisdom. The wisdom of so many young people I talk with is allowed to be discounted or alienated. It seems time for us (my generation) to shut up occasionally and listen to the wisdom of those we’ve allowed to be excluded.
And I say all this with peace in my heart and mind.
Peace and solidarity,
Wm. Terry Leichner, RN
VVAW – Denver member
Combat vet of a war long ago
Recent postings in internet groups I have membership in have caused me to think back to my days of organizing VVAW here in Denver. As we grew bigger on both a national and local level we started getting folks claiming to be vets coming to our meetings or activities talking about “the revolution” and putting it to “the man” or ‘the system”. They’d encourage members to confront “the pigs” in ways that obviously would create a violent response.
Even being a stupid 20 year old grunt, it didn’t take me being a brain surgeon to figure we probably had some infiltrators sent by J. Edgar and his bullies. The perfect way to discredit VVAW was to have the public perceive us as a violent fringe group not representing the welfare of our brothers and sisters still in a war. Much like they discredited a group of noble brothers in the Panthers.
With the more sophisticated methods of communications in the world today, the opportunities for infiltration seem much greater. The misinformation of certain individuals in a group or on a blog site of a peace and justice activist is most likely not some accident in many cases. Rumsfeld has made it clear the internet was something needing to be addressed in selling the current wars to the public. He suggested entering groups and blogs of well known activists to disrupt their message.
Personal attacks on individuals, innuendo of someone lacking solidarity and overt attempts to divide groups need to be viewed with caution and skepticism, I believe.
A recent attack on someone who marched from Mobile to New Orleans because they disputed an article claiming nonviolence will never win in Israel seems to be an example. Throwing out words like Zionist or Nazi toward an individual because they express a differing opinion doesn’t seem in keeping with the ideals and goals of a group seeking peace and justice.
I think we also have to look at self-inflicted wounds we all sometimes cause. Anyone who reads anything I write should know by now I’m provocative by design. That means questioning the values or directions of the group. It means stating a personal opinion. The groups I’ve been part of have tolerated my rants. Many individuals have been very supportive of what I’ve written. So, I can’t complain about personal attacks.
I do want to complain about a recent response to something a member of IVAW was alleged to have said about Code Pink. Since this Iraq vet is from my home state of Colorado and I’ve crossed his path a few times, I know him to be a thoughtful and concerned activist.
The vet’s comment about Code Pink was something like “the veterans and families will end this war, not Code Pink.’ The blowback toward him was totally out of proportion in my opinion. I find it difficult to understand why the Iraq vet was accused of misogyny because he expressed an opinion about which groups he felt would be more effective in changing public opinion against the war.
He rightfully questioned the action of Code Pink outside Walter Reed Hospital. I remember there were many vets I know who are either members of VFP or VVAW who questioned that action at the time also. Questioning the action wasn’t about whether Code Pink had good intentions or whether they were a righteous activist group. It was a question of how the wounded troops in Walter Reed would perceive things.
Since I’ve been involved in many of the national actions as a person just wanting to help and not necessarily wanting to “take charge” I have seen things I’ve disagreed with in tactics. I voiced an opinion about Camp Casey and the possibility organizers were “playing” to the mainstream media too much in my local peace and justice yahoo group. I was “flamed” as being a misogynist, being unable to accept strong women as leaders, being against Cindy Sheehan and on and on.
Working as a RN for 20 plus years has given me ample opportunity to work with very strong women. I’ve been very fortunate to have supervisors who were exceptional. My role models in nursing are all women. I’ve enjoyed and benefited being with most nurses I’ve worked with in my career. More than 90% of my colleagues have been women.
Outside of my career I’ve become close with members of the local Code Pink through the activism I do for veterans. I give presentations at colleges and have spoken at several rallies in the Denver area representing VVAW and veterans. I talk about heroes in every talk I give.
My heroes are three nuns, Jackie Hudson , Carol Gilbert and Ardeth Platte, who entered a nuke site, spread their own blood in the sign of a cross and beat on the canopy of the underground missile to represent beating swords into ploughshares. (See the movie Conviction released this year – website http://ztsp.org/).
Rather than compromise their values they went to Federal prisons. They easily could have accepted a plea bargain but it would have suggested guilt where there wasn’t anything to be guilty about. I make sure to mention them everywhere I go.
So, being attacked as I was for voicing an alternative opinion was a lesson in how far we still have to go within peace and justice organizations to adhere to our own values. I wasn’t the only one to have the opinion about tactics used at Camp Casey related to the press. Many veterans made similar comments. Many veteran peace activists made such comments.
The Iraq veteran’s comment about Code Pink was definitely not the first one that criticized or intimated disagreement with tactics. Several VFP members “chased” a Code Pink member from the veterans’ ranks at the September 25, 2005 rally in D.C... I know because the woman dressed in pink came over to the veterans’ area to talk to me and my wife. She was a friend I’d not seen in months and we’d arranged to meet at the rally.
She and a friend were explicitly told by prominent members of VFP they “didn’t belong here”…with the veterans. I lost a lot of respect for men I once felt to be righteous activists that day.
In Covington, Louisiana I was at a meeting of organizing members of relief efforts for Katrina survivors late one night. A photojournalist from Michael Moore’s organization was present and asked the group what they thought of Code Pink. Like so many “good ole boys” meetings I’ve been at, the response was predictable.
One member called pink the most dangerous and negative color known to “man”. The male photojournalist made disparaging remarks. Others also spoke out negatively. I wrote about both incidents of the bashing of Code Pink in the local Yahoo group. Still, today, there are members of that group that have quit communicating with me because I questioned things at Camp Casey.
I liken this relatively small slight to the labeling of members of the Jewish faith as being Zionists. Zionism isn’t about the practice of Judaism anymore than beheadings of innocent people is about Islam or dropping cluster bombs on civilian populations is about Christianity.
We in the peace and justice community call ourselves liberal or progressive but clearly some of us ….most of us….don‘t like opinions that may be critical of ourselves. Coloring outside the lines of the group is frowned upon. And I’m not talking about overt attacks, racist remarks or hateful remarks. I talking about sometimes having a differing opinion or disagreeing with leaders like Cindy and Medea or Stan and Dave.
We create celebrity and icons in this country which sometimes works to our disadvantage if we find ourselves in disagreement. It becomes a microcosm of the larger syndrome of “America, love it or leave it”. Sometimes the very concept we profess to hate and despise becomes what we practice.
One other thing occurred to me as I read the “flaming” of the Iraq vet who made the statement about Code Pink. I work with a lot of younger people and believe in them. I truly believe it’s time for Vietnam veterans to turn the leadership over to the “young bloods”. It’s the young who will pay the greatest price for our generation’s failures. Let them have their rightful role of leadership!
It seems we’ve taken a parental role towards the younger members of the peace and justice movement. Their absence clearly makes a statement about how they feel. I hear from them about being excluded and tired of hearing “We Shall Overcome” or “Imagine”. When I step outside the “movement” and go looking for the young people I find incredible slam poets, musicians and intellectual people.
I marvel at how we’ve wasted the potential of the young, the communities of color and the poor and disenfranchised. We keep hearing the same “old” voices saying the same things but fail too often to have voices of diversity, fresh voices, and voices of the young.
The Vietnam veterans and our generation aren’t the keepers of wisdom. The wisdom of so many young people I talk with is allowed to be discounted or alienated. It seems time for us (my generation) to shut up occasionally and listen to the wisdom of those we’ve allowed to be excluded.
And I say all this with peace in my heart and mind.
Peace and solidarity,
Wm. Terry Leichner, RN
VVAW – Denver member
Combat vet of a war long ago
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