[Vision2020] Soldiers Present Signatures Opposing Bush War Plans

[Tom Hansen]

>From today's (January 17, 2007) Spokesman Review -

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Soldiers present signatures opposing Bush war plans 
Noam N. Levey 
Los Angeles Times
January 17, 2007

WASHINGTON - President Bush's plan to send additional troops to Iraq is
facing public opposition from a slice of the American population that rarely
speaks out: the military rank and file.

A group of service members came to Capitol Hill on Tuesday armed with
signatures from more than 1,000 military personnel who oppose the war.

"We will not be silent while thousands die," said Sgt. Liam Madden, a
22-year-old active-duty Marine and Iraq war veteran who is helping lead the
effort to organize resistance to the war from inside the military.
 
Madden and other service members leading the campaign, which they are
calling Appeal for Redress, urged Congress to stop the troop escalation and
find a way to begin bringing forces home from Iraq.

When the campaign began three months ago, White House spokesman Tony Snow
dismissed the first signatories as "65 people who are going to be able to
get more press than the hundreds of thousands who have come back and said
they're proud of their service."

The 1,000 signatories still represent a tiny fraction of the military
personnel who have served in and around Iraq since the 2003 invasion.

But according to the group, those who have signed the appeal include around
100 officers. Approximately 70 percent of the signatories are active-duty
military, while the rest are reservists or members of the National Guard,
said Madden, who added that the group will not reveal the names of the
signatories to protect them.

The Appeal for Redress reads simply: "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."

Madden and other leaders of the campaign arrived on Capitol Hill as members
of Congress moved closer to challenging Bush's plans to send 21,500 more
troops to Baghdad and Anbar province.

A spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said senators
plan to introduce a resolution opposing the plan today or Thursday, with a
vote planned for next week after the president's State of the Union speech
on Tuesday.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said a House vote on a resolution
would follow soon afterward.

Democrats also announced Tuesday that newly elected Virginia Sen. Jim Webb,
a pugnacious war critic whose son has served in Iraq, will deliver the
party's response to the State of the Union address.

Today, a group of anti-war members of the House, led by California Reps.
Lynn Woolsey, Maxine Waters and Barbara Lee, all Democrats, plan to
introduce legislation outlining a detailed plan to withdraw U.S. forces from
Iraq over the next six months.

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Seeya round town, Moscow.

Tom Hansen
Liberty (formerly Moscow, aka Vandalville), Idaho

"I love my country but fear my government."

- Author Unknown