posted 01-31-2004 09:13 PM            

by Kerry Taylor

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Hundreds of veterans and military families joined the 75,000-strong Oct. 26, 2003 antiwar protest in Washington, D.C. Venus-val Hammack (left) is a disabled veteran of Desert Storm whose son, Logan, is currently in the Air Force. Jari Sheese (right) has a soldier-husband in Iraq.

President Bush's war in Iraq faces growing opposition from those who are on the front lines: soldiers, their families and veterans, including high-ranking officers.

A bipartisan poll published by Business Week in December showed approval for the president at a mere 36 percent among soldiers, their families and veterans.

"I think the American people were conned into this [war]," said retired Marine Corps Gen. Anthony Zinni, a Bush supporter in 2000. Zinni, who was chief of U.S. operations in the Middle East until three years ago, also charged the administration with failing to plan an occupation that would rebuild Iraq, provide internal stability and advance democracy.

Despite the capture of Saddam Hussein, there has been no let-up in U.S. casualties. As of mid-January, 500 U.S. soldiers have been killed--more than died in the first three years of the Vietnam War. Up to 22,000 more have been evacuated from Iraq for medical reasons. Twenty-one have committed suicide.

LOW TROOP MORALE
The high casualty rate may help explain the low troop morale reported in October by Stars and Stripes, the military newspaper. Nearly one in three of the 2,000 military personnel it surveyed reported that they believed the war had "no value" or "little or no value" at all.

Nearly 50 percent of National Guard personnel and reservists reported low morale. "Reserve members can't possibly keep this pace up," warned Master Sgt. C.J. Nouse, who has spent just four months with his family since Sept. 11, 2001. "With deployments to Bosnia and for homeland defense, our families are continuing to suffer. Does anyone care? This is totally unacceptable. Bring us home or suffer mass exits soon."

It is this concern that led the Pentagon to announce "stop loss" measures prohibiting troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan from leaving the service for up to 90 days after arriving at their home bases. The military can then decide to keep them in service indefinitely "if needed."

The opposition from those in the military is amplified by the voices of military family members and veterans who oppose the war.

MILITARY FAMILIES ORGANIZE
Larry Syverson, the father of two sons still fighting in Iraq, recently completed his 100th antiwar protest in front of the federal courthouse in Richmond, Va.

Anabel Valencia of Tucson had not seen her soldier-daughter in three years, so in December she decided to visit her in Tikrit, Iraq. The U.S. military denied her entrance to the base, but she won sympathy from Iraqi police Capt. Hussein, who was assigned to stand guard over her. According to the Los Angeles Times, Capt. Hussein said:

"I think it's terrible that the Americans will not let you in to see your beloved daughter.... This is the way they treat their own people! Imagine how they treat us.... We were better off before [the U.S. entered]."

But resistance can come at a cost to GIs and their families.

After Jari Sheese of Indianapolis participated in several peace demonstrations and a Paris television program, her antiwar activities were noted in a general's report. Then her soldier-husband in Iraq was transferred on two hours' notice to a remote base with restricted access to the Internet and telephone. Yet he supports Sheese's continued vocal opposition to the occupation as the only way to end the war and bring him home.

Military family organizations and veterans groups have banded together to launch the Bring Them Home Now campaign, led by Military Families Speak Out (MFSO) and Veterans for Peace. Founded in November 2002, MFSO provides a forum for GI families to express their opposition to the war through press conferences, demonstrations at military bases and peace delegations to Iraq.

The organization also sued the administration for taking the country to war without a congressional declaration. (See www.mfso.org.)

Co-founder Nancy Lessin says more than 1,000 families have joined MFSO. There are also several unofficial military unit websites advocating peace and the return of the troops. (See www.bringhomethe142.org and www.129supportingoursoldiers.com.)

MFSO member Jessica Salamon of Cleveland, whose husband was recently deployed to Iraq, defended her protest work as "the best way that I can think of to show that I do support the troops; I support each and every one of them coming home now. I can't just sit back and make care packages."

Kerry Taylor is a graduate student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a member of United Electrical Workers Local 150A.
http://www.war-times.org/issues/15art1.html

posted 02-17-2004 05:31 PM            

TAX CHEATS

We all know that Halliburton is gouging taxpayers--according to the Pentagon, Vice President Cheney's old company overcharged the US government by as much as $61 million for fuel in Iraq. But now we learn that more than 27,000 military contractors, or about one in nine, are evading taxes and still continuing to win new government business.

According to the General Accounting Office, these tax cheats owed an estimated $3 billion at the end of 2002, mainly in Social Security and other payroll taxes, including Medicare, that were diverted for business or personal use instead of being sent to the government. (Lesser amounts were owed in income taxes).

In one 2002 case, the New York Times reports, a company providing dining, security and custodial services to military bases received $3.5 million in payments from the Defense Department despite owing almost $10 million to the government. (Shockingly, the GAO estimated that the Defense Department could have collected $100 million in 2002 by offsetting payments to delinquent companies still on its payroll.)

The Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations has scheduled a hearing this Thursday to look into what committee chair Norm Coleman calls "an outrageous situation." At present, federal law does not bar contractors with unpaid federal taxes from obtaining new government contracts. (The GAO has recommended policy options for barring contracts to those who abuse the federal tax system.)

At a time when $200 million would purchase enough ceramic body armor--the kind that usually works, the kind the Pentagon wouldn't splurge for--to protect almost 150,000 GIs in Iraq, Republicans and Democrats should demand that these tax cheats pay up.

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posted 02-17-2004 09:34 PM            

By Patrick J. Dickson, Stars and Stripes
European edition, Thursday, February 12, 2004

Joe Gromelski / S&S (pic)
Illinois Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn displays a state income tax form that allows individuals to make tax-deductible donations to a fund to assist military families facing reduced income due to the deployment of Guard and Reserve families. Quinn and four other state officials spoke at the National Press Club on Wednesday.

Joe Gromelski / S&S (pic)
California Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante offers his support for the fund. Behind him are Lt. Govs. Pat Quinn of Illinois, left, and Charles Fogarty of Rhode Island.
http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=19652&archive=true

WASHINGTON — Families of many deployed Guard and Reserve troops are hurting financially, and many of their state legislators are moving to make that a thing of the past.

On Wednesday, five lieutenant governors held a news conference to announce a drive to create Military Family Relief Funds in states across the nation.

“We cannot allow the citizens of our states who are serving their country to fall into financial ruin while they are in Iraq, facing harm … while they are protecting us,” said Calif. Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante.

Each fund is designed to provide grants to families of National Guard and Reserve soldiers on active duty who are facing reduced income and financial hardships. Grants ranging from $500 to $2,000 will help military families in need to cover expenses such as rent, utilities and medical expenses.

Many National Guard and Reserve soldiers earn less in active duty than they do at their regular place of employment. Also, some private and public employers do not always make up the difference between soldiers’ military pay and their civilian pay.

The model for other states to follow is the Illinois Military Family Relief Fund, championed by Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn and signed into law in February 2003.

“The force in Iraq is estimated to be about 40 percent reservists and Guard members …. This is unheard of in our country; unprecedented,” Quinn said. “A lot of times, the military pay is quite a bit less than the civilian pay that someone was making.”

Quinn offered an example of one soldier whose wife and three sons saw a 70 percent cut in his pay.

“It’s pretty hard to make ends meet when you have such a decline in your family income.”

Bustamante said that 10 percent to 20 percent of the 9,000 California families with a deployed servicemember are seeking some form of emergency assistance.

A check-off box on the current Illinois income tax return allows individuals to make tax-deductible donations directly to the fund. Begun with state and voluntary support, $829,000 has been distributed in grants to more than 1,800 military families in Illinois, so far.

South Carolina, California and Pennsylvania are initiating legislative efforts to allow private donations through income-tax check-offs for grants to the military families in need.

The total number of National Guard and Reserves called to active duty at this time is 189,859.

Quinn has created a Web site, www.operationhomefront.org, describing how citizens on the home front can help soldiers fighting around the world. The site has registered more than 4.3 million hits, Quinn said.