Winter Soldier Northwest

Here's a link to a set of 17 photos from the day's events (panel presentations at Seattle Town Hall, and the march): http://www.flickr.com/photos/rwhitlock/sets/72157605384315166/


Video by Elliot Stoller

Find more video coverage by Stoller here: http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=E195AEBA67A1F3E0M

Iraq Veterans Against the War Winter Soldier Northwest, May 31st, 2008

A series of panels, including a panel of Veterans of the Iraq War, spoke about the continuing horror of the occupation of Iraq. The series of panel presentations were followed by a well attended march through the streets of downtown Seattle.

Panelists spoke about ongoing crimes relating to the occupation, and the negative consequences on the health and well-being of both the occupied and the occupiers. The Iraq people suffer grievous harms, but the soldiers who are asked to perform the duties of an unjust and illegal military action are also made to suffer grievous harm.

The ratio of war injured to war dead for OIF is 8:1 - and that only includes hard injuries, i.e. it doesn't include injuries which are psychological in nature.

Other panel topics included how illegal wars of aggression are enabled by a fundamental racism that exists in society (and especially within military cultures.) Attention was also given to the fraudulent nature of pre-war-pro-war propaganda, a foreign policy of global dominance as it relates to Middle East petroleum resources, and the role of media in the war disaster. The war was sold to the American people as a bill of goods. The invasion was predicated on lies.

Supporting the GI Resistance movement is one of the most promising avenues for stopping the illegal and immoral foreign policy aggression of the government of the United States.

- bert

[June 6, 2008: P.S. Also see this great documentary of the event - this is great coverage - posted on Seattle IndyMedia: http://seattle.indymedia.org/en/2008/06/267013.shtml /June 6,2008]