Opposition to the War Growing Among Troops

[babylonsister]

http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/03/29/179/

Opposition to the War Growing Among Troops
by Sarah Olson

“I joined the Army to go to war, and now I’m fighting to get out,” says Pfc. Ryan Follan, laughing nervously. He quickly becomes serious. “Some of the causes are good, but I don’t think the war is for the right reasons.” Follan laughs again, and there’s a long pause. “I’m deploying in a month, actually. I’m not a big fan of it, honestly.” Private Follan is standing in a Taco Bell parking lot just outside Fort Stewart in Savannah, Georgia. Each day, soldiers gather for lunch at fast food restaurants like this one. On this particular day, the soldiers at Fort Stewart have visitors.

Last week, a convoy of approximately 20 veterans riding in converted school buses left Fayetteville, North Carolina. They were sponsored by Veterans for Peace, armed with literature and headed for New Orleans, where they are spending this week rebuilding houses in the Ninth Ward. On the way, the group stopped at military bases throughout the South. Their goal? They were passing out copies of the Appeal for Redress, GI rights information, and copies of the videos “Ground Truth” and “Sir! No Sir!”

Veterans for Peace members say they’re not trying to pressure GIs to resist war. They want to educate soldiers about their rights. They know from experience that the military frowns on dissent and doesn’t go out of its way to educate soldiers regarding constitutionally protected ways to express their opinions on issues like war and peace. Despite popular opinion to the contrary, soldiers do indeed have rights to express political dissent.

The Appeal for Redress is a confidential online petition to Congress asking for an end to the Iraq war. Because the Uniform Code of Military Justice expressly permits members of the military to petition their representatives, the Appeal is 100 percent legal, and since its unveiling in late 2006 the Appeal has gathered over 1,700 signatures.

Private Follan hadn’t heard of the Appeal before, but says he thinks he’ll sign it. “I can’t see any reason why I wouldn’t,” he says, explaining he hasn’t heard a single good reason for the Iraq war. “If there are good reasons, I haven’t been told them yet. Maybe I’ll find out some more reasons when I get there.”

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[BOSSHOG]

1. I suggest bush send

limbaugh and hannity and cheney and beck and other chickenhawks to Iraq to give the troops a pep talk. Tell em they are doing a heckuva job and how it is so important that they stay in the desert in harm's way forever. Then they could regale the troops with their war stories and the greatness of the republican party.

[bananarepublican]

4. ... and Ollie North could regale them with stories on Iran Contra, South American...

... right wing death squads, and his devotion to all things Sean Hannity!

[Cabcere]

2. K&R

Thanks for posting this. :thumbsup:

[SaveAmerica]

3. I wish they hadn't printed his name