VIP guard/sniper/resister speaks
out
My story by Spc. Eleonai "Eli" Israel
- Released last week from a Kuwait brig for refusing further combat
missions in Iraq, Spc. Israel now on mission to end the occupation.
"Supporting GI resistance"
workshop
August 16th at the Veterans for Peace 2007
National Convention in St. Louis— featuring Iraq War
veterans Agustin Aguayo, Mark Wilkerson, and
Steve Mortillo.
"Army of None" - New
Book, Tour
"Strategies to Counter Military Recruitment,
End War, and Build a Better World." Book release party and
project kick off celebration August 30th in Oakland, then
on to over 40 cities.
New Courage to Resist
patches
That's right, more cool stuff to get while supporting our work. These
patches are authorized for wear on all military uniforms by Courage to
Resist; however, DoD may have conflicting regs.
Message from David Swanson
Co-founder of AfterDowningStreet.org:"Resistance
from within the military requires tremendous courage. Organizing in
support of resisters requires courage and hard work..." Please donate.
Also: Great photos
of Agustin Aguayo's July 27th Los Angeles welcome home celebration by
photographer Mathieu Grandjean.
My story by Spc.
Eleonai "Eli" Israel
Spc. Eli Israel while in Iraq assigned to the Joint Visitors
Bureau (VIP bodyguards) |
Excerpts from the journey of a VIP bodyguard, sniper against
the war
By Army National Guard Spc. Eleonai "Eli" Israel. August 9,
2007
Two months ago, I took a stand that changed my life forever. As a
Soldier, a JVB Protective Service Agent, and a Sniper with the Army who
had been in Iraq for a year (running over 250 combat missions), I refused
to continue to be a part of the occupation. I regret nothing. This is my
story. Currently, as I write this I am sitting in Kuwait, on
"stand-by" to return to the States sometime hopefully this week.
After getting out of the brig last week, I’m now scheduled to be
discharged from the Army within the month. I'm looking forward to joining
forces with anti-Iraq-War movements, such as Courage to Resist and Iraq
Veterans Against the War.
What led me to this place in my life?...
In Iraq I was as a JVB Agent—the JVB (Joint Visitors Bureau)
served as the protective service for "three star generals and
above" and their "civilian equivalents". This included the
Vice President, the Secretary of Defense, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs
of Staff, their equivalents in a number of our "allied nations",
and others. I trained for my job as part of this "special unit"
prior to deployment, and I spent the majority of my tour in the company
of the most powerful people connected to the "global war on
terror".
Even as a JVB agent, my primary job was still infantry. On days
when we didn't have any JVB missions, we would be called on for
"search and cordon" operations and other infantry assignments.
So, although I worked at the JVB, I was still on the roster of a sniper
platoon tasked with various missions "outside the
wire"—either as "sniper overwatch" or house
raids.
I reasoned that my actions during these missions were justified in
the name of "self-defense." However, I came to realize my
perception was wrong. I was in a country that I had no right to be in,
violating the lives of people, and doing so without regard to the same
standards of dignity and respect that we as Americans hold our own homes
and our own lives to...
"Success" in Iraq is not a matter of the number of
coalition deaths "declining". Success would be an end of the
catastrophe we have inflicted on a entire society, and restoration of
dignity and sovereignty.
Iraqis continue to die at a rate 10 to 20 times that of the
coalition forces. In Baghdad alone, five years and $950 billion later,
the population suffers power and water outages that last for weeks at a
time. Meanwhile, we often impose martial law so that no one can leave.
The day I saw myself in the hateful eyes of a young Iraqi boy who stared
at me was the day I realized I could no longer justify my role in the
occupation.
Read
Eli's complete story
"Supporting GI
Resistance" workshop
Workshop featuring Iraq vets Agustin Aguayo, Mark Wilkerson, and
Steve Mortillo presented by Courage to Resist and Iraq Veterans Against
the War |
At the Veterans for Peace
2007 National Convention in St. Louis, Missouri,
"Veterans' Truth - Gateway to Peace" August 15-19.
"Supporting GI Resistance" presented by
Courage to Resist and Iraq Veterans Against the War. Thursday,
August 16th at 4 pm in the East Room of the
Holiday Inn Select, St. Louis.
Workshop panel featuring:
Army Spc. Mark Wilkerson, Iraq veteran recently
released after nearly seven months in the Ft. Sill, OK brig for refusing
to redeploy to Iraq.
Army Spc. Agustin Aguayo, Iraq veteran recently
released after nearly eight months in a U.S. military brig in Germany for
refusing to redeploy to Iraq.
Army Spc. Steve Mortillo, Iraq Veterans Against the
War organizer.
Jeff Paterson, Marine Gulf War resister and Courage
to Resist organizer.
This workshop is a networking and learning opportunity for those
involved, or interested, in the G.I. resistance/solidarity movement which
is made up of organizations and people engaged in work ranging from
military counseling, to legal advocacy, to political campaigns in support
of public resisters and their families.
The goal of this workshop is to contribute to the collective base of
support for the growing anti-war movement inside the military today.
Army of None - New Book,
Upcoming Tour
New book by Courage to Resist organizer David Solnit and Gulf War
objector Aimee Allison |
"Army of None: Strategies to Counter Military
Recruitment,
End War, and Build a Better World" - A new book by Courage
to Resist organizer David Solnit and Gulf War objector Aimee Allison.
Uniformed US Army Officers lunch with students in elementary school
cafeterias. Army training programs including rifle and pistol instruction
replace physical education in middle schools. Like never before, military
recruiters are entering the halls of US schools with unchecked access in
an attempt to bolster a military in crisis.
Army of None exposes the real story behind the
military recruitment complex, and offers guides, tools, and resources for
education and action, and people power strategies to win. Aimee
and David will be traveling to 40 communities from September through
January. Contact Jen
Angel to schedule a presentation, workshop, or performance in your
town!
For more information and to order the Army of None:
www.couragetoresist.org/armyofnone
www.myspace.com/armyofnonebook
Book Release
and Project Kick-Off
Oakland, California
Thursday, August 30
6:30pm to 9:30pm
Club
Oasis, 135 12th St.
With authors Aimee Allison and David Solnit. Don't
miss the Army of None puppet show! Also: Spoken word. Projections of
resistance by photographer Jeff Paterson. Snacks by Chef Tom Cohen.
Co-sponsored by Courage to Resist, Not Your Soldier, The Oakland
Institute, Women of Color Resource Center, and Veterans for Peace Chapter
69 (PDF
event leaflet)
|
New Courage to Resist patches
Along with Courage
to Resist t-shirts, caps, stickers, buttons, hoodies, posters, books and
videos, you can now also get cool embroidered patches.
These 3" patches have an adhesive iron-on back for easy uniform
modification.
We produce all of these Courage to Resist items in order to help us
cover our operating expenses, and to help foster a political climate in
support of GI resisters. These donations do not come close to replacing
outright financial contributions, but they certainly help. In short, you
get cool stuff, and we can continue our efforts in support of the troops
who refuse to fight.
www.couragetoresist.org/orders
A message from David Swanson
David Swanson
|
Co-founder of AfterDowningStreet.org
As difficult as many Americans find it to speak out publicly against a
war that is constantly promoted by their televisions and supported by
their neighbors, that difficulty is as nothing beside the onslaught faced
by military service men and women who obey the law, the law that requires
them to disobey illegal orders.
Courage to Resist is well-named. Resistance from within the military
requires tremendous courage.
Organizing in support of resisters requires courage and hard work, and
it is some of the most valuable work being done today by anyone anywhere.
Ending the current U.S. policy of waging aggressive wars is the key
moral issue facing the globe, and the key impediment to it is the
pretense that the wars are being waged on behalf of the men and women
sent to kill and die and be wounded.
When some of those men and women speak up, it gives the world
hope.
Please make a donation
to support the work of Courage to Resist. |