War resister Cliff Cornell deported from Canada
This
morning Cliff, along with
his
lawyer,
surrendered at Fort Stewart, Georgia. Cliff is expecting to be court martialed in the coming weeks. Depending on how the military charges him, he's
facing years in the stockade. Please donate to Cliff's defense: couragetoresist.org/cliffcornell
Organizing to win
Courage to Resist's David Solnit offers up five lessons
for effective
organizing following the election of
Barack Obama. "People step up out of hope, not despair."
Throw-A-Shoe at Bush! To Obama: No war!
Hundreds joined Courage to Resist and Direct Action to Stop the War
activists in throwing shoes at Bush at a
carnival-style street theater booth over three days leading up to the Obama inauguration. Photos and videos.
Also: The Army is undertaking the
largest IRR recall in years...
Resisting Individual Ready Reserve (IRR)
recall
By Courage to Resist. February 3, 2009 (link only)
Iraq War resister Cliff Cornell deported from Canada
By Courage to Resist and friends. Updated February 10, 2009
[ Donate to Cliff's legal defense here ]
Reports to Fort Stewart today, court martial expected
U.S. war resister Cliff Cornell surrendered himself to U.S. border
police on February 4 after being ordered to leave Canada. He was
promptly arrested for being AWOL from the U.S. Army, and taken to the
Whatcom County Jail in Bellingham, Washington. During a vigil by local
supporters the next day (photo below), Cliff was released! Upon release
he was ordered to travel on his own to Fort Stewart, Georgia. This
morning Cliff and his civilian lawyer James Branum planned on
surrendering to the AWOL Apprehension Unit at Fort Stewart.
The 28 year-old from Mountain Home, Arkansas refused to go to war
because "it just didn't feel right," he told supporters at a 2005 rally
in Canada soon after arriving. "I don't want to be killing innocent
people." Cliff explains that he joined the Army only after repeated
promises from the military recruiter that he could serve his country
without being deployed to Iraq. Of course, that turned out to be a lie.
Cliff traveled to Canada four years ago after his Army artillery unit was ordered to Iraq.
Despite a popular outcry in Canada to provide sanctuary to U.S.
soldiers who refuse to fight in illegal wars, Canada’s Conservative
government is pressing ahead with deportations. Cliff had come to call
British Columbia home. But he now faces an expected court martial at
Fort Stewart, and possibly two years in an Army stockade.
“Cliff Cornell should not be going to jail,” said Gerry Condon,
director of Project Safe Haven, a war resister advocacy group. “He had
the guts to follow his conscience and obey international law. President
Obama should grant amnesty to Cliff Cornell and all war resisters.”
Cliff is the third Iraq War resister to be forced out of Canada.
Chris Teske also returned to United States a couple of weeks ago, but
was not arrested at the border. Chris and his lawyer are making plans
to surrender to the military soon. Last July, Robin Long became the
first war resister to be deported from Canada since the Vietnam War.
Robin is now serving a 15-month prison sentence at Miramar Naval
Consolidated Brig near San Diego.
Letters for Cliff can be sent to:
Cliff Cornell
c/o Courage to Resist
484 Lake Park Ave #41
Oakland CA 94610.
We will forward these letters as soon as possible, and we'll post a direct mailing address for Cliff when one becomes available.
A defense fund for Cliff Cornell has been established by Courage to Resist, a war resister support group.
To donate:
www.couragetoresist.org/cliffcornell
Organizing to win
By David Solnit, Courage to Resist.
January 16, 2009 issue of The Indypendent
Barack Obama’s election seems to have dispelled some of the despair
that grew up in the repressive war-making aftermath of September 11 and
the subsequent invasion of Iraq and Bush’s re-election. This is good
for organizing — people step up out of hope, not despair. Many of us
who have a deep critique of Democrats, political parties and
politicians, however, are left conflicted or confused. Whether we will
see the opening of a space for real positive changes or an era in which
movements and resistance get co-opted depends on whether and how we
organize — and if we learn key lessons from past global justice (and
other) organizing and understand how Obama’s campaign (and the
independent efforts for Obama) communicated, organized and inspired.
Here are five lessons that I learned from reflecting on the Seattle
World Trade Organization meeting shutdown nine years ago and grassroots
campaigns against war and corporate globalization since:
Read more...
Throw-A-Shoe at Bush! To Obama: No war!
By Courage to Resist. January 21, 2009
Hundreds joined Courage to Resist and Direct Action to Stop the War
activists in San Francisco in throwing shoes at Bush over three days
leading up to the Obama inauguration. Below are videos and photos from
these events.
Iraqi Journalist Muntader al-Zaidi threw his shoes at Bush while
saying, "This is for the widows and orphans and all those killed in
Iraq." We symbolically join him as Bush leaves office. We also throw
shoes for the widows, families, and US service men and women killed in
Iraq and Afghanistan. We throw shoes for those who are hurting while
billions are wasted for war instead of bailing out those of us lacking
food, housing, healthcare, and education.
Read and view more... |