By I just couldn’t believe that a newspaper that reports on the US military couldn’t bother to expose who the Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) really are:
With the U.S. military presence in Iraq expected to end by 2011, an organization of current and former servicemembers opposed to the war there is widening its mandate to include Afghanistan.
At its annual convention in College Park, Md., earlier this month, members of Iraq Veterans Against the War vigorously debated what the group’s stance should be on Afghanistan, according to some participants. Opposition to the war quietly became official policy earlier this year following an online membership poll. The vote was said to be close, though no details were publicly released.
“A decision has been made in terms of our position, which is we are against it,” said Jose Vasquez, executive director of IVAW and co-founder of the New York City chapter.
With that, leaders are “working out the way forward.”
Since its founding in 2004, the IVAW has focused almost exclusively on Iraq, though members have been free to speak out for or against the war in Afghanistan. The organization, which has a national office in Philadelphia, estimates its membership to be at least 1,700, with roughly one-quarter of its members still in uniform. Most members, active duty or not, have not deployed to Afghanistan, said Devon Read, a former Marine who wrote and introduced the resolution at the convention.
As is the case with Iraq, the existing IVAW resolution advocates “the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of all occupying forces in Afghanistan and reparations for the Afghan people, and support (for) all troops and veterans working toward those ends.”
Additionally, the IVAW supports full benefits and adequate health care for all servicemembers returning from Afghanistan or Iraq.
For now, the effort to develop a strategic approach to opposing the war in Afghanistan is being addressed at the local level. Among the most active on this front is the Los Angeles chapter, which Read heads. The L.A. chapter sponsors forums at which clips of a new documentary, “Rethink Afghanistan,” are aired and discussed. [Kevin Dougherty - Stars & Stripes]
Of course Jonn Lilyea is all over this as well.
Yyou would think that since the Stars & Stripes’ primary audience are members of the US military that it might be of interest to its readers to let them know that the IVAW executive director Jose Vasquez that was quoted in the article has never deployed to Iraq. Yes you heard that right, a guy leading a group of veterans opposed to the Iraq War has never served in Iraq himself. To further top it off the chairman of the IVAW board is a proven liar and IVAW member Adam Kokesh, who is running for Congress lied about his rank in the Army and thinks President Obama is a future war criminal. It only gets better, because much of the membership of IVAW has never served in Iraq themselves either. The organization is also filled with phony soldiers and frauds with at least one of them being an escaped mental patient! The frauds aren’t the only ones who found a home at IVAW, but so have the Marxists.
It would have also been pertinent by Stars & Stripes to point out that an organization that claims to have over 1,700 people had only 79 of them vote in their recent election for a new IVAW board. Wouldn’t readers also find it of interest that members of IVAW are leaving the organization in droves?
10:47 am on August 31st, 2009 1
Geez, I never noticed but all of my posts together make a pretty good case against IVAW don't they?
Thanks for the links, GI.
11:04 am on August 31st, 2009 2
I watched the IVAW in my local city build up, then fall apart, as the members (all authentic returning vets) got fed up with the IVAW's leadership soap opera back in WA DC. They are going on with their lives.
I think they realized after awhile that IVAW's leadership were only looking at the organization as a springboard into politics, alá John Kerry and the VVAW.
2:15 pm on August 31st, 2009 3
I guarantee you that although all these people are leaving IVAW their leadership is still considering them part of the 1,700 members of IVAW.
2:22 pm on August 31st, 2009 4
Jonn you should write one anti-IVAW posting in order to put all the information you have gathered on them into one single posting for readers. This posting is just brushing the surface of how bad this IVAW group is.
8:40 pm on August 31st, 2009 5
IVAW is more than the sum of its parts. Whatever you think of some individual members, the org has done a lot of good. I've met Dougherty, and I think he's a really patriotic American.
1:44 am on September 1st, 2009 6
AS, I thought you were going to leave the IVAW alone while you're on leave. Chill, girlfriend.
GI, I'm working on something bigger than one post actually.
2:54 am on September 1st, 2009 7
"War is a Racket" by US Marine Corp Major General Smedley Butler
"Military men are dumb, stupid animals to be used as pawns for foreign policy" – Henry Kissinger
As pro-war, which are you more interested in – becoming part of the $$$ racket or denying that you're being used as a pawn?
Is there a set number of Iraqi civilians or women and children you have to have killed to not be considered a "fraud"?
3:45 am on September 1st, 2009 8
I get google alerts in my email. Any blog with IVAW in it that appears shows up in my email. But good reminder.
12:16 pm on September 1st, 2009 9
"Is there a set number of Iraqi civilians or women and children you have to have killed to not be considered a “fraud”?"
Yes, but that number is classified. I could tell you, but then I'd…well, you know.
4:27 pm on September 1st, 2009 10
Four strawman arguments in four sentences, bravo. I suspect you did not do well on logic course in school by your lack of reasoning skills.
1. Butler's arguments were quite germane to the US small wars of the early 1900s until the late 1930s, they have no bearing on anything happening today. I have some nice Napoleon quotes I've been dying to use on the global warming crowd.
2. Kissinger got just about everything wrong during Vietnam and the cold war and also made his quote when the United States had a concript army effectively painting every American in the same terms.
3. Why would supporting the mission in Iraq and Afganistan fall only into your two carefully constructed rationales? You are the definition of narrow minded, "dumb, stupid animal also comes to mind."
4. "Fraud", I don't think the word means what you think it does. If you have an organization..say "Teachers against Hitler" not being a teacher but pretending to be one in order to enhance your reputation would make you a fraud.
10:29 pm on September 1st, 2009 11
Army Sergeant I would like to know what good IVAW has done? I don't think creating a group that allows fraudulent soldiers, marxists, and even escaped mental patients to pose as a legitimate veterans organization does much good.
10:40 pm on September 1st, 2009 12
Looking forward to seeing it Jonn.
11:30 pm on September 1st, 2009 13
I am so damn sick of all those anti-American types. GI what can we do to stop them.
12:15 pm on September 2nd, 2009 14
The best thing to do is expose them for what they are and get as many people as possible to read about it. That is why I am so disappointed that the S&S made this group out to be some legitimate veterans group without providing readers further information about IVAW.
1:21 pm on September 3rd, 2009 15
GI Korea,
Some things that I think IVAW has done that are amazing and productive, at least ones that I've been involved with:
1) Helping to advocate for the Post 9/11 GI Bill
2) Creating a mental health network of providers who are willing to work for free or reduced cost to veterans unable to get treatment elsewhere or active duty soldiers who are afraid of being stigmatized by using military resources
3) Helped individuals who called the organization to get help and advice with their military problems (I myself helped handle this traffic when active duty members were involved)
4) Provided legal support for soldiers whose cases were not in fact fodder for publicity.
5) Created nonstandard veteran group help and support
6) Provided a network of media contacts so that individual soldiers and stories could get out to the media when needed, exposing conditions that needed to be fixed.
7) Helped to pay for veteran's funerals when the family was unable to do so.
Helped to get veterans employed, created job training and alternative job resources.
9) Provided individuals in crisis 'buddies" who could be called at any time day or night
I mean there's a lot of things we've done, we just don't always put out press releases about them.
1:56 am on September 6th, 2009 16
Army Sergeant,
In regards to your points who wouldn't do something like advocating for a new GI Bill? Also I find paying for veteran's funerals interesting considering every soldier gets SGLI coverage to pay for funerals if they are unfortunately killed.
Also I have read plenty of your comments over at Jonn's site and I personally do not have a problem with you. If IVAW was being run by you I wouldn't be so critical. Clearly IVAW isn't interested in having someone like yourself running considering how you faired in the recent IVAW election. I think your efforts would be put to much better use in a organization where its primary function isn't political activity.
For example I have been approached by Vets for Freedom and I turned down joining that organization because it is clearly a political organization being used to counter groups like IVAW and VoteVets.
Also I exchanged some emails with Kevin Dougherty and you are right he is a good guy.
3:11 pm on September 6th, 2009 17
I predict there will be a lot more desertions. Take for example the hero Stefan Cook. He feels that until somebody can prove that Obama was born in the USA, he is not the legitmate Prez. I don't want to get into the birth certificate arguement, but I predict that many more soldiers will follow suit. I think its their right to know that president is an American. Until this issue gets resolved. Cook is a real hero.
On the otherhand you have guys like Jeremy Hinzman who are the lowest form of human coward. In the good old days, if you were a coward, you got shot on the spot. I see no reason why these guys should breath free air. They are guilty and they know it. Bring them back to the USA DOA. Put a bounty on their heads dead or alive. That will send a clear message to the hippies, dopers, and pill poppers that AMERICA means business.
7:04 pm on October 1st, 2009 18
I agree with everything Jonn has pointed out about IVAW. The organization is corrupt with members calling for sabotage military equipment while being deployed in a combat zone. This is disgusting.
Equally disgusting is how Jonn Lilyea, a couple months back, went after a medically retired Army Sergeant First Class and tried to paint him as a "phoney soldier" because he didn't agree with a reporter calling this SFC "a sergeant in the special forces" when he was actually a Sergeant serving with the Special Forces. For some reason Jonn Lilyea decided that the mistake the reporter made constitutes this Retired SFC to be labeled a "phoney soldier".
The funny thing about this story is that once Jonn Lilyea found out the truth about this particular SFC, he decided to remove the blog post from ThisAintHell (his website) but that was done after he tried digging up info on this Retired SFC and couldn't find anything.
Never the less, Jonn Lilyea was given this Retired SFC personal phone number numerous times and never once called him to apologize. Beware troops, Jonn Lilyea may take offense to something a reporter scribbles down on a piece of paper and fails to verify about you and you maybe called a "phoney soldier" by Jonn someday.
12:23 pm on March 6th, 2011 19
The article said that the group wanted reparations for the Afghan people. How about reparations from Al Queda or the Taliban for the 9/11 attacks?