[Peace-discuss] WAY TO GO !!!!

Fri Nov 25 02:45:03 UTC 2016

This is really heartwarming. I did expect anti-war Vets might get involved, but non anti-war was a very pleasant surprise.

On Nov 24, 2016, at 17:53, Stuart Levy <stuartnlevy at gmail.com<mailto:stuartnlevy at gmail.com>> wrote:

Yes, this is good news.

It looks as though IVAW is doing their own gathering at Standing Rock - maybe independently of the groups described in this article.   I received this yesterday:

<header_01.png><http://org2.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=QZ26rhtVG3lGxzwUM9RxG6FrNWNTOy%2Fo><header_02.png><http://org2.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=jonrfD%2FiYzlvQtzuCQNikqFrNWNTOy%2Fo><header_03.png><http://org2.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=HOkMORzxkzqy8vprc8k5P6FrNWNTOy%2Fo><header_04.png><http://org2.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=sfh%2FzXTxt0lMrge0AmTBu6FrNWNTOy%2Fo>

What's New

  *   Donate to Oceti Sakowin camp<http://org2.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=AWqZjlWxvDUdRfC0WnEQy6FrNWNTOy%2Fo>
  *   Coverage of ACE action in NYC<http://org2.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=xwJRfi5OwW812ORI2difiqFrNWNTOy%2Fo>

Additional Resources

  *   Donate Today<http://org2.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=%2F1JJQJTrvJPvAtasKFeGz6FrNWNTOy%2Fo>
  *   Contact IVAW<http://org2.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=RYLu6f41WY%2BOo7qxJ5WFdqFrNWNTOy%2Fo>

Dear Stuart,

As I type this, I am riding in a truck loaded with heaters, a large military tent, and food headed to the main camp at Standing Rock. I am joining more than a dozen fellow members out there (with more on the way) who will take part in the week of action as we help winterize the camp, support our allies with Grassroots Global Justice Alliance, and bring our collective skills sets from the military to support the indigenous-led resistance.

Last week, we told you about the action six of our members took in NYC to kick off our efforts in solidarity with the water protectors at Standing Rock. We walked into the Army Corps of Engineers (ACE) office and delivered a letter to Regional Deputy Director Larry Mazola, calling on the ACE to stand down and for an end to the Dakota Access Pipeline. As we talked to the ACE representative, we were surprised to hear him make it clear, on camera, that the resistance is winning:

“You've made yourself heard. The Corps of Engineers is re-looking at this. So just by your stand, we're going to go back and take a look and make sure we're doing the right things. And that is directly a result of what you guys are all doing.”

We knew that the U.S. military and ACE have a long history of undermining Indigenous sovereignty and outright robbing Native peoples of their land, and that this was a moment when we could show that veterans were not going to stand by idly and have it happen again. As NYC IVAW member Nicole Goodwin told Gothamist<http://org2.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=xDnPiAeGOWqMd3iZcL0i4aFrNWNTOy%2Fo>:

“It is especially important for veterans and service members to stand with Standing Rock because we have the responsibility to rectify the US military's history of occupation. We went to the Army Corps today to tell them to deny permits for DAPL, to tell them that we are watching their moves, and that the core values of this country are in danger unless they act."

Last night members of our Colorado chapter who are at Standing Rock went to the the Morton County Commission in Bismarck to represent our anger at the dangerous violence leveled at the water protectors on Sunday night, including water cannons and tear gas in freezing temperatures. After the commission meeting, IVAW Board Member and Unitarian Minister Shawna Foster asked the commission members to pray for water protector Sofia Wilansky who was grievously injured. We told them it was high past time for the resignation of Sheriff Kirchmeier who is leading a militarized police force against peaceful protectors.

<Shawna No DAPL.jpg>

Despite the media blackout and the state violence and surveillance wielded against water protectors, this fight is reaching a critical mass. We hope that as you spend time this holiday weekend that you also do what you can to take action in support of this critical work, whether that is to donate to the main camp Oceti Sakowin<http://org2.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=Dv3tiQrTa2lCJWrvzXoaeqFrNWNTOy%2Fo> or to dial up the pressure on the local Sheriff Department. If you've got a moment, contact the Morton County Sheriff Kyle Kirchmeier and let him know that water protectors have the right to participate in peaceful protest without being met by a militarized police force more interested in protecting corporate interests than the people of North Dakota:

Morton County Sheriff
Kyle Kirchmeier

205 1st Ave NW
Mandan, ND 58554

Phone: 701-667-3330

Email: kyle.kirchmeier at mortonnd.org<mailto:kyle.kirchmeier at mortonnd.org>

https://www.facebook.com/MortonCountySD/
<http://org2.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=Ce3CbgHj%2FvKxcQ%2F6ab8BY4EQkdUtI9cz>

Thanks for your support in these tough moments and for standing on the right side of a critical fight. Your action will make a difference in the work ahead.

In Solidarity,

Matt Howard
Co-Director
Iraq Veterans Against the War

Iraq Veterans Against the War is a 501(c)(3) charity,
and welcomes your tax deductible contributions<http://org2.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=jjGydEeB37pzO6mrR4%2BVpaFrNWNTOy%2Fo>
<footer_donate_button.png><http://org2.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=CjrBesZfjUG%2B3rf5RaWDtaFrNWNTOy%2Fo>

On 11/24/16 1:23 PM, Karen Aram via Peace-discuss wrote:
Published on
Thursday, November 24, 2016
by
Common Dreams<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.commondreams.org_&d=DQMGaQ&c=8hUWFZcy2Z-Za5rBPlktOQ&r=_iuwmBDMEAIAz6k1h--JVoji6x5mlDiImSbbdIp2zWg&m=K54x7sNt-vJ1JOnw4PJ3yexzyJFqoO7OWySMlhDXf_E&s=jrUS4GGkt_nJIuerURiqSIRgjfTbVESGCU1j354iJIY&e=>
Veterans Plan "Deployment" to Join Water Protectors' Battle Against DAPL
"Let's stop this savage injustice being committed right here at home. If not us, who? If not now, when?"
by
Nika Knight, staff writer<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.commondreams.org_author_nika-2Dknight-2Dstaff-2Dwriter&d=DQMGaQ&c=8hUWFZcy2Z-Za5rBPlktOQ&r=_iuwmBDMEAIAz6k1h--JVoji6x5mlDiImSbbdIp2zWg&m=K54x7sNt-vJ1JOnw4PJ3yexzyJFqoO7OWySMlhDXf_E&s=gdvn3Cqc0sqFTboiHru4-fusFs5dEm8kyvp2E6v4X1g&e=>

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 3 Comments<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__commons.commondreams.org_t_veterans-2Dplan-2Ddeployment-2Dto-2Djoin-2Dwater-2Dprotectors-2Dbattle-2Dagainst-2Ddapl_33565&d=DQMGaQ&c=8hUWFZcy2Z-Za5rBPlktOQ&r=_iuwmBDMEAIAz6k1h--JVoji6x5mlDiImSbbdIp2zWg&m=K54x7sNt-vJ1JOnw4PJ3yexzyJFqoO7OWySMlhDXf_E&s=gzGwHXK06x5MpZB2NOdA3HYnAZgaVUxZystjNxP850Y&e=>
[Water protectors march against the Dakota Access                Pipeline.]
Water protectors march against the Dakota Access Pipeline. (Photo: Andrew Cullen/Reuters)

Over 1,000 U.S. military veterans<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.facebook.com_events_1136540643060285_&d=DQMGaQ&c=8hUWFZcy2Z-Za5rBPlktOQ&r=_iuwmBDMEAIAz6k1h--JVoji6x5mlDiImSbbdIp2zWg&m=K54x7sNt-vJ1JOnw4PJ3yexzyJFqoO7OWySMlhDXf_E&s=ohcAguIkCpYN7Khxw-tf1BQEWTDgwxEyk-2ElWBMKPw&e=> are planning to "deploy" to join the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and peacefully support the water protectors' fight against the controversial Dakota Access Pipeline<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.commondreams.org_tag_dakota-2Daccess-2Dpipeline&d=DQMGaQ&c=8hUWFZcy2Z-Za5rBPlktOQ&r=_iuwmBDMEAIAz6k1h--JVoji6x5mlDiImSbbdIp2zWg&m=K54x7sNt-vJ1JOnw4PJ3yexzyJFqoO7OWySMlhDXf_E&s=bGDRc6_D82T0cTvqUAgoa2qxoNcGaHrfrggdYvqOj7k&e=> near Cannon Ball, North Dakota.

"If we're going to be heroes, if we're really going to be those veterans that this country praises, well, then we need to do the things that we actually said we're going to do when we took the oath to defend the Constitution from enemies foreign and domestic."
—Michael Wood Jr.,
Veterans Stand for Standing Rock"We are calling for our fellow veterans to assemble as a peaceful, unarmed militia at the Standing Rock Indian Reservation on Dec 4-7 and defend the water protectors from assault<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.commondreams.org_news_2016_11_21_police-2Dblast-2Dnodapl-2Dactivists-2Dwater-2Dcannons-2Dsub-2Dfreezing-2Dtemps&d=DQMGaQ&c=8hUWFZcy2Z-Za5rBPlktOQ&r=_iuwmBDMEAIAz6k1h--JVoji6x5mlDiImSbbdIp2zWg&m=K54x7sNt-vJ1JOnw4PJ3yexzyJFqoO7OWySMlhDXf_E&s=_CvqokhFEK2Eh__Ny0b_U_ayYenoqZqqS9p36_Gutz8&e=> and intimidation<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.commondreams.org_news_2016_11_22_call-2Ddoj-2Dobservers-2Dnorth-2Ddakota-2Ddapl-2Dactivists-2Dface-2Dsevere-2Dinjuries-2Darrests&d=DQMGaQ&c=8hUWFZcy2Z-Za5rBPlktOQ&r=_iuwmBDMEAIAz6k1h--JVoji6x5mlDiImSbbdIp2zWg&m=K54x7sNt-vJ1JOnw4PJ3yexzyJFqoO7OWySMlhDXf_E&s=jWveqBkVGih-PJZUb4NhqEkH8A2m7tC2bg8rwYojAJs&e=> at the hands of the militarized police force and DAPL security," the organizers wrote on the group's GoFundMe page<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.gofundme.com_veterans-2Dfor-2Dstanding-2Drock-2Dnodapl-3Frcid-3D1573e2264b8b495ca3abe66969a0e324&d=DQMGaQ&c=8hUWFZcy2Z-Za5rBPlktOQ&r=_iuwmBDMEAIAz6k1h--JVoji6x5mlDiImSbbdIp2zWg&m=K54x7sNt-vJ1JOnw4PJ3yexzyJFqoO7OWySMlhDXf_E&s=jKEXkYE5h2kDenCz-cqgeJaHzIgtLpnef4dnDUehKVk&e=>.

"Come to Standing Rock Indian Reservation and hold the line with Wes Clark Jr., Michael Wood Jr., [Hawaii Democratic Rep.] Tulsi Gabbard, and hundreds of other veterans in support of the Sioux nation against the DAPL pipeline," reads the description of the action on Facebook<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.facebook.com_events_1136540643060285_-3Factive-5Ftab-3Dabout&d=DQMGaQ&c=8hUWFZcy2Z-Za5rBPlktOQ&r=_iuwmBDMEAIAz6k1h--JVoji6x5mlDiImSbbdIp2zWg&m=K54x7sNt-vJ1JOnw4PJ3yexzyJFqoO7OWySMlhDXf_E&s=mbSpBApjS-XrHtYAa_Y_4-4yAogIeIqWaHzgJT2hJ2o&e=>.

The event, Veterans Stand for Standing Rock, was put together by "veterans of the United States Armed Forces, including the U.S. Army, United States Marine Corps, U.S. Navy, U.S. Air Force, and U.S. Coast Guard," according to the group's fundraiser.

The call to action has already garnered nearly $200,000 in donations, which will to go toward funding veterans' travel to North Dakota and legal fees they are likely to incur.

Clark Jr. and Wood Jr., the two primary organizers of the campaign, spoke to their passion for the water protectors' cause and their commitment to nonviolence when they were profiled<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__taskandpurpose.com_where-2Devil-2Dresides-2Dveterans-2Ddeploy-2Dto-2Dstanding-2Drock-2Dto-2Dengage-2Dthe-2Denemy-2Dthe-2Dus-2Dgovernment_&d=DQMGaQ&c=8hUWFZcy2Z-Za5rBPlktOQ&r=_iuwmBDMEAIAz6k1h--JVoji6x5mlDiImSbbdIp2zWg&m=K54x7sNt-vJ1JOnw4PJ3yexzyJFqoO7OWySMlhDXf_E&s=I3F9Rxu_xn5FTmai3dTGn0y1kxyu6F9YlekZDhh3vk8&e=> earlier this week in the veterans' publication Task & Purpose:

"This country is repressing our people," Wood Jr. says. "If we’re going to be heroes, if we're really going to be those veterans that this country praises, well, then we need to do the things that we actually said we're going to do when we took the oath to defend the Constitution from enemies foreign and domestic."

[...] "We're not going out there to get in a fight with anyone," Clark Jr. says. "They can feel free to beat us up, but we're 100% nonviolence."

"According to an 'operations order' <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__en.wikipedia.org_wiki_Operations-5Forder&d=DQMGaQ&c=8hUWFZcy2Z-Za5rBPlktOQ&r=_iuwmBDMEAIAz6k1h--JVoji6x5mlDiImSbbdIp2zWg&m=K54x7sNt-vJ1JOnw4PJ3yexzyJFqoO7OWySMlhDXf_E&s=6sIjb7k4vRQvcpRYiQ4m3uIMeNxhKzeQw1pKIxROLKU&e=> for the planned engagement, posted to social media in mid-November, 'First Americans have served in the United States Military, defending the soil of our homelands, at a greater percentage than any other group of Americans. There is no other people more deserving of veteran support,'" Task & Purpose writes.

Indeed, Wood Jr. posted full the operations order on Twitter:

The veterans are prepared for the police violence<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.commondreams.org_news_2016_11_23_people-2Dare-2Dgoing-2Ddie-2Dfather-2Dwounded-2Ddapl-2Dactivist-2Dsophia-2Dwilansky-2Dspeaks-2Dout&d=DQMGaQ&c=8hUWFZcy2Z-Za5rBPlktOQ&r=_iuwmBDMEAIAz6k1h--JVoji6x5mlDiImSbbdIp2zWg&m=K54x7sNt-vJ1JOnw4PJ3yexzyJFqoO7OWySMlhDXf_E&s=9dR-2saTDHyTSU6lpi-kKYesyYfX6ToRBKqPiIrJ_cE&e=> that they may encounter: "Bring [b]ody armor, gas masks, earplugs, AND shooting mufflers (we may be facing a sound cannon) but no drugs, alcohol, or weapons," the organizers told the volunteers.

Task & Purpose delved into all the details of the veterans' plan, which is intended both to bolster the peaceful water protectors' fight as well as to draw media attention to the ongoing protest:

On Dec. 4, Clark Jr. and Wood Jr., along with a group of veterans and other folks in the "bravery business," as Wood Jr. puts it [...] will muster at Standing Rock. The following morning they will join members of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe, including Young, for a traditional healing ceremony. With an eye toward the media, old military uniforms will be donned so that if the veterans are brutalized by the police, they are brutalized not as ordinary citizens, but as people who once served the government they are protesting against. Then body armor, ear plugs, and gas masks will be issued to those who didn’t bring their own. Bagpipes will play, and traditional Sioux war songs will be sung. The music will continue as everyone marches together to the banks of the Missouri, on the other side of which a line of guards in riot gear will be standing ready with rifles, mace, batons, and dogs. Then, the veterans and their allies—or at least the ones who are brave enough—will lock arms and cross the river in a "massive line" for their "first encounter" with the "opposing forces." The goal is to make it to the drilling pad and surround it, arm in arm. That will require making it through the line of guards, who have repelled other such attempts with a level of physical force Sioux tribal members and protesters have described as "excessive"—claims that recently prompted a United Nations investigation.<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.theguardian.com_us-2Dnews_2016_oct_31_dakota-2Daccess-2Dpipeline-2Dprotest-2Dinvestigation-2Dhuman-2Drights-2Dabuses&d=DQMGaQ&c=8hUWFZcy2Z-Za5rBPlktOQ&r=_iuwmBDMEAIAz6k1h--JVoji6x5mlDiImSbbdIp2zWg&m=K54x7sNt-vJ1JOnw4PJ3yexzyJFqoO7OWySMlhDXf_E&s=kSXoShKtYCdFfIdcbRp1WcMpxQP7bXsA2VHuk_fmwYg&e=> Of course, that's what the body armor and gas masks are for.

"We'll have those people who will recognize that they're not willing to take a bullet, and those who recognize that they are," Wood Jr. told Task & Purpose. "It's okay if some of them step back, but Wes and I have no intention of doing so."

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License

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