May 30 - INTERNATIONAL STOP MILITARY RAPE AWARENESS DAY

MLester is FIRED!

Well, my friends, we did it. Mark Lester is no longer a police officer at the Kent Police department. Now I am gathering the documentation to give to their Lieutenant to put in his report so he can put him on a list and he will never work in law enforcement in the state of Washington again. Thank you for all your letters and support through this. His soon to be ex called and said that Mark is blaming her and now he will go into the divorce hearing acting like he is the victim.
Today is National Stop Rape in the Military day so it is appropriate that I send you this now.

Peace~

Sara Rich

May 30 - INTERNATIONAL STOP MILITARY RAPE AWARENESS DAY
One of the saddest realities I faced when my daughter joined the U.S. Army was that sexual abuse is an epidemic in our military. Both of my grandfathers were in the military, one being a Colonel and the other was a Sergeant, and both were good men. I heard the statistics, but thought I had raised a tough daughter, she could deal with anything they threw at her. I had no idea how many perpetrators and sex offenders lurk and hide in our military. I did not realize was that one out of every three women and one out of every five men in the U.S. Military are sexually assaulted. I still feel shocked by these numbers. And even worse is that it is rare that the perpetrator is prosecuted for the crime of rape/sexual assault.
There are some fundamental changes that need to change so that people can serve in our armed forces without fear of being sexually assaulted by their own fellow soldiers. One is hold the command responsible for any type of complaints that are generated. This means independent investigations into any type of complaint is absolutely crucial. All the policies and procedures and task forces in the world won't help if the command is able to choose which one to enforce. Informing young people before they sign away their rights about the statistics of rape in the military should be mandated. Informed and honest recruiting needs to be upheld and not a joke.
We must take a stand together to end the good ole' boy mentality of "boys will be boys" and demand a ZERO tolerance for sexual abuse in the military.
Peace~
Sara Rich, M.S.W. and proud mom of Spc. Suzanne Swift
suzanneswift.org
FACT CHECK: MILITARY SEXUAL TRAUMA
Last year alone, almost 3,000 soldiers reported sexual assault and rape by other soldiers.
27% of men have experienced military sexual trauma
60% of women have experienced military sexual trauma

3.5% of men have experienced military sexual assault

23% of women have experienced military sexual assault

11% of women have experienced rape

1.2% of men have experienced rape

20% of women seeking care at VA facilities have experienced sexual trauma
source PBS >
LEARN MORE
Free Suzanne Swift - www.suzanneswift.org
IVAW Winter Soldier Testimony - Gender and Sexuality in the Military
Stop Military Rape - stopmilitaryrape.org
PBS - Fact Check: Military Sexual Trauama
Service Women's Action Network - www.servicewomen.org/
Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network - www.rainn.org/
VA - Women's Veterans Issues
Department of Defense Sexual Assault and Prevention Assault Office
Women Organizing Women - Veteran Advocacy
ARTICLES OF INTEREST
Stars, Stripes, and Sexual Assault
The Women's War
PBS - Military Sexual Trauma
For Women Warriors, Deep Wounds, Little Care
Rape Hobbles Bush Administration Policies
Silenced in the Barracks
Sexual Assaults in the Army on the Rise
The Rape of Latinas in the US Military
Is There an Army Cover - Up of Rape and Murder of Women Soldiers?

5 years....

5 years later with over a million dead Iraqis, a destroyed Iraq, trillions of dollars spent and worst of all close to 4,000 dead soldiers. Yet, we Americans still sit by and watch helpless and hopeless to do anything to change the downward spiral of the country we love. We have waved our peace flags and attended a few marches. Some of us have even gone to DC and gotten arrested. We’ve heard the same speeches from the same people for years now. Isn't it time for ALL of us (US) to step up and do more? Camp at the Federal building until we have all been arrested? Boycott the fossil fuel mongers? Why isn't the American flag at half mast every time another soldier dies? We could be real radical and keep the death toll of this illegal and immoral occupation in Iraq on the front page of every paper until the killing stops? Will that be too real for the nice safe lives that we all pretend to live? Make Eugene a Sanctuary City so the brave Iraq Veterans who do not want to go back for their multiple tours can have a safe place where they will not be handcuffed by Eugene Police department and thrown in jail. People like the Iraq Veterans Against the War are working to end the madness of this administration. I am heading to Washington DC to support my daughter and other Iraq Veteran's as they speak their truth, bare their souls and give their testimony at Winter Soldier.
Sara Rich, M.S.W.
proud parent of an Iraq Veteran Against the War

A Real Terrorist Is on The Loose

I hope you'll find the opportunity to read this powerful speech...Bob

www.countercurrents.org/baghda...107.htm

A Real Terrorist Is On The Loose: Humanity And Mother Earth
Are in Danger
By Ali Baghdadi
17 November, 2007
Countercurrents.org
I am greatly honored to be speaking to you. I must tell you from the start that I will not beat around the bushes. I am not here to entertain you or to please you. Truth sometimes hurts. You are adults. You can take it.
I am a Palestinian, an Arab and a Muslim. That means I belong to the people that the United States government has designated as enemy. I belong to the camp of the "bad guys", who are punished, murdered, tortured and even raped. But I am also an American. I belong to the camp of the "good guys", who are doing the murder, torture and rape, who are waging what President George W. Bush calls a crusade, against my people, the "terrorists". Israel is an integral member of this camp. As a matter of fact, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), a Zionist-Jewish lobby in Washington, is leading this camp.
My wife for forty three years is an American. My six children and eleven grandchildren know no other country on Earth except the United States of America. Two of my kids have served in the military, and were honorably discharged.
Let me put it this way. I do belong to the people who hate you. Ironically, I also belong to the people who are hated, not only by Arabs and Muslims, but by almost the rest of the world, including Europeans. The United States is hated not only by Muslim masses, but also by Arab rulers who enjoy Washington's military and political support. Yes, America is hated by its "loyal friends," King Abdallah of Saudi Arabia, King Abdallah II of Jordan, President Mubarak of Egypt, and al-Maliki of Iraq, among many others. They hate, because the White House humiliates them, despises them and pushes them around. George W. Bush has given them one choice. Either you are with us, or with the "terrorists," their own people. They are unwilling to face the destiny of those who challenge the American empire. Unlike Saddam Hussein, they chose to be living cowards and traitors, instead of becoming great martyrs loved and honored by the Arab and Muslim people. The fact remains that, when their service is no longer needed, their master will trash them, will flush them into the sewage of history. America has no permanent friends, only interests. Today, anti-Americanism throughout the world is the norm, not the exception.
During a two-day visit to my city of birth, Jerusalem, and as my family and I were attempting to enter the Holy Sepulcher, the holiest church in Christianity, Palestinians told me, point blank, straight to my face, that they hate me; that they hate all Americans; that I am one of them, an enemy to Arabs and Muslims. The fact that I have been defending Arab and Muslim causes, particularly the Palestinians', for forty-seven years, made no difference. I do understand.
A day earlier, at the Jordan River entry point to my native land, Palestine (Israel), I was treated by the Israeli authorities quite differently. Though none of us meet the profile of a Muslim "terrorist," my son and I have no beard, and my grandson is too young to have a beard; though my wife is blond, has a low profile and peaceful disposition; though my wife, daughter and granddaughter had no headscarf; and though we all carried U.S. passports, we waited for seven hours in front of the passport control window before we were allowed in. In the eyes of the Israeli authorities, we are all Palestinians, not Americans. We are all potential terrorists.
I don't blame the Palestinians, my fellow countrymen and women for hating me. President Jimmy Carter describes the Tel-Aviv government as the worst occupational regime. Nelson Mandela and Bishop Desmond Tutu speak of Israel as worse than the former apartheid government of South Africa. The present South African government agrees.
In the West Bank and Gaza, Palestinians are murdered daily. They are being starved to death. They all live in a prison. Their homes and agricultural lands are bulldozed. Their olive and citrus trees are uprooted. More than 550 Israeli military checkpoints are scattered all over the West Bank alone. A trip between two villages that normally takes fifteen minutes lasts for five to seven hours. Palestinian babies die at military checkpoints while their mothers are on their way to a hospital to deliver. Palestinians' drinking water is stolen and diverted to Jewish swimming pools in illegal settlements built on their confiscated lands. Their economy is in shambles. The little of what they clench onto of their remaining land is actually a living hell. More than 60% of the work force is unemployed. Palestinian children are seen searching in Jewish garbage dumps for food to eat. Recently, Palestinian students who had come home to visit were not permitted to return to their universities abroad.
Three weeks ago, despite protest made by the United Nations, the world community and international human rights organizations, food, electricity and fuel to Gaza were cut in half, by Israeli government, as a mass punishment, because the Palestinians chose Hamas as their representative, in an election that was described by former President Carter, as free and democratic. President Bush, who told us that his invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq is prompted by his desire to spread democracy, labels the Palestinian Islamic resistance movement, Hamas, as a terrorist organization with which the United States will not deal. Even Israeli military disagrees with Bush's claim. According to a Nov 11, 2007 news report published by Haaretz, a leading Israeli newspaper, Israeli paratroopers testified that "in all parameters, we are facing an army, not gangs."
The Zionist-controlled U.S. mass media allege that Israel is not morally or legally obliged to cater to needs of Palestinians who are blockaded, who are under occupation, and all their air, sea and land entry points are controlled by Israeli forces. Israel continues to disavow responsibility for the human catastrophe Palestinians are facing, in violation of international law.
No wonder that my family and I saw, by the Damascus Gate to the Old City of Jerusalem, Palestinian crowds who were not allowed to pray at al-Aqsa and the Dome of the Rock mosques, shouting, pleading upon the President of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadi Nejad, to fire Iranian missiles towards their Israeli-occupied city, out of no concern for their own lives. No wonder why, after experiencing the intolerable living conditions of Palestinians, my children and my grandchildren in my company stood helplessly by, and expressed approval and support, despite the heavy presence of trigger-happy Israeli soldiers. No wonder why, during the 1991 war of aggression ordered by Bush senior against Iraq, West Bank Palestinians danced on the roofs of their homes and cheered Saddam's missiles lighting the skies on their way to Tel-Aviv and Haifa. No wonder why, after they were forcefully driven out of over 550 towns and villages in 1948, and the remaining 22% of their lands occupied in 1967, did Palestinian youths, males and females, find no alternative but to explode themselves amongst Israeli soldiers. Palestinians have no army. They have no tanks, no jet fighters, no apache helicopters, and no weapons of mass destruction, but their enemy does, and uses them.
Iraq as a country has been completely destroyed. Its seven-thousand-year civilization has been shattered. Its infrastructure has been ruined. Its industrial machinery, 750 billion dollars worth, was disassembled and sold as scrap to neighboring countries. Its water, air and land have been poisoned. Its resources are being robbed. Since Bush's "mission accomplished" declaration on the aircraft carrier Lincoln, 1.2 million Iraqi men, women and children have been murdered, a death toll that rivals Rwanda genocide. This brings the total number of Iraqis losing their lives from a combination of the two wars led by Bush the father and the son, and including the 13 years of illegal sanctions imposed on the country, to 3.5 million. Iraqi widows number over 3 million. Iraqi orphans exceed 5 millions. 70% of Iraqi children suffer traumatic stress syndrome due to death and destruction they are exposed to daily. Though Iraqis are known to be proud, educated and hard-working people, thousands of mothers and children are forced into prostitution to survive. According to the U.N., Iraqi refugees, including the internally displaced, reached 4.4 million, two millions in Syria alone.
A month ago, in an interview that appeared on 60-Minutes CBS TV, a U.S. field commander said that the military is authorized to bomb and kill civilians if a suspected Taliban fighter was in their midst, provided that the number of those civilians is less than thirty. If the number of unarmed civilians was higher, the approval of the U.S. Secretary of Defense or the President would become necessary. I am almost certain that those two men have never said no to the murder of Muslims and destruction of Muslim countries.
Even the Afghani leader, Hameed Karazai, a puppet and a traitor, stated on the same program that he had complained to the U.S. President and had asked him "to stop bombing us." Remember that Karazai is the White House man. Until he was handpicked by Bush and Cheney to become president of Afghanistan, the man was employed by Unocal, an oil giant, here in the United States.
You must have heard a question that Americans often ask, "Why do they hate us?"
In a speech given to the Congress, George W. Bush answered, because they hate our freedoms. We are told that they hate us because we are rich. They envy us because we stand for democracy and freedom. They resent us because we are the most powerful nation. They are jealous of our achievements and accomplishments. They are loners like Timothy McVeigh. They are intolerant; and their religion is primitive, irrational and violent. Certainly, these statements are insults to the intelligence of the American people.
Americans, particularly the Christian Zionists, ignore the fact that Arab Christians share Muslim sentiments. They also hate America.
"Why do they hate us?" Americans should have known why. Americans have allowed the Israeli Jewish lobby to hijack U.S. government in the service of the Israeli policy of aggression and expansionism. No Republican or Democrat candidate can win without the blessings and approval of this lobby. We have been pouring billions of dollars into aid to insure Israel's military superiority over all Arab armies. We protect Israel in the United Nations, despite its refusal to implement U.N. resolutions, and its disrespect to international law. We have also allowed Israel to be the only state in the Middle East that possesses nuclear weapons aimed at all major Arab and Muslim cities. In addition, this illegal and genocidal war was waged on behalf the Zionist state, to prevent Iraq of becoming a threat and a challenge to its military power and dominance.
Israel invaded southern Lebanon in July of 2006. Israeli-U.S. F-15 and F-16 fighters dropped over 1.25 million American cluster bombs on the civilian population. Lebanese cities and villages were bombarded, day and night. The infrastructure, including highways, roads, and bridges south of Beirut, was destroyed. Food, water and fuel storages were hit. Apartment buildings, schools, hospitals, clinics and houses of worship were leveled to the ground. One million Lebanese refugees were compelled to flee, with little food or water. It took 33 days of killing and destruction by the Israeli army, which is described as the fourth most powerful army in the world, before the U.S. agreed to a U.N. resolution for a cease fire.
Notably, Americans who volunteered to go to Lebanon to help were there only to rescue the surviving animals.
Five weeks ago, many of the residents of southern California, who escaped the deadly fires that resulted in over a half million displaced individuals, left almost everything behind, but brought with their animals, their dogs, cats and even fish.
Love for animals is not confined to Americans. It is universal. I do love animals.
Again, I must tell you the truth. Americans show unusual love and mercy towards animals. Those who are cruel to animals are punished and jailed if convicted. But what is really disturbing is the fact that the great majority doesn't show similar love and mercy towards people, towards fellow men and women. Death and destruction has been an integral part of Western culture and Western history.
I am not a psychologist or a psychiatrist. However, I do know that that is sick. It is also sickening. It makes me vomit.
Despite tight censorship, Americans saw the destruction of Baghdad, and images of the assault on the city of Falujah, which was nearly razed to the ground. They saw the devastation of the entire city. They saw Iraqi corpses blackened with Napalm and phosphorus bombs, which are outlawed. They heard cheers and laughs of U.S. soldiers as they bring down mosques and minarets. They saw the marines shooting unarmed, wounded and harmless civilians that had taken refuge in houses of worship. Though the number of active Iraqi resistance fighters is no more than 20,000, the U.S. army fired 1.5 billion small arms rounds in one year, more bullets than can be manufactured. The very little of what Americans have seen is enough to demand a Nuremberg-like trial for the President, the Vice President, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of State and their advisors, as well as top generals in the Pentagon. U.S. citizens have failed to do their part. They have been silent, and silence is complicity. They are not prepared to dedicate a fraction of the time wasted on stupid TV programs to learn a little about world affairs and the serious crimes against humanity that their government is actually committing.
Americans are generally indifferent and heartless. Americans see wars as action movies, computer games, exciting and entertaining. The 2,000 pounds bombs and ballistic missiles raining down on Baghdad were fireworks. Victims are numbers and their murder is collateral damage.
The question that puzzles me is, "How many more nations should be invaded and destroyed; how many more cities should be torched and devastated; how many more millions should be massacred; how many more widows and orphans should be left without a supporter; how many more Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo prisons are we going to build; how many more innocents are we going to torture; how many more international laws and conventions will our country be violating, before the American conscience can be awakened and become functional?"
Our "State of the Union" is gloomy and disgraceful. It is true that there are honorable, caring and courageous American men and women, Christians, Jews, atheists and others, who strongly protest U.S. policy. It is true that there are Americans who challenge the benefiters of war. Unfortunately, they are in the tiny minority. They are seldom seen on major news networks.
In the meanwhile, Bush continues to allege that we "don't torture" and that "waterboarding" does not cause permanent damage. Republican and Democratic senators, who should experience this technique only for a minute or two, have just confirmed Mukasey as U.S. attorney general, another victory for (AIPAC), despite the fact that he refused to recognize "waterboarding" as torture. Mukasey, a Zionist Jew who, as a judge, sentenced an innocent blind Muslim scholar for life imprisonment for a crime that he never committed, is now the Secretary of the "U.S. Department of Injustice." Under the disguise of combating terrorism, efforts to marginalize Muslims and intimidate non-Muslims of an imaginary enemy, the Los Angeles Police Department has just announced a program to "map" Muslim communities. Muslims' population in the greater Los Angeles is estimated to be a half of a million. According to recent polls, 53% of the Americans favor expanding the fraudulent ant-terrorism war to include Iran.
I didn't come here to solicit your support and arouse your sympathy for Arab and Muslim causes. Americans pass the buck. They cannot escape responsibility. They put their trust mostly in the hands of criminals, who do not take the legitimate interests of their country at heart and instead, cater to Israeli demands.
Arabs and Muslims will survive. Eventually they will liberate their lands, control their destiny, protect their resources and catch up in the field of science, and technology. All indications show that the Bush Empire is collapsing, and Israel, as an apartheid state, will finally disappear. The year 2007 has been the deadliest for U.S. troops in Iraq, and also Afghanistan.
Israel was forced to retreat from Lebanon. None of its objectives have been realized. Hezbollah is stronger now than ever. Military maneuvers held last week, have shown beyond a doubt the readiness and preparedness of the Lebanese resistance fighters to defend their country.
Though they are facing 160,000 U.S. troops and 180,000 U.S. mercenaries that are called contractors, Iraqi resistance has dragged the United States into a quagmire. Bush has been begging neighboring countries, including Iran, to give a hand. "Support the Troops" stickers, have been disappearing, not because Americans are largely against death and destruction. They want an end to this war because it is costly, and their money is going down the drain. The real cost is, according to the latest estimates, 3.5 trillion dollars. Also Americans are not winning.
What is really tragic is that Americans are generally not concerned about the boys and girls that come home in boxes under the cover of darkness. They are not photographed. They are not seen. The overwhelming majority are Blacks, Latinos and poor Whites. According to official figures, which are too distorted, almost 4,000 of our American sons and daughters have died in vain, died for Israel and big business. The injured and maimed are approximately 30,000. Those who suffer brain damage and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder are approximately 48,000. Soldiers who no longer serve in the front lines are neglected by the "Commander in Chief" of the U.S. Army. An estimated 200,000 veterans have been homeless at some point in the last year. Veterans waiting for their disability claims increased from 325,000 in 2002 to 600,000. Cooper, the head of the agency in charge of veterans' benefits, an Evangelist, appointed by Bush, proclaimed that Bible study is "more important than doing [my] job." Health care for Iraq's veterans will cost tax-payers 650 billion dollars and is rising.
Bush's claim that the "surge" mission is working, is another big lie. Operations usually carried out by U.S. death squads have been intentionally reduced. U.S. military ground missions and engagements have been greatly decreased. Fewer road bombs have been exploding because American forces stick to their bases, and no longer roam the streets. However, airstrikes against heavily populated civilian targets launched in 2007 are four times that of the ones launched in 2006. The U.S. will eventually cut and run as it did in Vietnam, Lebanon and Somalia. Members of the Iraqi parliament, though they were handpicked by the Americans, want U.S. troops out, now.
In Afghanistan, Karazai is not actually a president but a mayor of a heavily U.S. guarded section of Kabul, the capital. Taliban resistance fighters are regaining strength and winning. The British foreign intelligence, MI6, has been working on a deal with Taliban. NATO has rejected U.S. requests for more troops.
I came here, however, to warn you. A serial killer, a mass murderer and a war criminal and his gang are all on the loose. Americans ought to wake up to the truth. They are in great danger.
George W. Bush is talking about a Third World War, a "nuclear holocaust", which may bring an end to life on earth as we know it. "So I've told people that, if you're interested in avoiding World War III, it seems like you ought to be interested in preventing them from having the knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon," Bush recently declared.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that regularly inspects Iran's nuclear facilities emphasizes that Iran has no atom bomb development program. The uranium enrichment is for peaceful purposes. Iran is not a nuclear threat. Many U.S. experts agree.
The US National Intelligence Estimate (NIE), which coordinates the judgments of the US's 16 intelligence agencies, refused to yield to Cheney's demands to remove dissenting judgments on the Iranian nuclear program.
According to a Nov 11, 2007 news report, Micah Brose, a privately contracted interrogator working for American forces in Iraq, near the Iranian border, told the Observer that US military officials are putting huge pressure on interrogators who question Iraqi 'insurgents' to find incriminating evidence pointing to Iran.
According to specialists, Bush is a mad man. He is a psychopath. His brain is damaged as a result of years of alcohol dependency. As a child, he stuffed firecrackers in the mouths of frogs on his family farm, and left them to explode. The man hallucinates. He admitted that he talks to God. He told the Palestinian Authority "President," Mahmoud Abbas, that God told him to invade Iraq to spread democracy. He is waiting for the green light from his god to strike Iran. Of course, Bush's god is big business. He prays for the oil companies and the war industrial complex. He gives alms in the form of governmental contracts to his friends, who are robbing the American tax-payers in the billions of dollars. If he is allowed to push the button, the consequences will be a global disaster. Humanity and mother earth are at great risk.
(A speech at Northeastern University, Chicago)

Veterans For Peace Convention 2007 & IVAW!!!!

3,697+ Death to date...
I have just spent the past five days in St. Louis with the Veterans for Peace national convention in St. Louis Missouri. I arrived with a sense of bitterness and fluctuating hopelessness and random paranoia of the end of our society as we know it. Here I am five days later and I write to you with a strong message of hope and action. The peace movement is alive and well with the groups I spent time with this weekend. Presente’ were the Iraq Veterans Against the War, Gold Star Families Speak Out, Veterans for Peace, Military Families Speak Out, Courage to Resist and Code Pink. How happy it felt to be with passionate like minded action oriented human beings! The knowledge that each of them is working hard to end this war and bring our troops home eases my anxiety and really helped me relax.

Suzanne joined me in St. Louis. She took a four day leave and VFP was kind enough to pay her way out at the last minute. Some vets I talk to say these type of events can trigger them and their PTSD. Not Suzanne. When she is with her IVAW brothers and sisters she smiles and laughs and can actually breathe. She knows that they have her back through everything she has been through and she is loved, not shamed, by all. It makes my heart burst with pride to see her wearing her IVAW shirt and watch her get up on stage with them.

I learned a lot at the convention and missed a lot as well. There were some hilarious moments and some moments that just broke my heart. Alexander Arredondo was KIA in Iraq in 2004. His Marine unit went straight to Camp Lima where Suzanne was based and she was honored to bear witness to the pain of these young marines who had just lost their friend, “Dondo”. When I told Suzanne about this a few months ago, we were able to put the pieces together, since I know Alexander’s father, Carlos and stepmother Melida. Both families shared tears over this tragic yet healing connection. A new IVAW member showed up at the convention who was apart of Alexander’s unit and Suzanne got to make the very emotional connection between Alexander’s buddy and his parents. It was very emotional with many many tears.

I met LaVena Johnson’s father and heard his story of how the military is hiding the truth behind her death. The Army is telling her family that she committed suicide, and the parents know this is a lie. His story is compelling and chilling. It chills me because LaVena was almost exactly a year younger to the day of Suzanne and she had just reported being sexually assaulted to her superiors officers before her murder. You can link to LaVena’s web site through Suzanne’s web site. For the journalists who grilled Suzanne about using her “Chain of Command” now you can see why she did not. Dr. Johnson says he now knows of 9 families that have lost their daughters to similar and very suspicious circumstances.
We had a press conference while I was there with Dr. Johnson, Col. Ann Wright, Elaine Johnson, Sharon Kudfelt, Margaret Stevens and Ellen... all speaking with me against sexual assault in the military. We also had people with signs protesting and we had one person go into the MEPS station nearby and put stickers warning people about the statistic of 1 in 3 women in the military will be sexually assaulted and 1 in 5 men will be assaulted. I also lead a workshop on Gender in the Military. It was supposed to be Women in the military, but I really wanted to include men in the discussion as equal partners. It was a good discussion and woke many people up to the significant issues for both genders.

As always, I had many men and women share their stories of being sexually assaulted with me and I listened with love and compassion to their pain. As we were walking to the Arch from the hotel, a woman who was not with us, asked us what the sign meant, “ 1 in 3 women will be raped” I explained to her about military sexual trauma and she disclosed that she too had been raped in the military, but was too ashamed to explain it to her husband. The woman I was walking with also shared her story of being raped in the military centuries before and how it still effects her today. She had not known about military sexual trauma and that she could have her already active disability claim be re evaluated for MST. Really just amazing how rampant military sexual violence is. I should know by now, but it really still just floors me how many people tell me their story. I hold each of them in my heart for healing.

The resolution that the VFP chapter from Salt Lake City put forth for women in the military passed. This was started when they flew me out for a speaking tour in SLC. I want to thank them for their work to protect women in the military as they strive to serve their country.

As always I am SO AMAZED by the energy and range of talented activists that are emerging in Iraq Veterans Against the War. They are growing in numbers and taking on huge powerful actions to really stop this illegal war. I saw more IVAW shirts than ever before and I was in awe of them throughout the entire convention. The strength and leadership they are putting forward really is revolutionary and was one of the biggest contributors to my sense of hope for the future. I literally got goose bumps watching them all week. The first IVAW chapter has been started on an actual BASE! Now I think that is incredible!!!!!This organization has and is saving the sanity of Iraq Vets all over the world. Please support them with everything you have. They are our future and they are more than ready, they are DOING IT!

I learned a lot more about PTSD and how to help vets file claims with the VA.

I was honored to speak one evening with a line up of people including Garrett Reppenhagen, Agustine Aguyo, Elaine johnson, Nancy and Charlie from MFSO, Tina Richards, Fernando Del Sol Suarez, and many others. We heard from a sister Iraqi about her family in Iraq who is still alive and the intense feeling she has been through with a foot in each world. She opened my eyes on a whole new level. Dennis Kucinich spoke to us about his focused strategy to not only bring the troops home, but to impeach the criminals who are running the US Empire.

I networked with my military MMOMA sisters, Anita and Tina. That was amazing. We have some real work to do with our new group, Military Mothers Advocating for Military Accountability. My focus in the group is on women’s and transgendered issues. We are working on issues and legislation around homelessness in our veterans community and what services are needed for our troops returning home. Also, the backlog of VA claims and how we can build community to support vets through this very often re-traumatizing process. Whether it is with phone calls, transportation, paper work, basically anything that will make the process more bearable to the veteran.

I got to meet certain people that I had never met before! Stacy Hafely from Missouri Midwest MFSO was one of my life lines during Suzanne’s ordeal. She even created the current web site and saved us over and over. Gold Star mother, Elaine Johnson. Her son, Darius, was KIA in Iraq 2003. What a powerhouse mom. I felt instantly connected to her. Every time I meet another Gold Star parent I am humbled by their very presence.

There are times when people in the peace movement feel isolated and alone, especially military families who have been on the line in this illegal occupation. It was a real recharge to be able to attend the convention and to watch Suzanne flourish and laugh.

Heading back to Eugene now to start rebuilding our home. Once again, we are blessed beyond belief to be alive.

3,737+

Let’s stop the madness and the killing.

Much love,

Sara

Our poor house is burned

I am just going to type and type for a while here. My mind is blown. I feel like I should be on my knees grateful that everyone in my family is safe, alive and healthy. And I really am. I also feel on the other side very sad and scared. Our house caught on fire last night and burned/damaged 2/3 of our home. I worked and put my heart into the house to make it a home where everyone was welcome. It was a real home. walking through last night broke my heart. The crunch of glass under my feet, seeing my son's room totally burned up. My mermaids melted on the wall..The wreckage of our home dumped onto my well loved and tended yard breaking it up in spots. I have always said,, we are all just a step away from being homeless.. and here we are. IN a hotel..that does not even have HBO!!
After everything else, now this. feeling sorry for myself....feeling SO grateful that we are all ok.
fuck...I feel spaced out and like I am going to wake up..

Happy 4th of July?

Happy 4th of July~
As many people celebrate their 4th of July, things will be different in my family. Fireworks no longer hold the same appeal after I found my daughter shrinking into a ball. She heard the loud noises that remind her of Iraq and what it was like to be directly in a combat zone. No fireworks for me or many of my friends who have loved ones that are combat veterans.
Although my family does not drink beer, we all usually associate beer with the 4th of July. My husband is a member of Teamster Union Local 206. The Union members that work for a company called Western Beverage after MONTHS of negotiations decided to go on strike. There was no real negotiations with the company because their main objective was to get the Union out of their company. This would help them join the rest of "American" big business and slash workers benefits and do what they want with their employees. Our Teamsters went into these negotiations to fight a battle that was impossible to win. Western Beverage delivers for Anheuser-Busch company ie: BUDWEISER beer.
When I told my daughter Suzanne about this, she said to me, "Isn't that what America stands for, protecting workers rights?" I replied that is exactly right. American unions, like Teamsters, are there for a reason: to protect our workers. When big business tries to intimidate and bully them out, it is not only un-American, it is the most un-patriotic thing I have ever been witness to. Pension plans and solid health care benefits should not be up for discussion, they should be available to all Americans and not something you bargain with.
As I was picketing Western Beverage with my husband, one of the Western Beverage security guards attacked one of the other wives that was there supporting her husband. The Security Guard grabbed her by the hair and sprayed pepper spray in her face. Once again, is this an American value? Pepper spraying a woman because she is standing up for her family's right to health care? As I was walking the picket line, trucks were trying to get in, pushing their way through and almost running over the families that were their walking the line. Shame on Western Beverage for being violent and greedy corporate mongers and thinking only of their own profits. Who is going to protect the American worker if not unions like Teamsters?
So, as our family celebrates the 4th of July, please boycott Anheuser-Busch and Western Beverage with us. Come down and join our picket line at Terry and West 11th. The Teamster Union Local 206 would love to have you with us. It's time to stand up and say no more shameful un-American union busting. We the American workers have a right to our benefits. Teachers, Police Officers, Albertsons, Carpenters, Safeway. UPS, State Employees, you are all a part of this, we need your help.
Thanks.
Peace~

Sara Rich, M.S.W

International breweries

Overseas, Anheuser-Busch operates 15 breweries - 14 in China and one in the United Kingdom; In China, A-B operates Budweiser Wuhan International Brewing Company, Ltd. and Harbin Brewery Group Ltd which A-B fully acquired in 2004. Chinese production of AB products in China started, in Wuhan, after their purchase of a local brewery in 1997. In the United Kingdom, the Budweiser Stag Brewing Company Ltd. produces and packages Budweiser.

Budweiser is also locally brewed in eight countries outside the Unites States. They are: Argentina, Canada, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Russia, South Korea and Spain.

Anheuser-Busch strategic equity investments include:

* 50% of Grupo Modelo in Mexico[citation needed]
* 27% of Tsingtao Brewery Company Ltd. in China[citation needed]
* 30% of craft beer Redhook Ale Brewery[citation needed]
* An equity stake in Widmer Brothers Brewery[citation needed]

Beverage products

Anheuser-Busch brews over 40 different beers and malt liquors, which have won 12 World Beer Cup awards.

* Budweiser Family
o Budweiser (World Beer Cup Bronze Medal, 1996)
o Bud Light
o Budweiser Select
o Bud Dry
o Bud Ice
o Bud Ice Light
* The Michelob Family
o Michelob
o Michelob Light (World Beer Cup Bronze Medal, 2006)
o Michelob Ultra (World Beer Cup Bronze Medal, 2004)
o Michelob Ultra Amber (World Beer Cup Silver Medal, 2006)
o Michelob Honey Lager
o Michelob AmberBock (World Beer Cup Bronze Medal, 1998)
o Michelob Golden Draft
o Michelob Golden Draft Light
o Michelob Bavarian Wheat
* Busch Family
o Busch
o Busch Light
o Busch Ice
* The Natural Family
o Natural Light
o Natural Ice
* Specialty Beers
o Bud Extra
o Bare Knuckle Stout
o Anheuser World Lager
o ZiegenBock
o Redbridge (gluten-free)
o Rolling Rock
* Seasonal Beers
o Spring's Heat Spiced Wheat (spring)
o Beach Bum Blonde Ale (summer)
o Jack's Pumpkin Spice Ale (fall)
o Winter's Bourbon Cask Ale (winter)
* Non-alcohol
o O'Doul's (World Beer Cup Gold Medal, 2006)
o O'Doul's Amber (4 World Beer Cup Medals)
o Busch NA
* Energy Drinks
o 180 Blue
o 180 Sport Drink
o 180 Energy
* Specialty Organic Beers
o Stone Mill Pale Ale
o Wild Hop Lager
* Specialty Malt Beverages
o Bacardi Silver
o PEELS
o Spykes
o Tequiza
o TILT
* Malt Liquors
o Hurricane Malt Liquor
o Hurricane Ice
o King Cobra (World Beer Cup Silver Medal, 2004)

In addition to brewing beer, Anheuser-Busch also is responsible for the import into the United States of:

* Grolsch
* Harbin Lager
* Tiger Beer
* Kirin
* Stella Artois
* Beck's
* Bass Ale
* Hoegaarden
* Leffe

A Military Mom in a Mother of a March

A Military Mom in a Mother of a March

May 14, 2007

I left the Codepink house with my IMPEACH Bush and Cheney T-Shirt, my peace dog tags and a large strip of pink duct tape on my chest with the number 3,396 written in big black numbers on my chest.

I arrived at Lafayette Park with my friend Cindy K., who is also a military mom. We came little early to be there to meet people and get something to eat before the march, We talked about the possibility of using civil disobedience and what we wanted to convey in our message when we took the stage for the rally part of the event. Cindy’s soldier is in Iraq right now and we have all been on edge waiting to hear news of him. It was her first Mother’s Day without a call from her son. It added a somber note to our day.

We talked about what kind of group we can start as military mothers to support and advocate for our children in service and how we can take action on their behalf. We started coming up with terms to explain what we go through as military moms. The one we decided on was “deployment depression.” How it feels to be a mom knowing your child is far away in a combat zone and not knowing when or even if you will ever hear from them again. It is a miserable existence and we do our best to put on a good face, but inside I remember feeling dark and always in crisis mode.
We joined three more military moms that day. Marty, whose child is also deployed to Iraq, Tina, whose son is now a veteran with severe post traumatic stress disorder and Cindy S., who’s living our worst nightmare, her child was killed in Iraq. The sense of energy and support we generate with are hearts open and our mother bear instincts on red alert was extremely energizing and increased my resolve to be fully present for the actions planned for the day. As we listened to people talking and repeating the message of how the United States issues are not just the war, but the torture, the abuse of veterans, the oppression of the poor, the lack of healthcare, the shameful and detrimental foreign policies that this administration has shoved down the throat of the world.............only one solution came to light for me: IMPEACHMENT. Impeachment of all of the criminals in the white house and their accomplices in the house and senate. This administration and their minions are responsible for millions of deaths world wide and the extermination and genocide just continues.

With this is mind, I took the stage. The image of my hands drenched in blood leaving hand prints on every Congressional representative and Senators door that voted for this illegal and immoral war flashed in my mind. The White House no longer white but covered in the bright red and dark and crusted black red of new and old blood. When is it going to be enough for the American people? I talked about our troops and how we love them and just want them to come home safe and sound. We want them to be a part of the solution at home by helping rebuild New Orleans and healing our Nation as part of positive social programs. The rate of PTSD would go down if they were doing their real job to protect and serve, not being forced to participate as innocent civilians and children are killed needlessly.

Then I also talked about our own mental health and the state of our own hearts, realizing that it is crucial that we keep our hearts open to the good and the love that we know we all generate in this movement. If you find yourself jaded or full of hatred, take a step back, take a breath and come back when you feel better. We have to stay strong, healthy and remember to take a breath. As I spoke I gazed at the crowd and saw my daughter there watching me. Our mutual admiration took my attention for a moment. How far we have come in such a short time. Here I was speaking with powerful peace activists in front of the “white” house and she was standing there with her IVAW friends looking clear and strong in the moment. How blessed we are to be traveling this life together.

As we prepare for the “Mother of a March” we are asked that military mom’s lead the way holding the banner that says, “ Not one more mother’s child” and we chanted as we departed,
“Stop the funding, stop the war! Mother’s say, NOT ONE MORE!” We chanted this as we marched our way through the streets of Washington DC finally ending up walking up Pennsylvania Avenue right past the tourists with cameras, students with wide eyes and cautious security guards wondering what these radical peaceful activists will do to them. We took a brief stop in front of the Justice department where we chanted, “Sham Shame Shame” and Cindy S. took up the bullhorn and talked about the severe and deadly injustices that this US “justice” department has been complicit in.

We continued up the Avenue and would our way through the Capitol of our Nation. At the point where we were almost to the capitol, a former officer in the military who was leading us in prayer and chanting made an announcement saying that from the time we left Lafayette park to then our number of dead military in Iraq increased by two more of our brave children in the military. Tears began to flow and our grief was overwhelming. We held each other with tears and our chanting volume and intensity increased dramatically as we marched on.

We had no permit for this so we were stopping traffic and a few police cars actually charged us at times. Guess they did not get the memo that we were coming to town(haha) We reached the intersection where the members of Congress cross the street from their offices to the Capitol. My voice was hoarse from chanting, Dede had put a little microphone with my own speaker around my neck, but my voice was still raw. The energy was increasing and I was totally caught up with my sisters in the call for congress to impeach and arrest the war criminals. I noticed that the police officers were gathering forces as the vans, bicycles, black suburbans and uniformed officers filed out of the buildings around us. My heartbeat increased again. Cameras were everywhere and we were oblivious to them knowing that we were reaching our destination and our decision was almost upon us.

As we reached the intersection, our fearless organizer was checking in with us, asking if we were going to go through and be arrested. I was so furiously and emotionally charged I started to look for my daughter to hand her my stuff as the mothers with the banner walked in a circle inside a circle of people making the choice to be arrested. In the middle of it all was the American flag, flying high and proud. I was marching and feeling the thrill of breaking the law. All I wanted to do is stay with my sisters, the other military moms. My friend Tina screamed, “ We have to show them we are serious!!!!” I found my daughters eyes and motioned her to come get my stuff. She shook her head and she and our dear friend Geoff both screamed at me to get out of there fast. I shook my head no, I can’t leave my sisters, they persisted and I saw the urgency in my daughters eyes, her own traumatic arrest still fresh in our hearts, and I wrenched myself away from the circle and ran to my daughter with a sob. As I was heading out, a man asked me to take his video camera as he was going to be arrested and I agreed. I ran to my daughter and hung my head in shame and grief, my emotions overwhelming me. Once I got myself under control I stood witness as my friends and sisters stood their ground in the middle and were one by one arrested. We continued to chant and remind the police officers to be gentle. For the most part I saw them trying to be careful after they were reminded that these women are mothers and grandmothers. I turned my microphone back on and yelled at them how brave they are and thanking them for standing up. We told the police that they should be arresting the real criminals. Bush and his administration. I was still shaking with emotion as they led people to the vans and drove them away. I am so blessed that Suzanne and Geoff were there with me explaining what was going on and helping me calm down. The last van pulled away and we waved and told them we loved them.

Even though, rationally, know I did the right thing, for my family, my own self longed to be with them in the vans.

Later that evening as Suzanne and I made our way back to the Codepink house I talked about my sense of guilt and shame for having not followed through with the civil disobedience fire that was so consuming. She told me that being arrested was not glamorous and does not make me more patriotic. She reminded me that I have been working against this war and for peace consistently for years and even sent my beloved child to war.

She looked at me and smiled. At that moment, everything was all right.

3,398. We will continue. We will not be silent.

Peace~

Sara, proud mom of Suzanne

Remembering Jesse and update on Suzanne

Remembering Jesse and update on Suzanne, the rough unedited version....
Today is a hard day for Suzanne.
She is in limbo once again in Virginia this time. She has finished her classes, but they informed her the day before she was to come home on leave that she did not pass her PT test. Physical Training Tests are one of those things that triggers Suzanne's ptsd. MLester, her main tormentor and abuser, used PT as a way to punish Suzanne in Iraq. He would make her do PT( physical training) by herself while he watched over her for hours. Then the very next day test her and she would fail because of fatigue and he would write her up again. They call this "counseling." The very thought of PT tests creates huge anxiety in Suzanne to the point where she cannot sleep well and feels very stressed. The Army officials waited until the non-refundable ticket was purchased to tell her that she was not going home on April 26th. In fact they have changed her testing date 3 times now and she is very sad and stressed just wanting to come home and be with her family. I immediately wanted to jump in and save her, but Suzanne said, "No, mom. I will deal with this."
I asked her what her plans for the weekend were, she replied, " Sit in my room alone and drink. Saturday will be a sad day for me." Then I remembered that May 5th 2004 was the day Jesse Buryj died in Iraq and how that effected all of the soldiers and families of the 66th MP company. She asked me to call Jesse's mom and I told her I would. I told her she could call. She replied that she just would not know what to say and that she is just too sad. You have all heard about the Pat Tillman cover up? The same thing happened to Jesse. The military lied to his family and to this day his mother still does not know the whole truth about how her son died in Iraq. As I was talking to my husband this morning about our sadness, he replied, " I am sure that every day of the year another military family feels like this, Sara." The effects of this war are so detrimental. The loss of 3,404 troops as of today, does not include the ones that have committed suicide or died after they arrived home. We do not talk about the Iraqi deaths. We talk about the physically injured and the substandard care, but what about post traumatic stress and military sexual trauma? The families that have to care for the soldiers and their wounds, both physically and spiritually, every day.

Our Nation has to start doing more for peace, and more for our ravaged troops.

In some ways I feel like taking off my emotional armor and losing my anger and just weeping. Weep to the politicians who have allowed the deaths of our children and are facilitating the spiritual death of our beautiful nation. Weep to the world that we are sorry and there are people in the United States that want peace. Right now, most of all, my heart is heavy for Jesse and his family. And for my brave soldier girl crying alone in her room hoping that the alcohol numbs her pain just for today.

There are times when my heart is so heavy I feel like I can't move.

And yet we go on......

Peace~

Sara Rich, M.S.W

Birth of an Activist

The Birth of an Activist.

As Suzanne and I attended the rally for Lt. Ehren Watada on the first day of his court martial, she turned to me and said, “ Mom, where are the kids my age? Where is my generation?” I replied that if it had not been for what she had been through she would not be there protesting with me. She would be home sleeping or actively involved in the self-centered life of a normal twenty two year old.

Has Suzanne learned a lesson from this terrible experience? Oh yes, she has. The Army has taken a semi apathetic self centered teenager and turned her into a fierce warrior for peace and justice. As we keep saying or I should say, chanting, everything happens for a reason. I said this the entire time Suzanne was in Iraq. I knew she was there for a higher purpose; she was walking through the fire to come out the other side truly changed.

Suzanne was not against the war in Iraq when she went there. She completed her training with just the right amount of brain washing to tell me what an awful person she thought Jane Fonda was for not supporting the troops in Vietnam and how she really liked being a soldier. Hooha! She was proud to be doing the work of a Military Police officer and proud of her nation. I tried to bring her back to reality, but to no avail.

She suffered in Iraq, but could not talk about the depths of her trauma because good soldiers suck it up. She built a wall around her emotions the best she could, but still there were things that happened to her that she could not keep from me. I kept careful notes and saved her e-mails and chats. She knew I was doing this and felt better that if something happened to her I would know the real story of the men who were in charge of her in Iraq.

I sent her a copy of Fahrenheit 911 by Michael Moore for her to watch. She showed it to some of her fellow soldiers in Iraq. They were disgusted. This was around the time of the elections and morale was low in Camp Lima. I saw a slight glimmer of hope that Suzanne was making baby steps to think for herself again.

That changed the longer she stayed in Iraq, she became more depressed and there was nothing I could do to encourage her or lift her spirits. At this time she was talking about killing herself.

When Suzanne returned from Iraq, I asked her if we could take action against the MLester now? She replied with a flat voice that she cannot take action against him. She was unwilling to dredge up those horrific memories. in addition she had to redeploy to Iraq within the next 18 months and it would not be safe to be a whistle blower against someone who had power to make her life a living hell.

I urged her to get help for post traumatic stress disorder, she refused my help and says she is fine and there is no way she can deal with that “stuff” until she is out of the Army. I stopped asking and just did what I could to support her.

About a month after she returns from Iraq, she called me in hysterics. I asked her to slow down and tell me what was going on. She told me through her tears that she was sick of being treated like a whore by the Army and was going to officially report it this time. “Tell me what happened,” I asked. She told me about her Sgt. telling her to report to his bed, naked. She said she was going to make a formal complaint and break her chain of command. She sounded scared to death, but I quietly told her it is the right thing to do and that these guys need to be stopped. She courageously told on her squad leader. I was so proud of her for finally standing up for herself.

The US Army interrogated her and treated her as if she were the criminal. They told her to look up the word honesty in the dictionary and implied she must be seeking revenge against the Sgt. The worst part of it was that the rest of the unit shunned her for some time because in their eyes she had let her unit down, and been disloyal to her unit. What she did was a abomination in their eyes, making her not only a whore but a bitch.

Suzanne put her head down and continued her work. When she was told she was going back to Iraq 11 months after her first deployment ended, she questioned the order because she was supposed to have 18 months of stabilization time. The military representation told her that she must sign a document waiving her rights to her stabilization time. I was furious and called my representative and my senators. They all gave me the same answer, they needed a privacy act waiver signed by Suzanne. When I asked Suzanne, she told me she was ok and was just going to go to Iraq. She said it wasn’t so bad and she could handle it. I sat on my hands and did nothing but emotionally prepared for her to return to war.

At that point, Suzanne was not thinking about opposition to the war; she was fully focused on survival, and getting through this deployment safely.

Confronting imminent redeployment she went AWOL. Later the Army would contend that she went AWOl because of her mother’s political beliefs. I only wished it was that. If it was because of my political beliefs she never would have gone to Iraq the first place. Then they tried to say it was because of her own anti war beliefs. That would have been a dream come true. But the truth was that my daughter went AWOL out of pure fear; fear of what her command had done to her in the first deployment and rejection of being treated like a “deployment whore” again. This was not a decision it was a reaction.

All through Suzanne’s time being AWOL , she was not active against the war. She listened to me as I became more and more outraged at what our administration was doing: abusing our military and committing genocide on the Iraqi people, but she was not involved. When I asked her to speak at a Eugene rally last March , she said she could not speak about the war and her experience. The idea overwhelmed her. So, we wrote a piece together in which she said that maybe the United States needed someone to come liberate us! That gave me a glimmer of hope that she was waking up from this brainwashing and might become politically active.

Two days before her arrest, Suzanne and I watched a video by a young U.S. Army Lieutenant named Ehren Watada. He was going to refuse to deploy to Iraq and we were both very impressed and talked about his courage.

Without warning it happened. Suzanne was traumatically arrested in our home and taken to jail in handcuffs. The Eugene police officers had no warrant just an e-mail on the police car computer screen saying, “hey buddy will you pick this one up for us?” She was strip searched and denied urgent medical care for an abscessed tooth for 12 hours. She says she wept harder than ever in the cell by herself that night.

They took her to Ft. Lewis a few days later and put her under the supervision of the original harassing Sgt. from Iraq. She called me in tears again. I made some phone calls and she was moved to a new unit and a no contact order was issued for this Sgt. Eventually she was allowed to come home a month later for a visit.

The Oregon Country Fair where I tried to introduce her to Amy Goodman, but she refused to engage and merely walked away. I made my apologies to Amy about her abruptness.

Despite her apparent lack of interest, we had a rally for Suzanne on her 22nd birthday at Ft. Lewis. Ehren Watada was at the rally along with his mother, Carolyn. Suzanne had an instant connection with Ehren and continues to see him as one of her personal heroes. Suzanne was shocked and embarrassed but grateful by how many people were there to support her.

There was no overt change in her attitude until one day Suzanne watched the movie “Sir No Sir” and suddenly put it all together. She called me in a frantic state of “ MOM!! I watched the movie! We have to DO something to get the truth to the troops so they will stop fighting” My heart soared and I started to give her books and other literature about what the administration was doing to our country. She literally devoured the information.

I was invited to attend the national conference for Vets for Peace and we asked Suzanne’s attorney if she could go. He replied that she was forbidden to attend. So, we snuck her in anyway. Then some real magic began. We snuck her in and she got to meet with a group of powerful veterans, Iraq Veterans Against the War. (IVAW) and Colonel Ann Wright. This was a HUGE turning point for Suzanne. She spent many hours with other Iraq women vets and Suzanne’s eyes began to sparkle for the first time in forever. She told me, “Mom, these women really understand me. They know what I have been through.” It was so good to have these connections for her to build her strength and energy to start speaking out.

We had a press conference that weekend at the VFP conference about Suzanne’s case and sexual assault in the military. Many powerful women vets talked about what their experience had been and their support for Suzanne. What they did not know was that Suzanne was on the second floor looking down on us. She watched the entire press conference with unblinking eyes and I think this was a time when she saw just how impactful her speaking out has been on the women of this nation.

I finally, as a mother and an activist had hope for my daughter’s emotional and mental well being.

As time passed, the military officials at Ft. Lewis played their hideous hurry up and wait games with Suzanne’s life. Suzanne made some very good friends among the people that started Camp Suzanne who were caring and supportive. Suzanne found herself leaving the barracks in the evening to go and spend time with them. She also would sneak off base to attend Ehren Watada rallies and wear her Ehren Watada t-shirt. I warned her that it could be used against her and she wore it anyway. I was bursting with pride.

One night at home, Suzanne was getting ready to head back to Ft. Lewis. (She was being allowed to come home to Eugene every other week to see her civilian psychologist) She asked, “What was that ladies name who has the radio show and was at the fair?” “Amy Goodman,” I replied, my curiosity peaked. She asked “What is the name of her show?” I replied, “Democracy Now” She asked if I thought she could download it onto her pod casts. My heart jumped for joy. I was so excited at the thought of my daughter listening to Democracy Now. When Amy called a few weeks later, I handed the phone to Suzanne telling her Amy Goodman was on the phone and wanted to talk to her. Suzanne’s jaw dropped she was so in awe of Amy and her work. The next day Suzanne did her first radio interview on Democracy Now.

When Suzanne was asked by the Army to sign a statement including a part that says she was not sexually abused, she called me once again. “ Mom, do you know what they want me to sign?” she explained it to me and I asked her what she wanted to do about it. She spoke strongly, “ I am not going to sign it, it’s not true.” This was another turning point where Suzanne could have just signed the paper, not told me what it said in it’s entirety, and avoided being stripped of her rank and sent to prison. She refused the deal and would not sign. Her attorneys were furious at her for refusing to sign, but she held her ground. The attorneys went back to the drawing board and came up with a new “deal”. With this deal she signed a statement and she experiences a summary court martial with an uncertain outcome. She would probably go to prison, but it would not be for a year, more likely a month.

She faced her court martial with dignity and courage. It had to be one of the hardest days of her life. She was stripped of all rank and sent to prison for 30 days. I could only imagine the inner strength it took her to stand up for herself and do what was right. The only time she cried during the court martial was when she explained what the MLester did to her in Iraq and how humiliated she felt.

Suzanne went to prison, but she remained strong and resolved. She did what she had to do to stay true to herself and not let the Army break her down.

When Suzanne was released from prison, she was much quieter and determined. She came home to Eugene for the weekend and for the first time wore her Iraq Veterans Against the War T-Shirt. She looked at me with a wide smile, and told me she never wants to take this shirt off. It was good to have her at a rally and holding her signs for peace.

During the time of Ehren Watada’s court martial she attended the rally with me on the first day. She wore her Watada shirt and got on stage with other IVAW members to support Carlos Arredondo when he spoke about the death of his son who was a Marine in Iraq.

The next day she dressed in her civilian clothes, brazenly went to the visitor center and registered for a pass to attend a day of Ehren’s court martial where she sat next to Colonel Ann Wright. When she told me she was going to do this I warned her to to use caution. She replied, “ Mom, what will they do to me? Send me back to Iraq to be raped and /or killed? Send me to prison? They can’t reduce my rank anymore. Ehren is taking a stand for all of us and I want to be there to support him and let him know he is not alone.”

She went to the trial and was punished later by having all of her civilian clothes taken away and having a guard on her at all times. We laughed at this and took it all in stride.

A few days later a photographer from the New York Times Magazine was coming to Ft. Lewis to take pictures for a piece coming out about women in the military. When the command at Ft. Lewis heard this they told Suzanne that is she participated in this interview she would be face administrative action again A.K.A. another court martial. Once again Suzanne stood up to command and refused to take no for an answer and called her JAG attorney and he worked it out so she could do the photo shoot.

Now, Suzanne is in Ft. Lee Virginia doing her Advanced Infantry Training to be a shipping and receiving clerk. She goes to class every day wearing a uniform with a combat patch, a blank spot where her rank used to be and the name SWIFT for everyone to see. Many people have put this together and know who she is and tell her she did the right thing. She will be sent to Ft. Irwin, California in April to await further orders.

It is amazing to me how much we have to be thankful to the Army for. They tried to break my daughter down and shut her up, and in the process created a strong advocate for women around the world. Imagine if they had done the right thing and protected her from MLester in the first place or given her an immediate medical discharge when our attorney contacted Ft. Lewis right after she went AWOL and was diagnosed with PTSD. How simple and right it could have been. But the US military did not understand what they were doing or Suzanne’s fortitude.

So, when Suzanne asks where her generation is in the peace movement, I tell her to look in the mirror and all around her. All of the other soldiers she knows are just activists waiting to be born and she could be just the one to help them wake up. She has the story, the energy and the intelligence to be a powerful activists. She just needs to be visible and speak out!

I am so proud to be her mother.

Peace~

Sara Lantz Rich, M.S.W.

Ft Lewis, good bye and good riddance

Ft Lewis, good bye and good riddance.

Suzanne is heading to her AIT training in Virginia at Ft. Lee today. Let's hope the folks there are more humane and helpful. In my opinion if you are not part of the solution, then you are part of the problem. It is the neanderthal mentality of people in uniform at Ft. Lewis that perpetuate and support military sexual violence. The command there allowed this to happen to Suzanne and then made it worse for her by putting her in prison and stripping her of all her rank.

A photographer from the New York Times magazine came out to take pictures for a huge piece coming out in a few weeks. Ft Lewis command threatened Suzanne with another court martial if she went through with it and then took away her off base privileges. Finally, after having to fight with them AGAIN, they agreed to allow her off base for the photographer, who flew in from out of town, as long as she was ESCORTED! Don't they know if she was going to run again, she would have done it a long time ago. I had to call a Colonel to get the escorts to respond to Suzanne, then they returned her calls and she made the photo shoot. We will let you know when the NYTM hits the press and then we are planning some major action in DC against military sexual violence.

Once again, we will not stop until there is justice for Suzanne and the thousands of other men and women who have been sexually abused in the military.
Peace~

Sara Rich, M.S.W

suzanneswift.org/

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