Author: Eric Garris

The last time 1st Lt. William “Eddie” Rebrook IV saw his body armor, he was lying on a stretcher in Iraq, his arm shattered and covered in blood.

Now he is forced to pay for the “missing” body armor. The army charges soldiers for missing equipment. When medics rushed to save Rebrook’s life, they neglected to keep track of the bloody and destroyed body armor. “I last saw the [body armor] when it was pulled off my bleeding body while I was being evacuated in a helicopter,” Rebrook said. “They took it off me and burned it.”

Rebrook decided to leave the army because of his injuries. But he was informed that he could not be discharged until he paid $700 for his “missing” armor. Rebrook scrounged up the cash from his Army buddies and returned home last Friday.

I wonder if we will hear anything on this from the “Support Our Troops” crowd.

Kurdish writer Kamal Karim is to be retried for the crime of defaming Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani.

Karim had been sentenced to 30 years in prison after a trial that lasted one hour. He was convicted in December under a law passed by the Kurdish regional parliament in 2003.

His crime was to accuse the Kurdish political leader of corruption in an article on the website Kurdistanpost.

The reason that the appeal was granted is that such cases usually only draw a 5-year sentence.

Kurdish leaders promised to help deliver democracy and freedom of the press in Iraq after the fall of Saddam Hussein, who oppressed the Kurds for decades.

Lt. General Ricardo Sanchez, addressing troops in Germany on their way to Iraq, explained

“The country’s on the verge of a civil war.”

They are finally starting to admit it.

At the invitation of the Perdana Peace Foundation, Justin Raimondo and Eric Garris spent the week attending their Global Peace Forum in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. We had a wonderful time and were treated royally by the staff and volunteers of the foundation and the other participating organizations and companies. We’d especially like to thank Matthias Chang (conference organizer), Ooi Eng Hong (Garris’ liaison officer), Cathy Yong (Raimondo’s liaison officer), and Steve Peter H.S. Kok (parliamentary assistant). You can read a political report on our trip here.

Here are a selection of photos from our trip, more to come. Click on each photo for a larger version. Unless otherwise indicated, all photos by Ooi Eng Hong.

Eric Garris on War, Peace, and the Net		Justin Raimondo on Naming Names
Eric Garris on War, Peace, and the Net		Daniel Ellsberg on the Antiwar Movement
The main banquet hall		Ellsberg, Garris, Raimondo visit the Menara Telecommunications Tower Photo by Cathy Yong
Garris interviewed by Islamic televsion network		Former Malaysian PM Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohammad, Perdana Chairman
Last 100 Years of War Deaths, a Major Theme of the Conference		Poster listing the major speakers
Many more photos to come!

 

I had a wonderful trip to Malaysia to attend the Perdana Global Peace Forum. While in Malaysia, I had no snags or run-ins with any authorities.

This was not the case on my return to the US.

I don’t think I look much like a terrorist. Despite my utter contempt for them, I am always careful to be exceptionally courteous and cooperative with police and bureaucrats who can make decisions that affect my future.

I went through the main line at US customs at San Francisco International Airport. After scanning my passport, the first officer sent me to a different station than the others she was processing. I don’t know if this was a random check, or if I looked like a terrorist because I hadn’t shaved in a day, or if my name popped up when she scanned the passport.

At the next station, I was questioned about what I did for a living. I explained that I was a webmaster. That was not sufficient, so I had to mention Antiwar.com. That sent me to the next escalation and a third station.

At the third station, I was questioned about the nature of Antiwar.com, the forum I went to, and everything I did in Malaysia. The officer looked through all the literature in detail. He made me unfurl an 8-foot banner I had brought back with pictures of all the speakers. He asked me about each speaker in detail, asked me about my relationship with the former PM Tun Dr. Mahathir, who he explained was “very anti-American.” He didn’t just go through my luggage, he examined the political content of the books and papers I had. He made comments about much of it. He was alarmed by the copy of Helen Caldicott’s book because the cover has a photo of Bush, Cheney, and Powell smiling beneath a mushroom cloud. He found it “anti-American.” Then he saw that it was personally autographed to me, which he clearly didn’t like.

He asked me whether there were a lot of Muslims (Duh! It’s Malaysia!). Did I meet anyone I thought might be associated with terrorists? Were there any people from Thailand? (Not that I knew of.)

It didn’t seem to be going well for me, and I am pretty sure that the next “station” would have been “the room” for more intensive interrogation. However, all of a sudden he noticed a group photo with me standing next to a Buddhist Monk, Dr. Chin Kung, who was a speaker at the event. The officer claimed to know who he was and said he saw him on television and liked him. His attitude changed, and he let me go. I am pretty sure he was wrong, because Dr. Kung does not speak English, so I doubt he saw him on TV. But probably to the officer, all Buddhist monks look alike. I am very happy that I met Dr. Kung.

This was a pretty scary experience and in stark contrast to my friendly welcome in Malaysia. I think I came close to a detention/interrogation session that could have turned into something much more serious. With all the articles we run on the site about this sort of thing, it was really brought home to me in a personal way.

This morning, Rational Review reports the untimely death of R.W. Bradford, publisher of Liberty magazine. He was 58 and had fought heroically against cancer for many months.

I first met Bill Bradford 26 years ago. He was a dedicated and unwavering fighter for liberty and peace. The libertarian and antiwar movements have lost a great friend.

Thanks to Tom Knapp, Jeff Riggenbach, and Stephen Cox for transmitting this sad information.