Antiwar.com Blog

Operation Banner in Northern Ireland, the British army’s longest continuous military campaign in its history, has finally ended after thirty-eight years. 

Lieutenant-General Nicholas Parker, the General Officer Commanding, “makes it clear that he will not offer an opinion on ‘who won’ – no matter how many times the question is rephrased.”

Will the United States be in Iraq for thirty-eight years? Since we have had troops in Japan, Italy, Germany, and South Korea for over fifty years, I say yes.

From the August 6 edition of The Army Times (print edition only, not online):

Washington

Surprise fave among troops

WHAT’S UP: Among Republicans running for president, the anti-war candidate — Texas Rep. Ron Paul — has the highest total of campaign contributionns from service members, according to the most recent Federal Election Commission reports. Paul collected $14,840 from service members, slightly more than the $14,775 collected by Arizona Sen. John McCain, a supporter of the war in Iraq. The other Republican candidates got $2,600 or less from contributors who identified themselves as service members.

WHAT’S NEXT: Paul, who served as a flight surgeon in the Air Force in the 1960s, and McCain, a Navy pilot who was a prisoner of war in Vietnam, could not be further apart in their views of the Iraq war, which is the biggest military issue so far in the 2008 campaign that is just beginning. The current front-runner in the race, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, received $2,550 from military contributors, the FEC report shows.

[audio:http://dissentradio.com/radio/07_07_31_worthington.mp3]

British historian Andy Worthington discusses the plight of over 700 so-called “enemy combatants” at the Guantanamo Bay prison, who’ve been kept illegally, often times on bogus evidence with no defense.

MP3 here.

Andy Worthington is a British historian, and the author of The Guantánamo Files: The Stories of the 774 Detainees in America’s Illegal Prison (to be published by Pluto Press in October 2007).

[audio:http://dissentradio.com/charles/aw073007karenkwiatowski.mp3]

Ret. Lt. Col. Karen Kwiatkowski Ph.D discusses the “good news” about people waking up to the corruption of the American Empire and its threat to our liberty, the mysterious death of Pat Tillman, her time observing the necons lie us into war in Iraq from her desk at Near East South Asia at the Pentagon in the run up to war and her take on the surge.

MP3 here. (35:49)

LRC columnist Karen Kwiatkowski, Ph.D., a retired USAF lieutenant colonel, has written on defense issues with a libertarian perspective for MilitaryWeek.com, hosted the call-in radio show American Forum, and blogs occasionally for Huffingtonpost.com and Liberty and Power. To receive automatic announcements of new articles, click here.

[audio:http://dissentradio.com/charles/aw073107billlind.mp3]

Military strategist William S. Lind explains how the invasion of Iraq has benefited stateless terrorist groups and the logic behind his proposal for withdrawal.

MP3 here. (16:53)

William Lind is Director of the Center for Cultural Conservatism at the Free Congress Foundation. He is a former Congressional Aide and the author
of many books and articles on military strategy and war.

[audio:http://dissentradio.com/charles/aw073107johnsoltz.mp3]

John Soltz from Co-Founder and Chairman of VoteVets.org, discusses the newly released information about the mysterious death of football player-turned soldier Pat Tillman and George Bush’s recent invoking of “executive privilege” in the cover-up.

MP3 here. (19:36)

Jon Soltz, Co-Founder and Chair of VoteVets.org, is a leader of the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans community and is originally from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. From May to September 2003, Soltz served as a Captain during Operation Iraqi Freedom, deploying logistics convoys with the 1st Armored Division. During 2005, Soltz was mobilized for 365 days at Fort Dix New Jersey, training soldiers for combat in Afghanistan and Iraq. He also served his country with distinction in the Kosovo Campaign as a Tank Platoon Leader between June and December 2000. Soltz is a graduate of Washington & Jefferson College with dual degree in Political Science and History. He has completed graduate work at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public and International Affairs.

Jon Soltz has quickly become one of the most authoritative voices on veterans issues and military issues. He has been interviewed by national outlets such as the Associated Press, Washington Post, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, TIME, Newsweek, among others, and in dozens of local outlets. He has made numerous media appearances including Jim Lehrer’s Newshour on PBS, CNN. MSNBC, FOX News and ABC News and Nightline, and national radio programs including Air America Radio, the Ed Schultz Show, the Bill Press Show, Alan Colmes Show, and Mancow in the Morning. Jon is a frequent contributor to Countdown with Keith Olbermann.