Compare excellent blog report at Washblog to 'traditional' media reports Citizens' Hearing tribunal Tacoma, WA

Washblog reporting compared to traditional media reporting on the tribunal this weekend putting Iraq war on trial. Compare it for yourself and I think you 'll agree that the first reports at Washblog far exceeded the reporting that came from 'traditional media'. Reporter account at Washblog are more informative and less opined - actual factual reporting.

An example of excellent Courageous Citizen Reporters at work at the

CITIZENS' HEARING ON THE
LEGALITY OF U.S. ACTIONS IN IRAQ:
The Case of Lt. Ehren Watada
Evergreen Tacoma, Jan. 20-21, 2007

LIVE BLOG at Washblog from the Citizens' Hearing
http://www.washblog.com/story/2007/1/20/134540/099

VIDEO/AUDIO CLIPS FROM THE TRIBUNAL
http://www.wartribunal.org/testimony.htm

ARTICLES, RADIO & RELEASES below and at
http://www.wartribunal.org/press.htm

NEWSPAPERS:

(updated)

WAR ON TRIAL
Tacoma Weekly
http://www.tacomaweekly.com/article/145/1

400 attend forum on Iraq War
Tacoma News Tribune/AP, Jan. 20, 2007
http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/updates/story/6332946p-5519762c.html

Antiwar activists hold hearing
Seattle Times, Jan. 21, 2007
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003534204_citizenhearin
g21m.htmlPanel explores Watada debate

Panel explores Watada debate
The Olympian
http://www.theolympian.com/112/story/61644.html

Upcoming Watada trial drew Army deserter to Northwest
Seattle Times, Jan. 20, 2007
http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis.cgi/web/vortex/d
isplay?slug=anderson19m&date=20070120

Faux tribunal contends war in Iraq is illegal
Seattle PI, Jan. 22, 2007
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/300639_watada22.html

Related:
COVERAGE ON DEMOCRACY NOW! TUESDAY, Jan 23
of Ehren Watada and Bert Sacks
9:00 am at KAOS 89.3 fm and at
http://www.democracynow.org

CBS EVENING NEWS possible coverage on Wednesday, Jan24

(updated) Accounts with Photos at Indymedia:

Seattle Indymedia http://www.seattle.indymedia.org/en/2007/01/257317.shtml

Portland Indymedia http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2007/01/352577.shtml

Bay area Indymedia http://indybay.org/newsitems/2007/01/27/18353240.php

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Daniel Ellsberg and other testifiers give poignant testimonies at citizens' tribunal putting Iraq war on trial - Tacoma, WA

photo of Daniel Ellsbert and Lt. Ehren Watada. Daniel was among those who came to give expert testimony at Citizens' Hearing. Ehren stopped by briefly to thank supporters.
(photo by Lori Hurlebas)

Citizens' Hearing on Legality of U.S. Actions in Iraq

Tacoma, WA, Jan 20-21, 2007

Live Blogging Coverage at Washblog.com - almost verbatim reporting of the testimonies from Daniel Ellsberg, Ann Wright, Iraq veterans; former JAG and Arabic linquist Lt Harvey Tharp, non-commissioned officer Geoffrey Millard, Richard Falk,Benjamin Davis, Denis Halliday.

see more blogger reports of other testimonies at Washblog.com

also visit Citizens' Hearing on Legalility of U.S. Actions in Iraq website for continually updated reports and audio of the 2 days of testimony. You won't want to miss any of these poignant and powerful testimonies.

http://www.wartribunal.org



We intend for the Citizens' Hearing to heighten the discussion of the Iraq invasion and occupation in the public--and within the military itself--as similar tribunals did during the Vietnam War. We are inviting testimony by Iraq War witnesses and experts. Your donation will be used to bring the testifiers and panelists to Tacoma and to record the event so everyone can benefit from the testimony.

The hearing will present the case that Lt. Watada would, if allowed, make at his court martial. His defense attorneys maintain that the war on Iraq is illegal under international treaties and under Article Six of the U.S. Constitution. Further, Lt. Watada’s defense argues that the Nuremberg Principles and U.S. military regulations require soldiers to follow only "lawful orders." In Lt. Watada's view, deployment to Iraq would have made him party to the crimes that permeate the structure and conduct of military operations there.

The format of the Citizens' Hearing will resemble that of a congressional committee, employing a dignified approach to gathering information. Testimony will be offered by Iraq War veterans, experts in international law and war crimes, and human rights advocates. Your gift of funds (or frequent flyer miles) will enable more of these clear voices to be heard by people around the country and the world. Among the figures that have committed to testify are:

*Daniel Ellsberg, military analyst who released the Pentagon Papers in the Vietnam War;
*Denis Halliday, Former UN Assistant Secretary General, coordinated Iraq humanitarian aid;
*Richard Falk, Professor Emeritus of International Law at Princeton University;

*Harvey Tharp, former U.S. Navy Lieutenant. Arabic linquist and JAG stationed in Iraq;

*Ann Wright, Retired Army Colonel and State Department official;

*Stacy Bannerman Military Families Speak Out; author of "When the War Came Home"
*Antonia Juhasz, policy-analyst and author on U.S. economic policies in Iraq;
*John Burroughs, Lawyers’ Committee on Nuclear Policy executive director;
*Benjamin G. Davis, Assoc. Law Prof., Univ. of Toledo; expert on law of war;
*Eman Khammas, Iraqi human rights advocate (via video).
*Geoffrey Millard, 8 years in NY Army National Guard; stationed in Ground Zero, Kuwait, Iraq.
*Darrell Anderson, Army 1st Armored Division in Baghdad & Najaf; awarded Purple Heart
*Dennis Kyne, 15 years as Army medic & drill sergeant; trained in NBC warfare; Gulf War I.
*Francis Boyle, Professor of International Law at University of Illinois (video testimony)
*Chanan Suarez-Diaz, Former Navy hospital corpsman; awarded Purple Heart & Commendation with Valor.

A panel of citizens will hear the testimony, examine witnesses, and issue a fact-finding report. The panel will be comprised of veterans, members of military families, high school students, union members, and representatives of local governments, academia, and religious organizations. David Krieger, Director of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, Former Army 2nd Lieutenant stationed in Hawaii during the Vietnam War, and a member of the Jury of Conscience at the 2005 World Tribunal on Iraq (in Istanbul) will serve as panel chair.

read more at website - Citizens' Hearing on Legality of U.S. Actions in Iraq - www.wartribunal.org

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Watada court martial - Invitation to Citizen's Hearing to put Iraq war on Trial - Jan 20 -21

All the more significant to conduct a public dialogue Citizen's Hearing in light of Army Judge's ruling;

Inviting public, military families, troops, veterans, any and all to

Citizen's Hearing to put Iraq war on trial;

the case of Lt. Ehren Watada
www.wartribunal.org

January 20-21, 2007
(10 am-4 pm)
1210 6th Ave (map)
Tacoma, Washington, USA
The Evergreen State College Tacoma Campus




Read articles in Washington newspapers; google Lt. Ehren Watada - news to see the reports across the country.

Seattle Times article; Jan 17, 2007; Watada can't base defense on war's legality, judge says



Tacoma News Tribune, Jan 17, 2007; Judge rejects Watada motions

Michael Gilbert, The News Tribune, Jan 17, 2006

An Army judge sided with government prosecutors Tuesday and rejected Lt. Ehren Watada’s defense that he refused to deploy to Iraq because he believed the war is illegal.

The judge, Lt. Col. John Head, also denied Watada’s motion to dismiss four of the five charges against him on the grounds that he was exercising his right to free speech.

Watada’s lawyer said he was “disgusted” at the rulings and said they leave little room for argument when the former Stryker artillery officer’s court-martial begins Feb. 5 at Fort Lewis.

“I’m appalled, but not surprised,” defense attorney Eric Seitz said. “We’ll have a hearing, a couple people will testify, the government will make their argument, and everybody will fall in line, because that’s what happens in military cases.”

Watada, 28, faces up to six years in prison if convicted of one count of missing movement and four counts of conduct unbecoming an officer.

The Army filed the charges after Watada publicly refused to go to Iraq in June with his unit from the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division. The 4,000-soldier brigade is currently operating in Baghdad.

The Army issued a brief press release Tuesday evening announcing Head’s decisions, reached after a daylong hearing Jan. 4. A Fort Lewis spokesman said prosecutors would not comment.

Seitz released copies of Head’s two three-page orders. (To read them, see FOB Tacoma at blogs.thenewstribune.com/military)

Seitz had hoped the judge would allow him to present a “Nuremberg defense,” derived from the post-World War II tribunals that established a soldier has an obligation to disobey an unlawful order.

But Head wrote that the legality of the Iraq war is a political question and not one for the courts.

And past cases have established that a soldier’s motives are irrelevant when he or she is charged with missing movement, the judge ruled.

Seitz had argued for dismissal of the conduct unbecoming charges on the grounds that the statements were protected by Watada’s First Amendment rights.

At a press conference, in interviews and in a speech at a Veterans for Peace convention in Seattle, Watada condemned the Bush administration for what he called “a betrayal of the trust of the American people.”

“And these lies were a betrayal of the trust of the military and the soldiers,” he said.

Head cited previous cases in the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces that held service members’ free-speech rights are limited.

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Army Subpoenas Reporters and Activists To Testify Against Lt. Watada

First it was reporters being subpoenaed (Dahr Jamail, Sara Olson, and Gregg Kakesako) and now it expands to local activists in Washington state. The Army has issued subpoenas to local WA state activists to testify in the upcoming court martial of Lt. Watada. Veterans for Peace, Washington based organizer Gerry Haynes; Veterans for Peace organizer organizer Tom Burkhart; Olympia Movement for Justice and Peace member Phan Nguyen - received subpoena's to testify.

Military subpoenas reporters and activists to help prosecute Lt. Watada.

Pre-trial hearing underway today, however judge delays testimony of those subpoenaed until full court martial February 5. Journalists say free press threatened. Activists say Army demands they "name names" in effort to chill anti-war organizing.

At a Tacoma, Washington press conference yesterday, January 3, Olympia-based anti-war activist Phan Nguyen described his objections to having been subpoenaed last week by the Army to testify against Lt. Watada. Nguyen, a member of the Olympia Movement for Justice and Peace, was the moderator of a number of press conferences in June 2006 regarding Lt. Watada and his objections to serving in an illegal and immoral war in Iraq.

When contacted directly by Army prosecutor Captain Daniel Kuecker last week, Nguyen refused to answer any questions without first speaking with a lawyer. However, Nguyen described the Kuecker's line of questions as focusing on the behind the scenes workings of the anti-war movement in the Pacific Northwest. "Kuecker basically demanded that I name the names of any key organizers that had anything to do with the public support campaign created to support Lt. Watada," explained Nguyen. "They are clearly on a political fishing expedition. Unless we fight back, this could have a chilling effect on anti-war organizing at a time when we have to step up to end the war."

Seattle chapter Veterans for Peace (VFP) organizer Gerri Haynes has also been subpoenaed by the Army. Apparently, Haynes landed on the Army's radar because she played a public role in organizing the Veterans for Peace National Convention in Seattle last August. Like Jamail, the Army is looking for information regarding Lt. Watada's speech to the convention. Like Nguyen, Haynes confirmed that Kuecker "wanted the names of convention attendees and organizers." Another VFP organizer Tom Burkhart has been placed on the Army's witness list.

above was quoted from Courage to Resist

Planned Support Actions

The campaign to support Lt. Watada plans a protest and press conference at the gates of Fort Lewis this morning from 8 AM to 11 AM as the pre-trial hearing begins.

Supporters can also express their support writing to Fort Lewis Commanding General;

Lt. General James Dubik,
Commanding General Fort Lewis,
1 Corps Building 2025 Stop 1,
Fort Lewis WA 98433.

The Citizens' Hearing on the Legality of U.S. Actions in Iraq: The Case of Lt. Ehren Watada

will be held on January 20-21 in Tacoma, two weeks before the court martial of Lt. Watada at Fort Lewis. The national event will put the Iraq War on trial, in response to the Army's trial of Lt. Watada.

Iraq War veterans, experts in international law and war crimes, and human rights advocates will offer testimony, in a format that will resemble that of a congressional committee. We are inviting testimony by Iraq War veterans and experts to inform military personnel and other citizens to reflect deeply on their roles and responsibilities in an illegal war." Testifiers will include:

Denis Halliday Former UN Assistant Secretary General, coordinated Iraq humanitarian aid;


Daniel Ellsberg Military analyst who released the Pentagon Papers in the Vietnam War;


Richard Falk Professor Emeritus of International Law at Princeton University;


Ann Wright Retired Army Colonel and State Department official;


Nadia McCaffrey Gold Star Families Speak Out; Brussels Tribunal advisory board;


Darrell Anderson Army 1st Armored Division in Baghdad & Najaf; awarded Purple Heart;


Harvey Tharp Former U.S. Navy Lieutenant and JAG stationed in Iraq;


Antonia Juhasz Policy-analyst and author on U.S. economic policies in Iraq;


John Burroughs Lawyers' Committee on Nuclear Policy Executive Director;


Benjamin G. Davis Assoc. Prof. of Law, University of Toledo; expert on law of war;


Geoffrey Millard 8 years in Army National Guard; now in Iraq Veterans Against the War;


Francis Boyle Professor of international law at Univ. of Chicago (via video);


Eman Khammas Iraqi human rights advocate (via video).

The hearing will present the case that Lt. Watada would, if allowed, make at his court martial. He maintains that the war on Iraq is illegal under international treaties and under Article Six of the U.S. Constitution. Further, Lt. Watada argues that the Nuremberg Principles and U.S. military regulations require soldiers to follow only "lawful orders." In Lt. Watada's view, deployment to Iraq would have made him party to the crimes that permeate the structure and conduct of military operations there.

see more on Citizen's Hearing at website - www.wartribunal.org/

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The "BRATS FILM TOUR - Our Journey Home" is underway!

The "BRATS FILM TOUR - Our Journey Home" is underway!
http://www.bratsourjourneyhome.com/screenings.htm

"BRATS - Our Journey Home" is the first-ever documentary about us - about growing up BRAT - and how that has profoundly affected our lives.

Welcome to the official "BRATS Film Tour: Our Journey Home!" If you don't see your town on the tour schedule below, but think you have a large audience that wants to see the film, let us know and we'll do our best to accommodate you. Just so you know - we are scheduling additional dates, but we're only listing the confirmed screenings below!

If you are a community group, alumni organization, educational institution, or other group who would like to organize a screening, drop us a line and we'll see what we can do. The director and some of the cast are available for public appearances. You can also purchase an institutional copy of the film to show to a large group, but you can't charge for attendance. Please contact us about specific rights.



Link to view the trailer or listen to a radio interview,
http://www.bratsourjourneyhome.com/clips.htm




Upcoming BRATS FILM TOUR Dates

September 28, 2006
San Diego Film Festival, Pacific Gaslamp Theatre, 701 5th Ave., San Diego, CA (phone 619.232.0400) - 8:00 p.m. (may purchase tickets online or at the door)


September 29, 2006
Oceanside Public Library at the Civic Center, 330 N. Coast Highway, Oceanside, CA 92054 (760.435.5600) - 7:00 p.m. - sponsored by Friends of the Oceanside Public Library (FREE Screening)

October 7 and 8, 2006
Tacoma Film Festival, Performing Arts Auditorium, Stadium High School, 111 N. E Street, Tacoma, WA 98405 (253.571.1325) - Saturday 10/7 at 7:00 p.m., Sunday 10/8 at 2:00 p.m. (tickets on sale at The Grand Cinema, 606 S. Fawcett, Tacoma, WA 98402)


October 25 and 29, 2006
Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival, Malco Theater, 819 Central Avenue, Hot Springs National Park, Arkansas 71901 (501.321.4747) - 10/25 at 5:05 p.m., Sunday 10/29 at 2:00 p.m. (tickets available at door)

October 22, 2006
Academy Women's Symposium - Arlington, VA (private screening)

October 27 and 28, 2006
Overseas Brats "Northern Kentucky/Cincinnati Gathering" - The Drawbridge Inn, 2477 Royal Drive, Ft. Mitchell, KY - Friday 10/27 at 10:30 a.m., Saturday 10/28 at 3:00 p.m.

November 2, 2006
Colorado Springs Community Screening - Time and location to be announced!

November 3, 2006
Peterson Air Force Base Screening - Time and location to be announced!

November 3-5, 2006
Rocky Mountain Women's Film Festival, Colorado Springs Fine Art Center, 30 West Dale Street, Colorado Springs, CO 80903 (719.634.5581) - Time and date to be announced!


November 6, 2006
Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival, Cinema Paradiso, 503 SE 6th Street, Fort Lauderdale, FL (in the heart of downtown, on the south side of the New River) - 6:00 p.m. - (purchase tickets at door or online)


What people are saying about the movie:


'We must aggressively support this film."

John Hardy, Air Force Brat, Producer "Sex Lives and Video Tape" "Erin Brockovitch" "Ocean's 11" "Ocean's 12"

" It was the most wonderful trip HOME!"

Katie Villlani, Navy Brat

"The first true, sometimes brutally raw telling of the lives of dependents... should be classified as required viewing."

-Steve Eisenbaugh, CIA Brat, Taipei American School


Let's support this film and fill the house.

Q & A session with writer-director Donna Musil follows each screening.

Questions? Call Tim Wurtz - 310-914-1702




Short Synopsis

U.S. military BRATS share intimate memories about their unique childhoods - growing up on military bases around the world, then struggling to fit into an American lifestyle with which they have little in common. Narrated and featuring songs by Kris Kristofferson. Interviews include General Norman Schwarzkopf.

Medium version Synopsis

It's hard to imagine a military BRAT'S childhood. Moving from base to base around the world, they are at home everywhere - and nowhere. There are 1.2 million children being raised in the military today. An estimated 15 million Americans are former BRATS. They include actors Jessica Alba and Robert Duvall, Senator John McCain, and basketball star Shaquille O'Neal.

BRATS is the first cinematic glimpse into a global subculture whose journey to adulthood is a high-octane mixture of incredible excitement and enormous pain. Make no mistake - BRATS is not about the U.S. military - it's about their children, who grow up in a paradox that is idealistic and authoritarian, privileged and perilous, supportive and stifling - all at the same time. Their passports say "United States," but they're really citizens of the world.

Singer/songwriter and Air Force brat Kris Kristofferson leads us through the heart of their experiences, sharing intimate memories with fellow BRATS, including General Norman Schwarzkopf and author Mary Edwards Wertsch. Their stories reveal the peculiar landscape of their childhood, the culture that binds them together, and the power it exerts over their lives.

A seven-year work of passion by independent filmmaker Donna Musil, BRATS features rare archival footage, home movies and private photographs from post-war Japan, Germany, and Vietnam.



Longer version of synopsis

BRATS: Our Journey Home is the first feature-length documentary, narrated by singer/songwriter Kris Kristofferson, about a hidden American subculture - a lost tribe of at least fifteen million people from widely diverse backgrounds, raised on military bases around the world, whose shared experiences have shaped their lives so powerfully, they are forever different from their fellow Americans.

Using archival film sources, home movie footage and provocative first-person interviews, including General H. Norman Schwarzkopf, author Mary Edwards Wertsch, psychotherapist Stephanie Donaldson-Pressman, and West Point sociologist Dr. Morten Ender, BRATS tells the story of children raised under a very unique set of circumstances, including:

* living on the edge of history-in-the-making - attending the Nuremberg Trials and studying in the shadows of Dachau and Hiroshima;

* growing up in integrated schools and neighborhoods 20 years before the civil rights movement took hold in America;

* moving around the world, rarely knowing one's extended family, and losing one's friends, identity, and social status every couple of years;

* living on a series of "hometown" military bases with no permanent members, often in the middle of foreign countries;

* living an almost socialistic existence under an authoritarian structure that espouses democracy;

* suffering the prolonged absence of one's father (or more recently, one's mother or both);

* growing up in a patriarchal society constantly preparing for war; and,

* being exposed to art, history, and culture most American children only read about.

This unusual combination of experiences has created a cultural identity so powerful, it crosses all lines of race, gender, age, and class. Most brats, however, don't even know they belong to a separate subculture - they just feel "different" somehow, from their fellow Americans. Then the Internet surfaced a few years ago, enabling many to reconnect, reunite, and compare notes.

The similarities they've discovered are astounding - from seemingly innocuous personality quirks to major values, choices, expectations about life. Some of these psychological legacies are inspiring, others bittersweet. But for many, reconnecting with their fellow brats and recognizing their unique heritage has been the first time they've felt like they belonged, the first "hometown" they've ever known - each other.

As author and Marine Corps brat Pat Conroy says so eloquently in his introduction to Mary Wertsch's book, Military Brats: Legacies of Childhood Inside the Fortress:

I thought I was singular in all this, one of a kind. From Mary's book I discover that I speak in the multitongued, deep-throated voice of my tribe. ...[I]t's a language I was not even aware I spoke... a secret family I did not know I had. ... Military brats, my lost tribe, spent their entire youth in service to this country, and no one even knew we were there.

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