Man Suffering from PTSD Sentenced for Resisting War

August 18, 2008, category

On July 17, James Burmeister was sentenced to 6 months in prison for going AWOL.

James Burmeister is an American soldier who served in September of 2006 as a gunner in Unit 118 First Infantry Division. At that time, Burmeister took part in “small kill teams” that used “bait and kill” tactics. His team would place fake cameras on poles, label them “U.S.Property” and if anyone were to touch these cameras, they would be shot and killed. Burmeister says, “These citizens were almost always unarmed. In some cases, the Iraqi victims looked to me like they were children, perhaps teenagers.”

I knew that American troops were being ordered to kill innocent Iraqi civilians, but I’ve never heard of bait and kill tactics, and from the sounds of it and through what Burmeister has done since then, I’m not surprised. Of course we, as American citizens, aren’t supposed to be hearing what a travesty our country is and how troops are being ordered by their higher ups to commit indecent war crimes and are brainwashed to be devoid of any humanity. But that isn’t even the half of this story; this story is about James Burmeister.

Also while serving in the war, “Burmeister’s convoy was hit by roadside bombs three times. The third time, Burmeister was knocked unconscious and two pieces of shrapnel were buried in his face. After this incident, Burmeister began to have nightmares and feel faint.”

Burmeister was diagnosed with PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) and also suffered from chronic high blood pressure, which was found when he was sent to Germany to rest after the third time his convoy had been hit.

The American government, obviously not getting the memo that one of their soldiers had been diagnosed with chronic high blood pressure and more importantly, PTSD, Burmeister was ordered to return to war in May 2007. Burmeister did not return and did not fight for a country who couldn’t give a shit about him (obviously.) He fled to Canada, where he lived with his wife, a Germany native and son.

While Burmeister was in Canada, he appeared on Canada’s CBC News in June 2007 and spoke with the Oregonian in July 2007, along with PBS’s Now to spread the word about what America is doing during this war. He spoke out about the bait and kill teams, which I think is fabulous since so many people don’t know the truth about what is really going on over there. Most people, in America anyway, believe that we have to be over there, that we’re fighting a just war for a good cause and that simply is not true. America has been throwing its weight around since the inception of Vietnam where Americans also committed horrendous war crimes, but its citizens were kept in the dark about it. The Iraq war is the second Vietnam and even Iraq knows it.

On March 4, 2008, Burmeister turned himself in to the Army and what he told Canada’s CBS News, the Oregonian and PBS’s Now were entered as evidence against him in his trial because obviously the American government is going to frown upon its own soldiers telling of the horrors they were forced to commit over there while “doing their jobs.” The reason why Burmeister turned himself in to the Army is because he was told by a friend and fellow soldier that the bait and kill tactics had been eliminated and Burmeister, having spoken out about the American tactics, figured that his “mission had been accomplished.”

While awaiting trial, Burmeister was kept in a room near a training ground, the government yet again not acknowledging that this man has PTSD due to what happened to him in war, and putting him in a room near a training ground where he was forced to hear soldiers firing from tanks day and night.

Burmeister pleaded guilty to going AWOL in order to save himself from a harsher sentence and was charged with “desertion with intent to shirk important service.” That “important service” obviously being inhumane war crimes; lovely. Burmeister will also receive a reduction in rank and in pay and he will receive a bad conduct discharge. He will not be eligible for veterans’ benefits. That means the Veterans Administration will not give him treatment for his PTSD and for his head injury.

This is fucking bullshit! Yet another example of the American government not owning up to what they are doing to so many soldiers that are willing to put their lives on the line for a war that shouldn’t be going on in the first place, yet they get out of helping Burmeister (and so many other soldiers) with his PTSD because he fled to Canada in order to literally save his life. The suicide rate among soldiers with PTSD, most going untreated because of the government’s failure to diagnose PTSD because they don’t want to have to pay for the therapy that goes into helping someone with this devastating mental condition that they are the fault of, is just continuing to rise. America doesn’t want to have to pay for these soldiers to get help, even though it’s America’s fault to begin with that they are in this situation and knowing full well that if PTSD goes untreated, a person is likely to kill themselves–The condition is that bad.

While Burmeister did receive prison time, which he is serving while his wife, son and newborn child whom Burmeister has not seen yet, are now living in Germany, I’m glad he went AWOL. I’m glad that he values his life enough to take control and know what is best for him. He knew that he wouldn’t be able to survive another deployment and upon his diagnosis of PTSD, the government should have stepped in and helped him instead of using him to go fight their disgusting, unjust war.

The true kicker to the story here is that Burmeister was simply made an example of. The Eugene Weekly has pointed out that of the 4,698 soldiers who have been charged with desertion in 2007, only 108 have been convicted. 108 out of almost 5,000? But we know why this happened–Burmeister spoke up. He spoke to the media in order to get his story heard and they didn’t like it; they don’t want people to know how horrible of a government America is run under. But we already know. We know a lot more than they want us to and it is because of soldiers like Burmeister who have the courage to speak up about what they know is wrong and I hope they don’t stop–I hope every soldier who has seen or has been forced to do something that they know is wrong under the “line of duty” comes back and speaks up so everyone can see what vicious lies this country is telling its citizens and how scare tactics are being used to talk us into going along with whatever plan the administration has for this country and for themselves; but never its citizens. America does not care about its citizens, they simply need them to fight a war on oil and money and I know I’m not the only one who sees it.

There are so many cases of American soldiers who know that this war is wrong and refuse to fight so I encourage you to read all of their stories at Courage to Resist. You can also read more in depth about James Burmeister on that website, here.

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John McCain Doesn’t Support the Troops

June 12, 2008, category

2008 election, politics

The current GI Bill as it stands today is the same GI Bill that was in effect during World War II. When considering the cost of living and how much more money is needed by every American just to keep a roof over their heads and eat has significantly risen since the time of World War II. The current GI Bill is also said to pay for the college education of an American soldier in addition to providing necessities; in reality, as of right now, American soldiers who are returning from several tours overseas are receiving a sum of $650 per month. This amount of money may have been sufficient for WWII veterans, however, as the cost of living has risen, more money is needed for veterans of the current war to receive what they were promised at their time of enlisting.

As it stands today, the GI Bill does not cover an American veteran’s entire education, which is upsetting specifically because so many Americans enlist in the military for the simple fact that they are promised a college education. For years, the American government has relied solely on people of lower income families and have lied to a frightening number of people about the benefits that they would receive if they enlisted. The benefits that soldiers receive now after active duty overseas is much like a college scholarship if anything else, and because of the bill is so inadequate, many soldiers are in debt because the GI Bill has not kept up with the rising cost of living in America.

There is a new GI Bill now by Senator John Weeb that covers the cost of college tuition to the price of a state college and will give the troops the peace of mind that finally they will be given what they are promised. The only problem with this new GI Bill is that it’s not getting passed due to the lack of support, including lack of support from Senator John McCain.

While McCain loves to boast that he is an American veteran and loves to give the illusion that he of all people, as an American veteran supports the troops, he should be one of the first people to endorse the new GI Bill, which doesn’t blatantly lie to the American people and leave veterans in debt or uneducated due to the cost of living and the rising cost of education. However, John McCain not only does not support the new GI Bill, he downright refuses to co-sponsor it and in turn, does not support the troops.

This is unacceptable. As a veteran himself and a candidate in the current presidential election, refusing to co-sponsor a bill that will help the soldiers with whom he loves to identify himself with, is disgusting. There is no way that any American can support John McCain while supporting America and American troops because John McCain himself does not.

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Welcome America, to the Second Vietnam

May 23, 2008, category

Iraq war

Coverage on the Iraq war has been constant, however, with recent media hitting about war crimes and the bullshit that this country’s administration is pulling against their own troops is honestly astounding and infuriating me to no end.

I have been comparing the war in Iraq to Vietnam for a few years now and not only do I and so many other Americans see what this war really is, but even the Iraqis are speaking out and saying that yes, this war is absolutely nothing but a second Vietnam. In a photograph taken by Kristofer Goldsmith, an American soldier deployed in 2005 and stationed in Sadr City, a school with graffiti covering it read “Welcome America to the second Vietnam.”

Although the media has only been covering it recently, suicide amongst war veterans is at an all time high, affecting a great portion of vets. Those who do not fall victim to suicide, come home with severe mental disorders that the government simply doesn’t give a damn about and will not give the people who risked their lives for an incredibly unjust and illegal war the help that they not only need, but deserve. The number of cases of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) amongst Iraq war veterans is astronomical! In an e-mail dated March 20 out of an office of the Department of Veterans Affairs, a VA employee wrote: “Given that we are having more and more compensation-seeking veterans, I’d like to suggest that we refrain from giving a diagnosis of PTSD straight out. Consider a diagnosis of Adjustment Disorder, R/O PTSD.”

Are you fucking kidding me? Of course veterans are seeking compensation! They did what they were told to do, went to a country that they are being told they are helping and making the country and the citizens who live there incredibly more worse off than they already were! They are killing innocent civilians, they are torturing and using scare tactics against people that they were told they were freeing. Given what the Iraq war consists of and what these troops are being told to do, every single one of them should be coming back with PTSD; it absolutely blows me away if one soldier comes back and is just fine and dandy and can go on with their lives. These people deserve compensation from the people who lied to them, but instead of the government actually doing what they say they will, they are telling psychiatrists not to properly diagnose them so they can cut back on compensation costs. A diagnosis of Adjustment Disorder is insulting, especially since with that diagnosis, the veteran is told that their present condition lasts for approximately six months when PTSD can last for several years and in some cases, may never go away.

A war with a motive called Operation Iraqi Freedom, the government has obviously been quite crafty when lying to the entire world and stealing an obscene amount of money from taxpayers. What’s really going on in this war? Well…

Sgt. Jason Lemieux said “I was ordered multiple times by commissioned officers and non-commissioned officers to shoot unarmed civilians if their presence made me feel uncomfortable.”

Other frightening accounts include:

Violent house raids, the killings of innocent people, “drop weapons” used to make dead civilians look like insurgents, racism in the ranks, and [soldier's] own process of dehumanization as they became inured to the humanity of those who they were supposedly sent to “liberate.”
Raw sewage covering the floor at schools and the ground outside a hospital, which the American government refused to repair.
Raw sewage being exposed to drinking water pipes.

The reason so many people, young people specifically, are being roped into joining the military in the first place is the promise of college tuition money. While the government keeps promising and giving these people the hope of some day going to school and getting a career, they are also taking those hopes away the second they can.

If a soldier tries to kill themselves after their first “tour” of the war and are discharged from the military, they are no longer eligible for the money that got them to sign their name on the dotted line to begin with, which is total bullshit.

This war needs to end and it needs to end soon, the US is simply ripping Iraq apart. If it does not, it will make it onto our soil anyway. The torture, living conditions and massacring of people that did nothing needs to stop.

At least some US troops have their heads and hearts in the right place. Sgt. Matthis Chiroux said this:

“In February, I received a letter from the Army ordering my return to active duty, for the purpose of mobilization for Operation Iraqi Freedom. Thanks in great part to the truths of war being fearlessly spoken by my fellow IVAW members, I stand before you today with the strength, clarity and resolve to declare to the military and the world that this soldier will not be deploying to Iraq.”

“This occupation is unconstitutional and illegal, and I hereby lawfully refuse to participate, as I will surely be a party to war crimes. Furthermore, deployment in support of illegal war violates all of my core values as a human being, but in keeping with those values, I choose to remain in the United States to defend myself from charges brought by the Army if they so wish to pursue them. I refuse to participate in the occupation of Iraq.”

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George Bush Thinks Poverty, Death and Abuse are Blessings of Freedom

March 4, 2008, category

Iraq war

Afghani child bride Many people in the United States believe that the war we are currently fighting is for just cause. Many people are also under the false assumption that because of this war, we have given the people of Iraq and Afghanistan the freedom of democracy; that we have bettered their lives. The reason that so many people in the United States believe this is because the citizens of this country are being told that we have a reason to be at war and that we are bettering the lives of millions–And every word that comes from the mouth of our president is a lie.

Of course there are also many people who know all of this and are aware that our troops are dying in vain for nothing more than a pissing contest.

When falling into the topic of the current war when speaking with people, because it does happen quite a bit especially when I am asked “So what do you do?” and I can’t help but mention this website and what it’s about, the first thing that people grab onto it “Oh well we have helped so many people over there and you just don’t understand. They needed help over there and we are helping them redefine their government and they have a democracy now!” But these are the same people who believe each and every word our president says, which should be good enough. We should be able to believe what our commander in chief is telling us and believe that they are doing what is in our best interests as well as in the best interests of other countries that we invade. However, that is simply not the case, especially when George Bush has done nothing but lie to us, especially about how the women in Afghanistan are now living their lives.

George Bush and his administration have made Afghanistan one of the most dangerous places in the world to be female.

On March 12, 2004, during the White House Celebration of International Women’s Day, George Bush said:

“In the last two-and-a-half years, we have seen remarkable and hopeful development in world history. Just think about it: More than 50 million men, women and children have been liberated from two of the most brutal tyrannies on earth—50 million people are free. All these people are now learning the blessings of freedom.”

Now, I have no idea what his term “blessings of freedom” means, but how Afghani women and children are now being forced to live is about the furthest thing from freedom that I can imagine.

The picture in this post is perhaps the most heartbreaking pictures I have seen in quite some time. It is a picture taken by US photographer, Stephanie Sinclair and has won the UNICEF prize. It is of a 40 year old man with his new, 11 year old Afghani wife. This picture captures what young girls in Afghanistan are being put through.

Women in Afghanistan are now able to participate in these “blessings of freedom”:

Grinding poverty and the escalating war is driving an increasing number of Afghan families to sell their daughters into forced marriages.
Girls as young as six are being married into a life of slavery and rape, often by multiple members of their new relatives. Banned from seeing their own parents or siblings, they are also prohibited from going to school. With little recognition of the illegality of the situation or any effective recourse, many of the victims are driven to self-immolation – burning themselves to death – or severe self-harm.
Violent attacks against females, usually domestic, are at epidemic proportions with 87 percent of females complaining of such abuse – half of it sexual. More than 60 percent of marriages are forced.
Despite a new law banning the practice, 57 percent of brides are under the age of 16. The illiteracy rate among women is 88 percent with just 5 percent of girls attending secondary school.
Maternal mortality rates – one in nine women die in childbirth – are the highest in the world alongside Sierra Leone. And 30 years of conflict have left more than one million widows with no enforceable rights, left to beg on the streets alongside an increasing number of orphans.

What George Bush has said in the past years regarding the quality of life of the people we have “helped” has been a lie and what he will say in the coming year as well as after his presidency regarding the war will also be a lie. We have not helped these people, we have not given them freedom or democracy; what we have given them, however, is fear for their lives and fear for their children’s lives. Not to mention, while making these places the worst that they have ever been, we have been outright lied to several times by our president and that is something that more people need to acknowledge and refuse to stand for. The people of America who truly believe that we are fighting this war for a reason are sadly mistaken and the troops that we have lost in the past six years fighting a bullshit war has been for nothing and those lives have been lost in vain.

Thanks, president Bush.

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