Report from 1st Petraeus hearing in senate - april 8th 2008

I was in the hearing earlier this morning. Most of the CP house crew got in dressed in black mourning gowns with pale face makeup to demonstrate the ongoing killing as a result of the U.S. occupation. They were getts lots of attention from the media before the hearing began.

Tighe and I were under cover so we could try to put banners up. When John McCain was speaking I stood up on my chair with a banner that said:

Listen Senator McCain
"THERE IS NO MILITARY SOLUTION"
~ General Petraeus
www.codepinkalert.org



I held it up while yelling SENATOR MCCAIN, THERE IS NO MILITARY SOLUTION for about 15 seconds before Levin banged the gavel and said this was a warning and that the next disrupter would be removed from the hearing. The Capitol police took my banner and let me sit back down in my seat.

A little while later, Tighe held up his banner, but did not speak out, so they took it from him and let him sit down.

Not long after that, a friend of ours, Zool, started yelling "Bring them home" over and over. He was removed and arrested. WHile he was being dragged out, several pink signs such as "END THE WAR" were visible on the CNN footage.

I came home to blog this stuff, but am going back for the afternoon hearing.

Pasted below my signature are some links to news stories that mention our protests. Reuters photos attached.

~ Midge


http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/04/08/politics/politico/thecrypt/main4001051.shtml

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080408/METRO/804080423/1361

http://blogs.usatoday.com/onpolitics/2008/04/live-blogging-t.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/09/world/middleeast/08cnd-petraeus.html

Dear Cindy by Deidra Lynch

Dear Cindy,
First and foremost, please let me thank you for all you have sacrificed, your son, your family and your life to help show America that this war is wrong. And it is so wrong. And the American public's apathy is so wrong. And those who have tried to tear you down are so wrong.

I agree with you as to where we are headed. Bush is becoming more Hitlerish each day. Our government's attitude towards the citizens has shifted so far to fascism that it amazes me how few are yet screaming. But folks are beginning to take notice. Three years ago, most people responded to that kind of statement from my mouth as ludicrous or at least over exaggerated. Now the reaction I get is not only that the "war is wrong", but that "our government is wrong"!

I read in your letter that you don't see folks as Republicans or as Democrats but what is in their hearts. I too am a "heart watcher" and your heart on Mother's Day while sitting on the grass with me was so pure and so true. But I felt your sadness, not only the sadness for your son and for your other three children not there with you, but your sadness for the other people that were NOT there that day, your sadness for the millions who just don't get that this war is so wrong.

But I believe there are a number of people that are beginning to wake up and realize that the only answer for our planet is peace. That the only solution to our World's existence is peace. That the only journey worth taking is creating a life of peace. There are old ones and young ones coming forward. A new kind of humanity that you have inspired, as have many others have before you, and along with you. There will always be those who try to create chaos but there are more of us joining daily who are willing to get past those differences and trouble makers. There is a new surge of activists on their way to carry on this work for peace.

You said in your letter that neither party can hear the other and so I will dare to repeat to you, what one of your adversaries said in reaction to your resignation. "Most of us... understand that she is hurt very deeply." and they hope that you "will now be able to heal". You have sacrificed so much Cindy, even the time that you should have had to heal from such a great loss. Please know that there are millions of us that love you, respect you and admire all that you have done. We will miss you and your heart but I believe we will see each other again, as I know you when you are truly needed, you will stand up for peace.

My little girl, Autumnrain was so proud to meet you and be there with you on Mother's Day in DC. She considers you a heroine, as do I. I'm not going to tell Autumnrain that you are resigning, I am going to tell her that you've gone home to rest and to heal. That you have served your time honorably, as did Casey and have fought the toughest of fights. But all tours must come to an end and so it's time for you to return home. Heal Cindy and be at peace.

Deidra Lynch CODEPINK Orlando

New York CODEPINK and Grannies Visit Nancy Pelosi

Sunday morning we met at the Chinatown bus in a driving rain. We dozed all the way to DC while the driver chatted away in Chinese on his cell phone. After a metro ride and a short walk, we were welcomed warmly by Desiree and Liz at the CodePink house.

One look at the schedule for Monday and we knew we had our peace work cut out for us.

After Desiree fed us a lovely late luncheon we went down to the basement and began painting banners, t-shirts and sashes. Everybody worked so well together that the chore wasn’t a chore for very long – it became fun. While painting with Medea, Gael and Sonia, we practiced and composed songs for the Monday morning march to Pelosi’s office. Meanwhile Joan died a bale of t-shirts pink and hemmed a couple of banners. After Desiree’s delicious vegan dinner our musical abilities seemed enhanced. We reviewed plans for Monday’s breakfast press conference and the visit to Nancy Pelosi’s office. The D.C. based CodePink women whipped out their cell phone and began make reminder phone calls to area peaceniks. The three of us hit the hay while those that don’t need sleep kept working.

Monday morning the MSNBC crew arrived for breakfast and taped our rehearsal and preparation for the day’s actions. In pink apparel and with our voices raised in song we marched to the Cannon office building. As per our plan we settled in to Nancy Pelosi’s office. We offered the staff coffee and began decorating her walls with banners and pictures of soldiers who had died in the war. We were permitted to stay in the office and read the names of the 300 U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq since 110th Congress was sworn in. Suddenly someone from the House Rules Committee showed up and cited the rule that press was not permitted in Congressional offices. Some of the people with us left the room with the press to affirm the constitutional right of freedom of speech. Voices were raised and one person was arrested in the hallway. Eventually Speaker Pelosi’s Chief of Staff Terri McCullough did join us in the outer office for a stand-up meeting. There is much to be learned about political activism and we are taking a hands-on course

.Next the three of us hung pictures of our grandchildren from our necks and proceeded to go to the office of each of the nine members of Congress who voted no on the supplemental because they wanted to de-fund the war and bring our troops home fast. It was a pleasure to lobby with a thank you note for their vote. We realized how good a staffer feels when they work for someone with courage and character. When we asked how we could be more effective we were told that hand written letters mailed to local offices had more weight than emails or typed letters. Everywhere we went we asked that our troops be brought home, health care and education should be funded, and that funds should be allocated for the restoration of Iraq. And of course we also called for impeachment proceedings against our spectacularly incompetent president.

Later we regrouped and reviewed the day and headed to the restaurant Busboys and Poets to hear Congressman John Lewis speak. It was emancipation day and Congressman Lewis spoke about his early work in the voter rights movement. The District of Columbia still has no representation in Congress. Congressman Lewis noted that not enough of us in our country today are aware that change happens when you get in the way. And we felt inspired to keep on getting in the way!

Bev, Caroline and Eva-Lee, CODEPINK NY and Granny Peace Brigade

CODEPINK inside 4/17/07 Senate Armed Services hearing

This morning (April 17th) , Liz Hurican and I went to observe and participate in the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing "on whether the Army and Marine Corps are properly sized, organized, and equipped to respond to the most likely missions over the next two decades while retaining adequate capability to respond to all contingencies along the spectrum of combat".

We were planning on going to the Senate Judiciary committee hearing where Attorney General Alberto Gonzales was to testify in regard to the dismissal of U.S. attorneys which has been alleged to be politically motivated. However, last night we discovered that the hearing had been postponed until Thursday. I'll keep you posted on any new developements regarding the subpoena of Gonzales to testify before the Senate Judiciary committee.

So, in lieu of being able to pester Gonzales, liz and I went to the hearing regarding longterm readiness of the Army and Marines where retired General Barry McCaffery and others would be testifying. The chaiman of the committe holding this hearing is Senator Carl Levin. Liz's Senator McCain, who is the ranking Republican on the committee, was not present; however, my newly elected Senator, Claire McCaskill was there for most of the session.

As the hearing started, we were standing in the back with messages on our shirts... my shirt read "NO $$$ 4 WAR." In front of us sat about 20 midshipmen from the Naval Academy; There wasn't alot of press there, but the few cameras that were present snapped photos and shot video of us standing behind the students who were wearing their dress uniforms. Senator Levin read his opening statment, and made it clear that his feeling was that our military has been made weaker by the war in Iraq; he read off a long list of problems regarding America's current "volunteer" military force including misuse of "stop loss" and the continual lowering of requirements for enlistment. While he was speaking, Liz and I held up pink signs that had various messages on them including, "STOP FUNDING WAR", "FUND SCHOOLS NOT WAR", and "GOT A PEACE PLAN?"

The witnesses testified that U.S. Military strenth is so poor that they could not foresee America being able to maintain it's current mission in Iraq. General McCaffrey testified that "the war in Iraq is going badly" and then added, "However, the purpose of this testimony is not to talk about ongoing tactical operations, but instead the disastrous state of America's ground combat forces." He then went over a long list of problems with the capability and readiness of American troops. Here is a link to his entire http://armed-services.senate.gov/testimony.cfm?wit_id=6281&id=2695

Also testifying were Dr. Andrew F. Krepinevich, Jr. , Dr. Lawrence J. Korb , and
Major General Robert H. Scales, Jr., USA (Ret.) - follow the links to read their testimonies.

A couple Capitol Police showed up to keep an eye on us, but they didn't say anything as we stood silently with our signs. Well, we were silent at first... however, Liz borke the silence when she was moved to yell, "Thank you" after General McCaffrey's testimony. Then as Dr. Korb read his prepared statment, Liz said "Shame" after many of the points he made regarding the Pentagon's overall negligence. So, I started saying "shame" and other short statements as well when it seemed appropriate. Levin and the police ignored the first several outbursts.

When the Senators began questioning the witnesses, it got interesting. They were asked "How can we pay for the U.S. military to add personnel.?"Dr. Korb got very specific as he went down a list of military hardware projects that he felt were unecessary and wastful including the B-22 and the F-34. I was pleasantly surprised to hear him add that "the United States should not build anymore nuclear weapons and that in fact we should make a good faith effort to start dismantling the nukes we already have so we could set an example to Iran and others to serve as an example of America's sincerity in stopping the proliferation of nuclear weapons. At that point, I yelled "YES!" really loud. then the Dr. Korb went onto say that in order to afford the military needed to truly defend America, the United States would have to withdraw from Iraq as soon as possible. I yelled YES" again and Liz yelled "Thank You". I guess that was a little too much noise as Levin grabbed for his gavel; he didn't bang it but is was clear he was nearing the end of his patience. So, after Dr. Korb finished, the chairman said, "I would like to pause for a moment to ask the people standing in the back to remain silent. We have been tolerating your signs this whole time, but if you make any further outbursts I will have you removed from the room. So, we just stood there with our signs for the remainder of the hearing.

On the way out of the hearing room I ran into Claire McCaskill who is the junior Senator from my home state of Missouri. She said "hi Midge", so I took that oppurtuniy to once again ask her to do all she could to end the war in Iraq." Then, I came back to the CODEPINK house satisfied.

Well, that's just a little taste of the excitment you will be a part of if you come to DC. See ya soon!

Peace & Freedom,
Midge