"A very few serve the state with their consciences, and so necessarily resist it." -Henry David Thoreau
"We should never forget that everything Adolph Hitler did in Germany was legal and everything the Hungarian freedom fighters did in Hungary was illegal."
-Martin Luther King Jr.
"A real cynic isn't going to blow the whistle. And a real radical probably won't be in a position to do it. It takes someone who believes in the system far more than the system ever believes in itself."
- C. Fred Alford
Actually Thoreau is wrong. More than a few serve the state and resist its abuses, at significant risk to themselves. But very few of us know all of their stories. Resisters of the occupation of Iraq in the U.S., British, and Australian governments and militaries are plentiful enough to fill a book, and they've filled a good one.
"Dissent: Voices of Conscience: Government Insiders Speak Out Against the War in Iraq" is the forthcoming work of U.S. Army Colonel (Ret.) Ann Wright and Susan Dixon (forthcoming after a long delay imposed by the State Department). Wright is herself one of the many heroes whose stories are told in the book. Many of us who follow the war and the peace movement know Ann and know that she resigned from the U.S. diplomatic corps in protest of the invasion of Iraq. But can you name the other two U.S. diplomats who had already done the same thing? Do you know their stories?
What about the stories of the high level resisters in the
British government? We've heard some of their names before, but here
are the stories and statements of people like Katherine Gunn, Robin
Cook, Elizabeth Wilmshurst, Clare Short, Carne Ross, and Craig Murray.
Here is Frank Grevil, a Danish military intelligence officer who
revealed how early his government knew of U.S. plans for war and how
clearly his government knew there was no solid evidence of weapons in
Iraq. Here, too, is Andrew Wilkie, an retired Australian Lieutenant
Colonel and a civilian analyst who resigned in protest of his
government's lies about Iraqi weapons, leading to censurein the Senate
of Prime Minister John Howard, who recently lost a bid for reelection.
And what of whistleblowers in Washington? Do you know what Bunnatine
Greenhouse, Jesselyn Radack, Mary Ryan, Sibel Edmonds, Russell Tice,
and Coleen Rowley, among others, did, and what their government did to
them to express its gratitude? These are our heroes. And like all
heroes, they are often flawed. They knew about evil deeds because they
were working for organizations some of us would never choose to work
for, or because they went along with things they shouldn't have. And in
some cases it took them a long time before they found the courage to
speak out. The same can be said, of course, of members of the U.S.
military who have resisted this illegal invasion and occupation.
But military heroes fill much of this book: officers, lawyers,
whistleblowers, resisters and deserters, those facing court martial,
those fled to Canada. Here are collected the stories and statements of
those who spoke some bit of unpermitted truth: General Eric Shinseki,
Lieutenant General (Ret.) Brent Scowcroft, General (Ret.) Anthony
Zinni, Lieutenant General (Ret.) William Odom, Lieutenant General
(Ret.) Gregory Newbold, Major General (Ret.) Paul Eaton, Major General
(Ret.) John Batiste.
Here are the lawyers within the military who have worked for justice:
Lieutenant Commander Charles Swift, Lieutenant Commander Matthew Diaz.
And the whistleblowers in the ranks: Specialist Joe Darby, Captain Ian
Fishback, Seargent Samuel Provance. Do you know these stories? These
are our heroes. Do you know anyone serving in the U.S. government or
military? Please send them a copy of this book. I'm sure the authors
would be delighted to print an expanded edition with your friends in it
when they speak truth to power.
Above all, "Dissent: Voices of Conscience" presents a sampling of the
many stories of soldiers who have put down their weapons in this unjust
war: Camilo Mejia, Pablo Paredes, Kevin Benderman, Stephen Funk,
Abdullah Webster, Aidan Delgado, Katherine Jashinski, Melanie
McPherson, Ehren Watada, Augustin Aguayo, Ricky Clousing, Mark
Wilkerson, Jeremy Hinzman, Brandon Hughey, Joshua Key, Patrick Hart,
Chris Magaoay, Darrell Anderson, Ivan Brobeck, Kyle Snyder, Ben
Griffin, Malcolm Kendal-Smith, Mohisin Khan. There are many more.
All of these people have recognized that there was only one thing they
could justly do, and they have done it. Perhaps it was illegal or
disobedient, but it had to be done. Our Congress has one legal move
remaining in impeachment, beyond which it too will have to step outside
what is legal or lose its existence. But we as citizens have no right
to ask that of our representatives or to ask those in the position to
do so to resist, to leak, or to refuse illegal orders, unless we too
recognize our one remaining move. We've voted and marched and lobbied
and educated. Creative nonviolent civil disobedience is the one move
remaining to us. It's our turn to step up and be heroes. It's now or
never.
Writings 
Actually Thoreau is wrong. More than a few serve the state and resist its abuses, at significant risk to themselves. But very few of us know all of their stories. Resisters of the occupation of Iraq in the U.S., British, and Australian governments and militaries are plentiful enough to fill a book, and they've filled a good one.
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