To Click - for Vets

I'm about to go to bed but I wanted to post a link to a website I heard about on Colbert Report tonight.

http://supportyourvet.org/

More on this after I've had time to view the site.

On Demand Review- Charlie Wilson's War

Sorkin wrote it. 'Nuff said.

Anyway, for real, this was a good movie. It had that fastfast dialog so very trademark of Aaron Sorkin. Congressman Wilson is a highly quirky and compelling figure. He makes a fantastic movie character.

And at the end, while he unsuccessfully lobbies his fellow congressmen for an education and rebuilding budget for post-Soviet Afghanistan circa 87, and he fails, all knowing people are just like, "Fuck." Because we all know the outcome.

That's why, if you were bored enough to read all my surveys, I said I cried after a movie on Saturday.

The movie ends with this quote

“These things happened. They were glorious and they changed the world …

… and then we fucked up the end game”

which made me think of NXXX, my student who is now fighting in Afghanistan. I look at the little Happy Meal toy he gave me as a funny goodbye present (imagine a 15 yr old jock giving a Roo doll as a goodbye present to favorite teacher? how funny is that?) every day, practically. It's on my dashboard. And I do my prayers (yeah, prayers) and also get a little pissed off that it's all happening in the first place.

But I was reminded to blog about the movie tonight while listening to this Obama speech from Berlin. (Speechin' like a rock starrrr.) In this super speech, he lobbies for the support of the German government and people in the fight in Afghanistan.

In addition to an awesome souvenir (future blog post), the head librn at MB brought back news that on the BBC everyone talks about Obama as if he is already the president.

OMG Harry in Afghanistan

OMG Harry in Afghanistan

Well, I was listening to BBC and they reported that Prince Harry has been fighting in the war in Afghanistan (video of interview with the cute little redhead) for the last 10 weeks.

(I was in the kitchen after the soccer game, missing the Daily Show broadcast because I was ravenous. My stomach is finally feeling better and so I was able to play soccer and eat a tiny pre-game dinner and then eat a giant post-game dinner.)

While looking through the fridge for something to make, there was Owen Bennett Jones of BBC Newshour, reporting that my fav royalty had reported for duty.

As I cleaned out the fridge (in order to find food edible to eat), I heard the full, very interesting, story. Mind you, there was five bowls and pans full of old food to dump down the garbage disposal so I had plenty of time to listen.

Apparently the bulk of the British media did know about Harry's service. BBC's royal family reporter thought that something was up starting Christmas time when Harry didn't show up for the family celebration. Then there was the plummet in hack paparazzi getting shots of Harry and his mates getting pissed in the clubs.

Prince Harry was hoping to serve in Iraq. (Upcoming repost of my blog about that soon!) This got the kibosh, though, because he was too high profile. His nickname, by the way, is "Bullet Magnet". So that's telling. BUt, the secret slip to Afghanistan, an idea that was apparently the brainchild of the Queen.

It was then confirmed to the suspicious reporter that Prince Harry, third in line to the throne, was serving as junior officer for the 37th in Afghanistan. The media-at-large knew but, for the sake of safety, kept that information private on the condition that after his service ended, they would have footage and photos of this time in his life. The Drudge Report - the same swell people who released the photo of Obama in traditional Somali garb and saying he was in Muslim garb - was the leaker. The leak not only puts Prince Harry at risk, as he is sure to become a target, but also endangers the lives of the people serving with him.

I'm all for freedom of the press. Just look at my ACLU card and my collection of Noami Wolfe, Noam Chomsky, and Howard Zinn books, but I definitely don't understand the point of leaking a story just to be the first to report it. No one needed to know that Harry was serving and where he was serving.

But in the age of "famous people's daily activities is news" [Britney drives around LA all night long...], nothing seems to be off limits.

Ah well.

No more into the breach, my dear Harry. Time to return to jolly old England.

Article from the Patriot Ledger: Ciara Durkin death

Ciara Durkin, Soldier from Massachusetts

(See all Ciara Durkin entries here.)

Wanted to pass this article along:

http://www.patriotledger.com/articles/2007/10/03/news/news01.txt

GI to her family: Ask many questions if I die; ‘I made some enemies,’ Durkin said

Durkin

By DIANA SCHOBERG and SUE SCHEIBLE
The Patriot Ledger

QUINCY - Ciara Durkin was home on leave last month and expressed a concern to her family in Quincy: If something happens to me in Afghanistan, don’t let it go without an investigation.

Durkin, 30, a specialist with a Massachusetts National Guard finance battalion, was found dead last week near a church at the Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan. She had been shot once in the head, the Army says.

Fiona Canavan, Durkin’s older sister, said today that when her sister was home three weeks ago, she told family members that she had come across some things that concerned her and had raised objections to others at the base.

‘‘She was in the finance unit and she said, ‘I discovered some things I don’t like and I made some enemies because of it.’ Then she said, in her light-hearted way, ‘If anything happens to me, you guys make sure it gets investigated,’’’ Canavan said. ‘‘But at the time we thought it was said more as a joke.’’

The family did not know what she was referring to, said Canavan, who lives in Quincy.

Canavan said that her sister was openly gay, but that the family had no specific reasons to think that had anything to do with her death.

‘‘She was gay, but because she really wanted to go into the Army, she had to make a choice and she chose to put that part of her lifestyle behind her,’’ Canavan said.

The family is determined to have the military investigate ‘‘every aspect’’ of her sister’s life at the base and determine the truth of what happened, Canavan said. ‘‘If she was killed because she was a smoker or had red hair - not to be flip, but we want nothing held back.’’

Canavan vehemently denied a published report attributing to her a statement that the family was concerned that Durkin’s lesbianism was the reason for her death.

When her sister told the family three weeks ago about her concerns over her safety at the base, due to whatever information she had found out, Canavan said, ‘‘we reported it to the Army.’’

Canavan said that the offices of Sen. John Kerry and Edward Kennedy have been tremendously supportive in the ongoing investigation. U.S. Rep. William Delahunt has also been pressing the Pentagon for answers.

Other family members are coming in for Durkin’s funeral on Saturday at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Quincy, she said.

Kerry sent a letter to Secretary of Defense Robert Gates on Tuesday. It contained a list of questions he said were raised by Durkin’s family:

—Why had the family not gotten a response to its request for an independent autopsy?

—Why did the family not receive the results of the Army’s autopsy when it was told it would?

—Why had the Army not made Durkin’s will and other paperwork available to the family so they could plan her funeral?

Asked in a telephone interview about what the seriousness of the questions might imply, Kerry said there were ‘‘no implications.’’

‘‘There’s simply a request for a family at a moment of great loss and great anxiety to have everything possible happen to put their minds at ease,’’ he said. ‘‘There have been some unfortunate situations, as we’ve seen historically in the past few years, of false information being given, of people not sufficiently having their questions answered.’’

Her family was initially told that Durkin was killed in action on Friday. But on Monday, the family learned that she died about 6:30 p.m. of a single gunshot wound to the head in a non-combat situation.

Durkin had been assigned to a finance unit at the base since February. Her tour of duty had been scheduled to end in February.

Her younger brother, Pierce Durkin, said that because of the nature of the wound and the fact that the shooting happened under ‘‘curious’’ circumstances, the family decided to contact legislators.

The family was going through old photos of Ciara on Tuesday in preparation for the wake and funeral.

‘‘She’s undoubtedly smiling in every one,’’ he said. ‘‘It’s making it all so much more difficult.’’

Durkin was born in Ireland and moved to the United States when she was 9 years old. The family lived first in Dorchester and later in Quincy.

She joined the Army National Guard in October 2005.

---

Kerry's letter to Gates

This is the letter Sen. John Kerry sent Tuesday to Defense Secretary Robert Gates about the death of Army National Guard Spc. Ciara Durkin.

Dear Secretary Gates:

I write to you on behalf of my constituent, Angela Durkin, who

last week was notified that her daughter, Army Specialist Ciara Durkin,

had been killed while serving our country in Afghanistan.

Since the terrible news of Ciara's death became public, I

have spoken with her mother and brother and my staff has spoken with

other family members. Initial reports indicated that Ms. Durkin, a

member of the Massachusetts National Guard, was "killed in action" but

since that time, other circumstances and rumors surrounding her death at

Bagram Airfield have come to the attention of her family.

As you can imagine, the confusion and potential misreporting around

Specialist Durkin's death have added to what is already an

extraordinarily painful time for her mother, her siblings and her

extended family, here in Massachusetts and in Ireland. The Durkin family

desperately needs answers to the following questions:

1. Why has the Army not responded to the Durkin family's request

for an independent autopsy?

2. Why, after not responding to the family's request for an

independent autopsy, did the Army fail to contact the Durkin family with

the Army's autopsy results? The family was told to be available to

receive a phone call between 1 and 3 PM on October 1 and the Army never

called.

3. Why has the Army refused to make Specialist Durkin's will and

paperwork available to her family so they can respect her wishes as they

plan her funeral and burial?

While I understand that in accordance with the US Central

Command policy, an investigation is taking place, I cannot overstate the

urgency and importance of this matter to the Durkin family. I urge you

to deploy your staff on this matter immediately so that the answers and

circumstances around Specialist Durkin's death are uncovered,

expeditiously and thoroughly.

Your cooperation in this matter is appreciated. Please know

that my staff in Washington and Massachusetts is prepared to assist you

and the Department of Defense with regard to this matter.

Sincerely,

John F. Kerry
United States Senator

Military misinformation

In several recent cases, the U.S. military has been accused of providing inaccurate information about military actions:

—Pat Tillman: The Army Ranger was killed in 2004 by friendly fire in Afghanistan. The military initially said he died in a firefight with the enemy.

—Jessica Lynch: The military initially said the former Army private fought until shooting her last round of ammunition when she was captured in 2003 in Iraq. She later said she was injured too badly to fight.

—Patrick McCaffrey and Andre Tyson: Both were killed in 2004 by two Iraqi soldiers they were training. The military had said the deaths resulted from an insurgent ambush.