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Reporters' Guide: Iraq Veterans Against the War 'Winter Soldier' Investigation
WASHINGTON, March 11 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following is being
issued by Stop the Slander:
What is Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW)?
-- The IVAW is a tax-exempt activist organization founded in July 2004
with the assistance of older radical organizations Vietnam Veterans Against
the War (VVAW) and Veterans for Peace (VFP). IVAW obtains its 501(c)3 tax
exempt status from the latter group.
Source (VFP):
http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/groupProfile.asp?grpid=6244
-- IVAW calls for the immediate withdrawal of all of what it calls
"occupying" forces in Iraq, reparations to be paid, and an end of corporate
pillaging by the U.S.
Source: http://ivaw.org/about
Who are IVAW's Members?
-- The organization claims about 800 members, which would be 1/2000th
of the 1.6 million who have served in Afghanistan (OEF) and Iraq (OIF) if
all the IVAW members had actually served in either theatre.
Source: http://ivaw.org/
-- The organization's name is misleading. Service in Iraq (or
Afghanistan) is not a requirement for membership. Membership criteria is
that a veteran or active duty person had to serve in any capacity in the
active duty military, National Guard or Reserves for any period of time
after September 11, 2001.
Source: http://ivaw.org/membership
-- A significant but unknown number of members, likely 20% - 40% based
on IVAW's public member profiles, have not deployed to either Iraq or
Afghanistan.
Source: http://ivaw.org/view/profiles
What are IVAW's Main Activities?
-- Primarily demonstrations, street theatre and using whatever media
they can to further the anti-war cause, much of it having to do with vague
but constant charges of atrocities and war crimes by American forces.
Sources: Sunday Times, Mar 2, 2008: We Came, We Saw, We Murdered
http://ivaw.org/images/LondonTimesMagazinecover.jpg
Video: Commanders Encourage War Crimes - The Killing of Civilians is
Policy
http://trevorsnyder.info/watch-video/cwYvdyn3oRc/mmflint/iraq-war-veter
ans:-commanders-encourage-war-crimes.html
Does IVAW Have a History of Credibility Problems? Yes. Here are a few
examples:
-- In May 2006 an IVAW member named Jesse MacBeth appeared in a video
widely circulated on the Internet. MacBeth claimed to have been a Ranger in
Iraq who had committed horrific atrocities with his unit, including the
execution of hundreds of men, women and children. However, MacBeth was
exposed as a fraud who had been dismissed from the Army before completing
Basic Training.
Source: Seattle Times
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003739269_fakeranger08m0.h
tml
-- In 2005, IVAW founder Jimmy Massy, a Marine veteran of Iraq, was
found to have fabricated stories published in the Modesto Bee, the
Sacramento Bee and the Associated Press. Ron Harris of the St. Louis
Post-Dispatch and four other embedded reporters and other Marines in
Massey's unit refuted the claims. The news organizations published
retractions.
Sources: Jewish World Review
http://www.jewishworldreview.com/michelle/malkin110905.php3
Michelle Malkin
http://michellemalkin.com/2005/12/14/jimmy-masseys-lies-the-ap-finally-
wakes-up/
-- In an interview in March 2005, IVAW leader Camilo Mejia was asked if
he had ever abused or tortured detainees in Iraq and replied in the
negative. During his court martial for desertion Mejia again made no claims
to have done or been ordered to do so, which claim if made might have
strengthened his defense. However, in an interview the next August with
Dahr Jamail, author of "Beyond the Green Zone", Mejia's story changed to "I
tortured guys."
Sources: PBS http://www.pbs.org/now/news/330-transcript.html
Dahr Jamail's Mideast Dispatches
http://dahrjamailiraq.com/weblog/archives/iraq_dispatches/000271.php
Point of Clarity News
http://www.pointofclarity.org/news/story.cfm?nID=50
-- In the same interview with Dahr Jamail in Aug 2005, Jamail wrote of
what several IVAW members were telling him "I type furiously for three
hours, trying to keep up with the stories each of the men shared....about
the atrocities of what they saw, and committed, while in Iraq." IVAW member
Harvey Tharp was quoted by Jamail saying "Most of what we're talking about
is war crimes...war crimes because they are directed by our government for
power projection." However, in an interview with the Yemen Times published
on Feb 25, 2008, Tharp admitted to never having witnessed an atrocity in
Iraq.
Sources: Dahr Jamail's Mideast Dispatches
http://dahrjamailiraq.com/weblog/archives/iraq_dispatches/000271.php
Yemen Times http://yementimes.com/article.shtml?i=1132&p=report&a=1
Are The Atrocity and War Crimes Stories Told by IVAW Members True?
-- The stories follow a familiar pattern. Wartime events that are often
both legal and moral, but that may have disturbing or tragic consequences
out of the realm of normal civilian experience are deliberately
mischaracterized by IVAW activists to put them in the worst possible light.
-- The stories are invariably presented without the details that would
enable them to be verified. Nor is there any indication that the alleged
events were reported to the chain of command when they happened, as is
required in the case of genuine crimes by the Uniform Code of Military
Justice (UCMJ).
Sources: Times Online
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article3444835.
ece?Submitted=true
Video: Commanders Encourage War Crimes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwYvdyn3oRc
About.com: Uniform Code of Military Justice
http://usmilitary.about.com/od/justicelawlegislation/l/blucmj.htm
What is the History of "Winter Soldier" Allegations and Why is it
Important?
-- In 1971, more than 100 members of the Vietnam Veterans Against the
War (VVAW) held a three day conference in Detroit to make hundreds of
unsupported allegations of war crimes that they claimed to have
participated in or witnessed.
-- The VVAW allegations were presented to the Senate Committee on
Foreign Affairs in April 1971 by John Kerry, in an event given enormous
publicity by the "Big Three" networks, ABC, CBS and NBC. The networks and
print media repeated the war crime allegation uncritically, without
demanding evidence.
-- The Kerry / VVAW allegations were widely believed, and helped
contribute to an atmosphere of public contempt toward American Vietnam
Veterans.
-- The military was charged with investigating the VVAW allegations,
but the results of those investigations were never made public.
-- The U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Division (CID) opened cases for
48 VVAW allegations that, if true, would qualify as war crimes. Summary
reports show that 25 of the "witnesses" refused to support their
allegations with evidence. Several others provided statements that could
not be confirmed, or that were contradicted by investigation. At least ten
more backtracked on their Winter Soldier allegations when questioned by
investigators. Out of 76 allegations made by purported Army VVAW members,
only one case showed probable evidence of a war crime.
Sources: WinterSoldier.com: Army CID Investigations of VVAW War Crimes
Allegations
http://www.wintersoldier.com/staticpages/index.php?page=WSI_CID
FrontPageMagazine.com: Newly Discovered Army Reports Discredit "Winter
Soldier" Claims
http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/Read.aspx?GUID=5AA13DC0-481C-46BC-
AF88-D5FE933B3216
How Should the Media Respond to the Winter Soldier Stories and
Allegations?
-- Journalists should exert due diligence to establish the truth and
search for the facts that will verify or refute each allegation.
-- An acronym has been developed as a simple guide to what should
reasonably be asked by journalists of those making allegations: DUPES:
D: Date(s) - When did the incident occur?
U: Unit(s) - What military units were involved?
P: Personnel - What are the names of the participants and witnesses?
E: Event(s) - What exactly happened exactly where?
S: Signature(s) - Was this reported at the time or later and were
reports, affidavits or depositions signed, or will they now be signed?
-- Journalists can and should check with the Pentagon to verify service
claimed (via DD214) of testifiers.
-- Statements and written accounts made by many members of IVAW are
readily available on the Internet and should be checked against the claims
made at Winter Soldier to establish consistency or changes in these
allegations over time.
-- If such questions are not asked, answered, and professionally
followed up, journalists are merely helping activists spread political
propaganda.
For more information on IVAW and the 2008 Winter Soldier Investigation:
http://keohane.blogspot.com/
For more information on VVAW and the 1971 Winter Soldier Investigation:
http://www.wintersoldier.com/
To schedule an interview with a Stop the Slander representative,
contact Denis Keohane, Phone: 336-634-0789
Obiter Dictum Blog: http://keohane.blogspot.com/
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