Aaron Glantz

One of the leading voices of dissent inside the U.S. Army has been promoted. Sgt. Ronn Cantu – who signed a petition to Congress demanding the U.S. withdraw from Iraq and gave interviews to the news shows 60 Minutes and Democracy Now!, as well as IPS detailing his opposition – has seen his rank upgraded … Continue reading “Army ‘Rewards’ Outspoken Antiwar Soldier”

Hundreds of veterans who gathered outside Washington last weekend to testify about their experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan are returning to their communities across the country with the goal of stoking resistance to the Iraq war from inside the US military. The so-called Winter Soldier gathering organized by Iraq Veterans Against the War was designed … Continue reading “Winter Soldiers Move Toward GI Resistance”

SILVER SPRING, Maryland – "I would like to share with you how one goes about becoming a concentration camp guard without having made many decisions," 24-year-old former Guantanamo prison guard Christopher Arent told a crowd of hundreds at last weekend’s Winter Soldier gathering outside Washington, D.C. "I was 17 years old when I joined the … Continue reading “US Vets Testify to Torture of Detainees”

Get ready for the horrible, honest reality of the American occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan like you haven’t heard it before. For three days, March 14-16, hundreds of U.S. veterans of the two wars will descend on Washington and testify in the "Winter Soldier" hearings about what they really did while they were serving their … Continue reading “Tune in to Winter Soldier Hearings”

Another high-ranking George W. Bush administration official has resigned. The Department of Veterans Affairs Undersecretary for Benefits Daniel Cooper quit Thursday amid mounting criticism over a backlog of disability claims for injured veterans that runs six months long and an appearance he made in a fundraising video for an evangelical Christian organization where he said … Continue reading “Embattled Veterans Official Resigns Post”

US veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are planning to descend on Washington from Mar. 13-16 to testify about war crimes they committed or personally witnessed in those countries. "The war in Iraq is not covered to its potential because of how dangerous it is for reporters to cover it," said Liam Madden, … Continue reading “Vets Break Silence on War Crimes”

State legislators in Vermont introduced legislation Wednesday demanding the state’s National Guard troops return from Iraq. Lawmakers in Minnesota, New Hampshire, and Pennsylvania are poised to push similar legislation. At the heart of the matter is a contention that President George W. Bush’s legal authority to deploy the National Guard to Iraq has expired. “Congress … Continue reading “States Consider Calling Back National Guards from Iraq”

President George W. Bush signed a $696 billion Pentagon spending bill immediately before his State of the Union address Monday night, which funds all Defense Department programs not directly tied to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, expands health care for injured veterans, and gives U.S. soldiers a pay raise. The bill is a mixed … Continue reading “Bush Signs Vets Bill, Won’t Ban Permanent Bases”

When young American men and women sign up to serve in US military, our government makes a basic promise to them: that if they are wounded in the line of duty they will get the care they need. Unfortunately, for tens of thousands of veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan, that’s a promise that only exists … Continue reading “Dear Soldiers: Your Government Lied to You”

As they travel the country searching for votes, each of the big three Democratic candidates for president has pledged to withdraw large numbers of troops from Iraq during their first year in office. They also all say they oppose the construction and maintenance of permanent bases in Iraq. Both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama say … Continue reading “Parsing the Democrats’ Iraq Plans”