Colonel (ret.) Ann Wright visited Olympia yesterday for a series of presentations on Iraq, on official wrongdoing within government, and on her new book, which is published by Koa Books. Dissent, Voices of Conscience: Government Insiders Speak Out Against the War in Iraq is co-authored by Ms. Wright and Susan Dixon. It chronicles the stories of about 25 government and military whistle-blowers who have come forward to expose corruption and wrongdoing in their respective professional settings.

Colonel Wright was a career diplomat with the US State Department. When the US Government, under the dictate of the Bush Administration, launched an invasion in Iraq she resigned her post (along with two other US diplomats.) I saw and listened to Ms. Wright give a presentation (on her experience vís a vís her professional career and Iraq) at South Puget Sound Community College. Her visit was sponsored by Washington Peace Action and BRICK (the SPSCC student group Building Revolution by Increasing Community Knowledge).

Ms. Wright opened her talk by expressing solidarity with the PMR movement as it has appeared in Olympia Washington. Ms. Wright expressed her opinion that PMR mobilizations have potential and are promising in terms of mounting an effective resistance to the official illegal actions and wrongdoing of our government of the US of A.

What are the ways that we can stop an unjust, unnecessary war of aggression as it is committed by our government? Especially when the mainstream media is slanted toward support of the official government and White House line of rhetoric, what are the most promising methods of enforcing accountability on a bureaucratic behemoth that is misbehaving, operating in an immoral/unethical manner, and steamrolling human rights, and constitutional and international law? Wright mentioned a few promising prospects:

• Go to Congress. Whether by lobbying, nonviolent direct action and protest, or mounting electoral campaigns to mount an opposition to the status quo, a focus on Congressional Action is an important ingredient to the effective advocacy of change. (I interpret this approach to be effective not only at the national level, but at the state and municipal levels as well.)
  One pertinent example of Congressional action is the local candidate, Cheryl Crist, who is running in opposition to Brian Baird in Washington State's 3rd Congressional District.
• Support for groups like IVAW, IAVA, Military Families Speak Out, Gold Star Families for Peace, etc., these groups work on outreach toward military personnel.
• The PMR movement is an example of creative nonviolent direct action civil resistance. These types of movements have great potential to harvest the will of the people who are overwhelmingly opposed to the harmful and wrongful government actions. One example of a promising civil resistance protest movement with a great potential is the School of Americas Watch, led by Fr. Ray Bourgeois, in Fort Benning, Georgia.
• Another potential efficacious means of enforcing accountability on our government is by the courageous actions of whistle-blowers. Ehren Watada, who refused to deploy to Iraq and to help enable an illegal and immoral military action, is an excellent example of how the actions of individuals can resonate with the greater population and have the potential to create a cascade of sentiment calling for an end to a wrongful foreign policy and the resultant overseas activities.
  Suzanne Swift was subjected to repeated rapes when she was stationed for service in Iraq. When she was called upon to return to Iraq with the same unit, and the same commander who she was raped by, she went AWOL. According to a DOD study (United States Department of Defense Sexual Assault Prevention and Response), fully 1/3 of female military personnel and about 3/20 male military personnel have been sexually assaulted while in service.
• Wright also mentioned the importance of holding vigil, in opposition to war of aggression and in support of peace. Wright referred to vigils and those who participate in vigils as the conscience of America.
• There are many other examples of whistle-blowers, many of which are detailed in Wright and Dixon's book. There are names like Kevin Benderman and General Eric Shinseki. But of course, those in attendance last night were treated to one of the truly premier examples of government officials who have spoken out about the need for increased enforcement against wrongdoing in Ann Wright herself.

Wright spoke of increasing problems within government, as well as within the military, and in terms of how the government relates to the military (especially in regard to the present day gov't in Washington D.C. in relation to the undeclared war in Iraq.) Although there were many factors which precipitated her decision to resign, it was the unjust invasion of Iraq that served as the final trigger. And although she was one of only 3 US diplomats to resign, the government of the UK had 4 times as many government officials resign, most notably, the former foreign service secretary, Robin Cook.

Wright made a point of how Iraq did not attack the USA, and how as such, the US invasion was an act of Aggression and hence, illegal - a war crime - under both US and International Law.

Ms. Wright spoke of a few examples of the prominent whistle-blowers and their actions that are detailed in her new book. Jessalyn Radack is a lawyer who worked in the Justice Department's "Office of Ethics" during the opening periods of the War on Terror. She was involved in counseling the government employees who interrogated John Walker Lindh, "The American Taliban." When Lindh was captured in Afghanistan, he was rounded up as part of the "Convoy of Death." This was a somewhat famous incident in which the Northern Alliance piled Taliban forces into containers. With the captives inside, the Northern Allliance fired automatic weapon munitions into the containers (to make air holes.) Many people were injured or killed. Those who survived that horrific experience were subjected to even more torture. The survivors were herded into a dungeon with standing water. The prison keepers doused the water with flammable liquid and ignited it. When Lindh was interrogated his body was scorched; he was duct taped to a stretcher and shivering while suffering from exposed burns.

In communication with Radack at the Justice Department, interrogators were informed that anything they gleaned from Lind would not be presentable in a court of law. Radack said that Lindh, as an American Citizen, was entitled to having a lawyer present to advocate for his interests during an interrogation. As such, the results of his questioning could be used for operational purposes, but not legal ones.

John Walker Lindh was one of the first subjects of trial for suspicion of terrorism. When Lind was returned to the USA for trial, the 15 or so email communications between Radack and the interrogators in Afghanistan were missing. They weren't included in the report that was sent to the Judge or defense lawyers for Lind's trial. Radack didn't give up, however. She went to an IT expert, who was able to cull the deleted emails from a back-up server. She subsequently printed and copied the emails and sent the copies to multiple sources, the Defense Attorneys, the Judge, and one copy also to Michael Isikoff at Newsweek ("The Lindh Case E-Mails" by Michael Isikoff). Subsequently, Radack was subjected to a DOJ witch hunt, which sought her disbarment (reference Douglas McCollam article).

Interestingly enough, the Taliban originated as a student movement in resistance to the brutality of the "Northern Alliance", which was oppressing certain populations in Afghanistan, raping the women, etc.

Wright also discussed the case of Sibel Edmonds, who was a translator for the FBI. Edmonds has alleged that translations that she had produced were changed by her supervisor. According to Edmonds, the translations that she produced indicated that a senior government official, Mark Grossman, had been responsible for distributing nuclear secrets to agents of Turkey, who in turn sold the information to authorities of Pakistan. Edmonds was fired for going to a higher supervisor about the improprieties and altered translations. She has since sought remedy for her unjust termination and the governmental wrongdoings at the Congressional level, and otherwise. However, her story has been completely neglected by the US mainstream media.

Wright also used the example of Navy Lawyer Matthew Diaz who, after serving 17 years in the Navy was subjected to court-martial, 6 months in military prison and dishonorable discharge after he released the names of Guantanamo detainees to the Washington D.C. legal advocacy oranization, Center for Constitutional Rights.

Next up was Joe Darby, who was sitting in a cafeteria at the Abu Ghraib prison compound in Iraq when then Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld appeared for a news conference and referred to him by name as the person who released 29 photos documenting prisoner abuses that were regularly taking place at the time. Darby was evacuated from Iraq for his own safety. He has been put on a government witness protection program and currently lives under an assumed name and identity.

Many people have stood up against government abuses and wrongdoing. And there are many more in government who oppose the wrongful and illegal actions of our government, but who feel unable to take a more appropriate and active position of opposition, due to financial and familial concerns and obligations. 31 members of the military have refused service and been court-martialed.

Wright also mentioned the case of illegal wire-taps and how there is a significant will in the current Congress to grant amnesty to tele-com providers who engaged in illicit, unwarranted and warrantless, telephone taps of American citizens. The only company to refuse the taps was Qwest. Interestingly enough, the CEO of Qwest, Joe Nacchio, has faced scrutiny (and fines/prison time) for matters that are seemingly unrelated to the wiretaps, but can best be understood within the current overall political climate of fear and jingoistic nationalism...

Thanks to Ann Wright for being there last night and for standing up for human rights, for being there for the American people, and for opposing the illegal actions of our government!