VoteVets.org: [Iran] Veterans' Stories

The email below is from VoteVets.org. 

Please consider subscribing to and supporting this great organization that is promoting DIPLOMACY FIRST! 

This morning, Senator Mikulski came out in favor of a diplomacy-first approach with Iran, giving the president a veto proof majority in the U.S. Senate.

It's great news, but there's still work to do.

Next week, VoteVets is flying almost two-dozen veterans to Washington, D.C. - men and women who served overseas, and the family members of others who never returned. We'll meet with the White House and targeted members of Congress we need to support this deal.

Contribute $3 to help VoteVets bring these veterans into the nation's capital to accomplish this important mission ahead of the vote on the Iran deal later this month.

VoteVets is the only progressive organization capable of organizing dozens of veterans at a moment's notice for important campaigns like this.

That's only possible because of your continued support.

The team at VoteVets

---

Since we started our campaign to elevate the voices of veterans who support a diplomacy-first approach with Iran, over 20,000 men and women who have worn our country's uniform have added their names in support. 

Today, I want to share a few of their stories with you, and to let you know that in the next few weeks, we're going to be flying almost two dozen veterans and military family members out the nation's capital to make their voices heard loud and clear. 

Contribute $3 to help VoteVets bring these veterans to Washington, D.C. to lobby the Democratic representatives we need to hold the line ahead of the vote on the Iran deal later this month. 

Dennis, an Operation Enduring Freedom Veteran (Afghanistan) wrote in that "The alternative is an eventual war, again, in the Middle East." 

Matt, an Iraq War Veteran from Colorado added, "Based on my experience in Iraq, I feel that diplomacy is a better path than military action in southwest Asia ... Voting [against] the nuclear treaty with Iran would perpetuate our involvement in the region and likely lead to the next generation of our military being worn out in the region." 

Kevin, also an Iraq War Veteran says, "Diplomacy should always be the 1st option. It's the best option. War is a last resort. With Iraq it was the 1st choice. 4500 Americans and countless Iraqis died for WMD's that didn't exist." 

We're going to bring veterans who have served overseas - people like Dennis, Matt, and Kevin - to tell their legislators how their experiences in war inform their desire for America to reach for a peaceful way to disabuse Iran of their nuclear ambitions. 

Contribute $3 today to help us bring them to Washington, D.C. to share their stories. 

We received thousands of letters like theirs. Letters from veterans who served in Afghanistan, Iraq, Korea, Vietnam, and more -- generations of combat veterans who wrote in support of the deal. 

Congress needs to understand their perspective. Thanks for helping us make their voices heard. 

Jon Soltz 
Iraq War Veteran and Chairman 
VoteVets 

---

PAID FOR BY VOTEVETS ACTION FUND

Always Amazing!

The Everlasting GOP Stoppers

with Bernie Sanders

Veruca.

 

Ayn Rand collected Social Security

Shared at Ayn Rand collected Social Security.

 

Stop the World, the Teabaggers Want Off's photo.

I feel the same way about them as they felt about the bill!

Stop the World, the Teabaggers Want Off

 

 

Dear Senator McConnell

Carl Gibson did an admirable job hitting most of the highlights of the disasters Mitch McConnell has helped create.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky gestures during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, May 25, 2007. (photo: Dennis Cook/AP)

An Open Letter to Mitch McConnell, From a Kentuckian

By Carl Gibson | Reader Supported News

22 March 13

Reader Supported News | Perspective
ear Senator McConnell,

 

You are not a Kentuckian. In fact, your citizenship as a Kentuckian should be revoked, and you should be ineligible to run again for re-election.

 

Kentuckians live by the phrase "United We Stand, Divided We Fall." It's emblazoned on our flag along with two men, a frontiersman (Daniel Boone) and a statesman (Henry Clay) standing together.

 

They may be standing on opposite sides of the seal, but their embrace symbolizes a spirit of cooperation and caring for your fellow man, even though you may sometimes disagree with him. Yet as Senate Minority Leader, you proudly announced that your chief goal as the top Republican member was not to create jobs or help schools or look out for the struggling middle class, but to deny President Obama a second term. We've seen a record amount of Republican filibusters, surpassing all others made in recent history, under your leadership. Since you've been the Republican leader, the US Senate has become what Jesus, when he cleansed the temple of the greedy moneychangers, referred to as a "den of thieves." And because of your divisive tactics, you are not a Kentuckian. But that's not the only reason.

 

You've also let down the very same Kentuckians you were elected to represent, by choosing to first represent the interests of those who write your campaign checks. In your 2002 re-election campaign, which precluded your YES vote on the Iraq War, your top campaign donor, Guardsmark, and your #10 campaign donor, Mantech International, were both military contractors – or as FDR called them, war profiteers. Just months after your YES vote to the invasion of Iraq, which claimed the lives of at least 4,500 American soldiers and has cost us upwards of $800 billion, you voted once again for an additional $86 billion in war spending. Two years later, when the behavior of military contractors like those who donated to your previous campaign were questioned in the public, you voted NO to a bill that would have investigated those companies, who were paid with taxpayer money and should have every reason to be transparent.

 

But in 2010, when those soldiers who were fortunate enough to make it home from Iraq alive needed your help the most, you voted NO to $3.4 billion in assistance for homeless veterans with children to look after. You even voted NO to spending just $1 billion in 2012 for a jobs program for veterans, many of whom live in your state. Your craven subservience to big money special interests has never been more clear than when you gave your #24 campaign contributor in your 2008 re-election bid, Amgen, a Christmas gift in the fiscal cliff bill that bilked Medicare out of $500 million. Because of your disdain for your constituents and naked pandering to your campaign donors, you don't deserve to be called a Kentuckian. You're a prostitute who puts out services after enough is put into your pocket. And last time I checked, prostitution is illegal in Kentucky.

 

Your attack campaign on Ashley Judd, the darling of Kentucky basketball, a native Tennessean but still more of a Kentuckian than you'll ever be, will backfire. Kentucky voters are fed up with paying you an exorbitant salary to sit on your thumbs while refusing to help anybody but yourself. The latest polls show it – at the end of 2012, most Kentucky voters said they can't stand you. 73 percent of Democrats disapprove of you and 58 percent of Independents say they don't like you either. Even 28 percent of Republicans openly disapprove of how you've wrecked the country.

 

Your time is limited, Senator McConnell. It's time for you to step aside, and let a Kentuckian do the job you haven't been doing for decades.

---

Carl Gibson, 25, is co-founder of US Uncut, a nationwide creative direct-action movement that mobilized tens of thousands of activists against corporate tax avoidance and budget cuts in the months leading up to the Occupy Wall Street movement. Carl and other US Uncut activists are featured in the documentary "We're Not Broke," which premiered at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. He currently lives in Madison, Wisconsin. You can contact him at carl@rsnorg.org This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , and follow him on twitter at @uncutCG.

Reader Supported News is the Publication of Origin for this work. Permission to republish is freely granted with credit and a link back to Reader Supported News.

Dying Iraq War Veteran Tomas Young

Exclusive: Dying Iraq War Veteran Tomas Young Explains Decision to End His Life




Tomas Young, Iraq War veteran and the main subject of the documentary, Body of War. On April 4, 2004, his fifth day in Iraq, Young’s unit came under fire in the Sadr City neighborhood of Baghdad. Young was left paralyzed, never to walk again. Released from medical care three months later, Young returned home to become an active member in Iraq Veterans Against the War. He recently announced that he will stop his nourishment, which comes in the form of liquid through a feeding tube — a decision which will hasten his death.
        

Phil Donahue, one of the best-known talk show hosts in U.S. television history, his show was on the air for more than 29 years. In 2002, he returned to the airwaves, but he was fired in 2003 on the eve of the war by MSNBC because he was allowing antiwar voices on the air. Along with Ellen Spiro, he directed the documentary, Body of War, which tells the story of Tomas Young, an Iraq War veteran paralyzed from a bullet to the spine. Now, at the age of 33, Tomas has decided to end his life.

Claudia Cuellar, the wife and primary caregiver of Tomas Young.

In the week marking the 10th anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, we spend the hour looking at the remarkable life and imminent death of Iraq War veteran Tomas Young. Citing his overwhelming physical pain from wounds that left him paralyzed in Iraq, Young recently announced he has decided to end his life by discontinuing his medicine and nourishment, which comes in the form of liquid through a feeding tube. Young joins to explain his decision from his home in Kansas City, along with his wife Claudia Cuellar. We’re also joined by Phil Donahue, the legendary TV talk show host, whose 2007 documentary, "Body of War," follows Tomas’ rehabilitation and his political awakening to become one of the most prominent antiwar U.S. veterans speaking out against the invasion and occupation of Iraq. "I am, on one hand, sick and tired of being sick and tired," Young says. "And on the other, I don’t want to watch my body waste away." Donahue calls Tomas’ announcement "a very unusual act of moral courage. He wants people to see this, because he came home from the most sanitized war of my lifetime. We don’t see this. But less than 5 percent of us, maybe 1 percent ... have made a personal sacrifice for this war. And Tomas is one of them." [includes rush transcript]

http://www.democracynow.org/2013/3/21/exclusive_dying_iraq_war_veteran_tomas


Exclusive: Dying Iraq War Veteran Tomas Young Reads "Last Letter" to President Bush and Dick Cheney





Phil Donahue on His 2003 Firing from MSNBC, When Liberal Network Couldn’t Tolerate Antiwar Voices




http://www.democracynow.org/2013/3/21/phil_donahue_on_his_2003_firing

Also:
Tomas Young and the End of the Body of War

When Republicans Abandon Our Vets.....

"What that means is the rest of the forces that are now back in the United States will not be able to train. They will be able to do small-level, squad-level training. They will not be able to do platoon-level, company-level, battalion-level training back at their installations. They will not be able to go out to combat training centers, which is what provides them the final readiness certification at the battalion and brigade level." - Chief of Staff of the United States Army, General Ray Odierno

When Republicans rejected compromise solutions to avoid the "sequester," they ushered in a series of cuts that promise to hurt military families at home and in the field.

At home, medical care, Department of Defense-run schools, social services like sexual assault prevention and treatment, tuition assistance, child care, and many other programs will get cut.

In the field, operations and maintenance funding (O&M) -- which is essentially responsible for readiness and deployment -- already faces a $6 billion shortfall, and sequestration could double it.

We have a powerful voice and unique opportunity to stop these cuts. Sign our petition to congressional leadership calling on an end to the sequester and its impact on military families.

http://action.votevets.org/sequester

Nine Republican Senators already defected from a GOP plan to end the sequester, in large part because of the cuts impacting members of the military and their families.

They also rejected a commonsense Democratic plan that would have millionaires and billionaires shoulder a small amount of the burden to avoid sequester.

The issue is at an impasse right now, and our voices are critical to ensure there's a resolution to the crisis.

Sign our petition to congressional leadership and make your voice heard today.

http://action.votevets.org/sequester

We'll deliver these petitions early next week and let you know about any responses we receive from legislative offices.

Best,

Jon Soltz
@jonsoltz
Iraq War Veteran
Chairman, VoteVets

Oakland!

When I attempted to send a FAX to the Oakland Mayor to protest the police brutality in the treatment of peaceful protesters, the FAX machine reported only out of service.

The Mayor of Oakland seems to have experienced an epiphany of sorts.

Pathetic that it required an outpouring of public condemnation nationwide.


Oakland Mayor Jean Quan's About-Face


"Oakland Mayor Jean Quan's rather remarkable statement below marks a watershed for the burgeoning American Occupy movements.

Cast against the backdrop of Wednesday's fully-militarized Oakland city center, Quan's effusively conciliatory remarks can only be interpreted as an admission that turning downtown Oakland into a war zone to roll up a tent-city encampment did not work.

It should be noted that adherence to non-violent discipline on the part of the Occupy Oakland organizers and all the protesters that participated throughout the day was a critically important factor in forcing the City of Oakland's hand.

Brute-force police oppression of the Occupy movement has taken its best shot. It is possible that non-violent resistance has prevailed. -- Marc Ash/RSN

Statement by Oakland, California, Mayor Jean Quan on Wednesday's police action against Occupy Oakland protesters:

We support the goals of the Occupy Wall Street movement: we have high levels of unemployment and we have high levels of foreclosure that makes Oakland part of the 99% too. We are a progressive city and tolerant of many opinions. We may not always agree, but we all have a right to be heard.

I want to thank everyone for the peaceful demonstration at Frank Ogawa Park tonight, and thank the city employees who worked hard to clean up the plaza so that all activities can continue including Occupy Wall Street. We have decided to have a minimal police presence at the plaza for the short term and build a community effort to improve communications and dialogue with the demonstrators.

99% of our officers stayed professional during difficult and dangerous circumstances as did some of the demonstrators who dissuaded other protestors from vandalizing downtown and for helping to keep the demonstrations peaceful. For the most part, demonstrations over the past two weeks have been peaceful. We hope they continue to be so.

I want to express our deepest concern for all of those who were injured last night, and we are committed to ensuring this does not happen again. Investigations of certain incidents are underway and I will personally monitor them.

We understand and recognize the impact this event has had on the community and acknowledge what has happened. We cannot change the past, but we are committed to doing better.

Most of us are part of the 99%, and understand the spirit of the Occupy Wall Street Movement. We are committed to honoring their free speech right.

Finally, we understand the demonstrators want to meet with me and Chief Jordan. We welcome open dialogue with representatives of Occupy Wall Street members, and we are willing to meet with them as soon as possible.


Iraq War Vet Hospitalized with Fractured Skull After Being Shot by Police at Occupy Oakland Protest

Thousands of people reclaimed the Occupy Oakland encampment in front of City Hall Wednesday after police dispersed them twice on Tuesday — first in a pre-dawn raid on the camp and 12 hours later at night when protesters attempted to retake the park — using beanbag projectiles and tear gas. Many protesters expressed outrage over of the injury of Oakland protester Scott Olsen, a 24-year-old Iraq War veteran whose skull was fractured by a projectile fired by police Tuesday night. He is hospitalized in critical condition and is reportedly under sedation by doctors monitoring his injury. We speak to Jesse Palmer, an Occupy Oakland protester who helped move Olsen to safety, and to Aaron Hinde, a close friend of Scott Olsen and a fellow member of Iraq Veterans Against the War. One of Olsen’s other friends, Adele Carpenter, told Reuters, "The irony is not lost on anyone here that this is someone who survived two tours in Iraq and is now seriously injured by the Oakland police force." Aaron Hinde talked about why Olsen joined the Occupy Oakland movement: "He was a very motivated and dedicated individual. And he believed in the Occupy movement, because it’s very obvious what’s happening in this country, especially as veterans. We’ve had our eyes opened by serving and going to war overseas." [includes rush transcript]

AMY GOODMAN: As we broadcast, protesters with the Occupy San Francisco encampment are preparing for possible eviction by police, but reports just now coming in say police may have called off their raid.

Meanwhile, across the Bay last night, thousands of people reclaimed the Occupy Oakland encampment in front of City Hall after police dispersed them Tuesday night using bean bag projectiles and tear gas. At last night’s general assembly, the Occupy Oakland encampment voted almost unanimously to call for a general strike on November 2nd, saying, quote, "Instead of workers going to work and students going to school, the people will converge on downtown Oakland to shut down the city. All banks and corporations should close down for the day or we will march on them," the statement said.

Also in Oakland, an independent police review body will examine the clashes between riot police and protesters Tuesday that left an Iraq war veteran in critical condition. Scott Olsen is a 24-year-old Iraq war vet. He was struck in the head by a police projectile. Video footage posted to YouTube shows a man identified as Scott Olsen lying motionless and unresponsive in front of a police line after apparently having been hit by a tear gas canister. Several protesters gather around him, but a police officer can be seen throwing a device close to the group which then explodes with a bright flash and loud bang, dispersing the protesters. The video then cuts to footage of protesters carrying Olsen away as blood streams down his face.

A spokesperson for Highland Hospital in East Oakland has confirmed that Scott Olsen remains in critical condition. He suffered from a fractured skull and brain swelling. One of Olsen’s friends, Adele Carpenter, told Reuters, "The irony is not lost on anyone here that this is someone who survived two tours in Iraq and is now seriously injured by the Oakland police force." Olsen served in Iraq from 2006 to 2010 with the 3rd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment.

Acting Oakland Police Chief Howard Jordan told a news conference his department is investigating the injury to Olsen as a "level one" incident, the highest level for an internal police inquiry. He declined to confirm whether Olsen was struck with a projectile fired by police.

Well, for more on what happened to Iraq war veteran, to Marine Corporal Scott Olsen, and the broader role that veterans play in the Occupy movement across the country, we’re joined by two guests in Berkeley, California. Aaron Hinde is a close friend of Scott Olsen, a member of Iraq Veterans Against the War, as Scott was. He has slept at Occupy San Francisco for several nights. We’re also joined by Jesse Palmer, who participated in Occupy Oakland since its inception. He helped carry Scott to safety after the police projectile hit Olsen in the head. Aaron Hinde, Jesse Palmer are joining us from the studios of the University of California, Berkeley School of Journalism.

We welcome you both to Democracy Now! I want to begin with Jesse, because you were on the scene on Tuesday night. Can you describe what time it was that Scott was hit and exactly what happened when you came upon him?

JESSE PALMER: Well, it was about 7:45. People had marched at 5:00, and by the point that the first tear gas and concussion grenades were used, people had been marching for over two hours. At the time, there was a large group of people standing at 14th and Broadway, which is the intersection right in downtown Oakland closest to Oscar Grant Plaza. The police had given an order to disperse, but there was no aggressive behavior towards the police. It was basically just a standoff. People were standing around.

All of a sudden, you know, in just an instant, with no real warning, concussion grenades went off and tear gas canisters went off all around us. I was right in the middle of the intersection, and it was very shocking, because you just heard the explosions in every direction all around you. Most of the crowd I was with proceeded north on Broadway, but people went in every direction. The other two intersections, people left.

At that time, I didn’t see that Scott had been struck. And in fact the tear gas makes it very hard for you to see. You can’t see. So people fell back about a half a block down Broadway, then somebody said that somebody had been hurt. And so, a number of people ran back up into the tear gas. And he was lying on the sidewalk, and there were a couple of medics already with him, and they said, "We need to get him farther out," because it was very very unsafe at that location. And so, we picked him up, and we carried him about a block, around the corner from where they could safely work on him.

AMY GOODMAN: What exactly was his condition as you tried, with others, to carry him?

JESSE PALMER: So, we picked him up, and my initial—I told him, "You’re going to be OK. My name’s Jesse. Can you tell me your name?" because I knew it was a terrifying situation, and I wanted to comfort him. But he didn’t respond at all. His eyes were open. He just stared blankly. And that was when I realized. You know, there was blood coming out of—it was a little hard to say, but his eyes, his mouth, his nose, there was a lot of blood on his face. And it was a terrifying, you know, moment. I mean, he was alive, and we didn’t know how badly he was hurt. And he didn’t speak back to me. And I tried a few times, because I thought, "Oh, he’ll be able to speak back." And he never spoke. We got him around the sidewalk, and then there were—the medics said they were EMTs, and they had experience. So that was when I left. But he—yeah, he was seriously hurt.

AMY GOODMAN: I want to play the videotape that has been posted to YouTube. There were two different ones. One is the first, when you all got him, and it shows Scott’s bloody face as you were carrying him away. And then we’ll play the other, where people went to try to get him, and the flashbang grenade was—hit right at the area where he was lying. Let’s go to the first, where you got him.

PROTESTER 1: Medic!

PROTESTER 2: We need a medic! Medic! Medic!

PROTESTER 3: What happened? What happened?

PROTESTER 2: He got [bleep] shot!

PROTESTER 3: What’s your name? What’s your name?

PROTESTER 2: What’s your name?

PROTESTER 4: Dude, wake up!

PROTESTER 3: What’s your name?

PROTESTER 4: What’s your name?

PROTESTER 5: Can you say anything?

PROTESTER 3: Medic!

PROTESTERS: Medic!

PROTESTER 3: Whoa! [bleep]! Hey, back up! Back up! Back up!

AMY GOODMAN: And for our radio listeners, of course, you can see this on television, but as you could see just how it—how it sounds, exactly as it looks. And that is, a war zone. The other video is Scott lying on the ground, not yet taken by all of you, the video we just had. And this is when people ran up—we’re going to play it as I speak—ran up to try to help him.

PROTESTER: Help him! Help him!

AMY GOODMAN: So, Jesse Palmer, what do you understand at this point was the projectile that was used that first hit Scott, and this flashbang grenade, when people came to try to pick him up?

JESSE PALMER: I mean, it’s—there’s no way I can really say precisely what happened. There were tear gas projectiles that were shot in and fell all around us. The flashbang grenades were thrown, and they went off, again, all around us. And meanwhile, you can also hear on the video that they’re shooting some kind of—you know, some kind of other thing, what they were calling them bean bag rounds. Some people were calling them rubber bullets. But those were ricocheting and flying through the air all at once.

And, in fact, you know, just to correct you, he actually got carried twice. There was the initial group that carried him from right in front of the police barricade, which is where he was standing, just down the street a little bit. But then, for whatever reason, they weren’t able to carry him all the way to safety. And I think the reason is, is because there was so much tear gas and so much—so many projectiles flying through the air. So, I first became aware of him—he had been carried away from the barricade, but not all the way to safety. He was still close to the police. And that was when we ran back up near the police and took—carried him again. So the first video is of his first carrying, but then he was put down, and then we carried him again to a safer location around the block. It was a very chaotic situation.

AMY GOODMAN: Aaron Hinde, tell us who Scott is. Who is your friend Scott Olsen? You, both, members of IVAW, the Iraq Veterans Against the War.

AARON HINDE: Scott came to San Francisco about three months ago from Wisconsin, where he actually participated in the holding of the State Capitol over there. Scott’s probably one of the most warmest, kindest guys I know. He’s just one of those people who always has a smile on his face and never has anything negative to say. Like Adele said, it’s very ironic that he was the one to be critically injured, not just because of his status as a veteran, but just because of the nature of him. He was a very nice guy. He was not aggressive. He was not angry at all.

AMY GOODMAN: Talk about his moving from Madison to the Bay Area and why he was participating in Occupy Oakland. You were not there at the time, is that right? You were at Occupy San Francisco?

AARON HINDE: Right, I was at Occupy San Francisco, and around 8:00 or so, some woman was reading off a couple of tweets off of the Twitter feed and said that there was an Iraq veteran who had been injured. I immediately called some people over there and found out that it was a long-haired Iraq veteran, and I knew immediately that it was Scott. So I started calling hospitals, found out where he was, and immediately drove over there and called over other members of our organization to the hospital for support.

Scott came, like I said, three months ago, and he got a great job with his friend Keith, who he also served with, in the IT. He worked during the day and slept in San Francisco by night. He was a very motivated and dedicated individual. And he believed in the Occupy movement, because it’s very obvious what’s happening in this country, especially as veterans. We’ve had our eyes opened by serving and going to war overseas. So, there’s a small contingency of us out here, and we’re all very motivated and dedicated. And we’re all hoping for the best for a full and swift recovery for Scott.

AMY GOODMAN: Aaron, can you describe—there’s a vigil outside of the hospital, as Scott lies inside the hospital. Now, the hospital put him into a coma, is that right? To reduce the brain swelling.

AARON HINDE: Right. The hospital has kept him intubated and drugged up, so that he doesn’t regain consciousness. I was able to see him for a while yesterday, until the nurses finally kicked everyone but his roommate out and stopped communicating with us. I’m guessing that has something to do with the ongoing police investigation in the matter. As far as the vigil outside the hospital, I haven’t been back there since about 4:00 yesterday. So, I will definitely be attending that today. Also at 7:00—

AMY GOODMAN: His family is flying in today?

AARON HINDE: I believe his family is trying to get here as quickly as possible. I haven’t talked with Keith yet to see when exactly they’re coming in. But, yes, his family is on the way.

AMY GOODMAN: And you said, "At 7:00"?

AARON HINDE: At 7:00, we’re planning on holding another vigil outside of City Hall, after the general assembly of Occupy Oakland. Everyone’s invited. This is really something that needs to be highlighted, what police brutality can do to a citizen populace and exactly who is comprised of this Occupy movement.

AMY GOODMAN: A general strike is being called for November 2nd, is that right?

JESSE PALMER: That’s correct. I was at the general assembly last night, which was the biggest that we’ve had yet. And it’s a modified consensus decision making, which requires a 90 percent vote of the participants in order to approve a proposal. And this proposal came up, was discussed for over two hours. And then the vote, with 1,600 votes counted, was 1,484 for, 77 abstained, 46 against. There was an overwhelming feeling that we needed to take it to the next level. And Oakland has—you know, there was a general strike in Oakland in 1946 that everybody is aware of as a precedent. I think we feel that this struggle is moving in—you know, the occupation of Oakland was incredibly powerful and educational, and the level of dialogue was amazing, for everybody involved, but I think we all feel like it’s time to take the struggle to the next level, so that everyone can participate in Oakland and around the country. And not everybody is going to come down to a tent city, so we feel that a general strike is the next way to go.

AMY GOODMAN: And you retook what’s being called now Oscar Grant Plaza, for the young man who was killed by the BART police two years ago. You retook that encampment that the police evacuated you from two nights ago?

JESSE PALMER: There was—when we arrived yesterday for the general assembly, because what was scheduled last night was our general assembly that we’ve had every night since the occupation began. There was a fence around the grassy area where the tents had stood. The general assembly didn’t make a decision to remove the fence, but the fence was removed. And as of when I left, yeah, it had been retaken. I don’t know what’s happened since midnight.

AMY GOODMAN: And finally, Aaron Hinde, if you could talk about the level of participation of Iraq and Afghanistan war vets? I just came from Louisville, Kentucky, and there were several vets there. I was in Kansas City before that, same thing. Talk about what you’re seeing as a vet yourself.

AARON HINDE: As a veteran or as an active-duty servicemember, you swear an oath to uphold and protect your country, and that is carried with you, even if you go out of the military, that sense of responsibility. And because of that vigilance, it seems veterans are always on the cusp of these types of social, progressive actions that are going on. I know that our organization, Veterans for Peace and other veteran organizations are highly active in the Occupy movement. We, for the most part, agree with all the principles and are trying to support it however we can, and participate, as well.

AMY GOODMAN: Well, I want to thank you both for being with us. Of course, we’ll continue to follow this story and report on Scott Olsen’s condition, now unconscious in the Oakland hospital, friends holding a vigil outside, his family flying in today. Aaron Hinde, friend of Scott Olsen, member of Iraq Veterans Against the War, and Jesse Palmer, who participated in Occupy Oakland and helped to carry Scott Olsen to safety after the police projectile hit Olsen in the head.

This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report. When we come back, the Occupy movement in the United States to Tahrir Square. We’ll be joined by two Egyptian activists, leaders in the Egyptian revolution, who’ve come to this country and spoke at Occupy Wall Street. Stay with us.