2.08.2010

stop-lossed soldier punished for speaking out: please help

I've blogged before about Marc Hall, a stop-lossed soldier who has been arrested and imprisoned for speaking out against the unjust policy that led to his involuntarily re-enlistment. Hall - on his own time - wrote and played a song protesting stop-loss, and for that, he's feeling the full wrath of the US military. He faces court martial - a "trial" staged by his accusers - and either a lengthy prison sentence or forced deployment to Iraq.

Veterans for Peace, Iraq Veterans Against the War, Courage to Resist and other groups - the ones that "support the troops" - are joining together to help Hall. The goal is to generate 1,000 letters to to the US Army - and to bring Hall's case to national attention in the US.

You can click on this link to send your letter, and share the link every way you can.

You can also visit Stop Loss Music to sign a petition in support of Marc.

This weekend I saw a news item on a horrific case of untreated PTSD from a veteran. Every soldier who resists the occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan is not only standing up for the people of those countries and their right to self-determination. They are helping to stop a very dangerous cycle of violence at home. (Have you seen the movie "In the Valley of Elah"? Do.)

Marc Hall is being punished exposing the truth: that the US military is not voluntary. The First Amendment of the United States Constitution - the one the military claims he is defending - gives Hall the right to speak out. But Hall needs no statute or clause to say "no" to war. He is a human being, and therefore he has the human right to conscience. He has a right not to kill or be killed.

I hope you'll take a minute to send a letter.

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