US veterans to form human shield at Dakota pipeline protest
http://www.rawstory.com/2016/11/us-veterans-to-form-human-shield-at-dako...
More than 2,000 U.S. military veterans plan to form a human shield to protect protesters of a pipeline project near a Native American reservation in North Dakota, organizers said.
Meanwhile, North Dakota law enforcement will not make spot checks on vehicles headed to the camp where activists are based, the governor’s office said on Wednesday, backing away from a previous plan.
*
Veterans Stand for Standing Rock, a contingent of more than 2,000 U.S. military veterans, intends to go to North Dakota and form a human wall in front of police, protest organizers said on a Facebook page. Organizers could not immediately be reached to comment.
Morton County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Rob Keller said in an email his agency was aware of the veterans’ plans, but would not comment further on how law enforcement will deal with demonstrators.
------
On a cell phone that is dying constantly. DID NOT WRITE ANY OF THE ABOVE. Hope that covers the situation.
Comments
oustanding news
standing up for the protectors
Protecting our water and our climate !
A truth of the nuclear age/climate change: we can no longer have endless war and survive on this planet. Oh sh*t.
I just hope that this will get Obama's attention.
And that he doesn't decide to do the traditional American Response to Veterans Marching for redress of Grievances.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonus_Army
I do not pretend I know what I do not know.
Ugh - I didn't know that story
I try not to set too high a bar of expectations when making assumptions about how this country treats its veterans. Somehow it never works...
We can’t save the world by playing by the rules, because the rules have to be changed.
- Greta Thunberg
It's almost a parody of hell...
We fight, bleed and die for the country, in the hopes that one day we will be promoted far enough to make other fight, bleed, and die instead of us.
Those soldiers who want to fight bleed and die so nobody else has to are somehow considered insane.
I do not pretend I know what I do not know.
I had my partner read that last night.
She picked up on one of the same things I did, years ago. McArthur led the attack on the vets. Many other future Generals were involved. Seems like participation was almost a requirement for moving up in rank.
"I’m a human being, first and foremost, and as such I’m for whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a whole.” —Malcolm X
Almost feels like a purge.
The plutocrats found out who could be relied on even if it meant shooting their brothers in arms.
Sorry, I'm being depressing. Here's a more hopeful version of what SHOULD be.
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azMRIHIyt1Y]
I do not pretend I know what I do not know.
Tulsi Gabbard (HI) and Wes Clark, Jr. among them
that gives me some good feelings.
I heard Tulsi was going
I hadn't heard about Clark. Excellent!
Where is Elizabeth Warren? What has she said about all of this?
"Obama promised transparency, but Assange is the one who brought it."
it's the son of Gen. Clark, not he himself,
at least that is said in the article. It's somewhat telling too. The young one is the one with courage, apparently.
What has Liz said?
In a word: nothing.
I'd say I was surprised, but I'm really not. How depressing.
Hope this is for real but remembering hard lessons from the 60's
In the 60's there would have been some suspicion of this as potentially being the work of undercover agents, as in, leading the lambs to slaughter -- or in this case not lambs but "gutless worms."
I hope it's for real but have been through many experiences where this type of bravado ended up functioning as a trap and an opening for direct assaults on the protestors. (But then the folks at Pine Ridge learned these lessons in blood and know better than most.)
When I read Wes Clark's macho and militaristic rhetoric, it makes it difficult for me to see him as a freedom fighter. In his call to action for veterans and ex-police officers to come to Standing Rock, he said “Most civilians who’ve never served in a uniform are GUTLESS WORMS, who’ve never been in a fight in their life. So if we don’t stop it, who will?”
Guess that would put most of the protestors in the category of gutless worms (which must reside somewhere near the basket of deplorables) Funny that these self-proclaimed heroes would risk their lives to defend a bunch of gutless worms. But then his latest movie is the tale of a warm-hearted CIA agent who becomes a hero while realizing the folly of his ways.
Hope I'm wrong and that this is a for-real and successful defense of all the protestors doing the heavy lifting for those of us who can't be there. Would love to be proven just an old hardened cynic who's seen too many brutal attacks on the Left. Knew some of those at Kent State who were blown up putting flowers into rifles pointed at them. Heard Bernie talking this week about how the 4 children bombed in Birmingham were just the ones we knew about -- there were 13 bombings at that same time. The city was under siege, it just wasn't reported.
We've been so bombarded with glorifications of the military that I think many lessons of the past have been forgotten. Meanwhile, sent a tipi to the Sacred Stones camp today -- seemed ironic for a gringo like me to be sending a tipi to the Indians -- but I sure hope it reaches them, that they will still be there after next week and deeply appreciate all that they are doing on behalf of all the rest of us.
I am hoping for the best
but as an oldster myself, I also have a bit of cynicism. The thing that raises my eyebrows is the timespan of the action--3 days only??? What can be accomplished in that short time...If they'd say 3 months then I'd be impressed. Well, as long as they stay properly obedient/cooperative to the tribal authorities it will be okay, I think. But I don't know what it will accomplish except theater.
YIPPEE!
This is a time when "the military" is truly coming to the rescue. I hope it all works out. These veterans are courageous and doing right by the American people. This is what the military should be about - protecting Americans, fighting for their freedoms - it's what they tell us they do. This time, on American soil, it is happening.
Whoo hoo!
"The “jumpers” reminded us that one day we will all face only one choice and that is how we will die, not how we will live." Chris Hedges on 9/11
But what happens the day after they leave?
Plans need to be made NOW for when that occurs. Dec. 7, 2016: Another day "which will live in infamy"?
Wonder why there have been no "accidents" further up the pipeline?
We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.--Aristotle
If there is no struggle there is no progress.--Frederick Douglass
Vets' NoDAPL Response Exceeds Capacity
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-11-29/literally-too-many-veterans-hav...
See below for their GoFundMe link.
Excerpt from story:
https://www.gofundme.com/veterans-for-standing-rock-nodapl
"It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society." --Jiddu Krishnamurti
they've raised a huge am't of money
Close to three-quarters of a million dollars. I hope that any funds left over after this trip will be donated to the water protectors at the camps,many of whom have given up their jobs in order to be there for months.
My hope is that the show of honor by these veterans will make the cops and mercenaries hang their heads in shame, put down their badges, and walk away.
I can dream, can't I?
There is no justice in America, but it is the fight for justice that sustains you.
--Amiri Baraka
I'm sure they'll spin it...
In some manner that allows the pigs to lie to themselves.
I've already seen:
"It's a White People Hypocrisy" (That one's REALLY popular. Apparently showing support means that you are a liberal hippy who needs punching.)
"The Protestors are Violent" (Which never has any backup of course, just a man who knew a guy who knows a guy who's there and totally saw it! Heroic Pig Narrative, etc.)
"They don't complain about other pipelines" (Well, maybe they should have 30 years ago and we wouldn't have this problem now...)
"Veterans are just looking to be heroes" (Tries to tap into the cynicism that the only reason that people do the right thing is for themselves. Projection writ large.)
"The Tribe had their chance to make their case to the proper authorities and wouldn't come to agreements." (Apparently Not Kowtowing to the US is proof the US gets to FORCE the issue.)
Essentially all the arguments I've seen are "Trust the Authorities!"
Ugh. The Sheep from animal farm couldn't be more predictable.
I do not pretend I know what I do not know.