| Before the Protests Tommorrow at Fort Hood |  |  |  |
| Saturday, 21 August 2010 19:12 |
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I am in Killeen, TX at Under The Hood Cafe near the Fort Hood military base tonight. I am down here for the protests happening onSunday being called by the Disobedient. The Disobedient is made up of Iraq era war vets and others anti- war activists, mainly young people. These protests are going to includevisible non-violent resistance to the 3,000 troop surge being headed toIraq. They are acting to create a situation where the U.S. cannotcontinue this illegitimate and illegal war - that deployments not onlystop but that the military withdraws immediately. This town is really intense. It is about 100 degrees outside and incredibly humid. There is a whole military culture throughout the townthat is shaped by unthinking allegiance to the military, and anobsession with the American flag. I have been told that Christianfundamentalism has a firm hold on most people. It is also verydepressing with nothing but strip clubs, bars and fast food chains. Themajority of people here are employed by the military. Some local youthtold me that they have heard reactionary people say that the namestands for Kill Each And Every N*****. I spent the day at Under The Hood Cafe, which is a GI coffeehouse run by anti-war Iraq veterans and others. It was a day of debate anddiscussion, with all of us thinking very deeply about how we can stopthese wars and what should our message be to the people of the world?One Iraq veteran spoke about orders he received to break down the doorsof families and the internal turmoil he went through when he was toldto search an innocent woman's underwear drawer. He got the word “Human”tattooed on his arm after he got out of the military. I talked to ayoung woman who is in her early 20's and did 2 tours of Iraq. She saidthat one of the first things she did when she got out of the militarywas to dye her hair pink. I have a hard time picturing her and any ofthese other people in the military because they have a great deal ofhumanity. She has a lot of urgency to stop these wars and refreshingrefusal to accept the world as it is. She talks about how she wishedthere was some kind of switch you could turn on in people to make themsee the crimes that the military is committing. Many who are here aredealing with pretty heavy PTSD and have trouble sleeping. They talkabout how their bodies have been forever changed by being in themilitary. Those participating in Sunday's action are filled with a deepdesire to tell the truth to people living in this country and people inthe military. |
By Emma Kaplan
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