Joshua Dawson, the Hawaii organizer for Iraq Veterans Against the War, will speak at Maui Community College on Friday, June 9, at 7pm in Ka Lama 103. Dawson speaks from his own viewpoint, after serving 7 years on active duty with the Army one-year in Iraq. The title of the talk is, "Hawai'i Veterans speaking-out: silenced in the ranks, vocal in their communities!"
 

"I was someone who was very proud of being in the service and who had a wonderful career planned with Uncle Sam," stated Dawson, but "the administration knew we troops were going to catch on to the fact that the justification for this war was misleading and bogus. The administration knew we were going to disapprove and take the quickest way out of boots, so they initiated the stop-loss program around the world, forcing us to fight their war."

Dawson says he was let down by his own country that, "stood back and watched while we all prepared and deployed and fought and, in some cases, died," and he urges people to read the casualty reports and hear the families’ stories, all the while the media fails to show flag-draped coffins.

His topics will include the lies used as a basis for the war, realities of life for our soldiers in Iraq, crimes against Iraqi people, abuses of recruiters in our schools who aggressively target youth to staff the war, the GI RIGHTS hotline and how it's being used here in Hawai'i, and the mission and work of Iraq Veterans Against the War.

There will also be testimony sent from GI war resisters in Canada. Expect a lively discussion and powerful, first-hand testimony about current conditions for our military personnel.

The event is free and open to the public, and is sponsored by Maui Peace Action and the MCC Peace Club. High school and college age youth and their families, and active duty military, veterans and their families are especially invited. For more information, see www.mauipeace.org or call 572-3255.