(photo - on the Panel - Elizabeth Falzone - GSFSO/ MFSO - WA chapter and Rich Moniak - MFSO - Alaska chapter listen to two days of testimony)
(photo - Stacy Bannerma, wife of returning Iraq veteran - WA Natl Guard, gives testimony)
(photo Lietta Ruger, MFSO- WA, in support Lt. Ehren Watada, June 2006, Tacoma, WA)
(photo - Lietta Ruger, Judy Linehan, Jenny Keesey - from MFSO - WA chapter, June 2006, Tacoma, WA)
(photo - Judy Linehan, MFSO - WA at support rally for Lt. Watada, June 2006, Tacoma, WA)
photo - Sue Niederer, MFSO. Her son U.S. Army 2nd Lt.Seth Dvorin, 24 yrs old was killed in Iraq Feb 3, 2004.
photo - Nancy Lessin, MFSO Co-Founder 
photo - Lietta Ruger, MFSO - WA 
photo - Stacy Bannerman, MFSO - WA
Now Playing: Lietta Ruger
Topic: Members Speak Out
Seattle PI editorial board calls out Cantwell on
Seattle PI editorial board calls out Cantwell on her war position.
In that we expect this 'volunteer military' in their repeated deployments x 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 to do their jobs with their very lives; it is not unreasonable to expect Senator Cantwell to do her job with a similar level of integrity. New paradigm for how this war is being managed requires new paradigm in the political playing field. Playing it 'safe' while others are dying is not an act of courage. The vested voice of military families and troops are the real stake-holders in the policies and policy-makers in this war in Iraq/Afghanistan.
Apparantly the editorial board of Seattle PI has a definite opinion about Cantwell's war position...see article below the fold. See also Joe Colgan's op-ed in Seattle PI Feb 22, 2006; The Killing Has Got to Stop (brief history; military families met privately with Sen. Cantwell in Dec 2004 to express their concerns and ask her to state clearly her position on war in Iraq. While I was invited and included, I was not able to travel up to Seattle to attend that meeting. The meeting was scheduled for 1/2 hr prior to one of her fund-raiser events and she did shift the appointment to an earlier time to allow longer than 1/2 hour meeting. We believed that was indicative of some sincerity on her part to fully hear what those most invested had to say = Joe Colgan, veteran and father of son killed in Iraq 2003; Joshua Farris, returning Iraq veteran; Elizabeth Falzone, cousin killed in Iraq Nov 2004.)
Joe Colgan, Kent, WA, is a veteran and father of Army 2nd Lt. Benjamin J. Colgan, who was killed by a roadside bomb in Baghdad in November of 2003 while serving in an artillery unit. I had the privilege of representing several of our Washington military families at presentation in Tacoma rally and march last Sunday. My presentation followed Rep. Jeannie Darnielle D- Tacoma who is also a military family with deployed loved ones. I was proud to give part of my 10 minute presentation to include Joe Colgan along with Joshau Farris (Seattle), a returning Iraq veteran.
see news articles:
Tacoma News Tribune article; Community marches against war
Tacoma Weekly article; Opponents of Iraq war march through Hilltop
In recent poll of the troops 72% say 'Bring Us Home'. Isn't it time to listen to the authentic voices?
Tuesday, March 21, 2006Iraq War: Cantwell's choice
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER EDITORIAL BOARD
It must have been a bit uncomfortable for Sen. Maria Cantwell to share the same Seattle stage with Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, not because he is among the Democratic Party's most telegenic rising young stars but because he is critical of the Bush administration's rush to war, while she supported it.
Cantwell has said she doesn't think her vote for the war was a mistake. A few months ago, she stunned the members of this newspaper's Editorial Board by talking of "our successes in Iraq."
Her Republican challenger, Mike McGavick, is unlikely to campaign against a war that is the cornerstone of a Republican administration.
But Cantwell can hardly campaign against a war her vote sanctioned, even though a large portion of the U.S. electorate and a decidedly larger portion of her own constituents are unhappy with the course of the war and President Bush's handling of it. It's a campaign issue that could bleed votes from the traditional Democratic base.
But Cantwell may be able to benefit both her re-election prospects and the nation's foreign policy. She helped lead us into this war; now it's incumbent on Cantwell to help lead us out of it.
If Cantwell is simply wedded to a stay-the-course strategy in Iraq, she's lost touch with her constituents on the central foreign policy issue.
If, however, she recognizes that we're in a quagmire that will continue to drain U.S. blood and treasure, Cantwell should bring a legitimate voice to the debate on how to best get out of Iraq.
