A Death in Iraq

I'm on a listserv that focuses on issues concerning women in/and the military. A link to this story arrived this morning. I thought that some of you might find it of interest; sad, but of interest.

Soldier opposed interrogations
Ariz. specialist killed herself in Iraq weeks after objection
FLAGSTAFF - A Flagstaff soldier who in 2003 became the third woman to die in Iraq killed herself two weeks after objecting to the interrogation techniques being used on Iraqi prisoners, according to documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act.

Spc. Alyssa Peterson, 27, an Arabic-speaking interrogator who trained at Fort Huachuca in southern Arizona, was assigned to a unit at Tal Afar Air Base in northwestern Iraq. According to a criminal investigation report recently released by the military under the Freedom of Information Act, Peterson had been in Iraq for two weeks and participated in two interrogations in late August 2003.

She objected to interrogation techniques after the first session, the documents show, and after the second session she told her supervisor that she "could not carry out" the interrogation methods that were being used and asked to be reassigned.
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Her objections came seven months before the prisoner abuse allegations at Abu Ghraib prison in central Iraq became public.

The investigative report states that a sergeant and team leader both "detailed the aversion she had towards applying the interrogation methods to detainees."

Peterson's first sergeant, identified as James D. Hamilton, told investigators, "It was hard for her to be aggressive to prisoners/detainees, as she felt that we were cruel to them," the report states.

Army representatives declined to comment on Peterson's death or describe the interrogation techniques she objected to. Valerie Florez, Freedom of Information and Privacy Act officer at Fort Campbell, Ky., said all records of those techniques have been destroyed.

She attended a routine suicide-prevention training Aug. 29 and shortly afterward was reassigned to a base gate where she was directed to monitor Iraqi guards for duplicitous behavior. She also used her language skills to interpret for Iraqi civilians in liaison work.

However, her fellow soldiers reported that she kept to herself and did not make attempts to integrate herself into her team environment.

She avoided eating with her interrogation team and spent time reading at her desk when she did not have other assignments. No one in the unit reported signs of impending suicide.

On the evening of Sept. 15, 2003, she got off work at about 9 p.m. and was not seen again that night. According to the documents, the company executive officer heard two gunshots at about 9:30 p.m. but did not investigate.

At 9 the next morning, an aircraft passing over the nearby landing zone reported seeing Peterson's body in a grassy field next to her service rifle.

Documents disclosed that she had two gunshot wounds - her weapon apparently had been set on burst - beneath her chin.

Although the criminal investigations report concluded Peterson killed herself with her M-4 service rifle, the autopsy report has not been released. The military investigation offers no explanation of why Peterson would commit suicide.

Family members did not want to comment. A family spokesman, who asked not to be named, said family members did not want to know the details of her death.

In an interview a year after her death, Peterson's family told The Arizona Republic how their daughter was born in a leap year, on Feb. 29, 1976, in Greeley, Colo.

Because her "real" birthday came only every four years, her father would threaten to wake her up at midnight between Feb. 28 and March 1 to celebrate. But he never did.

In elementary school, she played the clarinet, was a standout soccer player and excelled in academics.

Her family moved to Flagstaff when Peterson was in fifth grade. She quickly joined soccer and ran cross country in junior high. In high school, she was a peer counselor.

She worked at McDonald's, saved her money and went to Northern Arizona University on a full academic scholarship, eventually graduating magna cum laude with a bachelor's degree in psychology.

At 21, she served a mission in the Netherlands for the Mormon Church.

When she was told where she would be going, she bought books and tapes to learn Dutch and showed a remarkable aptitude for foreign languages that would serve her later in the military.

While in school, Peterson also attended classes at the Flagstaff Institute of Religion for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

David C. Jay, director of the institute, remembered her as very unassuming. "

She was reserved to the point of being what some people would perceive as shy," Jay said in 2004. "But she was such a wonderfully gifted young lady. "

Initially you would never have suspected that here this little girl would go off and learn to speak these difficult languages in parts of the world we know so little about," Jay said.

Peterson enlisted in the Army in July 2001, telling her parents afterward, "It's already done."

"We were resigned to it," her mother said in the 2004 interview. "We feel strongly that evil exists. That you cannot escape from it, but have to stand up to it."

Peterson got the best score on a language skills test that the local recruiter had ever seen, and she was chosen for military intelligence training at Fort Huachuca after basic training in Fort Sill, Okla.

After Fort Huachuca, she was sent to the Presidio of Monterey in California for a 15-month course in Arabic so she could help with interrogations and translation.

In August 2003, she shipped out to Iraq with the 311th Military Intelligence Battalion of the 101st Airborne Division.

Her parents did not know she was in Iraq at the time of her death, thinking she was still stationed at Fort Campbell, Ky.

After she died, her company commander called her family and said she had been a great asset to the unit.

He said she was well-liked and had never been happier than when she was talking with the local residents, helping to make their lives happier. He said she exemplified compassionate service.

Her death has been difficult for the Petersons, who went to Phoenix to meet their daughter's coffin.

"When the door of the cargo hangar opened, and that casket was there with a flag on it ... that was hard," her mother said.

Alyssa Peterson was buried with full military honors in Citizens Cemetery in Flagstaff.

Kevin Elston is a reporter for National Public Radio station KNAU in Flagstaff, which originally aired this report.

Source

Republicans Today

I have no idea who gets credit for this - probably a consortium of folks around the globe - but I thought that if it hasn't already appeared in your mailbox, you'd find it entertaining.

Things You Have to Believe to be a Republican Today
1) Jesus loves you - and shares your hatred of homosexuals and Hillary.

2) Saddam was a good guy when Reagan armed him, a bad guy when Bush's daddy made war on him, a good guy when Cheney did business with him, and a bad guy when Bush needed a "we can't find Bin Laden" diversion.

3) Trade with Cuba is wrong because the country is Communist, but trade with China and Vietnam is vital to a spirit of international harmony.

4) The United States should get out of the United Nations - and our highest national priority is enforcing U.N. resolutions against Iraq.

5) A woman can't be trusted with decisions about her own body but multi-national corporations can make decisions affecting all humankind without regulation.

6) The best way to improve military morale is to praise the troops in speeches while slashing veterans' benefits and combat pay.

7) If condoms are kept out of schools, adolescents won't have sex.

8) A good way to fight terrorism is to belittle our long-time allies, then demand their cooperation and money.

9) Providing health care to all Iraqis is sound policy, but providing health care to all Americans is socialism. HMOs and insurance companies have the best interests of the public at heart.

10) Global warming and tobacco's link to cancer are junk science, but creationism should be taught in schools.

11) A president lying about an extra-marital affair is an impeachable offense, but a president lying to enlist support for a war in which thousands die is solid defense policy.

12) Government should limit itself to the powers named in the Constitution, which include banning gay marriages and censoring the Internet.

13) The public has a right to know about Hillary's cattle trades, but George Bush's driving record is none of our business.

14) Being a drug addict is a moral failing and a crime, unless you're a conservative radio host. Then it's an illness and you need our prayers for your recovery.

15) What Bill Clinton did in the 1960s is of vital national interest, but what Bush did in the '80s is irrelevant.

No news...

I hadn't posted in a bit so thought I'd write something. I've been enjoying the posts in our little ex-pat cyberworld, but with no movement on our end, alas, there simply hasn't been much to say. It's really frustrating to see other US citizens who applied through Buffalo later than we did, and didn't get transferred, receive their visas and land. I keep reminding myself that, given our plans, it's actually not a problem for us to be delayed, but you do hit the point where you think that, surely, they've simply lost your file.

Anyway - what's new? I just submitted almost the 50% of the book manuscript that was due by today. That's a relief. I've been working on chapter four today, but decided to take a break. Perhaps it was writing about Australia, Canada, and Great Britain having lifted their bans on gays and lesbians in the military that has me restless.

I've been busy the last few days dealing with bureaucracy of the public schools. For quite a while we debated, agonized, etc. over where to enroll our son for kindergarten. Although, with open enrollment there are, quite simply, too many choices, we had narrowed it down to a "traditional" neighborhood school, a French immersion program, and a year round school that focuses on "environmental science and community cultures." We opted for the latter, but, for a variety of reasons, decided that we should have gone with French immersion. I visited the school last week and now we're jumping through hoops to get him transferred. It's tough because we just love his current teacher, but thinking longer term we're really excited about the immersion program. Stay tuned.

I'm also starting to work on my courses for the next two terms. I juggled things so that, with these manuscript deadlines, I had a light load this term - one and a half courses. That means that next term I'm teaching three and a half. But, mostly they are things about which I'm jazzed. Namely - Social Problems with a new text, Global Problems: The Search for Equity, Peace, and Sustainability. In our Social Justice program I'm teaching Sexuality and the Law, also with a new casebook. And, I'll again do Crossing Borders II. It's a reflection-based course required of those students returning from a semester abroad. And, in the "not so jazzed but it can be fun" category is another round of Senior Seminar.

Then, I have to - yes, sometimes the lead time time kills me - start prepping for a fall course. But, I'm really looking forward to this one! It's a course for first year students where the content is really just the vehicle for getting them up to speed on "college" (i.e., skill development in critical thinking, oral presentation, etc.). We can create a course around any topic we wish because the goal is skill building, not the acquisition of a set body of knowledge. The tentative title for my course is - a take-off on part of our mission statement and clearly influenced by the Social Problems text - "Making the World a Better Place: Paths Toward Peace, Justice, and Sustainability." I want to introduce them to a potpourri of things like restorative justice, global volunteerism, co-housing, etc. We'll see... If you have an idea about something you think I should include, do tell! Really!

So, that's the latest. Not exactly immigration-related, but it's what's happening in my world. Hopefully I'll have something to report by the new year, but I'm not holding my breath.

Breaking News!

From The New York Times

N.J. Court Backs Rights for Gay Unions

By Laura Mansnerus
Published: October 25, 2006
"The State Supreme Court in New Jersey said today that under equal protection guarantees of the state constitution, same-sex couples 'must be afforded on equal terms the same rights and benefits enjoyed by opposite-sex couples under the civil marriage statutes.' But it said that whether that status is called marriage or something else 'is a matter left to the democratic process.'"

Lockdown Drills

I'm not sure what I think about this... I just learned that it is now Minnesota law that schools have five "lockdown drills" each year. Today my five year old will learn the "safe zones" in his classroom and that he must be absolutely quiet if asked to go there. They will, apparently, be told in an "age appropriate" way, that this is what they will do if there is an intruder in the school.

On the one hand, given recent events, this seems like a good thing. On the other hand, I'm not sure what I think of a five year old having to think about the possibility of an intruder coming into his school and how to protect himself. I tried to analogize to the nuke drills I remember as a kid, but I can't help but think he has a much better idea - and, thus, greater potential for fear - of an intruder than I had of a nuclear bomb.

This world...

Sanity Prevails - An Update!

Metro Transit changes mind on driver, gay-themed ads

"Metro Transit said Friday that it inadvertently sent the wrong message about tolerance in trying to accommodate a bus driver's religious objections to driving buses that carried gay-themed ads.

Metro Transit spokesman Bob Gibbons said the company made a temporary accommodation to the driver on Oct. 12, allowing her not drive buses that carried an ad for Lavender, a local magazine aimed at the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered community.

The ad showed the face of a young man with the slogan, "Unleash Your Inner Gay." Fifty buses carried it periodically.

The ad contract ran only through Oct. 18, Gibbons said, and buses no longer are carrying the ads.However, in reviewing the issue, Gibbons said the company likely would not make the same decision again."We are not persuaded that advertising, per se, infringes on religious practices and would be reluctant to make similar accommodations in the future," Gibbons said."

For the entire article, go here.

Senator Brownback is a Wing Nut

It just keeps getting better and better - see the previous two posts as well as this one!

Courtesy of The Washington Post
Sen. Brownback's Litmus Test
May a federal judge have lesbian friends?
Tuesday, October 17, 2006

IF YOU THOUGHT that fights over judicial nominations couldn't get any worse, consider the case of Janet T. Neff, whom President Bush has nominated to a federal district judgeship in Michigan. Judge Neff, who serves on the Michigan Court of Appeals, is part of a multi-judge deal between the White House and Michigan's two Democratic senators resolving a long-standing fight over federal court nominees from that state. Yet in reaching an accommodation with the home-state senators, Mr. Bush finds himself with another problem. For Judge Neff, it turns out, once attended a commitment ceremony for a lesbian couple -- and that has Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback (R) reaching for the smelling salts and blocking the nomination.

Mr. Brownback has said he wants to satisfy himself that the judge was not presiding over an "illegal marriage ceremony" in Pittsfield, Mass., in 2002 -- before the state legalized same-sex marriage. He has written to Judge Neff asking for an explanation, his spokesman says, and will hold up her nomination until he learns the nature of the ceremony and its legality. "It seems to speak about her view of judicial activism," the senator told the Associated Press.

In fact it does nothing of the kind. A commitment ceremony is not a marriage; it has no legal force whatsoever but is a private expression of the love and devotion of two people. The idea that such a ceremony could be "illegal" is deeply offensive; Americans are entitled to gather, speak, celebrate and worship as they see fit. An administration official says Judge Neff has told Mr. Brownback that she didn't preside. But even if she did, that would say nothing about her jurisprudential views -- merely that she wished to help a couple recognize their relationship informally in the absence of state sanction for it. Keeping Judge Neff off the federal bench over such a matter is perilously close to declaring her unfit to serve because she has lesbian friends.

It also does a disservice to Mr. Bush. We have criticized Democrats for obstructing qualified judicial nominees; it is no more acceptable when Republicans do it. In this case, Mr. Bush has finally reached a compromise with Michigan senators to ease one of the more intractable irritants in the wars over lower court nominations. Judge Neff is a piece of that deal, all of which could get derailed if Mr. Brownback does not back off.

I Hate the USA

There. I said it. I hate this fucking country. I am so tired of the oppression I experience every fucking day just by picking up the paper. First the moron of a bus driver, now this reminder of my status as a second class citizen...

Spouse of gay congressman ineligible for pension
BOSTON. Massachusetts (AP) -- When same-sex marriage became legal in Massachusetts, among those who tied the knot were former Rep. Gerry Studds and Dean Hara.

But getting married didn't protect them under federal law: Hara has learned he is not eligible for any portion of Studds' estimated annual $114,337 pension following his partner's death last week.

The 1996 federal Defense of Marriage Act blocks the federal government from recognizing the 2004 marriage between Studds and Hara or other same-sex couples.

Studds voted against the act, which was passed July 12, 1996, by a vote of 342-67, according to the House Clerk's office.

Go here for the rest of the bloody insult.

BTW, it's not that we don't know this is the case - it's just so frickin' tiring to keep being reminded how little respect our families warrant.

Gays, Religion, and the Bus Driver

From the Minneapolis Star-Tribune -

Bus driver gets OK to avoid gay-themed ads
"The Metro Transit dispute raises questions about the point at which accommodating one group's beliefs infringes on the rights of others. A city bus driver who complained about a gay-themed ad got official permission not to drive any bus that carries that ad, according to an internal memo confirmed Tuesday by Metro Transit. Transit authorities call it a reasonable accommodation to the driver's religious beliefs."

Go here to read the entire article. What do you think?

Same-Sex Marriage

From The New York Times -

October 14, 2006
Gay Marriage Losing Punch as Ballot Issue
By Kirk Johnson

DENVER, Oct. 13 — The debate over same-sex marriage was a black-or-white proposition two years ago when voters in 11 states barred gay couples from marrying.

But this year shades of gray are everywhere, as eight more states consider similar ballot measures. Some of the proposed bans are struggling in the polls, and the issue of same-sex marriage itself has largely failed to rouse conservative voters.

In some cases, other issues, like the war in Iraq and ethics in Washington, have seized voters’ attention. But the biggest change, people on both sides of the issue say, is that supporters of same-sex marriage this year are likely to be as mobilized as the opponents.

It's worth reading - Go here for the entire article, though you do have to have a free subscription to the Times.

Gerry Studds, 1937-2006

The New York Times' article begins, "Gerry E. Studds, the first openly gay member of Congress and a demanding advocate for New England fishermen and for gay rights, died early Saturday at Boston University Medical Center, his husband said."

Read that again. The bright light in the otherwise dark news of Studds' death is that The New York Times referred to Dean Hara as Studds' husband. Yes, they married in May, 2004, shortly after same-sex marriage became legal in the Commonwealth. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s the Times tried to avoid gay issues altogether and writers were forbidden to use the term "gay." That changed in the very early 1990s and under new leadership they paper took a very different stance on the coverage of GLBT issues, even including same-sex marriage announcements. Nonetheless, it's very cool, imho, to see the first sentence of the article refer to his husband.

It's unfortunate that in what turned out to be the last couple of weeks of his life, Studds name resurfaced only in the context of the Foley scandal. He did good work.

Students in the Gulf

I just wanted to post this and encourage you to pay a visit - Two of the students who went to the Gulf with me in January '06 graduated in May and have accepted Americorps assignments with the American Red Cross. They are now in New Orleans and plan to post about their adventures at Blog on the Bayou. Check it out!

Matthew Shepard, 1976-1998

Just wanted to take a moment to remember Matthew Shepard. It was eight years ago today that he died, five days after being beaten and left to die in the cold Wyoming night.

The morning of 12 October 1998, I was sitting at my desk, preparing for class, when I heard the news. Having been in my position here only three years, I had never pro-actively come out in class. That is, people figured it out, I didn't "hide," my office decor certainly "outed" me, etc. But I had never - even though I taught gender and sexuality - explicitly put it on the table in the classroom.

That morning I went to my class of 18 first year students - I'd known them just over a month - and came out. I explained that studies show that the single most important thing in changing people's attitudes is for them to realize that they know someone who is GLB. Then I went to my next class and then my next. Over the next couple of days I received notes and e-mails thanking me for my comments. I was so glad that I had summoned the courage to take that step. I like to think I made a difference.

Each year we have National Coming Out Day and then we have the day that Matthew died. Although he died in a way that nobody should experience and he died too young, I think it's fair to say that, at 21, he made - and continues to make - a difference, too.

US2CA Blogs

Are you reading this as a U.S. expat in Canada? Or, are you in the process of waiting for your permanent residency visa so that you can go to Canada? If so and you have a blog we should know about, please say so via comment. Maybe you're neither, but you've got a great blog going? If so and you would like me to link to yours, just holler.

In other news - today is 11 October 2006 and it snowed in Saint Paul, Minnesota. As I look out my office window, there is actually white stuff on the leaves of the trees. I am not kidding.

Happy National Coming Out Day!

Nope, that's not me. That's P!nk, participating in HRC's Snapshot Project. Wanna know more about NCOD? Go here!

Today, 11 October, is the 20th National Coming Out Day. That means that, 19 years ago, in 1987, I was marching on Washington, DC. It was the best of the marches, IMO. Going home was such a downer that I immediately went to Provincetown for the weekend.

Noo-klee-er

I confess, one of the worst things about North Korea's escapade is that we are now subject to more of Shrub's mispronounciation (metathesis, I've learned it's called) of the word nuclear. Take note, big guy, noo-klee-er. Grrrrr...

Published

I went ahead and sent an abbreviated version of my Foley post to the local paper and, lo' and behold, it appeared in print and on-line - scroll down to "Adolescents in the U.S." Hopefully I won't get any yucky phone calls from someone who disagrees.

Mark Foley - Moron, yes. But, pedophile?

I just had to address this somewhere...

Sixteen year old boys may be "boys." They are minors. But, they also tend to be sexual beings who act with agency. Was Foley incredibly stupid? Absolutely. Did he take advantage of a position of power? No question. But, is he a pedophile? Who knows? I do think that to refer to him as a pedophile based on the "evidence" the public currently possesses misses the mark. For one thing I believe it makes it more difficult to address dangerous pedophiles who prey on children. For another, it's one more example of how we just can't decide where adolescents fit in our world.

One minute the sixteen year old who commits a violent crime is thought to be "old enough to know better" and thrown in the slammer for decades. The next minute he's an innocent, taken in by an older man who wanted to get his jollies IMing about masturbation. It doesn't get any better at eighteen. One minute we throw you an M-16 and send you off to Iraq. But don't get any ideas about having a cold beer the night before you leave.

I'm not saying there's an easy fix here. Some sixteen year olds are more mature than some eighteen year olds. And, some sixteen year olds probably shouldn't be trusted with mom's car and $5. It's not that we can truly fix an "age of majority" and that's that. Hell, I happen to think - based on what I see every day at work - that a sixteen year old today is not what a sixteen year old was in 1974. But, I also don't think a sixteen year old in 1974 was identical to the sixteen year old in 1944. And, we could also speculate on variety based on urban/rural, birth order, etc.

My point is that while Mark Foley may have been a complete fool who was thinking with something besides his brain, to call him a pedophile and accuse him of molesting boys does a disservice both to the young men involved in this situation and to those who work to prevent the sexual abuse of children by adults.

Call him stupid. Call him arrogant. The evidence, in my opinion, supports those conclusions. But, a pedophile? Save that for the other guys.

Really, he has no clothes!

And from today's New York Times:

"Speaking to reporters on Thursday after returning from a trip that included a one-day stop in Baghdad, Mr. [John] Warner [R-VA] said the United States should consider 'a change of course' if the violence there did not diminish soon. He did not specify what shift might be necessary, but said that the American military had done what it could to stabilize Iraq and that no policy options should be taken 'off the table.'"

I have a feeling that things are going to be getting very interesting around here...

In other news - Keith Ellison (D) is running for Congress to replace Martin Olav Sabo (well, this is Minnesota) in my former district. If he wins, which everyone is expecting, he'll be the first Muslim in Congress and the first black representative from Minnesota. He's been a wonderful advocate for GLBT rights. Read about it here! You'll have to have a free New York Times account, but it's worth it.

What an interesting election it's shaping up to be in Minnesota. We may see the election of a Muslim who's great on GLBT issues in the 5th Congressional district and an evil Republican witch from hell in the 6th.

The Emperor Has No Clothes

Apparently a guy in Seattle wrote and paid out of his own pocket for this ad in the Seattle Times and Post-Intelligencer. It may take a minute to load, but it will. Pretty cool, I'd say.