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War Resister is Keynote Speaker at New Orleans Action

By Ward Reilly

Louisiana native Sgt. James Circello, an active-duty war resister, and former soldier, was the keynote speaker on Saturday, 10-27-07, at Washington Square Park during a regional action in New Orleans, one calling for an end of the Occupation of Iraq, the restoration of the Constitution, and for the rebuilding of the Gulf Coast. He was joined in speaking by a wide array of local activists from the New Orleans area.

Sgt. Circello, and Airborne Infantry Iraq war x-troop, and Louisiana native son, spoke of how he finally lost hope that the newly-elected, Democrat-controlled Congress, would end the Occupation in Iraq, after Congress expanded the war with the "troop surge", instead of ending the war, as mandated by "we the people" in the November 2006 election.

James did 6 years of active duty before going AWOL during Easter of 2007. He said that he could no longer morally be a part of the destruction of Iraq. He has been actively speaking out as a member of Iraq Veterans Against the War, and Courage To Resist, and is a fugitive from the military because of his AWOL status.

Bob Smith, a 3-combat tour Green Beret (Vietnam), and a retired Command Sergeant Major, MC'd the event, which was plagued with sound system problems, which seemed fitting considering this WAS in New Orleans. Nobody cared, and it was a proud action.

If there was a down "note," pun intended, it is that the PA system failed just as "Zenbilly" of Baton Rouge started what was to have been a harmonized set of original and cover anti-war songs, but he bravely entertained the small gathering on his acoustic guitar with one microphone only, which is a tough act.

Ward Reilly and Ray Parrish at Winter Soldier: Iraq & Afghanistan

Judith Leblanc was the driving force behind the event and the first speaker. She is a rep for United For Peace & Justice, which was the main sponsor of this, and 10 other regional demonstrations across the country. Veterans For Peace was a very strong sponsor, and the newly formed New Orleans Coalition Against the War (NOCAW) pulled the action together locally. Vietnam Veterans Against the War, Military Families Speak Out, Pax Christi and the UU church of New Orleans, among several other orgs, all did as much as possible to make the day a good one.

On a beautiful day in south Louisiana, in a city that is still in total collapse, activists came from Texas, Oklahoma, Massachusetts, New York, Mississippi, and many from Baton Rouge, to grace our city in support and solidarity with the people in the city of New Orleans. What an honor it was to see them. We had a good day resisting this war, with much more yet to come.

In the smallest of the nationwide regional demonstrations, (rightly so, by default, brought to you by the Bush administration) 300 BEAUTIFUL, and tired, anti-warriors stood tall, and marched through the historic French Quarter and historic Jackson Square, to nearly unanimous approval of the citizens along the route.

In the name of journalism, I must report that one member of "Drunks For Bush" slurred out "losers" as we marched by, which gave us all even more to smile about, as most cheered us on.

In the park, we were joined by 4 members of an opposition-to-protest group, which stood by and muttered "we are winning" as Circello spoke. Yeah, right. "Winning" is killing 1,000,000 innocent people, shutting of the electricity, sewer, and water of a nation for 5 straight years, destroying its infrastructure, and displacing 4,000,000 others. Winning. Liberated to death, so to speak. Democracy in action? I don't think so.

Standing WITH Circello on stage were Green Beret Bob Smith(3 combat tours, Vietnam), Vietnam combat veteran Pat Dooley(1st Cav), Vietnam Combat Medic Dave Collins(1st ID), Iraq War vet Justin Cliburn, Iraq War vet Amanda Fontenot, retired AF vet and gubernatorial candidate Vinny Mendosa, and infantry vet Ward Reilly, a Vietnam era war resister. A HUGE shout out to those who came from other states, some of whom also came to do some relief work while they were here. In that we were hoping 300,000,000 would show up, instead of 300, I guess we still have a bit of work to do. Fight on sisters and brothers, they all come crumbling down in 2008!

End the Occupation Yesterday!