April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM), and Military Families Speak Out (MFSO) is committed to supporting and raising awareness for our service members who have experienced sexual trauma during their time in the military. Sexual assault and harassment that occurs during military service is referred to as Military Sexual Trauma (MST).

A 2014 study found that about 1 in 20 women and about just under 1 in 100 men have been the victim of MST during their time in the military. However, many of those who are affected by MST while serving do not report and are oftentimes worried about the stigma attached to their suffering. This fear can cause increased isolation, making it hard to reach and treat those who have survived MST. 

If you or someone you know has a history of Military Sexual Trauma, please contact IAVA’s Rapid Response Referral Program (RRRP). Our trained social workers are available to connect veterans to best in class resources with care and sensitivity, and will support veterans every step of the way. To get connected to RRRP, please call 1-855-91-RAPID, emailtransition@iava.org, or click here.

Military Families Speak Out (MFSO) is issuing a call for action to protest the continued US military involvement in Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria, for the use of diplomacy, and for the government to take care of our service members and veterans. If you have an upcoming action or an on-going vigil in your community, please, please send information about it to MFSO-OC@earthlink.net so that it can be posted on the MFSO website, the MFSO Facebook page, and the MFSO newsletter.

We understand that you might be the only MFSO member in your community. That’s okay. Many MFSO members are doing very important work in coalition with other organizations in their communities. Our participation and our stories, our perspective is so important.

If you have participated in any action want to know about those events. Often, we can help you support these events. These could be on-going vigils, demonstrations, rallies, forums, film showings, lobbying efforts, letters to editors, your participation in campaign  etc. Your participation may even lead to finding new members for MFSO. Thanks so much for your work.

When you send information, please list:

• Name of the event
• Goals, demands, issues for the event
• Date, time, location, including City or town
• Co-sponsoring groups
• Contact information, if available
• Photos, if available

The activists, who include local residents and military veterans, said the United States should help because of its tradition of humanitarianism and welcoming immigrants, but also because of this country’s role in conflicts in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan.

“Republican candidates and governors have said we don’t want refugees from that region, but U.S. policy has actually created a lot of the refugee crisis,” said Paula Rogovin, co-founder of the weekly vigil, which marked 539 consecutive weeks on Wednesday.

She added, “It’s a terrible thing to say that your country is responsible for creating such a crisis, but it’s true and we have to take responsibility.”

The vigil was held outside the Teaneck Armory at the corner of Teaneck and Liberty roads, where eight people stood with signs and a bull horn, getting some honks of support from passing cars. The vigil participants included members of the Bergen County chapter of Military Families Speak Out and Veterans for Peace, Chapter 21.

The group also chose to focus on refugees to counter the heated rhetoric about those coming into the United States from Syria, participants said. Some governors and Republican presidential contenders, including New Jersey’s Chris Christie, have argued that the United States should not take in Syrians because terrorists could be hiding among them and because they don’t trust the screening process.

The Obama administration, though, has argued that refugees must go through a long and thorough vetting process and that the United States has a moral obligation to help.

Norman Fisher, of Teaneck, who was at the vigil, agreed that the country should offer help. “That’s what this country is about – people coming here to better their lives,” he said.

Frank Wagner, a Vietnam veteran, said the Iraq war sent millions of people fleeing to neighboring countries while the war itself “created monsters over there with ISIS.”

The people fleeing just want safety, he said. “They’re human beings,” Wagner said. “Whether they’re from another part of the world, who cares?”

Gov. Christie has said he does not want Syrian refugees placed in New Jersey due to security concerns, but he has acknowledged that he does not have the power to stop their resettlement because immigration is handled by the federal government and not states. So far, around 80 have been resettled in New Jersey since the start of the conflict there nearly five years ago.

Altogether, millions of people have fled fighting in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan amid war, bombings and the spread of the Islamic State extremist group.

Article first published on NewJersey.com 

We are very sad to hear that that since the recent influx of troops and airstrikes in Iraq and Syria, the first US soldier was killed today. This soldier’s is the first American to die in combat in Iraq in four years. And so another American has died in this administrations futile attempt to stabilize a country that we never should have attacked in the first place.

Before more troops and airstrikes were sent to Iraq last year, MFSO warned this administration that if more troops were killed in Iraq, it would likely cause us to slide down that “slippery slope” of deepening our involvement in Iraq. And although Press Secretary Peter Cook called the raid “unique” and said, “US forces are not in an active combat mission in Iraq”, they actually are in combat and we believe this could be the beginning of further involvement. This brings the total of US troops that have been killed in Iraq to 4,494.

Sadly, all this comes on the heels of President Obama’s recent announcement, one we had all been dreading, that he was extending American troops presence in Afghanistan- a decision that looks more and more like we will have our troops there beyond the Obama administration. Please take a moment to read MFSO member Larry Seyverson’s interview, which he conducted  the day after Pres. Obama’s announcement. Larry speaks for all of us when he describes how military families feel about keeping our troops  in Afghanistan and he expresses our despair of being dragged deeper and ever closer into “endless wars”.

10/07/2015

Fourteen years ago today, the United States attacked Afghanistan; this was the beginning of the longest war in U.S. history.  After years of war and nothing to show for it, the public was told last June, that the war in Afghanistan was finally winding down, ground troops would be phased out and our troops would be limited to  advisory roles only. Instead, we mark this day with sadness and alarm after the recent US bombing of the only functional medical facility in the Afghan city of Kunduz. We were horrified to learn that this Doctors Without Borders hospital was bombed repeatedly, even though staffers had informed the US and Afghan military officials of its GPS coordinates several times. Over 22 patients and hospital staff died, including children that were helplessly engulfed in flames after bombs set the hospital on fire. The Taliban now describes our troops as “barbaric American forces”, and in the eyes of the international community, we have sunk to a new low.

Last week, the LA Times reported that officials from the Obama administration had privately acknowledged that “airstrikes and violent raids in civilian areas help fuel support for insurgents” ¹, so, the Obama administration could not have made a worse decision than to send “advisers” out on combat missions again.  Instead of removing all of our troops from Afghanistan, as we and so many Americans urged, this decision resulted in a major humanitarian catastrophe, a crime against humanity.

Join MFSO by calling President Obama today and demanding that he end all combat operations, including airstrikes, and bring all of our troops home now.  Tell President Obama that every day our loved ones are put in the position of fighting these wars, the result can only be more deaths, injuries, and the inevitable moral injury our troops have endured for fourteen years. This is enough!

MFSO calls on the American people to rise up and demand an end to the war in Afghanistan now!  March, vigil, rally, and be sure to voice your demands today- the 14^th year of the war in Afghanistan.

Call President Obama today: 202-456-1111

We were extremely saddened to learn that Marcia Westbrook’s youngest son, Tyler, died by suicide Thursday morning.  Tyler Milam Westbrook, a member of the Special Forces in the Army,  was stationed at Ft. Carson, CO.  Although we are always aware of the possibility of this happening to each one of us, this news has been devastating to all of us in Military Families Speak Out.

Marcia has been working steadily with the Steering Committee since our rebuild and also serves on the Rapid Response Team, the executive board of MFSO and has had three sons in the military since 9-11.

Cards and condolences to the family can be sent to Marcia Westbrook at:

814 Victoria Ave.

Williamstown, WV 26187

Tyler’s family will be greeting friends from noon until 8 p.m. Saturday, at the Marietta Chapel of Cawley & Peoples Funeral Home, 408 Front St., Marietta. Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. Sunday, at the Williamstown High School Gymnasium.

A complete obituary will be printed in Friday’s edition of the Parkersburg News and Sentinel, or may be viewed at www.cawleyandpeoples.com

Military Families Speak Out is alarmed and angered over the recent announcement made by President Obama that he plans to send 450 more “advisers” to Iraq and is considering the building of more bases.

These additional advisors will not be used at Army HQ but will be attached to the lower level units actually advising during battles with ISIS.  This is particularly disturbing to all of us because we know that this plan will bring our loved ones potentially closer to the battlefield. More unsettling is the recent comment made by Secretary of Defense, Ashton Carter that the “administration would ‘revisit’ whether to send more US troops, or to broaden their role once  ‘adequate’  Iraqi units are in combat.” (LA Times 6-18-15). This is a clear indication that President Obama is considering sending ground troops when the time is right. We should all be vigilant, speak out and oppose what appears to be a preparation for sending more troops. We can’t afford to wait until this announcement is made and must do all we can to let the administration know how senseless and frightening this possibility is to military families and to the people in Iraq as well.

“I realize there’s no guarantee my son won’t see combat and that scares me. I fear for my son’s life” – Rossana Cambron, Army Mom

Just last year, President Obama stated, “There is no military solution to a larger crisis in Iraq…” so why is it that the only response from the US involves the military? 3,100 troops have already been deployed to Iraq; US airstrikes and drone warfare continues in Iraq and Syria every day. $3.42 million is spent every hour for military actions against the Islamic State.  After thousands of lives have been lost and billions of dollars spent, things have only worsened. ISIS has grown and gained more territory. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter warned the public last month that Iraqi troops lack the “will to fight”.  The recent news that the Iraq military lost many Humvees, US tanks, machine guns to the Islamic State was disturbing and another example of how our military intervention has resulted in US weapons potentially being used against us. It seems obvious to all of us that sending 450 more advisors, a move the Pentagon opposes, will make little difference and will just be getting our military more deeply involved and  can only result in creating that “slippery slope” situation we all fear, which will make it harder to extricate ourselves from, as history has proven.

Let’s not lose sight that this most recent plan is a dangerous move and a real threat not only to the men and women of our military, but to Iraq civilians who have suffered greatly as well.

“We oppose sending our loved ones back to Iraq, a place that we never should have occupied in the first place”, said one military mom from Massachusetts. “Military families have already sustained too many deaths, suicides, injuries, amputations and mental health issues. Sending additional troops back to Iraq will only result in more deaths and injuries for not only our families but also for thousands of innocent civilians. The people responsible for starting this unnecessary war have accepted no responsibility for the carnage and chaos it has created. How dare they continue to put the lives and limbs of our loved ones at risk again?

Call the White House 202-456-1111 or email and voice your concern now. Make sure to identify yourself as MFSO

Solutions to the situation in Iraq are not simple, but there are ways to address this challenge that do not include U.S. military action. Join MFSO and Veterans for Peace is demanding these actions:

1. Stop the airstrikes.  The Sunni leaders and militia, who President Obama acknowledges must be persuaded to break with ISIL, see the U.S. as acting as the air force for the Kurds and Shia against Sunnis. The driving force for the Sunni-ISIL alliance is the alienation of Sunnis from Baghdad by the recent U.S.-backed Iraqi governments. Bombing Sunnis will not help to mend this relationship.
2. Stop sending troops to Iraq and stop sending more weapons that fuel the conflict killing more civilians and ignoring human rights violations committed by “allies.”
3. Make diplomacy the number one priority.  Since it is clear there is no military solution, the U.S. must seriously engage with everyone in the region, including Iran, who is needed to force the Iraqi government to be more inclusive with Sunni leaders. Without an inclusive government in Iraq there is no way to effectively confront ISIL.
4. Initiate new diplomatic efforts in the United Nations.  Use diplomatic and financial pressure to stop countries from financing and arming ISIL and other fighters in Syria. An arms embargo on all sides should be on the long-term agenda.
5. Restart UN negotiations to end the civil war in Syria.  Set aside preconceived demands and work to end the violence. Once that is achieved the people of Syria can begin to chart their destiny.
6. Massively increase humanitarian efforts through the UN and any other means. Real and effective efforts to relieve the suffering of hundreds of thousands of refugees from war will go a long way in convincing people to break with ISIL. More U.S. bombings and killings will only confirm that the U.S. is the enemy of Islam.

Join Military Families Speak Out and Veterans for Peace in demanding real solutions for the crisis in Iraq and Syria.  The entire proposal and concrete analysis can be found atwww.veteransforpeace.org