With Robin Long being the first Iraq war resister deported from Canada and turned over to the U.S. military, the Army clearly intended to make an example of the case. The sentence of 15 months confinement, a demotion to private, and dishonorable discharge, is extreme, considering Long’s only “crime” is moral opposition to the Iraq war.

As determined at the Ft. Carson court-martial, Robin’s refusal to go to Iraq was punished with the equivalent of a felony conviction in many states — a sentence much harsher than that given to personnel whose actions in uniform led to loss of life or serious compromise of U.S. stature and security. It could permanently impact Robin’s future employment options and ability to support his family.

Using Long as a symbol to dissuade others from similar actions will not work, as the call to follow one’s moral compass is a higher command than any military order. Instead, it will only make him a martyr to anti-war efforts, especially in Canada, where citizens are protesting their government’s collusion with the Bush Administration’s misguided foreign policy. Robin Long is only one of many who have fled to Canada rather than act in opposition to their conscience; his harsh punishment has galvanized grassroots efforts to allow the others to stay.

We call on the Army to re-evaluate the sentence. We believe that Robin should serve three months (less time already served), and the discharge be changed to Other Than Honorable — still a serious punishment that should satisfy the Army’s need to make Robin pay for his refusal to deploy as ordered.

We look forward to supporting Robin Long during his imprisonment, working with his support committee, and continuing to promote the growing resistance movement in the U.S. military.

Further, we applaud the work of War Resisters Support Campaign (Canada), Courage to Resist, and Oklahoma Green Party member James M. Branum (Long’s civilian attorney), in their ongoing advocacy on Robin Long’s behalf. We encourage those who want to show support for Robin or to learn more about the case to visit freerobin.org.

The Arizona Greens have less than 3 weeks to finish their ballot access drive and they need additional financial donations, so they can hire more petitioners! Nationwide, we’re closing in on our fundraising goal for them, but we still need more donations!

So please donate TODAY, as time is of the essence! (Any amount would be fine!).

Please make checks payable to:

Green Ballot Access
P. O. Box 77312
Tucson, AZ 85703

To donate via credit card or PayPal, go to: www.azgp.org/donate.shtml and click on the “direct donation” link in the 2nd section of the page!

Thanks so much for helping out!

The Green Party table at the 2007 Peace Festival in Oklahoma City on Nov. 10 was a busy place, as signatures were collected on the ballot access petition. GP members, mostly from Oklahoma County, staffed the table and reported that 146 names were added to petitions.

The petition drive ends on January 14, 2008. For more info about the effort, see okvoterchoice.org

In photo: Randy Smith, Rachel Jackson and James M. Branum.

Oklahoma Green Jean McMahon has been doing outstanding work in a very unique way: attending public events in a polar bear costume. The outfit dramatically illustrates the issue of global warming and gets lots of notice wherever Jean wears it.

Today it was the Tulsa Run, for which Jean has been training for over a month. “As soon as I arrived at the starting line,” Jean reports, “Mayor Kathy Taylor came trotting over to say, ‘Hi, remember I saw you at the climate report at TU (University of Tulsa)’.”

Jean and fellow Green Huti Reynolds also collected 42 signatures for the Oklahoma Ballot Reform initiative.

The Tulsa World reports that an Edmond man won the race. We suspect that the polar bear running and petitioning through the city’s streets won a few points from onlookers and run participants alike.

Read the minutes from the 10/21/2007 GPOK Annual Meeting.

The next meeting of the Coordinating Council, to which any Green or interested person is welcome, will be following the Peace Fest in Oklahoma City on Nov. 11.

(more…)