Police Go After Iraq Vets And Other Protesters

“If the freedom of speech is taken away then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter.” George Washington

What happens when you go overseas and serve your country to protect our freedoms, only to come home and find those freedoms evaporating away?

From Protesters face police raids at the Republican Convention:

In developments which have been largely ignored in the US media, police have staged preemptive armed raids targeting protesters and alternative media around the Republican National Convention - including thousands of people demonstrating about war world poverty throughout the week.

Up to ten thousand marchers, many veterans of Iraq and past wars, joined peaceful protests on Monday. Their cause has gone largely unreported, however.

“We joined up with an altruistic vision of promoting freedom and justice around the world,” said Vince Emanuel, a Marine lance corporal who did a tour of duty in Iraq from August 2004 to April 2005, explaining why he was joining the protest.

He added: "What we saw was the killing of innocent people and the destruction of property ... for a lot of us it was very disenfranchising."

The veterans group tried to hand a message to the campaign of Republican White House candidate John McCain calling for a withdrawal from Iraq, reparations for the Iraqi people, and full medical benefits for veterans. No one from Mr McCain’s campaign would received them, Mr Emanuel said.

Read more here.

Michelle at Vital Source has more here.

Also, I’ve noticed several comments on several sites where the writer complains that the “Liberal Media” and the “Liberal Blogs” didn’t cover the demonstrations at the Democratic Convention. (The point being that liberals don't want to acknowledge criticism.) First, I don’t think this is true. Some did write about it. And second, the more important point is that both Conventions had demonstrators. Many Americans are not satisfied with either party. After the 2006 elections, we are still in Iraq and Afghanistan! Can we really trust the Democrats as the party of change?