Civil Liberties Articles & News - Veterans For Common Sense

Veterans for Common Sense (VCS) was formed in August 2002 as a nonprofit 501(c)3 organization by war veterans who believe that we, the people of the United States of America, are most secure when our country is free, strong, and responsibly engaged with the world. Our mission, based on the pragmatic ideals of the American patriot Thomas Paine, is to raise the unique and powerful voices of veterans so that our military, veterans, freedom, and national security are protected and enhanced, for ourselves and for future generations.

"We owe a debt to all who served and when we repay that debt to those bravest Americans among us, then we are investing in our future."
~ Barack Obama, August 3, 2009

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Disabled Iraq War Veteran with Service Dog Beaten by McDonalds Employee

October 30, 2009, Brooklyn, New York (Courthouse News Service) - A disabled Army captain who was wounded in Iraq claims McDonald's employees beat him with garbage can lids after he brought his service dog to the restaurant. Luis Montalvan says the attack came as he was photographing the restaurant after he repeatedly complained about the treatment he received there.

Deployment at All Costs: Military Arrests Mom, Sends Child to Protective Serivces

Soldier mom refuses deployment to care for baby

November 16, 2009, Savannah, Georgia (Associated Press) – An Army cook and single mom may face criminal charges after she skipped her deployment flight to Afghanistan because, she said, no one was available to care for her infant son while she was overseas.

Fort Hood Fallout: Camp Lejeune Whistle-Blower Fired

A psychiatrist who tried to prevent Fort Hood-style violence among Marines about to "lose it" instead loses his job

November 16, 2009 (Salon) - Last April, two Marines at Camp Lejeune predicted to a psychiatrist that some Marine back from war was going to "lose it." Concerned, the psychiatrist asked what that meant. One of the Marines responded, "One of these guys is liable to come back with a loaded weapon and open fire."

New York Times Profiles VA and Secretary Shinseki

No Longer a Soldier, Shinseki Has a New Mission

November 11, 2009 (New York Times) - It was a sad homecoming of sorts. On Tuesday, Eric Shinseki, the secretary of veterans affairs, returned to Fort Hood, Tex., where he was a division commander in the mid-1990s, to pay tribute to two veterans affairs employees who died in the shootings there last week.

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Civil Liberties Articles & News

Veterans for Common Sense (VCS) posts articles, news and other related items about Constitutional civil liberties. This section focuses on torture, rendition, domestic spying, the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), and other Constitutional issues, most often involving the Department of Justice (DoJ), yet sometimes involving the Department of Defense (DoD), Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and other agencies.

Learn about VCS's FOIA requests here.

Op-Ed: Losing Liberties and Waging Wars Based on Manufactured Fears

Written by Melvin A. Goodman

Tuesday, 15 September 2009 09:17

September 14, 2009 - A recently declassified study on Soviet intentions during the Cold War identifies significant failures in U.S. intelligence analysis on Soviet military intentions and demonstrates the constant exaggeration of the Soviet threat.

Written by Charles C. Krulak and Joseph P. Hoar

Monday, 14 September 2009 09:26

September 11, 2009 - In the fear that followed the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, Americans were told that defeating Al Qaeda would require us to ``take off the gloves.'' As a former commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps and a retired commander-in-chief of U.S. Central Command, we knew that was a recipe for disaster.

Written by Joseph L. Conn

Monday, 14 September 2009 08:54

September 9, 2009 - It is hardly a secret that the Religious Right helped elect President George W. Bush and exercised extraordinary influence with his administration. But if we need more evidence, it's just been put on the table.

Written by Andy Worthington

Friday, 11 September 2009 10:05

"...I've come to the conclusion that [Cheney] truly is - whether he was that way when I knew him before, when he was Secretary of Defense, I don't know, that's not at issue with me any more - the man now is just crazy."

September 10, 2009 - Col. Lawrence Wilkerson served in the U.S. military for 31 years and was Chief of Staff to Secretary of State Colin Powell from August 2002 until January 2005, two months after Powell's resignation, when he left the State Department. He is now the chairman of the New America Foundation's US-Cuba 21st Century Policy Initiative.

Written by Carol Rosenberg

Thursday, 10 September 2009 08:52

September 7, 2009 - In one federal courtroom last month, a defense lawyer argued that the U.S. military had coerced a false confession out of a 50-year-old Kuwaiti who has been at Guantanamo for seven years.

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