Navy Public Affairs Officer Who Worked in Iraq Condemns Pres.Bush

[JoFerret]

Pacifica Radio

Navy Public Affairs Officer Who Worked in Iraq Condemns President Bush & The U.S. Invasion

A year ago Navy Lt. John Oliveira was appearing daily before television cameras defending the U.S. invasion. He was the top public affairs officer aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt. In a Democracy Now! exclusive he speaks today on a national program for the first time criticizing the invasion he was once paid to defend.

A year ago Saturday Lt. John Oliveira was aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt in the Mediterranean Sea. He was serving as public affairs officer for the 5,000-troop aircraft carrier. He was overseeing embedded reporters. He was speaking to the national and international media defending the U.S. invasion.

To mark the first anniversary of the invasion, Oliveira was far from the battlefront -- he was taking part in his first peace rally. Two months after being honorably discharged, Oliveira decided to speak out against the invasion of Iraq for the first time. Today this decorated 16-year Navy veteran talks with Democracy Now! in his first national interview to criticize the U.S. invasion of Iraq and President Bush.
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http://www.pacifica.org/programs/dn/040326.html

[Just Me]

1. The "Oust Bush" movement is growing!!! *eom*

[liberalhistorian]

3. Yes, and when the military

and former military people start getting involved, you KNOW the motherfucker's in trouble!

[Just Me]

10. They also have more support than ever before,...

,...via groups like VVAW and Hackworth and the military families orgs. among others.

[truthspeaker]

2. yet another disgruntled former employee with a political agenda

What are we up to now, 50 of them? They're starting to outnumber the non-disgruntled employees.

[bahrbearian]

16. He's writing a book and he's out of the loop..

[LagaLover]

4. We need bigger fish than this to speak out

This guy was a Lt...and he "retired" after 16 years? How the heck does one do that? I'm pretty sure the 15-year retirement was ended a few years back. A guy like Wes Clark speaking out is a BIG deal. We need more Wes Clarks out there!

[THUNDER HANDS]

11. Richard

Richard Clark

[LagaLover]

12. Richard Clark(e))

was a BIG help!

[calimary]

22. No kidding. Richard Clarke is the modern day Van Helsing.

I had this image of David Kay picking up the stake from the ground. Paul O'Neill taking it and positioning it just so, and Richard Clarke coming in with a big mallet and driving it home, right through the heart of Count bushula.

I LOVE Richard Clarke. A one-man Shock and Awe show.

[dax]

25. How elitist can you GET! I respect the grunts more anyway and they SHOUT!

This guy was the propaganda person-he is PERFECT to explain how everyone was DUPED-he might even tell about the contracting privatization quagmire that will choke Freedom in Iraq-they fired Garner because he wanted to leave the industries in Iraqi hands and turn the reconstruction over to them (they need jobs) and get our soldiers out. If we could just let go of their economy, Europe would help and they could restore power and water. (Haliburton is too busy ducking and counting their money to do any actual reconstruction) this guy is a golden goose-we are HOME FREE!

[koopie57]

34. absolutely!

eom

[Dhalgren]

26. Hey, I don't care if he is a PFC. with a hardship discharge,

if he has come around to the patriots' side I welcome him with open arms. Big fish, little fish, medium sized fish - the more the merrier. Each of these vetrans have a unique story and an experience that will be invaluable to us if we are to defeat these Domestic Enemies. I say, welcome aboard!

[teach1st]

5. At the very least...

...we've got to question this administration's hiring practices.

[jpak]

6. How will ChimpCo respond to this???

"disgruntled former employee"

"Here are the declassified FAUX News transcripts of his pro-Bush press briefings"

"Prolly wants to write a book"

"wants a job with the Kerry campaign"

Blah blah blah...

[Jacobin]

7. This is so much like Vietnam its freaking me out!!!!

[yardwork]

28. It's like Vietnam in fast-forward.

It took years for people to get so angry about Vietnam.

[saigon68]

32. It's Iraq-Nam

A nasty place where people die like dogs for no good reason.

Even less of a reason than Viet-Nam.

And there was NO reason for Viet-Nam

[NuckinFutz]

8. Yee Hah!

Stories like this make my day!

[RobertSeattle]

9. Ouch - 16 year veteran?

4 years from retirement (@ 50% pay right?) - that bites.

[LagaLover]

13. Yep,

50% of Base Pay (not total pay) at 20 years. Appears that he either a. had some enlisted time or b. was selectively continued as an )-3 despite an inability to make O-4 on numerous occasions. I'm betting it was a.

[Mari333]

14. Got to get Lt Col Kwiatowski in front of the cameras

her story needs to be told somewhere.
http://www.bringthemhomenow.com
http://www.mfso.org

[LagaLover]

15. Bad idea...

I know Karen personally. She and my husband were intel officers together. While what she says may be true (I have no way of attesting to her veracity) she comes across poorly in person. She writes EXTREMELY well, and we need her to keep pumping out the articles, though!

[thebigidea]

17. next time you see her, you need to mention that she comes across poorly

she'll love that!

[July]

19. That's the 2nd Bush critic whose opinion you've minimized

in this thread.

Who constitutes an acceptable critic to you?

[not systems]

23. I saw Lt Col Kwiatowski on TV and she rocked.

She is also a conservative so can speak to Bush's base directly.

[BrotherBuzz]

31. I've heard her on three different radio interviews

and she comes across as a very credible and sincere (I might even say warm) person. How is it that she comes across poorly in person? Bad breath? Spinach in her teeth? Cross-eyed?

[Columbia]

18. Not much info provided from link

I'd be interested to see what exactly he says and also whether he was ever in-country versus on a ship at sea.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

20. Columbia-- just to clarify, I seem to gather from your posts

that you consider the Iraq invasion/occupation to be a worthy cause? Whether a "right war for the wrong reason" or a "right war for the right reason"... Just trying to clarify. Is this a fair representation of your position?

[Columbia]

24. I believe there is some worth to it

But that the costs outweigh the benefits. I do want to see the Iraqi people succeed in building a stable and prosperous country.

[saigon68]

33. Nothing worthy about Iraq

It is a Corporate war for $$$$$$$$ and oil

and a lot of naive, young Rambo wannabees are getting their asses killed for nothing.

[tlcandie]

21. Tried logging into http://www.democracynow.org but the site isn't

letting me in atm for some reason. Try it and you can read the transcript yourself from the interview.

http://www.democracynow.org

[keithyboy]

27. This is as HUGE as Clarke's testimony. Why no coverage?

It's huge because this is person who can identify with soldiers and ordinary people. Why should he have a political agenda? Why would he lie?

[goforit]

29. I salute you Lt. Col. Oliveira!!!!..........Iraq was and is IMMORAL!!!

Shame on the President and his Cabal and
Shame on our Congress for refusing to do their homework and
being weak under the threats from the Executive branch.

Shame on the immoral Press that enabled the crimes of these thugs!!!

We will not tolerate killing our children so that you schmucks
can pad your wallets and bully the World!!!

[Informed Consent]

30. What's that I hear?

Could it be Bush's house of cards tumbling down? :headbang: