I couldn’t find a satisfactory commie picture of the IVAW alone, so this one will have to do. From The Two Malcontents.

The marxist IVAW plan is to bring their dog and pony show before the House Progressive Caucus, since their original efforts in Maryland didn’t go over so well. The next phase is to go over and sing to the choir in Washington; their dutiful fellow pink-o comrades in the Progressive Caucus. (Rep. Dennis Kucinich, co-chairman)

Take a look at the organizations that support the Congressional Progressive Caucus (Circus). It should give you an idea of the 70 or so Congressional members of this caucus(circus) and how they spend their time:

“An array of national progressive organizations will work to support the efforts of the caucus, including the Institute for Policy Studies, The Nation magazine, MoveOn.org, National Priorities Project, Jobs with Justice, Peace Action, Americans for Democratic Action, and Progressive Democrats of America. Also co-sponsoring the kickoff event were the NAACP, ACLU, Progressive Majority, League of United Latin American Citizens, Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, National Council of La Raza, Hip Hop Caucus, Human Rights Campaign, Association of Farmworker Opportunity Programs, and the National Hip Hop Political Convention. The CPC has long maintained cordial ties with the Democratic Socialists of America, which hosted its website during the 1990s.”

Until 1999 the Progressive Caucus worked in open partnership with Democratic Socialists of America. After the press reported on this link, the connections suddenly vanished from both organizations’ websites. -Discover the Networks

The eyes and ears of thousands will be inspecting closely every word spoken by IVAW testifiers since, according to IVAW press release, the Congressional testimony is billed as being under “oath”. A few calls for “proof” (date, time, place, witnesses, leadership, and unit involved) would be appropriate…generalities may be satisfying to a gullible media or politically correct congress, but when our warriors and nation’s policies are potentially defamed and distorted, only facts and credible evidence will be acceptable.

There was nothing of substance reported at the WSII National Labor College event so we can expect the IVAW tilted crystal ball to fabricate additional fantasy, if this appearance actually occurs.

Information as to where and when of the testimony is listed below in a IVAW press release.

Media Advisory: May 5, 2008

Contact: Francesca Lo Basso, 215-498-3347, media@ivaw.org

Winter Soldier on the Hill: Iraq Veterans to Testify Before Congress on Failure of Troop Surge

WHAT: Winter Soldier on the Hill

WHO: Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) & The Congressional Progressive Caucus

WHEN: May 15, 2008, 9:30am-12:30pm

WHERE: 2261 Rayburn House Office Building

WHY: To present eyewitness accounts of the Iraq occupation to Congress.

Washington, DC - On May 15, members of Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) will testify under oath before Congress about their eyewitness accounts of the military occupation of Iraq. Testifiers will include veterans who served during the surge.

This testimony represents a shift from reports to Congress from high-level commanders and political appointees to direct accounts from boots-on-the-ground soldiers and Marines about the situation in Iraq. Testifiers will detail the ineffectiveness of the “troop surge,” the dehumanization, abuse and killing of innocent Iraqi civilians, and the breakdown of the military as a result of the ongoing occupation of Iraq.

Testifiers will include Luis Montalvan, who served two tours in Iraq as an Army Captain; Jason Washburn, a US Marine Corps Infantry Rifleman who served three tours in Iraq; and Kristofer Goldsmith, who served in the Army as an Artillery Forward Observer in Sadr City, Iraq.

“The time has come for Congress to hear about the occupation from the soldiers and Marines who have seen it first-hand. Petraeus continues to repeat the administration’s talking points while ignoring what the soldiers on the ground know: the Iraq occupation is not working,” said Kelly Dougherty, a former Military Police Sergeant in Iraq and Executive Director of IVAW.

Winter Soldier on the Hill is a continuation of Winter Soldier: Iraq and Afghanistan (WSIA), held at the National Labor College from March 13-16, 2008. Named after Thomas Paine’s reference to soldiers who stand up for their country in its darkest hours, WSIA gathered over 250 members of IVAW and collected over 30 hours of testimony regarding the negative impact of the Iraq occupation on the military - including an overburdened Veterans’ Administration, demoralized service members and a crumbling military infrastructure.

Iraq Veterans Against the War was founded in 2004 to give those who have served in the military since September 11, 2001 a way to come together and speak out against an unjust, illegal and unwinnable occupation. Today, IVAW has over 1,000 members in 43 states, Washington, D.C. and Canada and on military bases overseas.

From Colonel Riley (USA, Ret) through email.

More at the Sniper here and here, here

GOE has created another petition (http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/ivawtruthintestimony/) asking the CPC to verifiy any info that the IVAW brings to them. This petition reads about the same as the petition that was circulated for the Senate Armed Services Committee. The CPC is more of an ad-hoc group than any sort of official committee, but since we’ve been out in front of IVAW on this, we should probably stay there.

Please circulate this petition among your mailing lists.

Although all things considered, I’m not sure how much good it will do beyond show them that we’re watching every move they make.