IVAW’s Chiroux responds

In reference to the post I wrote from someone who knows Chiroux, another anonymous commenter sent me this from Chiroux who was writing in response to another series of posts that were broadcast around the internet from a fellow IVAW member (actually the one that TSO quoted here). Whoever sent it to me, thought that this would absolve Chiroux of charges of wrong doing. Heh, they don’t know me too well, do they? So here’s Chiroux’ email to IVAW;

My response as well as that of our entire organization should be complete condemnation for whichever member wrote and shared this piece of libel.

First off, I HAVE NEVER defrauded any of my supporters in any way shape or form. Every dime that has been donated to IVAW for my defense remains with IVAW and will be spent on my hearing as is required by law. As far as donations made to me personally or through my paypal (which have yet to exceed $1,000), the portion I have spent has been on professional expenses only as IVAW has not provided me any compensation for phone, travel or materials since early last fall, which does in fact exceed the amount donated to me by my individual supporters.

As far as my work ethic, few have put in as many thankless hours as me on some EXTREMELY difficult campaigns for as many headaches and as little compensation. Despite having maintained full-time enrolment in college, I manage to speak almost daily on some panel or to some group about my experience and the importance of supporting G.I. resistence. It’s worth noting that through the course of what has been at least 100 speaking engagements, I’ve received humble honorariums only twice, which is far less than most IVAW members I know who travel and speak or have spoken regularly like I do.

Now as far as me wanting to be seen as a “war hero,” I think most who really know me will find this absurd. There is no such thing as a “war hero” especially in the context of the global war on terror. I believe it to be genocide, as most other U.S.-led wars and thus take nothing but BEAMING PRIDE for having had the good sense to say HELL NO on the first time around. My reasons for not deploying are based in this sentiment alone. In no way was “fear of facing” my “duties” a motivating factor in my refusal to deploy or in my decision to dedicate myself to the cause of peace and social justice. Duties and war crimes have nothing to do with eachother, unless in such a sentence as, “Their duties to resist war crimes have been hidden by lies and indoctrination.”

And I did not join the Army because I was a fuck up. I joined the Army because society and my family are fucked up and both played a very ACTIVE role in ensuring military service was more or less in the cards for me. I didn’t join to “serve my country,” I joined to save my ass, which I acknowledge. However having been in the Army (I consider it no form of service) for five years, I can honestly say that neither would be a suitable motivation for joining the Army. I didn’t serve my country or save my ass, I supported war crimes from the rear and was stripped my humanity in the process as well. I apologize to my country and the world for not resisting the crimes of my government sooner.

As far as my intellectual capacity…I think I’m doing alright, but should anyone question that, you’re welcome to “ask me any surprise question about a particular subject,” at any time. If I know the answer or have an idea I’ll tell you. If I don’t, I’ll tell you to ask someone else. If you think that’s dumb, you’re dumb.

This whole repeating reference to pot IS dumb, dumb, dumb, and hurtful to the organization as a whole.

In short, whoever wrote the above post is CATEGORICALLY in the wrong. I suspect this person of perhaps having a personal bone to pick with me or perhaps is jealous of the level of positive impact my story and organizing has had despite a perceived lack of self-contamination in the form of illicit deployments.

Let me make this clear: I apologize for no part of my activism or for my lack of combat experience. I reaffirm that I believe the Global War on Terror to be a crime against humanity and I reaffirm my pride in having refused to participate the second time around. I again acknowledge my first time around lasted only five days, however this makes me no less a veteran and no less complicit in this mess.

I know we are going through some tough times, folks, but if shenanigans like the above post continue, we can count on total self-obliteration in the coming year. We need to remember who we are and what we are doing. I for one believe we do not exist to glorify military service in any form. Nor do I believe we exist to honor the combat experience.

I believe we exist to demand immediate withdrawal from Iraq and Afghanistan and reparations to both peoples for our crimes. I believe we exist to demand veterans who HAVE been made victims of occupation through deployment be cared for properly by this country. I believe we exist to challenge the American conscience to come to grips with the racist nature of our foreign policy. I believe we exist to support each other, above and beyond all else, in the process of personal reclamation.

Enough back-sliding and ass-biting folks! Enough people want to destroy us already. Let’s not help them along in this, OK?
Peace and Solidarity,

Matthis Chiroux

That was all pasted in exactly as he wrote it – the gross misspellings, piss-poor grammar and emphasis are all Chiroux – the great journalist and scholar.

Yeah, it seems to me that if you have to tell people you’re not ripping them off – they have good reason to suspect you’re ripping them off. And that part about his work ethic, he writes as if college studies are a big deal – while I was in college full time, I also had a full time job and was a work-study student in the campus VA office – all while I was fathering three teenagers – so I’m really not impressed that “I manage to speak almost daily on some panel or to some group”. Big whoop.

The part that gets me is the next paragraph – about him wanting to be a war hero. For one thing, Matthis, to be a war hero, you have to actually been in a war. Every time I see you, you’re spouting off about being an “Afghanistan veteran”. Six days on Baghram Air Base doesn’t make you an Afghanistan veteran. It makes you an accidental tourist. So to absolve himself of that, he says no one is a hero.

Now, those of you IVAW members who did serve in Afghanistan, how do you feel about a pussy like Chiroux who claims to be equal to you service-wise, telling you that what you did was as meaningless as what he accomplished in Afghanistan? That your sacrifice is worthless like his – he probably used more clean bedding in his six days than you did the whole year you were there. He probably took more showers in his six days than you did the whole tour. He probably had more hot chow than you had. But instead of raising himself up to your level, he brings you down to his. How does that feel?

Then he blames his parents for his miserable life; “And I did not join the Army because I was a fuck up. I joined the Army because society and my family are fucked up”. Nice. His father and his sister stood by him when he made the choice to avoid the IRR call up, and this is how he repays them. I hope they get to see this letter.

“However having been in the Army (I consider it no form of service) for five years, I can honestly say that neither would be a suitable motivation for joining the Army. I didn’t serve my country or save my ass, I supported war crimes from the rear and was stripped my humanity in the process as well”. More intellectual masturbation. He tries to bring everyone down in the mud with him – the easy choice. When he says he supported war crimes from the rear, he means waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay in the rear. He fought the Taliban from Japan and Germany.

He calls the pot smoking charges “dumb”, but he doesn’t call them inaccurate – probably because enough IVAW members have smoked pot with him to know he’d be lying and cast doubt on the whole statement.

“I for one believe we do not exist to glorify military service in any form. Nor do I believe we exist to honor the combat experience.” That’s easy to say for someone who has no military service or combat experience, isn’t it? Every sentence that comes out of Adam Kokesh’s mouth has Fallujah in it. I suspect that Kokesh would take exception to Chiroux’s statement. I’ve talked with some of the folks from IVAW and they’re proud of their service – the ones who actually served. Chiroux is telling them that their service is meaningless and cheap.

I know for a fact that many IVAW members think Chiroux is a blowhard and a pussy. He’s not much different than Jesse MacBeth except he lasted through basic training.

I wonder who’s paying for his college?

Tags: matthis chiroux, pussy, whining

Category: Antiwar crowd, Iraq Veterans Against the War, Phony soldiers, Usual Suspects