View photographs of Military Families in Washington DC calling on Congress to Support the Troops: De-fund the War

The tattoo of a parachute and the word "Paratrooper" on Phoenix resident Brian Lewis' left forearm lets fellow veterans know he has been there, done that. And the former member of the Army's 82nd Airborne Division isn't saluting Army Gen. David Petraeus' long awaited report this week on the war being waged in Iraq.

Military Families Speak Out members give their own report on the situation in Iraq in response to the "Petreaus Report".

Gold Star Mom’s Anti-Iraq War YouTube Video Challenges Ari Fleisher’s $15 Million Ad Campaign. Celeste and her son Dante Zappala were so enraged by Ari Fleischer's propaganda campaign to prop up support for more death and destruction in Iraq, they made this video.

Syverson described Webb's gambit as "kind of a backdoor attempt to end the war." He said if the troops were deployed in a reasonable fashion, there wouldn't be enough soldiers in Iraq to continue. "What I would really like to see them do is have the courage to de-fund the war and bring the troops home," he said.

The Democrats have abandoned the troops since January 4, 2007--the day they took control of Congress and didn’t immediately cease all war funding.

The enormous costs of the lack of leadership in dealing with the war in Iraq are measurable, and those costs hit home in ways we cannot ignore no matter how depressing the subject. The longer we wait to confront those who let these costs mount, the more responsible we are for those costs. It is up to us, you and me, to demand an end to it.

"They're sending them over there with six weeks of training and saying they'll learn when they get over there," Lerman said. "Then if they come back, some of the boys have to raise money so they'll have sheets and pillows and blankets on their beds back at the base. The government needs to bring them home and take care of them when they get here."

On Thursday, April 26th at 12:00 noon, as Congress debates and votes on their Supplemental War Spending bill that provides continued funding for the Iraq War, members of Military Families Speak Out (MFSO), Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW), and Veterans For Peace (VFP), will gather in the Hart Senate Office Building Atrium to read letters to Congress written by military and Gold Star families.

McCoy-Ernst dismisses the idea that she doesn't support the troops as "absolute nonsense." She's been told she's "spitting in soldiers' faces" and that she's a "disgrace" of a military wife. "No," she said, "this war is a disgrace!"

Slowly, the American Public has awakened to the travesty of the Iraq War, from its false pretenses of WMDs to its seemingly endless ravaging of Americans and Iraqis alike. I know - my husband was deployed to Iraq twice. And my friends know - many of their loved ones have been to Iraq multiple times. Too many have died there.

I’ve been in Washington D.C. since February 4th, my longest deployment yet in four years of the battle to end the war in Iraq. I have spent half of the past 12 months, cumulatively, stationed in our nation’s Capitol.

Click above to watch MFSO Members Anne Chay and Pete Richardson (father of MFSO co-founder Charley Richardson) on television in New Hampshire. The section they are in starts at about 39 minutes into the show.

How is it that my son has spent months in Iraq, and I have lived in the day-to-day fear of what could happen to him, he might not even make it home, and yet these people who watch FOX, and listen to Bill O'Reilly, think they know what it means to be a patriotic American, and how to support the troops, and they are so smug in their self-righteous denial that they feel compelled to yell at me?

However, 11 people were eventually arrested, according to federal authorities, after they went into Pelosi’s office and refused to leave. Two were Iraqi war veterans and the remaining were family members of military personnel, according to Judith Ross, who was arrested. They were cited with creating a disturbance and released within two hours, according to authorities. “It’s a weak way of political posturing to give the impression that Congress is following the American sentiment,” Ross said of the bill.

"We are calling on Congress to use the one power it has, the power of the purse, to bring this misbegotten war to an end," said Nancy Lessin. "Congress now has the opportunity to cut off all the funds for continuing the war in Iraq and commencing a fully funded safe and orderly withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq. It appears that this is an opportunity Congress is now preparing to squander."

Monday's protesters included Mark Pritchard, a member of the Gold Star Chapter of Military Families Speak Out. His nephew, Pfc. William Ramirez of Portland, died in Iraq in 2004 at age 19. Pritchard called on the U.S. Congress to stop funding the war and he said the best way to support the troops would be to bring them home.

Four years ago, MFSO member Fred Akers could not having pictured himself marching down the Atlantic City Boardwalk and holding a sign with a photo of his son, a National Guardsman currently in Iraq. War changes things. In four years, one way or another, things have changed.

In solemn, small observances, Boston-area residents marked the fourth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq yesterday with what seemed to be battle fatigue.

The presentation will feature more than 90 pairs of boots, symbolizing Virginians who have died in Iraq. Fifty pairs of shoes also will be on display, representing a fraction of the number of Iraqi civilians killed during the war. "It just really upsets me when I go to things like that because one of those could be one of my sons," said Syverson, an anti-war activist whose three sons have served five tours of duty in Iraq. He began demonstrating against the war the day it started.

Hervey said her simmering opposition to the war became full-on public advocacy for an end to the war after she learned her stepson might have to stay in Iraq to heal, and possibly return to his unit, rather than being transported to his base in Baumholder, Germany, for rehabilitation. He is being kept there now. She said her stepson both supports her activities and remains a faithful soldier.

"The first Gulf War ended very quickly. I didn't imagine this one would last so long. It just looks like it's going to keep going and going and going," said Paula Rogovin of Teaneck, a leader of Military Families Speak Out and the mother of a Marine stationed in Iraq. "Even though there was a mandate from the people in the last election, Congress is not taking a strong enough stand.

Anti-war protesters built a mock graveyard Sunday morning with thousands of white cardboard headstones in Kauffman Park next to the Soldiers Memorial in downtown St. Louis, MO.

I stand before you, today, with a very heavy heart. On Tuesday, we will mark the 4th anniversary of the illegal invasion and continuing occupation of Iraq. The country is now in the middle of a civil war, and innocent Iraqis are dying by the 100s if not ,1000s. On average, 3 more soldiers or marines die each day – over 3,200 as of this morning.

"This is infuriating," said Nancy Lessin, co-founder of Military Families Speak Out. "How in the world is Congress supporting the troops by continuing to send them to kill and die in an illegal, immoral, unwinnable quagmire?"

"Right now, we're just trying to hold the sides apart in a civil war. All the junior officers just want to get the hell out," said Bernie Reilly, of Chadds Ford, Pa., a West Point grad who was a combat engineer in Vietnam. His son, Capt. Bernard Reilly, 28, a Black Hawk helicopter pilot with the 10th Mountain and a 2001 West Point grad, just returned from Afghanistan and had previously served in Iraq. "My son doesn't necessarily disagree with me, but there's only so much he can say," said the father, now a member of Military Families Speak Out, an anti-war group.

Nancy Emery, whose brother served in Iraq, represents the organization Military Families Speak Out. "We are here to say bring the troops home. Take care of them when they get here. Make sure the VA medical centers are doing what they need to be doing to take care of our injured soldiers," she said.

Anne Roesler, with Military Families Speak Out, echoed those statements and called for bringing the troops home. She spoke of the nearly 3,200 Americans killed in Iraq and tens of thousands more who have been mentally harmed or physically injured. "How many more Marines, soldiers and loved ones are we going to let this happen to? Not one more," said Roesler, whose son is serving in Iraq. "Tell your congressional representatives you want them to defund this war. We should not spend a penny more."

No one wanted a "good war" more than Carla Hitz. Her son, an Army helicopter pilot, was among the first soldiers in Iraq in 2003. And while he was gone, Hitz wanted to make sure he would be supported back home. "My first instinct was maternal," said Hitz, founder of the Sandy-based nonprofit We Love Our Soldiers. "I wanted my son and every other soldier to know our country was behind them, caring for their well-being and morale." That was four years ago. Today, on the brink of the fourth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq - and with her son's third combat deployment looming - Hitz has concluded that supporting her son now means letting lawmakers know it's time to end so-called "backdoor draft" practices, give service members and veterans the medical care they deserve and, most of all, end the war.

Several people marched through downtown Nashville to denounce a conflict entering its fifth year. They joined others marking the fourth anniversary of the War in Iraq. Demonstrators in Nashville carried shoes representing each individual who died in the conflict. Each shoe had a tag attached, with names of Iraqis and Americans.

Washington D.C., March 8, 2007 – Military Families Speak Out (MFSO), an organization of over 3,200 military families who are opposed to the war in Iraq, expressed dismay and outrage at the plan unveiled by House Democrats today that would delay the withdrawal of U.S. combat troops until the fall of 2008. “The Iraq plan presented by Nancy Pelosi today condemns at least 1,500 more U.S. troops and countless Iraqi children, women, and men to die in a war based on lies, a war that has already taken far too many lives,” said Nancy Lessin, co-founder of MFSO.

We all believe that the U.S. military occupation of Iraq must be brought to an immediate end. The people of the United States voted for a change in Congressional leadership last November, due in large part to the desire to see the disaster in Iraq come to an end. Congress now has the opportunity to end this unjust war and bring our troops home. But as we write this letter, it appears that this is an opportunity you are prepared to squander.

Do not let anymore tell you that de-funding this war is not supporting the troops. Our political leaders that are supporting this war are not sending their loved ones. It is our loved ones that are fighting and dying in this war.

As a member of Military Families Speak Out, I want you to know that MFSO, veterans and soldiers understand the difference between "de-funding the war" and "de-funding the troops." I ask that you not be distracted by those who confuse the two.

“It is unbearable to be a military family. To think that we could lose someone so close to us forever because of an illegal, immoral war,” said Nina Douglass, a Jamaica Plain resident whose stepson John Paul has done three tours outside of Fallujah. “He is a young man of honor, and that will guide his decisions that he makes.”

This is a plea to bring home all the brave members of our military fighting overseas. To bring home our sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, wives, husbands — mine among them. My husband, a corporal in the Marine Corps, was deployed for his second tour in Iraq on Jan. 1, just 12 days after we were married. It is our duty to voice our discontent.

By an overwhelming majority, the citizens of America oppose the Administration’s escalation of the war in Iraq. Many retired military leaders and current active-duty members of the armed services concur. In recent days, however, the Administration’s refusal to heed this body of public opinion has made it evident that the only way to stop the war will be to end its funding.

Vermont's Legislature became the first in the country Tuesday to pass a resolution calling for an immediate and orderly withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq.

As a military mom and as a member of Military Families Speak Out, I needed to know where those who represent me stand on the war, and to ask them to really support our troops by taking the courageous step of voting to stop funding the war.

Listen to MFSO Board Member Larry Syverson from Richmond, Virginia talk about the impact of the war on his family and about the importance of speaking out against the war.

Click above to see a video of MFSO member Anne Roesler of San Francisco talking about the so-called "surge" and de-funding the war in in Iraq.

It was such an emotion provoking moment to watch the president walk down the aisle in preparing to give the State of the Union amidst so much joviality among our members of government ... the very same government who has sent so many of our men and women to their deaths or to lives which have been shattered and broken...

You might hear about the Democrats pushing for a resolution to stop the escalation of the war, but a resolution would be vetoed by the President. The Dems would look like good guys, but the troops would still go to Iraq. I belong to a national organization called Military Families Speak Out. As parents and loved ones of soldiers and Marines, we would never, never, never call for the defunding of the war if it would put our children at risk. Defunding would bring them home where they can begin to heal.

Listen to MFSO co-founder Nancy Lessin on National Public Radio's On Point.

See a photocollage of MFSO members and members of Gold Star Families Speak Out (a chapter of MFSO) speaking out against the war

On January 6th and 7th, MFSO's Orange County and South Bay Chapters will be staging a 24 hour vigil to honor the 3,000+ American troops and 600,000+ Iraqis who have died as a result of the war in Iraq. We are holding this rally in Garden Grove, home area of Rep. Loretta Sanchez to encourage her to vote against any further funding for the war in Iraq. Not one more death, not one more dollar -- Support Our Troops, De-Fund the War!

On the afternoon of New Years Eve, 2006 the website icasualties.org announced the death of the 3,000th U.S. troop in Iraq...