Tim Goodrich: (Leftist) Anti-War Hero for Torrance?

Say what one will: someone out there takes my postings seriously enough that he (or she) found my mailing address and sent to me two newspaper articles and a DVD with a short clip of Torrance City Council candidate Tim Goodrich.

I know very little about the guy first hand, aside from the fact that he is a Democrat receiving a lot of money from labor unions.

Key contributors: Mark Steffen, Torrance Unified School District board president ($250); ILWU Local 13 PAC ($1,000); ILWU Marine Clerks Local 63 PAC ($1,000).

Right away, I will not vote for the guy. The ILWU is a left-leaning organization, more radical than the AFL-CIO (from which they split last year because Obama-AFL did not enact a single-payer healthcare system). Moreover, the union has ties to some violent actors in its past.

Now, regarding the documents that I received about Mr. Goodrich. . .

The first article, from The LookOut news is entitled " Sheehan Rallies Antiwar Troops in Santa Monica".

Some excerpts:

Tourists out for a late-season stroll Sunday afternoon halted in silent wonder at the thousands of white crosses just north of Santa Monica Pier, but few noticed Cindy Sheehan, the celebrated antiwar activist.

Aside from my respect for Ms. Sheehan regarding the loss of her son during the Iraq War, she has an anti-Israel stance which offends me deeply.

Then Goodrich is mentioned:

Getting ready for the TV cameras, former Airman Tim Goodrich — now a member of Iraq Veterans Against the War — asked Sheehan “How’s this look with the collar?”

A war veteran who vocally protested the War in Iraq? Is Mr. Goodrich aware that Torrance is a military town? I am certain that certain residents in Torrance would be deeply offended that a veteran who protested the war was running for office in the same city.

Still, my greater concerns is any council candidate taking money from activist unions like the ILWU.

Another report was included with The LookOut news article: "It This What They Call Democracy?" (June 28, 2005)

F rom truthout.org:

Former US Air Force combat veteran Tim Goodrich stunned the jury by revealing his role in the "softening up" of Iraq months before the US declaration of war. "We were dropping bombs then, and I saw bombing intensify," Goodrich explained to a hushed room. "All the documents coming out now, the Downing Street memo and others, confirm what I had witnessed in Iraq. The war had already begun while our leaders were telling us that they were going to try all diplomatic options first.

Further down:

There was also ample discussion at the Tribunal – supported by nearly 200 non-governmental organizations ranging from Greenpeace to the Vietnam Veterans Against the War – of various forms of resistance. Goodrich, who refused to return to Iraq for an additional tour of duty, urged more soldiers to become conscientious objectors. And to those who questioned his anti-war activism, he responded, "Some people accuse us of being against the troops or unpatriotic, but we are the troops. How can I be unpatriotic by asking our soldiers to come back home alive?" 

Frankly, during the Clinton as well as Bush administrations, US forces had been dropping bombs on Iraq. In 1998, the US Senate passed a resolution to take whatever steps necessary to effect regime change in Iraq, as well.

This part was more disturbing:

Iraqi and US military testimony was joined by former Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations Denis Halliday, who argued that the Tribunal has an "obligation to demand full international prosecution of US/UK war leaders as war criminals involved in the destruction of Iraq, the lives of its people and their human rights and well being, through unlawful and unjustifiable armed invasion and military occupation."

So, Mr. Goodrich was present and participated in a tribunal which wanted to try American leaders as war criminals? Now I am more concerned. . .

Regarding whether the invasion of Iraq was justified or not, I have commented on that already here: George W. Bush: Vindicated.

Along with these two articles, I found a DVD which opens with the Istanbul Iraq War Tribunal: 2005

Then appeared a protestor, wearing a George W. Bush mask, with a rocket in one hand and a large made-up  Martini glass, with a globe on one side attached like an olive.

Then Mr. Goodrich appears at a podium:

Before I start, I would like to recognize a couple people. . .

A long banner of children wounded during the War in Iraq (I imagine) crosses the dais where Goodrich is standing. The images are harrowing and painful to look at. No one would dispute that war is hell.

Another voice then asks for two minutes of silence, commenting on the atrocities committed by "the US occupation in pictures". Well.

I do recall reading reports in the LA Times where Iraqi Imams were grateful for the US invasion.

Goodrich at War Tribunal Goodrich then speaks to the crowd:

When a soldier signs on the line, it is with the understand that they will risk their life for the defense of their country, They sign with the understanding that if they are sent into a war, it is for a good and legal reason.

Despite all the bad news that I have just outlined, there is hope and good news. Elements of resistance within the military itself have been increasing. This is through countless numbers of individual acts, but also growing numbers of large acts at home, such as the case of Pablo Paredes, who despite only being sent overseas in a support role refused to go. He was sentenced to three months hard labor. Also Camilo Mejia, after serving a tour of duty in Iraq, refused to go back a second time. He was sentenced to one year in jail. Cases like these are becoming more common.

More common? What are the ethics regarding a military veteran's concurrent resistance to his country's fight in another country?

Another report shares that Goodrich founded "Iraq Veterans Against War"

He is listed on the web page as one of the founding members:

Tim’s unit deployed overseas to provide direct combat support for operations in Afghanistan and to participate in a bombing campaign in Iraq leading up to the official invasion in March 2003. After finishing his enlistment, Tim visited Iraq as part of a civilian fact-finding delegation in January of 2004.

Any veteran is well within his rights to protest a war. He also has the choice to absorb the consequences for not going to war.

But when an anti-war veteran wants to hide this information and pretend to be pro-military, plus hide his numerous left-wing donations, I draw the line. One liberal voter did six years ago. Lately, Goodrich mailers have a question mark with "Who is Tim Goodrich?" labeled in the cover, yet even those brochures do not reveal Goodrich's leftist aspirations, which are simply too extreme for the South Bay, and Torrance in particular.

How will other voters in Torrance will react to Goodrich's connections with open opposition to the war in Iraq as well as the obscene amount of union money his campaign is taking in?

Let us hope they learn fast, and vote for other candidates who better represent the voice and values of Torrance residents: Tom Brewer for Mayor, Leilani Kimmel-Dagostino, Aurelio Mattucci, Clint Paulson, and Alex See for City Council.