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Retired Army Colonel Ann Wright
to Address StratCom Conference April 11-13

NFP

Col. Ann Wright (Ret.), author of Dissent: Voices of Conscience — Government Insiders Speak Out Against the War in Iraq (2008), will be the featured speaker at the Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space Conference — “StratCom: The Most Dangerous Place on the Face of the Earth” April 11- 13 in Omaha. (See page 3 for registration information.) As the online website, t r u t h o u t, put it when honoring Wright with its 2007 Freedom and Democracy Award, “Ann Wright is an American hero.” Reprinted below is the statement by t r u t h o u t editorial chair Victoria Harper recognizing this “hero” for her principled conduct.

As one of several highranking State Department officials to resign in protest of the Iraq War, she has worked tirelessly as a peace activist since her departure from the department in 2003.

Ann Wright served in the U.S. Army for 16 years, and then in the Army Reserves for 13 years. She earned Master’s and Law degrees from the University of Arkansas and a Master’s degree in National Security Affairs from the U.S. Naval War College, Newport, Rhode Island.

Joining the U.S. Foreign Service in 1987, Ann Wright served as Deputy Chief of Mission of U.S. Embassies in Sierra Leone, Micronesia and Afghanistan, and on overseas assignments in U.S. Embassies in Grenada, Nicaragua, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. She was a member of the first State Department team to go into Kabul, Afghanistan, to reopen the American embassy in December 2001.

During her time in the State Department, she received the “Award for Heroism” for her work in the largest evacuation since the U.S. departure from Saigon in 1975, coordinating the evacuation of 2,500 people from Sierra Leone.

Ann Wright resigned from the U.S. Foreign Service on March 19, 2003, in protest of Bush Administration policies and determination to initiate a preemptive war in Iraq. In her letter to U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell on that date, one day before the onset of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, she wrote that she could no longer represent the policies of the Bush Administration regarding war in Iraq, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, North Korea, and the curtailment of civil liberties in the U.S. itself, and that these policies were making the world a more dangerous place.

Since her resignation, Ann Wright has worked with other peace activists to protest the War in Iraq and the torture of prisoners held without rights at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. She has demanded the closing of the detention facility at Guantanamo and accountability for the illegal actions that occurred there. Working with groups like Veterans for Peace and Iraq Veterans Against the War, Ann Wright has spoken out, calling for the closing of the School of the Americas and condemning its practices.

In August 2005, Ann Wright gave her support to Gold Star Mother and peace activist Cindy Sheehan in organizing the “Camp Casey” demonstration near President Bush’s home in Crawford, Texas. She continued with other veterans and peace activists on the “Bring Them Home Now” bus tour, traveling from Camp Casey to the White House. She has willingly been arrested to demonstrate her resolve against the War in Iraq and has worked to lend support to others such as Lt. Ehren Watada, the first commissioned military officer to publicly refuse Colonel Ann Wright service in Iraq.

In support of soldiers who are actively resisting service in the Iraq War, Ann Wright demonstrates her own commitment to peace and justice. Standing shoulder to shoulder with other veterans who have taken an anti-war position, she has said that if recalled to serve, she would rather be courtmartialed than participate in an “illegal war of aggression.”

Ann Wright has shown immense bravery and resolve in her quest for peace and her efforts to restore the reputation of the United States around the world. She has worked continuously to resist the War in Iraq. She has fought against the destruction of constitutionally guaranteed human rights under the Bush Administration and has been a steadfast supporter of other activists. For her energy and commitment to peace, justice and strengthening democratic principles, Ann Wright has earned the first annual t r u t h o u t “Freedom and Democracy Award.”