Robert Fantina
Robert Fantina is the author of "Desertion and the American Soldier, 1776-2006".
Description of the book:
Military desertion, its reasons and consequences, are not commonly known in America. In most cases, the reasons soldiers desert are inherent in the military system itself. The author investigates those reasons, from the American Revolution to the Iraqi occupation, and describes the government's often-brutal response to deserters.
About the author:
Robert Fantina is a long-time activist for peace and social justice. Originally involved in the Dennis Kucinich presidential campaign in 2004, he eventually worked as a district organizer through MoveOn.org on the Kerry campaign in Florida. Following the 2004 presidential election he moved to Canada, where he now resides.
Description of the book:
Military desertion, its reasons and consequences, are not commonly known in America. In most cases, the reasons soldiers desert are inherent in the military system itself. The author investigates those reasons, from the American Revolution to the Iraqi occupation, and describes the government's often-brutal response to deserters.
About the author:
Robert Fantina is a long-time activist for peace and social justice. Originally involved in the Dennis Kucinich presidential campaign in 2004, he eventually worked as a district organizer through MoveOn.org on the Kerry campaign in Florida. Following the 2004 presidential election he moved to Canada, where he now resides.
Contact Information
Articles by Robert Fantina
September 27, 2008
The observations of the U.S. election campaign from another planet.
April 16, 2007
When President Bill Clinton left office at the start of 2001, the U.S. government had a budget surplus of $236 billion, the largest ever in U.S. history. In terms of individual impact on U.S. citizens, this means the following:
· Lower interest rates cut mortgage payments by $2,000 for families wi...
May 29, 2007
Repeatedly we hear from President George Bush that the Iraqi government, leading its now-liberated people out of the dark years of Saddam Hussein’s repression, is doing all it can to strengthen its troops and bring peace and stability to the country. Mr. Bush has an odd definition of ‘liberated,’ an...
June 21, 2007
At the most recent debate between the members of the multitude known as ‘Candidates for the Republican Presidential Nomination,’ those gentlemen seemed to fall all over each other in their quest to shine their conservative credentials for all the world to see. Nowhere was this more evident then in t...
January 14, 2008
This early in the election cycle, 'front-runners' are defined by the media and change with each primary. Such a designation is meaningless and should be ignored.
August 18, 2007
The beauty of the Oregon mountains is indeed awe-inspiring. The variety of greens is impressive; some trees appear darker, either because of the particular species, or because they are shadowed by larger trees, which themselves appear lighter in the glistening sun. The first look is spectacular, whi...
August 01, 2007
A recent article in the New York Times indicates that morale among military families is dropping dramatically. The Times cites three main reasons for this: 1) multiple, extended deployments; 2) the continued chaos in Baghdad, and 3) the increasing death toll in Iraq. And still President Bush and his...
June 03, 2007
Whenever Congress, or anyone else for that matter, suggests ending the war in Iraq, President Bush puts on his ‘enraged’ mask and accuses them of not supporting the troops. How he and his cohorts have been able to successfully convince the American public, and cow the Democratic Congress, into belie...
May 29, 2007
As might have been expected, the Democratic-controlled Congress caved in to the president, and sent him a bill funding the Iraqi war and without any withdrawal date. What’s worse, Democrats are pointing to their ‘victory;’ they are saying that this is the first war-spending bill sent to Mr. Bush tha...
May 24, 2007
Immediately after his recent, highly-publicized sojourn into Shorja, Baghdad’s central market, Republican Senator and presidential hopeful John McCain was asked about his remark that some areas of that city are safe for Americans to travel. “I just came from one,” he said, referring to Shorja. “I’ve...
May 02, 2007
It is difficult to forget the picture: U.S. President George W. Bush, dressed in a flight uniform he never wore in battle, perched on the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln. Standing proudly beneath a banner reading ‘Mission Accomplished,’ Mr. Bush declared, “in the Battle of Iraq, the United States an...
March 14, 2007
U.S. soldiers are deserting the military in ever-increasing numbers. Many who have actually fought in Iraq are illegally leaving the military and speaking out against the war. Lance Corporal Ivan Brobeck, who deserted after a tour of duty, witnessed the abuse of Iraqi detainees and the killing of Ir...
March 07, 2007
Demonstrating once again that political expediency trumps integrity every time, spineless Congressional Democrats have opted not to cut funding for the Afghanistan and Iraq wars. ‘Our caucus feels strongly that we should go with the president’s numbers,’ said Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Co...
February 20, 2007
In December of 2006, the Iraq Study Panel released its long-awaited report and recommendations for Iraq. The panelists presented a very grim view of the situation there and recommended, among other things, negotiations with Iran and Syria. Shortly after the recommendations were made public, Secretar...
February 13, 2007
While President Bush gleefully and optimistically sends over 20,000 Americans to the hellish quagmire he has created in Iraq, Congress ineffectually argues the merits of one of several ‘non-binding’ resolutions opposing this ‘surge.’ In the meantime, American and Iraqi soldiers and Iraqi civilians a...
February 07, 2007
In 1969, as the American blood bath known as the Vietnam War continued to extract its horrific toll, President Richard Nixon held those opposing the war in the same disdain that his current successor holds those opposing the Iraq War. In one of his more memorable speeches, Mr. Nixon coined the phras...
February 05, 2007
Prior to his infamous invasion of Iraq and continuing on to today, President George W. Bush often proclaimed the need to fight the terrorists ‘there’ so we would not need to fight them ‘here.’ The fact that there were no terrorists ‘there’ threatening U.S. interests seemed to be unimportant.
Yet ...
February 03, 2007
Prior to the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, millions of people gathered in many of the world’s major cities to protest the pending invasion. President Bush, who compared these demonstrations to a focus group, ignored the voice of the people and proceeded with his war of choice.
It was not until 2006 ...
January 29, 2007
On June 22, 2006 Lt. Ehren Watada became the first commissioned officer to refuse deployment to Iraq. Expressing his belief that the invasion and occupation of that country are illegal and thus his participation would also be illegal, Lt. Watada stood up against the most powerful military machine in...
January 18, 2007
Throughout most of the 1960s and ‘70’s, American presidents escalated U.S. military involvement in the tragic, misguided and unnecessary war in Vietnam. The ultimate result of this military, political and economic disaster was the death of over 50,000 Americans and between 1,000,000 and 2,000,000 Vi...
January 10, 2007
As the U.S. government continues its tragic misadventure in Iraq, more and more soldiers are seeing the illegality and immorality of the war and are deserting. One outspoken soldier who refused deployment to Iraq, Lt. Ehren Watada, is being charged with ‘contempt of government officials.’ This charg...
Articles by Robert Fantina From Other Sources
December 11, 2007
published in The Populist Party