• •
Dougherty’s involvement in IVAW came at the time of the group’s inception. It was 2004, and her father, Sean Dougherty, himself a military veteran, asked her to accompany him to a Veterans for Peace rally in Boston. Dougherty agreed. After all, even though she served in the military, she wasn’t necessarily the pro-war poster child.
"I had been opposed to the war before it started, and after my experience there, I saw . . . how we were doing more harm than good," she said.
During the rally, Dougherty mingled with some of the original seven IVAW members. Today, the group boasts a membership of about 1,400. IVAW has chapters throughout the country, including on military bases, and in Canada.
Dougherty became one of nine IVAW board members in August 2006, served as the board chairwoman for a few months and then was appointed executive director in December of that year. The position was created when enough funds were raised to hire staff workers.
Today, Dougherty lives a relatively comfortable life in West Philadelphia, commuting daily to her job in Center City. Before that, however, Dougherty spent years of her life in service to her country, something that began when she enlisted in the military at age 17.
Her father, who served in the military during the time of the Vietnam War, opposed her decision to join up, although he let her make her choice. But he did become concerned after he found out his daughter’s Colorado National Guard unit would be sent to Iraq. Kelly Dougherty wasn’t too happy either. And things just got worse for her during the year she spent in Iraq.
During her deployment, she was stationed in the town of An Nasiriyah, in the southeastern part of Iraq. Dougherty mostly patrolled the area from Ad Diwaniyah, which is northwest of An Nasiriyah, down to the Kuwait border.
Since much of her time was spent with the Military Police, Dougherty was mostly in charge of escorting contractors to and from work sites. Because of this, she didn’t get to interact with Iraqi civilians as much as she would have liked. However, she does know one thing about ordinary Iraqis — their image gets tainted through Western media.
"We’re totally not getting a full picture," she said, noting that oftentimes everyday Iraqis are portrayed as either "victims of violence or perpetrators of violence."
Many Iraqis, she said, just want to live their lives and raise their families.
Dougherty also spoke about the importance of allowing regular soldiers’ voices to be heard. The ones doing the media briefings, she said, are the generals and the higher-ups who give more of a PR-infused update on the war rather than a more accurate assessment. Through IVAW, former soldiers have a forum to speak about their personal experiences of warfare.
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Enter Sholom Keller, a 26-year-old New York native who started Sit-Rep, a newsletter-turned-magazine that caters to IVAW members and other servicemen and women. The magazine, which is distributed to subscribers, contains articles written by soldiers and veterans themselves, as well as poems, cartoons, event listings and other information about the war and its effect on those it touches.
"In order to be a movement, one of the things you need is a solid, tangible literary element," Keller said during a chat at the IVAW headquarters.
Keller relocated to Philadelphia a year ago when he took the job with IVAW. His main task is editing and putting out Sit-Rep, a publication he started last summer, and one he’s grown quite proud of.
Keller served in the military from January 2001 until January 2007. He spent six months in Afghanistan and a year in Iraq.
Keller became disenchanted with the U.S.-led "War on Terror" early on. Within the first three or four months of being stationed in Iraq, Keller said he "came to the conclusion that the war is wrong."
Keller echoes the sentiment of many IVAW members — and many ordinary Americans, if polls are any indication — in saying that he was turned off to the mission upon learning that there were no weapons of mass destruction located in Iraq, one of President George W. Bush’s reasons for going to war in the first place.
That revelation, and the general fact that the reasons for going to war have changed over time, turned Keller off to his mission.
Now he spends his days speaking out against what he and his fellow IVAW members view as an illegal and immoral occupation.
"This war is not defending America, not serving its citizens," he said.
Keller is a good example of the IVAW membership, which is made up of people of different political affiliations, a testament to the diversity of the group. Keller himself is a registered Republican, although he said he doesn’t vote with that party. He is more of a Libertarian/independent.
One of Keller’s major issues with the U.S.-led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is that one military action was launched after the first one failed to bring about the intended result — capturing terrorist leader Osama bin Laden.
"It seemed absurd to go to war with another country when the first mission wasn’t finished," Keller said.
But speaking his true feelings simply wasn’t an option at the time.
"I was a soldier just doing my job," he said.
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Keller’s disenchantment with the war is reflective of the feelings of many IVAW members who say they can’t point to one event that turned them off to the war, but attribute it instead to a series of things. At one point while serving, Keller turned down a promotion to sergeant, saying he couldn’t lead others in a war he believed was unjustified.
As for his involvement with IVAW, Keller, like Dougherty, learned about the fledgling organization while living in Boston a month after he was discharged from the military. In the beginning, "we didn’t even have membership applications," but he said things have come a long way since then. He is proud that IVAW has grown in scope and mission.
"If you’d have told me at the time that we would have been where we are right now, I’d have told you you were f——-- crazy," Keller said, referring to the strides of the organization.
In addition to supporting complete troop withdrawal from Iraq, the organization is working toward getting better benefits and assistance for those vets returning home from war. The idea is to make the transition back to "normal" life as painless as possible.
Seated about five feet from Keller at the IVAW headquarters is T.J. Buonomo, a former military intelligence officer. On this day, Buonomo was vigorously typing away at an e-mail in an attempt to make sure members in other states are on the same page as far as upcoming events sponsored by the anti-war group.
At the moment, Buonomo is coordinating with IVAW members in Denver and Minneapolis, which is where the upcoming Democratic and Republican national conventions will be held. The group plans to conduct outreach and spread its message during those major events.
Buonomo, a 24-year-old New York native, moved to Philadelphia in February. He spent five years in the military, including 14 months of active duty with the Army as an intelligence officer.
Halfway through his military training, Buonomo said, he began reading about pre-war intelligence that was the basis for the United States’ decision to invade Iraq. The more he read, the more disaffected he became. Pretty soon, the young soldier came to the conclusion that he was participating in what he termed a war based on faulty reasoning.
"That presented a pretty significant moral dilemma for me," he said.
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At first, Buonomo took to writing to members of Congress with the hope that it would open the eyes of the American people to what was going on abroad.
"I just continued on, expecting it to be resolved through that process," he said.
His flurry of correspondence couldn’t dismantle the war machine. It wasn’t until the Abu Ghraib prison scandal in 2004 that Buonomo became extremely disenfranchised, saying he saw how the abuse of the detainees by American captors was just the tip of the iceberg. He soon came to believe that atrocities were being committed at "the highest levels of government." His disgust caused him to leave his post as an intelligence officer, right before he was to be placed in charge of his own unit.
"It was horrible thinking about the possibility of being put in charge of a unit like that," he said, referring specifically to the soldiers caught in the Abu Ghraib debacle.
Buonomo wasn’t always this jaded. Coming from a background in political science and Middle Eastern and Arabic studies, Buonomo went into the war thinking military intervention was the right thing to do and that things "would be resolved quickly." But now he knows he was wrong — on both assumptions.
These days, Buonomo is just happy to be part of a group that he believes is doing the right thing. And to anyone who may question his love of country because of what he speaks out about, Buonomo has a message.
"I think you can be patriotic and question your government," he said. "For me, my patriotism compels me to do the work that I’m doing now, and I feel that this is the best work that I can do in defense of my country.
"We’re in a time where you have an executive exerting the powers of a monarch, who largely remains unchecked," he continued. "And you have this illegal and highly immoral occupation, which is in complete contradiction to the values that our country was founded on."
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Asked what types of feedback IVAW members generally receive about their collective stance, Buonomo said it depends on who’s making the comments. Personally, he said, he has gotten positive support, even from those currently serving in the military.
"I find that people who are very well-informed on the issues tend to be supportive," he said.
Dougherty, the executive director, was quick to point out that IVAW members are far from the traitors some may view them as. On the contrary, the group speaks out precisely because it does care about the United States, she said.
"We’re not anti-military; we’re not anti-American," she said. "We care about the country. If we didn’t, we wouldn’t put ourselves out there."
Currently, IVAW is preparing for its Base Outreach Tour, where members will visit eight military bases across the country in an effort to spread their message, solicit membership and simply speak to active-duty soldiers who may have no other outlet to discuss their feelings.
"The IVAW definitely has made it easier for certain people to come forward," Dougherty said.
She has been made aware of instances in which soldiers and veterans have been inspired after hearing IVAW members speak at public events. This is one of the goals of the IVAW — to give those who served a forum to be heard, she said.
As for Keller, the Sit-Rep editor, he’s just glad he has found a purpose in his post-military life. He views his participation in IVAW as not standing in contradiction to his service, but rather as a continuation of it. When he enlisted in the military, Keller said, he vowed to dedicate his life to something greater than his own self-interest.
"And that’s still what I do," he said. "I still stand in defense of my country, against all enemies, both foreign and domestic.
"I still believe in what America stands for," he continued. "I’m still going to fight for my country." ••
To learn more about Iraq Veterans Against the War, visit www.ivaw.org
Reporter Jon Campisi can be reached at 215-354-3038 or jcampisi@phillynews.com