One of the leading voices of dissent inside the U.S. Army has been promoted. Sergeant Ronn Cantu -- who signed a petition to Congress demanding the U.S. withdraw from Iraq and gave interviews to the news shows "60 Minutes" and "Democracy Now!", as well as IPS detailing his opposition -- has seen his rank upgraded to staff sergeant.

Everyone knows McCain is a former POW, but did you know he refuses to support a bipartisan effort to modernize the GI Bill and has voted against nearly every effort to increase funding for health care and disability benefits for wounded soldiers? Did you know

The big news about General Petraeus’ testimony before Congress came not from the General himself (what should we expect from someone hand-picked by President Bush) but from the Senators who grilled him. Each of the three contenders for President -- Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and John McCain -- was critical of current policy. But they all also spoke out against removing all US troops from Iraq.

Journalist Aaron Glantz will be speaking in San Francisco along with Iraq War veteran Phil Aliff in the only Bay Area report back from Winter Soldier. The event, which is organized by the International Socialist Organization kicks off at 7pm at 110 Capp St between 16th and 17th (one block South of Mission St and the 16th St Mission BART station)

If you've just learned of Winter Solider, listening to the montage below is a good place to start. It was produced by our own Esther Manilla after two days of heart-wrenching testimony from dozens of veterans. They  spoke about the killing of innocent civlians, torture, mass arrests, sexual assault, and the dehumanization of the enemy -- all of which they either committed or witnessed while deployed to the war-zone.

We're starting to post copies of the photographs presented by veterans at last weekend's Winter Soldier gathering outside of Washington, DC. We'll be posting them as we get them so watch this space.

This photo from former Iowa Naitonal Guard Medic Andrew Duffy shows a sign hung at Abu Ghraib prison, where he served from 2005 to 2006. Below is a picture of Duffy taken while he was stationed in Iraq. 

Right now we're hearing from women and gay people who served in the miltiary.  What do you think the connection is between, war, gender and sexuality?

Day two of Winter Soldeir has begun at the National Labor College in Silver Spring, Maryland. Ther first panel is on Gender and Sexuality in the Military. Ten veterans are on the stage on the second floor conference room. There are about 400 people here -- about 200 of whom are members of Iraq Veterans Against the War. We'll be posting the testimony as it finishes. You can also listen to the live stream.

The tenor of the room at Winter Soldier is extremely emotional as a panel of veteransspeak first hand about killing and witnessing the killing of Iraqi civlians in Iraq and Afghanistan. One member of IVAW, John Michael Turner, threw away his dog tags and received a standing ovation. He later received another standing ovation when he apologized for what he and other had done. We'll play and post his apology shortly

Geoff Millard is Iraq Veterans Against the War's representative on Capital Hill. We'll here from him momentarily. Here, he shows our producer Esther Manilla his new tatoos.