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Monday, February 26, 2007

Off to Omaha!

I thought I would share with you that I will be leaving snowy Grand Forks for a couple days next week to present my paper "Camp Carrollton, Illinois: A Glimpse into the Daily Life of Union Soldiers in the Camp of Instruction" in Omaha, NE at the 50th annual Missouri Valley History Conference. I am really looking forward to this and hope that the weather holds so I will have easy travels. I leave Wednesday and will return Friday and hopefully will try and let you all know how it went and maybe find a way to post a video of it here (I plan to tape it with my video camera). Wish me luck as I am competing for two prizes each carrying a $200 prize. I'll try and remember to post an article about it this coming weekend. Hope you all have a great week and if you are attending the conference, come and see me, as I'll be presenting from 3:00-5:00 PM on March 1 in the Embassy Suites in downtown.

Sunday, February 18, 2007

Welcome to our newest member

Having had a chance to cool down from my initial frustration with having to switch over my account to the new Blogger, I have decided to stick it out as it is not a big deal (except for getting my other team members back online). However, I would like to take this opportunity to welcome our newest member of the team, who goes by the pen name of Buck Sargent. He is a veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan and brings much experience to our blog, as well as administering his own blog, called American Citizen Soldier, which I have linked already and I invite you to check out as it is quite good (loved the picture of the boy packing the Improvised Explosive Diaper). I thank him for his service to our great nation and look forward to his posts and expertise on this site.

Daniel Sauerwein
Creator
Military History Blog

Anti-war resolution up for discussion at the AHA

After some consideration, I have decided to remove the American Historical Association from my links list. This is because of the recent approval at their annual meeting of an anti-war resolution, which was probably done via packing of the meeting by members of the group Historians Against the War. As a historian in training and former AHA member, I was troubled by this event and it led me to not renew my membership in the organization. The text of the resolution is as follows:

Resolution on United States Government Practices
Inimical to the Values of the Historical Profession

Whereas, The American Historical Association’s Statement on Standards of Professional Conduct emphasizes the importance of open inquiry to the pursuit of historical knowledge;

Whereas, the American Historical Association adopted a resolution in January 2004 re-affirming the principles of free speech, open debate of foreign policy, and open access to government records in furthering the work of the historical profession;

Whereas during the war in Iraq and the so-called war on terror, the current Administration has violated the above-mentioned standards and principles through the following practices:

* excluding well-recognized foreign scholars; condemning as "revisionism" the search for truth about
pre-war intelligence;
* re-classifying previously unclassified government documents;
* suspending in certain cases the centuries-old writ of
habeas corpus and substituting indefinite administrative detention without specified criminal charges or access to a court of law;
* using interrogation techniques at Guantanamo,
Abu-Ghraib, Bagram, and other locations incompatible with respect for the dignity of all persons required by a civilized society;

Whereas a free society and the unfettered intellectual inquiry essential to the practice of historical research, writing, and teaching are imperiled by the practices described above; and

Whereas, the foregoing practices are inextricably linked to the war in which the United States is presently engaged in Iraq; now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the American Historical Association urges its members through publication of this resolution in Perspectives and other appropriate outlets:

1. To take a public stand as citizens on behalf of the values necessary to the practice of our profession; and

2. To do whatever they can to bring the Iraq war to a speedy conclusion.


Now this resolution clearly reeks of political rhetoric of the liberal persuasion, in MY opinion. I feel that it is inappropriate for the organization to take such a stance, as it alienates members who may disagree with the resolution. This resolution is currently being discussed on the AHA website and will be voted on March 1. I am removing the AHA from my links list not to make this blog be partisan to my views, but to take a stand for the brave men and women fighting in the War on Terror. I encourage my readers to do the following: 1) if you are an AHA member and troubled by this resolution, consider dropping your membership as there are better things you can spend that money on, or at least vote NO; 2) encourage friends and family members who are AHA members to do the same; and 3) alert as many of your friends and family who are in uniform or closely related to someone in uniform to email the President of the AHA and express your dissatisfaction with this resolution. If you want to contact AHA President Barbara Weinstein, I only ask that you keep it civil and not reference this site in your post (mainly to avoid trouble). I only hope that one day, the AHA will not be so partisan and then I will join it again.

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Upgrade forced upon me

I don't like change much when it comes to most things. This is one of the first non-military related posts on this blog, but I must make it. I am upset as I have been forced by Blogger to switch my account over to their Google system, which forces me to rely on an account that I rarely use. I am not sure what I will do, as I don't want to throw away all of my hard work setting this site up, but I do not like to be forced to do things without being given a choice. I will let you know my decision soon, but for the other members of the team, please create a Google account so that you can login and post.