Hey folks,
I have uploaded another song onto The Coup's MySpace profile (www.myspace.com/thecoupmusic, in case this is gets copied to another blog).
It's called "Captain Sterling's Little Problem", from our latest album- Pick A Bigger Weapon. It features Tom Morello from Rage Against The Machine and Audioslave on guitar.

The song depicts a wartime rebellion by soldiers who want to return home from the war, against their officers. I originally recorded the song as the theme for the documentary film "Sir! No Sir!" by David Zieger (www.sirnosir.com). See the trailer on YouTube. The film is about G.I. rebellion during the Vietnam war (at one point a Pentagon report deemed half of the soldiers in Vietnam as "mutinous and not to be trusted"), and the song is inspired by the stories that some of the veterans tell in the film. It turns out that the largely unreported g.i. rebellions played a very important role in stopping the Vietnam war.

So far about 600,000 Iraqi civilians have died in this war (adults and children) [I had this number at 100,000 until I got the new information given to me by Jenna below]*, and at least 3,100 U.S. soldiers have died. Not to mention soldiers from U.S.-allied countries who have died. Many more have come back injured, missing limbs, brutally scarred, and/or suffering debilitating psychological trauma. It has recently come out, although already obvious to most, that many of the U.S. soldiers in Iraq want to come home.

I have this suggestion: the soldiers should demand to be returned home, using any means necessary to make this happen. This could mean petitions (as have already been started), and it could mean organized physical rebellion against their officers. This would lead to a swift end to this war, saving countless lives, both U.S. and Iraqi. Bush doesn't care about these soldiers lives, much less any Iraqi lives. The military brass doesn't care about these soldiers lives. If they did, they would be taking the Lt. Ehrin Watada route. Knowing, as many people do, that this war is about profit and power for a select few, top military officials- unable or unwilling to think for themselves- have sent 18, 19, and 20-something year old youths to their deaths. Congress hasn't done more than give lip service to wanting the war to end. The people that are directly affected by this war are going to have to act. A rebellion by the rank-and-file of the military would be less harmful to those troops than if they just followed orders. And with most of the country dead against this war, they would definitely receive the heroes' welcome home. Talk about making history. Millions of people all over the world would support them in whatever legal proceedings ensued from such an event. Whatever happened, it would be a better situation than being in a pine box, losing limbs, or defecating from their abdomen into a colostomy bag. Moreover, it would be the right thing to do.

Much has been publicized about the role that music plays in the military today. I've seen a few news segments about the music that soldiers are listening to on their Walkmans and MP3 players. How they listen to certain songs to get in the mood for what they have to do. Besides the motivation of purely expressing my thoughts, my experience, and my emotions, I also make music to influence people to see my point of view. It's similar to how Justin Timberlake wants you to agree with him that he's bringing sexy back, but different.

So here's the idea:

The Coup has about 25,000 "friends"/fans on Myspace right now. What would happen if all of you downloaded "Captain Sterling's Little Problem" and sent it, via email or burned CD, to everyone you know in the military? Would it put the idea of a rebellion in some of their minds? Would it help to spark a G.I. movement that makes Congress act more decisively?

Let's see.
For additional info and inspiration, watch and send Sir! No Sir! when possible.

Who's down with the plan? Let me know.

Let's make it happen,
Boots


*Hello Boots,

I think your estimate of Iraqi deaths is too conservative:

"A new household survey of Iraq has found that approximately 600,000 people have been killed in the violence of the war that began with the U.S. invasion in March 2003. The survey was conducted by an American and Iraqi team of public health researchers. Data were collected by Iraqi medical doctors with analysis conducted by faculty of the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health. The results will be published in the British medical journal, The Lancet. The survey is the only population-based assessment of fatalities in Iraq during the war. The method, a survey of more than 1800 households randomly selected in clusters that represent Iraq's population, is a standard tool of epidemiology and is used by the U.S. Government and many other agencies. The survey also reflects growing sectarian violence, a steep rise in deaths by gunshots, and very high mortality among young men. An additional 53,000 deaths due to non-violent causes were estimated to have occurred above the pre-invasion mortality rate, most of them in recent months, suggesting a worsening of health status and access to health care."
(http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/2006/images/10/11/human.cost.of.war.pdf)



During a discussion on C-Span the authors of the study also pointed out that due to safety concerns, researchers did NOT survey the most violent areas. It stands to reason that the most violent areas are going to have greatest number of casualties and therefore their estimate might actually be lower than the actual number.
They also stated that until recently, nonviolent deaths were surprisingly low but this is starting to change as the infrastructure is finally breaking down to the point of being unable to provide necessary services to the remaing population.



p.s. Here are the lyrics to Captain Sterling's Little Problem:


Get yo ass off the flo
Get yo ass off the flo
Get yo ass off the flo
Get yo ass off the flo

It's a wrap then
(Hey!)
Grab the Mac-10
(Yeah!)
Plan of action
(What!?)
Kill the Captain
(Yeah!)
Excuse me colonel sir, May I request please
Permission to go home or blow off your knees
It's a wrap then
(Hey!)
Grab the Mac-10
(Yeah!)
Plan of action
(What!?)
Kill the Captain
(Yeah!)
In case you're wonderin, well yes I'm gon fight
I'm finna join the army, but one you don't like

Needed some stackoli to get free like a parolee
Now I'm in apparel colored shit and guacamole
In another country brought to you by Coca-Coley
Ordered from the top to shoot everything holey-
Shit I'm nineteen and I'm missin' all my homies
All that fight for freedom shit- we know that shit is phoney
Free to work at Shoney's bout one hour for six boneys
And everyday we hustle scratch and scrape for macaronis
And cheese, bullets squeeze outta my assault weapon
Tear through the air
Then his chest
Then his breaths end
Looked like my homie from the hood I be reppin
I wept then, changing from a soldier to a veteran
Left in shambles bout this kin of no relation
Crept in the sergeant's tent with quiet calculation
Message from the soldiers to the brass administration
Looks like Captain Sterling's finna have a situation

It's a wrap then
(Hey!)
Grab the Mac-10
(Yeah!)
Plan of action
(What!?)
Kill the Captain
(Yeah!)
Excuse me colonel sir, May I request please
Permission to go home or blow off your knees
It's a wrap then
(Hey!)
Grab the Mac-10
(Yeah!)
Plan of action
(What!?)
Kill the Captain
(Yeah!)
In case you're wonderin, well yes I'm gon fight
I'm finna join the army, but one you don't like

Get yo ass off the flo
Get yo ass off the flo
Get yo ass off the flo
Get yo ass off the flo

"I have just killed my first but it may not be the last one"
I screamed this at the sergeant with his head pressed to the magnum
You brought us to this country not to free but bodybag them
And free up all their money so accounting firms can add them
Drag them and their corporates to their own battle
Now they're dragging usw to the slaughter like cattle
Me and this whole unit we will start to ramshackle
Listen very closely you can here the fire crackle
You could weigh the air as he was breathing out his nostrils
Couldn't understand why we were seeming so hostile
Said "We spread democracy" like he was preaching gospel
Slapped him in his head and said "Now shut up Sergeant Roscoe!
If this is not explicit, lemme tell ya straight out
We'll no longer kill to keep this country drained out
We want up outta here like on the next planes out
Tell the Cap'n make it or we'll blow his brains out!"

It's a wrap then
(Hey!)
Grab the Mac-10
(Yeah!)
Plan of action
(What!?)
Kill the Captain
(Yeah!)
Excuse me colonel sir, May I request please
Permission to go home or blow off your knees
It's a wrap then
(Hey!)
Grab the Mac-10
(Yeah!)
Plan of action
(What!?)
Kill the Captain
(Yeah!)
In case you're wonderin, well yes I'm gon fight
I'm finna join the army, but one you don't like

Get yo ass off the flo
Get yo ass off the flo
Get yo ass off the flo
Get yo ass off the flo