Author name: davidswanson

This RootsAction Zoom call from Tuesday, March 8th is the second in a series of events for the recently released RootsAction Education Fund Foreign Policy Primer for U.S. Congressional Candidates.

Download the complete foreign policy primer here: https://progressivehub.net/foreignpolicy

Hosted by Ryan Black of RootsAction and ProgressiveHub, guests Lindsay Koshgarian of the National Priorities Project, David Swanson of RootsAction and World read more

By David Swanson, World BEYOND War, March 7, 2022

Here were Russia’s demands for months starting in early December 2021:

• Article 1: the parties should not strengthen their security at the expense of Russia’s security;
• Article 2: the parties will use  multilateral consultations and the NATO-Russia Council to address points of conflict;
• Article 3: the parties reaffirm that they do not consider each other as adversaries and maintain a dialogue;
• Article 4: the parties shall not deploy military forces and weaponry on the territory of any of the other states in Europe in addition to any forces that were deployed as of May 27, 1997;
• Article 5: the parties shall not deploy land-based intermediate- and short-range missiles adjacent to the other parties;
• Article 6: all member States of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization commit themselves to refrain from any further enlargement of NATO, including the accession of Ukraine as well as other States;
• Article 7: the parties that are member States of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization shall not conduct any military activity on the territory of Ukraine as well as other States in the Eastern Europe, in the South Caucasus and in Central Asia; and
• Article 8: the agreement shall not be interpreted as affecting the primary responsibility of the Security Council of the United Nations for maintaining international peace and security.

These were perfectly reasonable, just what the U.S. demanded when Soviet missiles were in Cuba, just what the U.S. would demand now if Russian missiles were in Canada, and ought to have simply been met, or at the very least treated as serious points to be respectfully considered.

If we set aside items 1-3 and 8 above as less concrete and/or hopeless, we’re left with items 4-7 read more

By David Swanson
Remarks at Code Pink event in Washington D.C. on March 3, 2022
Image Source.

Send aid to Ukrainian friends and aid organizations.

Send aid to organizations helping refugees leaving Ukraine.

Send aid especially that will reach those being refused help for racist reasons.

Share the remarkable media coverage of war victims in Ukraine.

Take the opportunity to point out the war victims in Yemen, Syria, Ethiopia, Sudan, Palestine, Afghanistan, Iraq, etc., and to question whether the lives read more

LISTEN HERE: https://parallaxviews.podbean.com/e/paikinswanson

By David Swanson, World BEYOND War, February 28, 2022

In 2019, the RAND Corporation tentacle of the U.S. Military Industrial Congressional “Intelligence” Media Academic “Think” Tank Complex published a report claiming to have “conducted a qualitative assessment of ‘cost-imposing options’ that could unbalance and overextend Russia.”

Here was one of the “cost-imposing options,” one that U.S. President Barack Obama had been refusing, but in 2019, RAND was preparing for a regime read more

By David Swanson, World BEYOND War, February 27, 2022

War is fairly well known for killing, injuring, traumatizing, destroying, and rendering homeless. It’s somewhat well known for diverting massive resources from urgent needs, preventing global cooperation on pressing emergencies, damaging the environment, eroding civil liberties, justifying government secrecy, corroding culture, fueling bigotry, weakening the rule of law, and risking nuclear apocalypse. In a few corners it’s known read more

By World BEYOND War, February 24, 2022

This debate was held online on February 23, 2022, and was co-sponsored by World BEYOND War Central Florida and Veterans For Peace Chapter 136 The Villages, FL. The debaters were:

Arguing the Affirmative:
Dr. Mark Welton is Professor Emeritus at the United States Military Academy at West Point. He is an expert in International and Comparative (U.S., European, and Islamic) Law, Jurisprudence and Legal Theory, and Constitutional Law. He has authored chapters read more