Remarks at The Columbus Free Press Annual Awards Dinner, November 9, 2023

By David Swanson, November 6, 2023

Remarks at Cambridge, Mass., November 6, 2023

If we think of the U.S. arming of genocidal colonial violence in Israel as an anachronistic throwback, we’re not wrong, but there’s something we’re missing. If we want to understand why a bill to fund four wars at once is likely to find less, rather than more, opposition in the U.S. Congress, there’s something we should understand about the past, about how we got here.

If we want to know how war read more

By WORT Community Radio in Madison, Wisconsin, November 3, 2023

During this time of global unrest, violence, and clashing opinions, we spend an hour with peace activist David Swanson. He joins Esty Dinur to discuss a path to peace in Palestine-Israel and Ukraine, the impact of the military–industrial complex, and why the suggestion of peace seems to outrage many.

They also speak about Esty’s recent read more

Just after another mass shooting by another veteran, the Washington Post reports:

“A tiny fraction, only about 5% of people attempting suicide, use a gun. But guns are deadly almost every time, and so end up accounting for over half of suicide deaths. For veterans, that jumps to 75%. Experts say that traumatic experiences at war play a role in veterans having a suicide rate 1.5 times higher than others. Yet even those with no combat history die by suicide at a much higher rate. What they read more

A report from ABC 3 WEAR, reports:

“Chris Lambert is a decorated Vietnam veteran whose battled PTSD for more than 40 years. Lambert’s a three-time Purple Heart recipient, all before his 20th birthday. He says after hearing reports that the suspected gunman in the Maine shooting was treated and released from a facility only weeks later, it’s clear that more long-term care for veterans is needed. However, he feels the shooting suspect’s read more

The Monroe Doctrine, which will be 200 years old on December 2, 2023, is a declaration of U.S. hegemony in the Americas.  It remains in place, both explicitly and dressed up in novel language. Additional doctrines have been built on its foundations.

In this talk, David Swanson will desribe the creation, evolution, and use of the Monroe Doctrine over the years since 1823, and propose a radically different approach for the U.S. government to take with Latin America and the world.   The current read more

In the United States, only a very small percentage of men under 60 are military veterans.

In the United States, at least 31% of male mass shooters under 60 (which is almost all mass shooters) are military veterans.

That’s 40 out of 127 mass shooters in Mother Jones’ database whom I’ve been read more

Chair: Rita Payne, President Emeritus, Commonwealth Journalists Association

Speakers:

Vijay Mehta, Chair, Uniting for Peace, Author, How Not To Go To War, Board Member, GAMIP (Global Alliance for Ministries and Infrastructures for Peace) (UK)

Medea Benjamin,  Political Activist, Co-Founder of CodePink, Author, War in Ukraine (USA)

Tony Robinson, Editor, Pressenza – An International News Agency and Author, Coffee with Silo and the quest for meaning in life (UK)

Joseph Gerson, Peace read more