Teach In on War on Capitol Hill
Don’t Use Any More of Our Money
Brown Bag Vigil on April 21st
Marcy Winograd in DC on April 27th
Harvey Wasserman on Climate Bill

Teach In on Capitol Hill on War

What Congress Must Do to End U.S. Wars and Help Secure a Peaceful Middle East

DESCRIPTION:  Educational briefing on the U. S. agenda in the Middle East, its consequences and development of a strategy/plan to withdraw.  Emphasis will be on constructive, interactive dialogue among panelists and attendees.

MODERATOR:  read more

By David Swanson

Congress will soon vote on whether to spend another $33 billion of our money to escalate a war in Afghanistan that makes us less safe, violates the basic rule of law, kills innocent people, puts our children in debt, empowers the oil industry, and protects the heroin industry. The only decent, legal, or humane thing a member of Congress could do would be to publicly and privately whip his/her colleagues to vote No and defeat the bill. No caucus is engaged in that effort. As read more

By David Swanson

It’s hard to imagine a desirable and sustainable world with the world’s largest naval base still in it, but it’s hard for a lot of people in Norfolk, Virginia, to imagine it gone. The military is not just the force of good that selflessly patrols the world, slaughtering evildoers for the betterment of humanity, but it’s also the primary source of jobs.

On Wednesday I visited a new coffee house in Norfolk called OffBase. read more

By David Swanson

If a new Daniel Ellsberg were to release a new pile of Pentagon Papers exposing the lies behind the Afghanistan War, or even the past few decades of misdeeds by our country in that one, the result would differ from what happened to Ellsberg in a number of stark ways. No newspaper would touch it. The whistleblower would go to prison. Little of substance would be added to what we already know and tolerate. Nobody would be impeached. And no war would end.

These thoughts occurred read more

www.narocinema.com

A high-level Pentagon official and Vietnam War strategist, Ellsberg concluded in 1971 that the war was based on decades of lies, and leaked 7,000 pages of top secret documents to The NY Times—a daring act of conscience that leads directly to Watergate, Nixon’s resignation, and the end of the Vietnam War. A riveting story of how this one man’s profound change of heart created a landmark struggle involving America’s newspapers, its president and the Supreme read more

By David Swanson

James Gilligan published a book 13 years ago called “Violence: Reflections on a National Epidemic,” in which he diagnosed the root cause of violence as deep shame and humiliation, a desperate need for respect and status (and, fundamentally love and care) so intense that only killing (oneself and/or others) could ease the pain — or, rather, the lack of feeling. When a person becomes so ashamed of his needs (and of being ashamed), Gilligan writes, and when he sees read more

By David Swanson

On Sunday, April 11, 2010, Congressman Bill Delahunt hosted a public forum in Falmouth, Mass., on the question of whether or not he should vote for another $33 billion to escalate war in Afghanistan.  Delahunt was honoring a commitment he had made to Cape Codders for Peace and Justice following a sit-in in his office. 

Two pro- and two anti-war speakers were scheduled to speak.  But Delahunt put out a press release announcing only the two pro-war speakers, and the read more

In the coming weeks, Congress will vote on spending $33 billion of your money to send another 30,000 troops, plus many more contractors, to Afghanistan. 

We are inflicting horrible suffering on the people of Afghanistan, making our own nation less safe, and spending resources we badly need.

Tell congress members we need them to publicly commit to voting No, and to urge their colleagues to do the same.  Call your Representative at (202) 224-3121.

Here’s a whip list tracking who has read more

By David Swanson

[Testimony to be hand-delivered and presented orally at a forum hosted by Congressman Bill Delahunt in Falmouth, Mass., this Sunday. The public is encouraged to attend. The article could be tweaked for any congress member, and I’d be glad to help you tweak it for yours.–DS]

I want to thank Congressman Delahunt and Cape Codders for Peace. I opposed this war before it began, as did many of you, and I hope to explain why. But, Congressman Delahunt, you need not agree read more