Peace and War

I was quite happy to receive the following Email from UFPJ’s new legislative action coordinator John Bruhns:

Here is a draft of proposed legislative asks for meetings:

WHAT WE WANT U.S. REPRESENTATIVES TO DO

1. Commit to publicly and privately urging House leadership not to bring up any more bills to fund the occupation of Iraq.
2. Commit publicly to voting No on any bill that funds the occupation of Iraq through a public statement or signing the bi-partisan letter initiated by Reps. read more

By David Swanson

Is it possible to convict a group of people of the highest possible crime simply by editing together public statements that they made while planning it?

If so, the best attempt at doing so that I imagine I’ll ever see is found in a new 72-minute film available for viewing free online or by purchasing a DVD at http://www.leadingtowar.com

“Leading to War” begins and ends with a very few words of text on the screen. The rest is almost entirely clips of public statements read more

By David Swanson

On Wednesday, February 27th, from 8 to 9 p.m. ET I’ll be interviewing live another female Halliburton employee who was subjected to an environment of constant sexual harassment in Iraq. Tracy Barker was sexually assaulted by Halliburton employees and – in one instance – by a U.S. State Department employee in Basra, Iraq. The State Department employee has confessed to part of what Barker alleges, but remains at the State Department, and has never been charged read more

By David Swanson

Congress is taking up one more bill to further fund the Bush-Cheney wars, but Congress does not have to.

What are we asking of our elected officials?

Representatives: Publicly commit to voting No on any bill that funds the occupation of Iraq, and to voting No on any procedural votes to bring such funding up for a vote. Point to example of House standing up against telecom immunity.

Senators: Publicly commit to filibustering (voting No on cloture) any bill that funds the occupation read more

By David Swanson

Senator Russ Feingold (D., Wisc.) is preparing to give the Republicans in the Senate two more opportunities next week to grandstand and filibuster in favor of the occupation of Iraq. They will, of course, do so; and they will, of course, win.

Feingold cannot possibly have any doubt of that as he introduces his bills. As far as I know, he’s not even trying to get the House to pass the same things, since they’re guaranteed not to pass the Senate.

One of Feingold’s read more

http://www.thepeoplespeakradio.net/2008/dave-meserve/

Showtime: Wednesday, February 13, 2008 – 8:00pm-9:00pm Eastern
Listen Live on BBSRadio or you may also join us live in our virtual auditorium!

Dave Meserve lives and works in Arcata, California where he served as a city council member from 2002 to 2006, after running on the platform that “The federal government has gone stark, raving mad. Therefore, we must organize locally to protect our civil liberties, defend the Constitution, and read more

By David Swanson

Two weeks ago an article in the Cville Weekly by Josh Levy ( http://tinyurl.com/3ckznf ) told us that the “surge” was going to win the “war” in Iraq. “Victory has not yet arrived,” he cautioned, “and it may be years before we can mark its arrival with confidence, but we can reasonably hope to see it.”

Somehow, I can’t. First I would need someone to tell me what it would look like. There is no “war” in Iraq in the read more

By David Swanson

Chicken Hawks Unlimited, also known as Move America Forward, sent around an Email today that begins:

“It is with a heavy heart that we are reporting to you that the attacks against our troops by American governmental bodies are continuing.”

Could this be the stop-loss orders keeping them in Iraq beyond their contracts? The lack of health care and benefits? Reneging on promises of college money? What could this be?

“The Mayor of Toldeo, Ohio has told the Marines read more

By David Swanson

In “Chicken Doves” Matt Taibbi correctly denounces the phony, monied, Democratic-front antiwar movement without acknowledging the real one. United for Peace and Justice, and other organizations serious about peace, struggle against a corrupt Congress, a pseudo peace movement with lots more money than we have, and reporters like Taibbi who pretend that a major movement that is actually working for peace with projects like this one upcoming in March: read more

Spring Break in Washington D.C. to End the Iraq Occupation

We invite you to invite yourself, your friends, and your peers to come to Washington D.C. to join youth and students from around the nation to

Break the War with Spring Break!
http://www.ourspringbreak.org

Come any time from March 7th to March 23rd to protest the Iraq War as it is forced into its sixth year. This spring our Generation steps up.

Events will include but are not limited to: Sit-Ins, Demonstrations, Marches, Rallies, Civil Disobedience, read more

By David Swanson

Of course, Americans must be 18 to serve in the military, but much of the military’s recruiting work is directed at those who have not yet turned 18.

According to Dave Meserve in Arcata, Calif., localities can avoid the consequences of the No Child Left Behind law (which turns students’ names and contact information over to recruiters) not only by helping students and parents to opt out of recruitment lists or by challenging the ability of recruiters to be on school read more

By David Swanson

What if a single nation on this planet were to pour more resources into its military than the rest of the nations combined, set up military bases in 80 percent of the other nations, stockpile more nuclear weapons than all other nations combined, develop new nuclear weapons intended for aggressive first-strike use, completely dominate the militarization of space, erase any policy lines between space and ground warfare and between nuclear and conventional weapons, and establish the read more