Peace and War

By David Swanson

As noted by the uniquely vigilant Charlie Savage in the Boston Globe, President Bush in November issued a signing statement unconstitutionally overturning 10 sections of H.R. 3222, the "Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2008." Among the little technical details Bush just erased was the requirement that he not take funds appropriated to the Pentagon for one thing and use them for something else.

So, for example, were Congress to stop passing bills to fund the read more

By David Swanson

I recently interviewed, for 60 minutes each, two individuals who have walked the walk. Eve Tetaz at age 76 has gone to jail for protesting the occupation of Iraq. Aidan Delgado laid down his weapon in Iraq and declared himself a conscientious objector. Hear their stories: http://www.thepeoplespeakradio.org/archives/index.html#november

By David Swanson

Jonathan Schell’s latest book “The Seventh Decade” places our current situation in the context of the past 62 years of the nuclear age, or the past 68 years as Schell might prefer to date it. It was 68 years ago that scientists concluded a nuclear bomb was possible. Scientists and politicians immediately began trying to develop nukes out of fear that someone else would do so first. And as soon as nukes had been developed in one country, spies began passing read more

Click for audio of interview with Eve Tetaz and Mark Goldstone

By David Swanson

Here’s the Iraq bill the U.S. House of Representatives will vote on, on Wednesday:
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/downloads/bridgebullbill.pdf

Here are the actual talking points the Democratic misleadership thinks will coat this pig with lipstick:

“Iraq Redeployment Bill

1. “Requires the redeployment of US troops from Iraq to begin within 30 days of enactment, with a target for completion of December 15, 2008;”

No, the counter-recruitment movement and the read more

By David Swanson

If I were a member of Congress, I would make this pledge:

I pledge to vote No on any bill, and to vote No on bringing to the floor for a vote any bill, that includes any funding to extend the occupation of Iraq. This pledge does not prevent me from voting for funding for a withdrawal, although such funding is clearly not needed by the Pentagon. It does not prevent me from voting for funding for veterans’ services or for the reconstruction of Iraq by Iraqis, or for relief for read more

By David Swanson

Of the eleven major peace rallies organized around the country by United for Peace and Justice last Saturday the smallest and most unusual took place in Jonesborough, Tennessee. Jonesborough is a town of about 4,000 people in the northeast corner of Tennessee, within a couple of dozen miles of both Virginia and North Carolina. The people of Jonesborough can imagine the number of U.S. troops who have died in Iraq by imagining their entire local population dead.

Rallying for peace read more

By David Swanson

We’re at least as sorry as you are, Pete. You can be sure that your apology hurts us more than it hurts you. And it’s a safe bet it’ll hurt Iraqis and Iranians even more.

On Monday a big group of us packed into your DC office, Pete, and presented your Chief of Staff Debra Curtis with a Spine Award to present to you. We discussed scheduling a time to present you with a full blown backbone statue from the Backbone Campaign, an award given out only to those in public read more

By David Swanson

If you haven’t already, you really should read Chris Hedges’ book “War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning.” The portrait of war and wartime propaganda and emotion is brilliant and deadly accurate. But the headline is misleading. War does not give us lasting solid self-assured meaning. War gives us a temporary high that is rooted in desperate self-deception. Hedges’ book carries on the cover a photo of people with candles and U.S. flags, holding hands, read more

By David Swanson

Senator Chris Dodd on Thursday single-handedly blocked a bill to legalize unconstitutional spying and immunize criminals who have engaged in it. But by doing so, Dodd may have made the biggest blunder Washington has seen in many months. He advertised the fact that a single senator with nerve has the power to block a bill, including – of course – every bill to further fund the occupation of Iraq. Now, how will Dodd explain his past and future failure to use the same power read more

By David Swanson

If Bush and Cheney attack Iran, we will almost certainly know it’s coming. For months prior to the invasion of Iraq, even while the corporate media bombarded us with the pretense that Bush and Cheney had not yet decided on war, other stories further back in the pages of newspapers and on the internet informed us, or should have informed us, that an attack was coming.

Many of these stories involved the deployment of troops. (We were told that they were deploying “in read more