Peace and War

By David Swanson

A New York Times editorial on May 7th is titled “The Soft Bigotry of Iraq,” and begins:

“Whether out of blind loyalty or blind denial, most Congressional Republicans are prepared to back up President Bush’s veto of the Iraq spending bill.”

Whether out of blind loyalty or blind denial or corrupt corporate interests, the New York Times pretends to be writing only about Republicans, while building into its editorial the assumption that the Democrats, too, read more

By David Swanson

The U.S. government has proposed to make Vicenza, Italy, the largest US military site in Europe, but the people of Vicenza, and all of Italy, have sworn it will never happen.

As with the story of the Downing Street Minutes two years ago this week, a major news story and huge controversy in Europe right now is unknown to Americans, despite the fact that it is all about the policies of the American government. In February of this year, 200,000 people descended read more

By David Swanson

The Cheney energy meeting, the Iraq Study Group, the Supplemental spending bill, the choice of which buildings to defend after Shock and Awe, Iraq’s proposed new hydrocarbon law, the threat of an attack on Iran, and the sudden recognition of reality that comes from throwing away your television, all suggest that we’ve just wasted four years, hundreds of thousands of lives, and hundreds of billions of dollars, for oil. That ought to be sufficient reason to kick the read more

By David Swanson

There’s a small college town in New York state called Oneonta. Some of the students at the state university there organized an event Monday night that had terrific turnout, and for once the crowd at a college political event was made up of mostly college students. I’m used to seeing adults in the majority at campus events related to political activism.

I was one of 10 speakers on a variety of topics related to the influence of campaign “contributions”. read more

From Liberty News TV:

Friends, Activists and Countrymen (and Countrywomen),

I just completed the October episode of Liberty News TV, which is devoted to several days of Camp Democracy. It includes lots of interviews with Geoff Millard, Ann Wright, Malik Rahim, David Swanson and others. The show goes out today to 70 public access stations and Free Speech TV to 28 million homes via satellite. Here are the video links so you can watch it online too.

Windows Media

Real Media

By David Swanson

Sheldon Rampton and John Stauber have a new book, which is always a good thing; but this one is especially good. It’s called “The Best War Ever: Lies, Damned Lies, and the Mess in Iraq.” It’s 206 pages and you’ll read it in one sitting, because it’s more entertaining than the corporate media whose infotainment is the book’s focus. While this book is every bit as well researched as Congressman John Conyers’ 350-page report “The read more

Camp Democracy: Demonstration for Peace, Justice, and Impeachment in Washington, D.C., in September

Cindy Sheehan’s Camp Casey to Move from Texas

Press Conference Planned for August 29 at National Press Club

WHAT: Press Conference Announcing Camp Democracy
WHERE: National Press Club, Murrow Room, Washington, D.C.
WHEN: 10 a.m. ET, August 29, 2006
SPEAKERS: Leaders of the organizations sponsoring Camp Democracy (see below).

On September 5, 2006, Cindy Sheehan will move her camp from Crawford read more

By David Swanson

CLICK FOR PHOTO GALLERY

SEATTLE — Ricky Clousing, a Sergeant in the U.S. Army, and a veteran of the Iraq War who has been AWOL for a year announced today at the Veterans for Peace convention in Seattle that he will turn himself in later today at the gates of Fort Lewis and face whatever punishment the military chooses to impose.

Clousing said he did not apply for conscientious objector status because he is not certain he would oppose every possible war, such as one fought read more

By David Swanson

Remarks at Democracy Fest, San Diego, July 15, 2006

More than any other weapons system, the chief products of the military industrial complex are lies. We just learned this week that Congress was cracking down on corruption by denying another contract to Halliburton. In reality, Halliburton has completed its main task of building five permanent bases and doesn’t care as much about more contracts for services for soldiers. And, in fact, last month the Senate rejected, nearly read more

By David Swanson

Suzanne Swift’s story begins in an all-too-familiar way. A dead-end job, a friendly military recruiter, a promise that signing-up as military police would mean no deployment to Iraq, a broken promise, and a trip to war. Then it takes a less commonly heard of turn, one involving a practice known as “command rape.” Suzanne is back in the U.S. and is refusing to return to Iraq. Until a couple of days ago she was confined by the military and threatened with prosecution. read more

By David Swanson

Well, the Senate Intelligence Committee, under Republican control, and with very polite (OK, almost nonexistent) Democratic protest, has yet to hold hearings on the Iraq War lies, but today the Senate Democratic Policy Committee held a Hearing on the model of Rep. John Conyers’ Downing Street Memo hearing: no subpoena power, but great witnesses. And a Republican even came: Rep. Walter Jones of North Carolina.

Here are the witnesses’ prepared statements.

Here are my notes read more

By David Swanson

Congressman Jim McDermott became involved in politics through his opposition to the Vietnam war. He came to Washington 17 years ago hoping to create national health coverage. Instead he’s spent much of his time opposing new wars and war crimes. McDermott’s record on matters of peace and war is unsurpassed in the Congress. On the matter of impeachment, however, he has lost all interest – as has every incumbent Democrat since Leader Nancy Pelosi decreed that impeachment read more

By David Swanson

An Associated Press story on Sunday carried a predictably militant headline: “Iraq amnesty offer upsets U.S. lawmakers.” But the story did something very atypical: it led with and focused on the views of Democrats, rather than Republicans. And the Democrats’ views were unusually straightforward and decisive, while the Republicans’ were peculiarly vague and noncommittal. While the story quoted more Republicans, their views had nothing to do with the headline read more

Congress Takes Steps Toward Peace

While both houses of Congress still lag dramatically behind the American and Iraqi people in support for ending the war, the past week has seen a sharp rise in Congressional willingness to talk about peace. The Republican leadership has been forced to hold public debates on the war; those debates and subsequent votes have forced Congress Members to go on the record on issues ranging from leaving Iraq this year, to constructing permanent military bases there, to read more

Tomgram: David Swanson on War Porn and Iraq
http://www.tomdispatch.com

The history of war-atrocity snapshots did not start with the Abu Ghraib screen-savers from hell. After all, photography itself came into being as the industrializing West was imposing its rule on much of the planet. That imposition meant wars of conquest; and such colonial wars, in turn, meant slaughter.

From the moment the wooden sailing ship mounted with canons took to the high seas and Europeans began to seize the coasts read more

By David Swanson

When the House and the Senate pass similar but not identical bills, they create a conference committee to work out the differences. When they both passed amendments to the “emergency supplemental” spending bill stipulating that none of the money could be used to build permanent bases in Iraq, the conference committee, behind closed doors this week, resolved that non-difference by deleting it.

This would appear to be a blatant violation of the rules of Congress and read more