Peace and War

Hillary for Emperor

Leave a Comment /

By David Swanson

I’ve decided to drop my advocacy for the impeachment of Cheney or Bush and focus on something more realistic: making Senator Hillary Clinton our next emperor. After all, when the candidate is someone good, you should want them to have as much power as possible. Bear with me a minute, and I think you may agree.

Now, electing Clinton as the 44th President is one thing, and that would be wonderful. But what makes that task truly historic and worth devoting our energies to read more

Hillary for Emperor Read More »

New NSA Whistleblower Speaks

Leave a Comment /

By David Swanson

A former member of U.S. military intelligence has decided to reveal what she knows about warrantless spying on Americans and about the fixing of intelligence in the leadup to the invasion of Iraq.

Adrienne Kinne describes an incident just prior to the invasion of Iraq in which a fax came into her office at Fort Gordon in Georgia that purported to provide information on the location of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction. The fax came from the Iraqi National Congress, a group opposed read more

New NSA Whistleblower Speaks Read More »

Peace Movement Comes to US Social Forum

Leave a Comment /

By David Swanson

United for Peace and Justice held a workshop at the US Social Forum in Atlanta on Thursday, at which several speakers made some pretty amazing statements.

Adrienne Kenney of Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) described her work serving stateside with the NSA of listening in on foreigners. Prior to 9-11, she said, they never listened to Americans. Post 9-11 she says, they were given a waiver to listen to Americans, and not Americans with ties to terrorism, but American journalists. read more

Peace Movement Comes to US Social Forum Read More »

Hip Hop Comes to Take Back America Conference

Leave a Comment /

By David Swanson

“Hip Hop Artists and Activists: Politically Empowering a Culture of Resistance” was the name of a panel at the Take Back America Conference in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday. Cherryl Aldave from National Hip Hop Political Convention MC’d.

Speakers included Billy Wimsatt from the League of Independent Voters in Chicago, D Labrie from Hip Hop Congress in the Bay Area, Jay Woodson from National Hip Hop Political Convention in Philadelphia, Dave D from HardKnock Radio read more

Hip Hop Comes to Take Back America Conference Read More »

Sen. Clinton Wants Troops in Iraq for at Least 10 Years

Leave a Comment /

By David Swanson

On Monday, Ted Koppel offered a report / commentary on National Public Radio’s “All Things Considered” which can be found online with this headline: “A Duty to Mislead: Politics and the Iraq War,” and this introductory text: “Democrats are telling voters that if they are elected, all U.S. troops will be pulled out of Iraq. But as Sen. Hillary Clinton privately told a read more

Sen. Clinton Wants Troops in Iraq for at Least 10 Years Read More »

Father's Day, Peace, and Masculinity

Leave a Comment /

By David Swanson

The most creative, energetic, and effective peace activists in the United States right now are women organized explicitly as “CODE PINK: Women for Peace.” While CODE PINK welcomes the participation of men (and when I’m in DC I stay at the CODE PINK house), the group is organized around the idea that women have a special role to play in working for peace. So, every once in a while I ask a bunch of Code Pinkers “Why don’t we have a group of Men for read more

Father's Day, Peace, and Masculinity Read More »

War Opposition Made Easy

Leave a Comment /

By David Swanson

The new film “War Made Easy: How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death” makes arguing against wars easy. If you get into a debate about war, just make the points made so clearly in this film, or – better yet – convince a war supporter to watch the film. Best of all would be to persuade every American to read Norman Solomon’s book of the same title, on which the movie is based.

The book has the greatest depth, but the movie has much to read more

War Opposition Made Easy Read More »

Iraq Idea: Better Than Calling Congress

Leave a Comment /

By David Swanson

PHOTO: Rep. Lynn Woolsey, interpreter Aseel Al-Banna, Iraqi Electrical Utility Workers Union President Hashmeya Muhsin Hussein

Americans should keep lobbying Congress to end the occupation of Iraq, but should also try lobbying the Iraqi government, which appears more open to listening.

Iraqi Electrical Utility Workers Union President Hashmeya Muhsin Hussein (through interpreter Aseel Al-Banna) met with a number of U.S. Congress Members on Wednesday in Washington, D.C., and spoke read more

Iraq Idea: Better Than Calling Congress Read More »

Iraq, Cowboys, and the Enormity of 18 Months

Leave a Comment /

By David Swanson

Eighteen months ago Congressman John Murtha and other pro-war Democrats had not yet developed even a muddled half-hearted opposition to the occupation of Iraq, Joe Lieberman had not lost a primary, MoveOn.org and the Center for American Progress were pretending there was no such thing as Iraq, and the Democratic Party had shoved its collective head so far up… well, let’s just say the pretense was alive and well that Iraq was not the central issue in American politics.

Eighteen read more

Iraq, Cowboys, and the Enormity of 18 Months Read More »