Peace and War

Five Videos:

By David Swanson

Around the United States, peace groups are engaged in effective campaigns against proposed new military installations, local funding of weapons companies, and the routine destruction of the environment and of workers’ health by such companies. Activists are building better media outlets, educating young people, educating old people, keeping military testing and recruiting out of schools, and discouraging the Army from building real-weapon video arcades in shopping malls. read more

By David Swanson

Here’s an important release from AFSC:

“With final action in the Senate today, Congress has approved legislation that formally recognizes the U.S. obligation to withdraw from Iraq and requires the Pentagon to provide quarterly reports on the progress of that withdrawal. This is the first time since the invasion of Iraq in 2003 that Congress has passed legislation that affirms that the United States is committed to leaving Iraq by a specific date, two national Quaker read more

By David Swanson

Zbigniew Brzezinski spoke at a RAND Corporation forum on Afghanistan in a Senate caucus room on Thursday. His first statement was that “Withdrawal from Afghanistan in the near future is a No-No.” He offered no reasons why and suggested that his other statements would be more controversial.

During a subsequent question-and-answer period, I asked Brzezinski, former National Security Advisor to President Jimmy Carter, why he had provided no rationale for his first rule. read more

By David Swanson

Why is it that every time we elect “peace” candidates we defund the peace movement, stop calling for an end to wars, and limit our demands exclusively to opposing war escalations?

In 2006 we voted into Congress the candidates who looked most likely to end the war in Iraq. We congratulated ourselves on a job well done. Then we mildly urged them not to escalate the war they’d been elected to end, and they escalated it anyway.

In 2008 we voted into Congress and read more

Pentagon of Peace – The Main Plenary from Gregory W Dugay on Vimeo.

More below.

"The Power of Active Non-violent Resistance" with read more

By David Swanson
Published in the November/December 2009 Humanist

“This is so cool! This is so cool!” a thirteen-year-old boy repeated as he squeezed rounds from a real M-16, picking off “enemy combatants” in a video game while perched atop a real Army Humvee. “I just came to the mall to skateboard but everyone said this was pretty cool. I just had to try it and it’s great!”

The person reporting on this youthful enthusiasm was Pat Elder, who serves on read more

Going on a book tour of the United States to events organized by peace groups will expose you to a national story that nobody is talking about nationally. Every town I go to complains that their city or state is funding a local weapons factory, that the workers in the factory are dying, and that the factory is destroying the water supply and the environment. Every city. Same story. Does anyone know this? Since when do cities and states fund the U.S. military?

Five for Peace Speakers on Oct 9 09 in Taos – sponsored by Taos Veterans for Peace. All Five Featured Speakers (as one segment) 1:59:58

As individual segments Intro by Carrie Levin and Micha Kurz on Breaking the Silence 11:08 Bobby Grub- Iraq Veterans 5:17 Nan Neilson 7:41 Will Covert Intro 0:45 Elliot Adams 18:04

David Swanson 23:04 Father John Dear 18:52 Go to Gaza 0:45 Colonel Ann Wright 24:38 Ray McGovern 29:44 Rick Burnley Poem 3:53

10-8-09 Podcast

Thursday – October 8

5:05PM MT – David Swanson on the Peace Pentagon

5:30PM MT – Jim Hightower Common Sense Commentary

5:35PM MT – Phil Smith with the Secure World Foundation on World Space Week

5:45PM MT – Phil Smith cont.

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By David Swanson

Congressman David Obey (D., Wis.) is the Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee. He’s in charge of spending our money. And until this week, he has always maintained that spending hundreds of billions of our dollars on wars was something he just had no choice about. Two years ago, 183,000 people watched this Youtube video, which was also shown on tv news shows, of Obey screaming at a military mother and denouncing read more

First Panel: Leah Bolger (Veterans for Peace), Ben Manski (Liberty Tree), Benson Scotch (Bring the Guard Home!), and David Swanson (After Downing Street) on "War Powers Principles," moderated by Elaine Brower (Military Families Speak Out).

Second Panel: John Bonifaz (Voter Action), Caleb Kleppner (Prof. American University), Don Wallace (Prof. Georgetown Law) on "War Powers Practices," moderated by Jean read more

By David Swanson

1. The planning of 9-11 was done in hotels and apartments in Germany and Spain, and flight schools in the United States. Even Paul Pillar, former CIA deputy chief for counter-terrorism will tell you that an al Qaeda base in Afghanistan would not significantly increase threats to the United States.

2. If the Taliban had control of Afghanistan, it would likely not allow al Qaeda in. Richard Holbrooke, the U.S. president’s guy in Afghanistan, will tell you the same.

3. The Taliban read more

http://democracynow.org

Rep Barbara Lee will be on too. Here’s her bill (22 cosponsors) to block funding for an escalation in Afghanistan: HR 3699. Why hasn’t your representative signed on? Of course we have to use this to build a list of House members committed to voting No on funding bills. The House alone can block funding by voting No. Passing a bill does no good without the Senate and the President on board. read more