Anti-War
With all the current hype about the "threat" from Iran, it is time to review the record--and especially the significant bits and pieces that find neither ink nor air in our Israel-friendly, Fawning Corporate Media (FCM).
First, on the chance you missed it, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said publicly that Iran "doesn't directly threaten the United States." Her momentary lapse came while answering a question at the U.S.-Islamic World Forum in Doha, Qatar, on Feb. 14.
Fortunately for her, most of her FCM fellow travelers must have been either jet-lagged or sunning themselves poolside when she made her unusual admission. And those who were present did Clinton the favor of disappearing her gaffe and ignoring its significance. (All one happy traveling family, you know.)
But she said it. It's on the State Department Web site. Those who had been poolside could have read the text after showering. They might have recognized a real story there. Granted, the substance was so off-message that it would probably not have been welcomed by editors back home.
First, on the chance you missed it, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said publicly that Iran "doesn't directly threaten the United States." Her momentary lapse came while answering a question at the U.S.-Islamic World Forum in Doha, Qatar, on Feb. 14.
Fortunately for her, most of her FCM fellow travelers must have been either jet-lagged or sunning themselves poolside when she made her unusual admission. And those who were present did Clinton the favor of disappearing her gaffe and ignoring its significance. (All one happy traveling family, you know.)
But she said it. It's on the State Department Web site. Those who had been poolside could have read the text after showering. They might have recognized a real story there. Granted, the substance was so off-message that it would probably not have been welcomed by editors back home.
Peace Justice and Environmental Project (PJEP) organizers along with the representatives of 38 networks and 2 coalitions that comprise PJEP, contribute to a surge in grassroots anti war and pro peace activity that marks the 7th anniversary of the US led invasion of Iraq this week.
Through the use of unique cooperative and collaborative software on network websites, activists have spread word of over one hundred and fifty local actions and events. Events range from bi-coastal mass protests with organizers in towns and cities throughout the US hiring buses and arranging for car pools to local teach-ins, speak outs, sing a-longs, street theater, candle light vigils and prayer services to regional peace rallies and demonstrations. Included are on-going peace vigils which have been occurring since the invasion began.
Through the use of unique cooperative and collaborative software on network websites, activists have spread word of over one hundred and fifty local actions and events. Events range from bi-coastal mass protests with organizers in towns and cities throughout the US hiring buses and arranging for car pools to local teach-ins, speak outs, sing a-longs, street theater, candle light vigils and prayer services to regional peace rallies and demonstrations. Included are on-going peace vigils which have been occurring since the invasion began.
I sat down seven years ago this month with my son Adam and told him about the tragic death of a brave American woman named Rachel Corrie. As I informed him who she was, where and how she died, he stared at her two photographs in the paper and said, “Daddy, I will name my first daughter Rachel.” Adam was only nine years old, and I couldn’t have been more proud of him.
Rachel Corrie had a heart bigger than Texas. She paid the ultimate price fighting to uphold the international law that bans collective punishment.
Rachel was a 23 year-old Evergreen State College student from Olympia, WA. Rachel responded to the U.S. and Israeli rejection of a UN Resolution recommending an International Peace Keeping Force be sent into Palestine to serve as a human rights monitor there by enlisting in the International Solidarity Movement (ISM).
ISM is a group of international volunteers who partake in non-violent direct action resistance to the Israeli occupation. Members of the group live in Palestinian communities and experience first-hand the violence to which Palestinians are subjected every day by the Israeli military.
Rachel Corrie had a heart bigger than Texas. She paid the ultimate price fighting to uphold the international law that bans collective punishment.
Rachel was a 23 year-old Evergreen State College student from Olympia, WA. Rachel responded to the U.S. and Israeli rejection of a UN Resolution recommending an International Peace Keeping Force be sent into Palestine to serve as a human rights monitor there by enlisting in the International Solidarity Movement (ISM).
ISM is a group of international volunteers who partake in non-violent direct action resistance to the Israeli occupation. Members of the group live in Palestinian communities and experience first-hand the violence to which Palestinians are subjected every day by the Israeli military.
In challenging times like ours, it is important to step back and look at
the big picture. In the Senate we wrestle with painful choices to
balance the state budget. Some factors affecting the budget are outside
of our control, some we can control, and others fall somewhere
in-between. While most legislative work addresses things we have direct
control over, we should at least understand other factors influencing
the resources available.
The cost of the Iraq and Afghan wars is the budgetary "elephant in the room." It's enormous and it's right in front of us, yet we don't talk about it as we face our economic woes. We don't need to get into arguments about the wars to consider the burden war places on our economy.
President Dwight Eisenhower, one of our nation's greatest military leaders, late in life, expressed deep concern about what he called "the military industrial complex." Eisenhower stated, "Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired, signifies in the final sense a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed."
The cost of the Iraq and Afghan wars is the budgetary "elephant in the room." It's enormous and it's right in front of us, yet we don't talk about it as we face our economic woes. We don't need to get into arguments about the wars to consider the burden war places on our economy.
President Dwight Eisenhower, one of our nation's greatest military leaders, late in life, expressed deep concern about what he called "the military industrial complex." Eisenhower stated, "Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired, signifies in the final sense a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed."
Iraq now (sort of) sovereign
(Sort of) pregnant woman makes medical history
As of June 30, all U.S. troops have left Iraq’s cities – except for Baghdad where municipal borders were redrawn so a U.S. base doesn't have to move, Mosul where some troops will remain as "advisers," and other cities we haven't heard about at this point.
A year from now, the U.S. will still have upwards of 50,000 ‘non-combat’ troops in Iraq – a rather bizarre concept to any soldier who has been in a combat zone. Not until the end of 2011, two and a half years from now, are U.S. troops finally scheduled to be gone, and even that distant deadline could change.
Such a lengthy timetable is simply not good enough. The presence of U.S. troops in Iraq is what fuels the instability and violence. Keeping tens of thousands of military personnel there for at least another 18 months will insure the killing and wounding, the political instability and the economic chaos will continue that much longer.
(Sort of) pregnant woman makes medical history
As of June 30, all U.S. troops have left Iraq’s cities – except for Baghdad where municipal borders were redrawn so a U.S. base doesn't have to move, Mosul where some troops will remain as "advisers," and other cities we haven't heard about at this point.
A year from now, the U.S. will still have upwards of 50,000 ‘non-combat’ troops in Iraq – a rather bizarre concept to any soldier who has been in a combat zone. Not until the end of 2011, two and a half years from now, are U.S. troops finally scheduled to be gone, and even that distant deadline could change.
Such a lengthy timetable is simply not good enough. The presence of U.S. troops in Iraq is what fuels the instability and violence. Keeping tens of thousands of military personnel there for at least another 18 months will insure the killing and wounding, the political instability and the economic chaos will continue that much longer.
Rick Reyes is a former marine corporal who served in Operation Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan, 2001) and Operation Iraqi Freedom (2003). Since coming home in 2004, he has become increasingly disenchanted with our foreign policy. He contacted filmmaker Robert Greenwald through Facebook to thank him for his Rethink Afghanistan documentary campaign. Now, Greenwald and Reyes have joined forces.
Welcome to OpEdNews, Rick. You’ve been pretty busy on Capitol Hill lately. Tell us about it.
A few weeks ago, I testified before Senator John Kerry and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. I sat where a young Kerry was once seated as he woke the country up to the grim realities of the war in Vietnam. I explained to the Committee that I always desired to serve my country, fight for justice and the American way. This had been my dream since childhood, a way to honor my Mexican immigrant parents, who worked tirelessly to give my family a better life, a way out of an East Los Angeles neighborhood plagued by gang violence. But what I witnessed in Afghanistan and Iraq has forever shattered this once noble ambition.
Welcome to OpEdNews, Rick. You’ve been pretty busy on Capitol Hill lately. Tell us about it.
A few weeks ago, I testified before Senator John Kerry and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. I sat where a young Kerry was once seated as he woke the country up to the grim realities of the war in Vietnam. I explained to the Committee that I always desired to serve my country, fight for justice and the American way. This had been my dream since childhood, a way to honor my Mexican immigrant parents, who worked tirelessly to give my family a better life, a way out of an East Los Angeles neighborhood plagued by gang violence. But what I witnessed in Afghanistan and Iraq has forever shattered this once noble ambition.
An alliance of civic, labor and church groups has been working together since March of this year with ProgressOhio to persuade Columbus City Council and the Franklin County Commission to adopt resolutions to oppose the ongoing War in Iraq. It appears these efforts are beginning to work. At the time of this writing it has been reported by sources at ProgressOhio that Columbus Mayor Michael Coleman is writing a letter to President Bush expressing opposition to the war. In addition, organizers have heard from County Commissioner Mary Jo Kilroy (now running for US Congress) that there is prevailing sentiment among the members of the Franklin County Board of Commissioners to pass an anti-war resolution.
This campaign to convince the Columbus City Council and Franklin County Commission to pass a Peace Resolution began last Fall on October 20, 2007 at the Citizens Grassroots Congress organized by The Columbus Institute for Contemporary Journalism (CICJ) and The Central Ohio Green Education Fund (COGEF). Participants at the Congress spent all morning of the day-long congress composing, discussing and finally drafting the language of the proposed Peace Resolution.
This campaign to convince the Columbus City Council and Franklin County Commission to pass a Peace Resolution began last Fall on October 20, 2007 at the Citizens Grassroots Congress organized by The Columbus Institute for Contemporary Journalism (CICJ) and The Central Ohio Green Education Fund (COGEF). Participants at the Congress spent all morning of the day-long congress composing, discussing and finally drafting the language of the proposed Peace Resolution.
Thank You. It is good and it is right that today, here in our state’s capital, on the fifth anniversary of our nation’s launching of the Iraq War, we are giving voice and visible testimony to both our grief about the war and our hope about the prospects for peace. By giving voice and witness to our beliefs we are declaring our determined opposition to the endless stay-the-course-and-we-can-win policies of the current administration.
As you know, silence and invisibility are enemies of truthfulness, justice, human rights, and yes, peace. In the case of the Iraq war, those that precipitated it, those that would perpetuate it, seek to hide it from the public—no taxes are paid to fund it—, and to sanitize it—no caskets are seen to show the cost of it. They seek to hide the realities of the war in order to continue a policy that the clear majority of Americans, after sober reflection, now reject. And so it is good that we break this official silence, giving witness here and now to the will of the people.
As you know, silence and invisibility are enemies of truthfulness, justice, human rights, and yes, peace. In the case of the Iraq war, those that precipitated it, those that would perpetuate it, seek to hide it from the public—no taxes are paid to fund it—, and to sanitize it—no caskets are seen to show the cost of it. They seek to hide the realities of the war in order to continue a policy that the clear majority of Americans, after sober reflection, now reject. And so it is good that we break this official silence, giving witness here and now to the will of the people.
The Iraq war, which was predicated on the existence of weapons of mass destruction, has resulted in the deaths of nearly 4,000 US troops and has cost taxpayers roughly half-a-trillion dollars.
As the war now enters its sixth year it's worth revisiting how prewar Iraq intelligence was cooked in the months leading up toward the preemptive strike and how the handful of dissenters who objected to Iraq policy were sidelined.
The Key Players
For the average person, the names of these behind-the-scenes policy wonks won't have much meaning. But they are the architects of the Iraq War.
The White House Iraq Group (WHIG) was formed in August 2002 to publicize the so-called threat posed by Saddam Hussein. WHIG was founded by Bush's chief of staff Andrew Card and operated out of the vice president's office. The WHIG was not only responsible for selling the Iraq War, but it took great pains to discredit anyone who openly disagreed with the official Iraq War story
As the war now enters its sixth year it's worth revisiting how prewar Iraq intelligence was cooked in the months leading up toward the preemptive strike and how the handful of dissenters who objected to Iraq policy were sidelined.
The Key Players
For the average person, the names of these behind-the-scenes policy wonks won't have much meaning. But they are the architects of the Iraq War.
The White House Iraq Group (WHIG) was formed in August 2002 to publicize the so-called threat posed by Saddam Hussein. WHIG was founded by Bush's chief of staff Andrew Card and operated out of the vice president's office. The WHIG was not only responsible for selling the Iraq War, but it took great pains to discredit anyone who openly disagreed with the official Iraq War story
This week, at hundreds of events across the country, tens of thousands of people will mark the fifth anniversary of the American invasion of Iraq and demand an end to the occupation and the withdrawal of all US troops. They will march, vigil, sit-in, teach-in, write letters, call their Congressman, block recruiting offices, sing songs, wear orange, call in sick, buy Citgo (Venezuelan) gas, all in an effort to get the nation's political leadership to take notice of the 70% of the American people who think this war has destroyed too many lives, done too much damage to our own country as well as Iraq, cost far too much, and gone on way too long.