Anti-War
Please! Would somebody please tell me that the corporate news media is talking about U.S. war crimes in Iraq in addition to the civilians killed in Haditha?!
I can only hope that my fellow citizens are not being told that this latest outrage tumbling out of Iraq is some isolated incident; that Herr Rumsfeld will diligently investigate it, and dispense timely justice to all guilty parties (below the rank of Lieutenant, of course).
JUST in case your Uncle Bob or Aunt Sophie has been asking you “Exactly what the hell is going on in Iraq?” and you’re looking for hard facts to help them get off the fence, here you are.
Keep in mind these are just a few instances compiled by one citizen sitting in Toledo with an old computer connected to the internet – an indication that there just might be even more going on.
I can only hope that my fellow citizens are not being told that this latest outrage tumbling out of Iraq is some isolated incident; that Herr Rumsfeld will diligently investigate it, and dispense timely justice to all guilty parties (below the rank of Lieutenant, of course).
JUST in case your Uncle Bob or Aunt Sophie has been asking you “Exactly what the hell is going on in Iraq?” and you’re looking for hard facts to help them get off the fence, here you are.
Keep in mind these are just a few instances compiled by one citizen sitting in Toledo with an old computer connected to the internet – an indication that there just might be even more going on.
This Memorial Day let us remember all fallen troops by insisting that the United States no longer engage in wars of aggression. In this election year, the voters must make it abundantly clear to anyone running for office in the United States that candidates will not have their votes, funding or volunteer time if the politicians do not insist on a rapid withdrawal from Iraq and opposition to future wars of aggression.
Of the troops currently fighting in Iraq, a majority (72%) say that the U.S. should get out of Iraq within a year. A majority of the U.S. public agrees. Yet our elected officials - who are supposed to represent the people’s views - continue to vote for funding the war in Iraq and fail to speak out against aggression against Iran. On this critical issue of war or no war there is a huge disconnect between the voters and the people elected to represent them and their views.
Of the troops currently fighting in Iraq, a majority (72%) say that the U.S. should get out of Iraq within a year. A majority of the U.S. public agrees. Yet our elected officials - who are supposed to represent the people’s views - continue to vote for funding the war in Iraq and fail to speak out against aggression against Iran. On this critical issue of war or no war there is a huge disconnect between the voters and the people elected to represent them and their views.
Sixteen days before President Bush's January 28, 2003, State of the Union address in which he said that the US learned from British intelligence that Iraq had attempted to acquire uranium from Africa - an explosive claim that helped pave the way to war - the State Department told the CIA that the intelligence the uranium claims were based upon were forgeries, according to a newly declassified State Department memo.
The revelation of the warning from the closely guarded State Department memo is the first piece of hard evidence and the strongest to date that the Bush administration manipulated and ignored intelligence information in their zeal to win public support for invading Iraq.
On January 12, 2003, the State Department's Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR) "expressed concerns to the CIA that the documents pertaining to the Iraq-Niger deal were forgeries," the memo dated July 7, 2003, says.
Moreover, the memo says that the State Department's doubts about the veracity of the uranium claims may have been expressed to the intelligence community even earlier.
The revelation of the warning from the closely guarded State Department memo is the first piece of hard evidence and the strongest to date that the Bush administration manipulated and ignored intelligence information in their zeal to win public support for invading Iraq.
On January 12, 2003, the State Department's Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR) "expressed concerns to the CIA that the documents pertaining to the Iraq-Niger deal were forgeries," the memo dated July 7, 2003, says.
Moreover, the memo says that the State Department's doubts about the veracity of the uranium claims may have been expressed to the intelligence community even earlier.
America is the only country that went from barbarism to decadence without civilization in between.
---Oscar Wilde
“Why are we over there in Iraq?”
“To protect our freedoms.”
“How are the Iraqis threatening our freedoms?”
“They attacked us on 9/11.”
“If that is true, why are so many Americans against the war?”
“I don’t know, but I think Cindy Sheehan and all the other war protestors should be rounded up and shot.”
I was involved in this exchange with a co-worker about two months ago. I was utterly perplexed at how this individual managed the obvious cognitive dissonance created by thinking that we are fighting to protect our “freedoms” while simultaneously holding the notion that non-violent dissidents “should be rounded up and shot”.
---Oscar Wilde
“Why are we over there in Iraq?”
“To protect our freedoms.”
“How are the Iraqis threatening our freedoms?”
“They attacked us on 9/11.”
“If that is true, why are so many Americans against the war?”
“I don’t know, but I think Cindy Sheehan and all the other war protestors should be rounded up and shot.”
I was involved in this exchange with a co-worker about two months ago. I was utterly perplexed at how this individual managed the obvious cognitive dissonance created by thinking that we are fighting to protect our “freedoms” while simultaneously holding the notion that non-violent dissidents “should be rounded up and shot”.
New York City--New York-based Filipinos, students and youth flooded Bronx streets on Sunday, March 19th to denounce the US war on Iraq, a war that has killed approximately 150,000 Iraqis and nearly 2,300 US soldiers. In a march and rally organized by the ANSWER Coalition, a large contingent of Filipino youth, workers and solidarity friends bore placards and banners calling for "Money for Youth and Education, Not for War and Occupation" and "No to HR 4437, Yes to Pro-Immigrant Comprehensive Immigration Program."
Sensenbrenner-King House Resolution 4437 is the bill currently in Congress that, if passed, will criminalize almost 14 million undocumented immigrants, their families and any who assist them. "Anti-immigrant bills like HR 4437 are meant to scare and silence us," said Leah Obias, member of local Filipino youth organization Ugnayan ng mga Anak ng Bayan. "Meanwhile, military recruitment takes place in poor and immigrant neighborhoods where incentives like college tuition and faster immigration processes are dangled in front of us."
Sensenbrenner-King House Resolution 4437 is the bill currently in Congress that, if passed, will criminalize almost 14 million undocumented immigrants, their families and any who assist them. "Anti-immigrant bills like HR 4437 are meant to scare and silence us," said Leah Obias, member of local Filipino youth organization Ugnayan ng mga Anak ng Bayan. "Meanwhile, military recruitment takes place in poor and immigrant neighborhoods where incentives like college tuition and faster immigration processes are dangled in front of us."
On March 18, protesters gathered around the world to protest the war in Iraq.
The following is footage from the Columbus, Ohio demonstration, courtsey of Columbus IMC: http://cbusimc.org/node/586/play
The following is footage from the Columbus, Ohio demonstration, courtsey of Columbus IMC: http://cbusimc.org/node/586/play
As the country prepares for the third anniversary of the conflict in Iraq, scores of people poured into a town hall meeting in Charlottesville on Monday in protest of a war that polls show is losing the support of the American public.
“We must impeach [President] Bush, not because he is incompetent, but because he is a danger to the world,” said David Swanson, a Charlottesville resident who co-founded the After Downing Street anti-war coalition and serves on several anti-war committees.
Swanson was one of seven people who spoke to the packed audience at McLeod Auditorium in the University of Virginia School of Nursing as part of a panel sponsored by the Charlottesville Center for Peace and Justice.
Congressional candidate Al Weed, a veteran who staunchly opposes the war, was the first to address the crowd. “We have to understand that these soldiers are doing their job whether or not we approve of it,” Weed said. “It is we who failed in sending them there.”
“We must impeach [President] Bush, not because he is incompetent, but because he is a danger to the world,” said David Swanson, a Charlottesville resident who co-founded the After Downing Street anti-war coalition and serves on several anti-war committees.
Swanson was one of seven people who spoke to the packed audience at McLeod Auditorium in the University of Virginia School of Nursing as part of a panel sponsored by the Charlottesville Center for Peace and Justice.
Congressional candidate Al Weed, a veteran who staunchly opposes the war, was the first to address the crowd. “We have to understand that these soldiers are doing their job whether or not we approve of it,” Weed said. “It is we who failed in sending them there.”
Washington, D.C. - March 9 – Two peace activists were arrested last night for disrupting the House Appropriations Committee hearing on additional funding for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Mike Ferner and Ed Kinane of Voices for Creative Nonviolence, interrupted the hearing called to consider the $67 billion “supplemental” appropriation which was ultimately approved by the committee. Ferner and Kinane were released early this morning after being charged with disrupting a Congressional committee hearing.
During the hearing, one of several amendments to the funding bill was offered by Rep. James Walsh’s (R-NY), to shift funds earmarked for Veterans Administration hospitals. As soon as votes were cast on Walsh’s amendment, Ferner rose and told the committee members that as a former Navy Hospital Corpsman during the Viet Nam war, “the best way to stop creating more wounded and disabled veterans is to stop this war.”
During the hearing, one of several amendments to the funding bill was offered by Rep. James Walsh’s (R-NY), to shift funds earmarked for Veterans Administration hospitals. As soon as votes were cast on Walsh’s amendment, Ferner rose and told the committee members that as a former Navy Hospital Corpsman during the Viet Nam war, “the best way to stop creating more wounded and disabled veterans is to stop this war.”
Anniversaries are forced remembrances of events our busy lives otherwise leave forgotten. Past events rush forward through time to spend one day with us in the present, incessantly tapping our shoulders and asking: Remember me? Remember what happened on my day, and what has happened since because of me?
The third anniversary of the aerial “shock and awe” campaign that launched the U.S led war on Iraq will tap our shoulders this month. It will remind us that a fourth year of war stands eager to follow the same terrible path down which this country has been misled for three. War, such as it is, always stands ready and willing, always prepared to gather up its victims from the land of the living, and set them down in their early graves.
The third anniversary of the aerial “shock and awe” campaign that launched the U.S led war on Iraq will tap our shoulders this month. It will remind us that a fourth year of war stands eager to follow the same terrible path down which this country has been misled for three. War, such as it is, always stands ready and willing, always prepared to gather up its victims from the land of the living, and set them down in their early graves.
Acting with impunity and wielding the moral authority of pedophiles, Bush and his fellow Neocons have decimated what was left of America's good name while severely crippling our nation’s capacity for advancing and protecting human rights. Setting a sanguineous course in their reckless pursuit of wealth and power, they have afflicted humankind with their perverse agenda. With alarming consistency, these sociopaths have demonstrated their utter disregard for humanity and the well-being of our planet.