Global

Could not agree more with you article on 5-2-03. Great - have sent it to 200 friends. Some Canadian and some American.

Too bad this can not be read by the masses in the US of A.

Keep up the good work.

Roger Wilson
Ottawa, Canada

A representative of Kent State University in Ohio has revoked permits for a peaceful rally and an anti-war conference planned for the May 3-4 weekend on the KSU campus. Organizers of the events vow that they will continue as scheduled.

The Kent State Anti-War Committee (KSAWC) has been planning an anti-war rally tentatively scheduled for this Sunday, May 4 at 3:00 PM following the annual May 4 commemoration which begins at noon. However, the Kent State University (KSU) administration has felt it necessary to revoke the permit it had originally granted to KSAWC allowing the rally to take place on Manchester Field. The university cites extremely vague concerns of disturbance they believe will occur on May 4.

KSAWC will hold a press conference on the steps of the Memorial Athletic Convention Center (MACC) Friday, May 2 at 11 AM to discuss the recent events regarding the May 4 anti-war rally.

Akron, Ohio, April 28, 2003- People for Peace of Greater Akron will sponsor the Mothers and Others March (MOM) for Peace & Justice on Saturday May 10, 2003. Our rally begins at 2:00 p.m., at the corner of West. Exchange and Locust Streets (the southwest corner of Perkins square), in the shadow of Children's Hospital Medical Center of Akron. Thus, our rallying point symbolizes birth, life and hope. It evokes the bombed Iraqi hospitals. It also represents the veterans and civilians throughout the United States who lack adequate social services due to misplaced national priorities. Our rally will feature speakers from The National Organization for Women (NOW), the Akron Chapter of the Million Woman March, the Middle Eastern Student Association (MESA), the Campus Community Against War (CCAW), Students Taking Action for a New Democracy (STAND), the American Friends Service Committee, and The Way to Christ Ministries. We will march to Glendale Cemetery and conduct a short memorial service to honor the lost lives, both civilian and military, outside the Glendale Civil War Chapel. The featured speaker will be Mary Powell Reynolds, former nurse and Vietnam War veteran.

On April 30, 2003, Dylan Hallsmith, the founder of the Kids 4 Kucinich campaign, met with Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) in Washington. Kids 4 Kucinich is working to raise awareness among young people about the importance of getting involved in the election and supports Congressman Kucinich’s bid for the democratic nomination. Kucinich was enthusiastic about Kids 4 Kucinich, telling Hallsmith that he won his first political race in Cleveland, Ohio because junior high school kids had gone door to door with leaflets to support his campaign.

Hallsmith made several suggestions about how to involve young people in the campaign, and made plans to work over the next several months in support of the primary races in several key states. The Congressman invited Hallsmith to join him and his campaign staff for a lunch meeting with several people working on the national campaign strategy. All of the people at the meeting were excited that young people were actively involved.

I just received a call from Peggy Kidwell concerning her husband Joe "Hemp" Kidwell. Joe was an outspoken medical marijuana activist in Southern California who moved to Kentucky. In Kentucky, he was arrested for possession. He was not allowed to ring up his medical conditions or medical use. His wife is very distraught because he is being refused medical assistance in Federal Prison. The last time she saw him (last week), she said he was in terrible condition and the guards were refusing to get him medical help.

Please take a few moments to make some phone calls to Demand he get medical attention!

Sample Call: "It has come to my attention that Joe Kidwell #08559033 in Federal Prison Lexington, KY is being refused medical attention. I am very concerned about his well being and would appreciate it if you would in inquire why he is being denied this right. Please call me back to let me know he is being helped."

Prison Warden: George Synder 859-255-6812

US Senator Mitch McConnell 202-224-2544

KY Governor Paul Frankfort 502-564-2611

News Articles about Joe:

I want to congratulate Harvey Wasserman for a brilliant article on the military defeat in Iraq. I have been reading nothing but concessions to the White House lie that America had a military victory in Iraq. Even writers who are against the invasion are saying, "we may have won militarily but,..." I think Mr. Wasserman's article should be handed out door to door in America.

I am in Amman, Jordan, a volunteer at the human shield office. We have over 500 human shields from over 50 countries who have served in Baghdad. The stories they are bringing out of Iraq are dramatically different than the ones we see in the mainstream media. They are all, to a person, disgusted with the slaughter of Iraqis they witnessed. Call it a turkey shoot, shooting fish in a barrel... it is transparently a huge fat bully slapping the little skinny kid senseless and smashing his glasses, then bragging about his superiority. Shameful and pathetic.

Magdalena Emperatriz was kidnapped on May 31, 1982 during a counter-insurgency campaign carried out by the Salvadoran army. She was 15 days old. The campaign resulted in the killing of hundreds of civilians and the destruction of dozens of towns and hamlets as well as the abduction and disappearance of 54 small children.

In 1995, when Magdalena was 13 years old, she was located in an orphanage in San Salvador. The late Dr. Robert Kirschner, former director of the International Forensic Program of Physicians for Human Rights, identified the girl through an analysis of her and the putative father’s DNA. The two were finally reunited.

Dear Mr. Wasserman,

I just read your fine article (posted at CommonDreams) on "Bush's Military Defeat."

Coincidentally, this morning I heard NPR's Daniel Schorr comment that this was a "brilliant" military victory. (Isn't it a shame about how he's become such a voice of the government -- understandable considering NPR's leadership, which is made up of former Radio Free Europe bosses.)

I'm writing to say that there was no brilliant military victory.

It appears there was a deal made, likely long ago, when Rumsfeld was so confident that 10,000 troops could take the country. Saddam and his generals made virtually no defense of their country at all. No bridges blown up, roads torn up, streets barricaded, surface-to-air missiles fired, few tactical short-range missiles used, none of the at least 100 available fighter jets used. . . . And the Iraqis are courageous people, whose pilots would have risked their lives if they thought it would defend their country and, especially, their honor.

Eye sockets roll down the red carpets,
Mute zombie pedestrians push traffic stand buttons,
Flags lay flat on the backs of young oafs' t-shirts,
DJs pump up the crowd with yankee doodle dandy whistles,
Fat mayors and Century 21 realtors give speeches,
It's a Victory Parade for America,
Only the lemonade tastes bad,
and, no one is...

George W. Bush has fittingly stopped short of declaring victory in Iraq. He doesn't want to claim a definitive triumph because it would legally obligate the US to begin cleaning the place up and enforcing human rights obligations.

But in fact, the US attacks on Iraq and Afghanistan have been shattering defeats.

Let's count the ways:

At least three times US troops have fired live ammunition against angry crowds of "liberated" Iraqis. Far from "dancing in the streets" over the American presence, the people of Iraq have made it clear they want the US out just days after the removal of Saddam Hussein, who most Iraqis understand was put in power by the US in the first place.

US troops have now killed at least twenty Iraqis in demonstrations that appear to be nonviolent. Military claims of self-defense are reminiscent of lies that Kent State students fired weapons during the May, 1970 massacre there. Those four deaths put the US in an uproar; in Iraq, less than 1/10 the size of the US, the equivalent of 20 dead would be more than 200.