Alfred,
People concerned with unjust war being waged in our name are,
and should be, very concerned about the tense situation in Ukraine. Particularly
when the Commander in Chief goes on about the "aspirations" of the people of
Ukraine, and its territorial integrity, we have to take serious notice.
Say what? Concern for the "democratic aspirations" or the Iraqi people
was the justification for destroying Iraq eleven years ago.
But searching news reports won't get you to truth on this. Several articles
below uncover the basic big-power interests through which the U.S. decides who
at any point is "democratic," and therefore, to be controlled, and who is in a
"strategic" area and therefore to be squashed.
Trampling On Other Nations? The U.S. Empire Was Built On That
(March 10, Revolution):
“this crisis is driven by the ‘jockeying for
position and geopolitical advantage by rival imperialist powers—with the
potential to escalate into direct great-power confrontation.’ (See Ukraine: Not a ‘Democratic Uprising’ but a Clash Between
Predators.) In all this, people in the United States are being
systematically lied to and taught to identify—unthinkingly and uncritically—with
the interests of the U.S. ruling class that sits atop a world of vicious
exploitation, ferocious oppression, and environmental devastation.”
Bill
Blum, an adviser to WarCriminalsWatch.org in his Anti-Empire Report of March 7, looks at the National Endowment
for Democracy, “an agency created by the Reagan administration in 1983 to
promote political action and psychological warfare against states not in love
with US foreign policy, [and] is Washington’s foremost non-military tool for
effecting regime change,” succeeding the CIA in doing some of this work, with 65
projects in the Ukraine.
Different players, presidents, parties, yes, but
the same scenario holds: the fact that Russia and other oppressive global powers
are contending with the U.S. with their own drive to expand their piece of the
action doesn’t diminish for a minute the fact that when it comes to
“respecting the integrity of other countries,” nobody can touch the record of
the U.S.A. No US/NATO intervention!
The Iraq Project:
Reuters: Iraqi Protesters hold a banner during a demonstration
against the draft of the ''Al-Jafaari'' Personal Status Law during International
Women's Day in Baghdad March 8, 2014.
From January 29, 2014,
Haifa Zangana’s presentation to the European Parliament in Brussels, “US War Crimes: The Continuing Deterioration of Women’s Rights in
Iraq”:
“The regression in women’s situation is
devastating. I will focus on violence in the public sphere and how it became so
prominent that women have been forced to give up hard earned rights, such as
employment, freedom of movement, abolition of polygamy, and the right to
education and health services, seeking instead, protection for themselves and
their families.
“The occupation of Iraq in 2003 left Iraqi women in a
terrible state of regression on two interrelated levels. The first level is
relevant to women as citizens in an environment that lacks guarantees and
protection by a credible national criminal justice system embodying
international standards. This subjects women as well as men to violations of
their human rights.
“The second level is to do with gender-related
violence in public which is particularly relevant during occupation, war and
armed conflict, often providing the context for sexual abuse, rape, and
trafficking of women and girls.”
Suggestions for best articles, films, books, art,
music on how the U.S. destroyed Iraq can be emailed here. Spanish language
content welcome. We'll post the results next week, and continue it as an
on-going project. Resources for the Iraq Project continue to be collected here.
War Criminals Not Welcome at Rutgers, Say
Faculty
Condoleeza Rice is to be given an honorary degree, and
be the commencement speaker for 2014 at Rutgers University in New
Jersey.
However, not if the faculty gets its way. They passed a
resolution calling for the invitation to give the commencement speech to be
rescinded:
“Condoleezza Rice... played a prominent role in
(the Bush) administration’s effort to mislead the American people about the
presence of weapons of mass destruction,” according to the resolution. And she
“at the very least condoned the Bush administration’s policy of ‘enhanced
interrogation techniques’ such as waterboarding,” it said.
Rutgers President, Robert Barchi, says the University will not disinvite
Rice, citing "free speech," and "academic freedom." |
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 Thursday March 20 World Can't Wait
Conversation
March 19//20 is the
anniversary of "Shock & Awe" on Iraq. We'll be joined by Larry
Everest, author of Oil, Power & Empire: Iraq and the U.S. Global Agenda.
As a writer for Revolution, Larry was in Iraq, reporting after the Persian Gulf
War, and has written extensively since then about U.S. aggression towards
Iraq.
We are collecting questions now, so that we can make the most use
of our one hour conference call. Send your comments,
questions, or a particular area you'd
like to explore in the conversation.
Register for dial-in details.
World Can't Wait
Calendar:
Protest Henry
Kissinger
Thursday March 20: Chicago 5:30 pm
Hyatt Regency Hotel 151 East Wacker
Drive
Co-sponsored by
the 8th Day Center for Justice, Anti-War Committee - Chicago, Gay Liberation
Network, Illinois Coalition Against Torture, International Socialist
Organization, La Voz de los de Abajo, Neighbors for Peace, NW Indiana Vets for
Peace, Third Coast Society, United States Palestinian Community Network, Vietnam
Veterans Against the War, Voices for Creative Nonviolence, World Can't Wait –
Chicago (list in formation). For more info or to endorse, email
LGBTliberation@aol.com Facebook Event
Drones & Dirty Wars:
Prelude to Drone Days of Action 2014 Wednesday April 2 7:00 pm - 8:30
pm
Community Church 40 E. 35th Street, NYC & live webcast
featuring:
Madiha Tahir, film maker, Wounds of
Waziristan An independent
journalist reporting on conflict, culture and politics in Pakistan, she has
followed the U.S. drone attacks there for years.
Maria LaHood,
Senior Staff Attorney, Center for Constitutional
Rights who specializes in
international human rights litigation, seeking to hold government officials and
orporations accountable for torture, extrajudicial killings, and war crimes
abroad.
Carl Dix, Vietnam War resister & Revolutionary
Communist Party. A leader of protests against police brutality, stop-and-frisk,
& founder, with Cornel West, of the Stop Mass Incarceration Network.
Sponsored by kNOwdrones & World
Can't Wait, Action for Justice Committee / The Community Church of New York
Unitarian Universalist
Unmanned, directed by Casey Cooper Johnson, is a 20 minute
short feature film about a drone operator who comes to question his role. It's
well written & acted, and very suitable for high school audiences. If you'd
like a DVD for non-commercial use, please email us.
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