NEW WARS / OLD WARS – What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

NEW WARS / OLD WARS – What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

 

How Do You Bomb an Idea?

Horrific as they were, the shootings in San Bernardino and the bombings last year in Boston apparently had no operational connection with the Islamic State.  Instead, the individuals were motivated by their own idea of religious fervor, sharpened by a sense of grievance over the killings of many thousands of Muslims through the military intervention of the US and its allies.  It in no way justifies these domestic atrocities to recognize that the grievance has some justification.  More bombing or invasions in response to “terrorism” will only exacerbate the anger that leads individuals to turn to violence and suicidal despair.  Never mind the failure to examine our own historical role in mobilizing religious sentiment as a means of furthering US interests in the Middle East, as typified by our long-standing alliance with the fanatical ideology of the Wahhabi-Saudi monarchy.

 

Tom Engelhart writes:

After all, when James Holmes slaughtered 12 people in a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, in July 2012, and that December Adam Lanza killed 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, no one talked about World War IV and the president did not address us from the Oval Office.  Nor were Americans speaking obsessively and anxiously about their fear of being ambushed anywhere in their lives (though they were no less subject to that possibility than they are now).  The more than 1,000 “mass shootings” and 1,300 dead since Sandy Hook, and the 355 such incidents in which at least four people were injured or killed so far this year alone, almost none connected to Islamic terrorism and many minor indeed, weren’t considered firefights in World War IV and, despite the obvious dangers, the national security state wasn’t put on high alert to protect us…  If you want to be fearful of anything, don’t get into your vehicle, since that’s where 32,000 Americans die every year.  Above all, don’t arm yourself to fight off the Islamic State in your local restaurant, supermarket, or workplace, since the figures clearly indicate that it’s so much more likely you’ll pick up that weapon in a depressed or angry mood and kill yourself (or someone else), or that your toddler will find it unlocked and shoot you.

 

Washington to Whomever:

PLEASE FIGHT THE ISLAMIC STATE FOR US

In the many strategies proposed to defeat the Islamic State (IS) by presidential candidates, policymakers, and media pundits alike across the American political spectrum, one common element stands out: someone else should really do it. The United States will send in planes, advisers, and special ops guys, but it would be best -- and this varies depending on which pseudo-strategist you cite -- if the Arabs, Kurds, Turks, Sunnis, and/or Shias would please step in soon and get America off the hook… Expecting the Gulf Arab states to fight IS also ignores the complex political relationship between those nations and Islamic fundamentalism generally. The situation is clearest in Saudi Arabia, where the secular royal family holds power only with the shadowy permission of Wahhabist religious leaders… Secretary of State John Kerry can join the calls for the use of “indigenous forces” as often as he wants, but the reality is clear: Washington’s policy in Syria and Iraq is bound to fail, no matter who does the fighting.     More

 

 

US-Backed Forces Fight Turkey-Backed Forces in Northern Syria

Groups that have received support from the United States or its allies have turned their guns on each other in a northern corner of Syria, highlighting the difficulties of mobilizing forces on the ground against Islamic State.  As they fought among themselves before reaching a tenuous ceasefire on Thursday, Islamic State meanwhile edged closer to the town of Azaz that was the focal point of the clashes near the border with Turkey.  Combatants on one side are part of a new U.S.-backed alliance that includes a powerful Kurdish militia, and to which Washington recently sent military aid to fight Islamic State.  Their opponents in the flare-up include rebels who are widely seen as backed by Turkey and who have also received support in a U.S.-backed aid program.  More

 

Pentagon Seeks New Foreign Bases "to fight ISIS"

As American intelligence agencies grapple with the expansion of the Islamic State beyond its headquarters in Syria, the Pentagon has proposed a new plan to the White House to build up a string of military bases in Africa, Southwest Asia and the Middle East.  The bases could be used for collecting intelligence and carrying out strikes against the terrorist group’s far-flung affiliates…  senior military officials have told the White House that the network of bases would serve as hubs for Special Operations troops and intelligence operatives who would conduct counterterrorism missions for the foreseeable future. The plan would all but ensure what Pentagon officials call an “enduring” American military presence in some of the world’s most volatile regions.   More

 

Syria rebels agree talks with government - but pre-conditions, disunity undercut prospects

The summit ended in confusion on Thursday amid reports that Ahrar al-Sham, one of the biggest Islamist rebel groups fighting on the ground, had walked out over the inclusion of what they called “pro-regime” figures in the talks.  A joint statement was issued at the end of two days of talks, stating that President Assad must have no role in any transitional government - there were conflicting reports as to whether Ahrar al-Sham had signed.  Though the statement reiterated the delegates’ opposition to Assad retaining any power, it did say that the opposition is “ready to negotiate with representatives of the Syrian regime…within a specific timeframe that would be agreed on with the United Nations”.  The conference succeeded in electing a 33-member Supreme Council for Negotiations, which met on Friday to choose who will meet representatives of Assad’s government in the first 10 days of January.   More

 

Detailed scorecard. . .

All You Need to Know About Syria’s Opposition Conferences

This rush of political meetings is a direct consequence of the agreement struck in Vienna on November 14, when a group of states calling themselves the International Syria Support Group issued a joint communiqué laying out their vision of how to resolve the conflict in Syria. The group included all the major players in Syria, such as the United States, Russia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Qatar. Their communiqué called for negotiations between Assad and the opposition as soon as possible, with a target date of January 1. This very early date was apparently backed by the United States and intended to gain momentum and add a sense of urgency to the process.    More

 

A Special Relationship: The United States is teaming up with Al Qaeda, again

In the spring and summer of last year, a coalition of Syrian rebel groups calling itself Jaish al-Fatah — the Army of Conquest — swept through the northwestern province of Idlib, posing a serious threat to the Assad regime. Leading the charge was Al Qaeda’s Syrian branch, known locally as Jabhat al-Nusra (the Nusra Front). The other major component of the coalition was Ahrar al-Sham, a group that had formed early in the anti-Assad uprising and looked for inspiration to none other than [Afghaninstan mujahid] Abdullah Azzam… Even as we have continued our desultory bombing campaign against the Islamic State, Ahrar al-Sham and Nusra are creeping closer and closer to international respectability. A month after the London Eleven meeting, a group of scholars from the Brookings Institution published an op-ed making the case for Ahrar al-Sham: “Designating [the] group as a terrorist organization might backfire by pushing it completely into Al Qaeda’s camp.” (The think tank’s recent receipt of a multiyear, $15 million grant from Qatar was doubtless coincidental.)   More

 

TIGER BY THE TAIL: Saudi Arabia and Violent Islam

It seems that there has been a rapidly building expression of international disquiet about the relationship between the ideology of Salafi Jihadism and Wahhabism, the state religion of Saudi Arabia (and—less well-known—of Qatar.)…  It’s not as if various national intelligence agencies haven’t become aware of the capability of Salafi jihadism only in the last year or so: in its current version, it’s been around for the last 30 years and more. Indeed, the West rode the Salafi jihadi tiger to defeat the Soviet drive to seize Afghanistan. Once oil brought enormous revenues, Saudi Arabia exported Wahhabism through formal and informal means, spreading first across the Middle East, the subcontinent, and into Central Asia, at the same time, pushing across the Maghreb, the Sahel, and into West Africa; and from Somalia down the Swahili coast of East Africa toward South Africa…   In the face of such a violent puritanical ideology, one might have hoped that politicians would do something. Thus far, the main thing that they have done is to continue to sell weapons to Saudi Arabia.     More

 

German vice-chancellor accuses Saudi Arabia of funding Islamic extremism in the West

Sigmar Gabriel said that the Saudi regime is funding extremist mosques and communities that pose a danger to public security.

“We have to make clear to the Saudis that the time of looking away is over,” Mr Gabriel told Bild am Sonntag newspaper in an interview.

“Wahhabi mosques all over the world are financed by Saudi Arabia. Many Islamists who are a threat to public safety come from these communities in Germany.”   The allegation that Saudi Arabia has funded mosques with links to Islamist terrorism in the West is not new. But it is highly unusual for a Western leader to speak out so directly against the West’s key Arab ally.  More

 

Former Drone Pilots Denounce 'Morally Outrageous' Program

In interviews with NBC News, three former servicemen — who together have 15 years of military drone experience — decried the civilian cost of drone strikes and called on President Obama to "turn this around" before he leaves office.  "We were very callous about any real collateral damage," said Michael Haas, 29, who worked as both a drone operator and instructor. "Whenever that possibility came up, most of the time it was a 'guilt by association' or sometimes we didn't even consider other people that were on screen."  … American drone strikes have increased exponentially under President Obama; in Pakistan alone, the current administration has launched 370 strikes compared to the Bush administration's 51, according to the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, which tracks the attacks. Add Somalia and Yemen (using New America Foundation data), and President Obama has launched 894 percent more drone strikes than did his predecessor.     More

 

Air Force to Double Number of Drone Squadrons

The decision would add about 3,000 personnel, including at least 700 more pilots, 700 sensor operators, and other maintenance and crew. There are currently eight squadrons.  Gen. Herbert Carlisle, head of U.S. Air Combat Command at Langley Air Force Base in Virginia, says adding squadrons to potential sites such as Langley and Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona could help connect drone operations with intelligence-gathering units.  He says the Air Force will work with the Pentagon and Congress to get the needed funding.   More

 

Combating the Islamic State: Turkey the Spoiler

Turkey has disrupted efforts to isolate and weaken the Islamic State (ISIS or IS) since last year. Having the longest border with Syria, Turkey has been a serious obstacle in dealing with the military challenge IS poses as well as the consequences of IS brutality and the Syrian regime’s ruthlessness… Making matters worse, Turkish smugglers, customs officials, and even intelligence operatives thrived off illicit imports of oil and refined fuels from the Islamic State. Ankara did precious little to interdict this lucrative trade. Although only a small portion of Turkey’s overall oil imports, the trade generated significant funding for IS to meet the basic military and economic needs of its self-styled state… Turkey continues to function as a virtual thruway for IS recruits from abroad… Turkey has intercepted dribs and drabs of such IS wannabes, but this has been a trifle compared to those getting through. Worse still, Erdogan’s Islamist ruling AKP Party has largely turned a blind eye to extensive IS recruiting in more militantly Islamic areas of Turkey itself, according to an official of Turkey’s Human Rights Association.   More

 

US AIRFORCE ANALYST: How Turkey Ambushed Russia's Su-24

Looking at the detailed Russian timeline of what happened—as well as the much less detailed Turkish radar maps—I’d say the evidence looks pretty strong that the Turks were setting up an ambush. They certainly weren’t doing anything that would point to a routine air patrol along the border. Their actions in no way represented a routine, all day long type of patrol… I do believe that the F-16s never issued any warnings, because it would be astonishing if they did. Here they went to all the trouble of tanking up and flying at a very low altitude, stretching their fuel endurance just to stay out of radar coverage of the Russians and the Syrians, and then why would they suddenly announce that they were there by warning the fighters when they had so obviously set up a situation where they were hiding? The ground-control station in Turkey probably did issue warnings, but they may have been warnings that were intended not to be received.   More

 

What Are Turkish Troops Doing in Northern Iraq?

Last week, several hundred Turkish troops, backed by tanks and artillery, rolled across the Iraqi border and took up positions near the city of Mosul, which has been held, since last year, by ISIS. The Turks have since reinforced the battalion with warplanes and intelligence officers…  The Iraqi Prime Minister, Haider al-Abadi, protested loudly. So has the United States. So what happened? And why are the Turks sending their troops into the volatile country, anyway?  … As much as any other leader in the region, Erdoğan has pushed vigorously for the removal of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. To see this through, the Turkish government has backed the most extreme rebel groups, including ISIS, allowing and even helping foreign fighters to come into Turkey and cross into Syria. ISIS would never have metastasized as virulently as it has without Turkey’s assistance… The Turkish troops that rolled across the border last week took up positions in the town of Bashiqa, a few miles outside of Mosul. The public reason given by the Turks is that the troops were sent to bolster a contingent of forces that was already there to train a Sunni militia. But no one really believes that.     More

 

Defense Contractors Cite “Benefits” of Escalating Conflicts in the Middle East

Major defense contractors Raytheon, Oshkosh, and Lockheed Martin assured investors at a Credit Suisse conference in West Palm Beach this week that they stand to gain from the escalating conflicts in the Middle East.  Lockheed Martin Executive Vice President Bruce Tanner told the conference his company will see “indirect benefits” from the war in Syria, citing the Turkish military’s recent decision to shoot down a Russian warplane.  The incident, Tanner said, heightens the risk for U.S. military operations in the region, providing “an intangible lift because of the dynamics of that environment and our products in theater.” He also stressed that the Russian intervention would highlight the need for Lockheed Martin-made F-22s and the new F-35 jets.  And for “expendable” products, such as a rockets, Tanner added that there is increased demand, including from the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia because of the war in Yemen.   More

 

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ISRAEL, PALESTINE AND THE US

Trump announced last week that he was planning a trip to see Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu this month – and then promptly cancelled his plan “until after he is elected president.”  Netanyahu was at pains to declare that he did nothing to discourage Trump’s visit.

 

Trump is no more racist than mainstream Israeli policy

Israeli politicians are joining the global pushback against Donald Trump’s anti-Muslim racism. But guess what other country bans Muslim immigration?  Just days after Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump announced that he will be visiting Israel by the end of December, the billionaire populist called for a “total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States.” … Racism — and various forms of discrimination against Muslims, Arabs, and Palestinians — is just as rampant here in Israel as it is inside the Trump camp, if not more so. Except in Israel, racism and ethno-religious discrimination is not only accepted rhetoric in the halls of power and the sidewalk cafes of Tel Aviv, it is also long-standing formal state policy.  Trump called to ban Muslims from entering the United States. In Israel, there is already a law banning Muslims from immigrating — the “Law of Return” which gives that right to Jews alone. Even those who were born here but fled, or whose families lived here for generations upon generations, are forbidden from returning.   More

 

Trump’s religion test for immigrants is standard practice in Israel

Israel practices many of the policies that Trump wants the U.S. to implement.  For instance, Israeli airport security officials routinely ask travelers what their religion is and often bar Muslims as a result. Last night, Chris Matthews was enraged by Trump’s recommendation that American immigration officials ask travelers if they are Muslim. But our own State Department has blasted Israel for denying “entry or exit without explanation”– notably to “those whom Israeli authorities suspect of being of Arab, Middle Eastern, or Muslim origin.”   More

 

U.S. donors gave settlements more than $220 million in tax-exempt funds over five years

Private U.S. donors are massively funding Israeli settlements by using a network of tax-exempt nonprofits, which funnelled more than $220 million (about 850 million shekels) to Jewish communities in the West Bank in 2009-2013 alone, a Haaretz investigation has found.

The funding is being used for anything from buying air conditioners to supporting the families of convicted Jewish terrorists, and comes from tax-deductible donations made to around 50 U.S.-based groups. Thanks to their status as nonprofits, these organizations are not taxed on their income and donations made to them are tax deductible – meaning the U.S. government is incentivizing and indirectly supporting the Israeli settlement movement, even though it has been consistently opposed by every U.S. administration for the past 48 years.   More

 

Poll: Evangelical Republicans are Bibi’s Biggest American Fans

Despite his renewed courtship of Democrats (including an embarrassingly eager-to-please Center for American Progress), Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has widened the increasingly striking partisan divide over his popularity in the United States. However, there is one bloc of American voters on whom the Israeli prime minister can rely for consistent support—self-described evangelical Christian Republicans.   The percentage of Democrats who view Netanyahu unfavorably rose from 22% to 34% over the past year, according to a new survey of U.S. opinion towards Israel, Palestine, and the Middle East released Friday… The divergence between evangelical Republicans and other voters, including non-evangelical Republicans, was most striking on the question of whether America should pick sides in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. When asked whether the United States should lean toward one of the two sides, or neither side, when mediating the conflict, 30% of respondents overall said that the U.S. should lean toward Israel, as compared to 66% who believed the U.S. should remain neutral. Among all Republicans, 45% believe the U.S. should support Israel over the Palestinians. But when you remove evangelicals from that group, the number goes down to 36% (with 60% saying the U.S. should remain neutral), consistent with the general public.

A full 77% of evangelical Republicans, on the other hand, want the U.S. to support Israel over the Palestinians.     More

 

While Massachusetts' lawmakers visit “democratic” Israel. . .

Israeli Occupation Court Sentences Palestinian Legislator for Thought Crimes

An Israeli court sentenced, Sunday, democratically-elected leftist Palestinian legislator, and a senior political leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), Khaleda Jarrar to 15 months imprisonment.  The army kidnapped the legislator on April 2nd of this year, and on April 5th, she was sentenced for six months imprisonment, under arbitrary Administrative Detention orders, without charges.

On April 15, the Israeli military prosecutor’s office filed an indictment of twelve charges against Jarrar, including what it called “membership in an illegal organization,” in addition to “holding and participating in protests” in solidarity with Palestinian political prisoners.   More

 

WARS ABROAD, WARS AT HOME

WARS ABROAD, WARS AT HOME

 

What is Fascism?

No one is seriously claiming that Trump consciously models himself on past fascist leaders such as Germany’s Hitler, Spain’s Franco or Italy’s Mussolini – however much Trump’s public mugging for the cameras appears to mimic the latter’s jaw jutting scowl.  However, looking at historical fascism as a socio-political phenomenon does reveal some parallels with what is happening in the US today.  In each case there was a crisis of legitimacy of the system which put the continued rule of the dominant political/economic elite in doubt.  In response, these elites mobilized the fears and prejudices of insecure and declining classes to whip up nationalism, racism and chauvinism in defense of the status quo.  In each case, the forces unleashed by the economic elites broke free from their control to assume a power of their own in national politics.  Thus contemporary Trumpism is in effect the logical descendant of the Republican “southern strategy” begun under President Nixon in the 1970’s.  All the hand-wringing of the Republican elites over Trump’s outrageous statements cannot disguise the fact that he is the heir of their own policies.

 

Trump is the Outcome of Long-term Republican Strategy

When large swaths of the conservative movement resisted the notion that the GOP needed to widen its appeal to minorities, and could win by appealing to a broader base of whites, it was liberals who warned that these voters would drag the party into a racial abyss.

Trump is the fulfillment of that prophecy. Better than any Republican candidate in recent memory, he intuits the mood of the disaffected Republican electorate. Or rather, because he’s almost entirely uninterested in straddling party factions, he gives voice to their paranoia and racism without massaging it the way the pretenders to his lead do. It’s possible to imagine a more traditional politician, like Ted Cruz, taking up Trump’s mantle without ever making Reince Priebus or House Speaker Paul Ryan angry, but their platforms would look practically identical. This is the main reason GOP protestations, five months after Trump reached the top of the polls, ring so hollow.   More

 

Donald Trump’s “Ban Muslims” Proposal Is Not Far Outside the U.S. Mainstream

Professional political analysts have underestimated Trump’s impact by failing to take into account his massive, long-standing cultural celebrity, which commands the attention of large numbers of Americans who usually ignore politics (which happens to be the majority of the population), which in turn generates enormous, highly charged crowds pulsating with grievance and rage. That means that even if he fails to win a single state, he’s powerfully poisoning public discourse about multiple marginalized minority groups: in particular, inciting and inflaming what was already volatile anti-Muslim animosity in the U.S… All that said, it’s important not to treat Trump as some radical aberration. He’s essentially the American id, simply channeling pervasive sentiments unadorned with the typical diplomatic and PR niceties designed to prettify the prevailing mentality… Whatever else you want to say about him, Trump is a skillful entertainer, and good entertainers — like good fascist demagogues — know their audience.   More

 

Trump proposal to ban Muslims from US relies on debunked poll from pro-Israel think tank

Yesterday Donald Trump released a shocking proposal to bar Muslims from entering the United States. Trump’s idea rests on research from the Center for Security Policy, a neocon think tank run by Frank Gaffney who has a long history of pro-Israel advocacy and has been called “one of America’s most notorious Islamophobes” by the Southern Poverty Law Center… Gaffney’s Center for Security Policy has been at the center of the effort to bring anti-Muslim bigotry into the American political mainstream, and Gaffney and other pro-Israeli activists have played a central role in several notable anti-Muslim campaigns.  As Donna Nevel and Elly Bulkin’s research has revealed the same funders are supporting these attacks on Muslims are also funding right-wing Israel advocacy.  More

 

Deepening Inequality Driving US Middle Class into Oblivion

Based on the definition used in the Pew Research Center report released Wednesday, the share of American adults living in middle-income households—that is, with an income that is two-thirds to double that of the overall median household income, or $42,000 to $126,000 annually in 2014—has fallen from a high of 61 percent in 1971 to 50 percent in 2015.  At the same time, the share living in the upper-income tier jumped from 14 percent to 21 percent over the same period, and the share in the lower-income tier rose from 25 percent to 29 percent.  "The hollowing of the middle has proceeded steadily for four decades, and it may have reached a tipping point," the Pew study suggests. Furthermore, a "closer look at the shift out of the middle reveals that a deeper polarization is underway in the American economy."    More

 

Richest 20 People Have More Wealth Than Half Of All Americans

According to a new report by the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS) America’s 20 wealthiest people now own more wealth than the bottom half of the American population combined. IPS calculates the top 20 in the Forbes 400 richest list own more wealth than 152 million people in 57 million households.   Beyond the top 20 the numbers get even worse. The IPS report estimates that the entire Forbes 400 Richest Americans list own more wealth than the bottom 61% of the country — 194 million people — combined. IPS can only estimate due to widespread use among the rich of offshore tax havens, which means inequality could actually be more severe.  The Forbes 400 richest Americans are not just wealthy relative to other Americans, but to people all over the world. As IPS notes, the total amount of wealth estimated to be held by the Forbes 400 is $2.34 trillion, an amount that surpasses the GDP of India with a population that exceeds 1 billion people… Many members of the Forbes 400 have amassed wealth in their lifetime through successful companies and innovation. But all of the Forbes 400 have also benefited enormously from a system of tax, trade, and regulatory rules tipped in favor of wealth holders at the expense of wage earners.  Tax policies, for instance, routinely favor capital income over wage income, and these policies disproportionately benefit the Forbes 400, especially those working in finance.   More

 

US cops trained to use lethal Israeli tactics

Officers from 15 US police agencies recently traveled to the Middle East for lessons from their Israeli counterparts.  For 10 days in late November, police officers from New York, Miami, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s department, the Drug Enforcement Agency and US Customs and Border Protection observed the daily operations of the Jerusalem police, the Israeli Border Police and the Shin Bet secret service, all of which play a vital role in administering Israel’s system of control over Palestinians.  The training junket was hosted by the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs (JINSA), a neoconservative think tank that claims to have organized Israeli training sessions for some 9,500 law enforcement officials since 2004 through its Law Enforcement Exchange Program (LEEP).  More

 

On Int'l Human Rights Day: Climate Change is the Biggest Human Rights Issue There Is

MARY ROBINSON: Human rights absolutely relate to climate change, because climate change is undermining human rights all over the world and undermining people’s livelihoods, undermining people’s health, forcing people to leave their homes because of drought or flooding—often, actually, also causing them loss of life. It is having a very negative impact. And that’s been recognized by the Human Rights Council. So, even if there was nothing in this agreement—which I hope there will be—about human rights, human rights is there anyway as very, very central to our approach to climate change. To me, it’s the biggest human rights issue in the world.   More

 

“War Is Not The Answer!”

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VIGIL LAST NIGHT:  “War Is Not The Answer!”

 

Cole Harrison of Mass Peace Action introduced DPPer Hayat Imam at Welcome Refugees - War is Not the Answer rally,

Boston Common, Dec 10, 2015. Joseph Gerson photo

 

Hayat said (excerpt):

Fifty years ago, along with millions of other immigrants in our history, I too came to these shores as a young Muslim woman. Over the years, I learned, and I educated others; I worked, and I employed others; I trusted, and I was trusted; I loved you, and you loved me back; I made a home here, and I felt at home. But, today, I hear, if I go abroad, I will not be welcome to come back again to my country. I want to tell my fellow-American Donald Trump, that this is NOT OKAY!    …Bombings only cause suffering for innocent men, women and children. In the name of the millions of suffering Syrians who have lost everything, we ask for a complete ceasefire from all sides and diplomatic efforts to get every key group in Syria to the table for dialogue.  It may be hard for us to believe this, but Syrians have the right, and the means, to sort out their own problems… In the meantime, those Syrians who have weathered so much and sacrificed everything to come to our country, we welcome you here!  More

 

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Saturday, December 12

Jobs, Justice, Climate: Rally to Defend New England’s Future!

1-3pm, Boston Common

Without further dramatic action by our nation and others, much of the world will face, among other disasters, the prospect of war and violence as drought, floods, and hunger affect millions more people. Climate disruption is a threat multiplier, and peace and justice activists are on the front lines of protest and advocacy for real solutions.

 

What happens in the negotiating rooms, though important, isn't what matters most. What matters is what happens in the streets.  So we must build an unstoppable grassroots movement that connects peace, racial and social justice, and climate action.  

On December 12, people will come together from across New England to show the world that true climate leadership means a brighter future for all. Can you join us? 

 

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	Friday, December 11, 2015 VFP Issues Press Release In Response to President Obama's Speech This Week VFP is calling on the President to: Make diplomacy the number one priority with all interested parties and without pre-conditions. Stop the airstrikes because the Sunni leaders and militia, who President Obama acknowledges must be persuaded to break with ISIL, see the U.S. as acting as the air force for the Kurds and Shia against Sunnis. Bombing Sunnis will not help mend this relationship. Stop the slippery slope of sending troops to the fight. Stop sending more weapons that fuel the conflict, killing more civilians and ignoring human rights violations committed by “allies.” Initiate a new effort at building a broad diplomatic solution in the United Nations to use diplomatic and financial pressure to stop countries from financing and arming ISIL and other fighters in Syria. An arms embargo on all sides should be on the long-term agenda. Massively increase humanitarian efforts through the UN and any other means. The United States should welcome more refugees from Syria and other war torn nations, and should donate generously to United Nations refugee resettlement programs.  <Full Press Release> Back to Top Election Results Available Next Week Ballots have been counted by volunteers of the St Louis Chapter 61.  Because of the delay of members receiving his/her ballot, we are extending publishing the final count until next week to allow time for all ballots to be received. A special blast will be sent with the election results. Back to Top VFP Jeju Island Delegation Update There are numerous articles w/pictures about VFP's presence in Korea.   The police were happy to see the delegation leave.  Islanders received the delegation warmly and their solidarity with local residents who are opposing a U.S. Navy deep water port was appreciated. The Korean left, anti-capitalist, anti-imperialist resistance has been very strong in Jeju for many years, decades, and they have suffered for it, much like the Palestinians. The delegation had a great deal of respect for the deep experience of people,  met and earned much from them. Photos courtesy of Ellen Davidson: https://picasaweb.google.com/106906066409718302863/JejuIsland12515 https://picasaweb.google.com/106906066409718302863/JejuIsland12615 Back to Top Contact Your Member of Congress and Tell Them:  No Riders on the Federal Budget! Congress has extended its deadline to pass a federal budget until Wed, Dec 16.  We can use these days to insist we want a bill with NO policy riders refusing entry to Syrian refugees and other right wing agendas. Even without the riders, this is not a budget we want.  It still heavily prioritizes military spending over human needs.  There are real alternatives.  One good example is the "People's Budget" which is proposed each year by the Congressional Progressive Caucus. Tell your Representative and Senators you want a clean budget bill.  No riders de-funding! Congressional Switchboard: (202) 224-3121 Find your Member of Congress Back to Top Travel Opportunities for Activists VFP January, 2016 Cuba Tour Sold Out! We will lead one final tour to the island in March 2016. Here is the March itinerary. http://cubaexplorer.com/tours/jrv/ We take just 15 people, providing an intimate chance to get to know the Cuban people and our fellow veterans Our tours are led by VFP member and Cuban documentary film maker Jim Ryerson, who has been to the island more than 25 times. jim@travelingman.net 323-436-5223 Location Sponsored by Dates Contact Cuba Code Pink Feb 2016 Visit the Code Pink website Việt Nam Việt Nam's  Hoa Binh (Peace) Chapter 160 Mar 14- 30, 2016 For more information, please email Nadya Williams Cuba Code Pink May 2016 Visit the Code Pink website Palestine Interfaith Peacebuilders May 21 - Jun 1 2016 For more information email esiegel@ifpb.org Columbia Witness for Peace Jul 20-30, 2016 For more information email or call:  Patrick Bonner:  323-563-7940  pkbonner@earthlink.net Palestine Interfaith Peacebuilders Jul 16- 29 2016 For more information email esiegel@ifpb.org Palestine Interfaith Peacebuilders Oct   24-Nov     6 2016 For more information email esiegel@ifpb.org Back to Top		In This Issue: VFP Issues Press Release In Response to President Obama's Speech This Week Election Results Available Next Week VFP Jeju Island Delegation Update Contact Your Member of Congress and Tell Them:  No Riders on the budget bill! Travel Opportunities for Activists Consider a Lifetime Membership in VFP We Need Your Story of Why You Are a Veteran For Peace! VFP 2016 Annual Spring Tour to Viet Nam Member/Chapter Highlights Save the Dates:  Upcoming VFP Endorsed Actions/Events Consider a Lifetime Membership in VFP If you are not a LIFETIME member, please consider becoming one. Perhaps you have a deserving member in your chapter, a family member, or a veteran who is not yet a member whom you would like to honor with a LIFETIME membership. As LIFETIME members we are bound together with the 30-year history of VFP and to LIFETIME members who have gone before us and those yet to come. Signup Online for a Lifetime Membership If you need additional information, contact Doug Zachary by email doug@veteransforpeace.org or by phone (Home 512-549-3530 or Cell 512-629-3812) for more information. Back to Top We Need Your Story of Why You Are a Veteran For Peace! The personal story of a Veterans For Peace member is the most powerful tool we have to educate others on the reality of war. If you are a current member, help us by sending: Why you are part of VFP, written in first person About 200 words A photo of yourself (minimum 200 pixels) Back to Top VFP 2016 Annual Spring Tour to Viet Nam Dates of travel:  Mar 14 - Mar 30, 2016 Each year since 2012, members of Việt Nam's Hoa Binh (Peace) Chapter 160 of Veterans For Peace invite up to 20 veterans, non-veterans, spouses & peace activists to come to Việt Nam for an insider's 2-week tour. The Hoa Binh chapter is the first & only overseas VFP chapter of American veterans living in Việt Nam! The mission of the tour is to address the legacies of America’s war, as well as visit a beautiful country & form lasting ties of friendship & peace.  For more information, email Nadya Williams @ nadyanomad@gmail.com Back to Top Member/Chapter Highlights VFP-UK members throw down their medals on Downing Street this week.  <Watch video> Gary Butterfield and Gil Field, members of the San Diego Chapter 91 along with two local high school students sought out homeless veterans with little or no sleeping gear to hand out sleeping bags.  Chapter 91 call their efforts, Compassion Campaign. Read the high school student's reactions to the experience.   Back to Top Save the Dates:  Upcoming VFP Endorsed Actions/Events Dec 12 - Memorial Service for Michael Clift in San Diego, CA Dec 16 - Book Reading: We Gotta Get Out of This Place in Madison WI Dec 24 - Anniversary of Christmas Truce of 1914 Jan 18, 2016 - MLK Day Mar 27- April 2, 2016 - Shut Down Creech AFB Apr 15 - GDAMS (Global Day Against Military Spending) Apr 22 - Earth Day May 14-21, 2016 - Sam's 5th Annual Ride for Peace, Raleigh, NC to Washington, DC May 30 — Memorial Day (Observed) Aug 11-15, 2016 - VFP Annual Convention at Clark Kerr campus of University of California Berkeley, CA Sep 21—International Day of Peace Nov 11 - Armistice Day Back to Top Did you know? In 2005, the Dallas convention was most notable for the launching of Cindy Sheehan and Camp Casey in Crawford, Texas.
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We Won't Give Up the Fight!

We Won't Give Up the Fight!

 

See the many photos with this report at   http://space4peace.blogspot.jp/2015/12/we-wont-give-up-fight.html 

 

We were up early yesterday morning and on the road to Camp Schwab where there was a 6:00 am gate blockage against the early construction work on the proposed Marine airfield twin-runways that will be plunked down in pristine Oura Bay.

 

Our Veterans For Peace delegation was warmly received by the more than 100 Okinawan citizens who were already gathering in front of the gate when we arrived.  Many of them were elderly and protest leaders had them chanting and singing even before the sun rose.  We were given tiny folding seats in the front row of the festive crowd and we tied our banners to thin plastic poles that held aloft a blue tarp used to protect from the rain and sun.

 

Just after 7:00 am the Japanese police (from Tokyo and boarding in an expensive ritzy resort nearby) began hauling the gate blockers away one by one.  Our VFP contingent locked arms and spread out flat on the ground.  We were the last to be taken but were carried away just like the rest of the folks.  They stowed us in a make shift holding pen behind a couple police buses and after about 15 minutes let us go once the gate was cleared for the waiting construction vehicles.

 

The Okinawan peace activists quickly moved down the road a bit to the main base gate and proceeded to sit in the road blocking that one.  Police pushed enough people aside to open one lane so cars could leave the base and again our VFP crew was positioned in the front row so the many American GI's leaving the base could not miss our white faces and VFP attire.  I saw one Marine give us the thumps up as his car left the base.

 

One 87 year old woman we met at the gate told us her story - she was burned severely by American flamethrowers during the 1945 US invasion of Okinawa.  A US military officer once told her, "Killing is my business."  She had fire in her eyes and is much adored by the protest crowd.

 

We were next loaded up and driven an hour further north to Takae where even another US base is located.  This one is called the northern drill area for jungle warfare where three kinds of helicopters are being deployed (including the controversial Osprey which has often crashed).  This area is a subtropical forest and mountain area that the military has used since Vietnam for jungle training.  Sixty percent of Okinawa's drinking water comes from this region.  It was only in recent years that the small local village called Higashi (population 150) learned that the US had tested Agent Orange in the surrounding forest during the Vietnam years.  Dow Chemical (which manufactured Agent Orange) drums were uncovered in the area.  The locals tried to get the water tested but US forces interfered with that process.  Fox and turtles in the area have been found with deformities.

 

We jumped back on our bus and returned to Camp Schwab just in time for what is called "Henoko University" which was a group of about 50 folks again blocking the construction gate.  We were invited to join them and each of us were asked to tell a bit about our time in the military.  I talked about my own conversion from a young militarist to a peace activist largely because of the protests at Travis AFB in California where I was stationed and the impact of those regular vigils on the GI's inside the base.  I suggested that they are touching more hearts than they could ever imagine and that the sparks from their non-violent protests are causing many inside the base gates to open their minds and debate the issues.  So keep protesting!

 

At 5:00 pm we arrived in Nago City to meet with Mayor Inamine who a few of us from VFP had met in Washington last year when Okinawan leaders traveled to DC to lobby against the Henoko runway project.  Mayor Inamine stood by a huge map of the city on his office wall and pointed out four areas where he is using his powers to block requests for base expansion operations.  He reported that 80% of the people in Okinawa are opposed to US bases and that he and the current Gov. Onaga were elected because of their opposition.  The mayor reported that Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Washington were trying to drown Okinawan citizens demands - it's a classic power struggle which is now before Japan's Supreme Court for resolution.  The question: Can Tokyo overrule local elected officials who are implementing the will of the people?

 

Mayor Inamine also reported that Japan is paying for the Marine runway that is proposed to be built on top of Oura Bay.  Just like the South Korean government is paying for the Navy base on Jeju Island - the US is now forcing 'host governments' to pay for greater shares of Pentagon military operations in various countries.  This then allows Washington to say that the conflict between local citizens in South Korea or Japan is a 'domestic issue' and that the US really can't get involved.  Total bullshit.

 

The mayor told us that "We don't want to take the part of victimizers in a war.  During the Vietnam War US bombers took off from here.  It so offended us."  He also stated what we heard from our other meeting with the mayor of Yomitan Village two days ago - "Okinawa does not prosper from US bases.  Less than 5% of our island income comes from bases.  The new runway has a flight path that would go directly over a popular tourist resort that attracts 200,000 people each year.  If the Henoko runway gets built they won't come back anymore."

 

Already we can see that from top-to-bottom the people of Okinawa are in serious revolt against the US military empire.  It's days are numbered.  Ordinary citizens are blocking base gates - city mayors and the governor of the island are using every legal means at their disposal to block base expansions.  The media on Okinawa is covering the story practically every day on the front page.  The right-wing Abe government in Tokyo is getting hammered in Okinawa.  In Japan citizens are allowed to designate which of the nation's 47 prefectures (states) they want their taxes sent to.  Many people in Japan, in solidarity with Okinawa, are designating their taxes be sent to the struggling people in Okinawa.

 

It makes our VFP delegation furious to see the abuse the people of Okinawa are daily getting from Tokyo and Washington.  The people keep telling us they will never give up - we heard the same words on Jeju Island.  The folks on Okinawa understand what real war means.  The memory of the 1945 US invasion that killed one out of every four people on Okinawa is seared into their consciousness.  They understand that US bases on their island make them a target once again.

 

The people here also keep saying that they are tired of war and they realize that they must fight hard to make sure it does not destroy their beautiful island home once again. We keep telling them that they are not alone - we are all in this one together.

Bruce K. Gagnon
Coordinator
Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space
PO Box 652
Brunswick, ME 04011
(207) 443-9502
globalnet@mindspring.com
www.space4peace.org
http://space4peace.blogspot.com/  (blog)