[Peace-discuss] Flyer for tomorrow's Main Event: draft
Morton K. Brussel
brussel at uiuc.edu
Fri Oct 5 21:59:07 CDT 2007
One can argue about who most determines present U.S foreign policy in
the Middle East---Zunes assertion notwithstanding---but the obvious
fact is that Israel is no stool pigeon for the Bush administration
even if it is true that were the U.S. to oppose Israeli policies, it
could largely reverse them. You are letting Israel's rabid
supporters off the hook too easily. That Congress is lined up for
condemning Iran is evidence of their effectiveness. The oil
interests, for example, are not as united in lobbying for attacks
upon Iran as are those of the Zionist lobby.
By exaggerating, with the use of the word "directing", you are
obscuring the obviousness of Zionist influence.
---mkb
On Oct 5, 2007, at 8:57 PM, C. G. Estabrook wrote:
> The question is, Is Israel and/or the (admittedly powerful) Israeli
> lobby turning US policy away from the interests of dominant social
> groups in the US -- e.g., energy and arms corps -- and taking it in
> directions that those who hold wealth and power in the US don't
> want to go? If so, the matter is easily solved: go to the CEOs of
> Exxon-Mobil, Halliburton, Boeing, Merrill-Lynch, Citicorp, etc.,
> and point out that the USG is not acting in their interests but in
> the interests of the Jewish state. They'll slap themselves on the
> forehead and say, "Of course!" -- then call DC and tell the
> administration to start working in their interests instead...
>
> On the other hand, if Israel has been recruited to those interests
> (with deleterious effects from the militarization of their own
> society), then the situation would look much as it does now.
>
> Stephen Zunes has rightly pointed out, "There are far more powerful
> interests that have a stake in what happens in the Persian Gulf
> region than does AIPAC, such as the oil companies, the arms
> industry and other special interests whose lobbying influence and
> campaign contributions far surpass that of the much-vaunted Zionist
> lobby and its allied donors to congressional races" -- particularly
> if one thinks that the Lobby has pulled US policy in a direction
> those interests don't want it to go...
>
> Regards, CGE
>
> PS: Thanks for the proofing.
>
>
> Morton K. Brussel wrote:
>> A TYPO:
>> US has struggled to control the government that resulted, even
>> *thought *that …
>> But I have a more serious comment regarding your remarks on Israel:
>>> Isn't Israel really directing American policy in the Middle East?
>> I am bothered by the question and its response. For one thing, it
>> is the Zionist neocons in the administration, representing Israeli-
>> Likkud expansionist interests, that have had an influence, not
>> Israel per se, but perhaps I'm quibbling. In any case, one doesn't
>> have to use the word "directing" in the question---perhaps
>> "influencing" or "strongly influencing" would be more appropriate.
>> Use of "directing " confuses what really has been going on. It is
>> no doubt true that the Bush administration and its cohorts have
>> their own impulses and ideology, aside from that of the Zionist
>> cabal, for its policies in the Middle East, but there clearly is
>> an entanglement between the two countries that cannot be
>> cavalierly dismissed by simply implying that Israel is only a
>> stool pigeon for the U.S. . One has only to look at the many close
>> advisors to this administration, all promoters of of Israeli
>> policies (advocating attacks on Iraq, Iran, Syria, Lebanon, not to
>> speak of policies with respect to the West Bank), to be convinced
>> that Israeli desires and actions have been a pernicious and
>> aggravating influence on the Bush (and Clinton) foreign policy.
>> All that is obscured in your response. Therefore, I think you
>> should modify that part of the flyer. The rest of the flyer is to
>> the point. ---Mort
>> On Oct 5, 2007, at 6:28 PM, C. G. Estabrook wrote:
>>> [A formatted version is attached. Text below. Suggestions
>>> welcomed. --CGE]
>>>
>>>
>>> WHY CAN'T CONGRESS STOP THE WAR?
>>> And Other Questions About Our Wars in the Middle East
>>>
>>> [1] Why can't Congress stop the war in Iraq?
>>> Actually, they can. All they have to do is stop paying for it.
>>> The Constitution gives the Congress, not the President, the power
>>> "to raise and support armies," and it specifies that "no
>>> appropriation of money to that use shall be for a longer term
>>> than two years." All the Democrats -- who since last year's
>>> election control both the House of
>>> Representatives and the Senate -- have to do is to refuse to vote
>>> for
>>> any more funding for the war. Because of the filibuster rule, it
>>> would
>>> only take 41 votes in the Senate to kill any funding bill. In the
>>> House, one person -- Speaker Nancy Pelosi -- can simply refuse to
>>> bring
>>> a funding bill to the floor. The administration could use the money
>>> already appropriated to bring the troops home, if the Democrats
>>> made it
>>> clear that they will not vote for any more. And a new poll shows
>>> that
>>> three out of four American don't support the President's new
>>> request for
>>> war funding.
>>>
>>> [2] So why don't the Democrats do that?
>>> Because they support the same long-term policy in the Middle East
>>> that
>>> the Republicans do. For more than fifty years, the US has
>>> insisted upon
>>> control of Middle East oil and gas, which are more extensive
>>> there than
>>> any place else on earth. But not because we need them here at
>>> home. In
>>> fact, we import only a small bit of our energy resources from the
>>> Middle
>>> East: most of it comes from the Atlantic region -- the US itself,
>>> followed by Canada, Nigeria, and Venezuela. But control of world
>>> energy
>>> resources gives the US control of our major economic competitors
>>> in the
>>> world -- Europe and northeast Asia (China and Japan).
>>>
>>> [3] But aren't all the Democratic Presidential candidates against
>>> the war?
>>> Not exactly. The leading Democratic candidates are happy to
>>> attack the
>>> horrible mess that the Republican administration has made in
>>> Iraq, but
>>> they continue to support the long-term policy. They have a problem,
>>> however: more than 70% of Americans oppose the war, and they gave
>>> the
>>> Democrats majorities in the House and the Senate last year in
>>> order to
>>> bring the war to an end. So the leading Democrats have to
>>> pretend that
>>> they're against the war while admitting that even if the Democrats
>>> regain the Presidency next year, the troops will not be
>>> withdrawn. It's
>>> been said that "The function of the Democratic Party is to sell
>>> stuff to
>>> the populace the Republicans can't get away with on their own, like
>>> throwing single mothers and children off the welfare rolls or
>>> exporting
>>> America's blue collar jobs to Mexico and China" -- and continuing
>>> a war.
>>>
>>> [4] Aren't we bringing freedom and democracy to the people of Iraq?
>>> They don't think so. A majority of the Iraqis -- in all parts of
>>> the
>>> country -- want the US troops to leave. And sixty percent of Iraqis
>>> think that it is acceptable to attack American troops, in order
>>> to get
>>> them to leave. That's hardly surprising -- imagine how Americans
>>> would
>>> react to an Arab army occupying the United States. As to
>>> democracy, the
>>> US didn't intend to allow a democratic government after the
>>> invasion in
>>> 2003, but the (largely non-violent) resistance of the majority
>>> community, the Shi'ites -- forced the US to conduct elections,
>>> and ever
>>> since the US has struggled to control the government that
>>> resulted, even
>>> thought that government has little real authority in the country,
>>> independent of American troops. In general, as the case of
>>> Palestine
>>> shows, the US supports democracy only when it can count on elected
>>> governments to do what they're told. Otherwise it supports
>>> dictatorships, as in Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
>>>
>>> [5] But won't there be chaos in Iraq if the US troops leave -- a
>>> bloodbath, as there was in Vietnam?
>>> There's chaos there now. We are probably responsible for a million
>>> deaths since we invaded Iraq, four and a half years ago -- and
>>> perhaps
>>> at least as many (including a half million dead children) in the
>>> sanctions the US administered in the previous twelve years. We can
>>> hardly say that we are preventing a bloodbath, although it is
>>> certainly
>>> true that we owe the Iraqis huge reparations for what we've done to
>>> their country and people. But it must be provided through neutral
>>> agencies -- not the US military, mercenaries, or corporations.
>>> (Incidentally, although the US made the same claim before we
>>> withdrew
>>> troops from Vietnam in 1973, the bloodbath occurred in Cambodia -- a
>>> country which the US did not occupy -- because we destroyed that
>>> small
>>> peasant society by bombing it with many times the ordnance used
>>> in the
>>> entire Second World War; it was in fact the Vietnamese army that
>>> put an
>>> end to the bloodbath in Cambodia, while the US was still backing the
>>> government that carried it out.)
>>>
>>> [6] Won't the terrorists follow us home?
>>> Everyone recognizes that US actions in the Middle East are
>>> creating a
>>> whole new generation of terrorists. The people apparently
>>> responsible
>>> for the crimes of September 11, 2001, said they committed them
>>> because
>>> of the murderous sanctions against Iraq, the oppression of the
>>> Palestinians, and US military support for oppressive governments
>>> in the
>>> Muslim holy lands. That in no way justifies them, just as
>>> continuing
>>> American war crimes aren't justified by 9-11. But the
>>> administration
>>> has not taken serious steps to prevent new terrorist attacks,
>>> even in
>>> the US, by such things as examining all airline baggage and all
>>> containers coming into US ports. Instead, the administration is
>>> willing
>>> to permit the continuation of the threat of terrorism to justify its
>>> long term policy in the Middle East. Really to combat terrorism,
>>> the US
>>> has to reverse that policy and take seriously the control of nuclear
>>> weapons. Instead, the Bush administration's torture policy, its
>>> secret
>>> prisons, its illegal wire-tapping, and the abridgment of
>>> constitutional
>>> rights, such as habeas corpus -- in which the Congress has
>>> collaborated
>>> -- are impeachable offenses that have not made us safer from
>>> terrorism.
>>>
>>> [7] Shouldn't we attack Iran, which the President says is
>>> meddling in Iraq?
>>> That would be to commit another war crime, and a very dangerous one.
>>> The US signed -- and in fact wrote -- the UN Charter, which
>>> forbids "the
>>> threat or use of force" in international affairs. The Nuremberg
>>> Tribunal, after the Second World War, condemned the German
>>> leaders for
>>> "initiating a war of aggression ... the supreme international crime,
>>> differing only from other war crimes in that it contains within
>>> itself
>>> the accumulated evil of the whole." And Iran is not only three
>>> times
>>> the size of Iraq, it has a substantial military that's not prostrate
>>> from years of sanctions. It's amazing that the US government,
>>> with half
>>> its army occupying Iraq, can talk with a straight about Iranian
>>> "meddling." The US government is principally concerned that it
>>> does not
>>> control Iran's large energy resources, and that they may end up
>>> as part
>>> of the Russian-Chinese energy grid. There seems to be a faction
>>> of the
>>> Bush administration that wants to use the US Air Force and Navy to
>>> prevent that.
>>>
>>> [8] Shouldn't we shift our attention to Afghanistan, where we're
>>> fighting a good war?
>>> The US attack on Afghanistan was also a war crime, which the US
>>> claimed
>>> was justified by 9-11, because it suspected that Osama bin Laden
>>> was in
>>> that country. In fact, the government of Afghanistan asked for the
>>> evidence that he was responsible for the attacks and offered to
>>> discuss
>>> sending him out of Afghanistan for trial. We don't know if they
>>> would
>>> have done so, because the US refused to provide the evidence --
>>> which
>>> the director of the FBI admitted he didn't have -- or to negotiate
>>> Instead the US launched a bombing campaign, with the clear
>>> understanding
>>> that it might result in the starvation of several million people
>>> -- who
>>> of course had nothing to do with 9-11. Now the US has induced NATO
>>> countries to provide troops to attempt to put down a growing
>>> resistance
>>> to the government which we installed there.
>>>
>>> [9] Isn't Israel really directing American policy in the Middle
>>> East?
>>> No. Although Israel is far and away the largest recipient of US
>>> foreign and military aid, and there is a powerful Israeli lobby
>>> in the
>>> US, American policy in the region serves the strategic and economic
>>> interests of an American elite. For forty years, the US has used
>>> Israel
>>> as "cop on the beat," to help keep down America's real enemy in the
>>> Middle East -- the desire of any group, right or left, to free the
>>> region's resources from American control. Since the 1967 war, when
>>> Israel demonstrated it could do that, it has become a stationary
>>> aircraft carrier for the United States -- with bad effects on the
>>> militarized Israeli society, which now has one of the highest
>>> poverty
>>> rates in the developed world, in spite of billions of dollars
>>> from the
>>> US each year. In return, the US gives Israel, which by law is
>>> the state
>>> of one racial group, a free hand to suppress the Palestinians.
>>>
>>> [10] What should we do?
>>> Bring US troops, mercenaries, and corporations home. Negotiate fair
>>> agreements with all the countries of the region, including
>>> reparations
>>> and the removal of all nuclear weapons. And hold accountable those
>>> guilty of prosecuting this vicious war and promoting its
>>> continuance.
>>>
>>> DEFUND war in the Middle East.
>>> REFUND human needs at home and in Iraq.
>>>
>>> This flyer was prepared by members of AWARE (Anti-War Anti-Racism
>>> Effort), a local Champaign-Urbana peace group. We meet every
>>> Sunday 5-6:30pm in the basement of the old post office in Urbana.
>>> Visitors and new members are welcome. <http://www.anti-war.net/>
>>>
>>> ###
>>>
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>>> {\info{\creatim\yr2007\mo10\dy5\hr14\min44}{\author C. Estabrook}
>>> {\revtim\yr2007\mo10\dy5\hr18\min14}{\printim\yr1601\mo1\dy1\hr0
>>> \min0}{\comment StarWriter}{\vern6800}}\deftab709
>>> {\*\pgdsctbl
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>>> \pard\plain \ltrpar\s1\qc\rtlch\af5\afs40\lang255\ltrch\dbch\af5
>>> \langfe255\hich\fs40\lang1033\loch\fs40\lang1033 {\rtlch \ltrch
>>> \loch\f1\fs40\lang1033\i0\b0 WHY CAN'T CONGRESS STOP THE WAR?}
>>> \par \pard\plain \ltrpar\s1\qc\rtlch\af5\afs28\lang255\ltrch\dbch
>>> \af5\langfe255\hich\fs28\lang1033\loch\fs28\lang1033 {\rtlch
>>> \ltrch\loch\f1\fs28\lang1033\i0\b0 And Other Questions About Our
>>> Wars in the Middle East.}
>>> \par \pard\plain \ltrpar\s1\qc\rtlch\af5\afs24\lang255\ltrch\dbch
>>> \af5\langfe255\hich\fs21\lang1033\loch\fs21\lang1033 \par \pard
>>> \plain \ltrpar\s1\ql\rtlch\af5\afs24\lang255\ai\ab\ltrch\dbch\af5
>>> \langfe255\hich\fs21\lang1033\i\b\loch\fs21\lang1033\i\b {\rtlch
>>> \ltrch\loch\f1\fs21\lang1033\i\b [1] Why can't Congress stop the
>>> war in Iraq?}
>>> \par \pard\plain \ltrpar\s1\ql\rtlch\af5\afs24\lang255\ltrch\dbch
>>> \af5\langfe255\hich\fs21\lang1033\loch\fs21\lang1033{\rtlch \ltrch
>>> \loch\f1\fs21\lang1033\i\b{\b\i \tab {\b0\i0 Actually, they can.
>>> All they have to do is stop paying for it. The Constitution
>>> gives the Congress, not the President, the power "t}}}{\rtlch
>>> \ltrch\loch\f1\fs21\lang1033\i0\b0 o raise and support armies,"
>>> and it specifies that "no appropriation of money to that use
>>> shall be for a longer term than two years." All the Democrats --
>>> who since last year's election control both the House of
>>> Representatives and the Senate -- have to do is to refuse to vote
>>> for any more funding for the war. Because of the filibuster
>>> rule, it would only take 41 votes in t
>>> he Senate to kill any funding bill. In the House, one person --
>>> Speaker Nancy Pelosi -- can simply refuse to bring a funding bill
>>> to the floor. The administration could use the money already
>>> appropriated to bring the troops home, if the Democrats made it
>>> clear that they will not vote for any more. And a new poll
>>> shows that three out of four American don't support the
>>> President's new request for war funding.}
>>> \par \pard\plain \ltrpar\s1\ql\rtlch\af5\afs24\lang255\ai\ab\ltrch
>>> \dbch\af5\langfe255\hich\fs21\lang1033\i\b\loch\fs21\lang1033\i\b
>>> \par \pard\plain \ltrpar\s1\ql\rtlch\af5\afs24\lang255\ai\ab\ltrch
>>> \dbch\af5\langfe255\hich\fs21\lang1033\i\b\loch\fs21\lang1033\i\b
>>> {\rtlch \ltrch\loch\f1\fs21\lang1033\i\b [2] So why don't the
>>> Democrats do that?}
>>> \par \pard\plain \ltrpar\s1\ql\rtlch\af5\afs24\lang255\ai\ab\ltrch
>>> \dbch\af5\langfe255\hich\fs21\lang1033\i\b\loch\fs21\lang1033\i\b
>>> {\rtlch \ltrch\loch\f1\fs21\lang1033\i\b \tab {\b0\i0 Because
>>> they support the same long-term policy in the Middle East that
>>> the Republicans do. For more than fifty years, the US has
>>> insisted upon control of Middle East oil and gas, which are more
>>> extensive there than any place else on earth. But not becau
>>> se we need them here at home. In fact, we import only a small
>>> bit of our energy resources from the Middle East: most of it
>>> comes from the Atlantic region -- the US itself, followed by
>>> Canada, Nigeria, and Venezuela. But control of world energy
>>> resources gives the US control of our major economic competitors
>>> in the world -- Europe and northeast Asia (China and Japan). }}
>>> \par \pard\plain \ltrpar\s1\ql\rtlch\af5\afs24\lang255\ltrch\dbch
>>> \af5\langfe255\hich\fs21\lang1033\loch\fs21\lang1033 \par \pard
>>> \plain \ltrpar\s1\ql\rtlch\af5\afs24\lang255\ai\ab\ltrch\dbch\af5
>>> \langfe255\hich\fs21\lang1033\i\b\loch\fs21\lang1033\i\b {\rtlch
>>> \ltrch\loch\f1\fs21\lang1033\i\b [3] But aren't all the
>>> Democratic Presidential candidates against the war?}
>>> \par \pard\plain \ltrpar\s1\ql\rtlch\af5\afs24\lang255\ai\ab\ltrch
>>> \dbch\af5\langfe255\hich\fs21\lang1033\i\b\loch\fs21\lang1033\i\b
>>> {\rtlch \ltrch\loch\f1\fs21\lang1033\i\b \tab {\b0\i0 Not
>>> exactly. The leading Democratic candidates are happy to attack
>>> the horrible mess that the Republican administration has made in
>>> Iraq, but they continue to support the long-term policy. They
>>> have a problem, however: more than 70% of Americans oppose
>>> the war, and they gave the Democrats majorities in the House and
>>> the Senate last year in order to bring the war to an end. So the
>>> leading Democrats have to pretend that they're against the war
>>> while admitting that even if the Democrats regain the Preside
>>> ncy next year, the troops will not be withdrawn. It's been said
>>> that "The function of the Democratic Party is to sell stuff to
>>> the populace the Republicans can't get away with on their own,
>>> like throwing single mothers and children off the welfare rolls o
>>> r exporting America's blue collar jobs to Mexico and China" --
>>> and continuing a war. }}
>>> \par \pard\plain \ltrpar\s1\ql\rtlch\af5\afs24\lang255\ltrch\dbch
>>> \af5\langfe255\hich\fs21\lang1033\loch\fs21\lang1033 \par \pard
>>> \plain \ltrpar\s1\ql\rtlch\af5\afs24\lang255\ai\ab\ltrch\dbch\af5
>>> \langfe255\hich\fs21\lang1033\i\b\loch\fs21\lang1033\i\b {\rtlch
>>> \ltrch\loch\f1\fs21\lang1033\i\b [4] Aren't we bringing freedom
>>> and democracy to the people of Iraq?}
>>> \par \pard\plain \ltrpar\s1\ql\rtlch\af5\afs24\lang255\ai\ab\ltrch
>>> \dbch\af5\langfe255\hich\fs21\lang1033\i\b\loch\fs21\lang1033\i\b
>>> {\rtlch \ltrch\loch\f1\fs21\lang1033\i\b \tab {\b0\i0 They don't
>>> think so. A majority of the Iraqis -- in all parts of the
>>> country -- want the US troops to leave. And sixty percent of
>>> Iraqis think that it is acceptable to attack American troops, in
>>> order to get them to leave. That's hardly surprising -- i
>>> magine how Americans would react to an Arab army occupying the
>>> United States. As to democracy, the US didn't intend to allow a
>>> democratic government after the invasion in 2003, but the
>>> (largely non-violent) resistance of the majority community, the
>>> Shi'it
>>> es -- forced the US to conduct elections, and ever since the US
>>> has struggled to control the government that resulted, even
>>> thought that government has little real authority in the country,
>>> independent of American troops. In general, as the case of Palest
>>> ine shows, the US supports democracy only when it can count on
>>> elected governments to do what they're told. Otherwise it
>>> supports dictatorships, as in Egypt and Saudi Arabia. }}
>>> \par \pard\plain \ltrpar\s1\ql\rtlch\af5\afs24\lang255\ai\ab\ltrch
>>> \dbch\af5\langfe255\hich\fs21\lang1033\i\b\loch\fs21\lang1033\i\b
>>> \par \pard\plain \ltrpar\s1\ql\rtlch\af5\afs24\lang255\ai\ab\ltrch
>>> \dbch\af5\langfe255\hich\fs21\lang1033\i\b\loch\fs21\lang1033\i\b
>>> {\rtlch \ltrch\loch\f1\fs21\lang1033\i\b [5] But won't there be
>>> chaos in Iraq if the US troops leave -- a bloodbath, as there was
>>> in Vietnam?}
>>> \par \pard\plain \ltrpar\s1\ql\rtlch\af5\afs24\lang255\ai\ab\ltrch
>>> \dbch\af5\langfe255\hich\fs21\lang1033\i\b\loch\fs21\lang1033\i\b
>>> {\rtlch \ltrch\loch\f1\fs21\lang1033\i\b \tab {\b0\i0 There's
>>> chaos there now. We are probably responsible for a million
>>> deaths since we invaded Iraq, four and a half years ago -- and
>>> perhaps at least as many (including a half million dead children)
>>> in the sanctions the US administered in the previous twelv
>>> e years. We can hardly say that we are preventing a bloodbath,
>>> although it is certainly true that we owe the Iraqis huge
>>> reparations for what we've done to their country and people. But
>>> it must be provided through neutral agencies -- not the US military,
>>> mercenaries, or corporations. (Incidentally, although the US
>>> made the same claim before we withdrew troops from Vietnam in
>>> 1973, the bloodbath occurred in Cambodia -- a country which the
>>> US did not occupy -- because we destroyed that small peasant societ
>>> y by bombing it with many times the ordnance used in the entire
>>> Second World War; it was in fact the Vietnamese army that put an
>>> end to the bloodbath in Cambodia, while the US was still backing
>>> the government that carried it out.)}}
>>> \par \pard\plain \ltrpar\s1\ql\rtlch\af5\afs24\lang255\ai\ab\ltrch
>>> \dbch\af5\langfe255\hich\fs21\lang1033\i\b\loch\fs21\lang1033\i\b
>>> {\rtlch \ltrch\loch\f1\fs21\lang1033\i\b [6] Won't the terrorists
>>> follow us home?}
>>> \par \pard\plain \ltrpar\s1\ql\rtlch\af5\afs24\lang255\ai\ab\ltrch
>>> \dbch\af5\langfe255\hich\fs21\lang1033\i\b\loch\fs21\lang1033\i\b
>>> {\rtlch \ltrch\loch\f1\fs21\lang1033\i\b \tab {\b0\i0 Everyone
>>> recognizes that US actions in the Middle East are creating a
>>> whole new generation of terrorists. The people apparently
>>> responsible for the crimes of September 11, 2001, said they
>>> committed them because of the murderous sanctions against Iraq, the
>>> oppression of the Palestinians, and US military support for
>>> oppressive governments in the Muslim holy lands. That in no way
>>> justifies them, just as continuing American war crimes aren't
>>> justified by 9-11. But the administration has not taken serious ste
>>> ps to prevent new terrorist attacks, even in the US, by such
>>> things as examining all airline baggage and all containers coming
>>> into US ports. Instead, the administration is willing to permit
>>> the continuation of the threat of terrorism to justify its long
>>> term policy in the Middle East. Really to combat terrorism, the
>>> US has to reverse that policy and take seriously the control of
>>> nuclear weapons. Instead, the Bush administration's torture
>>> policy, its secret prisons, its illegal wire-tapping, and the abri
>>> dgment of constitutional rights, such as habeas corpus -- in
>>> which the Congress has collaborated -- are impeachable offenses
>>> that have not made us safer from terrorism. }}
>>> \par \pard\plain \ltrpar\s1\ql\rtlch\af5\afs24\lang255\ai\ab\ltrch
>>> \dbch\af5\langfe255\hich\fs21\lang1033\i\b\loch\fs21\lang1033\i\b
>>> \par \pard\plain \ltrpar\s1\ql\rtlch\af5\afs24\lang255\ai\ab\ltrch
>>> \dbch\af5\langfe255\hich\fs21\lang1033\i\b\loch\fs21\lang1033\i\b
>>> {\rtlch \ltrch\loch\f1\fs21\lang1033\i\b [7] Shouldn't we attack
>>> Iran, which the President says is meddling in Iraq?}
>>> \par \pard\plain \ltrpar\s1\ql\rtlch\af5\afs24\lang255\ltrch\dbch
>>> \af5\langfe255\hich\fs21\lang1033\loch\fs21\lang1033{\rtlch \ltrch
>>> \loch\f1\fs21\lang1033\i\b{\b\i \tab {\b0\i0 That would be to
>>> commit another war crime, and a very dangerous one. The US
>>> signed -- and in fact wrote -- the UN Charter, which forbids "the
>>> threat or use of force" in international affairs. The Nuremberg
>>> Tribunal, after the Second World War, condemned
>>> the German leaders for "initiating a war of aggression ... the
>>> supreme international crime, differing only from other war crimes
>>> in that it contains within itself the }}}{\rtlch \ltrch\loch\f1
>>> \fs21\lang1033\i0\b0 accumulated evil of the whole." And Iran is
>>> not only three times the size of Iraq, it h
>>> as a substantial military that's not prostrate from years of
>>> sanctions. It's amazing that the US government, with half its
>>> army occupying Iraq, can talk with a straight about Iranian
>>> "meddling." The US government is principally concerned that it
>>> does not
>>> control Iran's large energy resources, and that they may end up
>>> as part of the Russian-Chinese energy grid. There seems to be a
>>> faction of the Bush administration that wants to use the US Air
>>> Force and Navy to prevent that.}
>>> \par \pard\plain \ltrpar\s1\ql\rtlch\af5\afs24\lang255\ai\ab\ltrch
>>> \dbch\af5\langfe255\hich\fs21\lang1033\i\b\loch\fs21\lang1033\i\b
>>> \par \pard\plain \ltrpar\s1\ql\rtlch\af5\afs24\lang255\ai\ab\ltrch
>>> \dbch\af5\langfe255\hich\fs21\lang1033\i\b\loch\fs21\lang1033\i\b
>>> {\rtlch \ltrch\loch\f1\fs21\lang1033\i\b [8] Shouldn't we shift
>>> our attention to Afghanistan, where we're fighting a good war?}
>>> \par \pard\plain \ltrpar\s1\ql\rtlch\af5\afs24\lang255\ltrch\dbch
>>> \af5\langfe255\hich\fs21\lang1033\loch\fs21\lang1033 {\rtlch
>>> \ltrch\loch\f1\fs21\lang1033\i0\b0 \tab The US attack on
>>> Afghanistan was also a war crime, which the US claimed was
>>> justified by 9-11, because it suspected that Osama bin Laden was
>>> in that country. In fact, the government of Afghanistan asked
>>> for the evidence that he was responsible for the at
>>> tacks and offered to discuss sending him out of Afghanistan for
>>> trial. We don't know if they would have done so, because the US
>>> refused to provide the evidence -- which the director of the FBI
>>> admitted he didn't have -- or to negotiate Instead the US lau
>>> nched a bombing campaign, with the clear understanding that it
>>> might result in the starvation of several million people -- who
>>> of course had nothing to do with 9-11. Now the US has induced
>>> NATO countries to provide troops to attempt to put down a growing
>>> resistance to the government which we installed there.}
>>> \par \pard\plain \ltrpar\s1\ql\rtlch\af5\afs24\lang255\ltrch\dbch
>>> \af5\langfe255\hich\fs21\lang1033\loch\fs21\lang1033 \par \pard
>>> \plain \ltrpar\s1\ql\rtlch\af5\afs24\lang255\ai\ab\ltrch\dbch\af5
>>> \langfe255\hich\fs21\lang1033\i\b\loch\fs21\lang1033\i\b {\rtlch
>>> \ltrch\loch\f1\fs21\lang1033\i\b [9] Isn't Israel really
>>> directing American policy in the Middle East?}
>>> \par \pard\plain \ltrpar\s1\ql\rtlch\af5\afs24\lang255\ai\ab\ltrch
>>> \dbch\af5\langfe255\hich\fs21\lang1033\i\b\loch\fs21\lang1033\i\b
>>> {\rtlch \ltrch\loch\f1\fs21\lang1033\i\b \tab {\b0\i0 No.
>>> Although Israel is far and away the largest recipient of US
>>> foreign and military aid, and there is a powerful Israeli lobby
>>> in the US, American policy in the region serves the strategic and
>>> economic interests of an American elite. For forty years, t
>>> he US has used Israel as "cop on the beat," to help keep down
>>> America's real enemy in the Middle East -- the desire of any
>>> group, right or left, to free the region's resources from
>>> American control. Since the 1967 war, when Israel demonstrated
>>> it could do
>>> that, it has become a stationary aircraft carrier for the United
>>> States -- with bad effects on the militarized Israeli society,
>>> which now has one of the highest poverty rates in the developed
>>> world, in spite of billions of dollars from the US each year. In
>>> return, the US gives Israel, which by law is the state of one
>>> racial group, a free hand to suppress the Palestinians.}}
>>> \par \pard\plain \ltrpar\s1\ql\rtlch\af5\afs24\lang255\ai\ab\ltrch
>>> \dbch\af5\langfe255\hich\fs21\lang1033\i\b\loch\fs21\lang1033\i\b
>>> \par \pard\plain \ltrpar\s1\ql\rtlch\af5\afs24\lang255\ai\ab\ltrch
>>> \dbch\af5\langfe255\hich\fs21\lang1033\i\b\loch\fs21\lang1033\i\b
>>> {\rtlch \ltrch\loch\f1\fs21\lang1033\i\b [10] What should we do?}
>>> \par \pard\plain \ltrpar\s1\ql\rtlch\af5\afs24\lang255\ai\ab\ltrch
>>> \dbch\af5\langfe255\hich\fs21\lang1033\i\b\loch\fs21\lang1033\i\b
>>> {\rtlch \ltrch\loch\f1\fs21\lang1033\i\b \tab {\b0\i0 Bring US
>>> troops, mercenaries, and corporations home. Negotiate fair
>>> agreements with all the countries of the region, including
>>> reparations and the removal of all nuclear weapons. And hold
>>> accountable those guilty of prosecuting this vicious war and prom
>>> oting its continuance.}}
>>> \par \pard\plain \ltrpar\s1\ql\rtlch\af5\afs24\lang255\ai\ab\ltrch
>>> \dbch\af5\langfe255\hich\fs21\lang1033\i\b\loch\fs21\lang1033\i\b
>>> \par \pard\plain \ltrpar\s1\qc\rtlch\af5\afs32\lang255\ai\ab\ltrch
>>> \dbch\af5\langfe255\hich\fs32\lang1033\i\b\loch\fs32\lang1033\i\b
>>> {\rtlch \ltrch\loch\f1\fs32\lang1033\i\b DEFUND war in the Middle
>>> East.}
>>> \par \pard\plain \ltrpar\s1\qc\rtlch\af5\afs32\lang255\ai\ab\ltrch
>>> \dbch\af5\langfe255\hich\fs32\lang1033\i\b\loch\fs32\lang1033\i\b
>>> {\rtlch \ltrch\loch\f1\fs32\lang1033\i\b REFUND human needs at
>>> home and in Iraq.}
>>> \par \pard\plain \ltrpar\s1\qc\rtlch\af5\afs24\lang255\ltrch\dbch
>>> \af5\langfe255\hich\fs21\lang1033\loch\fs21\lang1033 \par \pard
>>> \plain \ltrpar\s1\qc\rtlch\af5\afs24\lang255\ltrch\dbch\af5
>>> \langfe255\hich\fs21\lang1033\i\loch\fs21\lang1033\i{\rtlch \ltrch
>>> \loch\f1\fs21\lang1033\i\b0{\f1 This flyer was prepared by
>>> members of AWARE }}{\rtlch \ltrch\loch\f1\fs21\lang1033\i\b0{\f2
>>> (Anti-War Anti-Racism Effort),}}
>>> \par \pard\plain \ltrpar\s1\qc\tx560\tx1120\tx1680\tx2240\tx2800
>>> \tx3360\tx3920\tx4480\tx5040\tx5600\tx6160\tx6720\rtlch\af2\afs24
>>> \lang255\ai\ltrch\dbch\af2\langfe255\hich\f2\fs21\lang1033\i\loch
>>> \f2\fs21\lang1033\i {\rtlch \ltrch\loch\f2\fs21\lang1033\i\b0 a
>>> local Champaign-Urbana peace group. We meet every Sunday 5-6:30pm}
>>> \par \pard\plain \ltrpar\s1\qc\tx560\tx1120\tx1680\tx2240\tx2800
>>> \tx3360\tx3920\tx4480\tx5040\tx5600\tx6160\tx6720\rtlch\af2\afs24
>>> \lang255\ai\ltrch\dbch\af2\langfe255\hich\f2\fs21\lang1033\i\loch
>>> \f2\fs21\lang1033\i {\rtlch \ltrch\loch\f2\fs21\lang1033\i\b0 in
>>> the basement of the old post office in Urbana. Visitors and new
>>> members are welcome.}
>>> \par \pard\plain \ltrpar\s1\qc\tx560\tx1120\tx1680\tx2240\tx2800
>>> \tx3360\tx3920\tx4480\tx5040\tx5600\tx6160\tx6720\rtlch\af2\afs24
>>> \lang255\ai\ltrch\dbch\af2\langfe255\hich\f2\fs21\lang1033\i\loch
>>> \f2\fs21\lang1033\i {\rtlch \ltrch\loch\f2\fs21\lang1033\i\b0
>>> <http://www.anti-war.net/>}
>>> \par \pard\plain \ltrpar\s1\ql\rtlch\af5\afs24\lang255\ltrch\dbch
>>> \af5\langfe255\hich\fs21\lang1033\loch\fs21\lang1033 \par \pard
>>> \plain \ltrpar\s1\ql\rtlch\af5\afs24\lang255\ltrch\dbch\af5
>>> \langfe255\hich\fs21\lang1033\loch\fs21\lang1033 \par \pard\plain
>>> \ltrpar\s1\ql\rtlch\af5\afs24\lang255\ltrch\dbch\af5\langfe255
>>> \hich\fs21\lang1033\loch\fs21\lang1033 \par }
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Peace-discuss mailing list
>>> Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net <mailto:Peace-
>>> discuss at lists.chambana.net>
>>> http://lists.chambana.net/cgi-bin/listinfo/peace-discuss
>> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
>> ---
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