From galliher at illinois.edu Sat Apr 1 14:50:39 2017 From: galliher at illinois.edu (Carl G. Estabrook) Date: Sat, 1 Apr 2017 09:50:39 -0500 Subject: [Peace] For reference: USG crimes Message-ID: Why the US is “the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today” (M. L. King). Since WWII the government we’re responsible for has killed between 20 and 30 million people in 37 countries, for the benefit of the American 1%. The map shows the scenes of the principal crimes, as the US government continues its attempt to control Mideast energy resources. Control of - not just access to - Mideast gas and oil has been the cynosure of all post-WWII US administrations, not because the US needs them for domestic consumption - we get enough for that from North America and the Atlantic basin (Venezuela to Nigeria) - but because control of energy resources gives the US 1% a choke-hold over their economic rivals from Germany to China. -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: mideast copy.pdf Type: application/pdf Size: 203375 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- From galliher at illinois.edu Mon Apr 3 15:48:11 2017 From: galliher at illinois.edu (Carl G. Estabrook) Date: Mon, 3 Apr 2017 10:48:11 -0500 Subject: [Peace] No new AWARE ON THE AIR Tuesday 4 April Message-ID: <7D3743D9-E993-44FE-B2D3-994DBB808AE6@illinois.edu> Owing to the election, we will not be recording AWARE ON THE AIR Tuesday 4 April. (Our studio space is used for voting.) Join us Tuesday 11 April at noon in the Urbana City Council chambers for the taping of our unrehearsed panel discussion of the US government's ongoing wars and the racism they inspire. Members and friends of the ANTI-WAR ANTIRACISM EFFORT of Champaign-Urbana are invited to observe and/or participate. ### From naiman at justforeignpolicy.org Mon Apr 3 16:56:23 2017 From: naiman at justforeignpolicy.org (Robert Naiman) Date: Mon, 3 Apr 2017 11:56:23 -0500 Subject: [Peace] at HP: Pocan, Amash Invoke War Powers as Trump Mulls Pushing Yemen Into Famine Message-ID: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/58e25edde4b03c2b30f6a881 Pocan, Amash Invoke War Powers as Trump Mulls Pushing Yemen Into Famine 04/03/2017 The White House is scheduled to consider this week a proposal from Defense Secretary Jim Mattis to directly engage the U.S. military in Saudi Arabia’s war against the Houthis in Yemen, including a planned United Arab Emirates attack on the port of Hodeida. On Friday, March 31, the U.N. special envoy for Yemen warned against a military attack on Hodeida: “We as the United Nations are advocating that no military operations should be undertaken in Hodeidah.” He warned that military action on the port could “tip the country into famine .” Former U.S. officials have also warned that this attack could push Yemen into famine: There was an internal debate over the final year of the Obama administration about whether the United States should support potential future efforts by the coalition to take the Hodeidah port, but ultimately the administration decided against it, said Jeremy Konyndyk, a former top USAID official. “From USAID’s perspective, we thought the US should strongly oppose this,” Konyndyk, the former director of USAID’s Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance, told Al-Monitor… He said, “From our point of view, it would be disastrous in terms of humanitarian impact if the coalition were to disrupt the aid pipeline and commercial pipeline that moves through that port...The view that we had at AID — among AID leadership — was that if that port were to be lost, it would likely be enough to tip the country into famine,” Konyndyk warned. As Senate Foreign Relations Chair Bob Corker recently affirmed , U.S. participation in this war has never been authorized by Congress: Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Bob Corker, R-Tenn., made it clear he doesn’t believe the Authorization for the Use of Military Force that Congress passed in 2001 to counter al-Qaeda would apply to the Houthis. “Certainly engaging in a war against a group outside of ISIS [the Islamic State] is a step beyond the current authorization,” Corker told Al-Monitor. A bipartisan group of House members is demanding that President Trump seek Congressional approval before escalating U.S. involvement in Yemen’s civil war. Reps. Mark Pocan [D-WI], Justin Amash [R-MI]; Ted Lieu [D-CA] and Walter Jones [R-NC] are circulating a letter to the President that says , “Congress has never authorized the actions under consideration.” The letter continues : “Engaging our military against Yemen’s Houthis when no direct threat to the United States exists and without prior congressional authorization would violate the separation of powers clearly delineated in the constitution...For this reason, we write to request that the Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) provide, without delay, any legal justification that it would cite if the administration intends to engage in direct hostilities against Yemen’s Houthis without seeking congressional authorization.” Congress passed the War Powers Resolution in 1973 over President Nixon’s veto to make it harder for the President to start or escalate wars unilaterally. In the WPR, Congress gave itself additional tools for preventing and challenging unilateral military action by the President, like the ability of any Member to introduce a “privileged” resolution - one that can’t be buried in committee, but can be forced to a floor vote if its sponsors insist - to withdraw U.S. forces from a war that hasn’t been authorized by Congress. By invoking their war powers, Members of Congress can block the President from unilaterally moving to engage in military action. It happened in 2013, when 192 Members of the House insisted that President Obama come to Congress before bombing the Syrian government. President Obama initially insisted that he didn’t need Congressional approval, but he relented when enough Members of Congress complained. He didn’t concede the point as a theoretical, Constitutional, legal matter, but he conceded it as a practical, political matter, and ultimately that’s what we care about. If enough Members of Congress complain now - in particular, if enough Members of the House sign the Pocan-Amash-Lieu-Jones letter now - we can force Trump and Mattis to back down from taking this catastrophic step unilaterally, and force them to seek Congressional authorization before proceeding, which would mean they would have to make their case to the broad U.S. public, not just to the elite foreign policy establishment. And that’s a much higher burden of proof, because the broad public is much more skeptical of wars of choice than the foreign policy establishment is. We don’t actually need to get Trump and Mattis to concede the theoretical, Constitutional, legal point that they need to come to Congress for authorization, though that certainly would be very nice. We just need them to concede the point as a practical, political matter. Just like President Obama did in August 2013. All we need is for more Members of Congress to join the complaint right now. You can urge your Representative to sign the Pocan-Amash-Lieu-Jones letter here , here , here , or here . I can’t promise you that we can stop this catastrophe. But we used this exact same mechanism less than four years ago and were successful in stopping U.S. military action. Given that the lives of hundreds of thousands of Yemeni children hang in the balance, isn’t it worth a try? -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From galliher at illinois.edu Mon Apr 3 22:20:11 2017 From: galliher at illinois.edu (Carl G. Estabrook) Date: Mon, 3 Apr 2017 17:20:11 -0500 Subject: [Peace] News from Neptune on UPTV Message-ID: <597DF9C4-0CEB-47E3-A5C0-F412AC731FAF@illinois.edu> The Urbana Public Television program 'News from Neptune' will be on hiatus through Passover and Easter. Inshallah, we will resume with a new edition on Friday 21 April. This week’s program is available on YouTube, as are earlier ones. —CGE From karenaram at hotmail.com Tue Apr 4 14:12:40 2017 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Tue, 4 Apr 2017 14:12:40 +0000 Subject: [Peace] Meeting of the local Green Party Message-ID: The Prairie Greens, the local Green Party will be meeting this Saturday 4/8/17 at 1:30pm in the Food Court, near Piatto’s, at the Lincoln Square Mall, Urbana. Please join us, all are welcome……. From galliher at illinois.edu Thu Apr 6 00:54:22 2017 From: galliher at illinois.edu (Carl G. Estabrook) Date: Wed, 5 Apr 2017 19:54:22 -0500 Subject: [Peace] [Peace-discuss] Who do we BLAME? Part 40517. In-Reply-To: <8C2EFF79-229E-4A6A-B124-B07AE8AF5D6A@illinois.edu> References: <8C2EFF79-229E-4A6A-B124-B07AE8AF5D6A@illinois.edu> Message-ID: "Another Dangerous Rush to Judgment in Syria” | April 5, 2017 The U.S. government and the mainstream media rushed to judgment again, blaming the Syrian government for a new poison-gas attack and ignoring other possibilities, reports Robert Parry. https://consortiumnews.com/2017/04/05/another-dangerous-rush-to-judgment-in-syria/ > On Apr 5, 2017, at 6:00 PM, Carl G. Estabrook via Peace-discuss wrote: > > Good question. > > "Only fake news sub-zoology specimens can possibly believe Damascus would profit from staging a chemical attack just a few hours after the St. Petersburg metro tragedy. The timing is NOT accidental. No wonder hysterical block to block ‘coverage' in NATO-controlled MSM - actually editorials, blaming Damascus without any investigation whatsoever." [Pepe Escobar] > > "Rebel warehouse with chem weapons hit by Syrian airstrike in Idlib” > > Here are reports from US propaganda sources that suggest what may have happened: > > "Russia blames deadly Syrian gassing on rebels' own chemical arsenal” > > "Idlib Attack Aimed at Disrupting Talks, U.N. Envoy Says” > > Cui bono? Whose interests are being served by disrupting the talks? The Syrian government's military predominance over the rebels (established with Russia's help) could be recognized in Geneva. The Assad government would seem to have no motive for committing a war crime, but its enemies would certainly have a motive for saying it did. > > —CGE > > >> On Apr 5, 2017, at 5:07 PM, Szoke, Ron via Peace-discuss wrote: >> >> Trump White House responds to Syrian gas attack by blaming the Obama administration >> >> >> By Hunter >> Daily Kos, Tuesday Apr 04, 2017 · 12:22 PM CDT >> >> Donald Trump repeatedly claimed, during the campaign, that the various bad actors on the world stage were only daring to commit aggressions and atrocities because our current leaders were "weak." Today's chemical weapons attack by Syrian forces against Syrian civilians will be one of his team's first true foreign policy tests: they quickly proved themselves to up to the task. >> White House press secretary Sean Spicer told reporters Tuesday that a gas attack in a rebel-controlled area of Syria was perpetrated by the forces tied to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and are a "consequence of the past administration's weakness and irresolution." [...] >> "Today's chemical attack in Syria against innocent people including women and children is reprehensible and cannot be ignored by the civilized world," Spicer said. "These heinous actions by the Bashar al-Assad regime are a consequence of the past administration's weakness and irresolution." >> This may be the first official White House condemnation of the use of chemical weapons to be affixed to a direct political attack on a previous president. The move makes it appear that the White House is more concerned with dodging responsibility for responding to the Syrian attack than they are with the use of the weapons themselves. >> It is likely that the Trump team has not mapped out an American response to the attacks—especially because of the Trump campaign and transition eagerness to pursue a Russia-friendly compromise in Syria despite Russia's backing of the regime that perpetrated these attacks. Actual Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, for his part, is so far again absent from the discussion. >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Peace-discuss mailing list >> Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net >> https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss > > _______________________________________________ > Peace-discuss mailing list > Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net > https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From galliher at illinois.edu Thu Apr 6 01:36:57 2017 From: galliher at illinois.edu (Carl G. Estabrook) Date: Wed, 5 Apr 2017 20:36:57 -0500 Subject: [Peace] [Peace-discuss] Who do we BLAME? Part 40517. In-Reply-To: References: <8C2EFF79-229E-4A6A-B124-B07AE8AF5D6A@illinois.edu> Message-ID: <212797C1-5D4D-4C6A-AD48-54C83B6C731B@illinois.edu> NOAM CHOMSKY: Syria is a horrible catastrophe. The Assad regime is a moral disgrace. They’re carrying out horrendous acts, the Russians with them. AMY GOODMAN: Why the Russians with them? NOAM CHOMSKY: Well, pretty simple reason: Syria is their one ally in the whole region. Not a close ally, but they do have—their one Mediterranean base is in Syria. It’s the one country that’s more or less cooperated with them. And they don’t want to lose their one ally. It’s very ugly, but that’s what’s happening. Meanwhile, there have been—it’s kind of like the North Korean case we were discussing. There have been possible opportunities to terminate the horrors. In 2012, there was an initiative from the Russians, which was not pursued, so we don’t know how serious it was, but it was a proposal to—for a negotiated settlement, in which Assad would be phased out, not immediately. You know, you can’t tell them, "We’re going to murder you. Please negotiate." That’s not going to work. But some system in which, in the course of negotiations, he would be removed, and some kind of settlement would be made. The West would not accept it, not just the United States. France, England, the United States simply refused to even consider it. At the time, they believed they could overthrow Assad, so they didn’t want to do this, so the war went on. Could it have worked? You never know for sure. But it could have been pursued. Meanwhile, Qatar and Saudi Arabia are supporting jihadi groups, which are not all that different from ISIS. So you have a horror story on all sides. The Syrian people are being decimated. AMY GOODMAN: And the U.S. now sending 400 more troops to Syria. But if the U.S. has a better relationship with Russia, could that change everything? NOAM CHOMSKY: It could lead to some kind of accommodation in which a negotiated diplomatic settlement would be implemented, which would by no means be lovely, but it would at least cut down the level of violence, which is critical, because the country is simply being destroyed. It’s descending to suicide. > On Apr 5, 2017, at 7:54 PM, Carl G. Estabrook via Peace-discuss wrote: > > "Another Dangerous Rush to Judgment in Syria” | April 5, 2017 > The U.S. government and the mainstream media rushed to judgment again, blaming the Syrian government for a new poison-gas attack and ignoring other possibilities, reports Robert Parry. > > https://consortiumnews.com/2017/04/05/another-dangerous-rush-to-judgment-in-syria/ > > >> On Apr 5, 2017, at 6:00 PM, Carl G. Estabrook via Peace-discuss > wrote: >> >> Good question. >> >> "Only fake news sub-zoology specimens can possibly believe Damascus would profit from staging a chemical attack just a few hours after the St. Petersburg metro tragedy. The timing is NOT accidental. No wonder hysterical block to block ‘coverage' in NATO-controlled MSM - actually editorials, blaming Damascus without any investigation whatsoever." [Pepe Escobar] >> >> "Rebel warehouse with chem weapons hit by Syrian airstrike in Idlib” > >> >> Here are reports from US propaganda sources that suggest what may have happened: >> >> "Russia blames deadly Syrian gassing on rebels' own chemical arsenal” > >> >> "Idlib Attack Aimed at Disrupting Talks, U.N. Envoy Says” > >> >> Cui bono? Whose interests are being served by disrupting the talks? The Syrian government's military predominance over the rebels (established with Russia's help) could be recognized in Geneva. The Assad government would seem to have no motive for committing a war crime, but its enemies would certainly have a motive for saying it did. >> >> —CGE >> >> >>> On Apr 5, 2017, at 5:07 PM, Szoke, Ron via Peace-discuss > wrote: >>> >>> Trump White House responds to Syrian gas attack by blaming the Obama administration >>> >>> >>> By Hunter >>> Daily Kos, Tuesday Apr 04, 2017 · 12:22 PM CDT >>> >>> Donald Trump repeatedly claimed, during the campaign, that the various bad actors on the world stage were only daring to commit aggressions and atrocities because our current leaders were "weak." Today's chemical weapons attack by Syrian forces against Syrian civilians will be one of his team's first true foreign policy tests: they quickly proved themselves to up to the task. >>> White House press secretary Sean Spicer told reporters Tuesday that a gas attack in a rebel-controlled area of Syria was perpetrated by the forces tied to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and are a "consequence of the past administration's weakness and irresolution." [...] >>> "Today's chemical attack in Syria against innocent people including women and children is reprehensible and cannot be ignored by the civilized world," Spicer said. "These heinous actions by the Bashar al-Assad regime are a consequence of the past administration's weakness and irresolution." >>> This may be the first official White House condemnation of the use of chemical weapons to be affixed to a direct political attack on a previous president. The move makes it appear that the White House is more concerned with dodging responsibility for responding to the Syrian attack than they are with the use of the weapons themselves. >>> It is likely that the Trump team has not mapped out an American response to the attacks—especially because of the Trump campaign and transition eagerness to pursue a Russia-friendly compromise in Syria despite Russia's backing of the regime that perpetrated these attacks. Actual Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, for his part, is so far again absent from the discussion. >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> Peace-discuss mailing list >>> Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net >>> https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Peace-discuss mailing list >> Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net >> https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss > > _______________________________________________ > Peace-discuss mailing list > Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net > https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From karenaram at hotmail.com Thu Apr 6 11:27:30 2017 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Thu, 6 Apr 2017 11:27:30 +0000 Subject: [Peace] [Peace-discuss] Who do we BLAME? Part 40517. In-Reply-To: <212797C1-5D4D-4C6A-AD48-54C83B6C731B@illinois.edu> References: <8C2EFF79-229E-4A6A-B124-B07AE8AF5D6A@illinois.edu> <212797C1-5D4D-4C6A-AD48-54C83B6C731B@illinois.edu> Message-ID: I disagree with Noam Chomsky’s assessment of Russia, having only one ally. Iran is also an ally, in the Med. This is very important and it’s geopolitical. As to Syria, he failed to look at the history of US involvement in Syria, just going along with mainstream US assessment that Assad is horrible, maybe he is, but look what we have done, we’ve had a presence in Syria, covertly under the Obama administration, not really, just not as openly as now under Trump and the Pentagon. I know, “who am I to disagree with Chomsky” , hey I disagree with Presidents and the Pope when I think they’re wrong. See Wm. Blum et al. On Apr 5, 2017, at 18:36, Carl G. Estabrook via Peace > wrote: NOAM CHOMSKY: Syria is a horrible catastrophe. The Assad regime is a moral disgrace. They’re carrying out horrendous acts, the Russians with them. AMY GOODMAN: Why the Russians with them? NOAM CHOMSKY: Well, pretty simple reason: Syria is their one ally in the whole region. Not a close ally, but they do have—their one Mediterranean base is in Syria. It’s the one country that’s more or less cooperated with them. And they don’t want to lose their one ally. It’s very ugly, but that’s what’s happening. Meanwhile, there have been—it’s kind of like the North Korean case we were discussing. There have been possible opportunities to terminate the horrors. In 2012, there was an initiative from the Russians, which was not pursued, so we don’t know how serious it was, but it was a proposal to—for a negotiated settlement, in which Assad would be phased out, not immediately. You know, you can’t tell them, "We’re going to murder you. Please negotiate." That’s not going to work. But some system in which, in the course of negotiations, he would be removed, and some kind of settlement would be made. The West would not accept it, not just the United States. France, England, the United States simply refused to even consider it. At the time, they believed they could overthrow Assad, so they didn’t want to do this, so the war went on. Could it have worked? You never know for sure. But it could have been pursued. Meanwhile, Qatar and Saudi Arabia are supporting jihadi groups, which are not all that different from ISIS. So you have a horror story on all sides. The Syrian people are being decimated. AMY GOODMAN: And the U.S. now sending 400 more troops to Syria. But if the U.S. has a better relationship with Russia, could that change everything? NOAM CHOMSKY: It could lead to some kind of accommodation in which a negotiated diplomatic settlement would be implemented, which would by no means be lovely, but it would at least cut down the level of violence, which is critical, because the country is simply being destroyed. It’s descending to suicide. On Apr 5, 2017, at 7:54 PM, Carl G. Estabrook via Peace-discuss > wrote: "Another Dangerous Rush to Judgment in Syria” | April 5, 2017 The U.S. government and the mainstream media rushed to judgment again, blaming the Syrian government for a new poison-gas attack and ignoring other possibilities, reports Robert Parry. https://consortiumnews.com/2017/04/05/another-dangerous-rush-to-judgment-in-syria/ On Apr 5, 2017, at 6:00 PM, Carl G. Estabrook via Peace-discuss > wrote: Good question. "Only fake news sub-zoology specimens can possibly believe Damascus would profit from staging a chemical attack just a few hours after the St. Petersburg metro tragedy. The timing is NOT accidental. No wonder hysterical block to block ‘coverage' in NATO-controlled MSM - actually editorials, blaming Damascus without any investigation whatsoever." [Pepe Escobar] "Rebel warehouse with chem weapons hit by Syrian airstrike in Idlib” > Here are reports from US propaganda sources that suggest what may have happened: "Russia blames deadly Syrian gassing on rebels' own chemical arsenal” > "Idlib Attack Aimed at Disrupting Talks, U.N. Envoy Says” > Cui bono? Whose interests are being served by disrupting the talks? The Syrian government's military predominance over the rebels (established with Russia's help) could be recognized in Geneva. The Assad government would seem to have no motive for committing a war crime, but its enemies would certainly have a motive for saying it did. —CGE On Apr 5, 2017, at 5:07 PM, Szoke, Ron via Peace-discuss > wrote: Trump White House responds to Syrian gas attack by blaming the Obama administration By Hunter Daily Kos, Tuesday Apr 04, 2017 · 12:22 PM CDT Donald Trump repeatedly claimed, during the campaign, that the various bad actors on the world stage were only daring to commit aggressions and atrocities because our current leaders were "weak." Today's chemical weapons attack by Syrian forces against Syrian civilians will be one of his team's first true foreign policy tests: they quickly proved themselves to up to the task. White House press secretary Sean Spicer told reporters Tuesday that a gas attack in a rebel-controlled area of Syria was perpetrated by the forces tied to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and are a "consequence of the past administration's weakness and irresolution." [...] "Today's chemical attack in Syria against innocent people including women and children is reprehensible and cannot be ignored by the civilized world," Spicer said. "These heinous actions by the Bashar al-Assad regime are a consequence of the past administration's weakness and irresolution." This may be the first official White House condemnation of the use of chemical weapons to be affixed to a direct political attack on a previous president. The move makes it appear that the White House is more concerned with dodging responsibility for responding to the Syrian attack than they are with the use of the weapons themselves. It is likely that the Trump team has not mapped out an American response to the attacks—especially because of the Trump campaign and transition eagerness to pursue a Russia-friendly compromise in Syria despite Russia's backing of the regime that perpetrated these attacks. Actual Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, for his part, is so far again absent from the discussion. _______________________________________________ Peace-discuss mailing list Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss _______________________________________________ Peace-discuss mailing list Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss _______________________________________________ Peace-discuss mailing list Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss _______________________________________________ Peace mailing list Peace at lists.chambana.net https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From karenaram at hotmail.com Thu Apr 6 16:02:09 2017 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Thu, 6 Apr 2017 16:02:09 +0000 Subject: [Peace] Fwd: Medicare for All Rally References: Message-ID: Subject: Medicare for All Rally Date: April 6, 2017 at 05:25:13 PD Medicare For All is a policy whose time has come. HR676, Expanded and Improved Medicare for All, has 90 co-sponsors in the US House--more than it has had in a decade. Bernie Sanders will introduce a companion single-payer into the Senate this month. Join Central Illinois chapter of Progressive Democrats of America in educating the public to create a groundswell for Medicare for All. We will provide signs and flyers. WHERE: Champaign Public Library, 200 W Green St, Champaign, IL WHEN: Saturday, April 8, noon For more information, co9ntact Deb at Deb at pdamerica.org or 217-722-9665 Then join the local Green Party at the Lincoln Mall, at 1:30 in the Food Court, near Piato’s -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From naiman at justforeignpolicy.org Thu Apr 6 18:02:28 2017 From: naiman at justforeignpolicy.org (Robert Naiman) Date: Thu, 6 Apr 2017 13:02:28 -0500 Subject: [Peace] Weisbrot: Pressure on White House Could Help Prevent Mass Starvation in Yemen Message-ID: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/58e67892e4b06671a472f0bc Public Pressure on White House Could Help Prevent Mass Starvation in Yemen Mark Weisbrot, Co-Director, Center for Economic and Policy Research 4/06/2017 01:22 pm ET “Shame on us,” wrote Nicholas Kristof in* The* *New York Times* last month. “The Saudis have managed to block coverage of the crimes against humanity they are perpetrating in Yemen, and the US backs the Saudis.” He was referring to a Saudi-led military intervention in Yemen, which now puts millions of people at risk of death from famine. As the new administration approaches its first 100 days, Americans who care about the future of their country have understandably been preoccupied with the humanitarian consequences of Trump’s rule at home. These are things that affect us the most – with “us” including immigrants who live here. Health insurance, the environment, education, climate change, taxation and the budget – big battles have been joined, some have been won, and there are many more ahead. But there are moments when we can help save millions of lives by taking a break from our daily struggles to prevent terrible damage that our government is about to do to people thousands of miles away. This is one of those moments. The White House is reported to be deciding this week whether to support a planned attack on the port of Hodeida, in Yemen, by a Saudi-led coalition supporting the deposed government there in its two-year old war with Houthi rebels, who now control most of Yemen’s population centers. This is a port where almost 80 percent of the country’s food enters – Yemen is overwhelmingly dependent on food imports, and was already the poorest country in the region prior to the US-backed Saudi war. The UN reports that 3.3 million people, including 2.1 million children are already acutely malnourished. Hundreds of thousands of children could die if this port is further destroyed in the bombing that will likely ensue if our government gives the green light and direct assistance in the operation. Here in Washington, dozens of members of the House of Representatives have signed a bipartisan letter to the White House put forth by Representatives Mark Pocan (D-WI) and Justin Amash (R-MI), demanding that Trump seek Congressional approval before a potentially disastrous escalation of US hostilities in Yemen. The letter states: The United States has participated in Saudi-led airstrikes that have been blamed for most of Yemen’s 10,000 civilian deaths, creating a security vacuum that Al Qaeda has exploited to expand its base of operations. We therefore urge you to terminate US refueling for Saudi coalition warplanes and end, rather than increase, U.S. logistical assistance for the Saudi-led bombings in Yemen. At minimum, any decision by the administration to engage in direct U.S. hostilities against Yemen’s Houthis must be subject to a congressional debate and vote, as the framers of the Constitution intended and the 1973 War Powers Resolution demands. One might ask, why should the Trump administration care what members of Congress think about its military intervention in Yemen? The answer is that Trump administration officials , as well as Republican Congressional leaders, are reported to be divided as to whether to pursue this escalation. Republican Senator Bob Corker, the influential Chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, made it clear that he doesn’t believe the Authorization for the Use of Military Force that Congress passed in 2001 to counter al-Qaeda would apply to Yemen’s Houthis. The Trump administration has to choose its battles, and this is clearly a war of choice, with no legal footing, and where many things can go wrong. If it looks like the White House is going to have a continual and possibly escalating fight with Congress—which could spill over into the media – the forces within the Administration that oppose further involvement may prevail. It’s not like repealing Obamacare – defeated for now — which was a Trump campaign promise. In fact, it’s the opposite: Trump campaigned on a pledge not to get involved in wars other than fighting terrorism. But in this war, Al Qaeda is effectively on the side of the Saudis, whereas the Houthis – who are Shia Muslims – are fighting against Al Qaeda. (Some people still remember that Al Qaeda was behind the attacks that killed 3000 Americans on 9/11). US support that is essential to Saudi Arabia’s prosecution of this war – through weapons transfers, mid-flight refueling for bombing raids, and targeting and logistical assistance – is not easy to defend in public, if the White House were forced to defend it, especially when it is starving ordinary Yemenis and radicalizing them against the United States. If you have never called your representative in Congress to ask them to sign a letter, now would be a good time to do it . You could help save hundreds of thousands of people from starvation. *Mark Weisbrot is Co-Director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington, DC, and the president of Just Foreign Policy . He is also the author of the book “Failed: What the ‘Experts’ Got Wrong About the Global Economy ” (2015, Oxford University Press). You can subscribe to his columns here . * === Robert Naiman Policy Director Just Foreign Policy www.justforeignpolicy.org naiman at justforeignpolicy.org (202) 448-2898 x1 <(202)%20448-2898> -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From brussel at illinois.edu Thu Apr 6 21:19:56 2017 From: brussel at illinois.edu (Brussel, Morton K) Date: Thu, 6 Apr 2017 21:19:56 +0000 Subject: [Peace] [Peace-discuss] Who do we BLAME? Part 40517. In-Reply-To: References: <8C2EFF79-229E-4A6A-B124-B07AE8AF5D6A@illinois.edu> <212797C1-5D4D-4C6A-AD48-54C83B6C731B@illinois.edu> Message-ID: <919A924C-58E4-4630-896C-A3E7A4AF38A3@illinois.edu> I certainly don’t know Assad’s mind and actions, how he is running/defending his country (or is it his country?). Does Chomsky? What does he clearly know about what is taking place in Syria? So I commend you Karen for”going against the Chomsky grain in this matter. As to the gas attack, if that is what it was, a commentary by Gareth Porter is helpful: https://consortiumnews.com/2017/04/05/another-dangerous-rush-to-judgment-in-syria/ On Apr 6, 2017, at 6:27 AM, Karen Aram via Peace > wrote: I disagree with Noam Chomsky’s assessment of Russia, having only one ally. Iran is also an ally, in the Med. This is very important and it’s geopolitical. As to Syria, he failed to look at the history of US involvement in Syria, just going along with mainstream US assessment that Assad is horrible, maybe he is, but look what we have done, we’ve had a presence in Syria, covertly under the Obama administration, not really, just not as openly as now under Trump and the Pentagon. I know, “who am I to disagree with Chomsky” , hey I disagree with Presidents and the Pope when I think they’re wrong. See Wm. Blum et al. On Apr 5, 2017, at 18:36, Carl G. Estabrook via Peace > wrote: NOAM CHOMSKY: Syria is a horrible catastrophe. The Assad regime is a moral disgrace. They’re carrying out horrendous acts, the Russians with them. AMY GOODMAN: Why the Russians with them? NOAM CHOMSKY: Well, pretty simple reason: Syria is their one ally in the whole region. Not a close ally, but they do have—their one Mediterranean base is in Syria. It’s the one country that’s more or less cooperated with them. And they don’t want to lose their one ally. It’s very ugly, but that’s what’s happening. Meanwhile, there have been—it’s kind of like the North Korean case we were discussing. There have been possible opportunities to terminate the horrors. In 2012, there was an initiative from the Russians, which was not pursued, so we don’t know how serious it was, but it was a proposal to—for a negotiated settlement, in which Assad would be phased out, not immediately. You know, you can’t tell them, "We’re going to murder you. Please negotiate." That’s not going to work. But some system in which, in the course of negotiations, he would be removed, and some kind of settlement would be made. The West would not accept it, not just the United States. France, England, the United States simply refused to even consider it. At the time, they believed they could overthrow Assad, so they didn’t want to do this, so the war went on. Could it have worked? You never know for sure. But it could have been pursued. Meanwhile, Qatar and Saudi Arabia are supporting jihadi groups, which are not all that different from ISIS. So you have a horror story on all sides. The Syrian people are being decimated. AMY GOODMAN: And the U.S. now sending 400 more troops to Syria. But if the U.S. has a better relationship with Russia, could that change everything? NOAM CHOMSKY: It could lead to some kind of accommodation in which a negotiated diplomatic settlement would be implemented, which would by no means be lovely, but it would at least cut down the level of violence, which is critical, because the country is simply being destroyed. It’s descending to suicide. On Apr 5, 2017, at 7:54 PM, Carl G. Estabrook via Peace-discuss > wrote: "Another Dangerous Rush to Judgment in Syria” | April 5, 2017 The U.S. government and the mainstream media rushed to judgment again, blaming the Syrian government for a new poison-gas attack and ignoring other possibilities, reports Robert Parry. https://consortiumnews.com/2017/04/05/another-dangerous-rush-to-judgment-in-syria/ On Apr 5, 2017, at 6:00 PM, Carl G. Estabrook via Peace-discuss > wrote: Good question. "Only fake news sub-zoology specimens can possibly believe Damascus would profit from staging a chemical attack just a few hours after the St. Petersburg metro tragedy. The timing is NOT accidental. No wonder hysterical block to block ‘coverage' in NATO-controlled MSM - actually editorials, blaming Damascus without any investigation whatsoever." [Pepe Escobar] "Rebel warehouse with chem weapons hit by Syrian airstrike in Idlib” > Here are reports from US propaganda sources that suggest what may have happened: "Russia blames deadly Syrian gassing on rebels' own chemical arsenal” > "Idlib Attack Aimed at Disrupting Talks, U.N. Envoy Says” > Cui bono? Whose interests are being served by disrupting the talks? The Syrian government's military predominance over the rebels (established with Russia's help) could be recognized in Geneva. The Assad government would seem to have no motive for committing a war crime, but its enemies would certainly have a motive for saying it did. —CGE On Apr 5, 2017, at 5:07 PM, Szoke, Ron via Peace-discuss > wrote: Trump White House responds to Syrian gas attack by blaming the Obama administration By Hunter Daily Kos, Tuesday Apr 04, 2017 · 12:22 PM CDT Donald Trump repeatedly claimed, during the campaign, that the various bad actors on the world stage were only daring to commit aggressions and atrocities because our current leaders were "weak." Today's chemical weapons attack by Syrian forces against Syrian civilians will be one of his team's first true foreign policy tests: they quickly proved themselves to up to the task. White House press secretary Sean Spicer told reporters Tuesday that a gas attack in a rebel-controlled area of Syria was perpetrated by the forces tied to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and are a "consequence of the past administration's weakness and irresolution." [...] "Today's chemical attack in Syria against innocent people including women and children is reprehensible and cannot be ignored by the civilized world," Spicer said. "These heinous actions by the Bashar al-Assad regime are a consequence of the past administration's weakness and irresolution." This may be the first official White House condemnation of the use of chemical weapons to be affixed to a direct political attack on a previous president. The move makes it appear that the White House is more concerned with dodging responsibility for responding to the Syrian attack than they are with the use of the weapons themselves. It is likely that the Trump team has not mapped out an American response to the attacks—especially because of the Trump campaign and transition eagerness to pursue a Russia-friendly compromise in Syria despite Russia's backing of the regime that perpetrated these attacks. Actual Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, for his part, is so far again absent from the discussion. _______________________________________________ Peace-discuss mailing list Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss _______________________________________________ Peace-discuss mailing list Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss _______________________________________________ Peace-discuss mailing list Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss _______________________________________________ Peace mailing list Peace at lists.chambana.net https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace _______________________________________________ Peace mailing list Peace at lists.chambana.net https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From a-fields at illinois.edu Fri Apr 7 01:03:52 2017 From: a-fields at illinois.edu (Fields, A Belden) Date: Fri, 7 Apr 2017 01:03:52 +0000 Subject: [Peace] [Peace-discuss] Who do we BLAME? Part 40517. In-Reply-To: <919A924C-58E4-4630-896C-A3E7A4AF38A3@illinois.edu> References: <8C2EFF79-229E-4A6A-B124-B07AE8AF5D6A@illinois.edu> <212797C1-5D4D-4C6A-AD48-54C83B6C731B@illinois.edu> , <919A924C-58E4-4630-896C-A3E7A4AF38A3@illinois.edu> Message-ID: <4BEF5039AB283245B9B22D29042452EB7430AACF@CITESMBX4.ad.uillinois.edu> I would only point out that when Assad was asked by the press many months ago about his air force's use of barrel bombs in residential areas, which killed and maimed many civilians, his reply was "a bomb is a bomb. It makes no difference." He is clearly willing to use any weapons at his disposal regardless of the cost in civilian lives--by HIS OWN WORDS. No, the investigation is not yet done. But we have heard him loud and clear, anything is fair in this war regardless of humans suffering and international law. Yes, the US has caused enormous suffering and violated human rights itself. But Chomsky is right. Assad is a nasty piece of work and it ill suits people on the Left to pretend otherwise. Belden ________________________________ From: Peace [peace-bounces at lists.chambana.net] on behalf of Brussel, Morton K via Peace [peace at lists.chambana.net] Sent: Thursday, April 06, 2017 4:19 PM To: Karen Aram Cc: peace; Peace-discuss AWARE Subject: Re: [Peace] [Peace-discuss] Who do we BLAME? Part 40517. I certainly don’t know Assad’s mind and actions, how he is running/defending his country (or is it his country?). Does Chomsky? What does he clearly know about what is taking place in Syria? So I commend you Karen for”going against the Chomsky grain in this matter. As to the gas attack, if that is what it was, a commentary by Gareth Porter is helpful: https://consortiumnews.com/2017/04/05/another-dangerous-rush-to-judgment-in-syria/ On Apr 6, 2017, at 6:27 AM, Karen Aram via Peace > wrote: I disagree with Noam Chomsky’s assessment of Russia, having only one ally. Iran is also an ally, in the Med. This is very important and it’s geopolitical. As to Syria, he failed to look at the history of US involvement in Syria, just going along with mainstream US assessment that Assad is horrible, maybe he is, but look what we have done, we’ve had a presence in Syria, covertly under the Obama administration, not really, just not as openly as now under Trump and the Pentagon. I know, “who am I to disagree with Chomsky” , hey I disagree with Presidents and the Pope when I think they’re wrong. See Wm. Blum et al. On Apr 5, 2017, at 18:36, Carl G. Estabrook via Peace > wrote: NOAM CHOMSKY: Syria is a horrible catastrophe. The Assad regime is a moral disgrace. They’re carrying out horrendous acts, the Russians with them. AMY GOODMAN: Why the Russians with them? NOAM CHOMSKY: Well, pretty simple reason: Syria is their one ally in the whole region. Not a close ally, but they do have—their one Mediterranean base is in Syria. It’s the one country that’s more or less cooperated with them. And they don’t want to lose their one ally. It’s very ugly, but that’s what’s happening. Meanwhile, there have been—it’s kind of like the North Korean case we were discussing. There have been possible opportunities to terminate the horrors. In 2012, there was an initiative from the Russians, which was not pursued, so we don’t know how serious it was, but it was a proposal to—for a negotiated settlement, in which Assad would be phased out, not immediately. You know, you can’t tell them, "We’re going to murder you. Please negotiate." That’s not going to work. But some system in which, in the course of negotiations, he would be removed, and some kind of settlement would be made. The West would not accept it, not just the United States. France, England, the United States simply refused to even consider it. At the time, they believed they could overthrow Assad, so they didn’t want to do this, so the war went on. Could it have worked? You never know for sure. But it could have been pursued. Meanwhile, Qatar and Saudi Arabia are supporting jihadi groups, which are not all that different from ISIS. So you have a horror story on all sides. The Syrian people are being decimated. AMY GOODMAN: And the U.S. now sending 400 more troops to Syria. But if the U.S. has a better relationship with Russia, could that change everything? NOAM CHOMSKY: It could lead to some kind of accommodation in which a negotiated diplomatic settlement would be implemented, which would by no means be lovely, but it would at least cut down the level of violence, which is critical, because the country is simply being destroyed. It’s descending to suicide. On Apr 5, 2017, at 7:54 PM, Carl G. Estabrook via Peace-discuss > wrote: "Another Dangerous Rush to Judgment in Syria” | April 5, 2017 The U.S. government and the mainstream media rushed to judgment again, blaming the Syrian government for a new poison-gas attack and ignoring other possibilities, reports Robert Parry. https://consortiumnews.com/2017/04/05/another-dangerous-rush-to-judgment-in-syria/ On Apr 5, 2017, at 6:00 PM, Carl G. Estabrook via Peace-discuss > wrote: Good question. "Only fake news sub-zoology specimens can possibly believe Damascus would profit from staging a chemical attack just a few hours after the St. Petersburg metro tragedy. The timing is NOT accidental. No wonder hysterical block to block ‘coverage' in NATO-controlled MSM - actually editorials, blaming Damascus without any investigation whatsoever." [Pepe Escobar] "Rebel warehouse with chem weapons hit by Syrian airstrike in Idlib” > Here are reports from US propaganda sources that suggest what may have happened: "Russia blames deadly Syrian gassing on rebels' own chemical arsenal” > "Idlib Attack Aimed at Disrupting Talks, U.N. Envoy Says” > Cui bono? Whose interests are being served by disrupting the talks? The Syrian government's military predominance over the rebels (established with Russia's help) could be recognized in Geneva. The Assad government would seem to have no motive for committing a war crime, but its enemies would certainly have a motive for saying it did. —CGE On Apr 5, 2017, at 5:07 PM, Szoke, Ron via Peace-discuss > wrote: Trump White House responds to Syrian gas attack by blaming the Obama administration By Hunter Daily Kos, Tuesday Apr 04, 2017 · 12:22 PM CDT Donald Trump repeatedly claimed, during the campaign, that the various bad actors on the world stage were only daring to commit aggressions and atrocities because our current leaders were "weak." Today's chemical weapons attack by Syrian forces against Syrian civilians will be one of his team's first true foreign policy tests: they quickly proved themselves to up to the task. White House press secretary Sean Spicer told reporters Tuesday that a gas attack in a rebel-controlled area of Syria was perpetrated by the forces tied to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and are a "consequence of the past administration's weakness and irresolution." [...] "Today's chemical attack in Syria against innocent people including women and children is reprehensible and cannot be ignored by the civilized world," Spicer said. "These heinous actions by the Bashar al-Assad regime are a consequence of the past administration's weakness and irresolution." This may be the first official White House condemnation of the use of chemical weapons to be affixed to a direct political attack on a previous president. The move makes it appear that the White House is more concerned with dodging responsibility for responding to the Syrian attack than they are with the use of the weapons themselves. It is likely that the Trump team has not mapped out an American response to the attacks—especially because of the Trump campaign and transition eagerness to pursue a Russia-friendly compromise in Syria despite Russia's backing of the regime that perpetrated these attacks. Actual Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, for his part, is so far again absent from the discussion. _______________________________________________ Peace-discuss mailing list Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss _______________________________________________ Peace-discuss mailing list Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss _______________________________________________ Peace-discuss mailing list Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss _______________________________________________ Peace mailing list Peace at lists.chambana.net https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace _______________________________________________ Peace mailing list Peace at lists.chambana.net https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From karenaram at hotmail.com Fri Apr 7 03:39:24 2017 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Fri, 7 Apr 2017 03:39:24 +0000 Subject: [Peace] [Peace-discuss] Who do we BLAME? Part 40517. In-Reply-To: <4BEF5039AB283245B9B22D29042452EB7430AACF@CITESMBX4.ad.uillinois.edu> References: <8C2EFF79-229E-4A6A-B124-B07AE8AF5D6A@illinois.edu> <212797C1-5D4D-4C6A-AD48-54C83B6C731B@illinois.edu> <919A924C-58E4-4630-896C-A3E7A4AF38A3@illinois.edu> <4BEF5039AB283245B9B22D29042452EB7430AACF@CITESMBX4.ad.uillinois.edu> Message-ID: Belden, With all do respect: Which press interviewed Assad? The American press? The same press that vilifies Putin? The same press that vilified Gaddafi, and Sadam before destroying their nations and slaughtering them and their people? Even if they are monsters, they are the responsibility of their own people. Bush and Cheney were monsters, do I wish Russia or China, had bombed the US in order to liquidate them? Of course not. Chomsky maybe right, but why does he or any other American feel the need to make the statement, yes he’s awful but so are we. Chomsky himself has always made the point that “we are responsible for our own actions”, not that of others. When the American press or the American government indulges in such rhetoric, they lesson any chance of using diplomacy, which obviously they don’t care to use, preferring instead military actions. Al Sisi, Netanyahu, and the Saudi’s are monsters and should be vilified rather than celebrated, but given they are ally’s, not targets…….. My argument is overly simplistic. My point is, when we complain about the evils of those our government is targeting we are giving “just cause” and “support” for that which will likely follow, in our name. It is up to the American people to focus on that for which our government is responsible, that is our monsters of whom we have many. On Apr 6, 2017, at 18:03, Fields, A Belden > wrote: I would only point out that when Assad was asked by the press many months ago about his air force's use of barrel bombs in residential areas, which killed and maimed many civilians, his reply was "a bomb is a bomb. It makes no difference." He is clearly willing to use any weapons at his disposal regardless of the cost in civilian lives--by HIS OWN WORDS. No, the investigation is not yet done. But we have heard him loud and clear, anything is fair in this war regardless of humans suffering and international law. Yes, the US has caused enormous suffering and violated human rights itself. But Chomsky is right. Assad is a nasty piece of work and it ill suits people on the Left to pretend otherwise. Belden ________________________________ From: Peace [peace-bounces at lists.chambana.net] on behalf of Brussel, Morton K via Peace [peace at lists.chambana.net] Sent: Thursday, April 06, 2017 4:19 PM To: Karen Aram Cc: peace; Peace-discuss AWARE Subject: Re: [Peace] [Peace-discuss] Who do we BLAME? Part 40517. I certainly don’t know Assad’s mind and actions, how he is running/defending his country (or is it his country?). Does Chomsky? What does he clearly know about what is taking place in Syria? So I commend you Karen for”going against the Chomsky grain in this matter. As to the gas attack, if that is what it was, a commentary by Gareth Porter is helpful: https://consortiumnews.com/2017/04/05/another-dangerous-rush-to-judgment-in-syria/ On Apr 6, 2017, at 6:27 AM, Karen Aram via Peace > wrote: I disagree with Noam Chomsky’s assessment of Russia, having only one ally. Iran is also an ally, in the Med. This is very important and it’s geopolitical. As to Syria, he failed to look at the history of US involvement in Syria, just going along with mainstream US assessment that Assad is horrible, maybe he is, but look what we have done, we’ve had a presence in Syria, covertly under the Obama administration, not really, just not as openly as now under Trump and the Pentagon. I know, “who am I to disagree with Chomsky” , hey I disagree with Presidents and the Pope when I think they’re wrong. See Wm. Blum et al. On Apr 5, 2017, at 18:36, Carl G. Estabrook via Peace > wrote: NOAM CHOMSKY: Syria is a horrible catastrophe. The Assad regime is a moral disgrace. They’re carrying out horrendous acts, the Russians with them. AMY GOODMAN: Why the Russians with them? NOAM CHOMSKY: Well, pretty simple reason: Syria is their one ally in the whole region. Not a close ally, but they do have—their one Mediterranean base is in Syria. It’s the one country that’s more or less cooperated with them. And they don’t want to lose their one ally. It’s very ugly, but that’s what’s happening. Meanwhile, there have been—it’s kind of like the North Korean case we were discussing. There have been possible opportunities to terminate the horrors. In 2012, there was an initiative from the Russians, which was not pursued, so we don’t know how serious it was, but it was a proposal to—for a negotiated settlement, in which Assad would be phased out, not immediately. You know, you can’t tell them, "We’re going to murder you. Please negotiate." That’s not going to work. But some system in which, in the course of negotiations, he would be removed, and some kind of settlement would be made. The West would not accept it, not just the United States. France, England, the United States simply refused to even consider it. At the time, they believed they could overthrow Assad, so they didn’t want to do this, so the war went on. Could it have worked? You never know for sure. But it could have been pursued. Meanwhile, Qatar and Saudi Arabia are supporting jihadi groups, which are not all that different from ISIS. So you have a horror story on all sides. The Syrian people are being decimated. AMY GOODMAN: And the U.S. now sending 400 more troops to Syria. But if the U.S. has a better relationship with Russia, could that change everything? NOAM CHOMSKY: It could lead to some kind of accommodation in which a negotiated diplomatic settlement would be implemented, which would by no means be lovely, but it would at least cut down the level of violence, which is critical, because the country is simply being destroyed. It’s descending to suicide. On Apr 5, 2017, at 7:54 PM, Carl G. Estabrook via Peace-discuss > wrote: "Another Dangerous Rush to Judgment in Syria” | April 5, 2017 The U.S. government and the mainstream media rushed to judgment again, blaming the Syrian government for a new poison-gas attack and ignoring other possibilities, reports Robert Parry. https://consortiumnews.com/2017/04/05/another-dangerous-rush-to-judgment-in-syria/ On Apr 5, 2017, at 6:00 PM, Carl G. Estabrook via Peace-discuss > wrote: Good question. "Only fake news sub-zoology specimens can possibly believe Damascus would profit from staging a chemical attack just a few hours after the St. Petersburg metro tragedy. The timing is NOT accidental. No wonder hysterical block to block ‘coverage' in NATO-controlled MSM - actually editorials, blaming Damascus without any investigation whatsoever." [Pepe Escobar] "Rebel warehouse with chem weapons hit by Syrian airstrike in Idlib” > Here are reports from US propaganda sources that suggest what may have happened: "Russia blames deadly Syrian gassing on rebels' own chemical arsenal” > "Idlib Attack Aimed at Disrupting Talks, U.N. Envoy Says” > Cui bono? Whose interests are being served by disrupting the talks? The Syrian government's military predominance over the rebels (established with Russia's help) could be recognized in Geneva. The Assad government would seem to have no motive for committing a war crime, but its enemies would certainly have a motive for saying it did. —CGE On Apr 5, 2017, at 5:07 PM, Szoke, Ron via Peace-discuss > wrote: Trump White House responds to Syrian gas attack by blaming the Obama administration By Hunter Daily Kos, Tuesday Apr 04, 2017 · 12:22 PM CDT Donald Trump repeatedly claimed, during the campaign, that the various bad actors on the world stage were only daring to commit aggressions and atrocities because our current leaders were "weak." Today's chemical weapons attack by Syrian forces against Syrian civilians will be one of his team's first true foreign policy tests: they quickly proved themselves to up to the task. White House press secretary Sean Spicer told reporters Tuesday that a gas attack in a rebel-controlled area of Syria was perpetrated by the forces tied to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and are a "consequence of the past administration's weakness and irresolution." [...] "Today's chemical attack in Syria against innocent people including women and children is reprehensible and cannot be ignored by the civilized world," Spicer said. "These heinous actions by the Bashar al-Assad regime are a consequence of the past administration's weakness and irresolution." This may be the first official White House condemnation of the use of chemical weapons to be affixed to a direct political attack on a previous president. The move makes it appear that the White House is more concerned with dodging responsibility for responding to the Syrian attack than they are with the use of the weapons themselves. It is likely that the Trump team has not mapped out an American response to the attacks—especially because of the Trump campaign and transition eagerness to pursue a Russia-friendly compromise in Syria despite Russia's backing of the regime that perpetrated these attacks. Actual Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, for his part, is so far again absent from the discussion. _______________________________________________ Peace-discuss mailing list Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss _______________________________________________ Peace-discuss mailing list Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss _______________________________________________ Peace-discuss mailing list Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss _______________________________________________ Peace mailing list Peace at lists.chambana.net https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace _______________________________________________ Peace mailing list Peace at lists.chambana.net https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From brussel at illinois.edu Fri Apr 7 04:34:26 2017 From: brussel at illinois.edu (Brussel, Morton K) Date: Fri, 7 Apr 2017 04:34:26 +0000 Subject: [Peace] [Peace-discuss] Who do we BLAME? Part 40517. In-Reply-To: <4BEF5039AB283245B9B22D29042452EB7430AACF@CITESMBX4.ad.uillinois.edu> References: <8C2EFF79-229E-4A6A-B124-B07AE8AF5D6A@illinois.edu> <212797C1-5D4D-4C6A-AD48-54C83B6C731B@illinois.edu> <919A924C-58E4-4630-896C-A3E7A4AF38A3@illinois.edu> <4BEF5039AB283245B9B22D29042452EB7430AACF@CITESMBX4.ad.uillinois.edu> Message-ID: Belden, You don’t know god damn thing about what has happened in Syria, what is happening there, and your so-called argument is worse than asinine. You have become an apologist for war—you, a human rights advocate. Shame!!! —mkb On Apr 6, 2017, at 8:03 PM, Fields, A Belden > wrote: I would only point out that when Assad was asked by the press many months ago about his air force's use of barrel bombs in residential areas, which killed and maimed many civilians, his reply was "a bomb is a bomb. It makes no difference." He is clearly willing to use any weapons at his disposal regardless of the cost in civilian lives--by HIS OWN WORDS. No, the investigation is not yet done. But we have heard him loud and clear, anything is fair in this war regardless of humans suffering and international law. Yes, the US has caused enormous suffering and violated human rights itself. But Chomsky is right. Assad is a nasty piece of work and it ill suits people on the Left to pretend otherwise. Belden ________________________________ From: Peace [peace-bounces at lists.chambana.net] on behalf of Brussel, Morton K via Peace [peace at lists.chambana.net] Sent: Thursday, April 06, 2017 4:19 PM To: Karen Aram Cc: peace; Peace-discuss AWARE Subject: Re: [Peace] [Peace-discuss] Who do we BLAME? Part 40517. I certainly don’t know Assad’s mind and actions, how he is running/defending his country (or is it his country?). Does Chomsky? What does he clearly know about what is taking place in Syria? So I commend you Karen for”going against the Chomsky grain in this matter. As to the gas attack, if that is what it was, a commentary by Gareth Porter is helpful: https://consortiumnews.com/2017/04/05/another-dangerous-rush-to-judgment-in-syria/ On Apr 6, 2017, at 6:27 AM, Karen Aram via Peace > wrote: I disagree with Noam Chomsky’s assessment of Russia, having only one ally. Iran is also an ally, in the Med. This is very important and it’s geopolitical. As to Syria, he failed to look at the history of US involvement in Syria, just going along with mainstream US assessment that Assad is horrible, maybe he is, but look what we have done, we’ve had a presence in Syria, covertly under the Obama administration, not really, just not as openly as now under Trump and the Pentagon. I know, “who am I to disagree with Chomsky” , hey I disagree with Presidents and the Pope when I think they’re wrong. See Wm. Blum et al. On Apr 5, 2017, at 18:36, Carl G. Estabrook via Peace > wrote: NOAM CHOMSKY: Syria is a horrible catastrophe. The Assad regime is a moral disgrace. They’re carrying out horrendous acts, the Russians with them. AMY GOODMAN: Why the Russians with them? NOAM CHOMSKY: Well, pretty simple reason: Syria is their one ally in the whole region. Not a close ally, but they do have—their one Mediterranean base is in Syria. It’s the one country that’s more or less cooperated with them. And they don’t want to lose their one ally. It’s very ugly, but that’s what’s happening. Meanwhile, there have been—it’s kind of like the North Korean case we were discussing. There have been possible opportunities to terminate the horrors. In 2012, there was an initiative from the Russians, which was not pursued, so we don’t know how serious it was, but it was a proposal to—for a negotiated settlement, in which Assad would be phased out, not immediately. You know, you can’t tell them, "We’re going to murder you. Please negotiate." That’s not going to work. But some system in which, in the course of negotiations, he would be removed, and some kind of settlement would be made. The West would not accept it, not just the United States. France, England, the United States simply refused to even consider it. At the time, they believed they could overthrow Assad, so they didn’t want to do this, so the war went on. Could it have worked? You never know for sure. But it could have been pursued. Meanwhile, Qatar and Saudi Arabia are supporting jihadi groups, which are not all that different from ISIS. So you have a horror story on all sides. The Syrian people are being decimated. AMY GOODMAN: And the U.S. now sending 400 more troops to Syria. But if the U.S. has a better relationship with Russia, could that change everything? NOAM CHOMSKY: It could lead to some kind of accommodation in which a negotiated diplomatic settlement would be implemented, which would by no means be lovely, but it would at least cut down the level of violence, which is critical, because the country is simply being destroyed. It’s descending to suicide. On Apr 5, 2017, at 7:54 PM, Carl G. Estabrook via Peace-discuss > wrote: "Another Dangerous Rush to Judgment in Syria” | April 5, 2017 The U.S. government and the mainstream media rushed to judgment again, blaming the Syrian government for a new poison-gas attack and ignoring other possibilities, reports Robert Parry. https://consortiumnews.com/2017/04/05/another-dangerous-rush-to-judgment-in-syria/ On Apr 5, 2017, at 6:00 PM, Carl G. Estabrook via Peace-discuss > wrote: Good question. "Only fake news sub-zoology specimens can possibly believe Damascus would profit from staging a chemical attack just a few hours after the St. Petersburg metro tragedy. The timing is NOT accidental. No wonder hysterical block to block ‘coverage' in NATO-controlled MSM - actually editorials, blaming Damascus without any investigation whatsoever." [Pepe Escobar] "Rebel warehouse with chem weapons hit by Syrian airstrike in Idlib” > Here are reports from US propaganda sources that suggest what may have happened: "Russia blames deadly Syrian gassing on rebels' own chemical arsenal” > "Idlib Attack Aimed at Disrupting Talks, U.N. Envoy Says” > Cui bono? Whose interests are being served by disrupting the talks? The Syrian government's military predominance over the rebels (established with Russia's help) could be recognized in Geneva. The Assad government would seem to have no motive for committing a war crime, but its enemies would certainly have a motive for saying it did. —CGE On Apr 5, 2017, at 5:07 PM, Szoke, Ron via Peace-discuss > wrote: Trump White House responds to Syrian gas attack by blaming the Obama administration By Hunter Daily Kos, Tuesday Apr 04, 2017 · 12:22 PM CDT Donald Trump repeatedly claimed, during the campaign, that the various bad actors on the world stage were only daring to commit aggressions and atrocities because our current leaders were "weak." Today's chemical weapons attack by Syrian forces against Syrian civilians will be one of his team's first true foreign policy tests: they quickly proved themselves to up to the task. White House press secretary Sean Spicer told reporters Tuesday that a gas attack in a rebel-controlled area of Syria was perpetrated by the forces tied to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and are a "consequence of the past administration's weakness and irresolution." [...] "Today's chemical attack in Syria against innocent people including women and children is reprehensible and cannot be ignored by the civilized world," Spicer said. "These heinous actions by the Bashar al-Assad regime are a consequence of the past administration's weakness and irresolution." This may be the first official White House condemnation of the use of chemical weapons to be affixed to a direct political attack on a previous president. The move makes it appear that the White House is more concerned with dodging responsibility for responding to the Syrian attack than they are with the use of the weapons themselves. It is likely that the Trump team has not mapped out an American response to the attacks—especially because of the Trump campaign and transition eagerness to pursue a Russia-friendly compromise in Syria despite Russia's backing of the regime that perpetrated these attacks. Actual Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, for his part, is so far again absent from the discussion. _______________________________________________ Peace-discuss mailing list Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss _______________________________________________ Peace-discuss mailing list Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss _______________________________________________ Peace-discuss mailing list Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss _______________________________________________ Peace mailing list Peace at lists.chambana.net https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace _______________________________________________ Peace mailing list Peace at lists.chambana.net https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From a-fields at illinois.edu Fri Apr 7 04:56:43 2017 From: a-fields at illinois.edu (Fields, A Belden) Date: Fri, 7 Apr 2017 04:56:43 +0000 Subject: [Peace] [Peace-discuss] Who do we BLAME? Part 40517. In-Reply-To: References: <8C2EFF79-229E-4A6A-B124-B07AE8AF5D6A@illinois.edu> <212797C1-5D4D-4C6A-AD48-54C83B6C731B@illinois.edu> <919A924C-58E4-4630-896C-A3E7A4AF38A3@illinois.edu> <4BEF5039AB283245B9B22D29042452EB7430AACF@CITESMBX4.ad.uillinois.edu>, Message-ID: <0C29BEE5-3531-442D-8984-90AFA543EC0E@illinois.edu> I said nothing about a response to Assad. I only agreed with Chomsky's characterization of him. And I used His own words. Matters not who posed the question. Belden Sent from my iPhone On Apr 6, 2017, at 11:34 PM, Brussel, Morton K > wrote: Belden, You don’t know god damn thing about what has happened in Syria, what is happening there, and your so-called argument is worse than asinine. You have become an apologist for war—you, a human rights advocate. Shame!!! —mkb On Apr 6, 2017, at 8:03 PM, Fields, A Belden > wrote: I would only point out that when Assad was asked by the press many months ago about his air force's use of barrel bombs in residential areas, which killed and maimed many civilians, his reply was "a bomb is a bomb. It makes no difference." He is clearly willing to use any weapons at his disposal regardless of the cost in civilian lives--by HIS OWN WORDS. No, the investigation is not yet done. But we have heard him loud and clear, anything is fair in this war regardless of humans suffering and international law. Yes, the US has caused enormous suffering and violated human rights itself. But Chomsky is right. Assad is a nasty piece of work and it ill suits people on the Left to pretend otherwise. Belden ________________________________ From: Peace [peace-bounces at lists.chambana.net] on behalf of Brussel, Morton K via Peace [peace at lists.chambana.net] Sent: Thursday, April 06, 2017 4:19 PM To: Karen Aram Cc: peace; Peace-discuss AWARE Subject: Re: [Peace] [Peace-discuss] Who do we BLAME? Part 40517. I certainly don’t know Assad’s mind and actions, how he is running/defending his country (or is it his country?). Does Chomsky? What does he clearly know about what is taking place in Syria? So I commend you Karen for”going against the Chomsky grain in this matter. As to the gas attack, if that is what it was, a commentary by Gareth Porter is helpful: https://consortiumnews.com/2017/04/05/another-dangerous-rush-to-judgment-in-syria/ On Apr 6, 2017, at 6:27 AM, Karen Aram via Peace > wrote: I disagree with Noam Chomsky’s assessment of Russia, having only one ally. Iran is also an ally, in the Med. This is very important and it’s geopolitical. As to Syria, he failed to look at the history of US involvement in Syria, just going along with mainstream US assessment that Assad is horrible, maybe he is, but look what we have done, we’ve had a presence in Syria, covertly under the Obama administration, not really, just not as openly as now under Trump and the Pentagon. I know, “who am I to disagree with Chomsky” , hey I disagree with Presidents and the Pope when I think they’re wrong. See Wm. Blum et al. On Apr 5, 2017, at 18:36, Carl G. Estabrook via Peace > wrote: NOAM CHOMSKY: Syria is a horrible catastrophe. The Assad regime is a moral disgrace. They’re carrying out horrendous acts, the Russians with them. AMY GOODMAN: Why the Russians with them? NOAM CHOMSKY: Well, pretty simple reason: Syria is their one ally in the whole region. Not a close ally, but they do have—their one Mediterranean base is in Syria. It’s the one country that’s more or less cooperated with them. And they don’t want to lose their one ally. It’s very ugly, but that’s what’s happening. Meanwhile, there have been—it’s kind of like the North Korean case we were discussing. There have been possible opportunities to terminate the horrors. In 2012, there was an initiative from the Russians, which was not pursued, so we don’t know how serious it was, but it was a proposal to—for a negotiated settlement, in which Assad would be phased out, not immediately. You know, you can’t tell them, "We’re going to murder you. Please negotiate." That’s not going to work. But some system in which, in the course of negotiations, he would be removed, and some kind of settlement would be made. The West would not accept it, not just the United States. France, England, the United States simply refused to even consider it. At the time, they believed they could overthrow Assad, so they didn’t want to do this, so the war went on. Could it have worked? You never know for sure. But it could have been pursued. Meanwhile, Qatar and Saudi Arabia are supporting jihadi groups, which are not all that different from ISIS. So you have a horror story on all sides. The Syrian people are being decimated. AMY GOODMAN: And the U.S. now sending 400 more troops to Syria. But if the U.S. has a better relationship with Russia, could that change everything? NOAM CHOMSKY: It could lead to some kind of accommodation in which a negotiated diplomatic settlement would be implemented, which would by no means be lovely, but it would at least cut down the level of violence, which is critical, because the country is simply being destroyed. It’s descending to suicide. On Apr 5, 2017, at 7:54 PM, Carl G. Estabrook via Peace-discuss > wrote: "Another Dangerous Rush to Judgment in Syria” | April 5, 2017 The U.S. government and the mainstream media rushed to judgment again, blaming the Syrian government for a new poison-gas attack and ignoring other possibilities, reports Robert Parry. https://consortiumnews.com/2017/04/05/another-dangerous-rush-to-judgment-in-syria/ On Apr 5, 2017, at 6:00 PM, Carl G. Estabrook via Peace-discuss > wrote: Good question. "Only fake news sub-zoology specimens can possibly believe Damascus would profit from staging a chemical attack just a few hours after the St. Petersburg metro tragedy. The timing is NOT accidental. No wonder hysterical block to block ‘coverage' in NATO-controlled MSM - actually editorials, blaming Damascus without any investigation whatsoever." [Pepe Escobar] "Rebel warehouse with chem weapons hit by Syrian airstrike in Idlib” > Here are reports from US propaganda sources that suggest what may have happened: "Russia blames deadly Syrian gassing on rebels' own chemical arsenal” > "Idlib Attack Aimed at Disrupting Talks, U.N. Envoy Says” > Cui bono? Whose interests are being served by disrupting the talks? The Syrian government's military predominance over the rebels (established with Russia's help) could be recognized in Geneva. The Assad government would seem to have no motive for committing a war crime, but its enemies would certainly have a motive for saying it did. —CGE On Apr 5, 2017, at 5:07 PM, Szoke, Ron via Peace-discuss > wrote: Trump White House responds to Syrian gas attack by blaming the Obama administration By Hunter Daily Kos, Tuesday Apr 04, 2017 · 12:22 PM CDT Donald Trump repeatedly claimed, during the campaign, that the various bad actors on the world stage were only daring to commit aggressions and atrocities because our current leaders were "weak." Today's chemical weapons attack by Syrian forces against Syrian civilians will be one of his team's first true foreign policy tests: they quickly proved themselves to up to the task. White House press secretary Sean Spicer told reporters Tuesday that a gas attack in a rebel-controlled area of Syria was perpetrated by the forces tied to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and are a "consequence of the past administration's weakness and irresolution." [...] "Today's chemical attack in Syria against innocent people including women and children is reprehensible and cannot be ignored by the civilized world," Spicer said. "These heinous actions by the Bashar al-Assad regime are a consequence of the past administration's weakness and irresolution." This may be the first official White House condemnation of the use of chemical weapons to be affixed to a direct political attack on a previous president. The move makes it appear that the White House is more concerned with dodging responsibility for responding to the Syrian attack than they are with the use of the weapons themselves. It is likely that the Trump team has not mapped out an American response to the attacks—especially because of the Trump campaign and transition eagerness to pursue a Russia-friendly compromise in Syria despite Russia's backing of the regime that perpetrated these attacks. Actual Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, for his part, is so far again absent from the discussion. _______________________________________________ Peace-discuss mailing list Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss _______________________________________________ Peace-discuss mailing list Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss _______________________________________________ Peace-discuss mailing list Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss _______________________________________________ Peace mailing list Peace at lists.chambana.net https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace _______________________________________________ Peace mailing list Peace at lists.chambana.net https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From jbw292002 at gmail.com Fri Apr 7 07:47:41 2017 From: jbw292002 at gmail.com (John W.) Date: Fri, 7 Apr 2017 02:47:41 -0500 Subject: [Peace] [Peace-discuss] Who do we BLAME? Part 40517. In-Reply-To: References: <8C2EFF79-229E-4A6A-B124-B07AE8AF5D6A@illinois.edu> <212797C1-5D4D-4C6A-AD48-54C83B6C731B@illinois.edu> <919A924C-58E4-4630-896C-A3E7A4AF38A3@illinois.edu> <4BEF5039AB283245B9B22D29042452EB7430AACF@CITESMBX4.ad.uillinois.edu> Message-ID: I never quite understand what all of you are arguing about. All I know for sure is that every "leader" in the world, throughout human history - except for those precious few who (1) were democratically elected, and (2) possess a modicum of integrity, humility, and perspective - wants to keep his/her power, and doesn't care how many civilians s/he kills to do so. Given that there is a civil war raging in Syria among various factions, Assad would be killing his own people in order to retain power regardless of whether Russia and/or America was involved. I don't have to be a mind reader or a close personal friend of Assad to know that retaining power is more important to him than the lives of the Syrian people. Whether or not we intervene is at least as much of a practical question as a moral one. And it's a moot point because pResident tRump has chosen to bomb. John Wason On Thu, Apr 6, 2017 at 11:34 PM, Brussel, Morton K via Peace < peace at lists.chambana.net> wrote: Belden, > > You don’t know god damn thing about what has happened in Syria, what is > happening there, and your so-called argument is worse than asinine. You > have become an apologist for war—you, a human rights advocate. Shame!!! > > —mkb > > > On Apr 6, 2017, at 8:03 PM, Fields, A Belden > wrote: > > I would only point out that when Assad was asked by the press many months > ago about his air force's use of barrel bombs in residential areas, which > killed and maimed many civilians, his reply was "a bomb is a bomb. It makes > no difference." He is clearly willing to use any weapons at his disposal > regardless of the cost in civilian lives--by HIS OWN WORDS. > No, the investigation is not yet done. But we have heard him loud and > clear, anything is fair in this war regardless of humans suffering and > international law. Yes, the US has caused enormous suffering and violated > human rights itself. But Chomsky is right. Assad is a nasty piece of > work and it ill suits people on the Left to pretend otherwise. > > Belden > > > > ------------------------------ > *From:* Peace [peace-bounces at lists.chambana.net] on behalf of Brussel, > Morton K via Peace [peace at lists.chambana.net] > *Sent:* Thursday, April 06, 2017 4:19 PM > *To:* Karen Aram > *Cc:* peace; Peace-discuss AWARE > *Subject:* Re: [Peace] [Peace-discuss] Who do we BLAME? Part 40517. > > I certainly don’t know Assad’s mind and actions, how he is > running/defending his country (or is it his country?). Does Chomsky? What > does he clearly know about what is taking place in Syria? > So I commend you Karen for”going against the Chomsky grain in this matter. > As to the gas attack, if that is what it was, a commentary by Gareth Porter > is helpful: > https://consortiumnews.com/2017/04/05/another-dangerous- > rush-to-judgment-in-syria/ > > > > On Apr 6, 2017, at 6:27 AM, Karen Aram via Peace > wrote: > > I disagree with Noam Chomsky’s assessment of Russia, having only one ally. > Iran is also an ally, in the Med. This is very important and it’s > geopolitical. As to Syria, he failed to look at the history of US > involvement in Syria, just going along with mainstream US assessment that > Assad is horrible, maybe he is, but look what we have done, we’ve had a > presence in Syria, covertly under the Obama administration, not really, > just not as openly as now under Trump and the Pentagon. > > I know, “who am I to disagree with Chomsky” , hey I disagree with > Presidents and the Pope when I think they’re wrong. > > See Wm. Blum et al. > > On Apr 5, 2017, at 18:36, Carl G. Estabrook via Peace < > peace at lists.chambana.net> wrote: > > NOAM CHOMSKY: Syria is a horrible catastrophe. The Assad regime is a moral > disgrace. They’re carrying out horrendous acts, the Russians with them. > > AMY GOODMAN: Why the Russians with them? > > NOAM CHOMSKY: Well, pretty simple reason: Syria is their one ally in the > whole region. Not a close ally, but they do have—their one Mediterranean > base is in Syria. It’s the one country that’s more or less cooperated with > them. And they don’t want to lose their one ally. It’s very ugly, but > that’s what’s happening. > > Meanwhile, there have been—it’s kind of like the North Korean case we were > discussing. There have been possible opportunities to terminate the > horrors. In 2012, there was an initiative from the Russians, which was not > pursued, so we don’t know how serious it was, but it was a proposal to—for > a negotiated settlement, in which Assad would be phased out, not > immediately. You know, you can’t tell them, "We’re going to murder you. > Please negotiate." That’s not going to work. But some system in which, in > the course of negotiations, he would be removed, and some kind of > settlement would be made. The West would not accept it, not just the United > States. France, England, the United States simply refused to even consider > it. At the time, they believed they could overthrow Assad, so they didn’t > want to do this, so the war went on. Could it have worked? You never know > for sure. But it could have been pursued. Meanwhile, Qatar and Saudi Arabia > are supporting jihadi groups, which are not all that different from ISIS. > So you have a horror story on all sides. The Syrian people are being > decimated. > > AMY GOODMAN: And the U.S. now sending 400 more troops to Syria. But if the > U.S. has a better relationship with Russia, could that change everything? > > NOAM CHOMSKY: It could lead to some kind of accommodation in which a > negotiated diplomatic settlement would be implemented, which would by no > means be lovely, but it would at least cut down the level of violence, > which is critical, because the country is simply being destroyed. It’s > descending to suicide. > > > On Apr 5, 2017, at 7:54 PM, Carl G. Estabrook via Peace-discuss < > peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net> wrote: > > "Another Dangerous Rush to Judgment in Syria” | April 5, 2017 > The U.S. government and the mainstream media rushed to judgment again, > blaming the Syrian government for a new poison-gas attack and ignoring > other possibilities, reports Robert Parry. > > https://consortiumnews.com/2017/04/05/another-dangerous- > rush-to-judgment-in-syria/ > > > > On Apr 5, 2017, at 6:00 PM, Carl G. Estabrook via Peace-discuss < > peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net> wrote: > > Good question. > > "Only fake news sub-zoology specimens can possibly believe Damascus would > profit from staging a chemical attack just a few hours after the St. > Petersburg metro tragedy. The timing is NOT accidental. No wonder > hysterical block to block ‘coverage' in NATO-controlled MSM - actually > editorials, blaming Damascus without any investigation whatsoever." [Pepe > Escobar] > > "Rebel warehouse with chem weapons hit by Syrian airstrike in Idlib” < > https://www.rt.com/news/383522-syria-idlib-warehouse-strike-chemical/ > > > > > Here are reports from US propaganda sources that suggest what may have > happened: > > "Russia blames deadly Syrian gassing on rebels' own chemical arsenal” < > http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/russia-blames-syria- > gassing-leak-rebels-own-chemical-arsenal-n742791 > > > > > "Idlib Attack Aimed at Disrupting Talks, U.N. Envoy Says” < > https://www.wsj.com/articles/idlib-attack-aimed-at- > disrupting-talks-u-n-envoy-says-1491325155?tesla=y > > > > > Cui bono? Whose interests are being served by disrupting the talks? The > Syrian government's military predominance over the rebels (established with > Russia's help) could be recognized in Geneva. The Assad government would > seem to have no motive for committing a war crime, but its enemies would > certainly have a motive for saying it did. > > —CGE > > > On Apr 5, 2017, at 5:07 PM, Szoke, Ron via Peace-discuss < > peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net> wrote: > > Trump White House responds to Syrian gas attack by blaming the Obama > administration > > > By Hunter > Daily Kos, Tuesday Apr 04, 2017 · 12:22 PM CDT > > Donald Trump repeatedly claimed, during the campaign, that the various bad > actors on the world stage were only daring to commit aggressions and > atrocities because our current leaders were "weak." Today's chemical > weapons attack by Syrian forces against Syrian civilians will be one of his > team's first true foreign policy tests: they quickly proved themselves to > up to the task. > White House press secretary Sean Spicer told reporters Tuesday that a gas > attack in a rebel-controlled area of Syria was perpetrated by the forces > tied to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and are a "consequence of the past > administration's weakness and irresolution." [...] > "Today's chemical attack in Syria against innocent people including women > and children is reprehensible and cannot be ignored by the civilized > world," Spicer said. "These heinous actions by the Bashar al-Assad regime > are a consequence of the past administration's weakness and irresolution." > This may be the first official White House condemnation of the use of > chemical weapons to be affixed to a direct political attack on a previous > president. The move makes it appear that the White House is more concerned > with dodging responsibility for responding to the Syrian attack than they > are with the use of the weapons themselves. > It is likely that the Trump team has not mapped out an American response > to the attacks—especially because of the Trump campaign and transition > eagerness to pursue a Russia-friendly compromise in Syria despite Russia's > backing of the regime that perpetrated these attacks. Actual Secretary of > State Rex Tillerson, for his part, is so far again absent from the > discussion. > > _______________________________________________ > Peace-discuss mailing list > Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net > https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss > > > > _______________________________________________ > Peace-discuss mailing list > Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net > https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss > > > > _______________________________________________ > Peace-discuss mailing list > Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net > https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss > > > > _______________________________________________ > Peace mailing list > Peace at lists.chambana.net > https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace > > > > _______________________________________________ > Peace mailing list > Peace at lists.chambana.net > https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace > > > > _______________________________________________ > Peace mailing list > Peace at lists.chambana.net > https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From stuartnlevy at gmail.com Fri Apr 7 11:22:19 2017 From: stuartnlevy at gmail.com (Stuart Levy) Date: Fri, 7 Apr 2017 06:22:19 -0500 Subject: [Peace] SJP UIUC's "Israeli Apartheid Week", 4/10-4/13 Message-ID: <66ae209b-4fda-dbfd-9b24-beee3fd3582b@gmail.com> Students for Justice in Palestine at UIUC is proud to announce Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW) 2017: Culture Beyond Resistance. IAW is an annual week of events and demonstrations with the goal of raising consciousness on campus on the cause of Palestinian liberation. This year's IAW, themed "Culture Beyond Resistance", will showcase various aspects of Palestinian culture and how Palestinians around the world work to fight against erasure and appropriation. Events and Demonstrations: *The mock Israeli apartheid wall will be up from 9am to 5pm Monday through Thursday in front of the English building on the Quad side. *We invite all to stop by and learn more about the Palestinian people, their struggle for liberation, and Israel’s propagation of injustice and violence. *Monday, 4/10* *12pm at the Wall—Palestinian Solidarity Rally* This rally will center the voices of oppressed and marginalized communities facing cultural erasure and appropriation. In addition to centering the topic of Palestinian liberation, we have sought to make the rally a space where members of various communities represented on campus can detail their experiences with and methods of resistance to cultural erasure and appropriation. *6pm in Lincoln 1065: Feminism, Palestinian Liberation and Culture* Join us for a discussion with Dr. Maryam Kashani, assistant professor of Asian American Studies and Gender and Women’s Studies, on Arab/Muslim feminisms, Palestinian resistance and liberation, and culture. *Tuesday, 4/11* *6pm in Noyes 165: Film Screening—“5 Broken Cameras”* SJP is proud to host a screening of “5 Broken Cameras”, the 2011 documentary shot from the perspective of Palestinian Emad Burnet, chronicling the violent imposition of Israeli settlements in his village of Bil’in. The film features first hand representation of protests and rallies held to oppose the establishment of illegal Israeli settlements. The film was nominated for the 2011 Academy Award for Best Documentary. 5 Broken Cameras humanizes Palestinian resistance while also highlighting the everyday terror associated with living under Israel’s settler-colonial regime. Wednesday, 4/12—Day off! *Thursday, 4/13** **7pm at the Channing Murray Foundation—Palestinian Cultural Night* This year’s cultural night will feature various stations highlighting different aspects of Palestinian culture and life. Come to learn more about Palestinian music, food, intellectual history, and holy sites! Additionally, some of our members will discuss their life and experiences of living in Palestine, noting aspects of what it means to be Palestinian for them and how the occupation of their land affects everyday life. ***Please Note: *Filming at all events is prohibited* unless explicit permission is given by the Students for Justice in Palestine. No matter your perspective on these issues, we ask that everyone in attendance respect the personal boundaries and safety of everyone involved. Co-sponsors of Israeli Apartheid Week 2017: Jewish Voice for Peace Champaign-Urbana Black Students for Revolution Movimiento Estudiantil Chicanx de Aztlán Campus Union for Trans Equality and Support Asian Pacific American Coalition Graduate Employees Organization Students and Youth for a New America United Muslim Minority Advocates Illini Progressives Arab Student Association /If your organization would like to co-sponsor IAW 2017, please contact us via Facebook page (SJP UIUC) or email (sjp.uiuc at gmail.com)./ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From kmedina67 at gmail.com Fri Apr 7 11:37:25 2017 From: kmedina67 at gmail.com (kmedina67) Date: Fri, 07 Apr 2017 06:37:25 -0500 Subject: [Peace] [Peace-discuss] Who do we BLAME? Part 40517. Message-ID: Dear discuss, I agree with John. Plus point out that every time the US has "helped" change regimes, we also "help" choose the next brutal dictator.  - karen Medina Sent from my T-Mobile 4G LTE Device -------- Original message --------From: "John W. via Peace-discuss" Date: 4/7/17 02:47 (GMT-06:00) To: "Brussel, Morton K" Cc: peace , Peace-discuss AWARE , "Fields, A Belden" Subject: Re: [Peace-discuss] [Peace]  Who do we BLAME? Part 40517. I never quite understand what all of you are arguing about.  All I know for sure is that every "leader" in the world, throughout human history - except for those precious few who (1) were democratically elected, and (2) possess a modicum of integrity, humility, and perspective - wants to keep his/her power, and doesn't care how many civilians s/he kills to do so. Given that there is a civil war raging in Syria among various factions, Assad would be killing his own people in order to retain power regardless of whether Russia and/or America was involved.  I don't have to be a mind reader or a close personal friend of Assad to know that retaining power is more important to him than the lives of the Syrian people.  Whether or not we intervene is at least as much of a practical question as a moral one. And it's a moot point because pResident tRump has chosen to bomb. John Wason On Thu, Apr 6, 2017 at 11:34 PM, Brussel, Morton K via Peace wrote: Belden, You don’t know  god damn thing about what has happened in Syria, what is happening there, and your so-called argument is worse than asinine. You have become an apologist for war—you, a human rights advocate. Shame!!! —mkb On Apr 6, 2017, at 8:03 PM, Fields, A Belden wrote: I would only point out that when Assad was asked by the press many months ago about his air force's use of barrel bombs in residential areas, which killed and maimed many civilians, his reply was "a bomb is a bomb. It makes no difference."  He is clearly willing to use any weapons at his disposal regardless of  the cost in civilian lives--by HIS OWN WORDS. No, the investigation is not yet done.  But we have heard him loud and clear, anything is fair in this war regardless of humans suffering and international law. Yes, the US has caused enormous suffering and violated human rights itself.  But Chomsky is  right.  Assad is a nasty piece of work and it ill suits people on the Left to pretend otherwise. Belden From: Peace [peace-bounces at lists.chambana.net] on behalf of Brussel, Morton K via Peace [peace at lists.chambana.net] Sent: Thursday, April 06, 2017 4:19 PM To: Karen Aram Cc: peace; Peace-discuss AWARE Subject: Re: [Peace] [Peace-discuss] Who do we BLAME? Part 40517. I certainly don’t know Assad’s mind and actions, how he is running/defending his country (or is it his country?). Does Chomsky? What does he clearly know about what is taking place in Syria?  So I commend you Karen for”going against the Chomsky grain in this matter. As to the gas attack, if that is what it was, a commentary by Gareth Porter is helpful:  https://consortiumnews.com/2017/04/05/another-dangerous-rush-to-judgment-in-syria/ On Apr 6, 2017, at 6:27 AM, Karen Aram via Peace wrote: I disagree with Noam Chomsky’s assessment of Russia, having only one ally. Iran is also an ally, in the Med. This is very important and it’s geopolitical. As to Syria, he failed to look at the history of US involvement in Syria, just going along with mainstream US assessment that Assad is horrible, maybe he is, but look what we have done, we’ve had a presence in Syria, covertly under the Obama administration, not really, just not as openly as now under Trump and the Pentagon.  I know, “who am I to disagree with Chomsky” , hey I disagree with Presidents and the Pope when I think they’re wrong. See Wm. Blum et al. On Apr 5, 2017, at 18:36, Carl G. Estabrook via Peace wrote: NOAM CHOMSKY: Syria is a horrible catastrophe. The Assad regime is a moral disgrace. They’re carrying out horrendous acts, the Russians with them. AMY GOODMAN: Why the Russians with them? NOAM CHOMSKY: Well, pretty simple reason: Syria is their one ally in the whole region. Not a close ally, but they do have—their one Mediterranean base is in Syria. It’s the one country that’s more or less cooperated with them. And they don’t want to lose their one ally. It’s very ugly, but that’s what’s happening. Meanwhile, there have been—it’s kind of like the North Korean case we were discussing. There have been possible opportunities to terminate the horrors. In 2012, there was an initiative from the Russians, which was not pursued, so we don’t know how serious it was, but it was a proposal to—for a negotiated settlement, in which Assad would be phased out, not immediately. You know, you can’t tell them, "We’re going to murder you. Please negotiate." That’s not going to work. But some system in which, in the course of negotiations, he would be removed, and some kind of settlement would be made. The West would not accept it, not just the United States. France, England, the United States simply refused to even consider it. At the time, they believed they could overthrow Assad, so they didn’t want to do this, so the war went on. Could it have worked? You never know for sure. But it could have been pursued. Meanwhile, Qatar and Saudi Arabia are supporting jihadi groups, which are not all that different from ISIS. So you have a horror story on all sides. The Syrian people are being decimated. AMY GOODMAN: And the U.S. now sending 400 more troops to Syria. But if the U.S. has a better relationship with Russia, could that change everything? NOAM CHOMSKY: It could lead to some kind of accommodation in which a negotiated diplomatic settlement would be implemented, which would by no means be lovely, but it would at least cut down the level of violence, which is critical, because the country is simply being destroyed. It’s descending to suicide. On Apr 5, 2017, at 7:54 PM, Carl G. Estabrook via Peace-discuss wrote: "Another Dangerous Rush to Judgment in Syria” | April 5, 2017 The U.S. government and the mainstream media rushed to judgment again, blaming the Syrian government for a new poison-gas attack and ignoring other possibilities, reports Robert Parry. https://consortiumnews.com/2017/04/05/another-dangerous-rush-to-judgment-in-syria/ On Apr 5, 2017, at 6:00 PM, Carl G. Estabrook via Peace-discuss wrote: Good question. "Only fake news sub-zoology specimens can possibly believe Damascus would profit from staging a chemical attack just a few hours after the St. Petersburg metro tragedy. The timing is NOT accidental. No wonder hysterical block to block ‘coverage' in NATO-controlled MSM - actually editorials, blaming Damascus without any investigation whatsoever." [Pepe Escobar] "Rebel warehouse with chem weapons hit by Syrian airstrike in Idlib” Here are reports from US propaganda sources that suggest what may have happened: "Russia blames deadly Syrian gassing on rebels' own chemical arsenal” "Idlib Attack Aimed at Disrupting Talks, U.N. Envoy Says” Cui bono? Whose interests are being served by disrupting the talks? The Syrian government's military predominance over the rebels (established with Russia's help) could be recognized in Geneva. The Assad government would seem to have no motive for committing a war crime, but its enemies would certainly have a motive for saying it did. —CGE  On Apr 5, 2017, at 5:07 PM, Szoke, Ron via Peace-discuss wrote: Trump White House responds to Syrian gas attack by blaming the Obama administration By Hunter   Daily Kos, Tuesday Apr 04, 2017 · 12:22 PM CDT Donald Trump repeatedly claimed, during the campaign, that the various bad actors on the world stage were only daring to commit aggressions and atrocities because our current leaders were "weak." Today's chemical weapons attack by Syrian forces against Syrian civilians will be one of his team's first true foreign policy tests: they quickly proved themselves to up to the task. White House press secretary Sean Spicer told reporters Tuesday that a gas attack in a rebel-controlled area of Syria was perpetrated by the forces tied to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and are a "consequence of the past administration's weakness and irresolution." [...] "Today's chemical attack in Syria against innocent people including women and children is reprehensible and cannot be ignored by the civilized world," Spicer said. "These heinous actions by the Bashar al-Assad regime are a consequence of the past administration's weakness and irresolution." This may be the first official White House condemnation of the use of chemical weapons to be affixed to a direct political attack on a previous president. The move makes it appear that the White House is more concerned with dodging responsibility for responding to the Syrian attack than they are with the use of the weapons themselves. It is likely that the Trump team has not mapped out an American response to the attacks—especially because of the Trump campaign and transition eagerness to pursue a Russia-friendly compromise in Syria despite Russia's backing of the regime that perpetrated these attacks. Actual Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, for his part, is so far again absent from the discussion. _______________________________________________ Peace-discuss mailing list Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss _______________________________________________ Peace-discuss mailing list Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss _______________________________________________ Peace-discuss mailing list Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss _______________________________________________ Peace mailing list Peace at lists.chambana.net https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace _______________________________________________ Peace mailing list Peace at lists.chambana.net https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace _______________________________________________ Peace mailing list Peace at lists.chambana.net https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From galliher at illinois.edu Sat Apr 8 03:38:27 2017 From: galliher at illinois.edu (Carl G. Estabrook) Date: Fri, 7 Apr 2017 22:38:27 -0500 Subject: [Peace] Veterans for Peace condemns US actions in Syria Message-ID: <70921102-3624-410C-8011-4D31A39570CE@illinois.edu> An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From karenaram at hotmail.com Sat Apr 8 13:12:52 2017 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Sat, 8 Apr 2017 13:12:52 +0000 Subject: [Peace] Reminder Message-ID: “Single Payer/Medicare for All” demo. today at the Champaign Public Library at noon. “Single Payer/Medicare for All” meeting today at the food court, Lincoln Square Mall at 1:00pm. “Local Green Party" meeting today at the food court, Lincoln Square Mall at 1:30pm, please join us. From karenaram at hotmail.com Sun Apr 9 14:24:38 2017 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Sun, 9 Apr 2017 14:24:38 +0000 Subject: [Peace] Reminder: Message-ID: Please join Stuart and I, plus others in downtown Champaign, in front of “Radio Maria Restaurant” at 11:00 am, and/or 2:00 pm at the Corner of Church and Neil in our protest on behalf of AWARE, "anti-war, anti-racism” against the recent bombing of Syria, by the USG. A very dangerous first step to continued and perpetual war in the Middle East, regime change in Syria, and potential war with Russia. There is no evidence that the Syrian government is responsible for the use of chemical weapons on it’s people, no investigation has taken place, and when we accused the Syrian government in 2013 of using chemical weapons, it was later proven untrue. Our continued breaking of our own laws, International laws, and yes even God’s laws, supported by all religions, that of “thou shalt not kill.” This criminality needs to be disputed. We need to be loud and clear, those of us, within the nation most responsible for the continuing atrocities, if we are not to be considered complicit, by historians, and generations to come. If you don’t reside in Champaign, Illinois then get involved in your community opposing continued war…… From karenaram at hotmail.com Sun Apr 9 15:29:26 2017 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Sun, 9 Apr 2017 15:29:26 +0000 Subject: [Peace] [ufpj-activist] [Peace-discuss] Green Party statement on Trump's missile strike in Syria In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Thank you Michael for your worthwhile insight, I agree we aren’t an organization with the funds or structure as of yet, to make immediate press releases, we are also egalitarian in that we don’t want a couple people speaking on behalf of the whole group. I am a Green within a small community and we will be protesting today at a couple locations in our town of Champaign, Illinois. I have also called for others locally and across the nation to join, or organize against the recent bombing of Syria. At this point we are demonstrating not on behalf of the Greens but on behalf of AWARE, an anti-war group, of which most if not all of our members are also Greens. Robert Naiman’s disdain for the Green Party, as well as all competitors of the Democrats is well known to most of us. Thus he will vilify us every chance he gets. More people now see, the Democrat Party for what it is, opportunists jumping on every opportunity to promote themselves while at the same time supporting foreign wars. The Republican Party isn’t even worth a line of discussion, being the bad cop vs. the Democrats. On Apr 9, 2017, at 08:14, Mitchel Cohen > wrote: Thank you, Karen, for your statement on Syria, which I've forwarded to some lists I coordinate, particularly the ActionGreens listserve (which is a private list of activists concerned with Green (and other) issues, and is not an official Green Party list). As to Robert Naiman's criticism, while I share his sentiment that the Green Party statement could and should be stronger and more expansive, the GP is not set up to issue immediate responses to whatever matter is before us. There usually needs to be discussion and some sort of decision first. Yes, I find that frustrating. Nor do I like (and never have liked) the tendency of many Left groups as well as the Green Party to "call on" this or that to happen, rather than to organize to make it happen. We don't need "Resolutionary Socialism", "sending a message," "raising the consciousness of others," and so forth. My guiding principle here is best articulated oh so sharply in Monty Python's "Life of Brian", which is all about the Left and worth re-showing every year. Unicorns, indeed! But the Greens don't have (and don't want to have) one person who is empowered to make those decisions for the party as a whole. We're simply not set up that way, where one or two individuals could make decisions for the entire Party and write press releases without wide consultation first. Meanwhile, the GP in NYC has indeed initiated quite a few antiwar demonstrations in the last few months, and its members have participated in hundreds of'm ... including efforts to get anti-war issues included in the general "No Ban, No Wall" protests -- as have rank-and-file Green members across the country. No Ban, No Wall, No War ! I agree that the sentence about Mosul and Saudi Arabia should have been included. We need to work together. Mitchel Cohen Brooklyn Greens/Green Party At 10:39 AM 4/9/2017, Robert Naiman wrote: A day behind everyone else. But it's a start. We can say that the Green Party tried to show up in some way.  Now how about if the Green Party would actually try to organize some activity, any kind of activity, against Trump's action? There's nothing in the Green Party statement that asks anyone who supports the Green Party to do anything. It's all about, the Green Party calls for this, the Green Party calls for that, the Green Party calls for dismantling of the military industrial complex, the Green Party calls for unicorns and ponies, all children under the age of sixteen, are now sixteen. Compare and contrast: in less than twenty-four hours, Just Foreign Policy rallied 7,419 people to defend the War Powers Resolution. And this was our second alert on the topic since Trump's strike. Join @RepPeterDeFazio, @RepMarkPocan: tell @realDonaldTrump he has 48 hours to report on Syria http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/join-reppeterdefazio?r_by=941832 And we're just one little NGO, one of many working on this front - we don't advertise ourselves to be a national political party. Also: how come the Green Party is still silent on U.S. support for Saudi Arabia's war and blockade in Yemen? The Green Party has produced a long statement. It's not like they didn't have room to talk about U.S. support for Saudi Arabia's war in Yemen. Here was a perfect opportunity to mention it: "Since his inauguration and despite his protestations of sympathy for civilians, including children, killed in the Idlib assault, Mr. Trump has ordered raids in Yemen and air assaults on Mosul and a mosque near Aleppo that have killed scores of civilians." "Mad Dog" Mattis' proposal to attack Hodeida and push Yemen into famine is still reportedly in the inbox of McMaster and Trump's national security team. It sure would be great if the Green Party would speak up on this. Tell @realDonaldTrump: Come to Congress Before You Attack Hodeida http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/help-repmarkpocan-justinamas?r_by=1135580 Robert Naiman Policy Director Just Foreign Policy www.justforeignpolicy.org naiman at justforeignpolicy.org (202) 448-2898 x1 On Sun, Apr 9, 2017 at 6:56 AM, Karen Aram via Peace-discuss < peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net> wrote: Green Party statement on Trump's missile strike in Syria ________________________________ [syria-sanctuary-not-missiles.jpg] WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Green Party of the United States strongly condemned President Donald Trump's unilateral cruise missile strike on a Syrian government airfield and called for a halt to further overt and covert military action by the U.S. Greens called for an internationally cooperative and impartial investigation of the nerve gas attack in Idlib province that killed scores of civilians, which supposedly motivated Mr. Trump to order the strikes. The U.S. alleges that the President Bashar al-Assad government is responsible for the gas attack, a claim disputed by some journalists covering the war. ________________________________ Greens call for halt to U.S. attacks and ongoing overt and covert military intervention in Syria, which will inflict even more civilian casualties and escalate the war in Syria, urge an arms embargo on all sides and an open door for fleeing Syrian civilians An impartial probe of the Idlib gas attacks and emergency negotiations are necessary to stop further bloodshed, prevent expanded Cold War conflict Greens criticize war drumbeats from Democrats and U.S. media, call for a revived antiwar movement Green Party of the United States http://www.gp.org @GreenPartyUS For Immediate Release: Saturday, April 8, 2017 Contact: Scott McLarty, Media Director, 202-904-7614, scott at gp.org ________________________________ Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and other leaders have also called for an investigation. Green Party leaders noted that unilateral attacks on another sovereign country that poses no immediate threat to the U.S. violate international law and treaties to which the U.S. is signatory. The Green Party also calls for the U.S. to admit Syrian civilians, especially children, who are fleeing the war. Greens said that the strike ordered by President Trump threatens to expand the Syrian conflict into a proxy war between the U.S. and Russia in the context of a new Cold War between the two powers. The CIA and Saudi Arabia, a U.S. ally, have supplied funding and weapons to Syrian rebel groups that have strengthened ISIL and al-Qaeda, even while the U.S. continues to bomb the latters' strongholds in Iraq. Green Party leaders asserted that the investigation and emergency negotiations with Russia, Iran, and all others involved or with an interest in the Syrian war are necessary to stop further bloodshed and prevent a wider regional or global military confrontation. The Green Party supports an international arms embargo on all sides, which is only possible through multilateral negotiation. The party refutes bipartisan claims that military solutions can bring peace and stability. In calling for a halt to U.S. military action, the Green Party in no way defends either the Assad government or rebel forces, which are responsible for the slaughter, maiming, and displacement of hundreds of thousands of civilians. The party supports an international investigation into war crimes on all sides. Greens warned that U.S. military action will only lead to more mass civilian casualties, as shown by U.S. invasions and attacks in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, and other Muslim countries since 2001. The Green Party sharply criticized major media and warhawk Democrats who are cheering the missile strikes. Mr. Trump's pre-attack friendly stance towards Russia -- opposed by Democrats enthusiastic for a new Cold War -- offered a chance for cooperation between Washington and Moscow. The missile strikes are likely to have scuttled that chance. Greens said that Trump Administration's belligerence risks a new era of reckless warfare comparable to -- or worse than -- President George W. Bush's disastrous first term. Since his inauguration and despite his protestations of sympathy for civilians, including children, killed in the Idlib assault, Mr. Trump has ordered raids in Yemen and air assaults on Mosul and a mosque near Aleppo that have killed scores of civilians. These crimes are compounded by his administration's anti-Muslim immigration proposals and deportations, especially targeting Syrians fleeing their country's civil war. The Green Party calls for a revived mass antiwar movement that opposes military action that threatens the lives of civilians, that rejects wars for oil and other resources and for U.S. political and economic domination, and that recognizes a dangerous continuity in the Bush, Obama, and Trump administrations' war policies. These same policies have ignited rage against the U.S. and may lead to new retaliatory violence against Americans. The party also urges deep cuts in defense spending (except for veterans' services) and dismantling of the military-industrial complex, noting that the U.S. military budget is ten times greater than Russia's and that the U.S. faces no threat from other countries. MORE INFORMATION Green Party of the United States http://www.gp.org 202-319-7191 @GreenPartyUS -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From naiman at justforeignpolicy.org Sun Apr 9 15:42:00 2017 From: naiman at justforeignpolicy.org (Robert Naiman) Date: Sun, 9 Apr 2017 10:42:00 -0500 Subject: [Peace] [Peace-discuss] [ufpj-activist] Green Party statement on Trump's missile strike in Syria In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Disdain" is a mild characterization of my views of the Green Party. But here I was trying to make constructive suggestions for improvement in the Green Party's advocacy against U.S. wars. I really would like to see something from the Green Party, sooner rather than later, on U.S. support for the Saudi blockade at Hodeida. Robert Naiman Policy Director Just Foreign Policy www.justforeignpolicy.org naiman at justforeignpolicy.org (202) 448-2898 x1 On Sun, Apr 9, 2017 at 10:29 AM, Karen Aram via Peace-discuss < peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net> wrote: > Thank you Michael for your worthwhile insight, I agree we aren’t an > organization with the funds or structure as of yet, to make immediate press > releases, we are also egalitarian in that we don’t want a couple people > speaking on behalf of the whole group. > > I am a Green within a small community and we will be protesting today at a > couple locations in our town of Champaign, Illinois. I have also called for > others locally and across the nation to join, or organize against the > recent bombing of Syria. At this point we are demonstrating not on behalf > of the Greens but on behalf of AWARE, an anti-war group, of which most if > not all of our members are also Greens. > > Robert Naiman’s disdain for the Green Party, as well as all competitors of > the Democrats is well known to most of us. Thus he will vilify us every > chance he gets. > > More people now see, the Democrat Party for what it is, opportunists > jumping on every opportunity to promote themselves while at the same time > supporting foreign wars. The Republican Party isn’t even worth a line of > discussion, being the bad cop vs. the Democrats. > > On Apr 9, 2017, at 08:14, Mitchel Cohen > wrote: > > Thank you, Karen, for your statement on Syria, which I've forwarded to > some lists I coordinate, particularly the ActionGreens listserve (which is > a private list of activists concerned with Green (and other) issues, and is > not an official Green Party list). > > As to Robert Naiman's criticism, while I share his sentiment that the > Green Party statement could and should be stronger and more expansive, the > GP is not set up to issue immediate responses to whatever matter is before > us. There usually needs to be discussion and some sort of decision first. > > Yes, I find that frustrating. Nor do I like (and never have liked) the > tendency of many Left groups as well as the Green Party to "call on" this > or that to happen, rather than to organize to *make* it happen. We don't > need "Resolutionary Socialism", "sending a message," "raising the > consciousness of others," and so forth. My guiding principle here is best > articulated oh so sharply in Monty Python's "Life of Brian", which is all > about the Left and worth re-showing every year. Unicorns, indeed! > > But the Greens don't have (and don't want to have) one person who is > empowered to make those decisions for the party as a whole. We're simply > not set up that way, where one or two individuals could make decisions for > the entire Party and write press releases without wide consultation first. > > Meanwhile, the GP in NYC has indeed initiated quite a few antiwar > demonstrations in the last few months, and its members have participated in > hundreds of'm ... including efforts to get anti-war issues included in the > general "No Ban, No Wall" protests -- as have rank-and-file Green members > across the country. No Ban, No Wall, No War ! > > I agree that the sentence about Mosul and Saudi Arabia should have been > included. > > We need to work together. > > Mitchel Cohen > Brooklyn Greens/Green Party > > > > > At 10:39 AM 4/9/2017, Robert Naiman wrote: > > A day behind everyone else. But it's a start. We can say that the Green > Party tried to show up in some way.  > > Now how about if the Green Party would actually try to organize some > activity, any kind of activity, against Trump's action? There's nothing in > the Green Party statement that asks anyone who supports the Green Party to > do anything. It's all about, the Green Party calls for this, the Green > Party calls for that, the Green Party calls for dismantling of the military > industrial complex, the Green Party calls for unicorns and ponies, all > children under the age of sixteen, are now sixteen. > > Compare and contrast: in less than twenty-four hours, Just Foreign Policy > rallied 7,419 people to defend the War Powers Resolution. And this was our > *second* alert on the topic since Trump's strike. > > Join @RepPeterDeFazio, @RepMarkPocan: tell @realDonaldTrump he has 48 > hours to report on Syria > http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/join-reppeterdefazio?r_by=941832 > > And we're just one little NGO, one of many working on this front - we > don't advertise ourselves to be a national political party. > > Also: how come the Green Party is still silent on U.S. support for Saudi > Arabia's war and blockade in Yemen? The Green Party has produced a long > statement. It's not like they didn't have room to talk about U.S. support > for Saudi Arabia's war in Yemen. Here was a perfect opportunity to mention > it: "Since his inauguration and despite his protestations of sympathy for > civilians, including children, killed in the Idlib assault, Mr. Trump has > ordered raids in Yemen and air assaults on Mosul and a mosque near Aleppo > that have killed scores of civilians." > > "Mad Dog" Mattis' proposal to attack Hodeida and push Yemen into famine is > still reportedly in the inbox of McMaster and Trump's national security > team. It sure would be great if the Green Party would speak up on this. > > Tell @realDonaldTrump: Come to Congress Before You Attack Hodeida > http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/help-repmarkpocan-justinamas?r_by=1135580 > > > > > > > Robert Naiman > Policy Director > Just Foreign Policy > www.justforeignpolicy.org > naiman at justforeignpolicy.org > (202) 448-2898 x1 <(202)%20448-2898> > > On Sun, Apr 9, 2017 at 6:56 AM, Karen Aram via Peace-discuss < > peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net> wrote: > > *Green Party statement on Trump's missile strike in Syria* > > ------------------------------ > [image: syria-sanctuary-not-missiles.jpg] > > WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Green Party of the United States strongly > condemned President Donald Trump's unilateral cruise missile strike on a > Syrian government airfield and called for a halt to further overt and > covert military action by the U.S. > > Greens called for an internationally cooperative and impartial > investigation of the nerve gas attack in Idlib province that killed scores > of civilians, which supposedly motivated Mr. Trump to order the strikes. > The U.S. alleges that the President Bashar al-Assad government is > responsible for the gas attack, a claim disputed by some journalists > covering the war. > ------------------------------ > Greens call for halt to U.S. attacks and ongoing overt and covert military > intervention in Syria, which will inflict even more civilian casualties and > escalate the war in Syria, urge an arms embargo on all sides and an open > door for fleeing Syrian civilians > > An impartial probe of the Idlib gas attacks and emergency negotiations are > necessary to stop further bloodshed, prevent expanded Cold War conflict > > Greens criticize war drumbeats from Democrats and U.S. media, call for a > revived antiwar movement > > Green Party of the United States > http://www.gp.org > @GreenPartyUS > > For Immediate Release: > Saturday, April 8, 2017 > > Contact: > Scott McLarty, Media Director, 202-904-7614 <(202)%20904-7614>, > scott at gp.org > ------------------------------ > Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and other leaders have also called > for an investigation. Green Party leaders noted that unilateral attacks on > another sovereign country that poses no immediate threat to the U.S. > violate international law and treaties to which the U.S. is signatory. > > The Green Party also calls for the U.S. to admit Syrian civilians, > especially children, who are fleeing the war. > > Greens said that the strike ordered by President Trump threatens to expand > the Syrian conflict into a proxy war between the U.S. and Russia in the > context of a new Cold War between the two powers. The CIA and Saudi Arabia, > a U.S. ally, have supplied funding and weapons to Syrian rebel groups that > have strengthened ISIL and al-Qaeda, even while the U.S. continues to bomb > the latters' strongholds in Iraq. > > Green Party leaders asserted that the investigation and emergency > negotiations with Russia, Iran, and all others involved or with an interest > in the Syrian war are necessary to stop further bloodshed and prevent a > wider regional or global military confrontation. > > The Green Party supports an international arms embargo on all sides, which > is only possible through multilateral negotiation. The party refutes > bipartisan claims that military solutions can bring peace and stability. > > In calling for a halt to U.S. military action, the Green Party in no way > defends either the Assad government or rebel forces, which are responsible > for the slaughter, maiming, and displacement of hundreds of thousands of > civilians. The party supports an international investigation into war > crimes on all sides. Greens warned that U.S. military action will only lead > to more mass civilian casualties, as shown by U.S. invasions and attacks in > Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, and other Muslim countries since 2001. > > The Green Party sharply criticized major media and warhawk Democrats who > are cheering the missile strikes. Mr. Trump's pre-attack friendly stance > towards Russia -- opposed by Democrats enthusiastic for a new Cold War -- > offered a chance for cooperation between Washington and Moscow. The missile > strikes are likely to have scuttled that chance. > > Greens said that Trump Administration's belligerence risks a new era of > reckless warfare comparable to -- or worse than -- President George W. > Bush's disastrous first term. Since his inauguration and despite his > protestations of sympathy for civilians, including children, killed in the > Idlib assault, Mr. Trump has ordered raids in Yemen and air assaults on > Mosul and a mosque near Aleppo that have killed scores of civilians. These > crimes are compounded by his administration's anti-Muslim immigration > proposals and deportations, especially targeting Syrians fleeing their > country's civil war. > > The Green Party calls for a revived mass antiwar movement that opposes > military action that threatens the lives of civilians, that rejects wars > for oil and other resources and for U.S. political and economic domination, > and that recognizes a dangerous continuity in the Bush, Obama, and Trump > administrations' war policies. These same policies have ignited rage > against the U.S. and may lead to new retaliatory violence against Americans. > > The party also urges deep cuts in defense spending (except for veterans' > services) and dismantling of the military-industrial complex, noting that > the U.S. military budget is ten times greater than Russia's and that the > U.S. faces no threat from other countries. > > > MORE INFORMATION > > Green Party of the United States http://www.gp.org > 202-319-7191 <(202)%20319-7191> > @GreenPartyUS > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Peace-discuss mailing list > Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net > https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From stuartnlevy at gmail.com Sun Apr 9 20:21:49 2017 From: stuartnlevy at gmail.com (Stuart Levy) Date: Sun, 9 Apr 2017 15:21:49 -0500 Subject: [Peace] Mobilization for Nursing Home-Tuesday night, 5:30 p.m. In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <00aea156-1e09-d7a8-9350-3148b02b0e44@gmail.com> /(forwarding from Build Programs, Not Jails...)/ CC-Care, which led the election effort to support the Nursing Home is calling for a massive turnout on Tuesday night to show opposition to any effort to sell the nursing home by the County Board. They are asking people to gather at the nursing home at 5:30 for a short press conference and rally, followed by a march to the Brookens Center for the 6 p.m. party caucuses and the 6:30 county board meeting. People who are willing to speak during public participation to keep the nursing home in county hands are encouraged to do so. Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/1680244648946026/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From divisek at yahoo.com Mon Apr 10 02:54:46 2017 From: divisek at yahoo.com (Dianna Visek) Date: Mon, 10 Apr 2017 02:54:46 +0000 (UTC) Subject: [Peace] =?utf-8?q?Lecture=3A_A_Yemeni_Physician=E2=80=99s_Resista?= =?utf-8?q?nce_to_Social_Injustice_in_his_Country?= References: <1287128991.4550388.1491792886761.ref@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <1287128991.4550388.1491792886761@mail.yahoo.com> 26th Annual Daniel S. Sanders Peace and Social Justice Lecture: A Yemeni Physician’s Resistance to Social Injustice in his Country | | | 26th Annual Daniel S. Sanders Peace and Social Justice Lecture: A Yemeni Physician’s Resistance to Social Injustice i... | | | -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From divisek at yahoo.com Mon Apr 10 14:48:43 2017 From: divisek at yahoo.com (Dianna Visek) Date: Mon, 10 Apr 2017 14:48:43 +0000 (UTC) Subject: [Peace] Citizenship Trumped: Walls and Sovereignty on the U.S. Mexico Border References: <1098775019.423935.1491835723165.ref@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <1098775019.423935.1491835723165@mail.yahoo.com> Citizenship Trumped: Walls and Sovereignty on the U.S. Mexico Border | | | Citizenship Trumped: Walls and Sovereignty on the U.S. Mexico Border | | | -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From divisek at yahoo.com Mon Apr 10 14:49:21 2017 From: divisek at yahoo.com (Dianna Visek) Date: Mon, 10 Apr 2017 14:49:21 +0000 (UTC) Subject: [Peace] Sanctuary Resistance Cinema: Sanctuary Screening & Discussion References: <155016179.403104.1491835761084.ref@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <155016179.403104.1491835761084@mail.yahoo.com> Sanctuary Resistance Cinema: Sanctuary Screening & Discussion with Filmmaker Theo Rigby | | | Sanctuary Resistance Cinema: Sanctuary Screening & Discussion with Filmmaker Theo Rigby | | | -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From cge at shout.net Tue Apr 11 04:43:00 2017 From: cge at shout.net (C. G. Estabrook) Date: Mon, 10 Apr 2017 23:43:00 -0500 Subject: [Peace] AWARE ON THE AIR - open recording noon Tuesday 11 April @ UPTV In-Reply-To: <69C63627-8D2A-48F2-A4E5-BE3C6285D920@illinois.edu> References: <7AD73427-6AF0-4CAF-BC80-76EE41776305@illinois.edu> <69C63627-8D2A-48F2-A4E5-BE3C6285D920@illinois.edu> Message-ID: <9deaafe53cb57f5c13fa6b970141c26a@shout.net> This week's edition of AWARE ON THE AIR - an unrehearsed panel discussion of US government war-making - will be recorded at noon on Tuesday, 11 April, at the studios of Urbana Public Television, 100 Vine St., Urbana (in the Urbana City Council chambers). The program will be cablecast and available on YouTube. Members and friends of AWARE, the ANTI-WAR ANTI-RACISM EFFORT of Champaign-Urbana are invited to attend as members of the audience or the panel.* --CGE ________________ * You, too, Bob. From cge at shout.net Wed Apr 12 03:00:25 2017 From: cge at shout.net (C. G. Estabrook) Date: Tue, 11 Apr 2017 22:00:25 -0500 Subject: [Peace] AWARE ON THE AIR for Tuesday 11 April In-Reply-To: <9deaafe53cb57f5c13fa6b970141c26a@shout.net> References: <7AD73427-6AF0-4CAF-BC80-76EE41776305@illinois.edu> <69C63627-8D2A-48F2-A4E5-BE3C6285D920@illinois.edu> <9deaafe53cb57f5c13fa6b970141c26a@shout.net> Message-ID: <8e793b4d6f874e9ab0afc72311b21e13@shout.net> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYtIbQA3q98 ...You've been watching AWARE ON THE AIR, presented by members and friends of AWARE, the Anti-War Anti-Racism Effort of Champaign-Urbana, a local peace group - in the 15th week of 2017 [April 11]. ~ Another week in which the world can see that the most extensive global terrorism is not made up of just the attacks by ISIS and its sympathizers around the world - but by US world-wide war-making. ~ My thanks to J. B. Nicholson for research. ~ Our show is produced and directed by Jason Liggett, Yosef Kash, and Andrew Scolari - thanks to whom also this program & others like it will be available on YouTube. ~ And see the Facebook page 'AWARE of Champaign Urbana Illinois' for articles referred tonight by the panel. ~ Finally, AWARE honors those who reveal the crimes of the US government - which the rest of the world knows about, but Americans don't - Manning, Assange, Snowden, and others - who truth-tellers persecuted by the US government. ~ Now this is Carl Estabrook for Karen Aram, Karen Evans-Levy, Stuart Levy, David Green, David Johnson, & other members & friends of AWARE - saying, in the words of the late Edward Murrow, “Good night - and good luck." ### From galliher at illinois.edu Wed Apr 12 13:34:43 2017 From: galliher at illinois.edu (Carl G. Estabrook) Date: Wed, 12 Apr 2017 08:34:43 -0500 Subject: [Peace] Why AWARE needs to redouble its efforts - esp. vs. Democrats Message-ID: <67103455-BD1B-40C0-9B86-648ECDCD5D60@illinois.edu> https://www.blackagendareport.com/trump_joins_war_party -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From divisek at yahoo.com Wed Apr 12 16:25:38 2017 From: divisek at yahoo.com (Dianna Visek) Date: Wed, 12 Apr 2017 16:25:38 +0000 (UTC) Subject: [Peace] Warrior Trump by John Stossel References: <546396352.711130.1492014338011.ref@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <546396352.711130.1492014338011@mail.yahoo.com> Warrior Trump | | | | | | | | | | | Warrior Trump By Rasmussen Reports Somehow, firing Tomahawk missiles at Syria suddenly changed people's opinions of President Trump. Now they c... | | | | -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From galliher at illinois.edu Wed Apr 12 19:25:20 2017 From: galliher at illinois.edu (Carl G. Estabrook) Date: Wed, 12 Apr 2017 14:25:20 -0500 Subject: [Peace] Warrior Trump by John Stossel In-Reply-To: <546396352.711130.1492014338011@mail.yahoo.com> References: <546396352.711130.1492014338011.ref@mail.yahoo.com> <546396352.711130.1492014338011@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <467E5027-0AC9-40A8-A65B-57C97388F361@illinois.edu> http://www.newslogue.com/debate/440/CaitlinJohnstone > On Apr 12, 2017, at 11:25 AM, Dianna Visek via Peace wrote: > > Warrior Trump > > > Warrior Trump > By Rasmussen Reports > Somehow, firing Tomahawk missiles at Syria suddenly changed people's opinions of President Trump. Now they c... > > > _______________________________________________ > Peace mailing list > Peace at lists.chambana.net > https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From stuartnlevy at gmail.com Thu Apr 13 14:24:42 2017 From: stuartnlevy at gmail.com (Stuart Levy) Date: Thu, 13 Apr 2017 09:24:42 -0500 Subject: [Peace] from Code Pink -- "This is not beautiful..." In-Reply-To: <58ef8710c681c_424f885978277d@asgworker-qmb2-15.nbuild.prd.useast1.3dna.io.mail> References: <58ef8710c681c_424f885978277d@asgworker-qmb2-15.nbuild.prd.useast1.3dna.io.mail> Message-ID: <50d3b067-4a7b-0cc9-f699-2430db3ae289@gmail.com> I signed this. I suggested Mr. Williams could write an essay about how he would feel about those missiles if they were directed at the city where he and his family live. -------- Forwarded Message -------- CODEPINK - Communications CODEPINK MSNBC.png Dear Stuart, When President Trump attacked Syria with Tomahawk missiles last week, the media cheered. *MSBC’s Brian Williams even said, “We see these beautiful pictures at night from the decks of these two U.S. Navy vessels in the eastern Mediterranean. ”* Let that sink in. *Beautiful.* *He called a missile attack beautiful. * *There is nothing beautiful about war. * Sign the petition to hold the media accountable: Tell MSNBC there is nothing beautiful about war, destruction, and death. This recent attack on Syria was not the first time the media applauded the destruction of life in the Middle East. *When lies drove us into war with Iraq, the media might as well have thrown a parade. *And when we don’t see applause, we often see *nothing*. This is the case with Yemen, which has endured so much destruction in the wake of US-supported Saudi bombings, a Yemeni child dies every 10 minutes from malnutrition. This is the result of bombs like the ones Brian Williams called beautiful—children starving to death. This is the news they aren’t showing us, the news the world deserves to see. *When we know the story, we can begin to change the story. * We **do** know the story, and we are taking to the streets today in New York City, Washington D.C., Los Angeles and San Francisco, to call the media to task and hold a hunger strike in solidarity with the people of Yemen . *Whether or not you can join us in one of these cities, you can still take action to hold the media accountable:* Sign our petition to tell MSNBC there is nothing beautiful about war, destruction, and death. Tell Brian Williams, MSNBC, and the mainstream media they must be covering the humanitarian crises in Yemen instead of waxing poetic about the beauty of Tomahawk missiles. They should be calling for a US budget that supports children, education, and the environment over military spending, bombs and war. The media is the voice of our culture and we can use our own voices to help shape their message. Let’s show them what beauty really is. The beauty of people coming together to demand truth and justice and fairness and peace. The beauty of resistance. *Share the image at the top of this email on your* Facebook *and* Twitter *accounts.* Towards peace in Yemen, Syria, and all around the world, Ann, Ariel, Jodie, Mariana, Mark, Medea, Nancy, Paki, Paula, Taylor and Tighe *P.S.* Don't forget to join our #No$54ForWar Campaign and see steps you can take to pass a city resolution urging our elected officials to move our tax dollars from militarism to human and environmental needs. Support our work for peace and justice . Donate Now CODEPINK This email was sent to stuartnlevy at gmail.com . To stop receiving emails, click here . Created with NationBuilder Unsubscribe -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From karenaram at hotmail.com Fri Apr 14 01:06:04 2017 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Fri, 14 Apr 2017 01:06:04 +0000 Subject: [Peace] Message from Brian Dolinar related to ICE Message-ID: "Folks we're organizing a solidarity rally with C-U Immigration Forum at Shadowwood @ Friday noon! Tell a friend #StopICE BD” -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From karenaram at hotmail.com Fri Apr 14 01:13:15 2017 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Fri, 14 Apr 2017 01:13:15 +0000 Subject: [Peace] Fwd: Message from Brian Dolinar related to ICE/See address below: References: <718F9383-E885-4D2A-9CDF-4FD8C046856B@gmail.com> Message-ID: Tomorrow, Friday, April 14, 12.00pm Shadowwood 1600 N Market St, Champaign, IL 61820 "Folks we're organizing a solidarity rally with C-U Immigration Forum at Shadowwood @ Friday noon! Tell a friend #StopICE BD” _______________________________________________ Peace mailing list Peace at lists.chambana.net https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From niloofar.peace at gmail.com Fri Apr 14 02:44:46 2017 From: niloofar.peace at gmail.com (Niloofar Shambayati) Date: Thu, 13 Apr 2017 21:44:46 -0500 Subject: [Peace] my email address Message-ID: Hi Brian, It's great to have a solidarity rally to mobilize us for standing up to ICE. Will people assemble in front of the activities trailer? BTW, I used to receive your emails via CUCPJ's list, but haven't been getting any for quite some time. I just realize that you direct them via Peace Discuss (I'm not on that list) rather the Peace List (peace@ lists.chambana.net), which has many more people on it. It's only when Karen Aram forwards your emails that I get them-like the one about the rally. Could you please send announcements and action alerts to the latter. I'd appreciate it a lot! -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From karenaram at hotmail.com Fri Apr 14 14:01:24 2017 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Fri, 14 Apr 2017 14:01:24 +0000 Subject: [Peace] Fwd: [Peace-discuss] We should all be screaming in outrage...... References: Message-ID: I guess we should be calling on the local Democrat Party to organize a protest against Trump, and the bombing. Knowing that the bombing takes a back seat to Party Politics. At least it will get the people out into the streets, making their voices heard, better than nothing. We had 3,000 marchers with “pink pussy hats” in January this year in our town. Now the best those of us who are anti-war, can accumulate is approximately thirteen. * Print * Leaflet * Feedback * Share » US drops largest non-nuclear weapon on Afghanistan: A crime against humanity 14 April 2017 The US military’s dropping of the largest non-nuclear weapon in its arsenal on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border Thursday is a crime against humanity. Even as the US government and the mass media were engaged in a lying propaganda campaign denouncing Syria and Russia for the use of poison gas, the American military was positioning the monstrous weapon—the Massive Ordnance Air Blast (MOAB)—for use in Afghanistan. While the Pentagon has released few details about the impact of the bombing, one can be certain that the total number of deaths resulting from the dropping of the MOAB is a massive multiple of the number killed in the alleged Syrian gas attack, assuming—and this is by no means certain—that the gas attack even took place. Seventy-two years after the destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, American imperialism has proven once again that it is the most ruthless and criminal force on the planet. The use of the MOAB has implications that extend beyond Afghanistan. It demonstrates—and this is, in fact, the principal aim of the attack—that there are no restraints on what the US military is prepared to do in pursuit of the interests of American imperialism. In the context of mounting military tensions from the Korean peninsula to Syria to eastern Europe, the detonation of the massive bomb over Afghanistan represents a warning to Russia, Iran, North Korea and any country that dares to challenge Washington’s interests that there is no limit to the level of violence that US imperialism will unleash against them. The weapon, officially known as the GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast, designated by the Pentagon as MOAB, or “mother of all bombs,” detonates nearly 20,000 pounds of explosives in mid-air, igniting the atmosphere and creating a massive concussion that obliterates everything within a radius of 1,000 yards. Its shock waves are capable of killing people within a radius of up to 1.7 miles. The impact of the explosion is the equivalent of a nuclear weapon for those caught in the target zone. Designed for use in the “shock and awe” campaign unleashed with the 2003 US invasion of Iraq, it was never utilized in combat over the course of 14 years. Even as the Pentagon carried out a war and occupation that claimed some one million Iraqi lives, the weapon was seen as too destructive to serve US strategic purposes. Planning for the use of this horrific weapon in Afghanistan began under the Obama administration. According to the Pentagon command, this genuine “weapon of mass destruction” was dropped for the first time on a remote district of Afghanistan’s eastern Nangarhar Province in order to obliterate alleged caves and tunnels used by elements of the Afghan affiliate of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). There is no immediate tactical, much less strategic, justification for the dropping of such a massive weapon on a small, poorly armed band of Islamist guerrillas—a Pakistan-based group that merely adopted the ISIS logo. Instead, the attack has all the earmarks of a calculated demonstration of American military might, the most terrifying one that could be staged short of a nuclear attack. The bombing comes just one week after Washington carried out a naked act of military aggression against Syria, firing 59 cruise missiles into a government airbase and killing at least 15 Syrians, the majority of them civilians. That attack was justified in the name of retaliation for an alleged chemical weapons attack blamed on the Syrian government. Damascus denied using any such weapon and, the endless lies of the Western media notwithstanding, all objective evidence points to a provocation staged by the CIA and the Al Qaeda-linked fighters that it supports in Syria. Even as the US government and media churned out war propaganda over the fabricated “chemical weapons” attack in Syria, Washington was preparing to drop its largest non-nuclear weapon on Afghanistan. The Pentagon has claimed that it “took every precaution to avoid civilian casualties with this strike.” Such promises, made repeatedly as the US military has killed millions across the Middle East, are utterly worthless. According to initial reports, there are several villages near the target area and, in all likelihood, civilian deaths and injuries will be massive. At this point, no one knows what the real toll from this attack is, and, if left to the US media, no one will ever be told. The same editorialists for CIA house organs like the New York Times, and television news talking heads who have parroted the government’s denunciations of the Assad regime over the chemical weapons provocation in Syria, are completely indifferent to the loss of life caused by the massive US bomb dropped on Afghanistan. Similarly, the media largely ignores the ongoing carnage inflicted by US bombs and missiles upon the people of Iraq and Syria. On Wednesday, a US airstrike in western Mosul killed 13 civilians while injuring another 17, most of them seriously. On the same day, a UN agency described the devastation wrought by the US siege of the Iraqi city, where hundreds, if not thousands, of men, women and children have died: “Homes are being destroyed. Schools and health centers are damaged and crucial public infrastructure including electricity and water stations are in ruins,” according to the report, with the destruction turning over 300,000 people into homeless refugees. Meanwhile, in northern Syria, US warplanes carried out a “friendly fire” airstrike that killed 18 Kurdish fighters, while the Syrian government reported that a US bomb hit an Al Qaeda weapons depot, spreading chemical agents that may have killed hundreds of civilians. None of these incidents are given any significant coverage; much less do they provoke the moral outrage of those crying crocodile tears over the victims of the alleged chemical attack for which the Syrian government has been framed. Who are these people to lecture anyone on “human rights,” much less to posture as opponents of “terrorism?” Once again, US imperialism has demonstrated to the world that it is bound by absolutely no constraints of international law, much less morality. Its violent and predatory actions on the world stage are a direct expression of the criminal and parasitic character of the American capitalist ruling class, personified in the loathsome figure of Donald Trump. This latest atrocity comes fifteen and a half years after the US invaded Afghanistan, toppling the Taliban government, installing its own puppet regime and carrying out a bloody war and occupation ever since. Conservative estimates put the Afghan death toll since 2001 at some 200,000, with hundreds of thousands more wounded and millions turned into refugees. From the outset, the purpose of this intervention was to subjugate the Afghan people to semi-colonial American domination and to further US imperialism’s drive to assert its hegemony over the energy-rich region of Central Asia. The timing of the bombing was significant. It came on the very eve of talks called for April 14 in Moscow on a peace settlement in Afghanistan. Russia has called the meeting together with China and Pakistan, with the participation of nine other countries, including India and Iran. The Taliban has indicated that it may join the talks. While invited, Washington failed to confirm whether it will attend, and US military commanders have made repeated baseless allegations of Russian support for the Taliban. Whether an armed confrontation takes place between US and Russian warplanes in the skies over Syria, in a military strike against North Korea or in a provocation on Russia’s western borders, the next step from the weapon dropped on Afghanistan is the launching of nuclear missiles. Workers and young people in the US and internationally must respond to these ominous events with utmost seriousness and a determination to stop US and global capitalism from engulfing the planet in a third, nuclear world war. Protests must be organized across the United States and around the world against the latest US atrocities in Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq as part of the struggle to build a mass antiwar movement based upon the working class and the program of socialist internationalism. At the very center of this struggle lies the need to build the Socialist Equality Party and the International Committee of the Fourth International—the only consistent political opponents of world imperialism—as the revolutionary leadership of the working class. Bill Van Auken and David North of the WSWS.ORG _______________________________________________ Peace-discuss mailing list Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From deb.pdamerica at gmail.com Fri Apr 14 14:57:33 2017 From: deb.pdamerica at gmail.com (Debra Schrishuhn) Date: Fri, 14 Apr 2017 09:57:33 -0500 Subject: [Peace] Fwd: [Peace-discuss] We should all be screaming in outrage...... In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <85FEA8A9-BCBE-498E-B94F-BA0E75BED618@gmail.com> Karen I d be glad to make a request to the local Democratic Party about a joint protest of these unacceptable acts of military aggression. When/where were you thinking of holding protest(s)? Deb Sent from my iPhone > On Apr 14, 2017, at 9:01 AM, Karen Aram via Peace wrote: > > > I guess we should be calling on the local Democrat Party to organize a protest against Trump, and the bombing. Knowing that the bombing takes a back seat to Party Politics. At least it will get the people out into the streets, making their voices heard, better than nothing. > We had 3,000 marchers with “pink pussy hats” in January this year in our town. Now the best those of us who are anti-war, can accumulate is approximately thirteen. > >> >> >> >> >> Print >> Leaflet >> Feedback >> Share » >> US drops largest non-nuclear weapon on Afghanistan: A crime against humanity >> 14 April 2017 >> The US military’s dropping of the largest non-nuclear weapon in its arsenal on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border Thursday is a crime against humanity. Even as the US government and the mass media were engaged in a lying propaganda campaign denouncing Syria and Russia for the use of poison gas, the American military was positioning the monstrous weapon—the Massive Ordnance Air Blast (MOAB)—for use in Afghanistan. >> While the Pentagon has released few details about the impact of the bombing, one can be certain that the total number of deaths resulting from the dropping of the MOAB is a massive multiple of the number killed in the alleged Syrian gas attack, assuming—and this is by no means certain—that the gas attack even took place. >> Seventy-two years after the destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, American imperialism has proven once again that it is the most ruthless and criminal force on the planet. >> The use of the MOAB has implications that extend beyond Afghanistan. It demonstrates—and this is, in fact, the principal aim of the attack—that there are no restraints on what the US military is prepared to do in pursuit of the interests of American imperialism. >> In the context of mounting military tensions from the Korean peninsula to Syria to eastern Europe, the detonation of the massive bomb over Afghanistan represents a warning to Russia, Iran, North Korea and any country that dares to challenge Washington’s interests that there is no limit to the level of violence that US imperialism will unleash against them. >> The weapon, officially known as the GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast, designated by the Pentagon as MOAB, or “mother of all bombs,” detonates nearly 20,000 pounds of explosives in mid-air, igniting the atmosphere and creating a massive concussion that obliterates everything within a radius of 1,000 yards. Its shock waves are capable of killing people within a radius of up to 1.7 miles. The impact of the explosion is the equivalent of a nuclear weapon for those caught in the target zone. >> Designed for use in the “shock and awe” campaign unleashed with the 2003 US invasion of Iraq, it was never utilized in combat over the course of 14 years. Even as the Pentagon carried out a war and occupation that claimed some one million Iraqi lives, the weapon was seen as too destructive to serve US strategic purposes. >> Planning for the use of this horrific weapon in Afghanistan began under the Obama administration. >> According to the Pentagon command, this genuine “weapon of mass destruction” was dropped for the first time on a remote district of Afghanistan’s eastern Nangarhar Province in order to obliterate alleged caves and tunnels used by elements of the Afghan affiliate of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). >> There is no immediate tactical, much less strategic, justification for the dropping of such a massive weapon on a small, poorly armed band of Islamist guerrillas—a Pakistan-based group that merely adopted the ISIS logo. Instead, the attack has all the earmarks of a calculated demonstration of American military might, the most terrifying one that could be staged short of a nuclear attack. >> The bombing comes just one week after Washington carried out a naked act of military aggression against Syria, firing 59 cruise missiles into a government airbase and killing at least 15 Syrians, the majority of them civilians. >> That attack was justified in the name of retaliation for an alleged chemical weapons attack blamed on the Syrian government. Damascus denied using any such weapon and, the endless lies of the Western media notwithstanding, all objective evidence points to a provocation staged by the CIA and the Al Qaeda-linked fighters that it supports in Syria. >> Even as the US government and media churned out war propaganda over the fabricated “chemical weapons” attack in Syria, Washington was preparing to drop its largest non-nuclear weapon on Afghanistan. >> The Pentagon has claimed that it “took every precaution to avoid civilian casualties with this strike.” Such promises, made repeatedly as the US military has killed millions across the Middle East, are utterly worthless. According to initial reports, there are several villages near the target area and, in all likelihood, civilian deaths and injuries will be massive. >> At this point, no one knows what the real toll from this attack is, and, if left to the US media, no one will ever be told. The same editorialists for CIA house organs like the New York Times, and television news talking heads who have parroted the government’s denunciations of the Assad regime over the chemical weapons provocation in Syria, are completely indifferent to the loss of life caused by the massive US bomb dropped on Afghanistan. >> Similarly, the media largely ignores the ongoing carnage inflicted by US bombs and missiles upon the people of Iraq and Syria. On Wednesday, a US airstrike in western Mosul killed 13 civilians while injuring another 17, most of them seriously. On the same day, a UN agency described the devastation wrought by the US siege of the Iraqi city, where hundreds, if not thousands, of men, women and children have died: “Homes are being destroyed. Schools and health centers are damaged and crucial public infrastructure including electricity and water stations are in ruins,” according to the report, with the destruction turning over 300,000 people into homeless refugees. >> Meanwhile, in northern Syria, US warplanes carried out a “friendly fire” airstrike that killed 18 Kurdish fighters, while the Syrian government reported that a US bomb hit an Al Qaeda weapons depot, spreading chemical agents that may have killed hundreds of civilians. None of these incidents are given any significant coverage; much less do they provoke the moral outrage of those crying crocodile tears over the victims of the alleged chemical attack for which the Syrian government has been framed. >> Who are these people to lecture anyone on “human rights,” much less to posture as opponents of “terrorism?” Once again, US imperialism has demonstrated to the world that it is bound by absolutely no constraints of international law, much less morality. Its violent and predatory actions on the world stage are a direct expression of the criminal and parasitic character of the American capitalist ruling class, personified in the loathsome figure of Donald Trump. >> This latest atrocity comes fifteen and a half years after the US invaded Afghanistan, toppling the Taliban government, installing its own puppet regime and carrying out a bloody war and occupation ever since. Conservative estimates put the Afghan death toll since 2001 at some 200,000, with hundreds of thousands more wounded and millions turned into refugees. From the outset, the purpose of this intervention was to subjugate the Afghan people to semi-colonial American domination and to further US imperialism’s drive to assert its hegemony over the energy-rich region of Central Asia. >> The timing of the bombing was significant. It came on the very eve of talks called for April 14 in Moscow on a peace settlement in Afghanistan. Russia has called the meeting together with China and Pakistan, with the participation of nine other countries, including India and Iran. The Taliban has indicated that it may join the talks. While invited, Washington failed to confirm whether it will attend, and US military commanders have made repeated baseless allegations of Russian support for the Taliban. >> Whether an armed confrontation takes place between US and Russian warplanes in the skies over Syria, in a military strike against North Korea or in a provocation on Russia’s western borders, the next step from the weapon dropped on Afghanistan is the launching of nuclear missiles. >> Workers and young people in the US and internationally must respond to these ominous events with utmost seriousness and a determination to stop US and global capitalism from engulfing the planet in a third, nuclear world war. >> Protests must be organized across the United States and around the world against the latest US atrocities in Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq as part of the struggle to build a mass antiwar movement based upon the working class and the program of socialist internationalism. At the very center of this struggle lies the need to build the Socialist Equality Party and the International Committee of the Fourth International—the only consistent political opponents of world imperialism—as the revolutionary leadership of the working class. >> Bill Van Auken and David North of the WSWS.ORG >> _______________________________________________ >> Peace-discuss mailing list >> Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net >> https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss > > _______________________________________________ > Peace mailing list > Peace at lists.chambana.net > https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From medea.benjamin at gmail.com Fri Apr 14 15:10:37 2017 From: medea.benjamin at gmail.com (Medea Benjamin) Date: Fri, 14 Apr 2017 11:10:37 -0400 Subject: [Peace] [ufpj-activist] Fwd: [Peace-discuss] We should all be screaming in outrage...... In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: my piece in the Guardian today re MOAB. Medea *https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/apr/14/the-mother-of-all-bombs-big-deadly-ineffective * On Fri, Apr 14, 2017 at 10:01 AM, Karen Aram wrote: > > I guess we should be calling on the local Democrat Party to organize a > protest against Trump, and the bombing. Knowing that the bombing takes a > back seat to Party Politics. At least it will get the people out into the > streets, making their voices heard, better than nothing. > We had 3,000 marchers with “pink pussy hats” in January this year in our > town. Now the best those of us who are anti-war, can accumulate is > approximately thirteen. > > > > > > > - Print > > - Leaflet > > - Feedback > > - Share » > > US drops largest non-nuclear weapon on Afghanistan: A crime against > humanity 14 April 2017 > > The US military’s dropping of the largest non-nuclear weapon in its > arsenal on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border Thursday is a crime against > humanity. Even as the US government and the mass media were engaged in a > lying propaganda campaign denouncing Syria and Russia for the use of poison > gas, the American military was positioning the monstrous weapon—the Massive > Ordnance Air Blast (MOAB)—for use in Afghanistan. > > While the Pentagon has released few details about the impact of the > bombing, one can be certain that the total number of deaths resulting from > the dropping of the MOAB is a massive multiple of the number killed in the > alleged Syrian gas attack, assuming—and this is by no means certain—that > the gas attack even took place. > > Seventy-two years after the destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, > American imperialism has proven once again that it is the most ruthless and > criminal force on the planet. > > The use of the MOAB has implications that extend beyond Afghanistan. It > demonstrates—and this is, in fact, the principal aim of the attack—that > there are no restraints on what the US military is prepared to do in > pursuit of the interests of American imperialism. > > In the context of mounting military tensions from the Korean peninsula to > Syria to eastern Europe, the detonation of the massive bomb over > Afghanistan represents a warning to Russia, Iran, North Korea and any > country that dares to challenge Washington’s interests that there is no > limit to the level of violence that US imperialism will unleash against > them. > > The weapon, officially known as the GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast, > designated by the Pentagon as MOAB, or “mother of all bombs,” detonates > nearly 20,000 pounds of explosives in mid-air, igniting the atmosphere and > creating a massive concussion that obliterates everything within a radius > of 1,000 yards. Its shock waves are capable of killing people within a > radius of up to 1.7 miles. The impact of the explosion is the equivalent of > a nuclear weapon for those caught in the target zone. > > Designed for use in the “shock and awe” campaign unleashed with the 2003 > US invasion of Iraq, it was never utilized in combat over the course of 14 > years. Even as the Pentagon carried out a war and occupation that claimed > some one million Iraqi lives, the weapon was seen as too destructive to > serve US strategic purposes. > > Planning for the use of this horrific weapon in Afghanistan began under > the Obama administration. > > According to the Pentagon command, this genuine “weapon of mass > destruction” was dropped for the first time on a remote district of > Afghanistan’s eastern Nangarhar Province in order to obliterate alleged > caves and tunnels used by elements of the Afghan affiliate of the Islamic > State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). > > There is no immediate tactical, much less strategic, justification for the > dropping of such a massive weapon on a small, poorly armed band of Islamist > guerrillas—a Pakistan-based group that merely adopted the ISIS logo. > Instead, the attack has all the earmarks of a calculated demonstration of > American military might, the most terrifying one that could be staged short > of a nuclear attack. > > The bombing comes just one week after Washington carried out a naked act > of military aggression against Syria, firing 59 cruise missiles into a > government airbase and killing at least 15 Syrians, the majority of them > civilians. > > That attack was justified in the name of retaliation for an alleged > chemical weapons attack blamed on the Syrian government. Damascus denied > using any such weapon and, the endless lies of the Western media > notwithstanding, all objective evidence points to a provocation staged by > the CIA and the Al Qaeda-linked fighters that it supports in Syria. > > Even as the US government and media churned out war propaganda over the > fabricated “chemical weapons” attack in Syria, Washington was preparing to > drop its largest non-nuclear weapon on Afghanistan. > > The Pentagon has claimed that it “took every precaution to avoid civilian > casualties with this strike.” Such promises, made repeatedly as the US > military has killed millions across the Middle East, are utterly worthless. > According to initial reports, there are several villages near the target > area and, in all likelihood, civilian deaths and injuries will be massive. > > At this point, no one knows what the real toll from this attack is, and, > if left to the US media, no one will ever be told. The same editorialists > for CIA house organs like the *New York Times,* and television news > talking heads who have parroted the government’s denunciations of the Assad > regime over the chemical weapons provocation in Syria, are completely > indifferent to the loss of life caused by the massive US bomb dropped on > Afghanistan. > > Similarly, the media largely ignores the ongoing carnage inflicted by US > bombs and missiles upon the people of Iraq and Syria. On Wednesday, a US > airstrike in western Mosul killed 13 civilians while injuring another 17, > most of them seriously. On the same day, a UN agency described the > devastation wrought by the US siege of the Iraqi city, where hundreds, if > not thousands, of men, women and children have died: “Homes are being > destroyed. Schools and health centers are damaged and crucial public > infrastructure including electricity and water stations are in ruins,” > according to the report, with the destruction turning over 300,000 people > into homeless refugees. > > Meanwhile, in northern Syria, US warplanes carried out a “friendly fire” > airstrike that killed 18 Kurdish fighters, while the Syrian government > reported that a US bomb hit an Al Qaeda weapons depot, spreading chemical > agents that may have killed hundreds of civilians. None of these incidents > are given any significant coverage; much less do they provoke the moral > outrage of those crying crocodile tears over the victims of the alleged > chemical attack for which the Syrian government has been framed. > > Who are these people to lecture anyone on “human rights,” much less to > posture as opponents of “terrorism?” Once again, US imperialism has > demonstrated to the world that it is bound by absolutely no constraints of > international law, much less morality. Its violent and predatory actions on > the world stage are a direct expression of the criminal and parasitic > character of the American capitalist ruling class, personified in the > loathsome figure of Donald Trump. > > This latest atrocity comes fifteen and a half years after the US invaded > Afghanistan, toppling the Taliban government, installing its own puppet > regime and carrying out a bloody war and occupation ever since. > Conservative estimates put the Afghan death toll since 2001 at some > 200,000, with hundreds of thousands more wounded and millions turned into > refugees. From the outset, the purpose of this intervention was to > subjugate the Afghan people to semi-colonial American domination and to > further US imperialism’s drive to assert its hegemony over the energy-rich > region of Central Asia. > > The timing of the bombing was significant. It came on the very eve of > talks called for April 14 in Moscow on a peace settlement in Afghanistan. > Russia has called the meeting together with China and Pakistan, with the > participation of nine other countries, including India and Iran. The > Taliban has indicated that it may join the talks. While invited, Washington > failed to confirm whether it will attend, and US military commanders have > made repeated baseless allegations of Russian support for the Taliban. > > Whether an armed confrontation takes place between US and Russian > warplanes in the skies over Syria, in a military strike against North Korea > or in a provocation on Russia’s western borders, the next step from the > weapon dropped on Afghanistan is the launching of nuclear missiles. > > Workers and young people in the US and internationally must respond to > these ominous events with utmost seriousness and a determination to stop US > and global capitalism from engulfing the planet in a third, nuclear world > war. > > Protests must be organized across the United States and around the world > against the latest US atrocities in Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq as part of > the struggle to build a mass antiwar movement based upon the working class > and the program of socialist internationalism. At the very center of this > struggle lies the need to build the Socialist Equality Party and the > International Committee of the Fourth International—the only consistent > political opponents of world imperialism—as the revolutionary leadership of > the working class. > > Bill Van Auken and David North of the WSWS.ORG > _______________________________________________ > Peace-discuss mailing list > Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net > https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss > > > > _______________________________________________ > ufpj-activist mailing list > > Post: ufpj-activist at lists.mayfirst.org > List info: https://lists.mayfirst.org/mailman/listinfo/ufpj-activist > > To Unsubscribe > Send email to: ufpj-activist-unsubscribe at lists.mayfirst.org > Or visit: https://lists.mayfirst.org/ > mailman/options/ufpj-activist/medea.benjamin%40gmail.com > > You are subscribed as: medea.benjamin at gmail.com > > -- *Medea Benjamin * *CODEPINK Co-founder* *(415) 235-6517 * -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From niloofar.peace at gmail.com Fri Apr 14 16:24:06 2017 From: niloofar.peace at gmail.com (Niloofar Shambayati) Date: Fri, 14 Apr 2017 11:24:06 -0500 Subject: [Peace] Fwd: [Peace-discuss] We should all be screaming in outrage...... In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Wouldn't be easy to appeal to their humanity when it comes to foreign policy and waging attacks. Have you heard of Maddow's sickening comments and her skyrocketing ratings? On Fri, Apr 14, 2017 at 9:01 AM, Karen Aram via Peace < peace at lists.chambana.net> wrote: > > I guess we should be calling on the local Democrat Party to organize a > protest against Trump, and the bombing. Knowing that the bombing takes a > back seat to Party Politics. At least it will get the people out into the > streets, making their voices heard, better than nothing. > We had 3,000 marchers with “pink pussy hats” in January this year in our > town. Now the best those of us who are anti-war, can accumulate is > approximately thirteen. > > > > > > > - Print > > - Leaflet > > - Feedback > > - Share » > > US drops largest non-nuclear weapon on Afghanistan: A crime against > humanity 14 April 2017 > > The US military’s dropping of the largest non-nuclear weapon in its > arsenal on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border Thursday is a crime against > humanity. Even as the US government and the mass media were engaged in a > lying propaganda campaign denouncing Syria and Russia for the use of poison > gas, the American military was positioning the monstrous weapon—the Massive > Ordnance Air Blast (MOAB)—for use in Afghanistan. > > While the Pentagon has released few details about the impact of the > bombing, one can be certain that the total number of deaths resulting from > the dropping of the MOAB is a massive multiple of the number killed in the > alleged Syrian gas attack, assuming—and this is by no means certain—that > the gas attack even took place. > > Seventy-two years after the destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, > American imperialism has proven once again that it is the most ruthless and > criminal force on the planet. > > The use of the MOAB has implications that extend beyond Afghanistan. It > demonstrates—and this is, in fact, the principal aim of the attack—that > there are no restraints on what the US military is prepared to do in > pursuit of the interests of American imperialism. > > In the context of mounting military tensions from the Korean peninsula to > Syria to eastern Europe, the detonation of the massive bomb over > Afghanistan represents a warning to Russia, Iran, North Korea and any > country that dares to challenge Washington’s interests that there is no > limit to the level of violence that US imperialism will unleash against > them. > > The weapon, officially known as the GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast, > designated by the Pentagon as MOAB, or “mother of all bombs,” detonates > nearly 20,000 pounds of explosives in mid-air, igniting the atmosphere and > creating a massive concussion that obliterates everything within a radius > of 1,000 yards. Its shock waves are capable of killing people within a > radius of up to 1.7 miles. The impact of the explosion is the equivalent of > a nuclear weapon for those caught in the target zone. > > Designed for use in the “shock and awe” campaign unleashed with the 2003 > US invasion of Iraq, it was never utilized in combat over the course of 14 > years. Even as the Pentagon carried out a war and occupation that claimed > some one million Iraqi lives, the weapon was seen as too destructive to > serve US strategic purposes. > > Planning for the use of this horrific weapon in Afghanistan began under > the Obama administration. > > According to the Pentagon command, this genuine “weapon of mass > destruction” was dropped for the first time on a remote district of > Afghanistan’s eastern Nangarhar Province in order to obliterate alleged > caves and tunnels used by elements of the Afghan affiliate of the Islamic > State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). > > There is no immediate tactical, much less strategic, justification for the > dropping of such a massive weapon on a small, poorly armed band of Islamist > guerrillas—a Pakistan-based group that merely adopted the ISIS logo. > Instead, the attack has all the earmarks of a calculated demonstration of > American military might, the most terrifying one that could be staged short > of a nuclear attack. > > The bombing comes just one week after Washington carried out a naked act > of military aggression against Syria, firing 59 cruise missiles into a > government airbase and killing at least 15 Syrians, the majority of them > civilians. > > That attack was justified in the name of retaliation for an alleged > chemical weapons attack blamed on the Syrian government. Damascus denied > using any such weapon and, the endless lies of the Western media > notwithstanding, all objective evidence points to a provocation staged by > the CIA and the Al Qaeda-linked fighters that it supports in Syria. > > Even as the US government and media churned out war propaganda over the > fabricated “chemical weapons” attack in Syria, Washington was preparing to > drop its largest non-nuclear weapon on Afghanistan. > > The Pentagon has claimed that it “took every precaution to avoid civilian > casualties with this strike.” Such promises, made repeatedly as the US > military has killed millions across the Middle East, are utterly worthless. > According to initial reports, there are several villages near the target > area and, in all likelihood, civilian deaths and injuries will be massive. > > At this point, no one knows what the real toll from this attack is, and, > if left to the US media, no one will ever be told. The same editorialists > for CIA house organs like the *New York Times,* and television news > talking heads who have parroted the government’s denunciations of the Assad > regime over the chemical weapons provocation in Syria, are completely > indifferent to the loss of life caused by the massive US bomb dropped on > Afghanistan. > > Similarly, the media largely ignores the ongoing carnage inflicted by US > bombs and missiles upon the people of Iraq and Syria. On Wednesday, a US > airstrike in western Mosul killed 13 civilians while injuring another 17, > most of them seriously. On the same day, a UN agency described the > devastation wrought by the US siege of the Iraqi city, where hundreds, if > not thousands, of men, women and children have died: “Homes are being > destroyed. Schools and health centers are damaged and crucial public > infrastructure including electricity and water stations are in ruins,” > according to the report, with the destruction turning over 300,000 people > into homeless refugees. > > Meanwhile, in northern Syria, US warplanes carried out a “friendly fire” > airstrike that killed 18 Kurdish fighters, while the Syrian government > reported that a US bomb hit an Al Qaeda weapons depot, spreading chemical > agents that may have killed hundreds of civilians. None of these incidents > are given any significant coverage; much less do they provoke the moral > outrage of those crying crocodile tears over the victims of the alleged > chemical attack for which the Syrian government has been framed. > > Who are these people to lecture anyone on “human rights,” much less to > posture as opponents of “terrorism?” Once again, US imperialism has > demonstrated to the world that it is bound by absolutely no constraints of > international law, much less morality. Its violent and predatory actions on > the world stage are a direct expression of the criminal and parasitic > character of the American capitalist ruling class, personified in the > loathsome figure of Donald Trump. > > This latest atrocity comes fifteen and a half years after the US invaded > Afghanistan, toppling the Taliban government, installing its own puppet > regime and carrying out a bloody war and occupation ever since. > Conservative estimates put the Afghan death toll since 2001 at some > 200,000, with hundreds of thousands more wounded and millions turned into > refugees. From the outset, the purpose of this intervention was to > subjugate the Afghan people to semi-colonial American domination and to > further US imperialism’s drive to assert its hegemony over the energy-rich > region of Central Asia. > > The timing of the bombing was significant. It came on the very eve of > talks called for April 14 in Moscow on a peace settlement in Afghanistan. > Russia has called the meeting together with China and Pakistan, with the > participation of nine other countries, including India and Iran. The > Taliban has indicated that it may join the talks. While invited, Washington > failed to confirm whether it will attend, and US military commanders have > made repeated baseless allegations of Russian support for the Taliban. > > Whether an armed confrontation takes place between US and Russian > warplanes in the skies over Syria, in a military strike against North Korea > or in a provocation on Russia’s western borders, the next step from the > weapon dropped on Afghanistan is the launching of nuclear missiles. > > Workers and young people in the US and internationally must respond to > these ominous events with utmost seriousness and a determination to stop US > and global capitalism from engulfing the planet in a third, nuclear world > war. > > Protests must be organized across the United States and around the world > against the latest US atrocities in Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq as part of > the struggle to build a mass antiwar movement based upon the working class > and the program of socialist internationalism. At the very center of this > struggle lies the need to build the Socialist Equality Party and the > International Committee of the Fourth International—the only consistent > political opponents of world imperialism—as the revolutionary leadership of > the working class. > > Bill Van Auken and David North of the WSWS.ORG > _______________________________________________ > Peace-discuss mailing list > Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net > https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss > > > > _______________________________________________ > Peace mailing list > Peace at lists.chambana.net > https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From divisek at yahoo.com Mon Apr 17 01:43:22 2017 From: divisek at yahoo.com (Dianna Visek) Date: Mon, 17 Apr 2017 01:43:22 +0000 (UTC) Subject: [Peace] teach-in on Yemen famine, lecture on cybersecurity References: <1381468929.1888174.1492393402231.ref@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <1381468929.1888174.1492393402231@mail.yahoo.com> http://acdis.illinois.edu/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From galliher at illinois.edu Mon Apr 17 02:00:38 2017 From: galliher at illinois.edu (Carl G. Estabrook) Date: Sun, 16 Apr 2017 21:00:38 -0500 Subject: [Peace] teach-in on Yemen famine, lecture on cybersecurity In-Reply-To: <1381468929.1888174.1492393402231@mail.yahoo.com> References: <1381468929.1888174.1492393402231.ref@mail.yahoo.com> <1381468929.1888174.1492393402231@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <492914BE-167E-4D14-BD22-6B85FE5A7FB7@illinois.edu> AWARE should have at least a representative at this event - especially someone willing to report on it on AWARE ON THE AIR. (Thanks to D. Visek for letting us know about it.) > On Apr 16, 2017, at 8:43 PM, Dianna Visek via Peace wrote: > > http://acdis.illinois.edu/ > > _______________________________________________ > Peace mailing list > Peace at lists.chambana.net > https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: PastedGraphic-1.tiff Type: image/tiff Size: 352584 bytes Desc: not available URL: From pat.simpson at frontier.com Mon Apr 17 01:35:03 2017 From: pat.simpson at frontier.com (Patricia Simpson) Date: Mon, 17 Apr 2017 01:35:03 +0000 (UTC) Subject: [Peace] Upcoming event with Bob McChesney References: <562249091.1460749.1492392903602.ref@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <562249091.1460749.1492392903602@mail.yahoo.com> Hello to all. Channing Murray wants to invite members of this list to an upcoming event at the Foundation.  Bob McChesney will be speaking on Apr. 27 from 7 to 9 pm on the topic: This is What Happens When Journalism Dies: Trump, Fake News, andNeofascism: A Discussion with Robert McChesney I attach a flier that outlines further details on this event. Thanks for your interest. Peace, Pat Simpson -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: flierapr27b.docx Type: application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document Size: 152274 bytes Desc: not available URL: From susanroseparenti at gmail.com Mon Apr 17 16:20:20 2017 From: susanroseparenti at gmail.com (Susan Parenti) Date: Mon, 17 Apr 2017 11:20:20 -0500 Subject: [Peace] Think and Perform with Us this June In Urbana! Message-ID: Hi friends--We're combining the spirit/ideas of School for Designing a Society and Patch Adam's Gesundheit Institute this June in Urbana, in a three week educational experiment, called "Construct Your Humanism’, June 11-July 2, 2017. We invite you to join us. The majority of participants will be from out of the country, but there are some spots for in-town people. The tuition cost for in-town participants (who don’t need to be fed or housed with us) is $200. Perhaps this is an offer for you? warmly Susan Parenti *The School for Designing a Society *www.designingasociety.net [image: Inline image 1] -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: Humanism-poster-final-toSend.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 1389300 bytes Desc: not available URL: From cge at shout.net Tue Apr 18 15:41:35 2017 From: cge at shout.net (C. G. Estabrook) Date: Tue, 18 Apr 2017 10:41:35 -0500 Subject: [Peace] AWARE ON THE AIR, April 18 In-Reply-To: References: <5880c407a1db5_222964d980682c3@asgworker-qmb2-1.nbuild.prd.useast1.3dna.io.mail> Message-ID: Introduction to AWARE ON THE AIR on Urbana Public Television for the 16th week of 2017 [April 18]: Good evening and welcome to AWARE on the Air, presented by members and friends of AWARE, a local peace group. The name AWARE stands for “anti-war anti-racism effort.” We are recording this at noon on Tuesday, April 18th, in the studios of Urbana Public Television, Urbana, Illinois. Our subject is the wars the US government is waging around the world. At this moment the USG is making war and killing people in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Pakistan, Somalia, Syria, and Yemen. Thousands of U.S. troops are fighting in these WARS, although most Americans are not aware of it. In addition, the 70,000-members of the U.S. ‘Special Operations Command’ are active in three-quarters of the countries of the world. Their activities include kidnapping (‘rendition’), torture, and murder. Furthermore our government is provoking new wars - against countries with nuclear weapons - in eastern Europe, Ukraine, the Middle East, Korea, and the South China Sea. Why is our government terrorizing the world to the point that international polls show the US is by far the most feared country in the world - not Russia, China, N. Korea, or Iran? The answer is simple and horrible. The US is killing people to protect the profits of the 1%, the American economic elite. When World War II ended in 1945, the US was the only undamaged major country, and controlled the world economy, for the benefit of that 1%. In all the years since, US administrations have been willing to kill people and make war to “maintain the disparity,” as American planner GEORGE KENNAN said. The result was nothing less three-generations of American war, up to today, against peoples struggling to control their own countries. Since the Second World War, the US has: ~ Attempted to overthrow more than 50 governments, most of them democratically-elected. ~ Attempted to suppress a populist or national movement in 20 countries. ~ Grossly interfered in democratic elections in at least 30 countries. ~ Dropped bombs on the people of more than 30 countries. ~ Attempted to assassinate more than 50 foreign leaders. In total, the United States has carried out one or more of these actions in 69 countries ... The "enemy" changes in name – from communism to Islamism -- but the US makes war against governments not under US control or influence, or that prevent the US from occupying a strategic position in our campaign to control the world economy. In the years since WWII, US presidents have killed more than 20 million people in 37 nations. The US continues to be, in the words of Martin Luther King, “The greatest purveyor of violence in the world today.” The sheer scale of suffering, let alone criminality, is little known in our country. ~ the most numerous victims of our terrorism are Muslims; ~ half a million Iraqi infants died in the 1990s as a result of the embargo imposed by the Clinton administration; and ~ extreme jihadism (“radical islamic terrorism”), which led to 9/11, was invented by the Carter administration 40 years ago, when the CIA rounded up some Muslim fanatics, armed them, and sent them into Afghanistan “to give the Russians a Vietnam of their own” - as President Carter’s National Security Adviser said. Our anti-War group AWARE was established 15 years ago, after the attacks of 9/11/2001, by citizens of Champaign-Urbana who realized that the US government would use those crimes to justify its already long-standing attempts to exercise military control over the Middle East and its energy resources. In those years the US has attempted in particular to exercise military control over the Mideast and its energy resources. The U.S. doesn’t need oil from the Mideast, but Mideast gas and oil are needed by America’s economic competitors in Europe and Asia, and so control over them gives the U.S. a major advantage over China, Germany, and other countries - a chokehold which benefits only the American economic elite, the one percent. In 2003 the US illegally invaded Iraq - and killed perhaps a million people for that purpose - and now has thousands of troops and mercenaries throughout the Mideast. The U.S. government says that we’re fighting terrorism, but we are in fact creating terrorists - in response particularly to our drone assassinations, “the most extreme terrorist campaign of modern times” - which have killed more than 5,000 people, including U.S. citizens and hundreds of children. Those of us in AWARE, like other anti-war groups in the United States and around the world, call upon President Trump to ~ (1) establish a foreign policy based on diplomacy, international law, human rights, and respect for the sovereignty of other nations; ~ (2) end the wars (in the Mideast and elsewhere) and stop the drone attacks; ~ (3) cut military spending by at least 50% and close the more than 700 foreign military bases (neither Russia nor China has more than twelve); bring US troops (and weapons) home; and withdraw US ‘special forces’ who’ve been sent into 3/4 of the world’s countries; ~ (4) stop US support of human rights abusers, notably Israel and Saudi Arabia; and ~ (5) lead on global nuclear disarmament. There’s a lot of news about US government war-making this week, but you don’t get a very clear account in the American media - which are dominated by pro-war people and the political establishment, Republicans and Democrats alike. We’ll try to give a better account tonight... ### From galliher at illinois.edu Wed Apr 19 00:48:03 2017 From: galliher at illinois.edu (Carl G. Estabrook) Date: Tue, 18 Apr 2017 19:48:03 -0500 Subject: [Peace] Glover, Chomsky, Ensler, Ruffalo: We Need France to Resist Trump In-Reply-To: <3920522261.-629048308@org.orgDB.reply.salsalabs.com> References: <3920522261.-629048308@org.orgDB.reply.salsalabs.com> Message-ID: <7B3A7311-7AAE-4C9E-A59E-ED901AEEEB3F@illinois.edu> Melenchon and Le Pen are perhaps closer to one another in their opposition to neoliberal and neoconservative policies. They both express the disaffection of the populace with establishment politicians - as Sanders and Trump did. One hopes that they will not betray their promises, as Sanders and Trump have. —CGE > On Apr 18, 2017, at 3:01 PM, Just Foreign Policy wrote: > > > Dear C. G., > > Urge France to resist Trump. > > Take Action > > From Yemen to Syria to North Korea, Trump is threatening military escalation. We've been urging Americans to press their Members of Congress to push back. But with Republicans controlling the House and Senate, getting Congress to push back is a tough challenge. We could use some help on the global stage in resisting Trump. > > Maybe, in France - like the US, a permanent member of the UN Security Council - help is on the way. > > Danny Glover, Noam Chomsky, Eve Ensler, and Mark Ruffalo are urging progressive French voters to unite in the first round of the French presidential election behind a candidate who will stand up to Trump on the global stage. > > You can add your voice here. > > Thanks for all you do to help make U.S. foreign policy more just, > > Robert Naiman, Avram Reisman, and Sarah Burns > Just Foreign Policy > > If you think our work is important, support us with a $17 donation. > http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/donate > > © 2016 Just Foreign Policy > > > > > From karenaram at hotmail.com Sun Apr 23 18:55:13 2017 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Sun, 23 Apr 2017 18:55:13 +0000 Subject: [Peace] Fw: Rising Together for the Planet! In-Reply-To: <58fcb27332167_a8f987f974191e2@asgworker-qmb2-18.nbuild.prd.useast1.3dna.io.mail> References: <58fcb27332167_a8f987f974191e2@asgworker-qmb2-18.nbuild.prd.useast1.3dna.io.mail> Message-ID: ________________________________ From: CODEPINK Sent: Sunday, April 23, 2017 8:56 AM To: Karen Adam Subject: Rising Together for the Planet! [CODEPINK] [http://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/codepink/mailings/1573/attachments/original/WARISNOTGREEN_horiz_4.png?1492872813] Dear Karen, Join us on Saturday, April 29, as we rise for peace and climate justice! The war economy, its violence, and extractive practices destroy communities and the planet. Wars and global warming contribute to the enormous flows of desperate refugees, now over 65 million and growing. During the People’s Climate March, those of us working to end wars and create peace will be rising together. We are the guardians of the future. Without ending war, none of us will have a planet that is safe and healthy to raise the younger generations. Please join us on Saturday, April 29, in D.C. or at one of the People’s Climate March peace contingents in Oakland, Chicago, Dallas and Los Angeles! Or let us know if you want to lead a peace contingent in your local march! For People’s Climate Day, help us stop war, save the planet, and build a more peaceful world. Yesterday in Washington D.C. we joined the March for Science, and on April 29 we will continue to rise together in solidarity to end the violence and exploitation plaguing the planet and those who live on it. Please share the image on the top of this email on Facebook and Twitter with the hashtags #No54BillionForWar #PeoplesClimateMarch #WarIsNotGreen #SaveThePlanetStopWar and check out our outreach toolkit. [http://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/codepink/mailings/1573/attachments/original/54BWebinar.png?1492872872]Toward a peaceful, healthy planet! Ann, Ariel, Jodie, Mariana, Mark, Medea, Nancy, Paki, Paula, Taylor and Tighe P.S. Join us this coming Tuesday 4/25 for a webinar to learn more about how to pass city and mayor resolutions to stop the military budget increase! Register for more information. Support our work for peace and justice. [Donate Now] [CODEPINK] This email was sent to karenaram at hotmail.com. To stop receiving emails, click here. Created with NationBuilder [http://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/themes/55513b489d29c93fbf000001/attachments/original/1431394039/twitter.png?1431394039] [http://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/themes/55513b489d29c93fbf000001/attachments/original/1431394022/facebook.png?1431394022] [http://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/themes/55513b489d29c93fbf000001/attachments/original/1431394028/google.png?1431394028] [http://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/themes/55513b489d29c93fbf000001/attachments/original/1431394019/youtube.png?1431394019] [http://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/themes/55513b489d29c93fbf000001/attachments/original/1431394037/rss.png?1431394037] [http://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/themes/55513b489d29c93fbf000001/attachments/original/1431394038/t.png?1431394038] [http://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/themes/55513b489d29c93fbf000001/attachments/original/1431394034/pinterest.png?1431394034] [http://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/themes/55513b489d29c93fbf000001/attachments/original/1431394024/flickr.png?1431394024] [http://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/themes/55513b489d29c93fbf000001/attachments/original/1431394021/email.png?1431394021] Unsubscribe -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From susanroseparenti at gmail.com Sun Apr 23 19:22:07 2017 From: susanroseparenti at gmail.com (Susan Parenti) Date: Sun, 23 Apr 2017 14:22:07 -0500 Subject: [Peace] Concert of Experimental & Political Music---this Saturday at 3pm! You're invited! References: Message-ID: Hello friends— This Saturday 3pm at the Park House will be a concert of live music, with an open rehearsal of one of the newest pieces, a Quartet, by the inimitable Ya’aqov Ziso. What does Ziso's music sound like? Admission is free, though a donation of a few pesos would not be turned down. Some refreshments. Good company. Wow. Please come—and scroll down to the bottom of this email to see the dashing poster image! warmly Susan Raise our voices against the tanks, funded by banks! > > Saturday, April 29, > 3 PM - 5 PM > Park House, 122 W. Franklin St., Urbana > > Felix Del Tredici (Montreal) bass trombone > > Recital > > ● Luciano Berio -- Gute Nacht (1986) > ● Alvin Lucier - Wind Shadows, for trombone and closely​ ​tuned oscillators (1994) > ● Iannis Xenakis - Keren, for solo trombone (1986) > ● Sandeep Bhagwati - Three Miyagi Haikus, foropen instrumentation (2011) > ● Franco Donatoni -​ ​Scaglie, for trombone (1992) > ● Hans Werner Henze - Epitaph (1979) > > Open Rehearsal of: > > ● Ya’aqov Ziso - Quartet, viola, bass clarinet, bass trombone, tabla (2017) > > Felix Del Tredici (Montreal) bass trombone > Eric Mandat (Carbondale), bass clarinet > Julius Adams (Urbana) viola > Mark Enslin (Urbana) tabla > > > > > > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: 1.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 161444 bytes Desc: not available URL: From susanroseparenti at gmail.com Sun Apr 23 19:25:40 2017 From: susanroseparenti at gmail.com (Susan Parenti) Date: Sun, 23 Apr 2017 14:25:40 -0500 Subject: [Peace] Concert of Experimental, Political Music this upcoming Saturday, April29, 3pm Message-ID: Hello friends— This upcoming Saturday 3pm at the Park House will be a concert of live music, with an open rehearsal of one of the newest pieces, a Quartet, by the inimitable Ya’aqov Ziso. What does Ziso's music sound like? Admission is free, though a donation of a few pesos would not be turned down. Some refreshments. Good company. Wow. Please come! Susan *Raise our voices against the tanks, funded by banks!* Saturday, April 29, 3 PM - 5 PM Park House, 122 W. Franklin St., Urbana *Felix Del Tredici (Montreal) bass trombone* *Recital* ● *Luciano Berio* -- Gute Nacht (1986) ● *Alvin Lucier* - Wind Shadows, for trombone and closely ​ ​ tuned oscillators (1994) ● *Iannis Xenakis* - Keren, for solo trombone (1986) ● *Sandeep Bhagwati *- Three Miyagi Haikus, foropen instrumentation (2011) ●* Franco Donatoni *- ​ ​ Scaglie, for trombone (1992) ● *Hans Werner Henze* - Epitaph (1979) *Open Rehearsal of:* ● *Ya’aqov Ziso* - Quartet, viola, bass clarinet, bass trombone, tabla (2017) *Felix Del Tredici (Montreal) bass tromboneEric Mandat (Carbondale), bass clarinetJulius Adams (Urbana) violaMark Enslin (Urbana) tabla* [image: 1.jpg] -- *Susan Parenti* *Educational Coordinator * *The School for Designing a Society *www.designingasociety.net *Like us on Facebook !* -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From karenaram at hotmail.com Tue Apr 25 00:54:15 2017 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Tue, 25 Apr 2017 00:54:15 +0000 Subject: [Peace] Just when we thought things couldn't get any worse...... Message-ID: US prepares military response to world-historic famine in sub-Saharan Africa, Arabian Peninsula By Thomas Gaist WSWS.ORG 24 April 2017 Widespread and deepening famine is threatening the lives of tens of millions across large parts of sub-Saharan Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. Analysts describe the outbreak of mass hunger as completely historically unprecedented and warn that record-breaking levels of malnourishment and starvation are overwhelming the capacity of existing humanitarian infrastructure. Tens of millions people, including 17 million Yemenis, 7 million Nigerians, 3 million Somalis and 1 million South Sudanese, are in imminent danger of dying from lack of adequate nutrition, according to United Nations (UN) estimates. Countries impacted by famine and food shortages include South Sudan, Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya, Angola, Botswana, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia and Zimbabwe. In Somalia, where the Trump administration announced the deployment of regular US ground troops for the first time since 1994, the price of a 20-liter can of water increased from 4 to 40 cents during the past few weeks alone. Somalia is experiencing record rates of child malnutrition and faces the die off of 75 percent of its livestock, according to Save the Children. The Yemen war, waged by the United States and Saudi Arabia since April 2015, has transformed one of the most ancient societies in the world into the ground-zero of world famine. Some 20 million Yemenis are now on the verge of starvation. The naval blockade of Yemen’s ports, enforced by American and Saudi ships, is strangling the flow of goods into a country that depends on imports for 90 percent of its food supply. The US-Saudi bombing campaign has relentlessly targeted Yemen’s social infrastructure, completely paralyzing its economy and turning 80 percent of its population into paupers. The approval by Trump of a Navy SEALs raid into Yemen, as his first official military action, has signaled his intention to expand direct US participation in the war. The response of Africa’s national elites to the famine has been intensified social attacks against their own populations. The US-backed governments of Djibouti, Tanzania, Rwanda and Ethiopia have slashed food rations in recent months. The US-backed South Sudanese government is employing starvation as a weapon against ethnic minorities, and has “actively blocked and prevented aid access” to famine-stricken areas, the UN said. In the teeth of a world-historic famine, instead of food deliveries, the White House is organizing expanded war throughout sub-Saharan Africa. Trump has approved “increasing American military pressure” in Nigeria, Cameroon, Niger, Central African Republic, Chad and Somalia, according to Breitbart News, a web site with close ties to the American President. Last week, Trump approved the sale of fighter jets to Nigeria, signaling his intention to escalate the US proxy war in Nigeria. Now in its seventh year, the war has already displaced some 2.5 million, and transformed northern Nigeria into one of the worst famine hotspots on the continent. The American military is deploying “advisors, intelligence, training, and equipment” throughout West Africa, US Africa Command (AFRICOM) commander General Thomas Waldhauser announced in comments March 24. Last week, Waldhauser hosted dozens of African military officers for discussions at the AFRICOM headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany. The purpose of the US Africa Command Chiefs of Defense (CHoD) meetings is to recruit “liaison” officers from African governments who will be permanently stationed alongside US commanders in Europe, coordinating joint US-African military operations on the continent. AFRICOM’s military presence in Africa is geared to crush the mass social opposition to Africa’s national governments and militaries that will inevitably arise out of the famine and other manifestations of the deepening economic and social crisis. “On the African continent, when you have, you know, the top 50 poorest countries on the planet. Obviously the migrant problem is a huge issue,” Waldhauser remarked. The American military is “war-gaming procedures to work in a famine-type environment,” the top US Africa General said. Aside from its role in policing the increasingly restive African population, the continuous expansion of AFRICOM’s war operations on the continent is aimed at seizing the continent’s most strategic resources and infrastructure. The huge potential profits to be coined out of the labor-power of Africa’s working class, and the untold trillions in mineral wealth buried in its lands, are greedily sought after by the American and European ruling elites. Africa has been at the center of the military and strategic aggression waged by the Western powers against the entire former colonial world since the end of the USSR. The past two-and-a-half decades of the so-called “post-colonial” era have witnessed a renaissance of colonialism. Thousands of US and European troops and commandos now rampage freely on the continent, establishing proxy armies and organizing the toppling and murder of numerous African leaders considered insufficiently compliant with US imperialism’s line. The alternative between socialism and a new round of imperialist barbarism is posed most starkly on the African continent, the birthplace of the human species. Only a unified mass movement of the entire African working class, leading behind it the oppressed peasantry, can drive the imperialists from the continent and resolve the urgent social problems facing the masses. Such a movement requires the building of sections of the International Committee of the Fourth International, the only genuine socialist leadership in existence, in every country of Africa. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From karenaram at hotmail.com Tue Apr 25 21:33:35 2017 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Tue, 25 Apr 2017 21:33:35 +0000 Subject: [Peace] Fwd: News Alert References: <1302681375.41770.1493155677275.JavaMail.nobody@prd-10-60-165-99.nodes.56m.dmtio.net> Message-ID: Begin forwarded message: From: CNN Breaking News > Subject: News Alert Date: April 25, 2017 at 14:27:57 PDT To: > A federal judge blocked the Trump administration from enforcing a threat to deny funds to sanctuary cities -- the latest blow from the federal judiciary to the President's immigration agenda. In a ruling delivered Tuesday, Judge William H. Orrick sided with Santa Clara, the city of San Francisco and other cities, who argued that a threat to withhold federal funds from cities that do not cooperate with some federal immigration enforcement could be unconstitutional. In granting a nationwide injunction, Orrick blocked the government from enforcing a key portion of Trump's January executive order on immigration, which ordered the Department of Homeland Security and Justice Department to block cities who do not cooperate with federal immigration enforcement from receiving federal funds. While Orrick's ruling does not find the policy unconstitutional, he did find that the counties and cities that challenged the law demonstrated they could face "immediate irreparable harm" if the policy were allowed to be put into place, and that their constitutional challenge could succeed once the case is fully heard. ---------------------------------------------- Get complete coverage of breaking news on CNN TV, CNN.com and CNN Mobile. Watch CNN live or On Demand from your computer or mobile device using CNNgo. ---------------------------------------------- You have opted-in to receive this e-mail from CNN.com. To unsubscribe from Breaking News e-mail alerts, go to: http://cnn.com/EMAIL/breakingnews/unsubscribe.html?l=domestic-adh-bn One CNN Center Atlanta, GA 30303 (c) & (r) 2016 Cable News Network -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From naiman at justforeignpolicy.org Wed Apr 26 13:08:42 2017 From: naiman at justforeignpolicy.org (Robert Naiman) Date: Wed, 26 Apr 2017 08:08:42 -0500 Subject: [Peace] UFPJ: Call Your Senators Now! Diplomacy, Not War on the Korean Peninsula Message-ID: ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Jackie C., United for Peace & Justice Date: Wed, Apr 26, 2017 at 6:36 AM Subject: Call Your Senators Now! Diplomacy, Not War on the Korean Peninsula To: naiman at justforeignpolicy.org Robert, Amidst speculation about a potentially imminent nuclear weapon or missile test by North Korea, tensions on the Korean peninsula are rising to the highest level in decades , as US and North Korean officials posit threats and counter-threats of pre-emptive military strikes. Even hawkish former Secretary of Defense, Leon Panetta has warned: “We have the potential for a nuclear war that would take millions of lives . So I think we have to exercise some care here.” *Today*, in an unusual and worrying development, all 100 U.S. Senators have been summoned to the White House for a closed briefing on the Korean situation by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Secretary of Defense James Mattis, Director of National Intelligence, Dan Coats, and Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Joseph Dunford. *The briefing will start at 3 pm EDT/at noon PDT.* Call your two Senators now! Tell them there’s no military solution to the North Korean Crisis. Demand diplomacy. Capitol switchboard: (202) 224-3121 Also today, in a stunning display of double standards, the U.S. Air Force plans to conduct a test launch of an unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. According to the launch commander : “These Minuteman launches are essential to verify the status of our national nuclear force and to demonstrate our national nuclear capabilities.” In other words, this test is intended to signal a credible U.S. nuclear threat. While you won’t probably won’t hear about the US missile test in the national media, you can be sure that North Korea is taking note. There is no military solution to the standoff on the Korean peninsula, which threatens to spiral out of control – potentially catastrophically. Both China and North Korea have proposed that the United States and South Korea suspend their large-scale annual military exercises in exchange for a freeze on North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs, but the U.S. and South Korea have refused even to discuss the offer . Drop everything and call your Senators right now! Capitol switchboard: (202) 224-3121 It’s time to end US double standards. It’s time to stop making military threats and ratchet down the tensions on the Korean peninsula. One misstep could lead to the loss of millions of lives. Demand a diplomatic solution to the North Korean crisis. No military strikes. Start talking. *If you get a response from your Senator's office, please tell us about it, by writing to info.ufpj at gmail.com .* Thank you for taking urgent action at this critical moment. Sincerely, *Jackie Cabasso* *UFPJ Co-Convener* Help us continue to do this critical work and more-- make a donation to UFPJ today. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From karenaram at hotmail.com Wed Apr 26 13:28:27 2017 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Wed, 26 Apr 2017 13:28:27 +0000 Subject: [Peace] Trumps latest move Message-ID: Trump summons the Senate to the White House 26 April 2017 In a move without precedent in American history, President Donald Trump has invited the entire Senate to the White House to be briefed at a closed-door meeting on potential military action against North Korea. The event is a clear departure from traditional constitutional norms, with ominous implications. It is not unusual for members of the executive branch, including military and intelligence officials, to brief members of Congress in closed-door sessions. But the constitutional doctrine of separation of powers between three coequal branches of government—executive, legislative and judicial—dictates that the executive present itself before the elected representatives of the people, not the other way around. When President Franklin D. Roosevelt sought a declaration of War against Japan on December 8, 1941, he delivered a speech to Congress, leading to a congressional declaration of war the same day. Today, 76 years later, it is the Senate that is coming to the White House, to be briefed by the military brass about plans to launch a war that will proceed with or without its authorization. The session will take place Wednesday afternoon in the auditorium of the Eisenhower Office Building, adjacent to the White House, which will be temporarily transformed into a “sensitive compartmented information facility.” The senators will not be allowed to bring phones or have their staffs with them. They will be addressed by high-level military and intelligence officials, including Defense Secretary James Mattis, a former four-star general; General Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; and Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, the former head of ExxonMobil, will also be present. While Trump’s presence has not been announced, the Washington Post wrote: “Congressional staffers suggested that the briefing’s proximity to Trump would make it easy for him to ‘drop by’ and perhaps take over the briefing.” Trump’s summoning of the Senate to the White House is of a piece with other moves by the administration to outfit the office of the president with trappings associated with authoritarianism and dictatorial rule. At Trump’s inauguration, White House officials requested that tanks and other armored vehicles parade through Washington. During the inaugural address, a group of soldiers lined up behind the new president, in direct view of the main camera, before apparently being ordered to disperse. This extraordinary and unprecedented intrusion of the military into the swearing in of the incoming president has never been explained. What Wednesday’s White House meeting symbolizes above all is the power of the military over the entire state apparatus. This is the outcome of more than a quarter century of unending war, accompanied by an immense growth in the power and political influence of the military. Today, decisions of the gravest consequence—including military action that could start a world war—are made by a cabal of conspirators in the ruling class and the military high command. There is no longer even a pretense of public debate or congressional oversight and control. The so-called “deep state” operates behind the backs of the people with utter disregard for the deeply felt antiwar sentiment of the working class and youth. Trump’s summoning of the Senate to the White House comes amidst a buildup of military tensions in the Pacific, centered on North Korea. The administration has for weeks threatened to carry out a preemptive strike against the impoverished country, ostensibly to prevent it from building nuclear-armed missiles capable of reaching the United States. The power to make major decisions—like the dropping of the Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb on Afghanistan earlier this month—has been turned over to military officials. There is no “peace faction” within the ruling establishment. The aggressive and belligerent foreign policy moves by the Trump administration have been welcomed by both Democrats and Republicans. The first two months of the Trump presidency were dominated by a hysterical campaign, led by the Democrats, to portray Trump as a Russian “poodle.” When Trump carried out a cruise missile attack against Syria, Russia’s ally, it was universally acclaimed, with Democrats demanding even more aggressive regime-change operations. Not a single senator has as yet indicated opposition to the closed-door meeting at the White House, let alone announced that he or she will refuse to attend. Unending war and extreme social inequality have fatally undermined bourgeois-democratic forms in the United States. The Trump administration, with its open contempt for democratic rights and its authoritarian methods, is the outcome of a decades-long decay of American democracy. Congress itself is staffed with wealthy and corrupt stooges of corporate interests and the military/intelligence apparatus, and that goes for both parties. The media serves as a conduit for state propaganda. Dissent is denounced as “fake news” and “information warfare” by foreign enemies. The notion that Congress has the responsibility to exercise a check on war powers has disappeared. Beginning with the Korean War in 1950, US presidents have carried out dozens of military interventions without a declaration of war by Congress, as stipulated in the Constitution. The War Powers Act, passed in 1973, requiring congressional authorization for any military action lasting more than 60 days, has repeatedly been breached in practice. It was openly flouted by the Obama administration in its 2011 air war against Libya. Today’s meeting is not an exercise in congressional oversight, but rather a summoning of political representatives of the ruling class to receive their marching orders from the military brass. It is symptomatic of the collapse of democratic forms of rule and the accelerating drive to dictatorship. Andre Damon -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From karenaram at hotmail.com Wed Apr 26 16:32:51 2017 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Wed, 26 Apr 2017 16:32:51 +0000 Subject: [Peace] Fwd: Urgent! Stop the Threat of War with N Korea! References: <5900c9c8c967d_1d8572998011150@asgworker-qmb2-13.nbuild.prd.useast1.3dna.io.mail> Message-ID: [CODEPINK] [IMG_4570.JPG] Tensions between the Trump administration and the North Korean government have reached a boiling point. In an ominous move, the White House has convened an emergency meeting today, April 26, with 100 Senators where Trump may ramp up the confrontation to new heights. We are outside the White House right now calling for peace and we need you to immediately call your two Senators! Tell them there’s no military solution to the North Korean Crisis! Demand diplomacy! Capitol switchboard: (202) 224-3121 We must avoid, at all costs, a direct military confrontation with North Korea. Any military action by the United States, even limited, could instantly kill millions on the Korean peninsula and threaten nuclear and regional war that could draw in Japan, China and Russia. Every president before Trump considered a pre-emptive strike, but they were quickly sobered by the reality that a military option would trigger a counter-reaction from Pyongyang. Presidents Obama, Bush, and Clinton Administrations could not justify military action that would instantly kill millions of South Koreans and endanger the 28,500 U.S. soldiers and 230,000 U.S. citizens residing there. Call your two Senators now! Tell them there’s no military solution to the North Korean Crisis! Demand diplomacy! Capitol switchboard: (202) 224-3121 CODEPINK has been working for the past two years with Women Cross DMZ, an international women’s group that collaborates with women from both North and South Korea to come up with diplomatic solutions to the crisis. Women Cross DMZ calls for a freeze of North Korea’s nuclear and long-range ballistic missile program in exchange for a U.S. security guarantee that would include suspending U.S.-South Korea military exercises; a binding peace treaty to replace the 1953 Armistice Agreement; and support for citizen diplomacy with liaison offices in Washington DC and Pyongyang to reunite families and heal the legacies of the Korean War. Add your name to the open letter to the Trump administration from Women Cross DMZ! As Christine Ahn, the international coordinator of Women Cross DMZ, said, “President Trump must avoid at all costs a direct military confrontation with North Korea, which has a long history of engaging in brinksmanship. The United States has been successful in defusing past crises by working in partnership with our allies in the region. Today, China calls for restraint, and South Korea is urging a diplomatic solution. President Trump could demonstrate his art of deal making by advancing what will and has only ever worked: diplomacy and engagement.” Share the image at the top of this email on Facebook and Twitter! In peace, Anne, Ariel, Jodie, Mariana, Mark, Medea, Nancy, Paki, Paula, Taylor, and Tighe P.S. Join us this Saturday in DC, LA, or Oakland, CA for the People's Climate March and on May 14th in New York City on Mother's Day to call for an end to war! DISARM, DISARM! [Donate Now] [CODEPINK] This email was sent to karenaram at hotmail.com.To stop receiving emails, click here.Created with NationBuilder [http://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/themes/55513b489d29c93fbf000001/attachments/original/1431394039/twitter.png?1431394039] [http://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/themes/55513b489d29c93fbf000001/attachments/original/1431394022/facebook.png?1431394022] [http://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/themes/55513b489d29c93fbf000001/attachments/original/1431394028/google.png?1431394028] [http://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/themes/55513b489d29c93fbf000001/attachments/original/1431394019/youtube.png?1431394019] [http://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/themes/55513b489d29c93fbf000001/attachments/original/1431394037/rss.png?1431394037] [http://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/themes/55513b489d29c93fbf000001/attachments/original/1431394038/t.png?1431394038] [http://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/themes/55513b489d29c93fbf000001/attachments/original/1431394034/pinterest.png?1431394034] [http://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/themes/55513b489d29c93fbf000001/attachments/original/1431394024/flickr.png?1431394024] [http://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/themes/55513b489d29c93fbf000001/attachments/original/1431394021/email.png?1431394021] Unsubscribe -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From karenaram at hotmail.com Thu Apr 27 00:25:37 2017 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Thu, 27 Apr 2017 00:25:37 +0000 Subject: [Peace] Counterpunch article Message-ID: APRIL 26, 2017 Empire Abroad, Empire At Home by RICHARD MOSER * * * * Email * * [http://uziiw38pmyg1ai60732c4011.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/dropzone/2015/07/print-sp.png] “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” Americans are taught to revel in our power and supremacy. Over 650 major military bases span the whole world. We wage endless wars. American corporations are the most powerful economic organizations in history. The fusion of economic and military power makes our empire unlike any the world has ever seen. We may be “#1” but it is to this great empire that we have lost our souls and our democracy with it.[1] The New Paradigm No great wall separates U.S. foreign policy from domestic policy. The Manhattan Institute is an influential think tank founded in 1978 by William Casey, former head of all U.S. intelligence and Director of the CIA. In a 2006 report “Merging Law Enforcement and Counterterrorism Strategies,” they describe “The New Paradigm:” We know too that globalization is a permanent fact. The international economy is the engine of our nation and the source of our wealth. It means that all the physical and conceptual walls associated with the modern, sovereign state—the walls that divide domestic from international, the police from the military, intelligence from law enforcement, war from peace, and crime from war—are coming down. The institutions and ideas U.S. elites used to project “full spectrum dominance” onto the global stage have eventually become part of the political order in the U.S. The “full spectrum” includes us. It is empire — most of all — that dooms democracy and constitutional republics. As corporations have an insatiable drive for profit, empires have an insatiable drive for power. And that makes imperial actors hostile to the limits on authority, checks and balances, separation of powers and basic rights that the U.S. republic at least aspired to. As the institutions of representative democracy become weaker and weaker — devoted only to serving the corporate power and global empire — the need for social control of the people becomes greater and greater. Targeting Dissent in the USA The “McCarthyism” of the 1950s was the first modern wave of coordinated social control. Truman stoked the fear and hatred of communism to serve foreign policy, but soon, in the hands of the FBI and unscrupulous politicians, it was turned against domestic dissent. The establishment decided that some ideas were so dangerous that American citizens did not have the right or capacity to think through them for themselves. The government would do the thinking for us.[2] Dissent was equated with treason, and it was not until the hard fought battles of the civil rights movement that dissent was once again seen as legitimate. It’s worth remembering that Martin Luther King was widely accused of being a communist. Starting in the mid-50s, the FBI’s COINTELPRO program attacked dissenters. While the civil rights and black power movements were the primary targets of violent repression, almost all social movements were surveilled and disrupted. Today, protestors face escalating penalties, police violence, surveillance, and intimidation. Particularly since Trump’s election there have been a host of proposed laws that aim to criminalize first amendment rights of free speech and assembly. Nixon turned to the “War on Drugs” to create the domestic equivalent of war and suppress the political movements. The War on Drugs — waged by Democrats and Republicans alike — went after hippies, the young and the black community as a way of penalizing the populations on which the movements depended. Now we know the outcome of the War on Drugs. Over the past few decades the American people have created a vast militarized penal system that is now the most powerful institutionalized racism in the US. And like the forms of institutionalized racism that preceded it, the penal system functions as an effective form of social control. Discriminatory and militarized policing, on-the-spot executions, slave-like prison labor, mass incarceration, school-to-prison pipeline, restriction of trial by jury, lengthy and mandatory sentencing, predatory fine, fee and debt traps, and its gigantic sweep and size constitutes nothing short of a preemptive war against the most potentially rebellious parts of the population: the young, people of color, the poor.[3] Mandatory sentencing laws passed by Congress and signed by Bill Clinton shifted the power from judges to prosecutors. By tilting power away from the judiciary and toward the executive, a highly “efficient” system of incarceration took shape. Police often get military training appropriate to an occupation force, training that emphasizing weapons rather than conflict resolution. The “oil cops” at Standing Rock were employees of a private firm with ties to Blackwater, the corporation that provided the mercenaries used by the US in Iraq and Afghanistan. The use of facial recognition software, the recording and monitoring of electronic and phone communications and the commercialization of internet browsing data — all without consent or indictments — are part of the most sophisticated system of electronic surveillance ever created. Mass surveillance is a profound attack on the First Amendment. Knowing big brother is always listening chills free speech, dissent and free association. The penal system chipped away other key provisions of the Bill of Rights including the protection from unwarranted search and seizure, the right to a trial, and the most fundamental rights of life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness. With 2 million behind bars, a million of which slave away for big corporations and the military, the penal system is the main example of how the empire’s increasing reliance on force and violence to solve political problems turned inward toward the American people. But, as intimidating and brutal as the penal system is — it also a last resort. The use of force is evidence that the empire is losing control over the hearts and minds of increasing numbers of its subjects. “Defense” on the Homefront The line between empire abroad and empire at home was further eroded by provisions of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The 1990 NDAA, passed by Congress and signed by President and former director of the CIA George Bush, allowed for the transfer of military weapons to domestic police forces accelerating the militarization of the penal system. President Obama signed the 2012 NDAA which extended the rules of war worldwide — in effect making the US. homeland a theatre of war — by allowing indefinite detention without trial or justification, in violation of the constitutionally guaranteed right of Habeas Corpus. The NDAA also included provisions that allowed the “US government to broadcast American produced foreign propaganda in the U.S.” And that is a lot of propaganda. In 2009, $580 million was spend in Iraq and Afghanistan on the information war. Another $500 million was spent by the Pentagon to produce fake Al-Qaeda videos. The NDAA essentially legalized the propaganda efforts of the CIA that were revealed as far back as 1975. The first amendment is precise and sweeping: ‘Congress shall make no law…abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press…” The Bill of Rights is designed to protect the people from the power of government not to protect government from the people. In the last weeks of his term, Obama signed off on a bi-partisan effort to amend the 2016 NDAA and establish a “counter-propaganda” program, once again placing government in a position to determine what is propaganda and what is not. In a free country, that is the job of the people. The chilling logic behind Obama’s record prosecution of whistleblowers under the Espionage Act and the Russian-baiting unleashed by the Clinton machine was taken to it’s extreme conclusion when Trump’s CIA director Mike Pompeo targeted Wikileaks as “a non-state, hostile intelligence service,” in a direct threat to free speech, free press and public access to information. Yet, in the last days of his term Obama insured that the 17 secret police forces would be able to freely share raw data and information gathered on millions of American citizens. They can know all about us but we cannot know about them. If the elites trusted the old forms of social order and enculturation— the media, educational system, family, military, church, or even the Constitution itself — to maintain order, would they need to create a system of mass surveillance, incarceration, and propaganda? What a strange moment we live in! The revolutionary vision of the Declaration of Independence, the checks on tyranny that structure the U.S. Constitution and the limits on government power listed in the Bill of Rights — though they be flawed and two and a half centuries old — are far more advanced than the form of government we now have. There is no democratic representation in the U.S. today The U.S. empire and the corporate power have done what the old British empire could not. Only massive and disruptive social movements can unmask the abuses of power to truly test the limits of our rights. The most important question: how do we organize the social movements necessary to restore democracy? Notes. 1/ See the work of The American Empire Project, “Empire, long considered an offense against America’s democratic heritage, now threatens to define the relationship between our country and the rest of the world. The American Empire Project publishes books that question this development, examine the origins of U.S. imperial aspirations, analyze their ramifications at home and abroad, and discuss alternatives to this dangerous trend.” Also see Andrew Bacevich’s many articles and books such as The New American Militarism: How Americans Are Seduced by War. 2/ Ellen Schrecker, Many Are The Crimes: McCarthyism in America 3/ https://befreedom.co/2017/03/04/organize-the-white-working-class/ Join the debate on Facebook Richard Moser writes at befreedom.co where this article first appeared. More articles by:RICHARD MOSER -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From cge at shout.net Thu Apr 27 15:24:59 2017 From: cge at shout.net (C. G. Estabrook) Date: Thu, 27 Apr 2017 10:24:59 -0500 Subject: [Peace] Fb conversation In-Reply-To: References: <5880c407a1db5_222964d980682c3@asgworker-qmb2-1.nbuild.prd.useast1.3dna.io.mail> Message-ID: [Chris Knight] 100 down... only 1360 days left to go. [Carl G. Estabrook] Then we can get back to a president who's a warmonger and corporate globalizer in the Obama-Clinton mode? That's in the interest of the 1%, if no one else. And the 1% now seem to have taught Trump their ways: the economy has been turned over to the bankers (Cohn and Mnuchin) and the war over to the generals (Mattis and McMaster). "They make a desert, and call it peace." [Chris Knight] I doubt that the 1% have taught him anything. I admire your conviction that he was a viable alternative to corporate capitalism and the military industrial behemoth, but I don't see that. To me he appears to simply be an insecure overbearing ignoramus. He appears to bend to whomsoever is pleasant to him. To imply that he had some grand plan, which has now been thrwarted, seems incorrect to me. I regard him as an inexperienced, spoiled racist, who has no idea of what he is doing. "They make tomato sauce, and call it a vegetable" [Carl G. Estabrook] The 1% (via their agents, the Obama-Clinton Democrats) have cozened or compelled him into adopting their neoliberal and neoconservative policies - which he attacked in the campaign. His character flaws - the disingenuous concern of the political establishment - are not the issue: the criminal policies of his administration, at home and abroad, are. We should be demanding a cessation of the wars and the 'trade pacts' - both of which serve the interests of the 1%, and are against those of the majority, at home and abroad. [Chris Knight] He made lots of wild assertions during his campaign, most of which he has since apparently forgotten. To cherry pick the ones which would show him as a viable alternative to the status quo, and then assert that he has been co-opted by the establishment, is to paint him in a very rosy light. And although I agree that the criminal policies of his administration are a very serious issue, I do not agree that it is OK to ignore his personality traits, which are not simply played up as a diversionary tactic, but instead are harped upon because they are real, reactionary and disgusting. [Carl G. Estabrook] US policy is more important than his personal reformation. [Chris Knight] And empowering racists, sexists, homophobes and science deniers can therefore be overlooked? [Carl G. Estabrook] No, if it's a matter of government policy, not just trying to prevent people from thinking (or saying) the wrong things. [Carl G. Estabrook] Instead of deploring Trump's enormities (or his miniscularities), we should be demanding ~ no war: bring US troops and (weapons) home; ~ no climate catastrophe: suppress carbon emissions; ~ no immiseration: a universal basic income; and ~ no untreated illness: Medicare for all. Instead, good liberals are demanding an Obama-Clinton restoration, which would secure none of these things. ### From bill.strutz at gmail.com Thu Apr 27 15:41:08 2017 From: bill.strutz at gmail.com (Bill Strutz) Date: Thu, 27 Apr 2017 10:41:08 -0500 Subject: [Peace] Use of Peace list Message-ID: Hey, messages intended for the "peace-discuss" list are coming to the "peace" list again. This is a recurrent annoyance. BTW, William Shakespeare's name is also a complete sentence. A coincidence, no doubt. -- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- *My name is a complete sentence* -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From karenaram at hotmail.com Fri Apr 28 01:50:59 2017 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Fri, 28 Apr 2017 01:50:59 +0000 Subject: [Peace] War preparations Message-ID: * Print * Leaflet * Feedback * Share » White House briefing signals escalating war preparations against North Korea By Mike Head 27 April 2017 The unprecedented bussing of the entire Senate to the White House to be briefed by military and intelligence officials on possible military action against North Korea was one of a number of events yesterday pointing to planning for a potentially catastrophic war. As the WSWS noted in yesterday’s Perspective, the Trump administration’s summoning of the senators was not an exercise in congressional oversight but the opposite: the political representatives of the ruling class received their marching orders, and talking points, from the military brass. Speaking to journalists after the meeting, participants denied that any specific military line of attack was discussed. By every indication, however, the executive and its military-intelligence officials informed the senators they would be told after the event, if and when the administration launched a military assault. There were no reports of any protest against being summoned by the White House in this manner, let alone any boycott of the gathering. Rather, the response was one of bipartisan backing for the escalating war planning, laced with calls for tougher action against China, supposedly to pressure Beijing to compel Pyongyang to abandon its missile and nuclear programs. As scheduled, the Senate was briefed at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building next to the White House by Defense Secretary James Mattis, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Joseph Dunford, Director of National Intelligence Daniel Coats and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence reportedly greeted the senators on arrival and then left. Before the meeting, Mattis, Coats and Tillerson issued a joint statement that pronounced Pyongyang’s pursuit of nuclear weapons “an urgent national security threat and top foreign policy priority.” They declared: “Past efforts have failed to halt North Korea’s unlawful weapons programs and nuclear and ballistic missile tests.” The statement claimed Trump’s approach aimed to pursue “diplomatic measures” with allies and partners to “convince the regime to de-escalate,” but concluded on a threatening note: “However, we remain prepared to defend ourselves and our allies.” Various comments by senators after the briefing ranged from support for US military action against North Korea to pushing for a harder stance against China. There was no dissent from the incessant propaganda aimed at whipping up fears of a future North Korean nuclear attack. Senator Ted Cruz told Fox News: “It is of course the hope that military action does not prove necessary, but if there is a clear and imminent threat to the United States, our military needs to be prepared to act.” John McCain, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said one should not rule out a preemptive strike. One unnamed Republican senator complained they were given “very few details about what has changed.” He said the basic gist of the briefing was: “We’ve reached a point where things are getting pretty dire and getting to the point where we’ve got to get more aggressive.” Some senators, notably Democrats, called for harsher sanctions against China. Democratic Senator Ed Markey said he had not seen evidence that China was doing enough. Chris Coons, a Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, exemplified the underlying bipartisanship. He said Trump was developing a “diplomatic strategy that strikes me as clear-eyed and well proportioned to the threat.” Earlier in the day, US Pacific Command chief Admiral Harry Harris, who would lead any attack on the Korean Peninsula, gave an indication of the Pentagon’s message. Testifying before the House Armed Services Committee, he asserted that denuclearisation by North Korea—the goal outlined publicly by the White House—is no longer a realistic option. Harris said he had no confidence that North Korea would refrain from “something precipitous” should it succeed in miniaturising a nuclear weapon to mount on a ballistic missile. He said the US had “a lot of preemptive options,” but declined to provide specifics. The admiral advocated greater shows of military force, including overflying the Korean Peninsula with nuclear-capable B-1 and B-52 bombers. This would be on top of the current visits and exercises by two US destroyers, the guided-missile submarine USS Michigan and the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier strike. Harris acknowledged that possible reprisals stemming from a strike against North Korea would place at risk the lives of millions of Koreans and Japanese, as well as the 28,500 US troops in South Korea. But he argued this danger was outweighed by the prospect of “a lot more Koreans and Japanese and Americans dying if North Korea achieves its nuclear aims.” In another indication of war planning, Harris urged Congress to add ballistic-missile interceptors to installations in Alaska and California, and to “study” placing interceptors in Hawaii while immediately bolstering defensive radars there. Harris took aim at China, saying it had substantial leverage against North Korea. He labeled as “preposterous” China’s alleged pressure on South Korean companies to stall the placement of a US Terminal High-Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) anti-ballistic missile battery in South Korea. The US claims the THAAD facility is a purely defensive weapon to intercept incoming missiles. In reality, its radar capacity is designed to probe deep into China and the system’s underlying purpose is to block any attempt by North Korea or China to respond to a US first-strike nuclear attack. Defying protests by China, as well as hundreds of local residents, US personnel yesterday began to install the THAAD equipment at a former golf course in Seongju. It was an earlier-than-expected move, effectively preempting South Korea’s presidential election on May 9. Television footage showed military trailers carrying large units, including what appeared to be launch canisters, on to the site. Protesters hurled water bottles at the vehicles, despite the efforts of thousands of police to block them. Baek-Gwang-soon, 73, who has lived in Seongju all her life, told the Guardian she was “speechless with anger.” She explained: “This is a quiet place, where we welcome outsiders with open arms. Now it’s being ruined by the arrival of American weapons that have turned us into a North Korean target.” The THAAD deployment provoked further alarm bells in Beijing. Yesterday’s editorial in the state-run Global Times declared: “It is infuriating that the US and South Korea have stabbed China in the back at a critical time when China and the US are cooperating to prevent North Korea from carrying out a new nuclear or missile test.” At the same time an Op-Ed in the People’s Daily, the official organ of the ruling Chinese Communist Party, continued to plead for an accommodation with Washington. Citing this month’s meeting between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, the commentary held out the hope that such “high-level dialogues” should “help dispel the old idea that the two sides are destined for war.” In reality, yesterday’s developments demonstrate an escalating confrontation, driven by Washington’s determination to assert unchallenged hegemony over the Asia-Pacific region, at China’s expense. WSWS.ORG -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From karenaram at hotmail.com Fri Apr 28 13:27:34 2017 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Fri, 28 Apr 2017 13:27:34 +0000 Subject: [Peace] More on N. Korea Message-ID: * Print * Leaflet * Feedback * Share » Trump threatens “major conflict” with North Korea By Mike Head 28 April 2017 US President Donald Trump last night warned there was “absolutely” the chance of a “major, major conflict” with North Korea, while claiming that he would prefer a diplomatic outcome to Washington’s demand for North Korea to shut down its nuclear and missile programs. “We’d love to solve things diplomatically, but it’s very difficult,” Trump told Reuters in an Oval Office interview ahead of his 100th day in office on Saturday. Trump said he believed Chinese President Xi Jinping was “trying very hard” to rein in North Korea because “he certainly doesn’t want to see turmoil and death.” Trump is seeking to prepare public opinion for a potentially catastrophic military confrontation, portraying the US as doing all it can to avoid war. At the same time, he is intensifying his demands on China, whose alleged failure to contain North Korea could provide a pretext for US military action. In reality, through a combination of aggressive military exercises and crippling economic sanctions, Washington is deliberately ratcheting up the pressure on the unstable North Korean regime. According to reports, former US President Jimmy Carter has effectively been instructed by the White House and Pentagon not to try and open up channels of communication with North Korea, as he has in the past. The Financial Times reported today: “The plea to Mr Carter signalled concern that the former president could complicate US policy towards Pyongyang; he has forced previous administrations to change tack, including in 1994 when Bill Clinton had been considering launching a military strike against North Korea.” Contrary to corporate media claims that the threat of imminent war has receded, following this week’s unprecedented summoning of the Senate to the White House for a military-intelligence briefing on the Korean crisis, the risks created by the Trump administration’s provocative actions are mounting. Numerous US warships, joined by South Korean and Japanese vessels, are carrying out large-scale exercises in waters near the Korean Peninsula. Recently released images showed US and South Korean forces conducting massive live-fire drills close to the demilitarised zone between the North and South. Targets painted on a hillside were obliterated with fighter jets, tanks and attack helicopters. Officials in Washington and Seoul insist their war games are defensive in nature, but such exercises are now based on an aggressive operational plan, OPLAN 5015, agreed to between the US and South Korea in late 2015. OPLAN includes pre-emptive strikes on North Korea in the event of a war, as well as decapitation raids to assassinate its top leaders. Pyongyang has denounced the current exercises as rehearsals for invasion. Clearly, there is an acute possibility that the war games could spark military clashes, even by mistake or miscalculation, that could start a potential nuclear war on the doorstep of China and Russia, both of which have borders with North Korea. Evidently fearing attack, North Korea yesterday released a propaganda video depicting simulated assaults on the United States, showing the White House as a target, followed by an aircraft carrier exploding into flames. The accompanying caption translates into English to read: “When the enemy takes the first step toward provocation and invasion.” This propaganda is both ludicrous and reactionary. Kim Jung-un’s regime lacks any capacity to mount such attacks—its missiles and nuclear weapons remain primitive—and it would be annihilated by US forces if it attempted to launch any kind of attack. Such videos only play into the hands of Washington, giving it a pretext to conduct a supposed “preemptive” war, while dividing North Korean workers from their fellow workers in America and internationally. To intensify the pressure on Pyongyang, South Korea’s interim government yesterday said it had agreed with Washington on “swift punitive measures” against North Korea in the event of further North Korean nuclear or missile tests. The measures, including a new UN Security Council resolution, would be “unbearable for the North,” the South’s presidential office said after its national security adviser, Kim Kwan-jin, held a phone call with his US counterpart, Lieutenant General H.R. McMaster. On Friday, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will chair a special UN Security Council meeting. Tillerson will be “very vocal” about nations enforcing new sanctions on North Korea, State Department spokesman Mark Toner said. The measures will seek to starve North Korea of any remaining foreign income, adding to the damaging impact of the existing sanctions being enforced by the US and its allies. Among the measures being proposed are bans on North Korea’s trade of fishing rights and on North Korean workers being employed overseas. Washington has also threatened new sanctions against Chinese finance houses allegedly doing business in North Korea. This is despite evidence that China’s own measures against Pyongyang, including the suspension of coal purchases—the North’s previous biggest revenue earner—are already having a severe effect. North Korean exports to China, its main market, fell 35 percent month-on-month in March, down to just $US114.56 million, according to Chinese customs data. The Trump administration’s focus on China, accompanied by demands that Beijing take action to stop North Korea’s missile and nuclear programs, aims to destabilise not just North Korea but China as well. Washington has continued to insist that China must do more, despite the Beijing leadership protesting that it has little control over Pyongyang and appealing for a partnership with the US to resolve the crisis via dialogue. For all Beijing’s efforts to appease Washington, the Pentagon this week installed a Terminal High-Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) anti-missile battery in South Korea, defying protests by both China and Russia. Far from being a defensive weapon, the THAAD facility can conduct surveillance deep into China and Russia. Its purpose is to prevent any retaliation in the event of a US first-strike nuclear attack. Facing intense public opposition in South Korea to the THAAD deployment, the US brought forward the installation to preempt the outcome of the May 9 presidential election to replace the impeached Park Geun-hye. The Pentagon’s belligerence was underscored when Admiral Harry Harris, commander of the US Pacific Command, told a US Congressional hearing this week that the THAAD system would be operational within days. Harris declared the battery would destroy any missile aimed at US forces. “If it flies, it will die,” Harris said. China’s Foreign Ministry expressed “grave concern.” It said the THAAD deployment broke the strategic balance in the region and ratcheted up the tension on the Korean Peninsula. China urged the US and South Korea to withdraw the equipment, and warned that China would take necessary actions “to safeguard its own interests.” Yesterday, China announced it would conduct live-fire drills and test new weapons to counter the THAAD system. A military spokesperson said the exercises would simulate counter-attack scenarios, including launching preemptive strikes to knock out the THAAD using anti-radiation, surface-to-surface or cruise missiles. In Moscow, China and Russia conducted their third joint anti-missile press conference, saying the THAAD deployment aimed to weaken their strategic capability and the two countries would take further action to safeguard their security interests. “Unilaterally strengthening an anti-missile system is a move to achieve absolute military advantage, which would escalate tensions, trigger regional confrontation or even spark an arms race,” China’s Central Military Commission spokesman Cai Jun said. Further fuelling the escalating tensions and uncertainty, the Rand Corporation, a Pentagon-linked think tank, this week released a report pointing to likely North Korean regime-change operations by the US. Citing senior officials who have defected, the report asserted that wealthy North Korean elites increasingly regarded Kim Jong-un as weak and ineffective. The report advocated steps to reach out to these elites in order to facilitate the unification of Korea along capitalist lines. Such a regime-change intervention would seek to establish a pro-US state on China’s border, as Washington sought to do during the 1950–53 Korean War, as part of a wider drive to assert unchallenged US hegemony over the Asia-Pacific region. WSWS.ORG -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From stuartnlevy at gmail.com Fri Apr 28 16:11:58 2017 From: stuartnlevy at gmail.com (Stuart Levy) Date: Fri, 28 Apr 2017 11:11:58 -0500 Subject: [Peace] People's Climate March (2pm Sat) in Grace Church, Springfield & Prospect In-Reply-To: <32588a24-7f78-0d29-94f5-1c68de34883f@gmail.com> References: <32588a24-7f78-0d29-94f5-1c68de34883f@gmail.com> Message-ID: <0e1ab8b7-ee7e-cc4e-0e93-d6239e7f6452@gmail.com> Hope you've been hearing about the People's Climate March happening tomorrow, April 29th, around the country. Some people are going from here to Washington DC for a big march there, but there are many sister marches around the country, including here in Champaign. The C-U People's Climate March *location **has changed *due to weather: 2-4pm Saturday, April 29th *Grace Lutheran Church* *313 S. Prospect (corner of Springfield and Prospect), Champaign* A bunch of groups are tabling, with the idea that we hope to connect the importance of addressing climate change with a suite of connected efforts. So the People's Climate Platform, alongside planks about investing in renewable energy and energy efficiency, also includes demands for a $15 minimum wage, as well as things like: Ensure that in the New Energy and Economic Future, investments are targeted to create pathways for low-income people and people of color to access good jobs and improve the lives of communities of color, indigenous peoples, low-income people, small farmers, women, and workers. and Provide a Just Transition for communities and workers negatively impacted by the shift to a New Energy and Economic Future that includes targeted economic opportunity and provides stable income, health care, and education. Groups tabling include Sierra Club, Food and Water Watch, Prairie Rivers Network, Eco-Justice Collaborative, the Prairie Greens, PDA, U of I Students for Environmental ConcernS, Demand Universal Healthcare, UU Church of Urbana-Champaign, and others. And among the speakers, along with representatives of some of the above groups, will be State Sen. Scott Bennett, State Rep. Carol Ammons, and two high school students from a youth environmental group called iMatter, who write that > We have created a report card that evaluates the cities’ > environmental progress in comparison to where scientists say that > we need to be. The students will present this report card to both > the Champaign and Urbana City Council in early May as well as put > forward a Climate Inheritance Resolution that they will ask the > city to sign and petition signatures in support that they have > collected at their schools. We may go marching along the Springfield/Prospect sidewalk afterward. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From karenaram at hotmail.com Fri Apr 28 16:31:47 2017 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Fri, 28 Apr 2017 16:31:47 +0000 Subject: [Peace] CNN Breaking News Message-ID: CNN BREAKING NEWS: Secretary of State Rex Tillerson called on the world community Friday to drastically increase pressure on North Korea, warning that failure to do so could be “catastrophic” and that the US is prepared to take military action against the rogue regime if necessary. “All options for responding to future provocations must remain on the table,” Tillerson said. “Diplomatic and financial leverage or power will be backed up by willingness to counteract North Korean aggression with military action, if necessary.” Tillerson, speaking at a special US-hosted UN meeting to address the challenge, called on member countries to take three immediate steps, singling out China as he did so and warning that countries that don’t comply may face consequences. He urged nations to fully enforce existing sanctions on the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, suspend or downgrade diplomatic relations with the already isolated country and increase its financial isolation by targeting countries and individuals that support its nuclear and ballistic missile program. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From divisek at yahoo.com Fri Apr 28 17:56:10 2017 From: divisek at yahoo.com (Dianna Visek) Date: Fri, 28 Apr 2017 17:56:10 +0000 (UTC) Subject: [Peace] The Rise of the Generals References: <406059062.566435.1493402170206.ref@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <406059062.566435.1493402170206@mail.yahoo.com> The Rise of the Generals | | | | | | | | | | | The Rise of the Generals By Rasmussen Reports Has President Donald Trump outsourced foreign policy to the generals? | | | | -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From susanroseparenti at gmail.com Fri Apr 28 18:22:03 2017 From: susanroseparenti at gmail.com (Susan Parenti) Date: Fri, 28 Apr 2017 13:22:03 -0500 Subject: [Peace] Concert of Experimental & Political Music---this Saturday at 3pm! You're invited! References: Message-ID: > > Hello friends— > This Saturday 3pm at the Park House will be a concert of live music, with an open rehearsal of one of the newest pieces, a Quartet, by the inimitable Ya’aqov Ziso. What does Ziso's music sound like? > > Admission is free, though a donation of a few pesos would not be turned down. Some refreshments. Good company. Wow. > > Please come—and scroll down to the bottom of this email to see the dashing poster image! > warmly > Susan > > Raise our voices against the tanks, funded by banks! >> >> Saturday, April 29, >> 3 PM - 5 PM >> Park House, 122 W. Franklin St., Urbana >> >> Felix Del Tredici (Montreal) bass trombone >> >> Recital >> >> ● Luciano Berio -- Gute Nacht (1986) >> ● Alvin Lucier - Wind Shadows, for trombone and closely​ ​tuned oscillators (1994) >> ● Iannis Xenakis - Keren, for solo trombone (1986) >> ● Sandeep Bhagwati - Three Miyagi Haikus, foropen instrumentation (2011) >> ● Franco Donatoni -​ ​Scaglie, for trombone (1992) >> ● Hans Werner Henze - Epitaph (1979) >> >> Open Rehearsal of: >> >> ● Ya’aqov Ziso - Quartet, viola, bass clarinet, bass trombone, tabla (2017) >> >> Felix Del Tredici (Montreal) bass trombone >> Eric Mandat (Carbondale), bass clarinet >> Julius Adams (Urbana) viola >> Mark Enslin (Urbana) tabla >> >> >> >> >> >> >> > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: 1.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 161444 bytes Desc: not available URL: From susanroseparenti at gmail.com Fri Apr 28 18:37:43 2017 From: susanroseparenti at gmail.com (Susan Parenti) Date: Fri, 28 Apr 2017 13:37:43 -0500 Subject: [Peace] Fwd: Concert of Experimental & Political Music---this Saturday at 3pm! You're invited! In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Hello friends— This Saturday 3pm at the Park House will be a concert of live music, with an open rehearsal of one of the newest pieces, a Quartet, by the inimitable Ya’aqov Ziso. What does Ziso's music sound like? Admission is free, though a donation of a few pesos would not be turned down. Some refreshments. Good company. Wow. Please come—and scroll down to the bottom of this email to see the dashing poster image! warmly Susan *Raise our voices against the tanks, funded by banks!* Saturday, April 29, 3 PM - 5 PM Park House, 122 W. Franklin St., Urbana *Felix Del Tredici (Montreal) bass trombone* *Recital* ● *Luciano Berio* -- Gute Nacht (1986) ● *Alvin Lucier* - Wind Shadows, for trombone and closely ​ ​ tuned oscillators (1994) ● *Iannis Xenakis* - Keren, for solo trombone (1986) ● *Sandeep Bhagwati *- Three Miyagi Haikus, foropen instrumentation (2011) ●* Franco Donatoni *- ​ ​ Scaglie, for trombone (1992) ● *Hans Werner Henze* - Epitaph (1979) *Open Rehearsal of:* ● *Ya’aqov Ziso* - Quartet, viola, bass clarinet, bass trombone, tabla (2017) *Felix Del Tredici (Montreal) bass tromboneEric Mandat (Carbondale), bass clarinetJulius Adams (Urbana) violaMark Enslin (Urbana) tabla* -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: 1.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 161444 bytes Desc: not available URL: From cge at shout.net Sun Apr 30 15:37:03 2017 From: cge at shout.net (C. G. Estabrook) Date: Sun, 30 Apr 2017 10:37:03 -0500 Subject: [Peace] Political talks last night In-Reply-To: References: <5880c407a1db5_222964d980682c3@asgworker-qmb2-1.nbuild.prd.useast1.3dna.io.mail> Message-ID: Samantha Bee was worse than Hasan Minhaj last night, and new Obama-Clinton-warmongering convert Donald Trump was better than both. We're back to the 1960s, when warmongering Kennedy-Johnson-Nixon were heroes to many Americans. --CGE