If you're feeling skeptical after hearing President Obama's latest speech on the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq, you're not alone. It's hard to know what to make of a President and an administration that brings over 90,000 troops homewhile ordering 50,000 soldiers along with 75,000 military contractors to remain. There are still some 150,000 personnel in Iraq and the US is supposed to be completely out of the country by 2011. That's next year. Bringing home thousands by the end of this August is a good step, but we really need to step on it. Unfortunately, the State Department is dragging its heels as much as the Pentagon and wants to hire 6,000 - 7,000 more staff and train them like soldiers. While working under the auspices of the State Department, these new personnel would have the status of “diplomats.” But who ever heard of a diplomat trained like a soldier and armed with a gun?
Medea Benjamin was the first speaker Friday night, July 23, 2010, at the United National Peace Conference in Albany, New York. Her rousing speech called for building coalitions between different social and grassroots movements to reallocate war funding and resist the military industrial complex. Medea speaks at the United National Peace Conference Share the link [...]
By working together, our CODEPINK team in Detroit brought a lot of smiles, creativity, and solidarity to the USSF. We made it happen, from carrying banners to speaking at workshops to circulating petitions and flyers and tabling to shuttling folks to jail solidarity to pitching in for whatever was needed at the moment, together. And there was a magical element working with us too, which was especially present when the skies were clear on the day it was supposed to rain during our Hummer Burial, and when the full moon arose over the river as we did a spiral dance, and when we secured an indoor table to share with National Assembly, and so many other little bright moments throughout.
On Memorial Day 2010, I remember Abeer Hamza, the 14-year-old stalked, raped and murdered by predatory US soldiers who also murdered her family. I remember Nadja Al-Ali, Iraqi-German author of What Kind of Liberation?, talking about Iraqi women dying from cancer after exposure to Depleted Uranium. I remember being spell-bound by charismatic Afghan parliamentarian in exile, Malalai Joya, as she told a crowd in Berkeley about “democracy-loving leaders” in her country: “We have a LOT!” she declared with eyes blazing.
The Hummer is dead. Not even the Chinese could revive it. The Hummer was emblematic of a Rambo-like era, culture, lifestyle, and political philosophy disrespectful to both human beings and mother nature. It is now time to bury the militaristic, gas-guzzling, polluting 8,400-pound hunks that drove environmentalists and peaceniks crazy as they cruised down our city streets.
This year on Land Day people around the world are coordinating actions to boycott Israeli products that are made illegally in the Occupied Territories. Refusing to buy products that break international law is one way we can put our money where our values are - in justice and in tikkun olam, repairing the world, rather than destroying it.
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
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