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?
Yesterday I heard that one of our best programs for helping high school students reach college and succeed there had huge cuts in funding. Upward Bound has been very successful with students I know, kids from families with one struggling single parent who works a lot, families in which no one has gone on to [...]
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.
I remember clearly when Speaker Pelosi made statements last year about not intending to push her colleagues to approve more funding for Afghanistan the next time President Obama came asking. I remember because it was one of my few “yay Nancy” moments. They don’t happen often honestly. So when I read today’s piece on Fox’s [...]
Jenna Lennon, 19, of Chicago, and her mother Elizabeth joined us for our 24-hour vigil in Lafayette Park, their first CODEPINK event ever. They were both psyched and deeply passionate about our mission, and we were thrilled to have them! Jenna penned this beautiful, loving piece of her thoughts on the weekend for us. Enjoy!
Today I joined Medea Benjamin, Blaine Clark, Leslie Angeline, Jay Marx, David Swanson, Cindy Sheehan and Bev Rice at the incredible Capitol Power Plant mass action today at the Capitol Plant in Washington, protesting its “clean coal,” timed with the incredible PowerShift 2009 Conference that began Friday night. (Here’s me, Desiree, Leslie, and Medea with [...]
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
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