Many of you are familiar with the Iraq Moratorium. Some of the discussion that led to its formation took place here and at Daily Kos in early 2007 and its launch on September 15, 2007 was well recorded here. Diaries since have covered it, and blogosphere luminaries like Meteor Blades and One Pissed Off Liberal have repeatedly given it play.
The idea is simple, and captured in our pledge:
I hereby commit that, on the Third Friday and/or Third Weekend of every month, I will take some action by myself or with others to end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Early last year, the tiny all-volunteer committee that helps coordinate this effort made two changes reflected in the wording above. We added the Third Weekend at the request of some of the many longstanding anti-war vigils that take place on Saturdays and Sundays, and we added the war in Afghanistan.
At that time we decided to keep the name Iraq Moratorium because of its name recognition and because we feared that Iraq was falling off the media's radar and out of public consciousness entirely.
Looking back, we feel that this was a mistake. Iraq has in fact faded in this country's awareness, despite the 120,000 troops still stationed there, not to mention the similar number of "private contractors" our tax dollars are paying for. Meanwhile, the administration is in the early stages of its second escalation in Afghanistan in less than a year, and the death toll there is rising inexorably--troops, insurgents and Afghani civilians alike--which has placed the occupation there center stage.
The Moratorium committee's feeling is that the name should be changed to the War Moratorium, but we ask your input because, as mentioned above, the shoestring operation that keeps the Moratorium going consists of a handful of us. Your views will be a welcome contribution to our decision-making.
This is not the place for a summation of the 2,500 plus events that have taken place in observance of the Moratorium so far, nor for a plea for volunteers to help us build it, especially on the Internet and in older forms of media. Both of those will be forthcoming in the not-too-distant future. In the meantime, please check out the website and remember the Moratorium slogan:
(This enraged sarcasm is crossposted from The WWL)
It has come to my attention repeatedly lately that the biggest threat to America is all the people trying to join our Military Forces and die for the New Crusades while having gender or orientation. They come as dirty sexual beings and ask to serve? How dare they!
This is beyond verboten, it is Mortal Sin!
One cannot serve the Lord and Holy Wars while being gay, let alone transgendered, or for that matter even female with a chance of reproduction. And pregnancy? Do these sluts not know what they did to become that way? A truly moral married woman will gladly give her Children to a State Institution for rearing to serve, anything less is Court Martial! Sex outside of a Man and Woman blessed by the Ordained is sinful, anyway, yet the Law prohibits family members from serving together. Our Military has been co-opted by the Satan of Lust. We must save our brave young children so they may fight with the Lord!
What is a Good Christian Nation to do against all these Unholy Masses of Antichrists swarming through the World, refusing to accept the Lord Jesus as their personal Saviour, and refusing to allow the Righteous Moral Leaders of our Land to use their Oil and Assets to further the spread of the Word of God? I mean, we would totally accept them as Servants of Christ, despite their very obvious non-whiteness, if they would only see that the only way to Salvation is to serve us, thus serving the Lord thy God. We are His Chosen.
That's what it costs to put one--that's right, one--soldier or Marine on the ground in Afghanistan and to house and supply him or her there. This figure comes directly from the White House and was widely quoted in in the flurry of PR around President Obama's West Point speech announcing his 30,000+ escalation of the occupying force in Afghanistan.
A million bucks a year. That's a nice round figure. A more useful tool for those of us working to revive the anti-war movement is hard to imagine.
This struck me yesterday when the Transit Authority here in NYC, faced with a severe budget crunch, decided to eliminate passes for kids going to and from school, to close whole subway lines and bus routes, to cut services and crowd trains more, and to limit the Access-A-Ride program for seniors and the disabled. All of this, one report said, would save $139 million in the first year.
The math is easy--simply don't send 139 troops to Afghanistan next year. That would cover the cost of averting brutal cuts to a public transit system used by more than 5 million people every day.
You get the idea. Call it what you want--a "troop year" perhaps. Anytime some government agency grappling with revenue collapse caused by the economic meltdown announces an increase in fees or a cutback in services, just figure how many troops not being shipped into harm's way in Helmand Province it would take to make that budget good.
Then spread the word! Use the fact in conversations, letters to the editor, emails to friends and family, leaflets, faxes to Congresscritters who are about to vote to appropriate more money for the war.
People in this country may not like thinking about the war, but they sure can't help thinking about the economy. This is a nice clear way to help them make the connection.
You know those college students in California who are in the middle of a fierce battle to block an unbelievable 32% tuition increase? That's right, just bring 505 troops who are already in Afghanistan home in 2010. Some of them might even want to enroll, too.
Join WWL Radio cohosts Diane Gee and Michael Gottlieb tonight on BTR at 6PM Eastern Time.
Like enablers of an evil and demented child, once again America does little when its Power Structure expands its bootprint of hegemony by sending more of our souls and cents to Afghanistan.
The lie of a "War on Terror" covers the One Truth: It is a war on our own American Citizens as much as War on the Citizens of Afghanistan. It is a War on the Poor, perpetrated by the Ruling Elites and being enabled by President Obama.
Every war results from the struggle for markets and spheres of influence, and every war is sold to the public by professional liars and totally sincere religious maniacs, as a Holy Crusade to save God and Goodness from Satan and Evil. - Robert Anton Wilson (1932-2007)
Tune in for an in depth report on this, and other news of the week.
See you there! As always, respectful questions and commentary are welcomed. Call in, or use our attached live chat function!
Join Gottlieb and Diane tonight at 6pm EDT on Wild Wild Left Radio, via BlogtalkRadio, for an interesting hour of Political Reporting and Commentary.
I have lost understanding of and confidence in the strategic purposes of the United States' presence in Afghanistan. I have doubts and reservations about our current strategy and planned future strategy, but my resignation is based not upon how we are pursuing this war, but why and to what end.
That's Matthew Hoh, an Iraq combat veteran who spent most of this year as this country's senior civilian in chaotic Zabul Province. He just quit the State Department, despite pleas and offers from his superiors, in the full realization that he is putting himself in the hot seat.
Most of the Afghanistan discussion here and in the broader left-liberal blogosphere focuses these days on the administration's "policy review" and the known unknowns of Cabinet and Pentagon debates. Unfortunately, the "sides" in these debates seem to ignore the people of this country who in increasing numbers tell pollsters they want the war over with, most ricky-tick (to say nothing of the wishes of the people of Afghanistan).
There are those of us who have been arguing, some with restraint and patience, some hollering like our hair is on fire, that the job of progressives is not to speculate on those debates, nor to defer to officials who are said to know more than we, nor yet to mute our criticism of the President lest his enemies take comfort from our words.
Now Matthew Hoh, fresh from the battlefield, says he quit because he knows what must happen if this quagmire is not to claim more thousands of lives, more billions of dollars:
I want people in Iowa, people in Arkansas, people in Arizona, to call their congressman and say, "Listen, I don't think this is right."
As we say in the Iraq Moratorium: It's Got To Stop. We've Got To Stop It. Crossposted from DKos.
(WARNING: This essay contains VERY graphic images. And in the interest of accuracy, please note the authors disclaimer:
Disclaimer: Some of these particular images below have had their validity questioned and lacking citation, the author of this essay wishes you to consider them to be used in this instance as "examples" of rape behavior by soldiers.
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- promoted by buhdydharma )
The Anti-War Movement: Hippies had it Right.
God, how I miss OPOL.
"But you know, if you wanna end war and stuff, you have to sing loud," said Arlo. And end a war they did. It was not only by song, not only by protest, it was by the barrage of the REALITY of the horrors of war that woke the American People up to Vietnam.
It was the IMAGES.
I think that the American public doesn't want to look at the horrors anymore. It would make it too hard to exist. Too hard to breathe easy over their lattes, doing nothing about it. They are too worried about keeping their jobs to think about much else.
You see, if they saw CURRENT images, such as this, in Obama's Bagram, done by the US military, they would have to admit we are the barbarians we are supposed to stand against. We are the monsters.
Revulsion begets Revolution.
The First Step is Admitting You Have a Problem.
Disclaimer: Some of these particular images below have had their validity questioned and lacking citation, the author of this essay wishes you to consider them to be used in this instance as "examples" of rape behavior by soldiers. ~ Diane
Now we seemingly have the Democrats back on track for some type of real health care reform which includes a public option, though we must concede the reform is TINY in the scheme of things, let's see if we can't get the Democrats to end these illegal, irresponsible and immoral wars.
Original article, by Lily Gordon and subtitled Says he shouldn't have to go to Afghanistan because Obama is not a U.S. citizen, via ledger-enquirer.com:
U.S. Army Maj. Stefan Frederick Cook, set to deploy to Afghanistan, says he shouldn't have to go.
His reason?
Barack Obama was never eligible to be president because he wasn't born in the United States.
Old man what the hell you gonna kill next
Old timer who you gonna kill next
Hey bartender over here
Two more shots
And two more beers
Sir turn up the TV sound
The war has started on the ground
Just love those laser guided bombs
-Roger Waters (The Bravery of Being out of Range)
Today, Memorial Day we honor our war dead. Some could care less, it's just another excuse for barbecue, beers, baseball and NASCAR. Little can they be bothered by any concept that men at one time were burned, butchered, gassed, shot, blown into so much bloody fucking hamburger so that they would be free to be mean-spirited, fat, drunk and stupid lemmings. Their silly, meaningless understanding of history is an affront to those who served with honor and paid with all so that they could be goddamned ugly, crude and indolent Americans. With the fascist police state now fully implemented and Lord Obama talking nonsense about "preventative detention" all of those war deaths, even the ones dressed up in the monstrous nonsense of the GOOD WAR have all been in vain and for nothing. The grandchildren of the men who were cut down by German artillery, mines and machine guns as they took Omaha Beach have become that which their ancestors fought against, a nation of Good Germans, willing accomplices who are no better than those who lived downwind of Auschwitz and never once questioned the smell.
that, on the Third Friday and/or Third Weekend of every month, I will break my daily routine and take some action, by myself or with others, to end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
That's the pledge that is at the heart of the Iraq Moratorium, whose 20th iteration is observed today (and tomorrow and Sunday). This no-budget, locally-based, grassroots-up initiative has had over 2000 listed organized events and tens of thousands of individual participants since it began on September 15, 2007.
Please do something today or over the weekend--call your congresscritter, wear a button or armband, put a sign in your window, join a vigil, pray.
We'd love you to check out the Iraq Moratorium website, newly revamped, and report what you did.
As one of MoveOn's 3.2 million members and a participant of some years' standing in MoveOn vigils, living room events, online activities, etc., I opened yesterday's MoveOn email from Nita Chaudhary with considerable interest. It was entitled, simply, "Iraq."
My interest quickly turned to shock and then anger.
Your letter does a grave, grave disservice to the anti-war movement in this country. And it does so just when the movement, already fatigued after six years of protest, is facing a whole new set of challenges and not having an easy time adjusting.
One big problem with your letter is that it treats a Presidential promise to have all troops out of Iraq by the beginning of 2012 (almost three years from now) as a clear sign that the war is all but over, even though not a single soldier has been withdrawn yet and the killing and dying continue apace. Accompanied by a slide show of images of anti-war protest, it is valedictory in tone:
We wanted to take a moment to reflect on the work that you've done over the last six, dark years--trying first to prevent the war before it happened and then working tirelessly to end it--to thank you, sincerely, for all you have done.
This moment is possible because of you, and millions of people like you across our movement.
The email immediately goes on to urge us to contribute to a fund to help injured veterans, as if that was the main thing left to worry about. Yes, there's a vague cautionary note further in: "Of course our troops aren't home yet" and a grudging recognition that Congress is right to "raise questions" about the pace of withdrawal.
Wow, only a couple days, and look at all the replies I got on my first post "I Want to go to America"!!!!!
Some were kind of funny. I know how to swim. Dang.
Splashbaby, Iowa:
Wow, skankhatergirl. Are there bombs blowing up every day where you live? That must be scary. Its so safe here. What is Israel like? I like to swim a lot, I'm going to be on the Swim Team when I get to High School. Are there lakes and pools there? Or is it a big desert? I'd love to be your friend!!! I'll teach you to swim. I'd love to go to a rave but my parents would totally kill me for that. But we have dances at our Jr High that are kewl too. You could come to those.
PS: Who do you think is thehottest band?
Some were really mean.
L.A.Starr367, California:
Don't come to LA. There's too many of dark people here already. Some Chicano skank stole my boyfriend, and we already hate the immigrants we got. Why can't we white people stick together? I waz gonna kick her butt, but my old boyfriend stuck up for her, and so did my former so-called best friends. They called me hater. They ain't ever seen hate like I'm gonna give them. Like I said, don't come to my school, we don't need no Jew girls either.
Sounds like SHE is skankier than the Skank at my school. OK, LA is out. But, I only got the one like that, the rest were nice.
Welcome to my blog. I'm skankhatergirl. I can't use my real name but I know my friends at my school who read this will know who that means.
I'm kind of a myspace, facebook junkie, and I love reading American blogs from other kids like me. But really, they haven't got much to complain about compared to me.
That's not me, my hair is shorter, but I really like the picture. I hope they are writing "Peace" but the prints too small to tell.
Being a teenager in Israel sucks. Especially when your parents are not what you call mainstream.
In a couple of years, I have to do my military service. It sucks. My parents don't want me to go either, but a lot of people they work with are very hard line.
I guess, like Americans hate their neo-cons, my parents are really getting sick of the war party leading our country.
Nearly 100,000 hand-fired clay figures, representing lives lost in the Iraq war, will be the backdrop on Friday for an Iraq Moratorium action in the California community of Aptos, near Santa Cruz.
The display is the work of artist Kathleen Crocetti, a high school art teacher, who told the San Jose Mercury News :
"I'm doing this to help people visualize the number of people killed in the Iraq war. We need a physical connection to that number. I thought we went into the war under false pretenses, and I can't sanction pre-emptive war.
I feel such shame and sadness in my name as an American," she said. "I feel responsible for the pain and grief because of this war."
The 4,000-plus small white clay figures, each holding a U.S. flag, represent dead American service members. The 92,000 dark clay figures, behind the Americans like a shadow, represent Iraqis. She uses the number from Iraq Body Count, which includes documented civilian deaths. It is a very conservative number; others estimate the count could be as high as a million.
On Friday, as individuals and groups across the country interrupt their regular routines to mark the Iraq Moratorium and call for an end to the war and occupation, people in Aptos will peacefully protest the war during rush hour on the sidewalks in front of the Resurrection-Aptos cemetery where the figures are displayed. The evening's vigil, with music and poetry will be near the memorial in the cemetery.
The action is one of many taking place on Friday, Iraq Moratorium #15. Despite the election, despite a proposed, sketchy new US-Iraq status of forces agreement, the war drags on and on.
The President-elect and the new Congress need to know that we want our troops home -- and not in three years.
The Iraq Moratorium website includes a list of actions planned across the country on Friday, and suggestions for individual action. If you can't make time to take part on Friday, consider a donation. The killing has to stop, and we have to stop it.
Having again elected a new Congress with a mandate to end the war, activists are determined to hold Congress accountable this time. The Raise Hell for Molly Ivins Campaign is urging contact with members of Congress, in their home offices, on the Third Friday of the month -- Iraq Moratorium day -- and has produced a video with Vietnam vet Ron Kovic to promote it. (That's next Friday, Nov. 21.)
United for Peace and Justice (UFPJ) is urging meetings with members of Congress in their home offices between now and Jan. 3, when they are seated. Says UFPJ:
These visits will help communicate our sense of urgency. Our nation is still at war, as well as in the throes of sharp economic decline and a growing global environmental crisis. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are costing us billions of dollars, which are vitally needed here at home, and tens of thousands of deaths on all sides. There is much to be urgent about!
With a new administration and a new Congress coming to power in January, we have an opportunity to advance new priorities and to help restore the proper role of Congress in foreign policy matters. But that means we have to start our work now, we cannot wait for several months...
Issues To Address In Your Meetings With Members Of Congress
At a time of economic crisis, the United States needs a new foreign policy, which emphasizes diplomacy and international cooperation, rather than military power and war. In discussions with members of Congress, it will be helpful to stress that our economy will not recover, and we will not have the resources to create green jobs, health care for all, 21st-century education and rebuild the infrastructure, if the military budget is not reduced. The present level of military spending is outrageous and not sustainable with all the new programs promised during the election campaigns.
Other specifics:
1) On Iraq. Congress should insist on the rapid withdrawal of all U.S. military forces and contractors from Iraq. This withdrawal should be accompanied by a new diplomatic surge to stabilize the country and open the political space for Iraqis to decide their own future. Deployment of the National Guard in wars overseas should cease, returning their focus to domestic security.
2) On Afghanistan. Congress should not permit an expansion of the U.S. war in Afghanistan. It should press for a multilateral regional effort at stabilization along with rapid withdrawal of NATO and U.S. forces.
3) On Iran. Members of Congress should make clear their opposition to a new war in Iran. They ought to encourage unconditional, high-level talks to reduce tensions and urge Iran to abandon any nuclear weapons program. If the U.S. truly wants to stop the spread of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction, it will require us to live up to our commitments under Article 6 of the Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Yes, we know there's an election in four days, and a lot of folks are preoccupied. By all means, cast a ballot. But don't stop there.
No matter who wins or loses on Tuesday, the war in Iraq won't be over. It will drag on. More blood will be shed.
We want the war, the occupation, and the bloodshed to end as quickly as possible.
That's why in three weeks, on Nov. 21, we will observe the Iraq Moratorium once again. We hope you will again be part of it, as people all across the country interrupt business as usual and take action to call for an end to the war.
If we're going to end this war, it is essential that we keep the pressure on the people who are elected on Tuesday. We learned after the 2006 elections that change does not come quickly, easily, or automatically.
Please plan to join thousands of others who will take some action, big or small, on Nov. 21 to mark the Moratorium. You'll find lots of ideas on the website, IraqMoratorium.com.
And please take a minute to list the activity you're planning, so others can learn about it and participate, or take heart and inspiration from what you do. Use this easy form to share your plans.
And if you can spare a dime, buddy, we sure could use it, now that the campaigns are winding down. We've operated for more than a year on almost no money or paid staff. But even a shoestring operation needs to buy a shoestring now and then. We'd be most grateful for any help you can offer. Go here to donate.
Today is Iraq Moratorium day, a day to interrupt our usual routine and do something, big or small, individually or with a group, to call for an end to the war and occupation of Iraq.
Events are planned across the country. You can find them, and suggestions for individual action, on the Moratorium website, IraqMoratorium.com.
The Raise Hell for Molly Ivins campaign, which has participated in the Moratorium since it began in September 2007, started out asking people to bang on pots and pans, as the late, great progressive voice, Molly Ivins, had suggested in one of her last columns.
The Ivins campaign is asking people this month to call or visit their local Congressional offices today to demand an end to the war, and has enlisted Vietnam veteran Ron Kovic, author of "Born on the Fourth of July," for this video:
A lot of people are preoccupied with the election, and that's important. But we elected a new Congress two years ago with a mandate to end the war, and nothing happened. Just changing leaders is not enough. We need to keep the pressure on, no matter who wins on November 4.
Friday is Iraq Moratorium day, a day set aside each month to interrupt your usual routine and do something to stop the war and occupation.
One of the great things about the Moratorium is that you can observe it wherever you are, whether there is a group action planned or not. For example, here's a report from Paul Krehbiel, a Pasadena, CA activist:
My wife and I were in France in September and took a break from our routine on Moratorium Day to support the Iraq Moratorium and call for an end to the war and occupation of Iraq while we were at the world-famous Notre Dame Cathedral. My wife lit candles for all those who have suffered and all those who have lost their lives in this horrible war, and I held a sign -- made from the inside of a gift bag, which said, "Iraq Moratorium" with the peace sign. Hundreds of people watched silently. Some were praying.
Whether you do it in Paris or in Podunk, do something on Friday.
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