Thursday, February 16, 2006
BAUAW NEWSLETTER-SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2006
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BAUAW NEWSLETTER-FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2006
SCROLL DOWN PAST ANNOUNCEMENTS FOR
BAUAW NEWSLETTER
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TELL BUSH AND CONGRESS: STOP THE WAR
ON IRAN BEFORE IT STARTS!
Please join the online campaign to
STOP THE WAR ON IRAN BEFORE IT STARTS!
YOUR EMERGENCY ACTION IS NEEDED NOW!
Send emails to President Bush, Vice President
Cheney, Secretary of State Rice, U.N. Secretary-
General Annan, Congressional leaders and
the media demanding NO WAR ON IRAN!
http://stopwaroniran.org/
...........................................................
Help Us Tell CYA's Chief Warner:
Close Chad Now!!
Join Books Not Bars, Escuelas Si, Pintas No,
and Youth in Focus on February 22 for
a press conference and picket at the office
of CYA Chief Bernard Warner in Sacramento.
We will call on Chief Warner to close Chad
immediately -- our youth need action now!
Please come and show your support!
Press Conference and Picket to close Chad
Wednesday, February 22, 2006, 4:30 p.m.
Where: Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation
1515 S. Street
Sacramento, CA
RSVP: Contact David at: 510.428.3939 x243 or
david@ellabakercenter.org
...........................................................
WHY WE FIGHT
A film by Eugene Jarecki
[Check out the trailer about this new film.
This looks like a very powerful film.]
http://www.sonyclassics.com/whywefight/
...........................................................
Hear: CC Campbell-Rock
'Venezuelans are getting their 40 acres
and a mule, and more'
Friday, February 24th, 7PM
Centro Del Pueblo
474 Valencia Street
(near 16th Street one block west of
16th & Mission Bart Station)
CC Campbell-Rock, the new editor of the San Francisco
Bay View newspaper, has just returned from Venezuela.
Read her article, 'Venezuelans are getting their 40 acres
and a mule, and more' at
www.sfbayview.com/020806/eyewitness020806.shtml .
Hear her report back as an eyewitness
to the Bolivarian Revolution.
She attended last week's World Social Forum and
toured the Venezuelan countryside, with other
delegates from Global Women's Strike, to meet
the grassroots revolutionary leaders who are
making the kind of miracles in education, health,
housing, economic development, etc., that could
revive and transform the inner cities of the United
States. Prior to working for the SF Bay View, CC was
a prominent pre-KATRINA journalist and activist
in New Orleans.
This meeting is jointly sponsored by the San
Francisco Bay Area Hands Off Venezuela! committee
and the San Francisco Bay View .
San Francisco Bay View
(www.sfbayview.com)
San Francisco Bay Area Hands Off Venezuela!
sfbay@ushov.org 415-786-1680
Donation $5.00 (Students, unemployed, and Seniors $3.00)
.......................................................
ANTIWAR MEETING OPEN TO ALL
THOSE WHO DEMAND:
STOP THE WAR NOW! U.S. OUT OF IRAQ!
BRING ALL THE TROOPS HOME NOW!
MONEY FOR HUMAN NEEDS NOT WAR!
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2006, 10:00 A.M.
Local, 34, the ILWU Shipclerk's Hall
4 Berry Street (behind the ballpark)
.......................................................
Please help spread the word:
Counter Recruitment
Presenters Mobilization!
The military recruits in most Bay Area high schools,
Let’s make sure students hear the other side!
This will be a training/organizing kick off for:
• youth to youth presentation teams,
• veterans and non-veteran classroom presenters, and
• anyone who wants to learn, share and help support this effort!
Saturday, February 25th, 2-5pm
War Veterans Memorial Building, Room 219
401 Van Ness, San Francisco
West of City Hall, near Civic Center BART
Snacks will be provided, donations will be accepted.
For more information, please contact
Paul Cox (510) 528-1975
or Susan Quinlan moos-bay@riseup.net
This event is co-sponsored by Veterans for Peace and
Alternatives to War Through Education/
Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors
.......................................................
Welcome to BANG4CHANGE 2006 !
Bang4Change 2006 !
We Poor People are called "Gang Bangers" & "Thugs"
Challenge the Hype ! Bang with Peace, Courage & Solidarity!
End US War on Poor, Black & Brown, NOW !
Saturday February 25th,
Noon to 6 P.M.
CIVIL RIGHTS REVIVAL FEST
In front of SF City Hall
iolmisha@cs.com
(415) 595-8251
.......................................................
Postering for March 18 Anti-war Protest - Volunteer Now!
A.N.S.W.E.R. ACTIVIST MEETING
TUESDAYs, 7PM
2489 Mission St. Room 24 (at 21st St.) SF,
near 24th St. BART
Now more than ever, the anti-war movement needs
to reach out to the thousands of people who are turning
against the war and occupation of Iraq. Your help is needed.
Call the ANSWER office for the schedule to go out in teams to poster
for an hour or two. Pick up flyers, posters and stickers
at the ANSWER office at 2489 Mission St. Room 24.
Call 415-821-6545 for hours.
...........................................................
PLEASE DISTRIBUTE FAR AND WIDE!! A CALL TO ACTION!!
STOP EVICTIONS IN BAYVIEW-HUNTERS POINT
TUESDAY, MARCH 7, 4:00 p.m.
ROOM 416, CITY HALL, S.F.
Companeros/companeras:
Below please find an editorial by Willie Ratcliff,
publisher of SF Bay View, about a March 7 hearing
before Redevelopment Authority, which will seal the
fate of Bayview Hunter's Point. Many of us have been
saying for years that the Bayview will be the new
Fillmore. March 7 is, as Ratcliff says, an eviction
notice for the residents of Bayview Hunters Point. Not
long after coming into office, Mayor Gavin Newsom did
photo ops with young black men on a basketball court
in Bayview (he was lavished with praise by our
mindless media for that), but he knew damn well then
that their displacement was imminent. It's all part of
San Francisco's hypocrisy about racism and classism.
"Oh, we're a liberal city, we oppose racism and
classism..." people and politicians say, even as they
stand idly by while more and more poor, working-class
and people of color are pushed out of the city by
Ellis Act evictions for TICs for the upper middle
class and Redevelopment Authority's "negro removal,"
as it was called by black activists in the 60s.
Why is it that removing "urban blight" from our cities
means giving poor, working-class and people of color a
one-way ticket to another city? Why can't
Redevelopment work on building communities from within
(with no-interest business loans and subsidies to
homeowners and landlords to fix up their properties,)
instead of declaring "eminent domain" and stealing the
land from folks who have nothing else? If
Redevelopment wants to do some real cleaning of urban
blight why not confiscate the mansions in Pacific
Heights and do a little redistributing of the wealth!
But that's not the game in America. Redevelopment is a
tool of the real-estate interests that want to
gentrify all of our neighborhoods. It's about removing
poor folks so that middle-class and upper-class folks
can have their homes. It's a time-honored American
tradition. Native Americans were pushed from their
land as wagon trains of settlers, driven by manifest
destiny, spread westward. Similarly, the new Bayview
is not for the folks who live there now. As former
Mayor Willie Brown himself said before he left office,
the new Bayview will be market-rate condos with the
best views in town.
Your help is desperately needed.
Come to the hearing on March 7 at City Hall room 416,
4pm. It is imperative that we stand with the residents
of Bayview. It is imperative that people from all
communities and struggles come together to oppose the
annexing of 1300 acres of land next to the shipyard.
No more Fillmores! No eviction notice for Bayview! No
more gentrification! Redistribute the wealth, don't
steal our homes! The land does not belong to the
realtors or the rich! Nuestra tierra, nuestro mundo!
Our land, our world!
Estamos juntos en la lucha...we are together in the
struggle--or we all go down separately!
tommi avicolli mecca
Read:
Eviction notice served on Bayview Hunters Point
Editorial by Willie Ratcliff
http://www.sfbayview.com/020806/evictionnotice020806.shtml
...................................................................
NATIONAL WEEK OF CAMPUS ACTION
Week of March 13-17
Students Say NO to War in Iraq!
College Not Combat, Troops Out Now!
(*Spring break alternative: Schools on spring
break during March 13-17
will hold events the week of March 20)
Student week of action coordinated by the
Campus Antiwar Network
http://www.campusantiwar.net
RecruitersOut@yahoo.com
Charles Jenks
Chair of Advisory Board and Web Manager
Traprock Peace Center
103A Keets Road
Deerfield, MA 01342
413-773-7427
fax 413-773-7507
http://www.traprockpeace.org
...........................................................
Third Anniversary of "Shock and Awe"
Saturday, March 18, 2006, 11:00 a.m.
CIVIC CENTER
San Francisco
Monday, March 20, 2006
Youth and Student Day
of Resistance to Imperialism
http://www.answercoalition.org/
...........................................................
Major Mobilization Set for April 29th
Dear Friends,
We are pleased to announce the kick-off for the organizing
of what promises to be a major national mobilization on
Saturday, April 29th. Today, each of the initiating groups
(see list below) is announcing this mobilization. Our
organizations have agreed to work together on this
project for several reasons:
The April 29th mobilization will highlight our call for an
immediate end to the war on Iraq. We are also raising
several other critical issues that are directly connected
to one another.
It is time for our constituencies to work more closely:
connecting the issues we work on by bringing diverse
communities into a common project.
It is important for our movements to help set the agenda
for the Congressional elections later in the year. Our
unified action in the streets is a vital part of that process.
Please share the April 29th call widely, and please use
the links at the end of the call to endorse this timely
mobilization and to sign up for email updates.
April 29th Initiating Organizations
United for Peace and Justice
Rainbow/PUSH Coalition
National Organization for Women
Friends of the Earth
U.S. Labor Against the War
Climate Crisis Coalition
Peoples' Hurricane Relief Fund
National Youth and Student Peace Coalition
A war based on lies
Spying, corruption and attacks on civil liberties
Katrina survivors abandoned by government
MARCH FOR PEACE,
JUSTICE AND DEMOCRACY
End the war in Iraq -
Bring all our troops home now!
SATURDAY, APRIL 29, 2006
NEW YORK CITY
Unite for change - let's turn our country around!
The times are urgent and we must act.
Too much is too wrong in this country. We have a foreign
policy that is foreign to our core values, and domestic
policies wreaking havoc at home. It's time for a change.
No more never-ending oil wars!
Protect our civil liberties & immigrant rights. End illegal
spying, government corruption and the subversion of
our democracy.
Rebuild our communities, starting with the Gulf Coast.
Stop corporate subsidies and tax cuts for the wealthy
while ignoring our basic needs.
Act quickly to address the climate crisis and the
accelerating destruction of our environment.
Our message to the White House and to Congress
is clear: either stand with us or stand aside!
We are coming together to march, to vote, to speak
out and to turn our country around!
Join us in New York City on Saturday, April 29th
Click here to endorse this mobilization:
http://unitedforpeace.org/modinput4.php?modin=119
Click here to sign up for email updates on plans for April 29th:
http://www.unitedforpeace.org/email
April 29th Initiating Organizations
United for Peace and Justice
Rainbow/PUSH Coalition
National Organization for Women
Friends of the Earth
U.S. Labor Against the War
Climate Crisis Coalition
Peoples' Hurricane Relief Fund
National Youth and Student Peace Coalition
......................................................................
ANSWER Coalition: All Out for April 29 in New York City!
End Occupation from Iraq to Palestine, to Haiti, and Everywhere!
Fight for workers rights, civil rights and civil liberties - unite
against racism!
300,000 Came to Washington on Sept. 24
In recent weeks the A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition has been in the final
stages for planning a national demonstration in Washington DC on April
29, 2006. This action was to follow the local and regional
demonstrations for March 18-19 and youth and student actions scheduled
on March 20 on the 3rd anniversary of the criminal bombing, invasion
and occupation of Iraq.
On September 24, 2005 more than 300,000 people surrounded the White
House in the largest mobilization against the Iraq war and occupation
since the invasion of Iraq in March 2003. This demonstration was
initiated by the A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition in May 2005 and we urged a
united front with other major anti-war coalitions and communities. We
marched demanding immediate and unconditional withdrawal from Iraq. We
also stood in solidarity with the Palestinian and Haitian people and
others who are suffering under and resisting occupation. Coming as it
did following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, we changed the demands of
the September 24 protest to include the slogan "From Iraq to New
Orleans, FundPeople's Needs not the War Machine."
During the past several years, and as demonstrated in a powerful
display on September 24, the anti-war movement has grown significantly
in its breadth and depth as the leadership has included the Arab and
Muslim community -- those who are among the primary targets of the
Bush Administration's current war at home and abroad.
The anti-war sentiment inside the United States is rapidly becoming a
significant obstacle to the Bush Administration's war in Iraq. The
anti-war movement has the potential to be a critical deterrent to the
U.S. government's aspirations for Empire. At this moment the White
House and Pentagon are issuing threats and making plans to move
against other sovereign countries. Iran and Syria are being targeted
as the U.S. seeks to consolidate power in the Middle East.
Simultaneously the Bush administration is working to undermine the
gains of the people of Latin America by working totopple the
democratically elected president of Venezuela and destroy the
revolutionary process for social change going on in that country.
Likewise it is intensifying the economic war and CIA subversions
against Cuba.
We believe that our movement must weld together the broadest, most
diverse coalition of various sectors and communities into an effective
force for change. This requires the inclusion of targeted communities
and political clarity. The war in Iraq is not simply an aberrational
policy of the Bush neo-conservatives. Iraq is emblematic of a larger
war for Empire. It is part of a multi-pronged attack against all those
countries that refuse to follow the economic, political and military
dictates of the Washington establishment and Wall Street.
This is the foundation of the political program upon which the
A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition has organized mass demonstrations in the recent
years. The fact that many hundreds of thousands of people
havedemonstrated in Washington D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, New
York and other cities is a testament to the huge progress that has
been made in building a new movement on this principled basis.
The people of the United States have nothing to gain and everything to
lose from the occupation of Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine, Haiti and
the threats of new wars and intervention in Syria, Iran, Venezuela,
Cuba, the Philippines, North Korea and elsewhere. It has been made
crystal clear in recent weeks that Washington is aggressively
prosecuting its strategy of total domination of the Middle East. U.S.
leaders are seeking to crush all resistance to their colonial agenda,
whether from states or popular movements in the region. The
A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition andthe anti-war movement is raising the demand,
"U.S. Out of the Middle East."
At its core, the war for Empire is supported by the Republican Party
and Democratic Party alike, which constitute the twin parties of
militarism and war, and this quest for global domination will continue
regardless of the outcome of the 2006 election. In fact, leading
Democrats are attacking Bush for being "soft" on Iran and North Korea.
Real hope for turning the tide rests with building a powerful global
movement of resistance in which the people of the United States stand
with their sisters and brothers struggling against imperialism and the
new colonialism.
On the home front the Bush administration is involved in a
far-reaching assault against working class communities as most
glaringly evidenced by its criminal and racist negligence towards the
people of New Orleans and throughout the hurricane ravaged Gulf
States. While turning their backs on these communities in the moments
ofgreatest need, the U.S. government is now working with the banks and
developers who, like vultures, are exploiting mass suffering and
dislocation to carry out racist gentrification that only benefits the
wealthy. The administration is also working to eviscerate hard-fought
civil rights and civil liberties, engaging in a widespread campaign of
domestic spying and wiretapping against the people of the U.S. and
other assaults against the First and Fourth Amendments.
In early December 2005, the A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition filed for permits
for a national march in Washington DC on April 29, 2006. We were
preparing to announce the April 29 action but in recent days we have
heard from A.N.S.W.E.R. organizers in a number of unions that U.S.
Labor Against the War was seeking union endorsements for a call for an
anti-war demonstration on the same day in New York City. Having two
demonstrations on April 29 in both Washington D.C. and New York City
seems to us to be lessadvantageous than having the movement unite
behind one single mobilization. As such, we decided to hold back our
announcement. Subsequently, the New York City demonstration has been
announced by a number of organizations. Underscoring the need to have
the largest possible demonstration on April 29, the A.N.S.W.E.R.
Coalition has decided to fully mobilize, in all of its chapters and
organizing centers, to bring people to the New York City demonstration
on April 29. The banners and slogans of different coalitions may not
be the same, but it is in the interest of everyone to march
shoulder-to-shoulder against the criminal war in Iraq and the Bush
administration's War for Empire, including its racist, sexist and
anti-worker domestic program.
All out for a united, mass mobilization on April 29 in New York City!
Click here to become a transportation center in your city or town for
the April 29 demonstration.
Click here to receive updates on A.N.S.W.E.R.'s mobilization for the
April 29 NYC demonstration.
A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition
Act Now to Stop War & End Racism
http://www.answercoalition.org/
info@internationalanswer.org
National Office in Washington DC: 202-544-3389
New York City: 212-694-8720
Los Angeles: 323-464-1636
San Francisco: 415-821-6545
Click here to unsubscribe from the ANSWER e-mail list.
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Welcome to the Official Push for Peace Site!
http://www.pushforpeace.us/civic/index.php?q=
The Push for Peace logo shows a Navy veteran in a wheelchair with
a peace sign on the wheel, with people marching behind him.
It can be seen at:
http://www.pushforpeace.us/civic/index.php?q=node/71
Push For Peace is a collective of veterans, progressive activists, and
everyday citizens working together through education, motivation,
and truth to bring America’s troops home from the war in Iraq and
to help bring healing and peace to our nation. The Push For Peace
movement is geared to combine the efforts of able-bodied activists
to those with special needs or challenges, so that all people can
participate and be counted. The Push For Peace effort will include
organized rallies and marches, as well as appearances and
performances by high-profile speakers and entertainers,
to rally the American people and show them we stand united
with our fellow citizen and soldier. It is our goal to grow the
base of participants each day resulting in a cross-country Push
culminating at the gates of the White House on July 4, 2006.
Events will be scheduled across the country leading up to the
big Push in July. So keep checking the Push calendar for events
near you.
Mapping it all out...[Website shows map of stops in US en route
to DC on July 4, 2006...bw]
This is a tentative and unfinished P4P route and is only a work
in progress. The Push is set to leave Golden Gate Park on
Memorial Day 2006 (currently working on permits) and then
we will Push our way across the country to arrive in DC across
from the White House gathering at Lafayette Park (currently
working on permits) on July 4th, 2006.
Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, California
Las Vegas Nevada
Phoenix, Arizona
Denver, Colorado
Crawford, Texas
New Orleans, Louisiana
more states pending...
Pushing real Democracy!
http://www.pushforpeace.us/civic/index.php?q=
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ARTICLES IN FULL:
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1) UCSC Military Recruitment Debate Reportback
by bob fitch (photos) & josh sonnenfeld (words)
Saturday, Feb. 11, 2006 at 4:32 P
http://www.indybay.org/news/2006/02/1801777.php
2) Outrage Spreads over New Images
Dahr Jamail's Iraq Dispatches
Visit the Dahr Jamail Iraq website
Inter Press Service
Dahr Jamail and Arkan Hamed
http://dahrjamailiraq.com
The recently aired photos depicting
torturing of Iraqis by U.S. military
personnel at Abu Ghraib prison are
now posted for viewing at
www.dahrjamailiraq.com
Go here to view the photos:
http://dahrjamailiraq.com/gallery/view_album.php?set_albumName=album42
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1) UCSC Military Recruitment Debate Reportback
josh sonnenfeld
Saturday, Feb. 11, 2006 at 4:32 P
http://www.indybay.org/news/2006/02/1801777.php
On Wednesday, Feb. 8, UCSC's Colleges 9 and 10 hosted a tightly-
controlled debate on the issue of military recruitment. The two
speakers were William Griffin, in charge of Army recruitment for
the Monterey Bay area, and Mario Ramirez Hardy, a long-time
counter-recruitment organizer and GI Rights Hotline counselor.
The issue of military recruitment at UC Santa Cruz and in the
community as a whole has been prominent for years. Due to
creative student protests, all branch of the military have been
prevented from any form of recruiting on campus for more than
a year. After multiple successful local campaigns, the majority
of Santa Cruz County high school parents haveopted their
children out of contact lists sent to recruiters. Santa Cruz
County now has the lowest recruitment rate in the state
of California.
On Wednesday night, Colleges 9 and 10 organized a debate
on the issue of military recruitment. William Griffin, the top
dog for Army recruitment in the area, faced off against Mario
Ramirez Hardy, who has been helping GIs get out of the
military for over a decade, in addition to a wide array
of counter-recruitment activities.
The night was very tightly controlled by Colleges 9 and
10 (c9/10) staff, headed by Wendy Baxter, and moderated
by Professor Paul Roth. There were fears of protests from
students, possibly by Students Against War (SAW), as military
recruiters are known not to be welcome. Due to these fears,
c9/10 staff taped a 'do not cross' line on the ground outside
the Multi-Purpose Room, where the debate was held. Protesters
and leafletters were not to cross the line. Nonetheless,
important flyers found their way in the hands of almost
all the student attendees. No protests were planned,
as no military recruitment was to take place.
During the debate, Mario Ramirez Hardy and William Griffin
calmly answered a few questions that they had received before
hand. Students with questions were asked to write them on
cards, which Roth and Baxter screened. No questions relating
to foreign policy were allowed. Due to all these restrictions,
the debate wasn't overly exciting, although there was
a good deal of information presented.
Mario Ramirez Hardy systematically dispelled the myths
about military recruitment - using facts provided from
military or governmental sources. He spoke about how
military recruiters, under the enlistment agreement
(see: http://quakerhouse.org/documents/enlist.html)
can change anything at any time, with or without notice
to the enlistee (i.e. recruiters can't make any promises).
He noted that 57% of enlistees don't get a dime for college,
that 90% of women in the military reported harassment
(1/3 of which were raped), the high rates of discrimination
against people of color, and the violent heterosexism and
homophobia of the military, seen by their 'Don't Ask, Don't
Tell' policy and the consistent harassment of enlistees found
to be queer. These statistics were backed up by more than
a decade of personal experiences counseling GIs.
William Griffin, the Army recruiter, attempted to claim that
'statistics can be made to say anything,' although did not
address the fact that these statistics were from the military
and government themselves. He attempted to appeal to people's
assumed nationalism - suggesting that the military is there
to defend freedom. Many students rolled their eyes with these
remarks, as the Pentagon was recently found to be spying
on UCSC students, directly threatening these freedoms that
they claim to protect. Griffin further claimed that the military
'treats everyone the same' and protects enlistees from physical
harm. However, he did not have any statistics to back his claims,
except for the one time that he claimed over 100% of enlistees
receive something.. making many students scratching their
heads at how anyone could arrive at more than 100%. Overall
though, Griffin was very calm and composed, with slick answers
for all the questions - just like a recruitment commercial.
On the hot topic of a possible military recruitment ban from
campus, Griffin relied on the Solomon Amendment, a federal
bill which threatens to take away university funding if they
don't allow recruiters. He consistently claimed that the military
just does what they're told - including discriminating against
queers and women (as Hardy added). In contrast, Hardy
suggested that students and communities should have the
right to determine who visits their schools and that if they
wanted to ban military recruiters, no one should stand
in their way.
Once the debate was over, students clapped (the first time
they were allowed to all night - except for one impromptu
clapping for Hardy) and a few milled around to talk to the
speakers, but most walked home with some questions
answered, but many more remaining.
While the debate was not riddled with excitement, its
existence signified the growth of UCSC's counter-recruitment
movement and the prominance of the issue on campus,
as the event was completely organized by college officials,
not activists. It offered an opportunity for a wider audience
to inform themselves on some of the issues related to military
recruitment, which will hopefully transfer into more solidarity
with counter-recruitment actions and campaigns in the future.
It should also lead to a greater ability for student attendees
(many of which were from SAW) to break down the fallacious
arguments widely circulated by military recruiters -
or 'salesmen' as Hardy called them.
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
2) Outrage Spreads over New Images
Dahr Jamail's Iraq Dispatches
Visit the Dahr Jamail Iraq website
Inter Press Service
Dahr Jamail and Arkan Hamed
http://dahrjamailiraq.com
The recently aired photos depicting
torturing of Iraqis by U.S. military
personnel at Abu Ghraib prison are
now posted for viewing at
www.dahrjamailiraq.com
Go here to view the photos:
http://dahrjamailiraq.com/gallery/view_album.php?set_albumName=album42
*BASRA, Feb 16 (IPS) - New footage of British soldiers beating up young
Iraqi men in Amarah city in 2003, and the release of more photographs of
atrocities by U.S. soldiers against Iraqi detainees in Abu Ghraib prison
has spread outrage across Iraq.*
The timing of the new images is potent, in the wake of violence
spreading through Iraq and much of the Muslim world over cartoons of
Prophet Mohammed carried by a Danish newspaper and then other European
publications.
"We in Basra have decided not to cooperate in any way with the British
troops," 43 year-old food merchant Ali Shehab Najim told IPS. "These
occupiers of Basra are invaders and we will not sell them any of their
requirements."
Najim added, "None of us will work with them any longer either. My
cousin used to work with them inside their base, but not any more. He
refuses to go to work, and we have decided to show our contempt for them
in every way possible."
Najim said people are particularly angry over the Danish military
presence in Iraq.
He said he had first accepted the presence of occupation forces, but now
"I think it's about time to tell them we do not respect them since they
are behaving in a very bad way."
After footage of British troops beating young Iraqis with fists and
batons was aired earlier, the Governorate of Basra announced it has
severed ties to the British military. This included cancellation of
joint security patrols.
"We condemn any of those actions by British and American troops in
torturing our young people," former head city councillor of Basra
governorate Qasim Atta Al-Joubori told IPS.
"Iraqis suffered a lot during the past 35 years, but now they are
tortured by foreigners who invaded our country," said Al-Joubori, who
was a city councillor in Basra for 40 years. "We can't accept having
them any more."
Far from cooperating, people in Basra are now prepared to fight the
occupation forces, he said. "What these beatings and torture show is
that the occupiers are both assaulting and insulting all of the Iraqi
people."
Similar views are being echoed around Basra, a relatively quieter area
in the south under charge of British troops.
"We are looking to the day we see those bastards out of our country," 55
year-old factory owner Abdullah Ibraheem told IPS. "Now they are
torturing the citizens of Basra, Baghdad and Amarah, so they have not
only lost the support of the Iraqi Sunnis but the Shias in this country
as well."
He said most Iraqis know someone who has been in a military detention
centre, but said the new video footage and photographic evidence of
torture have "demolished whatever credibility may have remained for the
occupiers."
The Australian television network Special Broadcasting Service (SBS)
aired previously unpublished video footage and photographs Wednesday of
abuse of Iraqis by U.S. soldiers inside the infamous Abu Ghraib prison
in 2003.
The images are similar to those published in 2004 that led to furore
across the Middle East. But many of the new images show a brutality and
extent of sexual humiliation that many news outlets found too shocking
to carry.
The American Civil Liberties Union had obtained the photographs from the
U.S. government under a Freedom of Information request, but its members
said they were not aware how the SBS came to air its new footage and the
photographs.
There could be yet more photographs to come. "I believe major newspapers
in the U.S. like the Washington Post have scores more photos which are
evidence of torture at Abu Ghraib, but they won't publish them due to
pressure from the U.S. government," an attorney at the Centre for
Constitutional Rights in New York City told IPS.
In Washington, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman told reporters, "The
abuses at Abu Ghraib have been fully investigated." He added, "When
there have been abuses, this department has acted upon them promptly,
investigated them thoroughly and where appropriate prosecuted individuals."
He said the Pentagon believes that releasing of the new images would
trigger greater violence, and endanger U.S. forces in Iraq.
(c)2004, 2005 Dahr Jamail.
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
LINKS:
--------*--------*---------*---------*---------*----------
The Torture Photos Congress Didn't Want You to See
Pictures That Missed the Exhibition
By LILA RAJIVA
February 16, 2006
http://www.counterpunch.org/rajiva02162006.html
Iraq: the forgotten victims
Military under fire for 'abandoning' more than
1,000 veterans with mental problems
By Kim Sengupta and Terri Judd
Published: 16 February 2006
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/health_medical/article345709.ece
A Deal Is Reached to Name a Victor in Haiti's Election
By GINGER THOMPSON
February 16, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/16/international/americas/16cnd-haiti.html?hp&ex=1140152400&en=fc29068844f31494&ei=5094&partner=homepage
British Clinic Is Allowed to Deny Medicine
[The best life-saving drugs money can buy. Don't have money?
Start saving for your funeral...bw]
By SARAH LYALL
February 16, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/16/international/europe/16cancer.html
U.N. Report Calls for End to Guantánamo Detentions
By WARREN HOGE
February 16, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/16/international/16cnd-gitmo.html?hp&ex=1140152400&en=44f61e793b9e79a6&ei=5094&partner=homepage
Whistleblower Alleges Second Wiretap Program
A former NSA employee said Tuesday there is another ongoing top-secret
surveillance program that might have violated millions of Americans'
Constitutional rights. Russell D. Tice told the House Government Reform
Subcommittee on National Security, Emerging Threats and International
Relations he has concerns about a "special access" electronic
surveillance program that he characterized as far more wide-ranging than the
warrantless wiretapping.
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/021506A.shtml
We Have Created the World’s First Truly Global Empire
John Perkins, author of "Confessions of an Economic Hit Man," joins
us in our firehouse studio to talk about his former work going into
various countries to try to strongarm leaders into creating policy
favorable to the U.S government and corporations. Perkins describes
himself as an economic hit man.
Democracy Now!!, February 15th, 2006
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/02/15/1436221
2 Major Construction Unions Plan to Leave A.F.L.-C.I.O. Unit.
By STEVEN GREENHOUSE
February 15, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/15/national/15union.html?pagewanted=all
BAUAW NEWSLETTER
-----------------------------------------
TELL BUSH AND CONGRESS: STOP THE WAR
ON IRAN BEFORE IT STARTS!
Please join the online campaign to
STOP THE WAR ON IRAN BEFORE IT STARTS!
YOUR EMERGENCY ACTION IS NEEDED NOW!
Send emails to President Bush, Vice President
Cheney, Secretary of State Rice, U.N. Secretary-
General Annan, Congressional leaders and
the media demanding NO WAR ON IRAN!
http://stopwaroniran.org/
...........................................................
Help Us Tell CYA's Chief Warner:
Close Chad Now!!
Join Books Not Bars, Escuelas Si, Pintas No,
and Youth in Focus on February 22 for
a press conference and picket at the office
of CYA Chief Bernard Warner in Sacramento.
We will call on Chief Warner to close Chad
immediately -- our youth need action now!
Please come and show your support!
Press Conference and Picket to close Chad
Wednesday, February 22, 2006, 4:30 p.m.
Where: Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation
1515 S. Street
Sacramento, CA
RSVP: Contact David at: 510.428.3939 x243 or
david@ellabakercenter.org
...........................................................
WHY WE FIGHT
A film by Eugene Jarecki
[Check out the trailer about this new film.
This looks like a very powerful film.]
http://www.sonyclassics.com/whywefight/
...........................................................
Hear: CC Campbell-Rock
'Venezuelans are getting their 40 acres
and a mule, and more'
Friday, February 24th, 7PM
Centro Del Pueblo
474 Valencia Street
(near 16th Street one block west of
16th & Mission Bart Station)
CC Campbell-Rock, the new editor of the San Francisco
Bay View newspaper, has just returned from Venezuela.
Read her article, 'Venezuelans are getting their 40 acres
and a mule, and more' at
www.sfbayview.com/020806/eyewitness020806.shtml .
Hear her report back as an eyewitness
to the Bolivarian Revolution.
She attended last week's World Social Forum and
toured the Venezuelan countryside, with other
delegates from Global Women's Strike, to meet
the grassroots revolutionary leaders who are
making the kind of miracles in education, health,
housing, economic development, etc., that could
revive and transform the inner cities of the United
States. Prior to working for the SF Bay View, CC was
a prominent pre-KATRINA journalist and activist
in New Orleans.
This meeting is jointly sponsored by the San
Francisco Bay Area Hands Off Venezuela! committee
and the San Francisco Bay View .
San Francisco Bay View
(www.sfbayview.com)
San Francisco Bay Area Hands Off Venezuela!
sfbay@ushov.org 415-786-1680
Donation $5.00 (Students, unemployed, and Seniors $3.00)
.......................................................
ANTIWAR MEETING OPEN TO ALL
THOSE WHO DEMAND:
STOP THE WAR NOW! U.S. OUT OF IRAQ!
BRING ALL THE TROOPS HOME NOW!
MONEY FOR HUMAN NEEDS NOT WAR!
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2006, 10:00 A.M.
Local, 34, the ILWU Shipclerk's Hall
4 Berry Street (behind the ballpark)
.......................................................
Please help spread the word:
Counter Recruitment
Presenters Mobilization!
The military recruits in most Bay Area high schools,
Let’s make sure students hear the other side!
This will be a training/organizing kick off for:
• youth to youth presentation teams,
• veterans and non-veteran classroom presenters, and
• anyone who wants to learn, share and help support this effort!
Saturday, February 25th, 2-5pm
War Veterans Memorial Building, Room 219
401 Van Ness, San Francisco
West of City Hall, near Civic Center BART
Snacks will be provided, donations will be accepted.
For more information, please contact
Paul Cox (510) 528-1975
or Susan Quinlan moos-bay@riseup.net
This event is co-sponsored by Veterans for Peace and
Alternatives to War Through Education/
Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors
.......................................................
Welcome to BANG4CHANGE 2006 !
Bang4Change 2006 !
We Poor People are called "Gang Bangers" & "Thugs"
Challenge the Hype ! Bang with Peace, Courage & Solidarity!
End US War on Poor, Black & Brown, NOW !
Saturday February 25th,
Noon to 6 P.M.
CIVIL RIGHTS REVIVAL FEST
In front of SF City Hall
iolmisha@cs.com
(415) 595-8251
.......................................................
Postering for March 18 Anti-war Protest - Volunteer Now!
A.N.S.W.E.R. ACTIVIST MEETING
TUESDAYs, 7PM
2489 Mission St. Room 24 (at 21st St.) SF,
near 24th St. BART
Now more than ever, the anti-war movement needs
to reach out to the thousands of people who are turning
against the war and occupation of Iraq. Your help is needed.
Call the ANSWER office for the schedule to go out in teams to poster
for an hour or two. Pick up flyers, posters and stickers
at the ANSWER office at 2489 Mission St. Room 24.
Call 415-821-6545 for hours.
...........................................................
PLEASE DISTRIBUTE FAR AND WIDE!! A CALL TO ACTION!!
STOP EVICTIONS IN BAYVIEW-HUNTERS POINT
TUESDAY, MARCH 7, 4:00 p.m.
ROOM 416, CITY HALL, S.F.
Companeros/companeras:
Below please find an editorial by Willie Ratcliff,
publisher of SF Bay View, about a March 7 hearing
before Redevelopment Authority, which will seal the
fate of Bayview Hunter's Point. Many of us have been
saying for years that the Bayview will be the new
Fillmore. March 7 is, as Ratcliff says, an eviction
notice for the residents of Bayview Hunters Point. Not
long after coming into office, Mayor Gavin Newsom did
photo ops with young black men on a basketball court
in Bayview (he was lavished with praise by our
mindless media for that), but he knew damn well then
that their displacement was imminent. It's all part of
San Francisco's hypocrisy about racism and classism.
"Oh, we're a liberal city, we oppose racism and
classism..." people and politicians say, even as they
stand idly by while more and more poor, working-class
and people of color are pushed out of the city by
Ellis Act evictions for TICs for the upper middle
class and Redevelopment Authority's "negro removal,"
as it was called by black activists in the 60s.
Why is it that removing "urban blight" from our cities
means giving poor, working-class and people of color a
one-way ticket to another city? Why can't
Redevelopment work on building communities from within
(with no-interest business loans and subsidies to
homeowners and landlords to fix up their properties,)
instead of declaring "eminent domain" and stealing the
land from folks who have nothing else? If
Redevelopment wants to do some real cleaning of urban
blight why not confiscate the mansions in Pacific
Heights and do a little redistributing of the wealth!
But that's not the game in America. Redevelopment is a
tool of the real-estate interests that want to
gentrify all of our neighborhoods. It's about removing
poor folks so that middle-class and upper-class folks
can have their homes. It's a time-honored American
tradition. Native Americans were pushed from their
land as wagon trains of settlers, driven by manifest
destiny, spread westward. Similarly, the new Bayview
is not for the folks who live there now. As former
Mayor Willie Brown himself said before he left office,
the new Bayview will be market-rate condos with the
best views in town.
Your help is desperately needed.
Come to the hearing on March 7 at City Hall room 416,
4pm. It is imperative that we stand with the residents
of Bayview. It is imperative that people from all
communities and struggles come together to oppose the
annexing of 1300 acres of land next to the shipyard.
No more Fillmores! No eviction notice for Bayview! No
more gentrification! Redistribute the wealth, don't
steal our homes! The land does not belong to the
realtors or the rich! Nuestra tierra, nuestro mundo!
Our land, our world!
Estamos juntos en la lucha...we are together in the
struggle--or we all go down separately!
tommi avicolli mecca
Read:
Eviction notice served on Bayview Hunters Point
Editorial by Willie Ratcliff
http://www.sfbayview.com/020806/evictionnotice020806.shtml
...................................................................
NATIONAL WEEK OF CAMPUS ACTION
Week of March 13-17
Students Say NO to War in Iraq!
College Not Combat, Troops Out Now!
(*Spring break alternative: Schools on spring
break during March 13-17
will hold events the week of March 20)
Student week of action coordinated by the
Campus Antiwar Network
http://www.campusantiwar.net
RecruitersOut@yahoo.com
Charles Jenks
Chair of Advisory Board and Web Manager
Traprock Peace Center
103A Keets Road
Deerfield, MA 01342
413-773-7427
fax 413-773-7507
http://www.traprockpeace.org
...........................................................
Third Anniversary of "Shock and Awe"
Saturday, March 18, 2006, 11:00 a.m.
CIVIC CENTER
San Francisco
Monday, March 20, 2006
Youth and Student Day
of Resistance to Imperialism
http://www.answercoalition.org/
...........................................................
Major Mobilization Set for April 29th
Dear Friends,
We are pleased to announce the kick-off for the organizing
of what promises to be a major national mobilization on
Saturday, April 29th. Today, each of the initiating groups
(see list below) is announcing this mobilization. Our
organizations have agreed to work together on this
project for several reasons:
The April 29th mobilization will highlight our call for an
immediate end to the war on Iraq. We are also raising
several other critical issues that are directly connected
to one another.
It is time for our constituencies to work more closely:
connecting the issues we work on by bringing diverse
communities into a common project.
It is important for our movements to help set the agenda
for the Congressional elections later in the year. Our
unified action in the streets is a vital part of that process.
Please share the April 29th call widely, and please use
the links at the end of the call to endorse this timely
mobilization and to sign up for email updates.
April 29th Initiating Organizations
United for Peace and Justice
Rainbow/PUSH Coalition
National Organization for Women
Friends of the Earth
U.S. Labor Against the War
Climate Crisis Coalition
Peoples' Hurricane Relief Fund
National Youth and Student Peace Coalition
A war based on lies
Spying, corruption and attacks on civil liberties
Katrina survivors abandoned by government
MARCH FOR PEACE,
JUSTICE AND DEMOCRACY
End the war in Iraq -
Bring all our troops home now!
SATURDAY, APRIL 29, 2006
NEW YORK CITY
Unite for change - let's turn our country around!
The times are urgent and we must act.
Too much is too wrong in this country. We have a foreign
policy that is foreign to our core values, and domestic
policies wreaking havoc at home. It's time for a change.
No more never-ending oil wars!
Protect our civil liberties & immigrant rights. End illegal
spying, government corruption and the subversion of
our democracy.
Rebuild our communities, starting with the Gulf Coast.
Stop corporate subsidies and tax cuts for the wealthy
while ignoring our basic needs.
Act quickly to address the climate crisis and the
accelerating destruction of our environment.
Our message to the White House and to Congress
is clear: either stand with us or stand aside!
We are coming together to march, to vote, to speak
out and to turn our country around!
Join us in New York City on Saturday, April 29th
Click here to endorse this mobilization:
http://unitedforpeace.org/modinput4.php?modin=119
Click here to sign up for email updates on plans for April 29th:
http://www.unitedforpeace.org/email
April 29th Initiating Organizations
United for Peace and Justice
Rainbow/PUSH Coalition
National Organization for Women
Friends of the Earth
U.S. Labor Against the War
Climate Crisis Coalition
Peoples' Hurricane Relief Fund
National Youth and Student Peace Coalition
......................................................................
ANSWER Coalition: All Out for April 29 in New York City!
End Occupation from Iraq to Palestine, to Haiti, and Everywhere!
Fight for workers rights, civil rights and civil liberties - unite
against racism!
300,000 Came to Washington on Sept. 24
In recent weeks the A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition has been in the final
stages for planning a national demonstration in Washington DC on April
29, 2006. This action was to follow the local and regional
demonstrations for March 18-19 and youth and student actions scheduled
on March 20 on the 3rd anniversary of the criminal bombing, invasion
and occupation of Iraq.
On September 24, 2005 more than 300,000 people surrounded the White
House in the largest mobilization against the Iraq war and occupation
since the invasion of Iraq in March 2003. This demonstration was
initiated by the A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition in May 2005 and we urged a
united front with other major anti-war coalitions and communities. We
marched demanding immediate and unconditional withdrawal from Iraq. We
also stood in solidarity with the Palestinian and Haitian people and
others who are suffering under and resisting occupation. Coming as it
did following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, we changed the demands of
the September 24 protest to include the slogan "From Iraq to New
Orleans, FundPeople's Needs not the War Machine."
During the past several years, and as demonstrated in a powerful
display on September 24, the anti-war movement has grown significantly
in its breadth and depth as the leadership has included the Arab and
Muslim community -- those who are among the primary targets of the
Bush Administration's current war at home and abroad.
The anti-war sentiment inside the United States is rapidly becoming a
significant obstacle to the Bush Administration's war in Iraq. The
anti-war movement has the potential to be a critical deterrent to the
U.S. government's aspirations for Empire. At this moment the White
House and Pentagon are issuing threats and making plans to move
against other sovereign countries. Iran and Syria are being targeted
as the U.S. seeks to consolidate power in the Middle East.
Simultaneously the Bush administration is working to undermine the
gains of the people of Latin America by working totopple the
democratically elected president of Venezuela and destroy the
revolutionary process for social change going on in that country.
Likewise it is intensifying the economic war and CIA subversions
against Cuba.
We believe that our movement must weld together the broadest, most
diverse coalition of various sectors and communities into an effective
force for change. This requires the inclusion of targeted communities
and political clarity. The war in Iraq is not simply an aberrational
policy of the Bush neo-conservatives. Iraq is emblematic of a larger
war for Empire. It is part of a multi-pronged attack against all those
countries that refuse to follow the economic, political and military
dictates of the Washington establishment and Wall Street.
This is the foundation of the political program upon which the
A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition has organized mass demonstrations in the recent
years. The fact that many hundreds of thousands of people
havedemonstrated in Washington D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, New
York and other cities is a testament to the huge progress that has
been made in building a new movement on this principled basis.
The people of the United States have nothing to gain and everything to
lose from the occupation of Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine, Haiti and
the threats of new wars and intervention in Syria, Iran, Venezuela,
Cuba, the Philippines, North Korea and elsewhere. It has been made
crystal clear in recent weeks that Washington is aggressively
prosecuting its strategy of total domination of the Middle East. U.S.
leaders are seeking to crush all resistance to their colonial agenda,
whether from states or popular movements in the region. The
A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition andthe anti-war movement is raising the demand,
"U.S. Out of the Middle East."
At its core, the war for Empire is supported by the Republican Party
and Democratic Party alike, which constitute the twin parties of
militarism and war, and this quest for global domination will continue
regardless of the outcome of the 2006 election. In fact, leading
Democrats are attacking Bush for being "soft" on Iran and North Korea.
Real hope for turning the tide rests with building a powerful global
movement of resistance in which the people of the United States stand
with their sisters and brothers struggling against imperialism and the
new colonialism.
On the home front the Bush administration is involved in a
far-reaching assault against working class communities as most
glaringly evidenced by its criminal and racist negligence towards the
people of New Orleans and throughout the hurricane ravaged Gulf
States. While turning their backs on these communities in the moments
ofgreatest need, the U.S. government is now working with the banks and
developers who, like vultures, are exploiting mass suffering and
dislocation to carry out racist gentrification that only benefits the
wealthy. The administration is also working to eviscerate hard-fought
civil rights and civil liberties, engaging in a widespread campaign of
domestic spying and wiretapping against the people of the U.S. and
other assaults against the First and Fourth Amendments.
In early December 2005, the A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition filed for permits
for a national march in Washington DC on April 29, 2006. We were
preparing to announce the April 29 action but in recent days we have
heard from A.N.S.W.E.R. organizers in a number of unions that U.S.
Labor Against the War was seeking union endorsements for a call for an
anti-war demonstration on the same day in New York City. Having two
demonstrations on April 29 in both Washington D.C. and New York City
seems to us to be lessadvantageous than having the movement unite
behind one single mobilization. As such, we decided to hold back our
announcement. Subsequently, the New York City demonstration has been
announced by a number of organizations. Underscoring the need to have
the largest possible demonstration on April 29, the A.N.S.W.E.R.
Coalition has decided to fully mobilize, in all of its chapters and
organizing centers, to bring people to the New York City demonstration
on April 29. The banners and slogans of different coalitions may not
be the same, but it is in the interest of everyone to march
shoulder-to-shoulder against the criminal war in Iraq and the Bush
administration's War for Empire, including its racist, sexist and
anti-worker domestic program.
All out for a united, mass mobilization on April 29 in New York City!
Click here to become a transportation center in your city or town for
the April 29 demonstration.
Click here to receive updates on A.N.S.W.E.R.'s mobilization for the
April 29 NYC demonstration.
A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition
Act Now to Stop War & End Racism
http://www.answercoalition.org/
info@internationalanswer.org
National Office in Washington DC: 202-544-3389
New York City: 212-694-8720
Los Angeles: 323-464-1636
San Francisco: 415-821-6545
Click here to unsubscribe from the ANSWER e-mail list.
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
Welcome to the Official Push for Peace Site!
http://www.pushforpeace.us/civic/index.php?q=
The Push for Peace logo shows a Navy veteran in a wheelchair with
a peace sign on the wheel, with people marching behind him.
It can be seen at:
http://www.pushforpeace.us/civic/index.php?q=node/71
Push For Peace is a collective of veterans, progressive activists, and
everyday citizens working together through education, motivation,
and truth to bring America’s troops home from the war in Iraq and
to help bring healing and peace to our nation. The Push For Peace
movement is geared to combine the efforts of able-bodied activists
to those with special needs or challenges, so that all people can
participate and be counted. The Push For Peace effort will include
organized rallies and marches, as well as appearances and
performances by high-profile speakers and entertainers,
to rally the American people and show them we stand united
with our fellow citizen and soldier. It is our goal to grow the
base of participants each day resulting in a cross-country Push
culminating at the gates of the White House on July 4, 2006.
Events will be scheduled across the country leading up to the
big Push in July. So keep checking the Push calendar for events
near you.
Mapping it all out...[Website shows map of stops in US en route
to DC on July 4, 2006...bw]
This is a tentative and unfinished P4P route and is only a work
in progress. The Push is set to leave Golden Gate Park on
Memorial Day 2006 (currently working on permits) and then
we will Push our way across the country to arrive in DC across
from the White House gathering at Lafayette Park (currently
working on permits) on July 4th, 2006.
Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, California
Las Vegas Nevada
Phoenix, Arizona
Denver, Colorado
Crawford, Texas
New Orleans, Louisiana
more states pending...
Pushing real Democracy!
http://www.pushforpeace.us/civic/index.php?q=
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
ARTICLES IN FULL:
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
1) UCSC Military Recruitment Debate Reportback
by bob fitch (photos) & josh sonnenfeld (words)
Saturday, Feb. 11, 2006 at 4:32 P
http://www.indybay.org/news/2006/02/1801777.php
2) Outrage Spreads over New Images
Dahr Jamail's Iraq Dispatches
Visit the Dahr Jamail Iraq website
Inter Press Service
Dahr Jamail and Arkan Hamed
http://dahrjamailiraq.com
The recently aired photos depicting
torturing of Iraqis by U.S. military
personnel at Abu Ghraib prison are
now posted for viewing at
www.dahrjamailiraq.com
Go here to view the photos:
http://dahrjamailiraq.com/gallery/view_album.php?set_albumName=album42
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
1) UCSC Military Recruitment Debate Reportback
josh sonnenfeld
Saturday, Feb. 11, 2006 at 4:32 P
http://www.indybay.org/news/2006/02/1801777.php
On Wednesday, Feb. 8, UCSC's Colleges 9 and 10 hosted a tightly-
controlled debate on the issue of military recruitment. The two
speakers were William Griffin, in charge of Army recruitment for
the Monterey Bay area, and Mario Ramirez Hardy, a long-time
counter-recruitment organizer and GI Rights Hotline counselor.
The issue of military recruitment at UC Santa Cruz and in the
community as a whole has been prominent for years. Due to
creative student protests, all branch of the military have been
prevented from any form of recruiting on campus for more than
a year. After multiple successful local campaigns, the majority
of Santa Cruz County high school parents haveopted their
children out of contact lists sent to recruiters. Santa Cruz
County now has the lowest recruitment rate in the state
of California.
On Wednesday night, Colleges 9 and 10 organized a debate
on the issue of military recruitment. William Griffin, the top
dog for Army recruitment in the area, faced off against Mario
Ramirez Hardy, who has been helping GIs get out of the
military for over a decade, in addition to a wide array
of counter-recruitment activities.
The night was very tightly controlled by Colleges 9 and
10 (c9/10) staff, headed by Wendy Baxter, and moderated
by Professor Paul Roth. There were fears of protests from
students, possibly by Students Against War (SAW), as military
recruiters are known not to be welcome. Due to these fears,
c9/10 staff taped a 'do not cross' line on the ground outside
the Multi-Purpose Room, where the debate was held. Protesters
and leafletters were not to cross the line. Nonetheless,
important flyers found their way in the hands of almost
all the student attendees. No protests were planned,
as no military recruitment was to take place.
During the debate, Mario Ramirez Hardy and William Griffin
calmly answered a few questions that they had received before
hand. Students with questions were asked to write them on
cards, which Roth and Baxter screened. No questions relating
to foreign policy were allowed. Due to all these restrictions,
the debate wasn't overly exciting, although there was
a good deal of information presented.
Mario Ramirez Hardy systematically dispelled the myths
about military recruitment - using facts provided from
military or governmental sources. He spoke about how
military recruiters, under the enlistment agreement
(see: http://quakerhouse.org/documents/enlist.html)
can change anything at any time, with or without notice
to the enlistee (i.e. recruiters can't make any promises).
He noted that 57% of enlistees don't get a dime for college,
that 90% of women in the military reported harassment
(1/3 of which were raped), the high rates of discrimination
against people of color, and the violent heterosexism and
homophobia of the military, seen by their 'Don't Ask, Don't
Tell' policy and the consistent harassment of enlistees found
to be queer. These statistics were backed up by more than
a decade of personal experiences counseling GIs.
William Griffin, the Army recruiter, attempted to claim that
'statistics can be made to say anything,' although did not
address the fact that these statistics were from the military
and government themselves. He attempted to appeal to people's
assumed nationalism - suggesting that the military is there
to defend freedom. Many students rolled their eyes with these
remarks, as the Pentagon was recently found to be spying
on UCSC students, directly threatening these freedoms that
they claim to protect. Griffin further claimed that the military
'treats everyone the same' and protects enlistees from physical
harm. However, he did not have any statistics to back his claims,
except for the one time that he claimed over 100% of enlistees
receive something.. making many students scratching their
heads at how anyone could arrive at more than 100%. Overall
though, Griffin was very calm and composed, with slick answers
for all the questions - just like a recruitment commercial.
On the hot topic of a possible military recruitment ban from
campus, Griffin relied on the Solomon Amendment, a federal
bill which threatens to take away university funding if they
don't allow recruiters. He consistently claimed that the military
just does what they're told - including discriminating against
queers and women (as Hardy added). In contrast, Hardy
suggested that students and communities should have the
right to determine who visits their schools and that if they
wanted to ban military recruiters, no one should stand
in their way.
Once the debate was over, students clapped (the first time
they were allowed to all night - except for one impromptu
clapping for Hardy) and a few milled around to talk to the
speakers, but most walked home with some questions
answered, but many more remaining.
While the debate was not riddled with excitement, its
existence signified the growth of UCSC's counter-recruitment
movement and the prominance of the issue on campus,
as the event was completely organized by college officials,
not activists. It offered an opportunity for a wider audience
to inform themselves on some of the issues related to military
recruitment, which will hopefully transfer into more solidarity
with counter-recruitment actions and campaigns in the future.
It should also lead to a greater ability for student attendees
(many of which were from SAW) to break down the fallacious
arguments widely circulated by military recruiters -
or 'salesmen' as Hardy called them.
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2) Outrage Spreads over New Images
Dahr Jamail's Iraq Dispatches
Visit the Dahr Jamail Iraq website
Inter Press Service
Dahr Jamail and Arkan Hamed
http://dahrjamailiraq.com
The recently aired photos depicting
torturing of Iraqis by U.S. military
personnel at Abu Ghraib prison are
now posted for viewing at
www.dahrjamailiraq.com
Go here to view the photos:
http://dahrjamailiraq.com/gallery/view_album.php?set_albumName=album42
*BASRA, Feb 16 (IPS) - New footage of British soldiers beating up young
Iraqi men in Amarah city in 2003, and the release of more photographs of
atrocities by U.S. soldiers against Iraqi detainees in Abu Ghraib prison
has spread outrage across Iraq.*
The timing of the new images is potent, in the wake of violence
spreading through Iraq and much of the Muslim world over cartoons of
Prophet Mohammed carried by a Danish newspaper and then other European
publications.
"We in Basra have decided not to cooperate in any way with the British
troops," 43 year-old food merchant Ali Shehab Najim told IPS. "These
occupiers of Basra are invaders and we will not sell them any of their
requirements."
Najim added, "None of us will work with them any longer either. My
cousin used to work with them inside their base, but not any more. He
refuses to go to work, and we have decided to show our contempt for them
in every way possible."
Najim said people are particularly angry over the Danish military
presence in Iraq.
He said he had first accepted the presence of occupation forces, but now
"I think it's about time to tell them we do not respect them since they
are behaving in a very bad way."
After footage of British troops beating young Iraqis with fists and
batons was aired earlier, the Governorate of Basra announced it has
severed ties to the British military. This included cancellation of
joint security patrols.
"We condemn any of those actions by British and American troops in
torturing our young people," former head city councillor of Basra
governorate Qasim Atta Al-Joubori told IPS.
"Iraqis suffered a lot during the past 35 years, but now they are
tortured by foreigners who invaded our country," said Al-Joubori, who
was a city councillor in Basra for 40 years. "We can't accept having
them any more."
Far from cooperating, people in Basra are now prepared to fight the
occupation forces, he said. "What these beatings and torture show is
that the occupiers are both assaulting and insulting all of the Iraqi
people."
Similar views are being echoed around Basra, a relatively quieter area
in the south under charge of British troops.
"We are looking to the day we see those bastards out of our country," 55
year-old factory owner Abdullah Ibraheem told IPS. "Now they are
torturing the citizens of Basra, Baghdad and Amarah, so they have not
only lost the support of the Iraqi Sunnis but the Shias in this country
as well."
He said most Iraqis know someone who has been in a military detention
centre, but said the new video footage and photographic evidence of
torture have "demolished whatever credibility may have remained for the
occupiers."
The Australian television network Special Broadcasting Service (SBS)
aired previously unpublished video footage and photographs Wednesday of
abuse of Iraqis by U.S. soldiers inside the infamous Abu Ghraib prison
in 2003.
The images are similar to those published in 2004 that led to furore
across the Middle East. But many of the new images show a brutality and
extent of sexual humiliation that many news outlets found too shocking
to carry.
The American Civil Liberties Union had obtained the photographs from the
U.S. government under a Freedom of Information request, but its members
said they were not aware how the SBS came to air its new footage and the
photographs.
There could be yet more photographs to come. "I believe major newspapers
in the U.S. like the Washington Post have scores more photos which are
evidence of torture at Abu Ghraib, but they won't publish them due to
pressure from the U.S. government," an attorney at the Centre for
Constitutional Rights in New York City told IPS.
In Washington, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman told reporters, "The
abuses at Abu Ghraib have been fully investigated." He added, "When
there have been abuses, this department has acted upon them promptly,
investigated them thoroughly and where appropriate prosecuted individuals."
He said the Pentagon believes that releasing of the new images would
trigger greater violence, and endanger U.S. forces in Iraq.
(c)2004, 2005 Dahr Jamail.
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LINKS:
--------*--------*---------*---------*---------*----------
The Torture Photos Congress Didn't Want You to See
Pictures That Missed the Exhibition
By LILA RAJIVA
February 16, 2006
http://www.counterpunch.org/rajiva02162006.html
Iraq: the forgotten victims
Military under fire for 'abandoning' more than
1,000 veterans with mental problems
By Kim Sengupta and Terri Judd
Published: 16 February 2006
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/health_medical/article345709.ece
A Deal Is Reached to Name a Victor in Haiti's Election
By GINGER THOMPSON
February 16, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/16/international/americas/16cnd-haiti.html?hp&ex=1140152400&en=fc29068844f31494&ei=5094&partner=homepage
British Clinic Is Allowed to Deny Medicine
[The best life-saving drugs money can buy. Don't have money?
Start saving for your funeral...bw]
By SARAH LYALL
February 16, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/16/international/europe/16cancer.html
U.N. Report Calls for End to Guantánamo Detentions
By WARREN HOGE
February 16, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/16/international/16cnd-gitmo.html?hp&ex=1140152400&en=44f61e793b9e79a6&ei=5094&partner=homepage
Whistleblower Alleges Second Wiretap Program
A former NSA employee said Tuesday there is another ongoing top-secret
surveillance program that might have violated millions of Americans'
Constitutional rights. Russell D. Tice told the House Government Reform
Subcommittee on National Security, Emerging Threats and International
Relations he has concerns about a "special access" electronic
surveillance program that he characterized as far more wide-ranging than the
warrantless wiretapping.
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/021506A.shtml
We Have Created the World’s First Truly Global Empire
John Perkins, author of "Confessions of an Economic Hit Man," joins
us in our firehouse studio to talk about his former work going into
various countries to try to strongarm leaders into creating policy
favorable to the U.S government and corporations. Perkins describes
himself as an economic hit man.
Democracy Now!!, February 15th, 2006
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/02/15/1436221
2 Major Construction Unions Plan to Leave A.F.L.-C.I.O. Unit.
By STEVEN GREENHOUSE
February 15, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/15/national/15union.html?pagewanted=all