The U.S. wars we don't see
The U.S. war "of" terror laid bare the unlimited ambitions of the U.S. to wage war unlimited by national boundaries or time, going to the "dark side" per Dick Cheney. The world was outraged, and we should never forget.
But the U.S. empire is maintained on the backbone of the world's largest military, with truly a global imprint. This is what people living here largely don't see. The global system of production is protected by a network of 876 identified U.S. bases, by secret operations, by the new forms of warfare including drone and cyber.
This is all important to know.
7600 DAYS of Guantanamo
Say what? Two Republican presidents - and two Democrats - hold on to the U.S. torture camp into its third decade. Saifullah Paracha, cleared for release years ago, with no charges, was finally released last week at age 75. But 35 men are left, most "cleared" but still imprisoned.
Tuesday Nov. 1, marks 7,600 days of Guantanamo’s existence. Andy Worthington and CloseGuantanamo.org ask you to take a photo with the Close Guantanamo campaign’s poster. Send it to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . via the Gitmo Clock website or share on social media tagging with #CloseGuantanamo.
Beyond "America" to the world
It seems months of negotiations took place for 30 U.S. House members (not including Bernie Sanders) to produce and submit a very mild request to Biden to negotiate an end to the U.S. proxy war with Russia in Ukraine. But Democratic Party leaders weren't having it and, within hours, forced the House members to withdraw the letter, as if it never happened, and to back off and apologize.
It's outrageous that this very polite request got slapped down so harshly. But it's also frankly criminal that the "progressive" people in Congress took 8 months to even raise questions about - much less opposition to - the apparent determination of the U.S. to fund and instigate a long-term slaughter and apparently to block negotiations by Ukraine.
Emergency for Rights in Iran: Women-Life-Freedom
On Saturday evening, a massive fire broke out at Tehran’s Evin Prison. Videos posted on social media show flames and smoke shooting up, billowing in the air, punctuated by the sound of gunfire and explosions. The lying Islamic Regime of Iran (IRI) claims prisoners - many political including some recently arrested in this month's protests - set the fire. But shots were fired into the prison, with many prisoners injured and at least 8 killed.
“Families of inmates outside the prison were tear-gassed earlier in the day Saturday, and roads heading there were blocked by nightfall…. Videos posted online showed people in neighborhoods around Evin chanting ‘Death to the dictator,’ while others showed riot police on motorcycles heading to the prison,” the Washington Post reported.
Which "side" are we on?
Debra Sweet | October 20, 2022
I am deeply saddened by the new and ongoing challenges to humanity; I had hoped not to be passing on to my children/grandchildren such a desperate state of affairs. Here is my quick, not very well thought out response to your question. You may well be right that the U.S. should be a pariah. Despite having been disillusioned many times by the U.S.'s ill-informed and cynical, even criminal, approach to world problems, I still cling to hope. (That, despite its many original sins, beginning with annihilation of its first inhabitants, alas.) ...
A Question
The New York Times and people who speak in the interests of Western imperialism say Putin won't use nukes against Ukraine because "his country could become an international pariah."
The United States did use nukes on HIroshima & Nagasaki in 1945. Every major politician in the "Western" bloc has justified the unthinkable because it "saved lives" and "ended" World War II. This is not true: the Japanese were ready to surrender, but the U.S. wanted to project power at the Soviet Union and other rivals and sacrificed hundreds of thousands of humans for it.
QUESTION: Why isn't the U.S. a pariah? Biden, leader of what I like to call the War Party, claiming the banner of "democracy," is pouring tens of $billions into the U.S. arms industry to ship arms to Ukraine. Because he cares about people there? No. To strengthen the U.S./NATO interests for global exploitation against Russia and China, who have their own global empires.
Home of the “Hell Hounds,” Whiteman AFB drone squadron ‘most lethal’ in US
Brian Terrell | October 3, 2022
Note: Brian Terrell delivered this talk at the Oct. 1 peace witness sponsored by PeaceWorksKC, at Whiteman AFB, near Knob Noster, MO.
Leading up to this protest there was discussion among organizers about the nature of drone operations here at Whiteman Air Force Base. Is this a training facility, or are Reaper drones engaged in lethal activities, are actual murders committed from this place, in real time in places far away by remote control? While the details of drone operations are shrouded in secrecy, broken only by courageous whistleblowers, the Air Force exposes enough of itself for us to know that crimes with global consequences are being committed in this very place.
Reminders Of Why We Keep on Keeping On
Nick Mottern | September 28, 2022
ETHIOPIA
"The Ethiopian military's increasing use of drones to conduct airstrikes over the last year has changed the conflict landscape. In theory, drones should allow for more precise targeting of military objectives; however, our investigation indicates that their use has exposed civilians to new and heightened risks. Our findings are especially concerning given reports of airstrikes in Tigray since August, which have killed and injured civilians, including children."
- Steven Ratner, noted U.S. human rights attorney and member of the U.N. commission investigating war crimes in the Ethiopian civil war, commenting on the group's report on September 19, 2022. Turkey is supplying Turkish-made TB2 killer drones to the Ethiopian government, just as Turkey has done in Libya and Ukraine
Bringing anti-war veterans to speak with your students: Fall 2022
No fee charged to your school: We Are Not Your Soldiers is set to come to your class this semester, still remotely as the term starts, with an anti-war veteran who will dialogue with your students and is ready to answer any of their questions.
Educators and students: please contact us now to set up a time for us to engage with your classes. If you are not an educator or a student, please pass on this information to anyone you know who is involved in education.
As world crises and U.S. wars continue and the threats of new wars and even nuclear annihilation is an on-going reality, students have many serious concerns.
Never Forget What to Remember
Debra Sweet | September 15, 2022
Official 9/11 commemorations, again, reminded those listening to never forget how "we" were attacked while pursuing the "just cause" of U.S. dominance of the globe. Let's just put that aside as the propaganda it is.
You're reading this newsletter because you will never forget that 9/11 was instantly used to launch global war crimes. Rumsfeld bragged the U.S. military would "go massive" and Dick Cheney vowed the U.S. would go to the "dark side" in war that would last generations.
Do you know the art of Guantanamo?
Do you know the art of Guantanamo?
Kind of a ridiculous question because your government has made sure you don't. The artists of Guantanamo are locked up and no longer allowed to send out their art. The latest few who have been actually released (as opposed to the 21 men "approved for release" who are still locked up) can't bring their art out with them.
Some of the prisoners' art is beautifully decorative, some evocative, some showing great skill. But it all conveys the humanity, emotion and spirit of the men in that torture camp, which is likely why, under Trump, they were no longer allowed to have their attorneys share it with the world. Outrageously, 21 months after Biden took office, that policy stands.
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