Speakers left to right: Larry Everest, Ray McGovern and Cindy Sheehan at Thursday’s Bush Crimes Commission event at UC Berkeley
Excerpt of a report on the UC Berkeley event from panelist Larry Everest and a radio interview that aired on KPFA.
We did our first program in our Bush Commission campus tour program on
Thursday night at the International House at the University of
California-Berkeley. I felt really showed the power of taking the
Commission on the road — raising the urgency of reframing the
discussion of the Bush Administration to the question of crimes against
humanity, stressing our moral responsibility in the face of its
criminal actions, and sharing with many more people the amazing
testimony from our hearings.
300 people
turned out to hear panelists Cindy Sheehan, Ray McGovern and me, with
introductions from a member of the faculty who organized a weekly
anti-torture vigil (who quoted Craig Murray on rather dying than being
“protected” by torture) and a student organizer for World Can’t Wait
(who quoted from Michael Ratner’s talk). I gave an overview of
the Commission’s work and mission with emphasis on the war, Ray focused
on the administration’s culpability for torture (and made great use of
Craig Murray and Janis Karpinski’s testimonies), and Cindy talked about
the war and the death of her son Casey. People really liked the
program, some saying it was one of the best they’d ever been to, and
many others saying that it was ‘inspiring.’
We’re now in the process of organizing similar panels at
campuses across the country, and we’ll keep you posted on
developments. Help and funds are needed!
Click here to hear radio interview on the KPFA show ” Flashpoints” with speakers Larry Everest, Cindy Sheehan and Ray McGovern.