Thanks to all who have been writing & discussing the state of the US “war on terror” and all it has wrought. We’ll continue Thursday night in our conference call format, and I invite you to join.
One of the questions raised in these discussions was what should we — who oppose the projector of US military domination on the Mid East in particular, which has strengthened reactionary Islamist movements including the Islamic State — should do to help others not be pulled into cheering the crimes of our government, but be moved to oppose them?
Two writers I’ve met in my years directing World Can’t Wait wrote recently about how people living in this country are being influenced to think by being denied the truth of what the U.S. is doing.
In Where’s the Rule of Law in Our War on ISIS? L. Michael Hager looks at how key institutions in this society looked the other way, or justified crimes:
“TV anchors and newspaper reporters blithely echo the demands of political candidates that the U.S. “carpet bomb” Islamist targets and “take out suspected terrorists” anywhere in the world. They ignore international laws and conventions that put a strict limit on preemptive strikes and prohibit the endangering of civilians.”
More distressing is the general failure of our religious institutions, universities and bar associations to speak out against the current degrading of the rule of law. Why has there been no strong outcry from the nation’s premier law schools as they witness military strikes that violate the UN Charter and international conventions? Why do they ignore the lack of due process, indefinite detention and the inadequacies of jerrybuilt “military commissions?”
Why have our churches, synagogues and mosques not questioned human rights violations (some detailed in the recent Senate report summary) including the now regular use of drones for targeted killing and the reliance on torture and force-feeding?
John Hanrahan, an editor at ExposeFacts.org, asks how the opposition among the US public to drone strikes could be higher in Killer Drone News Blackout Continues As Mainstream Media Ignore 4 Whistleblowers:
“How well informed can U.S. citizens be on this subject when the major news media time and again ignore or under-report drone-strike stories — as we have discussed here and here in recent weeks? Stories — such as The Intercept’s October series based on a trove of classified materials provided by a national security whistleblower — that would likely raise serious questions about the drone program in many more Americans’ minds if they were actually given the information?”
Meanwhile, the Air Force proposes to vastly expand its weaponized drone program.
A key answer to this problem — as part of fighting to get the truth known — is actions on our part exposing those crimes. We can’t get jaded or lose our outrage. Here’s what we are doing in January:
Close Guantanamo NOW actions
Saturday January 9
Miami Protest to Shut Down Guantanamo Bay
U.S. Central Command 2:00 pm
Facebook Event
Monday January 11
Washington DC 12:00 pm The White House
Facebook Event
Los Angeles 12:00 pm Federal Building
Interfaith Communities United for Justice & Peace
Details
State of the Union Anti-War Protest
Tuesday January 12
12:00 pm East side of The Capitol, opposite the Supreme Court on 1st Street, Washington DC
KnowDrones.com, World Can’t Wait and the National Campaign for NonViolent Resistance will be in Washington making a visual protest against US drone war.
Details
kNOwdrones.com suggests content for teach-ins on US drone war & the State of the Union:
Why We Fight – To Stop Drone War During WW II, the US government commissioned a series of documentary films called “Why We Fight” to, as Wikipedia says, “persuade” the US public to support US involvement in that war. Mauro Oliveira has created a powerful 25 – minute video that would be excellent for teach-ins, providing persuasive testimony by Americans on why the US should not fight drone war.
“Bugsplat” Powerpoint Also with respect to planning teach-ins, you may want to review a Powerpoint presentation created by Mathias Quackenbush. While some of the data needs to be brought up to date, the Powerpoint discusses basic issues with respect to war for resources, drone war and the connection between current wars and climate change.
Strongly Suggested Reading: 
Break the Silence: No More War on Syria and Beyond
“In four years of war, more than 200,000 Syrians have been killed, and almost 12 million more have been driven from their homes (out of a total population of 22 million). This is on top of the toll of death of millions across Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Libya, Yemen, Palestine and beyond, and the creation of millions more refugees.
Civilians throughout the Middle East are dying, or roam the continent for survival, only to be demonized by those governments who are responsible for this situation.”
Download the statement above as a flier >
Why We Should NOT Root for Our Own Rulers… And Why It’s Better If They LOSE Their Wars by Larry Everest:
“A recent study found that since 2001, U.S. wars were responsible for a total of 1.3 million deaths in Afghanistan (220,000), Pakistan (80,000), and Iraq (one million) alone!
“All these U.S. actions have strengthened reactionary Islamist movements, which have in turn carried out horrific crimes against the people—also in order to enforce backward, oppressive social and economic relations. Why should anyone expect that further U.S. interventions and escalations will do anything other than this? Why should anyone who understands this want to see those moves succeed—or “win”?”
The most interesting news on Guantanamo is the extensive interviews Shaker Aamer has done with BBC and the Daily Mail in the UK. What an interesting, sensitive human being, who seems to have retained both his sense of humor and principles. “Guantanamo is built on how to destroy a human being,” he said.
Make these plans into reality
Donate to help fund the production and transportation of powerful visual displays at protests in D.C. and other cities on the anniversary of the opening of Guantanamo and during the State of the Union.
The powers that be in this country have shifted the story away from the 1.3 million people killed by U.S. in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya to “the threat of terrorism in the US.”
Your gift will support bold and visible action that put people’s attention where it should be — on stopping the crimes of this government. These actions will expose the crimes of this government — their war on the world and indefinite detention.
Will 2016 begin with people siding with the crimes of this government or will it start with a re-awakened movement to put humanity and the planet first?
It’s up to us. It’s up to you. Make your end-of-year donation to make these plans real.
