The US as a great warrior tribe By Marwan Bishara, Al Jazeera’s senior political analyst
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Filed under: Article 9 on January 13th, 2010 | No Comments »
GENERAL McCHRYSTAL HAS PLANS FOR AFGHANISTAN
GENERAL McCHRYSTAL HAS PLANS FOR AFGHANISTAN
By: Bill D. Vietnam Veteran
The New York Times Magazine recently had a long article about General Stanley McChrystal, commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan. The article examined the general’s counterinsurgency plan for “success”. The Washington Post columnist Charles Krauthammer recently claimed that General McChrystal is the world’s foremost counterterrorism expert because in his previous job in Iraq “he killed thousands of bad guys.” (How many “bad guys” do they have in Iraq?)
A picture in the Times article showed that the general has Ranger and Special Forces patches on his sleeve. These are very select units. It means he is also airborne qualified. General McChrystal also runs every day and is, according to one report, “a fitness nut”. He is strong and brave. These may be qualities that are important to him, and that’s fine. But for our country, the more important questions are: is he compassionate and is he wise.? Because strength and bravery without compassion and wisdom are worse than useless, they are destructive. Is General McChrystal a destructive man? I believe so.
If you read the N.Y.Times article carefully and critically, what comes across most strongly is that the general wants to win. But what does he want to win? He says he wants to win the military struggle by protecting the civilian population from the Taliban, by building up the Afghan Army and Police so that they can take over from our soldiers, and by convincing Taliban fighters to come over to the government side. This is a formula for failure.
General McChrystal has been given the power of life and death over millions of Afghans. Is he wise enough to use that power? The answer appears to be “No.” Does he know what the Afghan people want or need? Has he asked? Or is he just another in a long line of Americans whose chief export is arrogance?
The main U.S. goal is said to be getting the population on our side. We have spent eight years not following through on this often stated goal. General McChrystal is not following through on it yet, and his request for 40,000- 85,000 more troops shows that winning over the people is just a sound bite for him. The plan offers nothing to the Afghan people except more fighting and dying. Some Afghans will be protected while others will be left exposed. General McChrystal wants to build up the Afghan security forces. That will only put the people under the control of a corrupt force working for one of the most corrupt and brutal governments in the world. The criminals, warlords and drug-runners surrounding President Hamid Karzai are, according to Ann Jones in a recent article, as cruel and anti-woman as the Taliban, but they are less disciplined in their fanaticism. U.S. analysts and military commanders love to talk about “stabilizing” the country, but what are they planning on stabilizing: misogyny, injustice, hunger, homelessness, and early death?
What have we done for the Afghan people over the last eight years? They are suffering from extremes of homelessness, the lack of basic necessities of life, and violence We have spent over $200 billion, 90% of which has been for military spending. Most of the 10% that is supposed to be for aid and reconstruction has been misspent or stolen. We have supported Hamid Karzai, a man who has as much legitimacy as Diem did in South Vietnam. The fighting itself creates wounded and dying people, but are we providing for those who are suffering? It seems that if our generals and Congressional representatives understood or cared at all about what they are doing in Afghanistan, the ratio of military to civilian spending would be reversed and the spending for civilians would be increased until civilians were cared for, no matter what the cost. What kind of a lying policy is it when you claim to be protecting people and then you leave them to die from wounds, starvation, and sickness?
Our current debate doesn’t include the fact that the Afghans were credited with doing the fighting in the 1980’s that brought down the Soviet Union. What kind of heartless government supplies the weapons and money for a fight like that and then walks away and leaves several million amputees and disabled people, including children, to fend for themselves in a ruined country? Our government has been bleeding Afghanistan for 30 years now and General McChrystal offers more bleeding.
There is one thing that should be the deciding question here and that is that, just as with the war in Iraq, George Bush started this war under false pretences. The stated goal in the beginning was to find Osama bin Laden and destroy his ability to launch more attacks. Bush demanded that the Taliban turn over bin Laden. When they refused, Bush started bombing Afghanistan on Oct. 7, 2001. On the weekend of Oct. 13-14, the Taliban offered to turn over bin Laden to a neutral third country for trial. Bush said “No. There’s no negotiations.” The corporate media, like the stinking jackals and corrupt parasites that they are, [Is this language too strong? I'm a reasonable guy. I can tone it down if I must] helped to make Bush look like a strong leader who refuses to negotiate with terrorists. They helped to cover up the reality that Bush had just turned down an offer that could have ended the war almost at it’s start. He didn’t want to end the war, he wanted to keep it going.
Filed under: Article 9 on November 29th, 2009 | No Comments »
There are no coincidences on a Peace Walk
Ash and I were emerging from store in Olympia, WA on Aug. 1st to hear a strangely familiar sound- the drumming and chanting of Napponza Miyogi! It was Katada Shoni’s anti-nuclear peacewalk, from New Mexico to Seattle. While we knew vaguely of this walk, we had been very busy with our own plans of moving cross country. Stumbling into a parade of peace friends, then, seemed divinely planned.
We joined the walk until it rested at the state capital. There, Ash introduced himself as another veteran peacewalk and celebration ensued. We had a lovely talk and shared peacewalk, peacemaking stories over lunch.
This was another great opportunity to share our ideas about next summer’s peacewalk. Definite dates have not yet been set but tentatively we will begin mid to late June and travel from NYC to Washington DC. As we left Olympia and traveled eastward to Wisconsin, we were continually placed with people in our path with interest and skills in being involved in the peacewalk. Veterans, especially, are encouraged to come and partake in this literal movement for peace.
As plans continue to develop, we will post them here. See you in June!
Filed under: Article 9 on August 20th, 2009 | 1 Comment »
Peacewalk After June 10th
The conversation so far has been only a whisper, but it will grow as things do faster and faster, and pretty soon the conversation of a peace clause in the U.S. constitution will be heard very clearly. This idea has been discussed in every part of American society, in every part of the American landscape. The dialogue isn’t open yet and isn’t free, but with awareness and consideration more people will see that it is a vital component to a lasting world. We see that in violence everyone suffers, and that in violence there is no way to avoid suffering. We understand what our first grade teacher meant when she said,” don’t hit that kid, talk it out because hitting won’t solve our issues.” When one country hits another country to solve a problem, is that problem then solved? I have seen war myself, and the pain that we all suffer from its effects, and I want it to end. As United States citizens we understand our inherent contributions even when these contributions are not conscious decisions to the constant state of war across the world, and want to stop the U.S. military being used as a tool of foreign diplomacy
Filed under: Article 9 on August 11th, 2009 | No Comments »
Cindy Sheehan comes to Bellingham Wa
On July 29 I will have the opurtinity to introduce Military Families Speak Out(MFSO)Gold Star member Cindy Sheehan.
I remember the first mother of a soldier that was killed in Iraq that I had met. She is also a Gold Star member of MFSO, it was with out a doubt one of the most life changing experience that I have had. I met her on the podium in Hiroshima Japan. I was just starting a speaking tour about the corporate greed that was influencing the United States foreign policy, and the effects of war on soldiers and the civilians involved. We were both speaking at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park on the anniversary of the Hiroshima atomic bombing. We had the chance to speak side by side, and answer questions together after we spoke. Speaking with Gold Star mother Celeste Zappala mother of Sgt. Sherwood Baker was like speaking with any mother of any fallen soldier. Celeste could have been my mother, and I could have been Sgt. Baker. This connection between Gold Star mothers and veterans is irreplaceable, the depths of which are inconceivable to a civilian.
Cindy Sheehan is a strong example of leadership, she has spotted the problem and aims to do everything in her power to eradicate it. I have immense respect for her and the work that she has undertaken after the loss of her son. I hope that we all soon realize the greed that influences the corporations our government.
“The belligerency of state will not be recognized.” is a line from the pacifist constitution of Japan, the same constitution that has kept Japan out of war since WW2, and the same constitution that the United States is trying to dis-assemble so Japan can fight in our wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. We need to learn from Japan, and promote a pacifist constitution here in the United States, so that we do not relive Vietnam, Korea, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Nicaragua etc. etc. etc. ever again.
Filed under: Article 9 on July 20th, 2009 | No Comments »
Bellingham, Washington hosts Author Cindy Sheehan
Veterans for Peace, CPL Jonathan Santos Memorial Chapter 111
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Local Veterans for Peace and Whatcom Peace and Justice to Host
Activist/Author Cindy Sheehan
WHEN: Wednesday, July 29, 2009
WHERE: Christ the Servant Lutheran Church
2600 Lakeway Drive, Bellingham, WA at 7 pm
Bellingham’s Veterans For Peace Chapter 111, www.vfp111.org , along with the Whatcom Peace and Justice Center, is hosting an evening with Cindy Sheehan – Gold Star Mother, 2005 Nobel Peace Prize nominee, anti-war activist, author, and 2008 Independent Congressional candidate – on the last stop of her Myth America speaking tour on Wednesday, July 29.
Her recently published internet book entitled Myth America: 10 Greatest Myths of the Robber Class and the Case for Revolution follows three other books, including Not One More Mother’s Child, Dear President Bush, and Peace Mom: A Mother’s Journey Through Heartache to Activism.
Sheehan’s presentations have focused on her belief that it is social and class inequities that divide us. She’s also expressed her frustration with what she describes as the narrowness of the peace movement today. “War is wrong no matter who is president,” she has said. “We have to be just as diligent under the new administration as we were under the old.”
Cindy is hoping to spark dialogue and re-invigorate activism.
Admission by donation.
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Contact: Gene Marx
360-738-8462
Filed under: Article 9 on July 20th, 2009 | No Comments »
Veterans work to recruit other veterans for volunteer projects
Feb, 23, 2009
KIE RELYEA / THE BELLINGHAM HERALD
BELLINGHAM – After years of structure and shared purpose in the U.S. Army, veterans Mike Pereira and Kristopher Powell came home to Whatcom County, only to find themselves cut adrift.
“It was hard for me to transition back into a civilian lifestyle, where my days and my weeks weren’t planned out for me,” said Powell, a 27-year-old Everson resident who spent nearly five years in the service.
They would eventually pull their lives together after hard days and lonely nights, after mistakes and bad decisions. Now, they are part of a unified effort by local veterans groups working to give soldiers returning home an opportunity to volunteer and a chance to leave isolation for what they know – service to their community.
“It’s to help integrate soldiers back into society. We’re having trouble, but we still have warrior ethos,” said Pereira, a Whatcom Community College student who started the veterans club there.
That ethos includes loyalty, duty, selfless service, honor, integrity and personal courage.
Serving their community was what they did in October, when they gathered to do landscaping work for an elderly woman. Among them was a veteran who hadn’t left his apartment for some nine months.
“For the guys, it was an excuse to get up early, get outside and get their hands dirty,” said Pereira, a 26-year-old Bellingham resident who spent six years in the military, including one in Afghanistan.
Giving was what they did Saturday, Feb. 21, when 10 of them spent four hours doing landscape work for two elderly men who were no longer able to keep their Bellingham lawn neat.
The idea is to involve soldiers in larger efforts, to provide structure, to let them once more feel like they’re working side by side in a shared cause, to let veterans help veterans.
“We’re giving back, and I think we’re taking some of that for ourselves. Not in a selfish way,” Powell said, “but it’s giving us something, giving us a mission again.”
Pereira hopes such efforts bring people together.
“We’re trying to break down the barrier between soldiers and civilians. We’re trying to tear down stereotypes between the two,” he said.
Their help is needed.
“I appreciate their time and just how great they are. They really want to make a difference,” said Aly Hoover, director of the Whatcom Volunteer Chore Program.
The veterans did their two community service projects for the Chore Program, which helps the elderly and the disabled stay in their homes by assisting with cleaning, yard work, minor repairs, errands and transportation.
Hoover said she especially appreciated their efforts because as veterans, they’ve already given so much of themselves.
“We’re blessed to have them,” she said.
Pereira knows how important it is for veterans to be engaged and to once again feel like they’re part of something.
He struggled with such issues when he came home in 2007, after his military service and a year as a private contractor in Iraq.
“As combat veterans, we have left one battlefield for another,” he said.
During his struggle to understand what was happening, Pereira said he cut himself off from other people who cared about him. He isolated himself into his living. He couldn’t bear to sleep in his bed. A scene from a movie he saw in a theater trigged a panic attack.
“I walked out a different person,” he recalled.
But with the help of the late Tim Nelson, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran who served three tours in Iraq, Pereira started to find his way again.
“He got me active. He got me engaged,” Pereira said of Nelson, who had been president of the Bellingham chapter of Veterans of Modern Warfare.
Now, Pereira is trying to do the same for other veterans.
Filed under: Article 9 on July 20th, 2009 | No Comments »
Veteran’s believe in our future:
Vietnam Veteran and Friend Allen Nelson passed away this year, the cause was bone cancer, possibly from his exposure to Agent Orange during the war against the Vietnamese people. He was a marine during the Vietnam War, and what he saw changed him, as war changed me, as war changes us all. My name is Ash Woolson, I am a veteran of the Iraq war. I am president of a chapter of Iraq Veterans Against the War though I consider myself an Iraq Veteran Against ALL War. This June my family and I recently attended Allen Nelson’s memorial service in Ishikawa, Japan.
After years of struggling with the demons that haunt soldiers after war, Allen Nelson devoted himself to peace activism and started to talk with the people of Okinawa about the occupation of American forces in Japan, specifically on the islands of Okinawa. Speaking about the occupation of American forces on Okinawa is something that Mr. Nelson knew intimately; he had trained for years on the islands and had seen the American military’s brutal treatment of the Okinawan people first hand. Over a course of 16 years Allen Nelson went from speaking about Okinawa to also speaking about “the pacifist constitution,” Article Nine of the Japanese Constitution, and the global importance of Article Nine. In Japan “Allen Nelson” became synonymous with Article Nine and the push to end the American occupation of Japan.
Article Nine in the Japanese constitution reads like this, “Aspiring sincerely to an international peace based on justice and order, the Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as means of settling international disputes. (2) In order to accomplish the aim of the preceding paragraph, land, sea, and air forces, as well as other war potential, will never be maintained. The right of belligerency of the state will not be recognized.(Law Library of Congress http://www.loc.gov/law/help/JapanArticle9.pdf )” This part of the Japanese constitution has kept Japan from being involved in war since WW2, during which an estimated 20 million Asians were killed by the Japanese military. Japan also suffered severe firebombing of its major metropolitan areas and nuclear bombs were dropped on both Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the United States, killing 2.5 million Japanese.
How Article Nine was established in the Japanese constitution is subject to a lot of debate, but I believe that any controversy draws attention from the gem of peaceful legislation that Article Nine truly is. When Article Nine was drafted, the world was still reeling from the painful aftermath of WW2 and willing to try something new. It was this moment of clarity that Article Nine was birthed, and a militaristic nation was born again into a peaceful nation, one that hasn’t committed a single act of war for over 60 years.
But now the United States is pressuring Japan to remove this particular part of its constitution.
The Article Nine debate started when former Deputy U.S. Secretary of state, Richard Armitage said in a special report that,”Japan’s prohibition against collective self-defense is a constraint on alliance cooperation. Lifting this prohibition would allow for closer and more efficient security cooperation.(Armitage report http://www.ndu.edu/ndu/sr_japan.html )” Basically it insists that Japan needs to remove Article Nine from it’s constitution to fulfill it’s obligation to the United States for cooperative security. Removing Article Nine would, in a sense, make Japan’s Self Defense Force (similar in intention to the American National Guard) a reserve component of the United States military. The U.S. influence over Japanese politicians has become abundantly clear with the former prime minister Yasuo Fukuda following President Bush’s policies until his approval rating in Japan was worse than Bush’s and he was shamed into resignation. Now Japan’s Prime Minister Taro Aso seems to be following the same fate with an approval rating for his cabinet at 23.9 percent (http://www.japantoday.com/category/politics/view/aso-cabinets-approval-rating-recovers-to-234-kyodo-poll ).
My experiences in Iraq piqued my interest in Article Nine as well. What I saw during that year in 2003 changed my idea of what the purpose of war is. During my time I saw how the Iraqi people were losing because of the occupation. We systematically called all Iraqi nationals by the term “Haji” just like we called the Japanese “Japs” during WW2 and the Japanese in turn called Americans “Kitchukubayay” which translates to “white devil.” The intention of these terms is to separate the people that are killed and the idea that they are also humans.
When I returned from the war I also saw how the soldiers that were fighting the war were also losing, for example one third of the homeless in American are veterans, and the majority of veterans returning from war suffer PTSD; 17 veterans are committing suicide everyday, which is twice the average of non-veterans.
Like Allen Nelson, I’ve been traveling to Japan to encourage the Japanese people to hold on to Article Nine. In the spring of 2008, I walked 1000 miles from Hiroshima to Makuhari Japan, bringing awareness to the importance of Article Nine. During the peacewalk I learned more about myself, and what my dream of peace is. This is when I changed from being a veteran against the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, to a veteran against all wars.
After I saw that everyone involved in war loses I asked myself, “What is the purpose of war if everyone loses?” I thought about this question far too long, because when I realized the answer I saw how truly simple it was. The people don’t win during war, but the corporations that are involved in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are seeing massive payouts. It occurred to me that was was started for greed, and the more I look into this, the more I see that it is correct, war is inexplicable connected to greed of some kind or another. Leaders get to control more people and land, or get wealthier; all while the people die and suffer.
I remember my first grade teacher telling me to stop hitting another kid on the playground at recess, her reason was simple: she said in her Midwestern accent “violence doesn’t solve anything.” Every child is taught this, why do the majority of people believe that it is OK or inevitable that one country will slap another country? Mahatma Gandhi said that the same rules apply to personal relationships as countries and their relationships. How much longer are we going to accept the same mistakes as natural?
So many wars have been started under the idea that it will bring peace, but war cannot bring peace. If it was possible to bring peace through war, we would be living in a peaceful world today.
I am using this soap box to announce a peacewalk initiated by veterans and welcome to all, next summer from Allen Nelsons hometown Bronx, NY. To Washington DC. The peacewalk will encourage the discussion of a pacifist amendment into the constitution of the United States. This conversation needs to be addressed. As many of us know, one half of our taxes are going to the military, it has become clear that the militaries aggressive behavior is not creating a safer place for Americans or any peoples. Walkers all ages are encouraged to join for as long as they want to walk. Some meals and stay places will be provided. For more information please refer to the website http://thepeacewalk.com. I will be updating this site with information on how to participate and contribute to the peacewalk next summer. My email is ashkyrie@gmail.com, please let me know if you have any questions.
Filed under: Article 9, IVAW on July 18th, 2009 | No Comments »
Allen Nelson
Allen Nelson`s memorial on June 25 in Ishikawa Pref. Japan. Although I never had the opportunity to meet Allen in person, since I heard of him I have always felt that we share a similar path. When I first came to Japan last year and participated in the peacewalk, people came to me and asked if I knew him. The people would tell me stories about Allen since Mr. Nelson had been coming to Japan for the last fourteen years there were many stories. Most of all I was told that he had a very big heart, he wanted to help create a better world for us. I think that people like Allen Nelson need to see the reality of war, so that he has the opportunity to be able to tell the truth to us. If you know Allen`s or my story, please speak it to your families and friends, because if people know that truth about war, they cannot let their governments go to war.
May Peace Be With You Allen,
Ash
Filed under: Article 9 on July 2nd, 2009 | 1 Comment »
Allen Nelson, Beacon of Peace
http://www.k3.dion.ne.jp/~k-9mp/Allen%20Nelson.html
We have returned to Japan, the first time for me (Seres) as well as our daughter Finn Ojo. Over and over we have been blessed with the kindness bestowed on us by the peace community. The world has become smaller since arriving here, our people are your people, your people are our people. All the same.
Our main reason for this journey was to celebrate the peacemaker, Allen Nelson. Allen was a Vietnam War veteran who has been speaking of the importance of peace in Japan since 1996. He too was very concerned about holding on to Article 9 as well as shutting down the American imperialistic military bases here. This spring, he passed away, a casualty of the war he partook in 30 years earlier, succumbing to the effects of his Agent Orange exposure.
Being at his memorial was so beautiful. Not only did people come to celebrate his life from throughout Japan, but his family and friends traveled from America. The ceremony was full of tears, life, and joy. Such a blessed community.
While we are here we will continue to talk about peace and the importance of Japans Article 9, trying to continue the work that Allen so wholly believed in . Peace to you. Heiwa!
Filed under: Article 9 on June 29th, 2009 | No Comments »