Capitol
Hill Update, July 2006
 |
Congress is back in session
for a little while before
the August recess. So it's
a good time to reach out
and state your opinion.
Take
action here.
Try it! Really. Go ahead. |
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At the top of our action
list this month:
- War
is not the answer in Iran, either:
Smart, effective, committed
diplomacy, not bombs:
Take
action.
- Common
Sense Budget Act: Take
action.
- Iraq
war: Get HJ Res 55
out of committee and onto the
floor so we can talk about it:
Take
action.
- Stop
the spread of new nukes: Oppose
nuclear deal with India. Take
action.
 |
Why
is this man smiling?
He's
remaking the federal budget
-- one dollar at a time.
Click
here to
take action!
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|
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Notes
from
the
WAND
News
Bulletin
editor
Those
good
ole
guys
Ben
&
Jerry
are
at
it
again.
This
time,
they're
shining
a
spotlight
on
the
federal
budget,
exposing
the
crazy
way
it
allocates
our
national
dollars.
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Seems no matter
how
many
times
any
of
us
says
it,
most
people
still
don't
know:
the
Pentagon
is
gobbling
up
your
slice
of
the
pie.
Not
just
the
Pentagon:
painfully
wealthy
defense
contractors.
The
Pentagon
spends
wildly
on
wacky,
obsolete
weapons
systems
that
were
invented
to
fight
the
Cold
War.
Remember
that
war?
It
was
some
time
ago,
well
before
the
"war
on
terror"
and
the
wars
in
Iraq
and
Afghanistan.
Those
weapons
are
no
good
in
the
new
wars.
But
we
still
keep
spending
on
them.
Plus,
we
don't
keep
track
of
our
spending
on
them.
By
all
accounts,
the
Pentagon
is
throwing
money
around
like
a
drunk
CEO.
 |
So
Ben
&
Jerry
are
launching
a
new
ice
cream
flavor
to
draw
our
attention
to
this:
American
Pie.
If
you
see
it
in
the
market--and
you're
in
the
market
for
ice
cream--grab
some.
(First-hand
accounts
report
back
that
it's
quite
tasty,
as
well
as
PC.)
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DEFENSE
BUDGET CUTS
Trim
spending; use
savings on national
security
BY LAWRENCE
J. KORB| Miami
Herald
| Click
here for
full article.
In
a development
that could signal
the faint beginning
of an enlightened
shift in federal
government spending,
the Republican-controlled
Senate Appropriations
Committee voted
to transfer
$9 billion from
the Pentagon
budget to education,
health and law
enforcement
accounts.
It
took real courage
for senators
to approve this
transfer in
the midst of
the wars in
Iraq and Afghanistan.
It
was brave not
because the
money cut would
affect the war
effort in any
way. In fact,
the Iraq and
Afghan wars
are not funded
by the annual
defense budget
but by supplemental
appropriations.
No,
what's impressive
is the backbone
that senators
mustered to
fend off defense
contractor lobbyists
who surely waged
a frightening
offensive to
stop the sensible
defense cuts.
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Good
news on budget
masks grim longer-term
view
Bush credits
his tax cuts,
surging revenues
with deficit drop,
but analysts look
to future
Carolyn Lochhead
| San Francisco
Chronicle
July
12, 2006 | Full
article, click
here.
Bush
credited his
signature tax
cuts in 2001
and 2003 for
an anticipated
30 percent drop
in the deficit
to $296 billion.
Although some
analysts agreed
that tax cuts
helped produce
higher economic
growth and tax
revenue, they
warned that
Bush and the
Republican-led
Congress are
spending the
money very fast.
The
revenue burst,
while welcome,
masks a dangerous
longer-term
picture, the
analysts said.
"I
think you should
buy yourself
a very small
brownie, light
a candle and
blow it out,"
said former
Congressional
Budget Office
Director Douglas
Holz-Eakin.
"This is
tiny compared
to the big problem,
and it's on
the wrong side
of the budget.
The big problem
is on the spending
side, and there
is a question
of just how
permanent this
will be."
If
Republicans
hope to calm
their base over
spending, they
will find scant
help from conservative
budget analysts...
Democrats
said $300 billion
deficits are
nothing to crow
about.
"Despite
the administration's
spin, the truth
is that the
projected budget
deficit is still
the fourth largest
in American
history,"
said Rep. Mike
Thompson, D-St.
Helena. "A
nearly $300
billion budget
deficit two
years before
millions of
Baby Boomers
begin to retire
is absolutely
nothing to celebrate.''
With
the giant Baby
Boom generation
now just 18
months from
the start of
its retirement,
the federal
government stands
on the brink
of a historic
economic juncture.
As the 76 million
people born
between 1946
and 1964 retire,
they will stop
paying taxes
into Social
Security and
Medicare and
start collecting
benefits.
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Pentagon
Struggles With
Cost Overruns
and Delays
By LESLIE WAYNE | New York Times | July
11, 2006
Full article,
click
here.
...Cost
overruns have
long been a
Pentagon staple.
But what has
alarmed government
oversight agencies
and Pentagon
observers, and
spurred Congress
to act, is the
magnitude of
the spending
increases. Projects
are as much
as 50 percent
over budget
and up to four
years late in
delivery.
“We
have been living
in a rich man’s
world for the
last five years,”
said Jacques
Gansler, Pentagon
under secretary
for acquisition
from 1997 to
2001 and vice
president for
research at
the University
of Maryland.
“The defense
budget has been
growing so rapidly
that we are
less likely
to put in many
cost-sensitive
reforms.”
In
recent Congressional
hearings and
reports from
the Government
Accountability
Office, Congress’s
investigative
arm, the Pentagon
has been portrayed
as so mired
in bureaucracy
and so enamored
of the latest
high-tech gadgetry
that multi-billion-dollar
weapon systems
are running
years behind
in development
and are dangerously
over budget...
“It’s
a perfect storm,”
said Lawrence
J. Korb, a former
Pentagon assistant
secretary, who
served in the
Reagan administration
and is now a
senior fellow
at the Center
for American
Progress. “You
had this big
buildup in military
spending. That
took a bubbling
problem and
made it worse.
It made it more
difficult to
audit and keep
track of what
was going on.
It’s always
been bad, but
I’ve never
seen it this
bad.”
...
|
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Gregg
Bill would make
far-reaching
changes in budget
rules
Bill
Would Aim Budget
Knife at Domestic
Programs While
Shielding Tax
Cuts from Fiscal
Discipline
| July 2006
by Robert Greenstein,
James Horney,
and Richard
Kogan
Center on Budget
and Policy Priorities
| Click
here.
Executive
Summary
Sweeping
legislation
to radically
alter federal
budget procedures,
designed by
Senate Budget
Committee chairman
Judd Gregg and
endorsed by
Senate Majority
Leader Bill
Frist, was adopted
by the Budget
Committee on
June 20.
The bill may
be brought to
the Senate floor
this summer
(either as a
single piece
of legislation
or as several
separate bills).
The
legislation
seeks to force
dramatic changes
in the budget.
If enacted,
it could have
profound effects
on American
society.
In
unveiling the
bill earlier
in June, Senator
Gregg described
it in moderate
terms as offering
“common-sense
and fiscally
responsible
solutions”
to problems
like “duplicative
and wasteful
spending.”
The legislation
fails, however,
to include common-sense
budget reforms
that have proved
effective in
the past, such
as restoration
of the Pay-As-You-Go
rules on entitlement
increases and
tax cuts. Instead,
the bill contains
radical measures
that could lead
to massive cuts
over time in
Medicaid and
Medicare and
reductions in
the vast majority
of domestic
programs, while
shielding tax
cuts from any
fiscal discipline.
The bill would
do the following:
- Impose
caps on funding
for discretionary
programs that
would force
substantial
cuts in public
services.
The Gregg
bill would
lock in, for
the next three
years, the
overall discretionary
funding levels
proposed in
President
Bush’s
most recent
budget. To
hit those
levels, the
President’s
budget proposes
$66 billion
in domestic
discretionary
cuts over
the next three
years. By
2009, the
President’s
cuts would
hit every
domestic discretionary
program area
in the budget,
with the sole
exception
of space,
science, and
technology.
- Set
fixed deficit
targets, falling
to 0.5 percent
of GDP by
2012, enforced
by automatic
across-the-board
cuts in all
entitlement
programs except
Social Security.
- Establish
new definitions
of “solvency”
for Medicare
and Medicaid
that are unrelated
to how these
programs are
financed,
have a marked
ideological
tilt, and
could not
be met without
harsh changes.
- Establish
a “fast-track”
legislative
mechanism
that could
allow a narrow
partisan majority
to ram through
Congress terminations
of (and major
changes in)
discretionary
and entitlement
programs.

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"Why
We Fight" -- Great New
Movie on DVD
Named after the series of short
films by legendary director Frank
Capra that explored America’s
reasons for entering World War
II, "Why We Fight" surveys
a half-century of military conflicts,
asking how – and answering
why – a nation of, by and
for the people has become the
savings-and-loan of a government
system whose survival depends
on an Orwellian state of constant
war. |
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Notes
from the WAND News Bulletin
editor
WAND
has endorsed several women
running to serve in Congress
for the first time: Click
here to see the list. |
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Why
you should care: do you
think you're really represented
up there on Capitol Hill
right now? When one of
those wealthy white men
climbs on the soapbox
and starts in again about
"freedom" and
"values" --
aren't you yelling at
the radio?
We
need a Congress that looks
like the nation: all genders,
all colors, all religions,
all socioeconomic backgrounds.
Otherwise, we're gonna
get more of the same.
Speaking
of which, here's a bit
of news about a woman
who clocks in for a living;
and then serves in her
state legislature. She
gets it, and she brings
it to the State House.
A
Nevada State Senator Keeps
Her Day Job
She's
also a member of WiLL
(Women Legislators' Lobby,
a program of WAND), and
quite a nice person.
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Remembering
Maya Miller, activist for peace
Maya
Miller, philanthropist and champion
for women, peace and the environment,
died on May 31, 2006 at her
ranch in Nevada. She was 90
years old. Her life epitomizes
WAND's mission to empower women
to act politically. She understood
that change will come when women
take the lead. |
WAND
women have been taking action in the
last few weeks! A quick roundup.
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Alabama:
Reaching out to
the Member of Congress
with the most influence
on using diplomacy (vs.
military action) in Iran
In
mid-July, WAND and WiLL
reached out to women
in Alabama, to urge
them to contact Sen.
Shelby (R-AL) about
the need for diplomacy
in Iran. Shelby chairs
the Senate Banking Committee,
and is the single Member
of Congress who will
most influence the decision
to extend the current
Iran and Libya Sanctions
Act for a temporary
period.
WiLL called all the
women state legislators
in Alabama and had them
call Senator Shelby.
WAND contacted members
and friends and urged
them to send a message
to the Senator.
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Arkansas:
Fabulous
July 4th 2006 party!
AR
WAND Fundraiser for the Beacon of Peace and Hope on July 4, 2006
at the Arkansas Inland
Maritime
Museum
next to the U.S.S. Razorback
submarine on the north
side of the Arkansas River.
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It was
standing room only at
a forum on Capitol Hill
organized by WAND entitled
"Iran:
US Policy Options (That
Do Not Involve Military
Action)." 
Some
30 attended--interns to
executive directors and
every level in between--from
religious, arms control
and women’s groups.
Speakers were Daryl Byler/Director
of the Mennonite Central
Committee Washington Office
and visitor to Iran several
times, Trita Parsi/Iranian
scholar in residence at
Carnegie Endowment for
International Peace and
president of the National
American Iranian Council,
and Ivan Eland/Director
of the Center on Peace
& Liberty at the Independent
Institute and former Principal
Defense Analyst at the
Congressional Budget Office
and Director of Defense
Policy Studies at the
Cato Institute. Event
cosponsors were Center
for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation
and Nuclear Age Peace
Foundation. |
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Join
the "Troops Home
Fast"
On
July 4, CodePink and
others launched an
historic hunger strike
called TROOPS HOME
FAST in Washington,
DC in front
of the White House.
It's going strong
until September 21
(International Peace
Day), when there will
be a week of mass
actions against the
war. Check
it out. |
On
July 4, CODEPINK and Gold
Star Families launched an
historic hunger strike called
TROOPS HOME FAST, calling
for the U.S. government
to bring our troops home
from Iraq--FAST. A core
group of long-term fasters
is fasting in front of the
White House, in Washington
DC and we invite fasters
and non-fasters to join
us.
They
will keep the fast going
until September 21, International
Peace Day, when there will
be a week of mass actions
against the war.

Dropping
by the fast in DC, two of
our favorite women: Rep.
Lynn Woolsey (D-CA) (l,
in pink) and Rep. Cynthia
McKinney (D-GA).
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Notes
from the WAND News Bulletin
editor
North
Korea launched some missiles
in early July. They wanted
to show, apparently, that
they can do that. And that
we can't stop 'em, even
with our "missile defense"
thingy. We both looked kinda
silly.
|
|
Our
friends have weighed in,
with all sorts of opinions.
Here's a quick round-up.
From
Lt. General Robert Gard (USA,
Ret.) & John D. Isaacs
Center for Arms Control and
Non-Proliferation:
These events represent
a symmetrical international
Kabuki dance: the North Koreans
tested a missile with no idea
whether or not it would function
as intended, and the United
States activated a missile
defense system without evidence
that it has the capability
to intercept the North Korean
missile. The action
taken by the United States
appears to be public relations
ploy designed to create the
perception that the administration
is defending the country against
a possible missile attack
from North Korea.
Statement
by Dr. David Wright, Co-Director,
Global Security Program, Union
of Concerned Scientists:
"The
failure of North Korea's
test of its Taepodong 2
missile creates a new opportunity
for the Bush administration
to develop an effective
strategy to address concerns
about North Korean missiles.
"Without
question, the best way to
stop North Korea from acquiring
a long-range missile is
to keep it from developing
such a missile in the first
place. Developing
missiles requires flight
testing, so getting North
Korea to resume its self-imposed
flight test moratorium is
an effective and completely
verifiable way to cap its
missile program...
"Diplomacy
is the art of solving difficult
problems before they turn
into military threats. The
Bush administration has
short-changed diplomacy,
and its policy on North
Korea has simply failed...
In
the interest of U.S. security,
the Bush administration
needs to focus on the most
important issues and think
creatively to find a way
to engage North Korea in
discussions of its nuclear
and missile programs."
From
World Security Institute (aka
Center for Defense Information):
North
Korea’s launch of
numerous missiles this week
raises interesting questions
about the capabilities of
both the U.S. missile defense
system and North Korea’s
ballistic missile program.
Many reports noted that
while six of the launches
were short- to medium-range
ballistic missiles, with
Scuds ranging about 200
miles and the Nodongs about
625 to 875 miles, there
was only one test of the
Taepodong-2, thought to
be North Korea’s longest-range
ballistic missile with the
theoretical capability of
reaching 2,500 miles. However,
the Taepodong-2 fell apart
about 40 seconds into its
flight, before its second
stage could be engaged.
|
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| Our
missile defense system is seen
as an expensive bluff
Nieman Foundation for Journalism
at Harvard University
COMMENTARY | July 12, 2006 | Full
piece, click
here.
Which
is Bush’s position:
A) Our missile defense system
can now defend the U.S., or B)
It’s too new to predict
success, or C) It has a reasonable
chance of knocking out anything
North Korea shoots at us? If you
chose all three you would be correct;
those are the answers Bush gave
on July 6 and 7. And if you said
the system flat out doesn’t
work, you’d also be correct.
By
Philip E. Coyle
The stand-off
between North Korea and the United
States is like a game of celebrity
poker where both sides are bluffing.
North Korea doesn't have a missile
that can reach the U.S., and the
U.S. doesn't have a missile defense
system that we could rely on to
shoot it down, if it did.
In an interview
taped at the White House on July
6, President and Mrs. Bush appeared
on "Larry King Live"
on CNN.
At one point Larry
King asked the President what
would we do if North Korea launched
a missile at the US.
Suggesting we
had a missile defense system that
could shoot it down, the President
replied, "If it headed to
the United States we've got a
missile defense system that will
defend our country."
Later
someone must have told the President
that our ground-based system in
Alaska has no demonstrated capability
to defend the U.S. against an
enemy attack under realistic operational
conditions. The very next day
at his news conference in Chicago,
the President was asked the question
again. For the exchange that took
place, click
here.
|
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Time
magazine cover, July 17, 2006
The Time site: click
here. |
|
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From
Union of Concerned Scientists:
U.S.
Missile Defense Would Offer Little
Protection against North Korean
Missiles
Countermeasures Would Neutralize
the U.S. System
Click
here to watch a video
clip that shows why America’s
missile defense system can’t
guarantee our safety from the
threat of long-range ballistic
missiles.
In
advance of North Korea’s
failed test of a Taepodong 2 missile
on July 4, 2006, American officials
stated that the United States
had activated its nascent ground-based
missile defense system deployed
in Alaska and California. Can
this system—even if it were
fully deployed—defend against
an attack by long-range ballistic
missiles launched by an emerging
missile state such as North Korea?
The
answer is almost certainly no,
because any attacker could use
straightforward “countermeasures”
to confuse, overwhelm, or otherwise
defeat this defense.
|
Published
on Friday, June 30, 2006 by CommonDreams.org
U.S. Nuclear
Superiority Forms Backdrop to "Talks"
with Iran
by William D. Hartung
The Bush administration's pledge
to talk with Iran about its nuclear
program comes against the backdrop
of massive U.S. nuclear superiority.
Iran appears to be seeking a nuclear
weapon that could be produced five
to ten years from now. By contrast,
as of January of this year the United
States had 5,735 active nuclear
warheads, with another 4,235 held
in reserve. To put it mildly, the
nuclear scorecard is rather heavily
tilted towards Washington: U.S.
10,000, Iraq zero. This
"do as I say, not as I do"
approach to nuclear weapons will
not serve the U.S. well in negotiations
with Iran.
Even
given this major flaw in the U.S.
stance, the Bush administration's
decision to offer the possibility
of direct talks with Iran is a
potentially good sign. Secretary
of State Condoleezza Rice had
to fight a fierce internal battle
with Vice President Dick Cheney
to get an offer of talks of any
sort on the table...
|
|
The
India nuclear deal: So dull. So
important it makes my teeth hurt.
It's hard to drum up interest
in the India nuclear deal. We
know. We tried.
But as the Senate
took up the issue of whether to
support Bush's deal with India,
a few brave Senators spoke out.
Forcefully and articulately. This
is much of the speech by Sen.
Byron Dorgan. It rocks.
SENATOR
BYRON DORGAN: Speech of June 23,
2006 on U.S.-Indian nuclear deal
 |
It
is almost incomprehensible
to me that the administration
has agreed to a nuclear deal
with India, a country that
did not sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation
Treaty, that will gut the
nonproliferation treaty and
allow New Dehli to dramatically
expand its stockpile of nuclear
weapons and possibly ignite
another regional arms race
of nuclear weapons. |
Giving
legitimacy to the nuclear arsenal
that India secretly developed
is not going to help us convince
other countries to give up their
secret nuclear programs.
The nonproliferation
treaty is a treaty that, if you
describe it, puts people to sleep.
``Nonproliferation'' as a term
doesn't even sound very exciting.
But it is at
the root of the determination
of whether we will one day see
nuclear weapons exploded in American
cities.
We have to stop
the spread of nuclear weapons.
The nonproliferation treaty isn't
perfect, but there are a host
of countries in this world who
have decided to forgo trying to
acquire or build nuclear weapons
because of it. They have done
that so that they can get access
to peaceful nuclear assistance
for nuclear power that is allowed
by the treaty because the treaty
would not allow access to technology
for nuclear power to build nuclear
powerplants unless the country
signed the nonproliferation treaty
and agree to forego nuclear weapons.
That treaty has worked--not perfectly--but
it has worked well enough...
I don't understand
this at all. The fact is, this
is a huge step backwards for this
country in providing leadership
to stop the spread of nuclear
weapons...
I think this is
the most significant mistake--and
there have been very significant
mistakes in recent years--but
this is one of the most significant
mistakes I can conceive of . .
.
Instead, we are
off making deals with India. Yes,
India is a fine country. I want
India to be a friend of ours.
But I am not willing to abrogate
the nonproliferation treaty and
say to India: It is all right
what you did to secretly produce
nuclear weapons outside of the
nonproliferation treaty. That
is not all right with us. It ought
not be a signal we send to the
rest of the world that it is all
right with us. Yet that is exactly
what the deal with India is signaling:
We will give you the technology
and the capability. You allow
inspectors into 14 plants in the
future, you can have 8 plants
that you have behind the curtain
to produce nuclear weapons, and
that is fine with us because the
geopolitics of this deal lead
us to believe it is more important
to give you this agreement...
Some
don't care very much about that.
They think there are other things
that are much more important.
There is nothing much
more important in the day of terrorism,
in this new age of terrorism,
than making certain that we never,
ever have a nuclear weapon detonated
in a major American city. How
do you do that? You stop the spread
of nuclear weapons. You reduce
the stockpile of nuclear weapons.
And you make sure that we provide
the aggressive, assertive leadership
to try to keep nuclear weapons
out of the hands of terrorists
and safeguard existing stocks
even as we try to reduce the number.
That is our responsibility. The
world looks to us for that leadership.
And this, in my judgment, is not
providing the kind of leadership
that gives me comfort.
|
| Securing
the Bomb, report from NTI
More information, click
here.
With
terrorists actively seeking nuclear
weapons and the materials to make
them, urgent measures are needed
to prevent a nuclear 9/11, according
to two new reports released today
on the eve of the G8 summit in
St. Petersburg. The reports, Securing
the Bomb 2006 by Matthew Bunn
and Anthony Wier of Harvard’s
Managing the Atom Project, and
Assessing the G8 Global Partnership:
From Kananaskis to St. Petersburg
by the Strengthening the Global
Partnership Project, were commissioned
by the Nuclear Threat Initiative
(NTI).
Securing
the Bomb 2006
Security and accounting upgrades
are accelerating in Russia, but
dangerous threats of nuclear theft
remain, in Russia and worldwide,
according to the Securing the
Bomb report. The study notes that
Russia’s Minister of Interior
recently confirmed that “international
terrorists” were planning
attacks to “seize nuclear
materials and use them to build
weapons of mass destruction,”
and that in April 2006, a group
of conspirators was arrested with
22 kilograms of low-enriched uranium
stolen from Elektrostal –
a plant that also processes tons
of weapons-usable highly enriched
uranium (HEU), where multiple
thefts have occurred before.
|
 |
Notes
from the WAND News Bulletin
editor
Doesn't
it seem like the world is
a mess right now? And that
we're floundering for answers?
Some hope here. |
An
American Foreign Policy That Both
Realists and Idealists Should
Fall in Love With
By ROBERT WRIGHT | New York
Times | July 16, 2006 | Click
here.
It’s
now possible to build a foreign
policy paradigm that comes close
to squaring the circle —
reconciling the humanitarian aims
of idealists with the powerful
logic of realists. And adopting
this paradigm could make the chaos
of the last week less common in
the future.
|
|
Published
on Thursday, July 13, 2006 by
Tom Dispatch
The
Hidden War on Women in Iraq
by Ruth Rosen
Abu Ghraib. Haditha. Guantanamo.
These are words that shame our
country. Now, add to them Mahmudiya,
a town 20 miles south of Baghdad.
There, this March, a group of
five American soldiers allegedly
were involved in the rape and
murder of Abeer Qassim Hamza,
a young Iraqi girl. Her body was
then set on fire to cover up their
crimes, her father, mother, and
sister murdered. The rape of this
one girl, if proven true, is probably
not simply an isolated incident.
But how would we know? In Iraq,
rape is a taboo subject. Shamed
by the rape, relatives of this
girl wouldn't even hold a public
funeral and were reluctant to
reveal where she is buried.
|
|
Pentagon's
Fine Line: War Machine, P.R. Machine
by Martin Kaste | NPR
Morning Edition,
July 13, 2006 · The U.S.
military doesn't do all its public
relations work overseas -- it's
also investing in grass-roots
efforts here at home.
The
Pentagon's "America Supports
You" program employs Pentagon
staff and private PR contractors
to coordinate activities that
support the armed forces. "Freedom
Walk" marches, letter-writing
campaigns, even supplements in
kids' Weekly Reader, are all paid
for by the Pentagon itself...
Much of the publicity
work has been farmed out to a
private firm, Susan Davis International.
For the first year of America
Supports You, the firm signed
Pentagon contracts for at least
$2.7 million.
|
|
Reid
calls for a change of course in
Iraq
Senate
Majority Leader Harry Reid on
Levin-Reed amendment re Iraq,
to begin redeploying US forces
in 2006 | Full comments,
click
here.
June 22, 2006, debate on FY07
defense authorization
"That
we are to stand by the President,
right or wrong, is not only
unpatriotic and servile, but
is morally treasonable to the
American people.'' --Republican
President Theodore Roosevelt
...Twenty-five
hundred dead Americans is not
"just a number,'' as Tony
Snowe, the President's spokesman,
said. These 2,500 are sons, daughters,
mothers, fathers, husbands, and
wives. They are PFC Thomas Tucker
and PFC Kristian Menchaca, whose
mutilated bodies were found in
Iraq yesterday. These aren't just
numbers.
We owe it to these troops and
all of our forces serving in Iraq
to develop a sound policy. We
hear a lot of rhetoric about ``supporting
the troops.'' But the best way
we can support them is with a
smart strategy--not with more
rhetoric or slogans. ...
The
war is now costing the American
people every month upwards of
$2 billion--$500 million each
week. The military has been stretched
so thin, with every available
combat unit of the Army and Marine
Corps serving multiple tours in
Iraq.
This
war is not a matter for "future
Presidents'' as President Bush
said. It is his war. It is the
war of President George Bush.
And the time to act is now, for
as we are bogged down in Iraq,
the threats to our freedom around
the world only grow.
An
open-ended commitment in Iraq
hurts our ability to address other
national security challenges around
the world. While beginning the
phased redeployment this year
will allow many of our troops
to come home, it will also permit
the President to redeploy forces
so they can deal with other crises
such as we now have in Afghanistan--where
four or five were killed yesterday--where
the resurgent Taliban threat must
be eliminated and Osama bin Laden
must be finally captured or killed.
..
The
Vice President continues to insist
the insurgency is in its “last
throes,” despite the headlines
we read every day. The President
continues to insist that we’ll
“stand down, when Iraqis
stand up,” but that has
yet to occur.
It’s
time to change course from the
slogans, the attacks, and the
continual misleading.
Demanding
a change of course is not irresponsible,
it’s not unpatriotic, it
is the right thing to do.
As Edward R. Murrow once said:
“We
must no confuse dissent with disloyalty.
When the loyal opposition dies,
I think the soul of America dies
with it.”
Mr.
President, for all those troops
that are serving on their third
and fourth tours in Iraq;
For
all those Iraqis who want to see
an end to the civil war plaguing
their nation;
For
all those people who want Iraq
to succeed in delivering a free
and democratic way of life of
its people;
For
all those who believe we need
to refocus on the larger global
war on terror;
We
must vote for a change in policy
and change in direction. We must
reject stay the course. |

THE WAR TAPES follows
three men. You will see Operation
Iraqi Freedom through their
eyes. |
In
March 2004, just as the insurgent
movement strengthened, several
members of one National Guard
unit arrived in Iraq, carrying
digital video cameras.
THE
WAR TAPES is the movie
they made with Director
Deborah Scranton and a team
of award-winning filmmakers.
It’s the first war
movie filmed by soldiers
themselves on the front
lines in Iraq.
|
|
 |
Political
Trainings, 2006: Lead, follow,
or get out of the way!
The
2006 election season is underway!
If you want to do more than just
vote, you may want to check out
the resources on these pages. |
 |
Join
the "Troops Home Fast"
On
July 4, CodePink and others launched
an historic hunger strike called
TROOPS HOME FAST in Washington,
DC in front of the White
House. It's going strong until
September 21 (International Peace
Day), when there will be a week
of mass actions against the war.
Check
it out. |
|

|
This
movie is still out there, making
waves. Check it out.
A
few other documentaries are spreading
the word as well: 'The War Tapes,'
'Sir, No Sir!', 'Who Killed the
Electric Car?', 'The Road to Guantanamo.'
If
they come to your town, buy a
ticket and show your support for
good ole muckracking. |
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VISIONS, RESOURCES FOR
A BETTER WORLD |
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