Activist Friends, After the 9-11 terrorist attack, when everyone was carrying and posting "United We Stand" placards and stickers, I added a few words and printed up some red, white and blue ones that stated: "United We Stand For Peace". Peace always, Jerry Rubin
On Sep 10, 2010, at 6:51 AM, Ed Pearl wrote: > http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/09/08-3 > > Sept. 11: A Day Without War > > by Amy Goodman > TruthDig.com: Sept. 8, 2010 > > The ninth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States > should > serve as a moment to reflect on tolerance. It should be a day of > peace. Yet > the rising anti-Muslim fervor here, together with the continuing U.S. > military occupation of Iraq and the escalating war in Afghanistan (and > Pakistan), all fuel the belief that the U.S. really is at war with > Islam. > > Sept. 11, 2001, united the world against terrorism. Everyone, it > seemed, was > with the United States, standing in solidarity with the victims, with > the > families who lost loved ones. The day will be remembered for > generations to > come, for the notorious act of coordinated mass murder. But that was > not the > first Sept. 11 to be associated with terror: > > Sept. 11, 1973, Chile: Democratically elected President Salvadore > Allende > died in a CIA-backed military coup that ushered in a reign of terror > under > dictator Augusto Pinochet, in which thousands of Chileans were killed. > > Sept. 11, 1977, South Africa: Anti-apartheid leader Stephen Biko was > being > beaten in a police van. He died the next day. > > Sept. 11, 1990, Guatemala: Guatemalan anthropologist Myrna Mack was > murdered > by the U.S.-backed military. > > Sept. 9-13, 1971, New York: The Attica prison uprising occurred, > during > which New York state troopers killed 39 prisoners and guards and > wounded > hundreds of others. > > Sept. 11, 1988, Haiti: During a mass led by Father Jean-Bertrand > Aristide at > the St. Jean Bosco Church in Port-au-Prince, right-wing militiamen > attacked, > killing at least 13 worshippers and injuring at least 77. Aristide > would > later be twice elected president, only to be ousted in U.S.-supported > coup > d'etats. > > If anything, Sept. 11 is a day to remember the victims of terror, all > victims of terror, and to work for peace, like the group September > 11th > Families for Peaceful Tomorrows. Formed by those who lost loved ones > on > 9/11/2001, their mission could serve as a national call to action: > "[T]o > turn our grief into action for peace. By developing and advocating > nonviolent options and actions in the pursuit of justice, we hope to > break > the cycles of violence engendered by war and terrorism. Acknowledging > our > common experience with all people affected by violence throughout the > world, > we work to create a safer and more peaceful world for everyone." > > Our "Democracy Now!" news studio was blocks from the twin towers in > New York > City. We were broadcasting live as they fell. In the days that > followed, > thousands of fliers went up everywhere, picturing the missing, with > phone > numbers of family members to call if you recognized someone. These > reminded > me of the placards carried by the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo in > Argentina. > Those are the women, wearing white headscarves, who courageously > marched, > week after week, carrying pictures of their missing children who > disappeared > during the military dictatorship there. > > I am reminded, as well, by the steady stream of pictures of young > people in > the military killed in Iraq and in Afghanistan, and now, with > increasing > frequency (although pictured less in the news), who kill themselves > after > multiple combat deployments. > > For each of the U.S. or NATO casualties, there are literally hundreds > of > victims in Iraq and Afghanistan whose pictures will never be shown, > whose > names we will never know. > > While angry mobs continue attempts to thwart the building of an > Islamic > community center in lower Manhattan (in a vacant, long-ignored, > damaged > building more than two blocks away), an evangelical "minister" in > Florida is > organizing a Sept. 11 "International Burn the Koran Day." Gen. David > Petraeus has stated that the burning, which has sparked protests > around the > globe, "could endanger troops." He is right. But so does blowing up > innocent > civilians and their homes. > > As in Vietnam in the 1960s, Afghanistan has a dedicated, indigenous, > armed > resistance, and a deeply corrupt group in Kabul masquerading as a > central > government. The war is bleeding over into a neighboring country, > Pakistan, > just as the Vietnam War spread into Cambodia and Laos. > > Right after Sept. 11, 2001, as thousands gathered in parks around New > York > City, holding impromptu candlelit vigils, a sticker appeared on signs, > placards and benches. It read, "Our grief is not a cry for war." > > This Sept. 11, that message is still-painfully, regrettably-timely. > > Let's make Sept. 11 a day without war. > > Denis Moynihan contributed research to this column. > > © 2010 Amy Goodman > > *** > > http://www.alternet.org/story/148094/ > america%27s_empire_and_endless_wars_are_destroying_the_world%2C_and_rui > ning_our_great_country > > America's Empire and Endless Wars Are Destroying the World, and > Ruining Our > Great Country > > For more than 50 years, Washington has subscribed to the absurd > notion that > America can police the world with military action. All we've managed > to do > is bankrupt our country. > > By Terrence McNallY and Andrew Bacevich > Alternet: September 6, 2010 | > > Andrew Bacevich speaks with a fairly unique mix of experience, > authority, > passion and wisdom in questioning our nation's priorities: > specifically our > willingness to place so much of our national identity, wealth, > attention, > moral practice, and finally the life and blood of many thousands of > our > citizens and millions of those of other countries in the hands of our > military. A professor of history and international relations at Boston > University, Bacevich served twenty-three years in the U.S. Army, > retiring > with the rank of colonel. He lost his son in Iraq. A graduate of the > U. S. > Military Academy, he received his Ph. D. in American Diplomatic > History from > Princeton University. He is the author of several books, including > The New > American Militarism; The Limits of Power: The End of American > Exceptionalism; and his newest, Washington Rules: America's Path to > Permanent War. > > McNally: Your book, Washington Rules, opens with a moment that you > offer as > a turning point: could you share that experience? > > Bacevich: The moment occurred shortly after the fall of the Berlin > Wall. I > was still in the army at the time. I'd spent a considerable time > serving in > Germany with my family, but this was the first time we visited > Berlin. I > wanted to visit the Brandenburg Gate, because for me, it had been for > decades this quintessential symbol of international politics in our > time. > Late on a rainy, very cold winter night, we approached the Gate from > the old > East Berlin side and found young men huddled between its columns > peddling > bits and pieces of Soviet military gear: buttons, hats, parts of > uniforms. I > bought a wristwatch emblazoned with the symbol of the Soviet tank > corps, > which broke about two weeks later. It was all junk, and the men, who > clearly > were off-duty Russian soldiers, looked anything but ten feet tall. > > At that moment - I'm not going to say my worldview was suddenly > transformed - but certain seeds of doubt were planted. I began to > wonder if > I had misperceived the "other" that I was now confronting for the > first > time. As I considered that possibility, I began to entertain the > possibility > that I had misperceived many other things, and so began an > intellectual > journey that has continued now for about 20 years. > > McNally: You set forth on a process of inquiry and self-education to > learn > what had been obscured to you in the past. You began this process > while you > were still in the military? > > Bacevich: Well, I left the army maybe two years later, and that's > when the > questions began to come fast and furious. I came to realize - and > it's not > some startling insight - that when you exist inside of an institution, > particularly an institution that has an all-encompassing role such as > a > religious order or the military, it's very difficult to view that > institution critically. It's very difficult even to understand some > of the > assumptions that define the institution's view of truth. It's only > when > you're able to stand apart from the institution, that critical thought > becomes possible. When I left the army in 1992, the process of seeking > to identify and to answer first order questions really began. > > For more of this conversation: > http://www.alternet.org/story/148094/ > america%27s_empire_and_endless_wars_are_destroying_the_world%2C_and_rui > ning_our_great_country > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ --------------------------------------------------------------------------- LAAMN: Los Angeles Alternative Media Network --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Unsubscribe: <mailto:laamn-unsubscr...@egroups.com> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe: <mailto:laamn-subscr...@egroups.com> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Digest: <mailto:laamn-dig...@egroups.com> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Help: <mailto:laamn-ow...@egroups.com?subject=laamn> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Post: <mailto:la...@egroups.com> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Archive1: <http://www.egroups.com/messages/laamn> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Archive2: <http://www.mail-archive.com/la...@egroups.com> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yahoo! 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