Alaska Peace Coalition

Tom Hayden on Vietnam

2008-03-04T02:20:00.000-08:00

A surprisingly frank assessment, 38 years later.

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080310/hayden

War Takes Back Seat

2008-02-03T11:33:00.000-08:00

Obviously, the war has taken a back seat to the drama of the primaries. The Dems are talking change but nothing about how we are going to extract ourselves from Iraq. I think we are having trouble accepting how fundamentally wrong our aggression in Iraq has been. Without this clarity, all the talk about withdrawal will be contingent on political expediancies.

my take--the clintons are self-destructing--obama is the great white hope--he is going to save us from ourselves

As Paul Krugman in NYT has complained, Obama's plans lack details on what and how he would make changes. Krugman really appreciated Edward's addressing the power struggle between the common people and the corp/rich (as it has always been). Whether Edwards is really a populist or only pretending, I don't know. However, Obama's pronouncements about change don't address the issue of taking power back from those who are trying to hijack the country for their gain. They are not going to offer to give up their power and the billions it brings them. It will take the concerted efforts of an involved citizenry to reclaim what has been lost.

I will eargerly support Obama but I think we need to make sure that we stay engaged and keep the pressure on him to fight the good fight. I hope all of his inspiring words bring people into awareness and action.

Big Table Fantasies

2007-12-20T01:04:00.000-08:00

Long Time No Post--
It looks like we have our war for another year. So I am turning my attention to the presidential race. It appears that most of our citizens are assuming the next president will do something about this war.

I found this piece by Krugman very interesting. In support of his point, David Brooks says the same thing in his column.

The issue for me is who is going to confront corporate power and make some headway on the progressive agenda?

December 17, 2007
By PAUL KRUGMAN

Broadly speaking, the serious contenders for the Democratic nomination are offering similar policy proposals — the dispute over health care mandates notwithstanding. But there are large differences among the candidates in their beliefs about what it will take to turn a progressive agenda into reality.

At one extreme, Barack Obama insists that the problem with America is that our politics are so “bitter and partisan,” and insists that he can get things done by ushering in a “different kind of politics.”

At the opposite extreme, John Edwards blames the power of the wealthy and corporate interests for our problems, and says, in effect, that America needs another F.D.R. — a polarizing figure, the object of much hatred from the right, who nonetheless succeeded in making big changes.

Over the last few days Mr. Obama and Mr. Edwards have been conducting a long-range argument over health care that gets right to this issue. And I have to say that Mr. Obama comes off looking, well, naïve.

The argument began during the Democratic debate, when the moderator — Carolyn Washburn, the editor of The Des Moines Register — suggested that Mr. Edwards shouldn’t be so harsh on the wealthy and special interests, because “the same groups are often responsible for getting things done in Washington.”

Mr. Edwards replied, “Some people argue that we’re going to sit at a table with these people and they’re going to voluntarily give their power away. I think it is a complete fantasy; it will never happen.”

This was pretty clearly a swipe at Mr. Obama, who has repeatedly said that health reform should be negotiated at a “big table” that would include insurance companies and drug companies.

On Saturday Mr. Obama responded, this time criticizing Mr. Edwards by name. He declared that “We want to reduce the power of drug companies and insurance companies and so forth, but the notion that they will have no say-so at all in anything is just not realistic.”

Hmm. Do Obama supporters who celebrate his hoped-for ability to bring us together realize that “us” includes the insurance and drug lobbies?

O.K., more seriously, it’s actually Mr. Obama who’s being unrealistic here, believing that the insurance and drug industries — which are, in large part, the cause of our health care problems — will be willing to play a constructive role in health reform. The fact is that there’s no way to reduce the gross wastefulness of our health system without also reducing the profits of the industries that generate the waste.

As a result, drug and insurance companies — backed by the conservative movement as a whole — will be implacably opposed to any significant reforms. And what would Mr. Obama do then? “I’ll get on television and say Harry and Louise are lying,” he says. I’m sure the lobbyists are terrified.

As health care goes, so goes the rest of the progressive agenda. Anyone who thinks that the next president can achieve real change without bitter confrontation is living in a fantasy world.

Which brings me to a big worry about Mr. Obama: in an important sense, he has in effect become the anti-change candidate.

There’s a strong populist tide running in America right now. For example, a recent Democracy Corps survey of voter discontent found that the most commonly chosen phrase explaining what’s wrong with the country was “Big businesses get whatever they want in Washington.”

And there’s every reason to believe that the Democrats can win big next year if they run with that populist tide. The latest evidence came from focus groups run by both Fox News and CNN during last week’s Democratic debate: both declared Mr. Edwards the clear winner.

But the news media recoil from populist appeals. The Des Moines Register, which endorsed Mr. Edwards in 2004, rejected him this time on the grounds that his “harsh anti-corporate rhetoric would make it difficult to work with the business community to forge change.”

And while The Register endorsed Hillary Clinton, the prime beneficiary of media distaste for populism has clearly been Mr. Obama, with his message of reconciliation. According to a recent survey by the Project for Excellence in Journalism, Mr. Obama’s coverage has been far more favorable than that of any other candidate.

So what happens if Mr. Obama is the nominee?

He will probably win — but not as big as a candidate who ran on a more populist platform. Let’s be blunt: pundits who say that what voters really want is a candidate who makes them feel good, that they want an end to harsh partisanship, are projecting their own desires onto the public.

And nothing Mr. Obama has said suggests that he appreciates the bitterness of the battles he will have to fight if he does become president, and tries to get anything done.

Norman Mailer ON Bush

2007-11-15T02:12:00.000-08:00

David Bromwich: John Buffalo and Norman Mailer: What Took Us Into Iraq?

Link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-bromwich/john-buffalo-and-norman-m_b_72482.html
Norman and John Buffalo Mailer, from The Big Empty (Nation Books, New York, 2006).

What Took Us Into Iraq?

JBM: I know you've answered this question in a number of ways, but it just can't be asked enough. Why are we in Iraq? I cannot believe that Bush and Company are a gaggle of fools, not by a long shot. They are the most calculating administration I've encountered in my life.

NM: I like that ... Read the rest at HuffingtonPost.com

The Real Iraq We Knew

2007-10-26T01:47:00.000-07:00

The Real Iraq We Knew

By 12 former Army captains

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/15/AR2007101500841.html?referrer=emailarticle

Today marks the fifth anniversary of the authorization of force in Iraq. As army captains who served in Baghdad and beyond, we think it's time to make a choice.

NYT Another $200 Billion

2007-10-26T01:28:00.000-07:00

Read & weep. I hope the Daily News will publish this.

OPINION | October 25, 2007
Editorial: Another $200 Billion
Despite a pretense of fiscal prudence, President Bush keeps throwing money at his war, regardless of the cost in blood, treasure or children’s health care.

Demo on Sat 10/27 1-4 pm 36th & Lake Otis

2007-10-25T01:50:00.000-07:00

OCT. 27th

On this day 5 years ago, the U.S. Senate voted to give George W. Bush the authorization to go to war in Iraq.

If you agree that this war needs to end then join us

This Saturday Oct. 27th

On the corner of Lake Otis and 36^th

from 1:00 to 4:00pm

Bring your own signs!

United for Peace and Justice

National mobilization

www.oct27.org

For more info: 276-0750

Email

justice@alaskans4peace.org

www.alaskans4peace.org

boots & shoes, whose?

2007-10-15T01:37:00.000-07:00

All the boots & shoes from the Eyes Wide Open Exhibit got wet in the light rain at the end of the day. I took six tubs of boots to dry in my garage. I spread them out and turned up the heat.

This morning I checked and they were all dry. But in handling them this morning it sank in as I looked at the tags & ages. Young lives wasted for what? How are we honoring their ultimate sacrifice?

As history has shown, wars are easy to start and extremely difficult to stop. We don't have a clue as to how we are going to stop this one. The pile of boots will grow larger as the needless deaths & suffering continues.

We almost all say we don't like this war but responding to a poll or signing an online petition entails NO responsibiltiy to do anything about it. We are all much too comfortable and unburdened by this war. Most of us do not know anyone serving and so the war is abstract--something for the politicians/candidates to blab about and hack at each other with.

The deadly concoction of fears, delayed costs & uncertain responsibilities inevitably points to this war continuing until our vague grasp of what our country is descending toward changes.*

Do we really think we can kill all the people who oppose our arrogance & greed? Is cheap oil worth the price of destroying a country? Who will pay the price of our inattention and refusal to be true citizens?

It is often said that those who served in the military did so to protect our freedoms. Many suffered and died so we could be citizens of a democracy (not the ungrateful and unconscious inheritors of all that came before). How do we explain to them that we were just too busy with all the details of our affluence (managing it or being managed by it?).

* Historical Note. While the German military was putting the final touches on their plans to make war on France in 1914, there was a large and active peace movement in Germany and throughout Europe that had arisen due to the continued buildup of military power in Germany and other countries. But the German military had the ear of the Bismark and he couldn't resist the urge to go to war to restore Germany to its rightful place at the top of the heap. It was all so well planned it was supposed to last only 39 days! Think of the glory of being able to proclaim "mission accomplished."

Of course, what was set in motion led to the deaths of millions of soldiers and civilians throughout the 20th century. The war that was billed as the War to End All Wars did nothing of the kind.

My main source on this is Barbara Tuchman's Guns of August (also August 1914). Here is link to the Wikpedia entry on the book -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Guns_of_August

Talk about history being written as we speak--the following is the final paragraph:

"On Semptember 30th 2007, former United States Senator from Alaska and 2008 Democratic presidential candidate, Mike Gravel wrote "It's easy to imagine a "Guns of August" scenario that draws in Israel, Saudi Arabia and potentially Pakistan, India, Russia, and China." in a blog post for the Huffington Post. The statement was in regards Hillary Clinton's laughter in response to Gravel's objection to Clinton's yes vote for declaring the Iranian Revolutionary Guard a terrorist organization which Gravel predicts could draw the United states into a wider global conflict."

The following is from an essay on the peace movements in the world

"Today, however, the rhetoric of military action seems to have made a comeback amongst the liberal democracies. An example of this would be the optimistic and "macho" stance adopted by the US and Britain towards Iraq. It has been said that perhaps each generation needs to personally experience war in order to see through political fictions. Today, situations that allow the rationalizing of war abound such as punishing dictators/terrorists or re-establishing legitimate boundaries. In dealing with these situations, the lengthy and often difficult processes of negotiation and non-violent resolution of conflict seem woefully inadequate."

Like all of you, I am just trying to sort out my feelings and what I can do about them. The world has slipped into chaos too easily many times before. Never again?

Former Top US Commander In Iraq Calls War "Nightmare With No End In Sight"

2007-10-13T01:50:00.000-07:00

I know I am preaching to the choir but this might be a good one to send to anyone you know who is still holding out for winning the war. Let me know your reactions to the Eyes Wide Open Exhibit.
Former Top US Commander In Iraq Calls War "Nightmare With No End In Sight"

Link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2007/10/12/former-top-us-commander-i_n_68301.html

In a sweeping indictment of the four-year effort in Iraq, the former top American commander called the Bush administration's handling of the war incompetent and warned that the United States was "living a nightmare with no end in sight." In one of his first major public speeches since leaving the Army in late 2006, retired LtGenRicardo SSanchez blamed the administration for a "catastrophically flawed, unrealistically optimistic war plan" and denounced the current "surge" strategy as a "desperate" move that will not achieve long-term stability. "After more than fours years of fighting, America continues its desperate struggle in Iraq without any concerted effort to devise a strategy that will achieve victory in that war-torn country or in the greater conflict against extremism," Mr ... Read the rest at HuffingtonPost.com

National Demo 10/27

2007-09-27T01:59:00.000-07:00

National Demonstrations planned against the war -- Click Here