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We’re Mad as Hell.................................1
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The Worst Decision Ever Made................ 2
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(PC) or CMD “L” (MAC). To return to regular mode, press ESC. This Let Us Praise an Infamous Woman. ........ 3
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Iraq Religious Violence: Athiest View....... 4
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Christian Leaders Apologize for War........ 6
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the Table of Contents, use the button at the bottom of any page. Jewish Opinion Opposes War.................. 7
To back up or go forward use the arrow keys at the bottom of your Would Jesus Support Occupation?.......... 8
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Analysis
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Demand a National No-Torture Policy.... 12
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Forget Impeachment.............................. 13
Enjoy browsing the new PeaceWorker. Please pass the link along to Administration Undermines Democracy 14
your friends. If you have suggestions, please let us know. What’s Happening
Olympia Activists Oppose Shipments..... 16
Watada Awarded Injunction.................... 17
Dingle Introduces Bill to Withdraw.......... 17
H ighlights
In this Season of Peace it seems appropriate to examine religion as a
What’s the Beef with Beef NW............... 18
Northwest Networking
Smith 2 Acquitted.................................19
Beltway Bulletin. ......................20-21
force which both drives and resists war. Our focus package begins on 5% Solutions
page 4.
Smarter Grid Holds Potential...............22
Don’t Wait for Bush - Act Now.............23
OTHER HIGHLIGHTS: Oregon Material Recovery / Waste.....24
U.S. Wildfires Release CO2.................25
“Olympia Activists Stand Firm Against Continued Military Shipments Extra Censory Perception....................25
Through Port” reports on the exciting direct resistance to arms ship- Brief-ings....................................27-29
ments going on at Fort Lewis in Olympia, WA............................... 16
The Big Picture
“Iraq: Fiasco or Brilliant Success?” summarizes brilliantly why the Iraq: Fiasco or Brilliant Success?........... 30
peace movement has not managed to end the war despite excellent
Ethical & Effective Alternative to War..... 31
efforts.....................................................................................30
Air Base for Iran Attack Upgraded.......... 32
War’s last line of defense is that when push comes to shove, there In Memoriam
is no alternative. “Nonviolent Action — A More Ethical and Effective
Alternative to War” shows that there is........................................... 31 Randall Forsberg Dies............................ 33
Calendar . ...................................36-37
peaceworker
the
T
oday, as we come together once co-equal branches of government. and reputation of the United States, so
again in this great city, we raise our You have helped lead our nation to appalling, so unconscionable, and so
voices in unison to say to President the brink of fascism, of a dictatorship outrageous as to compel us to call upon
contemptuous of our nation’s treaty you to step aside and allow other men
Bush, to Vice President Cheney, to other obligations, federal statutory law, our and women who are competent, true to
members of the Bush Administration (past Constitution, and the rule of law.” our nation’s values, and with high moral
and present), to a majority of Congress, “Because of you, and because of principles to stand in your places for
including Utah’s entire congressional your jingoistic false ‘patriotism,’ our the good of our nation, for the good of our
delegation, and to much of the mainstream world is far more dangerous, our nation children, and for the good of our world.”
is far more despised, and the threat of In the case of the President and Vice
media: “You have failed us miserably and terrorism is far greater than ever before. President, this means impeachment and
we won’t take it any more.” It has been absolutely astounding how removal from office, without any further
you have committed the most horrendous delay from a complacent, complicit
Telling It Like It Is acts, causing such needless tragedy in Congress, the Democratic majority of
the lives of millions of people, yet you which cares more about political gain in
“While we had every reason to expect
wear your so-called religion on your 2008 than it does about the vindication
far more of you, you have been pompous,
sleeves, asserting your God-is-on-my- of our Constitution, the rule of law, and
greedy, cruel, and incompetent as you
side nonsense when what you have democratic accountability.
have led this great nation to a moral,
done flies in the face of any religious or It means the election of people as
military, and national security abyss.”
humanitarian tradition. Your hypocrisy is President and Vice President who, unlike most
“You have breached trust with the
mind-boggling and disgraceful. of the presidential candidates from both major
American people in the most egregious
parties, have not aided and abetted in the
ways. You have utterly failed in the
Impeach Bush and Cheney perpetration of the illegal, tragic, devastating
performance of your jobs. You have
invasion and occupation of Iraq. And it means
undermined our Constitution, permitted the What part of “Thou shalt not the election of people as President and Vice
violation of the most fundamental treaty kill” do you not understand? What President who will commit to return our
obligations, and betrayed the rule of law.” part of the “Golden rule” do you not nation to the moral and strategic imperative of
“You have engaged in, or permitted, understand? What part of “be honest,” “be refraining from torturing human beings.
heinous human rights abuses of the responsible,” and “be accountable” don’t
sort never before countenanced in our you understand? What part of “Blessed are
nation’s history as a matter of official the peacekeepers” do you not understand? Elect New Congresspersons
policy. You have sent American men Because of you, hundreds of In the case of the majority of
and women to kill and be killed on the thousands of people have been killed, Congress, it means electing people who
basis of lies, on the basis of shifting many thousands of people have suffered are diligent enough to learn the facts,
justifications, without competent horrendous lifetime injuries, and millions including reading available National
leadership, and without even a coherent have been run off from their homes. For Intelligence Estimates, before voting to
plan for this monumental blunder the sake of our nation, for the sake of our go to war. It means electing to Congress
“We are here to tell you: We won’t children, and for the sake of our brothers men and women who will jealously guard
take it any more!” and sisters around the world, we are Congress’s sole prerogative to declare
“You have acted in direct morally compelled to say, as loudly as we war. It means electing to Congress men
contravention of values that we, as can, “We won’t take it any more!” and women who will not submit like
Americans who love our country, hold “As United States agents kidnap, vapid lap dogs to presidential requests
dear. You have deceived us in the most disappear, and torture human beings for blank checks to engage in so-
cynical, outrageous ways. You have around the world, you justify, you called preemptive wars, for legislation
undermined, or allowed the undermining deceive, and you cover up. We find permitting warrantless wiretapping of
of, our constitutional system of checks what you have done to men, women communications involving U.S. citizens,
and balances among the three presumed and children, and to the good name (Continued on page 10)
page Table of Contents december 2007 / january 2008
the peaceworker http://www.oregonpeaceworks.org
L
ast month I viewed the feature because they act together, lose the rights suits only on a store-by-store basis.
documentary “The Future of they were granted by the Constitution?” At the same time, Wal-Mart wields its
The problem arises because a juristic enormous economic and political power
Food” a comprehensive person is not like a natural person. It just because it is the world’s largest
exploration of both the most doesn’t eat, sleep, think, have emotions retailer, yet it is trying to claim the status
negative and the most positive or morals, get sick or die (although of an individual human when defending
trends currently affecting our food it can be killed). It can’t be jailed for itself against the joint concerns of its
supply. At its conclusion, I asked wrongdoing. It is, in a very significant employees.
sense, imaginary. Still, what’s the Relying on its juristic person’s
Rick North of Physicians for Social problem? The problem is that while right to free speech, Wal-Mart also
Responsibility what strategies food people may care about corporations, used company funds to hire a corps of
activists have for addressing the corporations have no way to care about signature gatherers to place an initiative
legal maneuvers currently being used people. When we turn power over to a on the Contra Costa (CA) County ballot
by large corporations to dominate corporation, we are entrusting matters to rescind a law it didn’t like. It paid
of importance to an alien species these political operatives $10 per hour –
the world’s food supply system and that is devoted to only two things: $2 more than its typical store employees.
to intimidate and/or ruin those who making a profit for its stockholders Then it outspent opponents 3-to-1 in its
resist them. and propagating itself. If human beings successful effort to persuade voters to
get in the way of either objective, the overturn the ordinance.
In his reply, North made reference to corporation will fight back viciously and
the Supreme Court’s decisions resulting without regard to the humanity of its Is This Such a Big Deal?
in the establishment of “personhood” for opponent.
corporations, i.e. according corporations An example: Monsanto, having I think we all know examples that
the same rights enjoyed by “natural” patented a genetically modified form of reveal the abuse of corporate power.
persons rights like freedom of speech. corn, has successfully sued corn farmers There are many.
For example, courts have repeatedly held onto whose land their patented corn has Still, one might argue that individual
that since corporations have freedom of blown, or been accidentally spilled, for natural persons have also abused their
speech, no regulations are constitutional theft of its property. The absurdity of power, broken the law, flouted morality
that seek to limit the amount of money owning a species of corn, the injustice and conspired to pass laws that benefit
they can introduce into elections. of charging someone with theft after themselves to the detriment of others. So
I hold that the decision to endow contaminating their land, and the right what’s the difference?
corporations with the same rights that of a corporation to engage in this kind Perhaps you remember the 1950s
people enjoy is arguably the worst of legal harassment are matters of no cult thriller “Invasion of the Body
decision in the history of humankind, yet concern to the corporation. It has the Snatchers?” Aliens from outer space
it and its consequences are barely known rights of a human, but no conscience to deposited upon the earth large seed
by most people. go with it. pods that, when allowed to mature near
Another example: Wal-Mart seeks to a human – for example, under a bed
quash a class-action sex discrimination while the person was sleeping, cloned
What’s the Problem? the person and stole his or her mind and
suit being brought by 1.5 million of its
A “juristic” or “juridical” person is a current and former female employees on personality. Loved ones could not tell
legal entity through which the law allows the basis that such a case would deprive the difference right away because they
a group of natural persons to act as if the company of its right to defend itself looked and acted in a familiar way, but
it were a single composite individual against each woman’s claim. It alleges the loyalty of the cloned beings was not
for certain purposes. Proponents see that a district judge ran roughshod over to family or community, but to the aliens
no problem with this because they say, the company’s constitutional rights to – to propagating the alien species and
“after all, this is just a bunch of people due process and to a jury trial. Then taking over the earth.
acting together. Why should they, just it argues that the courts should allow
(Continued on page 15)
page Table of Contents december 2007 / january 2008
the peaceworker http://www.oregonpeaceworks.org
T
he problem with letting history After speaking those words, Rep. for their sakes, after all — a generosity, a
judge is that so many officials Barbara Lee voted no. And the fevered clarity, and a nobility which they did not
slanders began immediately. She was dream of demanding of themselves.... Perhaps,
get away with murder in the
called a traitor. Pundits went crazy. however, the moral of the story (and the hope
meantime — while precious few Death threats came. of the world) lies in what one demands, not of
choose to face protracted vilification Barbara Lee kept on keeping on. others, but of oneself.”
for pursuing truth and peace. Nearly six years later, she’s a key leader Archival footage of Barbara Lee and
of antiwar forces inside and outside Con- Wayne Morse appears in the new documen-
gress. In her own way, she is a political tary film “War Made Easy: How Presidents
Lone Voice of Courage descendent of Sen. Morse, whose denun- and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death,”
A grand total of two people in the ciations of the Vietnam War are equally based on Norman Solomon’s book of the same
entire Congress were able to resist a inspiring to watch today. http://www. title. The full-length movie, narrated by Sean
blood-drenched blank check for the youtube.com/watch?v=JiLV-Xeh8bA. Penn and produced by the Media Education
Vietnam War. Standing alone on Aug. Foundation, is available on DVD. http://
7, 1964, senators Ernest Gruening and www.WarMadeEasyTheMovie.org.
Wayne Morse voted against the Gulf of A Standard of Decency
Tonkin Resolution. The pretexts for starting the wars on
Forty-three years later, we don’t need Vietnam and Iraq preceded the pretexts for
to go back decades to find a lopsided continuing them. While antiwar activism took
instance of a lone voice on Capitol Hill hold and public opinion shifted against the war
standing against war hysteria and the effort, the Congress lagged way behind. Today,
expediency of violent fear. Days after the need for a cutoff of war funding remains
9/11, at the launch of the so-called “war unfulfilled. To watch rarely seen footage of
on terrorism,” just one lawmaker — out Wayne Morse and Barbara Lee is to see a
of 535 — cast a vote against the gathering standard of decency that few of our purported
madness. representatives in Congress are meeting.
“However difficult this vote may There’s no point in waiting for
be, some of us must urge the use of members of Congress to be heroic. When
restraint,” she said on the floor of the we’re blessed with the living examples
House of Representatives. The date was of a few genuine visionaries in office,
Sept. 14, 2001. they should inspire us to realize our own
She went on: “Our country is in possibilities. Ultimately, our own actions
a state of mourning. Some of us must — and inaction — are at issue.
say, Let’s step back for a moment, let’s “Incontestably, alas,” James Baldwin
just pause just for a minute, and think wrote a few years after the killing of Martin
through the implications of our actions Luther King Jr., while the war in Vietnam still
today so that this does not spiral out of raged, “most people are not, in action, worth
control.” very much; and yet, every human being is an
And, she said: “As we act, let us not unprecedented miracle. One tries to treat them
become the evil that we deplore.” as the miracles they are, while trying to protect
With all that has happened since then oneself against the disasters they’ve become.
— with all that has spun out of control, This is not very different from the act of faith
with all the ways that the U.S. govern- demanded by all those marches and petitions
ment has mimicked the evil it deplores while Martin was still alive. One could
— it’s stunning to watch and hear, for scarcely be deluded by Americans anymore,
a single minute, what this brave Con- one scarcely dared expect anything from the
gresswoman had to say. http://www. great, vast, blank generality; and yet one was
youtube.com/watch?v=Nf1N-y9Mbo4. compelled to demand of Americans — and
page Table of Contents december 2007 / january 2008
the peaceworker http://www.oregonpeaceworks.org
How Religion
Iraq Religious Violence: an Atheist View
I
raq is a nation suffering from cal and economic power typically rested of Sunnis; Sunnis are afraid that they will
extensive religious strife and thus with the Sunnis. On the other hand, the suffer suppression at the hands of Shia.
war with Iran provided an excellent reason Some of this must have always lurked un-
serves as an excellent example for the secular regime to better integrate der the surface, but much of it appears to
of how well religion can become a Shia Muslims in the government and be a result of taking away anything larger
factor in dividing a previously united society. Nearly 75% of the lower ranks of for Sunni and Shia to be united by.
people, promoting violence, and the army were Shia, but even during major The Sunni/Shia line is not the only
leading to social breakdown. setbacks in the war with Shia Iran there one dividing Iraqis, and even without
was never a major sectarian insurrection. it there might still be some forms of
The secular government united Sunni and violence in Iraq, but the role of religion
Background Shia Muslims under a banner of general and religious bigotry cannot be underes-
The Baath Party which previously religious piety, nationalism, and ethnicity. timated here. Violence is committed by
controlled Iraq was committed to a secular The American invasion and occupa- members of one religious group against
state, but also to political repression. Never- tion of Iraq changed all that. Today both another and the violence won’t stop with-
theless, women had far more freedom than Sunni and Shia Muslims are at each out directly addressing the problems of
in surrounding Muslim nations and there others’ throats in a civil war that is tearing religion, religious bigotry, and religious
was little in the way of religious violence. apart families, neighborhoods, and com- division. The civil war in Iraq is a poster
Despite being strongly secular, though, munities which were once so fully inte- child for the threat which religious divi-
the Baath Party never hesitated to exploit grated that no one much cared about such sion poses for the human race.
religion when it seemed useful. From the distinctions. Shia are looking for revenge http://atheism.about.com/library/
start of the war with Iran, Baath Party for decades of suppression at the hands FAQs/islam/countries/bl_IraqIndex.htm.
leaders made a public show of attend-
ing religious observances. Even Saddam
Hussein was depicted in prayer on posters
placed throughout the country. The Baath
Party also gave large amounts of money Importer, Blender,
A socially
to fix important mosques in order to gain and Distributor
responsible
more support from the Shia Muslims. of Premium Teas
Iraq is roughly composed of 60% Shia Oregon company
since 1997
and 40% Sunni Muslims, but most politi-
“Photomontage of
Alabama stained-glass
church windows by
Susan Garrett Crowley of
Hood River.”
How Religion
U.S. Christian Leaders Apologize For Iraq War
By Ximena Diego
C Other Peace-Related
hristian leaders from the without further delay”. It also asked Rice
United States lamented the for access to the Guantanamo facility
Issues Mentioned Too “to monitor the physical, spiritual and
war in Iraq and apologized Among the attendees was the mental conditions of the detainees”.
for their government’s current foreign Rev. Bernice Powell-Jackson, North
policy during the 9th Assembly of the American President of the World
Council of Churches. A civil rights Take the Risk of Peace
World Council of Churches (WCC)
activist for more than 25 years, Jackson At the Brazilian conference, the Rev.
in Porto Alegre, Brazil, which ended previously served as executive director John Thomas, president of United Church
February 23, 2007. of one of the Justice and Witness of Christ, was quoted as saying: “An
Ministries predecessor bodies, the emerging theme in conversation with our
Mea Culpa Commission for Racial Justice. partners around the world is that the U.S.
The U.S. Conference of the WCC is being perceived as a dangerous nation.”
“We lament with special anguish the
also criticized the government’s position He called the Assembly “a unique
war in Iraq, launched in deception and
on global warming. “The rivers, oceans, opportunity to make this statement to
violating global norms of justice and
lakes, rainforests, and wetlands that all our colleagues” in the ecumenical
human rights,” the Very Rev. Leonid
sustain us, even the air we breathe movement. The statement says, “We
Kishkovsky, the moderator of the U.S.
continue to be violated... Yet our own come to you seeking to be partners in the
Conference for the WCC, told fellow
country refuses to acknowledge its search for unity and justice.”
delegates from around the world.
complicity and rejects multilateral Thomas acknowledged that not all
Kishkovsky is the rector of Our
agreements aimed at reversing disastrous church members would agree with the
Lady of Kazan Church in Sea Cliff,
trends,” reads the message. thrust of the statement, but said it was
New York, and is an officer in the
Earlier this month, a group of more their responsibility as leaders to “speak
Orthodox Church of America.
than 85 U.S. evangelical Christian a prophetic and pastoral word as we
Taking an unusual stand among U.S.
leaders called on Congress to enact believe God is offering it to us”.
Christian leaders, the United States Conference
legislation that would reduce emissions of The final WCC event featured a
for the World Council of Churches (WCC)
greenhouse gases, which most scientists candlelit march for peace through
criticized Pres. George W. Bush’s actions in
believe contribute to global warming. downtown Porto Alegre with up to 2,000
response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
The U.S. Conference of the WCC people including two Nobel Prize-
“We are citizens of a nation that has done
message also said, “Starvation, the HIV/AIDS winners taking part.
much in these years to endanger the human
pandemic, the treatable diseases that go Organized by local churches as
family and to abuse the creation,” says the
untreated indict us, revealing the grim features part of the World Council of Churches’
statement endorsed by the most prominent
of global economic injustice we have too often Decade to Overcome Violence, it
Protestant Christian churches on the Council.
failed to acknowledge or confront.” was accompanied by Latin American
“Our leaders turned a deaf ear to the
“Hurricane Katrina,” it continues, music from Xico Esvael and Victor
voices of church leaders throughout our
“revealed to the world those left behind Heredia. Young people carried banners
nation and the world, entering into imperial
in our own nation by the rupture of our highlighting peace and justice issues.
projects that seek to dominate and control
social contract. As a nation we have One, depicting the world held in God’s
for the sake of our own national interests.
refused to confront the racism that hand, read “Let God change you first,
Nations have been demonized and God has
infects our policies around the world.” then you will transform the world.”
been enlisted in national agendas that are
The statement comes days after the WCC president Powell-Jackson
nothing short of idolatrous.”
National Council of Churches (NCC), the urged the crowd to commit themselves to
The message, written like a prayer
United States chapter of the WCC, endorsed overcoming violence. Prawate Khid-arn
of repentance and backed by the 34
a U.N. report on the situation of detainees at of the Christian Conference of Asia told
Christian churches that belong to the
the Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba. them, “If we do not take the risk of peace,
WCC, mourns those who have died or
Separately, in a letter addressed to we will have to take the risk of war.”
been injured in the Iraq war and says,
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Israel Batista of the Latin American
“We confess that we have failed to
NCC General Secretary Robert W. Edgar Council of Churches spoke of poverty,
raise a prophetic voice loud enough and
called on the U.S. to bring the detainees injustice and abuse of women and children
persistent enough to deter our leaders
to trial, release them, or to “close the and asked, “How are we to speak of
from this path of preemptive war.” (Continued on page 7)
Guantanamo Bay detention facility
page Table of Contents december 2007 / january 2008
the peaceworker http://www.oregonpeaceworks.org
How Religion
Would Jesus Support the Iraq Occupation?
by Cindy Sheehan
A
friend of mine, who is Jesus of Nazareth exhibited in the first that he would not be a “politician” but a
Chair of the Economics question still had the ability to astonish public servant. Jesus would be in favor
me. of single-payer health care, solar and
Department, invited me to wind energy, unions, free post-secondary
speak to the students and faculty at education, Social Security, fair trade,
the University of Dallas, which is a Jesus: a Progressive Radical free speech, civil rights, and human
small, non-culturally or non-racially The question printed neatly on a rights. Jesus would be against the death
3 by 5 index card was: “How do you penalty, torture, extremist religions that
diverse, Catholic college. reconcile your progressive ideals with exploit His Name for profit, extremist
your faith?” I answered that Jesus states that exploit His Name to kill
Surprisingly, my friend Sam,
cared about the poor. He admonished innocent people, and the ultimate crime
received little protest over inviting me,
us to “feed the hungry,” “clothe the against humanity: war.
but there was a “Support the Troops”
naked,” “heal the sick,” and “visit those Whether one is a Christian, Jew,
rally in the room next to where I spoke.
imprisoned.” Jesus performed a stunning Muslim, or like me now, nothing,
Some Camp Casey friends accidentally
feat of civil disobedience by over- Jesus of Nazareth and his story is still
went into that room and heard the
turning the tables of the moneychangers worth studying and emulating. At the
speaker call me names like “scum” and
in the temple and was subsequently risk of sounding judgmental, I have a
he called the rest of the people at my
executed by the Empire of his time. feeling that these reactionary Christian
event “peace fairies.”
Jesus was the ultimate progressive extremists are going to be shocked
I was heartened to find the first
radical. Jesus’ name is exploited by our when they go to meet their maker and
three rows of my speech were filled
materialistic society at Christmas time find out that Jesus wasn’t kidding when
with young people who were smiling
when he changes from the right-wing he said “Blessed are the peacemakers
and vigorously nodding their heads at
Christian warmonger to the “Prince of for they will be called children of God”
everything I said. Most of the audience
Peace.” (Mt 5:9). The converse of that saying
clapped or laughed in the right places
Jesus welcomed the “least of is: “Cursed are the war-makers for they
so I was feeling pretty good. However,
these” to his table. He didn’t exclude are not the children of God.” There
I was a little sad when there were
sinners, lepers or prostitutes who were is a very relevant saying of Jesus in
some snide snickers when I had the
the pariahs of his day. Today, I am the Bible that these self-proclaimed
unmitigated gall to call Iraqis “human
convinced that if Jesus returned he “Christians” should also pay closer
beings.”
would welcome gays and non-white attention to:
During the “Q and A” part, the first
people (even “illegal” immigrants) to You have heard that it was said,
question I received amazed me. Now,
commune with him. The only people “Love your neighbor and hate your
I was raised Protestant and received
I ever heard Jesus speak badly about enemy.” But I tell you: Love your
excellent training in the Christian
were the “brood of vipers” (Mt 3:7) that enemies and pray for those who
scriptures and I know after being a
were the Sadduccees (Democrats?) and persecute you. (Matthew 5:43)
Catholic for 25 years and a Catholic
Pharisees (Republicans?) who in the Wise words for everybody to strive
youth minister for nine of those years,
parable, with hypocritical piety, walked to live up to: From presidents to college
that the average Catholic does not
right by the man who had been beaten, students and everyone in between.
know a great deal about the Bible as
robbed and left by the side of the road to Cindy Sheehan is the mother of
most of their religious training is in
die without helping him and they turned Spc. Casey Austin Sheehan who was
the tenets of the Catholic faith. Here’s
his “Father’s” house (the Temple) into a killed in action in Iraq on 04/04/04.
how many Catholics quote scripture:
“den of thieves.” (Mt. 21:12). She is a co-founder and President of
“It’s somewhere in the Bible,” when,
My question for the questioner was: Gold Star Families for Peace and the
in my experience, many times they
“How do you reconcile your faith with author of two books: Not One More
are actually quoting: “Poor Richard’s
supporting war and killing?” Mother’s Child and Dear President
Almanac.”
An emphasis on the biblical support Bush. Published on November 9,
for the teachings of the church was never What Would Jesus Support? 2007 by CommonDreams.org at
used as long as I taught in the church http://www.commondreams.org/ar-
If Jesus came back today and was a
using the approved teaching materials of chive/2007/11/09/5110/.
politician, I know, because of my faith in
the church, but the depth of ignorance of the inherent goodness of the Universe,
OPW’S ANNUAL MEETING, POTLUCK, RAFFLE DRAWING AND HOLIDAY PARTY: At OPW’s
Annual Meeting at 3:30 p.m. on December 1, learn about OPW’s new 5% Solution program and
how you can become involved. (Hint: it addresses global WARMING and global WARRING by
confronting their common denominator: our addiction to oil.). Then stay for a delicious potluck at
5:30, the Great Getaway Raffle Drawing at 7, and some terrific entertainment afterwards at the
Holiday Party. It’s all taking place at the Friends Meeting House, 490 19th St. NE, in Salem.
History teaches us
that grave threats to
liberty often come in
Your Message in this Space times of urgency, when
constitutional rights
seem too extravagant to
endure.
$90 Supreme Court Justice
Thurgood Marshall
(1989)
In Portland? Call Cassandra at
541.752.1122
WHEN YOUR
All Others call Jeanette at STOCKS GO BAD...
541.752.5860 DONATE
them to
Oregon
for details. PeaceWorks!
Analysis
Demand a National No-Torture Policy
By Michael Ratner
M
ichael Mukasey is seeking to sign a protective order because Khan The only question is whether there is
to clear hurdles on his knew about “enhanced interrogation any institution or group of politicians
techniques.” Likely translation: Khan in this nation with the will to stand up
path to become the highest was tortured and the government is for our Constitution, even at the risk of
law enforcement official in the trying to cover it up by silencing him their own political prospects. If there
nation. Yet he still refuses to answer — and even his attorneys. are such men and women, then there
a fundamental question: whether or So the government has successfully is yet hope that our nation will rescue
not waterboarding is torture and, kept the public in the dark. But senators the Constitution from those who would
on the Senate Judiciary Committee can shred it.
therefore, prohibited under our laws. turn on the light. This is not a moment for political
No matter what our president says, Those senators are perfectly within theater. This is not a moment for politics
this is not political bickering. It is their rights and powers to pick up at all. This is the moment for good and
about whether the rule of law still the phone right now and demand decent leaders to remember that the
means anything to the executive. to interview Khan and others who truth still matters and to act accordingly.
were likely tortured at CIA secret Michael Mukasey aspires to be the living
And whether our senators have the sites. They can conduct classified face of America’s laws. By talking to
backbone to stand up for a principle interviews with the lawyers for the ghost detainees about their experiences,
more profound than political Center for Constitutional Rights about we can help him reveal if he understands
expediency. their milestone visit with Khan. They or respects those laws at all.
can learn exactly what happened Michael Ratner is President of
to these men. And, if the men were the Center for Constitutional Rights,
Interview the Victims waterboarded, they can learn exactly www.ccrjustice.org. This article was
If senators such as Charles Schumer what the practice entails. published at Salon.com, http://www.
and Dianne Feinstein have doubts about salon.com/opinion/feature/2007/11/06/
whether waterboarding is torture, they mukasey/print.html.
should and should be allowed to
What is Waterboarding Like?
interview the men who have likely What they will likely hear are
experienced it in secret CIA detention descriptions like one written by Henri
facilities in American hands. Alleg, a French journalist who suffered
For example, they should interview waterboarding during the Algerian war:
Majid Khan, a Baltimore resident “I had the impression of drowning, and
abducted and held for years in secret
CIA prisons. He was a “ghost detainee”
a terrible agony, that of death itself, took
possession of me.” OPW’s Wish
1. Conference
who this past year was among the So the question is extremely simple:
“reappeared” at Guantánamo. Do the men and women who serve on
President Bush himself has clearly the Senate Judiciary Committee want
to know, or not? Do they care about
Phone
stated that Khan was held at a secret
whether our nation has tortured? And if
CIA facility before being transferred to
Guantánamo. Bush also made clear that they do care, are they still prepared to 2. Copier
an “alternative set of procedures” were confirm a man to be our attorney general
enforced — procedures widely believed whose legal and moral compass is so
deformed that he cannot speak plain
3. Volunteers
to include waterboarding.
4. Chairs
So, was Majid Khan really truth? If the U.S. Senate cannot summon
waterboarded? I don’t know. Khan the courage and decency to draw this
has been prohibited from speaking basic line, then a citizen must ask if it
to anyone except my colleagues, serves any useful purpose at all.
I believe that upon talking to victims
5. Ebay Stuff
lawyers at the Center for Constitutional
Rights who were finally allowed of waterboarding any reasonable senator
to visit him recently. One of those — or citizen — will define it as torture.
attorneys, Gitanjali Gutierrez, and There is no reasonable disagreement on
her colleagues have also since been this point. It was a technique invented
silenced. The government forced them in the Spanish Inquisition and used to
terrible effect in the centuries since.
page 12 Table of Contents december 2007 / january 2008
the peaceworker http://www.oregonpeaceworks.org
Analysis
Forget Impeachment,
Put Bush and Cheney in a Straightjacket
By Rosa Brooks
T
he president’s warmongering they’re not mad at anyone in Europe)? would do it too. Why not? They have
remarks on the Iranian threat This is lunacy in action. nothing to lose — they’re out of office in
Writing in Newsweek on Oct. 20, 15 months anyway. Après Bush-Cheney,
suggest he is psychotic.
Fareed Zakaria, a solid centrist and le déluge! (Have fun, Hillary.)
Really. Liberals, put it behind you. former editor of Foreign Affairs, put it But all this creates a conundrum.
George W. Bush and Dick Cheney best. Citing Bush’s invocation of “the What’s a constitutional democracy to do
shouldn’t be treated like criminals specter of World War III if Iran gained when the president and vice president
who deserve punishment. They even the knowledge needed to make a lose their marbles?
nuclear weapon,” Zakaria concluded that
should be treated like psychotics who
“the American discussion about Iran has Nothing in the Constitution
need treatment. lost all connection to reality. ... Iran has
an economy the size of Finland’s. ... It About Civil Commitment
They’ve Clearly Gone Mad has not invaded a country since the late The U.S. is full of ordinary people
Exhibit A: We’re in the middle of 18th century. The United States has a with serious forms of mental illness
a disastrous war in Iraq, the military GDP that is 68 times larger and defense — delusional people with violent fanta-
and political situation in Afghanistan expenditures that are 110 times greater. sies who think they’re the president, or
is steadily worsening, and the Israel and every Arab country (except who think they get instructions from the
administration’s interrogation and Syria and Iraq) are ... allied against Iran. CIA through their dental fillings.
detention tactics have inflamed anti- And yet we are to believe that Tehran The problem with Bush is that he is
Americanism and fueled extremist is about to overturn the international the president — and he gives instruc-
movements around the globe. Sane system and replace it with an Islamo- tions to the CIA and military, without
people, confronting such a situation, do fascist order? What planet are we on?” having to go through his dental fillings.
their best to tamp down tensions, rebuild Impeachment’s not the solution to
shattered alliances, find common ground Planet Cheney psychosis, no matter how flagrant. But
with hostile parties and give our military despite their impressive foresight in
Zakaria may be misinterpreting the other areas, the framers unaccountably
a little breathing space. But crazy president’s remark about World War
people? They look around and decide it’s neglected to include an involuntary civil
III though. He saw it as a dangerously commitment procedure in the Constitu-
a great time to start another war. loopy Bush prediction about the future
That would be with Iran, and you’d tion.
behavior of a nuclear Iran — the idea Still, don’t lose hope. By enlisting
have to be deaf not to hear the war being, presumably, that possessing “the
drums. Last week, Bush remarked that the aid of mental health professionals
knowledge” to make a nuclear weapon and the court system, Congress can act
“if you’re interested in avoiding World would so empower Iran’s repressive
War III ... you ought to be interested to remedy that constitutional oversight.
leaders that they’ll giddily rush out and The goal: Get Bush and Cheney commit-
in preventing [Iran] from having the start World War III.
knowledge necessary to make a nuclear ted to an appropriate inpatient facility,
But you could read Bush’s where they can get the treatment they
weapon.” On Sunday, Cheney warned remark as a madman’s threat rather
of “the Iranian regime’s efforts to so desperately need. In Washington, the
than a madman’s prediction — as a appropriate statutory law is already in
destabilize the Middle East and to gain warning to recalcitrant states, from
hegemonic power ... [we] cannot stand place: If a “court or jury finds that [a]
Germany to Russia, that don’t seem person is mentally ill and ... is likely
by as a terror-supporting state fulfills to share his crazed obsession with
its most aggressive ambitions.” On to injure himself or other persons if al-
Iran. The message: fall into line with lowed to remain at liberty, the court may
Tuesday, Bush insisted on the need “to administration policy toward Iran or you
defend Europe against the emerging order his hospitalization.”
can count on the U.S.A. to try to start I’ll even serve on the jury. When it
Iranian threat.” World War III on its own. And when it
Huh? Iran is now a major threat comes to averting World War III, it’s re-
comes to sparking global conflagration, ally the least I can do.
to Europe? The Iranians are going to a U.S. attack on Iran might be just the
launch a nuclear missile (that they don’t Rosa Brooks writes for the Los
thing. Yee haw! Angeles Times. You can reach her at
yet possess) against Europe (for reasons You’d better believe these guys
unknown because, as far as we know, rbrooks@latimescolumnists.com.
Analysis
Administration Undermines U.S. Democracy
by Chris Hedges
A
Dallas jury, last month the United States. Any organized support take the case of Canadian citizen Maher
caused a mistrial in the for Palestinians from within the U.S. Arar, who in 2002 was spirited away by
has been rendered impossible. The goal Homeland Security from JFK Airport
government case against
of the Israeli government and the Bush to Syria, where he spent 10 months
this country’s largest Islamic charity. administration despite the charade of being tortured in a coffin-like cell. He
The action raises a defiant fist on the peace negotiations to be held at Annapolis was, upon his release, exonerated of
sinking ship of American democracy. is to grind defiant Palestinians into terrorism. Arar testified before a House
the dirt. Israel, which has plunged the panel this month about how he was
Gaza Strip into one of the world’s worst abducted by the U.S. and interrogated,
March Toward Police State humanitarian crises, has now begun to stripped of his legal rights and tortured.
If we lived in a state where due ban fuel supplies and sever electrical But he couldn’t testify in person. He
process and the rule of law could service. The severe deprivation, the spoke to the House members on a video
curb the despotism of the Bush Israelis hope, will see the overthrow of link from Canada. He is forbidden by
administration, this mistrial might be the Hamas government in Gaza and the Homeland Security to enter the United
counted a victory. But we do not. The reinstatement of Palestinian President States because he allegedly poses a
jury may have rejected the federal Mahmoud Abbas, who has become the threat to national security.
government’s claim that the Holy Land Marshal Pétain of the Palestinian people. Those accused of being involved in
Foundation for Relief and Development conspiracies and terrorism plots, as in all
funneled millions of dollars to Middle police states, become nonpersons. There
Eastern terrorists. It may have acquitted Charges, not Facts,
is no rehabilitation. There is no justice.
Mohammad el-Mezain, the former Matter Most “He was never given a hearing nor
chairman of the foundation, of virtually The Dallas trial like all of the did the Canadian consulate, his lawyer,
all criminal charges related to funding major terrorism trials conducted by or his family know of his fate,” Amnesty
terrorism (the jury deadlocked on one of this administration, from the Florida International wrote of Arar. “Expulsion
the 32 charges against el-Mezain), and case against the Palestinian activist Dr. in such circumstances, without a fair
it may have deadlocked on the charges Sami al-Arian, which also ended in a hearing, and to a country known for
that had been lodged against four other mistrial, to the recent decision by a jury regularly torturing their prisoners,
former leaders of the charity, but don’t in Chicago to acquit two men of charges violates the U.S. Government’s
be fooled. This mistrial will do nothing of financing Hamas has been a judicial obligations under international law,
to impede the administration’s ongoing failure. William Neal, a juror in the Dallas specifically the Convention against
contempt for the rule of law. It will do trial, told the Associated Press that the Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or
nothing to stop the curtailment of our case “was strung together with macaroni Degrading Treatment or Punishment.”
civil liberties and rights. The grim march noodles. There was so little evidence.” You can almost hear Dick Cheney
toward a police state continues. Such trials, however, have been yawn.
Constitutional rights are minor politically expedient. The accusations,
inconveniences, noisome chatter, flies true or untrue, serve the aims of the
to be batted away on the steady road to Evidence is Unnecessary
administration. A jury in Tampa, Chicago
despotism. No one, not the courts, not or Dallas can dismiss the government’s The Bush administration shut down
the press, not the gutless Democratic assaults on individual rights, but the the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and
opposition, not a compliant and draconian restrictions put in place because Development six years ago and froze
passive citizenry hypnotized by tawdry of the mendacious charges remain firmly its assets. There was no hearing or trial.
television spectacles and celebrity implanted within the system. It is the It became a crime for anyone to engage
gossip, seems capable of stopping the charges, not the facts, which matter. in transactions with the foundation. The
process. Those in power know this. We, Dr. al-Arian, who was supposed administration never produced evidence
too, might as well know it. to have been released and deported to support the charges. It did not have
The Bush administration, which in April, is still in a Virginia prison any. In the “war on terror,” evidence is
froze the foundation’s finances three because he will not testify in a separate unnecessary. An executive order is enough.
months after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist case before a grand jury. The professor, The foundation sued the government in a
attacks and indicted its officials three broken by the long ordeal of his trial and federal court in the District of Columbia.
years later on charges that they provided unable to raise another million dollars Behind closed doors, the government
funds for the militant group Hamas, has in legal fees for a retrial, pleaded guilty presented secret evidence that the charity
ensured that the foundation and all other to a minor charge in the hopes that his had no opportunity to see or rebut. The
Palestinian charities will never reopen in persecution would end. It has not. Or (Continued on page 15)
page 14 Table of Contents december 2007 / january 2008
the peaceworker http://www.oregonpeaceworks.org
Editor’s Viewpoint
Continued from page 2 the peaceworker
The decision to grant the rights of people to corporations was
a green light to a species with no more loyalty to humans than
the 50s movie’s space aliens. People who remain the servants of Information: The PeaceWorker is published monthly, except in
these corporations, regardless of what the corporations do, are January and August, by Oregon PeaceWorks, 104 Commercial St.
traitors to humanity. The political office holders who continue NE, Salem, OR 97301; 503.585.2767 voice; 503.588.0088 fax;
to permit corporate outrages against human beings may not be info@oregonpeaceworks.org; www.oregonpeaceworks.org. The
violating the letter of their oaths to uphold the Constitution, but views expressed are those of the authors and may or may not
they are certainly violating the spirit of it, as did the jurists who reflect the views of Oregon PeaceWorks. The PeaceWorker’s
permitted this outrage in the first place. articles and archives are available on our website.
What Can Be Done? Content: Short articles, calendar items, letters, photos and items of
interest are welcome. They should be submitted on computer disk
At this point, the personhood of corporations is such an en-
or e-mailed to pbergel@igc.org. Otherwise they may be double-
trenched part of modern life throughout the developed world that
spaced and mailed or faxed. Please do not submit long articles
most people see no problem with it. That’s the first place we can without inquiring first. Letters longer than 200 words may be used,
take action: educating the public about the problems with corporate edited or rejected. We are interested in relevant photos. If used,
personhood. There is a great deal on the Internet regarding this photo credit will be given.
topic, but a fine place to start is by visiting the ReclaimDemocracy.
org site. There you will find a great deal of information about the Deadlines: Copy deadline is the 14th of each month. Camera-ready
topic as well as a draft amendment to the Constitution that would advertising and calendar deadline is the18th of the month. The
prohibit corporate personhood. The site says, “We believe a posi- PeaceWorker is mailed no later than the first day of the month of pub-
tive, proactive and ambitious platform is needed to reverse the lication. The PeaceWorker is edited under contract with The Center
decline of democracy in America and we invite your feedback…” for Energy Research (503.371.8002). For assistance with advertis-
A second course of action is to identify treason for what it ing, please contact Peter Bergel.
is. Our government brands as traitors people who steal govern-
ment secrets and either make them public or sell them to other Subscriptions & Donations: Subscription fee for The Peace-
countries, but the traitors we need to worry about are the ones Worker is $15 per year. Donations to Oregon PeaceWorks are
who would sell out the interests of human beings to corpora- always welcome and may be sent to the above address.
tions for pieces of silver and those who assist them. Let us not
hesitate to speak out about such treason. Editor-in Chief and OPW Executive Director: Peter Bergel
Layout Editor: Gail Ryder
Admin. Undermines Democracy Artists: Susan Garrett Crowley, Janet Essley, Deb Kleinow, Steve
Continued from page 14 Lambott, Gail Ryder, Natalie Shifrin Whitson
charity’s case was dismissed. Advertising Sales: Jeanette Hardison, Cassandra Robertson
The government has closed seven Muslim charities in the
United States and frozen their assets. Not one of them, or any Columnists: Peter Bergel, Norman Solomon, Phil Carver
person associated with them, has been found guilty of financing
terrorism. They will remain shut. George W. Bush can tar any Writers this issue: Ross C. “Rocky” Anderson, Ximena Diego,
organization or individual, here or abroad, as being part of a Cindy Sheehan, Michael Ratner, Rosa Brooks, Chris Hedges,
terrorist conspiracy and by fiat render them powerless. He does Kenneth S. Kagan, Andra Cano, Daniel Fisher, Stephen Leahy,
not need to make formal charges. He does not need to wait for Steve Clemons, Linda Green, Jim Holt, Randy Schutt, Ian Bruce,
a trial verdict. Secret evidence, which these court cases have Elaine Woo
exposed as a sham, is enough. The juries in Tampa, Chicago and
Dallas did their duty. They spoke for the rights of citizens. They Distribution & Mailing: Michael Glaze, Steve Esses, Lorraine Stuart,
spoke for the protection of due process and the rule of law. They Joe Covach, Erin, Karen Aranas, Alice Greth, Anne Spurrier, Beth Kandoll,
threw small hurdles in front of the emergent police state. But John R. Stahl, Diane Follansbee, Joanne Cvar, Bethany, Kathleen, Arnie
the abuse rolls on. I fear terrorism. I know it is real. I am sure Soderman, Tom Reindell, Ambling Bear, Tom Hastings, Wilson Leong, Beth
terrorists will strike again on American soil. But while terrorists Pearce, Hans Kramer, Laurie Cross, Robin Hart, Floyd McFarland, June
can wound and disrupt our democracy, only we can kill it. Hemmingson, PedX, Heather, Gary Elam, Marc Sigel, Heather Edwards,
Chris Hedges, who graduated from Harvard Divinity Michael Barkhuff, Peter Lynam-Melton, Jim Bowne, Dwight Long, Eric
School and was for nearly two decades a foreign correspondent Nicita, John Granacki, Mairen Jordan, Jennie Reese, Peace & Justice, Irene
for The New York Times, is the author of American Fascists: Nicolas, Angie Lindquist and The PeaceWorker Mailing Crew
The Christian Right and the War on America. http://www.
commondreams.org/archive/2007/10/29/4876/. Blog: www.
justleft.org. Radio Show: www.lawanddisorder.org.
O
n November 9, approximately 50 members are returning to be repaired and refitted for further combat. We
of Olympia Port Militarization Resistance see this as a continuation of the war despite our nation’s and the
Iraqi people’s overwhelming opposition to the war.”
(OlyPMR) sat down near the main gate of the
OlyPMR blocked several convoys of Strykers, beginning
Port of Olympia in Washington State. Two tractor trailers, the evening of November 7, continuing into the morning.
one carrying two Stryker combat vehicles, another filled Dozens of protesters blocked the road with their bodies as one
with military cargo, were blocked from exiting the port. convoy after another attempted to exit the Port of Olympia. In
each case the convoys eventually passed, but only after police
Police arrived on the scene and after failing to persuade the shoved protesters, striking many with batons and dragging them
demonstrators to allow one truck through, ceded control of the from the road in order to clear the way.
entrance. The two trucks were forced by these circumstances to At 2:30 that morning, police used pepper spray against
back up – returning inside the port gate. At this point, OlyPMR 20 people in order to apprehend one man in their midst who
controlled movement into and out of the port. was then arrested and charged with pedestrian interference
and resisting arrest.
Another activist was also
Background arrested and charged with
OlyPMR was pedestrian interference
founded in May of 2006 that night. No other
Photo: civilresistportland@lists.riseup.net
when Olympia peace arrests were made.
activists attempted to
block outgoing Strykers
and other military Excessive
equipment in advance Police Force
of the deployment of Protesters reported
the 3rd Brigade Stryker that their nonviolent
Team from Ft. Lewis. actions were met
Activists united under the with unwarranted and
banner of Olympia Port excessive force by police.
Militarization Resistance, Several people reported
declaring a common minor injuries, including
mission to “end our one young man who had
community’s participation his lip split open and
in the illegal occupation also received other facial
of Iraq by stopping the Olympia Port Militarization Resistance injuries when he was hit
U.S. military’s use of the with a police baton.
Port of Olympia.” Thirty-seven people were arrested for acts of On Thursday evening, at an open meeting, a packed room
nonviolent civil disobedience over the course of 10 days during of more than 60 activists agreed on a plan for using human
that first campaign. blockades to nonviolently contain military cargo at the port.
On Monday November 5 of this year, the USNS Brittin Approximately 200 people gathered at the port entrance, which
arrived at the Port of Olympia with equipment from the 3rd activists say was a number twice as large as that needed to
Stryker Brigade returning from that same deployment in Iraq. execute their plan. After several hours it became apparent that
The troops of the Brigade had returned to Fort Lewis about 2 there would be no movement of vehicles from the port that
weeks previously, minus 48 of their fellow soldiers who had night, and activists set up an encampment in order to keep
died from injuries sustained in Iraq. watch while others rested. Activists at this location issued a call
When OlyPMR members learned of this incoming shipment, to action on Friday, when military equipment began to move
they quickly mobilized, releasing the following statement: from the port.
“We oppose Olympia’s complicity in a war whose disastrous Civil disobedience and other actions at the port are
effects have been felt worldwide and we will actively resist the expected to continue as anti-war activists have declared their
use of Olympia’s port to further that war.... Through nonviolent commitment to ongoing resistance.
actions we intend to stop the Port of Olympia from becoming “The combat vehicles being shipped through our town were
a revolving door of military machinery furthering illegal war. used to invade and destroy a sovereign nation, devastating
This war has taken the lives of 3,845 U.S. soldiers, over one the lives of millions of Iraqis and thousands of Americans.
million Iraqis, and has displaced millions more. These weapons
(Continued on page 35)
page 16 Table of Contents december 2007 / january 2008
the peaceworker http://www.oregonpeaceworks.org
O
n November 8, Judge Benjamin H. 7. The balance of potential harms weighs in
Settle of the United States District Lt. Watada’s favor; and
8. The public interest favors granting relief.
Court for the Western District of
This is an enormous victory, but it is not yet over.
Washington (sitting in Tacoma, WA) issued This has not yet ripened into a permanent injunction,
Photo: thenewstribune.com
a preliminary injunction in favor of First Lt. though the judge did indicate that we have
Ehren Watada. demonstrated a likelihood of success on the merits.
The judge’s order did not indicate what the
In his decision, Judge Settle made the next steps are, and did not give the parties a
following significant points: briefing schedule. He did indicate, though, that
1. The remedy sought by Lt. Watada (i.e., a no trial proceedings could occur until his further
writ of habeas corpus in a pretrial setting), while order, or until this injunction is modified or
rare, is appropriate; dissolved (either by him or by a higher court).
2. Lt. Watada will suffer irreparable injury if It is reasonable to infer that the burden is now
relief is denied; Ehren Watada on the government to come forward and ask him
3. Lt. Watada is likely to succeed on the merits; to modify or dissolve the injunction. Beyond that,
4. Judge Head abused his discretion in rejecting the it is impossible to speculate on what will occur next.
Stipulation of Fact; My partner, Jim Lobsenz, and I are enormously gratified at
5. Even if Judge Head did not abuse his discretion in the care with which Judge Settle approached this matter. While
rejecting the Stipulation of Fact, there was still a lack of it is not yet over, we’ve come a long way toward achieving our
“manifest necessity;” goals for Lt. Watada in this litigation.
6. Judge Head failed to adequately consider possible Kenneth S. “Ken” Kagan is a partner at Carney Badley
alternatives; Spellman, 206.622.8020, and is Lt. Watada’s lawyer.
On October 23, Congressman John Dingell (D-) introduced Doing so will require that the United States engage
legislation to repeal the Authorization for Use of Military Force in vigorous diplomatic efforts and the engagement of other
Against Iraq Resolution of 2002 (Public Law 107 243) and to regional and global actors; and
require the withdrawal of the United States Armed Forces in Iraq. The United States is further morally obligated
The bill cites as “findings” eight of the most egregious to provide humanitarian assistance for the millions
aspects of the manner in which the war was initiated and the of Iraqi refugees that have been displaced since the
current occupation of Iraq and then goes on to declare that “The beginning of the
Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution war in Iraq.
of 2002 (Public Law 107 243) is hereby repealed.” Women’s Inter-
It then establishes as “policy” that: national League for
It no longer benefits the national security of the United Peace and Freedom
States for members of the United States Armed Forces to (http://wilpf.org/)
remain in Iraq; has begun a cam-
The United States should begin withdrawing its Armed paign to promote
Forces from Iraq in a safe, responsible, and orderly manner, this legislation and
and that such withdrawal should begin no later than 30 days is asking citizens to
after the date of the enactment of this Act, and should be write their represen-
accomplished by 12:00 p.m. on January 20, 2009; tatives in support of
It is the moral duty of the United States to continue it.
assisting the Government of Iraq in rebuilding and
reconstruction efforts;
page 17 Table of Contents december 2007 / january 2008
the peaceworker http://www.oregonpeaceworks.org
D
rug residues found in meat assume their share of responsibility
that exceed federal limits. as tenants of the Earth.” This “natural
Workers getting injured and food” store may be selling a product
that is the subject of FDA warnings and
losing their jobs. An employer who does not treat its workforce respectfully
refuses to recognize that workers at or fairly. This flies in the face of
his three feedlots want a union. Whole Foods’ claim to be working
with suppliers that mirror their ethical
This is the situation at Beef business practices.
Northwest, one of the Northwest’s Please join workers in calling for
largest feedlots, with operations across Whole Foods to take action. Demand a
Oregon and Washington. Beef Northwest public accounting of what steps they have
fattens approximately 40,000 cows taken to ensure that the Country Natural
a year that are later sold as “Country Beef sold in their stores does not contain
Natural Beef (CNB).” Sixty percent of Country unsafe levels of different drugs. Demand
The FDA recently sent a warning Natural Beef is sold through Whole that they stand by workers to ensure they
letter to Beef Northwest documenting Foods. Whole Foods’ philosophical have a union to represent them.
residues above the legal limit of two statement declares, “We are dedicated Andrea Cano is Executive Direc-
different drugs, and stating that the drugs to creating a respectful workplace where tor of the Oregon Farm Worker Minis-
were administered in violation of federal people are treated fairly...we believe try, (503) 990 0611; www.nfwm.org.
requirements. companies, like individuals, must
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Northwest Networking
Smith 2 Acquitted
By Peter Bergel
A
s we go to press, we learn The pair were blocked at the outside their representatives.” Therefore, they
that Bob Projansky and entrance of the private building where refused to leave as ordered.
Smith rents office space for his senato- Projansky and Bergel were tried
Peter Bergel who were in June when they pleaded not guilty
rial offices at taxpayer expense and
arrested by PGE security guards at refused admittance on March 16. The to trespassing charges and defended
the World Trade Center in Portland U.S. Constitution guarantees free speech themselves on constitutional grounds.
as they tried to visit Sen. Gordon and the right to petition one’s govern- After 5 months’ deliberation, Judge
Smith to lobby him for a war funding ment for redress of grievances and the Gregory Silver acquitted them. Further
Oregon Constitution prohibits laws that details and the full text of the judgment
cut-off, have been acquitted of will be posted on OPW’s website.
interfere with citizens rights to “instruct
trespassing charges.
expires 1/31/08
B
The Climate Security Act (S.2191) provides the strong and
ELTWAY prompt action that the science and likely impacts of climate
change require. As with all cap-and-trade regulatory systems,
5% Solutions to
Smarter Grid Holds Conservation Potential
By Daniel Fisher
W Grid Lock
ith a flood of renewable- The ideal solution is to counter
energy supplies coming That won’t happen overnight. One fluctuations in wind power by changing
demand, as in the Washington
online, it’s time for the of the biggest and oldest networks
around, the U.S. electric grid seems experiment, but it’s a big job. Houseman
electricity grid to get smart. estimates the average home uses about
hopelessly stuck between the 19th
and 21st centuries. It’s broken up for 3 kilowatts of electricity at peak hours;
Electric Ebay historical and regulatory reasons into General Electric’s most popular windmills
In a yearlong trial run that ended in the eight regional transmission systems generate 3 megawatts. “You’ve got to
spring, 200 or so homes on Washington’s and some 130 smaller “control areas.” pick 1,000 homes to turn everything off in
Olympic Peninsula engaged in a daily While many systems are computerized, or 10,000 homes to turn something off
bidding war for electricity. It was a sort of grid operators at the higher levels still in to counter one windmill,” he says.
robotic Ebay auction in which the thermostat communicate largely by phone and
in one house, say, bid against the clothes fax. Hundreds of thousands of switches Time to Upgrade Anyway
dryer in another for scarce electrons. The and circuit breakers must be operated As the industry shifts from large central
loser would turn off and wait for prices to manually, and the main transmission lines plants to a diverse collection of windmills
drop before jumping back onto the grid. have little instrumentation to monitor the and biogas generators, managing the
Engineers at the federally funded Pacific second-by-second flow of electricity from complex balance of supply and demand
Northwest National Laboratory showed that unpredictable new sources like windmills. will require fat communications pipes and
by equipping appliances and thermostats “If Thomas Edison came back to life, complex calculations. Luckily, the utility
with a few cheap microchips and Internet he’d recognize our electric utility system industry needs to upgrade large portions
connections, they could cut peak demand immediately and that’s not a good of its transmission system. CapGemini
by as much as 50%. That’s a big number, thing,” says Jesse Berst, publisher of estimates that North American utilities will
because 8% to 12% of peak demand for Smartgridnews.com, in Redmond, Wash. spend $500 billion over the next 15 years
power capacity comes during the busiest 1% Each year U.S. electric utilities waste replacing aging wires, transformers, electric
of hours. Most of the extra supply comes tens of billions of cubic feet of natural meters and poles. It’s an ideal time to add
from inefficient gas-turbine generators. gas on “spinning reserves,” for example, compact instruments, Internet links and
Such an experiment would have been generators that are running below top automated switches to control the flow of
sci-fi a few years ago. But ubiquitous silicon efficiency so they can supply electricity electricity. “The longer we wait, the more
and broadband have suddenly made such on a moment’s notice. From 5% to 20% we’re going to spend,” says Houseman,
second-by-second tinkering with demand of capacity is in reserve at any given time. who worked his way up from lineman to
possible, and the idea of upgrading the The problem of matching supply chief operating officer of a small utility.
century-old electric grid to make it more and demand will worsen as utilities Houston may set an example for
efficient isn’t so crazy anymore. increase the supply of green energy other U.S. utilities as it rolls out one
CenterPoint Energy of Houston, for under mandates like California’s, which of the most ambitious upgrades yet.
example, plans to install 2 million Internet- requires 20% renewable electricity CenterPoint’s network was engineered
capable electric meters over the next five by 2010. Windmills, for instance, are by ibm and runs on open-source
years. The utility likes the $120 devices: unpredictable and must be paired with software, meaning anybody can access
They eliminate the need for meter readers gas turbines that can be throttled up the underlying code to develop new
and contain wireless chips that communicate when gusts die down. Utilities need products to ride on the communications
with Internet-enabled appliances in the home, as much as 1 megawatt of spinning system CenterPoint is building.
letting consumers use a simple Web-based reserves for every 2 megawatts of wind Going to open source was a big step
program, say, to raise the air-conditioning power, says Douglas Houseman with for Itron of Liberty Lake, Wash., which
thermostat when electricity prices rise or turn CapGemini, a Paris consultancy. To controls approximately 60% of the
on the dishwasher in the middle of the night supply the extra juice, utilities turn on electric meter market and until four years
when prices are low. “We’re on the threshold inefficient single-cycle gas turbines, ago was committed to protecting itself
of being able to digitize the system,” says which turn 25% of the fuel’s energy with proprietary technology. The change
Thomas Standish, the head of regulated into electricity, as opposed to 45% for came as Itron’s research group in Paris
operations at CenterPoint. The grid “is one combined-cycle plants that use turbine realized it could exploit inexpensive new
of the last things that can be completely exhaust to make steam to run a second wireless chips and open-source software
transformed by this technology.” generator. (Continued on page 26)
page 22 Table of Contents december 2007 / january 2008
the peaceworker http://www.oregonpeaceworks.org
Global Warming
Don’t Wait for Bush Act Now on Climate Change
By Stephen Leahy
T
he United States is facing In the U.S. west and northwest, the economic models, it is crystal clear
hundreds of billions of dollars cost of fire suppression and property from this report, the Stern Review and a
damages will run in the billions due number of others that waiting to act will
in weather-related damages
to changes in precipitation patterns cost a great deal more than the costs of
in coming years if it does not act and snow pack. The Great Plains taking immediate action.
urgently on climate change, the will experience increased frequency “There is a strong need for action
first-ever comprehensive economic and severity of flooding and drought, across all sectors,” he said.
assessment of the problem has found. resulting in additional billions of dollars A national policy for immediate
in damages to crops and property. action to mitigate emissions, along with
The already sinking water levels will efforts to adapt to unavoidable impacts,
Spend Some Now or go lower in the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence would minimize the overall costs. The
Spend a Lot More Later River system, driving up shipping costs energy sector not only has to reduce its
The costs of inaction on climate and producing major impacts on the greenhouse gas emissions, but also needs
change on U.S. infrastructure, and its Midwest manufacturing sector. Sea to be decentralized to make it more
agricultural, manufacturing and public level rise and storm surges will eat away efficient and to buffer it from severe
service sectors, will far outweigh the costs valuable property along the Atlantic coast weather events, the report says. Other
involved in making the needed reductions a single storm surge event can cost 2.0 recommendations include simple market
in greenhouse gas emissions, according to billion to 6.5 billion dollars. mechanisms such as pricing of water or
the report, “The U.S. Economic Impacts Drought will take firmer hold of the dropping the tax exemption on fertilizer
of Climate Change and the Costs of south and southwest, with costly impacts on to get immediate environmental benefits.
Inaction”, released last month. agriculture, industry and households. For Despite pressure from nearly every
“We’re making billions of dollars of the Central Valley in California alone, the other industrialized country in the
infrastructure investments every year economy-wide loss during the driest years world, including key European allies,
and often without taking impacts of is predicted to be around 6.0 billion dollars. the George W. Bush administration has
climate change into account,” said report rejected any mandatory emissions caps
co-author Matthias Ruth, director of “Strong Need for Action” as too costly to the U.S. economy.
the University of Maryland’s Centre for Stephen Leahy writes for Inter Press
The “Stern Review on the Economics Service. This article is at http://www.
Integrative Environmental Research. of Climate Change” by Sir Nicholas
“Climate change will affect every ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=39674.
Stern, the former chief economist of the
American economically in significant, World Bank, cautioned last year that
dramatic ways, and the longer it takes to the global economy could shrink by
respond, the greater the damage and the 20 percent in the worst-case scenario
higher the costs,” Ruth told IPS. of inaction and a 5 degree C. rise in
“The true economic impact of temperatures. It would be far, far cheaper
climate change is fraught with ‘hidden’ costing just one percent of global GDP
costs,” the report concludes. It adds that to avoid these worst-case scenarios.
these costs will vary regionally and will The Stern Review was criticized by
put a strain on public sector budgets. economists on various technical grounds,
For example, the combined impacts and Ruth’s report does not offer any total
of storms on the U.S. since 1980 have costs to the U.S. economy because the
surpassed 560 billion dollars. Hurricane methodology for calculating that does
Katrina alone accounted for nearly 200 not yet exist. Climate science is well-
billion dollars in economic losses. established, but the economics of climate
More frequent and intense storms change impacts is still in its infancy, he said.
a virtual certainty, many climate scientists “We’re not ready to assess the large-
warn will raise the price-tag even higher. scale aggregate economic impacts of
Storm damage is just one factor in climate change,” Ruth said.
what is fast becoming a cascade of costs However, while a great deal of
amounting to hundreds of billions of work needs to be done to build robust
dollars, the report documents.
page 23 Table of Contents december 2007 / january 2008
the peaceworker http://www.oregonpeaceworks.org
5% Solutions to
Oregon Material Recovery Rate Falls
While Waste Generation Increases
Oregonians are generating waste at record- manage the waste they generate, pro- Lou Perry, DEQ Solid Waste Program,
high levels, according to figures released in No- duces the report each year to provide an Portland, 503.229.5731, or Loretta
vember by the Oregon Department of Environ- updated look at how the state is faring Pickerell, DEQ Solid Waste Program
mental Quality (DEQ) in its 15th annual survey in terms of waste generation and waste Manager, Portland, 503.229.5808.
of garbage haulers and private recycling and recovery through recycling, composting
composting companies. The complete “2006 and material burned for energy recovery.
Oregon Material Recovery and Waste Genera- The report provides an annual snapshot
tion Rates Report” is available on DEQ’s Web of the amounts of materials such as metal,
site at: http://www.deq.state.or.us/lq/pubs/ paper, glass and organic materials that are being
docs/sw/2006MRWGRatesReport.pdf. produced and “recovered.” The numbers are
Good news for mid-valley residents important because reduction, recycling, compost-
comes from Bailey Payne, Recycling Co- ing and energy recovery of waste material can
ordinator for Marion County Public Works result in significant greenhouse gas reductions
- Environmental Services: “We are very proud and energy savings. Greater recovery of materi-
to learn that Marion County is leading Oregon als helps preserve scarce natural resources that
in recycling and composting. Congratulations otherwise would be used. The numbers also help
to Marion County’s businesses and residents state solid waste policymakers determine more
for achieving a 57.5% recovery rate.” effective strategies for reducing the amount of
DEQ’s Solid Waste Program, which waste produced and disposed of in the state.
helps Oregonians reduce and properly For more information, contact Mary
Gregory Kafoury
Mark McDougal
Of counsel: Linda Williams
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raq is “unwinnable,” a “quagmire,” contracts now, while the Iraqi government in Iraq discussed in any meeting.” But this
a “fiasco”: so goes the received is at its weakest, and then wait at least two summer the Bush administration began to
years before even setting foot in the country.” talk openly about stationing American troops
opinion. But there is good reason As negotiations over the oil law stalled in in Iraq for years, even decades, to come.
to think that, from the Bush-Cheney September, the provincial government in Several visitors to the White House have told
perspective, it is none of these things. Kurdistan simply signed a separate deal with the New York Times that the president himself
Indeed, the U.S. may be “stuck” the Dallas-based Hunt Oil Company, headed has become fond of referring to the “Korea
precisely where Bush et al. wants it to be, by a close political ally of President Bush. model.” When the House of Representatives
voted to bar funding for “permanent bases”
which is why there is no “exit strategy.” in Iraq, the new term of choice became
Oil Hegemony Calls for
“enduring bases,” as if three or four decades
$30 Trillion Jackpot Permanent Bases wasn’t effectively an eternity.
Iraq has 115 billion barrels of known How will the U.S. maintain But will the U.S. be able to maintain
oil reserves. That is more than five times hegemony over Iraqi oil? By establishing an indefinite military presence in Iraq?
the total in the United States. Because of permanent military bases in Iraq. Five It will plausibly claim a rationale to
its long isolation, it is the least explored of self-sufficient ‘super-bases’ are in stay there for as long as civil conflict
the world’s oil-rich nations. A mere two various stages of completion. All are simmers, or until every groupuscule
thousand wells have been drilled across well away from the urban areas where that conveniently brands itself as “al-
the entire country; in Texas alone there most casualties have occurred. There has Qaida” is exterminated. The civil war
are a million. It has been estimated, by the been precious little reporting on these may gradually lose intensity as Shias,
Council on Foreign Relations, that Iraq bases in the American press, whose Sunnis, and Kurds withdraw into separate
may have a further 220 billion barrels of dwindling corps of correspondents enclaves, reducing the surface area
undiscovered oil; another study puts the in Iraq cannot move around freely for sectarian friction, and as warlords
figure at 300 billion. If these estimates are because of the dangerous conditions. consolidate local authority. De facto
anywhere close to the mark, U.S. forces are (It takes a brave reporter to leave the partition will be the result. But this
now sitting on one quarter of the world’s Green Zone without a military escort.) partition can never become de jure. (An
oil resources. The value of Iraqi oil, largely In February last year, the Washington independent Kurdistan in the north might
light crude with low production costs, Post reporter Thomas Ricks described upset Turkey, an independent Shia region
would be of the order of $30 trillion at one such facility, the Balad Air Base, in the east might become a satellite of
today’s prices. For purposes of comparison, forty miles north of Baghdad. A piece Iran, and an independent Sunni region in
the projected total cost of the U.S. invasion/ of (well-fortified) American suburbia in the west might harbor al-Qaida.)
occupation is around $1 trillion. the middle of the Iraqi desert, Balad has Presiding over this Balkanized Iraq
Who will get Iraq’s oil? One of the fast-food joints, a miniature golf course, will be a weak federal government in
Bush administration’s “benchmarks” for the a football field, a cinema, and distinct Baghdad, propped up and overseen by
Iraqi government is the passage of a law to neighborhoods — among them, “KBR- the Pentagon-scale U.S. embassy that
distribute oil revenues. The draft law that the land,” named after the Halliburton has just been constructed — a green
U.S. has written for the Iraqi congress would subsidiary that has done most of the zone within the Green Zone. As for the
cede nearly all the oil to Western companies. construction work at the base. Although number of U.S. troops permanently
The Iraq National Oil Company would retain few of the 20,000 American troops stationed in Iraq, the defense secretary,
control of 17 of Iraq’s 80 existing oilfields, stationed there have ever had any contact Robert Gates, told Congress at the end
leaving the rest — including all yet to be with an Iraqi, the runway at the base of September that “in his head” he saw
discovered oil — under foreign corporate is one of the world’s busiest. “We are the long-term force as consisting of five
control for 30 years. “The foreign companies behind only Heathrow right now,” an air combat brigades, a quarter of the current
would not have to invest their earnings in the force commander told Ricks. number, which, with support personnel,
Iraqi economy,” the analyst Antonia Juhasz The Defense Department was initially would mean 35,000 troops at the very
wrote in the New York Times in March, after coy about these bases. In 2003, Donald minimum, probably accompanied by an
the draft law was leaked. “They could even Rumsfeld said: “I have never, that I can equal number of mercenary contractors.
ride out Iraq’s current ‘instability’ by signing recall, heard the subject of a permanent base
(Continued on page 34)
page 30 Table of Contents december 2007 / january 2008
the peaceworker http://www.oregonpeaceworks.org
W
ar is hell — both for the individual power and can easily be ignored close to $500 billion on its military forces.
soldiers who fight it and the and removed from governance. The amount spent on diplomacy and non-
Nonviolent action involves ordinary violent action by all countries in the world
civilians who live where it is
people working together to overcome their is a minuscule fraction of this amount. Even
fought. The Iraq war is a perfect example oppression. Like war, nonviolent action with little money or research, nonviolent ac-
of the mess that military force can make inspires people to selfless service on behalf tion has achieved tremendous results. Isn’t
of a country: directly killing thousands of of others. Unlike war — which is usually it time to explore this ethical and effective
innocent civilians, injuring tens of thousands monstrously destructive and leaves people alternative to war?
horribly traumatized and resentful, often Randy Schutt is Vice-President of Cleve-
more, and displacing and traumatizing
leading directly to future wars — the land Peace Action, a member of the Cleveland
millions, while destroying critical carrying out of nonviolent action actually Nonviolence Network, and the author of Inciting
infrastructure — such as roads, bridges, and builds community and understanding Democracy: A Practical Proposal for Creating
electricity generation, water purification, and empowers people to act more civilly. a Good Society http://www.vernalproject.org.
and sewage treatment plants — that makes In practicing nonviolent action, people He also founded the Vernal Education Project
work together as a civic body, learning to to increase the skills and support of progressive
civilized life possible. Creating a civilized,
practice freedom, democracy, and justice. activists http://www.vernalproject.org.
democratic society out of the chaotic disaster
that Iraq has become will be extremely
It’s Working 70% of the Time
difficult and take a very long time, even
A 2005 study by Freedom House
under the best circumstances. (http://www.freedomhouse.org/uploads/spe-
cial_report/29.pdf) found that in the 67 cases
There Is an Alternative since 1972 in which dictatorial systems fell
But what is the alternative? In the or new states arose from the disintegration
last three decades, nonviolent action has of multinational states, civic resistance was
demonstrated that it is very effective a key factor in driving 50 of those transitions
in overthrowing horribly repressive — over 70%. In 32 of the 67 countries (nearly
regimes. For example, nonviolent action 48%), strong, broad-based nonviolent civic
toppled the apartheid regime in South coalitions were highly active, and in many
Africa, deposed the dictatorships of cases central to steering the process of change.
Slobodan Milosevich in Yugoslavia, Only one transition to freedom was brought
Ferdinand Marcos in the Philippines, and about by an outside military force.
Augusto Pinochet in Chile, and brought Of course, nonviolent action cannot
down the former Soviet Union and its win every struggle, just as war cannot.
communist satellite states (including Clearly nonviolent action has demon-
Poland, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, strated that it is a viable alternative to
and Lithuania). Overthrowing those war, and one that is a credit to humanity,
regimes incurred relatively few not a destroyer of it.
casualties and wrought relatively little If we are sincere about spreading de-
destruction. The nonviolent overthrow mocracy around the world, then it makes
of these vicious regimes has mostly left sense to use the most effective means
these countries stronger, more civilized, available, especially means that are
and much more free and democratic. consistent with moral values of freedom,
Nonviolent action relies on an justice, compassion, and community.
empowered populace that refuses to carry If there is a viable alternative to war, it
out the desires of the ruling leaders. Without makes sense to stop using weapons that
the consent of the governed, these leaders kill and maim innocent people and de-
have little power. If consent is completely stroy their cities, businesses, and homes.
withheld, they have only their own personal Each year the United States spends
page 31 Table of Contents december 2007 / january 2008
the peaceworker http://www.oregonpeaceworks.org
T
he U.S. is secretly upgrading Director Mohamed ElBaradei, strongly The new Big Blu bomb is 20 ft. long,
special stealth bomber advised the Bush administration to tone weighs 30,000 lb. and carries 6000 lb.
down its rhetoric on Iran. He stated: “So of high explosives. It is designed to
hangars on the British island
we are not talking about Iran having go deeper than even existing nuclear
protectorate of Diego Garcia in the today a nuclear weapon. We are trying bunker-busting weapons.
Indian Ocean in preparation for to make sure that the future intention of The bomb is designed to be dropped
strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities, Iran is peaceful, and that’s really what from as great a height as possible
according to military sources. we are talking about. Risk assessment of to achieve maximum velocity and
possible future intention by Iran, if they penetrating power, guided on to target by
The improvement of the B1 Spirit jet have the technology to develop nuclear satellite and accurate to within a few feet.
infrastructure coincides with an “urgent weapon. I say that because at this stage Each B2 bomber would be able to
operational need” request for £44m to fit we need to continue to work through carry only one weapon because of its
racks to the long-range aircraft. creative diplomacy. We have the time. weight. The B2s, normally based at
Because I don’t see any other solution, Barksdale, Missouri, flew round-trip
Wolf, except through diplomacy and strikes against Baghdad in 2003, but
MOPping Up with Big Blu inspection.”] would ideally be positioned closer to its
That would allow them to carry targets for missions against Iran.
experimental 15-ton Massive Ordnance The Pentagon has drawn up
Penetrator (MOP) bombs designed to
Likely: Five-Day
contingency plans for a range of attacks
smash underground bunkers buried Bombardment on Iran. The likeliest is a five-day
as much as 200ft beneath the surface Diego Garcia, part of Britain’s Indian bombardment, aiming to disable nuclear
through reinforced concrete. Ocean Territory, has several current facilities and all major airbases and radar
One MOP known as Big Blu missions. U.S. Air Force bombers and facilities; the most devastating would
has already been tested successfully at AWACs surveillance planes operate involve air and cruise missile attacks
the U.S. Air Force proving ground at from its 12,000 ft. runway and the USAF on 1000 targets, including headquarters
White Sands in New Mexico. Tenders Space Command has built a satellite and barracks of the Iranian Republican
have now gone out for a production tracking station and communications Guard Corps, over more than a month.
model to be ready for use in the next facility. The U.S. branded the Revolutionary
nine months. The Ministry of Defence says the Guards a terrorist organization last
The “static tunnel lethality test” on U.S. government would need Britain’s week in the latest round of diplomatic
March 14 completely destroyed a mock- permission to use the island for offensive sanctions against Tehran.
up of the kind of underground facility action. It has already been used for Ian Bruce is Defense Correspon-
used to house Iran’s nuclear centrifuge strategic strike missions during the 1991 dent for the British paper The Herald.
arrays at Natanz, about 150 miles from and 2003 Gulf wars against Iraq. http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/for-
the capital, Tehran. The U.K. “sovereign territory” has eign/display.var.1792035.0.0.php.
Although intelligence estimates vary a garrison of 50 British and 3200 U.S.
as to when Iran will achieve the know- military personnel.
how for a bomb, the French government The atoll, the largest in the Chagos
recently received a memo from the Archipelago chain, lies about 1000 miles
International Atomic Energy Agency from the southern coasts of India and Sri
Advertise
in
(IAEA) stating that Iran will be ready Lanka. It is ideally placed for strategic
to run almost 3000 centrifuges in 18 The PeaceWorker
missions in the Middle East. Now ONLINE 10 times a year
cascades by the end of this month. That The U.S. Department of Defence
is in defiance of a U.N. ban on uranium request for special bomb racks was Free link to your website.
For rates or other information
enrichment and would be enough to hidden in a £95bn request to the U.S.
produce a nuclear weapon within a year. Congress last week for extra emergency Call Jeanette
[In an recent interview with CNN’s funding for the wars in Iraq and 541.752.5860 (9am-5pm)
Wolf Blitzer on “Late Edition,” IAEA Afghanistan.
In Memoriam
Randall Forsberg, Founder of
Nuclear FREEZE, Dies
By Elaine Woo
R
andall Forsberg, who The Power of One Person It would take Forsberg more than two
decades to complete the degree.
founded the nuclear freeze Forsberg was born in 1943 in
Huntsville, Ala., and grew up on Long “I learned at MIT that armed force was
movement of the early 1980s not just for defense but for influencing
and wrote its manifesto, died Oct. 19 Island in New York. She was the
daughter of Larkin Douglass Watson, an the course of world history,” she told
of endometrial cancer at a New York actor who appeared for 15 years on the The Times in 1983. “And I discovered
City hospital. She was 64. NBC soap opera “Another World.” that the peace groups at the time
An arms control expert and political weren’t even aware of this. There was a
science professor at City College of New consensus on complaints — too many
York, Forsberg launched the movement weapons, too much testing and too high
in 1980 when she wrote the “Call to a military budget — but no consensus on
Halt the Nuclear Arms Race,” a position alternatives. So I had to develop my own.”
paper that outlined the devastating “Call to Halt the Nuclear Arms
potential of the arsenals possessed by the Race,” published as a pamphlet in the
United States and the Soviet Union. spring of 1980, delineated in chilling
Its’ simple message — to improve prose the threat contained in the U.S.
national and international security by and the Soviet arsenals, which held a
stopping the superpowers’ buildup of total of 50,000 nuclear weapons, with
nuclear weapons — unified disparate plans to build 20,000 more. The solution,
peace groups and sparked a nationwide she wrote, was a verifiable and mutual
grass-roots campaign that resonated with freeze “on the testing, production and
middle-class Americans as well as with deployment of nuclear weapons” and
Photo: www.nytimes.com
Olympia Activists
Continued from page 16
The reason we are blocking them now Olympia this Thursday report that a non- to a video of Wednesday night’s events
is because we do not want these war commissioned officer wearing fatigues which, in addition to images of protesters
machines to ever be used for this purpose pulled over, got out of his car, came being hit and in some cases knocked to the
again,” said Sandy Mayes, an Olympia over, shook their hands and said, “I ground by police with batons, showed sol-
nurse, and founding OlyPMR member. just want to thank you people for what diers on Strykers making positive gestures
you’re doing.” He told them that he had to protesters. As of this writing that video
Soldiers Signal Support been deployed to Iraq twice before and is no longer available on the Olympian
found it to be a “hopeless situation.” He website. Members of OlyPMR are work-
As the nation begins its annual ob- said that he and other soldiers wished ing on getting that video back up.)
servance of the Veterans Day holidays, that they could speak out against the This is a press release issued by
OlyPMR says they stand with the men war, but military regulations prohibited Olympia Port Militarization Resistance
and women of the military by demand- them from publicly opposing the war. (OlyPMR).
ing an immediate halt to the war, and the Members of OlyPMR argue that they
return of all the troops. are struggling for what most U.S. soldiers
“We want the troops to know we are and the majority of citizens in the U.S. and
glad they are home. We also want them Iraq clearly want. It is, they insist, the poli-
to know that we will do everything we ticians themselves who must be brought
can to make sure that they never have to along through direct action, in order that
go again,” said Mayes. the will of the people be fulfilled.
This message seems to resonate In video recordings of Strykers mov-
with many soldiers. Activists involved ing out of the Port of Olympia Wednes-
in PMR actions in Olympia or Tacoma day night soldiers are seen making
report overwhelmingly positive gestures apparent gestures of support as they pass
such as “thumbs up” from troops as the protesters: http://www.youtube.
they drive by in their Strykers and other com/watch?v=SOkn2Fg7R8w.
vehicles. TJ Johnson, Austin Kelley and (The local daily in Olympia, The
others vigiling at a busy intersection in Olympian, also had on its website a link
A FULL-LINE GROCERY
Fresh organic produce, bulk foods,
organic herbs, teas, coffees,
wines & microbrews, supplements,
books, gifts and much more.
FRESH DAILY
Your choice of soups, juices, muffins
Got books? Textbooks? Libraries?
& scones, hot soup & baked goods. GREAT NORTHWEST BOOKS
Organic salad bar Monday - Friday. WILL TRAVEL THE STATE TO
BUY BOOKS FROM YOU!
OPEN DAILY
M-F 8-7, Sat. 8-6, Sun. 10-6 In Portland at 3314 SW First Ave, in a beautiful 1890’s church
159 S.E. 2nd Street, Newport, OR 97365 (503) 223-8098 -- Open weekdays 9am - 6pm
(541) 265-8285 Please call us for more information
www.oceanafoods.org ON-LINE BOOK SALES & APPRAISALS: greatnorthwestbooks.com
www.DonnellyColt.com
Congressional Contacts
Now open 7 days a week
Capitol Switchboard: 202.224.3121; Toll
Call for hours
free: 1.877.762.8762 (SOB-U-SOB).
U.S. Senate, Washington D.C. 20510,
House of Representatives, Washington
D.C. 20515
Senator Ron Wyden
DC: 202.224.5244; Fax: 202.228.2717;
Portland: 503.326.7525; Fax:
503.326.7528; Eugene: 541.431.0229.
wyden.senate.gov
Senator Gordon Smith
DC: 202.224.3753; Fax: 202.228.3997;
Portland: 503.326.3386; Fax: 503.326.2900;
gsmith.senate.gov/webform.htm.
Rep. David Wu, 1st District
DC: 202.225.0855; Fax: 202.225.9497;
Portland: 503.326.2901; Fax:
503.326.5066; www/house.gov/wu/,
click “contact information.”
Rep. Greg Walden, 2nd District
DC: 202.225.6730; Fax: 202.225.5774;
Medford: 541.776.4646; walden.house.
Fresh, Whole, Organic Deli: gov, click “email”
• Green & Prepared Salad Bar Rep. Earl Blumenauer, 3rd District
• Soups, Salads, Hot Buffet DC: 202.225.4811; Fax: 202.225.8941;
Portland: 503.231.2300; Fax:
• Wholesome Baked Treats 503.230.5413; house.gov/blumenauer
• Raw Food Dishes Rep. Peter DeFazio, 4th District
DC: 202.225.6416; Fax: 202.225.0032;
Eugene: 541.465.6732; Fax: 541-
Local Merchants, the heart of our community .65.6458; 800.944.9603; www.house.
gov/defazio/, click “email me.”
Individuals Nourishing Community Since 1971
Rep. Darlene Hooley, 5th District
24th & Hilyard • 343�9142 • open 7am � 11pm
DC: 202.225.5711; Fax: 202.225.5699;
Salem: 503.588.9100; 888.446.6539; Fax:
503.588.5517; www.house.gov/hooley/,
click “contact Darlene.”
Oregon Contacts
Oregon Legislature:
800.332.2313; 503.986.1187; http://www.
leg.state.or.us/; State Capitol, Salem, OR
97301
Governor Ted Kulongoski:
503.378.3111; http://www.governor.
state.or.us; State Capitol, Salem, OR
97310
8. www.co.marion.or.us/pw/es
061109-11
OPW, 104 Commercial St. NE, Salem, OR. 97301 Non-Profit Org.
U.S. Postage
PAID
Permit #329
Salem, OR