15,000 people protest the SOA/WHINSEC

by Twin Ports SOA Watch

Some of the Northlanders at the protest. Photo: Margie Nelson.

As the mainstream media looked the other way, a major human rights gathering took place this weekend in Columbus, GA. Some 15,000 people from across the Americas converged there for three days of teach-ins, networking and a protest against the US Army's School of the Americas/WHINSEC. Resistance movement leaders and human rights activists from Haiti, Honduras, Mexico and Colombia joined us -- a stark, country-by-country reminder that the US is not only taking the wrong path in Afghanistan, but in this hemisphere, too.

Dozens of people from the Twin Ports and Ashland took part in the weekend's events, including our largest ever Duluth student delegation. Rachael Kilgour represented the Northland at the main stage of the protest and at an evening benefit concert in downtown Columbus, singing some of her own songs and protest standards. In addition to official SOA Watch events, Duluth activists also joined migrant workers picketing grocery stores in Columbus for fair wages and stopped along the way in Atlanta to protest Coca-Cola's collaboration with death squads.

Despite occasional threats and harassment by Columbus and military police, the event went largely as planned. Michael Walli of Duluth was arrested on Sunday after he and three others attempted to enter Ft Benning. He refused to post bail but was released on his own recognizance on Monday pending a January trial.

Thanks to the Duluth Central Labor Body, the St Scholastica Monastery, and CSS Student Senate for making it possible for Duluth-area students to take part in this incredible event. Look for a report-back sometime in December, but in the meantime you can check out the photos after the jump.

People begin to arrive at Ft Benning's main gate. The Honduran coup and pending
US-Colombia military agreement are at the forefront of everyone's minds.

Margie Nelson from CSS stands at the main gate. Three rows of fencing and
hundreds of MPs protect the base from those dangerous college students and nuns.

Big brother was watching.

The crowds swell to the thousands. The roots of SOA Watch are in Catholic resistance movements, including many nuns and priests who served as missionaries and were themselves imprisoned and tortured under brutal right-wing regimes in Latin America. While the protest has grown more inclusive over the years, many symbols of the that early movement -- including white crosses to commemorate the dead -- remain.

This die-in along the route of the protest commemorates the 700 women, men and children massacred in El Mozote, El Salvador by SOA graduates in 1980.

CSS and UMD students collect donations to support SOA Watch.

A puppet pageant commemorated the 20th anniversary of the murder of 6 Jesuit priests, their co-worker and her 16-year old daughter at the University of Central America in El Salvador.

The weekend ended with a solemn procession to commemorate the victims of SOA graduates. As the names of thousands of victims were read aloud from the stage, activists transformed Ft Benning's main gate into a memorial.

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Oberstar joins House in snubbing international humanitarian law

By a vote of 344 to 36, with 22 members voting "present", the US House of Representatives yesterday passed a non-binding resolution dismissing a UN report on war crimes committed during Israel's 2008 assault on Gaza. The report, authored by South African jurist Richard Goldstone, concluded that both Hamas and to a larger extent the Israeli Defense Forces violated international law by targeting hospitals, schools, UN buildings, homes, food stores and other infrastructure necessary for human survival during the 2008 war. Goldstone's conclusions are supported by both Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, but the pro-war resolution passed by members of Congress (most of whom presumably have not bothered to read the report), "considers the `Report of the United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict' to be irredeemably biased and unworthy of further consideration or legitimacy."

The resolution stands in a long line of "irredeemably biased" statements issued by Congress in recent years that both distort the facts on the ground and grant virtual impunity to Israel for any act of war against its neighbors or the people of the Occupied Territories. On November 4, a coalition of human rights groups issued their own statement calling on the UN General Assembly to endorse the Goldstone report, saying: "this is an opportunity for the UN General Assembly and the Security Council to send a clear message to Israeli and Palestinian leaders that civilians, regardless of their nationality, religious or ethnic background, are not legitimate targets of attack."

James Oberstar voted with the majority and Dave Obey voted "present." You can call Oberstar's office in DC at (202) 225-6211, or Duluth at (218) 727-7474 and express your disappointment.

Several Minnesota representatives showed the courage to stand up against the resoltion. Both Betty McCollum and Keith Ellison voted NO. Keep reading for McCollum's statement before the House.

Congresswoman Betty McCollum

Statement in support of human rights and in opposition to H. Res. 867

November 3, 2009

Madam Speaker, this resolution harms U.S. national security interests in the Middle East and American leadership for human rights and humanitarian law. And, while the U.S. attempts to be an honest-broker in an Israeli-Palestinian peace process this resolution is blatantly biased and damages U.S. credibility.

This resolution seeks to hide the ugliness of the Gaza War by covering-up the violent excesses committed against innocent civilians by Hamas and the Israeli Defense Forces.

Why does the U.S. House want to reject an accounting of Hamas’s terrorism against Israeli civilians as if thousands of rockets were not fired at Israel ?

Why does this resolution want to deny that hundreds of Palestinian women and elders were needlessly killed by the IDF?

American made white phosphorus shells were used by Israel in civilian areas causing horrible burns to Palestinian children, yet this resolution refuses to seek the truth?

The report Congress is burying today was led by a former chief prosecutor for war crimes in Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia, a jurist of exceptional experience who has faced far tougher actors than his critics in this chamber, critics who have not held a single hearing or conducted a single fact-finding mission on the subject of his report.

There must be only one standard for respecting human rights, a single standard by which we must hold ourselves, our friends, and our adversaries accountable. Establishing situational standards for respecting human rights is dishonest and only encourages actions that destroy human dignity and life.

Therefore I agree with U.N. Secretary Ban Ki-moon who recently said at the Anti-Defamation League’s annual dinner that he is “a friend who is acutely aware of Israel 's security needs.” But on the issue of the Goldstone report Secretary Ban said, "When human rights are violated anywhere in the world we need accountability."

Today, I would ask my colleagues to vote for human rights and accountability by voting against this resolution.

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Vigil and Direct Action to close the SOA/WHINSEC

by Twin Ports SOA Watch

What do the coup plotters in Honduras, death squads in Colombia, and union-busting security forces in Mexico have in common? They were all trained on the US taxpayers' dime at the School of the Americas/WHINSEC in Ft Benning, Georgia.

It would be difficult for us, with our training, to have a relationship with a leftist government. That’s impossible.

SOA grad and Honduran Army Attorney Col. Herberth Inestroza,
justifying the military coup to the Miami Herald

Over the weekend of November 21-22, tens of thousands of people will converge at Ft Benning to say no to the SOA/WHINSEC and the repressive foreign policy it represents. We are closer than ever to passing legislation in Congress to close and investigate the school, and a strong showing at this protest is critical.

Our neck of the woods has always been well-represented at SOA protests, and this year will be no different. If you can join us, please do. If you can't, consider making a donation to offset costs for those who can.

(photo: Honduran general and SOA graduate Romeo Vásquez Velásquez, leader of the military coup that toppled democratically-elected President Manuel Zelaya).


RIDES to the Protest

* Students and staff at UMD and LSC ONLY, contact Steve at wickx079(at)d(dot)umn(dot)edu or 612-501-0269. Cars depart Friday a.m. and return Monday evening. Thanks to the Duluth Central Labor Body, travel and housing expenses per person will be minimal.

* Students and staff at St Scholastica ONLY, contact Signey at SOlson7(at)css(dot)edu. School vans depart Thursday and Friday, and return Monday evening. Only $20/person for travel and housing, thanks to support from Student Senate.

* Other members of the community, contact Joel at soawtwinports(at)riseup(dot)net or 218-340-4356 for carpool info.

DONATE

A big thanks to the Duluth Central Labor Body and CSS Student Senate for generously sponsoring student travel to the protest!

But please consider pitching in a few dollars to help defray travel expenses for other northlanders - they are spending a lot of time on the road and taking time off work to represent us in Georgia! Checks can be made out to Veterans for Peace, earmarked "SOAW", and sent to:

Veterans for Peace
c/o Andy Anderson
16 E St Andrews St
Duluth, MN 55803

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Building Relationships in Rania - Nov 2

Duluth-Rania Friendship Exchange Project invites you to:

Building Relationships in Rania
with Michele Naar-Obed
Monday, November 2, 7pm
Zinema 2 Theaters
(222 E. Superior St, Duluth)

Michele, a member of Christian Peacemaker Teams, has made numerous trips to Iraq and Iraqi Kurdistan. She is the inspiration for a Duluth-area citizen-based trip to Rania, Iraq. That trip took place in May, 2009.

Michele will provide an update on the developments in the Duluth-Rania connection and will talk about her recent visit to a camp for internally displaced people.

There will be a short video presentation of the children at the IDP camp. This friendship exchange project will offer hope to those kids and they, as well as our kids, are our future and our chance for a better world.

Members of the May trip to Iraq will join Michele in her presentation: Brooks Anderson, Marv Heikkinen, Donna Howard, Arno Kahn, Tom Morgan and Salima Swenson

This event is free and open to the public. A social hour in the Zinema atrium will follow Micheles presentation. Beverages will be available for purchase from the Zinema.

With special support from: The Alworth Center for the Study of Peace & Justice at CSS and from Zeitgeist Arts.



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Report on Oct. 17 March & Rally

"1-2-3-4, We Don't Want These Stinking Wars!" reverberated off the tall buildings in Duluth's downtown on Saturday, October 17, as a spirited band of about 100 protesters marched through the city. On a day when anti-war protests were held in more than 40 cities and towns across the nation, this spirited band marched to show their continued opposition to the ongoing U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. With the combined price tag of these two wars approaching $1 trillion dollars, and up to one million lives lost, we need to show that the anti-war movement is alive and kicking!



The Duluth protest started at the Clayton, Jackson, McGhie Memorial (which memorializes three African-Americans who were lynched in Duluth in 1920), where we held a moment of silence of Staff Sgt. Aaron Taylor, a local soldier who was killed in Iraq on Oct. 9 and whose funeral was held on the same day as the protest.

From the CJM Memorial we marched through downtown Duluth, and then up to the Civic Center where we held a rally on the steps of the Federal Building. Peter Provost of the band Clear greeted the protesters with some moving song-singing, and this was followed up by an impressive program of powerful speakers. The theme of the rally was "Fund Human Needs, Make Jobs Not War!", and this was woven into all of the speeches, which stressed what a tragic waste all of the war spending is, when we have so many social needs crying out for funding.


The speakers at the program were physician and health care activist Charles Gessert, Rev. Cathy Schuyler of the Duluth Congregational Church and CHUM, Scott Yeazle of the Twin Ports Action Coalition, Josie Johnson of Earth Action and Eric Blomstrom from Community Action Duluth. And the whole event was ably MCed by Ellie Connolly of the Northland Anti-War Coalition, who stressed the need to keep reaching out to our friends, neighbors and co-workers to build the anti-war movement.

Organized by the Northland Anti-War Coalition, the protest was also endorsed by the Duluth Central Labor Body, Veterans for Peace, Women in Black, Peace North, the Duluth Area Green Party, Grandmothers for Peace, Socialist Action, Lake Superior Greens, Duluth Unitarian-Universalist Peace & Justice Committee, UMD Students for Peace, CSS Center for Just Living, Twin Ports Action Coalition, Workers United Local 99, CSS Earth Action, Rice Lake People for Peace, the Nortland Center for Art & Ecopsychology and a host of individual activists and concerned citizens.



Special thanks to all of our wonderful speakers at the rally, and to Ellie for MCing. Thanks to Steve Wick and Josie Johnson for leading the chants during our march, and to Mujtaba Alwan, Chere Suzette Bergeron, Carl Sack, Linda Gokee and Bob Kosuth for being the rally marshalls. Thanks also to Mike Solon for the sound system, and to Colette Knudson and Gary Sorenson for being our press liasons. Labor World newspaper deserves a special shout for doing such a great job plugging the protest, as does the National Assembly to End the Iraq & Afghanistan Wars, which initiated the Oct. 17 national day of action. And finally, thanks to Scott Bol, Peter Krause, Joel Kilgour, and everyone else who helped organize this event.

Coming on the heels of our Oct. 5 candle light vigil to mark the anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan, this fall has been a busy one for the Northland Anti-War Coalition. But much remains to be done to build a broad enough, and visible enough movement to bring these wars to an end. Towards that end NAWC would like to invite all anti-war activists throughout northern Minnesota and Wisconsin to a special strategy planning meeting on Nov. 8 at 2pm at the Duluth Unitarian Church. The struggle continues, and we could use your help and input on moving forward! Thank you to everyone who turned out on Oct. 5 and Oct. 17, and we look forward to seeing you on Nov. 8!



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Twin Ports Anti-War Protest THIS SATURDAY!

October 17 Duluth Anti-War March & Rally
NATIONAL DAY OF LOCAL ACTIONS TO END THE WARS

Saturday, October 17 is a national day of local actions against the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Around the country over 40 cities and towns will be holding protests, among them will be Duluth, Minnesota.

To give local citizens an opportunity to demonstrate their opposition to the ongoing wars this country is waging, we'll be holding a march and rally in downtown Duluth starting at noon. We'll be assembling at the Clayton, Jackson & McGhie Memorial at the corner of 2nd Ave. E. & E. 1st Street. From there we'll march to the Duluth Federal Building.

The theme of the protest is FUND HUMAN NEEDS: MAKE JOBS NOT WAR! The speakers will be talking about where we should be spending our tax dollars, as opposed to war and occupation.

Among the speakers at the rally will be Eric Blomstrom from Community Action Duluth, Scott Yeazle of the Twin Ports Action Coalition, Kathy Anderson of the Northland Anti-War Coalition, Rev.Cathy Schuyler of the Duluth Congregational Church and CHUM, Todd Erickson of Workers United Local 99, health care activist Charles Gessert and a spokesperson for the group Earth Action of the College of St. Scholastica. Ellie Connolly will be the MC and Peter Provost of the band Clear will be sharing some songs.

This event is being organized by the Northland Anti-War Coalition, and is endorsed date by the Duluth Central Labor Body, Veterans for Peace, Women in Black, Peace North, the Duluth Area Green Party, Grandmothers for Peace, Socialist Action, Lake Superior Greens, Duluth Unitarian-Universalist Peace & Justice Committee, UMD Students for Peace, CSS Center for Just Living, Twin Ports Action Coalition, Workers United Local 99, CSS Earth Action, Michigan Emergency Committee Against War & Injustice, Rice Lake People for Peace, the Nortland Center for Art & Ecopsychology and a host of individual activists and concerned citizens!

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Report on the Oct. NAWC Meeting

Minutes of 10/11/09 Meeting of the Northland Anti War Coalition

1) Attendance: Joel K, chair for the day; Gary S; Ron M; Ellie C; Dan M; Adam R; Carl S; & Peter K, recorder for the day.

2) Afghan 8th anniversary candle light vigil was held on 10/5. A very nice nite for 40 people who gathered at the Nat'l Guard base on Park Point & proceeded to Amazing Grace. Thank-you Ellie for the candles & Andy for the Vets for Peace float.

3) October 17 March & Rally - meet at Noon at the Clayton, Jackson, McGhie Memorial on 1st St for a hike down to Superior Street & back up to the Federal Building courtyard.

We'll have musical performers & speakers from a variety of perspectives on the topic of how resources could be used better for human needs rather than warfare.

4) November meeting will be on 11/8 at the Unitarian Church in Duluth. The meeting will focus solely on "How to Frame the Anti-War Message" and will be moderated by Donna Howard. This will provide a chance for NAWC to step back & evaluate where to from here.

5) CSS Refugee camp is under way this week on the grounds of St Scholastica. Students are spending the nites in tents to demonstrate solidarity with refugee situations around the world. Stop by to offer support as the nites are going to be cold!

6) UMD Students for Peace are planning an art oriented event for peace in the Spring.

7) Financial issues: Check book responsibility will be transferred to Carl from Peter.

We continue to be on the plus side of the ledger but have been putting quite a bit of effort (& funds) into promoting the upcoming rally as well as other activities so we will need to ask clearly for donations at the rally as well as send out a fund raising letter this winter.

8) Announcements-

A) Carl - National Protest on 3/20/10 in San Fran, L.A. & Wash DC. We will consider sending a bus to one of these & /or holding a local rally at that time.

B) Gary - Vets for Peace had a very good evening on 9/23 with Adam Schesch, A PhD field researcher on the topics of recent wars of revolution & resistance.

C) Carl - Acitvist Summit re: Palestine 11/21 from 9AM to 4 PM at the Duluth Freinds Mtg- Break the Bonds Coaliton members will be in Duluth at the Friends Mtg House to discuss a divestment campaign. NAWC voted to endorse this summit.

D) Ellie - Jubilee House - Center for Development in Central America - (Nicaragua) will host a presentation / dialogue & craft sale @ 7PM on Weds 10/21 @ Peace Church.

E) Bike ride w/ Mayor Don Ness & Jack Nelson Pallmeyer on 10/24 for International Day of Climate Action - 3:00 gather behind the DECC to ride thru Canal Park to Amazing Grace for a 4:00 PM teach-in 350twinports@ gmail.com or 340-4356

F) SOA watch is organizing vans to the School of Americas protests in Columbus Georgia. Leaving 11/19 Contact Joel K jrkilgour@yahoo.com

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Report on Oct. 5 Afghan War Vigil

On Monday, October 5, the Northland Anti-War Coalition marked the 8th anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan with a candle light vigil and march in Canal Park.



About 40 people gathered in front of the Army Reserve base on Park Point, lit candles, and marched, together with the Veterans for Peace float, to the Amazing Grace coffee house in Canal Park.


The somber event was meant to remind people of the thousands who have needlessly died in this ongoing conflict, and to renew calls for the war to be ended immediately.


After the march, there was an event inside the Amazing Grace honoring war resisters that featured singing by Rachel Kilgour.


Thanks to everyone who participated in this powerful and moving event!



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Peace Cabaret October 27

Mississippi Civil Rights Project Fundraiser:
Music and Performance
Tuesday, October 27
7:30-10pm
Carmody Irish Pub
308 E. Superior St, Duluth
$10 suggested donation

Welcome by Claudie Washington.

Barton Sutter, Rabbi Amy Bernstein, Mary Cameron, David Comer, Portia Johnson, and Claire Kirch read short pieces by Martin Luther King, Jr., Robert F. Kennedy, Fannie Lou Hamer, Stokely Carmichael, Sojourner Truth, and Barbara Jordan. Jazz by Perfectini.

This November, Duluth-based movement historian Sue Sojourner is returning again to Holmes County, Mississippi, after working there in the Civil Rights Movement for five years in the 1960s. This time the Oral History Center of the University of Southern Mississippi-Hattiesburg is holding a gathering for the surviving veterans of that Movement. The event uses a workbook Sue created on the Holmes Movement History as a memory catalyst. It will be a unique local-community-led oral history documentation project.

This fundraiser will help defray travel costs to Mississippi. It will also help Sue finish her memoir and catalog her historical collections for transfer to two archival institutions.

Sponsored by NAACP. For more info contact Ann Klefstad 218-525-3037. Donations are tax deductible.
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Remember the Refugee Week at CSS

For a week beginning October 11, the front lawn of the Science Building at the College of St Scholastica will be home to a tent city. Students with the CSS chapter of Amnesty International are living outside to draw attention to the global refugee crisis. The camp will be bustling with awareness-raising activities all week - teach-ins, movie nights, and even a comedian. All events are open to the public. Read more for a full schedule of events.

CSS Remember the Refugee Week
Schedule of events

Monday October 12th:
Bret Thiele, Coordinator—Litigation Progamme, and Mayra Gomez, Coordinator—Women and Housing Rights, from the Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions will be speaking about the right to adequate housing. 6:00pm.

“City of God,” a film about the immense amount of gangs and violence in Rio de Janeiro. Capturing the looks of defeat and despair through his photography, a young boy is convinced to tell a story that nobody wants to hear but everyone should know. 7:30 pm.

Tuesday October 13th:
Panel Discussion with CSS Iraqi Refugees. Students from Iraq will be talking about the current refugee situation. 7:00pm.

Wednesday October 14th:
Simple breakfast to begin a 30 hour fast. If you are interested in joining students from St. Scholastica standing in solidarity with those who experience hunger on a daily basis, please join us at 9:00am.

Comedian Rob O’Reilly will be taking the stage to remind us that Refugees are no laughing matter. 7:00pm.

Thursday October 15th:
Soup and Discussion about the worldwide refugee crisis to finish our 30 hour fast. Please join us for great food and great talk! 6:00pm

Benefit Concert with St. Scholastica students Mike Legan and Sarah Hengel, featuring Duluth’s own Sara Thomsen. Come, listen to some great music, grab some dinner beforehand, and be generous as we pass the hat. 7:00 pm.

Friday October 16th:
Film Showing: “Gaza: the Killing Zone.” A British report on Israeli violence in Gaza against not only Palestinian civilians, but international aid volunteers and foreign reporters as well. 5:30pm.

Bob Kosuth will be talking about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. 6:30pm

Candle-light vigil in remembrance of the refugees whom we honored during the week. 7:30pm




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October 5 Candlelight March and Vigil

October marks 8 years since the invasion of Afghanistan. 8 years of airstrikes and rising death tolls; 8 years of waiting for reconstruction and economic development assistance; 8 years and more than $200 billion of US tax dollars squandered on armed conflict.

Please join NAWC as we solemnly take stock of these losses and keep the pressure on to bring troops home now. The Obama Administration is thinking of escalating the conflict with tens of thousands more troops. As an anti-war movement, we have a narrow window of opportunity to influence the debate - it's time to get back on the street.

Monday, October 5

7 pm Candlelight march and vigil to end the war

Gather at the US Army Reserve at 1500 St Louis Avenue on Park Point in Duluth. Candles provided, consider wearing black or a black armband

8 pm Celebration of war resistance at Amazing Grace

Join CSS Amnesty International and Truth in Recruiting as we honor war resistance, past and present. Sing along to anti-war tunes with Rachael Kilgour (feel free to bring an instrument and a Rise Up Singing!); sign cards to US soldiers serving jail time for refusing to fight; and get to know your fellow activists.

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We Can’t Afford Health Care? You Lie!

by Tom H. Hastings

We see the spectacle of the US Congress unable to manage decent health care reform that will actually enable the American citizenry to join the rest of the industrialized world in having health care for all. The problems, it is clear, come from those who are lying.

why spend $16.5 billion just on the Department of Energy nuclear weapons budget for FY 2010 with 50 million uninsured citizens?

Death panels? That’s true—we already have them. Insurance companies deny care to Americans who then die as a result. It happens every day, Sarah Palin—but ascribing that to the Obama plan is untrue. In fact, those corporate death panels would be outlawed.

Find the language in Obama’s bill that says that illegal aliens are covered or admit it’s a canard—God forbid we should help some migrant worker who is stricken by illness or accident while laboring in service to Americans. South Carolina’s Joe Wilson is just the Tourette tip of a dissembling iceberg.

We can’t afford the plan? That is a whopper. It’s all choice.

If every child in America doesn’t have health care but we own more than 6,000 nuclear weapons, more than half of them on board a fleet of 18 extremely expensive Trident submarines ready to fight the Soviets (hey! Where’d they go?), isn’t it time to ask some fundamental questions? One is: why spend $16.5 billion just on the Department of Energy nuclear weapons budget for FY 2010 with 50 million uninsured citizens? Does US Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC) speak for us all when he calls health care a privilege (and presumably threatening life on Earth is a human right for the US military)?

When our working poor are so often without either the money to pay for health insurance or the high costs of health care for ailing family members and yet we somehow manage to justify spending in excess of $915 billion on the so-called War on Terror, shouldn’t we engage in some national discussion about priorities?

$1 trillion for war while unemployment pushes 10 percent in more and more states is unconscionable. Unemployment means a loss of health care for a high percentage of those who lose jobs and more foreclosures on the American dream of home ownership every month. Historically, it naturally correlates with increases in crime. The US is the last of the so-called developed countries to fail to insure the unemployed and underemployed, and we have the highest crime rates. So many thousands of us are shot each year that we more than qualify to be considered at war inside our own borders. Much of that carnage relates to social problems like unemployment, lack of health care and simple hopelessness.

Does it not seem that when the US can afford and not question nearly 1,000 military bases on other people’s sovereign soil—287 of them in Germany alone—that we can afford to create jobs? Rather than have our young people learning how to hurt others in the military, we could end economic conscription, lower the crime rate, drastically reduce the numbers of uninsured, reverse the home foreclosure numbers and enhance our nation’s productivity by offering minimum wage jobs to anyone willing to work. Those jobs would include housing in some cases, health care benefits in all cases, and on-the-job training and supplementary education for those needing it. Closing foreign military bases until these programs were paid for would be a giant leap for the US back toward the health of our workforce, our economy, our educational system and our very citizenry.

No one is talking about this? True. So it’s time to start.

Tom H. Hastings used to live in the north country of Wisconsin and coordinate the Peace, Conflict and Global Studies program at Northland College. He's currently a core faculty in the Portland State University Conflict Resolution graduate program. This essay was originally published in the Huffington Post on September 12, 2009

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Where has all the money gone?

national priorities project

This is on top of the more than half trillion doled out to the Pentagon each and every year! Check out the National Priorities Project to see just how much of our national wealth is spent on war.

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SOA-trained Honduran military fires on democracy activists

By Twin Ports SOA Watch

photo: Honduras Indymedia

Yesterday, President Manuel Zelaya returned to Honduras, defying threats of arrest by the coup government that abducted him at gunpoint and forced him into exile in June. He is currently enjoying the protection of the Brazilian embassy. Upon hearing of Zelaya's return yesterday afternoon, thousands of democracy activists began gathering around the embassy to celebrate, defying a 4pm curfew imposed by the coup government.

Honduran media reports that the military and police have begun to violently disrupt the protests, firing tear gas and rubber bullets into the crowd and making arbitrary arrests. This contempt for democracy should come as no surprise, as much of the Honduran military leadership was trained to make war on their own people at the US Army School of the Americas.

The Honduran resistance movement has called for a national strike, but worry that the coup government, knowing that its time is coming to an end, may lash out with brutal violence. The coup government has already threatened to cancel the immunity of the Brazilian embassy, a move that could turn the Honduran crisis into a regional conflict. Read more to take action.

SOA Watch recommends that we call the State Department at 202-647-4000 and the White House comment line at 202-456-1111 to deliver the following message: "Work for the unconditional immediate reinstatement of President Zelaya, demand that the Honduran military doesn't move against the people and their democratically elected president, Mel Zelaya and ensure that the coup plotters will be held responsible for their actions. Any bloodshed will be on the hands of the coup government and security forces."

Stay posted to NarcoNews for English-language updates from the resistance.

And please consider traveling with Twin Ports SOA Watch to Georgia this November 20-22 for a mass mobilization against the SOA/WHINSEC. Contact us at soawtwinports[at]riseup[dot]net or call Joel at 218-340-4356 for details.

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Obama wants more troops in Colombia, Oberstar and Feingold speak out

By Twin Ports SOA Watch

Ignoring objections from Latin American governments and Colombian civil society, the Obama administration is moving ahead with plans to station more US military personnel inside Colombia. In an agreement with the Uribe administration, the US military will soon be able to operate out of 7 Colombian military bases.

This is a troubling shift from the rhetoric of candidate Obama, who once sharply criticized the Colombian regime's appalling human rights record. Now President Obama appears to be solidifying Washington's partnership with Uribe's right-wing government, and at the same time alarming a continent that is no stranger to brutal US military interventions.

Human rights organizations have documented Colombia's military involvement with illegal paramilitary groups that on many occasions carried out extra judicial murders, disappearances, and displacement of Colombian peasants, Afro-Colombians and indigenous peoples.

From a September 15 letter to President Obama
by James Oberstar, Russ Feingold and 14 other members of Congress

In exchange for military access to Colombia, Obama has dropped his objections to the bilateral "Free Trade Agreement" with Colombia that past president Bush tried but failed to implement. The proposed Colombian FTA has been widely condemned by social movements in the US and Colombia for failing to protect Colombian worders and the environment, and for paving the way to greater exploitation of the country by transnational corporations.

While many Democrats have joined Obama in switching gears on Colombia, 16 members of Congress recently wrote to the president to declare US policy in Colombia a failure and raise questions about the new security pact. Congressman James Oberstar of Minnesota's 8th District and Senator Russ Feingold of Wisconsin were among the signers. Here's the letter:

Congress of the United States
Washington, DC 20515

September 15,2009
President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20500

Dear President Obama:

It is our understanding that the U.S. and Colombia are in negotiations to increase U.S. access to an expanded network of Colombian military bases to support counter-narcotics efforts. We write to urge caution regarding any increase in U.S. military aid to and presence in Colombia due to concerns that increased U.S. military involvement will exacerbate the failures of Plan Colombia.

Between fiscal years 2000 and 2008, the United States provided over $6 billion in military and nonmilitary assistance to Colombia as part of Plan Colombia. This funding supported the eradication of coca and opium poppy crops, the interdiction of narcotics shipments, and the training and material support for Colombia's security forces. U.S. assistance also supported alternative crop development to give coca and opium poppy farmers alternative sources of income.

Despite the billions of dollars spent by the U.S., Plan Colombia has not succeeded. According to a GAO report released in October 2008 (GAO-09-71), "Plan Colombia's goal of reducing the cultivation, processing, and distribution of illegal narcotics by targeting coca cultivation has not been achieved." In fact, according to the report, coca cultivation and cocaine production have increased in Colombia.

In addition to serious questions about the value of eradication efforts, we have strong concerns about human rights violations perpetrated by the Colombian military. Human rights organizations have documented Colombia's military involvement with illegal paramilitary groups that on many occasions carried out extra judicial murders, disappearances, and displacement of Colombian peasants, Afro-Colombians and indigenous peoples. For example, Amnesty International found that, between June 2006 and June 2007, at least 280 civilians were extra-judicially killed by Colombian security forces and that many of them were subsequently presented by those forces as guerrillas killed in conflict.' The Colombia Support Network has documented literally hundreds of incidents of abuse by the Colombian Army over the past three years', and according to Human Rights Watch, the Colombian Armed Forces engaged in "'systematic' killings of civilians" and the Colombian Attorney General's Office (La Fiscalia) is investigating cases involving more than 1,700 alleged victims.'

In the recent summit of the Union of South American Nations, called expressly to address Colombia's military agreement with the United States, every other nation in the region except for Peru expressed serious concern about the terms of the agreement and the manner in which it was negotiated. This pact threatens to make your efforts to re-engage with our neighbors in the hemisphere on terms of mutual respect much more difficult.

These failures of Plan Colombia underscore our concern that increased U.S. military presence in Colombia will continue to overemphasize funding to Colombia's armed forces rather than needed development and rule of law efforts. We hope you will exercise caution in negotiating any increase in U.S. military aid to and presence in Colombia.

Sincerely,

Signed by the following U.S. Representatives

Tammy Baldwin
James P. McGovern
Jan Schakowsky
Raul Grijalva
Barbara Lee
George Miller
Jose E. Sorrano
Lynn Woolsey
Rush Holt
Chaka Fattah
Pete Stark
James L. Oberstar
Keith Ellison
Bob Filner
Dennis Kucinich

and Sen. Russ Feingold

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The Afghanistan-Pakistan War

By Veterans for Peace Chapter 80

The Afghanistan-Pakistan War: The Coming Disaster
with Adam Shesch, PhD
Wednesday, September 23, 7pm
Peace United Church of Christ
1111 N 11th St, Duluth

The presentation is free and open to the public. Sponsored by VfP Chapter 80 and the Northland Anti-War Coalition.
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All Out for the Oct. 17 Antiwar Protest!

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 17 - National Antiwar Day of Action
FUND HUMAN NEEDS - MAKE JOBS NOT WAR!

We'll be assembling at noon at the Clayton, Jackson & McGhie Memorial (corner of Second Ave. E. & Fist St.) for a march to the Duluth Federal Building, where we'll have several speakers addressing the need to switch war funding to social needs here at home.

To date this protest has been endorsed by the Northland Anti-War Coalition, the Duluth Central Labor Body, Veterans for Peace, Women in Black, Peace North, the Duluth Area Green Party, Grandmothers for Peace, Socialist Action, Lake Superior Greens, Duluth Unitarian-Universalist Peace & Social Justice Committee, UMD Students for Peace, CSS Center for Just Living, Twin Ports Action Coalition, Workers United Local 99, Michigan Emergency Committee Against War & Injustice, Rice Lake Peace for Peace, the Nortland Center for Art & Ecopsychology and others to be announced!

Fliers are being run as we speak! Email me at wainosunrise@yahoo.com if you would like a stack of fliers to distribute.



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One year ago today...

Thousands of people took to the streets of St Paul during the Republican National Convention to protest the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, among other issues. The police responded by suspending civil rights and attacking activists, journalists and passersby. More than 800 people were arrested.

Today, the National Lawyers' Guild announced a class-action lawsuit against the City of St Paul over the mass arrest of 200 people on the first day of the convention. Civil liberties groups, journalists and activists promise more to come.

Call Ramsey County Attorney Susan Gaertner

-- 651-266-3222 --
ask her to drop charges against the RNC 8!

Most of the RNC-related arrests were baseless, and have been dismissed by prosecutors or the courts. But some activists are still facing felony charges, most notably the RNC 8. The RNC 8 are a group of anarchist organizers who were involved in coordinating food, housing, and communications for the protests. They were arrested before the convention, during violent police raids of private homes and activist centers. The most inflammatory terrorism charges brought against the RNC 8 by Ramsey County were dropped this summer under tremendous public pressure, but the 8 are still facing years in prison under equally unjust charges of conspiracy to riot. Please take a moment to call Susan Gaertner and ask her to stop the assault on community organizers and drop all charges against the RNC 8!

While most of Minnesota's DFL establishment has remained silent or complicit in these abuses, the Duluth DFL - with the support of the Duluth Central Labor Body - has taken a strong stand in support of the RNC 8 and against the police violence and civil rights abuses that happened in St Paul. Three key players in the RNC-related repression - Ramsey County Attorney Susan Gaertner, St Paul Mayor Chris Coleman, and Minneapolis Mayor RT Rybak, have either declared their candidacy or are widely expected to seek DFL endorsement for governor in 2010.


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Local 99 solidarity picket report

On August 15, NAWC turned out 19 people to support our long-time ally Workers United Local 99 in their fight for fair working conditions at the Pickwick Restaurant in Duluth. Local 99 represents low-wage workers in the hospitality and restaurant industries, including the 85-year union at the Pickwick. The new Pickwick owner (Chris Wisocki) is trying to bust the union and even fired two long-time employees for union activity. Local 99 responded with informational pickets and a community boycott of the restaurant. The boycott is making a mark, but the battle isn't over.

A hearty Loaves & Fishes contingent turned out to the NAWC picket, as well as Vets for Peace. We sang some old labor songs (with Rachael Kilgour's help) and heard from CJ and Sandy, the two women who lost their jobs but still show up in front of the restaurant every day, rain or shine, to fight for their rights and the rights of other union workers.

The picket was a great show of solidarity and sure to strengthen the ties between our movements. Please consider dropping by the picket to show your support - every day but Sunday during lunch and dinner hours. Local 99 especially needs a big turnout on Saturday evenings from 5-8. Join them if you can!
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A new wave of war resistance

by Joel Kilgour

On August 14 in Fort Hood, Texas, Sgt Travis Bishop (making a peace sign in the photo) was sentenced to 12 months in prison for refusing deployment to Afghanistan. Bishop said his resistance was influenced by both a previous combat tour in Iraq and his awakening religious pacifism.

On August 5, another Ft Hood soldier and Iraq veteran, Spc Victor Agosto, was sentenced to 30 days in prison for publicly refusing to take part in what he called an "immoral and unjust" occupation.

There is no way I will deploy to Afghanistan. The occupation is immoral and unjust. It does not make the American people any safer. It has the opposite effect.

Army Spc Victor Agosto, from a statement to his commander at Ft Hood

Last year, the Army admitted to an 80% jump in desertions from 2003-2007. Hundreds of Iraq war resisters have fled to Canada, where they have been welcomed with open arms by Parliament and the majority of the public. Army Sgt Chris Vassey, an Afghanistan veteran who was facing redeployment in support of the occupation, has recently joined their ranks. Unfortunately, the once Bush-allied Conservative minority government continues to block asylum claims, and war resisters Robin Long and Cliff Cornell have both been forcibly returned to the US, where they faced courts-martial and lengthy prison sentences.

Other resisters are underground, in prison, or facing legal limbo in special military units. In their article "Echo Platoon: Warehousing Soldiers in the Homeland," Dahr Jamal and Sarah Lazare expose the inhumane living conditions faced by more than 50 such AWOL soldiers, many suffering PTSD, at Ft Bragg.

Resisters like Agosto, Bishop and Vassey have dealt a blow to the myth of public consensus on Afghanistan. Still, they and other military personnel who resist illegal wars and occupations do so at a great price to themselves and their families. They need encouragement as well as financial and political support. To learn more about what you can do to support war resisters, visit Courage to Resist or the War Resisters Support Campaign in Canada.

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