In June: REMEMBER #BAGRAM!

June is Torture Awareness Month. People everywhere are organizing events for June 26 -- International Day in Support of Victims of Torture -- as well as the days leading up to it. A list of events planned in Chicago is shown below.

I will be recognizing Torture Awareness Month by continuing to work to force transparency and accountability with respect to the thousands of detainees who have been left in prisons throughout Afghanistan as a result of the U.S. invasion and occupation.

For those who think President Obama has put the Afghanistan "episode" behind us, it is essential to recognize that the United States has created a massive human rights disaster through its detention regime in Afghanistan -- one that dwarfs Guantanamo in comparison -- and we cannot turn our back on it.

Despite efforts by the U.S. to wash its hands of the detention mess in Afghanistan, as the latest post by Jason Ditz at Antiwar.com attests, "US Still Runs Afghan Torture Prison: Officials Retain Effective Control Over Detainees in 'Afghan Custody'."

As Tina Foster, founder and Executive Director of the International Justice Network said in today's New York Times article ("Detainees Are Handed Over to Afghans, but Not Out of Americans’ Reach"), “The worst thing is the administrative detention regime the Afghans are adopting is exactly the same as what the U.S. government has been doing for the last 10 years .... The legacy left here by the U.S. is people disappeared into legal black holes.”

In June, make a special effort to #stopTorture ... close #Bagram ... #DEMILITARIZEafghanistan!

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CHICAGO EVENTS DURING NATIONAL WEEK OF ACTION AGAINST TORTURE

SATURDAY JUNE 23
Vigil: Water Tower (Michigan and Chicago) - 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Please JOIN the Facebook event page and invite friends!

Film screening: "Beneath the Blindfold" 5:00 p.m. at Loyola University Chicago School of Law, 25 East Pearson
Beneath the Blindfold interweaves the personal stories of four torture survivors who now reside in the U.S., but originally hail from different parts of the globe: South and Central America, Africa, and the U.S.
Please JOIN the Facebook event page and invite friends!
(Read my review of "Beneath the Blindfold"!)

TUESDAY JUNE 26
Morning rush hour vigils at various locations:
(a) 8th Day Center for Justice - weekly Peace Vigil
Where: (note revised location) Jackson & LaSalle
When: 8:00am - 9:00am
Bring a sign or we will bring some as well" (Note: this is a weekly vigil.)
(b) White Rose Catholic Worker
Where: Corner of Hollywood Rd. & Sheridan
When: 8:00am - 9:00am
(c) Su Casa Catholic Worker
57th St. and Lakeshore Drive (east side, bike path)
When: 8:00am - 9:00am
(d) Others - details TBA

PRESS CONFERENCE: Restore Torture Commission Funding! - Join us as we (a) call for the restoration of funding for the Illinois Torture Inquiry and Relief Commission, to assure that its important work can continue; and (b) applaud plans by Governor Quinn to close the Tamms Supermax facility.
Where: State of Illinois Bldg - James R. Thompson Center (Randolph & Clark)
When: 12:00 noon - 1:00 pm
JOIN the Facebook event page and invite friends!

GATHERING in Support of Survivors of Torture - organized by representatives of a wide range of local and national organizations
Where: (note revised location) State of Illinois Bldg - James R. Thompson Center (Randolph & Clark)
When: (note revised time) 12:30pm - 1:30pm (immediately following press conference)
JOIN the Facebook event page and invite friends!

EVENING PROGRAM Heartland Alliance Marjorie Kovler Center presents:
United Nations Day in Support of Survivors of Torture
Dinner and program 6pm-9pm
Keynote address by Jobi Petersen Cates, Director of the Midwest Region, Human Rights Watch.
McCormick Lounge in Coffey Hall, Loyola University 1032 W. Sheridan Road, Chicago
For more information contact Caroyln Morales, 773-751-4035.

FRIDAY JUNE 29
Outing to see My Kind of Town - play about Chicago police torture scandal - details TBA

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Image of Parwan Detention Facility (Bagram, Afghanistan) from Wikipedia.

What Shall We Tell Obama, Chicago?

Barack Obama will be back in Chicago on Friday to raise money for his re-election campaign.

Apparently, yesterday's article in the New York Times about how Obama makes decisions to kill people in other countries with drones has done nothing to hinder his re-election aspirations.

However, many people are outraged -- and at least some of them have a new image seared in their minds: the image of Obama side by side with one of the children he has killed using drones.

What do people in Afghanistan expect people in Chicago to tell Obama?

What do people in Pakistan expect people in Chicago to tell Obama?

What do people in Yemen expect people in Chicago to tell Obama?

What do people in Somalia expect people in Chicago to tell Obama?

Being a Team Player for "Mr. Forceful": Obama and the Dems

Some people have the wrong idea about the article published yesterday in the New York Times, describing Barack Obama's personal administration of drone killing around the world. They think the article "exposes" the wrongful conduct of Obama and his administration, that it will spark outrage, and that it will bring about change.

The article is a team memo from the Obama 2012 campaign.

What people need to understand is that the average reader skips right through the fog of legal and moral concepts and sees only the parts that reassure his/her reptilian brain.

The article is laced with sentences such as . . .

“He is determined that he will make these decisions about how far and wide these operations will go."

"He's a president who is quite comfortable with the use of force on behalf of the United States."

[T]he control he exercises also appears to reflect Mr. Obama's striking self-confidence: he believes, according to several people who have worked closely with him, that his own judgment should be brought to bear on strikes.

"After that, as president, it seemed like he felt in his gut the threat to the United States."

People read these sentences and they say, "Gee, I guess this guy Obama will protect me from harm. We sure are lucky to have such a strong man at the helm of our ship of state."

As such, the article accomplished precisely what it set out to do: put a stake in the ground for Obama 2012 partisans: "This is the candidate; you MUST support him!" For those who doubt this interpretation, this statement from the article about the involvement of Obama's chief re-election strategist should suffice: "David Axelrod, the president’s closest political adviser, began showing up at the 'Terror Tuesday' meetings, his unspeaking presence a visible reminder of what everyone understood: a successful attack [against the United States] would overwhelm the president’s other aspirations and achievements."

It's hard to fault people for absorbing these rapid-fire suggestions and internalizing them. I just have one request: every time people think of "Mr. Forceful," they imagine his image side-by-side with that of one of his victims.

MORE ON OBAMA AND DRONES:
The Obamoid and the Eva Test
Obama Nobel Peace Prize - REVOKED!

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Obama image source: ABC News
Image of child drone victim in Pakistan from Examiner.com

Make Obama's Drone Killing 100% VISIBLE in Minneapolis

Barack Obama goes to Minnesota to campaign on Friday, June 1.

I hope people in Minneapolis will make Obama's drone killing 100% VISIBLE.

I hope people there will tell him that they will NOT be voting for him in November.

I hope they will tell him that they will instead be making sure that only ANTIWAR members from Minnesota return to Congress in 2013.

Election 2012 is here. Let's stop the killing and stop the wars.

* * * * *

Obama will be speaking at Honeywell, a major military contractor. Honeywell is a supplier of next-generation drones technology, including the lightweight Micro Air Vehicle (MAV) RQ-16A T-Hawk.

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Image source: Protest against war funding at the office of Representative McCollum, St. Paul, Minnesota, May 18, 2010. "Multiple peace organizations held an anti-war protest at Representative McCollum’s office in St. Paul, MN to protest spending and escalation in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. United States Representative Betty McCollum is planning on voting for the $33 billion supplemental funding bill for the U.S. war in Afghanistan. Participants included: Anti-War Committee, Merriam Park Neighbors for Peace, Twin Cities Peace Campaign, Women Against Military Madness."

Win/Win? More on the Problem of Permawar and "Good Jobs" in California

More at: Can we stop the DRONES?

Memorial Day

Yesterday I wrote about the drone industry in California, and the difficulty of putting a stop to a military technology that holds the allure of "good jobs."

The drone industry in the U.S. is currently centered in the San Diego area, home of General Atomics. But the area just north of Los Angeles is an equally important source of "good" military aerospace jobs.

See for instance the video that is being used as part of the #SaveDefense campaign on Twitter. A leading proponent of #SaveDefense -- i.e. "save defense spending" -- is Buck McKeon, representative from California's 25th congressional district. McKeon also happens to be co-chair of the 50-plus-member Unmanned Systems Caucus in Congress.

I was particularly struck by the statement in the video that military aerospace jobs offer a "nice American win/win type of situation." I wonder if the person speaking considered -- for even a moment! -- the victims of U.S. military action.

I suspect he didn't, so I offer here some images and text about civilian victims of a recent U.S. airstrike in Afghanistan:

Both President Hamid Karzai and NATO commanders ordered an investigation on Sunday into reports that a family of eight had been killed in a coalition airstrike in eastern Afghanistan. NATO and Afghan provincial government officials gave somewhat divergent accounts of the episodes. The casualties took place in eastern Paktia Province on Saturday night when the family’s home was hit by a bomb, said Rohullah Samoon, a spokesman for the governor of Paktia. Six children were killed, four boys and two girls, as well as their mother and father, whose name was Safiullah.

(More at Inquiry Ordered Into Deaths of Afghan Family.)

My prediction? When we ultimately stop thinking like "Americans" and instead recognize that we must think as fellow human beings, the "win" and "good" in those military aerospace jobs is going evaporate before our eyes.

More at: Can we stop the DRONES?

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Images from Naharnet (victims) and Times Live (rubble)

THIS Memorial Day, Honor the Fallen: STOP Drone Killing!

This Memorial Day, commit yourself to something that America's fallen servicemen and women would want: an end to killing with drones.

> Because drones are an immoral tool of violence against innocents.

> Because drones are a dishonorable weapon in which the warrior never faces his/her opponent as another human being.

> Because drones are an unlawful violation of the Constitutional protections that every U.S. service member is sworn to uphold.

One week ago in Chicago, we saw U.S. veterans give voice to the anguish of so many who have been caught up in U.S. war-making. They are tormented about the violence, injury, and pain to which they have contributed. They seek everyone's help in putting a stop to it.

Just 5 days ago, we saw the passing of Paul Fussell, a scholar who gave voice to the disgust with war felt by generations of veterans. Fussell built on his first-hand experience of war in Europe in 1943: "During his tour of duty he won the Bronze Star and two Purple Hearts — he was wounded in the back and legs — and he emerged with a disdain for those who would justify wars, especially those who never fought. He hammered the point in The Great War and Modern Memory and other books, including Wartime: Understanding and Behavior in the Second World War (1989), a relentless chronicle of everything that was dreadful or repugnant about the soldiering experience in World War II, and a memoir, Doing Battle: The Making of a Skeptic (1996)."

Today, ALL Americans have been made part of the "kill chain" by high-tech, hyper-modern killing with drones. It's time for us to see that this new type of killing has put ALL of us behind the trigger.

The bad news is drones have made all of us more implicated and culpable than ever. But the good news is that the drones also offer up clear pathway to putting a stop to the immoral, dishonorable, unlawful killing.

This Memorial Day, commit yourself to something that America's fallen servicemen and women -- and Iraq Veterans Against the War ... and veterans of all conflicts -- would want: an end to killing with drones.

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Painting: We Honor the Fallen by Ret. Sgt. Peter Damon from the Wounded in Action art exhibition.

Read about the May 17 Chicago protest against drone killings.
Get involved with the movement to end drone killings.

Drones, Permawar, and the Problem of "Good Jobs"

More on technology: When "Pre-emptive Violence" Is Automated ....
War, War Protests, and "Technology"

More at: Can we stop the DRONES?

I've previously pointed to Executive Branch power holders and the financial trading elites as the primary beneficiaries of, and the primary stakeholders in, permawar.

But it is time now to turn to the dirty secret of American life and the primary dilemma of the antiwar movement: the military money that flows to EVERY Congressional district, and in particular the "good jobs" that members of Congress think they are protecting when they vote for ever-higher levels of military spending.

A case in point is the drone (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) industry. A high-tech company in the San Diego area called General Atomics is having a field day with these new darlings of the military-industrial complex.

Drones are a rapidly expanding part of the way America wages war everywhere -- a "breakthrough" in warfare that poses enormous moral hazard, and one that needs to be stopped dead in its tracks.
Yet with General Atomics creating thousands of jobs -- including many, many very good jobs in engineering -- in Southern California and elsewhere ... what are the chances of getting members of the California congressional delegation to reduce military spending in general and drone appropriations in particular?
I was recently involved in some Twitter exchanges with Dana Rohrabacher, the congressman whose district abuts General Atomics' area, and who is one of the 50+ members of the Unmanned Systems Caucus in Congress.

Rohrabacher is a big fan of drones.

It should be noted that a lot of people thing that drones are just wonderful: they are high-tech and they keep our military personnel out of harm's way.

And many people also have a very cloudy notion of the rights and wrongs of "going after" individuals (and their associated communities) when they are perceived to "threaten" the United States.

Rohrabacher is particularly cavalier, if not obtuse. But it is very difficult to imagine any congressman from California having a terribly insightful relationship to the truth about drones and drone killing, when the "well-being" of so much of his/her district is tied to the drone industry.

My initial impulse was to try to focus entirely on Congressman Rohrabacher and his lack of empathy for the victims of drone killing. Certainly "Fighting for Freedom and Having Fun" would take on a new meaning if Dana Rohrabacher's photograph was paired everywhere it appeared with images of drone victims.

But perhaps it is going to require a much more broad-based discussion -- including a more carefully considered definition of "well-being" (one that embraces moral well-being), and the involvement of the entire community in every congressional district.


More at: Can we stop the DRONES?

Making Drone Killing 100% VISIBLE in Chicago!

More at: Can we stop the DRONES?

On Thursday, May 17, we made the drone killing 100% VISIBLE in Chicago.

People from World Can't Wait, Code Pink, Veterans for Peace, and other groups went out onto the streets and showed the faces of the victims to anyone willing to look.

There was a lot of noise in Chicago last week. But one message we managed to get through -- at least to some people -- was that people in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and many other places are being injured and killed in their names ... and that if that bothers their consciences they can get active and do something about it.

As one report stated:

Some in the lunchtime crowd were listening. “Let’s just say, this morning I wasn’t thinking about drones, and children dying. So it definitely opened my eyes,” one young woman said as she sat in a plaza along Michigan Avenue.

I'm grateful to Kevin Gosztola for these videos of the reading of drone victims names and display of victim images at the protest:

Outside the Canadian Consulate, NATO Protesters Show Images of Drone Victims
Names of Drone Victims Read by NATO Protesters

And on Monday, May 21, we commemorated all the victims of NATO violence.

What will YOU do to make the victims 100% VISIBLE where YOU live?

More at: Can we stop the DRONES?

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Photos courtesy FJJ.

#NATOvictims - Drone Strikes in Pakistan

The juxtaposition of the vainglorious NATO Summit in Chicago and today's latest set of CIA drone strikes in Pakistan is just too much to take.

Much of the world press regurgitates the standard United States government narrative of these drone strikes -- see for instance the New York Times account: Pakistan Says U.S. Drone Strike Kills Suspected Militants. In contrast, the Bureau of Investigative Journalism (BIJ) compiles as many accounts as possible, which gives a far more truthful account of the facts -- especially those related to injury and death inflicted on innocent people. According to BIJ, in the latest attack:

The CIA’s drones returned to the attack for the second time in 24 hours, killing ‘suspected militants’ in an attack on a house. But a nearby mosque was also hit as villagers attended morning prayers. At least three civilians died. ‘The drone fired two missiles at the compound. We believe it was being used by militants,’ one official told Reuters. Associated Press’s sources said that ‘most of those killed were Uzbek insurgents,’ although KUNA reported tribal elders as saying that all of those killed were ‘innocent local tribesmen.’ At least three civilians were reportedly killed when a nearby mosque was also struck during the attack, according to AFP. A security official told the news agency that the three worshippers, believed to be Central Asians, ‘were seriously wounded and died later in the hospital.’ Channel 4 News said that most of the dead were local villagers, with four being ‘foreign fighters, believed to be Turkmen.’

Would someone please look at the list of drone strikes in Pakistan -- week after week after week -- compiled by BIJ and figure out a way to convey to Americans what this would feel like if it the UNITED STATES were on the receiving end of this terror?

There can be no question but that Americans and the rest of the world will eventually wake up to the terror being inflicted in their name on Pakistanis and others. The only question that will then remain will be whether Obama, Panetta, and the whole drone "kill chain" will be prosecuted as war criminals or as ordinary criminals. (And God help them if they are condemned to the limbo of "unlawful enemy combatant" - entitled to neither civil nor military justice.)

Obama's Plan for Afghanistan NOT "Good Enough"

Part of the campaign among U.S. elites to soft-peddle the failure of U.S. warmaking in Afghanistan in general and the latest Obama/NATO "solution" for Afghanistan in particular -- which I've been discussing for weeks -- is a paper from the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) called Time to Focus on "Afghan Good Enough".

The whole "Afghan good enough" concept was discussed in the New York Times on Friday, May 18: U.S. Redefines Afghan Success Before Conference. The basic idea seems to be, "We've failed miserably at forcing Afghanistan do what we want it to do. It can't possibly be that we and our methods are flawed. It must be because Afghanistan is a fundamentally f*cked up place, and so let's not get down on ourselves as we walk out on the mess we've made."

The CSIS paper is carefully couched in technocrat-speak, in order, I suppose, to cushion the blow that it delivers at the end: "Pursuing today’s 'strategy' and illusions offers almost no hope at all." Admonitions such as "Local Forces and 'Warlords' Are Better Than Nothing" and "Rely on Direct Support of the Competent and Effective Elements of Afghan Governance in the Field" are just another way of saying the U.S./NATO had no business expecting that it could make things run in a particular way in Afghanistan through use of force.

The problem with "Afghan good enough" is that it doesn't recognize that "a militarized Afghanistan is NOT good enough." The gaping hole in the CSIS paper is that it doesn't address the legacy of militarization that the U.S./NATO have put in place in Afghanistan, and that must be reversed. When it says,

Creating an Affordable Afghan Army Beginning Now: One key will be to give real meaning to the effort to reshape Afghan forces as a much smaller and more affordable force, and to do so as soon as possible, rather than building up to a 352,000-man hollow force and rushing down to 230,000. This means a force that can credibly be funded with the money that could actually come rather than relying on promises. It means focusing on the army, knowing that much of the police will remain ineffective or corrupt. It means securing the Afghan government where it is now effective, rather than trying to expand it into vulnerable ink spots than can easily be overrun once U.S. and ISAF forces leave. It also means creating plans for the size of Afghan forces that trainers and partners can credibly sustain, providing more than mere pledges and hopes.

... it leaves the way wide open for the usual set of solutions that have been set in train in Afghanistan: drones killings, thousands of detainees, School of the Americas-style training regime, contractors, and more.

It's time to DEMILITARIZE Afghanistan. Only that will be "good enough."

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Image from The New Yorker, Is Obama Really Done with Afghanistan? by Amy Davidson. "After a hundred visions and revisions, have there finally been decisions on Afghanistan? And is there time for more before the Presidential election in November? And, depending on whether Obama wins or loses, how reversible might those be?"

What Was the Protest Really About?

WHAT IF ....

What if the protest during the NATO summit had turned out to be about something other than the protesters and/or the police? What would the message have been?

Of course, there were many messages. But the message (or messages) that matter is/are the one(s) the public is actually able to hear. (Yes, and what we, ourselves, hear ... but at the end of the day are we talking to ourselves or to the public?)

And usually multiple messages mean no message at all.

So: so what is The Message? Did anyone hear it?

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Image: Crown Fountain in Millennium Park, Chicago, by UGardener

#NATOvictims Memorial Continued: The Salala Attack

The NATO summit is over.

Our ceremony of remembrance for victims of NATO violence was held yesterday.

The press barely showed up for the ceremony, and there is no coverage on the Internet. Perhaps that's just as well. It reminds us of the stark truth: we're going to have to carry out acts of remembrance every day, and we're going to have to generate our OWN media for these events.

I continue Day Two with a memorial to the victims of the Salala Attack in Pakistan. By now, everyone is familiar with the story of the dozens of Pakistani soldiers who were killed by a U.S. airstrike. The U.S. has refused to apologize, and the outrage in Pakistan over Salala, ongoing drones strikes killing civilians, and other assaults led to the one really significant push-back on NATO during the summit. (See New York Times, Supply Lines Cast Shadow at NATO Meeting on Afghan War .)

Below are the names of the victims of the Salala Attack, supplied by @AhmerMurad via Twitter.

Shaheed Sepoy Tahir Mehmood
Shaheed Sepoy Najibullah
Shaheed Sepoy Kiramat Ali
Shaheed Sepoy Nasir Mehmood
Shaheed Sepoy Tariq Mehmood
Shaheed Sepoy Naeem
Capt.Usman
Major Mujahid Shaheed
Shaheed Sepoy Ibrahim
Shaheed Sepoy Ahmed Khurshid
Shaheed Sepoy Asghar Abbas
Shaheed Sepoy Hafiz Manzoor
Shaheed Sepoy Abdul Razzaq
Shaheed Sepoy Ghulam Abbas
Shaheed Sepoy Rizwan
Shaheed Sepoy Imran Yusuf
Shaheed Lance Naik Tariq Mehmood
Shaheed Lance Naik Raza Mohammad
Shaheed Havaldar Mushtaq
Shaheed Havaldar Aslam
Shaheed Havaldar Mumtaz
Shaheed Subedar Mannan
Shaheed Captain Usman
Shaheed Major Mujahid Ali Mirani

#NATOvictims #NoNato #SalalaAttack #NeverForget We salute you!

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Image source: The Nation (Pakistan)

Not So Fast, Obama! DEMILITARIZE Afghanistan!

The latest element in the choreographed Obama soft-shoe on Afghanistan ran -- like clockwork -- as the lead story in today's New York Times. "[W]hen the president and a half-dozen White House aides began to plan for the withdrawal, the generals were cut out entirely. There was no debate, and there were no leaks. And when Mr. Obama joins the leaders of other NATO nations in Chicago on Sunday and Monday, the full extent of how his thinking on Afghanistan has changed will be apparent. He will announce what he has already told the leaders in private: All combat operations led by American forces will cease in summer 2013, when the United States and other NATO forces move to a “support role” whether the Afghan military can secure the country or not." In other words, Obama's such a good guy, and if the American public was tempted to arise from its slumbers for a moment to question the havoc that the U.S. is wreaking all over the globe, they can just go back to sleep.

As I pointed out three months ago, the use of the NATO summit to whitewash the Obama administration's predations in Afghanistan (and Pakistan and elsewhere) has been totally predictable. The public cannot just shrug its shoulders and say, "Oh well, I guess if he's getting the troops out ...."

People must focus on the full range of problems that must be resolved -- the detentions, the drone killings, the night raids, the special forces trainers, the mercenaries, the bases, and more -- and insist that Obama and NATO DEMILITARIZE Afghanistan.

* * * * *

Image: "Afghanistan pullout to dominate NATO summit" on SKNVibes website.

It Will Be Remembered as the #NATOvictims Summit

Rahm Emanuel thought it would be a great thing to hold the NATO Summit in Chicago. Little did he know that it would be remembered as the NATOvictims Summit.

A commemoration is planned for Monday, May 21, for all of the victims of NATO violence -- violence inflicted in places like Afghanistan, Pakistan, Libya, Yemen ... and more.

People everywhere have already started to contribute to the commemoration.

On Thursday, we took to the streets of Chicago with posters showing victims of drones killings -- many of them small children -- and encouraged local people to join the protest against NATO violence.

Already, people around the world are using the Twitter hashtag #NATOvictims to bring forward the names of the victims who are left invisible to us.

ORGANIZATIONS MOUNT CAMPAIGNS
Common Dreams reports that Amnesty International has just issued a report about #NATOvictims in Libya: "In a new report, Libya: The forgotten victims of NATO Strikes, Amnesty says that scores of Libyan civilians who were not involved in the fighting were killed and many more injured, most in their homes, as a result of NATO airstrikes. Amnesty International said that NATO has not conducted necessary investigations or even tried to establish contact with survivors and relatives of those killed."

How will YOU participate in the movement to obtain justice for the #NATOvictims who have already suffered NATO violence ... and bring about a world in which there will not BE any #NATOvictims any more?

#NATOvictims

We are planning an event for Monday, May 21, in Chicago to honor the memory of victims of #NATO violence. You can read full details of the event below.

This is a realization of the #RemembranceDay2012 commemoration I proposed several days ago.

We are inviting people everywhere to contribute the names of victims of NATO violence, using the hashtag #NATOvictims. We will recite the names as part of the service of remembrance on May 21. (You can view videos of the ceremony below.)

We've started assembling the names and stories of #NATOvictims on the World Can't Wait website.

Stay tuned for more details of the event -- to be released shortly.

* * * * *

MONDAY, May 21, 2012 - Remembrance Day 2012

[ -- REVISED MAY 21 2012 -- ]
Protesters, Clergy, Community Gather to Put Focus on Victims of U.S. / NATO Wars in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Others

As the Obama administration expresses fury at Pakistani resistance to further NATO war operations and excludes Pakistan's president from the NATO Summit, members of the wider community will gather to memorialize people killed by U.S. airstrikes and drone attacks in Pakistan as well as in the U.S. occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as U.S./NATO operations in Yemen, Libya, and elsewhere. Recognizing what veterans on Sunday called "the burden of blood that has stained these medals", Trinity Church has opened its lawn to expressions of grief and remembrance by the entire community.

"While billion dollar deals to continue U.S. and NATO presence in Afghanistan and Pakistan are discussed behind closed doors, we're putting the stories and images of the individual people, and families, harmed by these military actions," said Debra Sweet. "NATO is expected to announce combat troop reductions in Afghanistan, while leaving unresolved -- and hidden -- the daily killings and injuries by drones, detention, night raids that will continue for decades by with the apparatus the US/NATO has put in place there."

Local clergy, members of the international community, and protesters who marched Sunday will gather to emphasize their commitment to ending the wars and occupations -- in all their dimensions -- and focusing on the humanity of those who are often seen as "collateral damage" in modern wars.

Time: 12:00 noon
Location: Open air event on grounds of Trinity Episcopal Church, 125 E. 26th St., Chicago
More info: Details of the #NATOvictims campaign on the World Can't Wait website Remembering the Victims: #NATOvictims

* * * * *

VIDEOS OF COMMEMORATION CEREMONY FOR #NATOvictims
Memorial for NATO Victims-Religious Voices
Memorial for NATO Victims-Debra Sweet and Jill McLaughlin
Memorial for NATO Victims-Voice from Pakistan
Memorial for NATO Victims-More Voices

* * * * *

Holding You In the Light: for those who have died ... in body, mind, or spirit
A SERVICE OF COMMEMORATION

Gathering Song: Peace, Salaam, Shalom by Pat Humphries

Opening Words of Welcome: Rev. Loren McGrail from Protest Chaplains

Prayer of Forgiveness
We come today to this holy place occupied by the Holy Spirit and those who came here to protest and testify. With the words of the brave soldiers who threw away their medals still echoing, the images of children’s corpses still fresh, the blue scarves of the Afghan youth still fluttering, the drones still flying, the soldiers prepping for another deployment, men and women sexually assaulted, trauma denied healing, waterpipes blown up, whole families targeted as shields, we come seeking forgiveness for our ignorance, indifference or apathy. We seek forgiveness for the pain and suffering our government has inflicted on others in the name of freedom or liberation in our name. We kneel, we stand, we cry for the liberation of our country and the world leaders who seek peace through violence and endless war. We come to this holy place and time to seek forgiveness and assurance that another world is possible and that we may have the courage and strength to make it so. Amen

Song: This is My Song

Words: Debra Sweet, World Can't Wait

We Remember
Reading of names of people killed in NATO led wars. People come to the front and light a candle in remembrance of those killed in NATO led wars including our soldiers. We light two large candles in collective memory for the two million killed in Afghanistan.

Song: Keep on Moving Forward by Pat Humphries
1. We’re gonna keep on movin’ forward (3x)
Never turnin’ back (2X)
2. We’re gonna reach across our borders…
3. We’re gonna keep on loving boldly…
4. We’re gonna work for peace together…
5. We’re goona keep on movin forward…

Our Commitment to Another World Possible and On the Way
Side A: For the light of the spark of the divine in all of us making us one family.

Side B: We commit ourselves to keeping our hearts open to the suffering of all those affected and killed by global wars of terror.

Side A: For the light of the spark of the divine in all of us making us all sisters and brothers.

Side B: We commit ourselves to not become indifferent to all those who are victims of violence, bereaved by loss, isolated by trauma, imprisoned because of their consciences, or who live by fear.

Side A: For the light of the spark of the diving in all of us that makes dependent upon each other.

All: Because the world can’t wait, we commit ourselves to work for, pray for, advocate for a world without war, a world where resources are shared and all the people have dignity and freedom.

Liturgy by Rev. Loren McGrail and Rev. Luis Alvarenga from Protest Chaplains

#dissolveNATO

The People's Summit was held in Chicago this past weekend, and the message seems to be pretty clear: it's time to dissolve NATO.

Because NATO still resists nuclear disarmament.

Because NATO thinks the answer to security comes from missiles and shields.

Because NATO's response to the Arab Spring is to look for opportunities to intervene militarily.

And that doesn't event mention NATO's disastrous quarter-century Afghanistan War.

People EVERYWHERE will be participating in the call to dissolve NATO as NATO meets in Chicago this week. Join the call and use the #dissolveNATO together with the hashtag being used by others where YOU live:

Australia: #dissolveNATOinOZ

Albania: #dissolveNATOinAlbania

Belgium: #dissolveNATOinBelgium

Bulgaria: #dissolveNATOinBulgaria

Canada: #dissolveNATOinCanada

Croatia: #dissolveNATOinCroatia

Czech Republic: #dissolveNATOinCzechRepublic

Denmark: #dissolveNATOinDenmark

Estonia: #dissolveNATOinEstonia

France: #dissolveNATOinFrance

Germany: #dissolveNATOinGermany

Greece: #dissolveNATOinGreece

Hungary: #dissolveNATOinHungary

Iceland: #dissolveNATOinIceland

Italy: #dissolveNATOinItaly

Latvia: #dissolveNATOinLatvia

Libya: #dissolveNATOinLibya

Lithuania: #dissolveNATOinLithuania

Luxembourg: #dissolveNATOinLuxembourg

Mexico: #dissolveNATOinMexico
(Thanks @nat_riverascott! for artwork!!)

Netherlands: #dissolveNATOinNetherlands

Norway: #dissolveNATOinNorway

Pakistan: #dissolveNATOinPakistan ... Additional tags: #GetLostNATO

Poland: #dissolveNATOinPoland

Portugal: #dissolveNATOinPortugal

Romania: #dissolveNATOinRomania

Slovakia: #dissolveNATOinSlovakia

Slovenia: #dissolveNATOinSlovenia

Spain: #dissolveNATOinSpain

Turkey: #dissolveNATOinTurkey

United Kingdom: #dissolveNATOinUK
See: High time for an end to NATO says MP Jeremy Corbyn

United States: #dissolveNATOinUSA
See: Veterans For Peace Calls for an End to NATO

#RemembranceDay2012

Since NATO is shutting down Chicago on Monday, May 21, anyway ... maybe the time has come for the whole country to take a day to pause and think about those impacted by the war-making ways of the U.S. [[ See the full details of the ceremony held in Chicago on Monday, May 21, 2012, to remember the victims of NATO violence. ]]

We already have a holiday where we reflect on the price that we, ourselves, have paid in wars both domestic and foreign - though one whose significance is "more often honored in the breach than in the observance," in all honesty.

But do Americans ever stop to think about the victims of our military might and our lack of accountability for our actions?

When will we look and see the victims of U.S. drones killing in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and a growing list of countries - rendered 100% INVISIBLE by this terrifying new technology?

When will we feel the cold and pain of displaced men, women, and children dying of hunger and exposure in refugee camps in Afghanistan and elsewhere?

When will we hear the cries of thousands of men picked up by U.S. and NATO forces and held without due process and tortured in dozens of hellholes across Afghanistan?

These are just a few of the current victims of U.S. war-making. The list goes on and on ... stretching back to the war in Iraq ... and U.S. sponsorship of Latin American oppression ... and on and on and on.

What will you do on Monday, May 21, to make it a true "Remembrance Day"? How will you draw others in to see the urgency of facing those we have injured? And to begin to see beyond ourselves?

* * * * *

Image: The Shape of Me by Tomie Arai - Part of Windows and Mirrors: Reflections on the War in Afghanistan, a project of the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC). A reproduction of this image, together with other reproductions from the Windows and Mirrors project, is currently on exhibition at St. Luke's Lutheran Church Logan Square, Chicago. Tomie Arai has written, "The Shape of Me is a silkscreen monoprint composed of dozens of images of Afghan men, women and children superimposed over images from the Vietnam War. I have printed them in camouflage colors to suggest that civilian casualties often go unreported and the lack of media coverage renders them tragically invisible. In spite of these deliberate crimes of omission, and as a result of watchdog organizations like the AFSC, the world has borne witness to the deaths of thousands of innocent war victims in both Asia and the Middle East. In response to the consequences of war, each of us is presented with the responsibility to say something and do something to prevent more killing. For better or for worse, how we respond to the moral challenges of our times defines who we are, as citizens, as parents, as neighbors, and as members of the global community. The Shape of Me is about this challenge."

#DEMILITARIZEafghanistan

You don't need to be in Chicago to protest NATO.

I'm asking everybody -- and especially everyone who has ever participated in #AfghanistanTuesday -- to help protest NATO from wherever they are.

We want to build a crescendo of opposition that culminates in a clear message to NATO on May 20/21 when they meet in Chicago: #DEMILITARIZEafghanistan!

It's clear that the message of the Obama administration and NATO will be that a "strategic partnership agreement" means the end of the war in Afghanistan. They are all prepared to announce "it's been a hard fight but we're turning the corner, so don't worry: we've got a timetable to pull the combat troops out...."

As I pointed out in a series of earlier blog posts, we need to DENOUNCE this celebratory message and demand REAL solutions to the mess that has been created in Afghanistan. What about the drone killings? What about the thousands of detainees? What about the institutionalization of night raids?

It's not enough to reduce the level of combat troops. The U.S. and NATO need to get out of the war-making business, and they need to start by DEMILITARIZING Afghanistan.

How will YOU help to build this message? By tweeting? Writing a blog post? Organizing a local protest? Creating artwork? Composing music? Getting people at your church involved? There are THOUSANDS of ways to tell NATO "We're not buying what you're selling! #DEMILITARIZEafghanistan!"

Just remember: whatever you do ... tweet #DEMILITARIZEafghanistan

* * * * *

I'm adding the need to clean up ordnance, depleted uranium, etc. to the list of unfinished business in Afghanistan, based on recent reporting from Antiwar.com. Below is an image showing Abdul Rahman, 18, who "was grazing his sheep when he accidentally detonated a 40mm grenade on the ground, resulting in the loss of his left hand. He lost his right hand a few years ago when he encountered unexploded ordnance in his village in Parwan province. Javier Manzano / For The Washington Post."