1/9/24 to All My Federal Politicians

Subject:  S. Africa’s Law Suit Effect on You

There are a number of problems with your support for Israel.   If you’re watching even U.S. corporate media, you’re getting some feel for the death and destruction you’re causing.  Get outside the corporate media and you’ll get a much clearer picture.   If you and/or your staff have the courage, watch this video.  A Human Rights lawyer explains the ramifications of S. Africa’s suit.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8raPPzme0s

STOP THE GENOCIDE!   STOP SUPPORTING ISRAEL!    STOP KILLING PEOPLE!   END THE OCCUPATION!  

1/8/24 to All My Federal Politicians

Subject:  See No Evil thus No Evil

I suspect you’re in the same bubble as Israel – if you don’t see it, it isn’t happening.  If you and your staff have the courage, watch this interview of an Israeli journalist. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3t_Knk7FWT8

STOP THE GENOCIDE!   STOP SUPPORTING ISRAEL!    STOP KILLING PEOPLE!   END THE OCCUPATION!  

 1/7/24 to All My Federal Politicians

Subject:  The IDF and Israel Should Not Exist

The Zionist project started in the late 1800 with the intent of eliminating all Arabs from Palestine.  They received full support from Britain and then from the U.S.  The Zionists supported the apartheid regime in South Africa and helped move Palestinians to S. Africa.  Zionists used the Nazi holocaust to ship Jews to Palestine.  The whole “Jews need a separate state to be safe” is part of the Zionist tool kit to remove Arabs.

If you have the courage, listen to this IDF veteran speak truth – the IDF and Israel should not exist.

https://www.democracynow.org/2024/1/5/the_idf_should_not_exist_meet

STOP THE GENOCIDE!   STOP SUPPORTING ISRAEL!    STOP KILLING PEOPLE!   END THE OCCUPATION! 

 

 As you can see, I've taken a hiatus from this site.  Much has happened over the past five years.  I won't attempt to catch up.  My current focus is on Palestine.  In addition to reading a number of books, watching documentaries from non-main stream producers and gathering information from non-main stream journalists, I've spoken with Palestinians and others who have been to Palestine.  I attend Palestinian actions, wear the keffiyeh every day, and email (via their web sites) my federal politicians (including Biden) every day.  I occasionally call them also.

Below are the emails I've sent starting on 12/5/23.

Emailed to all Federal Politicians on 12/5/23.

Stop the murder of Palestinians!   For whatever reason you support Israel, killing to solve a problem makes the killer (and their collaborators) the problem.   Here’s a brief history of Palestine.  Perhaps it will help you and your staff to see Palestinians as humans who have suffered under occupation for 75 years.

https://youtu.be/cZ55JmOlSdg?si=PQ3K4Jqa3yo36Qwf

 

 

Emailed to all Federal Politicians on 12/6/23.

Subject:  Israel Kills with Impunity – Even U.S. Military and Citizens

Israel has a long history of killing with impunity.  They’ve learned over 75 years that they can do anything they want, and U. S. political reaction will be nil.  Kill Palestinians – no problem.  Kill U.S. military and citizens – no problem.   

June 8^th, 1967, Israel attacks the USS Liberty killing 34 and wounding 171 U.S. military.   U.S. politicians do nothing.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tx72tAWVcoM

March 16^th, 2003, Israel kills Rachel Corrie – a 23 year old U.S. citizen from Olympia, Washington.  U.S. politicians do nothing.  https://rachelcorriefoundation.org/rachel

STOP THE KILLING!  STOP ISREAL’S LONG HISTORY OF DEATH AND DESTRUCTION.

 

Emailed to all Federal Politicians on 12/7/23.

Subject:  Death and Destruction of Your Humanity by Supporting Israel

Albert Einstein said “The world will not be destroyed by those who do evil, but by those who watch them without doing anything.”   Not only are you watching the destruction and death, you are supporting it!

Look at your humanity, not pressure and money.  Palestinians are human.  They have been under occupation and have suffered destruction and death for 75 years.  

STOP THE SUPPORT OF ISRAEL!  STOP THE KILLING! 

 

Emailed to all Federal Politicians on 12/12/23.

Subject:  A Letter to the Children of Palestine

I sincerely hope you and your staff have the courage to watch this talk.  It’s by a U.S. citizen, a journalist, a man who has been reporting on Israel and Palestine for many years.

https://youtu.be/ly6lfhOxTe0?si=-JvwNmXl47PvhxU8

I also hope you have the courage to resist the pressure and money from AIPAC and the weapons manufacturers.   As an Army, infantry veteran of the U.S. war against the people of Viet Nam, I have a motto: If you have to hurt someone to solve a problem, you are the problem.  STOP FUNDING THE MURDER OF THE PALESTINIANS!

 

Emailed to all Federal Politicians on 12/14/23

As of yesterday, this is what your support for Israel has reeked on the Palestinians.  

1. At least 18,600 killed, including at least 9400 kids.

2. Over 50,000 injured.

3. At least 80 journalists killed.

4. Over 1.8 million displaced.

5. Over 62,000 homes completely destroyed.

6. Over 280 schools affected.

7. 3 churches and 134 mosques destroyed.

8. At least 214 medical workers killed.

Is that enough?  Are you proud of your support for this?    STOP THE MURDER AND DESTRUCTION!  STOP FUNDING ISRAEL!!   I speak as an Army, infantry veteran of the U.S. war against the people of Viet Nam.

 

12/15/23  (only send to Biden and Schumer, Tenney)

I'm an Army, infantry veteran of the U.S. war against the people of Viet Nam.  I've seen, heard, smelled, felt death and destruction.  STOP KILLING PALESTINIANS!

 

12/18/23   To All Federal Politicians

Subject:  Israel’s Goal is the total elimination of all Palestinians.

Israel was founded as a Zionist state.  They have succeeded in taking over the state and using the Jewish religion as their cover.  Zionism was founded on the elimination of all “Arabs” from what the Zionist saw and see as “the land of Israel” given to them by god.  

If you or your staff have the courage, I highly recommend this book, “The Hidden History of Zionism” by Ralph Schoenman.  It was published in 1988 and will give you an insight that, apparently, you don’t have.

 

12/19/23 To All Federal Politicians

Subject:  Zionism = Death and Destruction of Palestinians.

Israel was founded as a Zionist state.  They have succeeded in taking over the state and using the Jewish religion as their cover.  Zionism was founded on the elimination of all “Arabs” from what the Zionist saw and see as “the land of Israel” given to them by god.  

If you or your staff have the courage, I highly recommend this book, “The Hidden History of Zionism” by Ralph Schoenman.  It was published in 1988 and will give you an insight that, apparently, you don’t have.

 

12/20/23 To All Federal Politicians

Subject:  Israel = War Crimes.

Your support for Israel sickens me!  I’m an Army, infantry veteran of the U.S. war against the people of Viet Nam.  I’ve seen death and destruction.  I’ve felt it.  I’ve smelled it.  It is with me every day.  It’s unconscionable to me that you’re spending my tax dollars to kill people!

Human Rights Watch recently issued a report “Israel: Starvation Used as Weapon of War in Gaza”. This detailed report clearly lays out Israel’s war crimes as defined in International Humanitarian Law. And you’re supporting these war crimes!  With my tax dollars!

STOP THE WAR CRIMES!   STOP SUPPORTING ISRAEL!    STOP KILLING PEOPLE!    

 

12/21/23 to All Federal Politicians

Subject:  Israeli Soldiers Say Stop the Killing.

Your support for the State of Israel, meaning its politicians and US supporters, is contrary to what Israeli soldiers want.  Look up the Israeli group Breaking the Silence.  You’ll find their mission statement and testimonials of IDF soldiers. Like me and many other US veterans, the IDF soldiers have seen the results of political policies that cause death and destruction.

STOP THE WAR CRIMES!   STOP SUPPORTING ISRAEL!    STOP KILLING PEOPLE!    

 

12/22/23 to All Federal Politicians

Subject:  Israel = Genocide.

A number of well-respected human rights lawyers have said the same thing – they’ve never seen a clearer case of genocide than what Israel is committing against the Palestinians.   Here’s an interview with one of them:   “Textbook Case of Genocide” by an Israeli born Holocaust scholar - https://youtu.be/AUeEnjULHe0?si=9gWh2tNXYrg7PeUO

STOP THE WAR CRIMES!   STOP SUPPORTING ISRAEL!    STOP KILLING PEOPLE!    

 

 

12/24/23  to All Federal Politicians

Subject:  Christmas Eve and You’re Killing Palestinians

As you’re enjoying your family and friends, think about all the lives you’ve destroyed and are destroying. As you attend whatever religious service you believe in, think of the children you’ve killed and are killing.

If you and your staff have the courage, watch this interview of a Christian who has/had family in Palestine.

https://youtu.be/fsyYQtBTvnA?si=hVCGwjomynAkpavS

 

12/25/23 to All Federal Politicians

Subject:   Enjoy Your Christmas by Visiting a Palestinian Hospital

A CNN journalists risked her life to bring this story to the world.  Your support of Israel caused and is causing this!   You are using my tax dollars to kill people.  Where is your humanity?  Bought by AIPAC and the weapons industry?     If you and your staff have the courage, watch this video:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SdIZmZr29L0

STOP THE WAR CRIMES!   STOP SUPPORTING ISRAEL!    STOP KILLING PEOPLE!    

 

12/26/23 to All Federal Politicians

Subject:  More destructive than the allied bombing of Germany in WW2.

Death does not go away because of a holiday.  A human cannot be rebuilt by good cheer.  The carnage by Israel, aided and supported by your actions, will not be forgotten.   If you and your staff have the courage, watch this video.

https://youtu.be/iS1Tw-2cF2o?si=5ArGxzQScSdsOQl1

STOP THE WAR CRIMES!   STOP SUPPORTING ISRAEL!    STOP KILLING PEOPLE!    

 

12/27/23 to All Federal Politicians

Subject: Death by a Thousand Cuts and Torture of Children – Supported by You. 

Do you understand what your support of Israel really means?   If you and your staff have the courage, watch this interview with a Palestinian.  She’s not an “evil terrorist”.  She’s a well-spoken attorney who lives in a location that has been occupied for 75 years and faces the violence of Israel every day. 

https://youtu.be/oZP1jXjRCsE?si=AeJ2WYbeJidIVhZh

STOP THE WAR CRIMES!   STOP SUPPORTING ISRAEL!    STOP KILLING PEOPLE!    

 

12/28/23 to All Federal Politicians

Subject:  You’re Responsible for Starving Children.

By supporting Israel you’re responsible for starving, not only children, by all people in Palestine.  Educate yourself on the policies of Israel.  Cutting off food, water and electricity to Palestinians happens because you support Israel.   

It’s hard for me to imagine that you could be so cruel . . . but then I look at your support of Israel and the unimaginable becomes reality.

STOP THE WAR CRIMES!   STOP SUPPORTING ISRAEL!    STOP KILLING PEOPLE!   END THE OCCUPATION! 

 

12/29/23 to All Federal Politicians

Subject:  Use My Tax Dollars to Help, Not Kill.

When programs that help WE THE PEOPLE come up, all that’s heard from DC:  there is no money, or how will we pay for it? or we have to pay off the national debt or some other excuse.  49 million people in the U.S. go hungry every day.  The U.S. is the only developed country that does not have universal health care.  Look at the lack of funding for education, at all levels, in the U.S.   Look at our infrastructure.  Look at real wages for working people. 

But when it comes to inflicting death and destruction on people around the globe, the money magically appears . . . with little or no discussion.

It’s hard for me to imagine that you could be so cruel . . . but then I look at your support for death and destruction (military budget, wars, support for countries/states/groups that inflict death and destruction) and the unimaginable becomes reality.

STOP  SUPPORTING  DEATH  AND  DESTRUCTION!

 

12/30/23 to All Federal Politicians

Subject:  This is the Time for Change re. Israel.

The end of December is traditionally the time when people examine themselves and decide on things they want to change.  CHANGE YOUR POSITION ON ISRAEL.

I realize that change is difficult.  I realize Israel is part of the U.S. worldwide system of military bases.  I realize you’ve been taught to fear “Arabs”.  I realize Israel is the wedge used to keep the middle east separated.  I realize Israel helps protect “U.S. interests”.   I also realize that Israel is, and always has been, committed to “removing” all non-Jews from Palestine, by any means.

Use this time of year to assess your humanity, to evaluate the role of money in your political career, to evaluate how you are seen by WE THE PEOPLE (13% approval rating) and the rest of the world (of 186 UN nations, 153 nations or 82% oppose U.S. re. Israel).

STOP THE WAR CRIMES!   STOP SUPPORTING ISRAEL!    STOP KILLING PEOPLE!   END THE OCCUPATION! 

 

12/31/23 to All Federal Politicians

Subject:  Every New Year is the Same for Palestinians.

As you prepare for your New Year’s eve, be aware that death and destruction is going on in Palestine.  This is not new.  Every new year, since 1948, has brought the same conditions for Palestinians – occupation, homes destroyed, check points, murders, imprisonments, torture – all with full U. S. political support.  If you have the courage, watch this documentary by an Israel American telling her experience in Palestine.  It was made about 15 years ago. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_MDC2Gty4I

STOP THE WAR CRIMES!   STOP SUPPORTING ISRAEL!    STOP KILLING PEOPLE!   END THE OCCUPATION! 

 

1/1/24 to All Federal Politicians

Subject:  AIPAC owns You.

This shouldn’t come as a surprise.  What may surprise you is that WE THE PEOPLE know where your loyalties lie.  In addition, what you’ll learn from this interview, if you’re brave enough to watch it, is the difference between colonialism and settler colonialism.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1f6nUmeyFg

STOP THE WAR CRIMES!   STOP SUPPORTING ISRAEL!    STOP KILLING PEOPLE!   END THE OCCUPATION! 

 

1/3/24 to All Federal Politicians

Subject:  Your Support for Israel Effects U.S. Free Speech.

I understand the power of money – it can improve humanity . . . or hurt it.  AIPAC and their cabal pour multimillions into U.S. politicians, including you, to carry out their objectives.  One of their objectives is to crush all discussion and criticism of Israel.   If you haven’t heard of this objective, and if you have the courage, watch this discussion:  https://www.democracynow.org/2023/12/27/campus_palestine_exception

You took an oath to defend the Constitution.  Free speech is part of it.  What’s stopping you?

STOP THE WAR CRIMES!   STOP SUPPORTING ISRAEL!    STOP KILLING PEOPLE!   END THE OCCUPATION! 

 

1/4/24 to All Federal Politicians

Subject:  You’re Supporting the Killing of Journalists.

I suspect you’re too busy to pay attention to journalists being killed by Israel.  Or perhaps you believe Israel when they say killing journalist is “unintentional”.  If you and you staff have the courage, watch this video by journalist who knew the journalist your support helped kill.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GeeLEJTZHNk

STOP THE WAR CRIMES!   STOP SUPPORTING ISRAEL!    STOP KILLING PEOPLE!   END THE OCCUPATION! 

 

1/5/24 to All Federal Politicians

Subject:   Detailed Analysis of South Africa’s Law Suit Against Israel.

You are complicit in causing this genocide and letting it continue.  The world, outside the U.S., knows.   

I realize you live in the glass enclosure of D.C. and only see/hear what your handlers allow you to see/hear.  If you haven’t seen the details of South Africa’s law suit, and have the courage, watch this video.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZqFN54jI5g   

STOP THE GENOCIDE!   STOP SUPPORTING ISRAEL!    STOP KILLING PEOPLE!   END THE OCCUPATION! 

 

1/6/24 to All Federal Politicians

Subject:  It’s the Sabbath and Israel Still Kills

Since Israel is a self-proclaimed “Jewish State” and the Sabbath is a sacred day when Jews are supposed to direct their thoughts and actions toward God, it seems that they should stop killing.  The word hypocrisy comes to mind.  It describes both Israel and your support for Israel. 

STOP THE GENOCIDE!   STOP SUPPORTING ISRAEL!    STOP KILLING PEOPLE!   END THE OCCUPATION! 

Privatization and Destruction of Veterans Health Care

Privatization of the VA is part of the Process to Eliminate Democracy 

  

Before I was sent to fight the people of Viet Nam I took the military oath to defend this country from all enemies, foreign and domestic.  I never foresaw a domestic enemy.  I didn’t imagine that our nation could be destroyed from within.  But that is what I am witnessing now, and this stealth enemy is within point blank range of turning the suffering of veterans into another “privatization” scheme to get at billions of taxpayer dollars.   

This enemy has a long history and to understand it we have to look at its roots. In 1956  James Buchanan, an economist at University of Virginia, joined forces with the university president to respond to the Brown vs. Board of Education. They saw the ruling as an attack on states’ rights and opening the door for Federal meddling. They saw themselves and their class being taxed to pay for the social good and they set out to defeat the “perverted form” of liberalism that they thought sought to destroy their way of life. Billionaire Charles Koch saw a broader opportunity and threw his massive wealth behind the effort in the 1970’s.  They  promoted a weak government that would not constrain the wealthy nor tax them for the social good. By the 1990’s, the Koch brothers were funding more than eleven think tanks and fellowships.  

Those think tanks courted conservatives and the religious right.  They took over vast swatches of the media.   They use “freedom”, “liberty”, “choice” and “individualism” to hide their intent.They continue to work to redistribute wealth upward vs. generate wealth via good paying and secure jobs.  

Their well-crafted plan has been devastatingly successful.  Real wages for the vast majority of us are at 1970s levels, while wages for the top 10% have increased over 200%.  Super PACs have been developed that funnel limitless money to politicians, and money is now called “free speech”.    

These forces also establish bogus “astroturf” movements, like Concerned Veterans for America, which is flush with Koch Brothers cash. They have pumped more than $50 million into campaigns and policy work over the last seven years to push “choice” and move veterans from the VA into the private sector.  

The enemy continues its advance.  In January, the VA Secretary released proposed rules that, according to the New York Times, could increase the percentage of veterans getting private care from the current 8 percent to 30 percent. The proposed rules could draw so many veterans away from the VA that it will lead to less funding and eventually the VA would collapse. The new rules, no surprise, would also send billions of taxpayer dollars into the private sector. This is the privatization veterans have fought against for years, and this is what the enemy is trying to bring into fruition.  It’s another step in the process of wealth accumulation for this stealth enemy that answers to no one.

We must draw together and defend the common good.   We must bring this covert enemy into the light and observe the process that is taking place behind closed doors. 

We must unite – as the Declaration of Independence tells us - to defend our country.

The military oath is clear and I intend to uphold it, in the name of all veterans.

Armistice Day Sermon in Central Square, NY

Veterans Day Dilemma

Dave Weissbard

First Universalist Society

Central Square NY

November 11, 2018

One of the downsides of having retired from full time ministry is that I have become somewhat less calendar conscious.  Some holidays have crept up on me unawares.  I am thankful this year to have tuned in to Veterans Day in advance.

I find myself in somewhat of a dilemma. There is no question that it is appropriate for a grateful nation to express its appreciation for the willingness of some of its citizens [and not-yet-citizens] to be willing to be in its armed forces.  It is, however, also appropriate in a democracy to respectfully debate the impact of the military in that nation’s governance and relationship with the people of the world.  That is particularly appropriate in a religious community that affirms its commitment to “The goal of a world community with peace, liberty and justice for all.”  A case can be made that a strong military advances the cause of peace; a case can also be made that a strong military can be an obstacle to peace.

Here is a reference to the Veterans for Peace website which declares:

            One hundred years ago the world celebrated peace as a universal principle.  The First World War had just ended and nations mourning their dead collectively called for an end to all wars.  Armistice Day was born and was designated as “a day to be dedicated to the cause of world peace and to be thereafter celebrated."

            After World War II, the U.S. Congress decided to rebrand November 11 as Veterans Day. Honoring the warrior quickly morphed into honoring the military and glorifying war. Armistice Day was flipped from a day for peace into a day for displays of militarism.

            Veterans For Peace has taken the lead in lifting up the original intention of November 11th – as a day for peace:

             As veterans we know that a day that celebrates peace, not war, is the best way to honor the sacrifices of veterans.  We want generations after us to never know the destruction war has wrought on people and the earth.  

            Veterans For Peace is calling on everyone to stand up for peace this Armistice Day.  More than ever, the world faces a critical moment. Tensions are heightened around the world and the U.S. is engaged militarily in multiple countries, without an end in sight.  Here at home we have seen the increasing militarization of our police forces and brutal crackdowns on dissent and people’s uprisings against state power. We must press our government to end reckless military interventions that endanger the entire world. We must build a culture of peace.

            It was in 1954, during General Eisenhower’s presidency, that the name of the holiday was changed to Veterans’ Day and a change in the emphasis of the holiday emerged.  It was that same President Eisenhower who so wisely cautioned us to be wary of the impact of the military-industrial complex.

His farewell address was a tad naive.  He idealistically suggested:

Throughout America's adventure in free government, our basic purposes have been to keep the peace; to foster progress in human achievement, and to enhance liberty, dignity and integrity among people and among nations. To strive for less would be unworthy of a free and religious people. 

That is not a very accurate reading of America’s history, although it is a faithful recitation of the American myth. In order to affirm that basic purpose, one has to engage in a lot of ignoring. Some writers have asserted that our nation has been at war 93% of the time since 1776 - that there have been only 21 years in which we were not fighting someone. Now that number is clearly open to challenge, it includes many years when there was sporadic fighting with Native American tribes, or very brief incursions into other countries.  But the basic point has validity: America has not exactly been peace-loving if you look at our behavior.

The American Revolution itself was supported by only 1/3 of the colonial population - 1/3 opposed it, and 1/3 didn’t give a damn. Think of the Barbary War, War of 1812, the decades-long wars against the various native tribes who were not willing to give up their lands without a fight, the Mexican War, the Opium Wars, the Civil War, the Spanish American War, the Boxer Rebellion [I did the funeral at Arlington Cemetery of a Congressional Medal of Honor winner from the Boxer Rebellion], the various Banana Wars of the 20^thCentury against Central American nations [Nicaragua, Haiti, Cuba, and the Dominican Republic], World War I, the war which was supposed to end all wars, World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Gulf Wars, our invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan, and a myriad of other military interventions of which you can find a list in Wikipedia.

            In virtually none of these cases did it work out to the benefit of the peoples on whose territory we were fighting.  We have historically been opponents of popular movements and supportive of dictators whom we could count on to be supportive of American economic interests.

                         I have spoken before of the fascinating Marine Major General Smedley Butler who, at the time of his death in 1940 was the most decorated Marine ever - he had 2 Congressional Medals of Honor.  In his book, War is a Racket, which he wrote after his retirement, General Butler testified:

      I spent 33 years and four months in active military service and during that period I spent most of my time as a high-class muscle man for Big Business, for Wall Street, and the bankers.  In short, I was a racketeer, a gangster for capitalism. I helped make Mexico and especially Tampico safe for American oil interests in 1914.  I helped make Haiti and Cuba a decent place for National City Bank boys to collect revenues in. I helped in the raping of half a dozen Central American republics for the benefit of Wall Street.  I helped purify Nicaragua for the International Banking House of Brown Brothers in 1902-1912.  I brought light to the Dominican Republic for the American sugar interests in 1916.  I helped make Honduras right for American fruit companies in 1903.  In China in 1927 I helped to see to it that Standard Oil went on its way unmolested.  Looking back on it. I might have given Al Capone a few hints.  The best he could do was operate his rackets in three districts. I operated in three continents.

      General Butler was approached during the Roosevelt administration by a group of prominent Wall Street bankers who wanted him to lead a military coup to overthrow the government.   A Congressional Committee investigated.  While Butler’s claim was mocked by the major media, according to the New York Times, the final report of the House committee said:

a two-month investigation had convinced it that General Butler's story of a Fascist march on Washington was alarmingly true and ... also alleged that definite proof had been found that the much publicized Fascist march on Washington. . .  was actually contemplated"

Some believe that prosecution of the plotters was not pursued because of their prominence.

      In his book, General Butler reported on the obscene profits made by American corporations as a result of World War I.

                  In 1946, we created the School of the Americas at Fort Benning at which the US Army trained the militaries and secret police of Latin American dictators in the use of torture and death squads to prevent the growth of democratic movements.  In 1999, the school’s website bragged that the US Army had helped to defeat “Liberation Theology” in Latin America.  When funding for the school of the Americas was terminated by the Congress in 2001 because of its increasingly bad reputation, the program was renamed “The Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Co-Operation” but the classes and textbooks remained the same. In many cases it is people trained at that school who are responsible for the conditions that have resulted in the oppression and domestic chaos that has caused so many residents of those Latin American countries to flee for their lives.  They have not been bribed by George Soros.

          We know from world history that the great empires of humanity have consistently disintegrated because of failures from within, more often than from external threats. The Greek word “hubris,” excessive pride, the conviction that they are destined to rule the planet, has humbled most of the empires, from that of Athens, and Rome, and Charlemagne, and Spain, and Britain, to, many would suggest, the modern American Empire.

          There is no more explicit statement of American hubris than ”Rebuilding America’s Defenses,” the document published in September 2000 by the Project for a New American Century, which included among its members many of the people who have shaped our foreign policy in this century: Cheney, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, Bolton, and Scooter Libby. While its title refers to “Defenses,” the published plan is explicit that America, in order to maintain its standard of living, must create a military that is capable of dominating the whole planet, and in fact the space surrounding it. Only by total control could we, in their eyes, be safe. They insisted America must be prepared for preemptive action anywhere, anytime, in order to keep the rest of the world subservient to our interests.

          The creators of that report, which is available for your reading on the internet,[http://www.newamericancentury.org/ defensenationalsecurity.htm] recognized that getting the American people to spend the kind of money necessary for such a military would not be easy. They said:

The process of transformation, even if it brings revolutionary change, is likely to be a long one, absent some catastrophic and catalyzing event – like a new Pearl Harbor.

                  Is it not strange that twelve months after that blueprint was issued, with its proponents in positions of great power, America experienced  “a new Pearl Harbor.” on 9/11?  At the ready, within days after that tragic event, were military plans and a comprehensive bill that radically changed the way the government related to the citizens of our nation. And the people’s representatives rolled over, and acceded to the extremist demands. Since then, 9/11 has been used to justify: torture, spying on the American people, imprisonment of citizens without due process, and bloody wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.  The authorization for the administrations to engage in military action without specific congressional authorization continues to be used to this day for our military engagement in nations we are not even aware of.

                  Not only has this militarism made America less safe in the world, but also it continues to wreak havoc on our own nation.  Funds that might be used to improve our roads and bridges and water and sewer systems, and railroads and airports, and schools and our medical system, is used instead to build weapons systems and to launch drones that cause what our leaders call “collateral damage,” which means the killing of men and women and children who are not engaged in any behaviour that actually threatens our security.

      Retired Air Force Lieutenant Colonel William Astore, an historian, has written in his internet blog:

            Paradoxically, Americans have become both too detached from their military and too deferential to it.  We now love to applaud that military which, the pollsters tell us, enjoys a significantly higher degree of trust and approval from the public than the presidency, Congress, the media, the Catholic Church, or the Supreme Court.  What the military needs, however, in this era of endless war is not loud cheers, but tough love. 

He goes on to say:

            As a retired military man, I do think our troops deserve a measure of esteem. There’s a selfless ethic to the military that should seem admirable in this age of selfies and selfishness. That said, the military does not deserve the deference of the present moment, nor the constant adulation it gets in endless ceremonies at any ballpark or sporting arena.  Indeed, deference and adulation, the balm of military dictatorships, should be poison to the military of a democracy. 

            What I found really troubling was the response that Colonel Astore received from one of his senators when he wrote expressing his concern about the role of the military.  He said that the form letter he received in return praised American troops as “tough, smart, courageous and they make huge sacrifices to keep our families safe. We owe them all a true debt of gratitude for their service.”  His senator then expressed support for counter-terrorism operations, although cautioning that the military should obey the law of armed conflict.  The conclusion was that “robust diplomacy must be combined with a strong military.”

                  That Senator was Elizabeth Warren.

                  Back in June, the US Senate voted 85 to 10 to give the military $716 Billion budget for 2019 - that’s more than the military budgets of the next eleven nations combined. Many of the world’s nations believe this is evidence that the United States is preparing for war. According to the Washington Post:

William Hartung, director of the Arms and Security Project at the Center for International Policy,[asserts] “All of this money is being spent in service of the idea we can go anywhere and fight any battle, and the recent history shows that doesn’t make a lot of sense or make us safer.”           

Returning to Colonel Astore:

            Washington’s own deeply embedded illusions and deceptions also serve to generate and perpetuate its wars.  Lauding our troops as “freedom fighters” for peace and prosperity, presidents like George W. Bush have waged a set of brutal wars in the name of spreading democracy and a better way of life.  The trouble is: incessant war doesn’t spread democracy – though in the twenty-first century we’ve learned that it does spread terror groups – it kills [democracy.]  

Astore suggests that our policies lead to the American version of George Orwell’s famed formulation in his novel 1984: “War is Peace.” . . .He concludes:

            In their hearts, America’s self-professed warriors know they’re right. But the wrongs they’ve committed and continue to commit, in our name, will not be truly righted until Americans begin to reject the madness of rampant militarism, bloated militaries, and endless wars.

      Do we learn from history?  The problem with empires is that their maintenance requires an unsustainable level of material and spiritual sacrifice.  The creation of this nation was based on an unprecedented level of idealism.  

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. --That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

      In his sermon at Riverside Church in New York City, a year to the day before he was assassinated, Martin Luther King quoted John Fitzgerald Kennedy:

“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.” Dr. King asserted: Increasingly, by choice or by accident, this is the role our nation has taken, the role of those who make peaceful revolution impossible by refusing to give up the privileges and the pleasures that come from the immense profits of overseas investments. . . .[He went on to say]When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights, are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, extreme materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered.. .

      Dr. King called for a Poor People’s March on Washington to demand a shift in our nation’s values.  Glenn Greenwald points out that Dr. King was clear that “ending American militarism and imperialism was not merely a moral imperative in its own right, but a prerequisite to achieving any meaningful reforms in American domestic life.”  King’s assassination undercut that march.

      Last June I went to Washington to participate in a new Poor People’s Campaign which is aiming, fifty years later, to pick up and carry on his “National Call for Moral Revival.”  Two weeks ago, I participated in a three-day gathering for people from New York State, who are joining with similarly committed people in 40 other states, to organize to advance that call.  It is clear that opposing militarism is still “a prerequisite to achieving any meaningful reforms in America’s domestic life.”  That was not an easy challenge when Dr. King issued the call, saying, “We are called to speak for the weak, for the voiceless, for victims of our nation...”.  It is no easier today.  But it is not a challenge we can ignore.

      While I am not a veteran of military service, I have devoted my life to struggling on behalf of values congruent with Dr. King’s dream.  I join in the call by the Veterans for Peace that: We must press our government to end reckless military interventions that endanger the entire world. We must build a culture of peace.

As Ehud Manor, the writer of the words of the hymn we are about to sing asserts:

            Some have dreamed, 

            some have died, 

            to make a bright tomorrow 

            and our vision remains in our hearts.  

            Now the torch must be passed 

            with new hope, not in sorrow, 

            and a promise to make a new start.

            Wait and see, Wait and see, 

            what world there can be if we share, 

            if we care, you and me.

Re-Claiming Armistice Day

On 11/11 there will be much talk of "patriotism", "sacrifice", "love of country", and "defending our freedom", but little about "mutual understanding" or "friendly relations". 

 

As an Army, infantry veteran of the U.S. war against the people of Viet Nam I find it interesting how the eleventh day of the eleventh month has been transformed from a day of peace to a day of justification of violence. The original Congressional resolution stated that "this date should be commemorated with . . . exercises designed to perpetuate peace through good will and mutual understanding between nations" and they invited "the people of the United States to observe the day . . . with appropriate ceremonies of friendly relations with all other peoples".

 

Instead, on 11/11 we will be subjected to a continuous stream of flag waving and images of strong, brave young people in full combat dress. The message is that violence will keep us safe and violence will keep us free. The reality is that young people are sent to kill other young people because older people lack the skill and/or the desire to resolve the conflict using non-violent methods. 

 

Please observe the 100th anniversary of Armistice Day as it was originally intended.