54. WAR WATCH WEDNESDAYS, December 29, 2021
The Syria Deception: The Public Has Been Hoodwinked Yet Again into Supporting a Criminal War of Aggression—and One That Has Been Effectively Lost
By Jeremy Kuzmarov on Jul 08, 2021
United States warmakers have become so skilled at propaganda that not only can they wage a war of aggression without arousing protest; they can also compel liberals to denounce peace activists using language reminiscent of the McCarthy era.
Take the case of Syria. The people and groups one would normally count on to oppose wars […]
The post The Syria Deception: The Public Has Been Hoodwinked Yet Again into Supporting a Criminal War of Aggression—and One That Has Been Effectively Lost appeared first on CovertAction Magazine.
Stop Excluding Military Pollution from Climate Agreements, from World Beyond War. 7-23-21.
Target: Participants in COP26 UN Climate Change Conference, Glasgow, Scotland, November 1-12, 2021
We encourage individuals and organizations to sign the petition below, and also ask organizations to sign a similar petition created by Conflict and Environment Observatory here. Organizations that are interested in cosponsoring this petition through Action Network can see how that would work here and contact us here.
We encourage groups and individuals to organize events to advance this message on or about the International Day of Peace during Climate Week, September 21, 2021, as well as on or about the big day of action in Glasgow on November 4, 2021. Resources and ideas for events are here.
To: Participants in COP26 UN Climate Change Conference, Glasgow, Scotland, November 1-12, 2021 From World Beyond War.
As a result of final-hour demands made by the U.S. government during negotiation of the 1997 Kyoto treaty, military greenhouse gas emissions were exempted from climate negotiations. That tradition has continued.
The 2015 Paris Agreement left cutting military greenhouse gas emissions to the discretion of individual nations.
The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, obliges signatories to publish annual greenhouse gas emissions, but military emissions reporting is voluntary and often not included.
NATO has acknowledged the problem but not created any specific requirements to address it.
There is no reasonable basis for this gaping loophole. War and war preparations are major greenhouse gas emitters. All greenhouse gas emissions need to be included in mandatory greenhouse gas emission reduction standards. There must be no more exception for military pollution.
We ask COP26 to set strict greenhouse gas emissions limits that make no exception for militarism, include transparent reporting requirements and independent verification, and do not rely on schemes to "offset" emissions. Greenhouse gas emissions from a country’s overseas military bases must be fully reported and charged to that country, not the country where the base is located.
BACK FROM THE BRINK
https://preventnuclearwar.org/endorse/
We’re bringing communities together to prevent the growing threat that nuclear weapons pose to our health, environment, and all we hold dear.
JOIN US
THE CALL
The threat of nuclear war is real and growing. Global tensions are on the rise. The United States is spending billions of dollars to rebuild its entire nuclear arsenal, accelerating a new arms race and diverting funds urgently needed for social, economic, and environmental programs. It is high time we change our priorities and reimagine national security to better address the challenges of the 21st century.
Back from the Brink: The Call to Prevent Nuclear War is a national grassroots campaign seeking the abolition of nuclear weapons and fundamental change in U.S. nuclear weapons policy. We’re calling upon the U.S. to enter into negotiations now with the other nuclear-armed states for a verifiable, enforceable, timebound agreement to eliminate their weapons. We also call on the U.S. to unilaterally adopt several key policies to reduce the danger of nuclear war while these negotiations proceed.
A safer, healthier, and more just world is possible. We celebrate the entry into force of the U.N. Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), an historic treaty signed by 122 nations that bans nuclear weapons under international law in the same manner as biological and chemical weapons. The TPNW is the international mechanism for the elimination of nuclear weapons. Back from the Brink provides a U.S. roadmap to accomplish this goal.
We call on the United States to lead a global effort to prevent nuclear war by:
Actively pursuing a verifiable agreement among nuclear-armed states to eliminate their nuclear arsenals
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Renouncing the option of using nuclear weapons first
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Ending the sole, unchecked authority of any U.S. President to launch a nuclear attack
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Taking U.S. nuclear weapons off hair-trigger alert
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Cancelling the plan to replace the entire U.S. nuclear arsenal with enhanced weapons
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Ronan Farrow . War on Peace: The End of Diplomacy and the Decline of American Influence. April 24, 2018.
A harrowing exploration of the collapse of American diplomacy and the abdication of global leadership, by the winner of the 2018 Pulitzer Prize in Public Service.
US foreign policy is undergoing a dire transformation, forever changing America’s place in the world. Institutions of diplomacy and development are bleeding out after deep budget cuts; the diplomats who make America’s deals and protect its citizens around the world are walking out in droves. Offices across the State Department sit empty, while abroad the military-industrial complex has assumed the work once undertaken by peacemakers. We’re becoming a nation that shoots first and asks questions later.
In an astonishing journey from the corridors of power in Washington, DC, to some of the most remote and dangerous places on earth―Afghanistan, Somalia, and North Korea among them―acclaimed investigative journalist Ronan Farrow illuminates one of the most consequential and poorly understood changes in American history. His firsthand experience as a former State Department official affords a personal look at some of the last standard bearers of traditional statecraft, including Richard Holbrooke, who made peace in Bosnia and died while trying to do so in Afghanistan.
Drawing on newly unearthed documents, and richly informed by rare interviews with warlords, whistle-blowers, and policymakers―including every living former secretary of state from Henry Kissinger to Hillary Clinton to Rex Tillerson―War on Peace makes a powerful case for an endangered profession. Diplomacy, Farrow argues, has declined after decades of political cowardice, shortsightedness, and outright malice―but it may just offer America a way out of a world at war. (from Amazon)
ENDING WAR WITH PASHTUN AFGHANISTAN MEANS REDUCING WAR? NO! STOP THE NEW COLD WAR WITH CHINA AND RUSSIA
STOP THE NEW COLD WAR WITH CHINA
Tomgram: David Vine, Biden Builds Back Worse (When It Comes to China) 10-21-21
TomDispatch via gmail.mcsv.net |
| 8:37 AM (0 minutes ago) | |
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David Vine, Biden Builds Back Worse (When It Comes to China) October 21, 2021 [Note for TomDispatch Readers: Just a small reminder that signed, personalized copies of William deBuys's remarkable new book, The Trail to Kanjiroba: Rediscovering Earth in an Age of Loss, are still available at the TomDispatch donation page for contributions of at least $100 ($125 if you live outside the U.S.A.). Of it, Dahr Jamail, someone TD readers will remember well, has said, "Written in the spirit of Mathiessen's Snow Leopard, The Trail to Kanjiroba is a pilgrimage into the unknown of the inner realms. DeBuys's heartfelt, raw, poetically written personal peregrination is a true service to life on an increasingly disrupted planet." At the very least, make sure to get yourself a copy! Tom] Let me make my own position on China all too clear. I'm distinctly "soft" on that country. I always have been. After all, it represents a remarkable civilization, one I studied in graduate school. Among my greatest regrets is never having visited there, never having made it to the Great Wall or any of its other memorable historical landmarks. China has indeed "risen" from the nightmare of the nineteenth and much of the twentieth centuries to become one of the two great powers on this planet, which is, I think, a remarkable accomplishment. Yes, of course, there are aspects of its governance that are deplorable (but it's in good company there). Still, at this potentially calamitous moment on Planet Earth, working with, not preparing for war against, China should be the order of the day. Unfortunately, I seem to be in the minority in a country where being soft on China is one of the worst insults around. Early in the 2020 election campaign, for instance, Joe Biden criticized Donald Trump for just that. He "rolled over for the Chinese" on Covid-19, claimed one Biden campaign ad. And, of course, the then-president returned the favor, tweeting, "China wants Sleepy Joe sooo badly... Joe is an easy mark, their DREAM CANDIDATE!” As it happens, both were quite wrong about the other. Trump, of course, whacked the Chinese (and American consumers, as well) with those tariffs of his, which Sleepy Joe has adamantly kept in place since entering the Oval Office. Meanwhile, as with Washington's new AUKUS pact in Asia that will provide Australia with nuclear-powered subs or the new CIA spy center that's to focus on China alone, the Biden foreign-policy team has been hot to trot when it's come to creating a new Cold War in Asia. As it turns out, both administrations stationed U.S. Marines and a special-operations unit on the island of Taiwan for the first time (without even notifying Congress) and both have sold that island's government copious new weapons systems. Both have been similarly intent on creating anti-Chinese alliances in the region, but the Biden administration has been doing all this far more coherently, as TomDispatch regular David Vine, author most recently of the all-too-aptly titled The United States of War: A Global History of America's Endless Conflicts, from Columbus to the Islamic State, suggests today. Of course, for a land that spends more on its military-industrial complex than the Chinese could ever imagine, more than at least the next 11 countries combined (and hasn't won a war of significance, including in Afghanistan, since 1945), an enemy remains sadly necessary. Despite the fact that the Chinese have, as Vine indicates, done remarkably little of an aggressive nature in the world in recent years, congressional majorities of Democrats and Republicans would never agree to fund the Pentagon at levels now almost beyond imagining without just such a foe. Meanwhile, both countries continue to make war on the planet in an unprecedented manner in terms of greenhouse gas emissions and so on we go. Let Vine, an expert on this country as a war and garrison state, fill you in. Tom |
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Do You Want a New Cold War? The AUKUS Alliance Takes the World to the Brink By David Vine Before it's too late, we need to ask ourselves a crucial question: Do we really -- I mean truly -- want a new Cold War with China? Because that's just where the Biden administration is clearly taking us. If you need proof, check out last month's announcement of an "AUKUS" (Australia, United Kingdom, U.S.) military alliance in Asia. Believe me, it's far scarier (and more racist) than the nuclear-powered submarine deal and the French diplomatic kerfuffle that dominated the media coverage of it. By focusing on the dramatically angry French reaction to losing their own agreement to sell non-nuclear subs to Australia, most of the media missed a much bigger story: that the U.S. government and its allies have all but formally declared a new Cold War by launching a coordinated military buildup in East Asia unmistakably aimed at China. Click here to read more of this dispatch. |
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RUSSOPHOBIA NATO 'Master Plan' aimed at Russia Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space via sendinblue.com |
| Oct 24, 2021, 7:27 PM (11 hours ago) | |
| | | | | | | | Washington always looking for another war | | By Bruce Gagnon It didn't take long for the US to up the ante with China and Russia. So soon after the crushing defeat from 20 years of death and destruction in Afghanistan we find Washington stirring the fire pit and looking for more trouble. It's really no surprise. Just take a close look at US history - one filthy war after the other. Just this past week we've seen 'F the EU' Victoria Nuland go to Moscow hoping for an audience with Putin. She only got to meet with lower level, but competent Russian diplomats, and came away with nothing other than furthering the divide between our two nations. Actually, that might have been the US strategy. The word is that Nuland went in with a list of Washington's demands. Russia said 'nyet' and handed Nuland a list of their own. Of course Nuland said 'No' and was then sent packing back to the US. Secretary of War Lloyd Austin (former Raytheon board member) just stopped in Georgia, Ukraine, and Romania before heading to Brussels for hand-wringing with the NATO clowns. Austin stated during a news conference in Bucharest that the purpose of these visits was to highlight “the importance of deepening cooperation among our Black Sea allies and partners to deter and defend against Russian malign activities in the region.” That's the political hype. His real purpose in Georgia, Ukraine, and Romania? Spur them to make trouble for Moscow in any way and every way they possibly can. And I'm sure Austin said the magic words, 'Of course the US will back you if you get into a fight with Russia. First, we'll supply you with more weapons and plant more of our troops in your nation to protect you from the Russian bear.' At the Brussels meeting NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the following: ·Allies will kick off a $1.16 billion NATO Innovation Fund to develop dual-use emerging and disruptive technologies. NATO will also establish its first artificial intelligence strategy to incorporate data analysis, imagery, and cyber defense. ·The allies are spending more on defense and they agreed to increase the readiness of forces. ·Significant improvements are being made to alliance air and missile defenses. NATO calls for strengthening conventional capabilities with fifth-generation jets, adapting exercises and intelligence, and improving the readiness and effectiveness of the nuclear deterrent. ·We exchanged views on how to preserve the gains and ensure Afghanistan never again becomes a safe haven for terrorists. ·NATO’s new strategy ensures that the alliance will have “the right forces in the right place at the right time.” They also characteristically took at shot at China from behind the safe walls of NATO HQ in Brussels with a stream of rhetoric. Austin’s remarks followed the completion of a two-day NATO ministerial where he said officials offered “unique perspectives” on China, which he noted remains the Pentagon’s “primary pacing challenge.”
“Indeed, I applaud NATO’s work on China and I made it clear that the United States is committed to defending the international rules-based order which China has consistently undermined for its own interests,” Austin told reporters. At an October 21 CNN town hall, Joe Biden was asked about China. “I just want to make China understand that we are not going to step back, we are not going to change any of our views.” Biden said. Asked whether the US would come to Taiwan’s defense if it were attacked, he replied: “Yes, we have a commitment to do that.” Now let's analyze this NATO meeting and the comments on China just a bit. First, who has Russia invaded? Since the US orchestrated coup in Ukraine in 2014 (when the Russian-ethnic people in Crimea voted to ask Russia to take them back into the federation) there has been no invasion of anyone near its borders. At the same time US-NATO has been holding war games repeatedly all along Russian borders. When Moscow has responded by holding counter-war games inside its own country Washington and Brussels have howled in condemnation. Talk about a double-standard! And please note the words above by Austin - "I applaud NATO’s work on China" - just what does that mean? NATO has gone global. The North Atlantic Treaty Alliance has now decided that it should be 'defending democracy in the Pacific'. Who is the aggressor in this case? What right does NATO have to decide it is the new global cop? Can't lick Afghanistan so let's take on China & Russia NATO has no legitimate reason to exist today - the Soviet Union and their Warsaw Pact Alliance are long gone. Russia just built an undersea natural gas pipeline called Nord Stream 2 to furnish fuel to Europe in order to help alleviate their current energy crisis. It's a big business deal for Moscow. Why would Russia want war with Europe? The insanity of US-NATO is exposed for anyone willing to see the obvious. Washington and Brussels got their high-tech asses kicked by a ill-armed rag-tag but determined Taliban in Afghanistan. Now they somehow dream that they can take on both China and Russia who have formed a military alliance as they watch the NATO endless war machine heading their way. I understand that all these moves by US-NATO absolutely benefit the military industrial complex which has installed one of their agents (Lloyd Austin) as secretary of war. But do these psychopaths actually believe they can start a war with China and Russia and possibly win? Don't they know that such a war would go nuclear in a hot flash? It's obvious that the US-NATO war cabal are blinded by power and greed. There can be no other explanation that comes close to making sense. It's a dangerous and dirty game these fat cats are playing - at the same time that climate crisis rages in our faces, legions of people face evictions from their homes, and the basic cost of living goes sky high. Are we heading for a collapse in the US and around the globe? How could that not be happening under these present conditions? And the US-NATO response? How about another war? Which party in Washington is leading this descent into hell? |
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US PEACE PRIZEPresentation |
The US Peace Prize will be awarded on November 4. This year’s nominees are: Julian Aguon, Bruce Gagnon, David Hartsough, National Network Opposing the Militarization of Youth, and World BEYOND War. You may read about their antiwar/peace work in the US Peace Registry.
The announcement and 2021 presentation will be made at the beginning of this online event. Click here to register.
The US Peace Memorial Foundation honors Americans who stand for peace by publishing the US Peace Registry, awarding the US Peace Prize, and working to promote and raise funds for the US Peace Memorial in Washington, DC. We celebrate these role models to inspire other Americans to speak out against war and work for peace. US Peace Memorial Foundation is a 501(c)(3) charity. |
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Effort to Repeal AUMF removed from National Defense Authorization Act:
Push to repeal Iraq war powers snags in overloaded Senate
As the NDAA goes down to the wire, the congressional attempt to reclaim AUMFs is a casualty of war.
https://www.politico.com/news/2021/12/07/congress-aumf-war-powers-repeal-scrapped-523888
HELEN KELLER AGAINST WAR
Strike Against War, delivered before the Women's Peace Party ...
https://www.afb.org › helen-keller › books-essays-speeches
Strike against war, for without you no battles can be fought. Strike against manufacturing shrapnel and gas bombs and all other tools of murder. Strike against ...
Transcription for Helen Keller's speech "A Protest Against ...
https://www.afb.org › HelenKellerArchive › p=helenkeller...
It is doubtful if the workers themselves can stop war: but they can do much to defend themselves against attacks upon their rights by by their fellow-workers in ...
OMNI’S WWW IS DEDICATED TO ENDING THE US ENDLESS WARFARE STATE
A "peacetime" military 10-26-21
Natasha - About Face Veterans via email.actionnetwork.org |
| 6:30 AM (1 hour ago) | |
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| Hi Dick- I remember the moment I realized my service in the military wasn’t what it was supposed to be. It’s a moment a lot of us remember - September 11th, 2001. And thanks to About Face, I am able to do something about it. Serving the Air Force, we were told that our work was being done during ‘peacetime’ - that is, I was supporting a global network of hundreds of bases that were constantly monitoring shipping routes, conflict zones, and countries we determined as threatening to democracy. Truth is, we were never at peace, but I didn’t know it. After 9/11, there has never been a return to even a pretense of peace. Permanent war is now justified as a fight against terrorism. With your investment in our work, together, we can stop it. Make a donation to About Face today and help us bring an end to endless war. One of the strongest ways we stop war is by having the people who fought them speak out against it — to expose what’s really happening behind closed doors.- For example: - why is Biden asking for the biggest military budget ever even after the war in Afghanistan is ‘over’? Why is congress approving a 5% raise for the military? Will we ever return to a peacetime military? We witness war profiteering first hand, as trillions are handed over to contractors in no-bid contracts while aid for people decimated by war evaporates and veteran’s benefits are privatized out of reach. We will make all war profiteers pay and are organizing to speak out this veteran’s day. Can we count on you to support us in ending these wars? Thank you for having our back. Together, we will take on the deadly forces of war and win. Sincerely,
Natasha Erskine
CO-Director, About Face
About Face: Veterans Against The War |
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