THE RUSSIAN ARE COMING?

Swedish warmongers, including the head of the armed forces, have recently trotted out the Russian bear again to frighten the people into acceptance of more military spending, deeper involvement with USA/NATO wars, etc.
 
In response to that silliness, a Russian TV program has produced an appropriate non-military reaction.

COLA UPON LIPS

A boy must escape a world where the processed food is killing his neighborhood -- literally.

REMEMBERING

In 2008, Congress created a 13-year, $5-million-per-year propaganda project to clean up the image of the Vietnam War. It's called The Vietnam War Commemoration Project and it focuses on issues of individual honor and bravery. It avoids the controversial historical and moral issues of the war. In response, a number of Vietnam veterans have created The Vietnam War Commemoration CORRECTION Project as a provocation to open discussion as to what the Vietnam War means to Americans. Was the war even necessary? 

In 1945 did the US, in fact, betray its World War Two Vietnamese ally -- the Vietminh under Ho Chi Minh -- in order to support a continuation of French Colonialism in Vietnam? Many Americans feel the Vietnam War was a tragic debacle that still divides Americans.

The Pentagon "commemoration" of the war comes up far short of what is best for the future of America in a changing world. This short film is meant to raise questions. To contact The Correction Project, email us at namcor@midcoast.com

LEARNING TO TALK THROUGH THE CENSORS

Eric Mann, the leader the Labor/Community Strategy Center in Los Angeles, describes his work for what he calls the "think tank/act tank" for democratic, international social movements. Mann was presented to students at UC San Diego who are studying revolutionary activists in labor, poverty and environmental causes.

DRONES IN AMERICA?

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
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DRONE PUBLIC HEARING IN MAINE

Click on the photo for better view

Some of the folks gather outside the hearing room after a successful day at the capital

Peter Woodruff and I drove to the state capital in Augusta today to attend the drone hearing before the combined Senate and House Judiciary Committee.  The drone bill was last on their agenda so we met artist-activists Natasha Mayers and Suzanna Lasker in the Hall of Flags where we held signs opposing the drone surveillance state.  Natasha was dressed in her black garb with a drone state license plate around her neck.  She got lots of looks.

With some time to waste, and recognizing it could be a long day, we walked down to the capital basement cafeteria to get a bite to eat.  As we entered the packed dining area all eyes were on Natasha.

We next made our way up to the 4th floor hearing room and when we entered Natasha again captured all the attention.  She sat down in the front row - with stovepipe hat still on her head and drone state license plate still around her neck.  The chair of the hearing, with a smile on her face, told Natasha that she would have to take off her costume.  So Natasha took off the hat, put it on the floor in front of her and was then told to take the "sign" from around her neck as well.

After the drone bill was presented the audience was invited to speak.  First to the podium to speak in favor of the bill was Shenna Bellows from the ACLU who made a strong case against drones and then suggested that Maine follow the lead of the Virginia state legislature which recently passed a two-year moratorium on drone operations.

I was next up and read my prepared statement.  After I finished one of the conservatives on the committee asked me if I supported weapons on drones.  I said no because they were immoral and illegal and I then proceeded to tell how the United Nations and a journalistic investigatory body had delivered conclusive evidence that hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of civilians have been killed by US drones in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Yemen.  I talked about how the drone strikes had hit funerals and weddings.  The conservative senator shot back at me with the question, "You mean the military is doing that?"  Yes, I said, the military and the CIA.

Others in the audience also gave excellent testimony.  One young man talked about how you can now buy a computer hacking program for $26 that allows a person to download the surveillance footage that the police are getting from their snooping drones.  That really got the attention of the committee members.

Next up were those who opposed the drone regulation bill - land surveyors, state police, a drone maker and the Attorney General's office.  But most of them agreed that a one year moratorium would be useful and necessary if the state was going to get a handle on the coming surge of drones flying over our heads and the resultant public outrage.

The Judiciary Committee co-chairs Sen. Valentino (Saco) and Rep. Charles Priest (Brunswick) declared that another hearing would be necessary before making any decision.  On March 7 at 2:30 pm the committee and the public will continue this drone debate.  More people will be needed in the audience and it would be helpful if Mainers would contact their state legislative delegations in support of "An Act to Protect the Privacy of Citizens from Domestic Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Use" - LD 236 (SP 72).

I intend to be there that day. Hope you join us.

WHITE ROSE

Hans Scholl (left), Sophie Scholl (center), and Christoph Probst (right), leaders of the White Rose resistance organization

On Feb. 22, 1943, Sophie Scholl, Hans Scholl, and Christoph Probst were executed for their role in urging students to rise up and overthrow the Nazi government. They were members of a group called the White Rose, who organized nonviolent resistance to Hitler, and were arrested for printing and distributing anti-Nazi flyers. 

See trailer for film about the life of Sophie Scholl: http://bit.ly/ZwGVHQ 

Here is one of the leaflets they were handing out: 

 The Fifth Leaflet (Feb 1943)

 A Call to All Germans!

The war is approaching its destined end. As in the year 1918, the German government is trying to focus attention exclusively on the growing threat of submarine warfare, while in the East the armies are constantly in retreat and invasion is imminent in the West. Mobilization in the United States has not yet reached its climax, but already it exceeds anything that the world has ever seen. It has become a mathematical certainty that Hitler is leading the German people into the abyss. Hitler cannot win the war; he can only prolong it. The guilt of Hitler and his minions goes beyond all measure. Retribution comes closer and closer.

But what are the German people doing? They will not see and will not listen. Blindly they follow their seducers into ruin. Victory at any price! is inscribed on their banner. "I will fight to the last man," says Hitler…but in the meantime the war has already been lost.

Germans! Do you and your children want to suffer the same fate that befell the Jews? Do you want to be judged by the same standards as are your traducers? Are we to be forever a nation which is hated and rejected by all mankind? No. Dissociate yourselves from Nazi gangsterism. Prove by your deeds that you think otherwise. A new war of liberation is about to begin. The better part of the nation will fight on our side. Cast off the cloak of indifference you have wrapped around you. Make the decision before it is too late. Do not believe the Nazi propaganda which has driven the fear of Bolshevism into your bones. Do not believe that Germany's welfare is linked to the victory of National Socialism. A criminal regime cannot achieve a German victory. Separate yourselves from everything connected with fascism. In the aftermath a terrible but just judgment will be meted out to those who stayed in hiding, who were cowardly and hesitant.

What can we learn from the outcome of this war?

The imperialist ideology of force, from whatever side it comes, must be shattered for all time. A one-sided Prussian militarism must never again be allowed to assume power. Only in large-scale cooperation among the nations of Europe can the ground be prepared for reconstruction. Centralized hegemony, such as the Prussian state has tried to exercise in Germany and in Europe, must be cut down at its inception. The Germany of the future must be a federal state. At this juncture only a sound federal system can imbue a weakened Europe with a new life. The workers must be liberated from their condition of down-trodden slavery.

Freedom of speech, freedom of religion, the protection of individual citizens from the arbitrary will of criminal regimes of violence - these will be the bases of the New Europe.  Support the resistance. Distribute the leaflets!

CONNECT THE DOTS

Hope Festival in Orono, Maine on April 27 inside the UMO recreation center.

DRONE INDUSTRY STEPPING UP LOBBYING CAMPAIGN

This guy calls himself a representative from an aerospace "trade organization".  In truth they are a lobby group that promotes expanded use of drones all over the country and around the world.

18 states and many local governments are now considering banning drone flights.  The city of Charlottesville, Virginia recently passed a two-year moratorium on drones.

There are numerous health and safety questions that must be answered.  Airspace over Maine is already quite busy.  Drones have proven to frequently crash.  Civilians in Afghanistan and Pakistan report severe depression from the incessant humming that comes from endless drone flights over their heads.

More than 500 aerospace companies are eager to develop this new drone market.  The drone industry is  pushing back hard against those who say local police should be required to secure search warrants before using drones to snoop on the public.  Industry lawyers say we have nothing to fear – that all we have to do is ask local police and they will be transparent about their drone use.

In an ironic turn, President Obama, who began his presidency denouncing predecessor George W. Bush's expansive use of executive power and lack of transparency, is now using similar tactics — including secret justifications and undisclosed intelligence assessments.

Obama has been asked to explain his views on the limits of executive power in using lethal force against U.S. citizens, especially when operating on U.S. soil. In fact some in Congress have asked Obama whether he thought the Administration could legally carry out drone strikes inside the United States. In response, Obama emphasized that the Administration “has not carried out” such strikes and “has no intention of doing so.”

The question the public is asking is not whether the Administration has or intends to carry out drone strikes inside the United States, but whether it believes it has the authority to do so. This is an important question that cannot be ignored.

Already we are facing a severe loss of our liberties with the recent signing of the NDAA that allows indefinite detention of citizens without charges or legal representation.  Warrantless wiretapping is also a serious concern.

Throughout American history we have been reminded that government has over and over again used every available tool to repress legitimate dissent – drones will be no different.

We must take proactive steps to ban these surveillance systems now while we still can.

DRONES DO NOT EXIST

In a rare admission, Robert Gibbs, the former White House Press Secretary under Obama, told reporters Sunday that he was ordered to act as if there was no such thing as an active US drone program.

 

“When I went through the process of becoming press secretary, one of the first things they told me was, you’re not even to acknowledge the drone program,” Gibbs said on MSNBC’s “Up With Chris Hayes” this past weekend.

Gibbs said that he was told “You’re not even to discuss that it exists.”

HOW DO WE TALK ABOUT THESE ISSUES?

• Today I am preparing for two events.  One is the drone hearing at Maine's state house tomorrow at 1:30 pm where a bill to ban drones in our state will be heard.  I will try to make a statement if possible.  The second is a seminar I've been invited to in San Francisco this weekend called Techno-Utopianism--- Killing the World.  The meeting will "explore the negative role of recent generations of technological 'advancement.' The idea is to challenge the fundamental world-views of our society that celebrate and embrace the inevitable virtues of technological innovation----and the prevailing attitudes about 'progress' and human authority over nature." Others attending this meeting will be Langdon Winner, Vandana Shiva, Richard Heinberg, Pat Mooney, Paul Kingsnorth, Charlene Spretnak, Stephanie Mills, Kirkpatrick Sale, Chet Bowers, Lisi Krall, Godfrey Reggio, Lorna Salzman, as well as Rob Dietz, Severine von Tsarchner Fleming, Andy Kimbrell, and Jerry Mander. It's a real honor to be invited to speak to these folks.  I am excited about how much I will learn there and how it will better enable me to connect the dots in my writing and speaking.

•  I just spent a good long time talking with Mary Beth this morning about these two events and what the critical message is and how best to say it.  We help each other often in these moments.  She is now writing a letter to the editor in her head about drone policy and this discussion helped her clarify things.  She increasingly is getting invitations to speak to church congregations - one of the few activists I know who gets such invites anymore.  She has the great ability to bridge those two worlds.
• David Swanson sent around a brilliant piece called Witness at a Drone Hearing where he suggests Leo Tolstoy should be invited to testify at the upcoming House Judiciary Committee hearing in Washington on drones.  David extensively quotes Tolstoy on killing.  Here a few gems:

-  Every man of the present day, if we go deep enough into the contradiction between his conscience and his life, is in a state of despair.

 - This contradiction, which is a quintessence of all the other contradictions, is so terrible that to live and to take part in it is only possible if one does not think of it—if one is able to forget it.

- If there were no external means of dulling their sensibilities, half of mankind would shoot themselves without delay, for to live in opposition to one's reason is the most intolerable condition. And that is the condition of all men of the present day.

- All men of the modern world exist in a state of continual and flagrant antagonism between their conscience and their way of life.

- Everyone knows that if murder is a sin, it is always a sin, whoever are the victims murdered.....

ONE OF A KIND COP

Julianna Forlano from Absurdity Today! speaks with retired Philadelphia Police Captain Ray Lewis about stopping the Tarsands Pipeline, Occupy Wall Street, and police apathy in the face of their own rights being dissolved.

MADRID

Madrid, Spain , February 23, 2013 anti-austerity protest.

SUNDAY SONG

VFP SUPPORTS MANNING & JEJU

We had our Veterans for Peace retreat today and during the lunch hour we went out to a local bridge in Augusta for a protest in support of whistle blower Bradly Manning.  Today marks day 1,000 in jail without formal charges against Manning.

The retreat went very well and we were very moved while viewing the video by Regis Tremblay about the Jeju Island Navy base struggle.  The rough video cut is just a taste of what is to come in this dynamic story that puts the current Korean situation in a historical context that most people in the US know little to nothing about.  Happily VFP agreed to give Regis $1,000 to help him defray his many costs in production.

MORE ON PALESTINIAN OSCAR FLAP

Palestinian director Emad Burnat arrived at Los Angeles International Airport on Tuesday and was unexpectedly held for questioning for nearly an hour and a half by US immigration officials. According to Burnat, the immigration agents threatened to deport him and his family if he couldn't provide adequate proof that he was nominated for an Academy Award. The news broke after documentary filmmaker Michael Moore tweeted the news and now the director of "5 Broken Cameras" joins us to give a first-hand account of what happened.

BELGIAN MP TELLS TRUTH ABOUT AFRICA POLICY

Laurent Louis, Minister of the Belgian Parliament, delivers the truth about the French "total re-conquest" of Mali and the reasons that underlie this latest neo-colonial war in Africa. The 32-year old MP is one of the most vilified political figures in Europe and after viewing his speech it's easy to understand why he's being targeted.

You can read the full speech here

THIS IS REALLY SICK

On Sept. 11, 2001, Marine Lt. Col. Stuart Couch’s friend died co-piloting the second plane to hit the World Trade Center. Soon after, Couch became one of the first military prosecutors assigned to the U.S. military base at Guantánamo Bay to prosecute men alleged to have carried out the terrorist plot. He ultimately would refuse to prosecute one detainee: Mohamedou Ould Slahi. “It became clear that what had been done to Slahi amounted to torture,” Couch says. “Specifically, he had been subjected to a mock execution. He had sensory deprivation. He had environmental manipulation, that is, cell’s too cold or the cell is too hot ... He was presented with a ruse that the United States had taken custody of his mother and his brother and that they were being brought to Guantánamo.”

Couch says he concluded Slahi’s treatment amounted to illegal torture. “I came to the conclusion we had knowingly set him up for mental suffering in order for him to provide information,” Couch said. “We might very well have a significant problem with the body of evidence that we were able to present as to his guilt.”

Don't ever try tell me that Obama is not the same corporate slime that George W. Bush was.......

ONLY THING I HAVE LEFT IS HOPE.......

Occupy Asheville, North Carolina and VFP are alive and well in 2013.

IN HARMONY AND UNITY

• I love this photo and the caption that came with it described a scene in Africa where some white person put a basket of fruit under a tree and then tried to get the kids to have a race to see who would win the fruit.  The children objected saying they could not imagine having one person "win" the fruit while all the others went without.  So the kids sat down in a circle and shared the fruit with one another.  Tell me - is it really our nature to cut each others throat or are we cooperative beings?  Is capitalism's dog-eat-dog culture the appropriate answer to our problems on Mother Earth?  Are the indigenous cultures backward and out of step?

•  Last night we had over 40 people turn out in Bath for a public meeting to discuss big corporate $$$ in politics.  Next month we take a resolution to our city council so it was a good warm-up toward that end. 

• Tonight I go to Augusta for a meeting of the Alliance for the Common Good.  We've got alot on our plate as the state continues to slash social spending while at the same time handing out $100 million this year in corporate welfare.  In a small population state (1.2 million) like Maine, mired in fiscal crisis, that $100 million would go a long way in helping to prevent social collapse.

• On Saturday I will be at the annual day-long retreat of Maine Veterans for Peace in Augusta.  Then in the evening I will attend a public meeting at Bowdoin College to support some students that are attempting to get their administration to divest from fossil fuel stocks.  Should be an interesting meeting as this junior Ivy League school tends to have very conservative politics as it is primarily a rich kids campus.  One Asian student recently told me that her effort to show a Jeju Island Navy base resistance video at the college was met with anger and derision by a fellow Asian student "leader" who told her that at Bowdoin "We don't get involved in political issues."  It's a training ground for the children of the 2%. 

MY VISION WAS CLOUDY

Renowned American peace activist and former US Army colonel and State Department official Ann Wright spoke at a public meetings in the Teachers' Club, Parnell Sq, Dublin on Thursday, February 14, and at Richardson's Bar in Galway on Monday February 18th. The Dublin meeting was jointly organised by the Peace and Neutrality Alliance (PANA) and the Irish anti-War Movement (IAWM) and the Galway meeting by Galway Alliance Against War (GAAW).

Earlier on Thursday Ann Wright will met TDs and Senators who are opposed to the US and British wars and the use of Shannon as a military airport. On Monday the 18th she visited the airport with local activists, and witnessed first hand the extent of Ireland's involvement in US wars.

LET'S TRY IT AGAIN

Last time I posted this fantastic film it was taken down from the Internet.  Let's see if we can do it again.

A Palestinian saying he is an Oscar nominee? It seems impossible for Los Angeles airport security! Not even when they show him his invitation to the ceremony!

Emad Burnat, whose "5 Broken Cameras" is competing for an Oscar, said US immigration officials took him, his wife and young son aside when they arrived in Los Angeles from Turkey.
 
Michael Moore writes: "Although he (Burnat) produced the Oscar invite nominees receive, that wasn't good enough & he was threatened with being sent back to Palestine. ... Apparently the Immigration & Customs officers couldn't understand how a Palestinian could be an Oscar nominee. Emad texted me for help ... I called Academy officials who called lawyers. I told Emad to give the officers my phone # and to say my name a couple of times," Moore tweeted on Tuesday evening.

You want to watch this - it will change you.  Let's hope it doesn't get taken down from the Internet again.  And pray that it wins the Oscar....it should.  

Update:  Foiled again! 

BUILD COMMUNITY AND SURVIVE

• Professor Yang-Yoon Mo is back in jail on Jeju Island for his third time and is hunger striking against the Navy base for his third time.  How can people be put in jail for non-violently trying to protect nature?  The real criminals who are destroying a South Korean government designated "special preservation area" never stand trial.  This photo was taken a couple of nights ago when supporters held a candlelight vigil outside the jail.  Yang is now on his 19th day of fasting and has been moved to the prison hospital.  Several other protesters are going to trial this week for attempting to block Navy base construction.  More international support is urgently needed on Jeju.

• Today I hitchhiked to Brunswick and back (about 12 miles from here) for a dentist appointment.  It was very cold and I spent a long time waiting for someone to stop to give me a ride.  My dentist told me that people think something is wrong with you if you don't have a car - you must be a loser or a criminal.  Everyone knows that cars are an indication of stability, competence, and success.  Most people try not to look at you....you can see the fear in them.....Americans have been taught to fear everyone which is why we are so isolated from one another and unable to successfully respond as the corporate oligarchy takes the country apart at the seams.  We've lost our sense of community.  We used to be "our brother's keeper."

• Next Tuesday, February 26 a Public Hearing on Drone use by law enforcement in Maine will be held at the state capital in Augusta. The hearing begins at 1:30 pm in Room 438 of the State House.  The bill is called an "An Act To Protect the Privacy of Citizens from Domestic Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Use".  I intend to go to the hearing and to speak out against the invasion of drones over our heads across the nation.  See more here

BRENNAN UNFIT FOR CIA JOB

Now is the time to let the US Senate know that we don't support Brennan for the CIA job - he is the consumate political hack who lies about and distorts the consequences of the US drone program.

WHICH IS SUSTAINABLE?

 

• An underground single-shell tank at the Department of Energy Hanford, Washington nuclear facility is leaking up to 300 gallons of radioactive waste a year. The tanks contain a mix of high-level radioactive and hazardous chemical waste left from chemically processing fuel irradiated at Hanford reactors to remove plutonium for the nation's nuclear weapons program. As many as 67 of the tanks are believed to have leaked in the past.

• Maine Veterans For Peace will hold its annual retreat on Saturday, February 23 at the Viles Arboretum in Augusta.  It will run from 9:00 am til the end of the day.  Part of the retreat will be spent standing in solidarity with Bradley Manning on the Kennebec River Bridge in Augusta from 11:30 to noon.  That day will mark his 1,000th day in prison for having exposed the war crimes, the corruption, and abuses of the U.S. government. Due process has been denied Manning and his rights, in general, have been trampled.  We will be demanding that Manning be released when his pre-trial hearing begins February 26th.

•  Israeli authorities raided the home of Palestinian hunger striker Samer Issawi overnight (Feb 17) in east Jerusalem, harassing his family members and arresting his brother. Issawi, 33, is among several hunger strikers currently held in Israeli prisons who are on strike against the practice of 'administrative detention' in which Israeli authorities detain Palestinians without charge or trial for indefinite periods of time. Issawi has been on hunger strike for over 200 days and is on the verge of death. Reports have suggested that he has been force fed by Israeli guards to be kept alive.

• At Europe's premier security conference in Munich, Germany, this month, the Pentagon's No. 2 official, Ashton Carter, reassured the assembled that the US would not abandon Europe as he made the case for the expensive and destabilizing US "pivot" of its foreign and military policy into the Asia-Pacific. While Asia has prospered for 70 years, "it's not automatic," he added. "And I think a central reason for that peace and prosperity has been the pivotal role of American military power in that part of the world."  This statement is telling and underscores the thinking that it was the US "protection" (which led to wars in Korea and Vietnam and massive killing in Indonesia on behalf of corporate capital) that led to the economic boom in the region.  By creating a new arms race in the Asia-Pacific the military industrial complex will now put Russia, China and North Korea into the "bad guy" box and use them to frighten the American people into giving even more of their hard-earned tax dollars for endless war preparation.

AMH UPDATES

• Addams-Melman House (AMH) housemate Karen Wainberg returned home today from Washington DC after attending the Climate Change rally that organizers say drew nearly 50,000.  Karen stayed at the Dorothy Day Catholic Worker House in DC which she loved and she raved about hanging out with Kathy Boylan and all the others who live there.  While at the CW House Karen ran into our long-time Florida friend John Linnehan.  She told us the march and rally were in freezing cold but was thrilled by the experience.
• Over the weekend we had very high winds and cold here with a touch of snow.  Outside our house looks like wind-swept sand dunes this morning that I used to play on when my family lived in Ft. Walton Beach, Florida.  No similarities in the outside temperature though.
• We have a high school exchange student staying with us for a few days.  He is from Spain and is attending the local high school here in Bath.  Along with him we've had a local girl with us for the weekend - someone who has been a friend since we moved to Bath six years ago.  MB and I took them both bowling today.  A fun time.
• This morning I did a radio interview on the Washington DC-based program called Clearing the Fog which is hosted by stellar activists Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers.  Also on the show was former Veteran For Peace president Elliott Adams who lives in upstate New York.  We talked about Korea, nuclear weapons, Obama's "pivot" into the Asia-Pacific, space weapons technology, and more.  You can listen to the show here
• Tomorrow (Tuesday) night I do my own weekly radio show with partner Peter Woodruff on WBOR in Brunswick.  The two hour show begins at 6:00 pm and we'll be talking about climate change and playing music related to that subject.  You can pick up the show live here

U.S. STANDS ALONE IN THE WORLD

IT WILL NEVER BE RIGHT

Footprints for Peace organizes an annual "Walk for a Sustainable Future" through mountaintop removal country in East Kentucky. This is a glimpse of the 2013 200-mile walk.

SUNDAY SONG

What a Wonderful World | Playing For Change from Playing For Change on Vimeo.

A LIFE ON THE STREETS

It seems like I've spent half my life standing on street corners holding protest signs.  If you want to see and know America that is the place to be.  People in their automobiles are living their "dream" of independence and upward mobility - at least that's what they've been conditioned to think.

Today seven of us stood for an hour in the breezy-cold under gray skies with snow lightly falling in front of the administration building at Bath Iron Works. We started at 11:30 am and at noon the shipyard horn blew and minutes later a steady stream of cars come flying out of the parking lots.  Many of the workers drive over-sized pickup trucks, most of which are newer models attesting to the fact that the wages inside the yard are good enough to secure a heavy vehicle loan.

Most of the workers don't engage as they roll by.  Now and then someone will awkwardly wave to us and we get a good number of the middle fingers.  One women drove by today and shielded her face from us with her left hand.....she had an Army bumper sticker on her truck.....I wondered if she was a Christian fundamentalist who viewed us as the devil?  My mind wanders in those minutes.

When I attend these kind of vigils I come to work so I usually stand by myself and concentrate on the faces that drive by.  I want to make eye contact.  If I'm going to stand in the cold then I want to make sure my sign gets read. 

Maureen and George Kehoe-Ostensen organize these Lenten vigils and do the same during the Advent season.  Week in and week out we gather to bring the disarmament and conversion message to the workers and the public. 

At the end of the vigil we always stand in a circle.  Maureen asks us to bring those suffering from wars into our circle and also to remember those who are in prison for protesting against war.  She then invites us to bring other names into the circle.

This is my 10th year in Maine standing at these BIW vigils and today I thanked Maureen and George for their steady leadership that brings us all together.  It's a meditation for me in many respects.  It's a hard road to stand on but a meaningful way to spend a life.

STOP WAR GAMES, START PEACE TALKS

Statement Opposing U.S.-South Korea Joint Military Exercises Key Resolve Foal Eagle

The Korean War, known in the United States as “The Forgotten War,” has never ended.  Every year, the United States stages a series of massive joint war games with its ally, South Korea (ROK).  These coordinated exercises are both virtual and real.  Among other things, they practice live fire drills and simulate the invasion of North Korea—including first-strike options.

While we - peace, human rights, faith-based, environmental, and Korean solidarity activists – are deeply concerned about North Korea’s third nuclear weapons test, we also oppose the U.S.-ROK joint war games as adding to the dangerous cycle of escalation of tensions on the Korean peninsula.  North Korea views these war games as an act of provocation and threat of invasion like that which we have witnessed in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Libya and routinely condemns these maneuvers as aimed at “bring[ing] down the DPRK by force” and forcing it to “bolster up the war deterrent physically.”  South Korean activists also decry the role of these war games in the hostile perpetuation of the division of the Korean peninsula and are often persecuted for their protests under South Korea’s draconian National Security Law.

The U.S.-ROK “Key Resolve” and “Foal Eagle” annual war games, usually staged in March, and “Ulchi Freedom Guardian” in August, typically last for months and involve tens of thousands of U.S. troops stationed in South Korea and deployed from the United States, as well as hundreds of thousands of their ROK counterparts.  U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine, and Space Command forces will participate in these exercises and practice scenarios including the removal of North Korea’s leadership, occupation of Pyeongyang, and reunification of the peninsula under U.S. and South Korean control.

In South Korea, peace and reunification groups have long opposed these war games. They have called for peninsula-wide demilitarization entailing the eventual removal of U.S. troops. As one organization puts it, “Unless and until US forces are completely and permanently withdrawn from South Korea, it will be impossible to establish peace on the Korean peninsula.”
 
We call upon the U.S. and South Korean governments to stop the costly and provocative war games and take proactive steps to deescalate the current tensions on the Korean peninsula.  

The Perils of the U.S. Pivot

In the past five years, hard-won efforts by the Korean people to ease North-South tensions have been reversed. Through its massive military buildup across the region, the United States has amplified regional tensions.  Recent years have been witness to North Korea’s nuclear and missile tests, increasing nationalism and militarism in Japan (the world's sixth greatest military spender), and a host of increasingly militarized territorial disputes.  The global Cold War may have ended 20 years ago, but as the recent round of U.S.-led sanctions on the DPRK and threat of a third DPRK nuclear weapons “test” illustrate, the anachronism remains alive and well on the Korean peninsula.

Crisis on the Korean peninsula furnishes a rationale for U.S. militarization of the region, and the Pentagon has committed to deploy 60% of its air and naval forces to Asia and the Pacific to reinforce its air sea battle doctrine.  Announced as the “pivot” of U.S. military resources to Asia and the Pacific, President Obama’s policy, which necessitates more training areas, runways, ports of call, and barracks for the massive shift of U.S. military forces, disregards the impact of militarization on the lives of ordinary people in the region.  

The disastrous ecological and human costs of this "pivot" are acutely apparent in the current construction of a naval base on Jeju, an "island of peace" in South Korea known for having the planet's densest concentration of UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Once celebrated for its pristine beauty and sea-based culture, Gangjeong, a 450-year-old fishing and farming village is being torn to shreds by the South Korean government in collaboration with the United States, which can freely use any ROK military installation.  Base construction crews are dredging acres of world-class, bio-diverse coral habitats and covering them with concrete.  The obliteration of these coastal ecosystems also destroys the millennia-old livelihoods of the villagers, 94% of whom voted against the base in a local referendum.  Gangjeong villagers are watching their heritage, economy, vibrant local culture, spiritual center, and very core of their identity collapse into rubble. 

This same multi-facted people’s struggle is being played out in many places across the Asia-Pacific. Within President Obama’s “pivot” policy, U.S. bases in South Korea, Japan, Okinawa, Hawaii, and Guam are ever more important.  Moreover, his administration has been pressing hard to open up previously closed U.S. bases in geostrategically vital nations such as Vietnam and the Philippines.  

This year marks the 60th anniversary of the July 27, 1953 Armistice Agreement that brought the combat phase of the Korean War to a temporary halt but did not end the war.  The Armistice Agreement stipulated that a peace agreement be realized within three months and that negotiations take place for the withdrawal of all foreign forces from Korea.  Over the past several decades, North Korea, often portrayed in mainstream media as an irrational rogue state, has repeatedly requested peace negotiations with the United States.  Yet today, we station nearly 30,000 military personnel and operate over 40 military bases on the Korean peninsula.  We have spent the past 60 years living not in a post-war era, but under a ceasefire whose consequences are borne most acutely by the Korean people.  On this anniversary of the irresolution of the Korean War, the longest conflict the United States has been involved in, we as human rights, Korean solidarity, faith-based, peace, and environmental organizations call for attention to the human and ecological costs of permanent war as the modus vivendi of U.S.-Korean relations.  Efforts that promote increased militarization and conflict and the destruction of the rich biodiversity in Korea are immoral and go against universally shared values of building peace, caring for Earth, and respecting the human dignity and worth of every person.

Resolution for Peace

We, the undersigned peace, human rights, faith-based, environmental, and Korean solidarity activists, call upon the U.S.-ROK governments to cancel their dangerous and costly war games against North Korea.  

We strongly urge the United States to turn to diplomacy for common and human security rather than militarization, which will only undermine regional and U.S. security.  We further request that the Obama administration focus its strategic shift to the Asia region on finding diplomatic and peaceful solutions to conflict, and building cooperation with all nations in the region, including China, DPRK, and Russia. 

On this anniversary of the 60^th anniversary of the signing of the Armistice Agreement, which several decades ago called for a peaceful resolution to the Korean War, we join with our peace-minded brothers and sisters in Korea and call on the Obama administration to deescalate the current tensions and do its part in realizing “Year One of Peace” on the Korean Peninsula.

Working Group for Peace and Demilitarization in Asia and the Pacific*

Christine Ahn, Gretchen Alther, Rev. Levi Bautista, Jackie Cabasso, Herbert Docena, John Feffer, Bruce Gagnon, Joseph Gerson, Subrata Goshoroy, Mark Harrison, Christine Hong, Kyle Kajihiro, Peter Kuznick, Hyun Lee, Ramsay Liem, Andrew Lichterman, John Lindsay-Poland, Ngo Vinh Long, Stephen McNeil, Nguyet Nguyen, Satoko Norimatsu, Koohan Paik, Mike Prokosh, Juyeon JC Rhee, Arnie Sakai, Tim Shorrock, Alice Slater, David Vine, Sofia Wolman

To join the list of endorsers, please email your name, (organization if possible) and your city/state or country to Bruce Gagnon at – globalnet@mindspring.com

Deadline for endorsements is February 28

* The Working Group for Peace and Demilitarization in Asia and the Pacific is comprised of individuals and organizations concerned about and working for peace and demilitarization in Asia and the Pacific on a comprehensive basis. For more information see: www.asiapacificinitiative.org.

MOVE TO AMEND IN MAINE

Across the state of Maine 37 local cities and towns have passed resolutions in support of banning corporate $$$ in our elections.  Eleven states have either passed resolutions at their state legislature or held statewide referendums in support of an amendment to the constitution that says campaign spending is not a form of speech protected under the First Amendment.

Last week town councilors in neighboring Brunswick voted 6-3 in support of such a constitutional amendment.  On March 6 Bath City Council will vote on a similar resolution.  In order to help make this happen I've been working with a local Move to Amend committee in Bath.  Yesterday I handed out flyers in front of the local post office inviting people to a public meeting on Thursday, Feb 21 at our city hall auditorium beginning at 6:30 pm.  This meeting will feature speakers and discussion about ending corporate influence in our electoral process.

Last November a state senate race in Maine (Bangor area) saw $450,000 of mostly out-of-state money get pumped into that local election.  When a state senate race draws that kind of attention and corporate funding you know that we are in big trouble.  An effort is also underway in Maine's state legislature to pass a similar resolution in support of the constitutional amendment to ban big $$ in politics.  Without such an amendment to our constitution we are nothing but a corporate slave state.

INSIDE THE PIRATE STORY

Stolen Seas presents a chilling exploration of the Somali pirate phenomenon and forces you to rethink everything you thought you knew about pirates.

With first hand accounts from leading experts on the subject refuting the common misconceptions, Stolen Seas explores theories of what drives a country to piracy, from every point of view. It is a film about a country on the brink, at the mercy of global capitalism in overdrive, and young boys with nothing to loose.

Stolen Seas is an eye opening refutation of preconceived ideas on how or why piracy has become the world's most frightening multi-million dollar growth industry.

SERVING LIFE SENTENCE

Documentary now showing in theaters in major cities across the nation.

See more here

DRONING ON AND ON

• Drone medals?  The out-going Secretary of War Leon Panetta has announced that the Pentagon will begin awarding the Distinguished Warfare Medal to individuals for "extraordinary achievement" related to military operations that occurred after Sept. 11, 2001. But unlike other combat medals, it does not require the recipient risk his or her life to get it. It will be given to drone pilots and cyber "warriors" who sit at computer screens safely distant from the "battlefield". The medal will be considered a bit higher in ranking than the Bronze Star, but is lower than the Silver Star, military officials said. 
•  Associated Press reports that federal officials on Thursday solicited proposals to create six drone test sites around the US. The FAA is required by a law enacted a year ago to develop sites where civilian and military drones can be tested in preparation for integration into U.S. airspace that's currently limited to manned aircraft. The law also requires that the FAA allow drones wide access to U.S. airspace by 2015.  About two dozen government-industry partnerships have been formed over the past year to compete for the sites. The agency forecasts an estimated 10,000 civilian drones will be in use in the U.S. within five years. 
•  Hancock Field Air National Guard Base near Syracuse, New York is a drone base that has drawn many non-violent peace protests in the past two years. Recently the base Operations Commander has gotten an “Order of Protection,” to guard himself from “assault, stalking, strangulation, criminal obstruction of breathing or circulation, sexual misconduct, [or] forcible touching,” by the nonviolent activists.  Not to be deterred nine activists were arrested earlier this week for blocking an entrance to the base.  In a statement the protesters declared, "We come to Hancock Airfield, home of the National Reaper Drone Maintenance and Training center, this Ash Wednesday -- to remember the victims of our drone strikes and to ask God's forgiveness for the killing of other human beings, most especially children.....Lent is a time to repent--literally, to change our minds. It is a time to REMIND ourselves of Jesus' command to love our neighbors and our enemies. It is a time to REMIND ourselves of Jesus' radical, non-violent message of love."  On April 26-28 the Upstate Coalition to Ground the Drones and End the Wars will hold a conference that will include workshops, panels, and talks on Friday night and Saturday. On Sunday an action is planned at Hancock Field to call attention to the criminal, innocent and, illegal deaths caused with drones from the base.

THIS OCCUPATION IS HAZARDOUS

PUT YOUR EAR TO THE RR TRACKS

The American Indians used to say, "Put your ear to the railroad tracks and hear the train coming."

The signs have been around for many, many moons that the ways of the white man are killing the Mother Earth.

Yesterday 50 big names in the climate change movement took a bust in front of the White House.  Included in the group were folks like environmental lawyer Robert F. Kennedy Jr.; Bill McKibben, Founder of 350.org; Julian Bond, civil rights leader and former president of the NAACP; and Daryl Hannah, an actress.

Their action was smartly timed as a way to pump-up-the-jam for the really big rally this Sunday planned for the same location.  I've heard that four bus loads are heading to Washington from Maine.  Our housemate Karen Wainberg is already heading that way.

Among those who were arrested yesterday was Michael Brune, executive director of the Sierra Club.  Common Dreams reported on the action and quoted Brune: “For the first time in the Sierra Club’s 120-year history, we have joined the ranks of visionaries of the past and present to engage in civil disobedience, knowing that the issue at hand is so critical, it compels the strongest defensible action. We cannot afford to allow the production, transport, export and burning of the dirtiest oil on Earth via the Keystone XL pipeline. President Obama must deny the pipeline and take decisive steps to address climate disruption, the most significant issue of our time.”

Very good statement.  Glad to see the Sierra Club stepping it up.  But it brings to mind a very interesting reality.  It means that the Sierra Club, who historically loves to put Democratic Party politicians in canoes on Earth Day for photo-ops, has come to the conclusion that they can't rely on the Democrats anymore.  It means that the very president who most mainstream environmentalists worked for and voted for is now very surely going to cut our collective throats by approving the XL pipeline.

The Democrats in recent years have contributed to the corporate erosion of national environmental law.  And the Democrats have been complicit in aiding and abetting the military industrial complex (with the largest carbon footprint on the planet) in its mission to become the primary resource extraction service for corporate globalization.  So the Democrats in the US are in bed with the fossil fuel corporations, the polluters and the war makers. 

But the ties still linger.  The protesters yesterday made a point to note they were not protesting Obama per se.  They were instead just applying the pressure the president requested - as if they were helping to free an other wise captive, or restrained, Obama.

I don't think Obama is in chains.  I think he has willingly and eagerly submitted himself to serve as an agent of the corporate oligarchy.  Never during his political career has Obama shown any indication that he has core values.  His 100 votes as an Illinois State Senator, where he registered himself "present" on the most controversial issues, indicates a proclivity to avoid conflict and to instead look ahead to a larger personal goal.  He has become president.  He is a captive of the corporations.  I will be shocked if Obama stops the XL pipeline.  People will have to protest against him at some point.  Put your ear to the railroad tracks and hear the corporate train of destruction coming.

The whole system is the problem.  We have to call it all into question.  A revolutionary restructuring of "modern" society is necessary.  Now.

We start when we begin to hear, see, and act in a clear way.  The deceptive fog of democracy must be lifted.

CONNECTING THE SHIPYARD CRIME SCENES

Tamara Lorincz (2nd from left) and her crew at the weekly shipyard protest in Halifax

Photo from a previous protest at Bath Iron Works but same sign I used yesterday at the Lenten vigil in Bath

• I went to an hour-long vigil yesterday at Bath Iron Works (BIW) where General Dynamics builds the Navy Aegis destroyers.  We had eight folks.  It was the first of a weekly series of vigils during Lent organized by the Smilin's Trees Disarmament Farm.  The next vigils will be Feb 16, 23, and March 2, 9, 16, 23 and 30.  Each will be from 11:30-12:30 pm. During the closing circle I told the others about the weekly Halifax, Nova Scotia shipyard protests by Tamara Lorincz.  

• This morning Tamara sent me a news article from her local paper that reported "Top level [war ship] designs will be done by General Dynamics Bath Iron Works of Maine in concert with Irving."  Irving is the Canadian corporation building the naval ships for their government that are going to be used to "patrol" the Arctic region on behalf of the big corporate oil drilling operations that are made possible by melting ice due to climate change.

• The Canadian right-wing government is being fully integrated under US-NATO control which means expanded militarization.  Cutbacks in Canada's social programs will be increased to pay for the military ramp-up.  
• Tamara calls General Dynamics and Irving "partners in crime" and I think that is the perfect description.  The crime is the "theft" from those who hunger and are in need as former President Eisenhower warned us.  The crime is diverting us from dealing with climate change by building rail, wind, solar and other sustainable technologies.  Instead our criminal governments keep us addicted to militarism and oil extraction.  
• Lent is a time to fast from our culture of excess by resisting the temptation of militarism.  Pray it be so.  Help us act to make it happen.

'CUZ THE BIBLE TELLS ME SO

by Robert Shetterly

We humans constantly are telling ourselves stories about moral and immoral behavior. Many of the most memorable -- if only because of repetition -- are from the Bible. From them we learn about moral courage and cowardice, about wisdom and folly, about when to obey and when to rebel.  And, of course, most Bible stories tell us to believe in God. But God -- He/She/It -- is so many things at once: God is Love, God is Nature, God is Truth. How can I believe in all these things at the same time? I’m more comfortable with each of those declarations about what God  IS when  the formula is reversed. For example, I prefer Nature is God. If that identifies me as a pagan, so be it. But the Bible stories still move me profoundly, especially when I try to apply them to the world around me. 

For instance, remember the story of King Herod and the Massacre of the Innocents? Herod, in an attempt to protect his crown from being supplanted by the rumored birth of the King of the Jews, ordered the execution of all male children in Nazareth under the age of two. He cannot identify which child might be Jesus, so he decides to kill them all. We are expected to think about this monstrous crime as the work of a paranoid maniac, which it is. And we may be expected to learn that totalitarian leadership can lead to this sort of barbarity. That is also correct.  

But couldn´t we also interpret Herod´s actions as the use of rational and necessary collateral damage to ensure the continued integrity of the state? If the sanctity of the state is the foremost good, then security has to trump justice and the right to life of any individual. In fact, security then becomes justice. It’s the same political and philosophical excuse used for drone warfare by our government today. If children are killed as a by-product of killing terrorists, then the killing is justified. Herod feared Jesus wanted to overthrow his state. Our government fears the terrorists do. Are all actions that advance the security of the state de facto ethical?  Should our drones be called Herod? (Image: Giotto's 'Massacre of the Innocents')

Take a look at Giotto’s masterful 14th Century fresco of the Massacre of the Innocents.  Above the town square, where his soldiers are lancing and decapitating children, Herod stands calmly giving his orders, pointing out the next victim as calmly as a US president ordering a drone strike. In neither case is any consideration given to law or to morality, or to what we might quaintly call “due process.” We witness the paranoid justice of security. 

What lesson is this behavior meant to teach our children? I am reminded of how Martin Luther King, Jr. struggled in the late 1960s to answer young black men in the ghetto when they asked him why they should not use violence to achieve their rights. They reminded Dr. King that the US government claimed the use of extreme violence in Vietnam as justified and necessary to promote democracy, so why shouldn’t they use the same method to achieve equality at home? King’s only answer was to condemn the war as immoral, a war that was racist, imperialist, and for the benefit of the military-industrial complex at the expense of the poor. 

Another instructive Bible story is the Wisdom of Solomon parable. King Solomon is approached by two women both claiming to be the mother of the same child. How can he know who is telling the truth? DNA tests were still a ways off. So, he suggests a compromise. Compromises are good. He raises his sharp sword intending to slice the baby in half. 

One woman objects and gives up her claim in order to protect the child. Solomon in his wisdom now knows who the mother is and hands her the intact child.

But our Solomon today is CEO of Terrible Swift Sword, Inc. His “compromise” has a special interest. What an opportunity to demonstrate superior sword performance! This shareholder Solomon asks us to accept the damage done to our children by gun violence, by contamination, by poor education, by fast food, by climate change, by absurd drug laws, by continual war funding, by the necessities of Empire -- on & on -- as “compromises” so that profits may be enhanced and markets expanded. The wisdom of capitalism. The lives of our children are being sliced in half. 

When the rights of money become part of the process of ethical compromise, wisdom is lost. When we allow our justice to be derived from our fears for security, ethics are lost. We are not then wise kings with wise swords, but armed and frightened barbarians with bottom lines. Every would-be Solomon becomes a Herod.

How do I know this? The Bible tells me so.

 - Robert Shetterly is a writer and artist who lives in Brooksville, Maine. He is has created the series of portraits called Americans Who Tell the Truth.

GROWING CRACKDOWN IN JAPAN

In Japan police have recently arrested many anti-nuclear acrivists. A protest rally against police oppression was held in Osaka.

NUTS & BOLTS ORGANIZING

The Vermont Breakthrough! How a Human Rights Movement Is Winning a Healthcare System that Puts People First from NESRI on Vimeo.

This video tells the story of a successful grassroots campaign organizing for our human rights. This video is co-produced by the National Economic and Social Rights Initiative (NESRI) and the Vermont Workers' Center.

It really well illustrates how to put together a campaign from start to finish.  Worth watching.

WHAT DO WE REALLY KNOW ABOUT NORTH KOREA?

RT's Abby Martin talks to the national coordinator for the ANSWER Coalition, Brian Becker, about North Korea's nuclear drive, its tense relations with the US and the rationale of harsh rhetoric coming from the international community.

She starts out with some good Korean history - remember that this year marks 60 years since the Korean War Armistice (ceasefire) was signed between the US and North Korea.  To this day the US has refused to sign a real peace treaty with North Korea.

THE HIPPIES WERE RIGHT

ASSORTED STORIES OF INTEREST

• Last week I posted a news video from Nova Scotia about Global Network board member Tamara Lorincz's lonely vigil against Canada's vigorous new warship building program.  This morning she sent around news about a man who stopped to talk with her during her vigil.  Turns out he is the President of CAW/Marine Workers Federation Local.  Tamara tells a great tale about their meeting and says, " I was shocked that he readily agreed with me!" It's a perfect illustration that you never know the power that one person can unleash.  The union president told her that the workers were talking about the protest inside the shipyard and wanted more information.  See the full story here

• I received an email this morning from Bard Wormdal a journalist working for NRK, Norway's largest media house. He has been working as journalist for more than 25 years, with a special interest on Arctic and international issues.  Bard has just released the English versions  - e-book and paperback - of his new book The Satellite War.  The e-book can be downloaded for free until Monday. The Satellite War is about the global militarization of space with a special  focus on the polar areas. You can download it here

•  A new article called U.S. Dollar Collapse: Where is Germany’s Gold? by Peter Schiff is worth reading.  He reports: The financial world was shocked this month by a demand from Germany’s Bundesbank to repatriate a large portion of its gold reserves held abroad. By 2020, Germany wants 50% of its total gold reserves back in Frankfurt – including 300 tons from the Federal Reserve. The Bundesbank’s announcement comes just three months after the Fed refused to submit to an audit of its holdings on Germany’s behalf. One cannot help but wonder if the refusal triggered the demand.
• The next general meeting of Maine's new Alliance for the Common Good will be held on Friday, February 22 from 6-8 pm in Augusta.  We will meet at Mediation & Facilitation Resources (11 King St).  All are invited to attend.  We are planning some great upcoming events across the state and welcome new energy and ideas.

•  Our Green Party neighbor Fred Horch reports:  Although Maine Citizens for Clean Elections and other groups will lobby to strengthen Maine’s clean election system, these efforts are facing strong opposition from Republicans who are framing the issue as “welfare for politicians.” The Governor’s proposed budget for 2013-2014 defunds $4 million from the Maine Clean Elections Fund, effectively gutting the program. In the context of a structural gap of hundreds of millions of dollars, the Governor’s spokesperson justified this budget proposal on the grounds that other needs had higher priority. See the whole story here

HONORING PAUL & ESLANDA ROBESON

In a Black History Month special, Democracy Now remembers the lives of the legendary civil rights activist, singer and actor Paul Robeson and his wife Eslanda, whose story is not as well known. One of the most celebrated singers and actors of the 20th century, Robeson was attacked, blacklisted and hounded by the government for his political beliefs.

Eslanda Robeson, known by her friends as "Essie," was an author, an anthropologist and a globally connected activist who worked to end colonialism in Africa and racism in the United States.

Democracy Now is joined by historian Barbara Ransby, author of the new biography, "Eslanda: The Large and Unconventional Life of Mrs. Paul Robeson."

WE WANT CUTS IN THE WAR MACHINE

Bring Our War $$ Home now.

UNDERSTANDING THE KOREA NUCLEAR TANGLE

North Korea has exploded its third underground nuclear test.  I am against all nukes - every one of them - on all sides.  But the hypocrisy of the US (who has done 1,054 nuclear tests) is blinding.  Here is part of a statement by the U.S. Working Group for Peace & Demilitarization in Asia and the Pacific that I am part of.

We oppose the development, possession of, and threats to use nuclear weapons by any nation. We have deep concerns that North Korea’s third nuclear weapons test contributes to an increasingly dangerous region-wide nuclear arms race. We understand the North Korean test was part of a cycle of threat and response to previous U.S. nuclear threats, and to continued military provocations. We cannot ignore the double standards and hypocrisies of the members of the “nuclear club” who refuse to fulfill their Article VI disarmament commitments of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty commitments by “modernizing” their omnicidal arsenals while insisting that other nations refrain from becoming nuclear powers.

We note that beginning with the Korean War, the U.S. has prepared and threatened to attack North Korea with nuclear weapons at least nine times, that it maintains the so-called U.S. “nuclear umbrella” over Northeast Asia, and that its current contingency plans for war with North Korea include a possible first-strike nuclear attack.

The Obama administration’s first-term policy of “strategic patience” with the DPRK, reinforced by crippling sanctions that contribute to widespread malnutrition, connected to the stunting of growth in children and starvation, has proven to be a grave failure. The policy has foreclosed crucial opportunities to explore diplomacy and engagement.

Added to these factors was the January 22, 2013 UN Security Council resolutions condemning North Korea’s December rocket launch and the tightening of the existing punitive sanctions program against North Korea.  The double standard that permits all of North Korea’s neighbors and the U.S. to test and possess missiles, space launch, and military space technologies and to threaten the use of their missiles is extraordinary.

2013 marks the sixtieth year since the signing of the 1953 Armistice Agreement, which established a ceasefire but did not end the Korean War. We join Koreans around the world who call for Year One of Peace on the Korean Peninsula, as well as our partners across Asia and the Pacific who have designated 2013 as the Year of Asia-Pacific Peace and Demilitarization. 

Working Group Members:

Christine Ahn , Gretchen Alther, Rev. Levi Bautista, Jackie Cabasso, Herbert Docena, John Feffer, Bruce Gagnon, Joseph Gerson, Subrata Goshoroy, Mark Harrison, Christine Hong, Kyle Kajihiro, Aura Kanegis, Peter Kuznick, Hyun Lee, Ramsay Liem, Andrew Lichterman, John Lindsay-Poland, Ngo Vinh Long, Kevin Martin, Stephen McNeil, Nguyet Nguyen, Satoko Norimatsu, Koohan Paik, Mike Prokosh, Juyeon JC Rhee, Arnie Sakai, ; Tim Shorrock, Alice Slater, David Vine, Sofia Wolman

The Working Group for Peace and Demilitarization in Asia and the Pacific is comprised of individuals and organizations concerned about and working for peace and demilitarization in Asia and the Pacific on a comprehensive basis. For more information see here