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February 23, 2009
To The Pentagon and Wall Street; We
Must March
Michael
T. McPhearson
Veterans For Peace, Executive Director
United For Peace and Justice, Co-Chair
The next 5 weeks are very important to the anti-war and peace
movements. March 19th, the 6th Commemoration of
the U.S. invasion of Iraq is less than four weeks away. On March 21st,
two days later comes the March on the Pentagon mobilization and then
April 4th, two weeks later is the Beyond War; A New Economy
is Possible mobilization on Wall Street in New York City. This
is a lot of action in a short period of time. It is as it should be.
There is much to protest and much to change.
Sunday November 2, 2008
To All the Activist of the
Anti-War and Peace and Justice Movements:
Soon our nation will have a new President. The
last page of the Bush era will be turned and a new era will begin.
Having no idea who will be elected there are a few thoughts I would
like to share with you.
I would like
to thank you for all you have done during these dark and dangerous
times in our nation’s history. We have faced a tremendous assault on
our civil liberties, huge amounts of propaganda to push us towards
military solutions, and
heavy public pressure to be silent and follow the crowd.
2,000
-- WHO WILL BE THE LAST TO DIE IN THIS ILLEGAL,
IMMORAL WAR?
By Stan Goff
I knew the number would come up, because we've been
counting these numbers as part of the Bring Them Home Now! campaign
since we launched it when the number was around 200. It doesn't
shock me, but I find myself blindsided by my own reaction to it. The
foreknowledge is nothing more nor less than knowing that human
beings are being fed into this senseless killing with such
regularity now that it doesn't even show up in the news until we hit
these sick, decimalized milestones.
And I am feeling such rage right now that I can hardly hold back the
tears.
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From
Crawford To DC
By Michael T. McPhearson, Veterans
For Peace
I joined the tour Tuesday. Everyone is great and has such moving
stories. I love being with courageous people standing up for what they
believe. However, sometimes it is hard to listen to the stories.
Our first event in Gainesville, FL was a press conference hosted by the
Civic Media Center. Our audience welcomed us with open arms and
enthusiasm ready to hear what we had to say. We were introduced by a
young man who runs the center. I thought he was probably a college
student. I later found out that he is a local high school student!
Brooke Beasley spoke first. She talked about growing up in a military
family and loving her country. She made it clear that we as citizens
have a responsibility to stand up when we see our government taking the
wrong path. We must look
out for our soldiers. We need to bring them home now.
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Operation
(Un)Truth: A Trojan Jackass for the Anti-War Movement
By
Stan Goff
Paul Rieckhoff, a former first-looey in the Reserves who went to Iraq,
has now found his political niche as a plant for the Democratic Party,
using his outfit's non-profit status to give him plausible deniability.
The NGO in question is Operation Truth, which has somehow managed to
pass itself off as an
antiwar group every since its inception while explicitly not taking a
position against the war.
Some Ideas on Building Our Movement
Michael T. McPhearson
First, because I believe a discussion of why
the United States attacked Iraq is central to our understanding of how to
move forward, I will share my thoughts on why the U.S. invaded Iraq. Second,
I will give a brief outline of my ideas on how to move forward the cause of
peace and justice.
There is no single reason why the U.S.
invaded Iraq. We invaded Iraq because a
number of interests in the U.S.
exploited the fear caused by the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.
I wrote this nearly six months
ago and we have more of the same, death. Our soldiers are dying. They are
killing Iraqi civilians. More Iraqis are becoming insurgents who kill more
soldiers and other civilians. How many more must die before the nation
understands?
It Is Surely
Time For Us To Leave
Michael T. McPhearson
May 28, 2004
March 2003, days before our invasion of Iraq I woke up from a disturbing
dream where it appeared that I was watching a newscast of Palestinians
clashing with Israeli Defense Forces that some how transformed to pictures
of Iraqis clashing with U.S. forces.
Today it is our reality.
Read More
My
American
Privilege
Michael T. McPhearson
- February 2004
From December 1 – 7,
2003 I traveled with a peace delegation to Iraq. We met with Iraqis in and
around Baghdad to bring a message of peace and to listen to their stories
and feelings about the occupation. The delegation members included parents
of children serving in Iraq, veterans of the Vietnam War and myself a
veteran of the first Persian Gulf War. The trip was both exhilarating and
sad as we listened to Iraqis to tell us about the terror of Saddam’s rule
and the current nightmare of the
occupation.
Read More
An Answer
(No Justice No peace)
Michael T. McPhearson Aug 2002
The road to peace is not paved with good deeds and
intentions. Nor is it to be traveled by the weak of stomach and
mind. One must make tough choices and rely on faith to follow the
road to peace. Faith in the Divine or humanity, either is
sufficient. But if one’s faith lies in a tribal, ethnic, national or
religious identity and not in humanity, peace is impossible.
The lens used to see the road to peace is justice.
Simply stated, no justice no peace. The Israelis and Palestinians
are people in search of justice but blinded by their ideas of
identity. Ethnic and national interests are more important than
their shared humanity. The conflict
seems beyond answers.
Read More |
November 21, 2004

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